"What do you want us to do?" Alicia finally asked. She had voiced what all the rest were thinking. They were all ready to do whatever Kit might ask of them. They would go to war. They would follow her anywhere. She had always been there for them and would never ask them to do anything that she wouldn't ask of herself.
"Nothing," came Kit's reply.
"What?" Alicia said, shocked. The rest echoed the same sentiment.
"Listen to me," Kit said, as all the girls fell silent to hear what she had to say. "Manuel's got a lot of muscle behind him. He has many soldiers, and he has guns too. With school out now, I can steer clear of the neighborhood. Maybe if I'm not around, he'll forget about me, and all the rest of this. Besides, I'm the one he wants. I don't want any of you getting hurt because of me."
"Kit, are you forgetting that Lizzie, Gwen and I were there too?" Alicia said. "If you're not around, it's only a matter of time, before he goes after us. We all had a part in bringing Caesar down. I don't think that Manuel is likely to forget that. Face it; we're all in this together."
Kit considered Alicia's words carefully. She knew that she was right. They couldn't just disappear from the neighborhood. Manuel would take his vengeance on Kit if he could; failing that, he would go after those who were close to her. And that, she would not tolerate.
There was a feeling of pride in this group that tugged at Kit's heart. They were much more than her good friends; they were her sisters. There wasn't one of them that wouldn't put their lives on the line for the other. Suddenly, she knew that they all felt the same as she did. They could no more abandon her, then she, could them. She had inspired them and brought them all together as a family of sorts. Through Kit's leadership, they had acquired feelings of confidence and self-respect and none of them were willing to give that up. They fought too hard for it. A threat to one was seen, as a threat to all.
"So you all feel the same way?" Kit asked, as her eyes scanned the faces of her friends looking for any dissenting voice, none came. "We're with you Kit!" all agreed.
"Okay then," Kit said. "The first thing we need is a plan, and a plan B, just in case."
Chapter 24 - The Unexpected Gift
Kit slept the sleep of the dead that night. She couldn't remember when she had been so tired. Her life was a whirlwind of events, big and small, and her dreams reflected the chaos. Foremost, was her time with David. She dreamed about him, the two of them holding hands and running through a beautiful meadow of flowers. A herd of wild horses ran by, almost close enough to touch. Is this what Montana looked like, she wondered? In the dream, Kit wore a beautiful long white dress, and held up the hem as they ran. A wreath of flowers adorned her hair. She and David fell upon the ground and rolled onto their backs. Together, they looked up at the azure blue sky. Off, in the distance, ominous black clouds approached. They could see lightning dancing in the approaching mass and heard the deep rolling sound of thunder. They sat up, staring off at the growing threat. David's hand adjusted the wreath of flowers on Kit's head and played with the lock of hair that had fallen across her brow.
"Storms coming," David said pensively, "we had better get ready!"
"But everything's so perfect," Kit grumbled. "Why can't it just stay the way it is?"
"Nothing stays the same," David said, "Change is part of life."
The image of David and the flowery meadow slowly dissolved. Kit found herself standing on the side of the street where the car accident happened that killed Julia's daughter. The image of Emily slowly faded into view.
"Can you see me?" Emily asked her.
"Yes," Kit replied, "shouldn't I be able to see you?"
"I don't have all the answers," Emily replied, "but so far, my mother only hears my voice. Perhaps the locket strengthens our bond."
"Yeah, we had a TV like that a few years ago. The picture tube went out, and we listened to several episodes of American Idol, with no picture, before we finally bought a new TV. You tend to get a mental image of what people look like from just hearing their voice. Boy, some of the American Idol contestants looked nothing like I imagined them. It was kinda like the first time I saw Howard Stern on cable TV at Gwen's house. He looked totally different from what I imagined, from just hearing him on the radio. Sorry, I tend to talk too much when I'm nervous."
"That's okay; I think you're funny. There is nothing to be nervous about. Even the dead can have a sense of humor."
