The Place Between Part 6

Traveling has always been a delightful time for me to write. My current trip to Texas had proven just that. So, from Transmountain, here comes this edition of The Weekly Read!

But first, a look at the mountain.

The Place Between Part 6
he quiet of the ranch was unlike any silence Cassie had ever known. It was crushing and yet it pressed her forward. As excited as she had been for this evening to start, she could no longer wait to be tucked back in the safety of her bed. 

The tall grass that they slowly crept through hissed as cool, winter breezes passed through the mountain's grasp. The idea that anything could have been prosperous here made Cassie doubt anything that she had ever negatively judged before. They stayed together tightly, but neither men explained to Cassie exactly how they knew the trail on which they walked from any other bit of dirt they walked upon. The place was so overgrown, there appeared to be no obvious indication of a path marked. Yet somehow the men knew. They led Cassie to the tall standing remnants of the barn where the cows were once brought to be milked. 

"Here is where we shall begin," Edgar looked around his surroundings and deemed this the safest place possible. There was no standing wall within the stannding legs supporting the rusted tin roof. Standing within such a rickety looking structure was the least comforting aspect of the entire trip thus far. "Their eyes cannot see us here." Edgar pointed to a round faced, shiny object that Cassie did her best to discern in such dim light. A close, analytical gaze brought Cassie to be quite startled. She had assumed it to be a remaining tool from the cattle ranching days, but it was a camera. 

"What do you mean they won't see us? Why are they watching us? This barn?" Cassie asked. "Is that the government?" 

Martin held up his hands to get her to calm down. "They won't see us because the president's guard has more concealing spells on us now than we possibly ever had while this was our home. Their camera will not catch us. They are watching us because they do not want us to reoccupy this place. They know that we are still near by, but they have no idea of where we are living, so they posted cameras throughout this place. We believe they are motion activated, but so long as we stay within the concealing walls of our fellows below, they will not detect our movements. They are here - 1, to keep you kids out of here, and 2, to be ready for us if ever we dared to return. And no, it is not your government...exactly. We are not sure who they are precisely, but they do not answer directly to your president."

"It may be better, Cassandra," Edgar began, thinking that this was information overload without the background's completion, "If you sit. Please sit, please." 

Cassandra looked around. The only option was on the weeds and the dirt around her, which was just fine. Crossing her ankles Cassie dropped her rump to the ground and prepared for anything that was to come. 

Edgar too dropped to the floor and tucked his legs beneath him. Cassie was delightfully surprised by this odd sensei. She noticed that Martin did not sit. He was nervous, ever watching for something to go awry.

Without any need for a signal to start, Edgar began, "Hundreds of years ago, the perspective towards people like us, witches and wizards, was terrible. Burning, burning, burning. There were so many fires, but most of the poor souls that went up in flame were not enchanted. They were regular people without an ounce of magic to their hearts. Our people started to wonder, to hope if the world that we knew to be much larger than it seemed, would provide for us a safe haven. We put all of our hopes and dreams on the great and glorious west! 

"It was one of ours who planted the seed of exploration in the hearts of men like Magellan, Balboa, Cabrillo, Vizcaino, and quite a few of ours went with them. It was on the same missions that carried a small padre through these mountains that our people found this valley. Of course, the valley was not void of souls. The natives, the Kumeyaays occupied this place and they were leary of Europeans. A fear for which they had every right. It took many, many sleepless nights for our ancestors to establish trust with the mountain tribes, but it came like the sun rising after a long, starless night. We were all outcasts, we all had a similar enemy and a similar desire."

"What was that?" Cassie asked, captivated by the story being told. 

Martin smiled and in a whisper said, "To live."

Nodding, Edgar continued, "And live we did. It was not easy at first, new climate, new people, new home, but we were able to adapt and to build a great, strong, and secret friendship with the tribe in our mountain. It was beautiful."

Realizing that the shadows of the story were coming, Cassie could not keep her questions back, "How did they find out about you? Was it so weird to have multiple families working a ranch? That sounds totally normal." 

Hanging down his head, Edgar replied, "A spy. A man. One of ours thought he'd prefer a life away from this purple mountain's side. We knew, we all knew about the madness infecting the world against communism. Someone would have had to have been deaf, blind and dumb to not notice the world going to hell, but somehow still, we thought ourselvess immune." 

"We were betrayed," Martin sharply continued. The pains of the betrayal rang clearly. "He told the government of our abilities. Our greatest strengths suddenly once more became our greatest weakness."

Shaking her head, Cassie asked, "Hold on. Didn't the government people think it was crazy? That a whole community of witches and wizards were chilling in the mountains?"

"Yes," Edgar answered. "But he must have proved it to them through demonstration of his own powers."

While this made sense, Cassie had more questions. "With all of your powers, couldn't you guys have defended yourselves?"

The question did appear to have a simple enough answer, but centuries of a balancing act were not saved by whirlwinds of action. "Yes, we could have," Martin explained. "But war with mortals was not a venture in which we are willing to partake. Our numbers were small as they are today. It has been difficult to maintain our numbers being so remote, but we manage. Anyway, the people came slowly, trying to infiltrate us, to get out any information that they could, but fortunately, our people were immediately aware that something was odd. While fighting may be our last resort, defense is our speciality. We knew quite easily that these people were not enchanted like us, so we did not trust them. But one day, they grew frustrated and came with guns and police vans to haul us away for being 'communists'."

"What happened? Was there a battle after all?" Cassie anxiously asked.

Matin motioned to Edgar to explain. "Our friends the natives of the mountain saw the police coming, so they ran ahead and warned us."

An unsettling noise abruptly disrupted the conversation. 

"What was that?!" Cassie quickly asked, popping up from the ground. 

"Stay exactly where you are," Martin demanded. 

Edgar too stood. All were on high alert, listening intently for any more signs of movements. 

Again, the sound repeated. Something was making its way through the shrubs and tall grass. 

"Might be a coyote," Edgar said to Martin. "Or a raccoon."

'Or a dumb pack of high schoolers,' Cassie thought. 

"Either way," Martin spoke so quietly that the sounda of the distant crickets nearly drowned him out. "Do not make a move. We are only clear on this side of the barn."

"If it's human," Cassie whispered, "Will they see us?"

Edgar and Martin looked to each other.

In his horror movie narrator voice, Edgar answered, "That depends on who they are."

~*~*~

Wha-oh! Who or what's a coming???

Tune in next week! 

Your humble author,

S. Faxon