a threat even when you are frightened. You’re smart, too. You’re
picking up on the ways of the sky so quickly that I feel like I have to
scramble to keep ahead ofyou.”
“Yeah,” I said, “And when I don’t learn quick enough, I get
the willies scared out of me, is that it?”
I sighed and leaned sat back taking a few seconds to study
Martin again. I had to admit that I liked him.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I said. No offense, Dad, but
Martin already knows stuff about me that I could never tell you.
“Now that you’re not a giant, you look almost normal—except for
the shiny threads, of course.”
Martin chuckled. “Barry, you are the kick of the pantaloons!”
Then he stood up and shook out his sparkling robe. “So, am I to
understand that my ‘threads,’ as you call them, are not de rigueur?”
He chuckled again.
“Well, since nobody can see you, I guess it’s no big deal.” “No big deal,” Martin rolled that around on his tongue. “No
big deal. Interesting. I like that.” He plopped himself back down on
the ground. “I suppose I could change my appearance. But as you
said, the only one that can see me is you—and, I’d say, your sister
over there.”
“Jenny?” I looked over my shoulder. “Jenny’s here? Where!
Oh, pul-leez, not my sister!” I covered my face with my hands.
“She’s the last person I want seeing you!” I leapt to my feet.
“Martin, you don’t understand. She can’t be allowed to see you!” Martin shrugged. “Barry, your sister has been watching us
since I first found you over behind those bushes. Of all the people at
this party, she’s the only one who has followed everything that has
happened. She’s back there staring at me right now.” With that, he
gave a little two-fingeredwave toward the bushes. “Yes, she sees me
all right. She just ducked her head.” Martin brightened. “I’d say she
has spirit sight just like you, Master Barry.”
I threw myself to the ground. “Martin, you’ve really gone and
done it now!”
CHAPTER 10: FAMILY AFFAIR
“Whether on earth or Shomara, our choices have simultaneous consequences in both worlds.” ~Martin Moonglow “Master Barry!” Martin stammered. “I assure you I had nothing to do with this. Remember, I am not the one who gives out spirit sight.” Martin looked toward the bushes. “Poor thing. She must be very frightened.”
“Jenny scared?” I said with a sneer. “That’ll be the day. You don’t know her. She’s spying on me so she can tattle to Mom. Now my goose is cooked for sure!”
Martin blinked. “You prefer eating rawgoose?” he asked. “It’s just an expression,” I mumbled. “It means I’m in big trouble.” I picked up a rock and flung it hard at the nearest tree.
Martin shrugged. “Oh, well. You should never count your birdies before they’re born.”
“That’s ‘Never count your chickens before they hatch,’” I said. Under my breath I muttered, “Today I’d be better off being the chicken.”
Martin nodded his head, “Go ahead, Master Barry. Call her over here. I would like to make her acquaintance.”
“You have no idea what you’re asking,” I muttered. With a low groan, I called out to my sister. “Jen, we know you’re back there. Might as well come out from behind that tree.”
The shrubbery rustled. Then I heard a loud sob. Jenny broke through the bushes and bolted for the house. Shocked, I looked over at Martin.
“Perhaps you should go see what’s wrong, Barry,” Martin said.
I scrambled to my feet. As I dashed toward the house, I saw Jenny fly around the edge of the deck. I raced after her, taking the corner at a full run.
Whoa! I stopped short. There she was, just a few yards away, leaning against a tree crying like her heart would break.
Right then—okay, I admit it—right then, something melted inside me. I stepped over to her. When I touched her she quivered like a frightened rabbit. I’d never seen her like this.
“Hey, Jen-Jen,” I said using my pet name for her. “Sorry you’re so scared,” I whispered. I touched her shoulder and she leaned into me.
There’s that shiny blue stuff around her again.
“You gonna be okay?” I asked and patted her arm.
Jenny cried for another full minute. Then she stopped, stiffened, and lifted her teary eyes up to my face. Here goes. She’s either going to shove me away or . . . .
I really did not want her to push me away again—and she didn’t. With eyes like saucers, she just stood there searching my face.
After a moment, I said, “Tell me what you see, Jen. Do I still look like a big red tomato?”
