A Lar by any other name

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PREFACE: THE FAMILY GATHERED

Beau paced in front of the window. No one else in the room moved, save for their eyes, which followed her. Blake cleared his throat once but was glared into silence. There would be no family meeting until Beau dealt with her agitation.

Vert’s phone beeped, breaking the silence. He pushed a button to look at the incoming message and blanched. “Are you sure? He’s completely out of range?”

Beau nodded. Her deep red hair was bound up in two braids riding high on her head that moved enthusiastically when she did. The white ribbons that held the hair tightly in place danced almost cheerfully with her forced movements. She squeezed her eyes together as if she was trying to shut out the light in the room. Or shut out a picture in her head.

The phone beeped again. Vert shook his head. “I don’t know where he might have gone. He didn’t tell me. You have to believe me.”

His beseeching tone was aimed at the man who sat in the high-backed black chair near the fireplace. The fire had long since burned down to embers as the spring thaw brought the temperatures up during the peak daylight hours. It would be roaring again by twilight.

Everyone turned to look at the man. He was the oldest in the room, his dark hair shot through with silver at the temples and along the part on top of his head. His goatee still gleamed dark brown but it was hard to discount the lines along the edges of his eyes. His face was tanned but not weathered. While it was impossible to see the color of his eyes in the shadowed room, the sunlight would have made them gleam like emeralds.

“Constantine, you have to believe me,” Vert begged once more. “I let him take out the jeep but he didn’t say why he wanted it. This time of year, I figured he was going to go check out the feeding grounds. Most of the roads are passable by vehicle. It would have sure beat him walking out into the mountains like he used to.”

“At least if he was walking we’d still be able to trace him,” the girl beside him hissed. Her hands were clenched in her lap as if she was having trouble controlling them. “The jeep took him out of Beau’s range before we even knew he was gone. There is a reason we are supposed to check out the cars.”

“It’s not a dictatorship. We can leave anytime we want.” Vert’s phone beeped but he ignored it as he began to warm to his subject. “Just because we live here doesn’t mean we have to give up our freedom. Besides, he goes off like this all the time.”

“If you value your freedom so much, why don’t you just leave?” The girl’s hands were claws now, the light polish on her nails making them gleam in the sunlight that streamed in through the windows. She was right in the path of the light and everything about her was bright. The pale hair she wore combed out was a halo around her thin face. It looked as if her skin had been sprinkled with tiny bits of glitter. Her eyes were narrowed and dark, dispelling the notion that everything about her was light. “We can always find someone else to work on the cars but you’ll never find anything like this house. Go! Try to find the equal to this experience! I dare you!”

“I might just do that. For all you know-“

But he was unable to finish his thought. Constantine held up his hand and there was instant silence between the two people arguing and the others that had started to murmur to each other. Emotions were running too high to let them get out of check.

“Peace. We are here to discuss Den, not cut down each other. It is bad enough that we’ve lost one of our own today. Let’s not add to the numbers of those that Beau can’t read.”

The girl in front of the windows shivered at those words. Across the room, another phone sounded. An older woman pulled it out of her jacket pocket and held it up. Constantine nodded to her and she read the message. “Beau would like to know if he talked to anyone about where he might have gone. No matter how long ago, it might give us a lead to his whereabouts. All she needs is a general direction.”

“Have you tried town?” someone volunteered but several people responded that that would be the first place Beau would look. This wasn’t the first time she’d had to search for someone that had gone off without giving her warning.

“How far could he get in the jeep? It doesn’t get the best gas mileage. Even going top speeds, he’d have to stop before he hit the border on any part of the state.”

“Good question, Grace. Has anyone taken that calculation to Harris?” His question was met with silence although everyone looked around to see if anyone else had thought of that pattern to bring to the one person in the house that wasn’t down in the family room for the meeting. “Alma, if you would be so kind.”

The older woman tucked her cell phone back into her pocket and gracefully stood up from her seat. A shaggy dog stood up smoothly, stretched out his cold muscles and fit himself against the side of the woman. The two left the room before anyone could think of another question.

There was a stairwell just to the right of the door but Alma kept walking through the first floor until she came to the stairs tucked at the back of the house. A single bulb lit the entryway giving the area plenty of garish shadows. Pausing at the bottom, she laid her hand on the dog’s head. “Stay, Blake. Harris won’t like the interruption of your presence. She’s bound to have started fretting.”

Blake sank down to the ground with a whine but he didn’t dare disobey a direct order. He hated to leave Alma but there were certain places he wasn’t allowed to shadow her. No one dared tell him to leave if Alma allowed him to follow her, though. Only a direct order from his mistress kept him apart from her.

The two shared a glance before Alma sighed and started slowly to make her way up the stairs. Her age was showing during these moments. First, hearing that Den had disappeared once again. It didn’t get any easier to have him leave. Then having to deal with a family meeting. “It used to be easy,” she murmured to herself, sliding her hands along the smooth banister as she continued to climb. “When it was only Con and I. Or just the girls. But now there are so many that need us. So many with the birthright.”

