Council of Peacocks (20 page)

“
The world is not a scary place, Joshua,”
she said. “I don’t want you living in fear for the rest of your
life. What happened in Lebanon was terrifying. And the way those
savages killed poor Tommy, well, I can see why you’re frightened.
But you’re home now. You’re safe.”

Josh blushed, his face heated and eyes
watery. He couldn’t tell his mother what had really happened to
Tommy. He couldn’t tell her about the monsters with wings or the
horrible things he’d done to protect Tommy. He just shook his head
and learned how to better hide his weapons.

A week later, his father was shipped off to
a seminar in Greece.

Therese decided it would do Josh some good
to get away from Ottawa for a while, so they flew down to Windsor
to visit her brother. Eugene Froese was older than her by two
years. Although brother and sister remained close, they rarely saw
each other. Josh barely knew his cousin Travis. What happened in
the woods that week put a wedge between them. They never spoke
again.

Josh and his mother landed at Windsor
airport where they were met by Gene and Travis. While brother and
sister hugged, cousins stood by, bonded by feelings of
discomfort.

During the car ride from the airport, Josh’s
mom talked and laughed with her brother while Travis hid by playing
his Nintendo DS. Josh looked out the window and watched the rain
fall on the gray city.

The Froeses lived on the east end of Windsor
in a neighborhood of wartime homes and bungalows. They ate well
that night. Gene’s wife had cooked a feast. The food put Josh in a
better mood. By the time they were on dessert, he found he was
actually smiling for the first time in weeks.

“
I have to say, Travis,” Therese Wilkinson
said. “It actually looks like you’re turning out okay. You gave
your mother more than her share of headaches when you were
younger.”

Travis grinned. “I have no idea what you’re
talking about.”

Gene and his wife, Margaret, shared a quiet
but genuine laugh. “Yeah, he’s a perfect angel. In fact, the last
time you guys were down, didn’t Travis get Josh arrested?”

Josh looked up from his pie, startled for a
moment. With everything else in his life, he’d completely
forgotten. “That’s right! I was thirteen. You and those damned
friends of yours convinced me there was a Windsor by-law
prohibiting bathing suits.”

“
Hey, I was the injured one,” Travis said.
‘I had to see you naked. It took three months of therapy to stop
the nightmares.”

“
He’s still no angel,” Margaret said. “But
he’s doing better in school.”

“
Volleyball team still kickin’ butt, too.”
Gene beamed with pride. “You should see him on the court. Moves
like a tiger.”

Travis grinned and hung his head in
modesty.

“
Josh is quite the athlete, too,” his
mother said. “Oh I know what you’re thinking. He used to be so
skinny and gangly but in the last six months or so he finally hit
his stride.”

Josh groaned. “Dear God, mother. You know
that never gets any funnier, right? I’m a runner. Cross-country.
She throws in that ‘hitting my stride’ crap all the time. It’s so
weak.”

After learning he was a runner, Travis
invited Josh to join him in the morning for his daily run. Josh
agreed, happy for the chance to work his muscles. They ran down to
the banks of the Detroit River, then along parkland paths all the
way downtown. Josh was surprised at his cousin’s endurance. Halfway
through the 10k run, most people would have been winded. Travis
barely broke a sweat. Josh, as usual, barely felt the exertion. His
body was fueled by willpower. He never tired. It seemed in his
cousin he’d found an equal.

For the next three days, they repeated the
pattern. Then, on Friday night, Travis invited Josh to a party his
friend was throwing.

Ignatio – Iggy to his friends – came from a
rich Italian family. They lived in a sprawling mansion in South
Windsor, in a neighborhood filled with luxurious houses. It was a
pool party filled with thin girls in small bikinis and fit guys,
mostly volleyball players or other athletes from Travis’ high
school. For several tense minutes, Josh was reminded of the bush
party, the one where he had watched Tommy Delonki die. Then he
caught the attention of two girls and his mind was otherwise
occupied.

Hours later, Travis appeared, his knuckles
bloodied and chest covered in scratches.

“
What the hell happened?”

