Dear Reader,

Thank you for your interest, and any comments you have would be most welcome. You
can send them to Bryans.adventure@gmail.com.

I wrote “Luck and Lighting” for the November 2010 National Novel Writing Month
(NaNoWriMo), writing 50,000 words in just 24 days. Please consider this a first working
draft, with many known limitations (some of them detailed in the “Afterword” at the end).

Best regards,
-- Bryan Jacobson
----------------------------------------

Luck And Lightining
By Bryan Jacobson

© Copyright 2010, Bryan Jacobson. All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction; any resemblance to actual individuals is inadvertent and purely
coincidental.

I would like to thank CJ for giving me the idea to write a novel for National Novel Writing
Month (November 2010). Many thanks to the various friends and family that not only
didn’t laugh at me, but actually encouraged my insanity, including: DJ, JJ, EJ, JJ, JJ, JB,
SG, CS, SS, and AK.

Chapter: I Could Really Use a Wish Right Now

At the start of the game I knew we would win, just as I had known we would win every
game that season. It didn’t matter that we were playing in the state championship. It
didn’t matter that we were facing an undefeated team.

It was my senior year and I was the quarterback. Our team, the Thunder Ridge Grizzlies
was undefeated as well.

I’m also the team captain, and so I went out to the center of the field for the coin toss. The
other team’s quarter back was also their quarter back. He was taller than me, outweighed
me, but I wasn’t intimidated.

They won the coin toss, which was a little surprising. A quirky bit of luck, but we’d won
every other coin toss this year. They elected to receive, which was fine. If we had won the
toss we would have elected to kick anyway.
We kicked the ball, a good kick, and they had the ball around the 15 yard line.

We knew the Mullen Mustangs were good. Our defense is not the strongest part of our
team. But we didn’t expect the Mustangs to score on their first possession.

We’d watched tape on the Mustangs and we knew they threw a lot of passes, just like our
team.

Their quarterback took the snap, and ran the ball. He dodged and weaved, broke tackles, at
times running past our guys as if they weren’t even there.

He crossed the goal line and the crowd roared.

Oh well, now it was my turn.

The kick was long so we got the ball on the 20 yard line.

The coach gave us a confident smile and said: “This is what you’ve worked for all year.
Go get us on the board.”

We took the field. With a series of short, high confidence passes we marched up the field.
But everything felt different, like I was playing under water. My timing was off. On the
final touch down pass, a defender actually got his fingers on the ball, almost intercepted. I
guess you’re going to have nerves when you’re a senior playing in the state championship.
Finally, we scored.

Game tied, 7-7.

This time, when they got the ball, I was riveted to the game. Their QB took the snap, tried
the same run, but our guys found him just a couple steps past the line of scrimmage and
flattened him. He tried another run, with the same result. After that solid tackle, their
coach realized you shouldn’t have your star quarterback running the ball and they gave it
to a running back. We stopped that guy for a loss of a couple of yards.

The QB threw a wobbly pass, but connected for a first down.

They had to fight for every yard, but gradually they worked their way up the field. It took
a long time, but they scored and we were down 14-7.

This time we mixed it up. Sometimes we ran the ball, but we could only gain a yard or
two that way. Sometimes I threw a pass. Their pass coverage was tight, and somehow my
timing was off. My passes were a bit off the mark and I was almost intercepted a couple of
times. This was so unlike me. Usually it was easy, fluid. Most of our games had been so
easy our biggest concern was not embarrassing the other team too much.

We were good enough. The first half ended with the game tied again, 14-14.
Half time, we went into the locker room. Our coach is the greatest guy on earth. Friendly,
warm, confident, knows his stuff. As we ran into the locker room the coach hung back a
bit and when it was just me and him he put his arm around my shoulders, leaned in and
said: “Carl, Are you feeling OK? Are you sick or anything?”

I realized he was worried, just like I was! “Coach, I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m not
sick, well, before the game I was feeling great. But my timing is off. Stuff just doesn’t
connect the way it usually does.”

Coach gave me a warm smile and said, “Hey! It’s just nerves, don’t worry. This is the
BIG GAME. Catch your breath during half time and we get the next kickoff. We’re going
to win this.” I was no longer sure.

After half time, we received the kick. I had an idea. I never run the ball because at 5’10”
and 170 pounds, I’m not really big enough to go crashing through the defensive line. A
couple of 220 pound guys could practically crush me. But, they can’t crush me if they
can’t catch me. The Mullen Mustangs had gained a lot of game momentum by scoring on
their first possession. I wanted to do the same.

I took the snap, saw and opening to my right and dashed through it. It was as if time
slowed down and I was running and moving a little faster than anyone else on the field. I
slipped past defender after defender and they didn’t touch me. A couple times it seemed as
if they didn’t see me until I was past them.

I crossed the goal line and the crowd roared, but this time it was our fans. 20-14. For the
first time, we were actually ahead.

I ran back after the extra point and the coach’s eyes were blazing. He put both hands on
both my shoulders and leaned in to me. He had to shout to be heard over the crowd noise.
“What was that!? That wasn’t the play I called!”

“I saw an opening. I wanted to get us momentum”

“Good play. You scored. I know you want to win. And I want to win, too. But I’ve told
you before. Don’t run the ball. That’s what you’ve got running backs for. It’s not worth
you getting hurt. Not on my watch. You do that again, and I’m sending you to the locker
room. It’s just football. It’s not worth anyone getting hurt.”

I knew what he was saying, but I wanted to win this game more than anything. It was like
fire flowing through my veins. Later, I would wish I’d listened. We kicked the extra point
and it was 21-14.

They took the kickoff and started grinding their way up the field.
Mullen is a Catholic High School with an elite football program. They can draw on the
best athletes from the whole Denver area. They win a lot and many of their guys go on to
play college ball.

My high school, ThunderRidge, is a great school but our guys were not quite as big and not
quite as fast.

Nevertheless, our defense rose to the occasion. They knew I was struggling and for once
the game might come down to them. I stood on the sidelines watching every play. We got
our tackles right. We were always in place on the pass defense. But Mullen was
unstoppable. All we could do was slow them down.

They tied the game up.

The next series of plays was like one of those nightmares where nothing goes right. Oh, I
completed passes, some of the time. Our running backs got stopped at times, and other
times made a few yard. We barely got a first down, and then another.

I took the snap, but it was like the football was covered with oil. It popped out of my
hands and I looked back and stupidly watched the ball tumble along the grass away from
me. I had fumbled the snap! I had fumbled the snap! The Mullen Mustangs were all
around me but I spun around and dropped on the ball. I recovered my own snap.

Nothing like that had happened in four years of high school football. I’d been starting for
two years and never fumbled.

It made me mad, and I started to play a little better. My head started to pound, some kind
of stress headache.

We scored three plays later. 28-21. We were ahead again.

I sat down heavily on the bench and the coach put a reassuring arm around my neck. The
crowd was roaring non-stop. He shouted, “Don’t get rattled!”. I think it was meant for
both me, and himself.

Once again, our defense played valiantly and fought them for every play. Once again, they
gradually worked their way up the field and tied the game.

Anger and determination swirled within my head as we took the field. This time I was
going to do a good job. We were a team. We would win this game. Nobody would stop
us.

It was easier. It was almost like back to normal. My passes connected. Our runners could
slip through the line. The timing was back. It only took us six plays to score. I sat down
on the bench with relief. There was only a minute left in the game. All our defense had to
do was hold them for one minute and we would be the Colorado state champions.
I wasn’t even paying attention to the extra point when I heard the crowd make that sick
sound when ten thousand people all say “Ooohhhhhh” at the same time. Our kicker was
sitting on his butt in the grass. Somehow he had slipped and missed the extra point. The
score was 34-28.

That was when I knew we would lose. They could score in a minute. Then they would get
their extra point. They would win 34-35, beating us by one point.

It was so damn unfair. I loved this team. I loved my fellow players. We had worked so
hard. We should be winning this game.

I jumped to my feet as our defense was taking the field. The coach had a sick look on his
face. He had done the same math I had done.

“Coach, you’ve got to put me in!”

“On defense?”

“Put me in as Safety coach. Or we will lose this game!” I should have come off as
arrogant, but incredibly the coach nodded his head.

“Torres, hold up.” Mike Torres, our Safety stopped and turned around.

“I’m sending in Astrapi as safety.”

Mike Torres is a good Safety. He should have been insulted. He was a senior like me and
getting benched so the crazy Quaterback could take his place.

Mike nodded his head like he thought it was a good idea for me to go in.

I ran onto the field.

Both teams setup. Mullen’s quarterback looked straight at me and I could see hatred flash
in his eyes. My head throbbed. He knew I was there to stop him. He took the snap and
made a quick outlet pass to the receiver who was farthest from my position. The pass
looked good and our defenders were not close enough. I wanted that pass to miss and there
was a little gust of wind and it floated just past the receiver’s finger tips.

There was 20 seconds left on the clock. They needed a long pass, badly.

The teams formed up for the next play and the Mullen QB was staring at me. I saw his lips
move, as if he was saying: “I’m coming after you.” It was personal.

On the snap, two wide receivers dashed to the left. I was in good position to cover them,
but there were two men to cover. I was moving and watching the QB. He threw the ball
and I knew exactly where it was going. Like a spiral bullet the ball was headed to the
receiver nearest me, but I could make it in time. I got in front of him, did a little jump and
my hands were closing on the ball. Intercept . . . except then there was nothing there.

It was like the ball evaporated. I looked behind me but the receiver was as puzzled as I
was.

I looked across the field. Everyone was staring to the left, toward me, looking for the pass
that wasn’t there. Everyone except the Mullen quarterback, who was running the football
up the right, passing everyone.

I’d been beaten by a pass fake. It was so damn unfair. I wasn’t going to let it happen.

I spun and sprinted after him. By then everyone on my team was running after him, but he
had a couple steps on them. I was on the other side of the field.

He was faster, the better athlete and ahead of me. It didn’t matter. Every fiber of my being
wanted to tackle him. I ran like I’d never run before and in a heart beat I was almost on
him. He looked over his shoulder and he was startled to see me there.

I’d been catching him, just a couple of steps to bring him down, but when he saw me it was
like time slowed down. In a bad way. The air around me thickened, it was like trying to
run through water. The ground pulled at my cleats. He couldn’t pull away, but I couldn’t
catch him. Step by step he ran down the field, no matter how hard I tried, I was always a
step behind.

There was nothing I could do. I knew we were going to lose this game. Unless he broke a
leg or something. There was a sickening pop, and he fell to the ground. He skidded to a
stop on the two yard line. A wet red stain was spreading on his leg, halfway between his
knee and thigh. His femur had snapped, compound fracture.

The crowd was silent.

The clock ran down. We won the game.

He was carried off the field in a stretcher.

You imagine a lot of cheering when you win the State Football championship. The
stadium was very quiet. The announcer waited a full minute, then announced: “The
ThunderRidge Grizzlies are the new Colorado State Champions!”

There were cheers, they started out half hearted, and then strengthened.

A subdued team gathered in the locker room.

As always, the coach knew exactly what to say:

“We saw someone get hurt today. It looked bad, there was blood. But, a clean break, he’ll
be fine. Nobody wanted anyone to get hurt today. They played as hard could tonight. We
played as hard as we could. When two teams play this hard, sometimes someone gets hurt.
It could have been one of us. We’re used to winning easily, but it wasn’t easy tonight.
Two undefeated teams met here, and it was an epic struggle. We played against a great
team tonight, and we won. I’m proud of every one of you.”

Then we cheered for ourselves, our hard word, our dedication, our friends and our
camaraderie. I think the team felt better. People started heading for the shower.

My head pounding, I went into the toilet stall and threw up.

The coach was standing there when I came out. He put his arm around my shoulder and
leaned in. “You have nothing to feel guilty about. You never touched him.”

I nodded my head and said, “I know.”

I showered, the cleansing felt good. There was a “season end” and “State Champions”
celebration and my mood gradually warmed up. Mom and Dad were ecstatic, of course. I
wish I could say it felt good being the Colorado State Champions, but it didn’t. I kept
think of a football player lying in a hospital bed somewhere with a cast on his leg.

Chapter: Video Cameras Don’t Lie

Saturday afternoon, and I felt like a walk. I ended up at Sand Creek Park, a small park, not
far from our house. It was deserted. Gray skies and a cold breeze matched my mood. I sat
on top of a picnic table that was somewhat sheltered from the wind.

“You don’t look very happy for a guy who’s just won the biggest game of his life.”

I jumped a bit. An old man with white hair and a snowy white beard was sitting on the
picnic table next to me, and I hadn’t even seen him walk over and sit down. He had
expensive looking black boots, jeans, and a nice leather jacket that was such a dark
burgundy it almost looked black.

My jaw dropped open. “Who? . . .”

He reached over and shook my hand. “Nick. Nice to meet you, Drew.”

“You know my name.”

“Quarter back of the ThuderRidge Gizzlies’ Football team? Yes, I’ve heard of you. You
had a great game yesterday. Congratulations.”
“Umm, thanks.”, I replied half heartedly.

“You don’t sound too enthusiastic.”

“Yeah, well, the other quarterback got hurt.”

“That happens from time to time in football. Is that a reason for you to feel bad?”

“Hey, I’m sorry but I would rather not talk about it.”

“Ok, but I’ve got something I need to show you.”

I didn’t know who this guy was or what he wanted. But he pulled out a smart phone and
started playing a video.

“I know the screen is small, but look closely. This video was taken by a TV station camera
high in the stadium. It’s got a good view of the field, and a good angle on the last play.”

It watched the last play of the game. I jumped for the pass that wasn’t there. Funny, I
almost thought I saw the football on the screen. On the video I saw myself turn and notice
the Mullen quarterback running up the opposite side. I sprint after him, miraculously
almost catching him. But then he looked over his shoulder and somehow I couldn’t close
the last couple steps. Finally he dropped to the ground just short of the goal line.

I shuddered.

“Why are you showing me this?”

“Would you say the Mullen quarterback, Dylan Miles, is a slow runner?”

“No.”

“Correct. In fact, Dylan is one of the fastest high school players this year.”

“Right.”

“Let’s back up.” He backed up the video to the point where I started to run Dylan.

“He’s got 70 yards to the goal line. You’ve got over 100 yards to catch him. Are you that
much faster?”

“Apparently. I must have wanted it really bad.”

“Let’s advance frame by frame.”, he advanced it a bit.

“Here you are on the 40 yard line.” He advanced one frame. “One frame later you are on
the 50 yard line. That’s 10 yards in less than a twentieth of a second. Anything about that
strike you as odd?”

Watching me zip down the field it did look odd, but I didn’t know what to say.

“I don’t know.”

“World record time on the 100 meter dash is around nine and a half seconds. Somehow
you moved nearly twenty times that fast.”

“Nobody can run that fast.”

“Correct. A faster camera would have shown, you did not run those 10 yards. You
blinked. In an instant you were ten yards closer. What do you remember?”

I thought back. “I wanted to be closer, and then I was closer.”

“That’s right.”

“I don’t understand. That’s impossible.”

“Impossible for most people. But not impossible for you. Or, for me either.”

He had been sitting to my right, and then in a blink, he was sitting on my left. I nearly
jumped out of my skin.

I didn’t know what to think. It seemed so incredible, but I remembered doing it.

“It’s super human?”

“Well, no. You’re just as human as anyone. Humans have a wide spectrum of talents.
Some are better at figuring out chemistry, some are better at guitar, some look really great
on television.”

Nick continued, “But reality is just a bit plastic. Everyone has some ability to bend reality
to their will. You’re in the zone and you hit every light green. You’re in a terrible mood
and you hit every light red. A house fire burns up everything except a beloved photo
album.”

“Like other talents, there is a spectrum. Some people have a lot more ability to bend
reality. You are one in a million, maybe one in ten million. It’s part of how your team
went undefeated this year. If you worked at it, you could probably learn how to blink 10
or 15 yards whenever you wanted. Flip a coin and come up heads a hundred times in a
row. How many coin tosses did you lose this year?”
“Only one, to Dylan Miles.”

“Dylan also had an unusually high ability to bend reality too. It is part of what made him
such a great athlete. It’s why you had such a hard time beating him, and why you were
playing off your regular game. Fumbling a snap – something you’d never done before..
It’s why, on that final play, you saw a pass that wasn’t there. In fact the pass was there, but
just before you intercepted it, the ball was back in Dylan’s hands.”

I was stunned.

He backed up the video and you could see the moment the ball disappeared.

“Why don’t people know about this? People will be amazed when they see this video.”

“Nobody will see this video. Well, nobody besides you and me. I erased all the copies
except this one. But, even if this ended up on YouTube, people wouldn’t believe it. They
would just believe it was fake. Everyone knows this kind of thing is ‘impossible’.”

“You said I could learn to blink around – like you just did. I could show people. They
would believe.”

“Well kid, that’s why I’m here. To warn you. Don’t do that.”

“Why not?”

“There are several reasons. You have a one in a million talent, but that means there are
four hundred people like you that have the same talent or more. You never see them on
TV. They’re not on the list of the richest 100 people in the world. But, they are richer and
more powerful than the people on that list. They jealously guard this secret. Their talent
is a lot more powerful as long as nobody knows about it.”

“What do you mean by ‘guard this secret’?”

“If someone ends up doing something ‘impossible’ on video, one of us shows up and gets
rid of the evidence. That way it stays ‘impossible’. If you insisted on ‘going public’ – it
happens once in a while – then very quietly three or four or a dozen of them would hunt
you down and you would end up dead. It might be a car accident; it might be just dropping
dead from a brain aneurism.”

I shuddered.

“All top athletes have some of this ability. But, not too much. Take Michael Jordan. He
had a great body, but so did the people he played against. He was smart and spent
countless hours practicing. So did everyone else in the league. But, he also had talent to
bend reality just a little. Jump a little higher. Air Jordan – it seemed as if he could fly
through the air just a little further than anyone else.”
“But, never quite so much that it was provably impossible. Ever hear of some kid who is a
fabulous basketball player, and then one day drops dead on the court?”

“Yes, it happens once in a while. They always say he had an undiagnosed heart problem.”

“Which means, his heart gave out – but – they have no explanation why. The why is this,
the kid was too good, and someone got to him.”

“Is that a threat? Are you here to hurt me?”

“Kid, I don’t kill anyone. And, if I did decide to kill someone, I certainly wouldn’t talk to
them first.”

Suddenly the friendly old man seemed a lot more sinister, or at least dangerous.

“There is something else. Some people can take another person’s talent. Dylan Miles will
never again be as fast and lucky as he was last night. You will be faster and luckier than
before.”

“I hurt him. I was thinking, the only way we could win was if his leg broke, and then snap
it broke. I wanted it to break. Now it makes me sick.”

“You and Dylan went head to head. Your will against his. It was dangerous. Your will
came out on top, he lost a lot of his talent, you gained it. But the thing is, neither of you
knew what was happening. It’s not your fault. You wanted to win. You wanted his leg to
break. But – you never expected your wish to make it true. You don’t have anything to
feel guilty about.”

“I still feel guilty.”

“Well, I’m glad you feel that way. It says good things about your character. But think
back to last night. What would you have said if I had come to you before the game and
said: ‘You’ll lose this game unless Dylan breaks his leg. Do you want me to break his
leg?’”

“I would have said: ‘No! No way! Don’t do it.’”

“Exactly. But there are people out there that would want your talent, if they knew you had
it, and they thought they could take it from you.”

“In fact, that’s a big part of why I’m here in town today. I suspected talent was involved
when two undefeated teams met and one quarterback’s leg broke for no reason. But, I’m
cleaning up the evidence. I don’t think word of this will get out. This will give you a little
time.”
“A little time?”

“I think I’ve covered it up well enough. Bad people won’t find out about your talent, for a
while. But as you learn about your talent, it will develop and grow. Get stronger.
Eventually bad people will find out and come for you. I’m sorry, it always happens. But
the stronger you are, the better your chances for survival. You might survive by slipping
away, blinking. You might survive by beating them in a head-to-head fight.”

“When will they come after me?”

“No idea. But, fly under the radar. Stay off TV. Stay out of the newspapers. Denver is
actually a good place for you. In a smaller city your talent would stand out more, be more
obvious. Larger cities have more talented people. More likely you would cross paths with
someone talented. Most of them can sense someone with a talent as strong as yours.”

“Sense?”

“Walk over there on the grass, about twenty feet away.” I did what he said.

“Close your eyes and walk slowly toward me.”

I did that. As I walked toward him with my eyes closed, I could feel this golden glow in
front of me. Suddenly the glow was gone! No, it was behind me. I opened my eyes.

“You blinked.”

“I did, and you felt when I did it – right?”

“Yes. How far away can you sense me?”

“Abilities grow over time. Hopefully, you’ll never have to face anyone as, *cough* old as
me. You have a lot of talent and I could feel it twenty miles away.”

I was still feeling his golden aura and when he said “twenty miles” I felt an ugly green
ripple go through his aura. He’d lied. My eyes must have widened because he knew I
knew.

“Ok, more than 20 miles, but I’m not going to tell you how far. A long way. OK?”

“Also, you only felt that lie because I didn’t hide it. Hiding lies is not difficult once you
learn how.”

“There are a few other things you should know before I leave you on your own.”

“Practice your talents as much as you can, but do it where no one can see you. Don’t end
up on camera or the news. Does that make sense?”
“Yes.”

“Stay away from Vegas. Don’t try to win the lottery. Every successful casino is protected
by someone with talent, probably a whole lot more than you have. You would win a bunch
of money, but then a week or two after you got home, you would drop dead of a heart
attack or die in a car accident or something. There’s a whole brotherhood of talent
protecting the casinos in Vegas. It’s the most dangerous place in the world for someone
with talent, if you’re not in that brotherhood.”

“Got it.”

“People like us, with talent, develop an affinity, or become ‘attuned’ to places and physical
objects. You wore the same jersey to every football game in high school, right?”

“Yes.”

“If someone of talent wore that jersey it would probably make them a bit better at football.
It certainly made you better. Michael Jordan wore his college basketball trunks under his
professional uniform – and for good reason, they did help him play better.”

“Ok”.

“Something similar can happen with your home town. Walk around it as much as possible.
Over time, visit every region around the city, especially all around the edge of the city. It’s
a gradual process, but over time, Denver will become attuned to you, or you will become
attuned to it. I’m not sure which. In any case, you will know when someone with talent
enters your city. You’ll feel where they are a lot sooner. That knowledge might save your
life some day.”

“Ok, I will.”

“Finally, I have a gift for you.”

Nick pulled a small clear case out of his pocket. Inside was a silver ring set with a
brilliantly polished black onyx stone.

He opened the case and dropped the ring into my hand.

“For you.”

There was something different, special about the ring. I put it on the ring finger of my
right hand. It fit perfectly. It felt slightly warm. Wearing it, I felt – slightly different,
better. I can’t describe it.

“Is it real silver?”

“No. White gold. It was worn for a very long time by a talented friend of mine. Probably
it belonged to someone talented before him. The ring is hundreds of years old.”

“What does it do?”

“I’m not certain. I never touched it. But judging by the abilities of my friend, it may make
you a little wiser, a little stronger in the talent, you may get a slight advance warning of
dangerous situations. I hope so. If you wear it for ten years, the ring will be slightly
stronger than it is today.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Take good care of it. Never tell anyone what it is. There are a lot of
talented people that would kill for that ring.”

I nodded.

“Well, I’ve said my piece. Take care. Stay alive.” He gave me a quick hug and for a
moment I was filled with the most wonderful warmth and peace. Then he walked briskly
away. I wondered why he hadn’t blinked, and then I saw a mother with two kids playing
on the other side of the park. Secrecy, of course.

I sat on the table for some time thinking. Then I jogged around the park. Sand Creek Park
has a long jogging trail.

What did it all mean? I didn’t know what to think.

The next day was Sunday. Remembering Nick’s advice I drove over to Cherry Creek State
Park and jogged around the lake. It felt good.

I came home and showered and then grabbed Yahtzee and a deck of cards out of the closet.
I took them to my room and closed the door. I pulled out the five dies from Yahtzee and
rolled them onto my desk. Five 6’s came up. I rolled five 6’s again. Then I willed, or
wished for five 1’s. I rolled five 1’s. I rolled five 1’s again. Then I wished for something
different and rolled 1-2-3-4-5. Next I rolled 2-3-4-5-6.

My heart was beating a little faster. I really could do this.

I put the dies away, and opened the deck of cards. I shuffled three times, then cut the
deck. Ace of spades came up. I shuffled a couple more times, cut the deck and dealt four
aces.

What was the best hand in poker? Royal flush. I shuffled the deck a couple more times
and then dealt five cards. Ace of Diamonds, King of Diamonds, Queen of Diamonds, Jack
of Diamonds, Ten of Diamonds. Royal Flush!
I concentrated hard and shuffled several more times, then turned over the deck. All 52
cards in order, first spades, ace, king, queen, jack, 10, 9, down to 2, then all the diamonds
in order, then all the clubs, and finally all the hearts in order. I could make the cards or
dice do whatever I wanted them to do.

I put away the cards and the Yahtzee game.

Monday after school I went jogging through the Aurora Sports Park next to the Buckley
Air Base. It’s a big park, and with the winter weather it was practically deserted. The
white gold ring with the onyx stone was comforting warmth, like an old friend.

I jogged to the back corner, behind the baseball fields. Nobody else was around. I
concentrated on a spot 100 feet away and tried to “blink”, or in other words, to move
instantly to that point. Nothing happened. I concentrated harder, but still nothing. I
clenched my fists and concentrated so hard I shivered. Nothing. Maybe it was too far. I
concentrated on a point 10 feet away. I concentrated very hard. I didn’t budge, nothing
happened. I knew I had done it at least once, but I didn’t remember how I’d done it. It
had not been a conscious act. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. I finished jogging
around the park.

Tuesday after school I drove further and went jogging around the lake at Beak Lake State
Park. When I was jogging around the back side of the lake, there was nobody around.
While jogging I tried to blink forward, but I couldn’t make it happen. I sprinted, trying to
blink forward, like a hyper speed run. Nothing happened. I stopped and tried to blink
from a stopped position. I tried points close and points far away. I couldn’t blink.

Wednesday after should I went closer to the center of town and jogged around Carmenisch
Park. Water World there is a favorite spot for a hot summer day. I jogged around the park
twice, trying to soak up or attune to the park or area or whatever. I had no idea if I was
doing it right.

You see a lot when you go jogging through the park. I noticed that some of the buildings
had elaborate graffiti on the backs of the building. The graffiti was, in it’s own way
beautiful and artistic. But, somehow it made the buildings look shabby. I didn’t like it.

Thursday I went jogging around the three baseball fields at Skyline Vista Park, another
park that was close to the center of Denver. I noticed more graffiti, which seemed to be in
the same style as the graffiti in Carmenisch Park. I admired the artistic quality but the fact
that buildings in my city were being marked up annoyed me.

Friday I had a lot of homework and so after school I jogged at the nearby Overland Park
golf course. I tried blinking a few times, but nothing worked. I spent the rest of Friday
afternoon and evening on homework. I finished some reading and an essay for my
economics class.
Saturday I got organized. There are over 200 parks just in Denver, and I printed out a list
and map. There are many more parks if you include the surrounding towns such as
Littleton, Lakewood, Thornton and Westminster. On my computer I made a list of my
favorite parks that were outside of town and more on the fringe of the Denver Metropolitan
area.

Sunday I randomly picked one of the Denver parks, Mestizo-Curtis Park, found it on the
map and drove to it. It was tiny, only two blocks long! I jogged around it a couple of
times and notice graffiti painted on the back of the bathrooms. It seemed to be in the same
artistic style I had seen before. This was getting annoying.

Monday I jogged at Huston Lake near my home. “Huston Lake” is really just a big pond.
While I jogged, I thought about all the graffiti. I didn’t like it. Maybe I was becoming
“attuned” to Denver? It certainly felt like “my” city, but it had felt like “my” city my
whole life.

Was there some way I could use my “lucky talent” to do something about the graffiti? The
white gold ring with the onyx stone seemed to give a pulse of warmth. I wanted to give it
a try, but I had no idea what to do.

Tuesday I looked at my list of parks. City Park, which is next to the Denver Zoo seemed
to stand out, but I really didn’t have time to go there after school. No, I could go if I
hurried. I drove over to the park and went jogging through it. I saw more graffiti, a mix of
styles, most of it ugly. There were one or two examples of the more artistic graffiti as
well. But, what did seeing graffiti accomplish? It just made me madder.

Wednesday I went with some friends to a movie and didn’t go jogging at all.

Thursday I went jogging at Daniels Park on the south edge of town.

Friday after school I sat in my room staring at my big map of Denver and list of parks. I
could jog places with graffiti or I could job places without graffiti. What did that
accomplish? Ok, I had to catch the guy in the act. In fact, that was the solution. Catch the
guy painting graffiti, and then call and tell the police. They would come and arrest the
guy, problem solved! I was excited to finally have a plan.

