by Alexie Aaron
Mia felt a tingle on the side of her face. She looked up at the farmer who rarely showed up at his gravesite. “You aren’t tied to the farm anymore.”
“No.”
“You’re even talking to me.”
“Appears so.”
“This doesn’t tie you here,” Mia said, holding out the axe head as she stood up. “I do.”
“One mystery solved.”
“I release you,” Mia said and handed him the axe head.
“Thank you,” Murphy said, and as it touched his hand the iron flaked away until there was only a rust stain in the snow at their feet.
Mia knew that tears were falling from her eyes.
“Are you leaving now?”
He looked at her puzzled.
“Um, going to heaven?”
“Hell no.”
Mia was so shocked she laughed.
“I’m just free. I can move like the bikers, the Iroquois and others. Move between time. It took me a while to figure it out. Our own limits are those we impose upon ourselves. If I thought I needed that axe head then I did. If I thought I could not touch the physical world then I couldn’t. I watched as others did all the things I couldn’t, and the only thing that set us apart was that they hadn’t a clue they could do these things. I watched as you morphed into dragons because you willed it. Jonah showed me you could touch corporals and get their attention.”
Mia shuddered remembering Jonah’s wet icy claw.
“There are physical limitations. I am not alive. I can’t be heard by non sensitives unless I shout. The axe helps. Salt will always be a problem. And if you burn my bones, I will be gone. Holy water only hurts me because I believe in the dogma behind it. I have only one weakness, my emotional ties to you. Angelo severed yours for a brief moment which snapped back at me. Woke me up.”
“He had no right, and I’m not happy it happened.”
“Mia Cooper, who are we kidding? You belong in this world, and I belong in mine. I couldn’t leave you vulnerable, but I sense that you will be watched over,” Murphy said as he reached for the GPS disk that rested against the hatchet charm.
“Are you leaving me forever?” Mia winced feeling a pain ripping through her chest.
“Friends are never far away. But it’s time. Let me go, Mia. You won’t be alone. When you need me, I will be there. When I need you, you will be there for me. We are family.”
“We are that, aren’t we?” Mia sniffed. “Um, Ted bought your farm from April. Probably means your PBS watching will be limited. He’s more into tech things and blockbuster science fiction movies.”
“I’ll survive.”
“Be good,” the DTDs sang.
Murphy’s face brightened and he chuckled. “What is that?”
“They,” Mia corrected. “I’m babysitting some DTDs for a shape shifter I call Chenille.”
“My wife had a chenille bedspread,” Murphy said rubbing his chin.
“Well Martha had chenille curtains, and the first time the shape shifter talked with us she formed out of the curtains so…”
“Chenille.”
“I have them so the chief will not force her to do harm. Last night…” Mia proceeded to tell Murphy about the DTDs attack on the PEEPS and the deputies. “We held them off, but they learn quickly. They won’t be vulnerable in that way again.”
“The Iroquois have lost heart. They want to return to their old ways and fight the Illini. They are being influence by the Fox who have very dark eyes…”
“Like tar?”
“Darker.”
“Darker than dark,” Mia realized out loud. “The ATzxe have been playing a game. They are prodding both sides into a war.”
“They are pushing the good away and bringing the evil in.”
“It’s an imbalance. This is why Angelo is here. The balance has to be regained. There will always be evil, but there has to be good to balance it. My world is stuck in political battles everywhere you look. Greed is rising, squashing down the good. The rich are taking more and more. The ATzxe are feeding off it. Rising from the pit. The good are fighting back but taking on the tactics of the evil and becoming evil themselves. When wrong is done to make something right, it only lasts so long. This is why the Iroquois were sent on their mission to undo old wounds. But betrayals not forgotten but festered over time bring on revenge. Redemption cannot happen unless there is forgiveness.”
Her words echoed off the trees until the last sound was carried away in the gentle cold breeze. Mia and Murphy looked at each other. He was the first to speak.
“We have to bring them together.”
