I woke up the next morning to a ruckus. The girls were all jabbering. Something had them riled up.
I stumbled to the top of the stairs and yelled down. “It’s too early to be this loud! What’s going on down there?”
Fancy held up her phone. “All of our phones are laying her on the entrance table.”
“Didn’t you look there yesterday?” I asked.
“Of course we did, little missy. They were not here yesterday, but they’re here today.”
My eyes went wide with wonder as the implications of what she was saying dawned on me. I glanced around the house in alarm and backed up and into my bedroom where I closed the door and climbed back into my bed. Why our ghosts would want to hide my sisters’ phones was beyond me, and I was too tired to think about it at the moment. Maybe, just maybe, when I was rested I could make some sense of it all. Maybe.
I slept late into the afternoon. I didn’t do that very often but when I did, I usually felt guilty, but not this time. It felt good to get fully rested and let my brain relax a little. I had a lot to think about; a new job, the crazy ghosts hiding phones, the new neighbor with his changing ways, and the fact that I was fighting my attraction to that man with the many personalities. One thing I did know, I hated the mean jerk, but kind of liked the one who had a soft spot for babies. I mean, come on, who wouldn’t?
The next morning, after putting another cookie in Dane’s mailbox, Tabby drove me to the library for my shift and then went to work at the diner.
It was Friday night and our regular girls’ night. Every Friday night since we were kids, with few exceptions, all four of us girls would order take out, eat lots of candy, and watch a movie, usually a horror movie. Sometimes Mom and Dad would join us, but they preferred comedy to horror.
I really missed them, but I knew they would be proud of us along with the fact that we got away from Creed and his overgrown pack of mismatched were-creatures. Unfortunately, Creed was a were-lion. Were-lions thought they were better than all the rest of us. All of that stuff about being the king of the jungle didn’t help any. They loved to dominate and control the other packs of were-creatures such as were-leopards, were-foxes, were-cougars like us, and yes, sometimes even the werewolves. Werewolves were strong and powerful, but were-lions were much more massive and fierce. In their shift form, were-lions were rarely merciful and generally ruthless. There were few exceptions to this rule, but it had been a long time since anyone with that kind of control of his wild side challenged Creed and his pack.
When we were younger we had heard of one, a teen lion, who had challenged Creed and won, although he had no interest in running the pack, only to set it free. Rumors were that after this lion defeated Creed, injuring him severely, he appointed another pack leader and then disappeared. The stories were that he himself was injured in the fight and fled to die, but no one ever knew for sure. Rumors even said that this hero was a white lion, but, of course, most of us knew that was an exaggeration because there were no more white lions in existence.
A few years after Creed was defeated and run out of town, he returned and challenged that appointed pack leader, killing him and taking over the pack that he so desperately desired. Many times I had wished for that rare lion to show up and kill Creed, setting us free again, but that never happened, and we were forced to flee for our very lives.
I shook off all my dark thoughts as I entered the library, my refuge from all the worries of my past. Today would be a great day, I just knew it!
I spent the first hour opening boxes of flyers announcing our annual Apple Festival. This made me excited. I had never been to an apple festival before and I loved the idea. I then went outside and onto the street and handed out the flyers to passersby. This gave me a chance to meet some of the locals, and they all seemed very nice and full of excitement over the festival.
That night, all four of us girls cuddled up on the sofa, eating our Fill’s Deli takeout that Tabby had brought home for us. Dessert for me was, of course, a roll of chewy Spree. We rented a horror film and hid our faces under the blanket most of the entire movie, but that was just what we usually did. Nothing could really scare us too badly. I mean we had seen an evil were-lion in all his magnificence. There wasn’t much that was scarier than that, if we were being truly honest.
We were all finally ready for bed, and I shuffled lazily across the floor to the bottom of the stairs. It was then that I heard a slight meow. I waited. Yes, I heard it again. I opened the front door and peered down at the cutest looking cat. It was calico, like me, with the sweetest yellow eyes looking back up at me.