So, where was the guy painting graffiti? I marked all the parks on the map where I had
seen that beautiful style of graffiti. Something about Berkely Lake park stood out to me. I
drove up there, parked, and jogged around the park.

I guess I expected to jog right up and see the guy painting the side of a building, but I
jogged around the park and didn’t see the guy. In fact I didn’t see any graffiti either. A
couple of buildings had that painted over look, indicating that they’d had graffiti in the
past, but there was nothing there now.
Then I realized the problem. It was 4:30 in the afternoon. Nobody paints graffiti in broad
daylight. In fact, you never saw people painting graffiti at all – it just showed up in the
middle of the night when nobody was looking.

I called my Mom and told her I was going to have dinner, catch a movie and be home late.
I was deliberately vague about “late”.

Dinner was just a sandwich at Arby’s and it was a short drive over to an AMC multiplex. I
picked an action comedy. It wasn’t great, but it was funny enough.

Then I went back to the park and walked all around for a while. On one side were some
bathrooms with a broad back wall.

I realized the graffiti artist wouldn’t do anything if he saw people around. By this time I
seemed to be the only one in the park. I walked away as if I were going home, but then
circled back. A couple hundred feet away I found a dark corner where I could hide and
watch a lot of the park, especially the back wall of those bathrooms.

I waited and waited. How long was I going to wait until the guy showed up. It was 11:30,
and I was thinking about going home at midnight. But, somehow that felt like a mistake.

I waited some more. I might have dozed off for a few minutes. Then I looked up and I
saw a guy standing at the back wall of the bathrooms. It was 12:30. He pulled out a spray
can and started painting.

I had my cell phone out to call the police, but I hesitated. This wasn’t a life threatening
emergency, was it even OK to call 911?

Also, I didn’t really want the guy to go to jail, I just wanted him to stop painting graffiti.

Very quietly I walked up behind the guy. I got pretty close without him noticing me. I
said in a loud firm voice: “That’s illegal you know!”

The guy jumped. At first I thought it was a kid, younger than me. But then I saw the guy
was a bit older than me, just very thin and a bit short.

He stared at me sullenly. Finally he said, “What, is this your park or something?”

“No.”, I said. “I just don’t like you messing up my city.”

“Your city.”, he said disdainfully.

“Ok, everyone’s city. You’re trashing our city.”, I replied.

“What I paint is beautiful. It’s not trash.”, he replied.

“Well I don’t like it on the buildings. But you do paint some amazing stuff. You ought to
be an artists.”

“I wish”, said the guy.

“Well, why don’t you?”, I asked.

He sighed. “That’s my dream. But, to be an artist, you need to go to art school. $6000. If
I went, then I could be an artist.”

“$6000? That’s all it would take?”

“That’s a lot more than I have.”

“So, you’re not even trying.”

“I didn’t say that. I’m working, but it’s minimum wage at 7-11. I don’t smoke, I don’t
drink. I save up as much as I can. I’ve got $1000 saved up. But at this rate, I won’t get
into art school until I’m 30.”

I realized, with a little luck, we could solve both our problems.

“Could we make a deal? If you get into art school right away, would you stop painting
buildings?”

“Hell yes. I’ll tell you what. If I get into art school right away, I’ll go back and paint over
everything I ever painted.”

“Ok, deal. Let’s try an experiment. Do you know where the closest 7-11 is?”

“Sure, right over there just a couple blocks away.”

“Can I buy you a cup of coffee?”

“Sure, whatever.”

We walked over. He introduced himself as “Will”. I introduced myself as “Drew”. We

got to 7-11 and he both got a cup of coffee.

“Here’s the experiment”, I said, handing him a $5 bill. “Buy a scratch-it ticket.”

His brow furrowed as if he was thinking, “what the hell?”, but he went along with it.

I paid for the coffee. He bought a $5 scratch-it ticket.

We walked out into the parking lot. I handed him his coffee. “Let’s see what you won.”
He murmured “stupid”, pulled out a quarter and started scratching. Six numbers to scratch
off, you had to get 3 matches. First was $10,000. Then $10. Then $10,000. Then $100.
Then $10. Then $50.

“I’ve either won $10, $10,000 or nothing.” He laughed.

He scraped off the last number. $10,000.

He stared at it. He stared at it some more. Then his hand started to shake. “No way.” He
said. “No way.” He repeated. He drew in a long deep breath.

“Is this real? Is this some kind of trick or prank TV show or something?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “No trick. You just won $10,000.”

He looked at me like I was some kind of alien. “How did you know?”, he asked.

I winked at him. “I didn’t know. I just hoped.”

He kept looking at the ticket over and over as if he expected it to disappear or something.

Finally I said: “I’m going to hold you to painting over your graffiti, but you should take
photos of it first. It is beautiful, and you ought to save it.”

I smiled at him. I had a good feeling about this. Will was going to be OK. I started
walking back to my car.

“What is your name? I mean what is your last name?”, he yelled after me.

I gave him a friendly wave, but didn’t answer.

----

For the rest of the school year Drew “flew low on the radar”. He did his homework. He
stayed off TV and out of the newspapers. He drove, walked and jogged around Denver a
lot, trying to get to know the feeling of every part of the city. There seemed to be less
grafitti. He saw that Will had cleaned up the “artistic” graffiti, and maybe had even gone
the extra mile and cleaned up others as well.

Every few days he tried to “blink”, but he never managed to do it.

Chapter: An Unexpected Job Offer

Four white haired men stood around a fresh grave. The youngest, in his sixties, was
wearing a suit. The oldest, in his eighties, was wearing a buckskin jacket with beautiful
native American bead work. The other two looked like ranchers with western hats, jeans
and sturdy leather jackets.

“This was not an accident.”, said one of the ranchers.

“We know.”, said the one wearing a suit.

Nobody spoke for a long time.

The oldest spoke, his voice slow and gravely, but strong. “Without a luck guardian to
watch over the casino, we will soon start to loose money. First a trickle, then a flood.”

“We’ll go out of business?”, asked the other rancher.

“No, before that happens, an investor from Los Vegas, Atlantic City or Dubai will make us
an ‘offer we cannot refuse’. They will keep the tribe name, we will receive a tiny share of
the profits. But the casino will no longer be ours. They will bring in outsiders. No more
jobs for the people of the tribe.”

“There is nothing we can do?” asked the youngest.

Silence hung for heavy moments.

“Our way is perilous now. There is no guaranteed path to success. No one in our tribe has
the power. Our only chance it to find someone from outside. It will be difficult. If the
new guardian is too weak, he will not survive. If the new guardian is too strong, he or she
will eat up the tribe.”

“Can’t we hire someone from another casino?” asked one of the ranchers.

“You don’t hire someone to dedicate their life to watching over our casino and our tribe. It
is more like a marriage. We don’t have anything to offer a luck guardian that is already
successful at another casino. The unsuccessful ones are dead. We must take the risk of
someone unproven.”

“Well, fine, lets do it.”

“No. I will only do it if I have your complete support. Your unanimous agreement.
Understand this, we will be seeking a true partnership. I will, I must, offer them half
ownership in the casino.”

“Half?!”, gasped the one in the suit.

“Half?”, repeated one of the ranchers. “That’s ridiculous! The casino is worth millions of
dollars.”

“You see, this is why I will not do it. Because you are not willing to have half of
something, you will have all of nothing. This is not an employee we will hire. This is a
great spirit we invite to live in our home. What value is money to such as that? Think on
the beautiful young woman in this grave. She was willing to risk everything for her tribe.
What value is money to her now? I told you she was not strong enough, but you would not
listen.”

“We didn’t have anyone else!”

“Now we don’t even have her.”

They waited for the oldest to say more, but he had said everything he had to say.

Finally, the youngest said: “I am ready to listen now. I give my full support to whatever
you decide.”

The two ranchers walked away and talked with each other for a long time.

When they returned one of them said: “We agree as well. We give our full support to
whatever you decide.”

“Huh.”, huffed the old man, his way of saying yes.

“I cannot promise success. But I will do all I can, to find a new guardian.”

“How will you find the new guardian?”

The old man took an ancient ivory cube out of a small black pouch.

“I will pray.”

---

Drew noticed the old Indian sitting at a picnic table alone, rolling a die, over and over. The
indian was wearing a buckskin jacket adorned with beautiful beadwork. He rolled the die,
looked at it for a second, and then rolled it again. It was like a ritual.

Then Drew remembered seeing the same man, about a week ago, rolling a die at a park
halfway across town.

Drew was curious and quietly walked over.

The die was not marked with dots but with tiny carvings of animals. When the old man
noticed Drew’s interest, he handed the die to Drew so he could take a close look at it.
Drew looked at each side, and then handed the die back. He explained with a slow, strong,
gravely voice, holding up each of the sides.

“Bear is earth. Eagle is air. Fish is water. Thunderbird is spirit. Panther is fire. Crow is
death.”

The old man resumed rolling the die, slowly, methodically.

“What are you doing?”, Drew asked.

“I am hunting.”, the old man replied.

Drew was puzzled. “Hunting what?”

“I will know when I find it.”

Drew looked at the die, and it came up Thunderbird. The old man rolled and Thunderbird
came up again. Then again. And again. And again.

“Does it always come up the same way?”

“No. I have been doing this for three weeks. This is the first time this has happened.”

“What does it mean?”, Drew asked.

The corner’s of the old man’s mouth twitched upward for a half second in what might have
been a hint of a smile.

“It means I have found what I was hunting.”

Drew laughed.

“You were looking for me?”

“It appears so.”

“Why?”

“Have you graduated from High School? College?”, asked the old man.

“Not yet, I graduate next Tuesday. In the fall I’m going to University of Colorado.”

“That is good. Do you have a summer job?”

Drew laughed. “Last year I swept the floor at Walmart.”

“Did you hope to do that again this year?”

“Not really!”

“I am hunting for a partner. My tribe has a business, but we need a partner. Someone that
can bring us good luck. This die was carved from the tooth of an old and very lucky bear.
Apparently the tooth believes you are the kind of partner I was looking for. If you are
interested, it could be a summer job for you. Probably better than sweeping the floor at
Walmart.”

“What would the partner do?”

“If you will humor an old man, can I tell you over dinner? Can we have dinner after you
have graduated? Perhaps Wednesday evening?”

“Ok, that would be fine.”

“Do you prefer beef or chicken?”

“Either is great. Beef I guess.”

“Here is my card. It has my address. Come at 5:00 pm, and enjoy the hospitality of my
home.”

“I’ll be there!”

Drew looked at the card: “Mason Williams doesn’t sound like an Indian name.”

“It’s not. My grandfather was white. The other seven eigths of me are Jicarilla.”

“My name is Drew Astrapi. Astrapi is greek, but I don’t know what percent greek I am.
I’m a little bit of everything.”

“Well met, Drew Astrapi. I’ll look forward to dining with you on Wednesday.”

---

The days flew by. Drew was excited about graduating and getting the summer off. He
was even more excited to find out what Mason Williams had in mind.

---

On Wednesday, Drew allowed plenty of time and arrived a few minutes before five. Drew
hadn’t known what to expect, but was surprised that the address was for a hotel, not a
home. He asked for Mason Williams at the front desk and the pretty clerk smiled.
“Grandpa Williams! No one calls him Mason. His suite is 517.”

“He lives in the hotel?”

“He is one of the tribal business managers. The hotel and casino are the largest businesses
of the tribe. He complains that it is like a 24 hour job, so he might as well live here. He
complains that we never pay him overtime!”

----

The four white haired men sat around the table.

The oldest, Mason Williams explained: “He is young. Do not be surprised. His luck is
very strong. We will be very fortunate if he will join us.”

The youngest, worried: “You said too strong was dangerous.”

“It is, but every road is dangerous now. Understand this, he must join us willingly. We
need him. His life will be in danger with us. I will agree to anything he requests.”

“Anything?”, exclaimed one of the ranchers. “We’re already giving him half the casino!”

“Trust me in this. For us to have any chance of success you must support me without
question. We must present a united front. Do you understand?”

Their heads were all nodding when Drew knocked on the door.

----

Drew took the elevator to the fifth floor. The door at the end of the hall said 517. Drew
knocked.

Mason opened the door and led Drew in.

“Our tribe has four business managers. We are elected to two year terms and represent the
interests of the eight thousand tribe members. The four of us have served many terms. I
guess the tribe likes the job we are doing.”

Mason gestured at the youngest: “This is Kim Pepper. He’s also a manager at a local bank,
not affiliated with the tribe. He looks like a banker, don’t you think?”. Drew smiled and
shook his hand.

Mason gestured at the two ranchers. “These are Roger and Carl Featherstone. They are
brothers. When not working for the tribe they run a ranch. What do you fellows raise on
your ranch? Bunny rabbits?”
The Featherstones shook Drew’s hand and smiled. “Shetland Ponies. They’re popular
with the kids.”

Everyone sat down.

“You’re going to tell me about some kind of summer job?”

Mason nodded. “Yes. But, dinner first, then business. One of the benefits of recruiting
for the casino is that the casino’s restaurant will provide the meal.”

There was a knock at the door and it was room service with dinner.

Drew was amazed at the food. It was the biggest, juiciest, tenderest stake he had ever seen.
Fluffy mashed potatoes with a hint of garlic. A fancy green salad with tangy French
dressing. Amazing apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drew could only eat about
half of it.

“We’ll give you a box to take the rest home.”

Everyone finished eating and the room service waiter cleared the table.

“Drew, back in the park you were not surprised when I said we were looking for someone
lucky, and I thought that person was you. Why not?”

Drew didn’t know what to say. Finally he murmured. “I know I’m pretty lucky.”

“For the benefit of the other business managers, could we do a demonstration? A test if
you will?”

Drew nodded his head. “Sure.”

Mason went to the door and let in a beautiful young lady. She was tall, willowy, with
native American features, a brilliant smile and long, luxuriant black hair. She was wearing
a casino dealer’s uniform.

“This is one of the casino’s best black jack dealers. She’s Seanie, one of my grand
daughters.”

“As in Shawnee Indians?”, asked Drew inquisitively.

“No, my mom was counting on a boy and was planning on the name ‘Sean’. Instead a girl
showed up, so I got the name ‘Seanie’.”, she smiled.

“Drew, do you know how to play Black Jack?”, asked Mason.

“Sure, I used to play cards with my grandma.”

“Drew, you’re taking a couple of hours of your time to hear our proposal. Here is $20
payment for your time.” Mason placed a pile of 20 white chips in front of Drew.

“Seanie brought a stack of 100 white chips as the ‘bank’ for this game. I want you to try to
win all 100 of those chips if you can. In fact, try to do it as fast as you can.”

Drew nodded his head. He liked a challenge.

“Seanie, don’t make it easy on Drew. Really shuffle that deck, OK?”

“Of course.” Answered Seanie.

Seanie shuffled the deck, and it was a beautiful thing to watch. The cards flowed through
her fingers like living things. She’d done this for years. She was a professional. She
shuffled the deck rapidly, at least nine times.

Drew put out one white chip as his starting bet. Drew’s first card was a 10 of spades.
Seanie delt her down card. Drew’s up card was the ace of spades. Seanie’s up card was
the 3 of spades. Seanie turned over her down card. The 2 of spades.

In a subdued voice Seanie said, “Player has Blackjack. Dealer pays three for two. Since
we can’t split a chip, player wins two.” Everyone in the room sensed they were seeing
something highly unusual.

Drew left out the 3 white chips as his next bet.

His next two cards were the ten and ace of clubs. Roger Featherstone sucked in his breath.
Seanie’s cards were the 2 and 3 of clubs.

“Player has Black Jack, dealer pays three for two.” Murmured Seanie as she gave Drew
five more chips. Drew let it ride, now betting 8.

“Burn a few cards.” Said Carl Featherstone. Seannie’s hands moved so fast the almost
seemed to blur and several cards were set aside. She dealt again.

Drew got the 10 and ace of diamonds. Seannie got the two and three of diamonds, in
order, again. Seannie grinned a little and shook her head. “Player has Black Jack, dealer
pays three for two.” She gave Drew 12 chips, he let it ride for a bet of 20.

“Cut the deck.” Said Kim Pepper. Seannie cut around the middle and discarded the top
half of the deck. She dealt from the remaining cards.

Drew got the 10 and ace of hearts. Seannie got the two and three of hearts. Seannie shook
her head again. “People think Grandpa Mason is a little crazy, the way he talks about
things. Then you see stuff like this. Player has Black Jack, dealer pays three to two.” She
gave Drew 30 chips, neat in stack of ten. Drew had five neat stacks of ten, for a bet of 50.
Seannie had 51 chips left.

She dealt. Drew got the 7 of hearts and the 7 of diamonds, for a total of 14. Seannie had
the queen of hearts up, and her hold card was still face down. Drew tapped, signaling
another card, and she dealt him a card, the 7 of clubs. 21 with three sevens. She flipped
over her hold card. King of hearts. “Dealer has 20, player wins with 21.”

Seannie pushed over 50 white chips, Drew’s winnings for the hand. She set the last chip
down next to Drew’s pile and said. “Dealer thanks the player for the demonstration, and
hopes she never has to face him in a real game.” Seannie winked and walked out the door,
with a bounce that caught Drew’s eye. The rest was up to the business boys.

“How does he do it? He doesn’t even touch the cards!” exclaimed Roger.

“It wouldn’t be luck if it was something he did with his hands.”, replied Carl.

Kim’s face was pale and his eyes wide, as if he’d seen a ghost.

“It is obvious that you are the lucky partner we have been looking for.”

“Partner?” asked Drew.

“To enter into this partnership, we require three things. First, you will make this place
your home. Half of the top floor is a large suite. It is empty now, but it is where our
previous lucky partner lived. You will sleep here most nights. While under our roof, we
will provide your food.”

Drew frowned. “This meal was wonderful. Fantastic. But, I don’t have the money to eat
like this every day.”

“We provide it, there is no charge.”, explained Mason.

“Oh, it’s part of my pay.” Mason’s head gave a single shake. “You can think of it that
way if you want. But, we think of it as a ‘Thank you’ for making your home with us.”

“Ok.”, Drew nodded.

Mason continued, “Second, share your luck with us, wish us well.”

“You mean, make the players loose?” asked Drew, with a pained face.

“No. The games must be fair. It is very important. If it is harder to win in our casino,
players will figure this out and stay away. The casino fails. Sharing your luck means
simply, wishing us well. With you living under our roof, a thousand little things go right.
The power does not fail during a concert. The beef we buy turns out to be good and
tender. Our employees smile a little more. It is many small things, but it makes a big
difference.”

“I don’t understand exactly what I’m supposed to do.” Stated Drew.

“It is as simple as wishing us well. Thinking of us as friends. If some issue comes up that
causes your concern, then sit down and talk with us so we can work it out and be friends.
That is all. Nothing more.”

“Ok. I already feel like we could be . . . friends.” Replied Drew.

“Third and finally is the hardest thing. We are a place of gambling, we play games of
chance for money. One such as yourself, or even one with much less luck, could take a lot
of money from us. Over time, they could take all our money. The toughest part is, that
you agree to ‘shoo them away’.”

“How do I do that?” asked Drew.

“I don’t know. I just know that you can do it. I would say, you pit your luck against them,
and they aren’t able to use their luck to win.”

“Wouldn’t I have to be here 24 hours a day? I don’t want to do that.”

“I don’t think so. I think, as long as this is your home, your influence will be here even
when you are not. If someone strong comes, they may win while you are not here. You
may feel it, and may feel the need to come back. What you do is up to you. But, we can
afford to have some big winners. In a way, winners are good for business. We just can’t
have big winners every single day, with no end.”

“I must explain something else.”, continued Mason. “Being our lucky partner is not
without risk. The last one was my grand daughter Selma. Her luck was not nearly as
strong as yours. It was a mistake to ask her. She was not strong enough. Everything
seemed to be going ok. She was going to school at the community college. Three months
ago she was driving to school when a cement truck went out of control, ran a stop light and
crushed her car.”

“An accident?” asked Drew.

Mason shook his head sadly. “Like an accident, but not an accident.”

Now it was Drew’s face that was pale.

“Why are you asking me?”

“None of the people of our tribe have the strong luck that is required. We have been
searching for a lucky partner for three months. We have lost money every week since
Selma’s been gone. It’s not yet serious, but it soon will be. We carry a reserve, but over
half of it is gone.”

Drew nodded thoughtfully.

“You haven’t told me what the pay would be.”

Mason explained. “You would be an equal owning partner. When the hotel and casino
make money you would receive an equal share. But, when we don’t make money, you
don’t make money either. Exactly the same as the tribal owners.”

“You mean, I would receive a share of the profits, just like I was a member of your tribe?”

“No. The tribe would be one equal partner. You would be the other.”

Drew squinted at Mason. “You mean, half?”

“Yes. Half of the profits, when we are making profits. If we are making profits. But, with
the strength of your luck, I don’t believe that will be a problem.”

“But, roughly, how much money is that?”, asked Drew.

“Well, in a good month, it’s around $4 or $5 million.”, explained Mason.

Drew looked like he had been hit with a brick. “My share would be half of that??”

Mason nodded.

“I can’t. That would be . . . too much.”

“What would be right?”, asked Mason.

“I don’t know.”, Drew thought for a few moments. “Ten percent? Would that be OK?”

“Agreed” said Mason, firmly.

“I have to talk to my parents first, OK?”

“Agreed”, answered Mason.

“I need to sleep on it. Dad says always sleep on a big decision. Can I tell you tomorrow?”

“Yes, that would be fine.”

“What is my, errr, official job title? When people ask me what my job is here, I shouldn’t
say ‘Lucky Partner’, right?”

“Definitely not. What do you think your official title should be?”

“I was thinking about that. Could I be a ‘Business Management Intern’? I’m getting into
the Business program at University of Colorado at Denver.”

“Your official title will be: Business Management Intern.”

“What about in the fall when I start classes at University of Colorado?”

“It’s only a 20 minute drive. We would be happy to provide a car and driver.”

“Hmmm, OK. Alright. I’ll let you know tomorrow. But, could I take a look at my
room?”

----

It was around 10 pm when Drew got home.

“How was the interview?”, asked him Mom. But, she could tell by the look on Drew’s
face that he was in a great mood.

During the whole drive home Drew had thought about what to say. He had never talked
with his parents about bending reality, and he didn’t intend to. So, he was going to bend
the truth – a bit.

“The interview went great. They treated me to a fantastic steak dinner.”

“What’s the job?”, asked Dad.

“I’ll be a Business Management Intern. I’ll learn everything about how they run the hotel
and casino businesses. I’ll learn about profit, loss, expenses, security, partnerships, lots of
stuff. I can keep working in the fall when classes start, but with reduced hours.”

“Did they like you?”, asked Mom.

“They must have, I got an offer!”

“What’s the pay like?”, asked Dad.

“A lot better than Walmart.”

“$20 an hour?”
“A bit more. This is a really good opportunity.”, Drew felt a twinge of guilt about not
saying more, but this didn’t seem like the time.

Dad clapped his shoulder. “Congratulations, son. Did you accept?”

“I told them I wanted to sleep on it, and I wanted to talk with the two of you. One thing, I
would need to move into the hotel. Sleeping there, pretty much living there is part of the
internship. If things go well, it would continue into the fall when I start classes at
University of Colorado. Do you think I should take the job?”

“It sounds great.”, said Mom.

“Well the pay sounds great. But is it something you want to do?”

“I think it would be great.”, said Drew.

“Then go for it!”, replied Dad.

----

I moved my stuff in Friday. My penthouse suite was amazing. Beautiful view of the
Denver skyline. Hot tub for a bathtub. Leather couches. Black granite counters. Totally
amazing.

Saturday morning was my first day on the job. I realized I had no idea what to do. I went
down to room 517 to ask Mason.

I knocked on his door, and he let me in. He was carving some kind of figurine on his table.

“Good morning Mason.”

“Good morning Drew.”

“Uhhhh, what am I supposed to do?”

“Good question.”

I waited for more.

Mason looked thoughtful, and then continued. “You should do what you feel you should
do. I believe it would be good for you to walk through the gaming floor from time to time.
Not to make anything happen, but to get a feel for what is happening.”

He thought a bit more. “Introduce yourself to the Security Manager, and get to know the
Security team. As often, or as rarely as you feel you should, go to the security room and
watch the cameras that cover the gaming floor.”
He took a deep breath. “If you will, I would encourage you to meet everyone. Get to
know the people in the kitchen and what they do. Spend time in the restaurant. Ask the
grounds keepers to give you a tour. Have house keeping teach you what they do.”

“Ok, I can do that. How many hours a week should I be working?”

“That is totally up to you. Instead of thinking of it as ‘working’, perhaps you will think of
it as ‘living’. If you see anything that concerns you, even just an uneasy feeling, come talk
to me, or talk to someone in charge of that area.”

“Ok, I will do that.”

There were a few quiet moments. Mason seemed to be done talking. I decided to bring up
something that was bothering me.

“Do you have a smaller suite I could move into?”

“Why? Is there something wrong with your suite?”

“No. It’s amazing, incredible. But, it’s too big for me. It’s more than I need. Doesn’t it
cost the hotel a lot of money to not have the suite available for guests?”

“It costs the hotel a lot of money to go out of business. Yes, quests would pay a lot for that
suite, but, we have the other penthouse suites that available. Often they are empty because
we don’t have anyone looking for high end accommodations. The hotel is rarely full, so in
a certain sense, your rooms don’t cost us anything.”

He continued, “But, the rooms represent something important to our people, our tribe.
Your presence protects us, helps us. There is also danger for yourself. We owe you
thanks. When you eat with us, that is one way we show our thanks. By giving you that
suite, we give you the best we have to offer. It is a way to show our thanks. It is important
for us. If we could not give you our best, we would be . . . I suppose we would be . . .
sad.”

I took a deep breath. “Ok, I think I understand. I love my suite. Thank you.”

Mason gave a quick nod. “Everyone in the tribe knows your role. Other long time
employees know, or have guessed. But none of them will talk about it. To other
employees you will simply be a ‘Business Management Intern’.”

I nodded my head to Mason.

And so, I went to “work”, if you can call it that.

I decided the first thing I should do was walk through the gaming floor.
The Thunder Bird Casino had Black Jack, Bacarat, Craps, Roulette, Poker, and row after
row of slot machines. The place was packed, as was normal for a Saturday. I circulated
leisurely, watching games, getting a feel for the place. I felt a little uneasy about
something, but it was very hard to put my finger on what was bothering me.

I walked through the floor again. Most of the dealers and staff had a little nod for me.
Word must have gotten around that today was my first day. Here and there I saw security
staff, who gave me a crisp nod that felt like a salute.

My unease was growing and I realized I’d unconsciously drifted toward the Black Jack
tables.

I saw Seanie dealing and gave her a big smile, but she didn’t even notice me. Her posture
was stiff, she must be really stressed out. I looked at the players at her table and felt very
uneasy about a bald, middle aged man. The bald guy had unusually white skin like he
didn’t get out in the sun very often. He didn’t have a big pile of chips, but two of the other
players at the table did. As I watched both of them won another hand and collected a
substantial addition to their chips.

I briefly closed my eyes and tried to “feel” for the bald guy. It was as if I sensed a faint
aura of lavendar smoke around him.

Very leisurely I walked over to the other side of the floor and found one of the security
guys.

“Hi, I’m Drew Astrapi. Today’s my first day.”

“Yes, I know sir. We were briefed by Mr. Williams.”. It was weird being called “Sir”. I
don’t think it had ever happened before.

“Could I talk with the security manager?”

“Right this way, sir.”

We wound through a few corridors and reached the security office. There was a large
room with dozens of camera monitors. You could see all around the hotel and casino, but
most of the cameras were on the gaming floor.

The security manager’s name was Tracey Dewey.

“Hi Mr. Dewey, I’m Drew Astrapi. It’s my first day.”

He shook my hand, “Welcome on board. Call me ‘Trace’, everyone does!”

“I wanted to talk with you about Seanie’s table.”

Tracey pointed at one of the monitors which was a ceiling camera view of Seanie dealing.
“Right. We’ve been watching it. That table is down $100,000. When we had a dealer
change, we put in Seanie. But, it didn’t help. We don’t think they are cheating.”

“I’ll just watch the game for a while.”

“Yes sir.”

On the next round, both players with large piles of chips placed large bets and won. The
bald guy that made him feel uneasy placed a small bet and lose.

Closing his eyes, Drew could almost feel some kind of murky deep blue aura around the
bald guy. Apparently they were some kind of team. The bald guy had the talent to bend
luck and reality. He made the other players win big. The casino might ban them, but there
was no reason to ban him.

Drew thought about making them lose, but that wasn’t what the casino was asking him to
do. He concentrated on the bald guy and simply wished for a fair game. Abruptly the bald
guy shivered. On the next hand Seanie got black jack and everyone lost. The big winners
reduced their bet. On the next hand one of them won, the other lost. The bald guy won a
small bet of $10. The bald guy rubbed his forehead and took a drink of water.