"That's me, comedian to the afterlife. I'd kill em in Vegas, huh?"
"So, now you know who I am?" The voice said, as she felt the spirit-girl take her hand in hers.
"Yes, you're Emily, Julia's daughter," Kit said. Emily nodded in affirmation.
The two girls stood silent for a moment.
"I love your mother!" Kit blurted out, partly out of not knowing what to say, but also in an effort to break the silence.
"Yeah, she's pretty great, isn't she?" Emily replied, a wistful look in her eyes.
"Great? She's amazing!" Kit replied; a broad smile came to her face.
"Send her my love, will you?" Emily told her.
"Of course! She misses you so much!"
"And I miss her too!"
"Why am I dreaming about you?" Kit asked, curiously.
"It's not really a dream, Kit. It's more of a vision!"
"Why?" Kit asked, "Are you stuck between Earth and Heaven. I saw that in a movie once. This girl couldn't move on until she finished something... made her peace with the people in her life."
"Something like that," Emily replied, pausing. "But the main reason is to warn you. You know your life is in danger. Manuel is obsessed with you and is plotting his revenge. He won't let it go of his anger!"
"You're telling me," Kit said, "James and Javier nearly got me. If it hadn't been for David, I would be playing a harp and sharing a cloud with you right now!"
"You see; you are funny!"
"Yeah, whatever," Kit said, drolly.
"Yes, I whispered in David's ear that day, planting the suggestion that he cross the park on his way home."
"You sent David to save me?"
"I just gave fate a little push. You were always destined to meet, and to fall in love. That would be difficult if you died before your time!"
"Wait, what? Fall in love?” Kit asked, “What are you, some kind of guardian angel?"
"Something like that!"
"You're not real big on straight answers, are you?"
"Patience Kit," Emily replied, "The answers will come."
Kit wanted to ask Emily more questions, about David, and about Manuel, but the girl was already fading from her vision. The next thing she knew, her mother was calling her to breakfast. Dream or vision, it didn't matter. She remembered it as vividly as real life.
"I'll get it!" Kit cried out, as the phone rang. Kit jumped up from the table, had a brief exchange, then hung up and returned to her cereal." She glanced up as she ate, looking at her mother. Celeste returned a questioning look.
"What?" Kit asked.
"Let me guess," Celeste said with a coy smile, "Could that have been David on the phone?"
"Yeah, he's coming over, asked if I wanted to hang out together today."
"You'll call me if you go anywhere, and don't stay out too late?"
"Mom!" Kit replied, "I'm not a baby. I'll be fine! Besides, I'll be with David!"
"Strangely, I find that both comforting and concerning, all at the same time!" Celeste said.
"What do you mean?"
"I saw that kiss between you two from the window. You know; after we got back from the spa, remember?" Celeste looked for some acknowledgement in her daughter's face.
"Yeah, so, what are you saying... that I can't have a boyfriend?"
"No dear, of course not... I just expect you to be careful. I don't want you to be hurt. It's never easy to get over one's first broken heart."
"Is that what you think? He's just going to break my heart. He's not like that Mom. He's good, and he's kind, and he's brave, and,
and... I think I love him! "she blurted aloud. Kit's head swirled with the strangeness of her own words. She looked back at her mother as she considered her proclamation, wondering if it had been a mistake to admit. "Yes, I think I love him!"
Kit knew she had feelings for David, but even she, hadn't realize the depths of those feelings, until that moment.
"And I truly think that's wonderful," Celeste replied, "but you are still very young, and so is David. All I ask is that you take it slow. If it is real, it will stand the test of time! I have a good feeling about David too. He has had a good upbringing, and his parents have given him a very good set of values. I couldn't have picked a better young man for you myself! But you never know what curves life is going to hand you!" Celeste couldn't help but thinking about her own situation with her illness, and how that knowledge would be one of those curves affecting Kit's future happiness.
"Don't worry Mom! I haven't said those words to him yet, and he hasn't to me. So can you just trust me for now?"
