Page 11 of Dark Medicine (Strange Gifts #2)

Kane took the lead on the trail through Wicklow Park. Flip took the rear. Spook was honing in on the cell signal he isolated earlier. In his brain, he could see the pinging of the cell from a tower close by. With that data in his brain, he literally could then follow the signal and locate anyone who was lost or who didn’t want to be found. He was like a human tracking device. Lucky him, he thought sarcastically.

“I think they’re about a mile that way,” said Spook, pointing to a fork in the trail.

“You think?” said Flip with a grin.

“Okay, asshole, I know. Satisfied?”

“Yea, I’m satisfied. And that’s a wicked fucking cool gift, Spook. Don’t be ashamed of it,” said Flip. Spook smiled over his shoulder at his friend.

They met while deployed in a place no one wanted to be or ever wanted to return to. Flip and his teammates were under heavy fire, and Flip was doing everything literally within his power to keep the insurgents from pressing forward, but he was running out of time and out of objects to move or throw.

Spook, in his comms tent at base, isolated his signal, and within minutes, air support arrived at the exact location. Two men died, but a dozen more were safe because of Spook and Flip. Flip didn’t know about Spook’s gift at the time, but when he met him the following day, he knew something was different.

“Cho! Flip! Dude, come here,” said his captain.

“Yea, Cap.”

“Dude, this is Spook. He’s the comms guy who pulled our asses out yesterday,” he said, standing next to a tall, lanky auburn-haired kid.

“Thanks, man,” said Flip, extending his hand.

When he shook hands with Spook, there was something different about the man, something that made his chest tight. It wasn’t a bad feeling or a feeling with any sexual undertones. It was something else. Flip pulled his hand back, and Spook looked down at his feet.

“You’re welcome. Gotta go. Another team is in trouble,” he said, turning and running toward the comms tent.

“How the fuck did he know that?” asked Flip.

“Dude is voodoo magic, man, and I don’t question it out here,” said the captain. Flip watched the young man run toward the comms tent and wondered if maybe he wasn’t voodoo magic as well.

He remembered that first encounter as if it were yesterday. Spook looked frightened when they shook hands, and then as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. When Flip saw him a few months later, he looked tired and worn. Dark circles encircled his blue eyes, and he looked thin. It would be five more years before he saw him again, and this time, it was with the others who had crossed his path.

Kane, Adam, and Spook all knew his secret, and none had ever told anyone. These were brothers you could count on, and it seemed to Flip that they may need to count on one another now more than ever.

Kane held up a fist and crouched on the trail, pointing to the scattered trailers and tents below them in a small valley. There were at least a dozen people and a few small children.

“They may recognize me,” said Adam. “I was with Fiona when they tried to take her the first time.”

“Flip? You and I will go in first. Spook, you keep your ears on the comms. Anything starts to blow up, do your thing.”

Kane placed a small device in his ear and tapped, and the others nodded. Walking casually down the trail, he and Flip laughed like good friends might do on a hike. The busy camp stopped, people moving slowly toward trailers and tents but not going inside.

Kane stepped to the bottom of the trail and waved.

“Good morning!” he said casually.

“Mornin’,” said the rough, gravelly voice of a man standing near him. “This is a private camp. Strangers aren’t welcome.”

“We don’t mean any harm,” said Kane, smiling. “We’ll be leaving as soon as you tell me where Roman and George are.”

The man eyed Kane up and down and looked over his shoulder at the massive mountain of a man behind him. Flip stood stock still, his eyes traveling the entire camp.

“No one here by those names,” said the older man.

“Now, see, that’s where I know you’re not telling the truth,” said Kane, taking a step closer.

“You calling me a liar, boyo?” said the man.

“I believe that’s exactly what I’m doing,” said Kane, smiling down at the old man. Kane spotted a long blade in the man’s belt and grinned. “I hope you’re not thinking of pulling that beautiful knife on me. I’d hate to have to take that from you.”

The old man looked up at the bigger man and contemplated his next move. He was twice his size and at least thirty years younger, but his skills with a knife were widely respected among his people. He could take this young pup. Besides, he had an entire camp behind him. He reached for the knife, but before he could even pull it from the case, Kane grasped his wrist and twisted.

The old man screamed in pain as bones cracked and his wrist bent at an odd angle. Kane gripped the blade and spun the old man around, the blade grazing his throat. The bile rose in his own throat at the evil and disgusting thoughts of the old man.

“Now, I warned you. Don’t say I didn’t. Let’s try this once again. Where are Roman and George?”

The entire camp watched as Kane held the old man, the blade drawing a fine line of blood along his throat. Kane’s stomach lurched at the evil coming off the old man. He looked at the faces staring back at him and knew it in his soul. This old man was a polygamist. Young girls were staring at Kane, not in horror but in hope.

“You like them young, don’t you?”

“They’re my wives,” said the old man hoarsely. “Nothing wrong with a man choosing a wife or two.”

“Where are Roman and George?” asked Kane again.

A man stepped from one of the trailers with a rifle in his hand. Electricity crackled in the air, and Kane felt the energy of Flip behind him. The rifle flew off into the fields, cracking in two. The man looked down at his hands and then back up at the two strangers in horror.

“What sort of witchcraft was that?” he yelled.

Flip stared at the other trailer and knew that there were two more men inside, both with weapons. Without so much as a twitch, the trailers rocked back, falling on their sides.

The women stared at the strangers, the oldest stepping forward in fear.

“Roman and George left to meet with someone a few hours ago. They won’t be back until late. You can find them at the Duck Pond. It’s a pub about ten miles from here.”

