by Alexie Aaron
“As long as there is money involved, yes,” Bev admitted.
“How about pearls?”
“Pearls are fine.”
“Well come on, I’ve got a hot deck waiting to be dealt in yonder house,” the ghost said and drifted by Bev.
She followed the ghost to the house, noticing in amusement that the ghost was drunk. “Those pearls are easy pickings,” Bev thought to herself.
~
Ted wheeled Mia into Mike’s room. Mike looked up from the eBook he was reading and winked one eye.
“I think he’s flirting with you, Teddy Bear,” Mia said
“Mike, if I told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times, it was just a weekend of experimentation,” Ted said.
Mike, whose jaw was still wired, rolled his eyes instead of commenting.
“I do believe we’ve made him speechless, dear,” Mia said. “Time to spread our joy to other areas of the hospital…”
“Naurumpo,” he managed.
“Now he’s speaking gibberish,” Mia complained.
“I hate to be pedantic, but I believe he’s speaking a dialect called squash-jaw.”
“You mean he can speak squash-jaw? I’m impressed,” Mia said.
Mike raised his middle finger in disgust.
“Dear, he wants to compare fingers. Show him yours,” Ted suggested.
Mia raised her hand and showed off the broken pinky secured in the metal brace.
“Metal finger,” Ted sang. “She’s the girl with the finger made of aluminum, instead of tin!”
Mia snorted. “You’re in good voice today. I love your Shirley Bassey.”
Mike reached for his white board and began to write furiously on it.
“He’s either mad or is huffing the dry erase ink again,” Mia commented.
“I’d go for mad.”
Mike held up the board. Go away or I’m telling my mom!
“Well, my mom can beat up… No, his mom can beat up my mother. We’re leaving,” Ted said.
Mia waved at Mike as they left the room.
Mike overheard them talking about cheering up the coma patients as he wheeled Mia down the hall.
Margaret Mary walked in. “Time for vitals. What are you smiling about?”
Faintly they heard Ted singing, “Metal Finger.”
“Oh, those two have been in to see you. Mia’s hoping to get sprung from the hospital. She thinks if they cause a big enough disturbance, Doctor Walters will sign her out. I think she’s wearing him down. You should have seen his face when he came into the room at lunchtime and she had ordered thirty-five Jell-Os.”
“Hipickle.”
“Typical, but still humorous. The nurses are taking bets on her being released. Three o’clock is open, you want in?”
Mike reached into his tray and pulled out a fiver.
Margaret secured it in her scrub jacket pocket and continued with taking Mike’s vitals. “You want out of here?”
He nodded.
“Well, I think that you have to have the resident bone doc’s okay first. I’ll see if I can hunt her down.”
“Hrr?”
“Don’t get excited. Doctor Landry is a sixty-year-old confirmed lesbian. Not even you can turn her at this point.”
Mike blushed.
Margaret Mary had to admit even she was attracted to the ghost hunter. He was a good ten years her junior, but she wouldn’t mind spending some time with the man.
“Well, I’ve done my bit,” Ted said. “I’ve really got to get back and help Burt out. Cid promised we’d be there to spell him in an hour. If you get sprung, give me a call.”
“I will. In the meantime, I think I’m going to take advantage of the peace and quiet and get some sleep,” Mia said as her husband helped her into bed.
Ted leaned over and kissed her gently. “Heal and feel better. Remember, you are more than my wife, you are my life.”
“How did I ever get so lucky?” Mia said seriously. “Life with you is more than cohabitation, it’s an adventure.”
“Well, stick with me babe, and we’ll have a great time,” Ted said. He winked at her and walked slowly out the door.
Mia listened to his footsteps until they blended with the other, busy ones navigating the hospital, taking care of the patients. Mia pulled the top blanket over her head and snuggled in for a nap.
