The Stern and Wild Ones (The Seeker Series) (18 page)

"Come on, Princess. Let's show Ally how to find a really good Christmas tree."

"Come on, Ally. It's so much fun! When we get back we can drink hot chocolate with marshmallows and eat posole." Megan grabbed my hand with her free one and we were off.

Jack had to tell Megan and me
that every tree looks good with snow on it, since we both tended to fall in love with every one we saw. He was surprisingly picky, bypassing trees that I thought were perfectly acceptable. It took us two hours to find a tree he approved of for his family and a smaller one for mine. He sawed through the trunks without too much trouble and Megan and I helped him haul them both back to the base camp and then stood around drinking hot chocolate and coffee, trying to warm up. Once the other family members had chosen their trees and arrived back at the camp, Trina and Jack's Aunt Gloria began serving the various kinds of soup they had brought. There is just something about being outdoors in the freezing cold that makes food taste so good. Trina had thoughtfully brought a vegetarian posole for me. I found a seat beside Jack on a log and happened to glance at his spoon as he put it into his mouth.

"What kind of soup is that, Jack?" I asked suspiciously.

"My Aunt Gloria's menudo. She makes the best."

"Oh, god. Is that tripe you're chewing?"

"Yep. It is a key ingredient in menudo, querida."

"I know. I wish I didn't, but I do. Jack, I really don't know if I can kiss you after you've been chewing tripe. I think you might have crossed a line." I set my soup aside, completely grossed out by the thought of the cow stomach lining Jack was currently masticating.

"Aw, sweetheart. You wouldn't withhold those beautiful lips from me just because of a little menudo, would you? It's part of my heritage, my upbringing. In fact, I think withholding kisses might just qualify as racial discrimination," he teased.

"Oh, really? Racial discrimination, huh? Well, we can't have that." I leaned over and kissed him firmly on the cheek. "That's absolutely it until you find a
tic-tac, mister."

We had an enjoyable afternoon sitting around the campfire, telling jokes and listening to stories of Jack's extended family. Little Nathan was adorable bundled up in his snowsuit, trying to help Megan build a snowman while Sodapop ran around them, excitedly biting the snow. Mat and Jack, along with several other cousins, got into an energetic snowball fight, which I watched from the safety of the sidelines. I loved seeing this light-hearted, fun side of Jack, but was alarmed when he caught my eye and began stalking me, saying, ”How about we go find a nice, deep snow bank, querida?” I ran off, giggling, but he swiftly caught me, grabbed me up, and threw me over his shoulder. He carried me a short distance away from the campsite and then set me down behind a giant pine tree.

“What happened to throwing me in a snow bank?” I laughed.

“There’s still time for that, but later. Right now I just need to kiss you.”

“Oh, you
need
to kiss me, huh? Like you’re going to die if you don’t?” I teased.

“Yes, I will absolutely die if I don’t kiss you right now. It’s been at least four hours since our last kiss.”
He pressed his cold lips to mine, running his warm tongue along the seam, seeking entrance. I gladly granted it, sinking into his intoxicating kiss while I speared my fingers through his black curls, still wet from the snowball fight.

“You two wanna get a room?” Mat interrupted. “You better hope Trina doesn’t catch you, Jack, or you’ll get a fun-filled safe sex lecture.”

Jack groaned and pulled away slightly. “Go to hell, Mat. Let me kiss my girlfriend in peace.” He went back to doing just that as Mat left, chuckling.

“Sorry about that,” he rested his forehead against mine, breathing hard. “I don’t want to embarrass you.”

“Kissing you will never embarrass me,” I whispered. “You can kiss me anywhere, anytime you want.”

“Oh, I can, huh? God, you’re good for my ego. Anywhere, huh? How about right here? You seem to like it when I kiss you here,” he said as he nibbled just under my ear.

It was my turn to groan. “That’s not what I meant, Jack.”

“Yeah, I know.” He continued kissing my neck while I clung to his shoulders to keep from sinking to the ground in a puddle.
After a few minutes of utter bliss, he pulled away, saying, “We better get back before they send out a search party. I’ve had that lecture from Trina before and it’s not as fun as it sounds.”

“It doesn’t sound fun at all, actually.”

“Exactly.”

