Spy High (9 page)

“We talk on the phone, but not
frequently.” Moonbeam’s lips trembled. “Inconsequential things.
Small talk, like strangers. We used to visit him whenever we could,
but… several years ago…” Her voice faded into silence and Karma
took over.

“He had been in a car accident and had
to move shortly afterward,” he said. “We went to help him, but… it
was as though we were intruding. He didn’t come out and say it,
but…”

“But his aura was… in turmoil,”
Moonbeam quavered. “Oh, my poor boy, he was so… so damaged. And the
only time his aura calmed was when we mentioned leaving…”

“So we left,” Karma finished. “And we
haven’t been back. We didn’t want to upset him further. We keep
hoping he’ll find his way back to us…”

He trailed off and Moonbeam wrapped her
arms around him, resting her head against his shoulder before
turning to me. “Before he left at eighteen, we had argued about the
Earth Spirit. He didn’t… doesn’t believe. All these years we’ve
tried to tell him that we love him regardless of his or our
beliefs, but…” She seemed to fold in on herself, looking her age
for the first time since I’d met her. “…perhaps it’s too late.”

My heart wrenched. “Oh, no, it’s not
too late! He loves you! He wouldn’t have sent me out here if he
didn’t!”

That hadn’t come out quite right, but
the hope in their faces made me forge on. “He said you’re very dear
to him. ‘Despite our ideological differences, they are dear to me’.
That’s what he said.”

“Oh…” Tears overflowed Moonbeam’s eyes.
“Oh, my boy…”

“And I know he was glad to have you
there after his car accident,” I went on recklessly. “I know that
meant a lot to him.”

I bit my tongue before I could blurt
out that he’d actually been recovering from an attempt on his life
and he’d just left the woman he loved an ocean away. No wonder he’d
been in turmoil. He had probably been terrified that both Katya and
his parents would be in the line of fire if his enemies found out
he’d survived.

“I know he loves you,” I repeated as
firmly as I could.

“That’s…” Karma cleared his throat and
continued huskily. “You have no idea what that means to us. We
thought… we used to send him little gifts and photos but when he
moved, there was nothing of those things in his house. It was as
though he’d erased us from his life.”

“I’m sure he didn’t want to do that,” I
insisted.

He had done it, though, to protect
them. And he couldn’t explain without breaching his cover. Sympathy
for both Stemp and his parents tightened my chest, and I rummaged
for any small crumb of comfort.

What could I say? They were right;
except for his plants, Stemp’s house had been barren. No personal
items at all except…

I sucked in a breath, remembering the
single thing in the house that had seemed out of character. “Wait…
did you make him a dreamcatcher?”

Fierce hope kindled in Moonbeam’s eyes.
“Yes. Blue beads and an eagle feather…”

“He still has it.” My smile was so wide
it hurt my cheeks. “It’s hanging over his bed.”

A different kind of hope lit Moonbeam’s
face, and I barely resisted the urge to smack myself in the
forehead.

Shit. What possible reason could I give
for being in his bedroom? I couldn’t tell the truth about searching
his house…

“We’re not…” I began.

“It’s all right, Storm Cloud Dancer,
we’re delighted.” Moonbeam gave me a motherly smile.

“No, we’re really not lovers,” I
repeated, cursing the heat rising in my cheeks.

“I wondered why you hadn’t found a
young man here after all this time,” she mused. “It’s lovely that
you’re being faithful to Cosmic River Stone, but I doubt if it’s
necessary. Monogamy is an unnatural state, you know, and Cosmic
River Stone was never sexually inhibited-”

“La-la-la-la-la-la!” I shouted,
clapping my hands over my ears before I could be scarred by any
more unwelcome revelations. “Sorry, I can’t hear you!
La-la-la-la…”

I hopped off the table and made for the
exit.

Karma’s laughter penetrated my barrier
of humming as he gently pulled my hand away from my ear. “Don’t
mind her,” he said. “We won’t pry. Moonbeam Meadow Sky sometimes
gets carried away…”

“That’s true, I do,” Moonbeam
interrupted. “But remember, Storm Cloud Dancer, regular sexual
activity is normal and healthy, and it’s particularly important to
engage in it through menopause and beyond because-”

“Uh, yeah right, thanks, good session,”
I babbled as I backed toward the tent flap. “Thanks again for the
energy work. I’ve got to go; I have to, um, do something… good
night…”

I hurried out into the darkness.

