Family of the Fox, #1

by F. M. Isaacs

  “Mom...” I began.

  She just winked at me. She'd been doing that a lot lately.

  “Thanks, Patricia. That's one less thing to worry about.” Jonas patted her on her back. “Now turn us all back into birds and let's get on with this.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Allen detected my presence long before I landed on his window sill. “Corinne, you've decided to come back? The avian lifestyle not working for you?”

  The sound of his voice threw me into turmoil. First I felt that involuntary bolt of excitement I always experienced on meeting up with him. Then, his betrayal flashed into my thoughts, and I let my sadness and rage drown out any other feelings. I had to stop this man.

  I banged my beak so forcefully against the screen of his open window that I poked a hole through. I hoped to solve this situation without anyone getting hurt, and I also didn't want to risk altering nearly a thousand years of human history.

  “Corinne? I didn't make you a crow!” Allen exclaimed in surprise as he approached me. When he opened the screen to investigate, I flew at him, followed close behind by Jonas and Daniel.

  Caught off guard, Allen staggered back. “What is this?”

  Before he could act, we attacked. In a flurry of feathers, we dove from different angles, trying to get near enough to hurt him. He turned and batted at us, driving one of us away only so another could swoop in.

  My small heart hammered in my chest as I fought to keep myself airborne. As Allen drove off Daniel and Jonas, I saw my chance. Squawking, I dived for Allen's eyes, my talons piercing whatever part of him I could reach. I wanted to tear all his flesh from his bones, to show my indignation at how he’d treated me.

  I think I loved you! I believed in you, I trusted you, and you turned on me, Allen!

  Holding his arm over his face, he began to laugh, solidifying himself into stone at the same time. His lips grew motionless, and the laugh echoed into silence. I didn't know if he had heard me yelling at him, and I wasn't sure I had wanted him to, anyway.

  The perfect smirking statue was eerie to behold. Every part of him was smooth and lifelike, the stone preserving each wrinkle and mark in his skin. He would have been a great addition to any museum – except for that twisted look of victory on his marble face. That expression drove me to lunge at him even harder.

  I hate you! I hate you, Allen! I shrieked. But my small bird-nails slid down his surface, leaving it untouched. You're an awful person! I added, but I think he was ignoring me.

  Is all this tickling supposed to hurt me? he chuckled, as Jonas and Daniel joined me in a few more feeble attempts to mar his shiny figure. My own family is attacking me. Nice. But who are these others? I think we'll just be rid of you all...

  Don’t you touch anyone! I warned, and darted out of reach. Looking back to check on Jonas and Daniel, I witnessed my uncle being reduced to a stuffed animal version of his avian self.

  I yelped in outrage and flew out of the room, nearly missing the outer edge of the window sill as I attempted to land on it. The vision of my uncle transformed into a toy and falling ignominiously to the floor rankled my mind. Jonas! Uncle Jonas! I called to him in my thoughts, but there was no response.

  I peeked back into the room to view the talented, mythical Uncle Jonas, now mere cotton and brown plush. Mute and unmoving, he stared through me with unseeing purple glass eyes.

  What made matters worse was Allen's amusement at Jonas' predicament. He became flesh and blood once more in order to spout out, “Oh, I love those fake fluffy animals. I bet there are a million children out there who would love to play with him! Do you like him better this way, Corinne?” he directed toward the window where I sat. “I think he's great like this!”

  Sputtering angrily, Daniel landed on the top of a bookshelf and glared down at Allen. “How could you?” he flapped his wings furiously. “After all I've done for you, I can't believe you’d do this to us!”

  “Oh, Daniel, I haven't harmed you in the least. Hey! You know, we can donate your fuzzy friend to an orphanage!” Allen clapped his hands merrily. “We didn't have orphanages back where I come from. Children lived on the streets, filthy and starving–”

  The self-satisfied grin on Allen's face enraged us even more, and Daniel began another attack. “That's my uncle!” he cried, plunging toward Allen and delivering several gashes across his face.

