Calico Cross (2 page)

Chapter Three

I had to admit that I stayed irritated for the rest of the day and sat by my window hoping the man would walk out to his garden and notice the cookies. I had found the perfect spot at my bedroom window where I could see his garden clearly through the trees. I ate an entire roll of Spree while I waited. I was going to take pleasure in every minute of his annoyance, and I wasn’t going to miss it.

Sure enough, after another hour or so of waiting, he strolled casually, as if he had no care in the world, out to his garden. Thank goodness for my sharp, keen eyesight. I noticed the look of pride on his handsome face as he studied the garden. He leaned down and plucked something off a stalk and took a bite. It looked like a fat, ripe tomato. The juice dribbled down his chin, and I found myself melting at the sight. Suddenly I snapped straight up, remembering that I hated this man…with a great passion. He was a savage after all.

My eyes widened and a grin altered my face as I realized he had spotted the cookies. His expression was priceless. It was a look of disbelief mixed with a fierce anger. At that moment, Fancy burst through my door to tell me something.

“Shhhh!” I snapped, running to her and pulling her down to the window with me.

“What?” she whispered.

I pointed and her eyes followed. She covered her mouth and smirked.

We both watched as he began picking out the cookies. When he had his hands full, he stood… and then he glared across the distance of space, staring right at us. We gasped and quickly ducked down below the window.

“Was he looking at us?” Fancy spoke, her voice expressing the surprise we both were feeling.

“It looked like it, but how? He must be a were-creature
of some kind. Great! Just when I thought we were leaving the supernatural world behind us.”

“But what kind?” Fancy asked.

I shrugged and then risked another look. Yes! He was looking straight into our window, and his glower was angry.

And then his comment to me earlier rang loudly in my ears, and I squared my shoulders, sat up straight and smiled sweetly as I offered a polite but sarcastic little wave. Fancy giggled and jerked my arm down. The savage frowned and then shocked me as he began angrily eating the soggy and probably insect covered cookies, one at a time. My mouth fell open, but then I began to laugh. He was angry, but I thought it was funny. He was sending a message, but I wasn’t receiving it.
Who was the one who was irritated now?
I thought.

We ran downstairs to tell the others what had happened. They were amused as well.

“Serves him right,” they had said, and I agreed. Maybe he would think twice before speaking again, but I doubted it. A man like that only cared about himself. I sighed and shook my head as I lingered on the thought. What a sad waste of perfect hotness.

As Kiki was getting ready to throw away the extra batch of cookies we had made, I flung out my hand to stop her.

“Wait!” I smirked. “Don’t throw away those cookies. I have an idea.”

* * * * * *

Although our parents had left us some money when they died, we decided that we would be happier and better off if we all got jobs. So the next morning we got in the car and headed for town, but not before pulling up to our new neighbor’s mailbox and leaving him a gift… a big, delicious looking but nasty tasting, and hard (don’t forget the hard) chocolate chip cookie.

We drove onto the main strip of town and pulled into a parking spot in front of the local diner. Tabby went in to get an application for herself while the rest of us split up and headed in the direction of the place that held our interest. We made the decision that since we only had one car that we should all try to get jobs downtown and close together.

I headed across the street to the local library. I had always wanted to work in a library and since I loved books so much, it made perfect sense. It was a big and very old building. As I stepped inside, my senses were rushed with the smell of old books. I knew this was the place for me. I was pleasantly surprised to see handfuls of people there. It was a weekday and I had expected the library to be mostly empty.

“Hello,” I said to the sweetest looking lady I had ever seen. She was short and round and her hair was black with wisps of gray around her face, and it was pulled up into a bun high on top of her head. Her look fit her occupation perfectly.

“Well hello there, my dear. How can I help you?” she asked, pulling her glasses to the tip of her nose and inspecting me over the rim of them.

“I was just wondering if you were hiring.”

“Why yes we are, as a matter of fact, although no one has applied for the position.” She stood straight and put her hands on her lower back, massaging it. “I am getting older and the hours are just so hard on my back.” She smiled sweetly as she studied me from head to toe and handed me an application. “I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you visiting someone?”

