Dae's Christmas Past (25 page)

I helped Gramps into bed. I could tell he was still in a lot of pain with his broken leg. “You know we might be able to get some stronger pain meds from the doctor so you don’t have to make that face every time you move.”

He grunted as he pulled the blanket over him. “And lay around sleeping all the time? I don’t think so. This is gonna take weeks to heal, Dae. I’m not giving up my whole life for a broken leg.”

“Okay. Just offering.” I kissed his forehead. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain pet psychic staying with us, would it?”

He smiled. “I’m not saying she could take the place of your grandmother, but I wouldn’t mind giving her a chance to try. You like her too, don’t you?”

“What’s not to like? We’re kind of on the same wavelength. She’s fantastic. I hope she decides to stay in Duck.”

“Me too.” He settled back on his pillow. “I wish I could be out there with you, honey. I’m keeping my cell phone next to me. Call when you know something. And don’t take any unnecessary chances. Let Kevin and Jake do the heavy lifting.”

“I will,” I promised, switching off the light. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Dae.”

I closed his bedroom door, and went downstairs.

Mary Catherine was waiting in the kitchen. “Jake and Kevin went to get some weapons.”

“Good. We’ll probably need them.” I took Gramps’s shotgun from behind the door, and looked for the shells. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

She took a pearl-handled revolver out of her handbag. “I’m ready, even without the horses.”

Her face was set in grim lines. “I’m glad you’re here, Mary Catherine. You’ve been a big help.”

“Thank you, Dae. That’s why I came.”

“And I’m glad you’ll be there tonight. I don’t know what’s going to happen out there, but I know I’ll feel better with you there too.”

“Thank you, dear.” She hugged me. “I’d best go change now. It’s become quite cold out there.”

Mary Catherine went to her room to change into something more appropriate for assaulting a group of people performing a ritual on a cold night. I went to mine to do the same.

Treasure was sitting on the bed. He was concerned about what we were going to do. “It’s going to be fine,” I told him. “I’ll be back by morning. I don’t think Baylor is going with Mary Catherine either. This won’t be a good place for cats to be.”

I stepped into the bathroom to change clothes. It was cold outside, with a biting wind. I pulled on wool pants, heavy socks, and a sweater to wear under my jacket. I covered my hair with a red knit cap, and put my feet into boots.

Picking up my gloves and the shotgun, it felt like I was in some small town movie about alien invaders where everyone goes out to fight them. I hoped it was one of the movies where the small town people won the fight. I already had most of my Christmas shopping done, and I didn’t plan to miss the holidays.

Mary Catherine was waiting downstairs. She was completely dressed in black including a black wool cap covering her bright hair. Baylor was protesting by meowing loudly and snagging her pants with his claws.

“You’re not going,” she told him. “It’s going to be dangerous enough for us. I can’t protect you out there.” He meowed again. “Oh, I know. You’re big and brave. You can take care of both of us. But you still aren’t going. That’s that. Go take a nice nap until we get back.”

“Treasure wanted to go too,” I told her. “He was afraid Baylor was going, and he didn’t want to be left behind.”

Mary Catherine wasn’t surprised. “It’s in their nature to be protective of the ones they love, not to mention that they’re predators. Of course they’d want to go to war.”

I took gloves out of my bag. “I just hope Osisko shows up. I don’t have a clue how to stop the demon horses. I have a feeling that AK47 Kevin was talking about won’t work.”

“I know what you mean.” She sighed. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “Last chance to get off the train.”

“I never get off until the end of the journey.” She laughed. “Let’s go.”

Kevin stopped for us at the end of the drive. “Jake is already on his way out there. I hope he waits, and doesn’t jump in by himself.”

“At least he’s back to being himself.” I was firmly wedged between Kevin and Mary Catherine. I wasn’t going to complain though. I was happy not to ride in the back again.

“That doesn’t make me feel a lot better,” Kevin said.

“I know you don’t like him, but we can trust him,” I reminded him. “There’s something to be said for that.”

“I’m sorry.” He started down Duck Road. “I’ll try to forget that he wants to be with you too.”

I kissed his cheek. “He’ll get over it. Did you bring some guns?”

“The back is full of them.”

“Not that I think they’ll help with the demon horses,” I added. “But they may keep the horse cult followers out of our way.”

“Is there some magic potion or spell to get rid of the demons?” Kevin asked.

“Not as far as I know. I think Osisko will guide me when we get there.”

“Ghost man from the past,” he muttered. “Great.”

Driving down Duck Road to Sanderling, and then Corolla, was unsettling. It was probably just in my own mind. The road was brightly lit from the full moon hanging over us. There were several points where I could see the water in the distance.

There was no sign of the Andalusia—our local ghost ship that was sometimes spotted on moonlit nights. Maybe its ghostly crew didn’t want to be around with the demon horses.

I’d only seen the Andalusia once in my life, though like every other resident of the Outer Banks, I was always looking. Some had even tried to take photos of it, but none existed. There were drawings of it in the history museum dating back to the 1700s.

“What do you think it is about this area that seems to make everything so strange and dramatic?” Mary Catherine asked as we passed large dunes that gleamed in the silver light.

“Maybe it’s knowing that it could all be taken away at any moment,” I said. “The early residents that we call the Bankers knew that. They stayed through storms and floods. They did whatever they had to do to survive. But the one thing we have in common is not knowing what the tides will bring tomorrow. I think it goes with the whole Graveyard of the Atlantic theme, don’t you?”

“Yes. I think that may have been what drove me off last time I was here. A person can only handle so much truth. You and I have more than our share, Dae. Living in the city with a million other people sometimes makes you feel safer.”

