Beautiful Dead 02 - Arizona Read online

  appeared.

  He was straighter, sterner even than I remembered. Not a single muscle moved in his stony features as he walked towards Lee and his deep-set eyes took in every detail. 'You made it back,' he noted.

  'What is this? What happened?' Lee had caught his breath and looked

  ready to flee or to fight, he hadn't decided which.

  'Take it easy,' Hunter told him. 'Right now you're hurting, but you're safe here with us.'

  His words seemed to calm Lee, who took his first real look around the circle, taking in Summer and Arizona, Eve and the baby, Donna, Phoenix and me. 'This is too weird,' he muttered. 'Last thing I know I was on the slopes with my snowboard ...'

  'And now you're here,' Hunter said. 'Here is what matters. You have something important to work out and we'l help you do that.'

  'I was alone on the slope, the first one up there.' Past trauma - the ultimate and irreversible one - stil demanded Lee's attention. 'Blue skies, perfect snow, then al of a sudden-'

  'The light went out,' Arizona interrupted. 'And you don't know what went wrong. There's a blank in your memory big enough to swal ow you whole and so much pain you can hardly bear it. We know.'

  'We need to welcome you,' Hunter told him. He made Lee stand in the centre of the circle and strip off his shirt, then he turned his head towards me. 'Darina, you can leave now. Wait in the house.'

  Phoenix smiled at me and nodded, then I felt his grasp slacken. Even 25

  though I wanted to argue with Hunter about staying I felt his stern eyes bore through me and the urge dissolved. Minus my wil power, I left the barn without tittering a word.

  Hunter didn't say anything about not turning and looking over my

  shoulder though. Halfway across the yard, I took a peek.

  Lee was in the centre of the ring and the Beautiful Dead were chanting, their voices soft and rhythmic, their expressions welcoming. The delicate features of Summer's face especial y seemed to light up, her eyes were shining, her hair floating around her shoulders. Next to her, Arizona had peeled away al those layers of bitter sarcasm and al owed an open contentment to take over her whole body. Eve, with her baby in her arms, closed her eyes in a trance.

  Darina, waft in the house! Hunter stood with his back to me, but he had eyes in the back of his head. And he didn't need to speak out loud to dish the orders. Like a robot I turned and walked on.

  But I did hear the chanting as I stepped up on to the house porch, and I heard Phoenix's voice among al the rest, saying, 'Welcome, Lee.

  Welcome to the world of the Beautiful Dead.'

  They did their zombie thing, then Summer came to the house to fetch me. So, Darina, how are you?' she asked.

  I shook my head. 'How long have you got?'

  'OK, stupid question.' She tapped the arm of the rocking-chair to set it in motion. Backwards, forwards, like the ticking of an old clock. Have you seen my parents lately?'

  'No, I haven't been out your side of town.'

  'My mother doesn't leave the house much,' Summer confided. 'It's seven and a half months since I left, and she stays inside.'

  I told her that her mom stil needed recovery time. 'Your dad takes care of her. He saw Laura in the mal and told her he works at home now. He doesn't need to go to the office.'

  Stil dreaming up homes for people,' Summer smiled. As a little kid

  I loved to watch him draw those plans, those magical lines and angles. It's his way of making dreams come true.'

  'He's a great architect,' I agreed. I knew Mr Madison had designed the 26

  house Zoey and her family lived in, plus most of the expensive homes in

  the Westra neighbourhood, including the Taylor place, which had once featured in an edition of Mountain Living.

  Weirdly, the Madisons' own home wasn't a big deal. Sure, it was large and it had windows down to the ground on the side of the house that overlooked Amos Peak, and you could see forest and hil s for miles. But the interior was cluttered and homey, crammed with Summer's musical instruments and colourful, half-finished paintings stacked against the

  wal .

  'I'm glad Dad's working,' Summer sighed. ' Is Morn stil painting? No, you don't know. I forgot.'

  Back and forth, back and forth went the chair. A slight frown marked Summer's smooth, pale forehead.

  So Lee joined your group,' I noted. With Summer I never run at stuff like I usual y do. She slows me down and makes me feel like I want to take care of her, even now. And we find the time to talk.

