Portals (9 page)

He paused for a moment before continuing. “I'm more interested in what he's up to. Jones is rarely selfless and I wonder what it is he'll get out of this. Maybe he wants an excuse to go to the Light Ones' home world. If that’s the case, I'd be very curious to find out what his reason is.”

I hadn't thought about it from that angle, although I questioned Jones's motives, as well. Jones using the trip as an excuse to get onto the Light Ones' home world could be even more sinister than I'd thought.

“He's had plenty of time to hunt down and kill Light Ones over the centuries. Do you think this is a clever way for him to get onto their world and get mass revenge for their invasion?” That thought saddened me. While I doubted I'd ever completely trust Jones, I had grown fond of him. At times. “And if he really is using this as an excuse to stage his own invasion of their world, why invite us along?”

Thulu shrugged. “I'm not saying he's using it to stage an invasion, but he's definitely up to something.” Thulu shrugged. “Maybe it’s as simple as he said and he really is tired of their war. I think we need more information from Jones. If we can get him to talk.”

I had to agree with that. We simply couldn't go traipsing off without a lot more information.

“Okay, let's say we do go. Is that fair to Carter?” I asked.

“Well, we’ll have to sit down and talk to Carter about this. As long as he knows we're coming back, I think he'll be all right with it. But absolutely we're going to talk to him before we make any decision.”

Carter was up early the next morning. He leaned against our bed, his little face inches away from mine when I woke up. When he saw I was awake, he tried to climb up on the bed. I sat up and lifted him up to me, his little boy scent and tousled hair tugging at me.

“How’s my boy this morning?” I asked, hugging him close. His little arms circled my neck as he hugged me back

“Good. It stopped raining. I can go outside, right?”

“You may, indeed.”

“Breakfast is almost ready. Papa Thulu says ‘Get up, lazybones.’ You were sleepy, huh?”

I looked over at the clock on my bedside table. It was almost nine. Thulu had taken pity on me and let me sleep in.

“I sure was.” I smoothed his soft, brown hair. “How about you go tell Thulu that I’m awake and I’ll be down soon, okay? I’m going to take my shower and get dressed.”

I helped him slide down to the floor.

“Okie dokie,” he said, cheerfully, as he pattered across the floor. I smiled after him, content in a way that only a child can make you.

It wasn’t long before I’d joined both my boys downstairs. Thulu gave me a smile and a quick kiss.

I grabbed a Coke from the fridge and looked at the stove where Thulu had been busy cooking pancakes.

“That smells heavenly,” I said as I sniffed Thulu’s gourmet coffee appreciatively. He had many different kinds, but I was pretty clueless about them. Coffee smelled wonderful to me, but the taste never seemed to match the smell. I was happy to have the aroma and stuck to my Cokes for my caffeine fix.

The syrup and butter were already set out, along with milk for Carter.  Soon the three of us were eating pancakes with chocolate chips in them. We made the kind of small talk that I imagined families with young kids had been making forever.

Parker, Jenna and Sophie soon joined us, and the air was filled with the scent of popcorn and cinnamon, courtesy of the two ghost kids.

As we sat around the table, empty plates pushed back, I felt the air change yet again. The scent of gardenias and honeysuckle announced our visitors. I smiled as Nana Fae and Mama Deb drifted in. My grandmother and Thulu’s mother had been two of the casualties last month, along with Evan, a cousin who served as the family accountant.

Evan was in contact with me a lot since I had to relay messages to his widow, Mara. With Earth in turmoil since the appearance of the other-worlders, his gift with accounting was still needed. Mara was more than competent, but Evan was brilliant. I suspected that he had been a bit of a supe himself, with his knack of knowing exactly where to put our family’s money.

Nana Fae and Mama Deb had decided to do some world tours and also see first-hand how things were in other countries. They’d been keeping us filled in on reactions to the portal openings. We usually knew what was happening, but since things were starting to settle a bit, the two had decided to do some sight-seeing.

