Taken (17 page)

Momma grabbed a fistful of Channie’s hair and jerked her head back. She pressed the side of her mouth against Channie’s ear and said, “I asked you a question. I expect an answer.” Her voice was low and dangerous.

Channie’s entire body trembled. There was no such thing as a truth spell, but Momma could usually tell when someone was lying. Channie lied anyway. “I don’t know.”
 

Momma yanked her hair again, dropping Channie to her knees, then let go. Still clutching the Book of the Dead in her left hand, Momma slapped Channie’s face with her right. The force of the blow jerked Channie’s head to the side.
 

Momma screamed, “Who is Valor Veyjivik!” and back-handed her, on the other side of her face.

Hunter burst through the front door. Channie shook her head, begging him to stay out of it. “Hunter, don’t.” She didn’t want him to get hurt — or make things worse for her.

He glanced at Channie then narrowed his eyes and threw his shield over her. Momma curled her lips back, revealing both sets of teeth. “You stay out of this.”
 

Hunter hit her with a be-calm spell that knocked her out then knelt in front of Channie. “Are you all right?”

Red welts from Momma’s stinging spell covered Channie’s arms, chest and neck. Her cheeks throbbed with every heart-beat where Momma slapped her. She nodded and said, “I’m fine,” then glanced at Momma’s crumpled body on the floor. “But maybe you better find somewhere else to stay. Once she gets over the shock that you dared to use magic on her, she’s not going to be very happy with you.”

Hunter said, “I ain’t going nowhere.”

Daddy scooped Momma up off the floor and said, “Get a set of linens out of the closet and make a bed for Hunter on the sofa in the family room.” He kissed Momma’s forehead then glared at Hunter. “And by gollies, I better not catch you creeping up these stairs. You hear me, boy?”

“Yessir. Loud and clear.”

The whole family was already seated around the dining room table eating breakfast when Channie came downstairs the next morning. Everyone except Momma and the trips stopped eating. Diego stood up and smiled. He was so tall, dark and handsome it was a cliche. He opened his arms and said, “Welcome home.”

Channie bit her lip then said, “Hi, Diego.” She didn’t want to get any closer to Abby so she ignored the invitation to hug him and stayed where she was.

Abby dabbed at her eyes with her napkin as she stood up. She and Diego were on the far side of the table so Channie had time to change her focus before they could get to her. She squatted down and gazed at the trips. “I missed you three so much. Come give your Aunt Channie a big hug.”

They stopped eating and looked at her as if she were a stranger, then went back to eating and ignored her.

Abby and Diego followed Channie into the kitchen. Abby put a hand on Channie’s shoulder. “Don’t let it bother you, lil’ sis. They treated me the same way for a week after I got back.”

Channie jerked away from Abby’s touch and refused to look at her.

Diego laughed and said, “Yeah. Just like that.” Channie crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed. Diego grabbed Channie’s shoulders and turned her around, forcing her to face Abby. She was tempted to sink her elbow into his gut, but his energy field pulsed with brotherly love and loyalty. How was that possible? He didn’t even know her.
 

She kept her gaze locked on her feet. Diego lowered his head and spoke softly into Channie’s ear. “How long you gonna punish my Abby? She missed you so much. She never stopped talking about you. Every day … it was Channie this and Channie that.”

Channie wanted to stay mad at Abby, but a bigger part of her just wanted her sister. Diego’s energy wasn’t magical, but it was hard to resist. Besides, if she wanted the trips to forgive her, maybe she should start by forgiving Abby. Their reasons for leaving were different, but they’d both deserted the boys.
 

She lifted her chin and really looked at Abby for the first time. She’d lost a lot of weight, especially around her face. Diego let go of Channie and slid an arm around Abby’s waist. He pulled her against his side and kissed her temple. It reminded Channie of the way Josh always kissed the top of her head. He was less than twenty miles away, but it felt like it was half-way across the world.

Abby kept one arm around Diego and reached for Channie with her other hand. A simple band of gold encircled her ring finger. Channie’s eyes widened “Did you … are you married?”

