Chapter 11
“Zeph, what are you doing?”
His head swung around and he looked up into my face. Piercing black eyes and a savage expression stared back at me. Then he saw Will and his eyes narrowed to slits as he let go of the deer and inhaled sharply. “It was going to die. It just needed a little help.” He lifted the head by its antlers to ensure that the animal was indeed dead, and then let it fall to the ground. He looked up at us with a smirk. “Are you two going to help me out of here or are you just going to stand there staring at me?”
I recovered first. Will stood frozen for another few seconds, his face pale. “Get the net off the back of the machine,” I commanded, hoping the distraction would keep his questions at bay until I could think of what to tell him.
Will nodded dumbly and backed toward the Crawler. I glared at my little brother who only stared back, looing way too pleased with himself. When Zeph was in that euphoric state immediately after a kill, nothing I could say or do would faze him.
I threw the net down to him, and Zeph wrapped it around the deer. The winch on the Crawler worked perfectly to pull the three hundred and fifty pound animal out of the deep hole. When Will reached to help Zeph climb up and over the edge, I stopped him.
“I’ll get him.” I all but pushed Will out of the way and grabbed Zeph’s hand. He had a wide grin plastered on his face when he finally stood upright and stared down at me.
“Thanks, Sis.” He glanced at Will who was already working to hoist the deer onto the rack on the back of the machine. Zeph and I lent him a hand, all of us grunting at the massive size of the creature. When the buck was secured, Will confronted me and my brother.
“What the hell just happened?”
Zeph was coming down from his high and glanced apologetically at me. He knew he could have simply slit the animal’s throat to end its misery, but he couldn’t resist the temptation to give into the seductive power of having control over life and death in his hands. If left on his own, he would choose to feed the growing desire to use his ability. I’d tried to teach Zeph that his gift was only a gift if he used it for good. I wasn’t sure he agreed with me anymore and that frightened me more than anything.
Zeph piped up, his tone neutral and practiced. “What do you think you saw?”
Will hesitated and darted a glance at me. “It looked like you…sucked the life out of that deer with your hands.” His voice betrayed both curiosity and fear.
“Nah. The poor thing was dying. I just had my hands on it to keep it calm.”
“What was that red light?” Will persisted, sounding more accusatory than fearful now.
Zeph looked at me and then up at the sun glinting through the trees. He wiped sweat from his face and shook his head. “The light and the heat can play tricks with your eyes, man.” He turned to where he had a string of small dead animals. He lifted it and held it out to me, a look of pride in his eyes that made me nauseous. “These are going to make a week’s worth of stew, Lily. And that buck will be enough for six months’ worth of venison. I bet we can trade a cart full of stuff with Mrs. Higgins or sell some meat to Mr. Sinclair,” he said. He hooked the animals onto the back of the Crawler and added, “I’ll meet you back at the house. I have one more trap to check.”
Zeph was lying. He wanted to run off the residual life force that was coursing through him. Each time he took a life, he gained more power from it. He could run faster, jump higher, and climb like a spider up nearly any surface. It was getting harder and harder to corral that energy in, so instead, I encouraged him to run it out in the woods or swim hard a few times across the ice cold pond. So far, releasing the pressure like that seemed to help bring him back to normal. The problem was that “normal” was growing further away.
Will and I returned to the house and unloaded the game into the cold storage room in the spring house, using a block and tackle to hoist the dead buck from the back of the Crawler to a hook where it would be bled. I would be happy to leave the field dressing and butchering to Sam and Zeph while I was gone. I shivered as we left the carcass behind.
Since Maggie and Nora’s cargo needed to be refrigerated, we hitched a freezer car to the Crawler and headed for their place. Will didn’t ask any more about Zeph, but I knew he wasn’t buying the explanation. His silence spoke volumes. Our secret was out.
At least Zeph’s was. Mine was still securely locked away. As much as I wanted to tell Will everything, I couldn’t help but wonder what he would think. Would he look at me with the same fear and disgust that I had seen on his face when he looked at my brother? Would he think I was some kind of freak?
When we arrived at Maggie and Nora’s house, I climbed off the vehicle and led Will inside, noting that the security system had been disabled and the house was quite visible now. Sam had probably warned the sisters we’d be coming, and thought better of letting Will in on any more information than he’d already been privy to the past couple of days.
I knocked on the screen door, but could already see everyone seated in the living room. Maggie called out when she saw us, “Come on in, sweetie. You know you don’t have to knock.” Her eyes lit up when she saw Will. “You must be the young man Sam was telling us about. Welcome.”
“Will Callahan, Ma’am.” Will extended a hand.
“Well, aren’t you polite?” She glanced my way and shook his hand firmly. “I hear you’re going to accompany Lily on the Albany trip. I think that’s a fine idea.” She led us into the living room where Nora sat close to Sam, just removing an IV from his arm.
“It’s about time you got here. I was starting to worry.” Sam’s glower probably had less to do with my tardiness and more to do with the blood transfusion and vitamin injection therapy that Nora administered weekly.
