by Tony Butler
“I think that you’d better get some clothes on. Scott’s still getting himself an eyeful!” Mary said.
“How did you do that and do you always change back as soon as you leave the tree, or whatever?”
“I don’t really know. I’ve always willed myself to un-become. That’s what I call it, becoming. It feels as though I’m part of whatever I’m becoming. Do you mind if I try something before I get dressed?”
“No, you take as long as you like.” Scott grinned, wriggling his eyebrows and adopting a lecherous expression. “We don’t mind in the least, do we, Mary?”
“No, I suppose you might as well make his day. What is it you want to try?”
“Well, I’ve always become an inanimate object but I wondered if I pressed against a person whether I could become them?”
“You get yourself right over here and press up against me.” Scott held his arms open in invitation.
“Thanks, but I was thinking of Mary. It might be a little hard to concentrate if I was pressed up against you!” Jay grinned.
“You’ve got that right, and anyway, he’d never manage to keep still with your butt pressed up against him, that’s for sure. You can try it with me if you like, although I must admit I’m a little scared.”
“Look, Mary, if you start feeling funny or anything just tell me and I’ll stop. Okay?”
“Well, alright.” Mary nodded. “Let’s do it!”
Jay backed herself up against Mary and concentrated on becoming. She heard Scott gasp and, looking down, saw that her upper body seemed to be wearing a sweater and her lower half was encased in jeans. She stepped away from Mary who was looking at her and shaking her head.
“My God!” Mary said. “We’re twins. Even your hair has changed colour. It seems impossible but every bit of you has changed! Except at the back. It’s like a blurred image of the front of you.”
“She’s right, Jay. If it weren’t for your back and your feet—which are too small to pass for trainers—even I wouldn’t be able to tell you apart.”
“I think I’d like to see how long the effect lasts. It’s time to show you something else,” Jay said.
“You mean there’s more?” Mary asked, wide-eyed.
“Yes. Scott, you used to run for the track team at college if I remember. Do you still keep in shape?”
“You betcha! I work out two or three times a week at least.”
“Is that workout or make out?” Mary asked innocently and Jay choked back her laugh.
“Both!” Scott said nonchalantly. “Now, what have you got in mind, Jay?”
“A race – me against you. How far would you say it was to that stream down there?” She pointed below them to the stream that flowed between the wooded hills.
“About a mile, maybe less. I’ll give you a head start if you like.”
“No, I want to give you one. You see that rock just past that jack pine? I’ll start when you get there.”
“Jay, are you crazy or what? That rock’s only about five hundred yards from the stream and there’s no way…” He broke off when he saw Jay’s determined look. “Well, alright then, but would you please turn back to yourself. I liked it better that way.”
“I bet you did,” Mary said.
“Later, Scott. There’s no way I’m racing against you while I’m butt naked. At least my body’s camouflaged like this. So, give me a signal when you’re level with the rock.”
She watched him lope down to the stream, his long legs carrying him nearer with every second. As he reached the rock, he raised his hand and increased his jog to a sprint and Jay launched herself after him.
Her feet pounded on the grass and seemed to spring her forward with each step. Jay felt power sweeping through her legs and she burst out of the trees, past the rock. Scott was about two hundred yards in front of her. She pumped her legs harder and saw the startled expression on Scott’s face as she flashed by him. When she reached the stream and turned, he still had a hundred yards to go. Scott reached her and doubled up, sucking in great lungfuls of air until he finally straightened up and looked at her in awe.
“I don’t believe this,” he said. “You’ve just run about a mile in under a minute, about forty seconds would be my guess, and you’re not even out of breath. God damn it, Jay. You’re amazing!”
Jay sighed. She didn’t want to be amazing; she wanted to be normal like everybody else! “It’s not much fun, Scott. Ever since I can remember, I have had to hold myself back and not let anyone see that I’m different. Can you imagine what a circus it would be if anyone found out? The press and the government would never leave me alone. I’d probably be arrested for studies by their scientists. I would never be free again!”