She shook her head. Then she threw her arms around my neck and broke into another bout of crying. Okay. This is freaky. This is not the Jenny I know.
As her snivels subsided, she choked out, “Oh Bar . . . Barry! I am so glad that you’re back to n . . . normal. Everything has been so spooky lately. I’ve been all eaten up ins . . . side.”
“Well, I don’t know how normal I am yet,” I said. “Something really strange is going on. I haven’t figured it out yet, myself.”
I held Jenny and waited for her to settle down. I even rocked her and she began to relax. Hooboy. It’s been a long time since I’ve hugged my sister. Maybe I’ve been too hard on her. She must feel just as alone as I do. I decided that if I was going to have a partner, Jenny would be as good as any.
I cleared my throat. “Jen,” I said. She looked up at me.
“Uh, kid . . . ,” I said tuggingat her hair. “I know everything is pretty weird right now. You and I are the only ones that can see this stuff. But it looks like we’re in this together.”
Jenny stared at me and shed a few more tears. This is incredible. My sister has turned into a water hose. I put my arm around her shoulder. “Hey, where’s that Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer of Chester Elementary School? Come on. I want you to meet somebody.”
“Okay,” said Jenny. She sniffed and ran her sleeve across her nose.
“Wait,” I said, “Don’t ruin your outfit. You can wipe your eyes on my shirttail.” I pulled her chin up. “Just promise you won’t blow your nose on it, okay?” Jenny giggled. It sounded good.
When we got to the back yard, Martin rose to his feet.
“Hello there, Miss Jenny,” he said. “How are you doing? My name is Martin, and I am Barry’s keeper.” With that, he reached out, took Jenny’s hand and kissed her fingers. For a moment, I thought I saw a full rainbow of colors swirling around them.
“Uh . . . hi.”
Oh, too funny. Jenny’s mouth flew wide open. I had to bite the inside of my cheeks to keep from snickering. So, Little Sister, guess you’ve never had your fingers kissed before. I can also see that you liked it—big time. Jenny’s eyes were bugging out and she was blushing. I had to really stuff the cackle welling up in my throat. Jenny at loss for words. Oh, this is choice.
“So, Miss Jenny, are you feeling better? I hope so,” Martin said. “Please sit down.” Trance-like, she sat down on the lawn not taking her eyes off of Martin. I flopped down beside her.
The keeper studied her for a momentand then said, “Jenny, it seems you have been given spirit sight along with Barry. I’m sure this comes as a tremendous shock. It has for your brother. Perhaps you can begin by telling us what you have seen so far.”
“I don’t get it,” Jenny said, her voice shaky. “What’s spirit sight?”
I sat up. “It’s like this, Jen,” I said. “You and I can now see the spirit world. Martin here is a good spirit and he’s been my keeper all my life. But I haven’t been able to see him until today. There are bad spirits too. Martin says it’s the kee
per’s job to protect us from the bad spirits.”
“That’s right, Master Barry,” said Martin. “Now, Jenny, can you tell us what you have seen so far?”
“Well . . .” Jenny began, “I . . . this is all so weird. I saw you when you were that humongous giant, and I saw you throwing Barry around up in the air.” Jenny glanced sideways at me and giggled. “You looked so funny, Barry. Positively green.”
“Thanks a heap,” I said.
Jenny went on. “After that, I saw you—whoever you are— shrink down to . . . to whatever it is you are now. But before all that, the first thing I saw was Barry’s awful red monster head. E-e-ew!! It was socreepy!”
Jenny slapped her face with her hands then dug fists into her eyes. “It would come out only when I touched him. That’s why I’ve been staying away from you, Barry. I just didn’t want to see it anymore. It made me crawl.”
“Mom . . .” Jenny’s voice quivered again. “. . . Mom couldn’t see any of it, and . . . and it’s all been so horrible around our house. I couldn’t talk to anybody . . . .” Tears spilled from her eyes and she sniffled.
Martin offered her a handkerchief.
“Th-thank you,” she said and wiped her cheek. She looked down at the handkerchief. “Wow, this is so soft.”
