Denver Cereal~sweet & crunchy fiction set in Denver

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY-NINE
(part two)

“These Celts are desperate, and capable,” the English speaking gargoyle said. “You must be very careful.”

“You do what you need to,” Tanesha scowled at the gargoyle. “We’re going to have some babies.”

There was a sharp bark at the door. Sandy opened the door for Scooter. He trotted in as if they’d been waiting for him. They moved Jill into larger exam room where she’d wanted to have the babies and helped her onto the table. A few minutes later, Yvonne and Anjelika appeared with Rachel, Mack, Jackie, and a bleary eyed Katy. Unaware anything was going on, Katy climbed onto the table with Jill. She leaned her head against Jill’s belly.

“Mommy,” Katy gave her a sleepy look. “My brothers are very scared. They didn’t want to come out now. They aren’t ready.”

“Celtic magic,” the English speaking gargoyle hissed. “They made her go into labor.”

He disappeared.

“That’s okay,” Tanesha said. “No problem. We just need to slow things down. Jill, you remember your breathing?”

Jill nodded.

“Come with me, Katy,” Anjelika said. “We’ll find a place to rest.”

“No,” Katy shook her head vehemently. “My brothers need me here.”

“Katy, you need to rest,” Jill said.

“What about here?” Sandy pointed to the comfortable old armchair sitting in the corner of the room. Jacob had moved the chair there so Katy would have a place when Jill had the boys. “Katy can rest right here.”

“Okay,” Katy said. Sandy helped the little girl climb down and settle in the chair. Scooter lay down next to the chair.

“Does your cell phone work?” Tanesha asked Heather.

Heather nodded.

“Can you call . . .?” Tanesha started.

“Already did,” Heather said. “Blane said he can talk you through what you need to do to slow things down. He wanted to be prepared in case the babies came suddenly, so he left some of his supplies in the cabinet in the lobby.”

“Can he come?” Tanesha’s voice rose with desperation. Heather shook her head. Tanesha nodded.

“Are we ready?” Sandy asked.

“We’d better be,” Jill panted. “I don’t think I can slow this down.”

“Yes, you can,” Heather moved to Jill’s side. She took Jill’s hand and gave her cell phone to Tanesha. Sandy moved to Jill’s other side.

Tanesha took one last look and went out into the lobby.

“Blane?” Tanesha asked.

Denver Cereal continues tomorrow…

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY-NINE
(part one)

“Who is here?” Heather asked.

Sandy went to the other side of Jill.

“The Celts,” the gargoyle said. “They have come for the children.”

“One had a name on shirt . . .” Brutus said in breathless broken English. He pointed to the top of his breast pocket. “Experiment Genetics, Latin.”

“Experiri Genetics,” Jill grunted.

“They want Jill’s babies!” Sandy gasped.

“What do we do?” Noelle was suddenly standing right next to them. Her hand in a cast and her face bruised, she looked like a brave child soldier ready to fight for the cause.

“We will confuse them,” the gargoyle said. “They will be lost in the house.”

“I will stay here,” Otis said. “Ward them off.”

“I’ll stay with you,” Anjelika said.

“You’ll miss . . .” Otis started.

“Jill is surrounded by love,” Anjelika gestured to the girlfriends. “I will not leave you.”

“What can we do?” Charlie asked.

“You can help us,” the English speaking gargoyle said.

“No,” Sandy shook her head. “They are children.”

“They want to help,” the English speaking gargoyle said. “They can be very useful to us.”

“They’d better not be injured in any way,” Jill grunted.

“Non nocet ad eos,” said the older gargoyle, as he appeared next to the English speaking gargoyle.

“What did he say?” Sandy asked.

“No harm will come to them,” Brutus translated.

“Get her to the birthing area,” the English speaking gargoyle said. “The children will help us. We cannot birth the babies; we can only take them if the mother dies. Go now before bad things happen.”

“Mom!” Jill said. “Aren’t you . . .?”

“Go,” Otis said. “I’ll be fine. Brutus will stay with me. We have fought in many wars together. This is merely a battle of the minds.”

“Mom, we have to get the babies,” Tanesha pointed to the nursery where Mack, Jackie, and Rachel were sleeping. Yvonne and Anjelika went into the nursery.

With Tanesha and Heather on either side, and Sandy to open doors, Jill and the girlfriends made their way down the stairwell to the kitchen. They were almost to the ground floor when a gargoyle appeared.

“Hush,” the gargoyle said.

They saw three men move through the kitchen and into the living area.

“Haven’t we been here before?” one of the men asked.

“I haven’t,” another man said.

The girlfriends waited a moment before racing through the kitchen and up the stairwell to the second floor. They were just at the door to the old medical offices when a man appeared on the hallway. A gargoyle pushed them through the door. They heard the man run by.

