From a Distant Star (9 page)

Mrs. Walker exchanged a skeptical look with her husband. “I don’t know. Lucas is just getting over being sick. I hate to take a chance.” She said it like he had a bad case of the flu and she was afraid he’d relapse. “Can’t you just watch a movie here? I can heat up a pizza for you, and we have root beer. It’s the kind Lucas likes.”

“It’s just that everyone was looking forward to seeing him at the game. And he’s been cooped up at home for so long.” Through all of this, Lucas said nothing, another oddity. Usually he could charm his mother into agreeing to anything. She had a soft spot for her older boy.

“I know, Emma, but what if something happens?”

“Nothing’s going to happen.” I sensed I was losing ground here, but I wasn’t going to go down without giving it my best shot. “We won’t be far, and I’ll have my cell phone,” I said. “If he seems too tired or doesn’t feel well, we’ll come back early, right Lucas?”

“Right,” he said. “We’ll come back early.”

“And how are you planning on getting there?” Mrs. Walker frowned. “Lucas isn’t going to be driving our car, I can tell you that much.”

“My mom said I can use her car. It’s very reliable. And it has all the latest safety features,” I added hurriedly. “She doesn’t want me to stay out late either. I told her I’d be back by ten at the latest.” Neither of Lucas’s parents said a word, so I made an adjustment. “Or we could be back by nine-thirty, if that’s better.”

“It’s just that he’s only been well for such a short time,” Mrs. Walker said.

Mr. Walker turned to his wife and said, “What if Eric goes with them? Would that make you feel better?” I didn’t want Eric to go
with us, but if that was the only way it was going to happen, it was better than nothing.

Eric yelled from the next room. “I don’t want to go on their date. Let them go alone. What’s the big deal?”

I silently thought,
thank you, Eric
, but it turned out that his objections and my wishes didn’t matter. Mr. and Mrs. Walker decided that the only way they’d allow Lucas and me to go out for the evening was if Eric came along. And so, with me at the wheel, Lucas in the front passenger seat, and Eric in the back, the three of us drove away from the farm at five-thirty on Saturday evening.

“This seat belt isn’t staying closed,” Eric called out as we barreled down the highway.

“It’s broken.” I tossed my answer over my shoulder. “Try the other one.”

“So much for all the latest safety features,” he grumbled. “I can’t believe they made me go with you guys. Such a waste of my time.”

I was nearly to Mrs. Kokesh’s when Eric figured out something was off.

“Hey,” he said, his head swiveling to look behind us. “You missed the turn off to Scotty’s.”

“We’re not going to Scotty’s,” I said. “Or at least not right now. If we have time, we’ll stop afterward.”

“Afterward?”

“I have to talk to Mrs. Kokesh about Lucas.”

“Mrs. Kokesh!” I glanced in the mirror to see Eric abruptly sitting up in the back seat. “What’s going on, Emma?” Even Lucas seemed interested, turning my way with a questioning look.

“I used her help to cure Lucas, but something went wrong,” I said, gripping the steering wheel. “Something went terribly wrong. I have to talk to her and I want her to see him.”

“What went wrong?” Lucas asked.

I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Eric waiting for my answer. I spoke to Lucas.

“You’re not the same,” I said. “You know that, right? You’re trying, I can tell, but there’s something missing. Something is really wrong.”

“Give the guy a break,” Eric said. “He’s been cut open, radiated, medicated, gone through chemotherapy, been in a coma, and everything else. He’s doing pretty good, considering. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re wrong. Even taking all that into consideration, he’s still not the same Lucas.” I knew Lucas. I knew every cell in his body. Every thought in his head, every emotion in his heart. Our souls had once been intertwined, but I wasn’t feeling it anymore. “I’m not imagining things. I’m telling you I know the difference.” I glanced over and saw Lucas’s beautiful, expressionless face looking straight at me. “You’re not the same, are you Lucas?”

Lucas didn’t answer, just turned his head to look out the window. Eric said, “Well, now you’ve made him feel bad. Stop being so mean, Emma.” He sighed heavily.

“It’s not just me,” I argued. “Mack sees it too, and you know what they say about how dogs can sense things people can’t.”

“Yeah,” Eric said, “but Mack also drinks out of the toilet, so I wouldn’t go by that.” We rode in silence for a moment, the only car on the highway. “I can’t believe you went to Mrs. Kokesh.”

