But she’d actually silenced a bird. A living creature. She couldn’t wait to tell Austin.
Prudence came and got Nicole, her hands fluttering as she talked about her family and how excited they’d be to meet Nicole, who was also excited. She couldn’t wait to get out and see more of Albert’s property, including the site where the meteor had appeared.
A horse-drawn wagon was already waiting out front, a young man at the reins. He had dark hair that was mostly covered by an old baseball cap. Nicole paused for a moment, head tilted. He wore jeans and a tee—clothes that were much more modern than Prudence’s dress.
Prudence didn’t seem to notice Nicole’s hesitation. “Sterling, this is Nicole, Albert’s guest. She’ll be here for a couple of weeks to practice Channeling.”
“She’s an Arete?” Sterling straightened. He looked at Nicole, then gave her a once over, his lips turning upward appreciatively. “And a pretty one. Last Arete Albert had over wasn’t nearly as beautiful.”
Nicole flushed. “Um . . . thanks. I think.”
Sterling’s eyes followed Nicole’s every movement as she approached the wagon and waited for Prudence to get in. As soon as Nicole reached to pull herself up, Sterling jumped out of the wagon and put out a hand for her to hold. She grabbed it, sensing immediately the power behind his grasp. This was a very strong young man, one used to working on a farm.
Nicole would’ve been intimidated if not for the easy air that surrounded him. He was obviously comfortable with who he was and didn’t feel the need to exert his strength or dominance to prove himself.
Prudence insisted on having Nicole sit between her and Sterling, saying that it was the best place to sit to avoid getting dirty if they happened upon mud. And that apparently made Sterling very happy. He seemed to do everything possible to come into contact with Nicole, and she found herself needing to remind herself that she was dating Austin and shouldn’t enjoy Sterling’s attention.
“How are you likin’ it here?” Sterling asked as he guided the horse behind the manor and down a dirt road.
“It’s beautiful.” Nicole glanced at the forest they were about to enter. “But I have a hard time believing that these trees are native to the area. They feel foreign.”
Sterling nodded. “Because they are. Albert’s grandmother came from Maryland. There’s a lot more vegetation there, and when they got here, she made her son plant as many trees on the property as possible. The land here was too barren, too flat for her.”
“It was a lot of work,” Prudence said. “Our father won’t let us forget it, especially since in the early days, nothing really thrived. There were a lot of droughts.”
“Even with the lake?”
“Even with the lake,” Sterling said. “Finding a way to irrigate was a problem. But after some years, a forest eventually developed. It’s now been over a hundred years, and the trees grow how they want, surrounding and protecting the estate.” He glanced at Nicole, his blue eyes looking dark in the shade of the trees. “My family was pioneers then too. We’ve been on this property for a long time.”
The wagon suddenly lurched when the horse stopped walking, nearly knocking Prudence off the seat. Nicole grabbed her arm, steadying her, while Sterling coaxed the horse to continue. The poor creature was obviously upset about something. Each step forward was slow, and its ears alternated between facing forward and lying flat.
“Does this every time,” Sterling said.
“Any reason?” Nicole figured she knew but wanted to hear what Sterling said.
“It’s all on account of the meteor. Things’ve been weird since then.”
Sterling turned his attention to the horse, and after several moments, he was finally able to keep it under control. They continued through the forest. Nicole sensed a few strains of magic pulsing here and there, but nothing very big.
Several minutes later, the forest thinned, and Sterling pulled the wagon up in front of a beautiful country house with white paneling, a white picket fence, and roses, vines, and flowers everywhere.
Nicole gasped. “It’s gorgeous,” she said. “But how is everything still in bloom? It’s October.”
“My grandmother was an Earth Arete,” Prudence said. “She helped the ground receive nutrients. The flowers blossom nearly all year, and the fruits and vegetables thrive.”
“Except this year,” Sterling said, hopping out of the wagon and holding out his arms to help Nicole down. “Things are really bad this year.”
