Where the Forest Meets the Stars(41)

Ursa kept drawing.

“How about a kiddie cocktail?” Gabe asked. “I used to get those here.”

“Okay,” Ursa said without looking up.

Jo looked at what had her thoroughly focused. She was drawing plants and trees around the purple people eater. “Is that the magic forest?” Jo asked.

“Yes.”

“It’s like a jungle.”

“It’s magic. It keeps him safe.”

“Can’t he use all those teeth to keep himself safe?”

“Not when there’s bad stuff around.”

Gabe raised his eyebrows at Jo, noting her odd mood. “Want to play the jukebox?” he asked. “No one’s using it.”

“You can if you want to,” Ursa said.

“I’ll see if your song is on it.” He left the table and stood over the jukebox.

“Is something wrong, Ursa?” Jo asked.

“I didn’t want to come here,” she said.

“I’m sorry. Thanks for sticking it out for Gabe.”

Gabe’s first song, “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” came on before he returned to the table.

“Are you a Nirvana fan?” she asked him as he sat down.

“Not in any dedicated kind of way. But I like this song.”

Jo’s water, Gabe’s beer, and Ursa’s kiddie cocktail arrived. Raising his glass, Gabe said, “I want to propose a toast.”

Jo picked up her water. “To what?”

“To Katherine and George’s marriage. May it be long.”

“Really?”

“It’s a great idea. At least someone in my family will get closure on this thing.”

He held out his glass.

“Ursa, we’re doing a toast,” Jo said.

“I don’t get it. Katherine is your mother,” Ursa said, proof that she’d been listening.

“She sure is,” he said.

“She’s getting married?” Ursa asked.

“Maybe,” Jo said.

“Who’s George?”

“George Kinney,” Jo said.

“The man who owns our house?”

“It’s not ours,” Jo said. “But yes. Pick up your glass and toast.”

Ursa tapped her glass on theirs and drank. After her first sip of the sweet drink, most of it went down quickly. “Isn’t George married?”

“He is,” Gabe said, “but soon he won’t be.”

“They’re getting a divorce?”

“Something like that.”

“Your mom is kind of old to get married,” Ursa said.

“People can be in love at any age,” Jo said.

Ursa wasn’t listening anymore. She sat motionless, staring across the room. Jo followed her line of sight. She was looking at the bar. A scruffy young man with a phone pressed to his ear glanced in their direction. When he saw Jo and Ursa looking his way, he swiveled his stool around to face the bar. Ursa kept looking at something, but Jo couldn’t figure out what it was.

“What has you two so mesmerized? Is there a hot guy over there or what?” Gabe asked.

Ursa picked up a green pencil and made another leaf in her magic forest.

“You’re the hottest guy in the room,” Jo said.

“Only because I’m up against aging bikers.”

He was wrong. The crowd was fairly young, especially the people seated at the bar. The guy Ursa seemed to have been looking at got off the barstool and walked past their table, staring as he passed. Ursa watched him leave the restaurant.

“Do you know that man?” Jo asked.

“What man?” she said.

“The one you were just looking at.”

“I was looking at that thing over the door.”

“The horseshoe?”

“Why’s it there?” Ursa asked.

“To give good luck to people who come through the door. It’s a superstition.”

Ursa stared at the horseshoe for a few more seconds before going back to her drawing.

Now that he’d embraced Katherine and George’s future, Gabe was in a good mood. The restaurant probably contributed, too. He and Jo talked about music and other things until the pizza came, but Ursa kept scrawling away, the protective forest around her purple alien growing more and more elaborate.

Gabe raved about the pizza. Jo liked it well enough, but she had a feeling Arthur’s enthusiasm about the restaurant had added more flavor to the pizza than Gabe realized. He insisted on paying the bill and left a big tip for the waitress.

On their way out of town, Jo stopped for gas and made Ursa use the bathroom because she’d refused to go at the restaurant. She was still acting oddly withdrawn. Jo thought fatigue might be the root of her moodiness and hoped she would sleep most of the way back to the cottage.

Jo and Gabe wandered through several topics during the ride but steered clear of what had happened with George because Ursa was still awake. She was restless, shifting from window to window, and more than once Jo had to tell her to put her seat belt back on.