Abby grinned and nodded then grabbed Channie and pulled her into her arms. She whispered into her ear so quietly Channie could barely hear her. Even with a listen-up spell, Momma and Daddy wouldn’t be able to discern her words. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to protect you last night. Momma’s still angry. Be
very
careful around her.”

Channie pulled back and frowned but didn’t say anything. Abby stroked Channie’s cheek over her bruise. “I can’t believe she did this to you.”

A sudden flare of anger burned away any desire to reconcile with Abby. Channie grabbed her hand and pulled her into the family room. Diego followed closely behind. Channie kept her voice low, but didn’t even try to mask the fury behind her words. “Why did you tell Momma and Daddy I was with Josh?”

“You called
us
, remember?”

“I had to. Josh’s daddy insisted I let Momma and Daddy know I was okay. I wasn’t going to tell them where I was staying!”

Diego said, “I told them where you were. Not Abby. It was the right thing to do.”

The right thing to do? This was the guy that knocked Abby up when she was fifteen.

Channie said, “Thanks for ruining my life,” then ran upstairs to her room, slammed the door and dove into her bed face first. Her left cheek, the one Momma had hit the hardest, throbbed.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on her door then entered without waiting for an invitation. Channie kept her face turned towards the wall. The whole bed creaked when Daddy sat on the edge of her mattress.
 

Channie sighed and rolled over.

He said, “I hate to leave so soon after your homecoming, but I gots to go to work. Hunter’s going with me so your momma can stay here and work on that damn book.”
 

Great. “Why are you taking Hunter? I need him to protect me from Momma.”

“And I need him to help me at work.”

“Why don’t you just take Abby … or Diego?”

“The casinos done banned Diego for cheating and Abby ain’t got no head for numbers. You’ll be fine so long as you stay outta your Momma’s way until me and Hunter get back from work.”

Channie didn’t even try to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “Work? Since when is gambling work?”

Daddy put his hands on his knees and leaned forward then launched himself off the bed. “I’m taking it easy on ya since you just got back, but you better watch your mouth young lady or I’ll have to straighten you out.”

In the face of Momma’s open hostility, Channie had forgotten just how dangerous Daddy could be when he got mad. And few things made Daddy madder than a smart-mouthed kid. “I’m grateful for the way you’ve been providing for the family. And … there’s nothing wrong with enjoying your career. I’m sorry if my comment sounded disrespectful.”

Daddy cocked an eyebrow and twisted his mouth to the side. She’d obviously laid it on a bit thick, but he just nodded and said, “Diego’s in charge while I’m gone.”

“He ain’t the boss of me.”

“He is when I ain’t here.”

“But he’s an Empty!”

“So are you.”
 

His words held no malice. He was simply stating a fact, but it still hurt. “I’d put Abby in charge, but even without magic, Diego’s got more control over the boys than her. I reckon he can handle you.”

Channie didn’t need “handling,” but it was pointless, and dangerous, to keep arguing.

Daddy cleared his throat and said, “I wanted to talk to you about the Feenie boy.”

Channie raised her eyebrows and waited. It was
Hunter
when he was helping Daddy gamble, but now it was back to
the Feenie boy
?

“What about him?”

A red flush crept up Daddy’s neck and spread across his cheeks to his ears. He seemed fascinated with the tops of his shoes. “When a young man and a young lady are courting, things have a way of getting out of hand.”

Channie’s own cheeks burned. “You don’t need to worry about anything happening with Hunter. We’re just friends.”

“You don’t want to discourage the boy to the point he loses heart and gives up. But you don’t want to
encourage
him to the point he feels he can take liberties. It’s a fine line a young lady has to walk when she’s being courted. Especially when it gets close to the wedding day.”

“I don’t want Hunter Feenie to court me. And I don’t care if he was the last mage on Earth, I’m not going to marry him.”

“Now, ya see, that’s just what I meant. That’s a tad bit too discouraging.” Daddy wiped the sweat off his brow. “Your momma ought to be having this talk with you, but she’s not been herself lately.”

“What’s going on with Momma?” Channie had expected Momma and Daddy to both lay into her when they got home, let her stew all night and then act like nothing happened the next morning. That’s the way it usually went. Except when Abby got pregnant. Nothing could ever compare to that. Although last night came pretty damn close.

