Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (24 page)

“Aww,” the
y moaned.

“When you’re done,”
Nana s
aid
,
“
T
here’s hot
beef
sandwiches warming in the oven.”

That set everyone in motion
.
The room was cleared in less than ten minutes and the
Alley
s went to bed with full stomachs, but
Glory
couldn’t sleep because Patrice was in the other bed crying.
It had been such a wonderful night,
so
she
was at a loss as to
why.

Glory
hated seeing her
like that, but didn’t know what
to say or do. “Uh, do you want to talk about it?
”

“No.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“No
.
There’s nothing anybody can do.”

“Are you mad because you’re not allowed to see
Ted
Filmore
anymore?”

“He’s part of it, but not really.”

“Huh?”

“You’re too young
to understand
.
”
With that, Patrice picked up her pillow and left the room still crying.

“Patrice,”
Glory
sat up in bed, calling after her
.
“Please, don’t leave
.
”

“I’m not going far,” she replied
.
“
I j
ust need to be alone, that’s all.”

“I mean
—don'
when you turn eighteen.”

“No promises.”

Glory
woke to the sound of
Brandon’s snoring vibrat
ing the bedroom
.
How
he’d
f
ound
Patrice’s vacant bed so quickly—that’s what she wanted to know
.
A full moon glowed through the window, casting the room in dim light.
Glory
snuggled in under h
er
quilt, but
sleep refused to
come
.
T
he events of the evening
swam in her head
.

Dad
,
rumor had it, had gone an entire day without taking a drink
.
And wasn’t it fun when he danced with
Nana
? And entertainin
g
when
Brandon
and
Patrice
followed suit
?
That’s how families
were
supposed to be
.
It’s how the
Alley
s
used
to be, when
Mom
was alive
.
Dare
s
he
expect
more good things to come?

She
took her
flashlight and rock collectors guide from the nightstand and headed to the closet
.
With the doors closed
,
s
he wouldn’t disturb Brandon. The combined stench of dirty sneakers and unwashed clothes was almost too much to bear
.
She
kept the folding doors cracked open for ventilation
and
nestled into a pile of wadded-up sheets
.

Wedged into the corner
,
s
he read until h
er
lids
grew heavy. Comfortable and tired,
s
he shut off
the
flashlight and let sleep take over.

Th
e sound of conversation
jolted her awake.

The voices were brittle and familiar
.

T
he
bums were in the house!

Glory
’s
mouth formed a silent scream.

One of them said, “This be
the
dwelling
place
.”

A second voice replied
.
“We’ve checked this structure up and down
.
None of
the
inhabitants herein
be
whom we seek.”

Glory
wanted to run
through the house
and wake up
all the
Alley
s
, but confronting the squirrel-chomping intruders was sure to be extremely dangerous
.
Eyes shut tight
,
s
he
tr
ied
to breathe as quietly as possible
.

“Now what do we do?”
o
ne of the men said.

“We search this house one more time for
the
thieving
Tullah
n
or
the
Elboni
.
Whichever
reveals itself
first determines what we do next.”

“Aye,” the other replied
.

“Aye,” a third voice repeated.

Glory
’s
heart thumped in h
er ears as she
inched to the crack in the door and peeked through.
O
ne, two, three shadowy figures st
ood
around h
er
empty bed
.
They were portly and about
the same height as herself.
They were the bums who attacked h
er
in the barn all right. Their bodies were egg-shaped.
They wore
baggy
trouser
s
,
which
were
tucked
into
the top of
rugged-looking black boots
.
The edges of
their
strange
wriggling
beards caught the
glow of the
moonlight
cascading through the window
.

The men didn’t look like anybody from Tullah she’d ever seen.

Life on other planets hadn’t been proven, but she had always been excited about the idea. Tonight the thought
was about as pleasant as a chicken bone caught in the throat.

“Perchance this be
the
thief’s
bed,” one said, flipping over
Glory
’s
sheets and looking under them.

Shivers racked
her
body.

“Ye don’t think
the
thief
be
roaming this dwelling?” asked the second intruder.

“If
so
, we
’ll know soon
,” said the third.

The second intruder held something long and thin in his hand
.
He waved it in the air and said, “Nanru.”

Instantly, the object in his hand burst with light
.
Glory
shielded h
er
eyes until they adjusted
.
Silvery,
pointed on one end
,
and flat on the other, the light
maker
loo
ked like
a
thin
spike.
It glowed from end to end with a gr
een
light,
and
then suddenly flared into a bright white glow, giving
her
a better look at the intruders
.

Except for the black capes, and thick black boots, the men’s clothes reminded her of something old-time gangsters might wear
: 
velvety
gr
ay
fedora with a shiny black hatband, silky gr
ay
trousers with black pinstripes, black
suit jackets
, a
nd
glittery green
button down vests
underneath
.
They might be wearing ties, but she couldn’t tell
for sure
due to the
long
beards
.
Glory
watched the
one
holding the glowing
spike
closely
.
Like the others,
h
is
skin was the color of watermelon juice and his cheeks drooped like the muzzle of a bulldog
.