Tyger Tyger (15 page)

"We're not supposed to tell anyone," Aiden said.

"Why would that be?" Josiah said. "Are you runaways? You need someplace to stay?"

"Maybe your sister wants to run away with me," Manuel said.

"Not interested," Teagan said.

"Oooo, listen to the bitch," Manuel said, leaning over her.

"That's an inappropriate word to use in the presence of a lady," Aiden said.

"Say what?" Rondell laughed.

"In-appropri-ate." Josiah shoved Rondell. "You heard him." He turned back to Aiden. "Where'd a little boy like you learn a big word like that?"

"My dad's a librarian," Aiden said. "And I'm not a little boy. I'm just small for my age."

"I been to a library once," Rondell said. Manny leaned close enough to Teagan that she could smell his sour breath.

"Are you small for your age, too? Lose the kid and come with me. I'll show you a good time, library girl."

"Get lost," Teagan said.

"They're just teasing," Josiah said. "Don't get unfriendly."

"You boys want something?" Finn had come out of the store. "I might have it for you, if you do."

"Finn," Josiah said. "Haven't seen you for a while."

"Don't want to see you now," Finn said.

"Yeah." Josiah grabbed Rondell's arm. "We're going."

"Why?" Manny asked. "This chica's sweet."

"That's Finn Mac Cumhaill."

Manny took a step back. "We're going."

"Later," Finn said.

"Why were they scared?" Aiden asked.

Finn shrugged. "Josiah's a friend of mine." He handed Aiden and Teagan their water bottles. "We go way back."

Teagan reached for Aiden's hand, but he ignored her and took Finn's instead.

"Could you beat a burner goblin?" Aiden asked.

"No, my man," Finn said softly. "I couldn't, and that's a fact. Fionn had a magic spear, remember? All I've got..." He shook his head. "I've got nothing. That's why we need to talk to Mamieo."

"Does Mamieo have magic?" Aiden asked.

"She has smarts," Finn said. "Right now, we need to be walking. We're three miles from our safe house. It'll take us an hour to get there, and the sun will be setting."

"Why can't we hitchhike to Gary?" Teagan asked as they started walking again.

"The goblins know we're traveling. They'll be looking along the roads with their tricks and traps. I wouldn't want to be picked up by one of Kyle's friends. We have to outsmart them long enough to get to Mamieo."

"And she'll know how to find Dad?"

"I hope so," Finn said.

 

They had walked for just over an hour, past warehouses and industrial complexes, when Finn led them across a weed-choked field and down the bank of a drainage ditch. It was almost sunset, and the air in the ditch was like moist, wet breath.

"Did we just walk through a ghost?" Aiden whispered.

"No ghosts," Teagan assured him. "It's just that cool air sinks, settling in the low spots." She should have borrowed a coat for Aiden when they stopped at Abby's. It was going to be colder than it had been the night before.

They followed the ditch until they reached a culvert that ran under the road. It had an iron grate with a rusted lock on it. Finn twisted the lock sideways and pulled it off.

"It's just for show," he said. "This is a hobo house. I found it when I was a kid." He pulled the grate open and ducked inside, then kicked his way through dried weeds and papers, curled and crisped by being soaked in rainwater, to the other side of the road. He tugged on the opposite grate, making sure it was fixed in place. "We'll be safe here for the night. Looks like we need to do a little housekeeping, though." He started kicking the piles of trash and weeds toward the entrance.

Teagan and Aiden helped out, pushing the debris out through the grate. When they had finished, the floor of the culvert was flat, dusty cement. Chunks had been ripped or hollowed out by floods of the past, leaving the rusty rebar inside exposed.

Thub-dub.

"What was that?" Aiden asked.

Finn pointed up. "A car on the road. You'll get used to it."

"Are the shadows coming here?" Aiden asked.

"The shadows and the likes of Kyle won't know where to find us tonight," Finn said. "The
cat-sídhe
are their spies, but you see those bars?" He pointed to the rebar ribs sticking out of the ancient cement. "Those have plenty of iron in them, and they are in the cement all around us.
cat-sídhe
are lesser goblins, so they can't pass iron. We'll be safe enough here." He reached up to a shelf near the top of the wall and pulled out an old green ammo box. In it was a flashlight that didn't work when Teagan tried to click it on, a candle, and matches.