  'He needs answers.' Summer went to the window and looked out across the yard. 'Dying alone on a ski slope at the age of nineteen that's tough.'

  Like getting caught in a random shooting in a mal isn 't! I thought of Summer's manner of departing this life at the hands of an unknown psychopath. 'Did you see Lee's death mark?'

  'At the base of his spine, a perfect pair of angel wings,' she told me.

  'Don't worry about Lee, Darina. Hunter wil look out for him. It's Arizona we have to focus on right now.'

  'I know.' I paced the smal room from door to stairway. This won't be easy,' I admitted. 'Arizona's hard to like.'

  'Who says you have to like her?' Summer gave me one of her wide, open smiles. Al you have to do is find out what real y happened and set her free.'

  'With Jonas it wasn't difficult,' I tried to explain. 'Everyone loved him. I don't understand why does Arizona act so harsh?'

  'Because!' Summer opened the door to let the sun slant across the faded rug. 'Just don't take it personal y.'

  I laughed. 'It is personal! Didn't you see the way she just cut me out 27

  of your circle?'

  'So try not to react. Chil . Think about it, Darina, Arizona's used to

  looking like she's in control.'

  'But not this time, huh? For once she has to rely on someone.'

  'And that someone is you.' Summer nodded. 'Now do you get it?'

  'Darina, are you ready?' Arizona demanded.

  I was sitting with her and Phoenix on the steps to the hayloft, maybe thirty minutes after my conversation with Summer. The afternoon light was already fading and every centimetre of me was wishing it was just me and Phoenix on those stairs.

  'What is this, the hundred-metre sprint?' Summer had said not to react, but there was an energy between me and Arizona that meant conflict, like putting two chemicals into a Petri dish and standing back to watch the reaction.

  Arizona glared at me. 'Hunter said for me to give you the key facts.

  Here they are. It was late October, Thursday, not a warm day. I don't remember planning to go for a swim.'

  Ha-ha! 'Did you meet anyone? Who did you speak with?' I asked.

  'My parents, I guess. I don't recal . Dad was busy that morning so I skipped class and took my car for repair.'

  'In town?'

  She nodded and failed to meet my gaze. Some place behind the mal . I don't remember the name.'

  'Did anyone go with you?' I had to squeeze real hard to get the details. Who gave you a ride home?'

  'I didn't go home.'

  Phoenix punctured the silence that fol owed. 'Give Darina a break,' he

  told Arizona. 'She's having a hard time here.'

  'And I'm not?' she spat back at him, and for a moment they did their silent zombie mind-reading deal. Angry looks shot between them but I wasn't included in the unspoken exchange.

  I always think of Arizona as someone you would spot in a style magazine - tight-fitting T-shirt and jeans, boots with heels that make her tal er, skinnier stil . Her face is framed by long, silky black hair. She has eyes the colour of green glass and a scornful pout to her ful lips.

  What had I learned about the way she died? I had a car service garage 28

  without a name, a time of day. Not a lot. And it had been like extracting teeth. I was glad when we were interrupted.

  'Hey, Darina,' Iceman said, as he walked into the barn. 'I just came back from Government Bridge.'

  Then I realize
d Iceman hadn't been part of the welcoming committee for Lee Stone. Al the Beautiful Dead had gathered, except for him.

  How

  could I have overlooked him, another guardian, along with Eve and

  Donna?

  'Hey, Iceman,' I replied with an embarrassed smile.

  'Hunter sent me down there to check out the guys at the new engineering works,' he explained. 'I didn't like what I saw.'

  'How many people?' Phoenix asked.

  'Five one surveyor and four guys to do the work. And a whole heap of machinery - diggers and flatbed trucks, mainly. They plan to strengthen the bridge, starting today.'

  Government Bridge was a couple of miles downstream from where we sat - a creaky wooden structure that groaned under the weight of SUVs driven by the hunters and picnickers. It was National Forest territory and evidently someone in the planning section had decided it needed an overhaul before winter set in.

  'What makes you think they'l head this way?' Arizona wanted to know. Her tone suggested she didn't understand what was the big deal.