“Well, hello there, little one,” I said as I knelt down to pet it. Then, without warning, it took off across the yard and into the trees. I knew I shouldn’t have gone after it, but the compulsion to protect it was very strong. I followed it across the woods and into my mean neighbor’s yard.
“Come here, kitty, kitty, kitty. I won’t hurt you.”
She would let me get only inches from her tail and then she would run faster, keeping just out of my reach. I was about to grab her when she scurried across the lawn and onto the front porch…and right into her master’s arms… apparently.
“You lost?” the meanie asked.
I stood straight and quickly decided to go for a sarcastic response. I put my finger on my chin as if thinking and said, “You know, I think maybe I am. For some reason it looked like a sane person lived here.” Then I then forced a smile and looked him dead in the eyes. “But I guess I was mistaken.”
He ignored the statement and peered down at the kitty, rubbing her under the chin and speaking to her as if she was a baby. “Did this mean ol’ girl scout scare you?”
I squared my shoulders. “For your information, I thought she was in trouble, and I was trying to help her.” I folded my arms across my chest in defiance. “I had no idea she was yours. And I am not a girl scout!”
“So, you have something against girl scouts, do ya?” he asked playing innocent.
I laughed. “No, but apparently you do.” With that I swirled on my heels and headed back in the direction for which I had come. I could feel his eyes on my backside and so I exaggerated my strut for his benefit only. I felt good, like I had slapped him in his smug face… and then I slipped in a mud puddle and fell flat on my proud gluteus maximus.
Chapter Seven
Creed’s POV
“I don’t care what kind of trouble you have had! I want those girls found and I want them found now!” I barked at the two men, my blood pressure boiling, and I knocked my breakfast plate to the floor.
“We will send someone else this time, Sir. We will find them,” Axle said and then him and Blaze turned and left me.
They were my best men and they were loyal. They had been with me from the very beginning. Unlike Blue, who was always questioning my motives. I guess it didn’t help that the previous pack leader, the one I killed, was his brother. I knew deep down that he didn’t respect me, and he most likely had members of my own pack feeling the same way, but he wouldn’t dare go against me; nobody would. In the beginning he stood against me, but that changed when I bit his right thumb off as an example to anyone who thought they could challenge me. I promised him worse if he did it again, and that was the end of that. I had proved myself as a worthy opponent years ago, and I played nasty. I wasn’t ashamed to admit it. If I wanted something, I would do whatever it took to get it. No shame in that. And right now I wanted those girls. I knew Axel and Blaze would do all they could to find them.
The Cross girls!
They had been a pain in my side for years, too independent for their own good. First their parents were defiant and so I took care of them. I thought that would assure the girls’ loyalty, but it had worked against me. Every other pack in the area had sworn allegiance to me, all but the Cross girls. I would not rest until every one of them had bowed to me and sworn their loyalty. Calico in particular had my interest. And for all the trouble they had caused me, I had some v
ery special plans for them. All of them would become our servants, with Calico by my side at all times. Yes, she would be forced to honor me with every breath she took. The special little she-cat with the strange green eyes would serve my purposes just fine.
Taming the Cross sisters was vital and would send a valuable message to anyone who tried to defy my authority and have their freedom. And I would once again be the one in complete control.
* * * * * *
Calico’s POV
I counted the days until the weekend of Appleville’s Annual Apple Festival. It seemed like forever but in truth only took two weeks, and in that time, we continued to have things go missing; things like the car keys a few times, several of Fancy’s favorite dresses, and even one of Kiki’s many curling irons. Were our ghosts females? The only thing that was added was the number of cookies. Even though I continued to put one in our neighbor’s mailbox every day, we never seemed to run out of cookies…weird I know.