They played for another 20 minutes, winning some hands, losing others. They lost a little
more than they won. One of the big winners left. A few minutes later the bald guy left.
The other big winner played for a few more minutes, placing only small bets. Then he left
as well. Seannie signaled the floor manager, and another dealer took her place.

Trace had been watching, and gave Drew a congratulatory clap on the back. “The three of
them cashed out their chips and left in three different cars. Good job.”

“The left with a lot of money.”

“We don’t mind players winning. But, the casino can’t survive if these guys do nothing
but win.”

Drew smiled.

Seannie strode into the Security center, and without saying a word walked over and kissed
Drew’s cheek. Seannie turned around and headed back to the floor.

“You made an impression.”, said Tracey with a smile.

Over the next couple weeks Drew spent every morning getting to know people that worked
at the Thunder Bird Casino.
He got to know Herb Sommers, the supervisor of the ground crew. One morning Drew
helped plant a couple of trees. He met Maria Gonzalves who supervised house keeping.
Drew argued that they didn’t need to clean his room and make his bed, but they insisted.
He insisted that he would do his own laundry, and they clucked like affectionate mother
hens, but left his laundry alone.

The first time Drew went to the kitchen they were cooking pastries, and he met Horst
Gallin, the lead chef. Drew walked through the kitchen at least once a day, and always got
a small treat of some kind.

Of course, Drew walked through the gaming floor several times a day. He soon knew
every member of the Security staff by name. Trace Dewey talked a lot with Drew about
the work of the Security team, staff rotation, background checks, Colorado gaming
regulations and many other topics.

At first, a couple times a day Drew would get an itchy feeling that he should head over to
the Security office. He would look through the monitors to see if he could figure out
where the trouble was. He would discreetly close his eyes and try to “feel” where the
trouble was.

It might take a while, but he usually found the trouble. Usually he could feel an aura
around the troublesome player, at times light blue, or lavender, or a sickly green.
Sometimes the player had a large stack of chips, sometimes smaller. Sometimes Drew had
to watch for quite a while before the player started winning steadily. Drew would
concentrate and he game would go back to being random. When the player saw they
couldn’t manipulate the outcome, they would leave. Some were pale, most looked like
they needed an aspirin.

Afternoons Drew drove to different parts of the city, parked and jogged for a couple of
miles. He got to know the city better than he ever had before. He was starting to get a feel
for the city, the different neighborhoods, the rhythm of traffic and the rhythm of lives in
the city.

One evening, getting back from his job and drive, Drew was walking through the lobby
and something about one of the hotel front lobby receptionists caught his attention. As
Drew came and went the receptionists always smiled and waved.

Luciana Coyote waved as usual but her smile seemed forced, rigid. Drew went over and
chatted with her, but on the surface everything seemed fine, normal. Underneath, Drew
could tell something was bothering her. Drew asker her, “How are you doing?” Luciana
gave a strained smile and said “Fine”. Drew felt certain it was a lie.

Drew thought about it but wasn’t sure what to do. It was still bothering him the next
morning, so he went to talk with Trace Dewey. On the way over Drew walked through the
gaming floor. There was the smooth even feeling of everything operating the way it
should.
Drew found Trace in the Security office. “How’s everything going?”, asked Drew.

“Lots of people, but otherwise it’s a quiet morning.”. Trace smiled, “How are you doing
this fine day?”

Drew frowned. “Can I talk with you, privately?”

Trace lifted and eyebrow and said, “Sure thing. Come into my office.”

They sat down in Trace’s ‘office’. It has some file cabinets and a small desk, and a couple
chairs. It was pretty cramped.

“Mr. Williams said I should talk with you if I had any concerns.”

“Definitely.”

“Well, I don’t know what it is, but I’m worried about Luciana Coyote.”

Drew could tell Trace stiffened.

“There is nothing you need to worry about Luciana. She is completely trustworthy.”

“Well, OK. But something is bothering her.”

Trace’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe so. But, it’s not something you need to worry about.”

Drew was surprised by Trace’s reaction. Was he hiding something?

Trace could tell that Drew was unsatisfied.

“Look, you can talk to Mr. Williams. It’s not something I’m going to talk about. Maybe
he will.”

Drew headed straight for room 517. Mason was sitting at his table, carving something. It
looked like a beautiful, intricate doll or figurine.

“Hi Mason”.

“Hello Drew”.

Mason looked at Drew for a moment and then said. “You’ve got something on your mind.
Please, have a seat. Let’s talk.”
Drew sat down. “Look, I like Luciana Coyote. She’s a friendly person. But last night,
when I got back I noticed something was bothering her. I tried to talk with Trace Dewey
about it, but he said I should talk with you.”

Mason nodded. “Luciana is a fine woman. She’s a single mom now. Divorce is all too
common in our people. When she was divorced a few years ago, she moved from the
reservation with her son and daughter. Her son is 15, her daughter Susanne is 11.”

Drew listened intently, he had no idea where this was going.

“Her job at the casino is very important to her. She earns a good living for her children.
We give her flexible hours so she can be home when they get home for school. If you had
not joined our casino, she would have lost her job, as would have many others. She would
never do anything to jeopardize her job.”

Drew thought for a few moments. “I don’t feel like she’s going to do something bad. But,
there is something wrong.”

“You are right. A few days ago she noticed that Suzie was limping. She thought it was
just something that happened from playing. But, the next day it was worse. She took her
in and they ran a lot tests. Eventually they found a large tumor near Suzie’s hip. It looks
like a very aggressive form of cancer. Suzzie’s in the hospital. The doctors will do all
they can, but Suzzie may only have a few months.”

Drew took a deep breath. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“Luciana doesn’t want to talk with everyone about this. It’s hit her pretty hard and she’s
not ready.”

“Of course, I’ll give her space.”

Mason continued. “Luciana and her kids lived on the reservation for years before she got
her job here at the casino. It seems like our people get more than our share of cancer. On
the reservation the only water is well water. Most of the well water is not safe. There’s
too much arsenic and heavy metals. The casino contributes to a fund that is digging new,
safe wells to replace the bad ones. But it’s a slow expense process.”

Drew nodded his head and left.

Drew spent the morning circulating through the hotel and casino. He helped plan a tree on
the grounds. He helped set up chairs for a conference in one of the downstairs meeting
rooms. He left about an hour early.

Drew showed up at Suzzie’s hospital room. He was holding both hands behind his back.
Suzzie was laying quietly in the bed, two IVs sticking into her.
“Hi, my name is Drew. I know your mom.”

“Hi”.

Drew pulled out his left hand. “This is a book about a little skunk that broke some rules
and got into a lot of trouble.” Drew pulled out his right hand. “This is a book about a little
girl that likes to make paper air planes.” Drew walked over and sat down next to her bed.
“I don’t have anyone to read them to. I was hoping you would want to hear one of them.”

“I want to hear the one about the skunk.”, said Suzie.

Drew started reading.

----

Drew continued to get to know everyone at the hotel. He talked with Mason about the
books, the expenses, and all kinds of business decisions made by the hotel and casino.

Drew spent some time every day at the security office and walking through the gaming
floor, but most days there was nothing for him to do. Word had gotten around that “lucky”
people could no longer manipulate the games at the Thunderbird.

One morning while Drew was standing near the wall and watching the slot machines, a
pretty newlywed dropped a dollar in the big slot machine with the $2.5 million jackpot.
Lights flashed all over the casino, bells rang, sirens wailed. She had just won $2.5 million.

It was huge. For a while most people stopped what they were doing and came over to
watch. The newlywed and her new husband posed for a lot of pictures, received a huge
$2.5 million check. They seemed dazed, happy, tearful all at once.

Later in the afternoon when the excitement was over Drew asked Mason to go for a walk
with him.

Once the two of them were off on their own, Drew asked about something that was
bothering him. “Should I have stopped that, or tried to stop it?”

“Not at all, not at all. The casino doesn’t mind players winning as long as the odds are fair.
When the games are honest and fair the casino is always making our share.”

“But the two of them walked out with $2.5 million. Didn’t that hurt the casino?”

“No, not at all. That $2.5 million was from the slot machine players. A little bit of each
play goes into that jackpot pool. It’s kept in a separate account.”
Mason continued, “In fact, this was very good for the casino. There will be news stories.
Good for business. A pretty young lady is the winner in the photos. Very good for
business.”

Drew laughed, “Great, thanks.”

----

Drew liked to visit every part of the hotel and casino at least once in a while. Lonely
corridors in the lower basement. Parking. An occasional swim in the pool. On this
morning he felt like walking through the hotel floors. He went down the north stairs and
walked through the 14th floor to the south stairs, then down to the 12th floor (there is no 13th
floor, and there are no room 13s anywhere in the hotel), through the 12th floor then down to
the 11th, and so on.

On the 8th floor he passed one of the housekeepers, named Dennis Stark. Dennis was about
20, thin with dark blond hair. Drew waved “Hi!” and Dennis smiled and waved back.
Nothing looked out of the ordinary, but it was hard for Drew to keep a normal expression
on his face. Drew’s skin was crawling.

He continued to the stairway and then sat down for a few minutes. He tried to sense what
was going on with Dennis, but he didn’t know. There wasn’t any aura, but there was this
oily feeling Drew didn’t like.

He went down to the security office, and asked to speak with Trace in private.

“Thanks for talking with me Trace.”

“Anytime.”

“Look, I feel a little silly, but – could you keep an eye on Dennis Stark? He’s in house
keeping.”

“Sure, we will.”

“I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s nothing. But, I wanted to let you know.”

“I appreciate it.”

The next day Drew was near the lobby when he saw a pair of Security guards escorting
Dennis to the door. Dennis looked pretty unhappy. The Security guards looked grim.
Even though it would have been the middle of his shift, Dennis walked out the door. The
Security guys watched Dennis walk down the street.

Drew went to talk with Trace.

“What happened to Dennis?”

“He just got fired.”

“You fired him because I had a bad feeling about him?”

“No. We fired him because we caught him stealing $300 from a guest room.”

“Oh.”

“Thanks kid. Good tip.”

“You’re welcome.”

-----

Four white haired men sat down together for lunch. Kim Pepper reported. “Selma died in
March and we started losing money. In April it was only a million. In May two million.
In June we lost almost $6 million, but Drew started late in the month. In July we made
$5.5 million, and my guess is, August will be our best month ever. If we don’t have any
big events going on Hotel occupancy usually runs around 40%, but lately it’s been closer
to 60%. Revenue on the gaming floor, as you know, has been outstanding. You can feel it
in the hotel and in the staff. People are smiling. Sick days are down. They are very quiet
about it, but if you can believe the kitchen staff, the steaks are more tender and the meat
never goes bad.”

Mason nodded his head.

Roger Featherstone cleared his throat. “So, are we fine then?”

Mason shook his head sadly. “What’s wrong then? Everything is better than ever.”, said
Carl Featherstone.

Mason took a deep breath. “Selma was a kitten. A kitten in the wilderness. No match for
a bear, a wolf, or even a big dog.” Kim gave a slight nod.

“I had hoped to find a tiger or a bear. Maybe a great bear. When the bear roars, the
wolves run away.”

“Like Drew?”, asked Kim.

Mason shook his head. “Drew’s power is not the power of the bear. Drew’s power is like
the power of the volcano. When the bear roars, the wolves run away. When the volcano
roars, the forest disappears.”

“Drew hasn’t hurt anyone. Everyone loves him!”, exclaimed Roger.

“Yes. But his power is immense. He is still growing into his full power. Power like that
will eventually attract enemies. Great and powerful enemies.”

“Like the bunch that runs Las Vegas?”

Mason shook his head. “No. Like the ones that the bunch in Las Vegas are afraid of.”

Silence hung in the room for a long time.

“Should we let Drew go?”, asked Kim. “I don’t think he would be angry with us.”

Mason shook his head. “No. Our fate is tied with his now. We must hope. Perhaps we
should pray. We have set on this course, and we must stay on it. We must see where the
road takes us.”

----

Drew woke up, showered and enjoyed a wonderful scrambled egg breakfast provided by
room service, as per usual.

Along with his breakfast arrived a card requesting that Drew meet with Mason at his
earliest convenience. Drew headed down to 517 wondering what was up. He knocked and
Mason opened the door.

“Good morning, Drew. How are you today?”

“Fine. Good morning. How are you?”

“These bones have seen many winters, but for a man my age, I suppose I am doing well.”

Drew smiled. “You probably have a couple more winters left in those bones.”

“I hope so.”

“You wanted to see me.”

“Yes. You’ve been receiving $25 per hour. The problem with profit sharing is, when
there are no profits to share, you get none. You started in June, and we did not turn a profit
that month.”

“Right. But, we’re doing a lot better now, aren’t we?”

“Indeed we are. Today is August 10th and we have finished closing the books on July. It
was a very good month for the Thunderbird. We turned a profit of $5.5 million dollars.
As agreed, your share for July is $550,000.”
Mason handed a page of paper to Drew.

“The amount is deposited in your account.”

Drew’s face went pale. Half a million dollars. More money than he ever would have
imagined a few months ago. He could buy a car. He could buy a dozen cars. His mouth
went dry and he felt a need to sit down.

“This, seems like too much. Does it hurt the casino, or the tribe to pay me this much?”

“We lost about $10 million between Selma’s death and when you joined us. That hurt the
tribe. You do not hurt the tribe. You . . . help the tribe. Thank you.”

Drew noticed there were tears in Mason’s eyes, although Mason’s voice was as steady as
ever.

“You’re welcome. Very welcome. I like the Thunderbird.”

Mason cleared his throat. However, yesterday I learned you were doing something I did
not know about.

“What?”

“You’ve been reading to Suzzie Coyote every day for a month.”

“She’s a little kid in a hospital room. She spends a lot of time there alone. I have spare
time.”

Mason continued, “Yesterday, her mother came to me, tears in her eyes. Crying, she could
hardly talk.”

Drew jumped to his feet. “What’s wrong? Is Suzzie OK?”

“Her mother said the doctors ran many tests. CAT scans, blood tests, MRIs. The tumors
have disappeared. The cancer appears to be in complete remission.”

Drew breathed a heavy breath of relief, and then smiled. “That’s good. That’s great!
Then, she can come home?”

“She came home this morning.”

Drew laughed, “That is great news.”

There was a pause that stretched almost to an awkward silence.

In a quiet but very serious voice Mason asked: “Did you know that would happen? That
you could make the cancer go away?”

Drew shook his head. “No. I don’t know if I did anything at all. I don’t know how to
make cancer go away. I just kept thinking to myself, that little kid could use some luck,
she could really use some luck right now. I suppose I hoped something like this would
happen.”

Mason nodded. “Luciana is very grateful. The tribe is grateful. But, there is danger for
you in this. I’ve asked everyone to be quiet about this. Our people will not talk. We don’t
want any newspaper stories about this. Do you understand?”

Drew remembered Nick’s advice, to fly under the radar, to stay off TV and out of the
Newspapers.

Drew nodded his head, “I understand.”

Chapter: Airplanes Like Shooting Stars

Mason invited his grand daughter Seannie to lunch. Mason served a sort of taco salad
with flat bread.

“How are you today, granddaughter?”, asked Mason, with a bit of formality.

“Very well, and how are you grandfather?”, playfully matching his formality.

“I also am very well.”

After a moment, Mason asked: “What do you think of our new partner, Drew?”

Seannie thought for a few moments and chose her words carefully. “The casino and the
tribe are very fortunate to have him for a partner.”

Mason waited and there was more to say. Seannie thought, and then continued. “He loves
the Thunderbird, the people, the tribe. It is more, far more, than we could have hoped for.”

Mason nodded. “Indeed.”

Mason looked intently at Seannie. “Now we will speak about things that both you and I
know, but that we have never spoken about.”

Seannie nodded.

“You have the inner vision.”

Seannie nodded.

“You can make players lose, or you could make players win.”

Seannie shrugged. “If by chance a player loses many hands, I wish for them to win a hand,
and usually they do. If someone wins more that they should in a fair game, I wish the
game would be fair, and usually it gets fairer. But, the . . . luckiest players are stronger
than me. It is very dangerous for me to oppose them.”

“That is correct.”

“What does your inner vision tell you about Drew?”

Seannie closed her eyes. “Drew is down in the employee parking lot, chatting with the
Chris the janitor. Chris is happy. He will probably never know it, but he will not catch the
cold he was coming down with earlier this morning. If Drew and Chris chat for another
hour, the employee cars parked there today will have no mechanical problems for a year or
two.”

Mason sucked in his breath. “You see much Seannie, and you are very good at keeping
secrets, as I have taught you to do.”

Seannie smiled and nodded. Softly Mason continued. “Your vision is stronger than mine.
Even stronger than your cousin Selma. Selma’s vision got her killed.” Seannie’s eyes
blinked back sudden tears.

“But you didn’t really answer my question. What does your inner vision show you about
Drew?”

Seannie pursed her lips and looked down at the table. “His aura is like a blinding blue
light. As if lighting were pulled down from the sky and made into a man.”

Mason nodded.

“I’m told, on Drew’s first day, you came into the Security office and kissed him on the
cheek.”

“I was in trouble and he saved me. A very strong player was in our casino. His purpose
was not to simply win a lot of money. He wanted to teach us, teach me a lesson. He
wanted to hurt me. Drew sent him packing, as if it were nothing.”

Mason nodded. “Do you think you might ever have a, . . . romantic interest in Drew?”

Seannie took a deep breath. “Someday I will find a good man, and a good man will find
me. We’ll have many babies. But, it will be a man. Drew is not just a man. To fall in
love with him would be like falling in love with the roaring ocean.”
Mason nodded his head. “This is wise.”

After a moment, Mason asked: “But what if Drew falls in love with you?”

Seannie swallowed. “I believe, if Drew ever wants me to love him, I will be like a leaf in
the hurricane. I will go wherever he takes me. Drew is the survival of our tribe. If he
wants me to love him, I will, with all my heart. I will not have a choice. But, if he wanted
it, then it would also be my choice to love him. He is good.”

Mason nodded. “Good. You understand the things I hoped you would understand. I don’t
think Drew will fall in love with you. I think, Drew’s heart and luck are waiting for a girl
with more power. Power closer to Drew’s.”

“There are others in the world with power like Drew’s?”, asked Seannie.

“Yes. A few. Not many. A dozen? A hundred? I had hoped none of them would ever
come to Denver. It seems likely now that they will come.”

“Is that why Drew is always driving around Denver?”

“Yes and no. He makes Denver his own. He binds it to himself. If any oppose him, he
will have an advantage on home ground. I used to think it was instinct, but now I think he
understands what he is doing. He is methodical, thorough, thoughtful.”

Seannie nodded.

“Granddaughter, I am old. The tribe needs me, but I will not always be here.”

“You will be with us many more years, grandfather.”

“Will I?”, he looked carefully at Seannie.

Seannie looked at the table, and whispered. “I hope so.”

“Nevertheless, when I am gone, who in the tribe should take my place? Who else has the
inner vision? Who can watch over the tribe and the Thunderbird?”

Seannie thought. “Dan Featherstone is 18. He has the vision, but not as much as me. He
is a good moto-cross racer, and his vision makes him better.”

Mason nodded. “Who else?”

“I of course, will watch over the tribe.”, Mason nodded again.

“My little sister Tavia is strong. Someday she will be stronger than me. I teach her every
day to be careful. To keep the secrets. To watch and see. But she is so young, only 9
years old next month.”

“There are a few others, but none are as strong.”

“The tribe is lucky to have this much power. It has not always been so.”, said Mason.

“Seannie, you and I will have lunch every week. I will try to teach you all the important
things I have learned. But I have a question for you. There is now a cloud on the horizon.
A storm is coming. When the storm gets here, will you know enough?”

Seannie’s head gave a tiny shake. “I think we should have lunch twice a week. Perhaps
three times.”

Mason nodded. “Time is precious then. Let us begin.”

Mason reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small black pouch that hung around his
kneck. He reached into the pouch and pulled out an ancient ivory cube.

“Long ago, maybe a thousand years, there was a great bear that plagued the ancestors of
our tribe. It killed their animals. It killed them when it could catch them. Seven warriors,
valiant and very lucky, banded together to defeat the lucky bear. Six of the seven were
killed, but as you can see, they won. This cube was carved from the great tooth of the
great and lucky bear. In some sense it contains the luck of the great bear and the six
warriors that the bear killed before the bear was defeated. Every time the cube is used, in a
tiny way, it increases your power, and it increases it’s own power. I used it to find Drew.”

Mason rolled the die. It came up Raven. “The raven is death.” He rolled it again, and it
came up Raven again. A third time. A forth time. A fifth time, always Raven.

“Are you making it do that?”, asked Seannie.

Mason laughed sadly. “No. I cannot make this die do anything. That is part of it’s value.
It does what it wants, not what I want. No, it is telling us something.”

“Do you know what it is telling us?”

“I think I understand. It is telling us that a great enemy is coming for Drew. Soon.”

----

Drew got up a little earlier than usual and ate breakfast faster than usual. The ring with the
black stone, the gift from Nick, throbbed. Drew felt he should be at the Security office.
Drew walked in and went straight to studying the monitors. Trace shivered. This was out
of the ordinary. He didn’t remember ever seeing Drew so down to business.

Drew watched the monitors intently for quite a while. Trace unassumingly tried to watch
over his shoulder, tried to get a feeling for what he was looking for.

Drew pointed at one of the monitors. It showed a section of the gaming floor near the
main lobby. A man in his 30’s, wearing a heavy jacket had just walked in. The man
seemed agitated, distressed. Trace didn’t think he’d ever seen the man before, but he did
not like the looks of him.

The man walked around, as if looking for something.

Drew closed his eyes and felt a blackness of anger and hate swirling around the man.
“He’s not here to gamble.” Said Drew.

Trace pulled out his walkie talkie. “Carlos, Mapu get to the Security office. Everyone else
get to the gaming floor. Cover all the exits.”

“He’s got a gun.”, said Drew.

“There is a man in a heavy tan colored jacket. Consider him armed.”

Trace turned off the walkie talkie. “Drew, what should we do.”

Drew shook his head. “I don’t know, watch.”

From monitor to monitor they watched the man, who walked briskly around the gaming
floor, looking, hunting for something.

Mapu and Carlos arrived at the Security office, both over 6 feet tall and muscular enough
to be football players or body builders. “We’re watching the guy.”, explained Trace.

After making a big circle through the gaming floor, the guy walked through the lobby and
out the front door. “He didn’t find what he was looking for.”, Trace remarked.

“Something bad is going to happen.”, said Drew.

“Mapu, Carlos, follow that guy. Tell the police an agitated guy, possibly armed just left
the Thunderbird.

For occasions just like this the Security Office was situated so it was just a few steps to an
exterior door. The Security team kept a car parked right at the curb there, ready to go.

“I’m going.”, said Drew.

Just a few days ago, Mason had spoken privately with Trace, and Trace had spoken with
every member of the Security team. Mason had said: “Trace, as much as possible, keep
Drew behind the scenes. He shouldn’t be interacting with the public at all.” Trace
understood.

“Drew, let Mapu and Carlos handle it. They’ll hand it off to the cops. It might be
dang . . .”. Drew held up his hand, and with a lot of intensity said, “I need to go.” Carlos,
Mapu and Drew ran out of the office.

Trace sat down heavily in a chair. There were stars floating in front of his eyes. His throat
was clamped shut. Trace thought pleasant thoughts of beaches and mountain meadows.
After a couple minutes he could breath again. Five more minutes and he could talk again.

Another thing Mason had said. “But, if Drew really wants to do something, don’t try to
stop him. Don’t think you can stop him.” Trace murmured, “No kidding.”

A couple hours later Mapu and Carlos got back, but without Drew. Both were pale. “Is
Drew OK?”

“Drew’s fine. I think he went off for a jog or something.”

“What happened?”

“Damndest thing.”, explained Mapu. “We got in the car and followed the guy down 119. I
was driving, Carlos got right on the radio to the cops. We told them an agitated guy,
possibly with a gun, just left the Thunderbird.”

“The guys going 60, way over the speed limit, and we’re tailing him. Suddenly he slams
on his brakes and pulls into the Blue Flamingo.” Carlos is telling the cops on the radio,
and I’m parking.”

“The guy sees a big black Ford pickup in the parking lot and pulls out a 357 revolver and
shoots the pickups windshield. Just blows it out. Of course, Carlos tells the cops, shot
fired.”

“Drew’s out of the car as soon as it stops, heading after the guy. I jump out and try to
keep up with him, . . . but . . .”

“But Drew’s fast. He’s jogging all the time.”, supplied Trace.

“Well, you might think I’m crazy, but I’m right behind Drew, and then Drew’s 100 feet
ahead of me going in the door of the Blue Flamingo.”,

“He outran you.”

“He moved so fast I couldn’t see him move.”

“Ok, uhhh, no need to talk about that, right?”

“Definitely. Anyway, I sprint across the parking lot. When I get in there, people are
screaming. The crazy guy with the gun is screaming and yelling at this woman who’s his
wife or girlfriend or something. She was in there having breakfast with the guy that drives
the black Ford pickup. Drew is just off to the side watching the guy.”

“I’m going after the guy, that’s my training. But he’s already sticking the revolver in the
woman’s face from about a foot away, and pulls the trigger.”

Trace flinched, “Damn”

“Except, click, nothing happened. Hammer slaps down, but no shot. The guy pulls the
trigger again, and again. Snap of the hammer, but no shot. About then I tackle the guy,
and in about a minute the cops are there, arresting and cuffing him.”

“So the gun only had one bullet in it?”

“Well, no. When the cops get the guy controlled and get around to looking at the gun, it
had bullets in it. They were just, ahhh, duds. You look at the bullet, and the center primer
is dented pretty as can be, but for some reason the bullet didn’t fire.”

Carlos nodded, “On any other day, that lady’s brains are splattered all over the diner. But,
with Drew . . .”, Carlos shrugged his shoulders.

“Ok. What did the cops do?”

“Well, they had lots of questions for me and Carlos. Why were we following the guy,
what did we see, everything. We’ll go down to the station tomorrow to make full
depositions.”

“Did they talk to Drew?”

“Not really. The cops saw he was with us, and I said: “He’s just an intern. Let’s keep his
name out of it, don’t want to scare his mom and dad.” The cops went along with that. I
don’t think they wrote down his name, or anything. They had bigger fish to fry.”

“Good”, said Trace.

“So, that’s about it. When we got back, Drew told us thanks and said he needed some air,
and took off on a jog. If anything, he seemed kinda happy with himself.”

“Ok. Look, I don’t need to tell you guys, we don’t talk about this. I mean, about Drew’s
part in this.”
“Hell no boss.”, “We’re not stupid. We know when to keep our mouth shut.”

----

Aside from the angry guy with the pistol, things were quiet around the Thunderbird. The
occasional lucky player would come by and need to be shoo’d away, but it was
comfortable. Things were running the way they should.

Drew spent a lot of time driving around the Denver area. A couple of things were
bothering him. He had a growing unease about a neighborhood on the north edge of the
city, far from the casino.

The other thing had to do with the dry summer. It was too dry for the great flat fields in
eastern Colorado and western Kansas. When Drew closed his eyes he could feel
something distant toward the east. He thought it was benevolent. He thought there was
someone, with great power there, calling in rain. If so, he wanted to meet that person.

Drew kept visiting every part of Denver, but he spent a lot more time on the north side
around the Northglenn neighborhood and on the east, going out further and further to
Stapleton and beyond.

The next Saturday Drew got up early, ate early, feeling full of energy. He went down to
the Security office and told Trace “Good morning.”

“Good morning”, replied Trace, a bit cautiously. But Drew had a positive energy that was
pleasant.

“It feels pretty quiet this morning. I’m going for a long drive, OK?”

“Sure”, said Trace. “Look, I’m sure a couple of the guys would love to go with you.”

“Thanks, but, I’m in the mood to be alone. See you tonight.”

Drew was out the door before Trace could even try to reply.

Drew had not spent much of the money he’d earned at the Thuderbird. One thing he had
bought was a new Nissan Maxima, maxed out on premium options, with a beautiful
“Electric Blue” custom paint job. He loved that car and it was a blast driving it east down
I-70.

It was a cloudy day, but so far dry. Drew headed east. In a little over two and a half hours
he made it to the Colorado / Kansas state line, just east of Burlington. He crossed the
border and kept going. As he headed east he had a growing sense of a great blue-green
aura. It came from a person, but also the place. It was a comforting aura.
The road was straight, the land was flat. It was lonely country. Miles of fields, with the
just the occasional gas station, feed store or truck stop. About thirty miles past the state
line was a man standing beside the road. No one else for miles around. Drew was
expected.

The man was tall, at least 6’ 4”. He was older, but it was hard to tell how old. He had short
cropped white hair. He had a farmer’s weathered face, but his body seemed firm and solid,
like a formidable block of granite. His head was square, his face was square. He had
brilliant blue green eyes.

