Wings to the Kingdom (Eden Moore 2)

Benny w

as sitting at the table with us, peering down through his glasses at his sketchbook, as usual. “Why? What changed your mind?” He scratched a finishing flourish with his pencil and set the book aside.

I retrieved the notes I’d made in the library and leaned in closer to both of them. “I’ve got a theory. ”

“A theory? You going to share this theory with us?”

I opened my mouth to spill, but then I wasn’t sure. “Well, it’s not so much a theory as a good starting point for a theory. ”

Jamie licked foam off his upper lip and sat his mug down. He actually gave the photocopies a cursory inspection, which implied that the girl in line must have been ignoring him. “What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said. Do you want to hear it or not?”

Both of the guys nodded, so I filled them in.

“These ghosts, the ones that are popping up like dandelions all over the battlefield—we’ve never seen anything like them before because of Green Eyes. ”

“I thought you didn’t believe in Green Eyes,” Jamie accused. He sneaked a glance back at the counter and was apparently disappointed by whatever he saw there.

“I never said that. I professed a healthy skepticism regarding the subject, that’s all. ”

Benny opened up his backpack and dropped his sketchbook and pencils inside. “What changed your mind?”

What the hell. I figured I may as well join the ranks of the initiated and fess up. “I saw him. That’s what changed my mind. ”

“Isn’t that something?” Jamie half-sighed a laugh. “Everyone else is seeing ghosts, but you of all people see monsters. ”

“When did you go out to the battlefield?” Benny asked.

I shook my head. “I didn’t. ”

“Then where did you see him?”

“You guys aren’t going to believe this, but I saw him out at Moccasin Bend. ”

They widened their eyes and glanced at each other, then back to me. Benny asked the question they both had waiting on deck. “So how did you know it was Green Eyes? I thought Green Eyes never left the battlefield. That’s pretty much his chief identifying feature, except for, uh, the eyes. ”

“That’s what I thought too—or that’s what I heard, anyway. ”

Jamie scrunched his forehead. “What were you doing out at the Bend?”

“It’s a long story. But I know it was Green Eyes. I got a real good look at him, and I don’t think I could have mistaken him for anyone else. ” I flipped through the photocopies and called their attention to the parts I’d underlined.

“All of this—what these books are describing—this is him. This is the…thing that I saw. He wasn’t exactly a person, but he sure as hell wasn’t a ghost. And he had all this hair. And of course there were his eyes. ”

The guys looked at me across the table, not exactly disbelieving, but not exactly believing me either. Maybe I really did need other spook-seeing crazies to talk with. I didn’t like to think so, but the blank faces at the table had me frustrated.

“Oh come on. How many giant, hair-covered creatures with glowing green eyes can there possibly be in this part of the country? The Bend is only about fifteen miles away from the battlefield, so unless we’ve got some kind of wacky colony going on, I’m going to go ahead and make the crazy leap that it must be the same guy. ”

“But why?” Jamie swigged at the latte and looked over at Benny for support. “Why would he leave the battlefield, for one thing; and for another, why would he go to the Bend? It doesn’t make any sense. ”

“I know it doesn’t make any sense. ” Hearing it out loud only reaffirmed that point for me. “That’s why it’s not a full-fledged theory yet, boys. I can’t imagine why he would have left the battlefield. According to everything I’ve read on the subject, he’s been out there since well before there were any European settlers in the area. I couldn’t tell you what it would take to chase him off. But if he did leave, where else would he go? Did you guys know that the Bend used to be a sacred Indian site?”

“Um, yeah. I thought everyone knew that. ” Jamie ran his tongue over the side of his cup and stole another glance at the counter.

“I didn’t know it, but that’s not the point. The point is, the Bend is probably the closest religious site to the battlefield—and if Green Eyes was some sort of Cherokee, um…” How to finish up that thought? He wasn’t a spirit, and I didn’t imagine he was a god. “Associate. If he was originally an Indian associate of some kind, then he might have gone looking for them when he left the battlefield. ”

“Associate?” Benny zipped up his backpack and pulled it into his lap. “As if they conjured him up to do their taxes?”