Prudence nodded. “Yes, well, the meteor is to blame for that too.”
Nicole accepted Sterling’s help, then looked around. “Where did it appear?”
“Over there.” Sterling pointed to a small crater next to a water well.
Nicole glanced at the hole but didn’t want to seem too interested. She wanted these people to trust her, to know that she was here not just because of the meteor, but because she wanted to meet and spend time with them.
“Did your grandmother know Albert’s family very much?”
“Yes,” Sterling said. “Albert’s grandmother was her mentor. They were both Aretes.” He hopped back up into the wagon seat, then pulled away.
As soon as the wagon left, several dogs ran around the corner of the house and started barking. At first, Nicole thought it was at her, especially since she was a newcomer, but soon she saw that they were staring anxiously at the well, growling and quivering. Nicole looked over her shoulder but didn’t see anything.
“Just like the horse,” Prudence said. “Something happened. That meteor is affecting things.”
Nicole didn’t respond. Just then, a boy of about ten ran out the door and threw his arms around Prudence.
“Prudy!” he called. “You’re back!”
She tousled his hair. “Sure am, Orson. Want to meet Albert’s friend?” She motioned to Nicole.
Orson glanced up shyly at her. “Hi.”
“Hi, Orson. How are you?”
“‘M fine,” he mumbled, then ran back into the house. “Ma, someone’s here for dinner!”
Prudence looked at Nicole. “Do you want to stay for dinner? Ma’s a fantastic cook.”
“Sure.”
A smile crossed Prudence’s face, and Nicole realized she had just agreed to dinner at the place where she wasn’t supposed to eat. There was no way she could get away with not eating anything—otherwise, she’d offend them. But she couldn’t afford to have her powers sapped by the food that would probably be served here.
Sterling returned on foot and motioned for Nicole to enter the farmhouse ahead of him. She did so and found that the interior was just as beautiful as the exterior. Prudence’s mother obviously took a lot of pride in how her house looked. The windows were clean and lined with cheerful yellow curtains. The wooden floor underneath was buffed. There was a staircase leading up nearly in front of the door. A dining room was to one side, and a living room to the other.
Prudence led the way into the dining room where Winston, her father, was already seated.
He nodded at Nicole, then continued cutting the ham that was in front of him.
A woman entered from a back door, carrying a large pot which Sterling insisted on taking from her.
“Thanks, son,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. “I’m so tired these days.”
“I know, Ma, I know.” Sterling held out her chair, then helped her into it. “We need to get you out of here. Give you a break from your duties.”
“And who will perform them if I’m away? With you and your father working the land, Orson at school all day, and Prudence up at the manor, who’s to take over for me?”
“Woman, the land can take a break,” Winston said, finishing up with the ham. “Sterling and I will help you. Heaven knows nothing good is coming of our work now. And besides, you need your health more than we need a clean house.”
Just then, the woman glanced at Nicole. “Oh!” she said. “Forgive my rude manners. I’m Iona. You’re Nicole?”
&nbs
p; “Yes. I’m Albert’s friend.”
“He mentioned you last time he came.”
“Does he visit often?”
“Nearly every day,” Iona said, tucking some loose strands of hair into the light brown bun at the back of her head. Her blue eyes were tired and Nicole noticed the same pinched exhaustion on her face as Prudence’s, only more.
“Ma, can we eat now?” Orson asked.
“Oh, of course, dear.”
Iona showed Nicole where to sit, then glanced at Winston, who bowed his head and said a prayer over the meal.
Nicole waited to see what everyone else would do before acting. They all picked up their plates and passed them to Winston, who served ham, then passed the plates left to Iona, who added mashed potatoes, and on to Nicole. She saw a bowl of green beans in front of her and placed a spoonful of that on each plate.
Soon, all of the plates were full and back to their owners and everyone began to dig in.
Nicole hesitated, wondering how she would pull off only eating a little. She definitely didn’t want to be rude. While trying to decide what to do, she buttered her roll, wanting to watch the others. Several sighs of contentment rose as the family members dug into Iona’s cooking.
