Phantom Frost

by Alfred Wurr

  “Oh, right…about that,” I said. “We better wake up Alan for this. Lilith, crack that can for me, will you? I’m parched.”

  For the next thirty minutes, I told them all about Wilhelm and Bear being alive and well, the secret level under the Schmidts’ house, about Scott getting shot, our escape to the mystical tropical islands, my fight with the troll, and my trip back to rescue them using the Allfrost’s tholos. Their expressions alternated between amazed, horrified, concerned, and amazed again. They peppered me with questions, and I did my best to answer them, holding nothing back. They deserved honesty after all they’d sacrificed for me and the dangers that they’d faced because of me.

  “Olivia and Wil are gods?” Brad said, shaking his head. “That’s wicked. Crazy, but wicked.”

  “No way anyone’s going to believe this,” Lucy said, shaking her head.

  “Why the frown, Alan?” Lilith asked her boyfriend.

  Alan smiled. “Just thinking, Caleb’s probably surfing fresh waves right now, and I’m missing it.”

  I held up the cassette player. “I’d better call Olivia.”

  I pulled the headphones over my head and began pushing buttons in the unlikely sequence that Olivia had taught me. Pressing the final button, I waited. I didn’t have to wait long before Olivia’s sleepy voice sounded through the headphones.

  “Shivurr, honey, are you okay?” she asked. “Are the kids safe?”

  “They’re okay,” I said, glancing at my friends. “Olivia says hi,” I told them before passing their greetings back to her. That out of the way, I filled her in on everything that had happened since Hanale had dropped me on the shore of my New Olympus island.

  When I got to the troll, she interrupted. “Oh, that’s where he’s gotten to. He escaped the Miraculeum weeks ago. I’ll let Hanale know. He’s been worried.”

  “The Miraculeum?”

  “Yeah, I’ll give you a tour when you get back,” Olivia replied. “Anyway, please, go on. What happened after you left him?”

  For the next fifteen minutes, I told her about Hue and the Allfrost Chamber and my visit to the Bodhi Institute’s archival vaults, concluding with our narrow escape through the legion of fire elementals.

  Olivia whistled. “Wow, phasing and dephasing the entire car and everyone in it is impressive. You’re starting to remember—becoming yourself again.”

  “I guess so, but just bits and pieces—flashes and visions. But they’re still jumbled.” I paused, studying the carpet beneath my feet. “I think some of them were from a long, long time ago.” I studied my hat thoughtfully. “I’ve got more vials, though.”

  “Don’t take them yet,” Olivia said in a serious tone. “Wait until we get you home. We can’t be sure that they won’t have negative effects, at least in the short term. The last one you took knocked you out cold. You don’t want to be vulnerable out in the field. At least, not more than you already are.”

  “All right,” I replied. The truth was I was in no hurry. Life was good—the past few days an adventure—and I might not like what I’d remember. “I’ll wait until I know everyone’s safe; me included.”

  Alan waved a hand in front of my face. “Ask her how Caleb’s doing,” he said. “Did he go surfing yet?”

  “He’s still asleep; the sun isn’t up here yet,” she answered before I could pass along the question. As if reading my mind, she added, “Scott’s fine too; still recuperating.”

  Everyone smiled as I relayed the good news. “We’re going to get their van so they can go home.”

  “The one in our garage?” Olivia asked. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Someone may be watching.”

  “Yeah, but we’re driving a stolen car,” I replied. “The sooner we ditch it, the better.”

  “Plus, we’ve got stuff at Scott’s,” Lilith added, holding her ear next to mine to listen in. “Like my Walkman.”

  Olivia said nothing for several seconds. “Hello?” I said finally. “Hello?”

  “I’m here,” Olivia said. “You’re about an hour and a half from Vegas, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “All right,” Olivia said. “Call me back in twenty minutes. I’ve got a few calls to make.”

  After saying a quick goodbye, I pressed stop on the player, severing the connection, and fielded questions for the next ten minutes, filling everyone in. After that, we drove in silence, each of us lost in thought, until Brad tapped his watch and gave me a nod. Again, I pushed buttons on the cassette player and reconnected with Olivia.