Around 5:30 the men all loaded up the trees on the flatbed trailer while the rest of us cleaned up the camp site, making sure we
completely extinguished the campfire. This was all so fun and such a different experience than anything I'd ever done with my family. It was laughable to think about Grams out here searching for Christmas trees. Outdoorsy is not a term that fits in any way with her. We stopped in Bernalillo on the way home for pizza, filling the entire back room of the restaurant with our loud, boisterous group. I looked around at Jack's large, loving family and felt a touch of sadness that I didn't know more of my extended family. I had no cousins; Jack had a seemingly endless supply. I had never known my grandfather; he had died when my mom was in high school. I don't even know my father's name because mom had said when he found out about her pregnancy, he denied that it was his and just told her to have an abortion.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jack had noticed my contemplative mood.

I leaned against him and he put his arm around me; I loved how responsive he was to my moods and that he seemed to know when I was pondering something and needed to talk about it. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about family and how important it is. You're really lucky, Jack. I hope you appreciate what you have."

Just at that moment, Mat dared his younger cousin, Josue, to eat a spoonful of red pepper flakes. As poor Josue began to sweat and spit out the peppers into a napkin, Jack said wryly, "Oh, yeah. I know exactly how lucky I am." I laughed with him, putting my head on his shoulder.

"Jack, are you gonna kiss her?" Megan had appeared at his elbow.

"I don't know. Should I?" he asked the little girl.

She giggled. "Yeah."

"Good idea," he leaned in and kissed me
softly.

"Eww!" Megan gagged and climbed up into her brother's lap.

"Not even close, Princess," he said as he kissed her head. Within minutes she was yawning and snuggling deeper into his arms.  "I think Trina and Manny will have a quiet ride home," he smiled at me.

Jack dropped me off an hour later in front of my house. Before I went inside, he pulled me close and kissed me. "Thanks for coming today," he said. "My family loves you."

"Well," I said, nuzzling his neck. "They are obviously a very smart group of people."

"Enough of that," he said, holding himself away from my seeking lips. "Behave yourself." He smiled at my pouty look. "I'll get your tree set up in a stand and bring it over tomorrow, ok?"

"Mmmm hmm," I said, trying to get back to kissing him.

He gave me a peck on the cheek and said, "Good night, Ally." He opened the door and shooed me in.

Mom and Grams were sitting in the living room, obviously waiting for me, looking rather grim-faced.

"Hey, Mom. Grams? What's wrong? Am I in trouble or something?"

"Hello, Ally," came a voice from the corner.

“
Cassie!" I exclaimed. "You're back!"

"Truth is beautiful, without doubt; but so are lies."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson
 

I rushed to give her a hug. "Cassie! How was your trip? You've been gone so long. Did you find anything?"

"Slow down, Ally. Let me breathe," she held me away and scrutinized me closely.

"Sorry. I've just been worried," I sat down on the couch with her, ready to get on with the news she brought. I wondered why Grams and Mom still looked unhappy. What had Cassie already told them?

"Ally," Cassie began, "the reason I've been gone so long is that I had a lot of research to do. Your situation, your apparent gift, is quite unusual. I needed to talk to a group of people about you and they needed to talk amongst themselves about how they wanted to handle what’s going on with you."

"What? What group of people? Cassie, what are you talking about?"

"Ally, I need you to just listen for a little while, ok? There are some things I need to tell you, things about your gift, about Seers in general, that you need to know. And then we all need to make some plans." She looked to all of us for our assent. "Now, first of all, you need to know that what you've been told, what your grandmother told you about your powers, is not the whole story."

She went on to
spin a tale of ancient magic, Druid priestesses, and well-kept secrets. Grams had told me that our family had been given the power of second sight, or clairvoyance, by a grateful druid priestess about a thousand years ago, in return for saving her life. One ancient Irish booty call later, and my family, the Morans, had the gift that keeps on giving, to the females of the line, at least, in varying degrees. What Grams didn't tell me, if she even knew, was that this gift somehow made its way to other families, as well. Yeah, I don't want know how, either. After all this time, the descendants of these ancient Irish hook-ups were all over Ireland, America, even Europe. A core group of women in Ireland, called the Seer Council, felt it was their job to keep track of the descendants and what gifts they turned out to have. Some, like Cassie, were powerful in several different ways. Some, like Grams, were powerful in just one way. Some, like my mom, had a very slight power. But, every once in a while, someone like me turns up, someone with some scary abilities. Cassie said that it was my vision of Megan losing her tooth, the vision that had not happened yet, that had made her realize that she needed advice and knowledge beyond what she possessed.

"Ally," she took my hands between hers and looked intently into my eyes. "The Council wants to meet you. Soon."

"Why? What do they need me for?"