Drew pulled over next to the man, and tried to open the door, but the man put his hands on
the door, motioning for Drew to stay in the car. Drew rolled down the window.

“Hi, my name is Drew Astrapi.”

“I know who you are.”, said the man. “You live at the Thunderbird Hotel in Denver.”

“What’s your name? I, … I, would like to be friends.”

“I don’t need any friends like you.”, said the man firmly. Drew didn’t know what to say.
“Can we talk?”, Drew asked.

“Nothing to talk about. Thomas County is mine. You can have Denver. Hell, you can
have Colorado for all I care. But, Thomas County is mine. You’re not welcome here.”

It started to rain, drops then torrents. The intensity of the rain built to a roar.

Drew was getting soaked through the open car window, but the old man standing beside
his car wasn’t even getting wet. The rain was falling all around, but not hitting him.

Drew tried shouting: “Let’s talk!”, but the roar of the rain was too loud. After a couple of
minutes, Drew saw there was nothing to do. He rolled up his window, and drove away,
headed home to Denver.

The old man watched as Drew drove away. The rain stopped as soon as Drew left.

Drew tried to understand what had happened. He had felt tremendous power from the old
man. Not malignant power, but protective. Besides power, and protectiveness, there was
something else Drew had felt from the man. It took Drew a while to realize what it was.
The old man had been afraid of Drew. Very afraid.

Hours later Drew got back to the hotel and casino, in a somber mood. He put on his
swimsuit and swam lap after lap in the hotel’s pool.

----
Fall classes at the University of Colorado, Denver started on August 23rd. Drew started
working on his Business degree.

The Thunderbird Hotel and Casino made $6.5 million in August. On September 10th
Mason met with Drew and gave him a receipt showing that $650,000 had been deposited
in Drew’s account. Drew directed that $100,000 from his account be contributed to
Reservation Well Improvement and Water Safety fund.

The next morning Drew was walking through the hotel when one of the younger maids
he’d never spoken with ran up and kissed him on the cheek.

“What was that for?”, asked Drew, startled.

The maid laughed. “A few months ago, the hotel did not have many guests. My mother
and I, along with the other maids, were cut back to four days a week. Then three. It was
very difficult.”

“Now the hotel has many guests! All of us are working five days a week. I just wanted to
say Thank you.”

Drew laughed and smiled, “You’re welcome.”

In September Drew was pretty busy. He spent at least a couple of hours in the
Thunderbird every day. He had his classes. He continued to drive and jog through
Denver. Nearly every day he drove past the Northglenn High School.

Drew still visited every part of Denver, but he drove past Northglenn High School nearly
every day. There was something about that school that bothered him, but he couldn’t say
what. The white gold ring with the black stone would slowly throb when Drew walked
around the high school parking lot.

The closer he got to Northglenn High School, the more uneasy he felt. Tuesday afternoon
he spent an hour driving all around it. From time to time the ring on his right hand
throbbed. He went back Tuesday after dark and spent two hours walking through the High
School parking lots, athletic fields, and the surrounding neighborhood.

He walked back to the High School’s main parking lot. In the center, there was a large,
high metal pole with four bright lights at the top, providing illumination for the parking lot.
There was something he didn’t like about that pole. He wished it were somewhere else. He
had no idea why.

Wednesday he spent an hour on the gaming floor and in the Security office. Everything
was quiet, everyone was happy. Drew drove out to Northglen High School and just sat in
the parking lot, looking at the pole, hating it. Drew went to class for a few hours, grabbed
a burger and went back to Northglenn High School. He sat in the parking lot a long time,
staring at that light pole, hating it. By eight pm nobody was around. Drew walked over to
the light pole. Huron Street was to his left. The baseball and football fields were to his
right. Drew put his hand on the light pole. “You shouldn’t be here.”, he said. Drew
walked to the extreme north edge of the parking lot. “This is where you should be.” Drew
wondered if he was going insane. He had no idea why he felt this way.

He wished he could talk with Nick, but he had never seen, nor heard from him since the
afternoon he talked with Drew and gave him the ring.

Thursday morning at the Thunderbird Drew went to the employee parking area. He stood
there for a couple minutes, in a shadowy corner. Two teenagers walked in and started
looking in car windows. Drew stepped out of the shadows and shouted: “What are you
kids doing?” The teenagers turned and ran out of the parking area. Drew laughed. They
looked like high school kids.

Drew went to target. He picked up a lawn chair. He headed for the check stand, but went
back and got a second lawn chair. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the lawn
chair, but there was no possible way he needed two of them. He bought two any way. He
put them in his trunk.

Drew attended his Thursday classes and couldn’t wait for them to get over. As soon as his
last class got out Drew bought a couple of tacos and ate them while driving to Northglenn
High School. It was a couple hours before dark and he spent the time walking through the
grounds, the parking lot, the athletic fields. He sat in the bleachers of the football field,
facing west, toward the parking lot. He saw the tall light pole in the center of the parking
lot. It bothered him.

Trace Dewey wondered where Drew was. It was the first time a whole day had gone by
with Drew not even stopping by the Security office to say “Hello”.

Once it was dark, Drew walked over to the light pull and stood next to it, wrapping his arm
around it. “You shouldn’t be here.”, he said. He let the feeling of the light pole soak into
him for a long time. He felt really crazy. He walked to the north edge of the parking lot.
He picked out the exact spot where the light pole should have been. There was nothing for
a few feet around. He spent a lot of time pacing around that spot, really getting to know it.

By then, it was really dark and nobody was around. Drew grabbed one of the lawn chairs
out of his trunk and walked over to the school. He had noticed metal rungs going up the
side of the building, some kind of roof access. He climbed up the rungs to the roof. He
walked over to the north edge of the roof and setup the lawn chair. This September
evening in Denver the warm day had given over to a cool, but not cold, evening. Drew got
comfortable and stared at the light pole.

He concentrated, and it seemed for half a second the light pole actually moved from the
center of the parking lot to the north edge. All the shadows jumped as the bright lights
changed location. But in a blink the light pole was back where it always was. Drew
thought he had possibly imagined it. He stared at the light pole for an hour and it never
budged. Drew felt crazy. He left the lawn chair where it was, climbed down, and drove
back to the casino.

Friday Drew woke up in a bad mood. He had classes, but no tests or critical assignments.
He decided that for once he could skip class. He walked quickly through the game floor,
then into the Security office. He almost asked Trace if he would rent a truck and go with
him to knock over that light pole. But it was just too crazy. Drew looked at the monitors
for a few minutes and then walked out without saying a word.

“Something wrong with him?”, asked one of the Security guys.

“No idea.”, said Trace.

Drew went down to the pool and swam lap after lap. When his arms hurt, he got out,
showered, and went running. He asked room service to send up a steak. It was wonderful.
He ate three bites and then put the rest in the fridge.

Drew couldn’t stand it any more. He drove to Northglenn High School. It was two hours
until dusk. Drew parked at Norse Glen park, a small community park near Northglenn
High School. Drew alternately jogged and walked around the park.

At dusk Drew left his car parked at Norse Glen park, grabbed the second lawn chair out of
his trunk and walked toward the High School.

The parking lot was absolutely full and there were thousands of people walking around. It
was the Northglenn Home Coming game. People were laughing, talking. Stealthily Drew
made it to the shaded corner with the metal rungs leading up the side of the building. At
kickoff Drew quickly climbed up to the roof. All eyes were on the football game, nobody
noticed him.

Drew put the second lawn chair next to the first one. He sat down in the second one.
Everyone else was watching the football game. He was watching the light pole in the
parking lot. He watched it for quite a while when he was startled, almost jumping out of
his skin. Someone was climbing up the onto the roof with him. He went to see who it
was, and he was stunned to see Dylan Miles come up over the edge. Dylan was dragging a
cane with him. When Dylan got up to the roof he saw the lawn chairs and walked over
toward them. Dylan was walking with a bad limp, leaning heavily on the cane, favoring
the leg that had broken during the football game.

It had been ten months, Drew wondered why Dylan’s leg was still bothering him.

Dylan sat down on one lawn chair. Drew sat in the other. There were several awkward
moments of silence.

“Why are you here?”, asked Drew.

Dylan laughed, “Why are you here?”.

Drew thought for a long time. “I don’t know. I have a bad feeling. I never imagined I
would see you here!”

“And yet, you have two chairs.”, mused Dylan.

“Yes. It felt right, I mean, essential. But, I didn’t know why until you showed up.
Seriously, why are you here?”

Dylan replied, “Tonight is Northglenn’s home coming. They are playing Mullen. Too bad
for Northglenn, we will beat them soundly. I’ve had a bad feeling about tonight for a long
time. My little brother is on the Mullen football team. He’s so excited to be playing
varsity. I’ve had this bad feeling that he’s going to die on the football field tonight. It
started a few days ago and it’s gotten worse and worse. I was seriously thinking about
kidnapping him this afternoon.”

“It’s because of that damn light pole!”, exclaimed Drew.

“What are you talking about?”, asked Dylan, confused.

Drew shook his head, “I don’t know. I have no idea. I think I’m going crazy.”

Neither knew what to say for several moments.

“Is your leg bothering you?”, asked Drew.

“Some. No bid deal.”, said Dylan, stiffly.

“I’m sorry.”, said Drew.

“What do you have to be sorry about?”, asked Dylan. “We were playing football, I got
hurt, it’s nobody’s fault.”

Drew was relieved that Dylan felt that way.

They both sat in silence for a while.

“Something is coming.”, said Drew.

“Yes”, agreed Dylan, “Something very bad.”

Both of them watched the parking lot.

Flight 4626 took off from Denver International Airport, circled north of the city and took a
southwesterly heading. It was a non-stop flight to Los Angeles. It would never make it
there.

The plane gained altitude steadily and had just broken through the low clouds when it flew
through a flock of migrating geese. Several geese were sucked into both engines. The
insides of both engines were shattered and the plane lost power instantly.

“Got to make it back to Denver International.”, said the copilot.

The pilot manhandled the controls, stiff due to lack of hydrolic power.

“Too low. Get on the radio.”

The copilot gave a terse command on the intercom for everyone to return to their seats and
for the flight attendants to secure the cabin and strap in. The copilot got on the radio and
declared an emergency. The pilot turned the plane around and headed for Denver
International Airport. He hated cutting across the north edge of the city but he just didn’t
have enough room or altitude to do otherwise. It was the only chance the people on his
plane had, and their lives were in his hand.

Without power the plane was steadily losing altitude, and they had not reached cruising
altitude when they lost both engines. The pilot was doing the best he could with the 200
ton glider.

“Were not going to make it, find me a spot to set down.”, snapped the pilot.

“We’re in the middle of Denver!”, snapped the copilot.

“Do your best, anywhere, anywhere.”

The copilot was studying the maps.

“Got something, some flat space without houses. Parking, athletic fields, cemetery.
Maybe enough space.”

“Show me.”

“Damn!”

“What’s wrong.”

“High School. Friday night football.”

----
“Soon”, said Dylan, and they both knew what he was talking about.

“You remember that last play?”, asked Drew.

“Yes, it is rather etched in my memory.”, replied Dylan.

“You threw a pass, and when I almost intercepted it, the ball wasn’t there.”, accused Drew.

Dylan didn’t answer for a while, and then said: “Maybe”.

“Can you do the same thing with a light pole?”, asked Drew. Dylan shrugged. They both
heard a gradually growing rushing sound in the air.

----

The pilot was almost out of altitude, he had seconds left. He was coming up on the spot.
There was a possibly survivable crash landing area, flat, with mostly parking, streets, and a
cemetery. Cemetary. Ironic.. Unfortunately, between him and the possibly survivable
crash landing area was a High School football field, brightly lit, and full of people. He
could see the tiny football players running on the field.

“It’s full of people! Go around.”

“I’ve got nothing. No altitude, no power, no speed. Doesn’t matter, we’re not even going
to make it that far.” It looked like they would come down just short of the parking lot,
smashing the last row of houses, and then throwing shards of metal, jet fuel and fire.

“The wreckage will tumble for a thousand yards, it’ll tear through those people like
shrapnel.”

“You think I don’t know that!?”

Inexplicably, when the plane was about 30 feet off the ground, it stopped fallng, as if some
unbelievable updraft was buoying the plane up. The flew along level, and the pilot had a
moment to muse, they would have made it, if not for a huge light pole right in front of
them. The light pole looked like it was coming through the cockpit, and then, his eyes
must have been mistaken, because the light pole was not there.

----

The plane was coming in, eerily quiet. No engine noise. Drew saw it wasn’t going to
make it past the parking lot, but he wished, wished, wished the plane would stay up. The
light pole was right in front of the plane. The light pole was at the north edge of the
parking lot, only inches from the plane’s left wing. There was a rush of wind as the plane
zoomed by at 160 miles an hour and 30 feet off the ground, the light pole was in the center
of the parking lot, the same place it had always been.
The plane barely cleared football bleachers and landed on its belly, metal shreaking just
beyond. It plowed through parking lots, skidded across the street, and slid for hundreds of
feet across the lawn of the cemetery. The passengers were roughed up a bit, but no serious
injuries.

Dylan and Drew sat in stunned silence. Drew remembered to breathe.

“Damn” said Dylan.

“Damn”, agreed Drew.

Then, there was nothing left to say or do. Dylan and Drew stood up and headed for the
edge of the roof.

“You forgot your chairs.”, said Dylan.

“I don’t need them.”, replied Drew. He looked back and saw Dylan’s cane laying next to
the chairs.

“You forgot your cane.”

Dylan looked down at his legs. He shifted his weight to the left leg, then the right. He
flexed his knees, he gave a little jump. Then he walked smoothly to the edge of the roof.
“I don’t need it.”

Both clamored down. On the ground Dylan shook Drew’s hand. “Thank you.”, he said.
Dylan ran off smoothly to find his brother and family. The game was forgotten as the
crowd headed toward the crashed plane.

Drew walked back to his car, drove back to the Thunderbird, feeling great, and went to
bed.

The next week was special. The governor of Colorado was coming to visit the casino.
Officially, it was just an annual visit and inspection by the Colorado Gaming Commission
Chairman. Unofficially it was congratulations that the Thunderbird was back on a
profitable course, and had done it without bringing in an out-of-state “partner” from Las
Vegas or elsewhere.

Drew sat down with Mason. “Officially, to the Gaming Commission you are simply a
business management intern. We are giving you ‘professional experience’. At least the
gaming commission chairman, if not the governor himself, will understand you are our
new “lucky” partner. Nevertheless, you must appear to be a business intern. If they ask
you any questions about the hotel or casino business, you need to be able to answer. Do
you understand?”
“Yes”, agreed Drew. “That’s why you’ve been talking with me about the books, expenses,
profits, and everything. It actually is great experience for my college degree.”

“You must also look the part. Jeans and tennis shoes will not be appropriate.”

Drew sighed, “Ok. What do I need to do?”

“Kim Pepper will show you.”, Mason laughed, “He will make you look like a banker!”

The next day Kim Pepper took Drew to Ted’s Clothier’s. A distinguished looking
gentleman greated Kim at the door. “We’re not shopping for me.”, explained Kim.
“We’re shopping for my young friend. Let me introduce, Drew Astrapi, Drew, this is my
long time friend and clothier Sean Haberman. He was trained in London.” Drew and Sean
shook hands, but Drew thought there was a momentary look of disappointment on Sean’s
face. How much would an 18 year old be spending on a suit? But then Sean smiled. Kim
was a long time customer, even if he wasn’t buying anything high end today.

“We have an attractive selection for a young man entering the business field.”, explained
Sean, as he started toward the less expensive side of the store.

“Oh no.”, said Kim, smiling. “Nothing but the best for my young friend. I want you to
make him look like a million bucks!”

An hour later Drew left with a pair of Jack Victor suits, shirts, cuff links and a dozen
complementary ties. Drew liked the suits. He thought they made him look a bit like James
Bond.

The Governor had a warm open face, a ready smile, and an elegant hair cut. Silver hair at
the temples gave him a distinguished look. The Governor and his entourage were met in
the front lobby by Mason, Drew, Trace, Kim Pepper and Carl and Roger Featherstone.

Drew shook the Governor’s hand and felt a slight tingle. The Governor had a faint aura.
Drew realized the Governor had a talent to make people like him, or at least to project that
he liked people. There was something more, and then Drew realized the Governor could
project sincerity, or, said another way, was an incredibly effective liar. “Figures”, thought
Drew.

The Governor’s group included a couple older guys (his chief of staff and the Gaming
Commission Chairman), a couple of younger guys (gophers and flunkies), but the one that
really caught Drew’s eye was the girl, or young woman bringing up the rear.

She had flaming strawberry blond hair, a winning smiles, curves set in a flattering
burgundy dress. She smiled at Drew and fell in step along with him.

“Hi, my name is Drew.”, he said, offering his hand.

“Nice to meet you.”, she replied, with a radiant smile, she didn’t see, or ignored his hand.

They went to the meeting room and she sat next to Drew.

The meeting was brief. The Governor and Gaming Commission Chair complemented the
Thunderbird Management staff on their improved financial standing. A money losing
casino would be an embarrassment and liability for the state.

The Gamming Commission Chairman looked straight at Drew and said. “It’s good to see
an intern from University of Colorado, my alma matter. Mr. Astrapi, according to your . . .
business training, to what do you credit the improved finances of the Thunderbird hotel
and casino?”

Drew cleared his throat. “Using marketing partnerships, advertizing and specials we’ve
increased the occupancy rate in the hotel. That has increased revenue in food services, and
of course some of those guests play games while they’re here, improving revenue on the
gaming floor as well.”

The Governor and Gaming Commission Chairman nodded there heads. The strawberry
blond leaned toward Drew, gave him a sly wink and whispered conspiratorially, “You’re
doing great!”. Drew didn’t know if she meant business operations at the Thuderbird, his
answer to the Commission Chairman, or if it was a veiled reference to his “luck” and
influence on the gaming floor.

The meeting was over and the Governor and entourage left. Drew walked back to the
security office with Trace.

“What did you think of that girl?”, Drew asked.

“Who?” asked Trace.

“I mean, young woman. You know, reddish-blond hair?”

“You mean, today?”

Drew thought Trace was having some fun at his expense.

“Come on Trace, the hot blond. She sat next to me in the meeting. Do you know her
name?”

Trace shook his head. “What blond?”

Drew growled. “Come off it. The one with the Governor.”

Trace shook his head. “The Governor came with the Gaming Commission Chairman, his
chief of staff, and those two staff guys. All men.”
“What?”, asked Drew. “Are you kidding me? There was a smoking hot blond woman
with them.”

Trace stopped and looked at Drew. “Strange. Lets look at the tape.”

They hurried back to the Security office, sat down in front of the monitors and started
backing up through the tapes. First there was the lobby tape. In came the Governor and
his group. A young strawberry blonde walked in right behind them. At the time, it had
seemed like she was with the Governor, but on tape it wasn’t so obvious. It could have
been someone that came in behind them. The group moved off toward the meeting room
and Drew was walking more or less side by side with the woman. On tape, it wasn’t clear
if she was walking with the group, or just by coincidence, in the same direction.

When the group went into the meeting room, she went in at the end.

“I’ll be damned.”, said Trace. “I don’t even remember her. Some kind of gate crasher I
guess.”

“No, I think she was with the Governor.”

Trace stared at the tape. Then he pulled out his phone, and dialed a number.

“Hi, Mark. This is Tracey Dewey. We had a good meeting with the Governor today.”.

The voice on the other end of the line said something. Trace replied, “Thanks, you too.
Could you do me a favor? Just for my log, could you give me the names of everyone in
the Governor’s group today?” Trace listened. “Thank you. Talk to you later.” Trace
hung up the phone.

“Five men. That’s all.”, said Trace. “Let’s get Mason down here.”

Mason came down to the Security office.

“What’s up?”, Mason asked.

Trace smiled. “Memory quiz. In the meeting room with the Governor. Can you name
everyone who was in the room?”

“You trying to trick an old man?”, Mason named everyone from the Casino, Governor,
Chief of Staff, Gaming Commissioner. He even remembered the names of the two
younger staffers. Everyone but the blond.

Trace smiled wider. “Suppose I wanted to bet you a million dollars that you missed
someone? In fact that you missed a hot twenty-something blond?”
Mason became very sober. “You don’t have a million dollars. Show me the tape.”

First they showed Mason the tape as she stepped into the room, last, behind everyone else.
“Just as if she belonged.”, whispered Mason.

They played the tapes from every angle, from the time she walked up the sidewalk arriving
just as the Governor was getting out of his limo, to the meeting room, and then after until
she left in the same direction she came. They played them frame by frame. There was
never a good shot of our her face. Somehow there was always someone between her and
the camera or her head was turned just the wrong way.

“Neither of you remember her during the meeting? She was sitting right next to me.”

“What did she say to you, tell me word for word.”, said Mason.

“Not much. On the way in I introduced myself, and she said ‘Nice to meet you.’ After I
answered the Chairman’s questions, she said ‘You’re doing a good job.’” I didn’t know if
she meant the Thunderbird, or me personally, or what.

“Did she ever touch you, even just brush up against you?”, asked Mason.

Drew thought carefully. “No. I offered my hand but she didn’t take it. There was always
some space between us. Would touching her have been bad?”

Mason shrugged, “I don’t know. But, if you ever see her again, try not to touch her.”

“What does it mean?”, asked Drew.

Mason frowned, “It means, someone powerful has noticed you. We knew it would happen
eventually. I just hoped it wouldn’t be this soon.”

That night was the first time Drew had the nightmare. He was up in the mountains. It was
high enough that the trees were sparse. He was frozen to a tree, encased in ice from head
to toe so he couldn’t move a muscle. The pain was tremendous, everywhere the ice
touched him was a burn like touching dry ice. The pain was too intense to breathe.

Then the strawberry blond woman came flying through the air. She came zooming down
from the clouds like an eagle landing. There was a forceful draft of hot air all around her.
Her hair was held back in a ruby colored berets. She was wearing a flame red dress. She
had ruby rings on all four fingers of both hands. She had ruby studded gold bracelets on
each wrist. The girl was seriously into rubies. She was holding a ruby red wand and
pointing it at Drew. The girl was furious, there was murder in her eye. Drew thought, if
she kills me, at least the agony of the ice will be over. The girl clenched her teeth and
stretched out the wand. A shaft of light or fire shot out of the wand. For just a moment
Drew could feel an intense, sun-like heat, and then he woke up. The dream was over.
Drew was awake, sucking in a breath.
The next night he had the exact same dream. And the next.

-----

Mason called the business partners together, and asked Trace Dewey to attend the meeting.

“I have dreamed that a dark and dangerous cloud approaches. In my dream, Drew stood on
a hill and a black cloud descended. When the cloud left, only his bones remained. It may
be dangerous circumstances, powerful enemies, or something I don’t even understand.
But, for the next week Drew walks through the valley of death. If he still lives by Saturday
morning, the immediate danger will have passed.”

Chapter: Ice and Lightning

Friday morning, the phone rang precisely at 7:00 am, almost the exact moment when Drew
finished breakfast. The white gold ring with the black stone throbbed rapidly.

“Hello, my name is Albert Frahm. You came to visit me in Thomas County, Kansas.
First, I deeply regret how rudely I treated you. I misjudged you. I have no way to excuse
my behavior. Second, I doubly regret my shameful behavior because I now must ask, even
beg, for your help. If you will come and speak with me immediately, I promise to make it
worth your while. No obligation, I simply ask that you will hear me out. For the favor of
listening to my plea, I will give you a priceless gift. You have my word. After you hear
me out, you may help or not, your choice. In the interest of complete honesty, I will admit
that helping me, should you choose to do it, will be extremely dangerous.”

“I will come and talk with you.”

“Thank you. Come out on I-70 like you did before. A few miles before you reach Colby,
Kansas you will see Pioneer Memorial Park on the north side of the highway. I will be
there waiting for you.”

Drew wrote “Pioneer Memorial Park, Colby, Kansas” on a note pad by the phone.

“I can come right now.”

“Thank you. One more thing. I would appreciate if you would make all careful haste. If
you are delayed, I will probably not still be alive when you get here.”

“I will come as fast as I can.”

“Thank you.”
Drew hung up the phone. He was already to go. He grabbed his coat and walked out of
his suite. He didn’t even pickup the note on the pad.

Four casino Security guards were standing in the elevator corridor.

“I’m going on an errand. Please wait here for me.”

The four guards, including Mapu and Carlos stiffened. Mapu spoke. “Mr. Drew, sir. We
have instructions from Mr. Williams and Mr. Dewey to stay with you, no matter what.
They would have our hide if you went anywhere without us. We will be no trouble, I
promise.”

Drew shook his head. He didn’t have time for this. He went back in his suite and grabbed
a sheet of paper. Drew wrote.

“I’m sorry, I have to do this myself.”

Then half way down the paper he continued writing:

“Last will and testament of Drew Astrapi. Thank you to the Jicarilla Tribe and the
Thunderbird Hotel and Casino for taking me and treating me like one of their own. Should
anything happen to me, please give $500,000 from my account to my parents. I wish for
the remaining balance of my account to go to the Jicarilla Reservation for whatever health
and safety purposes are most needed, with preferences to the Well Water Safety project.
My executor is Mason Williams. Signed Drew Astrapi.”

The four guards watched Drew write, but they had stood back and didn’t know what he
had written.

“You guys all saw me sign this, didn’t you?”

“Sure.” Agreed Mapu.

“Sorry guys. Give this to Trace. He’ll understand.” Drew folded the paper, and handed it
to Mapu. Drew started to head toward the door.

“Guys,” declared Mapu. “I’ll give this to Mr. Dewey but the three of you stay with Mr.
Drew no matter . . .”

Drew simply disappeared. They heard the elevator door closing.

“Damn” said Mapu. “Double Damn” agreed Carlos.

They ran for the Security office. When they got their, Mapu blurted out to Trace. “Mr.
Drew left without us. He wouldn’t let us go with him. He said to give you this.” Mapu
handed over the note, hoping it would help, doubting it would. When Trace read it, he
started swearing. The Security staff looked at each other. None of them had ever
suspected. Trace knew that kind of profanity.”

“So, you let him go?”

Mapu bowed his head shamefully. “With all respect sir. There’s not a one of us that can
stop Mr. Drew from doing what he wants to do.”

Trace sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” Trace grabbed the phone and called Mason. “Mr.
Williams. I had four guys watching Drew. He got a phone call and told the guys that he
had to do something on his own. He gave them a last will and testament leaving $500,000
to his parents and the rest to the Reservation.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“You and the guards meet me in Drew’s suite. Hurry.”

Trace the four security staff arrived at the suite at about the same time as Mason.

Mason told everyone to sit down. “Tell me exactly what happened.”

“We were in the corridor, waiting to accompany Mr. Drew today, as per instructions. We
heard his phone ring. He had a short conversation, grabbed his coat and headed out his
door. He was surprised to see us, and when we told him we would be accompanying him
today, he said he had to go on this own. I insisted, explaining that we hand instructions
from you and Mr. Dewey. Mr. Drew wrote out that note and told us to give it to Mr. Drew.
I told the other three guys to stay with Drew, but he just vanished. One moment he was
there, and then, it was just air.”

“Thank you Mapu. This is very important. Did he say anything about where he was
going?”

Mapu shook his head.

“Does anyone have any idea where he was going?”

Everyone shook there heads. “Let’s look around” said Carlos. Everyone started searching
through the suite, but in less than a minute Trace noticed the note pad next to the phone.
“Here’s something!”, he shouted.

Mason looked at what was written on the pad: “Pioneer Memorial Park, Colby, Kansas”.
“I know this place”, he said.

“Who is fastest among the people?”

“You mean, the fastest runner?”, asked Trace Dewey, who was one quarter Jicarilla.
“Not on foot, mounted! In a car!”, exclaimed Mason, uncharacteristically upset.

Everyone thought for a few minutes. “That would be Norman Lin.”, remarked Carlos.

Norman’s car was special. It was cheery red cobra mustang. 600+ horse power, 472 cubic
inch engine with Supercharger, 17” racing radials, racing transmission and suspension.
Possibly the fastest car in Denver.

“See how fast Norman can get to the hotel employee parking.” Requested Mason.

Carlos pulled out his cell phone and dialed. In a moment he exclaimed, “He’s already
there! He just dropped off his girl friend for work! He’s in the employee parking lot.”

“Tell him we need him and his car and we’ll be down to meet him in a minute.”, Mason
quickly said as he headed for his room.

Mason and Trace went to 517. Mason picked up a round rock the size of a cantaloupe that
was sitting on the counter. He also grabbed a large leather bag and they headed for
employee parking.

Norman Lin, just 23 years old, was standing next to his car. Tense, but confident.

Mason walked right up to him. “Norman, do you know about Drew? Do you know what
Drew means for our tribe?”