At the landing, she turned and continued on to the next floor up. This was the only place the third floor was accessible and the lighting was even worse. The dim bulb barely differentiated between light and dark. Even more than before, Alma depended on her hands and feet to move her forward.

As she got to the top of this flight of stairs, she called out softly. “Harris? It’s Alma. I’ve come to bring you some new information.”

“You’ve found him?” The voice was optimistic. “Has Beau been able to track him down?”

“No, dear. He’s still gone. But Grace thought he might have to stop for gas before he hit the state line. If he’s still in the state-“

Her voice was dull once again with disappointment. “This is a big state.”

“Yes, it is. But where would he have to stop for gas? If we can give Beau somewhere to look… just try.”

“Was the gas tank full?”

Alma smiled and settled herself in one of the comfortable chairs beside a tall bookcase. “Vert says that it was.”

Even though Alma’s voice was soft, the words were full of sarcasm. For months, she and Constantine had been watching Vert. He often seemed distracted, going about his job with the air of someone who was waiting for something. Or someone. He’d been right about freedom but Alma was beginning to wonder if he thought his freedom was being violated. Neither she nor Con had ever given him any cause for discomfort. The rules were the same for everyone and the door was always open to leave or stay as was needed.

Harris began humming, her voice rising and falling with the cadence of the notes in one of the songs she always had floating through her head. She was still hidden from view but Alma knew she just needed to wait. It shouldn’t be long before the girl was able to put the patterns together. There was no one else nearby to cloud her thoughts.

“She’s very angry, isn’t she?”

“Who?” Alma smoothed down the fabric of her trousers near the knee where they were wrinkled slightly.

“Delaney. She doesn’t like Vert.”

“She doesn’t like many people.”

“True. But she says Vert feels bad to her. Like a sore that irritates her skin. If he let this happen, it will make her even more less inclined to like him.”

Delaney had come to the meeting but hadn’t taken her usual place near Constantine’s chair. Instead, she had sunk down to sit on the ground against the door that led into the kitchen. She hadn’t said anything but neither had she looked angry. More like stoic, a face made of stone. Because she was more worried about Beau and then Tali, Alma hadn’t given much notice to Delaney.

“Would she ever hurt Vert?”

Harris hissed, a sound of exasperation but not anger. “Hurt him? No. She’d run him off but he doesn’t have to worry about her breaking him. Pity. From the sounds of it, he might need to be broken now and then. It might remind him to keep family first.” There was a pause in her conversation and a sound of irritation. “There are three places he could make it across the border without having to stop.”

Alma’s phone beeped. Even though she was quick to silence the sound, Harris screeched in pain. “Sorry, dear. Beau must think it’s important.”

She pushed the buttons until the message appeared on the screen. Tell her sorry for me but it’s important. I found him but there might be a problem. He’s close to another.

“Harris, how many of the family did you figure was nearby?”

The woman stood up from behind the chair she’d been crouched behind. Her eyes were distant and she swayed to the music she was making. Her deep-black hair stood up on one side thanks to a habit she had of pulling at it when she was deep in thought. “Not more than 40 in the states that surround us.”

“And the odds that someone new comes into the area?” She waited for Harris to deal with the numbers, her crossed legs moving just slightly in irritation.

“Considering that we seldom move through areas not our own without permission… very small. So small I’d need to calculate this on paper. Where’s that notepad? Must… no, that’s not the one I was looking for.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Alma murmured. She couldn’t wait any longer. Surging to her feet, Alma made her way quickly down the stairs. Blake was waiting for her and didn’t mind in the least that she didn’t stop to pet him before they were moving back toward the family room.

Constantine and Beau were the only ones still in the room. “Where are they?” she asked, her voice harsher than she’d meant it to be. “You didn’t send them out already?”

“No, love. I told them she found him. That’s all they know. They think everything is fine once again. This is nothing for them to worry about.”

Beau’s face was creased with anxiety. One of the ribbons in her hair had come untied and was held tight in her hand, her fingers stroking the smooth fabric without real thought. She was standing still but her whole body still vibrated as if she was stalking through the room. Too much tension was bound to make her snap soon which would have worried Alma ordinarily. She needed Beau to continue to center on Den until they figured out what was going on. While Den was the one family member most likely to run off without bothering to tell anyone, he didn’t normally create this crisis. Something was different this time and Beau needed to be ready for whatever happened. They all needed to be ready.

“What is it?” Con asked and at first Alma thought he was talking to Beau. It wasn’t until he touched her arm that she realized he had asked her that question. “You’re so tense.”

“I don’t suppose you’ll let me lie to you and say that I’m just anxious for this to be over, would you? No, I didn’t think so. I’m worried about Den. This is worse than I think anyone has realized.”

“He’s done this before.”

Alma walked to the window and pointed out toward the mountains that surrounded the valley on two sides. They had a perfect view of the sun sinking toward the western slopes from this location. She tried not to think about what kinds of danger the darkness could pose for Den. “He’s always gone into the mountains. Away from people. He took a perfectly acceptable vehicle for his usual jaunts. No one would have thought twice about it if Vert hadn’t said something that made it sound abnormal.”