~
The last light of day danced across the drifts of snow before disappearing beyond the horizon. Angelo, keeping to his birdman form for warmth, huddled against the outcropping of rock. Murphy, having the advantage of not feeling the effects of the weather or altitude, moved quickly along the ridge, gathering remnants of past fires. He piled the meager wood in the old fire pit before Angelo. He took his axe and struck a large rock a glancing blow. The sparks flew off the rock and landed amongst the wood, igniting the kindling.
“Thank you, my friend, I had not thought further than my quest. Without you, I would certainly perish,” Angelo said.
“I’m not your friend, birdman,” Murphy warned. “I do this for Mia. Father Santos was good to her. I’ll not let him wander the halls of the forever darkness if I can do something about it.”
Angelo nodded. “I understand. I’ve not been a friend to you. Where I come from, ghosts are a chore, nothing more.”
Murphy smiled. “Where I come from, you don’t exist. So we’re even.”
“I guess so. Two enemies united in a single goal.”
“So, how long do we wait?”
“Until someone dies on the mountain,” Angelo replied.
“I feel rather ghoulish. Waiting for someone to die, so we can be on our way.”
“I feel at cross purposes,” Angelo confessed. “I should be trying my best to make sure no one dies tonight, but in doing so, I’ll die of cold.”
“You could leave me here and return,” Murphy suggested.
“No, I couldn’t. There is more on this mountain than you can imagine. There are spirits of the dead that refused the light. They are single-minded in their quest for the top. They would think nothing of dispatching another spirit to take his belongings. That axe you carry comes in handy, doesn’t it?” Angelo commented.
Stephen pulled the axe closer to his body. “You would fight another spirit to keep it from harming me?”
“Yes, Stephen, I would.”
“You would do it for Mia…”
“Not just for Mia, I would do it because it’s right. I don’t have to like you to want to save you, farmer.”
“You are a strange bird, Angelo,” Murphy said and laughed, amused by his own words.
“Murphy, when the Light comes, don’t look at it,” Angelo cautioned. “I will lift you into it. You simply uncap the jar, fill and reseal it.”
“How will we know when it’s coming?”
“I don’t really know. This light is different than the one I’m used to seeing the people Father Santos crosses over go into. It doesn’t come from a doorway; it is gel-like; and it gathers souls as it moves.”
“You’ve seen it before?”
“No, but I’ve read about it in the Brotherhood’s archives.”
“What is this Brotherhood?”
“The Brotherhood of the Wing began when several superhumans with the ability to transform into birds got together and decided to fight the darkness that was sweeping over the world. It could have just as easily gone the other way,” Angelo mused. “They could have joined forces with the darkness. That would have made a quick end to humanity. But fortunately, they were people with good intentions and good hearts.”
“Why call it the Brotherhood when you have women fighting beside you?”
“It’s just a name, an antiquated name. Women are not subservient to the men as it may appear. Quite a few of them are healers and do not fight. Without healers, we would cease to be. They have an order of their own called the Gray Ladies. I’m sure if a male would like to join their ranks as a healer, he would be welcomed. But for the sake of ord
er, there is an imposed hierarchy. Presently, a male heads the Brotherhood. One day perhaps that will change.”
“So are you that male?”
“No, I’m actually a librarian of sorts. I choose to fight for humanity too. But I am employed because of my abilities in the collection and maintenance of artifacts. Dangerous artifacts.”
Murphy pushed his hat back on his head. “I have to say that I had no idea. I thought you were a single-minded birdman warrior. I’m sorry to have underestimated you, Angelo.”
Angelo nodded. “I too have been on the side of misjudgment in regards to you, Stephen. When we first met, you appeared to me to be nothing more than a ghost that had attached himself to a human host. This is so far from the truth. True, you are attached to Mia but not in a parasitic way. I see love, lust and friendship as your motivators. But I also have seen this friendship and love given to others too, Cid and Ted for instance. You have their regard, and I think you regard them too. The other PEEPs have found their way into your heart, as they have found their way into mine. We share that in common. We also covet Ted’s wife. This will be our undoing.”
“I’m surprised. I, and others, assumed you didn’t know that you lusted after Mia Cooper.”