She saw sudden understanding in his eyes and he nodded slowly. “I guess I never thought this thing through,” he said. “It must be really frustrating never being able to show how good you really are, having to be in control all the time. I’d find it pretty hard to live like that.” Suddenly, he grinned mischievously. “But it’s good to see that you’re back to your old self, Jay!”
She looked at him, puzzled for a second, and then glanced down at herself and saw that she had un-become and was standing in front of him naked again. Jay saw the desire in his eyes and was acutely aware of her own urgent needs. She wanted Scott to make love to her, to feel his hardness inside her. She slipped into his embrace and tugged at the buckle of his belt, savouring the feel of Scott’s hand that were busily roaming over her body.
Freeing his erection, she grasped it and looked up into his eyes. “Do it to me, Scott,” she said. He raised one of her legs so that it was draped over his hip and positioned himself to make the thrust that would make her a woman.
Then over his shoulder, she saw Mary, who was still sitting almost a mile away on the tree stump. Her vision seemed to zoom in and there, behind Mary, were two men stealthily creeping through the trees towards her. Jay pushed Scott away from her, all thoughts of sex vanishing from her mind. The men stealing up on Mary were both carrying guns.
Scott was picking himself up off the grass when Jay tore past him. She was running, running faster than she’d ever run before, and then a cry—a challenge—burst unbidden from her throat.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Mary was sitting on a tree stump facing the stream that Russell could see down below her. He moved silently through the trees, skilfully avoiding stepping on anything that could snap and so alert the girl. Blake, who was on the right, was pretty good too, Russell thought, as they closed in on the unsuspecting girl.
The cry froze him. It was a sound he’d heard once before and he felt the unfamiliar taste of fear in his mouth. The girl he’d been concentrating on leapt to her feet and then Russell saw the blurred form of a naked woman rushing towards them. He knew instinctively that it was the freak. He felt unable to move as the woman, without even breaking her stride, stooped and grabbed something off the ground. In one fluid movement, she launched what looked like a small rock that flew past his head. Blake cried out in pain and fell to his knees, clutching at his chest. Released from his paralysis, Russell ran for his life and threw an arm around the Slymond girl’s neck, jamming the muzzle of his gun against her throat. Seconds later, the naked Jay Williams reached them.
“One more fucking step and I’ll blow her head off!” Russell thumbed back the hammer of the automatic and tried desperately to hide his terror. Close up, the naked girl looked normal. She had stopped and was glaring at him from about five yards away.
Blake staggered over, his automatic in one hand and his other hand clutching his chest. “I’m going to kill you,” he shouted, and raised his gun at the freak’s head.
“No!” Russell snapped. “We need her alive. Call the car and let’s go!”
“Scott, get away—run!” The freak shouted and for the first time he noticed Scott Williams running up the hill towards them.
Blake fired a burst towards the man but his aim was way off and Williams div
ed behind a rock.
“Call the fucking car, Blake!” Russell cried, keeping all his attention on the freak. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” He breathed a sigh of relief as Blake spoke into his radio and then he heard the car speeding towards them.
“We’re going to the dirt road to meet the car. If you try anything, I’ll kill Mary! Now, get moving!”
Blake hung back, covering the boulder behind which Scott Williams had thrown himself. Russell gestured to the freak to lead the way to the car and he kept his automatic pressed against Mary’s head as they followed. They reached the car and the driver was already waiting with the doors open, but Russell wasn’t taking any chances.
“You!” he said, glaring at the naked girl. “Lean over the hood and put your hands behind your back. Cuff her!” he said to the driver. The girl did as she was told and, as the cuffs were snapped around her wrists, he felt himself relax slightly. Even she wouldn’t be able to snap high tensile steel.