Beau tapped her on the shoulder and pointed toward her own chest. The childish braids brushed against a face that should have been far more lined than it was. The constant worry alone should have aged her but the woman looked like a fifteen year old child on the cusp of true womanhood. When Alma didn’t seem to understand her, she became more forceful with her motion.

“Would you have even noticed the difference in this disappearance if Vert hadn’t alerted you? You’ve said yourself before that you can’t find him when he gets lost up in those valleys during his summer hikes.”

The girl dropped her arm and backed away, looking crestfallen. Alma took a breath to calm her nerves. Normally she would have tried to explain herself better. Constantine recognized her remorse and reached out to pull Beau into a hug. When she was safely in his arms, he looked at Alma over her head. “I think what Alma was trying to say was that you shouldn’t think you are to blame for Den’s disappearance. He’s hard for any of us to keep track of.”

“But why now?” Alma asked, her teeth clenched together to keep from yelling. That would have alerted those still in the house that something was truly wrong. She never raised her voice unless the situation demanded a strident response. Better they not hear her now so that the situation stay quiet a bit longer. “I’m telling you, Con. Something is wrong. Harris was all but wrapped around the chair leg upstairs, trying to stay away from the light. She’s so tightly wound it will take days of peace and quiet before she can begin to see how bad she is. The concerto is pouring out of her like water. I know everyone thinks Blake is always attached to my hip but he’s been worse the last eighteen hours than I’ve seen him since he was a puppy. Do you remember that land war? He’s going to start howling soon to dispel the tension just like he did then.”

She stopped to take a breath as Con laid a hand on her shoulder. Her voice was shaking when she started talking again but it was from grief this time. “Someone is trying to rip my family apart and they got Den out of the way because they knew he was our first line of defense. His compulsion… his birthright has kept us safe for the last fifty years. Why now?”

No one answered her question as the sun’s light rippled a path down the side of the mountain to pool at the base.


CHAPTER ONE: A FIRST MEETING

The metal of the gas pump handle groaned as Den tried to stay where he was. His feet moved restlessly as if he couldn’t stand to stay still. Really, this was a test of wills. His will against his birthright. The compulsion to make things right had always plagued him. He was not going to give in to it today as he pumped enough gas into the jeep to get him further toward the coast. The last time he’d done something at a small little place like this, he’d ended up with a black eye and 80 dollars less in his checkbook. Windows, especially bullet-proof glass commonly used at most corner gas stations, were getting more expensive every day. Since the fight had started over the clerks inability to count change – a mere 50 cent mistake – he felt his anger was justified. Nothing could be going on in the gas station that warranted his attention.

Besides, he had barely enough money to get to the coast and back. If he’d thought about it longer, he would have taken one of the smaller cars instead of one of the larger trucks. He’d needed to get away quickly and quietly; the less fuss, the better. Leaving without permission would probably get him into deep water when he got back but he needed the break. Diego and Callie had been ragging on him lately, finding every fault they could. It felt like a planned attack but he knew it was just his nerves getting too frayed to be any good.

“Mister, I wouldn’t ask this if I didn’t really need it. I’ve been out of work for the last month thanks to this dam… pardon my language. I mean, this darn economy.” Den turned to look fully at the man who had come up behind him. While the place was well lit, the shadows everywhere else were deepening. This time of night always made Den uneasy. The stranger certainly looked down on his luck but appearances were often deceiving. “I’m not asking for a handout. I just need ten dollars to put some gas in my car so I can get to Bend. There’s a job waiting for me there. A good job.”

Den took stock of the situation. The words stirred nothing in him. There was nothing wrong with this man that some moral gumption would fix and he must have been able to pay for the gas that he needed or Den would have been handing over several of the bill in his wallet.

“No.”

“What?” An ugly expression darkened the man’s face for a second before he caught himself and went back to the hang-dog look he’d been using as a mask for his disguise. “It’s just ten dollars. If you want, I’ll take your address and send it back to you.”

“No.”

The machine turned itself off. Den turned his attention back to the nozzle so that he didn’t notice the man moving forward until he turned to hang it back in place on the gas pump.

“Look, man. Step away. I don’t know you and I don’t have to give you anything if I don’t want to.”

“Five dollars. Just five. That’s enough to get to where I need to go.”

“No.” It was still easy to turn him down. This man didn’t need any sort of real help. Den hated laziness of any kind and this kind of scam made him more angry than it made most people. “Go away or I’ll call the cops.”

“In this town? Not likely. I thought I’d do this the easy way but you leave me no choice.”

At that moment, the loud backfire from a motorcycle distracted both men. They turned toward the road where the bike was turning into the lot, the single headlight wavering as if the machine didn’t have the energy to run both the engine and the lamp. The machine gave another cough but coasted into the pump next to where Den was parked. There weren’t many other options but he wished the driver had picked any other spot to get gas. The presence of a witness would make it harder to do what he needed to do. This newcomer might feel the need to intervene and then Den would be stuck protecting one of them without being able to be really helpful.

“Leave now,” Den mumbled loud enough for his attacker to hear but not so loud that it would draw attention. “Leave before I make you wish you’d never thought of this scam. Leave before you really do need someone to help you out. I have 911 on speed dial.”