  “Okay, Shivurr,” Olivia began, “I’ve made some arrangements. Don’t go to our house. Do you have a pen and paper?”

  “Anyone got a pen?” I asked. No one did.

  “Check the glove compartment,” Lucy suggested.

  Brad rummaged in it noisily before producing a yellow plastic pen and an Arizona map. “How’s this?” he said, handing it to me.

  “Thanks,” I said, taking it from him. “Got it, Olivia.”

  “You’re on the 95, right? Keep going until you get to 373, turn right and go south. You’re going to go south to Shoshone.” I printed the name in a blank corner of the map as she spoke. “There’s a cemetery on the west side, just off the road. Drive there and wait. Someone will meet you with the van and the kids’ stuff. I don’t know how long it will take, so if they’re not there when you arrive, wait until it gets there. You’re looking at three hours minimum before the meet, so you’ve got time. After you’ve switched vehicles, use the Walkman and call me back.”

  “Understood,” I said. “How about Caleb? How does he get home?”

  “We can figure that out when you get back,” she replied.

  I rubbed my face. “But how do I get to you? Hue said the Allfrost Chamber here is busted—at least the tholos—the transporter—is.”

  “Don’t worry,” Olivia said. “There’s a chamber near Shoshone.”

  “Oh, right. Hue mentioned it, but how do you know that?”

  “We helped build the Allfrost,” she said. “We know where they are.”

  “You’re the best, Olivia.”

  “Don’t forget it,” she said, laughing. “Have a great drive. Give my love to the others. See you soon.”

  I slipped the cassette player and headphones back into my hat, returned the cap to my head, and sat back to relax and enjoy the scenery.

  We stopped for gas and a meal in Shoshone at a modest roadside café. Lucy parked the Buick far away from the restaurant, away from prying eyes.

  Turning off the car, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Sorry to leave you out here, Shivurr,” she said. “We’ll try to be quick.”

  “They don’t serve your kind here,” Alan said, smirking. “You’ll have to wait outside.”

  “God, you and your Star Wars,” Lilith said as she stepped outside.

  “What? It’s funny,” Alan said as he followed her. “Shivurr gets it.”

  The teenager slammed the door shut and I stayed behind, hunched down in the back seat. The car, warmed by the rush of air from outside, soon cooled again as I poured a bit of the Underfrost across the threshold. I soon drifted off to sleep.

  I sat up, throwing my arms in the air, as something rapped hard against the side window where I’d leaned my head.

  Lilith held up a white paper bag. “Ha, you should see your face,” she said, snickering. “We got a burger and fries for you.”

  “Hop in,” I said, pointing to the door.

  Hot dry air flowed into the vehicle as she got into the front passenger seat and handed me the bag.

  “Oh my God. It’s freezing in here,” Lilith said as she climbed over the seat to join me. “They’re just paying. Should be here soon.”

  I grabbed the bag, ripped it open, and started to eat. The warm burger cooled as I chewed, burning my mouth before sliding down my throat.

  “Wow, look at you go,” Lilith said, grinning.

  “Give me a break. I’m hungry,” I said around a mouthful of burger. “
Stop watching me eat.”

  “Sorry, I’m just kind of surprised you eat food at all. I get the sodas and water, but food? It’s just weird.”

  “Why? ’Cause I’m a snowman?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m a living being. Different from you, but my body has chemical needs that liquids don’t always cover. Doesn’t have to be food as you think of it, though.”

  “What do you mean?” Lilith asked, wrinkling her brow.

  “I can consume non-organic matter to meet my needs. Stuff that would make you sick or worse,” I said.

  “Like what?”

  “Plastic, glass, rocks. Whatever has the elements my body requires. What my body doesn’t use gets expelled.”

  Lilith made a face. “Geez, that sounds awful.”

  “Fries are tastier,” I agreed, popping another into my mouth.

  “There they are,” Lilith said, looking out the window.

  Moments later, the car doors opened, and the other members of our fellowship jumped inside. Brad started the car with a rumble and pulled out of the parking lot, back onto the road.

  “Olivia said it should be on the west side,” I reminded him as we reached the edge of town. “Keep your eyes peeled.”