“Oh no. My sisters and I just moved here. We’re renting the house on Cottage Cake Drive.”

“Oh, the old Peterson home. Yeah, sad what happened there.” Her expression turned grim.

My eyes went wide and I leaned in closer. “What happened there?” I was always up for a good ol’ story.

“Well,” she began, perking up and leaning in toward me, “rumor is that Mr. Peterson tried to kill his wife, but she managed to escaped, though just barely. He then killed himself right there in the dining room. Shot himself in the head with his gun they say. It was a terrible tragedy. They were once such a sweet couple. Some say that the house is haunted. Haven’t seen or heard anything strange, now have ya?” Her eyes grew beady as she studied my reaction.

I covered my mouth to hide my giggle. “I have got to tell my sisters about this.” I took off toward the door. “I’ll come back with my application later!” I shouted over my head but was then hushed by someone behind me.

I had to wait at the car for fifteen minutes before my sisters finally returned. When I told them what the old lady had said about the family who used to live in our new home, the reactions were mixed. Kiki and Tabby laughed, saying that explained the noises they had heard coming from the basement. But Fancy ‘bout wet her pants and began to shake with fear.

“Don’t worry, Fan,” I said, rubbing her shoulders reassuringly. “We’re scarier and fiercer than any ghosts living in our new house, or any other for that matter. All we have to do is shift and growl, setting our yellow, or in my case green, eyes aglow, and I’m sure those ghosts will have more respect for the living. They’ve never encountered anything like us before.”

She perked up and shook her head in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right, Cali. They will be in for the surprise of their lives.” Then she laughed and added, “Or should I say ‘deaths’?”

All four of us burst into laughter as we jumped into the car and headed back to our lovely haunted house on Cottage Cake Drive.

Chapter Four

Back at the house, we all seemed to look at things a little differently since we left town. It wasn’t that we were afraid really. I mean we were supernatural creatures ourselves, but just the idea that ghosts may be watching us was slightly creepy. But when nothing out of the ordinary happened, we were able to relax a little and go about our business.

Tabby was hired to work at the local diner, Fill’s Diner and Coffee House, while Kiki was hired on at the local bakery, Sweets N Treats. Fancy got a job at the local barber’s simply called Mitchell’s. So everyone had a job but me. It had been two days since I left the library and no call. Then it hit me as I was strolling past my dresser, I never turned in my application. There it was still sitting on my dresser. I grabbed it and quickly filled it out and then headed for the car.

“I hope no one needs the car for a little while! I need to turn in my application at the library.”

“Good luck!” Tabby called to me from the kitchen as I ran out the front door.”

This time I observed, as I strolled to the counter, that the library was practically empty. I was, however, pleased to see the same pleasant lady behind the desk.

“Well, hello again. Had any encounters with any ghosts?” She asked with a slight giggle.

“Not yet,” I responded, smiling. “But I did bring back that application.”

“Oh good,” she said, taking it from my outstretched hand and scanning over it. “It says here that you worked in the library at your high school back in Briarcreek.”

I nodded. I hated to think about that life. It was filled with so many pains and discomforts.

“Your name is Calico?” Her voice sounded almost confused.

“Umm, yes ma’am, but most people call me Cali.”

“That’s an odd name, but seeing the streaks in your hair it sort of fits, I guess.” She shrugged. “Well, we could probably use you here. Want to start tomorrow after lunch. Be here around one?”

My excitement was hard to contain. “I sure can!”

“Great. See you then.”

“Okay, Miss….” I waited.

“Oh, sorry. My name is Miss Cherry, but you can call me Celia.”

“Great. See you tomorrow, Celia.” I bounced out of that building with a renewed sense of accomplishment. One thought was screaming at me;
I was really going to be happy here
… and then I ran head first into a huge brick building—my new neighbor, and landed flat on my butt.
Great!

A huge hand reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. The impact left me a little dizzy and confused.
Was this the neighbor I hated so passionately?

“Why don’t you get your head out of the clouds, scout, and watch where you’re going?” he growled, glaring down at me just like he did that day on his porch.

