Sunshaker's War (22 page)

Alec produced the ulunsuti and simply stood hesitantly for a moment, looking doubtfully at Calvin.

The Indian caught the signal and sank to the floor.

Gary hesitated in turn, hands on the zipper of his coverall. “But don't I have to strip or something?”

Calvin shook his head. “Not for this. We were doin' something a little harder earlier, and that meant usin' more skin-to-skin contact to enhance the power. This won't be any big deal.”

Gary frowned uncertainly. “But you said you were checkin' on the weather…”

“We were,” Calvin replied quickly, “but on a more theoretic level, kinda. We were sorta trying to find out what was causin' these everlastin' downpours.”

Gary's eyebrows lifted in curiosity. “And did you?”

Calvin nodded vigorously. “The sun—which means we can't do much about it.”

“What the hell?” Gary grunted, and took a place between David and Calvin.

The ritual was familiar enough this time, requiring only a pinprick of blood as primer. Once more they sat in a circle, hands joined, knees touching, staring at the ulunsuti.

“Just think about the wedding,” Calvin whispered. “Let's all concentrate on that.”

David took a deep breath, and did.

*

Gary had never experienced the ulunsuti's power before, though he had encountered something similar when Liz had scryed in his presence the previous summer—the night David had been kidnapped by Morwyn. Still, he hardly knew what to expect, so there was an instant of blind panic at the beginning as he felt something gently take hold of his mind. He fought it briefly, then heard a voice inside his head telling him to relax, to think only of his object of desire. A long, shuddering breath, and he forced himself to zero-in on the line of red—and on his wedding. He had pictured it a hundred times already; was as romantically obsessed with it as Tracy, though he doubted she knew that. And somehow the image in his head slewed and shifted, as dream became concrete reality.

He gazed, as from a great height, upon a low, grassy hill, and his heart leaped when he recognized it, for it really was the place he and Tracy would become man and wife. It was also a piece of abandoned pasture his dad owned a ways out of town, and God knew he
ought
to recognize it 'cause he'd been having to mow the blessed place (or try, at any rate, given the rain) for weeks in preparation. His labor looked to have done some good, too; because there was only a short, soft stubble of grass there now—that, and cars and people. The lower slopes and the dirt road that looped around it were packed with vehicles of every description, but he thought he saw David's battered Mustang, Alec's Volvo, and Darrell's VW van, his dad's old 2002. And beyond…beyond were mountains and a gleam of lakes beneath a sky of absolute blue and a sun of purest gold/white.

He was among the crowd now, and that was strange, until he realized that he'd always envisioned the wedding as an onlooker, probably because that was the way he had experienced every one he'd previously attended. He strained to make out faces, saw his dad, his mom—standing apart, but still beaming, Darrell's sister Myra, David's uncle Dale. And he saw that his last source of concern (beyond the weather) had been taken care of, for the hill was dominated by a tall archway made of furring strips but covered with the roses he'd been secretly raising in Dr. McLean's greenhouse ever since Tracy had accepted his proposal.

Now they ran rampant over the whole structure. That was the place, the open-air chapel where he and Tracy would become one being.

Closer now, and he could hear music—the closing bars of “Jesu, Joy of Man's desiring,” (Tracy's choice), segueing into the Rolling Stones “Angie,” all rendered on synthesizer by Darrell's sister's friend, LaWanda, who'd come up from Athens special because she was the only person they knew who could play classical straight and still do rock gently enough to please the old folks without stripping it of the energy that fired the young.

The scene shifted for a moment, blurring; red filled the image, and Gary blinked. When it finally clarified, he seemed to have jumped ahead to the actual ceremony. He saw himself, immaculate in white tux, Tracy beside him in the long dress her mother had made from her own wedding gown, its train barely enough to tickle the green Astro Turf they'd used for a walkway because she didn't want grass stains.

And there was the minister: Reverend John K. Seckinger from MacTyrie Methodist, who hadn't balked much at the mixture of mainline Christianity and subtle paganism in either the ceremony or the vows.

And to the right, also in white, but each with ties and cummerbunds in their totem color, his buddies from the Gang: Darrell, his best man; and David and Alec and Aikin—and the at-large member, Calvin. Three of the five, he observed absently, were wearing ponytails. All were grinning like idiots.

The bridesmaids he could not see as clearly, except for Liz's red hair, but he knew them. Two were Tracy's sisters, another was a friend who had graduated the year before, and the final one was the Angie the song was for. (There was a song for each bridesmaid and groomsman, though he'd balked at Darrell's suggestion of “Welcome to the Jungle” and substituted “Bad Company.” Alec's more thoughtful choice had been R.E.M.'s “The One I Love.”)

The processional began (“Also Sprach Zarathustra”), and the minister beckoned them forward. They processed past beaming friends, and then the music stopped, and it was as if the sun suddenly shone brighter. “Beloved friends,” Rev. Seckinger began. “Today—”

Emotion welled up in Gary, making him choke. He blinked, eyes misting. That was enough; he didn't want to see anymore. Some things just shouldn't be foreseen.

He coughed, blinked again—and returned to reality—just as his beeper sounded.

“Shit!”
he muttered. “Guess Dad's wonderin' why I'm not there yet. Reckon I—” He paused, staring at his friends, who were still entranced. “Ooops—sorry!”

But the spell was broken. One by one his buddies emerged from the trance, but he was too elated by what he had just seen, too filled with anticipated joy—and too pissed off about the beeper—to notice the expressions of abject shock and fear that passed among his companions as, without waiting permission, he picked up Alec's phone and dialed Hudson Motors.