“Put her in the back,” he ordered. Only when she was sitting on the rear seat did Russell push Mary in after her. He sat next to Mary and waited. A few seconds later, Blake, looking distinctly pale and breathing heavily, climbed in the passenger seat at the front.
“I think the bitch busted something,” Blake muttered as the car sped off. “It feels like a couple of ribs are broken.”
“We’ll get these two locked up first and then we can get the doc to take a look at you.” He turned to look at Mary who shrank away from him and he laughed. “Don’t worry, Mary. I’ll be taking a real close look at you personally.”
“What do you want?” she asked and flinched when he put his hand high up on her thigh, half under her skirt.
“Well, besides getting better acquainted with you.” He slid his hand higher up as far as it would go and Jay could see it moving underneath the material of the skirt. Mary’s hand flew down and caught his wrist, but Jay could tell that it was only a token resistance. Mary was far too terrified to try and stop him, let alone put up any real fight.
“What we want is for your friend the freak here to lure the other freak, a boy who I thought I’d killed fifteen years ago, just like I thought I’d killed her.” Russell threw back his head and laughed.
“Then we’ll have us a breeding pair!” He winked at Mary. “I bet you never knew that these freaks lay eggs.”
* * * *
Squad cars almost completely surrounded the Williams ranch and Adam turned to Rebecca. “Let me get out of the car here. I must get to the ranch and find out what has happened.” He did not tell her what he feared, that Jay-be-free and her cousins were dead. Murdered by the same man who had killed Ben and Eve.
“Don’t be silly, Adam,” Rebecca said. “You haven’t a chance of getting past all those police officers, as well as the sheriff’s men. Not to mention the FBI. They’re so hyped up, they’ll probably shoot anything that moves!”
“Rebecca, please!” Adam put his hand on her arm. “I have to know what’s happening back there!”
She looked at him and he could see the indecision in her eyes. “I don’t know, Adam. I know that you can do things that most people can’t, but they’ll be using electronic surveillance cameras and all the other equipment at their disposal. Those people don’t play games, Adam. They’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
Rebecca was right. Adam knew that and he also appreciated the fact that she had deliberately avoided saying that he could do things that normal people couldn’t. He sat back in his seat and scanned Dr. Maylor’s memory cells for his knowledge of electronic surveillance equipment. It was very impressive, though it was over fifteen years out of date. Adam guessed that today’s equipment would be even more sophisticated. Most security systems, however, would still be activated by sound or movement, which triggered the cameras and alarms as light or sound waves were broken.
“Rebecca, turn the car around. We’re going back to the ranch!” His tone caused her to step on the brakes and she’d started to turn the car before she spoke.
“But they have already told us we will not be allowed to go there.”
“No, they told you, Rebecca. Now let them tell me!” He met her stare and, apparently satisfied with what she saw there, she completed the turn and headed back the way they’d come. The barriers and the police cars with their flashing lights at the entrance to the ranch’s driveway were still in place. Rebecca brought the car to a halt. A cop in uniform frowned as he walked over to them with one hand on the butt of the revolver hanging in its holster from his belt. Adam opened his door and got out. “You’ll have to move those cars,” he said quietly. “We’re going to the ranch.”
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that, boy.” The officer shook his head. “Now, get back in your car and get out of here!”
“My sister’s staying here with our cousin, Scott Williams and her friend Mary and I want to see her.”
“Sister?” He looked at Adam and then nodded. “I’ll need some ID to get the okay from the house. What’s your sister’s name?”
“Jay-be-free Williams. I’m Adam Maylor. We were both adopted by different families,” Adam said. “Detective Chief Superintendent Carlyle of the Nottingham Police is driving the car and she brought me here because someone tried to kill Jay in Britain.”
Rebecca lowered her window and passed her ID and passport to the officer. “We think the man who tried to kill her will try again.”
“You just hold on here while I check this out. If this is right, there are some folks down there who’ll want to talk to you.” The officer walked over to his car and, using his hand-set, started to talk. Adam tried to quell his growing impatience.
