Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (32 page)

“Not possible.
”
Dad’s lips tightened into a line
.
“I’ve made too many enemies in that arena
.
Besides
,
farming goes back in my family for twenty generations
.
There’s no shame in reverting back to what I know.”

“Right, Dad, no shame.”

She
felt
her
father’s regrets hanging in the air like smothering fog
,
making h
er
feel claustrophobic
.

“
You deserve better
than me,” Dad said
.
“A
ll my kids deserve better
than
me
—
a washed-up old sot
.
”

Dad glanced
at her, to the road, back to Glory, and then to the road again
, as if waiting for her to disagree
.
She blanked out her expression refusing to exonerate him.

“
Since your mother passed away, I’ve tried to do right by all of you, to
make her proud,
but sometimes I just
...
well, you know what I mean
.
What I’m trying to say is that n
o matter what happens, I love
you
.”

Maybe you love me today
;
s
h
e wanted to reply,
but what about tomorrow after that second or third drink
?

“You know that—don’t you?”

Glory
shrugged
,
a
voiding eye contact,
us
ing
a
finger to write
Dust Me
on the dashboard.

“
We’re stills pals, right?”

“S
ure
,
Dad
,
”
s
he replied, not wanting to spoil an
otherwise awesome day
.
“I still can’t believe you think the Renegades are going to take the world cup.
”

She
was thankful when
he
took the bait and the discussion returned to safer territory
.
The
trip ended too soon, but
t
he
rare
expected pleasantr
ies
continued when
s
he got home
.

Brandon had covered h
er
evening chores
.
Patrice
had
baked
her
favorite cookies
—peanut butter
.
Combined with
Dad
’s sober streak maybe the
Elboni
’s magic was already working.
A
girl
could only hope
.

To be honest,
s
he
guessed
,
the true force behind
her sibling’s
kindness was
Dad
. No doubt
,
he’d
ordered everyone to help
out fragile-
whack
-
job
-
Glory
,
who
might
break at any second
.

At midnight
Glory
’s
eyes popped open at the sound of someone rummaging through h
er
dresser drawers.
The
ceiling light in the hallway
illuminated the
bed
room with a pale glow
.
The intruders’
backs were to her
.
She wanted to scream, but
forced herself to pretend to sleep.

The three
guys
were just slightly shorter than herself. They dressed
in
the same pinstriped
suits, shiny green vests, and brimmed hats
that they had
worn during
their
last
intrusion
.
Their
thick
fingers
moved over the objects in
the
room with speed and efficiency. They seemed most interested in the colorful rocks on the bookshelf
.

Glory
acted as if
she was just tossing
in h
er
sleep
and
roll
ed
on
to h
er
side
for
a better look
.
The intruders froze
.
Despite the dread growing in her stomach, she’d been counting on this very moment, a chance t
o catch a Wybbil by the toe, a chance to force them to do magic at her bidding.
But what if they didn’t take kindly to being grabbed by the toe
?
What if they weren’t
W
ybbils
?

A
mom
ent later
,
the
intruders
resumed picking up stones, turning them in their hands, using their
yellow
nails to pick at the paint
.

“Remember,
the
Elboni
looks different on each world,” one of them said
.
“But it’s usually
the
same size and always spectacular.”

Glory
’s
plan to grab
one b
y the toe was unraveling in the face of fear
.
It was an easier task in imagination than reality
.
If
s
he didn’t act soon, they’d be gone
.

Still,
s
he was pleased to see that they had taken an interest in h
er
artistry
.
The biggest stone in the room was painted blue and embellished with a picture of a
colorful bird.
Although h
er
heart
raced
,
s
he didn’t mind the intruders handling that rock, but the next biggest stone was another matter
.
The size of a softball,
painted white
with
swaths of gray and black for craters
,
Glory
had
designed
the stone to look like
a
moon
.
Sh
e’d given it
to Mom
shortly before she died
.
I Love You
To the Moon and Back
,
Mom
w
as
w
ritten
there
in black paint
.
Mom
had loved that rock
,
but
she had
wanted
Glory
to keep it
.
That way,
mother
said,
you will
never forget the love between
us
.

Glory
had
opposed th
e idea of taking back a present, b
ut
Mom
insisted th
at
some
presents
were best enjoyed when given away
, and k
nowing Glory had the beautiful moon made
M
om happy
—
Glory’s
molars
grinded
when
the nasty strangers violated
The Moon
with their grubby hands.

Finally
,
they left her room, but
they were still in the house
,
downstairs noisily moving furniture and sifting through closets
.
Sh
e feared for
George
the most
because
the intruders’
fondness for small
game
.
Then it hit h
er
—
George
’s
fourth
birthday
was yesterday
!
It
had come and gone without anyone noticing
!
What a rotten family they were for forgetting h
is
special day
.
A crash from downstairs brought h
er
back to the moment
.