“Mia Martin now,” Angelo corrected. “She has made her choice, and you and I must abide by it, or forever be damned.”
“There’s damned, and then there’s damned,” Murphy said wryly.
Angelo laughed. “Do you think staying on this side of the light will keep you safe from judgments? Have you not learned anything? The spirit bounty hunters could very easily dispatch you if they saw the need. Tonia Toh and Lorna Grainger are not to be trifled with. I’ve seen what the deer-woman inside of Lorna can do. It frightens me. It inadvertently caused us to be on the side of this mountain freezing my tail feathers off, waiting for some elderly Sherpa or foolish climber to die.”
Murphy nodded, taking in the warning. “But Mia is worth it, isn’t she?”
“In that, my friend, we are in full agreement,” Angelo said wistfully.
A faint rumble caused them to quit their conversation. The snow moved ever so slightly. In the moonlight, it looked like tiny diamonds sliding down the incline. Angelo unfurled his wings. Murphy uncapped the jar, walked over to Angelo and prepared himself for liftoff.
Lakpa Norgay lay on his side breathing hard. He had his family around him. Four rugged sons, who would carry on the Norgay name, stood vigil as his wife clung to his hand, pleading for one more day with the elder Sherpa.
“I am sorry, wife. I have no more strength. Let me leave this earth with dignity. Do not cry for me. Rejoice that I’ve seen many summits, saved many lives and have provided for our family,” he whispered.
Tears of sadness stopped Lakpa’s wife from speaking, but she nodded.
Lakpa’s eyes closed, and he exhaled for the last time. He sat up and moved out of his body. He heard a voice calling him. He left the house in search of the caller. He turned and faced the mountain and smiled as he now recognized his father’s voice. “Come, my son, and join us. Make your last climb up the mountain.”
Angelo felt the heat of the light, and yet he flew towards it. Thoughts of Icarus flooded his mind, but he held on to the farmer, and when he reached the center of the Light, he managed to say, “Now.”
Murphy closed his eyes tightly and held the jar in the direction in which the light had come. He felt a slight change in the weight of the jar. Murphy put on the lid and screwed it down tight. “I’ve got it!” he shouted to Angelo.
Angelo, energy spent, dropped out of the light stream. He spun out of control for a few feather-raising minutes before he caught a thermal of air and glided safely downward.
Lakpa, named for two famous Sherpas, saw the Light waiting on the mountainside, and he climbed quickly towards it. Once inside, he was greeted by his father and other Sherpas. He only looked backwards once, and that was to see his wife one last time. She was surrounded by his children, and he knew that she would be taken care of. He embraced the Light and disappeared.
Angelo stood for a moment as a man. The icy cold wind whipped his body with icy particles. He looked over at Murphy and said, “Give me a moment, and then we go back to the farm.”
Murphy knew that this was the moment, if any, when he would be able to kill the birdman. He was vulnerable, weak of body and trusting of soul. If they hadn’t conversed earlier, Murphy may have picked up his axe and delivered a fatal blow to Angelo. But they had talked. He felt he knew the birdman’s heart and saw that even though they both coveted Mia, that Angelo would not act on this.
Angelo looked at the farmer standing there holding the prize they had obtained together. He had planned on leaving Murphy on the mountain, but now he felt a strange kinship with the spirit. They had shared the truth between them, and this Angelo treasured. Truth was the doorway to true enlightenment, and by Angelo confessing to Murphy, he had taken the first step.
“I am sorry for the delay,” Angelo said as he morphed into the birdman.
Murphy turned his back to the creature and, for a moment, pondered the stupidity of presenting such a target to Angelo. He felt Angelo’s arms go around him, and as the wings closed, he heard Angelo say, “Through adversity, I have found a friend.”
Chapter Eighteen
“What the hell did he do to the computer?” Ted asked Cid, who was busy outfitting himself to venture back into the Malone house with Glenda at his side.