  Lucy pointed. “There. Is that it?”

  “Where?” Brad said, turning the wheel off the road to the right.

  “There, by the bushes and trees.”

  Brad steered the Buick off the road and drove about six hundred feet over the dusty gravel, parking by a path leading up to the trees.

  Lucy jumped out, ran up the short hill to a stone wall, and ran back, nodding her head. “This is it,” she said, slamming the passenger door shut.

  Brad backed up and turned the car to face the highway so we could see anyone approaching.

  “No sign of Otto,” Brad said, looking around. “Guess we’re early.” He turned off the car. “Shivurr, can you keep it cool in here so I don’t have to run the car?”

  “Of course.”

  “Just try not to freeze us to death,” Lilith said, bumping me with her elbow.

  “I still can’t believe Wilhelm and Olivia are gods!” Brad said as we sat waiting.

  “Myths,” Lucy corrected. “Not real gods.”

  “Right,” Alan said. “Except with magical powers like freaking gods.”

  Lucy crossed her arms. “But they’re not gods, not really. They’re just incredibly powerful. This just proves there’s no such thing.”

  “Or the opposite,” Lilith said. “Doesn’t this mean anything’s possible? That God is real?”

  Alan shook his head. “Right, like there’s some dude that created the entire universe and cares what people do. No way. Do you care if an ant believes in you, or if it prays to you? We’d be jack shit to something that could create this planet, let alone the universe.”

  “This all had to start from something, Alan,” Lilith said, making a face. “People can’t be an accident. Something must have created us.”

  Alan rolled his eyes and sighed. “Fine, then where’d God come from?”

  “Not this again, guys,” Brad said. “Give it a rest. Who gives a shit? We’re here, that’s all we know.”

  We waited in silence for a while after that, watching the occasional car drive past the remote location. About an hour later, a light blue Volkswagen van pulled off the highway and rolled toward us, followed by a cloud of dust.

  “There’s Otto,” Brad said, sitting up in his seat.

  The 1977 Volkswagen camper bus, nicknamed Otto, pulled up next to the Buick Wildcat, driver’s door to driver’s door. The van’s driver, a black-and-grey-haired man in his late fifties wearing a short-sleeved button-up shirt, rolled down his window. Brad did the same, while I kept a low profile behind Alan.

  “You kids Olivia’s friends?” asked the man in a quiet voice.

  “Yes, sir,” Brad replied. “I’m Brad. You must be—”

  “Kurt. Call me Kurt,” said the man. “That Shivurr back there?”

  I leaned forward and waved but said nothing.

  “Let’s do this quickly,” Kurt said. “I’ve got to get back. Wait there.”

  A moment later, the van reversed. Kurt drove it to the other side of the Buick, got out and opened the large side door of the camper bus.

  Chapter 30

  Dublin Gulch

  Bear, the Alaskan shepherd, leaped through the open cargo door with his tail wagging furiously. I stroked his head and gave him a good scratch behind the ears before he brushed past me and greeted the others. To my surprise, the dog showed no signs of injury, no burned fur, no pain as he moved.

  Talk about a rapid recovery, I thought.

  Alan stooped to pet him, earning a lick on the face before the big dog moved on to the next person.

  “Who’s a good boy?” Brad asked rhetorically, rubbing the dog’s flanks. “I was worried about you. Yes, I was.”

  I looked at Kurt. “Why’s Bear here? Are you taking care of him for Wilhelm and Olivia?”

  Kurt shook his head. “I don’t know. He was sitting in the van when I got it. I tried letting him out, but he wouldn’t leave. Guess he wanted to go for a ride.”

  “Oh, you brought our stuff,” Lilith squealed, peering inside the van.

  My companions’ belongings, some of them, at least, sat in the back: purses, skateboards, and other small items of value in Adidas gym bags and a few brown paper grocery bags.

  “I guess our tents and stuff are toast,” Brad said, looking inside.

  “Literally,” Alan said, frowning.