Norman stood very straight. “I don’t know exactly, sir. But I know my Carla was afraid
before Drew came. Afraid for the casino, afraid for her job, some nights afraid for herself.
I know she isn’t afraid any more.”

“Today Drew walks through the valley of death. I don’t know how or why. He has
decided to go alone. Probably afraid that if any of the tribe goes with him, they would be
in great peril. He is probably right about that.”

Norman nodded.

Mason took a couple steps away, lifted the rock above his head and crashed it to the
pavement. The rock, hollow, split in half. Mason took out a bracelet. The bracelet was
made of ivory colored bear teeth. It looked very old. It was.

Mason stepped back to Norman. “If Drew wears this, he will go with the tribe’s protection
and strength. I don’t know if it will be enough, but it is the most help we can offer.”

Norman nodded.

“Do you know Drew’s car?”

“Yes sir. Electric blue Nissan Maxima.”

“He’s going to Colby, Kansas. A straight shot east on I-70. He’s probably in a hurry. On
this day, what the tribe needs most is a man with a fast car. Drew has a 15 minute head
start. Can you catch him?”

Norman stood very straight. “Yes sir!”

“Will you do it?”

“Yes sir.”

“Thank you. You need to catch Drew, and then give him this bracelet. Tell him it will
help him. Tell him it is very important to me and the tribe that he wear it. I think he will
do it.”

Norman said, “I will.”

Mason reached into the leather bag and pulled out a beautiful eagle feather. He placed it in
Norman’s hair. “Wear this. While you wear it, and while you are on the tribe’s business,
no one can catch you. Do you understand?” Norman nodded.

“There is a limitation. Once you give the bracelet to Drew, you are off the tribe’s business.
The feather will not protect you. It is likely you will be caught, arrested.” Mason looked
at Trace. “The tribe will help you, but you may end up in jail. You may lose your car. Are
you still willing?”

Norman gulped, and replied quietly. “Yes sir.”

Mason gave a sharp nod, which was his form of salute.

“Our tribe should have a council of seven elders, yet we only have four. We have not
elected a new elder in over 20 years. Do you know why?”

Norman shook his head.

“Because I’ve been looking from someone that was willing to sacrifice what they loved the
most, for the tribe.”

“Sir, I love Carla more than that car.” Norman stared at the car for a moment. “It’s a
close second though.”

“Will you care, protect and defend your tribe in all things?” asked Mason.

“Yes sir” replied Norman.

“On your knees.” Commanded Mason and Norman dropped to his knees.

Mason whipped out his knife, razor sharp, and slit his thumb. Using his own blood he
painted a stripe from Norman’s hairline straight down to the tip of his nose. Mason added
a chevron under each eye and above each eye.

“Norman Lin, arise an elder of your tribe.”

Mason put a hand on each of Norman’s shoulders. “On your way. Make sure Drew wears
the bear tooth bracelet.”

Norman nodded. “I will sir.”

Norman jumped into the car and the engine came to life with a roar. There was a scream
of tires and the Mustang was darting out of the garage. The mid-morning traffic was
unusually light, the street nearly deserted. Norman was going 80 miles an hour when he
ran the first light. He was up to 120 by the time he got on the freeway. Drew was racing
toward Colby at 80 miles an hour. Norman was chasing after him at over 200.

Mason turned to Trace. “Find Seannie. I need Seannie and her little sister Tavia to meet
me in my room, as soon as possible. Find Dan Featherstone, I need him as well. Carl and
Roger Featherstone too.” Trace nodded.

----

Drew was driving down a long, lonely straight stretch of I-70, heading for Colby. He
didn’t know what he would find there, but he wanted to find out. The ring on his right
hand throbbed steadily. His speedometer said 80.

He could see miles behind him, and then he saw a red car approaching. It seemed to be
approaching impossibly fast. Then, far behind the red car, Drew could see the flashing red
and blue lights of several police cars.

Within minutes the red car caught up with him. It was a souped up red Mustang. He’d
seen it around the casino, but he didn’t know who it belonged to.

The Mustang pulled up alongside him and there was a smiling young man waving at him.
Drew pulled over to the side of the road.

Norman pulled up alongside him. Norman jumped out of the car. “Hi! Drew! My name is
Norman. Norman Lin! I’m Carla’s boyfriend. You know, Carla Sinopa, one of the
dealers?”

Drew said, “Yes, I know Carla.”

Norman pulled something white out of his pocket. It was a bracelet, ivory colored. It
looked old. It was made out of very large teeth.

“Drew, Mason asked me to find you. He knows you’re going into danger. He asks,
respectfully that you wear this. It will give you some strength and protection from the
tribe.”

Drew looked at the strange bracelet. He liked the look of it. Somehow he felt that the ring
on his right hand liked it. “Ok” he said. Since the ring was on the right hand, he slipped
the bracelet on his left.

Drew looked up the road. Six police cars were approaching, lights flashing and sirens
wailing. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

Norman nah. “Nah, just a misunderstanding.”

“Is that blood on your face?”

“Yes. Mason just made me a tribal elder.”

“Damn.” Said Drew.

“Yeap.”

“Well, I gotta go.” Said Drew.

“Sure. Good luck, whatever it is you’re doing. Thanks for wearing the bracelet. You
mean a lot to the people.”

“Thank you”, said Drew as he got back in his car and drove away.

Norman stood next to his car, waiting for the police to arrive.

-----

Mason, the brothers Roger and Carl Featherstone, Carl’s son Dan Featherstone, Seannie
and her little sister Tavia all sat crosslegged in a circle. The lights were turned off, but the
room was ringed in candles. Incense burned alongside the candles, filling the air.

Mason’s left wrist was adorned by a bracelet, made of bear teeth, twin to the one given to
Drew.

“Drew walks through the valley of death today. I don’t know how or why. We cannot go
with him. But, we can lend him our strength. Clear your mind. Follow me in the slow
chant. Think about Drew. Think of the good he has done for us. Wish him well. Can you
all do it?”
Every head nodded.

-----

Drew pulled into Pioneer Memorial Park. It was a small park on a small hill a couple
miles from Colby. There was a bronze statue in the center of the park with a pioneer man,
woman and child looking across the plains.

Inexplicably, Albert Frahm was attaching four heavy copper cables to the bonze statue and
then running the cables to large, shiny steel stakes driven into the ground. The cables were
on the four compass points, North, South, East, and West.

As soon as Drew got out of the car, Albert came over and greeted him.

“I apologize for my rudeness when we first met.”

“No problem.”

Warily Albert said: “A few days I felt some kind of great working off in your direction.
The next day I read about a plane crash in Denver. Did you bring down a plane?”

Drew shook his head. “I had a premonition. I saw a plane coming down into a High
School football game. A friend and I were able to . . . give the plane a helpful nudge. It
made it past the football game and landed in a large field. Everyone survived. Lucky.”

Albert smiled. “Impressive.”

Drew tipped his head and said, “Thanks. I kinda surprised myself.”

“Ok. Time is very short. I appreciate you’re coming to hear me out. Helping or not will
be your decision. But, I have a gift for you, whatever you decide.”

Albert pulled an elegant black velvet bag out of his pocket. “Hold out your hands, please.”
Drew held out his hand, and Albert, careful to not touch the contents, poured a magnificent
necklace into Drew’s hands.

The necklace was magnificent, a king’s ransom, or a queens. It was a series of large
square gems, alternative brilliant white diamonds and beautiful blue sapphires. The gems
were set in parallel cable chains that looked like silver, but was white gold. The large
stones were the size of postage stamps.

At first the design seemed delicate and feminine but once it landed in his hands, there was
a subtle twist and the necklace seemed to assume a strong, masculine quality.
“I, I, this is amazing. I would have come and talked with you for nothing. This is too
much. Are you sure? Why are you giving me this? Don’t you want to wear it?”

“That’s the simplest answer. No, I can’t wear it. I’ve tried. My power is in water. The
power of that necklace is in lightning. How well do you think water and lightning mix?
It’s very strong. Both times I tried to wear it, I nearly electrocuted myself.”

Albert continued. “Yes, I’m sure. Why is a bit complicated. Something big and powerful
is coming to kill me. The reason may be to get that necklace. It belonged to my mother,
and her grandmother before her. It’s been in our family longer than we remember. If I’m
to die today, I would rather it ended up in your hands, rather than my killer’s.”

“Furthermore, if you decide to stay and help me, it will strengthen you. It might make the
difference between us winning and losing.”

Drew nodded his head, understanding. “What do you think it’s worth?”

“As a piece of Jewlry? Hard to say. Maybe $10 million. I think it’s Egyptian, so maybe
more. But, it’s accumulated so much power over the centuries, it’s priceless. You
couldn’t buy something like it for a billion dollars. Quite a few rich and powerful people
would give even more for it.”

Drew sucked in his breath. “Ok, you have a request for help. Let me hear it.”

Albert nodded. “I don’t know what it is or why, but something enormously powerful is
coming to kill me. I’ve dreamed about it every night for months. In every one of those
dreams I died, until the dream where I called you and gave you the necklace.”

“What happened in that dream?”

“I woke up before the fight was over.”

“By the way, if the dream turned out better with me, why didn’t you call me sooner?”

“I called you as soon as I woke up.”

“What is coming?”

“A tornado is coming. A big one. Someone or something is behind it.”

Drew was shocked. “How can we fight a tornado?”

“I can. I can dissipate it. If I’m strong enough. There are two things you can do. Bend
your power to support and strengthen me. Also, there will be lightning. A lot of it. Keep
the lightning off me. Direct it to the statue.”
Drew looked at the statue and understood the need for the inch thick copper cables.

“You can dissipate a tornado?”

“Yes. Especially here in my county where I was born and I’ve lived for 80 years.”

Drew was surprised, Albert looked a lot younger than 80. Maybe 60.

“There has never been tornado damage in Thomas county in the years I’ve lived here.
There’ve been dozens in all the surrounding counties, over the years.”

“Working together, will we be strong enough?”, asked Drew hopefully.

Albert looked at the ground for long moments.

“I’ll be honest with you. Probably not. If you decide to run, I don’t blame you. If so, you
best get on the road within a few minutes.”

With an icy spike of fear in his stomach, he knew he couldn’t leave Albert.

“You knew if you gave me the necklace as a gift, no strings attached I would stay.”, sighed
Drew.

“I didn’t know, but yeah, I suspected.”

An idea occurred to Drew and he had felt a ray of hope. “Why don’t we both get out of
here? There’s time.”

Albert shook his head sadly. “I have a dozen kids, about fifty grand kids and over a
hundred great grand kids. Most of them live in Colby. I’m related to half the town.
Although they only whisper about it, most of them know I can control the weather. If I
run, Colby will be destroyed. Leveled. Houses blown apart into match sticks.”

“If I’m not here, and the town is destroyed by a tornado, they’ll know me for a coward.
Or, worse yet, they’ll think I’m the one who did it. Family and friends will never look at
me the same way. They’ve never talked about my power, but they know it’s protected the
county, helped during harvests, times of drought. But, if a tornado wipes out the town,
kills scores of people, my power will be sinister. Evil. I have to save the town, if I can.”

“What if it beats you, kills you?”

“I told my family I wanted to have a huge party and dinner in McCook, 80 miles north of
here. I told them I had a big announcement, implied it had something to do with a lot of
money. They will all be there. By the time they figure out I’m not coming, this will be
over.”
“What about everyone else in Colby?”

“There’s an air show 15 miles north of town this afternoon. The town should be close to
deserted. I’ve been reminding people about tornado warnings and storm cellars. People
have them around here, even though they haven’t needed them. I’ve done the best I can.”

“So not that many people would be killed if you run.”

“Yes, but they would lose their houses. If I survive, they will feel like I could have done
something. I can’t live with that. I think whoever is coming after me knew that. They
knew I would have to stand and fight.”

“Ok. I’m in. What do we do?”

“Do you know how to fade?”

“I think so.”

“Do it.”

Drew concentrated on being invisible. He thought he faded.

“Hmmmm. Not quite. You should put on the necklace.”

The ring on Drew’s right hand felt warm. So did the bear tooth bracelet on his left wrist.
Drew fastened the necklace around his neck, tucking it under his jacket and shirt so it
rested directly against his skin. The effect took his breath away. Everything became more
vivid and detailed. He could see distant trees as if he was standing next to them. He
noticed that Albert had bracelets of copper and jade on each wrist, and four jade rings on
each hand.

Drew wanted to fade, and the world instantly took on a ghostly gray. Drew held out his
hand and he could see right through it, as if it were made of glass.

“That’s better. Ok, I think whoever is coming expects me to be alone. You should stay out
of sight.”

Drew walked a few feet, to stand by the trunk of a great oak tree.

Albert looked toward the horizon. A wall of black-green clouds was forming. Drew could
hear the distant whine of tornado sirens start up.

“It’s starting. Lend me your power. I will be trying to dissipate the tornado. Keep the
lightning off me. Ok?”

“I wish I knew how to do that.”

“All you have to do is want it. Want me to be strong, and I will be. When the lighting
comes, want it to strike somewhere but on top of us. Once the lightning starts striking you
should feel pretty motivated.”

Drew gave a nervous laugh, “Ok”.

Albert went to his pickup truck and pulled out a 6 foot long staff of wood. The wood was
green brown and intricately carved with ruins. Somehow Drew knew what the runes said,
and realized it was through the power of the necklace. The runes were Icelandic and
named rain, wind, lightning, thunder, cloud, drought, flood, sun, snow, ice, hail, sleet, fog.
Somehow Drew knew the staff was very old, and very strong. In fact it glowed with a
clean blue green aura, like crystal lake water. The aura of the staff joined with Albert’s
aura, and they strengthened each other.

Looking toward the black clouds, Drew saw a funnel form and reach down to the ground.
His skin itched and the ring throbbed. There was something unnatural, malevolent, about
that funnel cloud. It began it’s march of destruction, straight toward them.

The funnel cloud quickly formed a tornado. The Pioneer Park was on a small hill, so they
could see the tornado clearly, even though it was a few miles away.

The tornado was heading straight for them. The problem was, a small trailer park was
directly in the torando’s path.

Drew wondered to himself, what is it about tornados and trailer parks? “We’ve got to stop
it before it gets to the trailer park!” exclaimed Drew.

Albert shook his head, “We get an advantage from this high ground. The trailer park is too
far away. I’ve done what I can for them.”

Drew’s heart pounded as he saw the tornado bearing down on the trailer park. When it
reached the park the trailers, as if they were small toys, lifted into the air, took brief flight,
shuddered, twisted and then blew apart into a million pieces.

----

Donald Cunard had been the manager of the trailer park for three years, since he’d gone on
disability when a 4x8 had crushed his left hand.

He was waiting for Albert Frahm, the new owner. Truth to tell, he was a bit afraid of Mr.
Frahm. There was a knock at the door and Donald let him in. They both sat down and the
trailer’s small kitchen table. Donald noticed that even though Albert must be over 90 by
now, he scarcely looked 60.
“Don, You’re probably wondering why I wanted to talk with you today.”, began Mr.
Frahm.

“Must be bad weather brewing, Mr. Frahm.”, said Donald.

Albert looked up sharply. “Why do you say that?”, he asked, a bit harshly.

Oh, now I’ve stepped in it, worried Don.

Don laughed nervously, “Well, you know what everyone says about you and the weather,
Mr. Frahm.”

Albert’s brow furrowed. “Call me Albert. No, I don’t know. Tell me what they say.”
Don cringed, I’m digging myself in deeper and deeper he thought.

“Well, when you bought the place, you required everyone to have tornado insurance, even
though there hasn’t been a tornado is Thomas County for over 100 years. I hear Widow
McNichols told you she couldn’t afford ‘damn fool’ tornado insurance, and you bought it
for her.”

“My lawyer recommended everyone be insured.”, said Albert gruffly.

“Also, you built that knew tornado shelter, which of course we all appreciate, but the guys
building it said it was the strongest one they’ve ever seen. More like an Iraqi bunker.”

Albert frowned, “People are talking about me and bad weather?”

Donald shook his head nervously, “No, sorry, I didn’t mean that.”

“Then what did you mean by ‘what everyone says about me and the weather’, then?”.

Donald thought a minute. “Well, it’s more of a family story, really.”

Donald didn’t want to continue, but Albert just stared at him icily.

“Years ago my grandpa, rest his soul, was a farmer. That particular summer started well
and the wheat and corn were coming up real nice. Then a long, hot, dry spell set in.
Weeks with no rain. Finally, the crops were on the verge of dyeing. No way to pay the
farm loan, no way to pay the mortgage, they would have lost the house, the farm every
thing. The only place that had gotten any rain was Thomas County, but their place was
just outside of Thomas County.”

“So, grandma make one of her famous cherry pies. The kind that won her prizes at the
state fair. She borrows the pickup and drives over to you and your wife’s place, just to
visit. Your wife invites her in and says, ‘Maude, after all these year’s, why are you
dropping by with cherry pie?’. My gram can’t help herself and breaks down crying, saying
with the hot dry weather, she doesn’t know if they’ll be neighbors much longer.’”

“The next day, my grandpa sees you drive your pickup over and park on top of a little hill
that overlooks their farm. You stand in the back of your pickup and just stare off into the
horizon. The day is hot and dry, the sky is solid blue, not a wisp of cloud.”

“But presently, at the horizon there’s just a few cottony wisps. They build a little and
slowly move closer. It takes a few hours, the whole time you just stand in your pickup bed
staring. But the clouds pile together, thicken and darken. When they get over the farm, a
gentle rain starts, just a sprinkle, then a substantial healing rain. It was the only rain they
got in almost 90 days.”

“When the rain cleared, they saw your pickup was still up on the hill, but they couldn’t see
you. So they ran up there and found you asleep or unconscious, lying in your pickup bed.
They couldn’t wake you up so they got into your pickup and drove you home. They heard
you didn’t get out of bed for two days.”

“That rain was enough to save their farm. A couple weeks later the hot weather broke, and
rain came again once in a while. They had a bumper crop, and got a great price because
quite a few folks had lost their crops to the dry heat. Paid down the loan. My dad was
born the next summer.”

Albert smiled, “That was your grandma? She brought us a cherry pie every week for the
rest of her life. I loved those cherry pies.”

Albert took a deep breath. “Ok, maybe I better get down to business here. First of all, I’m
doubling your pay as park manager.”

Donald’s eye’s flew open. “Really?”

“Yes, it’s still not that much.”

“Thank you Mr. Frahm, err, I mean Albert.”

“Well, you earn it. Second, we installed a new tornado siren last week. I know we haven’t
had a tornado here abouts for a long time, but that’s not guarantee we won’t have one.
Now, that siren goes off, your job is to make sure every hot foots it down into the cellar,
even if they think there’s nothing to worry about. Can you do that?”

“Sure. No problem.”

Albert looked at him fiercely. “You’re certain? Everyone?”.

Donald straightened his shoulders and sat up straight. “Definitely. You can count on me.
I’ll carry ‘em down their myself if they don’t want to go.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll be walking around today and tomorrow making sure
everyone knows about the siren and the shelter. How long do you think it would take to
get everyone down into the shelter?”

“If we all hurry, should take ten minutes or less.”

Albert thought for a minute, then nodded. “Ok. Make sure everyone, including yourself is
down in the shelter in ten minutes. Without fail.”

Donald nodded, but an icy chill ran down his back. Mr. Frahm wasn’t talking about
something that might happen. He was talking about something that would happen.

----

“I think they all got into the tornado shelter.”, declared Albert.

The tornado marched closer.

Albert faced the tornado, a bit forward from Drew. Albert grabbed the staff with both
hands, and planted it firmly in the ground. Albert’s head bowed slightly and the muscles
on his arms and legs bulged. The tornado stopped approaching. It even started to shrink
for a few moments. Then, it started inching forward, growing slowly.

“A little help here?” grunted Albert.

Actually Drew wasn’t sure what to do. He thought about the funnel cloud. It drew power
from miles around. He thought, wished powerfully, wouldn’t it be lucky if all the power
that fed the funnel cloud diverted, faded, disappeared? The roar of the funnel cloud
dropped off a bit.

“Whatever you’re doing, it’s helping.” Shouted Albert, the noise level rising. “Do a whole
hell of a lot more of it.”

Drew tried to concentrate more dissipative luck, but he felt like he was being resisted. The
resistance grew, markedly. He felt like a kid bailing out a bath tub with the tap on full,
then bailing out a tub filled with firehouses, then bailing against the ocean tide.

“Not enough!” shouted Albert. He pulled out an obsidian knife and sliced first his left
palm then the right. He sheathed the knife, and then grabbed the staff again, his blood
running down the wood. Albert concentrated and the staff started glowing with a visible
blue green light.

Drew changed strategy and willed his power into Albert. “Yes!” exclaimed Albert. The
tornado was now only a couple miles away. Albert grunted something that sounded like
“Hverfa” and the tornado reacted like a man who had been punched in the stomach. It
staggered back from them. Wisps frayed away from it and it lost cohesion. Then, it started
to strengthen and rebuild. It started to inch toward them.

“Not strong enough.”, grunted Albert.

Drew felt a tingle in the air and knew that a lightning strike was imminent. He imagined a
line of least resistance from the statue up to the clouds. There was a brilliant flash,
followed by a crashing roar.

“That was close. Thank you.” Shouted Albert.

The tornado had reformed and was stronger than ever. Near the top there was a dull red
glow, as if the tornado were a great evil Cyclops. Drew realized he wasn’t seeing the red
glow with his eyes, but it was something symbolic, provided by the necklace.

The temperature dropped abruptly and a driving rain started pouring down on them. Ice
started to cover everything as the rain froze instantly.

“I can’t stop the ice” moaned Albert.

Another bolt of lightning hit, with an unbelievable flash, followed by a thunder crash that
felt like a hammer blow. Drew’s ears were ringing and he realized he was, at least
temporarily deaf.

It was immediately followed by five more lightning strikes, in faster succession than you
could snap your fingers. There was so much electricity in the air that sparks crawled
across the ground.

Drew realized the lightning was trying to overwhelm him and reach Albert. One lighting
strike like that and Albert would be a pile of ash. Drew envisioned a huge inverted dish
protecting the area around the statue including Albert and himself. The dish appeared and
soaked up lighting bolt after lightning bolt. Drew imagined the dish strengthening,
becoming so strong it could soak up hundreds, thousands of lighting bolts.

Drew shivered. The ring on his right hand gave an urgent throb throb throb. The coating
of ice was now inches thick. There was a noise, a snap so loud Drew could somehow hear
it over the lightning, and then his whole world went black.

----

Tavia opened her eyes. She was the youngest one in the room. She was also the only one
conscious. A trickle of blood ran down the side of her mouth where she had bitten through
her lip. A few drops of blood came from her nose.

They had been in a vision, near to Drew and supporting him. Something terrible had
happened.
She looked at the others, big sister Seannie, grandfather, and the Featherstones. All of
them were still breathing, thank goodness. The circle had broken between Grandfather and
Seannie. Tavi jumped up and placed their hands together. She looked at the bear tooth
bracelet on grandfather’s wrist. She could feel it pulsing with power. She briefly
considered placing it on her own wrist. No, grandfather would know what to do.

She sat back down and grabbed Seannie to her left and the Featherstone boy to her right,
remaking the intact circle. She closed her eyes. She concentrated and focused. She lifted
her voice in chant, high and loud. She had to chant for everyone now.

----

Drew found himself standing next to the tree. A massive branch, over burdened with ice,
had snapped lose and crashed to the ground. There was a poor, crushed, bloody doll under
the branch. The doll had nothing to do with him.

The storm no longer raged around him. He was aware of it, but he was more aware of a
glorious golden light. Everything was tremendously peaceful. The peacefulness was deep
and permeated everything. It explained everything. The tornado was approaching and
would soon kill Albert, but life was peace and good, death was peace and good.
Everything was so good, joy filled Drew’s heart and it was glorious.

Drew noticed a beautiful white path that led steeply up to the clouds, and Drew realized it
was even more peaceful, joyful and glorious at the top of that path. He started toward it,
but suddenly Mason rode up on a tremendous white horse, a glorious horse, like the father
or god of all horses.

Mason called to Drew: “Are you giving up that easily?”

Drew did not understand. “I’m not giving up. I’m just going to go up this path.”

“What about Albert? What about everyone that needs you?”, asked Mason, urgently.

“People need me?”, mused Drew. There was so much peace and joy, it was hard to think
about a need that might not be met.

Drew looked at the bloody crushed doll under the massive branch. “I think it’s my time to
go up the path. Albert can come along, in his time. Everyone will be fine.”

Drew walked toward the path.

“There is another choice!” said Mason urgently.

Drew stopped. “Choice?”

“I can go in your place. I am old and I’ve lived a long life. Your life is just starting.
Albert and many others need you.”

“Need me.” Drew saw that he had two glorious choices. He could go up the path, and
everything would be wonderful. Or, he could stay, and do wonderful things on earth, in
life.

“How?”, asked Drew.

“Just choose, and tell me your choice. If you decide to stay, I will go in your place.”

It was a tough choice, a choice between two very good options. Drew looked at Albert.
Albert was getting weary, fighting with all his might to hold back the tornado. Albert was
losing. It seemed like anyone that was fighting that hard should win. Albert wanted to
protect the entire town of Colby. There was something noble in that.

“I will stay.”

Mason nodded. The golden light gathered around Mason, and then a large bolt of the light
gathered around Drew, and the poor crushed doll under the branch. Mason became very
bright and then he galloped up the path. It was glorious.

Drew was standing in the storm, a couple of steps from the branch. There was nothing
under the branch. Drew felt great, full of energy and strength. The bear tooth bracelet
around his left wrist was very warm, in a pleasant way. It was glowing with a golden light.

Albert had been fighting on his own for several moments and the tornado was sliding
closer. The roar was unbelievable, like a thousand freight trains.

“You have powerful friends! I thought I lost you!”, shouted Albert. Drew couldn’t hear
his words, but he knew what Albert had said.

Drew willed strength into Albert and the tornado shuddered. It stopped advancing, it
might have inched back a bit. Then it held still. At the top of the tornado there was a red
glow, like a malevolent Cyclops eye.

“You must go to the enemy”, said Mason’s voice.

Drew looked up at the red glow.

“Go with your mind.”, advised Mason’s voice.

“Of course!”, thought Drew. He concentrated on the red glow and then found his point-of-
view flying toward it. His body remained where it was.

Drew rapidly flew to the red glow. When he got to the red glow, he flew right into it.
He was in a large dark room. There were hundreds of candles, producing an evil orange-
red light. There was a large table, and a dozen hooded figures were standing around the
table, holding hands. A young, tall man was standing at the head of the table, with his
hands resting on the table, the person to the left and right holding firmly onto his wrists.

Power was flowing from the circle into the tall, young man. Power from the young man
was flowing into the table. The top of the table was dark glass, like a computer monitor or
a flat screen TV layed horizontal. On the table was a satellite view of the tornado and the
park. Drew could see the tiny figure of Albert holding the staff. The staff pulsed with an
emerald green power.

Tremendous power was flowing into the table and then somehow into the tornado. Drew
got an idea. If he could break the connection between the table and the tornado . . .

The connection broke. Drew wasn’t even sure how he did it. Power started to build up in
the table.

One of the figures jumped backward – her hood flopped off her head and Drew could see –
it was the girl from the Govenor’s entourage! She shouted, “Something is wrong! Get
back!!”. Most of the others stepped back, breaking the circle. There was a rush of power
from the table, back into the tall young man at the head of the table. It was like a dozen
lightning bolts pouring into him. He was reduced to a smoldering pile of bones and ashes
while the person to his left and right were thrown back by the shock, landing motionless on
the floor.

Suddenly Drew was back in his body.

The tornado was dissipating rapidly. Albert smiled. “What did you do?”

“There was a group of twelve of them.”, explained Drew. “They were controlling the
tornado with some kind of table, satellite link. I broke the link and the power backlashed
into them. The person controlling the tornado, maybe a couple others were killed.”

Albert nodded.

A large black SUV was barreling down the freeway and turned onto the dirt road leading
into the park. Somehow it emanated menace. Drew wondered what to do and started to
imagine a lightning bolt hitting the SUV.

“Let me handle this”, said Albert. Rain started to fall in a 50 foot wide column centered on
the SUV. The rain strengthened, then increased again. It became an unimaginable torrent
of water. The SUV slid off the road into a muddy depression. Four doors popped open
and four men, each carrying an machine gun got out. But they immediately sank to their
knees, and then the men and SUV were lost to sight as the rain became so torrential it was
a great opaque stream of water.
The rain went on and on and nothing emerged from the hellish rush of water.

Drew expected the water to accumulate into an instant lake, but instead the mud all around
roiled and frothed, taking in the water. After several minutes the rain slowed, and then
stopped. There was no sign of the SUV or men, nothing left but a large bed of mud.

“They were the clean-up crew.”, explained Albert. “Kill us if by some chance we were
still alive, and most importantly, take any magic items they could find on our bodies.”

