by Mikayla Lane
Emily put down the bowl and covered her face as she cried. The comforting hands on her back and shoulders only made her cry harder. Elmer had been right—no one had ever helped her before, and for them to have waited so long to move on but still choose to wait even longer in order to help her was overwhelming.
“You’re going to need the help with my big ass anyway,” Koda said, causing everyone to laugh and agree with him.
Emily finally calmed herself and wiped her tears before she looked up at the kind people surrounding her.
“Thank you . . . thank you so much,” she whispered, trying to keep her voice from cracking with emotion.
“Yeah, yeah . . . shovel the rest of that in. I may not be able to taste it, but it’s looking worse the colder it gets,” Koda said, his face scrunched up comically as he looked in the bowl she was feeding him from.
Emily laughed and grabbed the bowl to feed his body the rest of it.
“It looks bad, but it’s good for you. Now might be a good time to tell me if you’re allergic to anything though. I’m going to have to hunt different kinds of game and gather roots and herbs. I don’t want to feed you something you’re allergic too,” Emily advised. The last thing she wanted to do was lose him to an allergic reaction to something she fed him.
Gran shook her head at the same time Koda did and Emily smiled at how much they looked alike when they did little things like that.
“Nothing I’m aware of,” Koda told her as she spooned in the last of the cereal. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of that gruel sliding down his throat.
Emily accepted one of Joey’s old bottles, filled with water, from Tom and tilted it into Koda’s mouth. She used her finger to press on the nipple, squirting the water in his mouth until he reflexively swallowed. Once the bottle was empty, Elmer laid him back down on the mattress with an exaggerated grunt.
“They grow them all as big as you on your planet?” Elmer asked, grinning at Koda.
“Not really,” Koda replied with a grin. “My older brother is bigger than I am, but the youngest is a little smaller.”
Elmer chuckled and Tom whistled.
“Your poor mom must have been a saint,” Tom added.
Koda turned quiet and nodded his head.
“She was much more than that,” Koda admitted.
Emily could feel the change in Koda’s attitude and decided she wasn’t going to put up with a somber mood. Not when so much was at stake. She pulled herself to her feet and gave an apologetic look to Granala before she turned to the others.
“Yeah, your mom is definitely more than that. The woman is relentless, sometimes annoying, bitchy, opinionated . . .” Emily let her voice trail off and smiled to herself when Koda crossed his arms over his chest and quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Really? I can’t say I remember those particular traits,” he said, feeling protective towards his mother.
Emily laughed, re-covered Koda’s body so he wouldn’t get a chill, and moved to stoke the fire in the fireplace.
“I’m teasing you. Your mom loves you very much or she wouldn’t be here. Remember that. Now, I need to get some hunting done so who’s coming with me and who’s staying to keep the fire going?” she asked, knowing just by the body language who was going.
Emily gathered her hunting gear and ignored Joey when she put up a fight as Emily pulled her away from Koda’s body. She got her sister in the backpack carrier and gave Elmer a grateful smile when he helped her hoist Joey onto her back.
“Why don’t you leave her with us?” Gran suggested, knowing that Emily needed to stay strong and carrying Joey would wear her out even more.
Emily shook her head as she pulled the strap of her rifle over her shoulder and headed to the door.
“I can’t take that chance. Her grandfather wants her back, and I’ll die before he gets her, so she doesn’t leave my sight,” she explained.
Granala could well understand why Emily wouldn’t leave her sister and nodded her head. She wished more than anything that she could do more to help her son and Emily, but she was limited in her abilities and didn’t dare interfere with how things were meant to happen.
Emily shut the door behind her, flipped the metal bar latch, and put the combination lock on. She clicked it shut, spun the dial and looked at Elmer, Tom, and Koda, who were waiting for her in the clearing.