“You think it was a bad idea? Because it’s witchcraft?”

“No, because I wish I had thought of it myself.”

Smiling, I pulled into the drive leading up to Mrs. Kokesh’s house. Once the car was parked, I grabbed my canvas bag and the three of us got out and walked up the steps. A white cat lounging on the porch saw us and took off like a shot. Mrs. Kokesh was home, I was sure of it. The main door was open and I could see through the screen door into the hallway. I banged on the door with the side of my fist. “Hello? Anyone home?” I pounded again.

“Maybe she’s not here,” Eric said.

“She’s here,” I said.

A second later, Mrs. Kokesh’s voice came booming from the top of the stairs. “Hold your horses! I can only go so fast.” She shuffled down, taking each step one at a time, as if her feet hurt. Like before, she’d dressed for colder weather, wearing a man’s cardigan over a faded floral-print dress. The flip-flops on her feet were her only concession to summer. “You again, Emma?” she said, swinging open the door. “I shoulda known you’d be back.”

She gestured for us to come in and we all trooped down the hall. Lucas walked along as if this whole outing was normal, but Eric made a gesture to me like
what’s going on?
which I just ignored. Soon enough, he’d know everything I knew.

When we reached the kitchen, I took a seat, not even waiting for an invitation. I kept my large bag ready on my lap. The guys stood awkwardly until Mrs. Kokesh threw up her hands and said, “You might as well sit and be comfortable.” Once everyone was gathered around the table, she said, “So, you got a complaint, Emma? Everything not hunky-dory in your world?”

“There’s a problem,” I said.

She threw back her head and laughed. “There’s always a problem, honey. The problem is that you people expect too much. I’m seeing Lucas here, and he looks like he’s not dying anymore, so I’d say I held up my end of the bargain. I saw on the news that people are saying it’s a miracle. It doesn’t get any better than that.”

“It was a miracle and I’m grateful to have Lucas back,” I said. “It’s just—”

“I’m not giving you your money back,” she said, cackling. Then to Lucas and Eric, she said, “I saw this coming. I warned her and did it for free. Now she’s complaining.”

“I’m not complaining. I just need your help again.”

“Help? What do I look like, the help desk?” She slammed the palm of her hand on the table. “No one in this nothing town has the time of day for me until they have a problem. Then they’re like, ‘Mrs. Kokesh, you’re my only hope. You have to help me.’” She
put her hands together like she was praying. “That’s how it starts out. Then I help them and when things don’t go exactly the way they want, it’s all my fault. Well, I’m telling you, missy, I’m tired of taking the blame. I give and I give and I give, and what do I get? Nothing!” She spat out the word. “You people come traipsing up my porch begging and pleading, and I do the best I can but it’s never enough. I’m tired of it. I get no credit and no gratitude.”

“I give you complete credit,” I said. “And I am grateful.”

“But?” she cried out, and turned to Eric. “There’s always a but, believe me.”

Eric said, “Could you let Emma finish? I want to hear what she has to say.”

“I know what she has to say,” Mrs. Kokesh said, leaning back with folded arms. “I’ve seen it all before. I’ve heard it all before.”

I reached into my bag, pulled out the object Mack had found in the field, and set it on the table. “Have you ever seen something like this before?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Mrs. Kokesh leaned forward, her eyes narrowing in confusion. “What the hell is that?”

I’d had the object for two weeks, first stashing it in the old barn, and then in the closet in my bedroom. I’d looked at it countless times, studying it from every angle, and I still didn’t have an answer for her. I shook my head.

“Some kind of container? I don’t really know. I was hoping you could tell me.”

The object was as big around as a large pie plate and maybe four inches tall. Nothing remarkable about the size and shape. It was the color and material that made me gaze in wonder every time I looked at it. Shimmery and beautiful, like carnival glass or a hologram, but not really like either of those things either. Familiar and yet unlike anything I’d ever seen before. It was cool to the touch all the time, regardless of the outside temperature. It reminded me of when scientists discover a new species of animal, like that crystal frog they found in Peru with skin so translucent you could see its heart beating through its chest. Impossible, yet there it was.

Mrs. Kokesh reached for it, then stopped. “May I?”