Chapter: Fire and Ice

The day after the battle of ice and lightning Drew woke up in his bed. He didn’t remember
driving home from Kansas, but he must have. He didn’t remember getting into bed, but he
must have.

He remembered walking into the lobby where Seannie and Trace were waiting for him. He
had known that Mason was gone, but, he still needed the closure of hearing it from their
lips. Seannie’s eyes were red and swollen from crying. She seemed frail. Trace was pale.
It was inconceivable to go on without Mason, but somehow they would.

Drew got up and showered. There was breakfast waiting for him, even though he hadn’t
requested anything. He ate a few bites.

Drew went through the motions of the day in shock. He walked through the hotel and
casino. In the afternoon he attended classes. After class he jogged around campus.

Things felt different. He felt the bear tooth bracelet on his wrist, a comforting warmth.
Drew knew he would be dead now, if not for Norman and Mason. He couldn’t believe
Mason was gone.

Drew felt the weight of the necklace around his weight. He wore it against his skin, inside
his shirt where no one could see it. Through the necklace, he was aware. He felt every
neighborhood in Denver. He felt the Thunderbird. He thought about Seannie and knew
she was in Mason’s rooms. He thought about Norman and knew he was in the Denver
County Jail.

Drew stopped jogging and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Trace.

“Hi Trace.”, Drew said sadly.

“Hi Drew”, replied Trace sadly.

“How much legal trouble is Norman in?”

After a few moments Trace answered. “Quite a bit, but nothing the tribe can’t handle.”

“I will cover bail, any fines or legal fees. Whatever it takes to get Norman out of jail as
quickly as possible.”

“Drew, that’s . . . the tribe’s got it covered.”

“Please”, pleaded Drew, “Let me do this.”

“Ok”, said Trace.

----

Sonya went to meet with Coon. It was a long and tiring trip, plane, car, walk and stairs. A
different place every time. Coon was secretive and paranoid, probably insane. Coon sat in
the dark room, a single candle throwing an uncertain light. He had a hood over his head,
hiding his face, but Sonya knew what he looked like. Perhaps he had forgotten that she
remembered, long ago, when he was her brother.

“Luke is dead! You knew something bad would happen.”, she accused. “That’s why you
weren’t there. Out of danger! Coward!”

“Sonya, Sonya, Sonya. I warned all of you the old man was powerful. None of us knew
he would be able to pull in the kid from the casino. Unexpected. Even then, we would
have won, if the old Indian from the casino had not helped him. No matter, the old Indian
is gone. We will succeed next time.”

“Coward!”

“I was not out of danger, Sonya.”, he knew she disliked it when he used her name. Few
knew her real name, or her history.

“Really? Where were you?”

“I was watching from nearby. I was the only one that saw the kid. I made the branch
come down on him. That should have been enough. Your report on the kid, was
unreliable. You said he was harmless.” Coon emphasized “your”, “unreliable” and
“harmless”, making the words heavy and accusatory.

Sonya looked at the floor. “I said he was young. Very young, and he is. I didn’t say he
was powerless. I just said he had no experience. He is 18 for Fire’s sake! Compared to
us, who have built power and experience across centuries.”

“He could be a formidable enemy. He has the old indian’s power now. He’s stolen power
from every inept gambler who’s tried to take money from his casino since he moved in.
Most importantly, he now has Luke’s power. I wonder if he knows what to do with it.”
“Luke’s power? Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Where else did it go?”

Sonya thought about it. “You’re right. At least we have Luke’s platinum ring. Everything
else was burned or melted.”

“Give it to me.”, Coon’s voice hissed with a lustful urgency.

Careful to not let the ring touch her skin, Sonya pulled out a small black velvet pouch,
opened the top, and dropped the ring into Coon’s outstretched hand. The ring was
beautiful, the platinum metal band decorated with ornate black runes and adorned with a
40 carat diamond in a square Asscher cut.

Coon placed the ring on his left thumb. Every finger on both hands now held a ring, ten all
told. He felt echoes of Luke’s ability to control wind and lightning. Echoes of Luke’s
talent to make lucky situations go his way. Coon was more powerful than before.

“Yes, it feels good. A shame about Luke.”, Coon chuckled.

Sonya wondered if Coon had planned it this way. No, he coveted the ring on Drew’s hand.
A very old ring that both of them recognized.

“Did Nick have a hand in this?”, Sonya asked. Somehow Drew must have received that
ring from Nick.

“Of course not.”, replied Coon.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because if Nick were involved, Luke would not be dead. You or I would be dead.”

Sonya sighed. “I suppose you are right. What will we do now? What is the next step?”

Coon was silent, thoughtful, for a time. Finally he replied.

“I don’t trust you and the others to take out Drew anymore. I will take care of that myself.
After Drew is gone, we can go after Albert again. It will be harder without Luke, but
Albert knew we would have won without Drew. Next time Albert won’t have help.”

“You will take care of Drew by yourself?”

“Indeed. You know I’m stronger than the rest of you put together.”

Sonya left without saying goodbye, still angry about Luke’s death.
Coon sat silently and felt Sonya’s aura move away from him. Coon hated meeting her, and
was glad it was over. He wasn’t safe around Sonya. She had tremendous power, and was
dangerous. Coon judged Sonya was probably too stupid to ever actually hurt him, but still
a threat.

The other members of the circle were dangerous and every one of them threat. Coon was
glad Luke was dead. Luke had been a useful tool, very powerful, and not very bright.
Easy to manipulate. Luke would be missed, but getting Luke’s ring was more than worth
it.

Coon was surprised Albert in Kansas was still alive. Albert was powerful, but any pair
from the circle should have had more than enough power to take Albert out, even on his
home ground. Albert was not much of a threat, he never left Kansas and Coon had no
desire to ever go to Kansas. But, he had convinced the circle that Albert was worth taking
out.

They would have easily killed Albert, if it had not been for Drew. In fact, the circle would
have rapidly defeated the both of them if the kid had not figured out how to use the table to
reflect the circle’s power back into Luke.

Coon mused about Drew. Because of Drew, the Circle’s plan, which everyone knew was
Coon’s plan, had failed. Drew, an 18 year old, had embarrassed him. Coon felt a growing
black hatred. Nick had been helping Drew, and that was very bad.

When Nick found a new, young source of power, why couldn’t Nick just kill him and take
his power? Instead, Nick gave him a ring of power! Nick was so insane. Well,
fortunately Nick was a complete coward. Coon hadn’t even seen him in over a hundred
years.

Albert had given Drew the legendary Egyptian necklace. Coon, watching from a great
distance, had seen the exchange. That was unexpected generosity, but a clever move on
Albert’s part. Coon had not told the rest of the circle that Drew now wore the necklace,
and he wouldn’t tell them. Coon pictured taking the necklace from Drew’s dead, frozen
body, and then placing the necklace around his own neck. The necklace was one of the
most powerful objects in the world. The necklace must not fall into anyone else’s hands,
most of all Sonya’s. With Drew’s power and the necklace Coon might finally be ready to
kill Sonya. Kill Sonya, kill Albert, kill the rest of the circle, taking power from them one
by one. Nick last of all.

Killing Drew and getting the necklace was now Coon’s most important goal.

Coon arose, walked along the corridors, climbed the stairs and made it back to the street.
Coon’s senses reached out, searched all around, until he was satisfied there was nobody
with a shred of power for miles around. Coon pulled off the hooded, black silk robe,
folded it and placed it in his briefcase. Now he was simply a well dressed business man.
He walked back toward his waiting limousine.

Standing some distance back, he looked carefully at the limousine, surveying it with sight
and other senses. One of the rings on his right hand would throb if there was anything
unlucky, any kind of threat, about the limousine. That ring was silent, not a hint of threat.
A ruby ring on his left hand would grow cold if there was any hint of disloyalty, or warm
in the presence of loyalty. The ring warmed reassuringly.

Coon made certain none of his servants ever met Sonya or anyone else from the Circle.
Years ago he’d met openly and frequently with Sonya and some of the others. Eventually
he noticed that some of his servants had started to feel loyalty toward Sonya, and he’d had
to kill all of them. Recruiting new servants was a waste of time. It took effort to find
exactly the right person, loyal, efficient, but a bit dull. Dedicated in following instructions,
but not inclined to ask questions.

Coon got into the rented limousine. His attractive executive assistant was waiting in the
back. His driver and bodyguard were sitting in the front. Of course, Coon didn’t need a
bodyguard, but his servant’s didn’t know that. As far as they knew, Coon was simply a
successful businessman, multi-billionaire.

Sally, his personal assistant smiled and gave him a subtle bow. “How was the meeting,
Mr. Coon?”

“Successful, as always.”, Coon smiled coolly. “We won’t be flying home. We’ll be flying
to San Francisco next. Book adjoining suites, the nicest you can find. Sausalito would be
great. We’ll probably stay a couple nights, book us for a week.”

His assistant nodded, she would take care of it. Coon’s private jet would be flying toward
San Francisco within an hour.

----

It was a clear day, beautiful. It was a fitting day to pay respects and remember Mason.
Drew watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground. He couldn’t believe that Mason
was gone.

The business managers, who Drew now understood were also the tribal elders stood
together. Carl and Roger Featherstone, Kim Pepper, and the new, young guy, Norman Lin.

----

Coon wore his hooded black silk robe. He stood in the shadows near a busy San Francisco
night club. When Coon didn’t want to be seen, no one could see him.
Coon wanted to talk with Akihiko Komatsu. They had done business before. Akihiko
would be coming out soon. He would have four body guards, and a driver. Akihiko
typically rolled with a larger entourage, but luckily for Coon, the smaller group would
make things easier and simpler.

The limo pulled up and Akihiko’s efficient security quickly got him into the car. They did
not like their boss standing exposed in the street. Their boss had a lot of enemies.

Coon wanted badly to be in the limo, and so Coon was suddenly sitting inside the limo,
appearing out of nowhere, facing Akihiko.

Akihiko and his body guards flinched in surprise. The youngest and rashest bodyguard
instantly whipped out a gun and started pointing it toward Coon’s face.

The young bodyguards eyes closed, his hand dropped to his lap, he slumped back in his
seat, dead.

“Poor fellow, brain aneurism.”, said Coon in a mock sad tone of voice.

Coon sighed, “Mr. Komatsu, will it be necessary to kill all of your men, like last time?”

“Don’t move”, Komatsu snapped at his surviving security, then asked, deferrentially
“What do you want . . . Mr. Smith?”.

“I want to talk with you alone. Now. Surely you have a warehouse or some other discreet
location where we could discuss a business arrangement for an hour or so?”

Komatsu nodded. Akihiko Komatsu was in his mid fifties. He had a scared, ugly face and
the athletic, powerful body of a former boxer. Komatsu was one of the most powerful
criminal figures in California. He was tough and smart. Komatsu had a considerable
talent for luck, which had saved his life and was a key part of his success in criminal
enterprises.

“Remember what I told you boys. Do exactly what he says, or you’ll be dead just like
Fred here. Carl, get us down to the seaport warehouse.” The limo started moving.

It was a short trip, endured in excruciating silence. Sweat beaded on Komatsu’s forehead,
he was wholly unaccustomed to the experience of fear.

The limousine arrived. “If you have security here, send them home.”, instructed Coon.
Komatsu didn’t like the sound of that but he didn’t have a choice. He didn’t know who
Mr. Smith was, but he knew he could kill with a glance. Last time, ten years ago, he
learned that Mr. Smith couldn’t be killed by a gun fired point blank. Mr. Smith was some
kind of demon come to life, and as far as Komatsu knew, no power on earth could stop
him. “Send them home.”
Komatsu and his security got out of the limo and Coon walked with them into the
warehouse. There was a business office. “We can talk in there.”, gestured Coon. “Have
your guards wait in the car.” The guards immediately stiffened. In the bodyguard
business, the first rule was, never let your principle out of your sight or out of your control.

“Don’t worry guys, get in the car like he said. If he wanted me dead, I would be dead
already.”

Reluctantly the bodyguards left.

“Have a seat”, Coon gestured at a simple wooden chair. Komatsu sat down and Coon
remained standing.

Getting right to business, Coon asked: “In Denver, there is a casino called The
Thunderbird. Do you know about it?”

“Sure.”, replied Komatsu. “Mom and pop tribal outfit. Small operation, of no
consequence.”

Coon nodded. “I want to send them a message. Get a crew together. At least a dozen
guys. Go in and rob them. If bunch of people get shot up, so much the better. But, that’s
not a requirement.”

Komatsu licked his lips. “Mr. Smith, robbing casinos is bad business. There’s better ways
to roll them.”

Coon frowned in anger. Why did people have to be so stupid?

“Wrong answer.” Said Coon softly. Cold like a knife hit Komatsu’s arms and legs.
Komatsu grunted in pain, as ice instantly started forming around his arms and legs,
freezing him to the chair. “The answer I was looking for was, ‘Yes Mr. Smith’”

Komatsu spoke quickly, his voice strained from pain. “Yes, Mr. Smith. You want the
Thunderbird hit, of course I’ll hit the Thunderbird.”

Coon smiled an unpleasant smile. “That’s better.”

The ice stopped growing, but there was plenty to keep Komatsu frozen to the chair.

“Put together a good crew, but don’t dawdle. I want it done within a few weeks. The
Thunderbird is tougher than it looks. At least, it is now.”

Even in pain, Komatsu was offended. “You think I can’t roll a two-bit casino?”
Coon smiled at Komatsu’s naïve arrogance. ”I think all your men will be killed. But, if
they get away with any money, you’re welcome to it. Successful or not, my message is
sent.”

Coon thought for a moment. “I like you Komatsu, so here’s some free advice. Don’t send
anyone you want coming back. Don’t send anyone that can be traced back to you.”

Coon gave Komatsu a dangerous look and asked slowly. “Can I count on you, Akihiko?”

Komatsu nodded quickly, and said respectfully. “Sure thing, Mr. Smith. It’s done.”

Coon looked at Komatsu and decided he meant it. Good.

“One thing, Mr. Smith.”, began Komatsu cautiously. “Of course I’m doing the job, but . . .
it would help to know. Is the Thunderbird protected by the Vegas bunch?”

Coon laughed. “No. Not all. If they care at all, the Vegas bunch will be pleased by your
actions.”

Komatsu gave a small sigh of relief. When he looked up, Coon was gone, disappeared.
Arms and legs numb, Komatsu broke himself loose from the icy chair and stumbled toward
the limo. Komatsu hoped he didn’t loose any fingers or toes.

----

Flying into Vegas was risky for Coon, so of course he didn’t do it.

When he got back to the hotel in Salsilito, Coon smiled at his assistant and said, “I know
you like a challenge.”

His assistant smiled with dread.

“My business here is done. Very successful.”, Coon never told them anything about what
he did or who he met with. “Tomorrow we fly to Barstow.” One of the benefits of having
your own Gulfstream was, you could fly when you wanted, where you wanted.

“See how nice a hotel you can find us in Barstow.” The assistant cringed. “I’m counting
on you.”

His assistant came up with a Hampton Inn. It was primitive compared to the Cavallo Point
Hotel in Sausalito, but Coon could with it for a night or two.

Coon hated dealing with the Vegas Bunch, and as a rule, never did. They were second
raters, but they banded together tenaciously. Not really a threat to such as Coon, but, they
could be inconvenient. Coon would make an exception and tell them something they
would figure out on their own eventually. They would be an unwitting, but useful tool as
he went after Drew.

It would be best if they didn’t even realize they were being manipulated.

After a good night’s rest Coon found a department store in Barstow and bought a
deplorable sport coat and jeans to wear with it. He rented a Ford Taurus, and then took the
two and a half hour drive up to Vegas.

He stopped on the outskirts of town at the first run down casino he caught site of. El
Vaqueiro. He toned down his aura. Way down. He went in and won $6,000 in various
card games. With the low table stakes and slow dealers it was hard to do. The dealers
looked at him nervously.

Coon could tell when the casino talent started interfering with his luck. He lost the next
hand of Black Jack, and then the one after. He rubbed his head as if suffering from a
headache. He got up from the table and cashed his chips. He headed for his car and then
drove to the nearest café. The casino talent followed him.

He ordered a burger, and after a couple bites he went to use the public phone, near the
lobby and not far from where the casino talent was eating a salad and watching him.

“Drew, it’s just like you said. Nobody here has power like you. We’ll practice a couple
more weeks at the Thunderbird and then come down here are take these guys for a million
bucks!”

Coon went back and took a couple more bites of his burger. He left half the burger and an
didn’t leave a tip. He got back in the Ford Taurus to return to California. The casino talent
followed him until Coon was a couple miles out of town, apparently to make sure Coon
wasn’t coming back.

Drew and the Thunderbird would be on Vegas’s radar now.

Coon started to think about Colorado. Yes, flying into Colorado Springs, rather than
Denver, would be a good idea.

----

Drew wondered what life would be like without Mason, how life could even go on at all.
It was surprisingly normal. Everyone was sad and missed the old man. But, life went on.

Drew split his time between business classes, jogging around Denver, and walking around
the casino.

Seannie moved into Mason’s rooms, along with her little sister Tavia.
Norman Lin, the tribe’s newest elder, and the casino’s newest business manager, was
everywhere. Planting trees, washing windows, cleaning up in the kitchen, putting rolls of
toilet paper in the bathroom.

One time Drew and Norman shared a couple of burgers for lunch and Drew said something
about what a hard worker Norman had turned into. Norman squared his shoulders, lifted
his head. “I used to be just ‘some guy’. Destined to be a mechanic or something. Now,
my tribe counts on me. The Thunderbird is the prosperity of the tribe. I want to know
every nook, cranny, crack and corner.” Drew nodded his head.

The Thunderbird made $7 million in September. September had previously been a

lackluster month, but was now setting a record. Drew received a deposit of $700,000 on
October 10th. He transferred $200,000 to the reservation health and welfare fund.

Drew was studying hard, but getting A’s in all his classes. He was learning about
accounting, finance, and business law. As a partner in a major business, it was all a lot
more interesting and relevant.

One day Drew was studying in the library and he felt something. He realized someone
with a lot of luck had walked into the casino. Drew could tell the guy had settled down at
the Blackjack tables. The guy won his first three hands, and then Drew concentrated. The
guy won and lost randomly. After a while he ran out of chips. The guy left the
Thunderbird, and Drew doubted he would ever be back.

Drew wore the ring, the bear-tooth bracelet and the diamond sapphire necklace at all times.
The necklace he wore under his shirt, against his skin. It was tucked down low enough that
nobody would know it was there.

Drew was still having the nightmare, several times a week. He was up in the mountains.
There was horrible pain and he could tell he was frozen to a tree. The ice was covering
him, thickening around him. The ice was threatening to cover his face, like a cocoon. The
strawberry blond woman came flying in from the clouds, with a tremendous rush of warm
air. She pointed the ruby red rod at him and a stream of white hot fire shot out. He woke
up, gasping for air, expecting to find his bed full of ice. Of course, it wasn’t.

----

Drew was sitting in an accounting class when he felt something. Someone with a bright,
twisting, oily green aura had landed at the airport. Drew could tell the guy had a lot of
power, but Drew didn’t know if it was more or less than Albert.

All that walking and driving around Denver had paid off. He could feel exactly where the
guy was, minute by minute as he headed straight for the Thunderbird.

The class finished and Drew decided he was done for the day. He walked quickly to his
car and headed back toward the Casino.
Much to his surprise, the guy with the oily aura stopped at the Blue Flamingo Café, just a
mile from the Thunderbird.

Drew made it back to the Casino and wondered if the oily guy was aware of Drew location.
Drew waited a half hour and the guy was still at the Blue Flamingo. Drew decided he
should go talk with him.

Walking into the Blue Flamingo, Drew immediately spotted the guy. Blond hair, movie
star looks, expensive silk suit. We waved at Drew when Drew came through the door.

Drew walked over to his table, and the guy motioned for Drew to sit down with him. “You
can call me Steve.”, Steve said.

“You can call me Drew.”, added Drew. “I know.”, replied Steve.

Steve took his time finishing his blueberry pie. Drew found Steve’s casual, patronizing
demeanor to be something of an insult.

Steve wiped his mouth and started his pitch. “Today is your lucky day, and it’s a good day
for the Thunderbird too.”

“Why is that?”, asked Drew, who had taken an immediate dislike to Steve.

“You’re going to become part of Vegas. You’ve arrived. You’ve made it.”, Steve smiled.

“Actually, I’m mostly a Denver kind of guy.”

Steve took a deep breath. “Nothing wrong with that.”

“Are you connected to the attack in Kansas?”, asked Drew.

Steve looked at Drew incredulously, “What would we have to do with any clodhoppers in
Kansas?”

“What do you mean, ‘become a part of Vegas’?”, asked Drew.

“It means, you’re now partners with the Golden Circle Consortium line.”

“Really?”, asked Drew, ironically.

“Really.”, smiled Steve. Apparently irony was not his strong suit.

“Could you tell me what it’s like being partners with the Golden Circle Consortium line?”
“Sure, you’re part of the most prestigious line of casinos in Vegas. You can use the
Golden Circle Consortium name in your ads. You’ll be on our list of hotels and casinos.”,
Steve’s voice dropped. “As part of the family, you’ll receive protection.”

Drew nodded. “All of this for free?”

Steve gave of winning smile. “Just like all the other Golden Circle Consortium hotels and
casinos, 50% of your profits will go back to corporate.”

Drew appeared to think about that for a few moments. “As attractive as your offer is, I’m
afraid my answer is ‘No Thank You’.”

Steve’s face reddened. “It’s not like you have a choice, you clod hopper idiot.”

Drew’s chest and head started to hurt, but he smiled. “There’s always a choice.”

“A team with more power than you can imagine will come for you. They’ll kill you.”

“They can try. Others have tried.”, Drew’s brow furrowed thoughtfully, “Ok, strictly
speaking, they succeeded. But anyway, I’m still walking around.”

Steve made an oily smile, “We’ll burn the casino to the ground.”

Drew jumped to his feet and shouted, “No you WON’T!”.

There was a snap and the air smelled like ozone. Steve slumped forward, his face landing
on his plate.

Drew was shocked. He felt Steve’s neck. No pulse.

Icy fear and shame gripped Drew’s heart. He hadn’t meant for this to happen. It was a
mistake. He grabbed Steve’s slumped shoulders and said, “You’re alive damn it!”.

Steve instantly sat up and his eyes opened wide. He took in a long shuddering breath and
started shaking. He starred at Drew, his eyes bugging out. “You’re a dead man.”, he said
as he shakily stood.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean . . .”, Drew tried to reply but Steve was already stumbling out the
door. Steve shambled rapidly across the parking lot, then nearly fell down while trying to
open the door of a red BMW convertible. The BMW started up left hurriedly, nearly
colliding with a car coming into the parking lot.

Drew watched him go. Drew noticed a waitress standing nearby, fearfully looking at the
table. “I’ll pickup the tab.”, said Drew, and he dropped a couple of 20’s onto the table.

----
Drew got back to the casino and found Seannie. “How soon can you get the business
managers together?”

“Pretty quick, is it an emergency?”

Drew nodded, “I’m afraid so.”

“I can get everyone together at 4:00 pm.”

“Good, lets do that. This will affect security, so let’s include Trace too.”

“Ok.”

Drew paused. “I always met with the business managers in Mason’s suite. Is that still
where we get together, even though you live there now?”

Seannie nodded.

“Ok, I’ll see you at 4.”, said Drew.

Drew knocked on 517’s door at 4:00 pm sharp, and Seannie let him in. The four business
managers, Carl and Roger Featherstone, Kim Pepper wearing a suit, and the new guy,
Norman Lin were all sitting at the big table. Trace Dewey was there too, looking alert.
Drew and Seannie sat down. Seannie’s little sister Tavia was sitting to Seannie’s right.
Drew was surprised to see her, but for some reason was glad Tavia was there.

“Thanks for getting together on short notice.”, began Drew.

“I needed to let you know, the Vegas bunch is coming after us.”

Seannie sucked in her breath.

“A guy from Vegas flew in today and told us we were now part of the Golden Circle
Consortium. I said ‘No Thank You’”.

Drew explained everything that had happened with Steve at the Blue Flamingo.

“Sorry”, said Drew, “I guess I’m not very good at making friends and influencing people.”

“It’s not your fault”, declared Kim. “There is no way to make peace with these people.
Mason always said, if they ever got in here, we would lose everything that made the
Thunderbird good for the tribe.”

Everyone nodded.
“What’s going to happen now?”, asked Roger Featherstone.

“I don’t know for sure, but my guess is they will come in strong, probably try to take me
out.”

“They’re too big and powerful.”, worried Carl. “What chance do we have against them.”

To everyone’s surprise, Tavia spoke up. Her voice was a child’s, pitched high.
Nevertheless, she spoke with poise, confidence, and wisdom beyond her years. “The
Vegas Bunch is strong. But don’t underestimate Drew. Grandfather said there are greater
powers that the Vegas Bunch fear. Drew faced those powers once, and won. Grandfather
also said the tribe is strong. All of us must do everything we can to help.”

Everyone nodded. Carl cleared his throat, then spoke strongly. “Sorry. I understand. Of
course we will fight. Our tribe has gone to war before.”

“Drew, what can we do to help?”, asked Trace Dewey.

“I think we should beef up Security. We’ve got good revenue and lots more guests than a
few months ago. But, the Security team hasn’t grown at pace.”

Everyone nodded. “Double it.”, said Kim Pepper, and everyone agreed.

“Let me watch over the interviews. Help make sure we only get ‘good’ guys.”, requested
Drew. Trace nodded.

“What else?”, asked Roger.

Drew shrugged. “I’m not sure. I’ll be watching out, watching for anything. All of you
should do the same. Let me know if you have any ideas, or see anything or anybody that
looks off.”

“Ok”.

“There’s one thing that bothers me.”, said Norman. Everyone looked at him, as he spoke
up for the first time.

“What’s that?”, asked Kim.

“According to Tribal Law we should have seven elders. We have four. That’s like half
strength. That’s not a war footing.”

Roger nodded and Carl said, “Good point. Very good.”

“The problem is, who do we pick?”, asked Kim Pepper.

Norman pointed across the table at Trace. “Him. As head of security we already trust him
with everything, and he’s never let us down.”

Trace shrugged, “I’m only one quarter Jicarilla.”.

“Is that a problem?”, asked Norman. “You’re still a tribe member.”

“It is not a problem., agreed Kim Pepper, “Does Trace have everyone’s support?”. Roger
and Carl nodded.

“Tracey Dewey, you’ve long held the tribe’s trust and shown yourself worthy every day.
Perhaps it’s overdue, but your tribe needs you now. Do you accept our call to be a Tribal
Elder?”

“It would be an honor.”, replied Trace, his voice a bit choked up.

“Done.”, said Kim, and the four elders shook Trace’s hand.

“Any other suggestions?”, Kim asked Norman.

“In fact, I do. I nominate her.”, Norman pointed at Seannie. Her eyes flew open as if to
say “me?”.

Kim’s brow furrowed thoughtfully.

“She’s, young, and . . . a girl.”

“I noticed”, said Norman. “But I checked the tribe’s charter. There’s nothing against
having a woman as a tribal elder. In fact, Mason’s grand mother was a tribal elder before
Mason. As far back as the records go, someone from the Williams family has been a tribal
elder. Of the William’s, Seannie knows the most about the hotel and casino. She lives
here. More importantly, I would trust her with anything.”

Everyone thought for a few moments.

Finally Carl said, “I agree.”. Roger followed with. “Me too.”. After just a few moments,
Kim added. “You’re right. Seannie would make an excellent Elder.” They all looked at
Trace. It took him just an extra moment to remember, he was now a tribal elder, and his
opinion counted. “Yes, I agree.”

Kim looked at Seannie. “It’s unanimous. But, Seannie, do you want the job?”

Seannie took a deep breath. Her eyes were moist. “Over the years, Grandfather taught me
about the casino. He said he wanted me to know everything he knew. We talked a lot
more the last few months. I guess this is why. Maybe he knew. Yes, I would be
honored.”
Everyone shook Seannie’s hand, and Tavia was smiling brightly.

“One more thing to make it official”, said Norman. He had Seannie and Trace kneel.
Then Norman pricked his thumb with his pocket knife and marked their faces with blood,
the same way Mason had marked his.

“Seannie, Trace, will you care, protect and defend your tribe in all things?” asked Norman.
“Yes”, said Seannie and Trace in Unison.

“Seannie Wilson, Trace Dewey, arise as elders of your tribe.”

Kim was smiling as Seannie and Trace sat back down.

“Norman, excellent, we’ve got six elders, nearly full strength. Got any more ideas?”

Norman spread his hands. “No, that’s all for now.”

Seannie cleared her throat. “Maybe there is someone. Grandfather told me, about twenty
years ago, he asked someone to be an Elder, but they declined. They went into the army
instead.”

Roger nodded, “Alejandro Yazzie. Yes, we should ask him.”

“I’ll take care of it.”, said Carl.