“Ever since you took off with that book of hers, she ain’t hardly talked about nothing else besides getting it back.”

“Is she better? Now that I gave it back?”
 

“If anything, she’s worse. She stayed up all night with that thing pressed to her bosom, just a rocking back and forth — crooning to it like it was alive.” Daddy patted Channie’s knee. “Try to stay away from her as much as possible, until she comes back to her senses.”

Channie nodded. “I’ll stay after school and study for a couple of hours before coming home.”

Daddy said, “I don’t think you ought to show up at school until them bruises heal.”

Channie jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom. Daddy was right. No one would believe the hand-shaped green and purple mark on the left side of her face was caused by a tumble down a flight of stairs.

She wanted to see Josh so badly it hurt, but if any of her teachers saw her battered face, they’d report it to the authorities. Momma and Aunt Wisdom had always done all the doctoring in the family, but Channie wasn’t about to give Momma the satisfaction of asking for her help.

“Daddy? Could you try to fade the bruises a little so I can cover ‘em up with makeup?”

“First of all, I don’t want you wearing no makeup. And second, your momma’s already warned ever-body that if we tried to heal you or ease your pain, she’d give it to you worse than she did last night.”

~***~

It was bad enough Channie couldn’t sleep with Josh, but not seeing him or even talking to him was killing her. And what would he do when he couldn’t find her at school?
 

Momma went straight to her room after Daddy and Hunter left, making it very clear she was not to be disturbed. But Channie didn’t know if whatever she was doing with the Book of the Dead was enough of a distraction to keep her from feeling the presence of a mage. She hoped Josh wouldn’t try to check on her.
 

After lunch, Channie said, “I want some time alone with the boys, maybe they’ll forgive me faster if I take them to the park or something.” She felt bad using the trips as an excuse to hopefully meet up with Josh, but she was right about the little monkeys. As soon as they heard she was taking them to the park they tackled her.

Diego and Abby didn’t even offer to help get the boys bundled up before running upstairs. Momma might be distracted, but she was still on the same floor. Channie couldn’t imagine that she’d allow any shenanigans under her roof in the middle of the day. Well, that was their business. The trips ran ahead of her, pushing and shoving each other on the way to the playground.

Now that they’d forgiven her, the little stinkers demanded all of Channie’s attention. She was running back and forth pushing them on the swings when she felt a rush of love flow into her heart. She spun around, searching for Josh, but didn’t see him anywhere. She said, “You guys practice swinging. I’m gonna use the facilities. When I get back I wanna see which one of y’all can go the highest.”

Zeal and Courage whooped with delight, clouding the air with their breath.

Savvy sighed and slumped into his swing.
 

Channie regretted turning a fun activity into a competition. Savvy never won any contest of speed or strength, but he was a lot smarter than his brothers. Which was saying alot because Zeal and Coco were smart enough to get into plenty of trouble all by themselves.

Savvy pulled his mittens off and said, “I need to go pee, too.”

Crap! “I’ll take you when I get back.”

“There’s more’n one seat in that outhouse.”

Josh couldn’t come out of hiding if Savvy tagged along. “I might be awhile. Why don’t you stay out here and enjoy the fresh air ’til I’m done.”

Savvy wrinkled his nose and scrunched up his face. “Gross.” He also crossed his legs and grabbed his crotch with both hands.

“If you can’t hold it, just go in the bushes.”

By now, CoCo and Zeal were going so high the chains jerked at the peak of every swing. “Hey! Contest is over. Slow down, you two.”

Zeal laughed and said, “I win!”

CoCo pumped his legs harder. “Nah-uh! I’m going way higher’n you! Ain’t I Channie.”

“It’s a tie, you both win, so slow down.”

Zeal said, “That’s the same as losing.”

Both boys were still going too high. If they fell, they could break their reckless little necks. What was she thinking egging them on with a contest?”

CoCo said, “Who ever lands the farthest wins.”

Channie screamed “No!” But it was too late. Her heart stopped mid-beat as Courage and Zeal simultaneously launched themselves out of the swings at the highest point. Time slowed as Channie’s mind raced.
Catch them!
 
Even if her body weren’t paralyzed by horror, she’d never get there in time to catch either one of them. All she could do was watch and pray they survived.