Calico Cross (3 page)

Chapter Five

I was just outside of town when a dirty blue pickup truck pulled up beside me. The savage rolled his window down. “Listen, scout, get in the car. It’s a hot day out. It’ll take you an hour to walk home.”

I knew that walking was not a big deal for me, but it was a hot day out. That was no lie. I stopped, put my hands on my hips, and stared straight at him. “I would rather this hot sun beat down on me until my flesh burns off and my bones turn to ash than ride anywhere with you. Now, go away!” And I stomped off like a little girl knocked down during recess.

“That only happens to vampires, but fine! Have it your way!” And then he was gone, with only his dust choking my throat and lungs.

“Good riddance,” I said out loud for only myself to hear. It was more of a pout really, because my feet were beginning to hurt.
Dang these shoes! Beauty before comfort, beauty before comfort.
Fancy’s words rang in my ears.

As I walked, I continued to call my sisters; still no answer.
What could possibly keep them from their phones?
I wondered.

I had been walking for almost twenty minutes when I spotted the savage’s truck pulled up alongside another car on the side of the road. It looked like someone was in trouble. There was a young man waving his arms around in the air in a desperate fashion.

I ran to catch up.

What I saw as I approached the troubled man and his car was a young woman in the backseat with her knees spread into the air. She was having a baby! Right now!

‘The savage’ sprang into action and began barking out commands, ordering me to the other side of the car to cradle the woman’s head and hold her hand. He then gently ordered the husband of the woman to calm down and breathe. The husband was freaking out worse than the woman.

Dane’s mannerisms then shifted and became soft as he spoke clearly and calmly to the woman. “Ma’am, my name is Dane and this is…” he looked at me then, waiting.

“Calico,” I offered.

He eyed me in a curious manner but added, “…and we are here to help you. You can trust us. Okay?”

“The woman nodded and squealed as she began to push hard.

It all happened so fast. One minute I was climbing into the car and taking hold of her hand, and in the next minute ‘the savage’ was pulling the slime covered baby out of the woman and holding it in his giant hands. The look in his eyes shocked me. It was a look of such kindness and caring that it took my breath away.
Was this the same turkey from just days ago?
He laid the baby briefly in the seat and ripped his shirt off and wrapped it around the shaking baby.

I was speechless and had to make myself look away.
Look at his face, Cali. Look at his face. Look at his face.

“Ma’am,” he said, his eyes moist with unshed tears, “it’s a boy.”

She began to cry, and the father’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and then he collapsed onto the ground.

I have to admit that I myself shed a few tears. I had never been a part of something so sweet and special before. It was something I knew I would never forget.

Since the father was unconscious, I drove the car with the couple and the new baby to the hospital, with ‘the savage’ following closely behind us.

I wasn’t ready to leave them just yet. They were so grateful for our help, but I was truly confused. I wanted to really hate the man I now called ‘the savage’, but I had seen a different side of him, no doubt a side he didn’t want me to see. Why the charades? What was it that he was protecting?

I mean I understood wanting to keep a side of yourself hidden, my sisters and I were doing that very thing; running away from a life ripped straight from the scenes of a horror film.

We were not like others. We were not totally human. We were something else entirely. Something that would scare the people of this small town, sending them running for the hills for safety, and yet we were not in any way dangerous, at least not to these people who seemed so innocent and nice.

What were we exactly? Well, some refer to us as shape shifters, but truthfully we were were-cats… were-cougars to be more accurate. We didn’t shift into the full animal image and therefore were not shape shifters. We could shift at any time and we became half human/half cougar. There were few of us left these days. The other cat packs, or any packs for that matter, felt threatened by us. With our lean muscles and stealth speed we were a powerful force to be reckoned with. But for my sisters and I, we just wanted to live a normal, peaceful life; a life away from fighting for dominance and the politics of the packs. It was all so stupid anyway. I mean who really cared about who was better? Well, I didn’t anyway. And nothing could persuade me to do so, especially not some conceited, control freak like that old Cutler Creed.

I was glad that was one part of our lives that was behind us. Now we were starting a new life; a life full of promises and hope.

I pulled the car up to the hospital doors, and I helped the lady and her baby in as Dane carried the still unconscious father in and sat him in a chair by the door. Once all the information was given, Dane and I left, and he again offered me a ride. This time I gave it some thought and eventually agreed.

The ride home was a quiet one. We didn’t speak at all, and when he pulled to a stop in my driveway, I gave him a slight nod and exited the car and entered my home without a backward glance. Once inside, I took a slight peep out of the front window and his truck was gone.

Chapter Six

“Where have you guys been?! I’ve been trying to call you for over two hours!” I snapped once I was in the kitchen.

They were sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner as if nothing had happened. “What are you talking about?” Tabby asked, her big brown eyes wide with curiosity. “And who brought you home?”

“I asked you first. I have been trying to call you. Why didn’t any of you answer your phones?” I glanced around at each one of them.

All three of them shrugged in unison. “We can’t find our phones. They just disappeared,” Kiki added. “And who brought you home?”

“Our new neighbor brought me home.”

“The savage?” the twins asked in unison.

I nodded, rolling my eyes.

They immediately began teasing me and so I told them the whole story of me walking home and then coming across the woman having a baby. They were fascinated by my story; especially about the part where our new and mean neighbor delivered the baby and all. They were as confused by his shift in behavior as I was.

As I lay in bed that night, I replayed the images of the day over and over again in my mind. This Dane guy was full of surprises. His demeanor had switched so quickly.
Was he bipolar perhaps?
I fell asleep with those thoughts jumping around in my confused head.