“These Celts are desperate, and capable,” the English speaking gargoyle said. “You must be very careful.”

Denver Cereal continues tomorrow…

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY-EIGHT
(part six)

“I thought you knew,” Jill said. “I thought you wanted me to bring these home, you know with General Hargreaves. I’ve just . . . kept them . . . all this time.”

Jill looked from her mother’s confused face to Otis’s pinched features. Her grandfather was counting the pages of the photo album.

“Why do you think he always kept this with him?” Jill asked.

“I thought he wanted to remember happier times,” Anjelika said. “There are pictures of he and my brother in there, you kids, I . . .”

Anjelika shrugged.

“I guess I needed to believe that he cherished something more than . . .,” Anjelika took a breath. For a moment she held her breath. When she sighed, she looked heartbroken. “ . . .revenge.”

Jill kneeled down and hugged her mother. When she heard Otis say something to Brutus, she looked up at them. Otis touched Anjelika’s shoulder. She looked up at her father, and he said something in Russian. She shook her head and repeated the words he’d said. For the first time in all the months of knowing him, Otis’s face showed real human emotion. He looked crushed.

Anjelika let go of Jill and hugged her father. They were crying and talking at the same time. Jill sat down on the edge of the armchair where Scooter was sitting. She watched as the walls created by decades of mistrust and deception crumbled between them. Leaning back, she snuggled Scooter and looked away to give them privacy. After a few minutes, her mother laughed.

“He thought, even now, that I had them, used them,” Anjelika’s wet face smiled at Jill. “He forgave me even though he thought I had . . . I had betrayed him . . . and ”

“I am a fool,” Otis said. “So much suffering because of . . .”

He waved his hand over the photobook and Jill nodded. He wiped his wet face with his aged hands and looked at Brutus. His life-long bodyguard smiled at Otis.

“Is good,” Brutus said. “Is very good.”

Otis reached out and hugged Brutus.

“Do you still need to pay this back to . . . them?” Jill asked.

Otis nodded.

“Debt like this is never forgiven,” Brutus said. “Only accepted; never forgiven.”

“What will you do?” Anjelika asked.

“I will think for a while,” Otis said. “I have much to make up to my Angel.”

Anjelika leaned forward and they hugged again. Jill smiled. Brutus tugged on the photo album and Otis let it slip from his hands.

“I go make safe. I’ll be back in no time.” Brutus emphasized the American saying. Jill smiled.

With the album tucked under his arm, Brutus left the loft. Otis cast a worried eye after him, and then turned back to Anjelika. Smiling, Jill stood to go to the kitchen. She was halfway across the loft when Brutus rushed in the door. The yellow lab, Sarah, and the ugly dog, Buster, zoomed in after him. He slammed the door and leaned against it.

Otis said something in quick Russian.

“Men,” Brutus said in broken English. “With guns. In house.”

“What?” Sandy’s voice was heard over the others.

Jill took another step and whoosh, her water broke. Jill gasped and grabbed her belly. The girlfriends and Yvonne ran to her.

“They are here for the babies,” the smallest gargoyle said in clipped British English.

“Why is he speaking English?” Tanesha asked.

The gargoyle smirked. Tanesha got to Jill first. She put her arm around Jill to hold her up. Jill crumpled forward with a contraction.

“Who is here?” Heather asked. Sandy went to the other side of Jill.

“The Celts,” the gargoyle said. “They have come for the children.”

Denver Cereal continues on Monday…

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY-EIGHT
(part five)

Friday night – 8:25 p.m. MST

Jill waited until she knew Katy was sound asleep before pulled the door nearly closed. Katy had made Jill promise to wake Katy when she went into labor. Jill put a hand on her belly. It didn’t seem like the boys were coming anytime soon.

Jill looked up across the loft. The girlfriends were standing in the kitchen talking with Yvonne. The kids were playing video games in a corner of the loft. Her mother, grandfather, and Brutus were talking on the couch near the gas fireplace. She glanced over at the girlfriends. Sandy made her “get going” gesture. Heather and Tanesha nodded. Jill gathered her resolve and went to the bookcase which held her old books. She took out a photo album and went to where her mother was sitting.

“Jillian,” Anjelika looked up at her. “How are you feeling?”

“Good,” Jill nodded. “While we have a moment . . .”

“Sit down,” Anjelika stood up and gestured for Jill to sit down in the chair across from them.

“I’d rather stand, thanks,” Jill said. Her throat pinched with nervousness and her mouth was suddenly parched. “Um . . .”

“You look nervous,” Bruno said. “Something you need?”

Jill shook her head. Scooter jumped onto the armchair behind her.

“I know you’re wondering why I asked you here,” Jill said so quickly that her mother and grandfather looked confused.

“Jillian, darling, what are you saying?” Otis asked.