  Where were Mom, Dad, and Grandpa Brian? Why weren't they doing anything? I hoped they were just waiting for the right opportunity.

  Allen swatted my brother off. “I must correct you, Daniel. Your grandfather's uncle is your great-great uncle. I would think all time travelers would be excellent genealogists. But then again, you're so new at this.”

  “You're some bastard, Allen,” Daniel spat, and threw himself at him yet again.

  “Oh, Daniel, after you've done such wonderful things for me, why must you force me into doing things like this?”

  Allen drew his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. With a cry, Daniel fell limply to the floor, bursting into light. In his place now lay a fish which began to flop around, desperately trying to breathe.

  I was too shocked to yell out. Allen had said only seconds ago that he had never hurt Daniel. Yet now, if my brother didn't get placed in water, he would suffocate!

  The terror I'd experienced myself as a fish haunted me. I could actually feel Daniel's fear. It was like a cold shiver, creeping across my body. I couldn't leave him this way, and I wasn’t sure anyone was going to act, so I attempted the first solution that came into my head.

  Through my panic, I allowed the light to surround and engulf me. My body melted and lost any semblance of form. I became cool and shapeless.

  I was now water, saturated with life-saving oxygen.

  I knew I couldn't waste any time marveling at how weird this was. Almost instinctively, I poured over the sill and down the wall. I felt like I was tumbling down a large water slide – except that I was the liquid, and I definitely wasn't having fun.

  I rippled to the floor and surrounded Daniel.

  Allen tilted his head, staring down at us. “Well, now, will you look at this?”

  He smashed his foot into me.

  The impact jostled me into utter chaos. I wrenched apart, splashing everywhere. I spattered onto the wall, I stretched across the floor, and some of me remained protecting Daniel. Yet I could still feel every drop of myself, and I couldn't process the whole experience...

  Too many points of view... I’m everywhere...

  Corinne! someone called to me in my mind.

  I wasn’t sure who it was, but hearing a human voice helped me focus myself out of my confused, scattered state. I somehow managed to pull the rest of myself together, enveloping my brother in a spherical formation that defied gravity. As incredible as it was that I could maintain this shape, I was more impressed that Allen hadn't crushed Daniel instead of me. My poor brother was a small, powerless creature, completely at our mercy. Allen could have killed him in an instant. So maybe there was some good in him still.

  Yet now his suspicions were confirmed. He knew the truth about what I was. I could feel him delving into my mind, trying to learn more about me.

  Why hadn't I simply teleported Daniel away from here? Allen would never have discovered my secret! Unfortunately, the quickest solution to spring to mind had not necessarily been the best.

  Allen’s constant, nagging pressure ate at my brain, but I kept him out, focusing my mind solely on protecting my brother. I felt him stir and brighten, and if I could have sighed with relief, I would have. But his thoughts were jumbled and befuddled.

  What's happening to me?

  You're safe, Daniel. I'm taking care of you. Of course, I wasn’t sure how long I could continue to help...

  Corinne, I'm changing again. I feel it.

  I wasn't the one transforming him, and Allen was so intent on penetrating my thoughts that I didn't think it was him either. I had to assume that Mom and Grandpa Brian w
ere at work, because suddenly Daniel erupted into a handsome, intimidating tiger. The change sent me splashing about once more, but this time I was able to gather myself back together fairly quickly.

  Glancing down at himself momentarily, Daniel growled in delighted surprise. He was magnificent as a big cat. Snarling menacingly, he launched himself at Allen's neck.

  My brother did give Allen a jolt, but his reaction was matter-of-fact. “You can't hurt me – but you are entertaining me! In fact, I'm really having fun with you all!” He changed to stone again, transforming Daniel into a bug at the same time.

  Daniel! I cried out in my mind, attempting to follow the small creature while still in my aqueous form.

  I could hear Allen's laugh echoing through my thoughts. Got a flyswatter handy? he quipped. He looked down at me, snickering. Or, we could take a refreshing dip in the waters of Lake Corinne here–

  Dad materialized behind Allen's stone form, grabbed him, and they both vanished.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Mom appeared before me with her father. They were no longer birds.