“They will fight.”
“Maybe, given enough time, they will listen.”
“To whom, us? I doubt it. Angelo?”
“No.” Murphy reached over and put his ear to the sack. “Listen…”
Mia did so and heard a duet of, “Forgiveness, be good, forgiveness.”
“Chenille, she is only one against many.”
“I have found in the last few months that a female determined enough can do miracles.”
“Really, miracles? That must be some ballsy broad.”
Murphy laughed. “Meet me on County Line road. I’ll bring the Iroquois and the Fox. You bring the Illini and Chenille.”
“The only way they are going to follow me if they are chasing me,” Mia argued.
“How do you think I’m going to convince men who don’t speak the same language as I?”
“We could get killed. Wait, I could get killed. You?”
“Let’s say we have a lot to lose.”
“Just after the sun sets, the Illini won’t travel in daylight.”
Murphy nodded and disappeared. Mia closed the vault and downed her now ice cold coffee. “Come on, babies, I have to shower and find some dry clothes. It’s rub a dub dub time for Mia.”
“Rubadubdub,” the DTDs sang as Mia trudged back to the car. She turned and looked back at the mausoleum and wondered if she would ever gaze upon it again. Would Ted bury her in with Murphy? Or would Ralph have her buried between Misty Mother and Grandma Fred? Would she rise or be damned? She shook off the questions as they weren’t particularly positive. “Okay, rubadubbers, lets sing something fun,” Mia suggested. “Do you know Girls just wanna have fun? No wait, Barbra Ann. Ba ba bah, ba bar-ber ann…”
Mia put the truck in gear and listened to the DTDs cover the Beach Boys classic all the way home.
Chapter Thirty-four
Mia arrived at the farm feeling more like herself. She had a placed a call to Angelo and left him a message. She’d hoped to see the Town Car here, but it was early yet. She banged on the door of the command truck and was rewarded with the door rising. Cid stood at the opening and gave her a hand up. Ted was busy at the side table soldering something.
“Just checking in. I wonder if I can have a word with the professor alone for a moment?” Mia asked Cid.
“No problem, I’ll just go in and refill our thermoses,” he said, grabbing the large cylinders and hopping off the truck.
Ted turned off the soldering gun and turned around. His heart had fallen into his stomach, and he thought he was going to be sick. This was it, she had changed her mind. He prepared for the “Can we still be friends?” speech.
Mia pulled the console chair over, sat down and reached out and took his hand. “Never before have I felt the need to ask permission before I volunteer myself for a crazy-ass stunt. But never before have I felt the responsibility of being loved by someone, the feeling that if I go the way of the Murphy that I’ll be mourned, that I’ll be missed. You have rocked my world, Teddy Bear. You have rescued me, taken care of me, and hit on me more times than I can count. I want to end this conflict and help Angelo to banish the ATzxe to the underworld so we can start our chapters in this comedy, but I won’t do it without two things happening.”
“Two things,” Ted’s voice croaked.
“One. I would like your thoughts on using myself as bait. And
two. I would like to tell you that I love you. That I’m in love with you. I don’t know when this happened or if it has been an undercurrent running in my soul all along. All I know is that I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t want to hurt you…” Mia’s voice trailed off for a moment. “I want to be with you, morning, noon and night.”
“Ba ba bait is up to you. I’m sure you have a contingency plan. Now the second thing, I believe you mentioned love.”
“That was it.”
“That you, Mia Cooper, super-hot chick with the tremendous tits, love me.”
Mia smiled. “That would be I.”
“I must have entered Bizarro world. Girls like you never fall for guys like me. I could see for a little while, but I sense you are talking about forever.”
“I think if we start off with day by day, we’ll work our way into forever quite quickly,” Mia said. “If you want to. Now, I could have all this wrong, and you’ve been playing a game with me. It doesn’t matter, really, because I love you. You’re going to have to get used to it.”
