Seeing Magic (The Queen of the Night Series Book 1) (21 page)

“This explains everything,” Evan said on a rush, sitting back in his chair. He looked flabbergasted.

I still didn’t understand. “Huh?” I said again.

Fiona spoke first. “In this part of the state, we don’t have inside-the-mountain mines like those on TV, but a lot of mining still goes on around here. You know those little packets of silica you see in the box when you buy new shoes, or almost anything else the manufacturer wants to keep dry?”

I nodded. “Yeah, they absorb humidity, right?”

“Well, a lot of that silica is strip-mined right here in Morgan County. A strip-mine is formed when they scrape layers of a mountain off from its top, instead of tunneling into it from its sides.”

“That’s why all of the trees were cleared out,” Evan interrupted. “He wanted access to the rock underneath.”

“What’s he mining for?” asked Fiona.

“I’ve no idea,” added Deputy Wallace, “Whatever it is, though, he doesn’t have a permit to do it. That’s why it’s a secret. He’s running an illegal mine.”

“But what’s he mining for?” Fiona asked again.

“I bet we can find out,” Evan said.

“How?”  All eyes turned to Evan.

“All the geological surveys done by the government are on the Internet now. He’d be able to find out if he was sitting on something valuable by asking a geologist to look up his property on the map and check if the elements in his mountain had any special value. It would have to be a private firm, because a government geologist would have alerted the Department of Mines. They’d be all over Rogers looking for proper permits.”

“Do you think he’s mining for a radioactive substance?”  I asked everyone.

Evan answered, “Not necessarily, but when you scrape the top of a mountain off, everything inside is released into the air and into the water.” 

“That’s why the Department of Mines does so much testing before they give someone permission to strip mine,” Fiona added.

“We don’t know what he’s mining for, but I bet we have a timeframe,” added Deputy Wallace. “He’d have asked for an evaluation right after the sheriff closed down his towing business, about a year ago.”

“I can follow up on the geologist,” said Fiona. “I know everyone on the Chamber of Commerce. I’ll find all the local private geologists and give them a call.”

Deputy Wallace stood to leave. “Call me if you find anything out, Fi, but getting proof he ordered a survey won’t be enough evidence to get me a warrant. We’re gonna need a witness.”

***

After the deputy had gone, Evan looked at me and Fiona and said quietly, “You know, videotape could be our witness.”

“Are you suggesting we break into Roger’s business?” I asked, shocked.

“We could do it, with a little help from our friends.”  We both looked at Fiona, needing her approval to proceed. I did because she was my guardian for the summer and because I wanted her to share the heat if my mother ever found out what we were planning to do. Evan needed her to support him when he asked others in the magical community for help. We waited. She looked at us shrewdly for a moment, it felt more like ten minutes; she gave us the briefest of nods and left the room.

Evan and I started to scheme.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chasing Chemicals

Evan blew on the dryad’s lute a third time. Still no one came.

This is a bad idea.
“They must have moved to a new grove already,” I informed him, shivering in the near absolute darkness, not because I felt chilly in late August, but because the whole place seemed creepy. Also, I was more than a little nervous.

“It doesn’t matter. There’s no one here to see the Jeep, anyway. We’ll park next to the gate. Let’s get the rest of the stuff ready.”  We knew Jeremy wouldn’t be here on a Saturday night.

Evan put the Jeep in park on the edge of the dirt road and cut the engine. He got out, walked to the rear of the car, and opened the hatch. I joined him. He bent over and tried to pull something out of a box. Suddenly, the largest bee I’d ever seen buzzed past my ear. Startled, I tried to shoo it away. It flew a couple of yards, turned around and started laughing at me.

Pop
!  “Hah, hah, hah, Oh aye, those fly-bys never get old. Did I scare ya’?” The now full-size pixie asked me.

“Oh, hi Angus,” Evan said, absent-mindedly. He poked around in the box. “Did you get the dogs to go to sleep?”

“Tweren’t no dogs, Seer Evan. I looked all around the yard, but no dogs were to be found.”

Evan pulled his head out of the trunk and stared at Angus. “That doesn’t seem right at all.”

“Evan, maybe we should come back another night,” I started meekly.

“No,” he insisted, “it has to be tonight. We’re running out of time.”

I had to agree with him. In a few days I would be flying back to California. They needed my healer vision to confirm when the source of the radiation poisoning was found and contained. I needed to be the one to stop the pollution of Warm Spring Run or Dariene would go looking for my ‘sister’.

He continued to think out loud. “The only reason the dogs wouldn’t be in the yard is if they’re inside one of the buildings, but Rogers wouldn’t let the dogs stay inside unless…he was
with them
!”

Evan and I both looked at each other wide-eyed and open-mouthed. We clearly heard the sounds of an engine running and tires crunching gravel on the road from
inside
the salvage yard.

