From a Distant Star

by McQuestion, Karen

  I went to the kitchen cupboards and got out several large bowls, then filled them with water and cat food. Who knew how long Boo would be here alone? Then I went downstairs to see if I could use the computer in Christy’s secret lair to contact someone on another planet.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  When Scout thought back on his time on Earth, he compared it to The Outlaw from San Antonio. Just like in the movie, there were bad guys: the Carversens who did evil deeds to avenge their grandfather; the people from Erickson Ryder who broke the law so they could be the first to make contact; and the federal agents, especially Mariah Wilson. She had no problem with wrong-doing if it helped her get ahead in her job.

  Revenge. Pride. Greed. He recognized all of these things from the movie and marveled at how they existed in real life as well. Humans were willing to kill others for such silly reasons.

  But there were heroes on Earth too, just like in the movie. Eric, of course, and Beverly and Roy Atkins. But the biggest hero was Emma. She was afraid so much of the time, but it did not stop her. She risked her life for Lucas, and for Scout too. Love trumps logic every time, she’d said. He didn’t understand it at first, but now he did.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  More than an hour later, it was nearly morning, and I’d given up on being able to contact Scout’s planet using the computer system in Christy’s basement. I had no idea how Scout was able to do it. I could turn the thing on and that’s where I stopped. After that, I was stuck and frustrated, randomly hitting keys and typing in fake passwords, none of which worked. I couldn’t think straight and I was getting angry. How could Scout have done this to me? He knew the deal. I would help him return to his home planet and he would make sure I got Lucas back. I’d kept my end of the bargain, but he just took off, knowing there was nothing I could do about it. I felt betrayed. I slammed my fist on the keyboard. In the movies, this would have magically linked me to the right feed. Instead, the side of my hand hurt like hell and I felt like an idiot.

  When I finally decided to give up, it was a relief. I plodded up the creaky wooden stairs, leaving the creepy basement behind. There was nothing for me here, and as long as I stayed, there was a chance I’d get in trouble for trespassing. I fished the keys to the van out of my backpack, gave Boo one more pat, and went out to the garage.

  Once I’d backed down the driveway, the GPS set for home, my despair came to the surface. I couldn’t hold it back any longer. There were too many tears for me to wipe them away; my sobs were loud and ugly. I drove down the winding road, the sun coming up over the horizon. A new day for everyone else, but the end for me. I’d foolishly believed that if I did everything right, I’d get Lucas back. How could I have been so trusting? I gripped the steering wheel wondering what I was going to say to Mr. and Mrs. Walker. How could I explain that we’d left together, but I’d returned alone? They were going to hate me, but not any more than I hated myself.

  I could barely see through my tear-rimmed eyes, but it didn’t matter. There was no traffic this time of day. The glint of the sun on the dewy grass made everything sparkle. The ditches were lush with wild tiger lilies, their beauty a contrast to my feelings of despair. For a split second I was distracted by the flowers, and when I returned my gaze straight forward, I was startled to see a man off in the distance. He stood stock-still in the middle of the road, his feet planted on either side of the center line, his familiar silhouette outlined by the rising sun. I slammed on the brakes and the van screeched to a halt, stopping twenty feet short.

  Throwing the van into park, I jumped out of the vehicle, running and throwing myself at him. “Lucas!” I said, and that’s all I could manage. The tears were coming fast and furiously, but they were now tears of joy.

  He wrapped his arms around me, giving me his warmth and strength. I started shaking and clung to him. He smoothed my hair and said, “It’s okay, Emma. It’s okay. I’m back. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  At some point, Scout knew he would need to take Lucas’s body with him. They had been together so long that the extraction process would be complex, requiring a team effort. On the ship, the experts set to work immediately, separating his essence from Lucas with such care that the host body remained unharmed. How much easier it would have been to just pull out Scout and cast off the body he no longer needed, but that was not an option. He could not do that to Emma.