  “Change back, Corinne,” my mother requested.

  It took me a bit of time to go from amorphous liquid to flesh and blood. But Mom and Grandpa Brian waited patiently.

  “Good work,” Grandpa Brian congratulated me, nodding with approval.

  “But why did you wait so long to do anything?” I yelled. I was actually having trouble drawing breath.

  “We were waiting to catch him unawares. Aldous was so busy with you three that your father was able to jump in and get him,” said Mom. “That's exactly what we were hoping for.”

  “And we're not done with him yet,” Grandpa Brian muttered. “Now Julian's in danger.”

  “Corinne, find your brother. Change Jonas and him back,” instructed my mother, biting her lip nervously. “We have to help your father. Can you locate us if we travel back in time?”

  “Um, I don't know.” I was afraid to ask how.

  “If you can't, Uncle Jonas can. Be careful, and try to get pretty close to the time when we arrive so you can help us!” They disappeared before I could formulate any type of response.

  I looked down at the toy bird sitting there with glass eyes and a stuffed, plush body. I still couldn't feel anything from him. My thoughts went back to questioning Uncle Jonas at my graduation party just days ago. At that point, I would never have believed anything he might have told me. Still, knowing the truth now didn't make his current condition seem any less terrible.

  “Oh, Uncle Jonas, it's so awful to see you like that. I'm getting you back.” I concentrated on the animal, curling my fingers into fists. “Make him into light...” I repeated to myself, forcing the toy into a glowing mass, “and make him human again... Please come back right... Don't let me mess this up...”

  Returning him to human form seemed like reviving Uncle Jonas from the dead, and I shivered at the irony, given that his death certificate was what had started me on my quest for knowledge. Back among the living once more, he stood in place, squinting and rubbing his head.

  “What was I?” he asked in a low voice.

  “A stuffed animal,” I replied guiltily.

  He was decidedly not upset, and I couldn't fathom why. Instead he commented, “I bet that might have been interesting had I been awake for it.”

  “Uh...okay...” I wasn't sure how to answer him, so I simply changed subjects. “Uncle Jonas, he turned Daniel into a bug!”

  Uncle Jonas almost chuckled. “Well, I guess that's original.”

  “How can you laugh?” I cried. “How are we supposed to find one bug when there's millions of them?”

  He sighed. “I'm not laughing. I'm just marveling over Aldous' creativity. Listen, there's an easy solution to this, as much as Brian would disagree with it.”

  “What?”

  “Time travel.”

  “Uh...how?”

  “We go back and watch it happen, we follow Daniel to see where he goes, and then, when it's safe, we turn him back.”

  “And how do we follow him?”

  “We become bugs too, of course!”

  A FEW MINUTES LATER (well, really earlier, since we’d traveled into the very recent past), Uncle Jonas and I sat on a branch, scanning the woods. I worried that Allen would detect us, even though I had transformed us into small flies. But my uncle said he might be too diverted by the events at hand to be feeling the effect of two insects popping in from the future. I hoped he was right.

  Feeling helpless, I witnessed the struggle between Allen, my family, and my past self. I desperately wished to intervene, but Uncle Jonas's stern admonition not to interfere kept me at bay.

  When the past version of Uncle Jonas was reduced to a stuffed-animal, present fly-Jonas bragged, Yup, I definitely was a cuddly one.

  Uncle Jonas, that's just so disturbing! You're so blasé about it. You could have been left that way forever, and...

  Another laugh. You're so new to this, Corinne. It's so endearing. Oh! Look! He made Daniel a house fly! Follow him!

  Both of us buzzed after my brother. He ducked under branches and flew through the leaves, stopping on one to groom himself.

  Huh. Daniel never cared what he looked like. It was all Mom could do to get him to comb his hair. Look at him now, I commented.

  That's not Daniel. That's a fly that once was Daniel.

  When should I change him?

  Not yet. First of all, he'll fall out of the tree if you change him. Second, we're not far enough away.

