Meridian. Part 28

"Please remove your boots in the mudroom." Tens cracked a smile, clearly pleased with my delight.

I bent and tugged at my soaked laces until they gave, then I toed out of my boots.

"Your hideout, my lady." Tens also removed his coat and gloves. "Superheated by geothermal energy and the very occasional battery-powered s.p.a.ce heater, but it has to be way below zero for that to be necessary. Towels are to your left. Get out of that stuff, Meri.

We can't afford to get sick."' Tens sounded tired.

I s.h.i.+vered as my cold, wet clothes were replaced by warm cotton bathsheets.

Tens rambled on about the cave. "It's an old Anasazi settlement. About fifty years ago Charles found it while out exploring and began making improvements. He called it their vacation home. Come on, I'll give you a tour."

I nodded, suddenly feeling shy.

"You've just entered the living area. I have a couple of inflatable chairs for warmer weather and I have a bench that's in progress." Pillows were piled haphazardly on the rug, which felt warm against my bare feet.

Tens pushed the curtain to the side. "The kitchen and dining area. We don't have refrigeration for the summer figured out, and we don't really want to attract bears, so the food -mostly camping stuff or canned-is locked in metal boxes. But right now we're okay, and there are a couple of hollows in the rack that make perfect iceboxes. These burners run on gas cartridges or battery power, even solar if we want to use them in the 162a summer."

ni *"How? When? Wha -'' I felt like I'd fallen down the rabbit hole. This was a palace. I explored the stocked kitchen, the mismatched dishes, the plastic tub that made a sink of sorts.

"Charles did a lot of it. I cleaned the place up, evicted a few tenants, and restocked. Auntie hadn't been out here in years, but it held up pretty well. And I'm kidding about the bears - no entrance to this place is big enough for one, and I haven't seen evidence of any in the years I've been coming out here."

"This was all your mysterious disappearances, wasn't it?"

He nodded. "Behind that curtain is the toilet. Charles figured out it's deeper than five hundred feet. So it's also a garbage chute."

I peeked behind the curtain. "There's a toilet seat."

"I added that part." Tens sheepishly glanced away.

"Nice." I smiled at him.

"The bedroom." He motioned me ahead. "There are inflatable mattresses, but also thick mats and plenty of -"

"Quilts?" I interrupted.

"Yeah. Plus down sleeping bags and battery-powered warmers, so we'll be toasty even if the temp dips way low again. Want to see the best part?"

"There's more?"

"Of course. It has its own personal hot spring for bathing, a heated vent, courtesy of Mother Earth, for drying wet clothes on, and -"

"I can't believe this place." I turned in a full circle as the high ceiling reached cathedral-like heights. There were murals above us, and the air was warm and thick with humidity.

"Charles did the paintings."

"Wow."' I recognized scenes from Auntie's stories, depicting her childhood and marriage.

The mural wasn't finished.

"He died before he could complete it." Tens pointed to the old paint cans and brushes in the corner. "I didn't want to clean them up."

I nodded.

"You hungry? I could use food."

"I think I heard the promise of hot chocolate?"

163ani *"Want a candy cane with that?" Tens lifted a lantern and we moved back the way we had come. "Oh, and through that pa.s.sageway is the way out on the other side. Very easy to navigate, and I've got a motorcycle there in case we need to get gone."

"Have you missed anything?" I asked, incredulous.

"Thank Auntie. She's the one who told me we'd need this."

Okay, modesty only took him so far. This wasn't exactly near the house and he'd made lots of trips.

"I've brought lots of clothes -your SpongeBob pj's are hanging in the bedroom. If you want them."

SpongeBob. I hadn't noticed they weren't in my room. I slid behind the dressing screen and s.h.i.+mmied out of my wet bra and panties. Pulling the very dry and almost warm flannel over my thawing skin felt wonderful.

"Wool socks are in the Ritz cracker tin," Tens called.

Sure enough, there was an a.s.sortment of bright colors. I grabbed a pair and pulled them on.

"Let me help?" I asked, joining Tens. I pulled a chocolate brown fuzzy sweater over my head and wrapped a quilt around my shoulders. I almost felt human. I reached for the wooden spoon and pushed him toward the clothes. "Your turn."

I stirred the canned soup until it boiled and the scent of chicken broth filled the s.p.a.ce. I lit candles, and Custos settled herself snoring in front of a s.p.a.ce heater.

We ate in silence, slurping down the heat and noodles. What now?

"We're safe. Not a bad way to start the New Year." Tens seemed to read my mind.

"But what now?"

"Let's take a few days, then I'll go down and scout. We can stay here for a while, but..."

"Perimo is a Nocti. I saw him at the fire. I remember he took Celia. How do we fight him?"

"Auntie told you to go find other Fenestras, right? Maybe one of them can help?"

"You mean leave?"

"Why stay? Let them have their church -at least until we know how to take Perimo down for good. If he can kill you, he will."

"I know. I just wish I knew more about the Sangre and how to call for one."

"We can try dreaming and praying for one. We don't have to figure it out tonight. I'm beat.

164a You ready for sleep? We can clean up later." He seemed about ready to fall over, his cheeks ni flushed and red, his eyes liquid and bright.

*Tens and I unrolled the zero-temp sleeping bags and unfolded the heavy mats for padding. I didn't know whether I was sleeping near him or across the cave. I wanted to press against him, to know I wasn't alone even in the deepest of sleep. But I didn't know how to ask him.

I blew out the candles and turned all but one of the lanterns off. Tens crawled into his bag and sleep claimed him immediately. His breathing evened and deepened. I glanced at Custos for guidance.