When Jo pulled onto the county highway, she saw lights in her mirrors. The car behind turned off with them and followed the six miles to Turkey Creek Road. “Don’t tell me they’re turning here, too,” she said.

“Who?” Gabe said.

Ursa looked out the rear window.

“That car behind us,” Jo said. “I swear it’s been with us for a long time.”

As Jo rounded the corner onto Turkey Creek Road, the car suddenly sped up and disappeared.

“They’re lost,” Gabe said. “They saw the No Outlet sign and realized this isn’t the road they’re looking for.”

Jo drove to Gabe’s newly graveled driveway but stopped in the road to make sure Lacey didn’t see Ursa. She got out of the car to say goodbye. “Was it a good trip, despite seeing George?”

“It was interesting—that’s for sure. I doubt I’ll sleep much.”

She smiled. “Is that a hint? Should I leave the front door unlocked?”

He kissed her. “Put a key in the usual place. You should keep your doors locked at night.”





29



Ursa wanted to sleep in Jo’s bed, but Jo couldn’t let her. She’d slept in Jo’s room only twice: the first night Gabe stayed over and when she injured her head. Jo had to be careful about keeping their beds separate, especially now that she might apply to become her foster parent. People might spin it wrong if she slept with Ursa. As it was, they would probably ask Ursa uncomfortable questions about her relationship with Jo.

After Ursa put on her Hello Kitty pajamas and brushed her teeth, Jo turned out all the lights except the one on the stove and tucked Ursa into the couch. She kissed Ursa’s cheek. “Sweet dreams, Big Bear.”

“Is Gabe coming over?”

“Probably not. He’s more tired than he realizes. We all are.”

“I wish he was here.”

Jo rose from the couch. “Go to sleep. We’ll get up later than usual because it’s so late.”

When Jo walked away, Ursa said, “Leave your door open.”

“Okay.”

“Can I please sleep with you?”

“You know the rules. Go to sleep.” Jo wished she could give in. She’d never seen Ursa afraid at bedtime, not even when she first arrived. Maybe it had something to do with the drawing of the alien with big teeth. Her mood had changed after she drew it.

The loud drone of the air conditioner put Jo to sleep quickly. But after only a few hours, Little Bear woke her. She looked at her cell phone. It was 2:10, too late for the dog to be greeting Gabe. He was probably barking at a raccoon or a deer. The air conditioner was in its off cycle, and Jo wished it would turn on to mask the noise.

Little Bear suddenly went berserk, his barks generated so fast he hardly took a breath between. He would wake Ursa, if he hadn’t already. Jo had to get up and quiet him.

She stopped cold in the entry to the living room. Ursa was standing next to the couch staring at her, her body unnaturally frozen. Her face appeared a ghostly blue cast by the fluorescent stove light, and her eyes looked like two black holes. She had become a changeling again.

“Jo . . . ,” she said.

Jo ignored the irrational pounding of her heart. “Get back in bed,” she said. “Maybe there’s a coyote out there. I’d better put him on the porch.”

When Jo moved toward the front door, Ursa ran to the door and threw her back against it with her arms spread open. “Don’t go out!”

“Why not?”

A sob caught in her throat. “The bad men! The bad men are here!”

Jo’s body went cold. “What bad men?”

She began crying. “I’m sorry! I should have told you! They’ll kill you, too! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

Little Bear had stopped barking for about ten seconds, but he started again, this time much closer to the house. Jo grabbed Ursa’s shoulders. “Stop crying and tell me what’s happening. Was it that man in the restaurant?”

“Yes! But it’s not him!”

“That makes no sense!” Jo gave her body a little jolt by the shoulders, trying to shake something clearer out of her. “Tell me what’s going on! I have to know!”

Two gunshots rang out, and Little Bear wailed a horrific sound.

“Little Bear!” Ursa screamed. “Little—”

Jo clamped her hand over her mouth. “Quiet!” she hissed.

Little Bear’s wailing yelps didn’t stop. Another shot fired and he went silent. Ursa nearly collapsed in gasping sobs. Jo put her hands on her cheeks to focus her attention. “How many men are there? Do you know?”