*

Calvin was the first to recover, but David was the first to assess the situation and risk speaking, though he shot warning glances at his friends. “Jesus, G-man,” he managed. “Don't tell me you're workin'
today
.”

Gary put his hand over the receiver and nodded obliviously. “Need the cash. Dr. Nesheim tore hell out of his 635 and Dad promised it to him by next week if he'd deliver the baby free.”

David grimaced in resignation, knowing of Mr. Hudson's barter system that got him a heap of gratis services—everything from child delivery to house painting to having his taxes done.

Gary spoke to his father for a moment, more than a little irritation heating his voice, then slammed the receiver down and turned apologetically. “Sorry guys, gotta go,” he said.

“Our loss, too,” Calvin replied, standing. “Catch you later…I hope.”

Gary shrugged. “Can't say. Looks like it's gonna be an allnighter. I just hope Trace appreciates what I'm doin' for the bairn.”

“I'm sure she will,” David mumbled absently as he joined his friends afoot.

Another shrug. “Hope so.” And Gary was out the door.

Alec closed it behind him and let out a long breath. His face was white, and only with difficulty could he slump down on the bed. There were tears in his eyes. “Christ, guys, did
you
see what
I
saw?”

David frowned and shook his head as if to clear it, more frightened by something he had seen there at the end than he was willing to let on. “I…I'm not sure,” he stammered. “I…saw everything very bright and clear—and
then right after the vows, everything…changed, and then I saw so
much
stuff all at once I still haven't sorted it all out yet.”

Calvin looked at him sharply. “What
kinda
stuff?”

David started to reply, but Alec interrupted. “Death.” He buried his face in his hands.

David eased down beside him and slid an arm around his shoulders, noticing that Alec was trembling almost uncontrollably. “Maybe you ought to lay it out straight, man. Maybe we
all
should.”

Alec took a deep, sobbing breath. “Well, at…at first it was all just regular stuff: the wedding—viewed from outside, I guess; 'least I could see myself, and then the ceremony, and then there was this noise from somewhere else—I guess that was Gary's beeper, and it kinda jerked him away, only I stayed, and then things got really jumbled, and I only caught images; but then things clarified, and I saw—they were walking out from under the arch…and…” His voice broke, and David had to hand him a sip of Dr Pepper before he could continue. “Oh, God, guys, you mean you really didn't see it?”

“I'm not sure,” David hedged. “Not exactly, I don't think.”

Alec swallowed awkwardly. “Well…it was…it was nothing at first—just the wedding and then real happy and all, and then blammo: lightning right out of a clear blue sky hits Tracy and…and
kills
her.”

“Jesus!”
David gasped, exchanging troubled glances with Calvin that did absolutely nothing to reassure him.

“Or
somebody
,
” Calvin remarked. “Are you
sure
she was dead?”

“Her face was smoking and her eyes were gone. That dead enough?”

Calvin nodded grimly.

Alec's eyes were wild. “Don't tell me you guys didn't
see
that!”

“I didn't,” Calvin replied, then paused, frowning. “No, actually maybe I did. I…I saw them leavin', lookin' happy, and then things got confused like you said, and I only caught flashes, like superimposed images. In one there was a kind of skull face, and in one we were runnin' toward them and it felt real urgent, like we were tryin' to stop something, or whatever, and people were screamin', and—”

“I saw them get in the car,” David inserted suddenly. “Or at least, in one version I did.”

“But I saw her
dead
!”

“Which means…?” Calvin began.

“Which means we each saw something different,” David replied at last. “We saw futures piled on each other, maybe. Alternate realities.” He closed his eyes, tried to work it out logically but failed. It was all too much.
Way
too much.

Alec made a dive for the phone. “We've gotta call G-man and tell him not to go through with the wedding!”

David grabbed him in transit. “Not yet. I don't think it's that simple.”

Alec stared at him blankly, blinking back more tears. “Sure it is.”

“No, think a minute,” David said quickly. “Even if we tried to stop it or delay it or move it, we'd have a hard time gettin' anyone to go along, even G-man. I mean, I saw a
lot
of futures: some where Trace survived, and a couple where she didn't. And one—” He paused, shaking his head as the awful images crowded close again, getting clearer the more he tried to remember them. “In one I think I saw her dead somewhere else the same day; so one way or another something's evidently gonna get her. Movin' the location won't be enough, I don't think. And I saw us tryin' to stop things, and us not tryin' to stop things, and us not there.
And
I saw 'em well and happy.”

“So what are you saying?”

“That I'll bet you dollars to donuts that lightning you saw had something to do with the war in Faerie sloppin' over, which means Lugh's truce won't last. Shit, man, think about it: lightning doesn't just strike out of a clear sky. Not when it's noon on Midsummer's Day and the King of the Fairies just happens to have a weather-related ultimatum expire around the same time.”

“And…?” Alec prompted, having recovered his equilibrium somewhat.

“I think we've got to try to stop the war.”

“You have
got
to be kidding! We're just kids,
human
kids, and you're talking about major-league magicians here. Why not try to stop the wedding instead? That'd be a whole lot easier.”

“I wouldn't bet on it, McLean,” Calvin interrupted. “Besides, I don't think we
can.
I saw futures where we weren't there, but only a couple where Tracy didn't die.”

“Which means we've now got
two
reasons to try to stop the war in Faerie.”

“Oh no!” Alec cried helplessly. “You've really gone off the deep end this time. There's no way we can do that, not with us cut off from Faerie!”