“For obvious reasons, we’re going for smaller game, but we have to go at least a mile from the cabin before I will even consider pulling the rifle,” Emily said, then held up her hand to stop Koda from interrupting her. “I refuse to kill close to my home. I don’t care about how dumb anyone thinks that may be. End of discussion.”
Without waiting for a response, Emily began the trek to where she usually started searching for prey. She didn’t want to try to explain that even though she had to kill to eat, she wanted the area around the cabin to be safe for all of them—the animals, Joey, and her.
“We can also scare some fowl your way, when we get to your sweet spot,” Elmer suggested as he looked around the tops of the trees.
Emily giggled at the thought of the three tough looking spirits shaking the shrubs so she could catch dinner.
In my world, that’s pretty damn funny, she thought. She was stepping over a log when she heard Elmer shout a warning before she was hit in the chest and thrown backwards over the log. She barely had time to twist her body so that she wouldn’t land on Joey before she felt strong arms wrap around her.
She looked up in shock at Koda’s worried look before he set her down and pulled her behind his ghostly figure.
“Shoot it!” Elmer shouted.
Emily went to pull her rifle from her shoulder when Joey grabbed the barrel and held it with a strength Emily didn’t know the baby had. Joey giggled and pointed at the menacing beasts facing off several feet in front of them.
“Gibly,” Joey said clearly.
Chapter Eight
Emily stared in wonder at the small, sleek, black panther as it moved stealthily around the golden mountain lion that had come out of nowhere. She tugged again at the rifle on her shoulder, trying not to draw the attention of the two animals intently stalking one another in a circle.
“Don’t shoot the black one!” Koda yelled out as he placed his transparent body in front of the cat as if to shield him. “He’s Gibly! He’s a friend! My brother must have sent him.”
“What is a Gibly?” Emily whispered, wondering how her sister had known the word and spoken it so clearly.
Koda pointed at the cat behind him.
“The black cat! His name is Gibly, he’s a friend,” Koda said excitedly.
It was the first sign that someone was searching for him, and he couldn’t contain the grin on his face as he looked at Emily.
“How did you know that, Joey?” Emily whispered as she stared at the cats, while Joey giggled at the growling and snarling animals.
“Is it wearing a collar?” Tom asked incredulously as he leaned right over the cat’s back to get a closer look. “It is! It’s a jeweled collar!”
“He’s a sibiox,” Koda said with excitement. “From the planet Valendra. You wanted a space ship, but he’s actually a talking space cat.”
“You’re lying,” Elmer accused as he stared at the cat.
“What the hell are they doing?” Emily asked, afraid to move and startle the deadly animals. Space cat or not, it had wicked teeth and claws, and she wasn’t taking any chances.
“Gibly is probably trying to scare it off without hurting it,” Koda answered, watching the cat’s movements carefully.
Emily couldn’t take much more of the tense standoff, and she slid the barrel of the rifle out of her sister’s hand.
“Space cat . . . Gibly, I’m going to pull the trigger to try and scare the other cat away. Don’t attack me, I’m aiming at the sky. Koda said you’re a nice kitty, so I won’t hurt you,” Emily whispered, carefully moving the rifle away from her sister.
She looked
behind her to make sure Joey still had her ear muffs on and slowly squeezed the trigger. She jumped when it boomed loudly around them and sighed in relief when the golden cat bolted into the forest.
Gibly turned his glittering black gaze on Emily, and she took a step back for a moment before standing her ground. She slowly pulled her rifle back to her shoulder, hoping she wouldn’t regret it.
“Gibly? I’m Emily. My sister Joey is behind me. Uh . . . Koda is really glad to see you.” Emily’s voice shook and she stared at the strange cat nervously, waiting to see what it would do.
Gibly cocked his head to one side and continued to stare at Emily, making her nervous.
“Tell him that I told you he can talk. The jeweled collar was made for him by Jess, it helps him to talk,” Koda said, wondering why Gibly wasn’t talking.
