The Crimson Brand (39 page)

“Stop,” he hissed, his voice almost inaudible.  “I can answer your questions ….”

Penny paused.  

“Forget it,” Katie growled, and leaned into him, pushing with all her strength.

He toppled, fell through the open door, but did not appear on the other side as Penny had expected, floating ungrounded in a sea of nothing.  When he passed the threshold, he simply vanished.

The hum grew a little louder for a second, and that was all.

“What about these,” Ellen asked, staring around at the broken homunculi. 

For the next minute, the hum of the nothing behind the open door working ugly magic inside their heads, the girls gathered the dead homunculi and threw them into the nothing to join their master.  After watching for a few moments, Rocky caught on to what they were doing and joined.

Katie eyed the helpful creature as if she’d like to toss him in with the others, and Penny asked him to go away for a while.  She was only a little surprised when he gave a series of quick bows and chattered at her.  She was much more surprised that she could understand the thing’s squawks and chitters.  Not in words, but as an affirmation in her mind.

Yes
.  He called her something that meant both Penny, girl, and mine, then,
Rocky will come if you need him
.

He sprinted off into the trees, and Katie relaxed … a little.

Finally, Penny approached the open door with Turoc’s lost arm.  She threw it in after its owner, then Zoe swept the door shut and tugged the strange, dangerous doorknob from the wood.

“Did we kill him?”  Ellen stared at the door, her face a mask of guilt.  “Is he dead now?”

Penny put what she hoped was a comforting hand on Ellen’s arm and said, “I don’t know, but we did what we had to do.  He was going to kill us.”

Not exactly true
, Penny reminded herself, remembering his instructions to the gray men under the landfill to kill Katie, but not Penny.

Why would she be any different than the rest of them?

The answer to that—and to so many other questions she had—was gone, vanished into nothing behind the door.

“We’d better go,” Penny said at last.  “We’re supposed to be in town.”

Ronan rose, almost grinning at them, and limped toward the creek.  “You do what you need to do, girls.  I for one could use some rest.  I hadn’t planned on so much activity so soon after returning.”

Penny had to admit that he was in rough shape.  His fur was singed in places, the bare skin blistered. 

“Thanks for coming back,” Penny said, “but how did you do it?”

Zoe and Ellen seemed to be wondering the same thing.  They regarded him with lively interest.

“Later,” Ronan said, and Katie seemed to agree that it could wait.

Katie took Penny and Ellen by the arms and motioned Zoe toward the door.

“Let’s go!”

They went.

*   *   *

They emerged just outside Katie’s garage door. 

Downtown was silent, deserted.  Even the park, which they ran toward to wait out news of Morgan Duke’s capture or escape, was empty.  The grass gleamed wetly in the glow of the moon, and the streetlamps revealed pavement dark with rain.  Even if there had been anyone out at that late hour, Katie’s storm had probably sent them running for cover.

“Let me look at that,” Zoe said, and pulled Penny’s shirt down to reveal her bloodied shoulder.

Penny cringed as Zoe wiped her shoulder with the sleeve of her ruined shirt.  “How bad is it?”

“Not too bad,” Zoe said, sounding astonished.  “You said Ronan … he died from a bite like this?”

“He isn’t dead,” Penny said, “and his was much worse.”

Zoe’s doubt was plain on her face.

“It hurt for a while,” Penny admitted.  “It’s okay now.”

“We should still clean it,” Katie said, regarding the twin punctures.  “A new shirt might be a good idea, too.  Susan will have a kitten if she finds you covered with blood again.”

“How about you guys?” Penny asked, passing a quick inspecting glance over the others, not quite able to believe they had gotten through everything with all of their limbs still attached. 

“Fine,” Kate said.

“I’m okay,” Zoe said.

“I’m soaked,” Ellen said, shaking water out of her hair.

They were disheveled, Katie’s cheek scratched and red from her trip through the willow boughs, and they were probably covered with bruises, but they were otherwise fine.

“Come on, Penny.”

Katie led Penny back to the Wests’ house, leaving Zoe and Ellen to wait for Susan or Michael’s return.

“I was getting ready for bed when I heard you,” Katie said, and it took Penny a moment to realize what she was talking about.  “You just whispered my name, and I was about to answer you when I heard
his
voice, so I woke Michael up and told him there was trouble at your house.”