“Excellent as usual, Ma,” Sterling said.
Prudence and Winston nodded their agreement, and Nicole finally got up the courage to taste the beans. She gagged and almost spit them out. They weren’t as bad as the apple she’d tasted weeks earlier, but they were close. The taste was off, abnormal. Bitter, and with a dust-like quality. How were the others not noticing it? Nicole tried all of the food on her plate with much the same reaction. Only the ham tasted normal. In fact, it was absolutely fantastic, and she had seconds and then thirds of it, at Iona and Winston’s insistence.
“We slaughtered it at the end of summer,” Winston said, beaming. “Prudy here raised this pig.”
Prudence smiled at Nicole. “I’m always sad to see a friend go, but when they taste so heavenly, I forget my sadness.”
Nicole almost laughed out loud at that. It was kind of twisted. She took another bite of ham. “I hope it’s okay for me to ask this, and please tell me if it’s not, but when did the meteor come?”
“The night we slaughtered Prudy’s pig, actually,” Sterling said. “We teased her that her pig was so mad, it sent a meteor.”
Nicole thought that over. Perhaps the ham tasted fine because the pig hadn’t been alive when the meteor landed.
Suddenly, all chatter at the table stopped. Each member of the family froze and stared off into space, unseeing, heads tilted as if they were listening to something. Nicole also froze, wondering what they hearing. Nothing was reaching her ears. Was it magical? She pushed out with her Arete senses but only felt the slight pulses coming from the meteor site.
What was going on? The family continued staring, some with hands hovering near their mouths, about to take another bite. None of them looked in the same direction. Nicole felt her palms start sweating. Should she say something? Break the silence? Ask them what they were listening to?
Finally she couldn’t take it anymore. She cleared her throat. “Is everything all right?”
Only Orson glanced at her. His eyes were glazed over. He didn’t say anything.
It was at that point that Nicole noticed how pale and exhausted the entire family looked, not just Iona and Prudence. Were they sick or did they look like this all the time? She didn’t think so—she’d noticed a difference between the first time she’d met Prudence and the second. And even now, looking at Winston, he looked ill compared to how he’d been last time.
Finally, the family stopped acting strangely. They resumed eating and talking. It was as if nothing had happened. Nicole tried to play along, but she couldn’t ignore the weird feeling it gave her and the creepiness that now filled the room.
No one seemed to notice her discomfort.
“I was raised in Moses Lake,” Iona said, turning to Nicole. “Sometimes I miss life there, the conveniences and technology. And I especially miss the societal advantages of having neighbors just next door. I want Prudy to have those experiences.”
She glanced at Winston, who scowled back. “It’s Prudy’s choice,” he said. He looked at Nicole. “We don’t live this way because we’re religious—we live this way because it makes us happy. Even Iona agrees with that.”
Iona nodded, surprising Nicole. “We tried to have a telephone once. It only caused problems. A simpler life can be very rewarding.”
Nicole recognized that Iona might miss some aspects of her previous life, but the fact that Winston wasn’t keeping her here against her will said a lot about how much she truly enjoyed her life now.
Pretty soon, Sterling got to his feet and said it was time to get Nicole back to Albert’s place. “We turn in early here,” he said. “Wouldn’t want you to have to walk home.” He went to get the wagon.
While waiting, Nicole followed Prudence around as the girl showed her the garden. Right away, Nicole noticed a difference between these and normal vegetables. The ones here were oddly colored—the greens too bright, the reds too pink, and everything was much, much bigger than it should have been.
“We think they’ve been affected by the meteor too,” Prudence said. “None of us dares eat anything.”
Nicole hesitated. Iona had proudly said that the green beans came from the garden that day. Prudence had been there. Did she not hear her mother’s statement?
Just then, a chicken stumbled around the corner of the house, and Nicole gasped, her hand fluttering to her mouth. Its eyes were huge, grotesque, bulging out of their sockets. The chest looked like an over-inflated balloon, but the wings, tail, and feet were shriveled. It was obviously in pain, trying to walk on feet that were disfigured.