“Jenny,” Martin said, “Spirit sight is an amazing gift. You and your brother must be very rare human children. Though I still do not know why this has happened, I know about the Gift Giver. He always has agood reason. To tell you the truth, I’m on needles and tacks to know what that is. Trust me, Jenny. You and Barry are in for an amazing adventure.”
Jenny looked over at me and tried to smile. I chuckled. “Jen, you look like a blob of ice cream left out in the sun.” She just sniffed.
Martin went on in a quieter tone. “But now, Jenny, can you tell us what happened when you first saw Barry with his swollen red head?”
Jenny thought for a moment then said, “Well, that was later. What I noticed first was this yucky smell when I passed Barry on the stairs. At dinner last night, I couldn’t even sit next to him because he stunk so bad.”
I sat back, stunned. “Okay. That’s a revelation. I smelled bad?”
Then, from the deck behind us, a voice raked the air. I felt my hair stand on end.
“Grams, here they are!” It was Mom.
Jenny’s hand flew to her mouth and we both looked over at Martin.
“Don’t worry, guys,” said Martin. “Your mother cannot see me. Just be your natural selves,” he said. Then he winked.
“What’s up, Mom?” I called.
“Barry, Jenny. We’re about to head back home. Could you two help your grandmother by cleaning up any trash left out here in the yard?”
Mom didn’t wait around for an answer, but swung back into the house. I looked at Jenny. When I thought about it later, I knew I should’ve kept my mouth shut—but hind sight is always 20/20, right?
I proceeded to shoot my mouth off. “I see Mom’s actually including you in the work this time. I’m just surprised she didn’t say,”—and I used my fake “Mom” voice—“‘Barry, I want you to do garbage detail. Jenny can come in and help me serve cookies.’”
I knew by the look on Jenny’s face that I’d blown it. She looked like a cat hunching its back. I fully expected to see real claws any second.
“For your information, Barry,” she hissed, “I help Mom a lot. Just because you don’t see me do it is no reason to accuse me of dodging my chores around the house!”
All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, fiery objects whizzed over our heads. Then Jenny screamed. In a nanosecond, two massive hands squashed us together.
After a long minute, Martin called out, “You two all right?” In an instant the great hands shrank to normal size and for a second time, I saw Martin flex his fingers.
“I’m okay.” Then I looked over at Jenny. “Hey! Jenny’s bleeding!”
Martin reached over and pulled Jenny’s hand away. A deep gash sliced across Jenny’s upper arm. Martin cleared his throat. “Jenny has been injured, Barry.”
Like, yeah. I’ve got eyes, Keeper-man.
“You do knowthis could have been avoided,” Martin said.
I looked at him. “What do you mean?” I asked. “We were crammed under your monster hands tighter than sardines.”
Martin heaveda sigh. “Not at first, Master Barry,” he said.
“Not at . . .?” I started to say. Then I scowled. “Are you telling us that this happened before your hands kablooied into giant paws.”
“Yes, Barry,” Martin said. “The instant I saw the danger, I covered you. But think. What was going on just before that?”
I stared at him. “J-Jenny and I were arguing?” I stammered.
“That’s right, Barry,” said Martin, “And the demons took full advantage of that little spat and shot your sister with one of their darts.”
Oh sure. When all else fails, blame the boy.
“Oh, so this is all my fault?” I asked squaring myself up. I felt Martin’s hand on my shoulder.
“Well, yes and no, Barry,” said Martin. “It was bound to happen, and I’m almost glad it came about the way it did. It could have been much worse.”
“Why do you say it was bound to happen?” I asked.
“Because you children are still unschooled in the ways of the Sky,” he said. “Neither of you realizes that, in the spirit world, there are many different evil spirits. Theydon’t hesitate to attack. An argument is likea flashing bull’s eye. They love it. Before we keepers can react, they can unload at least one round of arrows. I have seen it thousands of times. Trouble is, people don’t know what’s happening so they begin fighting with each another. It’s so sad.”
Whoop-de-doo. Everything gets dumped on me.
“So, this was allmy fault?” I muttered.
“No Barry,” Martin said. “Both you and your sister played a part in this. But let’s not play the blame game here. What’s important is that you children use this as a learning experience. If you do, it probably will not happen again.”