I knew it wasn’t the pain that bothered him, but the fact that Nora donated her own blood every few days to keep the stock supplied for him. She was the perfect match and unless she could convince more townspeople to contribute, it was the only way to get blood for the lifesaving transfusions. Sam was the kind of man who hated feeling like he owed anyone anything, much less his life, and his foul mood was a good cover for his guilt. He glared at me and then at Will. “What took you so long?”
“I had to go help Zeph with the traps. He got a good sized buck in the east end pit trap.” I didn’t go into the complications caused by my brother’s lack of self-control, but I could tell Sam knew something wasn’t right.
Sam changed the subject as he rolled his sleeve down. “We should load up the ladies’ supplies and head back to the house. It’ll be dark soon.”
As if on cue, Zeph burst through the door, the wolves nipping at his heels and jumping at him to play. He laughed and ruffled the fur on Bo’s neck, “Good boy. You want to go for a run, don’t you?” He said it in that way boys have of talking to dogs as if they understood every word of the conversation. He’d reverted to his normal state, happily having run and sweated off the rush.
Sam stood and wobbled slightly. Nora caught his arm, a look of concern and frustration crossing her face. “You need to take it easy. Why don’t you let the kids take care of loading the supplies?” It wasn’t a question and Sam knew better than to argue. “Now, sit down and finish your tea.” Sam grumbled but complied.
“Will and Zephron will have to take care of loading our goods,” said Maggie. “Lily and I have a date with a pair of shears.” Before I could argue, she was leading me out the back door to the shearing shed where she routinely clipped the alpaca, sheep, and goats, the wool making for good trade. I looked back over my shoulder, a knot growing in my stomach at the thought of leaving Will and Zeph alone to load the cart.
A few minutes later, I was seated on a stool in the shed and Maggie was grabbing my braid in her fist. “Are you ready?”
I took a deep breath and nodded. My accelerated healing abilities had the strange side effect of making my hair and nails grow long and thick seemingly overnight. By winter, it would be down
to my shoulders again and having a short haircut would make it easier to pass as a boy—a benefit when trying to do business in the city. It would also help beat the heat that was bound to roll in on us any day. She sliced through the thick layers and then held the severed braid up in front of me. I cringed.
“Do you mind if I use this to make another wig? Emma Spencer loved the last one. Your hair is especially good for wig material.” She continued to talk while she clipped.
“So many people dealing with cancer these days. It’s just criminal that the government only allows the city dwellers access to treatment.” She clipped a little more aggressively as she went on. “There was a time not so long ago when people were free to go into the cities and buy whatever they wanted, see whatever doctor they wanted, do whatever they wanted.” She paused and looked wistfully into space. “If the government wants to do some good, they’d take back New York City and rebuild. I remember going to the shows and museums…they had the most wonderful art museums there. Gladys Higgins said that Kyle Perkins told her that from Manhattan to Brooklyn the city has been overrun with criminals and addicts, everyone fighting over turf. I hear you can’t get near the place without taking your life into your hands. ”
By the time she finished rambling and ranting, my head was feeling pretty light. “Are you done?” I finally asked, afraid if she went on much longer I would be as bald as one of her sheep. Her description of how bad life was outside of Stanton also left a sick sensation in my stomach about the future of our world.
She snipped a few uneven strays from the bangs that hung low over my forehead. I liked to keep them long so I could cover my eyes if need be. I reached around my head and felt the shaved short sides and back. I let out a sigh. I didn’t like it so short, but it served its purpose. I brushed the hair off my shoulders and followed Maggie out to the front yard where Zeph and Will were heaving boxes labeled DAIRY PRODUCTS into the freezer trailer as if they were competing for a medal.
Nora and Sam came out onto the front porch and all eyes swung my way. Dead silence followed. I suddenly felt like a bird dropping on a freshly washed window. Zeph’s smile grew into a wide grin. “Jeeze, Lily. I’ll have to start calling you Lyle. I always wanted a brother.”
“Knock it off, Zeph,” Sam came to my defense as I looked down at my feet to avoid Will’s piercing gaze, my face flushing. Sam wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “Your sister looks as beautiful as ever.” He kissed the side of my head which only served to remind me that there wasn’t much between his lips and my scalp. My stomach grew queasy when I glanced up at Will and met his stony gaze. His expression was unreadable and I was already regretting my new look.
Maggie cleared her throat. “Maybe I got a little carried away, but you know how fast it grows. It’ll be long again before you know it.” She eyed Zeph. “Shouldn’t we give you a good buzz too while you’re here? You’re starting to look a bit wild, my boy.”
Zeph stopped smiling and ran his hand through his thick, dark curls. “No, thanks. I’m letting mine grow out.”
Sam grinned at him. “If it gets much longer, your sister will be calling you Zephrina.” Everyone but Zeph laughed and his face turned a dangerous shade of pink. I gave Sam a nudge to the ribs as if he should know better than to poke a porcupine.
Maggie’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “How about you, Will? I could give you a trim if you like.”
Will’s lips twitched, his eyes catching mine as I looked up. “That would be great, ma’am.” His smile faded and he looked right into my eyes, making my heart plunge to my toes. “I’d like mine cut just like hers.”