"It's closing time at the bagel place," Finn said. "I'll go get us some supper."

"It's almost dark," Teagan protested.

"If things get hairy I'll hole up someplace safe. You just stay here, and I'll show up at first light." He pulled a blanket from the shelf that had held the ammo box and spread it on the cement floor. "I'm not used to having company here, so this will have to do."

"Why do you have to wait until closing time?" Aiden asked.

"They don't throw away the leftover food until they close."

"You could steal food," Aiden said. "Like Aladdin—'Gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat...'"

"Listen, my man," Finn said seriously, "killing, stealing ... that's what goblins do. I'm not made of the same stuff goblins are. I'd starve before I'd be like them."

"To death?" Aiden asked.

"Yes, I've seen what they did to my family."

"And to Mommy," Aiden said.

"And to your ma. I'd rather eat dung than be like them." He grinned. "But don't worry. We won't be eating dung. Old Raymond puts all the food in a clean plastic bag before he throws it out. Could be he knows people will be looking for it." Finn opened the grate just enough to squeeze out, pushed it shut behind him, then scrambled up the bank.

Teagan folded the blanket in half, and they sat down on it.

"This is a nice house." Aiden yawned. He leaned against Tea, a dead weight. "We're going to have to go back to Mag Mell to find Dad, aren't we?"

"Yes." She put her arm around him.

"I didn't like that place. It didn't sound right."

"What do you mean?" Tea asked.

He shook his head. She could feel him relaxing into sleep, worn out from the fear and exhaustion of the day. She cradled him in her arms, watching the twilight deepen and trying to figure out whether or not she'd done the right thing by coming with Finn. She'd seen the shadows walk out of Mag Mell the night before.
Hunting.
That's what Finn had said.

But maybe he was wrong. Maybe the shadows weren't hunting for them at all, and Aiden would have been fine in his own bed, or at Abby's.

Something moved in the papers and leaves still piled along the far end of the culvert, making small scratchings and rustlings. It sounded like a mouse, or ... a rat. Her eyes almost missed the movement when it came. A huge brown gutter roach crawled out of the leaves and headed straight for Aiden's pant leg.

Teagan waited until it was close enough, then leaned over and flicked it away with her fingers. The roach bounced against the cement wall, then scuttled away in the opposite direction, its legs moving twice as fast as they had before.

Something larger was moving in the ditch outside. Tea leaned closer to the grate, then jerked back. It was a
cat-sídhe,
like the one she had seen the day Tiny Tiddly died. Only this time it wasn't blurred by tears, and it didn't disappear when she blinked.
Second sight.
Finn had been right. If she'd never seen one before that day at the bus stop, it must have been because there were none around. Not until he came to visit.

This one's hair grew in patches. The bare flesh between the patches was gray-blue and dry. It walked upright, using its almost hairless tail for balance. Its face was flat and its mouth almost human, but the ears, whiskers, and eyes were all cat. It sniffed at the air, then turned toward the grate.

"What are you doing in there?" it asked in a baby-girl voice, and Teagan's scalp crawled. "Oyo!" The roach had made its way through the grate. The
cat-sídhe
pounced, grabbing it with little hands. It stuffed it into its mouth and chewed. Pale white roach guts leaked from its lips. It swallowed, then wiped its chops with the backs of its hands and focused on her once more.

"Ah, ah ... what's your name?" it said. "Is it ... Teagan? We want Teagan. We want Aiden."

"What for?"

"Are you Teagan? Ah, ah ... you smell like Mag Mell. Were you there? Where are you going?"

Teagan didn't answer.

"Put your finger out here," the dead cat coaxed.

"Why?"

"Ah, ah ... I want to taste it. Just one little lick."

Teagan's hand started to move toward the grate. Her muscles were moving in response to the
cat-sídhe's
voice. She jerked her hand back. Finn hadn't mentioned this.

"Ah," said the cat. "Ah, ah ... give me your little brother."

She could feel her arm around Aiden weakening, trying to let him go. "What do you want him for?"

"We want his blood," the cat explained. "His blood and his flesh. We're hungry."

"We?" She pinched her arm hard to wake it up.

"The brethren will be along soon," the cat said. "When there are enough of us, we can open the grate. Give him to me now, and I will only pop his eyes and suck the juice. You can keep the rest of him."

