He smiled at her. “We’re friends,” he said. “And it’s probably good that someone other than Grandma Billy knows my secret. You know, in case something were to happen.” He flicked his fingers, indicating a whole wealth of potential misfortune. Selena, with her finely tuned anxiety, didn’t have to work to picture it.If he got very sick, maybe delirious, would he change shape on accident? Or if someone drugged him, maybe, or—
Copper lifted her head suddenly, fur spiking along her back. A growl rose in her throat and she got to her feet, staring out into the dark.
“Something wrong, girl?” Selena asked.The way the last half hour has gone, I wouldn’t be surprised if she answered me.
Copper barked once, querulously, an old dog sensing something she didn’t like, then slowly settled back on her haunches, though her hackles didn’t go down. Selena strained her ears, but all she could hear was thezeet-zeet-zeetof small insects in the brush.
“Where’s Grandma Billy?” asked Father Aguirre abruptly.
“She went to ... but that was ...” Selena tried to think how long it had been. Too long, even for an old woman’s digestion.
Father Aguirre stood, scanning the landscape. So did Selena. The coals of the fire made an orange island in a sea of darkness, and she could see nothing.
The priest cupped his hands around his mouth. “Billy!” he called. “Billy, you out there?”
The little calling insects fell silent, but there was no other reply.
Father Aguirre tore his clothes off and flung them at Selena so fast that she barely had time to register that she was seeing a lot more of a Catholic priest than the church would perhaps have condoned. Then he seemed to fall down on all fours and the big javelina went running into the darkness, snout to the ground, huffing furiously.
Not knowing what else to do, Selena followed, her arms full of Father Aguirre’s clothes and Copper’s leash wrapped around her wrist. She could almost hear her old dog trainer chiding her.Never do that, she could break your arm if she decided to bolt.
Oh yes, if someone comes along in the middle of nowhere and decides to throw a tennis ball, I’ll be in real trouble.
Then again, she was carrying a priest’s boxer shorts while following a giant peccary who was doing its best impression of a bloodhound, so god only knew what counted as likely or unlikely any more.
The javelina continued snuffling along, a darker shadow on the thicket of black cutouts left by branches. It found a particular spot andhalted for a long moment, then began slowly tracing a widening circle, making little huffing snorts as it went.
After about five minutes, while Selena stood and watched and petted Copper and felt useless, the javelina went behind a bush and Father Aguirre stood up. “May I have my clothes? Thank you.”
“What did you find? Where did she go?”
It was too dark to read the priest’s expression, but his voice sounded heavy. “She came out here, used the facilities, then went about five steps northeast. Then vanished.”
“Vanished? Vanished how?”
“I don’t know. But since I didn’t hear a car and I doubt she’s been abducted by aliens, I think we have to assume Snake-Eater took her.”
“Tookher?” Selena pictured a gigantic roadrunner lunging out of the dark like a Tyrannosaurus rex and snatching Grandma Billy up in its beak. “You mean grabbed her and carried her off?”
“I suppose that’s possible, but I think it’s more likely he pulled her into the spirit world.”
Selena curled her fingers around Copper’s collar. “The spirit world,” she said, pleased with how calm she sounded. “You mean there’s anotherworldsomewhere?”
“Eh ...” The black cutout shape of Father Aguirre made a maybe-yes maybe-no gesture. “That’s a matter of some philosophical complexity. The Jesuits—no, never mind. Not important now. Yes, another world, although it is tied very strongly to this one, and there are gaps and passages. It’s where your little squash god is from, and where it goes to. Spirits move through both worlds, but most can’t actually appear here physically. That’s why Snake-Eater has to work through his intermediaries. But apparently we’re close enough to his home ground that he was able to pull Grandma Billy through.” He paused and added, almost to himself, “I didn’t expect him to be this strong ...”
Selena gulped, feeling nauseated. One of her friends was gone. It was exactly what she’d feared, but she’d let Grandma Billy goad her into facing Snake-Eater anyway. “Is she ... do you think she’s ...?”
“Dead?” Father Aguirre turned and began to make for the truck. “I don’t think so.”
Relief drenched Selena so strongly she almost cried. “You don’t?”
“Knowing what I do of Snake-Eater, no.” They were close enough to the fire that she could make out his expression, which was wry and unhappy. “If he’s doing this to hurt you, he won’t kill her until he’s sure you’re watching.”
Bushes slapped at the sides of the truck, scraping the paint off in thin shrieking lines. Father Aguirre ignored them. Bugs fluttered in the glare of the headlights, but Father Aguirre ignored them as well. The priest had his foot jammed firmly on the gas pedal, DJ Raven was singing along to Johnny Cash, and Selena’s only thought, as she tried to keep her bones from bouncing right out of her skin, was that it was a damn shame Grandma Billy wasn’t there to see it.
“I am going to have to do so much penance,” Father Aguirre said, as calmly as if he wasn’t hunched over the wheel, rattling over rocks and shrubs and leaving a trail of wreckage behind. “You should never drive like this in the desert.” Something thudded against the undercarriage and Selena clutched Copper tight. “It takes years for tracks like this to heal.” He swerved around a saguaro as if it were a pedestrian in the road. “Still, needs must.”
“Are we going to have to go to the spirit world?” asked Selena, and marveled at how calmly she said something so absurd.
