From a Distant Star (31 page)

When Lucas’s mother dropped him off at my house the morning we were leaving to take the van back, she wasn’t smiling, but she did get out and make small talk with my mother in front of our trailer. “Your daughter has my son under some kind of spell,” she said, trying for a joking tone, but I wasn’t buying it. “Lately, all he does is follow her around like a duckling.”

My mom said, “It sounds like Lucas has very good taste.” From the look on Mrs. Walker’s face, that wasn’t what she was hoping to hear.

We didn’t stick around much longer. Lucas had borrowed Eric’s phone and I had replaced my phone, so we were set that way. We said our good-byes and headed out. I drove my mom’s car and Lucas followed in the van, and we traveled for hours without stopping until we got to Roy and Beverly’s house. I knocked on the door, but they weren’t home, which made things easier, actually. I had Lucas pull around to the back of the house and park under the carport. I stuck the keys under the sun visor and left a long thank-you note on the dashboard, along with some money. Payment for gas and the jug of moonshine I’d appropriated.

When I was done, we got back in my mom’s car and headed home with me at the wheel. Driving, just the two of us, with no worries, was like old times. We laughed and talked and listened to music and ate junk food. And we did a little car dancing too. It was a lot of driving for one day, but with the right music and the right person sitting next to me, the miles melted away and I didn’t even notice the time.

We were nearly home when I told Lucas, “We have to make one more stop. I want to see Mrs. Kokesh.” Lucas grinned, knowing what I had in mind. I’d already told him how I’d tried to call Mrs. Kokesh numerous times since we’d returned. The first time, she’d answered and told me curtly that she didn’t want to talk to me. “Those agents tore the house apart and scared my cats near to death,” she said. “If they find out I’m talking to you, it’ll start right up again. You just leave me alone, Emma Garson.” Slam. She hung up the phone and every time I tried to call after that, it rang and rang and rang.

I saw her point, I did, but I still wanted to see her, to show her that Lucas was himself now, and to give her a thank-you gift. I turned down the country highway that led to her house. It was still light out, nearly dinnertime, and I was pretty sure she’d be home. Per usual, a cat lounged on the front porch and it didn’t budge even when we stepped over it to knock on the door.

“Mrs. Kokesh?” I called through the screen. “It’s me, Emma. I know you’re home.”

I waited a minute and knocked again. “I’ve got Lucas with me. He’s back and everything is great.”

Lucas stepped closer to the door, his mouth nearly on the screen. “Hello, Mrs. Kokesh? It’s me, Lucas Walker.”

“Please?” I pleaded. “We just want to talk to you for a minute.”

“Okay, okay,” she yelled from the top of the stairs. “Hold your horses!” The steps creaked as she made her way down. At the door, she said, “Emma Garson, knowing you has only brought me grief.
You got nothing I want or need.” Today, she had a paisley scarf wrapped around her head, held in place with a brooch like she was a fortune-teller.

I held up a glass jug. “I brought you a gift. It’s moonshine.”

“Moonshine, huh?” A thoughtful look came over her face. “That I could use.” She pushed open the door. “Come on in, but just for a minute.” We followed her into the kitchen. “Put it on the table,” she instructed. “What kind of moonshine is that? It’s not going to make me blind, is it?”

“It’s not going to make you blind,” I promised. “It’s from northern Wisconsin.” I tried to remember how Scout had quoted Roy. “This here is called Pride and it’s one hundred and twenty proof and as pure as it comes.”

“Pride, huh? I’ve heard of that, I think.” Mrs. Kokesh unscrewed the cap and gave it a sniff. “Okay. I’ll keep it.” Like she was doing us a favor. She screwed the cap back on. “So, what else is new?” She cackled then, like she’d told one whopper of a joke. “You want to tell me what those agents wanted?”

“Oh, that,” I said, waving a hand to show it was nothing. “That’s over now.”

“What?” she said sharply. “They come and terrorize me looking for you and you don’t want to tell me what it was about?”

Lucas stepped forward. “If you really want to know, they were looking for an alien from another planet. He crash-landed here and took over my body until Emma was able to drive him to a place where he could reconnect with his people. That’s where she was when the agents were here tearing up your house.”

“Huh.” She gave Lucas a nod of approval. “But everything is okay now?”

“Never better.”

I reached into my purse. “One more thing.” I pulled out her gun, safely in its case, and put it on the table. “I want to return this. Thank you. You were right. It was good to have.”

“I had a feeling it might be,” she said, putting it back in the kitchen drawer.

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

That night, Lucas and I took a walk behind the barn to look at the stars. It was a good night for doing just that—the night sky seemed to stretch endlessly overhead, the stars shining brilliantly, all of them competing to be the most beautiful. I swear I even saw a few of them twinkle.

I thought about how we’d look from above. Two tiny people out of billions living on planet Earth. One planet, in one solar system, in one galaxy. Insignificant in number, and yet out of all the people on this particular planet, we were the ones Scout had wound up coming to for help and friendship. Us. It had to be fate.

I said, “I always knew it was possible that there were other planets like ours, with intelligent life, but it didn’t seem real, you know?”

“I know,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulders. “But it is real. They’re out there.” I still had Scout’s pod in my closet at home, and occasionally Lucas and I took it out and marveled over it. Proof that the whole thing had actually happened.