  Smiling, Lilith pulled her Walkman from one of the bags and started fiddling with it. “Thanks, mister.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Kurt said. “Olivia said to check the house down the street. This stuff was sitting in the front hallway, so I figured it must be yours. Didn’t think a guy named Scott would have a lot of purses. That’s all of them, right? If something isn’t yours, let me know and I’ll take it with me for safekeeping until this Scott fellow comes home.”

  A few minutes going through the items confirmed that everything belonged to them. Kurt, or whoever had piled the luggage by Scott’s front door for him to find, had done a fantastic job.

  A vicious growl ending in a bark made me jump. I braced myself against the hot metal of the Buick as Bear brushed me aside, racing up the hill toward the cemetery. A large black bird with a red featherless head, roosting among the cemetery trees, flew skyward at his approach, hissing as it spread its wings to their full six-foot span. Still thirty feet away, Bear barked a few more times before turning around. Tongue lolling from the exertion and heat, he took a seat at my feet as I stood between the two vehicles, leaning against me, enjoying the chill.

  “My God,” Lucy said, holding a hand to her chest. “He scared me.”

  “Turkey vulture,” Kurt noted. “Ugly things. I guess Bear’s not a fan either. You showed him, sir.”

  “Well, I guess we should get going,” Brad said, holding out his hand for Kurt to shake.

  Kurt shook the younger man’s hand, and they exchanged car keys.

  “She’s all gassed up,” Kurt said. “Just did it in town. How’s the Buick set for fuel?”

  “All topped up,” Brad replied as he slid into the van’s front seat.

  “Good man,” Kurt said. “Look, why don’t you all get settled for a minute? If you don’t mind, I need to have a private word with Shivurr here.”

  Kurt guided me by the shoulder to the front of the van, where we were out of sight of the road and had some privacy. He looked at me. “Olivia said you might not remember me.”

  “I’m sorry, I don’t,” I said. “Do we know each other?”

  “We do, but don’t worry about it,” Kurt replied. He ran his fingers through his thick salt-and-pepper hair, studying himself in the reflection of the van’s window. “It was a long time ago.” He reached into the front pocket of his pants. “Anyway, Olivia wanted me to give these to you. Hold out your hand
s.”

  He dropped several roughly spherical reddish-orange gems, each the size of a marble, into my cupped hands. Heavier than they looked, they gleamed in the sunlight and, perhaps warmed by Kurt’s body heat, were warm to the touch.

  “What are these?” I asked.

  “Not sure,” Kurt said, making a face. “Might be all that’s left of whatever burned their house down. They were all over the backyard.”

  “How did you know to even look for them?”

  “Wasn’t me that did the looking,” Kurt explained. “There’s been more than just me involved in this here operation. I’m just the driver and collector of purses,” he added with a smile. “Oh, can’t forget this,” he continued, pulling forth a white gemstone about twice the size of the red marbles.

  “One sec,” I said, dropping the fire marbles into my hat for safekeeping before taking the white gem in hand. “Pretty. What’s this for?”

  “You’ll have to ask Olivia,” Kurt said. He looked to his left as a car drove past a few hundred feet away, heading south on the highway. “All right, I’d better move. This car ain’t going to disappear itself.”

  Kurt walked between the cars as I dropped the white gemstone into my hat. Joining him as he said his goodbyes to my friends, I shook his hand a final time and climbed into the van. Bear followed me in and sat down next to me.

  “Whoa, there, boy,” I said. “This isn’t your ride now. You’re going with Kurt.” The dog looked back at me, then laid his head between his paws.

  “Looks like he wants to stay,” Kurt observed. “Why don’t you all keep him with you? I’m sure Olivia or Wilhelm will come get him when they can.”

  “Awesome,” Alan said, patting Bear’s back. “Captain will love that.”

  “Who’s Captain?” I asked.

  “My dog,” Alan answered.

  “But how will they know where to find us?” Lilith said, wrinkling her brow.

  “They just will,” Kurt said. “Trust me.”

  “Well, all right, then,” Brad said from the driver’s seat. He smiled, a twinkle in his eye. “Looks like we’ve got a replacement for Caleb.”

  “Y’all drive careful,” Kurt said. We waved goodbye as he got into our stolen getaway car and, with a nod of his head, drove off. I pulled the cargo door shut before a cloud of dust could get inside.