Cid looked over Ted’s shoulder and saw a collage of photos, most lifted from the armory web pages of World of Warcraft players. Various entities were presented with the Photoshopped heads of the PEEPs team. Mia was decked out in a metal bikini of sorts. Audrey, likewise, lacked suitable armor to make a difference in the role playing game. The male PEEPs had been included in the mishmash of pictures, although Ted felt the most attention was paid to the two women.
“This is no way to respect my wife,” Ted said. “Burt’s got a lot to answer for.”
“Whoa, perhaps it wasn’t Burt. He doesn’t do WoW. He wouldn’t know a tank from a rogue.”
“You’re right.” Ted typed furiously as if he was fighting the spread of a mutant computer virus. “It wasn’t Burt. Burt transferred console control to the iPad before the first character image appeared. We either have a hell of a hacker playing with us or…”
“We have a ghost in the machine,” Cid said and crossed himself.
“Who’s got a ghost?” Burt asked, climbing slowly into the back of the PEEPs command vehicle.
Ted brought him up to date and displayed the hodgepodge he and Cid had discovered on their return to the investigation.
“What am I?” Burt asked.
“Looks like a hybrid healer to me,” Cid said. “They stand on the edge of the battlefield…”
“Nevermind that. I’ve never been able to keep that stuff straight. D & D was about as far as I got in role playing games.”
Ted and Cid looked at each other for a moment and decided to keep their comments about tabletop role players to themselves.
“You said ghost in the machine, explain,” Burt insisted.
“It started when I jailbroke my iPhone,” Ted explained. “I was just trying to add functions to the thing that didn’t come with the run of the mill apps. I started getting strange text messages right before calls came through. I dismissed them as one-offs until we had that incident with the main computer back in the office.”
“How did whatever resided in your smart phone get into our computer?” Burt asked.
Ted held up a lightning USB cable.
“So you plugged your phone into the PEEPs computer,” Burt accused.
“It’s no different from plugging in any of our cameras. I had to download some data and…”
“This was the entry point for our ghost,” Burt finished.
“So far this ghost hasn’t done anything disruptive,” Ted defended. “It seems to be acclimating itself. This is the first sign that it’
s ready to communicate.”
Burt rubbed his jaw. “I don’t know what to say. I’d like it out of our equipment, but now’s not the time. We’re short of people, and we have an unfinished investigation to deal with. Audrey’s been able to handle the forensic end of things but…”
“There is still some activity in the house,” Ted finished as he scanned the accumulated data. “It seems to be centered on the second story stairway.”
“Mia said that the ghosts came out of the walls there. Speaking of Mia, how is she?” Burt asked.
“Impatient to be out of the hospital. Judy was able to heal a few things, but the girl is still sporting a broken finger and a head wound. The bump on the head is why Walters won’t release her today. Since he doesn’t want to risk the baby by x-raying her head, he wants to keep her there and monitor her for any sign of concussion.”
“Let’s talk about the baby. Most investigators won’t investigate pregnant,” Burt commented.
“Mia isn’t most investigators,” Ted said. “Although, I’d like to keep her away from being tossed around or drug underground if possible.”
“That’s going to be hard considering Mia’s stubbornness and the unpredictability of ghosts,” Burt said, his brow knitting. “What happened to Murphy?”
“I found him at the farm,” Cid reported. “After he found out what Mia went through, he seemed… Well, to put in a way we all can understand, I don’t think he’ll leave her vulnerable again.”
“Still, we need to develop a protocol. If we are going to employ women, we need to protect them.”
“That sounds a bit chauvinistic,” Glenda said, standing outside the trailer. “Work on the wording a bit before Audrey, Mia or Bev hear it.”
“I didn’t mean…” Burt started.
“I know what you meant. That’s why I didn’t hit you with something,” Glenda said. “I’m just trying to protect you from yourself, Hicks.”
“It’s appreciated. Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“I’m ready. I even have on your iron vest. I’m happy to say it’s rather big on me. No, don’t adjust it. I’ll just happily eat my way into it fitting,” she said smiling. “Speaking of eating, I’m starved.”