“You’re that certain you can win me over with determination and… Fuck this. Mia, you have made me the happiest man alive! A thousand words are running through my head, but all I can manage is that I love you too.”
Mia got up and climbed into Ted’s lap and started kissing him. He returned her kisses until both of them were ruing that they were in an open truck sitting in 41 degree weather.
“Minnie Mouse, I would love to continue this, ah, discussion somewhere more private but…”
“I know, I didn’t think, whoa,” she pressed her hand to her chest to calm down. “I have to present my plan to Burt and Mike. I think John Ryan is somewhere around here too.”
Mia got up and kissed Ted again. “Um, if they okay the plan, will you watch the babies until I get back?”
“We’re not even dating and already I’m babysitting for you,” Ted said in mock disgust.
“Please. I’ll pay you in sex?”
“Toss the kids over here,” Ted said.
Mia pulled off her backpack and handed it to Ted. “Remember, no Angelo and no Iroquois, other than that you can let them run wild.”
“Ted’s a genius,” the DTDs sang.
Ted sat up straight. “The kids are smart too. Cool beans.”
“I wonder what else the little myna birds have in their repertoire?” Mia mumbled to herself as she left the trunk and headed towards the house.
Cid opened the door and was surprised to see Mia standing there with her hand out.
“You caught me.”
“It appears I have. What have I caught you doing, lass?” he said in a Sean Connery voice.
“I was schooled in the ways of the doormen. I was going to apply their age old methods in entering this abode,” she said evenly.
“Carry on,” he said and held the door as she entered. “Miss Cooper?”
“Yes?”
“Will I find a man with a devastated heart in there when I arrive?”
Mia smiled. “No. He may be sporting a woody though,” she said saucily and hurried down the hall.
Cid whistled and let the door fall shut behind him.
Mia found the big three in the kitchen. “Guys, I have an idea on how to end this thing, stop the killing and maybe save some innocents. Anyone interested?”
John Ryan put a toothpick in his mouth and thought a moment. “Have your say, Cooper.”
Burt and Mike nodded.
“I think, no, I know that the shape shifter is working on having the DTDs move away from the ways of the chief, which are murder and mayhem, and move towards a peaceful solution. On the other side of the road, quite literally, the Iroquois want to make recompense to the Illini for their part in the genocide of their tribe. The only thing standing in the way of a peaceful solution are the Fox warriors imbedded with the ATzxe and the Illini chief who is also listening to these bad entities.”
“I take it that is intel from Murphy.”
“Yes. I feel that if we can move these factions towards each other, that either they will destroy the weaker one, and then you can finish them off, or the Illini will treat with the Iroquois and jointly move against the Fox and the chief.”
“I’m following you. But how do we get them together?”
“Murphy will bring the Iroquois, and I will bring the Illini. Actually they will be chasing us, trying to capture and kill us. You guys will be set up on either side of the gathering, ready to burn, flash bomb and electrocute the DTDs if our plan doesn’t work.”
“I have a question. Where are the DTDs, and how will you get there?” Mike asked.
“I know the location of their burial grounds. They will have return there to gain strength. Angelo, if he arrives, will be my transportation. I promised to meet Murphy on County Line road just after sunset. So I’m going to have to ask you guys for your input before I start walking.”
Burt nodded and grabbed a piece of paper. He drew out what Mia had described and added them in the north lanes of the road and the Sherriff’s men in the south lanes. He handed the pencil to Mia.
Mia scrawled a line of DTDs moving towards the road. She drew a line of Iroquois on the other side moving towards them. “Simple,” she declared.
“Deadly for you,” Mike commented. “That is, if this blows up in your face.”
“Then I won’t have to listen to your I told you so’s,” Mia pointed out. “But if this works…” Mia lifted her eyebrows.
“Gentlemen, I’d like a moment alone with Miss Cooper,” John Ryan requested.
Burt and Mike left the room.
“Is this some suicidal stunt to get yourself killed because Deputy Martin slept with that PEEPs gal?”