Poof
! Angus buzzed away.

“Quick! Get in the back seat!”  Evan yelled as he slammed the hatch closed and dived for the rear seat of the Jeep on the driver’s side.

I ran around the back of the Jeep to jump in beside him, pulled the door closed and crouched into a ball. I wondered how huddling in the back seat would help conceal us from Jeremy Rogers as he drove through the gate. The Jeep seemed about as conspicuous as you could get.

“He must have dropped by to feed the dogs,” Evan muttered. Urgently, he said, “Get ready…here he comes!” 

Rogers’ truck stopped. He pulled open the gate. Muffled sounds of boots crunched on the loose gravel as he approached us.

The sounds were muffled because Evan had grabbed me around the waist and pushed me down to lie with my back on the car seat. Surrounded by Evan, with his shirt bunched up and blocking my face, I started to shiver again. He cradled my head with his arm as he’d lowered me down, so it wouldn’t bang against the door handle. Then I perceived little else, because he’d placed his knee in between my legs and had lowered his pelvis onto my upper thighs.

His other hand wound fingers through my hair as he covered my mouth with his own. A few beats passed before I processed his kiss, since no one had ever touched me like this. An excitement tickled through me. If I’d been thinking, I would have assumed it was adrenaline, like a fight or flight response. It might have been something else, because a warm feeling started in my center and spread throughout the rest of my body. Eagerly, I started kissing him back. I wrapped my arms around whatever part of his torso I could reach. We were really tangled up in the cramped space.

Banging shook the car window. Evan did not respond right away. He gave me one more kiss before he raised his head a few inches above my own, turned it slightly to his right and mumbled (albeit loudly), “Leafusalone!”  He turned back to me.

The banging continued with more urgency. Evan lifted himself and opened the car window.

The banging ceased and the shouting started. “What are you doing?  You can’t do that here!”

“Why not?” Evan asked, completely undaunted. “This road is deserted. Until you came along we were completely alone.”  Evan carried just the right amount of umbrage tinged with frustration in his voice. I wondered how many times he’d been caught necking in the back of this Jeep because he seemed quite skilled at the whole process.

“Because…” Rogers blustered, “because…it’s private property!  Now get off my road!” he roared.

Evan shrugged. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Give us a minute to get dressed.”

“We are dressed,” I whispered. Evan shushed me and I had second thoughts. I mentally checked myself out to make sure all of my clothes draped in the right places. He continued to use his body as a shield protecting mine from Rogers’ searching gaze. I almost felt the man’s eyes straining for a porno peek as he rolled up and down on the balls of his feet, trying to look around Evan into the vehicle. I stayed hunkered down on the seat bottom, well hidden from view.

Evan snarled, “Are you checking out my girlfriend?  What are you, an old pervert?”

I held my breath. Testosterone choked the air.

Eventually, Rogers backed down first. He muttered to himself, “I guess two teenagers aren’t dangerous.”  In a louder voice he said, “Fine then…put it back in your pants and take your slut out of here!”

Evan nodded his assent. Rogers stormed back to his truck. We waited, frozen in the same position, while the guy drove the truck out of the gate, stopped, went back to close and lock it, returned to his truck and sped off down the mountain. Evan blew out the breath he’d been holding and I probably did the same thing.

Before he crawled out of the Jeep he remarked, “I hope that guy didn’t see your face. He would recognize you instantly.” He got out and went back to the hatch.

I didn’t get out of the car right away. I was still tingling in places I hadn’t known existed. When I did make it to the back of the Jeep, I asked, “Why would he have recognized me?”

“Once I saw him up close I realized he’s that same drunk who ran into your wheelchair in front of the store.”

“Why didn’t he recognize you?”

“I look like hundreds of kids in this town, but you…one look at those eyes and he’d definitely remember you. I didn’t want to make him any more suspicious. Hey, I found it!”  He held up an ornate, hand-held silver mirror by its handle. “I knew it was in here somewhere.” 

A full-sized Angus flew back up the road to join us.

I continued to muddle through what Evan had said about my eyes. It sounded almost as if he might be attracted to me.

“He’s driven down to the bottom of the mountain and has gotten on the main road, Seer Evan.”

“Excellent…thanks Angus. Can you check if the dogs are in the yard now?” 

Angus flew over the fence and around the bend.

To me he said, “Good job, Maggie. He bought it hook, line and sinker. If we’re lucky he won’t be back.”  He scrutinized me for a second. “Are you okay?  I didn’t squish you or anything, did I?” 

No
, I thought glumly.
You’ve just pulverized my self-esteem because yet again you’ve done something that has re-written my entire world-view, but meant absolutely nothing to you
. You really aren’t attracted to me, even if you do think my eyes are memorable. Unless you count the fact that my lips are twice their normal size because you kissed me so hard, I’m fine. Out loud I said nothing, unable to trust my voice, and just shook my head back and forth.