Penny could feel another complication coming on.  Michael had been looking at them strangely since the night under Main Street and the morning he’d found Zoe’s wand.  Now Katie had alerted him to a danger she shouldn’t, couldn’t, have known about.

“What did you say to him?”

Katie opened the garage door and led Penny inside.  A moment later she found the lights and turned them on.

“Just that Morgan Duke was at your house and you were in trouble.”  Katie blushed, she knew Penny had guessed where her story was going.  “I don’t think he believed me at first.”

“But you got him to go,” Penny said, “and I know he believes you now.”

“So what will we tell him?”  Katie betrayed real anxiety.

“Whatever we have to,” Penny said.  She was too tired for fabrications.

Katie nodded and put a silencing finger to her lips as she opened the door into the house and motioned Penny inside.  They passed silently through the kitchen and hallway, Katie taking the lead again to guide Penny through the dark, unfamiliar house, and into the bathroom.  Katie shut the door behind them before turning on the lights, pulled a package of bandages and disinfectant from the cabinet over the sink, and reached for Penny’s injured shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Penny said, backing away a step and almost falling into the bathtub.  “I can do it.”

“Okay,” Katie said and sighed.  “I’ll get you a shirt.”

When she returned a few minutes later, opening the door just a crack to pass a folded shirt through, Penny was still wincing from the sting of the disinfectant, still applying the last bandage.  She changed shirts and stepped into the hall, alarmed by the sight that met her.

Katie stood in her father’s shadow, looking as if she’d just been caught burglarizing the place.  The lights were on, and Penny saw Katie’s mother moving through the kitchen in a flowery robe. 

To Penny’s relief though, Markus West didn’t look angry, only tired and concerned. 

“Are you okay, Penny?”  His eyes fell to the blood-spotted shirt wadded in her hand.  “Katie said there was trouble at your house.”

Penny gave him a heavily edited version of the confrontation with Morgan Duke, attributing her hurt shoulder and bloody shirt to a fall as they fled the house.  By the time she had finished, they were seated in the kitchen and Katie’s mother had pressed a mug of hot cocoa into Mr. West’s hands.  She apparently saw the covetous look Penny gave the steaming mug, because she left, then returned a few moments later with one for her and Katie.

“Lynne, sit down.  You’re making me dizzy,” Markus scolded, but it was a light scolding at best.  A quickly suppressed grin belied any real reproach.

“I suppose Susan will be around after she’s finished murdering that Duke man,” she said.  “He’s lucky Michael went with her.”

Markus nodded, almost smiled again, then froze.  He set his cup down and put a hand on Penny’s injured shoulder, making her gasp in pain.  “Where is Zoe?  Is she okay?”

“She’s okay,” Penny said.  “She’s in the park with Ellen.”

“I was afraid something had happened to her,” Markus said, and backed off a step.

Penny’s shoulder throbbed from the contact, but she tried not to show it.  They all had enough to worry about without the adults going to pieces over a minor flesh wound.

“Invite them in, dear,” Lynne West said to Penny.  She ruffled Markus’s sleep-tousled hair and gave him a gentle shove toward the door.  “They can wait in here.”

*   *   *

Of Katie’s friends, Ellen was the only one who seemed entirely comfortable in the Wests’ big living room.  Zoe sat scrunched into the furthest corner of the couch she shared with the other girls, eyes pointed down at her clasped hands, as if she was afraid to look at, let alone touch anything.  Penny sat next to her, trying her hardest to avoid Markus West’s eyes, unable to forget the contempt he had shown for her only weeks before.  His eyes, however, kept returning to her, stealing quick glances.

Katie’s mother stood in the kitchen again, speaking with Michael over the phone.  Her voice was too soft for Penny to make out her end of the conversation, but it was over quickly and Mrs. West returned to find herself the center of attention.

“Susan knows you’re here,” she said.  “They’re on their way now.”

“Did they catch him?”  Markus sat on the edge of his chair, hands clutching the arms.  The suspense seemed to be driving him as crazy as it was Penny.

Lynne nodded.  “They did … but….”