“But what about Jenny’s wound?” I asked.
Martin smiled. “Oh, that’s just a small scratch. I can take care of it.” He reached over and touched Jenny’s arm. The gash closed up and disappeared right before our eyes.
Jenny suckedin her breath. “Aw-w . . . ! Barry! Did you see that!”
“Yeah, I saw it—but I don’t believe it,” I exclaimed. “Far out, Martin!”
Martin just smiled.
CHAPTER 11: THE SURPRISE GIFT
“Though we may have different gifts,
they all come from the same Giver.”
~Martin Moonglow I cleared my throat. Looking over at Jenny, I said in my best off-hand voice,“So, you said I smelled bad yesterday.” Jenny nodded. I shook my head.
“ . . . But I washed before dinner last night,” I said. “I even used soap . . . .”
Jenny shrugged. “I’m just telling you what I smelled,” she said.“Don’t take it personally.”
I heaved a heavy sigh. “I knew there was somethin’ bugging you last night. You were so quiet I thought you had your jaws wired shut. And the way you stared at me. Like you were stabbing me with a knife.”
“Yeah,” said Jenny nodding, her curls bouncing up and down like springs. “The minute you came home yesterday, the whole house reeked. It was like . . . like . . . .” She looked me full in the face. “Do you remember the time when we dug up our Cousin Nate’s old dead dog? That’s what the smell was like. Gross—with a capital ‘G’!” Jenny shuddered then added, “I kept waiting for Mom to say something but she never did and you know Mom’s got the best nose in the family. But even when I moved to the other side of the table, you still made me gag.”
Jenny turned to Martin. “His scary tomato head didn’t show up until later that night. Then I really wigged out. But today in the car is when it hit me. I realized nobody else could smell Barry or see that disgusting head except me.
I felt so alone. I thought I was headed for the funny farm.”
Martin and I just sat there staring at Jenny.
Jennycocked her head at me. “So how come you’re back to normal?I mean you don’t stink, and your head doesn’t morph anymore.”
In my best Dirk Dastardly voiceI said, “Don’t be too sure, Little Sister. Maybe I deliberately put on my special stink juice just for you. And maybe I invented the big red head to . . . .”
“Oh-hh!” said Jenny and clunked me on the head with her knuckles.
I rubbed my head and grinned.“We big brothers have a reputation to keep up, ya know. We’re supposed to scare our sisters.” She laughed.
Turning to Martin, I said, “So, how is it that Jenny could smell me and I couldn’t?”
Martin shrugged. “Simple Barry. Jenny has a gifted nose. She smells things that others cannot.”
“And what about my tomato head? Where’d that come from?” I asked.
Martin pursed his lips. “Master Barry, anytime there is a red manifestation, it’s a sign ofanger,” he said. “So tell me. Have you been angry recently?”
Hooboy. Bingo. I felt very tired all of a sudden. A rush of scenes fast-forwarded through my brain.
“Angry? Yeah. In factI’ve been feeling like Chief Raging Bull,” I said. “Especially since Dad died. I know he couldn’t help dying, but it just makes me mad for some reason. Like, how dare he leave us all alone like this?”
I stopped and looked from Martin to Jenny. “And Mom. I don’t know how she is with you, Jen, but she seems to be always on my case. Have you noticed how she keeps giving me all the chores that Dad used to do? I’m only twelve, for cryin’ out loud. And do I get any thanks? No. The only reward I get for doing one job is to get another one. She can so tick me off.”
And school is so boring. And with Chad off to Hawaii and me stuck at school with nobody to hang out with . . . .
Jenny spoke up. “If it’s any help, Barry, I’ve noticed that Mom has been really dumping on you lately. I just didn’t know what to sayis all.”
“Well I’m glad you noticed. And home isn’t the only place have I been getting heat. There are these bullies at school, see? Hardly a day goes by that they don’t pester me. I guess I just came unglued. So Martin, let me get this straight. Whenever somebody’s angry, it’s like putting out the welcome mat for bad spirits, is that it?”
The Blood Jewel (The Shomara Diaries Book 1) Page 6