  Once Scout was out, and Lucas had recovered from the trauma, the team focused on Emma’s location as she traveled away from the house, calculating the distance and time, then transporting Lucas so he would be directly in her path. Scout was not able to see the resulting reunion, but he knew it would be joyous. He would have given anything to have felt that emotion along with them.

  An interesting thing happened as a result of the two of them, Lucas and Scout, existing for a time as one. A small part of Scout remained in every fiber of Lucas’s being; as for Scout, he now experienced life as someone who had once been Lucas.

  He was forever changed.

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  Getting back in the van and putting on our seat belts, I couldn’t help but stare at Lucas sitting in the passenger seat. He caught me looking and smiled. “Yes, it’s me,” he said.

  But, of course, I’d known it was Lucas the moment I’d laid eyes on him.

  “What do you remember?” I asked. His voice was the same and he looked like himself, although his clothing was rumpled and dirty. “Do you know what happened?”

  “I remember some things,” he said. “I remember being sick in the bed in the dining room and my parents talking about me dying. I didn’t want to die, but I felt so terrible and I was so tired. And then . . .” His voice trailed off and he looked straight ahead at the windshield.

  “And then?” I prompted, reaching over to run the back of my hand over his cheek.

  Lucas turned to look at me. “And then it seemed like someone took over and my body felt so much better after that, but I was submerged sort of. I can’t really explain it. I felt like I did when I was going under anesthesia right at the end where you hear the doctors talking off in the distance, but you can’t get a grasp on things. I was there, but I wasn’t really there . . . I know it doesn’t make sense.”

  “Do you want me to tell you what happened?” I asked.

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “That would help.”

  So I told him the whole story, beginning with my visit to Mrs. Kokesh to get the potion and ending with the helicopter dropping me off at the field and my failed attempt to contact Scout’s planet using the equipment in Christy Carversen’s basement. “And then I got in the van to drive home and I was crying my eyes out when I saw you standing in the middle of the road. After that, well, you know the rest.” He took some time to let it all sink in and when a minute or two had passed, I said, “I know it’s hard to believe.”

  “Oh no, I believe it,” he said. “Now everything makes sense. I felt like I was possessed, kind of. I remember bits and pieces. There were times I even had a little bit of control. Sometimes I would try to tell him what to do.”

  “You did? Like what?”

  “I told him to lean in because that girl wanted to kiss him.”

  “What girl?”

  “The one watching the cat.”

  “Lacey?”

  “Yeah.”

  I playfully slapped his arm. “Why would you do that?”

  “She so wanted it and I knew if he kissed her, she would leave without a fuss.” He took in my disapproving stare and laughed. “What? It wasn’t me, it was him.”

  “Still. It was your lips.”

  He grinned. “Does anyone know about this besides you and Eric?”

  “Just Mrs. Kokesh.” If she were still alive, that is, I thought grimly.

  “My parents didn’t figure out that something was wrong?”

  I shook my head. “Not a clue.”

  “That’s good.” He nodded. “My mother
couldn’t have handled it.” He leaned over and I thought he was going to kiss me, so I leaned in too, but instead he brushed my hair away from my face. “Emma Leigh Garson, you are very beautiful.”

  “No, I’m not.” I grinned. “I’m sweaty and dirty and my mouth tastes like road kill.”

  “And despite all that, you’re still very beautiful.”

  I started the van and we headed toward home, fine-tuning our story along the way. The plan was to say that we’d been carjacked by two guys who also stole our phones. A nice man lent us this van. It was lame, but it was the best I could come up with.

  “But wait for them to talk first,” I said. “In case they heard something from the federal agents that will contradict our story.” I knew the agents had been to Mrs. Kokesh’s house, but I wasn’t sure if they’d contacted our parents. Scout had said they wouldn’t, and I was hoping he was right.

  As it turned out, all of our practice wasn’t necessary. When we got to the Walkers’, Lucas’s mom burst out of the house as soon as we pulled into the driveway. She ran with her hands fluttering like she was about to have a seizure. “Lucas, Lucas!” Tears streamed down her face. “Thank God you’re home. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine, Mom.” He hugged her and turned on the Lucas charm. “Emma and I just had a few adventures we weren’t counting on. I’m sorry I didn’t call.”