“You said . . . and then I didn’t know. I mean, how could I know? And really, someone should have told me, but . . .” Jill swallowed hard. She raised her index finger as if to point. “No one ever asked me.”

She glanced at her mother and Otis. They had no idea what she was talking about.

“But then, Mike said . . .” Jill nodded as if she had made her point. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew they were totally lost. “So here.”

She pushed the photo album toward her mother. Anjelika looked at the album and then at Jill.

“What is it?” Otis asked in Russian. His confusion was so clear that even Jill knew what he was saying.

“It’s my ex-husband’s photo album,” Anjelika said. “He never went anywhere without it. He even brought it when . . .”

Anjelika’s right hand stroked the top of the album.

“What is this?” Anjelika asked. “You brought this back from Costa Rica when you were a child.”

“Yes. I mean, you said . . . I . . .” Jill gave them a frustrated glare.

Jill yanked the book from her mother and turned it around. She flipped to the middle of the book and began yanking photos off one page. Six by eight glossy pictures flew in the air and landed on the floor. Once the page was clear of photos, Jill pushed the album back at Anjelika and Otis.

Anjelika gasped. Stunned, Otis clutched his heart. Bruno stood from the couch. He gave Jill a wary look and took the photo album from her.

“Many bearer bonds,” Brutus said. “Where you get?”

“My father gave them to me,” Jill said.

“Roper?” Otis asked.

“No Perses,” Jill said. “He gave me the album and told me to take it home with me. You were there. You saw him do it.”

“He wanted you to have the pictures,” Anjelika reached down and picked up an old photo. “They would remind you of your life. You were so traumatized. You could barely speak.”

“You mean you didn’t know those . . . things were there?” Jill asked.

Anjelika shook her head.

“I thought you knew,” Jill said. “I thought you wanted me to bring these home, you know with General Hargreaves. I’ve just . . . kept them . . . all this time.”

Denver Cereal continues tomorrow…

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED and FIFTY-EIGHT
(part four)

“Not your Castle,” Seth laughed. “In Denver, young King Marlowe lives in a Castle with his Queen Jillian.”

Jacob scowled while Seth laughed for a while.

“We should . . .”

“You should check the castles first,” Seth said. “There’s six on the island, but I bet you’ll find what you’re looking for in Castle Rushen.”

“Castle what?” Sam asked.

“Castle Rushen,” Seth said.

“Why there?” Jacob asked.

“There’s a female ghost said to be Fand,” Seth said. “Like the Queen of Marle, she had four boys. The ghost is supposed to be as old as the island. She inhabits the Castle Rushen because it was built on the spot where her beloved was killed.”

“This Manannán,” Jacob said.

“The King of Marle,” Seth said.

“Are you ready?” Valerie asked.

“Almost,” Jacob said.

“The ghost is a mess,” Seth said. “Completely unpredictable.”

“How . . .?” Jacob asked.

“Mitch,” Seth said. “Long before it was popular, we went around debunking ghost stories.”

“And this one?” Jacob asked.

“There’s a female ghost in that hall,” Seth said. “I’m going to call a friend who lives on the island. If he’s on the island, and has time, I’ll ask him to meet you at Castle Rushen. He’s in government so he’ll be able to get you in anywhere you want to go.”

“How will I know him?” Jacob asked.

“He looks like James Bond,” Seth laughed.

“Come on, Jake, let’s go!” Valerie said.

“Hold on,” Jacob said. “Why are you so impatient?”

“I want to be done with this,” Valerie said. “I’m pissed that my life is affected by some ancestor’s unresolved business.”

Jacob held out his arms, and she let him hug her.

“Let’s go,” Valerie said.

“We need to know what we’re getting into,” Sam said.

Valerie gave a grudging nod.

“Call me and tell me what she says,” Seth said. “Or what you find.”

“I will,” Jacob said.

“Good luck,” Seth said.

Jacob looked at the phone. Unable to think of what to say, he just hung up.

“Ready, son?” Sam asked.

“One more thing,” Jacob said.

Sam and Valerie turned to look at him.

“MOM!” Jacob yelled. “Mom, I need you!”

Celia’s ghost appeared. Able only to feel her presence, Sam smiled his hello.

“Mom!” Valerie squealed with delight. “I can see you! Mom!”

Valerie held out her hands; Celia touched the palms of her hands, but her eyes were on Sam. He stood there smiling and looking around the room.

“Delphie’s teaching a class in psychic immersion. She needs my help,” Celia said. “What’s going on?”

“I need to break the curse on the Marlowe males,” Jacob said.

“Right now?” Celia asked. “Does this have to do with my grandsons’ birth?”

“Yes,” Jacob said.

“By all means, let’s get going,” Celia said.

Denver Cereal continues tomorrow…