Evan turned back to business. “Okay, let there be light.”  He looked at his reflection in the mirror and said, “Trí na chéile a thógtar na cáisléain,” which I learned later means literally ‘in our togetherness, castles are built’ or in more simple terms ‘teamwork is required to complete great projects’. Apparently, it’s the secret password needed when asking fairies for help by using a magic mirror.
You learn something new every day.

Three fairy lights came zooming out of the mirror. The first one, the one with the well-trimmed goatee, flew straight to Evan. “Do you have them?”

Evan said, “Oh yeah, yeah…give me a second,” he rummaged around in the box again, “here they are.”  He held up two gaudy amulets on thick, silver chains. The amulets were each about the diameter of a small plum and made of magnetic hematite.

The Sidhelas said, “Put them on.”

Evan draped one around his neck and handed the second one to me. I did likewise. The other two Sidhelas approached us. One floated directly in front of my amulet; the other hovered in front of Evan. Almost simultaneously, they sneezed.

The first fairy spoke again. “You need light?”

“Yes please,” answered Evan. The three fairy lights took up aerial positions above and behind us so they cast just enough light for us to watch where we were going. Evan pulled on a backpack and started walking toward the gate.

I followed, asking, “What on earth was that all about?”

“The fairies gave us a concealment charm. It only works until you take off the amulet. After that, the necklace is just a necklace, but right now no one can see us and we won’t show up on any security cameras.”

“Cool…but what’s the deal with the sneezing?”

“Well, the Peter Pan story got it a little wrong. Fairies don’t share their abilities with humans by spreading dust on them. They do it by spreading their…fluids.”

“You mean I could fly if I let goatee guy over here blow snot all over me?”

“Well…yeah…you could.”

I adopted my best valley-girl accent, “Gah-rOHssss!”

  “Yeah, I don’t think the stories would have been as popular if Barrie hadn’t come up with the idea of fairy dust.”  He was standing next to the gate. He stretched out his arms with his fingers interlaced to form a step for me. “Up and over,” he said.

I took the boost and climbed over the chain link fence. He scrambled over it easily. We followed a clearly marked road through a metal sea of abandoned and stripped vehicles. By the amount of rust on everything, I would say nothing had been touched in this salvage yard in years.

Overhead the fairy lights flitted around, looking like a group of aimless lightening bugs, but never wandering too far away. We gained the top of the ridge and looked down the other side of the mountain. Beyond the piles of junk, two huge piles of rock and dirt flanked the road, each more than twenty feet tall. On the right sat a rather large, old Quonset hut. Angus flew around in front of the building. On the ground beneath him lie three pit bulls, sleeping peacefully.

“Ya’ just gotta know how to talk ta’ ‘em,” he told me with a wink as we passed by.

About fifty feet beyond the other side of the building, we came to an abrupt halt. In the dim light, the shadows loomed ahead of us. The path was encased in such blackness it seemed as though we had reached the edge of a huge lake. Instinctively, and probably out of a sense of self-preservation, we both stopped walking.

“More light!” Evan growled.

“More help!” called back goatee. “Where’s that mirror of yours?”

Evan pulled off the backpack and reached in it. A moment later he pulled out the antique. He said, “Trí na chéile a thógtar na cáisléain.”

“Hold it up and grasp it firmly,” warned the fairy as he zoomed through the looking glass. What felt like a full minute later, he returned. “Hold it steady and stand back!” he called. Suddenly, a swarm of Sidhelas came zipping out of the mirror. Hundreds of living light bulbs filled the air around us. They formed a canopy of light that cast the whole area into stark relief.

Evan exclaimed, “Holy crap!”

I’m a city girl whose father served in military combat. The phrase which came to my mind was much cruder. Instead of voicing it I said, “Where’s the camera?” 

The whole back end of the mountain was missing. A cavernous pit at least two hundred yards wide and a hundred yards deep had been dug into the earth. At one end a graded slope lead down into the pit. Several construction vehicles were parked in various places. Bulldozers still holding huge quantities of white dirt in their scoops stood next to waiting trucks. Other pieces of equipment looked like large sifters or centrifuges. The rest of the stuff I couldn’t identify. Up on the highest level, where we stood, were wooden crates, waiting to be packed. I walked over to one of them.

I called back to Evan. “It says ‘Bentonite’ on the side.”

“Yeah, I noticed. Come get a camera and a few specimen jars. Oh, and you might as well take off the amulet. When we separate I won’t be able to see where you are unless you do.”  He took one of the little video cameras we’d packed and I took the other. We tossed our amulets into the backpack. He wandered down the ramp a ways taking video and collecting samples of the white dirt. I walked around the perimeter and tried to get all of the processing equipment documented. I gathered samples wherever I could. After about twenty minutes he said, “We’d better get out of here.”