Emily looked from Koda to Gibly and ran a hand over her face at how crazy this was. Talking space cats, space men . . . I’m losing my damn mind, she thought. But it was convince the cat, run, or shoot it, and she didn’t want to hurt the beautiful animal.
“Gibly, Koda said Jess made you that pretty collar so you could talk . . . oh this is fucking stupid!” Emily muttered the last and threw her hands up in the air.
Gibly shocked her by laughing.
“Heh heh. Said the part human female speaking with the dead and nearly dead,” Gibly replied with a dramatic bow.
Emily stumbled back in shock and grabbed a tree for support as she stared at the cat.
“Do it again. I have to see if your mouth is really moving,” she whispered, afraid to scare the cat away before she could find out if it really did talk.
Gibly opened his mouth wide and moved his tongue around for a moment, showing his wicked sharp teeth.
“Did that suffice or do you need to look more closely at my teeth?” Gibly offered with a smile, his whiskers twitching with his mirth.
Emily’s mouth dropped open in shock and she took a confused step back before taking two forward, towards the amazing cat.
“Sweet Jesus!” Elmer whispered in awe. “I musta been a lot better man than I thought for the Lord to let me witness this! I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this for nothing!”
Koda whooped and kneeled in front of the cat.
“Where’s Grai, buddy? Where’ve you been?”
“I . . . I’m good,” Emily said to Gibly, not wanting a closer look at the razor sharp teeth in his mouth.
There was an awkward silence while Emily waited for the cat to respond to Koda and when he just looked around the area, she finally had to ask.
“You can see Koda can’t you?”
“Of course he can,” Koda insisted. “He said you were talking to the dead.”
Gibly shook his head.
“No, I can’t see him. But I can feel him. And two others near you now. Joey told me of the others in the home where Koda’s body rests. You need to take me there,” Gibly replied.
Koda sucked in a sharp breath.
“Is Grai coming?”
Emily looked from Koda back to Gibly.
“Is Grai coming for him?” she asked.
“Grai is looking for him,” Gibly said. “It is complicated by the military presence in the folly.”
“Bastards!” Koda muttered. “I knew something went wrong.”
Emily leaned down a little to get a better look at the cat without getting too close to it.
“You’re so pretty,” she whispered, wondering if its fur was as soft as it looked.
“Thank you. If you will take me to Koda’s body, I may be able to assist while we wait for Grai,” Gibly replied with a smile meant to put Emily at ease.
“You still need to hunt, Emily. All of you need the meat, and it could still take days for them to get here,” Elmer warned, not liking the way Gibly spoke of the space brother looking for Koda. He didn’t think they were going to be found as quickly as they hoped.
Emily thought about it and nodded her head in agreement.
“Elmer’s right. It could still be days before they get here, depending on what they’re dealing with. We still need the fresh meat.”
Gibly bowed and turned his piercing gaze on Emily.
“With respect, if I hadn’t pushed you away, the cat would have killed you and the child. You are in no condition to hunt, but I am. Take me to Koda’s body, and I will go out and hunt for you,” Gibly offered, fearing for the woman and child.
He could easily sense Emily’s exhaustion and the toll the shared energy was taking on her and the child. He also knew that he didn’t have much time to get her and the child back to the safety of the cabin.
“Something is wrong.” Koda knew it, he could feel it. Gibly knew something. “Ask him what’s going on. He knows something.”
Emily looked suspiciously at the cat.
“Koda says something is wrong. What aren’t you telling us?”
Gibly wiped a tired paw over his face and sighed.
“His energy is fading fast; something is wrong with his body. If we don’t get to him soon, you won’t make it back,” Gibly warned, trying to say it as gently as possible.
Emily threw her hands in the air.
“Of course something is wrong with his body! His spaceship wrecked! He’s missing a damn leg, his skull is cracked, and there’s no damn telling what internal injuries he has! Why the rush now?” she demanded, putting her hands on her hips.