  “All that matters is that you’re home and safe.” She pulled away to inspect him. “You’re really okay?”

  “I told you, I’m fine.”

  “Well, don’t ever pull anything like that again.” She wagged a finger at him. “When you didn’t answer your phone, I went out of my mind thinking the worst.”

  “That I was dead in a ditch?” Lucas said and threw his head back and laughed. Oh, how I had missed that laugh.

  “I don’t think that’s funny at all,” she said, narrowing her eyes.

  “I’m just teasing you, Ma. Is there anything for breakfast? Emma and I are starved.”

  She glanced over and gave me a look of disdain. “I believe Emma needs to run along home. I’m sure her mother is out of her mind with worry.” Mrs. Walker took Lucas’s arm and steered him toward the house. The way she turned her back on me made it clear that she’d reclaimed Lucas and I was once again the outsider. Sighing, I went to open the van door, when I heard Lucas’s footsteps behind me. “Emma, wait!”

  And just like that, he was back, wrapping his arms around me and pressing his lips against mine, kissing me like he’d been waiting a long time to do this and didn’t want to wait another minute. When he pulled away, I was breathless, my heart happily pounding. “Lucas,” I said, tilting my head toward the house, “your mother can see.”

  “Let her see,” he said. “You saved my life. I think I’m entitled to a kiss.” He whispered in my ear. “I love you. Go home and get some sleep. I’ll see you later.”

  I watched as he dashed up the steps to the house. As he went inside and through the screen door, I got a glimpse of Mack jumping and yelping as he realized his boy was home. As I backed down the driveway, Lucas was rubbing Mack’s head and speaking what I was sure were words of reassurance.

  In a way we’d lucked out. Mrs. Walker was so glad to have her son home alive and well that we didn’t get interrogated. With time, this would all blow over.

  I took one last look at the house and saw Eric watching me intently from the living room window. That kid didn’t miss a thing. When he saw me looking, he saluted and I waved right back. Since I’d managed to bring his brother back, I had a feeling he’d forgive me for losing the car.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Two weeks later, Lucas and I took another kind of road trip when we went back on the road to return the van. The logistics of this trip were staggering because in order to get permission to go we had to do damage control from our previous outing.

  When I’d returned from the first trip, my mom met me at the door, upset and worried, reacting just like Mrs. Walker had (without the flappy arms). I was so happy to find out that the agents hadn’t been around that I wound up telling her the truth about our car trip, with a few omissions. Like, I didn’t mention aliens or federal agents or getting airlifted into a giant spaceship. I did tell her about almost hitting a deer and putting the car in a ditch, losing our phones due to a mishap at a diner, and that we had to borrow a van from a nice elderly couple. That we met up with a friend named Lacey who let us spend the night at her house because by then it was so late and we were too tired to drive.

  My mother folded her arms in front of her and said, “And there were no working phones at Lacey’s house? No cell phones, no landline?”

  Oh, she got me good. And I’d been doing so well. I tapped my chin with my finger. “Um . . . see, what happened is—”

  She sighed dramatically. “I have a feeling we’re about to take a bad turn here. How about you’re grounded for two weeks and we save this story for ten years from now when I’ll think it’s funny?”

  “I’m good with that. Except—”

  “Except what?”

  “I need to get the van back to Mr. Atkins. And I’ll have to borrow your car to do that.”

  Reluctantly and miraculously, after many days of campaigning on my part, she agreed to let me go, but only after I reminded her that, when she was my age, seventeen, she and a friend had hitchhiked across the country to go to a concert. She said, “Different times, Emma. Those were different times.” But I could tell from the smile on her face that she was giving in.

  When Lucas’s mother dropped him off at my house the morning we were leaving to take the van back, she wasn’t smiling, but she did get out and make small talk with my mother in front of our trailer. “Your daughter has my son under some kind of spell,” she said, trying for a joking tone, but I wasn’t buying it. “Lately, all he does is follow her around like a duckling.”

