The Shade Riders and the Dreadful Ghosts (19 page)

“I think Shade can feel how nervous we are,”
Nova said.

Takeesha swallowed and nodded.

The girls climbed on the prancing horse.

“Are you ready to do this, Takeesha?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Let’s do it, then.” Nova kicked Shade. “Woo
hoo!”

The horse galloped, sprouted her wings and
flew into the cool air. Nova and Takeesha steered her toward the
bad section of town. Nova pushed on Shade’s neck so she would go
down a bit and hovered about a yard off the ground in shadows near
some trees.

Takeesha swung her leg over Shade’s behind
and slid off.

She snuck around a tree and a street light.
Nova remembered Takeesha talking about their usual hiding
place--hanging around under an overpass. Takeesha moved in that
direction. Nova wanted to get a better view of what was happening,
so she slipped her too short belt under Shade’s neck and pulled up
to get her higher in the sky.

She soon spotted Takeesha. The gang members
came out to

meet her and were clearly happy to see her
back. The gang leader put his arm over her shoulders and told her
something. Takeesha plodded over to the pile of sticks that were
already gathered. She pulled out of her hip pack a green flammable
drug so that they all could stand around and get high from
breathing the fumes. This time though, it would be a drug that they
didn’t expect. It was a drug that, as a shaman, Takeesha had built
up immunity to - she used it to speak to the spirit world. It still
affected her a little, but she needed a higher dose to go into a
trance. The gang, who was not used to it, would be stoned almost
instantly.

The motley group of teenagers gathered around
and sat crossed-legged in front of the fire. They leaned forward
and breathed in the smoke from the drug. It took only a short time.
Some of the gang stared into space, and some nodded off and fall
asleep and sprawled out on the pavement under the overpass.
Takeesha nodded to Nova.

Nova pushed down on Shade’s neck, and the
horse flapped just above the gang of kids. The flame danced and
swirled. Takeesha waved her hand coaxing Nova down. The gang
members shifted their bodies around and groaned. Nova worried they
might jump her and Shade when she landed. Takeesha’s waves became
frantic.

“Hurry, girlfriend. We have to do this
now.”

“Dear Vulcan, they might have heard
that.”

There wasn’t much time. Takeesha had only
brought a little

bit of drug to burn. The smoke was not going
to last much longer. Nova had Shade land, then she jumped off and
approached the group. She checked pockets and socks and boots and
belts, and even their hair and jewelry, stripping them of their
weapons.

She had to hold her nose - the kids stunk
horribly. Nova didn’t know if the body odor was from the funky
smelling smoke or the kids just didn’t bathe. The girls put all the
guns, knives, and ninja stars into a bag Nova had brought along.
Then Nova hopped back onto Shade and took off and waited in the sky
behind a tree. Slowly, the gang woke up. They complained their
heads throbbed. They sat up and rubbed their faces.

“That was some nasty stuff,” a girl said.

“Yeah.” Another one rubbed his eyes. “I can’t
think straight. We could have been targets.”

“Takeesha, what did you put on that fire?” A
gang boy said holding his head.

“It’s not important. I want to quit the
group.”

“So you’re trying to poison us? You are so
dead.”

The leader reached for his gun but couldn’t
find it. He felt his boots. “Damn, man, can’t find my piece. You
have yours?”

His main man patted himself down and shook
his head.

“Search yourselves, homeys. Find a weapon.
Any weapon.

Ah, I can’t think straight.” Then the
leader’s mouth dropped open as he stared at an empty spot a little
ways in front of him. “What’s that- a ghost?”

Another kid pointed at Takeesha, her hand
trembling.“What the hell was that? You some kind of witch?”

“I told you I’m a shaman.” Takeesha smiled
and folded her arms over her chest.

The leader and his gang started backing away.
“You stay away from us! You hear?” They turned and ran away from
the

street lights and deeper under the overpass
and beyond into the darkness.

“All clear, girl,” Takeesha said, “come on
down.”

Nova landed and reached her arm down for
Takeesha to grab and pull herself up onto Shade’s back. Nova
clicked her tongue and Shade flew down the street. She flapped over
buildings and trees. Nova steered her toward Takeesha’s home. The
young women should have been giggling and whooping it up about what
happened. But they knew how dangerous gang members could be, and
this might not be over for Takeesha. Nova landed Shade behind
Takeesha’s house in the shadows of the trees. The girls hugged.