She glanced back at the girls before answering her husband.  “They had to call an ambulance.  He’d lost a few fingers and a lot of blood and … well, he died while they were loading him in.”

“He’s dead?”  Zoe spoke her first words since her arrival in the West house.  She sounded horrified, and Penny hoped she would remember that he was about to shoot them before Zoe’s spell exploded the gun in his hand.

Lynne nodded. 

“Susan didn’t …,” Markus seemed almost afraid to finish his question.

“Oh, dear no, he had a heart attack.  They’d bandaged his hand up and were loading him into the ambulance when he clutched his chest and just … died.”

The news hit Penny like a slap, rocking her back against the couch. 

Dead?

Lights hit the big picture window, and everyone turned as one to see Michael’s cruiser pull into the driveway, Susan’s old Falcon close behind it.

A minute later the newcomers were inside, and Susan pulled Penny and Zoe from the couch in a frantic, slightly painful, embrace. 

“Susan, the house?”

“It’s fine,” Susan said, and relief flooded Penny.  “The fire was dying out when the fire truck arrived.”

Amazement was clear in her voice.

“It burned to the fence-line and just … went out.  Ernest lost his entire field, and there were a lot of smaller fires, but the rain put most of them out before the firefighters could get to them.”

Penny’s relief was somewhat marred by the penetrating look Michael leveled at her.

Whatever he was thinking, he let it drop … at least for now.

“I have to go,” Michael said, giving Susan a quick hug before walking away.  “The sheriff is furious with me for responding without waiting for him.”

“The sheriff can kiss my …,” Susan stopped herself before finishing the sentiment and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. 

“If he does fire me you should consider putting an application in, Susan.”  Michael smiled and winked at her.  “You gave me a run for my money tonight.”

Then he was gone.

“Susan,” Markus said, giving Susan a look of false consternation.  “I do believe you’re spending too much time with that boy.  I think he’s got a crush on you.”

“Markus!”  Lynne and Susan scolded in unison.  Lynne slapped playfully at the back of his head, and he grinned.

*   *   *

Penny, Zoe and Ellen spent the rest of the night at the Wests’ house, the four crammed tightly into Katie’s queen-sized bed.

“You are so spoiled,” Zoe said.

“Yes I am,” Katie agreed, too tired to argue. 

Penny was finally drifting to sleep when the door opened and light fell in upon them. 

Michael stood in the doorway, returned from a pleasant early morning at the office.

“Michael, we’re trying to sleep.”  Katie groaned and pulled the sheets over her head.

For a moment Michael said nothing.

“What?”  Katie barked impatiently, and Zoe awoke with a snort next to her.

“Morgan Duke had some very strange things to say before he died.”  They couldn’t see his face, only his silhouette, but his voice was hushed and more serious than Penny had ever heard it.  “That little talk I was planning to have with you … I think it’s time.”

Penny’s chest seemed to fill with lead.

“Michael, it’s,” Katie twisted in bed to look at her clock.  “It’s five in the morning and we haven’t slept all night.”

“Later then,” he said.  “The five of us.”

He closed the door and left them in an uncomfortable silence.

For the second time that night Katie asked, “What are we going to tell him?”

For a long time Penny didn’t answer.  Her instinct was to lie, to cover up, to keep the secret, but he’d already seen and heard too much, and Michael was no dummy.  He would know they were lying. 

So what did that leave?

“We’ll tell him the truth,” Penny said at last. 

“Okay,” Katie said, and to Penny’s surprise she sounded relieved. 

“Do you think he’ll tell anybody?”  Zoe voiced the fear Penny herself felt, but Katie was quick to answer.

“No, Michael’s cool.  I think he’ll understand why no one else can know.”

“Nobody would believe him anyway,” Ellen said.

Penny laughed.  She couldn’t help it.

“He’ll keep our secret,” Penny said.  “We can be very persuasive if we need to be.”

*   *   *

When Michael knocked on Katie’s bedroom door the next morning, the girls were ready and waiting for him.

“Katie?”  Michael sounded nervous but resolute.

“Come in!”  Katie shouted back.  Muffled laughter followed this invitation.

Michael opened her door, stepped inside, and looked around.  The girls were nowhere in evidence.  “Kat?”

“We’re in here.”  Katie’s voice came from the closet door, open only a few inches.