I woke up the next morning to a ruckus. The girls were all jabbering. Something had them riled up.

I stumbled to the top of the stairs and yelled down. “It’s too early to be this loud! What’s going on down there?”

Fancy held up her phone. “All of our phones are laying her on the entrance table.”

“Didn’t you look there yesterday?” I asked.

“Of course we did, little missy. They were not here yesterday, but they’re here today.”

My eyes went wide with wonder as the implications of what she was saying dawned on me. I glanced around the house in alarm and backed up and into my bedroom where I closed the door and climbed back into my bed. Why our ghosts would want to hide my sisters’ phones was beyond me, and I was too tired to think about it at the moment. Maybe, just maybe, when I was rested I could make some sense of it all. Maybe.

I slept late into the afternoon. I didn’t do that very often but when I did, I usually felt guilty, but not this time. It felt good to get fully rested and let my brain relax a little. I had a lot to think about; a new job, the crazy ghosts hiding phones, the new neighbor with his changing ways, and the fact that I was fighting my attraction to that man with the many personalities. One thing I did know, I hated the mean jerk, but kind of liked the one who had a soft spot for babies. I mean, come on, who wouldn’t?

The next morning, after putting another cookie in Dane’s mailbox, Tabby drove me to the library for my shift and then went to work at the diner.

It was Friday night and our regular girls’ night. Every Friday night since we were kids, with few exceptions, all four of us girls would order take out, eat lots of candy, and watch a movie, usually a horror movie. Sometimes Mom and Dad would join us, but they preferred comedy to horror.

I really missed them, but I knew they would be proud of us along with the fact that we got away from Creed and his overgrown pack of mismatched were-creatures. Unfortunately, Creed was a were-lion. Were-lions thought they were better than all the rest of us. All of that stuff about being the king of the jungle didn’t help any. They loved to dominate and control the other packs of were-creatures such as were-leopards, were-foxes, were-cougars like us, and yes, sometimes even the werewolves. Werewolves were strong and powerful, but were-lions were much more massive and fierce. In their shift form, were-lions were rarely merciful and generally ruthless. There were few exceptions to this rule, but it had been a long time since anyone with that kind of control of his wild side challenged Creed and his pack.

When we were younger we had heard of one, a teen lion, who had challenged Creed and won, although he had no interest in running the pack, only to set it free. Rumors were that after this lion defeated Creed, injuring him severely, he appointed another pack leader and then disappeared. The stories were that he himself was injured in the fight and fled to die, but no one ever knew for sure. Rumors even said that this hero was a white lion, but, of course, most of us knew that was an exaggeration because there were no more white lions in existence.

A few years after Creed was defeated and run out of town, he returned and challenged that appointed pack leader, killing him and taking over the pack that he so desperately desired. Many times I had wished for that rare lion to show up and kill Creed, setting us free again, but that never happened, and we were forced to flee for our very lives.

I shook off all my dark thoughts as I entered the library, my refuge from all the worries of my past.
Today would be a great day, I just knew it!

I spent the first hour opening boxes of flyers announcing our annual Apple Festival. This made me excited. I had never been to an apple festival before and I loved the idea. I then went outside and onto the street and handed out the flyers to passersby. This gave me a chance to meet some of the locals, and they all seemed very nice and full of excitement over the festival.

That night, all four of us girls cuddled up on the sofa, eating our Fill’s Deli takeout that Tabby had brought home for us. Dessert for me was, of course, a roll of chewy Spree. We rented a horror film and hid our faces under the blanket most of the entire movie, but that was just what we usually did. Nothing could really scare us too badly. I mean we had seen an evil were-lion in all his magnificence. There wasn’t much that was scarier than that, if we were being truly honest.

We were all finally ready for bed, and I shuffled lazily across the floor to the bottom of the stairs. It was then that I heard a slight meow. I waited. Yes, I heard it again. I opened the front door and peered down at the cutest looking cat. It was calico, like me, with the sweetest yellow eyes looking back up at me.

“Well, hello there, little one,” I said as I knelt down to pet it. Then, without warning, it took off across the yard and into the trees. I knew I shouldn’t have gone after it, but the compulsion to protect it was very strong. I followed it across the woods and into my mean neighbor’s yard.

“Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty. I won’t hurt you.”

She would let me get only inches from her tail and then she would run faster, keeping just out of my reach. I was about to grab her when she scurried across the lawn and onto the front porch…and right into her master’s arms… apparently.

“You lost?” the meanie asked.

I stood straight and quickly decided to go for a sarcastic response. I put my finger on my chin as if thinking and said, “You know, I think maybe I am. For some reason it looked like a sane person lived here.” Then I then forced a smile and looked him dead in the eyes. “But I guess I was mistaken.”

He ignored the statement and peered down at the kitty, rubbing her under the chin and speaking to her as if she was a baby. “Did this mean ol’ girl scout scare you?”

I squared my shoulders. “For your information, I thought she was in trouble, and I was trying to help her.” I folded my arms across my chest in defiance. “I had no idea she was yours. And I am not a girl scout!”

“So, you have something against girl scouts, do ya?” he asked playing innocent.

I laughed. “No, but apparently you do.” With that I swirled on my heels and headed back in the direction for which I had come. I could feel his eyes on my backside and so I exaggerated my strut for his benefit only. I felt good, like I had slapped him in his smug face… and then I slipped in a mud puddle and fell flat on my proud gluteus maximus.