“You‘re so clash, Nova! You know what I
mean?” Takeesha patted Shade on her neck and produced a carrot for
her from her back pocket. Shade gobbled it up and looked for more.
Takeesha showed her empty hands.

“Thanks, but you did the hard work. I’ve got
to get Shade home before she shrinks up again. I’ll see you later.”
Takeesha grinned, waved and trudged inside.

Nova ran Shade down the road, and the horse
flapped her wings and glided into the sky. Nova patted Shade in the
moonlight. “You were so good back there. I’ll have to give you a
big treat when we make it home. If we make it home.”

They flew higher than thirty feet to stay
above the telephone poles. They were almost home she could see the
silo and barn light in the distance. Good thing it wasn’t foggy. On
the ride over a corn field, Shade suddenly lurched, and they began
to lose altitude fast.

“Dear Vulcan.”

Sweat poured off of her, and she felt chilly.
Nova didn’t know if she should put her feet up so she wouldn’t
break a leg or what. Shade’s body was shrinking fast. Nova watched
the cut- down corn stalks and black earth approach. Shade’s filly
feet thumped hard and then she collapsed onto her side.

Nova lay on her right hip with the small
horse’s weight on her leg. She wiped sweat from her brow. Good
thing Shade didn’t weigh too much. Nova slid her leg out from under
Shade, then knelt and to see if the horse was okay. She seemed
stunned. Nova tested out her own legs; they seemed normal. She
tugged on Shade’s bridle, trying to get her upright, but Shade spit
it out. It was now way too big. Just as Nova was figuring out how
to get help, Shade jerked her front legs out in front of herself
and stood up.

Shade gave one huge shake of her body, and
the saddle slid under her and hung there. Nova pulled it back on
top of the horse, cinched it up, and they slowly ambled home. Nova
had to wrap the reins around her neck to control her head. Knowing
Nova didn’t have good control, Shade stopped to nibble on the grass
near the side of the road. “Come on, girl. You shouldn’t eat to
make you feel better, you’ll get fat.” Nova found the thought funny
and laughed.

Half an hour later they were at the farm. She
took the gear off of Shade and put her in the catch pen. Nova
strolled into the house, brushed her teeth, put on her pajamas, and
crawled into bed. She hoped she would get some sleep and that Wilha
would not kick her out again.

With all the adrenalin from the gang and the
fall, Nova couldn’t sleep at first. She tossed and turned as her
mind chewed on her problems. Nova thought of the gang members and
what trouble Takeesha was in. She thought about the fact she fell
from the sky and Leandra didn’t say anything.

Maybe she should call her.

She chewed a fingernail and watched the
clock. It said eleven forty-four. Too late to call Leandra. Then
she remembered in about nine hours they were going to officially
test the cart with an old beat up wheelchair they had bought. The
Shade Riders had come up with some realistic tests, like going over
some big bumps or trying to pull the chair off the cart using Shade
in the adult form to pull against it. Nova hoped Benny and Max Kim
had some other ideas for testing the wheelchair, but for now she
had to get to sleep.

She rolled around and soon gave up. She
shuffled into the kitchen and made some chamomile mint and valerian
tea, which she gulped down burning her mouth. She blew on the mug,
then sat at the kitchen table with the paper to sip it more slowly.
While she was reading the comics, there was a strange noise behind
her. She looked around the kitchen but couldn’t see where the sound
came from. Nova then heard a scratching at the window. She looked
upon black glass and a design on the glass plane. It was a skull
face. It laughed evilly, the sound echoing off the walls
inside.

Nova bolted to her bedroom, covered herself
in the covers and turned from the window. A shiver zoomed up her
spine. “Leave me alone. Dear Vulcan.” After a while, her breathing
slowed down, and she began to feel the effects of the tea. She
pulled the thin covers up to her chin and fell into a complete
slumber.

The next morning, Nova
felt rested. She strolled into the kitchen and poured herself a
bowl of cereal. Then after she ate, she remembered that the others
had been working on the cart while she and Takeesha had planned how
they were going to deal with the gang. Had they finished on
schedule?