She was probably only forty or so but looked sixty. Her face was weathered and showed signs of stress and sickness. Her body was stooped like that of an older woman, her hands wrinkled, red from water and cold.

“Thank you,” said Kane, releasing the old man. He shoved him to the ground and held tight to the knife. “If any of you want to leave, we’ll take you out of here.”

Kane, there’s an outgoing call happening from the tent to your right. Someone is calling Roman.

Flip turned to look at the tent, and suddenly the canvas ripped from its poles. Beneath it were two makeshift beds. At the end was a large trunk with clothes folded inside. A woman huddled next to the bed, the phone now sitting in her lap. Flip walked toward the woman, her large brown eyes terrified of the giant walking towards her. He held out his hand, palm up, waving his fingers for her to give him the phone.

She handed the man her cell phone and scooted backwards, watching him crush it in his fingers.

“Now, that wasn’t nice at all,” said Kane. “We were offering free passage out of here, and we’ll get you somewhere safe. All you have to do is ask. No one will bother you again.”

A small blonde girl, no older than seventeen stepped forward. She was skinny, clearly suffering from lack of food, but she also looked sick.

“I want to go home,” she said in broken English with tears filling her eyes. “I’m from Poland. They took me many weeks ago.”

Kane nodded and waved for her to come forward.

“Traitor!” yelled the old man.

“You shut the fuck up! You sick perverted asshole. Anyone else?” No one stepped forward, and Kane turned to the young girl. “Go up that hill. Two other men are waiting. They’ll keep you safe.” She nodded and ran up the hill as fast as her weak body could carry her.

“I suggest you move your little operation along,” said Kane. “If you’re still here when we come back tomorrow, I’ll burn this place to the ground and kill every one of you.” Kane would never kill innocent women and children, but he would have no qualms with killing the old man and burning the place to the ground. Nevertheless, they didn’t need to know that.

Turning on his heels, Kane made his way back up the hill with Flip right behind him. When they reached the top, he turned to Spook and smiled.

“Nice work,” he said.

“I’ve blocked all the phones in the camp,” he said. “No one will be able to call in or out.” They turned to see the young girl sitting on a large rock near their feet.

“How is she?” asked Kane.

“She’s sick,” said Adam. He was kneeling next to the girl, pretending to check her pulse, but in actuality, checking her body. “She’s very sick, Kane.”

“Shit! What’s up?”

“It’s the syphilis, is it not?” she said quietly, unable to look at them through her lowered lashes.

“How did you know?” asked Adam, tilting her chin upward.

“The old man, he brags about making us all sick. He knows he has it and still rapes the women and children and then tells them they must stay with him to be well.”

“There are medicines that will help,” said Adam. A fleeting thought of Fiona filled his head, and quickly he dispelled the thought. What if she took the disease from the girl and couldn’t recover? It was a risk he wasn’t willing to take. She shook her head, a single tear sliding down her face.

“What’s your name?” asked Flip.

“Paulina. They take me from my home and bring me here.”

“Well, you’re going home, Paulina,” said Flip. She nodded again, the tears still falling, but no sound.

“Let’s get back to the girls and see if we can make a plan to find the other two.” Flip carried Paulina on his back the entire hike back as if she weighed no more than a rucksack. Which, in truth, she didn’t.

Kane explained the situation of Paulina, and Aislinn took the girl upstairs to shower and give her clean clothes. He made the necessary calls to the authorities to get the girl safely back to Poland. The authorities would ensure that she gets a passport and has safe passage to her family.

An hour later, Kane and Adam sat in the small bar area downstairs, waiting for Flip to return. Kane looked up to see Aislinn, Fiona, and Paulina come down the stairs. Paulina looked refreshed. Her hair was combed, clean, and pulled back in a neat ponytail. The fresh face of a seventeen-year-old stared back at him, her rosy cheeks glowing. She was dressed in a pair of leggings and a long sweater, her own sneakers still encasing her feet.

Adam looked at the girl, smiled, and then stood, frowning at Fiona.

“You didn’t!?” he said, staring at Fiona.

“I did, and you’ll not yell at me so, Adam Thorn!”

“Do you know how dangerous that was?! Fiona… Fiona…”

“Don’t you Fiona me! The girl has a chance now. I was able to heal her, and she has a chance.” Adam held Fiona’s hand, and as suspected, there were no signs of the disease. He moved toward Paulina, who stepped back, slightly afraid.

“I’m not angry at you, Paulina,” he said.

Paulina looked up at Adam, fear and concern filling her face. She left with them, trusting that they would see her to safety. She only wanted to return home where she could die peacefully in her mother’s arms. Tentatively, she held out her hand, and Adam let out a long slow breath. Her disease was gone.

“You’re going to be fine, Paulina. You’re perfectly healthy. The disease is gone.”

“I don’t know how you do this, but thank you,” she said, crying against Fiona.

Her tiny body tucked under Fiona’s chin. Fiona rubbed her back and kissed the top of her head, staring up at Adam. She gave him a wag of her tongue, and he couldn’t help but grin. It was unbelievably risky for her to do such a thing, but Adam knew had the circumstances been reversed, he would have done the same.

Two women arrived from immigration and child protective services taking full statements from Paulina as well as the men. Although they were unable to tell the full story of what happened, they gave as much factual information as they could. They led Paulina away, her ticket home secured and paid for by Kane. She waved at the strangers, their secrets locked in her heart.

“Alright,” said Kane, “let’s go duck hunting.”