“I’ve never lived anywhere that big, but the more people around me, the more I worry about touching something that will make me see things I don’t want to see.”

We kept driving toward Corolla until we reached Jake’s long drive. From the road, everything was dark. There were no lights at the house or the barn. The place looked deserted.

“Looks like they have a fire going behind the barn where the big horse is,” Mary Catherine pointed to an eerie orange glow at the back of the property.

“Great. Not something I wanted to see.” It would probably mean the horse cult was trying to summon the horse demons again. I was really hoping I was wrong. “This is why Osisko wanted us to come out here. They’re after someone else.”

“Or something else,” she whispered. “They must have something more in mind than just killing off a few random people. It would be nice if we knew their game plan.”

“What could it be?” My tone matched hers. “World domination through invisible horses? How much damage could they really do?”

Even though my words were brave, my hands were shaking as Kevin turned out the lights before we drove on Jake’s property. There was a cold knot in the pit of my stomach. He pulled the pickup into a field beside the horse pasture.
Now what?

Where was Jake?

“Obviously, we have to stop them from summoning the demon horses again,” Mary Catherine spoke as though she were trying to get her thoughts together. “Maybe we could hose down the fire. Once it’s out, they can’t summon the horses out of it, right? Then I can call in the wild horses.”

“Even though these people are doing an ancient ceremony,” I reminded her. “They probably still have modern weaponry. They could shoot the horses.”

She tapped her finger on her chin. “I suppose that’s true. I can’t have them come in here and die.”

“Exactly. I’m not sure what plan B is.”

“Plan A is to get in there without them noticing,” Kevin reminded us as he got two rifles out of the back of the pickup. “If we can sneak in there so Dae can do her thing without firing a shot, it would be great. We aren’t the police.”

“Good plan.” Mary Catherine took her revolver out anyway.

I grabbed the old shotgun. I might not have to shoot anyone, but it made me feel better.

“Ladies.” Kevin nodded. “I’ll take point.”

“What does that mean?” Mary Catherine asked.

“It means I go in front. You stay behind me,” he explained.

“What about me?” Jake asked from the darkness.

Mary Catherine and I jumped.

“You scared the crap out of me,” I whispered the complaint.

“Sorry,” he replied. “Looks like your friends have been busy tonight. They’re dancing up there in some kind of animal skins, screaming at the big horse, and howling at the moon. This is like a bad movie.”

“Did you call Chief Palo?” I asked him.

He nodded. “She didn’t pick up, but I left a long message. Are we gonna wait for her?”

We all looked at Kevin.

“Your call, Dae,” he said.

I cleared my throat, and tried to sound tougher than I felt. “Let’s go.”

“Do you see Osisko?” Mary Catherine whispered as we started toward the barn, our breaths frosty in the night air.

“No. Not yet.”
Please be here. I don’t know what to do without you.

“Who are you looking for?” Jake asked.

“Our guide,” I explained. “He was part of the horse cult at one time.”

“The ghost man,” Kevin told him.

Jake let out a sigh. “You gotta be kidding me. I thought it was someone real.”

“He’s real enough,” I said.

Mary Catherine made a faint sound as her foot caught on one of the boards that had been used to cover the holes in the ground. I put out my hands to make sure she didn’t fall. As I did, one of the spotlights from the house came on.

We’d been caught trying to sneak up on the horse cult.

“Welcome ladies and gentleman,” a familiar voice said. “We were hoping you could join us tonight.”

It was Duran.

He was wearing a dark robe like you’d expect to find on a monk. Behind him were his followers. They were all people working here, about a dozen or so, dressed in monk’s robes too.

“Robes?
Really
?” I muttered.

“I suppose they didn’t have the option of seeing into the past as you did, Dae,” Mary Catherine whispered. “They didn’t know what the original horse cult members wore.”

“What do we do?” I asked Kevin. “Is this part of Plan A?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “But we can work with it. Don’t panic.”

Jake’s gaze was intent on the horse cult members. “I don’t see any weapons.”

“That’s what I was thinking too,” Kevin said.

“How about a change of plan?” Jake suggested. “Kevin and I go in shooting. Whatever we don’t hit, the pet psychic sends her horses after. Maybe you can throw rocks at them, Dae. There’s not that many of them.”

“We’ll all go to jail permanently,” Kevin reminded him. “We have no proof of any wrongdoing at this point.”

“Jail is better than dead, my friend,” Jake said. “Dae, is your spirit guide saying anything right now?”

“No.” I didn’t see Osisko at all. I’d been stupid for leading us into a trap. What was I thinking?

“So we need proof that they’re bad men?” Jake shook his head. “Any idea how we get that?”

“We have to make them act,” I said. “This is still your land, Jake. You have a right to be here. They don’t. If we make them believe we’re here to stop them, they may act without thinking of the consequences. It’s not much, but it might slow them down. And we can’t get in trouble because we’re not doing anything illegal—if we don’t shoot them.”

Kevin took a deep breath. “Dae—”

“This has to stop.” I stepped in front so Duran would see me. “You have to stop these cult rites. People are dying.”

Duran brought the staff he held down hard on the sand. “Leave us alone. We weren’t bothering you.”

“You’ve been bothering me, and my town,” I told him. “The statue has to be destroyed. Our ancestors buried it. The statue wasn’t supposed to be found. The demon horses have to be sent back where they came from, and never summoned again.”

It was a strong statement. I was actually hoping one or two of them might come over to our side after considering the consequences of their actions. But Duran had chosen well. Not a single one of his followers showed any remorse or sided with us.

“That’s never going to happen,” Duran said. “From here it just gets bigger. There were horse cults all over the world at one time. Descendants of those people are patiently watching, waiting to join us. We can overthrow governments, and make the world what we want it to be.”