"Ally, they need to talk to you, to test you. They need to see what you can do. They need to see the extent of your powers so far. You are not yet 17, and already you are exhibiting powers not seen in any adult of the current generation. Powers not seen for nearly one hundred years. They are concerned."

"Sweetheart," my mom came over and sat by me. "Cassie wants to take you to Ireland over the Christmas holidays so you can meet with the Council."

"This Christmas? No, I have to stay here. I can't be gone for Christmas. Mom? Grams? I don't want to go." I could feel the pressure of tears building behind my eyes. A trip to Ireland might sound like a dream vacation to some, but it sounded miserable to me. It sounded like Christmas without my family. And what about Jack? This would be my first Christmas with him. On the way home from the mountains we had talked about our plans for the break. Plans that included shopping with Megan, taking her to visit Santa at the mall, baking cookies, watching old Christmas movies. Things that couldn't happen if I was in Ireland! Well, they could happen, and probably would happen. Just without me.

Mom came and put her arms around me. "Sweetheart, I know. I don't want you to go, either.  But Grams and I have talked, and we think this is important. You are going through some things that are very...concerning. I worry that waiting until Spring Break or summer could be a mistake." I started crying in earnest. Jeez, I have never cried so much in my entire life as I have these last few weeks.

"Ally, I know this is a shock, but this is an opportunity to find out what is happening to you, to find out what this means," Cassie added to her argument.

"What do you mean, 'find out what this means'? Why should it mean anything?" I wanted to know.

Cassie replied, "Well, what it means for your life, for your future. Ally, there is a path for you to follow and the Council can help you discover it. Your power is important and we need to discover its full extent. You are at a crucial point in your life. Right now you are on the path of the Seeker, but your powers are developing so rapidly. Soon you will have to make choice. Will you take your place in the realm of the Seers? " She didn't quite meet my eyes and I realized that she was holding back. There were obviously still some secrets she was unwilling to share. I felt a certain sense of resentment at this. Who was she to come in here, after nearly a month of complete silence, and start messing with my life? But with both my mother and grandmother standing with her, I didn't have a chance and I knew it. I was going to be spending Christmas in Ireland. Shit.

****

I didn't want to talk about this wreck of a situation to Jack over the phone or by text, so I waited until Saturday night,
in the middle of our date, to break the news.
Not my best idea.

"So, when do you leave?" he asked as we waited for our appetizer.

"Our flight leaves early Saturday morning, right after school lets out for the break. Jack, we had so many plans for Christmas! I don't want to go," I said grumpily.

"Well, look at it this way: you get a free trip to Ireland. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I think it's a great thing." He didn't seem nearly as upset as I had expected.

"But, what about all the plans we made? Don't you care?"

"Well, sure. Of course I care. I will miss you like crazy. But it's not the end of the world, querida." He took my hand that was lying on the table. "It'll be ok."

Now, I am not especially proud of the next few minutes and would actually prefer to skip the play-by-play, but in the interest of giving an accurate account I will go ahead and tell what happened. Could we just agree that all the crazy emotions of the last couple weeks, combined with some newly active hormones, conspired
to make me completely flip out?

"Well, maybe it's no big deal for me, either. Fine. I think I'd like to go home now, Jack. Can you take me home, please?"

"Now? But...we just started our dinner," he sputtered.

"I really don't freaking care about dinner!" Only I didn't say freaking. And then I stormed out. Yeah... not my best moment. I was standing outside the restaurant; freezing because of course I forgot my coat in the midst of my dramatic exit, and just letting
the tears run down my face. I was so angry! And, yeah, I was totally feeling sorry for myself: poor little me, who has to have stupid visions about someone she doesn't even like, who has to go to Ireland over the holidays instead of spending them with my family and my seriously hot boyfriend. Boohoo. Talk about your first-world problems! Within about two minutes I went from angry and feeling sorry for myself to abject shame and embarrassment. Did I really just storm out of a restaurant like some drippy diva in a bad romance novel? Was I really that big a brat? It would serve me right if Jack just left me there. Jeez, I didn't even bring my cellphone. I would have to crawl back into the restaurant and retrieve my things in order to get home. So, I should probably leave the drama to professional actors and just slither back in and apologize to Jack.

I was just working up the chutzpah to go back inside when I felt warmth from behind as Jack put his jacket around my shoulders, followed by his arms folding me in close.

"You're going to freeze to death out here. You stormed out without your coat," he whispered against my hair. Ouch. But I deserved it.

"I'm sorry. This whole thing has turned me into a crazy, weepy bitch. I don't know what's wrong with me. I used to be a fairly normal, even-tempered kind of girl."