  'OK, so the creek here runs on down to Government Bridge, but I wouldn't have those guys down as students of the local flora and fauna.'

  In other words, the workers dug holes and sank steel supports into the ground, then in the evening they drove straight to the nearest bar.

  'Exactly - our creek runs under the bridge,' Iceman said calmly. 'The

  surveyor is heading upstream to check water flow as we speak.'

  Phoenix stood up and vaulted over the wooden stair rail on to the barn

  floor. 'Does Hunter know?' he asked.

  'I already told him. He said to take you and Arizona with me. We have to cut the guy off before he gets here.'

  Straight away everything changed. Arizona dropped the snooty attitude, took a band from her pocket and tied back her hair, ready for action. Phoenix was already out through the door when I sprinted after

  him and asked if I could come too. 'No, you'd better stay here' was on his 29

  lips when Hunter exited the house with Lee Stone. 'Take her,' he told Phoenix curtly from the shadowy porch. 'And take Lee along too. Let him see the way we work.'

  So Phoenix, Iceman and Arizona led the way down the bank of the

  creek, with me and the rookie zombie on their tails. We trod through long grass, over boulders and through wil ow thickets, raising a family of mule deer from the bushes, sending them leaping up an almost sheer slope.

  'Crap!' Lee swore as he plunged ankle deep into the icy water.

  'Keep up!' Arizona ordered as he stooped to unlace his boot. By this time Government Bridge was in sight.

  'What is this - my worst nightmare?' Lee muttered. He looked as

  though someone had hit him on the head and he was stil reeling in the

  after-effect.

  'Kind of,' I grunted, pul ing myself up the granite rockface to a ledge which kept me clear of the stream. 'But wait there's more!'

  'Keep your head down, Darina!' Arizona hissed. 'Do you want to advertise us and get us al zapped back where we came from?'

  'Maybe,' I muttered under my breath.

  Fifty metres ahead, Phoenix heard me with his super-hearing and frowned. He pointed to the two yel ow earth-movers by the old bridge and a smal knot of men standing nearby. 'No sign of the surveyor,' he reported.

  'That's not good.' Iceman was sure he'd heard the surveyor tel the guys he was heading upstream. 'Maybe we should cut back and take another look.'

  'Not right now,' Arizona contradicted. The light was poor but she'd

  noticed a worker splitting away from the group and heading towards us. My heart lurched when I saw he was carrying a shotgun.

  'What happened, Josh? What did you see?' Another guy yel ed after him. A third picked up his own gun from a flatbed truck.

  'I thought I saw something - coyote maybe,' the overweight one named Josh cal ed over his shoulder. 'Or maybe a deer.'

  Arizona took up position behind a tal rock. 'Thanks, Darina,' she

  muttered. 'That wouldn't be coyote or deer that would be you he saw.' 30

  'What you going to do - shoot it?' Josh's buddies laughed at the clumsy run he was making up the hil towards us. 'You planning on mule-deer burger for supper?'

  Stil , in spite of the laughter, there were two men with guns heading our way. Phoenix knew it was time to get serious.

  As I came up beside him and Iceman, crouching low behind a rock

  weathered into a tal , rounded pinnacle, I felt them set up the zombie force field that had terrified me so many times in the recent past. First there was a fierce wind blowing dirt and grit in a cloud across the hil side, then the sound of sighing, then wings beating louder than you would ever believe.

  'Crap!' Lee muttered from somewhere behind me. Shock had cut down his vocabulary, it seemed. 'Is that a giant flock of birds, or what?'

  Invisible wings beating up a storm, battering at the guys with guns, forcing them to stoop forwards and stop in their tracks. It grew darker. The guys raised their arms to shield their heads.

  'They'l turn around you watch!' I hissed at Lee. But not straight away. These were two tough guys.

  'Whoo, shi-it! ' Josh yel ed as the wings raised by Phoenix and Iceman

  blasted against them. 'This is what those storm chasers go after can you believe the adrenalin rush?'

  'What are we - in the eye of a tornado?' the other man cried. 'Man, that stil sounds like wings to me!'