Travis shook his head and looked over his
shoulder. “Nothing. Nothing much. Some perv watching us.”

“
Travis nailed him!”

Josh looked over at the thin olive-skinned
Italian slurring his words by the pool. Iggy hadn’t changed much
since the first time Josh had met him two years ago.

Josh felt tense. “Is he still here?”

Travis shook his head again. “I don’t think
so. It’s dark back there. I was just getting a drink when I saw
something moving behind the pool shed. First I thought it was just
an animal. Then I saw something shiny. Like gold in sunlight.
Wasn’t sure if it was a watch or something else. I started walking
toward it. That’s when I saw him. Some jerk was back there watching
us. Anyway, I shouted out to him. He started to run away and I just
booked it. I ran at him and started punching.”

“
What did he look like?” Josh found the
whole thing unsettling and very familiar.

“
I’m not sure. It’s kind of a blur. I
remember seeing him, remember running and hitting him, but it’s
strange. When I stopped hitting him he was already gone. Guy must
move pretty fast, whoever it was.”

The next day they were both too hung over to
go for the morning jog. Then, that afternoon, they were both
kidnapped. The Froeses decided to take their guests on a picnic in
Ojibway Park.

***

Josh felt his knees buckle and threw himself
against the corridor wall for support. This flash of memory was
different from the other ones he’d had recently. Rather than
bubbling up from behind a wall of sludge, this one felt like it was
being sucked out of his marrow. His head throbbed and all the
strength in his muscles dissipated.

“What the hell are you doing to me?” He
forced himself to stare into the darkness, to see what was in the
closet down the hall. Once again, he caught a flash of gold and
memory overwhelmed him.

***

Ten minutes into the picnic, Josh began to
feel something. Fear. He kept looking over his shoulder, scanning
the woods, not sure of what he might see, hoping he wouldn’t see
anything. ‘Come on, Josh,’ he told himself. ‘This isn’t back home.
There are no Edimmu here. Nothing is going to come running out to
get me.’

That’s when he saw it. The glint of
gold.

He froze, staring at the reflection. He
dropped the piece of chicken he’d been holding and slowly slid off
the picnic bench.

His mother looked annoyed. “What is it,
dear?”

“
Nothing,” Josh lied. “Just thought I saw
a friend from the party last night.”

“
Really?” Travis followed Josh’s eye into
the woods. The gold light flashed again and silent rage washed over
Travis’ face. “Oh. A friend. Dad, we’ll be right back. I have to go
say hello.”

“
For God’s sake, Travis, no fighting,
okay?” Gene looked into the woods blankly. “Where is your friend? I
can’t see anyone back there.”

Josh looked over at his cousin. Without
saying a word they silently agreed to do whatever it took to show
this guy the downside of spying.

Past the mowed and paved façade of the
picnic area, the woods took on another life. All sounds of
civilization faded away, leaving only the call of birds, the
whispers of the wind through the trees, and the hushed steps of
their feet in the underbrush.

“
Where did he go?” Travis whispered. The
trees were far enough apart that they could see for quite a
ways.

Nothing moved.

Josh put a finger to his lips, motioning for
silence. Even at 16, when he decided to take control of a
situation, his entire demeanor changed. His shoulders stiffened and
he seemed to grow several inches taller. There was a gleam in his
eyes like a wild panther. Now when he moved, his feet made no sound
against the ground. Josh was barely conscious of the change. It was
only when he saw Travis staring at him that he realized anything
had changed at all.

“
How did you do that?”

Josh looked confused. “Do what?”

Travis stared for a second longer, then
shook his head. “Never mind. Just for a second there, I
thought….Must be the nerves.

“
Must be.” Josh turned away from his
cousin, afraid his face would betray him.

“
Wait.” Travis mouthed the word. He put a
hand on Josh’s shoulder and pointed at a spot several yards away.
“Over there.”

Josh looked where Travis pointed. He caught
the blur of shadows and the glint of gold disappearing behind the
trunk of a massive oak. He sprang. Behind him he heard the heavy
thud of footsteps as Travis followed. His body seemed to take over
his mind. Gone was the anxious depression that had weighed on him
since Tommy had died. He wasn’t jumping at shadows; he was chasing
one.