“No. This is a suicidal stunt to get two ancient tribes to bury the hatchet, hopefully, not in my head,” Mia insisted. “Who told you?”
“Deputy Braverman. He thought I should know.”
“Did he also tell you that we broke up clean? No hurt feelings on my part. I have moved on, and frankly, it was about time.”
Ryan rolled the toothpick with his tongue for a moment. “Okay, let’s do it your way. About where on County Line Road.”
“North of Oberman gulch, where Whit and Tom found Cid Garrett. Have your men move in a half hour after sunset, no sooner. Otherwise you’ll have the Illini fighting you instead of the Iroquois. Or vice versa.”
“This Angelo fella, he’s a force to be reckoned with if memory serves me.”
“He’s not your everyday type of guy. I’m hoping to hear from him soon. I can deal with the betrayal and belay the revenge, but it’s up to him to supply the redemption,” Mia informed him.
“Miss Cooper, if I didn’t know this wasn’t your first dance, I’d worry about you.”
“I appreciate your trust. A little prayer wouldn’t hurt if you’re the kneeling kind,” Mia said.
“Come on in, boys, I know you’re listening at the door, so don’t pretend otherwise. We have ourselves an ambush to plan. You, girly-girl, go and find that overgrown Eye-talian and get your ass into those woods. With these overcast skies, darkness falls quickly in these here parts.”
Mia tucked her ski pants into her boot tops. She stood up and flexed to loosen up her back. She wasn’t used to running in snow so she made sure her muscles were warm. Her parka had been an impulse buy last winter. Evidently, it was good through some jaw dropping temperatures. It had more pockets than she needed, but she filled them just the same. In the truck earlier Ted gave her a pile of gizmos. He explained what each one did.
“I feel like James Bond. These are so cool.”
“This is for you to use as a last ditch effort to get away.” He handed her a two piece gizmo. “Put this on the ground and stamp on it hard, it will create Faraday waves. Faradays can separate water from itself. Next toss this at them and if my theory holds you will blow holes in their mass. They need to feed off each other to gain power. This will keep them separate until they figure it out.”
“Wow. You’re a genius,” Mia said.
“Ted’s a genius,” the DTDs chorused.
Ted blushed. Mia would take that image of him with her tonight.
Mia felt a set of eyes on her and she turned as saw Whit staring at her from the porch. They were setting out soon. He hadn’t been a fan of the proceedings, but when Ted handed him the familiar flame thrower, he embraced the plan whole heartedly. He nodded at her, and she saluted him. He shook his head and saluted back.
Mia’s phone vibrated. She looked down and read the text message.
“Open your mind, give me the plan.”
Mia turned around and faced the road. She closed her eyes and opened her mind. She felt dizzy as Angelo moved in and read the day’s events. He took hold of all the information with such speed that Mia actually felt lightheaded afterwards.
Her phone buzzed again. “Impressive. How can I help?”
“I need a ride to the woods,” she thought. “I need you to be there to collect the ATzxe if we can separate them from the innocents.”
“This is dangerous. Are you frightened?”
“Yes. Being brave is foolhardy.”
“Wise words. Finish your preparations. I will be there soon.”
Mia ran over to the command truck. She struggled to climb in, her snow boots were too wide for the footholds. “Hello, Ted, Marshmallow woman, needing a hand up.”
Ted turned around and snorted. “You look more like the Michelin tire man.” He leaned down and hefted her up. “Mia, you got to lay off the donuts.”
Cid who witnessed their play hid a giggle with a manly cough.
“Time to go. I wanted to… ah… get a kiss for luck.”
“All this kissing is going to give me chapped lips,” Ted teased and drew her to him. He planted a long hard kiss that had her breathless but a lot warmer than she started off. “There, now go away, I’m busy.”
Mia hopped down off the truck. Ted said a silent prayer and headed back to the console. Cid got up and walked to the end of the truck and looked out. He saw Mia moving towards the drive. He blinked and she was gone.
“Dude, Mia, just disappeared.”