Thunderstone

by Barbara Pietron

  When he drew away, Jeni studied the glacial blue of his eyes, and memorized his cheekbones and the way his hair trailed over his shoulders when he tilted his head down. She reached up and twined a piece through her fingers, wanting to remember everything about him.

  Jeni didn’t know how long they stood there kissing, barely aware that their intensity rivaled that of the storm outside. Then the clouds released the rain they’d been holding back for hours. The deluge of water hit the rooftop as if spilled from a giant bucket. In the room lined by windows, the roar was enormous. They both turned to look, and as water poured over the glass, the room appeared to be melting.

  Ice’s hands were hot on the small of her back and Jeni’s thumbs stroked the nape of his neck. She turned back to him, chin lifted, but he slid his hands up and pressed her against his chest. “We can’t stay here,” he said, his voice low and raspy.

  She wasn’t ready to let him go.

  Jeni could hear his heart thumping rapidly, and felt the slight tremor in his embrace. He was close—so close to losing control. If she didn’t break away, whatever happened next would be her fault—not his.

  She reluctantly withdrew her hands and took a half-step back. As his arms dropped away she caught his hands. “Ice, you said we’d work it out. Did you mean it?” She hadn’t meant to sound so anguished, but the raw edge of her emotions was plain.

  Her eyes welled up, and she looked down at their hands. Ice let go and raised her chin until she was staring into his eyes. “Yes.” He wiped the corner of her eye gently with his thumb. “I mean it.”

  “How…when?”

  “Soon. I can drive out—Michigan’s not that far away.”

  “Ice—it’s an entire state and a great lake away.”

  Ice chuckled. “I can manage—hey! I just thought of something.” He took her hand and pulled her toward the door.

  Jeni was relieved that no one noticed as they emerged from the small room. Although the roar of the rain wasn’t as loud as in the glass room, the elders seemed intent on listening to Nik.

  Ice led her to a hallway and stopped in front of a huge bulletin board. Finding the memo he wanted, he pointed to a list of cities. “Are any of these cities close to where you live?”

  Jeni scanned the list. She recognized a lot of the names—they were cities all over Michigan. She pointed. “Southfield is probably about twenty minutes from my house,” she said. “Why?”

  “We put on Native American events in various places to teach others about our culture. One thing they always have is storytelling.”

  Jeni’s eyes widened. “Are you the storyteller?”

  “I could be. I’ll volunteer and see if Nik will put in a good word for me. I’d be there for almost a week,” he grinned.

  “How soon?”

  Ice traced his finger across the notice. “July. Next month!”

  Jeni stepped forward and hugged him tightly. “Okay, a month. In the meantime we have phones and e-mail.”

  He laughed and put his arms around her, resting his chin on her head. “Looks like the elders finished talking to Nik. And Tyler’s back.”

  Jeni turned and saw people getting up and milling about the room. Tyler sat at a table with a few guys who looked about his age. When she and Ice approached, Tyler’s eyebrow twitched as he considered Jeni for a moment. “You guys just appeared out of nowhere.”

  A blush heated her cheeks, but she ignored his comment. “What did you do about that guy?”

  “Well, apparently he came to after we left, and used a sharp edge on the furnace to saw through the ropes I used to tie him up.”

  “Wait a minute,” Jeni interrupted. “He was in the cellar?”

  “Yeah, after I knocked him out, I rolled him in and tied him up.”

  Jeni shuddered. In the dark and confusion, she hadn’t noticed he was there when Tyler pulled her from the tunnel.

  “Anyway,” Tyler continued, “without anything to push the door open, he couldn’t get out. When he heard us coming, he must’ve crawled through the tunnel and hid in the cave. I bet he hoped we’d think he escaped.”

  Tyler exchanged a grin with one of the guys he was with. “The dude didn’t fool anyone, though. Lee over there,” he pointed across the table, “is an excellent tracker and knew exactly where the guy was hiding.” “

  Lee crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.

  “You know how he had the cave entrance rigged to blow up?” Tyler glanced at Ice, then continued without waiting for an answer. “Well, the cellar was wired too. We found the detonator.” A grin spread across Tyler’s face as he waited for a reaction.

  “You blew up the cellar?” Jeni asked.

  Tyler nodded, his grin even bigger.