----

After the business meeting Drew called home. “Hi Mom, I was wondering if you could
come have dinner with me at the hotel?”

“Sure son, when would be a good night?”

“Are you busy tonight?”

“No, tonight would be great. Yay! I don’t have to cook dinner. Should we take you out to
eat at the hotel’s restaurant?”

“No Mom, this is dinner on me. When can you be here?”

“How about 7?”

“7 would be great Mom, thanks.”

By 6:30 pm Drew was already pacing nervously around the lobby. Drew had made
arrangements with room service. It seemed like everyone at the hotel knew Drew’s parents
would be coming over for the first time. The lobby staff smiled as Drew fidgeted.
Finally his Mom, Dad and younger brother and sister walked in.

“Drew!” said his father and his mom gave him a quick hug.

“Come this way.”, said Drew, and he led them to the elevator.

Once they were inside and the elevator door closed, Drew decided he better start preparing
them.

“Mom, Dad, I’m sorry but I haven’t told you some things, well, anything about my job. I
meant to tell you, but I didn’t know how. The time never seemed right. I’m sorry, but,
well, now it’s time. I need to tell you.”

Mom had a baffled look. Dad was stiff, but poker faced. “Is it something bad?”

“I’ll explain over Dinner, OK?”

Softly, his Dad mused out loud: “He didn’t say it wasn’t bad.”

His Mom smiled tightly, “He didn’t say it was bad, either.”, she replied softly.

The elevator stopped at the top floor. There were only two doors, as each of the penthouse
suites took up half the floor.

Drew opened his door and led them in.

Mom’s eye’s widened as she took in the suite. Beautiful leather couches and furniture.
Astounding skyline view of Denver. Marble counter tops, luxurious furnishings. “Drew,
is this really your place? This isn’t some kind of joke is it? What’s going on?”

“Presidential suite?”, asked Dad. Drew nodded, “Yes, this is my place. It’s where I’ve
been living.”

Drew’s little brother and sister started running around, exploring. “He’s got a Jacuzzi as
big as a swimming pool!” one of them shouted. “Can I go swimming?”, shouted the other
one.

With arch irony, his Dad remarked: “Rather more luxurious than I expected for an intern.”

Drew’s Mom gave him a hard look. “You said you were an intern.”

Drew shrugged, “Officially, I’m an intern. But, unofficially I’m also a partner.”

“What?”, asked his Dad.

Just then there was a knock at the door. It was room service.

“I asked them to bring us something special for dinner.”, said Drew.

They all sat at the beautiful dining room table, with real china and silver silverware.

The cook was serving them personally. He lifted the silver dome off a platter of filet
mignon steaks, another platter revealed Lobster Newburg.

Drew’s little sister had a pouty frown. She was a finicky eater and didn’t like any of this
stuff. The chef bowed, and produced a smaller lid covered platter. “Drew has informed
me that you have special tastes. For the young lady.”, the chef dramatically removed the
silver dome lid. Drew’s little sister sucked in her breath with happy excitement. The Chef
explained, “A favorite of no less than Mr. Elvis Presley. Fried peanut butter and banana
sandwiches. I hope you find it to your liking.”

Everyone settled down to eat their meal. The room service waiters made sure they were
well provided with bread, vegetables, and beverages, then left discreetly.

The family enjoyed the meal, with a light discussion about school. They would save
serious topics for after dinner. As they were finishing the wait staff came in, collected the
dishes and cleaned the table. It was elegantly done.

Once the wait staff had left, Mom asked, a bit sternly: “How much does this all cost?”.

“My room, and all my food are included, no charge.”, explained Drew.

“Son, maybe you better tell us what is going on.”, remarked Dad.

“It would be easier to show you.” Drew went back to the counter and grabbed a small
package. “These are official casino dice.”, he explained. He broke out the dice and
handed a pair to his Dad.

“Do you know how to play Craps?”, Drew asked.

“Sure”, said Dad. Drew gestured at the table, “Let’s play.”

Dad shrugged and rolled. He got a 3 and 1, for 4. “Ok, you have to roll a 4 before you roll
a 7 to win.”, Dad nodded. He rolled a couple of times then got a 4. “Ok, you win.”

Drew’s little brother took a turn, and rolled 6-6. “Sorry, boxcars, you crapped out.”

“I know”, said his little brother.

His little sister rolled 5-6. “7 or 11 is a ‘natural’, good job, you win little sister.”, she
smiled and passed the dice to Mom.
Mom rolled 5-3. “Ok Mom, your point is 8. You have to roll 8 again before you roll 7.”
But her next roll was 7 and she crapped out.

“My turn”, said Drew as he picked up the dice.

“With fair dice, the odds of winning are close to 50/50. The house advantage is just over
1%.”

Drew rolled a 6-1. “That’s a 7, I win.”

He rolled again, getting 5-2. “7, I win.”
Rolling again, he got a 4-3. “7, I win.”
Then he rolled a 6-5, “11, also a win.
He rolled four more times, getting 6-1, 5-2, 4-3, and 6-5. “Win, win, win, win, well, it gets
boring.”

“Those are trick dice?”, asked Dad.

“No. Remember football? I won every coin toss, except for the start finals.”

“Some people have a talent with luck. Luck bends in their favor. Apparently, I have a lot
of it. So did the quarterback from Mullen High School, which is why I didn’t win that coin
toss.”

Drew’s Mom got a sick look on her face. “The casino pays you to make players lose?”,
she asked in a pained voice.

“Mom, no!”, replied Drew. “That wouldn’t be fair. Also, a casino where you couldn’t
win, would quickly go out of business. Once the players figured out they never won, they
would stop coming. The place would empty.”

“What, then?”, asked Dad.

“There are other people out there with this talent for luck. The could come in and clean us
out. Win, and win. What I do is offset their talent. I make the game stay fair, even when
they try to bias it in their favor. It’s working out. The casino was losing money before I
came. Now, they’re doing better than ever.”

“You can make the dice do whatever you want?”, asked his little brother?

“Pretty much.”, agreed Drew.

“Show me again!”, demanded his little sister. “Lose on purpose!!”.

Drew smiled. He rolled the dice and got 6-6, he rolled again and again, always with the
same result. “Boxcars, I lose. Boxcars. Boxcars.” His little sister laughed.
Drew’s Dad said: “Your grandfather was a fighter pilot in WW2. He was considered
especially lucky.”.

Drew said: “Oh?”

Dad continued, “Several times enemy pilots had him in their sights, bullets flying all
around him. He never got hit. The other pilots called him ‘Untouchable.’.”

“Let’s sit on the couches.”, suggested Drew. Everyone sat down, facing the glistening
view of the Denver night skyline.

“As you know, the Thunderbird hotel and casino are owned and operated by the Jicarilla
Indian tribe. It’s a major part of the prosperity of the tribe. A lot of them work here, with
good paying jobs. Every tribe member is, in effect a stockholder in the Thunderbird. Most
of the profits go to the tribe members, but some pay for health services and improvements
to the reservation.”

Drew continued, “When the Thunderbird business managers, who are also the Jicarilla
tribal elders, when they offered me this job they were very up front about the benefits, and
the risks.”

“Risks?”, asked his Mom.

“Let me explain the good parts first. You’ve seen my rooms, and my food. This is a
permanent position, at least for as long as I want it. I am a business intern, so it’s a great
education. I get to learn everything about a significant Colorado business. And, the pay,
is, hmmm, outstanding.”

“Be more specific.”, said Dad with a smile.

“I get 10% of Thunderbird net profit, on a monthly basis.”

“What’s that in dollars?”, asked Dad.

Drew hesitated. “I only get $20 an hour, room and board if the Thunderbird loses money.
But, if it makes money, I also get 10% of the monthly profit.”

“What’s that in dollars?”, asked Dad.

“Over half a million.”, said Drew in a small voice.

His Mom’s mouth dropped open. There were a few moments of awkward silence.

“Half a million?”, asked Mom.

“Yes. I got a new car, otherwise, I’ve mostly just been putting it into savings.”

“So, you also mentioned risks.”, prompted his Dad.

Drew nodded. “I have a lot of this talent for manipulating luck, but there are other people
out there with the talent as well. Some of them are bad people. The person who had this
job before me died in a car accident. But, it wasn’t exactly an accident. She was killed.”

“I don’t like this.”, said Dad, unhappily. “Whatever the great benefits, it all boils down to,
you are risking your life for money.”

Drew shook his head. “Dad, money is not why I’m doing this. Without a lucky partner to
defend the casino they were losing money every day. A lot of money. They would have
gone out of business in a few months. The tribe would have lost their income, they would
have lost a lot of jobs. It wasn’t fair. It was something I could stop, so I felt like I had to
do it.”

His Dad thought for a few moments then nodded his head. “Ok, I see what you mean.”

Mom, however was not convinced.

“You can’t help anyone if you are dead. Maybe you should walk away. The person that
had this job before you was killed? Just how risky is this?”

Drew remembered a tornado bearing down on him, lightning flashing all around. Drew
thought about a nightmare where he was frozen to a tree, ice accumulating around him like
a cocoon.

“So far, here in the Thunderbird it hasn’t been dangerous. We thought we would have
more time. But, for some reason Las Vegas has noticed us. I think it will be more
dangerous, at least for a while.”

“Why do something this dangerous? Why not just walk away?”

“The tribe, no, my friends, are counting on me. I understand the risks, but I won’t let them
down.”

His Dad’s face was grave, but he turned to his wife. “That’s why we’ll always be proud of
you, Drew.”

His Mom nodded, reluctantly.

Dad turned back to face Drew. “How can we help?”

Drew said, “I don’t know what will happen next, but I’m worried. I would feel better if
you guys left town for a while. Remember how you’ve always talked about that Hawaii
vacation, but somehow it never worked out?”

Drew laid four first class tickets onto the table. “How about a four week, all expenses
paid, vacation in Hawaii?”

Mom and Dad were in shocked silence. Meanwhile, his younger brother and sister smiled
broadly.

“Great!”, said his little sister.

“I can learn how to surf!”, said his little brother.

“I don’t know, “ said Dad. “It sounds great, but, I’ll have to see if I can get the time off
work.”

Drew nodded his head. “Ok, of course. But, . . .”, Drew shrugged, “I bet you a dollar all
the details will work out easily.”

It turned out Drew was right, and just three days later they were on their way to a safe and
happy vacation in Maui.

----

Carl Featherstone dialed the number. Yazzie picked up on the first ring. “What’s up?”

“The Vegas Bunch is coming after Drew.”, said Carl tersely.

“I’ll be there in two days.”, said Yazzie, and hung up the phone.

----

Akihiko put a trusted lieutenant, Yuan Lo in charge of the hit on the Thunderbird. He gave
the Yuan Lo a briefcase with $2 million in hundred dollar bills. The money had come
from convenience stores across the eastern seaboard. There was no way to connect it with
Akihiko’s organization, and if anyone figured out where the money originated, they would
be pointed at the opposite side of the country.

Akihiko and Yuan Lo agreed, nothing about this hit would ever be recorded or
communicated via computer, email or telephone.

Yuan Lo flew to El Paso, Texas. From there, he drove across the border to Juarez,
Mexico. Yuan Lo was an American citizen, passport in order, did occasional international
travel, and had no criminal record. He had no problems crossing back forth across the
border. Yuan Lo was fluent in Spanish, English and several other languages.
He spent the next couple days drinking and dining expensive bars and restaurants, the kind
of place where successful members of the Drug cartel might hang out. Yuan Lo would
leave a $20 tip, and tell the bartender he was looking for someone “experienced” with
excellent English, for “some work”. Within three days Yuan Lo had a couple of
candidates. He would bought each candidate an expensive dinner, accompanied with
excellent wine. Yuan Lo asked and learned about their experience.

Yuan Lo finally settled on Saavedra Ortega. Ortega had been a colonel in a group of
mercenaries, knew how to recruit men and organize operations.

One of the challenges for Yuan Lo was how to convince him to do the hit on the
Thunderbird. Akihiko had told Yuan Lo to arrange for the hit, but didn’t want or expect
any money from the operation. In fact, it was likely that everyone involved would be
killed or captured. But Yuan Lo had to give some justification for the operation to Ortega,
so of course Yuan Lo lied. Yuan Lo was an accomplished liar.

“The Thunderbird is a money laundering operation for a rival family.”, explained Yuan Lo.
“In the vault of the Thunderbird is a large package of uncut diamonds which were stolen
from my family. They do not know that we know this. They will keep the diamonds there,
quietly for several months before they move and sell them.”

“How large?”, asked Ortega.

“Value is over $30 million. Yet, a box smaller than a shoe box.” Supplied Yuan Lo.

“Is the casino guarded by a bruja?”, asked Ortega. He had enough experience to know that
successful casinos were invariable defended by a witch.

“No. We managed to kill their bruja, who was rather weak. They have not yet found a
replacement. They are a small operation, not of interest to a powerful bruja.”. Actually
Yuan Lo believed in guns, and not witches. But he was familiar with this superstition
about casino witches. In any case he was simply telling Ortega what Ortega wanted to
hear.

“How do you know the diamonds are there?”

“We managed to kidnap the son of one of the Security staff. He is now our informant,
until his son is safely returned.”

“You will return his son?”, asked Ortega.

“No. After the diamonds are stolen we’ll kill father and son, to tie up lose ends.”

Ortega nodded.
“Putting together a team and an operation quickly will be expensive. There is also the
question of compensation.”

Yuan Lo nodded. “We want the diamonds back. Both for their value, but more
importantly to save face. You give me the diamonds, and I will give you half their value,
$15 million. How you divide it among your team is, of course, up to you.”

Ortega’s eyebrows rose. “That is very generous, you are paying us the same as fence.”

“To our thinking, you do a good job, you deserve the normal compensation for a job well
done.”

“There is a stink to this deal. Why do you need me at all? Just send in your own men, and
you don’t have to pay me $15 million.”

Yuan Lo smiled. “You are experienced, the very type of person I wanted to find. We will
not use our own men for this reason. If our people did the job, and any of our men were
captured or killed, The Thunderbird will eventually determine it was our men. War would
result. They are a large family. We are a large family. A war would be very expensive.”

“Certainly they will suspect.”, ventured Ortega.

“Yes, but they won’t know if it was us or not. If, heaven forbid, any of your men are
captured, that will suggest it was not us. In any case they will not have cause for a war.”

“I see”, said Ortega. Ortega thought for a few moments.

“Recruiting a team, traveling to the US, to Denver will be expensive. We will need guns.
How can I trust you?”

“If you agree, I will give you a half million US dollars. Once you have your team and
specific dates for your operation I will give you another half million dollars. When you
and your team reach Denver, a third half million will be waiting for you. Run the
operation and bring me the diamonds, and I will give you the remaining money of your
$15 million share.”

Ortega nodded. He thought to himself, how he loved doing business with professionals.

“I am agreed.”, said Ortega.

Yuan Lo smiled, “Excellent. You are the man for the job.”

The next morning a “book store” dropped off a package for Ortega, who opened it and
found $500,000 in used hundred dollar bills. It package also contained the floor play of
the Thunderbird, security team sizes and procedures, and a lot of other helpful information.
Ortega felt a thrill at doing the job, but he also had an urge to simply take the money and
disappear. Of course, he was known in Juarez and if he stiffed this oriental gringo, it
would hurt his reputation. It might also be dangerous.

A few days later Ortega and Yuan Lo met again. Ortega had put the team together, and
had a plan. He would be hitting the Thunderbird in exactly two weeks. Yuan Lo handed
over another $500,000. Ortega had identified a hotel where he would stay in Denver.
There would be a package waiting for him with the final $500,000.

----

Drew spent minimum time in class, and the rest of the time he spent at the Thunderbird.
He was restless, walking through the grounds, the gaming floor, pacing around the roof.
Something was coming, but it wasn’t here yet.

One morning Drew was walking through the game floor when he looked in the direction of
the lobby. His eyes were drawn to a short, dark skinned man. He had short, black hair,
with a frosting of silver at the temples. He was incredibly muscular, and moved smoothly,
like a panther. “He’s dangerous”, thought Drew. Drew headed for the Security office, but
a quick glance over his shoulder revealed that the short muscular man was following him,
or at least headed in the same direction. Drew walked into the Security office, with the
short, muscular man just a few steps behind him.

Trace was in the office and turned at the sound of the door opening. Trace walked right to
the short muscular man and threw his arms around him.

“Trace, you ol’ son of a bitch!”, said the newcomer’s deep gravely voice.

“Yazzi, still got the same way with words.”.

Trace stepped back and said, “Drew, meet Alejandro Yazzi. Yazzi, meet Drew Astrapi.”

Drew and Yazzi shook hands. Yazzi’s grip was powerful.

Trace smiled, “I thought you were too busy being a big cheese in the marine corp,
planning battles, fighting bad guys, to come see us at the Thunderbird.”

Yazzi smiled charismatically, “Never to busy to meet the young man who reads to my
granddaughter in the hospital.”

------

Drew had just finished a class and was striding swiftly toward his car. There was an old
man sitting on a bench next to the sidewalk. “In too much of a hurry to say ‘Hello’?”
asked the old man.
Drew spun around. The image of the old man wavered, and then Drew could see it was
Nick.

“Nick!”, shouted Drew, and he bent down to give him a hug, which Nick returned.

“Have a seat”, requested Nick, and Drew sat down.

“Do you remember what I told you to do? Are you following my advice?”, asked Nick.

Drew looked down at the ground, a bit embarrassed. “I’ve not exactly been flying under
the radar.”

Nick laughed. “You’re not doing too badly. You haven’t been in the paper or on the
news.”

“I’ve made some enemies.”, replied Drew.

Nick took a deep breath. “Sometimes doing the right thing will make enemies. When that
is the case, I’m glad that you did the right thing, even if there are consequences.”

Nick continued. “On one hand you have more enemies than you know about. On the other
hand, you only have one enemy.”

“The woman with strawberry blond hair?”, asked Drew.

Nick looked at Drew, puzzled. “Sonya?”

“I don’t know her name. But, she was in a circle that were driving a tornado to destroy
Colby Kansas. Albert Frahm and I stopped them. I saw the circle, and the woman with
strawberry blond hair was in it. I’ve been dreaming about her. The same nightmare over
and over. I’m frozen to a tree and she flies in and shoots a stream of fire.”

Nick sighed. “That’s Sonya alright. What happens next?”

“I don’t know. I wake up.”, replied Drew.

Nick nodded. “Ok, keep this in mind. Things are more complicated than they seem. You
haven’t seen your real enemy yet. His name is Coon. He’s the instigator of what the circle
is doing.”

“Why is Coon after Albert?”, asked Drew. “Why is Coon after me?”

Nick sighed. “It started with ambition. Coon’s been growing his power for decades,
centuries and he’s jealous of anyone that might have more power. He’s afraid, paranoid of
anyone that has power. He did terrible things. Eventually it drove him insane.”
“Coon’s insanity has been infectious on the circle. They believed they should take
Albert’s power, and also the powerful items he possesses, before someone else takes them.
It was honorable for you to help Albert, but also dangerous. You have Coon’s full
attention now.”

“What can I do? Is there any way to get along with Coon?”

Nick replied, “I’ve hoped for years Coon could somehow recover his sanity, but it doesn’t
seem likely now. Sadly, I don’t know of any way to make peace with him. Keep doing
what you’ve been doing. Watch, learn, gather allies. Keep making Denver your home
ground.”

“I’ve been working on it. Hey, how come I couldn’t sense when you entered Denver, and
why can’t I see your aura?”, asked Drew.

Nick explained, “Some of us with very strong talent can mask our auras. It is very
difficult. You could probably learn how to do it. You need to practice with someone that
can sense your aura. Concentrate on making your aura fade, and have the person watch
you, tell you when your aura is fading. It might take weeks, even months to learn. But,
beware. Coon can certainly mask his aura.”

Nick looked at Drew intently. “There’s something different about your aura . . . Albert
gave you the necklace! Interesting. Unexpected generosity there. That must be part of
how the two of you survived. Fascinating. May the necklace serve you well. Guard it
carefully, it’s more valuable than you probably realize. Wise of you to wear it out of site.”

There were some moments of thoughtful silence.

“Can you help me against Coon?”, asked Drew.

“I’m here, helping you right now.”, replied Nick.

“Errr, thanks, but I mean stay and help me.”, pleaded Drew.

Nick shook his head sadly. “I’m here for today only. I have other obligations. You know
the old poem: ‘For I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.’ ”

Drew’s face was downcast.

Nick continued, “I’ve given you some insight on Coon. What else is on your mind?”

“The Vegas Bunch, they’ve threatened me. I think they’ll be coming for me.”

Nick nodded, “I’m afraid you’re right about that. What do you think they will do? Can
you sense it?”
Drew thought for several moments. “They will probably send a team, maybe four talents,
and try to give me bad luck. Kill me in some kind of accident, like they did to the
Thunderbird’s previous guardian, Selma Wilson.”

Nick shook his head, “I don’t think the Vegas Bunch killed Selma. There was no attempt
to take over the Thunderbird. It might have just been some players with luck that wanted
to win a few million dollars. In any case, you have the attention of the Vegas Bunch.
You’re a lot more powerful than Selma was. When they come after you and the
Thunderbird, what will you do?”

Drew’s voice became intense, “If they come after the Thunderbird, I’ll kill them.”

Nick sighed. “You probably could. Perhaps you even have the right of self defense. But,
if you kill the team they send after you, what do you think the Vegas Bunch will do next?”

“Give up?”, offered Drew hopefully.

Nick shook his head. “Once you’ve killed their people, part of their family, it will be all
out war. You’ll be a dangerous threat. They will hit you with everything they’ve got.
You might stop five or six of them, maybe even a dozen. But could you stop thirty?
Fifty?”

Drew shuddered. “Ok. I see your point, but what else can I do? I don’t want to die.”

Nick spread his hands, “I can’t tell you exactly what to do, or how to do it. But keep in
mind, killing isn’t the only option. If you kill them, it will be a blood war. Also,
understand that they are territorial predators. They don’t even like to leave Vegas. If you
can defeat them without blood, I don’t know, humiliate them or something, maybe it
doesn’t have to be war.”

“Ok, I see, I guess. Thanks.”

Nick stood up, and so did Drew. Nick gave Drew a quick hug. “Time for me to go. I’m
proud of what you’ve done, for Albert, and for the Jicarilla tribe.” With that, pop, Nick
simply disappeared.

Drew walked slowly back to his car, with a lot to think about.

----

Coon was staying at the Hotel Teatro, the best hotel he could find in Denver. He planned
to spend some time in Denver, until his plans all came together. Drew’s aura was so
pronounced Coon could feel Drew driving from the University to the casino. Keeping tabs
on Drew was part of his plan.

He was surprised when the front desk called his room and said they had a message for him.
“Ok, what’s the message?”

“Our apologies sir, it’s in a sealed envelope. Should we bring the envelope to your room?”

Coon didn’t like hotel staff coming to his room any more than necessary. “No, I’m
coming down to pick it up.”

Coon wondered what the message was about. Any of his servants or business associates
would have simply called if it was something urgent. It was highly disturbing that anyone
knew where he was. In an ill temper, he snatched the elegant envelope from the front desk
clerk.

Inside was a note: “Meet me at Benedict Fountain Park.” It was signed “Nick”. Of
course, the slippery old bastard. Who else could have found him.

Coon felt a thrill of fear, but also the thrill of opportunity. Coon judged his own power to
be far beyond Nicks, perhaps he could kill him today. Adding Nick’s power to his own
would be incredible.

Coon called his driver and told him to meet him at the Limo. Hurry. Coon had the driver
park a few block from the park; Coon would walk the last few blocks to the park. Coon
walked toward the park, senses fully alert. He couldn’t feel anything, which didn’t prove
anything.

Coon made it to the park, which seemed basically deserted. Coon walked through the
park, then heard a voice behind him. “Why are you in Denver?”

Coon spun around and replied: “To kill Drew Astrapi, take his power, and any items he
has.” Coon saw Nick sitting calmly on a park bench. Coon gathered a tremendous wave
of pure will within himself and projected a command of “Cold!” at the figure on the bench.
It was instantly encased in ice. The ice crackled and grew as it captured moisture from the
air.

----

Sonya and Nick were crouched, hiding in shadows, behind trees and hedges.

“How can you be in two places at the same time?”, asked Sonya.

“It’s the hardest trick I know. Took a couple of centuries to master it. Now be quiet,
listen.”, replied Nick.

----
Coon felt a hand on his shoulder, from someone behind him. “Pakov, the killing must
stop.”

Coon spun around, shouted “My name is COON!”, and grabbed Nick’s hand. Instantly
Nick became a frozen statue of solid ice.

-----

“Doesn’t that hurt?”, asked Sonya.

“Hurts like hell. Now shush.”, replied Nick.

-----

“Drew is more powerful, more dangerous than you know.”, said a voice that sounded like
Nick. Coon spun in a circle but he couldn’t see where the voice was coming from.

“Dangerous to you, but not to me. I will kill him, I’ve seen it in a dream!”, replied Coon
angrily.

“Really? Tell me exactly what you saw.”, said Nick’s apparently disembodied voice.

“In the dream I’ve frozen him to a tree, I’ve got my hands on him. He’s shocking me, but
he can’t kill me. My rings protect me. I’m killing him, it’s just a matter of time.”

“Do you see him die? You said you were freezing him, but then what happens?”, asked
Nick.

“Nothing! Blackness, I don’t know the dream ends.”, replied Coon angrily.

“You don’t understand what the dream is telling you.”, said Nick’s voice, with immense
sadness.

“Yes I do. It’s telling me I’m winning, again. Nobody can stop me. I will kill them all,
one by one until I have all their power.”, replied Coon.

“All of them? Even Sonya?”, asked Nick.

Coon hesitated for the briefest moment, then said: “Of course Sonya. I’ll save her for last.
She’s very dangerous.” Then Coon looked up. Nick was sitting in a tree branch right
above him. With a scream Coon pointed both hands and willed cold at Nick. Nick, frozen
solid, fell to the ground as Coon jumped back a step.

Coon looked rapidly to the left, to the right, behind him. He realized one of his rings was
tingling, had been for some time. Somehow he had been tricked. He felt exposed. Coon
disappeared from the park, appearing in the back of the Limo. The driver flinched when
Coon shouted angrily, “Back to the hotel!”.

-----

Tears were pouring out of Sonya’s eyes. “I never threaten him. I do everything he says.”

“I’m sorry you had to hear that, but I thought it was important for you to know.”, said Nick
with infinite sadness.

“Thank you”, said Sonya bitterly. She disappeared.

Nick walked over to the frozen Nick sitting on the bench, and placed his hand on it. The
ice broke off and feel to the side. The Nick who had been sitting on the bench stood up.
Nick from the bench put his hand on the frozen Nick statue. The ice broke off and fell
away. Statue Nick gave a little shake and shiver. Meanwhile, the Nick that had thawed
out the Nick on the bench walked over to the frozen Nick that had fallen out of the tree.
He bent down and put his hand on the frozen Nick and the ice fell away. He helped that
Nick get to his feet. Four identical Nicks shrugged at each other, no words were necessary.
All of them disappeared at the same moment.

-----

Drew was gradually getting more fidgety. Something was coming, but he didn’t know
what or when. He walked or paced almost constantly.

When he wasn’t in class, Drew was at the Thunderbird. A phone call from his parents
indicated everyone was having a great time in Hawaii. Walking through the parking lot
Drew noticed Yazzi was trimming hedges. Drew walked over and with a smile said,
“You’re on the grounds crew now?”

Yazzi laughed good naturedly. “Come here, I’ll show you what I’m doing.” Yazzi
gestured for Drew to stand next to him. Drew walked over.

Pointing, Yazzi said. “Security cameras there, and there, and there.”

Drew shrugged, “So?”.

Yazzi pointed at his feet. “There’s room here for a gunman to hide, out of sight of all three
cameras.”, He trimmed the top foot off the hedge. “There, fixed it.”

Drew laughed.

----
Ortega was driving one of the gray-green Suburbans, his second in command, Eduardo was
driving the other. They were headed north, toward Denver. The $500,000 had been
waiting for him at a hotel in Colorado Springs, exactly as the oriental gringo had agreed.
The team had gone to bed early in Colorado Springs. The plan was for an early morning
raid when Casino security and local police strength would be at their lowest.

Ortega felt the start of the adrenalin rush, like he did at the start of every job. His team was
solid, each of them professional. Eduardo was from the Philippines, he had guys from all
over. Even a couple from Africa. All had seen plenty of action.

Ortega signaled to take the exit on to Colorado 470. They were 45 minutes from the
Thurnderbird.

-----

Drew snapped awake and jumped out of bed. They were here! It was 2:30 am. He didn’t
have much time. He threw on shirt, pants, and running shoes without socks. He ran for
the Security office.

There was just one guy in the Security office, but Drew was glad to see it was Mapu.

“How many Security guys do we have right now?”, asked Drew urgently.