Finally, I tucked myself into my sleeping bag and scooted close to Tens. He woke enough to pull me closer; my head fit perfectly in the crook between his head and shoulder. I turned off the lantern, plunging the cave into the deepest of blacks. Tens s.h.i.+fted closer still and I listened to his breathing and Custos's snores. He was so warm. I fell asleep immediately.

But I didn't dream.

When I woke, I blinked in the darkness and reached until I found the lamp switch. I glanced at the watch Tens wore faithfully. It was two o'clock, but whether that was daytime or nighttime I had not a clue. I peeled myself as quietly as I could out of the sleeping bag. Tens didn't move.

I dressed and took our wet clothes to the back room and draped them over the vent on the cast-iron grill. I brushed my teeth and poked around. Knowing I'd gotten more sleep than Tens over the past few days. I wanted him to catch up as much as possible.

I found my backpack and opened it. Inside, a cheap cell phone was actually charged and had minutes on it, but there was no signal. I found Auntie's leather-bound journal, the letter she'd written me, a few stacks of cash, and bank records that were in my name. There were also a couple of the graphic novels I'd carted around since the beginning of this adventure.

I flipped to the back of the journal, hoping Auntie had added a postscript, and I smiled.

Dearest Child, Let me go. If you're reading this, then you made the right decision. Trust Tens. In turn, keep watch over him, Love is a precious gift - one without strings, Always want what's best for him, even when you disagree, As he'll want what's best for you.

I lived one hundred six packed years. They are frayed at the edges and ready for repair. I am ready for a rest. I do not know how many changes in the seasons you will see, but I hope it's the full one hundred six. Keep your eyes open and rise to your experiences, I am proud of you, my child, and I will be watching.

Auntie I blew my nose and wiped my eyes. There was no normal now. I broke open a bag of trail mix and popped open a can of juice. I checked on the drying clothes and studied Charles's mural, glad he and Auntie found each other in the beyond.

Tens still slept, but with an increasing restlessness. When he threw his blankets off. I walked over. I brought the lantern closer to him and gasped at the red blotches on his face, 165an arms, and hands.

i *"Tens! Tens! Wake up." I bent over his face. He was burning up, so hot his skin was both fragile and rough.

"Men." He tried to move. "Too bright light. Sick."

"What's wrong? Do you know what's wrong?"

"Bad sick. Bad." He lapsed back into feverish shaking. "Barely see you."

Did he mean he saw the light, the window? No! I wouldn't let him die. I couldn't let him die.

Think. Think. Trust my instincts. Trust my instincts?

Custos padded over and pawed at the front of my backpack. I watched her determined efforts to get into the zippered compartment. Great, now I'm letting a wolf make decisions. I leaned down to see what she was after.

"Holy s.h.i.+t." I exclaimed, pulling out the papers with the cabbie's name and phone number on it and Doctor Portalso-Marquez's business card with her home number on it. The senora and her daughter could help. So would Josiah. I knew it.

Think. Think.

"Trust your instincts. Trust your instincts," I said as Custos's hackles rose and she growled, baring her teeth. She moved around me, backing me toward Tens. As I reached down to comfort her, a shadow fell across the entrance of the cave. The stench of expensive cologne and incense told me Perimo had found us.

"Oh, isn't this cute, the little witch talks to herself." He clapped.

I straightened, ready to protect Tens. "Reverend Perimo? What's your real name?"

"Oh, Klaus Perimo is so catchy. I like being a reverend, too.

People trust you. It works for me."

"You're an Aternocti. You took Celia -that's why I felt such relief when you arrived that night, isn't it? You took her? She didn't push against me anymore."

"Congrats. Call off your dog. Meridian. I won't hesitate to use this." He pointed a gun at Custos.

I laid my hand on her head, but she refused to budge. "She doesn't like you."

"Call her off." He waved the gun.

I bent to her ear. "If you can understand me, I need help to save Tens. Run, go. Find help."

She backed away toward the rear of the cave.

166a "Go." I shouted. Custos raced into the blackness.

ni *"Sending a dog. So very La.s.sie. I find you amusing. Vexing, but amply entertaining."

Perimo shrugged out of his jacket and pocketed the gun again. "It is toasty in here."

"Bet you're used to heat, huh?" I asked, taking a washcloth and soaking it in melted snow.

"Is that a h.e.l.l reference?" He chuckled. "We are so misunderstood. I brought you a little present. Your first photograph." He unfolded the town newspaper and tossed it on the floor between us.

I didn't move to pick it up. Instead, I placed the rag lovingly on Tens's forehead. My heart broke a little as he tried to move away from my touch.

"Don't be that way. I'll even tell you what the headline says: 'Visiting Teen Anarchist Blows Up Train' -that's you in the photograph holding a dead baby. Not your best hair day. You killed one hundred fifty-seven people all headed home for New Year's."

"I didn't kill anyone."

"Didn't you? Seems there are witnesses who saw you at that junction earlier in the day and then you happened to be one of the first people on the scene. When your concerned pastor came to offer you spiritual guidance, you confessed and showed him where you'd stashed the last of the explosives used to blow up the tracks and train. Seems you burned your house down and killed your aunt to cover your tracks. You even have a criminal record in Oregon.

We are nothing if not thorough."

"No one is going to believe you. You did it. Where would I get explosives? You were there too."

"But I'm a good guy and you're a bad one. Didn't you get that memo? Plus, you can buy anything on the Internet -haven't you heard it's the devil's own tool?" He chuckled.

Tens moaned.

"His fever is getting worse. His organs will start cooking and shutting down within the next few hours. I can feel his heart weakening. Snakebite?"

Snake? Were there poisonous snakes here? "You're wrong."

"I'm rarely wrong about death, little girl, or hadn't you noticed?"

"What do you want?"