Since they could go anywhere they wanted, they had decided to go wherever their mood and inclinations took them. And being dead, their time sense was skewed. They usually checked in every few days, but this last time, they had been gone for about a week.

Still, I hadn’t been worried. Aside from already being dead, they were two of the most solid and reliable people I knew. Besides, I could call them in at any time and they would “hear” me.

“So, where have you two globe trotters been this time,” I asked.

They exchanged a look.

“Funny you should put it that way. We went to see the pyramids first, but then we decided to go to the moon,” said Nana Fae.

“Wow!” I had not even thought about ghosts going into space. Apparently neither had Parker.

“You went to the moon?” he cried in disbelief. “I am so going there today.” His grin was from ear to ear.

“Wait,” I said. I turned to my grandmother and mother-in-law. “Is it safe?”

The moment the words were out, I wanted to take them back. I never adjusted to the fact that it was difficult to harm the dead. In my defense, it was possible, but very unlikely and very, very difficult.

Parker snorted, and my two favorite women gave me a bit of grief before giving in and admitting that it was perfectly safe for Parker to go. In fact, they said they’d be happy to show him around later on. That did make me feel better. They decided they’d take Jenna, too.

I felt a little strange listening to them make plans I couldn’t participate in and felt a twinge of loneliness that I couldn’t go with them.

Nana Fae looked at me wisely. Her gift as an empath hadn’t exactly been dampened with her death. It was still strong, but it was a bit more erratic now. That’s probably why she hadn’t picked up on things earlier. She gave me a sweet smile that carried all the love she’d had for me all my life. It helped. Some, anyway.

“So, what is going on here?” asked Nana Fae. “I’ve been detecting some unsettled feelings from you two.”

“Just a sec,” I said. I got up and lifted Carter out of the booth and set him down. After a trip to the bathroom to wash his hands and face, I sent him outside with the other kids, reminding them to stay in the backyard, where I could see them from the breakfast nook.

Thulu and I quickly filled Nana Fae and Mama Deb in on what had transpired during the last few days.

“So, what do you think about us going with Jones? Bad idea? Good idea?”

Thulu’s mom frowned, with a shake of her head, “I’m honestly not sure, guys.” She turned to Nana Fae. “What do you think?”

Nana Fae was quiet for a long time. I could see she was thinking, maybe even getting a sense of the trip. Thulu and I were quiet, waiting patiently.

“I think it’s okay to go. I’m not getting much of a feeling either way, which causes me some concern. But, that could just be because I’m no longer in touch with the corporeal world. Did Reo have any hesitation?”

“I don’t think so,” answered Thulu. “In fact, he was already making plans to get his show covered.” He paused a moment. “But I don’t know how much of that is from the idea of going to another world. Maybe he didn’t even try to see what repercussions there might be.”

“Then I suggest he make a concerted effort to find out.” Nana Fae said with a smile. “If he senses no danger, or at least nothing you can’t handle, you should be all right.”

“I think Carter will be fine. We certainly have enough family who can watch him,” added Mama Deb. “Can we travel to those worlds or do we need the portal?”

Thulu and I looked at each other, shrugged and shook our heads. “I have no idea, Mom, but we can ask Jones. If he doesn’t know then we can try it when we go to his world. That way if the portal is needed you’ll be right there. Besides, that would give us a line of contact back here. Good idea.” Thulu smiled at his mother.

“We still haven’t talked to Carter. If he gets upset, I’ll stay behind. He’s had enough to deal with the last month,” I added.

“I think you’ll find Carter understands situations far beyond his age,” Nana said. “He’s a very old soul in that little baby body.”

We all agreed on that, and I glanced out the window, checking on said old soul. He was quietly playing in his sandbox, building something. It looked like he was getting direction from Parker and Jenna.

We kept an eye on the three of them, while Nana Fae and Mama Deb told us that the riots had indeed calmed down, except for isolated incidences across the globe.

There was still some fear and hatred directed toward the supernatural beings who had come through. There were religious sects in various parts of the world that were convinced we were being invaded by demons.