More proof that it happened? The night before Lucas and I had watched a movie on TV, and we didn’t shut it off when the news came on, the way we normally would have. When the anchorwoman announced an upcoming story, I sat up and held my breath. The banner across the bottom of the screen repeated
her words: a little girl in northern Wisconsin miraculously cured of cancer. When Chloe and her mother, Amy, appeared on the screen, I grabbed Lucas’s arm. “I know them,” I said, excitedly. “That’s the girl I told you about.”

We watched in silence as Amy spoke, her eyes filling with tears. “They told us that the cancer was throughout Chloe’s entire body and that they couldn’t do any more for her. I prayed and prayed and prayed.” She put her hands together to illustrate. “But instead of getting worse, she seemed to get better. She had so much energy and she gained some weight. When her hair started growing back, I asked them to run some more tests. When they said it was gone, no cancer anywhere, I knew it was a miracle.”

Chloe bounced in her seat next to her mom, a big grin on her face. The headscarf was gone and her hair was short and fine as dandelion fluff, but she looked more like a little girl with a cute, short haircut than a cancer patient. When the anchorwoman asked how she was feeling, Chloe proclaimed, “I feel great!” I thought of Scout leaning over to let her rub his head. He’d done a good thing. The world was a better place because he’d been here. And now he was home, and both he and Lucas were where they belonged.

As we stared at the night sky, a question came to me and I turned to Lucas. “Did you go to Scout’s planet, do you think? Do you remember?”

He shook his head. “It’s pretty hazy, but I think everything happened on the ship while it was hovering above Earth.”

“Tell me again what it is you remember exactly from when they took Scout out of your body.”

Lucas looked up at the sky, thinking about that night. “It almost felt like going into surgery on Earth. I was lying flat on a table, and I had that groggy feeling. I couldn’t see anything, but I knew they were all around me, working on me. I could tell when Scout was lifted out. There was sort of a rushing feeling, like a wind going through my body, and then I was myself again.”

“And then they brought you down and I found you on the road.” My own personal happy ending.

“You know, I just remembered something else,” Lucas said, pulling me closer. “At least, I think I remember it.” He shook his head, like trying to shake it off. “So weird that I forgot about this until just now.”

“What is it?”

“Right before they brought me back, Scout communicated with me. He must have done it telepathically, because I heard it in my head. It was a message for you, but it doesn’t make sense, so maybe I’m not remembering it right.”

“A message for me?” I straightened up in surprise. “What was it?”

“Let me think how it went.” He put his hand up to his forehead. “I think it was, ‘tell Emma that I am sending her less than three.’”

I couldn’t hold back my smile, a smile so bright it radiated beams out into the night sky and off to the rest of the universe. “That guy is unbelievable,” I said, grinning.

“So you understand it?”

“Yeah.”

“But what does it mean?”

I gazed at the velvet sky, scattered with bursts of light, and imagined Scout on his planet looking at his glowing indigo sky with Regina at his side. I’d wanted him gone in the worst way, but I missed him now. If Scout was indicative of what people on other planets were like, we were missing out by keeping to ourselves. He had a good heart and was true to his word. He’d kept his promise to return Lucas to me and he’d left us a gift for the future as well.

“It means . . .” I said, trying to think of how to break the news to him, “. . . that he loves us. And there’s something else too.” Lucas regarded me curiously and I felt a wellspring of joy rising up from within. “Wait until I tell you,” I said. “You’re going to be so happy.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A heartfelt thank-you to everyone at Skyscape and Amazon Publishing for helping this book find its way into the world. It’s an honor to be associated with such a dedicated, talented group of people. For this book and others, I’ve benefitted from the expertise of Courtney Miller, Terry Goodman, Jessica Poore, Jeff Belle, Daphne Durham, Vicky Griffith, Sarah Tomashek, Gabriella “Gabe” VandenHeuvel, Brooke Gilbert, Katy Ball, Nikki Sprinkle, Thom Kephart, Verena Betz, Jessie Hughes, and Jacque Ben-Zekry. To anyone I’ve inadvertently left out—my apologies!

I am incredibly lucky to have friends and family who are willing to read my manuscripts and give me honest, helpful feedback. My love and gratitude to Kay Bratt, Kay Ehlers, Geri Erickson, “Eagle Eye” Alice L. Kent, Charlie McQuestion, and Michelle San Juan.

To Roy Atkins, a note of appreciation for the use of your name and for providing my first taste of moonshine!

A big thank-you to my copyeditor, Anna Rosenwong, for saving me from myself many times over. Your work on the book is greatly appreciated.

My family helps me in so many ways. Greg, Charlie, Maria, and Jack McQuestion—I hope you know how much I love you.

Book bloggers are the unsung heroes of the publishing world. You are a powerful, insightful group and I’ve benefited greatly from your kind words. I’m sending virtual good wishes your way. Thank you!

Finally, I want to acknowledge the readers. Because of you, I’ve fulfilled my lifelong dream of writing novels for a living. As long as you keep reading, I’ll keep writing.

And before I sign off, one final request: If you have enjoyed this book, and it’s not too much trouble, a short review posted on Amazon or Goodreads would be appreciated. And if you’d like notification of my upcoming book releases, visit
www.karenmcquestion.com
and sign up for my newsletter. Thank you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Photo © Greg McQuestion

Karen McQuestion writes books for all ages but has a special love for young adult fiction. She lives with her family in Hartland, Wisconsin.