  More and more lost souls joined the force field to drive the guys back

  down to the bridge. They swept across the mountainside, flattening the grass and tearing at flowers, whirling against the outsiders until their legs buckled and they sank to the ground.

  'Wait for it here come the death-heads!' I warned Lee.

  These were grown men down there who didn't want to lose face in front of their buddies, but it had grown dark and they were getting battered by a force they didn't understand, being driven back down the hil . And now they were seeing things - nightmarish, unhealthy stuff you didn't admit to after it had happened because people would shun you and

  cal you crazy.

  Iceman, Phoenix and Arizona had cal ed in reinforcements. Death- 31

  heads appeared in the sky, blurred at first, then taking shape and hovering over the men, swooping down one by one, fil ing the guys' vision with the yel ow domes of skul s and eye sockets so deep, so dark they knocked al sense out of you. I knew I'd been there.

  I watched the men curl tip on the ground. The three guys down by the bridge started to run up the hil , then they too felt the wings beat hard and relentless, saw their brave buddies curled up like foetuses, maybe saw, or thought they saw, skul s appearing out of the darkness, and then they didn't come any further. Instead, they turned and ran blindly to their trucks. They didn't wait for the two on the hil side - they started their engines and drove out of there, along the dirt road towards Turkey Shoot

  Ridge.

  Beside me, Lee slowly got a grip on what was happening. 'We can do that?' he muttered. 'We can fetch souls out of hel ?'

  'Not hel - limbo.' Arizona had to be word perfect, even now. 'Now watch these two they've had enough.'

  She was right. Josh and his buddy had grabbed hold of one another. They raised themselves to their knees with expressions so agonized they didn't look human. They left their guns behind as they slid and stumbled back down the hil .

  'Looks like those two get to walk home.' Hunter's calm voice stole up on us from behind. He had a stranger with him - a vacant-looking greyhaired guy with glasses, dressed in a plaid shirt, jeans and hiking boots. 'You too,' he said to his companion.

  The man's eyes were glazed. He didn't see or hear anything going on

  around him.

  'Meet the surveyor,' Hunter explained. 'He must have got past you without you knowing. Summer spotted him hiking down the hil towards the barn. There was no other way I had to wipe the whole episode from his mind.'

/>   If I wanted to be with Phoenix, saving Arizona came as part of the deal. Every time I reminded myself of this, it was like swal owing bitter medicine.

  'You take care,' Phoenix told me by the old water tower on Foxton Ridge as we got ready to say goodbye. 'And promise me don't rush into a situation unless you can see a way out.' 32

  'Since when did I do that?'

  'Since the first time we met. It's what makes you interesting.' He was

  looking deep into my eyes, reading the hurt in my heart. 'Most kids at El erton High live life with the brakes on. You don't.'

  And now you're tel ing me to be like the others,' I sighed. 'Always check things out before I act, look over my shoulder, don't rush. And anyhow it's worse than ever in town now since, you know ...'

  'The four deaths,' he interpreted. 'A motorcycle crash, a drowning, a shooting and a stabbing. How bad can it get?'

  I nodded. 'They think it's going to be them next, and so do their paranoid parents.' Stress levels had hit an al -time high in El erton. Kids were getting grounded for the least little thing, parents made curfews that a five-year-old would find hard to keep. 'Every time I grab my car keys, Laura jumps on my back, asking where am I going, who with and what for.'

  'So take care,' Phoenix repeated. He was holding my hand loosely now, staring down the slope towards the barn.

  I needed his ful attention back on me so I put my arms around his neck. 'What are you thinking?'

  'Nothing. It's not important.' His arms came around my waist, but he stil wasn't ful y there.

  I thought a kiss would do it - one of those sad, tender ones for parting

  when it was the last thing we wanted to do. Wrong again!

  'I'm sorry, Darina.' Letting go of me and stepping back, Phoenix refused to meet my gaze. 'Hunter needs me. I have to go.'

  I sensed smal stabs of panic attack my stomach and chest. Was he withdrawing from the total love I felt for him? If so, what had I said? What had I done? 'I love you,' I whispered.

  He looked straight at me now with the faintest shake of his head.