"Sure, I just wanted to get that off my chest. I know you'll be smart, and I do trust you!”
Weighted down slightly by her mother's words, there was a little less bounce in Kits greeting of David in front of her apartment. She still jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck. She planted a passionate kiss on his lips. She turned back toward the window to see if her mother was watching them, but saw no sign of her. David noticed it immediately!
"Something wrong?" David asked, bobbing his head from side to side, in an effort to get her to look him in the eyes.
"No, everything's fine!" she replied, only slightly avoiding eye-to-eye contact. She knew that he had that effect on her. She couldn't hide anything from him. One look in those dreamy turquoise eyes and all was lost; she was lost!
David sensed something was a bit off, but decided not to press it.
"Good," David smiling broadly, reached into his back pocket and pulled out a gift-wrapped package. "I have a present for you!"
"For me? You got something for me?" Kit squealed with delight.
Kit studied the wrapping job and marveled at the obvious care that was taken. This was no department store's wrapping job. He did it himself. She shook the package while her mind raced with the possibilities. "Too big for earrings. Was it a watch?" she wondered.
David suddenly thought that perhaps Kit was making too much of his gift and quickly sought the words to avert any disappointment that she might have.
"It's not a big deal. Just a small thing seriously," he added.
However, there was no stopping her now. Kit tore off the wrapping paper and held the box almost respectfully in her hands. She slowly lifted off the lid. Her eyes could not hide her disappointment.
"You bought me a wrist-rocket? A wrist-rocket?" she repeated, holding up the object.
"I'm sorry. You're disappointed, aren't you?" David said, suddenly confirming his fears that she had been expecting something, perhaps, romantic in nature.
"No, it's great really!" she tried, not altogether convincingly, to sound pleased.
"Nah, it was a dumb idea," David said with obvious self-loathing. "There is one other thing in the bottom of the box... "
"Really," She smiled.
Kit dug under the packing revealing a radiant gold chain. She raised it slowly, examining its elegant beauty.
"I noticed that your locket's chain clasp was broken and held together by some string, I thought you could use a new one."
It was perfect, she thought. How could he know her so well?"
David was instantly redeemed; Kit hugged him around the neck, then kissed him.
"I love it! I love them both!" she said in half-truth.
"Liar!" David said, relieved at his last minute save. "Admit it, you love the chain, but you aren't crazy about the wrist-rocket,"
"I will not!" she remarked defiantly, while pulling back on its elastic bands and taking aim at the garbage can on the street, "I love my wrist-rocket! Did you know that it has a range of up to 100 yards?" she teased, smiling back at him.
"Okay, make fun of it if you want to, but you do need to have something that will even the odds a bit if you run into trouble again with Manuel and his bunch.
"Oh Baby, now I'm the one who's sorry? I hurt your feelings, didn't I? You forget; I've seen what your wrist-rocket can do in skilled hands. It saved my life, and that's a fact that I'm not about to forget!"
"No, it's not that. My feelings aren't hurt. I just worry about you. I can't be with you all the time."
"Please don't worry David. I took care of myself before you came into my life, and I always have my girls," Kit reminded him, “and we always have each other's backs!"
"You know it's different now. You didn't have some sociopath with a vendetta to satisfy before. Things have changed. Change is a part of life."
"What did you say?" Kit asked, having one of those deja vu moments.
"I said, change is a part of life!"
"That's what I thought you said."
David was replacing the old chain for the new on Kit's locket as he spoke, and upon completion, clasped it around her neck, while she held her hair out of the way. Getting into the passenger seat of David's truck, she lowered the visor and surveyed his work in the mirror.
"It's beautiful," Kit said, admiring it. It was quite a bit heavier than the original chain, and she doubted that it would ever break.
David put the truck in gear and pulled away from the curb.
"So where are we going?" Kit asked.
"To get you some skilled hands," he answered.
Chapter 25 - Mad skills
Kit and David arrived at Jessie's, and she rolled out her usual lemonade, and her homemade parfait, this time raspberry.