  My mom said, “It sounds like Lucas has very good taste.” From the look on Mrs. Walker’s face, that wasn’t what she was hoping to hear.

  We didn’t stick around much longer. Lucas had borrowed Eric’s phone and I had replaced my phone, so we were set that way. We said our good-byes and headed out. I drove my mom’s car and Lucas followed in the van, and we traveled for hours without stopping until we got to Roy and Beverly’s house. I knocked on the door, but they weren’t home, which made things easier, actually. I had Lucas pull around to the back of the house and park under the carport. I stuck the keys under the sun visor and left a long thank-you note on the dashboard, along with some money. Payment for gas and the jug of moonshine I’d appropriated.

  When I was done, we got back in my mom’s car and headed home with me at the wheel. Driving, just the two of us, with no worries, was like old times. We laughed and talked and listened to music and ate junk food. And we did a little car dancing too. It was a lot of driving for one day, but with the right music and the right person sitting next to me, the miles melted away and I didn’t even notice the time.

  We were nearly home when I told Lucas, “We have to make one more stop. I want to see Mrs. Kokesh.” Lucas grinned, knowing what I had in mind. I’d already told him how I’d tried to call Mrs. Kokesh numerous times since we’d returned. The first time, she’d answered and told me curtly that she didn’t want to talk to me. “Those agents tore the house apart and scared my cats near to death,” she said. “If they find out I’m talking to you, it’ll start right up again. You just leave me alone, Emma Garson.” Slam. She hung up the phone and every time I tried to call after that, it rang and rang and rang.

  I saw her point, I did, but I still wanted to see her, to show her that Lucas was himself now, and to give her a thank-you gift. I turned down the country highway that led to her house. It was still light out, nearly dinnertime, and I was pretty sure she’d be home. Per usual, a cat lounged on the front porch and it didn’t budge even when we stepped over it to knock on the door.

  “Mrs. Kokesh?” I called through the screen. “It’s me,
Emma. I know you’re home.”

  I waited a minute and knocked again. “I’ve got Lucas with me. He’s back and everything is great.”

  Lucas stepped closer to the door, his mouth nearly on the screen. “Hello, Mrs. Kokesh? It’s me, Lucas Walker.”

  “Please?” I pleaded. “We just want to talk to you for a minute.”

  “Okay, okay,” she yelled from the top of the stairs. “Hold your horses!” The steps creaked as she made her way down. At the door, she said, “Emma Garson, knowing you has only brought me grief. You got nothing I want or need.” Today, she had a paisley scarf wrapped around her head, held in place with a brooch like she was a fortune-teller.

  I held up a glass jug. “I brought you a gift. It’s moonshine.”

  “Moonshine, huh?” A thoughtful look came over her face. “That I could use.” She pushed open the door. “Come on in, but just for a minute.” We followed her into the kitchen. “Put it on the table,” she instructed. “What kind of moonshine is that? It’s not going to make me blind, is it?”

  “It’s not going to make you blind,” I promised. “It’s from northern Wisconsin.” I tried to remember how Scout had quoted Roy. “This here is called Pride and it’s one hundred and twenty proof and as pure as it comes.”

  “Pride, huh? I’ve heard of that, I think.” Mrs. Kokesh unscrewed the cap and gave it a sniff. “Okay. I’ll keep it.” Like she was doing us a favor. She screwed the cap back on. “So, what else is new?” She cackled then, like she’d told one whopper of a joke. “You want to tell me what those agents wanted?”

  “Oh, that,” I said, waving a hand to show it was nothing. “That’s over now.”

  “What?” she said sharply. “They come and terrorize me looking for you and you don’t want to tell me what it was about?”

  Lucas stepped forward. “If you really want to know, they were looking for an alien from another planet. He crash-landed here and took over my body until Emma was able to drive him to a place where he could reconnect with his people. That’s where she was when the agents were here tearing up your house.”