The Shade Riders and the Dreadful Ghosts (14 page)

“That’s why you’re here. Ahlon, the Prime
Minister, wants to make Ordin into a Patriarchal society and rule
the Neanderthals. Then order them to kill the Modern Human people.
He was hoping we would die of stupidity from the superstitions,
like with the witch trials that they’ve been injecting into our
world for decades now. But it’s taking too long, so he wants to
hurry it along. Also Floret one of The Seven Sages is leading an
uprising against Ahlon. There will be a deadly war, and we’ve got
to stop it. Now pay attention to what I will show you with these
paths.”

Max Kim came back up the trail, but it seemed
he didn't see Benny. He pranced right through Benny’s body as
though he was a ghost. Benny, apparently not seeing Max Kim,
continued down the path. He wheeled over the hill and was gone. Max
Kim approached, waving to the three women waiting near the start
for him. “Where’s Benny?”

Leandra pointed behind him to where Benny
came back over the hill with a confused look on his face. He saw
Max Kim, laughed and pointed at him.

"That was weird!" Max Kim grinned and
scratched his head. "How did Benny use the same path I did, and I
didn't even run into him?"

Benny wheeled up to the group.

"I chased after you for a whole hour and I
could never catch up to you. What was the deal with that?"

"You were only on the path for a few
minutes,” Takeesha said.

"But my watch tells me that I've been moving
for an hour, and it feels that way," Benny said.

"You'll have to change your watch back,”
Leandra said. “It was all caused by the path."

"Wow, that's amazing," Nova tried to jump up
and down but found her ankle still hurt a bit.

"Why didn't I see Benny on the same path?"
Max Kim said again.

"It's just my bad magic affecting everything
on the path," Leandra said. "Now on to other things." Leandra
traipsed over to where Shade was tied up and lead her to the
path.

"Nova take her down the path and hold tight.
She will get much stronger as you go."

Nova didn’t like the sound of that. She
remembered how Max Kim and she could hardly hold her coming down
the driveway.

“I think I’m going need help. Max Kim and
Takeesha can you please come with me?” Nova’s friends grabbed hold
of the halter and lead rope and pull her down the path. To Nova’s
surprise, her horse began to grow until she became a full sized
mare. When she came back to Benny and Leandra Nova couldn’t stop
grinning. She could ride her horse now. Training with weight on her
back could officially start. She could not wait. Nova tied Shade
back up to the tree branch.

“This is so clash. Just look at her! She’s
beautiful!” Nova jumped without thinking. Her still sore ankle made
her wince.

Benny was studying the mare and grinning."How
long does the effect last?"

"About three hours," Leandra said. "If you
want to reverse the effect… Nova go back down the path." Nova,
Takeesha, and Max Kim file down the path again with Shade. She
turned into her filly form again.

“Let’s have some lunch, okay?”

Nova tied Shade to the tree branch, and they
strolled inside the house. If you could call it a house. And if you
could call it inside.

Wildlife roamed freely without harm as they
ate lunch. Leandra had prepared finger sandwiches with chicken,
Mandarin orange spread, and strawberry juice. By the time they were
ready to leave, Nova was ecstatic.

The Shade Riders left and traveled back to
Nova’s farm. Nova soon waved goodbye to her friends as they left
for home with their parents.

Later, Nova brushed out Shade, gave her some
grain, and put her out to pasture.

Her father was alive, and she was going to
help save him.

After school the following
Monday, Nova could hardly wait for her mother to come home so they
could use Nocturnal Ned’s half price off coupon for The Psychic
Experience. Her mom had said she wanted to show Nova something at
Ned’s. Nova had no idea what.

As soon as her mom walked through the door,
they hopped into the vet truck, drove to town, and came to the
strip mall. They left the truck and looked over the various
psychics services -- a ghost hunter service, an intuitive coaching
service, a clairvoyant service, and Nocturnal Ned’s spiritual
service.

Mom put a hand on Nova’s shoulder. “Nova, I
thought we could take the opportunity to speak to, Chayton. What do
you think?”

Nova knew Chayton—the name her mother had
always used for her father-- was really Ralf and that he was still
alive. At least she hoped so. In any case, it wouldn’t do much good
to have Ned contact him. She couldn’t tell her mom that, though.
“I’d like to see if Grandma N. has anything to say.”