I thumbed carefully through my closet, looking for just the right dress for the occasion. I had never been to an apple festival before, but it was all anyone could talk about. The bakery had been preparing their treats for many days as well as the deli, and Tabby and Kiki were both working their booths. I, on the other hand, was free to wonder about and inspect all the goodies. We never had anything like it in our old town. It was a dried up, boring place to live, not like Appleville with all its interesting people, tales, and history.
“Ah ha!” I said, pulling out my yellow sundress from last spring. “This will work perfectly for the occasion.”
Suddenly, it flew out of my hands and landed across the room. I should have been alarmed but instead I placed my hands on my hips and huffed. “What now?” I asked in clear irritation.
No sooner were the words out of my mouth when another dress fell out of my closet and to my feet. I picked it up and inspected it. It was a lovely strapless sundress with red and white polka dots. “Hmm, not bad. I can’t imagine how Fancy’s dress managed to get in my closet,” I said into the air, my sarcasm hard to miss. I could have sworn I heard a faint giggling, but it must’ve been my imagination again…or not.
The dress fit me like a glove, and I spun several times in the mirror, adoring the way the skirt moved with ease. I walked into the bathroom and inspected my hair and finally decided that pulling it up would probably look best. My streaks didn’t show as much when it was pulled up. I opened my drawer and grabbed a ponytail band when it too flew from my grasp and into the wet tub I had just showered in earlier. I rolled my eyes and slumped my shoulders. “Fine. What then?”
A curling iron landed on the sink in front of me. “Oh great, Kiki’s missing curling iron. I’m beginning to think you have an agenda,” I said into the air again.
Okay, a few things were suddenly pretty clear to me. One, these ghosts were obviously not out to hurt us, and two, they, for some odd reason, wanted me to show up at the apple festival looking a certain way. Why? I was scared to ask.
Once my hair was curled and the sides pulled up and pinned. I slipped on my shoes and headed downstairs where the sisters were waiting.
“Hey! That’s my missing dress!” Fancy said in confusion.
I shrugged. “Don’t look at me. You have our mischievous little ghosts to blame. It seems they are interested in my appearance today for some strange reason. Who am I to argue with ghosts anyway?”
“Humph. Well, you do look beautiful. Even though your hair is gonna fall straight in this humidity,” she replied back.
“Yes, I know,” I responded, and then I moved my hand uncovering the ponytail holder I was wearing on my wrist. I quickly covered it back up so our little ghosts wouldn’t see it.
The four of us jumped in the car and headed for town, the smiles on our faces leading the way.
* * * * * *
I helped Kiki and Tabby get their booths set up and then Fancy and I strolled casually around, checking out all the amazing spaces. Some tables were loaded with the most incredible looking treats, all made with apples of course. There was one station set up with every kind of apple you could imagine. I had to stop there and taste every one of them. I think the Pink Lady was by far my favorite.
Fancy pulled me along to the next set of tables. They were loaded with food of all kinds. We grabbed plates and piled all sorts of unfamiliar items onto our plates…and every bite was heaven.
With my mouth full, I snickered at how fast both Fancy and I had cleared the food from our plates. Are we ladies or what? Oh wait, we are she-cats.
My eyes scanned my surroundings and all the many different people passing by. I even recognized a few and nodded politely as I passed. “Wait. No, it couldn’t be. Is that…is that…” It was then that I choked on my bite and bent over, coughing uncontrollably.
“Ma’am, are you all right?” a gentleman asked, patting me on the back.
I straightened and quickly recognized the voice of ‘the savage’.
As soon as he recognized that it was me, he quickly removed his hand and backed away, but not before I spotted him scanning me admirably from head to toe.
“I’m sorry,” he said and the harshness I recognized so well was back in his voice. “I didn’t mean to call you ma’am.”
“Haha, you are such a gentleman,” I responded back. Then I remembered what I saw, or should I say ‘who’ I saw. I grabbed Fancy’s hand and pulled her away with me, leaving ‘the savage’ standing alone.
“Fancy, I think I spotted Blake Huntley.”