“What’s wrong with it?”
Prudence didn’t answer. Like earlier, she was staring at nothing, seeming to be listening for something.
Several more chickens followed the first, each with abnormalities. All of them were shriveled in some ways and swollen in others. While her heart was full of pity for the poor creatures, Nicole’s stomach turned as she looked at them.
She was grateful that Sterling arrived with the wagon just then, hopping down to help her up. She couldn’t wait to get home.
Prudence shook herself and waved goodbye, and Nicole settled into the wagon seat.
“Beautiful house,” she said as Sterling guided the horse around a narrow bend.
He nodded. “Ma’s proud of it.”
“Can I . . .?” Nicole hesitated. “Is it okay to ask if your family is well?”
Sterling glanced at her, then away. “We’re fair enough. Seem to be taking a long time to get over a bout of flu that hit a few weeks ago.”
“When did you get sick? Was it around the time the meteor came?”
He shook his head. “No, it was a couple of weeks after. I remember ’cause Orson had a long weekend from school. We had a party and invited friends over, including Albert. I ate so much food, it made me sick. And then we all really did get sick.”
Nicole fell silent, thinking about the evening. Their weird behavior had to be attributed to the food and the meteor. What else could have caused it?
Chapter Six
As she was getting ready for bed that evening, Nicole’s phone beeped, telling her she’d received a text message. How did it get through, when practically nothing in the house worked? She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and peered at it.
It was from Austin. He’d tried to call, but it wouldn’t connect. He and Lizzie were hanging out with Nate. They wanted to talk to her, see how she was doing.
Shoving her feet in slippers, Nicole wandered through her large bedroom, watching the service bars on her phone. Nothing. She tried the bathroom, the walk-in closet, then the adjoining sitting room. In the corner farthest from her bed, she finally had enough service to call Austin. And miraculously enough, her phone worked.
Austin answered on the fir
st ring. “Nicole,” he said. “How are you?”
The sound of his voice made her insides turn to goo. Oh, how she missed him. Was it possible she’d seen him just that morning? “It’s good to hear your voice.”
Austin chuckled. “Same. But seriously . . . how are things going?”
“I’m fine. I’ve got a lot to tell you guys.”
There was rustling on the other end. Austin said something to another person, then came back. “Nicole, Nate’s going into his room, and I’m putting you on speakerphone so Lizzie can hear you too.”
Nicole waited until Austin gave her the go ahead, then she told them about her day, including the uneventful trip to Moses Lake, Prudence showing her around the manor, and her room. She finished by telling them about dinner with the Gardner family.
“And then the weirdest thing ever happened. They suddenly stopped talking and froze. They acted like they were waiting for something to happen or someone to come. They didn’t even realize I was there. It’s like they’re actually aware of the portal, of other beings, even though I don’t think anyone has—” Nicole stopped, mouth hanging open. She just recognized she’d never told them about the portal or elixir. Had she really been that out of it?
“Portal?” Lizzie asked. “What do you mean? Austin, do you know what she’s talking about?”
“Nope.”
The line went silent and Nicole realized they were waiting for her.
“I can’t believe I didn’t say anything.”
“About what?” Austin asked.
Nicole took a deep breath. If she couldn’t trust her boyfriend and best friend, who could she trust? “I’m going to tell you something that is really, really sensitive. Private. You have to know, it could really jeopardize things if you go around talking about this to anyone, even Coolidge. At least until I say it’s fine. Okay?”
After both promised their silence, Nicole told them about the journal, Captain Price, and Rebecca. She told them about the portal and the elixir and the embryonic manipulator.
Lizzie gasped. “The whole issue with babies can be reversed? Oh, my gosh, Nicole, this is huge! What do you need us to do? We’re willing to do whatever, right, Austin?”
Perceive, Mosaic Chronicles Book Three Page 8