There was a scrambling sound outside, and suddenly Finn appeared. He kicked the goblin, and it sailed like a football down the ditch. He jerked the grate open and dove through, then pulled it closed behind him.

"How long has little ugly been here?" he asked.

"Just a few minutes," Teagan said. "He said they can open the grate if there are enough of them."

"They're liars."

"Could they use a stick?" Aiden whispered.

"I thought you were asleep," Teagan said.

"I could hear it talking." Aiden shivered. "It gave me a nightmare. Could they pull the door open with a stick?"

"I'll fix it so they can't." Finn dug around in his kit and pulled out his duct tape. He ripped off a section and wrapped it around the bars, holding the door shut. "There. Now they can't open it with a stick. And I'll stay right here inside, so you don't have to worry."

Aiden nodded.

"Look what I got." Finn pulled a tub of cream cheese out of his bag and glanced at Teagan. "Strawberry. Girls like strawberry, right?"

"Why did they throw it away?" she asked, taking the tub. It was still sealed.

"Expiration date was two days ago. They can't sell it. But it's still perfectly good." He pulled out a bag of bagels, fished his knife out of his boot, sliced one, and offered it to Teagan.

"Umm," she said. "Have you ... cleaned that blade since it stuck in the goblin?"

Finn tossed the sliced bagel out through the grate and put the knife away. "We'll just rip and dip, then."

He tore off a piece of another bagel and scooped up a gob of cream cheese with it. "Dig in."

Teagan found Aiden a raisin bagel and showed him how to scoop up some cream cheese.

"Half tonight and half for breakfast," Finn said. "Make it last."

"Ah, ah ... let us in." The
cat-sídhe
was back, and it had brought a friend.

"You couldn't come in even if we opened the grate," Finn said. "So go on with you." He took the candle from the ammo box, lit it, and set it up on a brick. He leaned close to Teagan's ear when she reached for more cream cheese.

"Did you tell them ... anything?" he whispered.

"No," Teagan whispered back.

"We can hear you," the second cat said. "We already know everything. We can read your minds."

Finn snorted.

"Have you seen them all of your life?"

"I'll tell you in sunlight," Finn said. "Don't speak my name, or your own either. It's harder to resist them if they use your name."

Teagan nodded. They already knew her name. But they weren't sure, were they?

"Don't talk of where we've been or where we're going," Finn said. "And don't believe anything they say. They can't read minds."

"We'll find out." A third
cat-sídhe
had arrived. It was larger than the other two. Its bare flesh was pink and bloated, as if it had been decaying in the hot sun, and things moved under the taut skin. The cats started humming.

"Do you mind?" Finn said. "You're ruining our meal."

The bloated cat scratched at its hide, opening a wound. It pulled out something that wiggled on the end of its claw—a fat grub. It flicked it toward the bars of the grate. The grub flashed blue like a bug caught in a zapper as it passed through the bars and fell to the ground a burned black noodle.

"Goblin maggots." Finn shook his head. "Just when I think they can't possibly get any more disgusting, they find a way."

More goblins were appearing. They stood as close as they dared to the iron grates on both sides of the culvert, whispering. The candlelight reflected in their eyes, like dancing red embers.

"How many are there?" Tea asked.

"Don't worry about things like that," Finn said.

"The first one's voice ... made me start to do things I didn't want to do."

"They can do that," Finn said grimly. "Especially if you're alone."

Teagan tried to ignore the
cat-sídhe
's whispers while she ate. When they'd finished half of the cream cheese, she put the lid back on the tub, and Finn put it into his bag.

The
cat-sídhe
started to yowl.

Aiden put his hands over his ears. "That's not music!" he shouted over the chorus.

Finn studied him for a moment, then ripped a strip of fabric from the ragged tail of his shirt. He tore it into smaller pieces and ran them through the hot wax of the candle, then rolled them into little bullet shapes as they cooled.

"Earplugs," he said. "Here you go, my man." He fitted the earplugs into Aiden's ears. "Can you hear them now?"

"Just a little," Aiden whispered.

"Then you sing to yourself," Finn said loudly. Aiden nodded and started singing. The dead cats hissed and yowled, but Aiden smiled happily.