The man who came out of the house to meet them was smartly dressed and in his thirties, Adam thought, and he appraised them thoughtfully as they got out of the car.
“I’m Jack Howard, FBI. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here, but Jay Williams doesn’t have a brother.” He turned to Rebecca. “I’m having your ID checked out. Until then, I am placing you both under arrest—”
“I think you’d better ring this number first,” Rebecca said, removing a card from her pocket and handing it to him.
He looked at it briefly and shook his head. “You can ring your attorney later—”
“That’s the private number of the British Prime Minister, Roger Thompson,” Rebecca said quietly. “Adam is related to Jay, and she and I are friends.”
“Detective Chief Inspector Carlyle?” A younger man in his twenties, his unruly fair hair brushed to one side, emerged from the house. “Jay’s told me about you. I’m Scott Williams, Jay’s cousin.” He turned to the FBI agent. “I’d like to talk to them while you check out that number. We don’t want to create an international incident here, do we?”
“Well, alright, but I’m going to have to search them for concealed weapons first.” He walked towards Rebecca who held her arms out from her sides while he patted her down and, apparently satisfied, he repeated the procedure on Adam.
Adam watched him walk into the house before speaking. “I’m Adam. Jay is the daughter of my two best friends who, like me, were born on The Devil’s Footprint, in England. Where is she? What’s happened to Jay?”
He looked at Adam thoughtfully. “Jay and her best friend, Mary, were kidnapped this morning. Although they took Mary too, I can’t help feeling that it was Jay they were after.”
“Yes, because they know about her—know that she’s different, like me.” Adam said bitterly.
“Why can’t they leave us alone?”
Understanding dawned on Scott’s face. “You can do the things Jay does? You’re a chameleon, too!”
Adam frowned. “A chameleon? No, I have great strength and speed but I’m not a chameleon. At least I don’t think so.”
Scott explained Jay’s dramatic demonstration and the events leading up to the abduction. Adam turned to Rebecca. “I need to see where it happened. I need to stand where she stood. It’s important!”
Rebecca glanced at Scott who was about to speak when the FBI agent came out of the house and strode towards them.
“Alright, your story checks out. Now, would you mind telling me what the hell’s going on here?”
Adam shrugged and told them his story then Rebecca outlined the attempt on Jay’s life by the killer known as The Death Dancer and their belief that the killer would try again.
“The man who killed my people was Russell Downey and he worked for Matheson Chemicals,”
Adam said. “The description Scott has given of the kidnappers makes me think that the older one was Downey.”
“No, you must have got that wrong,” Jack Howard said. “Russell Downey is the personal bodyguard of Henry Matheson, who will be sworn in next week as the Vice-President of the United States. If they’d been involved in anything like this, it would have been found out. Matheson admitted on television that his company leased the land in the UK, but they stopped financing the project over thirty years ago. Apparently this Scientist, Maylor, continued his activities without their knowledge for another ten years.”
“It was Russell Downey who murdered the children,” Adam said. “I—”
“Listen, you have no way of knowing that. You were only a kid and I’m sure that the killer, whoever it was, never mentioned his name. Now did he?”
Adam dropped the argument. It would be pointless to try and explain that he’d absorbed many of Dr. Maylor’s memories. He knew he was right but what he couldn’t understand was why Downey had not killed Jay when he had the chance. Why kidnap her? It didn’t make sense unless they were going to use her for something.
“Do you still want to look at where it happened?” Scott asked. “Is that okay?” He turned to the FBI agent.
“I suppose so. My men have finished at the scene.” He grinned at Adam. “Stay close to them, son. I haven’t the time or enough men to search for a lost kid.”
Adam pressed himself back against the tree that Jay had hidden behind, inhaling the scent of her that seeped from the ancient bark. He willed himself not to be seen and felt himself absorbing the slight rhythm of the tree.