Scuttling away from Moonbeam and
Karma’s tent, I gave quiet thanks to the stroke of luck or
benevolent Spirit that had provided a full moon with no clouds for
a change. The sky had been softening into evening twilight when I
had left my tent, and I’d forgotten to bring my powerful
flashlight.

Moonlight barely penetrated the forest
canopy but it was still bright enough to keep me from running
face-first into a tree or tripping over the many roots that
crisscrossed the path, so I didn’t bother to extract the tiny LED
light I always kept in my waist pouch. Instead I moved quietly
through the darkness, regaining my composure.

After a few moments my discomfort over
Moonbeam’s too-frank sex conversation faded into amusement, along
with a sneaking sympathy for Stemp. No wonder he had clashed with
his parents at a young age. His rigid reserve was so diametrically
opposed to their laid-back hippy ways…

My steps slowed. Or maybe he was so
buttoned-up
because
of their hippy ways. The corners of my
mouth twitched. Most kids rebelled against a conservative
upbringing by seeking out a dope-smoking promiscuous crowd. I
guessed it made sense that a child of dope-smoking promiscuous
parents would do exactly the opposite.

Although…

I trailed to a halt, frowning at the
silvery lacing of moon-drenched ferns beside the path.

Now that I thought about it, I’d never
seen any evidence that Karma and Moonbeam partook of either free
love or dope. They dispensed hugs and parental affection generously
to all the commune members, but it never seemed to go any farther
than that.

Hmmm. Interesting.

I filed that away for future
consideration and set a leisurely pace, enjoying the silent
moonlight. I had just reached the path that led to my tent when the
clanging of the Earth Spirit’s bells shattered the peace.

“Oh, for shit’s sake,” I muttered, and
turned back toward the main building, my shoulders sagging.

A couple of commune members rushed by,
beckoning me to hurry, but my feet dragged in stubborn resentment.
Twice in a day? Screw this. I didn’t see how anybody could know if
the so-called Earth Spirit wanted a ritual, anyway. It wasn’t like
a bolt of lightning came down out of the blue.

I halted.

Wait a minute.

Who did decide when the Earth Spirit
was calling?

I had assumed it was Moonbeam, but
maybe I was wrong. And what ‘rituals’ did Moonbeam and Karma
perform that were so uncomfortable, and why did Orion know more
about it than I did if he was always humming in the main building
with everybody else?

On impulse I stepped away from the main
path and trod carefully through the undergrowth in the direction of
Moonbeam and Karma’s tent.

A flash of light made me freeze in the
shadow of a giant Douglas fir, and I pressed close to its deeply
furrowed bark while I watched Moonbeam and Karma’s flashlight
illuminate their rapid exit from their tent. Following them as
silently as possible, I trailed them down to the main path. They
had just turned in the opposite direction to the other commune
members when they encountered another bobbing flashlight and
halted.

Straining my ears, I heard what sounded
like a soft greeting before Moonbeam and Karma hurried on and the
other flashlight continued its journey toward the main building. A
patch of moonlight in the dappled shade illuminated Orion’s
broad-shouldered figure.

I shrank closer to the tree. He was
probably looking for me. He seemed to have appointed himself my
keeper, dragging me off to the ritual every time the damn Spirit
bells rang. Well, he could go by himself this time.

While I watched, he hesitated at the
junction of the path, then turned off the main trail and headed for
Moonbeam and Karma’s tent.

What the hell?

I followed him as silently as I could
in the undergrowth. He should be rushing off to the ritual, not
sneaking into a private tent.

And he was definitely sneaking. He
paused outside their tent to cast a quick glance around as though
making sure he was unobserved before ducking inside.

The glowing spot of his flashlight
darted briefly around the canvas walls before settling into
immobility as though he’d put it down. I held my breath, watching
and listening with all my might.

Nothing. If he was searching their
tent, he was doing it in absolute silence. A moment later the light
moved again, flashing through the tent flap as he shouldered
out.