“
Wait!” Travis whispered behind him. Josh
stopped sharply. He nearly caused a collision with Travis, who
could not stop as quickly. Even stationary, he kept his eye on the
shadow.

“
You’re moving too fast!” Travis said. “I
can’t keep up.”

“
I’m not the one moving fast.” Josh
watched the shadow spin quickly and disappear. “The thing we’re
following? That’s moving fast. Too fast for...”

“
Thing? Too fast for what?”

“
Too fast to be human.”

Travis stared at him.

He stared right back.

“
I’m guessing you don’t mean it’s a
deer.”

Josh shook his head and looked back into the
woods. “I think I know what this is. You should go back. It’s not
safe.”

“
Not safe? And what are you? Wolverine? No
offense, short stuff, but, well for one thing, you’re insane. We’re
not chasing a Sasquatch here.”

“
I know. They don’t migrate this far
south.”

“
For another thing…” Travis stopped and
did a double take. “Wait. Did you just…? Come on. There’s no such
things as Sasquatch, wastoid. And that thing we’re following is
totally human. I saw it last night, remember?”

Josh turned slowly back to Travis. “Did you?
Really? And what did ‘he’ look like?”

“
Well he…” Travis chewed his lip. He
looked around the woods as if searching for a way out of this
ridiculous situation. “It was dark. I didn’t get a good
look.”

“
You didn’t get a good look at it because
it wouldn’t let you get a good look. Think I’m crazy all you like,
but I’ve already lost one friend to these things. I’m not going to
lose another.”

Travis took a step back, then lowered his
head. “Is this about that friend of yours? The one killed in the
gang fight?”

“
The what?”

“
Look, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or
anything, but I overheard your mom a few nights ago. She was
talking to my parents about how a friend of yours got stabbed
during a gang fight a while back.”

Josh rubbed the back of his neck. “Tommy
didn’t die in a gang fight. And that thing we’re chasing is moving
about 100 miles per hour without so much as snapping a twig. If we
keep chasing it, you’re going to find out I’m right. So it would
probably be best if you headed back.”

Travis looked at his hands for a moment,
then looked down into Josh’s eyes. “There's no way in hell I am
heading back without you. When we catch this guy and you see he’s
nothing but a perverted Peeping Tom, will you please do me a favor
and start taking your meds?”

Josh smiled. “Deal.”

In the distance Josh saw the glint of gold
again. For the first time he got the impression they weren’t really
chasing the thing. Maybe it was luring them somewhere. Normally
that would have been enough to make him change his tactics. But
something about the light drove him onward. It compelled him.

“
I’ve never been this deep in the woods
before.” Travis jogged easily behind him. Though both had been
running for more than twenty minutes, neither was out of breath. “I
had no idea it even went this far. We must be over the Salt Mine by
now.”

A few seconds later, Josh began to notice
changes around him – subtle at first but increasingly hard to
ignore. First he noticed a light mist hanging between trees and
covering the underbrush. Then he heard strange bird calls,
completely unlike anything he’d heard before. They sounded more
like vulture-sized parrots than anything native to North America.
Then he saw the trees and stopped in his tracks.

“
What is it?” Travis stopped beside him.
“Did you lose him?”

Josh shook his head and studied the trunks
of trees ten feet in diameter. They rose 100 feet above him before
the foliage began. The bark was ruddy, like redwood, but the leaves
were long and flat stars like elongated maple leaves. Looking past
the leaves he saw the sun. It took a moment for his brain to
process what he was seeing. The sun had a light blue tinge to it.
It was also twice as big in the sky as it had been when they'd
entered the woods.

“
Where the hell are we?”

Travis looked up at the sun. “This isn’t
right.” Mouth gaping open, he spun around quickly. “This can’t be
Windsor. We don’t have Redwoods or any type of tree this massive.
What the hell is going on?”

“
I don’t know.” Josh suppressed a shiver.
“But I’m guessing our friend does. Still want to put money on him
being human?”