She jerked her head around in search mode. “What! Where? Are you sure?”
“No, but it looked just like him.”
“If he sees us, we’re in big…”
“Well, hello ladies.”
We heard his voice behind us and we both jumped and spun to face him.
I instantly got riled up, ready for a fight. “Listen here, Blake! If you think you’re gonna turn us in…”
“Hold up, Calico,” he said, his hands raised in the air in defense. “I’m just here to enjoy the festival. I only joined Creed because I had no choice. I’m one of you. I won’t tell him where you are.” Then he leaned in toward my ear and whispered, “Your secret is safe with me.”
Fancy and I were both leery of his remarks, but we had no choice but to trust him…for now.
I glanced around and noticed Dane watching us intently. Had he heard us? We knew he was a ‘were’ of some sort, but we were too young yet to sense what kind of were-creature he was. That was a gift developed later in life. No doubt he knew we were different as well. I smiled my usual sarcastic smile at him. He scowled and whipped his head around, his long mane of blond locks flowing behind him, and walked in the other direction, totally unaware of the group of admiring ladies in pursuit of him. Something struck me then, and I grabbed Fancy’s arm and tugged her away.
I reached Tabby’s booth and quickly pulled her aside. “Tabby, I think I know what our new neighbor is.”
She leaned in and whispered, “Really? What?”
“I think he’s a were-lion.”
She gasped and covered her mouth but was shaking her head. “Cali that’s not possible. Were-lions don’t have blond hair, for one. They either have dark red or brown hair, and they never live alone. You know that. They have to be surrounded by their pack. There is no way he is a were-lion. No way!”
I rubbed my chin in concentration. She had a point, but if not a lion then what? I was determined to find out.
I strolled off, deep in thought with Blake Huntley tight on my heels. He stayed that way for the rest of the evening—followed closely by ‘the savage’.
Chapter Eight
If I thought seeing Blake at the festival was the end of that, I was sorely wrong. He showed up on my front porch bright and fairly early the next morning. I knew this because he knocked on the front door for almost ten straight minutes before anyone got up to go to the door. It had been a long and emotional night and so we were all sleeping in. It was ten o�
��clock.
I felt a bounce on the end of my bed and peered over my covers to see Blake sitting on my bed staring at me with a crooked smile.
“Auggghhh!” I huffed, pulling the covers back over my head.
“I thought we could hang out today,” he said in what sounded sincere.
I pulled the covers back and looked at him. “Blake, we are enemies. Why would I want to hang with you of all people?”
“Cali, we are not enemies. Okay, so I succumbed to the pressure of Creed’s authority. That doesn’t mean we are enemies. It simply means I was not as strong as you girls. Besides, I was all alone and you have each other. It’s harder to resist when you’re alone.”
I knew he was right in that. It was harder to resist when you were alone with no one to support or align themselves with you.
“Fine, but just this once,” I finally agreed.
He smirked. “Who knows, you might like me and find yourself spending more time with me.”
It was then that a book flew off my shelf and pounded him in the head.
I covered my mouth to hide my laughter. I knew it was our friendly ghosts saying they didn’t approve of our new guest.
“What the…” he said, standing and rubbing the back of his head.
I shrugged and got out of bed. “I think you need to wait on the front porch for me. I’ll meet you down there in a few minutes,” I told him.
“Ummm, okay,” he muttered, looking around in confusion as he fled from the room.
I burst out into laughter as I fumbled through my drawers for some clean clothes to wear. I had a feeling I was really going to like these ghosts. This is going to be interesting for sure, I thought.
Blake took me to the Appleville Park less than ten miles down the road from the house. The park wasn’t a huge one, but it was very beautiful, surrounded by a small lake. There were lots of people already out. Some were riding bikes around the lake, while others were walking their dogs or feeding the ducks. I was falling more in love with this town by the minute.
Calico Cross (Cross Series Book 1) Page 3