I personally found this ironic, since the presence of the Darks Ones - daemons - was completely unknown to most humans. The same held true for the Light Ones, angels, too. It had been deemed best not to reveal those two races for the time being.

Nana Fae and Mama Deb also gave us their impressions of travel from the perspective of the dead and how it was both better and worse than traveling when one was alive. The two of them seemed to have become closer than ever and kept me and Thulu entertained.

On the plus side, there was no luggage, customs or travel time to worry about. However, they said they missed food and being able to touch things. They still had a rudimentary sense of smell, but it was erratic and both said they missed that.

“Well, I miss the smell of some things, anyway,” laughed Mama Deb. “There’re others we could certainly live without.”

I raised an eyebrow at her choice of words. She rolled her eyes in response.

“You know what I mean, young lady. There are some stinky places out there.”

I grinned at her.

The two left shortly after that, and Thulu and I cleaned up the breakfast dishes.

I went outside to play in Carter’s sandbox with the kids, while Thulu went upstairs to do his forms and meditate. The sand was damp from the rain the day before, which made it pack nicely. The kids already had a pretty good start on a spaceport and we spent a pleasant hour finishing it and landing starships in the bays we’d created.

Before long it was lunch time, and we headed inside to fix sandwiches. Thulu and I had agreed to talk to Carter after lunch. Parker and Jenna floated in one corner of the kitchen. Their usual spots.

Nana Fae was right, as usual, and Carter listened carefully as we explained the situation in simple terms.

“Oh, you have to help take the angel kids home?” he asked.

Thulu and I nodded.

“But we might be gone for a while. Days and days,” I said. His concept of a week was a bit shaky, so I kept it simple.

“But you will help them, right?”

“Yes, we will,” said Thulu. “But we want to make sure you are fine to stay behind.”

“You’ll come back, right?”

“Absolutely!” Thulu’s answer was firm. Carter looked at me, and I nodded my head vigorously in agreement.

“We’ll come back. You’re here and we love you, and we’ll come home as soon as we can. We just want to be sure that you are all right with this, Carter. We won’t go, unless you say it’s okay.”

“Okay, you can go. Be sure to help the angel kids, though. They were sad.”

Wise, old soul, indeed. I hugged him close. I’d miss my boy. I missed him already and I hadn’t even left yet. He returned my hug with interest, before yawning widely.

“Nap time, my sweet.”

He frowned for a moment before his little face cleared. “Yep,” he finally agreed. I helped him wash up before tucking him into his bed with a light blanket. I felt incredibly lucky as I went back downstairs.

Parker said he and Jenna were going to meet up with Nana Fae and Mama Deb. They didn’t know when they’d be back, but insisted we weren’t to worry about them.

Thulu was on the phone while we cleaned up after lunch. I grabbed a Coke, and the two of us sat in the breakfast nook.

He soon hung up. “Reo says he doesn’t get any sense of danger, but he says he’s not sure how accurate that is. He’s too excited about the prospect of going off-world and thinks that could be coloring his ability. Also, he’s not sure he’d sense anything from beings who are supernatural in nature. He’s not picking up anything nefarious about Jones’s motives, either. He did say he thought that if there was something obvious that he’d sense it.”

I absorbed that for a bit. “So, do we go?”

“Oh, hell yeah, we go!” he exclaimed, dimpling at me. That worked for me.

He picked up his phone. “I’ll call Jones and tell him.”

“Be sure to ask him about the dead.”

“Right.”

Thulu’s chat with Jones didn’t take long. Jones thought there would be no problem with the dead coming and going through the portal, but wasn’t sure if they could port directly there. He also thought it was an excellent idea to have that extra line of communication. He said he’d get back to us when his plans were finalized.

We needed to let the family know, so Erik was next on our list of calls. He readily agreed to watch Carter, and we told him we were going to talk to Ally and Brent, too. Ally was Thulu’s cousin and one of my closest friends. She had a habit of picking up strays and had brought Lynda-Jean, Carter’s birth mother, into the Thulukan family when we were in high school.