Why, yes, now I remembered. This was the neighbor I hated so passionately. Anger rushed me and I bit down on my lip to keep my comments from bursting out and getting my little butt into trouble. Instead, I did a sarcastic curtsy, and a hand gesture that was very unlike me, and zipped around him, making my way quickly to the car. Once inside the anger came pouring out, and I banged my hand on the steering wheel several times. I watched as the evil man walked into the library….
my library
!

When I got home, I shared with the girls about my new job and most importantly my interaction with ‘the savage’. They thought it was funny, but I was not amused. This guy needed a serious dose of manners, and I was planning to be the one to teach him. How? I didn’t know, but hopefully it would come to me. In the meantime, I would continue to leave cookies in his mailbox.

The next day, Kiki dropped me off at the library at five minutes till one. I was not going to be late for my first day on the new job. None of them had work that day, and the plan was for me to call them when it was time to be picked up.

For the next five hours Celia took me around and showed me all the ropes. Working at a public library was different from working at the one in my high school. For one thing, this one was much bigger and older. I was in love with everything about it.

Ten minutes before my shift was to be over ‘the savage’ entered.
Great! Just when my day was perfect.
He acted as if he didn’t see me when clearly he had as he strolled to one of the aisles and disappeared.

“Great! The jerk is here,” I mumbled but clearly not low enough because Celia heard me.

“Oh you mean, Dane? Have you met the handsome man before?” She leaned in closer, eager for my response.

“Unfortunately yes.”

“I take it you don’t like him?” Her eyes were questioning.

“Is it that obvious, and does anyone?”

“Oh yes. Many people like Dane. He has helped a lot of people in this community in the eight or so years he’s lived here.”

My eyes widened in surprise. Surely she was thinking of someone else and not the jerk that had yelled at us when we entered his property. “Really?”

“Oh yes. Now he’s not one for the ladies, which I find strange being that he is so handsome and all. And many have tried to get his attention, but he seems to ignore them.”

“Well, they’re better off if you ask me,” I responded. “Why is he in here so often anyway? I ran into him here yesterday as well.”

“Oh, he comes in here often to check out books about farming and planting.”

“Why doesn’t he just goggle it on the internet?”

“Oh, Dane doesn’t use the internet. He doesn’t even own a computer.”

That explained a lot.

When my shift ended, I quickly exited the building and pulled out my phone, eager to get as far away from ‘the savage’ as possible.
That’s odd,
I thought as my sisters, one by one, ignored their phones. I huffed and kept trying, but no one answered. I left multiple messages… and waited.

I paced back and forth as I made another call to Tabby. “Tabby, please pick up. I need you to come and get me. Call me.” I huffed again and hung up.

“Need a ride?” I heard the deep and unfriendly voice speak behind my back.

“No!” I snapped without looking at him. “I’d rather walk.” And that’s just what I did.

* * * * * *

Dane’s POV

I was still puzzled by my strange behavior. I didn’t know why I burst onto my porch and addressed those girls with such hostility. That was not the man I had become to be or wanted to be.

There was something about that girl with the oddly streaked hair and brilliant green eyes that struck me as I watched her through the window before they even approached. I instantly felt like she had come to take something from me, maybe even expose me. It was a sensation I had never felt before and couldn’t explain. It set off an anger I hadn’t felt in a long time. Was I sorry for how I treated my new neighbors? No. Not if it kept them away from me, especially the one with the green eyes; the one with the power to hurt me. I had to keep her away, at all costs. And it wouldn’t be easy.

I knew I should’ve just walked away when I heard her leave that message to her sisters. She could easily find another way home, but the gentleman inside me, and maybe something else if I were being honest, made me ask if she needed a ride.

I asked the question even as I was scolding myself for doing so.

This girl was bad news for me, and I knew it, even if she didn’t. As long as I continued with my nasty attitude, then she would continue to hate me, and that was just what I needed her to do. She needed to hate me with all she possessed. And judging by the look she gave me when I helped her to her feet, that was exactly what she felt.