“Storm!” His shout made me start
guiltily and press closer to my tree. “Storm, where are you? Hurry,
we have to go!”

The beam of his flashlight fingered
through the forest and I scooted around to the other side of the
tree.

Dammit, what the hell was he doing?
Standing there yelling his head off, he didn’t seem too concerned
about being caught right outside Karma and Moonbeam’s tent.

But then again, we’d be the only ones
who weren’t at the ritual by now. Well, except Skidmark. Come to
think of it, I’d never seen him there, either. But he was probably
too stoned to stagger down from his garage.

“Storm!”

Orion’s approaching footsteps crackled
through the undergrowth. Shit, what were the chances he’d take this
particular shortcut? Now I was screwed. There was a miniscule
chance that I could circle the tree while he went by on the other
side, but it would be really embarrassing if he caught me.

I hissed out an irritable breath and
stepped out of my concealment. “Over here, Orion!”

His flashlight blinded me and I flung
up a hand to shade my eyes.

“Sorry.” He aimed the beam downward and
hurried over. “Storm, where have you been? Didn’t you hear the
Earth Spirit’s call?”

I couldn’t plausibly claim to have
missed that cacophony, so I flung out the first excuse that came to
mind. “I heard it, but…” I swallowed a growl as he gripped my hand
and began to pull me toward the main building. “…but I’d forgotten
my flashlight when I went to Moonbeam and Karma’s and… Ow! Shit,
slow down!”

I stumbled over a root and Orion spared
a moment to steady me before dragging me on again. “…and the moon
was so bright I thought I’d take a shortcut, but I got lost…” I
continued. We gained the main path and accelerated into a dead run,
and I abandoned my explanation to concentrate on sucking air
instead.

A moment later gunshots froze my feet
to the path, my hand twitching toward my holster.

“Fireworks,” Orion panted. “Darn it,
Storm, this is a special Calling! We hardly ever have fireworks.
Hurry up, we’re missing it!” He hauled on my hand again.

My heart vibrated in my throat as
another barrage of reports exploded behind us, but he was right.
That was fireworks, not firearms.

I sucked in a deep breath, trying to
dissipate the tidal wave of adrenaline. “But we won’t be able to
see them; they’re behind us…” was all I managed before he dragged
me into motion again.

“Yes, of course! Hurry up!”

That made no sense at all, but I let
him herd me into the main building anyway.

Inside, Aurora Peace Rain’s eyes were
wide with accusation, but she was mercifully silent as she pushed
the mat into my hands and jabbed a finger toward my assigned patch
of floor.

I hurried over and fell onto the mat to
lie panting as quietly as possible while the other commune members
hummed themselves into a blissed-out frenzy. Peeking through my
lashes again, I saw that Aurora and Zen had lifted the glowing
crystal down from the table to lie beside it on the floor. The
fireworks continued at apparently random intervals, and I frowned
and concentrated. It sounded as though they were being set off from
different locations around the main building, and at varying
distances. That would have taken quite a bit of advance
preparation. And if Karma and Moonbeam were the ones setting them
off, they’d have to rush from one place to another to do it.

Why bother? What was the point of
fireworks if everybody was lying indoors with their eyes
closed?

I sighed and gave up. This Earth Spirit
thing was just plain weird, but whatever. Just go with the
flow.

I hummed and tried to concentrate on my
chakra.

It remained stubbornly elusive, and I
returned to worrying over Orion’s snooping. Even though Karma and
Moonbeam’s accommodations were decidedly spartan, Orion hadn’t been
in their tent long enough to search it thoroughly. And anyway, if
he had been searching for something his flashlight beam would have
been moving around the tent.

So what the hell had he been doing in
there? Especially since he’d acted as though he was in such a hurry
to get to this ritual.

The sound of the gong startled me out
of my reverie and I sat up along with everyone else. The fireworks
were still exploding sporadically, and I surveyed the sky as we
fell into single file behind Aurora outside. Even though the
reports sounded close, I couldn’t see any sparkles up there. Maybe
they were just setting off firecrackers at ground level. But
firecrackers were usually rapid strings of explosions, and this
rhythm seemed too sparse and uneven.