He turned me around to fold me deeper into his warmth. "You are not crazy nor are you a bitch. I'm going to let you have weepy, for now."  I chuckled slightly against his chest. "Hey, I've got a crazy idea. Why don't we go inside and finish eating? It's cold out here." I nodded, sniffing and he lifted my head to kiss me quickly. "Mmmm. Salty, cold lips. Come on." He took my hand and led me back inside. The waitress was tactful, not mentioning our absence or my wrecked face (I have mentioned before that redheads are not pretty criers--and the evidence doesn't disappear right away). I hoped Jack would leave her a good tip.

Later that night, as we sat in my driveway, cuddling in the warmth of his front seat, he looked into my eyes and said, "Listen, just because I act calm on the outside doesn't mean I'm not seriously bummed about you not being here for Christmas. It's totally going to suck without you here. I might be forced to hang out with Mat. While you're enjoying the sights and sounds of a Christmas in Ireland, I'll be working double shifts at the garage just to keep from going crazy."

"There," I said, kissing him on the jaw. "That's the kind of stuff I need to hear. I just need to know that you are sharing my misery."

****

Getting back to school after the short break was brutal. Thanksgiving was so late this year that we only had three weeks before we would be out again for Christmas or Winter Holidays, as the public school system calls them. I was still upset about the whole Ireland thing, but I was trying to be mature about it. I also thought more and more about trying to block the visions; maybe I could call off the whole trip if I wasn't having visions anymore. Illogical, but it made sense to me at the time.

When I saw Veronica in fourth period physics, I was shocked at the deterioration in her appearance. She had dark circles under her eyes, and her skin had a sallow, dull appearance. When she sat down at the lab table next to me, I could see that her nails were bitten to the quick. I couldn't help staring. "Holy shit," murmured Jack as he sat down and noticed where I was looking. "She looks nearly as bad as she did at the party."

"Jack, I don't know what to do. I feel so useless.  I'm supposed to help her, but I don't have a clue how!" There was little time to talk during the rest of class because Mr. Chiszowski was introducing us to our final project of the semester in which we were given some skid marks from an automobile and had to be crime scene investigators, figuring out the velocity and acceleration of the car. I normally would have been into a project like that, but I had a difficult time concentrating with Veronica sitting so close by, looking so miserable. Jack was ultra patient with me, gently taking the tape measure from my hands when I took the wrong measurement three times in a row. "Querida, let me do it."

"Sorry," I muttered. "I'm having a hard time concentrating right now."

"I know. It's ok. We'll figure this out, I promise." He gently squeezed my hand as he took the tape measure.

I was also distracted by my hopefully subtle attempts to spy on Mr. Chiszowski. By about halfway through the period I had decided that my first instincts had been correct: there was no way that the guy who was hurting Veronica was Mr. Chiszowski. He was too old and his arms looked nothing like the arms I had seen in the vision. Those had been young, muscular, and darker than those of my physics teacher. That left Nicholas Grayson as my only suspect.
I was feeling hopeless and ridiculous about this whole investigation idea.

I looked back at Veronica huddled miserably on her stool and gripped Jack's hand tight as I suddenly felt myself being pulled into another vision.

"Ally?" I heard him say, although it sounded like it was coming from a distance instead of right next to me. Hearing his voice made me remember that I wanted to fight, to block these visions.

Veronica was walking down a hallway that somehow seemed familiar to me...

I fought to hold my concentration in the present, here in this classroom, not walking down that hallway with Veronica.

She approached a door, looking back over her shoulder...

With a slam of my palm on the lab table, I wrenched myself fully out of the vision and just sat, breathing hard, Jack still gripping my other hand and staring at me with questions in his eyes.

"Is everything alright over here, Mr. Ruiz?" It was Mr. Chiszowski coming to check on us, drawn by the noise, no doubt.

I slipped my hand out of Jack's and shook my head slightly at him.

"Um, fine, sir. Just dropped something. Sorry," he said.

Mr. Chiszowski wandered away and the rest of the class turned back to their own labs.

"What was that about?" Jack whispered.

I looked around to make sure no one was paying us an attention, leaned close to him, and whispered back, "I just blocked a vision."

****

I soon found out why Veronica was looking so wretched. When we got to the cafeteria, she was sitting by herself at a table in the corner, while all her supposed BFFs, including her boyfriend Danny, were at their regular table, heads together, whispering. Have I mentioned how much high school sucks?

Tara sat down, tray in hand, saying, "Well, it's all over school
that Veronica cheated on Danny and has someone else's bun in her oven."