Emily knew something was wrong as well. It was hard not to notice when every step she took felt like she was dragging her feet through mud. But she wasn’t about to verify that for anyone until she knew what was going on.
Gibly took two tentative steps towards her, making sure he didn’t scare her. When she just watched him in fascination he moved until he was standing in front of her and gently laid a paw on the top of her boot as he looked into her eyes.
“If you do not go back now, you will not make it back on your own. Your energy is depleting fast, you must tend to the body or you will get worse and so will Joey,” the cat said softly, but in a serious tone.
“Go back now, Emily. Now!” Koda said, suddenly terrified for her and the baby.
“Whatever,” Emily muttered as she headed back to the cabin.
She refused to admit how sluggish she felt and how much she was relying on the trees to help her back towards the cabin. And she was more than glad that no one was pointing it out to her as she stumbled more than once, though it was hard to ignore how close Elmer and Koda were walking with her.
“So let’s think about what could be wrong with him that’s causing this.” Emily almost wished she hadn’t spoken when she heard how breathless her voice had sounded.
“Infection,” Tom blurted out. “We have no idea how long he was out there, but it was long enough for clotting to stop the bleeding. There’s no telling what festered in there before you cleaned it.”
Realizing what he said, Tom winced and looked apologetically at Koda.
“Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Koda replied. “You’re probably right. Infection sounds like a viable cause. Emily, does Gibly know how long I’ve been gone?”
Emily felt like slapping her own forehead, wishing she’d thought about asking the cat before now.
“Gibly, how long has Koda been missing? We’re trying to figure out how long he’d been in the pod before we found him,” she asked the cat.
Gibly, who was scouting ahead of them for any dangers, stopped and tilted his head as if thinking about it.
“Five days,” he said then trotted off again.
“Oh my God . . . four days?” Emily whispered as she looked over at Koda in shock.
How the hell had he survived four days out here alone and injured like that? She wondered, stunned that he hadn’t succumbed to worse than infection by now.
“No, no, I say five days,” Gibly repeated.
“Yes, Gibly, I understand. I was talking to Koda. He was out here for four days by himself before I found him. I’ve only h
ad him a little over a day now,” she replied, not wanting the obviously intelligent cat to think she was stupid.
Gibly just nodded his head in understanding before darting into the woods at high speed.
“Where did he go?” Tom asked.
Emily shook her head, hoping the cat would come back. Talking space cat or not, having him there was a lot more comforting than she cared to admit.
She sucked in a sharp breath and grabbed her chest as Gibly suddenly appeared a few feet in front of her. He had a fat, brown rabbit hanging from his mouth and he set it on the ground in front of her.
“I will get another for your dinner this evening,” Gibly said then turned and headed back in the direction of the cabin.
Emily leaned down and picked up the rabbit, her eyes misting at the cat’s generous help.
“He really is going to hunt for us,” she said before she realized she’d spoken aloud.
Koda nodded his head and gestured for her to continue walking. He waited until she did before he spoke.
“Gibly is one of the most honorable and finest beings you will ever have the honor to meet. If he says he will do something, he will. Never doubt him, and trust him with your life because he’ll give up his to protect you and Joey,” Koda advised, hoping to put her at ease over the cat.
“But why?” Emily asked, wondering why such an amazing creature would care about her and Joey.
Koda gestured in front of them, urging her to continue walking.
“His people are very intelligent beings, and Gibly is very wise. He knows what’s going on, and he’s trying to help,” Koda assured her.
Gibly startled Emily again and laid another brown rabbit in front of her.
“Thank you, Gibly. Thank you so much,” Emily whispered through the tears misting her eyes again.
Gibly waited until she reached down for the rabbit, then set his paw on her hand, drawing her attention to his face.
“You good woman and Joey very special, like Tristan. I will help you, you’re not alone. But now you must hurry home,” Gibly said gently, his dark eyes trying to convey how important it was to keep moving.