“Of course.” I pushed it across the table so she could examine it. “The same night I used your potion to cure Lucas, this thing crash-landed at their farm, back behind the house. At least, I think
that’s what happened.” I sighed. “Lucas’s mom and I heard a big noise, like something hitting the ground, and then it sounded like it skidded. I found it in the field, two days later. Some government agents came to their house, saying they were looking for some wreckage from an aircraft collision. Mrs. Walker sent me out to bring the dog in before she let them search the property and Mack led me right to this.”

“Fascinating.” Mrs. Kokesh turned it, looking at it from every side, and then lifted it over her head to see the bottom. “The agents—did you tell them you found this?”

“No, I hid it in the barn before they came out.”

“Good girl!” she said approvingly.

“The weird thing is that the agents were at the press conference Lucas’s doctor held to talk about his recovery. Why would they be there if they were just investigating an aircraft collision?” I asked.

Mrs. Kokesh said, “I don’t know.”

“So you’ve had this the whole time?” Eric said. “How come you didn’t tell us about it? It was on our property.”

“You can have it if you want,” I said. “I didn’t steal it. I was just keeping it safe until I figured things out.”

“But you didn’t even mention it. And you took it home with you,” Eric said, a whine in his voice. Sometimes he seemed so mature; other times he was every bit a fourteen-year-old. “You could have told me. I can keep a secret.”

I continued: “So this thing, whatever it is, came down, but I didn’t know about it that night because I didn’t go outside. Then I used the potion on Lucas, and the next day he started to get better.”

“You’re welcome,” Mrs. Kokesh said sarcastically. “Glad I could help.”

“Thanks to you, Lucas got better,” I said, clarifying. “And it really was a miracle. But the complication is this thing here.” I pointed. “And that Lucas isn’t himself, really. I don’t feel the
connection we used to have.” I glanced at Lucas, who sat there impassively, like we were talking about someone else.

“I warned you about that,” she said.

“I know. I get that, but it’s not that he’s a little different. It’s like he’s a different person. The dog growls at him like he’s a complete stranger, and Lucas acts like he doesn’t know me anymore.”

Eric jumped in. “He knows you. Don’t be stupid, of course he knows you. Lucas,” he said, nudging his brother’s arm. “Who is that?” He pointed to me. “What’s her name?”

But Lucas didn’t answer. He was too busy staring intently at the mystery object. Mrs. Kokesh noticed this too, and picked up the object and set it in front of him.

“You haven’t had much to say, Lucas,” she said. “What’s on your mind?”

Lucas touched the object tentatively and flipped the top back and forth. Open. Closed. Open. Closed. I’d done that myself a dozen times, and I’d also stuck a comb into the opening, and when that seemed okay, my hand, but the inside was dry and empty. Whatever it had once housed wasn’t in there anymore. A funny look crossed Lucas’s face. He almost looked like he was about to cry.

“What is it, Lucas?” I asked.

“It looks different from here,” he said, his eyebrows coming together.

“You’ve seen this before?” I was confused. He’d been in a coma when it had landed, and it hadn’t been anywhere near him since. He couldn’t have seen it. I felt something warm and furry brush against my ankle and hoped it was one of Mrs. Kokesh’s cats. I wasn’t going to take my eyes away from Lucas for even one second to check. “Where did you see it?”

No response. He just kept staring at it, and finally he picked it up and examined it the way Mrs. Kokesh had, from every angle, top to bottom.

“Lucas,” Mrs. Kokesh said sharply. “We can’t help you unless you tell us the truth. You can trust us. Where did you see it before?”

With one finger, he pushed it back to her. “I was mistaken. I’ve never seen it before.”

“Well,” Mrs. Kokesh said, clearly miffed, “so much for that. Let’s come at this from another direction. Lucas, do you feel different from before? Like you’ve transformed into someone else?”

“No,” he said, his voice strong. “I am the same.”

“Emma says you’re different,” she said.

Lucas cleared his throat and turned to me. “Your concern is noted and appreciated.”

“Lucas.” I reached over and grabbed his arm. “What happened to you? And what is this thing? Do you know?” I looked for a reaction, but his face was expressionless. A mask. I’d have given anything to see him be himself again, even if it meant he would be angry or depressed. Anything would be an improvement over this nothing.

“Emma is the reason you’re alive, you know,” Mrs. Kokesh said.

Lucas nodded. “It’s important to know who to blame.”