“How about we do Chayton instead?”

“But, Mom…”

Mom reached into her purse. “Okay, let’s flip
a coin. Heads Grandma or tails Chayton.”

She flipped, and it rolled on the floor. Nova
ran after the coin and stomped on it stopping it on the spot.

“It’s tails.”

“Sorry, honey. Chayton it is.”

When Nova examined the quarter, she
discovered that it had two tails.

“Aw, Mom that’s cheating.”

“I’ll show you more cheating, come on.”

“Wait, what? Ned cheats?”

“Watch what I do.”

So this is what her mom wanted to show her.
Nova and her mom strode to Nocturnal Ned’s parlor. They opened the
glass door, then pulled the dark curtains back and advance through
into a small waiting room with a tiny woman behind a receptionist
desk.

“We would like to see Nocturnal Ned please
for a psychic channeling,” her mom said. The receptionist nodded
and shuffled behind the beaded curtain. Mom and Nova sat down on
cushioned chairs.

Ned’s assistant soon entered. She introduced
herself as Rose, then perched on a stool and offered them cinnamon
herbal tea. While Mom took a mug and blew on the hot brew, Rose,
pen and paper in her hand asked, “Who are you hoping to contact
today?”

Mom took a sip. “The dead.”

Nova grinned slyly.

“Well, of course, can you give me a name?”
Rose started to fidget.

“It’s someone I know.”

“That’s not funny.” Rose put her mug down a
little too hard.

“Okay,” Mom said, “We’re here to speak to
Chayton.”

“Chayton? That’s an unusual name.”

“Yes, he was Sioux.”

“Sue?” Rose paused her scribbling. “Oh, you
mean he was Native American?”

“Yes.” Mom winked at Nova.

Then the woman slammed her hand down on the
counter. Nova jumped.

“Ma’am, this is a mutual endeavor. We will
need your help with honest answers to these questions for this
séance.”

“Yeah, but…” Nova said. Mom tapped Nova on
the knee, gave her a wink, and shushed her. “…Ned’s supposed to be
psychic.”

Rose sat very still on her stool stared at
Nova like she thought she might be a boy. Then she continued. Mom
answered the questions as curtly as possible. Nova smirked. Were
they going to get kicked out?

Rose frowned. She reluctantly took the coupon
and cut the

payment in half before ringing a bell to let
Ned know his guests were ready. A tall skinny red headed man – he
looked very different up close - came out from behind a dark
curtain and asked Mom and Nova to follow him into his chambers.
Nova watched Ned and Rose give each other a secret sign, then she
followed her mom.

Right before she would be out of sight of the
assistant, she paused and watched her to see what the lady would do
next. Rose grabbed a headset with microphone and the pen and paper
she wrote her mom’s information on. Nova shook her head and caught
up with her mother.

Nocturnal Ned sat at the end of a round table
with a red vinyl cloth thrown over it, and Nova and her mom sat on
either side in comfortable chairs. Nova looked around the small
room, where candles and incense burned, tickling her nose. Ned had
a pad of paper on the table and a pen in his hand. “I see you’re
here to speak to Chayton? And he died recently?”

“No, about eleven years ago,” Mom said. Nova
noticed an almost invisible earpiece in Ned’s ear. Yep, he was
probably listening to his assistant.

“I shall try to summon up Chayton, who will
take possession of my body. He will use my hand to write in the
notebook.” Ned leaned back in the chair and took several deep
breaths. “Yes, yes. I feel his presence.” He hung his head,
unrolled his shoulders, then his hand with the pen began to shake
and write.

Ned gritted his teeth. The pen looked like it
was out of control. He grabbed the pen with his other hand and
tried to master it. What was he doing that for? Nova almost
laughed, because she thought she saw a similar act in a movie
somewhere.

“Ah, Chayton is a strong one.” Ned grinned,
looked puzzled, then his face turned red.

Nova gazed askance at him and shifted in the
chair. Why was he doing this? He couldn’t really be possessed,
could he? She noticed her mom was rather enjoying herself,
chuckling quietly. Finally, Ned lifted up his pen. He looked at it
strangely and hurled it onto the table. Ned grabbed another pen
from a holder nearby and began to jot more notes.