"Here for another riding lesson?" Jessie asked, "The horses will be glad to see you. I know they look forward to the exercise."
"If time permits," David replied, "We have other lessons we have to attend to. Okay if we go over to the range?"
"Sure, I'll run you over there. I wouldn't mind blowing off a little steam myself."
Jessie loaded up the back of her four-wheel drive with several shotguns, pistols, and a few garbage sacks filled with cans.
"Where are we going?" Kit asked David.
"You'll see," was all that he would say.
After forty minutes of bouncing over rough roads, they arrived at a flat area facing a sandy hillside. David helped Jessie unload the firearms, and set them in a stand near a makeshift wooden table. David took the garbage sack of cans to a long wooden plank, supported by stumps, between the table and the hillside, and began setting up evenly spaced cans, along its length. Returning to the table, David placed a cloth sack filled with ball bearings, next to "his and hers" wrist-rockets.
Jessie stifled a laugh as she saw what David was up to.
"That what you teachin her today? They're cute, but them pea-shooters won't save you against a really bad man." Jessie commented, with dead-pan seriousness. Jessie picked up a 45 caliber Sig Sauer, semi-automatic pistol, shoved in a magazine and gave fair warning. "Put your ears in."
David handed a pair of ear-plugs to Kit and showed her how to insert them, then when ready, gave Jessie a nod. Jessie yelled, "fire-in-the-hole", raised the semi-automatic, and began firing. In just a few seconds, she had emptied the magazine, with a can flying into the air, for each shot fired.
"Oh my God!" Kit said, "Do you ever miss?"
"My Daddy taught me to shoot back in Texas when I was nine, and no, I don't miss!" As if to prove her point, Jessie picked up a shotgun and raised it to her shoulder. "Pull!" she yelled, whereupon a flat orange target, (called a clay target), sailed Frisbee-like, across, in front of her. Jessie fired, and the target disintegrated into a puff of black powder. She continued with doubles, where two of the flying disks, sailed in front of her, from opposite directions, at the same time, displaying the same speed and accuracy. Kit had counted over thirty targets, and Jessie
had yet to miss any.
"I used to compete," Jessie said, "I was the woman's state champion for eight years running. Like I said before, It's just recreation now; a way to blow off steam! By the way, in case you were wondering who was throwing the targets, they're voice-activated. It only works when you yell, pull." Another target sailed overhead, but did not get past Jessie.
"Wow, she is good, isn't she?" Kit said, in awe.
"Come on David, it's your turn to show Kit what you can do!"
"Some other time Jessie, that's not why we're here today."
"Just a few, then I'll shut up, and let you be."
"Well alright, if that's what it takes."
David first picked up the 45, inserted the magazine, and pulled back the slide.
"Pull," he yelled! David swung an arc, across the path of the first flying target, and fired. The target broke apart. "Pull," he said again, with the duplicate result. The same for doubles, until he emptied his magazine, with no misses! He then repeated his perfect score, with the shotgun. Kit shook her head in disbelief!
"You know how hard it is to hit one of those with a pistol? Okay, now your pea-shooter," Jessie requested.
"Ah, come on Jessie, that'd just be showin off!"
"It's okay to impress your girl, you know. Let her see what you can do!"
David picked up his wrist-rocket and placed a ball bearing in its pouch. He called out, "Pull," before he even raised the weapon, or pulled the elastic bands, back to fire. A second later, he had fired, and the flying disc broke apart. This was repeated nine more times. Again, no misses!
"You see Kit; I'm real good, but your David," she laughed, "he's even better!"
"I hope you don't expect me to shoot like that," Kit said, doubtfully.
"No Babe, of course not, It takes thousands of hours to get that good, even with a lot of natural abilities! But there's no reason that you can't get good enough to hit what you're shooting at, and protect yourself at short range, with just a little bit of practice."
"You're kidding, right?" Kit walked back and leaned against the four-wheel-drive, with a defeated look.
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