  “The guy’s trapped in the cave with the underwater monster? Cool, I love poetic justice,” Ice said.

  Jeni stepped over by her cousin and clapped him on the shoulder. “Nice job.”

  “After what he did to us—believe me, it was a pleasure.” Tyler drained the cup in front of him and checked his watch. “Whoa—it’s later than I thought.” He looked up at Jeni. “We should get going.”

  “What are you drinking?” Jeni wrinkled her nose. “You smell like alcohol.”

  Tyler flashed a huge smile. “Home brew. Stronger than I expected.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out his car keys, holding them out to her. “Good thing you can drive us back.”

  She took the keys and rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, good thing.”

  Ice gave Jeni directions back to the resort while walking with them to Tyler’s car. Only drips and puddles remained from the storm. Even the wind had died down. Tyler got in the passenger seat, and Jeni and Ice stopped on the other side of the car.

  Ice took his time kissing her goodbye, maybe to make sure it was vision-free, or maybe because it would be a month before he saw her again. Maybe both.

  Then he opened the car door for her. “See you soon.”

  She smiled and climbed inside. “Promise?” She looked up at him.

  He grinned. “Whether I’m the storyteller or not.”

  “Okay.” She let him swing the door shut and started the car. While adjusting the seat and fastening her seatbelt, she watched Ice walk back to the community center. She shifted the car into reverse, but didn’t back out until he was out of sight.

  An uncomfortable silence hung between her and Tyler. Ever since they’d been trapped in the cellar together, their relationship embarked on unfamiliar territory.

  “He’s all right.” Tyler’s speech wasn’t quite slurred, just slow.

  “Yeah, he is.” So, what—were they friends now?

  “For a dude with a stupid name.”

  Or maybe not—maybe they were still rivals. “You realize he’s Indian, right? His name is Shattered Ice.”

  “I guess that’s a decent excuse.”

  Tyler’s acquiescence surprised Jeni. She liked this subdued and docile version of her cousin. She’d probably never get a better opportunity to say what she wanted to say.

  “Thanks for going with me tonight,” she said quietly. “And for believing me about the monster.”

  “Uh…I don’t think I ever said that.”

  Jeni glanced sideways to see if he was joking, but Tyler wore an impassive expression, his gaze focused on a flat object he held on his lap. “What do you mean?” she protested. “You took me to the state park…to meet Nik and Ice.”

  “Right. But you were hell-bent on joining them before I came along. You would’ve found a way to get there.” His tone wasn’t argumentative; it was matter-of-fact. He flipped the disk-shaped thing over and over in his fingers. “I figured I either had to go with you to make sure you were safe, or tell someone where you were and what you were up to. But I could hardly tell your parents I knew someone wanted to kill you now, could I?” />
  Jeni gripped the steering wheel in disbelief. “But…but…the barrier…you helped me…”

  “Look, it’s clear what Nik believes, and probably Ice too. You yourself said you believe because they believe, so I went along with an open mind. But the injuries and destruction I saw tonight were the work of one psychotic human being.”

  She shook her head. “No, Ice was knocked out by the monster’s tail.”

  “Ice most likely has a concussion because the psycho slammed his head into a rock. He could barely stand when I came out of the cave; he probably just passed out.” Tyler tossed the object up with one hand and caught it in the other. Flick. Plop.

  Her mouth was open to spew out the next argument. If the monster hadn’t chased her into the cave, she never would’ve been trapped. For that matter, what about the existence of the cave itself? And the deaths? What about… Jeni closed her mouth. Tyler would no doubt have a logical explanation to everything she offered. Because bottom line, he never saw the monster, ergo, it didn’t exist.

  Flick. Plop.

  “What is that?” Jeni snapped. “Did you pick up a rock somewhere or something?”

  “No.” Flick. Plop. “Lee gave it to me.”

  Tyler held out the thing he’d been playing with. As they passed under a streetlight, a metallic glow flared off the object. For a moment, the image of the monster caught in the beam of her light flashed in Jeni’s mind and she shuddered.

  “Can I see it?” she asked as she coasted to a stop at a traffic light. She felt a slight tingle on her palm and a shiver crept up her arm though the disk was still warm from Tyler’s hands. Her fingers tentatively explored what the dim lighting couldn’t reveal.