Nova watched Ned staring at his hand as it
continued

flowing and writing over another page. He
looked genuinely scared. When he finally stopped he put the pen
down - his armpits had large wet stains. Ned did the same ritual he
did when he slid into the trance. He had puffy eyes, slack jaw and
tousled hair like he just woke up.

He blinked rapidly as though surprised Nova
and her mom were sitting there. As Ned examined his papers, he made
a strange twisted face. With shaky hands, he ripped off a portion
that he had written and tossed it on the other side of his chair.
Then he handed the other part to Nova and Mom.

Mom handed it back. “I don’t understand this.
It’s all chicken scratching.”

“Okay, okay, I’ll translate.” Ned took five
minutes to read the paper silently, moving his lips before he
responded. “Chayton said he is glad you came today.”

Mom gave a mischievous grin.

“He wrote a whole lot more than that,” Nova
said.

“Are you Chayton’s daughter?” Ned’s tone of
voice hinted at irritation.

“Yes, she is.” Mom stroked Nova’s hair.

“Was he there at the hospital?”

“No, he died before she was born.”

“He said he was there at the hospital with
you and that she turned out to be beautiful.”

“She was born in the divorce courtroom with
my ex-husband.”

Ned stared with amazement on his face.

“You mean you delivered her without going to
the hospital?”

Mom nodded and touched her necklace.

“He also acknowledges the necklace you’re
wearing.”

“What about the necklace?”

“Chayton gave that to you, didn’t he?”

“No, Nova gave it to me on my birthday.”

“I’m sorry, what I meant to say was that Nova
had spiritual help from Chayton picking it out.” Ned stuck his
finger between his neck and his shirt.

“He gave you one of those rings on your
fingers?”

“No, he didn’t believe in any type of
decoration or jewelry. What exactly did Chayton write down on that
piece of paper? How about that piece you tore off?”

“Sorry, time is up. Have a nice day. Oh, and
here are some flyers to pass along to your friends because you had
a great séance.”

“It wasn’t a great séance and you can forget
about a tip.” Mom and Nova left the booth and entered the waiting
room. Mom said to Rose, ”I want my money back.”

Rose shook her head. It seemed pretty final
–she’d probably had a lot of practice with the demand.

Nova and her mom left through the curtain.
Mom was ticked off.

Ned chased after them. He grabbed Mom by her
shoulder and whispered angrily into her ear. “Either you tip me
forty percent or I call the police.”

“Just you do that, and I’ll let the public
know, you‘re a fraud with my own flyers. And a letter to the
editor.”

She and her mother continued toward the
truck. Nova never saw her mother like this. She actually was a
pretty good actress. Behind them, Nova heard the door slam and Ned
cussing. She wondered what was on that piece of paper on the floor
near Ned’s chair. Whatever it was, it had surprised him.

Maybe he wasn’t such a fraud after all. Not
completely.

After a hot and sweaty day
of detasseling corn with Scott and Wilha, Nova was not as tired as
if she bailed everyone out of their corn row. The three family
members stopped to get some ice cream at a Dairy Queen for the slow
bike trip home. Nova enjoyed cruising along as she ate her Dilly
bar. Scott had a radio on his bike playing something loud. The
music helped improve Nova’s mood as she rolled along. Even though
she was smaller than her brother and sister, she still could keep
up with them easily. They came to the family’s farm driveway and
rode down. Nova strolled inside to rinse off her sticky fingers and
phone Takeesha. They made plans to meet at the 4-H dog class that
was held inside a pole utility barn with a cement floor at the
fairgrounds later after dinner. Nova hung up and started her
chores.

Mom came home on the trike that had two
baskets on the back wheels. The trike pulled the two wheel kid’s
cart behind. She yanked out a couple bags of groceries.

“Mom, are you making dinner?” Scott yelled
out the barn door.

“Yes, I think we’ll have some corn on the
cob…”

“No!” Nova came out of the milk house and
grabbed some grocery bags. “I don’t want ever to see or smell corn
again.”

“Come on, corn on the cob? Anyone else have a
problem with it?”