She rushed out of the house and into the
garage then threw aside the tarp. The wheelchair they were going to
use to test it out was clamped on and ready to go.

She threw the tarp back on and scampered into
the house, then into her bedroom and

grabbed her Walkie Talkie. She left the house
and ran to the haymow, pulling the bale that covered the entrance
aside. She got down on her hands and knees and crawled through. She
hit a wall with her head and turned left then right. She creeped
straight for five feet then turned left again. She almost fell down
the trap door in the floor. She then squirmed right into the
meeting room of the clubhouse. Nova sat down at the table and spoke
into her watch at once.

“Leandra, can you hear me?”

“Yeah, deary, what’s up?” Her blue eye
sparkled.

“The cart is done. Can we test it at your
house today?”

“Okay, but I won’t be there, so bring
yourselves some snacks.”

“Thanks, Leandra you’re the greatest.”

Leandra’s eye winked out. Nova snagged the
Walkie Talkie.

“Hey, anybody there? Over?” Nova listened for
a minute. “Hello, come in, anybody? Over.”

“Hey, Nova what’s up?” Benny said.
“Over.”

“Hey, girl. Over,” Takeesha said.

“I’m here. Over,” Max Kim said.

Nova grinned. “Can all of you come for a
picnic today at Leandra’s house? We need to get Shade used to the
new cart. Over.”

“How do you know we’re finished? Over.” Benny
sounded ticked off.

“I just looked under the tarp. It looks done
to me. Over” Nova turned red, and her armpits got wet.

“That’s not the point. What if we weren’t
ready to test it yet? Over.”

“Can we not make a mountain out of a
molehill, please? Takeesha said. “You know what I mean? Over.”

“Communication would be good right now.
Over.” Max Kim said.

The Walkie Talkies airwaves were silent for a
few moments.

“Sheesh. Okay fine. Benny and Max Kim, is the
two-wheel cart ready? Over,” Nova asked.

“That’s better,” Benny said. “Yes I’m proud
to say it is done and we can try it out today. Over.”

Nova pictured him grinning, and it just made
her want to throw the Walkie Talkie across the hay fort.

“Okay,” she said instead. “Let’s meet here at
eleven and put a picnic basket together. What can all of you bring?
Over.”

“I have a big bag of string cheese.
Over.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Takeesha,” Nova said.
“Over.”

“I can bring some beef jerky,” Benny said.
“We’ll make a stop at the butcher shop before we come. Over.”

“I got a large bunch of bananas. Over.”

“Excellent, Max Kim,” Nova said. “And I’ll
bring some Apple juice, a couple of boxes of wheat crackers, paper
cups, and wipes. Oh and lots of treats for Shade. Over.”

“All right, girl. Over and out, I think.”

“Over and out,” Benny and Max Kim said at the
same time.

“See you, over and out.”

Nova took the Walkie Talkie, left the fort,
and strolled back inside the house. She put it back in her bedroom
on the lamp table near the bed. And then she decided to finish her
soggy breakfast in the kitchen. Nova worked on her rug hooking for
a little while, got it done, rolled it up, and put it into her
footlocker. She would show it to her family later. She was too shy
to show it to her friends.

Soon the rest of the Shade Riders arrived at
Nova’s farm.

“Put your food in the basket there in the
cart,” Nova said. “Takeesha, let’s get Shade.”

Nova and Takeesha entered the milk house to
get some sweet grain and lead rope and strode out to the back
pasture.

“We’ll just stay here and double-check the
cart,” Benny yelled after them.

Fifteen minutes later, Nova and Takeesha
strolled up the tractor trail with Shade. The girls held the bucket
of grain in front and the horse followed them wherever they went.
They giggled at the power of the grain. They opened the gate and
left the catch pen. The girls let Shade eat the remainder of the
snack as the boys got ready with the cart.

In half an hour, they left Nova’s farm and
headed to Leandra’s house. Nova and Takeesha led Shade ahead of the
cart. The filly kept looking warily back at it from time to time.
Max Kim pulled the cart in the front where a horse would pull it,
and Benny pushed from behind using his powered wheelchair.