  Daniel took wing, and we followed him deeper into the woods. By now I'd gotten so impatient with his antics that I wanted to change him into a pebble and toss him into my pocket for safekeeping.

  That's a good idea, said Uncle Jonas, overhearing my thoughts.

  What? A pebble?

  Yes. Who knows when he'll stop flying around. Just make him a pebble, then follow him to see where he lands. It's not like it'll hurt him.

  I felt bad for the little fly as I changed it to a speck of light. As I shifted its form into a pale pink pebble, I became convinced that I was committing an act of animal cruelty.

  Corinne, you just turned a house fly to stone. No animals were hurt in the making of this rock, Uncle Jonas kidded me.

  I laughed in my mind, impressed at my uncle's ability to lighten the difficult moment. I knew he was trying to soothe me, but he couldn't completely assuage my guilt.

  We dived down beside the pebble, and I stared at it through my crazy compound eyes.

  Uncle Jonas, I hate that that's him.

  You know, if you were ten years younger, you would be on top of the world right now – you turned your annoying older brother into a rock.

  I just sighed, and pushed all my strength into bringing Daniel back. I tried to ignore my sheer exhaustion so I wouldn't bungle the transformation.

  Slowly, the rock melted into a pool of energy. I paused, yawning deeply.

  Keep going, Corinne, Jonas encouraged. Finish him up, kid.

  I pulled the brightness into my brother's form, and he came to with the same baffled manner that Owen had displayed.

  “What?” he asked, blinking around perplexedly.

  I took human form, allowing Jonas to as well.

  “Welcome back to humankind,” the physicist said heartily, approaching Daniel and patting him on the back.

  “He changed me all the way?”

  “Yes.”

  My brother shook his head in wonder. In spite of everything, he still seemed to admire Allen's ability. “What did he turn me into?”

  “A fly.”

  “Amazing. He always kept me conscious when he transformed me before. This time, I don't remember a thing. Is everyone okay?”

  I found it hard to bring myself to speak. “Dad brought Allen back in time, and then Mom and Grandpa Brian went after them. We need to get back there.”

  “But we need to do it carefully so he doesn't see or detect us,” added Uncle Jonas. “If any
of them need help, we're their only hope. Corinne, save your strength. Let's let your brother take us back. I'll help you if you need it, Daniel.”

  Shaking his head, Daniel requested, “You do it, Jonas. You've been doing it a lot longer than I have.”

  “Oh, you'll be fine. When you took me back to see Julius Caesar's murder, you were so accurate that I couldn't have done it better myself.”

  Julius Caesar? I filed away that comment for the future.

  “But how do I find them?”

  Observing the two of them heartened me. Daniel was iffy with his ability just as I was, Caesar notwithstanding.

  “Feel back into the past. Find the place and time where you sense their presence and aim for it, or perhaps a few minutes after. Just try to place us a decent distance away from them so we're not detected.”

  Uncle Jonas turned toward me. “And Corinne, be prepared to change us. We might very well need that.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Worried that Daniel would have trouble bringing us back, I huddled up close to Uncle Jonas. He put his arm around me reassuringly, and my brother yanked us from the present. When we safely stood in a grassy area, I finally let out my breath. Cicadas chirped in the trees, and far off a wren whistled.

  “Keep it down, and be alert,” Jonas warned, glancing all around him. “You did a good job, Daniel. I don't see anyone–”

  A bright light flashed, silencing Jonas mid-sentence and blinding me.

  I waited a few seconds for my vision to return to normal. Soon the afterimage from the flash began to fade from my eyes, allowing me to scan my surroundings once more. Two new, scrubby wild blueberry bushes grew to my side, where Jonas and Daniel had stood just moments before.

  “Your family makes such lovely greenery. How fitting, given your last name.”

  “No!” I yelled, frantically searching around. Allen had found us immediately! He must have been waiting for us to show up. But where was he? What was he?

  I saw something drop from a tree, and a second flash placed me nearly face-to-face with my nemesis.