  The flat orb was slightly larger than her hand with a thickness that tapered from a half inch to about an eighth of an inch. A raised ridge ran along the thicker edge; the remaining surface scarred by deep gouges. The other side was remarkably smooth. As she slid her fingers along the gouges, Jeni imagined the cave entrance, marked with copper after the monster’s escape.

  “Did Lee tell you what this is?” Jeni asked casually. She passed the disk back to her cousin, breathing an inaudible sigh of relief when it left her hand.

  “Copper. He said it would’ve been extremely valuable a long time ago but not so much anymore. He told me to keep it for good luck.”

  Copper. Just as she thought.

  Suddenly Jeni wanted to scream with laughter. She could totally throw this in her cousin’s face. Tyler held, in his hand, a scale from the very monster whose existence he denied. He may still refuse to believe it, but deep down he’d know. And Jeni would be right for a change.

  Of course it would rekindle their rivalry.

  Did she want that?

  Truthfully? No. Jeni had to admit Tyler was a worthy ally—she’d rather be with him than against him.

  Her next thought completely contradicted her inclination to keep her mouth shut and sent a chill down the back of her neck. They were cousins. They shared ancestry. Was it safe for Tyler to have a scale from the underwater manitou in his possession? After all, her innocent purchase of a statue had turned into a full-blown catastrophe.

  She had to warn him, right?

  Even if he didn’t want to admit the truth?

  Jeni drew in a breath but before she uttered a sound, Tyler spoke. And solved her conundrum.

  “Since it’s copper, I guess it’ll eventually turn green.”

  Awesome. She’d just learned about this in chemistry a few months ago. “You can put it in a zip bag to protect it. But most important…” Jeni paused to make sure he was paying attention.

  Tyler looked at her and waved his hand in a “go on” gesture.

  “Keep it away from any and all water.”

  Acknowledgements

  First I have to thank my husband, who made it possible for me to be a stay-at-home mom and writer. On the subject of getting published, he never said if; only when.

  I am ever grateful to my daughter, Nikki Pietron, and sister, Judy Skemp, who graciously spent countless hours reading, re-reading, and offering advice to improve the story. Also, for everyone who took the time to read my manuscript, give me feedback, and encourage me to pursue my dreams: Lisa White, Jim White, Leslie Carnacchi, Sarah Ford, Kelly Nykanen, Betty Gerard, Bob Fulks, Jayne King, Claire Abell, Renee Wright, Nancy Hanes, Barb Neyens, Ann Skemp, and my mom, Jeannie Duehr—thanks guys, your support is everything when faced with stacks of rejections! Also, thank you to those who read my entry in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest and cheered me on; discovering such a wealth of believers strengthened my resolve to stay the course.

  My dream would not be a reality had Leslie Carnacchi not referred me to Scribe Publishing Company where Jennifer Baum decided to take a chance on a debut author; a huge round of applause for Jennifer and the rest of the staff at Scribe Publishing.

  I’d like to give credit to my favorite blog: misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com for the critiques, links, advice, commiseration, and support from the Authoress herself as well and the community of writers that follow her blog. If you’re an aspiring author, check it out.

  Thank you to my niece, Cassie Pietron, for taking an author photo worthy of publication. You can find Cassie Pietron Photography on Facebook at:

  www.facebook.com/cassiepietronphotos

  Last, but never least, I must thank my dad. Born and raised blocks from the Mississippi River, he travelled the world, but chose to return to the river for his last big adventure. Miss you Dad.

  About the Author

  Photo Credit: Cassie Pietron

  After years in the corporate world, Barbara found herself with a second chance to decide what she wanted to be when she grew up. Her lifetime love of books and the written word returned one answer: writer. Drawing from her experience with technical writing, she began by writing non-fiction magazine pieces and achieved both regional and national publication. Her success encouraged her to complete a novel. She learned much from her first manuscript, critiques, books, contests, and blogs. In 2012, her novel Thunderstone was a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthough Novel Award contest and won a critique by Publishers Weekly. A few months later, she was offered publication by Scribe Publishing Company.

  Barbara has a few other novels in the works, including a Thunderstone sequel. If she’s not reading or writing, she likes to walk, garden, and sew. She works in a library and lives in Royal Oak, Michigan with her husband, daughter, and their cat—who often acts like a dog.

  Find Barbara on Facebook: www.facebook.com/barbara.pietron.19.