“Me and four others. Standard for this time in the morning.”, snapped Mapu.

“How many can you get in here, within a half hour? How fast can Trace get here?”, asked
Drew.

“Trace can be here in ten minutes. Maybe I can get four or five more in, within a half
hour.”

“Do it!”, said Drew.

“What’s up?”, asked Mapu. “We’re under attack. I mean, we will be. Robbery, but, feels
more like military guys. They’ll have automatic weapons, body armor.”

Mapu’s face took on a pained look. “How many?”

“I don’t know. Maybe a dozen. Do you know where Yazzi is?”

“Sure, out playing the nickel slots, same as every night.”

Drew looked at him quizzically, “Every night?”

“Sure.”, replied Mapu. “I’ll get the guys called in.”

“Good. I’m sending everyone but Security home.”

“Whatever you say boss.”, replied Mapu, already dialing.

Drew sprinted out to the gaming floor, then over to the Nickel Slots, which were situated
on the side near the lobby. Yazzi was sitting there with a tub of nickels.

Drew was momentarily surprised that there were this many people in the casino at 2:40 in
the morning.

“We need to talk”, said Drew to Yazzi, urgently.

Yazzi shrugged and handed the tub of nickels to a guy who had been sitting next to him,
playing the slots. Drew started striding toward the lobby.

He didn’t know Yazzi that well, and he didn’t know how much Yazzi knew about his
talent.

“I have a bad feeling.”, said Drew.

“Tell me all about it.”, replied Yazzi.

“I think we’re going to be attacked.”, continued Drew.

“Ok. When?”, asked Yazzi.

Drew closed his eyes for a half second. “Twenty minutes.”

“Ok, a very specific feeling. What are we facing here?”.

“I think, maybe a dozen guys. Automatic weapons, body armor. They aren’t exactly
common criminals. They feel sort of like military. Not US military though. Coming in a
couple big SUVs”, said Drew.

Nick nodded. “Probably mercenaries, or ex-mercs. Only a dozen?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure, not more than that.”, said Drew.

“Ok, no problem then.”, said Yazzi.

Drew was surprised Yazzi was taking this all so calmly. “No problem?”

“Dozen guys”, snorted Yazzi. “What’re you going to do now?”

“Send everyone but Security home.”, said Drew.

“No time”, said Yazzi.

Drew thought about it. Yazzi was right. By the time he got the word to everyone, some of
them might be leaving right as the bad guys got there. A recipe for disaster.

“What should I do?”, asked Drew.

“Just send ‘em upstairs. They should be fine.”, replied Yazzi.

“Should we clear the floor? Send all the guests out?”, asked Drew.

“Nah.”, said Yazzi. The guests will be fine.”, answered Yazzi, relaxed.

“You sure?”, asked Drew.

“Oh yeah.”

They got to the lobby front desk.

“Everyone up to room 571.”, declared Drew. “Clear it out. Anyone you see, get them up
there. Everybody but Security. Tell Seannie and Tavia to stay there.”

Everyone looked stunned, and kind of froze.

Yazzi smiled a warm, charismatic smile. “You heard the boss. Come on everyone, get
trottin’”. He nudged a couple people and they started moving.

“Let’s go to the cage.”, said Drew. Yazzi followed.

The cage was wearing players bought and redeemed chips. It had a safe with a lot of
money. For financial control and security it was always staffed by two cashiers.

Drew reached the cage. “Open the door, open the drawers, and get up to room 571.”, Drew
declared to the cashiers.

The looked at Drew, they looked at Yazzi. “We can’t leave. That’s against policy.”

“There’s nothing in this room worth your life. Please, get going.”, explained Drew. They
took off.

“Wait!”, said Drew. “I can stop this.” Drew ran for the elevator, Yazzi stayed with him.
They took the elevator to the top floor, and then Drew raised to the stairs which gave roof
access.

Drew could feel the robbers approaching. They were still a few miles away. He looked
out across the night in their direction and concentrated.
-----

Ortega’s engine died. He coasted off to the side of the road. The Suburban behind him
had died as well. “Bruja” whispered Ortega. He tried to start the engine. It just cranked
and cranked without catching.

-----

Everything was going well. Coon had been watching from a distance, feeling the approach
of the mercenaries.

The Coon realized they were no longer approaching. Why had they stopped.

Coon opened his awareness. The kid had killed the mercenary’s engines, and was
preventing them from starting. Smart kid.

Coon concentrated, then became angry and concentrated harder.

Yazzi watched as Drew concentrated on a point only he could see. “I stopped them.”, said
Drew. Everything seemed OK for a few moments, then Drew let out a moan, and sank to
his knees. “Owwwwwwww, there is opposition.” Drew shivered for a few moments then
let out a big breath. “I can’t do it.”

----

Ortega’s engine started back up, as if nothing was wrong. He started forward and saw that
the second Suburban was following him.

----

Coon laughed. “Too easy.”

----

“Come on Drew.”, said Yazzi. He helped Drew stand up, then guided him down the stairs
and to the elevator.

“I’m gonna be sick.”, said Drew.

“No, you’re going to be fine.”, said Yazzi.

They made it down the elevator, and then Yazzi half guided, half carried Drew to the
Security office.

“Quick”, said Yazzi, “Get all the Security guys out of sight.”
Mapu spoke quickly into his walkie talkie. Drew watched the monitors.

----

Ortega took point with his guys behind him. The casino seemed deserted. Had they gotten
a warning? Probably, the Bruja had stopped their engines.

“Watch out for an ambush guys.”, said Ortega tersely. There were plenty of people
playing the slot machines, but they hadn’t seen any casino Security.

“THIS IS A ROBBERY! EVERYONE ON THE FLOOR!”, yelled Ortega as he waved

his AK-47 in the air. He shot a couple bullets into the ceiling to make his point.

Everyone on the gaming floor dutifully dropped to the floor.

They had taken a dozen more steps toward The Cage when Ortega heard a small sound
behind him.

----

In the Security Office Drew watched the gunmen enter the casino. The lead guy fired his
gun and everyone on the gaming floor hit the deck. The gunmen headed for the cage.
When the last of them passed the slot machines, two of the guys playing slots closest to the
lobby snapped to their feet, grabbed the last two gunmen from behind, around their necks.
The gunmen dropped to the floor and the two players were on the next two gunmen before
they were all the way down. The robbers in the lead heard something and looked over
their shoulders. Players from all sides were popping up and converging on the gunmen.

Drew noted now physically fit the players were, how quickly and confidently they moved,
and the short length of their haircuts. Much like Yazzi.

It was over in seconds. Every gunman was lying on the floor, either unconscious or
incapacitated. Players were pulling out handcuffs and leg restraints, trussing up the would-
be robbers.

Yazzi smiled. “Time to call the police and have them pickup the trash.”

Yazzi, Drew and Mapu walked onto the gaming floor, and Trace arrived at the same time,
running in from the parking lot.

The “players” were standing over the trussed up robbers, in military parade rest posture.

A fit brunette with a practical pony tail took a step forward. “Was that what you were
looking for, General? By the book?”
Yazzi smiled. “You did me proud. Well done.”

Yazzi looked at Drew. “Any more bad guys coming tonight?”

Drew took a deep breath and thought about it. For the first time in days, he felt serene.
“We’re fine now. Fine for a while I think.”

“Ok, you all can stand down now. Job done.”

One of the men cleared his throat. “You said two weeks, sir. I believe we’re entitled to
four more days of free food, free rooms, and free drinks.”

Yazzi laughed. “Is that what I said? Well, that’s the way it is then. Enjoy yourselves.”

----

Coon returned to the limo and had the driver take him back to his hotel. He knew the
gunmen had gone into the casino, and then hadn’t come out. Well, not until the police
showed up and hauled them away. Just a couple shots had been fired, probably an initial
show of force to intimidate everyone. No blood had been spilled, how disappointing.

He didn’t know how Drew had done it, but he was impressed. Coon returned to his hotel
deep in thought.

----

Things were quiet for a couple of weeks. Drew’s classes were going well, so was
everything at the Thunderbird.

Drew had gone for an extra long jog at a park on the edge of the city. Drew felt tired, in a
good way, had a light dinner and turned in early.

He was frozen to a tree. Something terrible had happened. He’d wanted, needed to save
someone, and he’d failed. He was full of despair, and he was fighting for his life. Cold
and pain worse than he would have believed wrapped around his body. He was pumping
out jolts of electricity, shocking his enemy, but he didn’t know if he was accomplishing
anything.

There was something new, something he didn’t remember from previous dreams. He saw
a large flat rock, almost like a table or altar and something, or someone was laying on top
of it, frozen in a great block of ice.

He felt himself fading, and then the girl with strawberry blond hair came flying in from the
sky. There was an immense rush of hot air as she landed. Her face was twisted in fury,
and she pointed a ruby wand at Drew. A torrent of fire washed out and Drew woke up.
Drew gasped for air as he sat up in bed. He shivered from the cold, remembering the pain,
expecting to see is bed covered in ice. It wasn’t.

Somehow he knew, trouble was coming.

That evening, he felt it when they landed at the airport. Four men, no three men and a
woman, with dingy, oily auras. Apparently they were making no effort to surprise him, or
they didn’t suspect he could sense their auras as soon as they arrived. Then Drew realized,
without Nick’s advice, he might not have known when they arrived.

They went to a hotel near the airport, and spent the night.

Drew asked to meet with Trace, Yazzi and whichever tribal elders were available. Seannie
and Norman joined them. Everyone got together around the big table in room 571.

“A couple of hours ago, four from the Vegas Bunch landed at the Denver airport. They’re
staying at the Baymount Hotel, near the airport.”

“They’re just staying there?”, asked Yazzi.

“For now.”, replied Drew, “I’ll let you know when they move.”

“Just say the word, boss, and I’ll have ten, twenty, fifty guys here. Whatever we need.”,
repmarked Yazzi. “I’ve got a sniper rifle, if long distance work is called for.”

Drew took a deep breath. “I don’t know if it will work, but I’m going to try to not kill
these guys. At least not at first.”

Yazzi’s eyebrows lifted. “Really? Well, I like a challenge.”

“Selma was killed by a run away truck. I wonder if we could find a good place for them to
come after me the same way. Someplace with a hill, and not many innocent bystanders to
get hurt.”

“I know a perfect spot.”, said Yazzi. He went down to the security office and grabbed a
highly detailed map of Denver.

“Your classes are here,” he said pointing at the University. “But suppose you parked your
car here . . .” he pointed at a spot a couple miles away, “. . . and jogged to class ‘for the
exercise’.”

“Your route”, continued Yazzi, “would take you right past here. There’s a steep hill to
your right, and it’s mostly shipping and warehouse businesses there. Not many
bystanders.”
Drew nodded, “Yes, that should work fine. Ok, get together some of those plastic
handcuff ties, duct tape, and a battery powered electric shaver.”

“Electric shaver?”, asked Seannie.

“Yes.”, said Drew.

“Alright”, said Seannie with a smile.

Drew continued, “Yazzi, Trace, Seannie, I will need your help, but I don’t want this bunch
from Vegas to catch wind of you. Could you wait a couple miles from there, with cell
phones on, and ready to come to me when I call.”

“Sure thing boss. There’s a Denny’s nearby that will do just fine. We’ll relax with coffee
and pie while we’re waiting.”, said Yazzi with a smile.

----

The next morning, Drew could feel the guys from Vegas shadowing him. They didn’t get
too close to Thunderbird, but they followed him as he parked his car and then jogged a
couple miles to the University. They followed him again a few hours later when he jogged
back to his car. However, nothing happened.

Drew drove back to the Thunderbird, where everyone met back up.

“I think they bought it. We’ll see if something happens tomorrow.”

“Ok”, said Trace.

“What’s the shaver for?”, asked Seannie, with a smile.

“You’ll see.”, said Drew, enigmatically.

The next day, Drew parked in the same place, and jogged to the University. Did it seems
like their auras were expectant? Drew wasn’t sure. But he couldn’t wait for class to get
over.

As he was jogging back, he saw a large gravel truck parked on the steep hill above the
street where he was running. When Drew was directly in front of the truck, it suddenly felt
like he was running in molasses. When he looked up, the truck was already moving
rapidly in his direction, almost as if the 10 ton truck had been shot out of slingshot.

----
Two days before, Samantha and the other three had flown in from Vegas. Vegas to Denver
was a short flight, just a couple of hours. It was still a painfully long time to listen to their
inane chatter.

Carlos was from Argentina, and had a peculiar ability to freeze people in place. Secretly
Samantha hoped she could pickup that trick, if she worked enough with Carlos.

Klaus was originally from Austria, but had been in Vegas for a long time. He was almost
as strong as Samantha, they had worked together several times. Klaus was dependable,
thank god he was along on this job. The first thing she’d told everyone was to consider
Klaus her second in command and to do whatever he said.

Eric was from Nebraska or Canada or somewhere else Samantha didn’t care about. This
was his first job. He wouldn’t shut up about how strong his “talent” was, and how easy it
would be, with his help, to take down Drew Astrapi. He was too dumb, or too green to
realize he was the weakest member of the team.

There should have been five on their team, but at the last minute Steve had “called in sick”.
That was strange, especially after he’d made such a big deal about Drew Astrapi being just
an 18 year old kid, and how this job would be a “cake walk”. Steve was a weasel, and
probably a liar. She didn’t trust him.

Samantha was from Iran, and in charge of this sorry ass team. She’d been in the US long
enough to speak English without an accent. As a child Samantha had lived alone with her
old grandmother in Iran. Samantha never knew what had happened to her parents. When
she asked her grandmother, she ominously said: “They learned what happens when
someone goes against my will.” Grandmother never explained further.

Quietly, grandmother was some kind of village witch. Looking back, Samantha realized
most people in the village were afraid of grandmother. Sometimes people would show up
at night, have a hushed conversation with grandmother, and then leave food or money.
When Samantha asked why they received these “gifts”, grandmother just replied that she
was “solving a problem for them”.

Samantha remembered a neighbor woman who had show up with bruises on her face. She
had given grandmother two old golden coins. Later that week, the neighbor’s husband fell
off his roof, broke his neck, and died.

Grandmother started testing Samantha’s talent at an early age. Grandmother would say,
“Look pretty and wish for that man to give you a piece of his bread.”, or “As we walk to
the market, wish that someone has lost a purse, fat with money, that we can find.”

When Samantha’s wishes started coming true, Grandmother was delighted. “You’re even
stronger than I was at your age!”, grandmother said with pride.
At 14 grandmother and Samantha had flown to New York, and then on to Las Vegas. The
man rolled dice and told Samantha to make them come up all as 1’s, all as 6’s, and so
forth. The dice did whatever Samantha wanted them to do.

Grandmother and Samantha moved into a wonderful house paid for by the casino. They
had a car, a young woman for a driver, money, and all the food they wanted. It was
wonderful. Five days a week Samantha and Grandmother would go to work in the casino.
They worked behind a one-way mirror, where they could see the players, but the players
could not see them.

Grandmother loved Las Vegas, and so did Samantha.

The casino taught them how to handle high rollers. First they would leave them alone, let
the luck run normally. Then they would help the high rollers win. First a little, then more.
The high rollers would bet more and more as they won more often than they lost. Then
abruptly they would loose three or four huge bets in a row, usually losing everything they
had won. It was OK if sometimes they stopped before they lost everything. Sometimes
the high rollers would place bet after bet, losing fortune, trying to get their luck back. It
was hard not to laugh.

When Samantha was 25, grandmother had passed away. Just days before she died
Grandmother had shown Samantha a diamond pendant with a heavy golden chain.
Samantha had never even known grandmother had it. Grandmother had made Samantha
promise to take the pendant when grandmother died. She told Samantha to wear it always
and to never let anyone know about it.

Samantha had taken it off Grandmother the day she passed away, and worn it ever since. It
made Samantha’s power with luck noticeably stronger.

Samantha had learned the wisdom of grandmother’s advice on secrecy. Whenever they
were sent out on a mission to kill someone for the Vegas brotherhood they were under
strict orders to collect any jewelry that the target might be wearing and turn it over to the
senior members of the brotherhood. Occasionally the brotherhood would hire a new, naïve
talent who possessed, and bragged about, a special ring or bracelet. Often such a new hire
would “disappear”. Samantha suspected the ring or bracelet would end up in the
possession of some senior member.

Eric’s eyes twinkled. “A couple weeks ago I went into one of those truck stops with slot
machines. Put in a dollar and I won $5000 in one pull!”

Klaus shook his head and rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything. Samantha further
reduced her estimation of Eric’s intelligence.

Carlos leaned in close and said, “Idiot, you know that’s against the rules. If they catch you
doing that, you’re DEAD.”
“That truck stop doesn’t belong to any of the casinos!’, protested Eric.

“Doesn’t matter, rules are rules.”, confirmed Klaus darkly.

The plane landed, and almost immediately Samantha could feel Drew Astrapi’s presence in
the distance south of town. The pendant hidden under her blouse felt icy cold. This stinks,
thought Samantha. How could an 18 year old have that kind of power? This job was
going to be more dangerous than she had been led to believe.

She noticed she and Klaus were staring in the same direction, the direction from which she
sensed Drew’s presence. “Do you think he knows we are here?”, asked Klaus in a low
voice.

“How could he?”, said Carlos. Samantha and Carlos shrugged.

They checked into the hotel. Later over dinner, Eric remarked in a conspiratorial whisper:
“A friend of mine said we might pick up some extra power, from the, errr, death of the
target.” She saw Klaus roll his eyes.

No one said anything. “Well, is it true?”, asked Eric. Nobody bothered to answer him. “Is
it?”, he asked again.

“Yes, of course.”, said Carlos.

“But never speak of it.”, said Klaus gravely.

Dragging greenies along on a mission stank.

The next morning it was easy to track Drew Astrapi. They stayed several blocks away
because they didn’t want him, or anyone from the casino, to spot them.

Drew was only 18, and besides spending time at the casino, Drew was also attending
classes at the University of Colorado. Drew’s trips between the casino and the university
would create useful opportunities to arrange his demise. Killing him away from the casino
and university would be best. They wanted few witnesses, and no security camera video,
when they checked the body for jewelry. But Samantha doubted an 18 year old had any
special items. Nevertheless, you always checked. They would receive a substantial bonus
if they found anything.

“I don’t like the strength of his aura.”, said Klaus softly so only Samantha could hear.

“Me neither. Maybe he has a special talent to make his aura seem much stronger than it
is.”, she speculated.

Klaus snorted disbelief, but then said darkly: “I hope so.”

“He’s actually going to jog the rest of the way to campus!”, said Eric when it became
obvious that Drew had parked his car and was jogging toward the University.

“He is a football player.”, remarked Carlos.

Klaus traced Drew’s route on the map. Ominously, her pendant felt icy cold, a warning of
peril. In any case, Samantha felt that Klaus, Carlos and herself would be able to take down
just about anyone but a brotherhood senior member. Eric’s strength would add in for
further insurance. No reason to worry.

While Drew was in class they walked through the route. There was an industrial section
with a steep hill. Carlos smiled. “This is the perfect place for an accident!”

Later in the afternoon Drew returned, jogging along the exact same path. He drove back to
the Thunderbird casino.

Samantha and the team hovered around for a while, but after a couple hours it seemed
obvious that Drew wasn’t going anywhere. Even if he did, she and Klaus would be able to
feel it immediately. They went back to their hotel and had dinner together.

“If he follows the same route in the morning, we’ll arrange an accident for him in the
afternoon.”, explained Samantha. Everyone on the team nodded their agreement.

The next morning, Drew did, in fact follow the exact same route. “Finally, a break on this
job.”, thought Samantha.

After Drew had made it to the university Samantha drove their rented van to the hill where
they had planned the “accident”. She parked the van, and she and Klaus got into the back
seat.

At this point, a motivational pep talk was good for the team.

“We’re all going to hold hands. I will be wishing for what we need. Each of you simply
support what I’m doing by wishing that all my wishes come true. Do you understand?”,
everyone’s head nodded.

“Now, this is a good spot. We can get this done this afternoon and be back in Vegas
tonight, with nice fat bonus checks in our pockets. Any questions?”

For once Eric kept his mouth shut, which was a relief. Nobody else had any questions
either.

It was Samantha’s style to have everyone hold hands. A lot of team leaders did things that
way, other didn’t. In Samantha’s opinion, the physical contact helped. She didn’t know if
the physical contact made some difference, or if it simply helped everyone’s mental focus.
They all held hands. There were three cars parked on one side of the hill. Samantha
wanted those cars gone. Within half an hour, their owners had shown up and driven away.

Now Samantha wished for a big, heavy truck.

----

Ed Brannan was taking a full load of gravel across town when he got a call on his cell.
Incredibly, it was Gail, an old high school friend that he’d asked out to dinner a couple
times. She said she was in the mood for Chinese if that lunch invite was still open. Ed
said he would be right over.

He plugged the address into his truck’s GPS, and headed in the direction of the restaurant
Gail suggested. Ed didn’t wanted to keep the big gravel truck out of traffic, so he parked it
a few blocks away, on a steep hill.

Ed had a nice lunch with Gail. Possibly the beginning of a beautiful friendship. But when
he got back to his truck the battery was completely dead. The heavy duty towing company
that would help with the truck’s battery couldn’t come out until the next morning, so Ed
took a taxi home.

----

Samantha smiled at the rest of the team. “Ok. Everything is in place. Relax for about an
hour, and then we’ll need to be ready.”

About an hour later Samantha and Klaus could feel that Drew was starting to run their
way. “Ok, heads up everyone. The target is on his way. Carlos and I will focus together
to freeze the target in place. Klaus and Eric will focus together to crash the truck into the
target. Any questions?”. There weren’t any.

When Drew was only a few blocks away, Samantha instructed: “Get out of the van. We’ll
want to have clear lines of site at the target.” Everyone got out and stood in the street to
be ready. She was focused on supporting Carlos. She saw the gravel truck was already
starting to roll down hill before Drew came into site.

Drew jogged past the building corner and Samantha saw him for the first time. He had a
startlingly bright blue-white aura. She’d never seen an aura like that. Shit. It was
unnerving. Her pendant went icy cold. Was this a mistake?

Carlos focused, with her support, and she was surprised that it worked, that Drew stopped
moving. The truck zipped down hill, picking up speed. Klaus must be really pushing it.

Samantha was relieved when the truck crashed into the spot where Drew had been
standing.
But the relief lasted for only for a moment.

----

The huge gravel truck crashed into the wall right where Drew had been standing. But
Drew was now a few hundred feet further up the hill, where the group from Vegas had
been watching and concentrating.

Drew appeared directly behind them. “Missed me!”, he shouted. As they spun around,
startled, bolts of electricity flew out of Drew’s hands.

----

Samantha could feel Drew’s aura disappear when the truck hit. But she hadn’t felt the rush
of power that came when you killed someone with high talent.

Someone shouted, “Missed me!”, behind her and at the same moment she realized that,
impossibly, Drew was now behind her. She spun around but electricity shot out of Drew’s
hands, striking all of them. She was horrified to see bolts of electricity shooting out of
Drew’s hands. She’d never seen anything like that, even from the most powerful members
of the brotherhood.

The other three dropped to the ground, twitching as if they had been hit with a taser. But
Samantha was fast enough to mentally defend herself. The electricity sheeted off of her,
slithering into the ground around her feet. Some of the electricity got through, painfully
shocking her, but it was tolerable.

She regarded Drew eye to eye for a couple of seconds, as electricity poured out of him and
slithered off of her into the ground. Then she realized, to her horror, that Drew was
expending only a fraction of his power. His aura doubled in brilliance and he jabbed
forward his hands. A lightning bolt exploded against Samantha, knocking her ten feet
through the air. She landed on the pavement, unconscious.

----

Drew quickly called Seannie on his cell phone. “Come on over!”, he said cheerily.

When the three gentlemen and the one lady from Vegas regained consciousness they were
laying on the floor of an empty warehouse. Their hands and feet bound by strong plastic
ties (the kind used by riot police).

Duct tape covered their mouths. That way Drew and the Thunderbird crew didn’t have to
listen to their threats, or pitiful pleas. It also added humiliation.

Drew stood above them, with Yazzi was standing to his right.
“You never should have left Las Vegas. You especially never should have come here to
kill me.”, remarked Drew.

Their prisoners had very wide eyes.

Drew looked at them intently. “Earlier this year, Selma Williams, part of the Thunderbird
family, was killed. Did any of you have anything to do with that?”

Their heads shook vigorously. Drew surveyed them for long moments.

“Strangely, I believe them. Well, that’s very lucky for you.”, sighed Drew.

Drew nodded to Yazzi. Yazzi smiled a wicked smile and pulled out a razor sharp knife.
Yazzi’s muscular build and combat grace radiated menace.

“We were perfectly happy to be friends with our colleagues in Las Vegas. By ‘friends’, I
mean, you stay out of Colorado, and we stay out of Nevada, and everyone stays happy.
But, now you’ve come here to kill my best friend Drew, and to cause trouble for my tribe’s
casino, the Thunderbird.”, explained Yazzi.

Yazzi continued, “As you know, the Thunderbird is an Indian-owned casino. As you also
know, we Indians have a tradition called ‘scalping’.”

Seannie stepped forward, and said sweetly, “But we do it differently now.” She cheerfully
shaved a wide stripe down the center of each of the prisoner’s head, leaving hair on both
sides. You could call the result a “reverse Mohawk”, or “bozo the clown look”.

Seannie, Yazzi and Trace walked out of the empty warehouse, leaving just Drew looking
down on the captives.

“Remember to tell your bosses that we want to be friends. The kind of friends that leave
each other completely alone.”

For just a moment sparks and coils of lightning ran up and down Drew’s body. Then he
dropped a small pair of clippers at their feet so they could cut themselves loose.

Drew caught up with Trace, Seannie and Yazzi.

“Did you see the looks on their faces?”, said Trace. Everyone laughed.

Trace had a momentary vision of a strawberry blond woman, dressed in flowing red silk
robes. She was standing on the roof of a building looking at the Thunderbird from about a
half mile away.

Drew jerked and stopped.

“What’s wrong?”, asked Yazzi.

“I’ve been so stupid!”, said Drew. “These four were just a diversion. Something is wrong
at the Casino!” Drew started sprinting in the direction of the Thunderbird, but then
blinked.

Startled, Seannie, Trace and Yazzi hurried to the car.

----

With a loud snap Drew appeared in the lobby of the Thunderbird. Startled, everyone
jumped. A small group was huddled around one of the desk clerks, who was holding a
thick envelope.

“What’s wrong?”, asked Drew sharply.

“Someone just drove by and threw this into the parking lot.” She said, and handed it to
Drew.

Someone had written “DREW” across the front of the envelope. Drew tore it open. It only
contained one thing. A child’s red snow mitten. Drew looked at it uncomprehending for a
few moments, then said softly: “Tavia.”.

As a group, the Lobby crew made a sad sound. Tavia was well known and universally
loved.

Drew clenched his fists. He clenched his jaw. If anything happened to Tavia.

Sparks, ropes and coils of electricity started to curl around his body and feet. Some
snapped from his legs to the floor.

“I will take care of this.”, said Drew in a deadly quiet voice. He walked out the lobby door
and into the parking lot, toward his car. Each light bulb he passed under exploded in a
shower of blue sparks.

-----

“She’s a lot more dangerous than she looks.”, said Coon. The four thugs with him
laughed, thinking he was joking. But he wasn’t.

Coon checked the four thugs. All of them were wearing masks and thick gloves. At least
they could follow instructions.

Tavia Williams was walking from school to the Thunderbird hotel where she lived with
her sister Seannie. Tavia was walking quickly and lightly.
Coon watched as Tavia drew alongside the black van. The van door slammed open and the
four thugs rushed out. Tavia was too smart to run. She pulled off a snow mitten, baring
her right hand.

Deter was closest to Tavia and reached to grab her. Quick as a cat Tavia grabbed Deter’s
wrist where the skin was bare between his glove and sleeve. From out of nowhere a huge
white bear was attacking Deter. The bear roared and with a powerful swipe ripped it’s
claws through Deter’s jacket, dragging razor sharp claws from Deter’s shoulder to his belly
button. Deter screamed and threw up his arms defensively.

Ted had gotten behind Tavia and pulled the hood out of the plastic bag. The pungent smell
of ether cut through the air. Ted quickly pulled the hood over Tavia’s head. She struggled
for just a couple moments and then slumped into unconsciousness.

Deter was thrashing frantically as if struggling with an invisible phantasm. Ted would
have thought Deter was hallucinating, except Deter’s clothes were getting shredded and
blood was pouring out everywhere. Deter screamed.

Coon grabbed the red mitten off the ground and said tersely, “Get in.”

Ted looked at Deter thrashing on the ground, and said “What about . . .”

Coon shook his head, “I warned you not to let her touch you. Nothing we can do for him,
he’s dead. Leave him.”

Deter had fallen to the sidewalk and was thrashing weakly. Blood was gushing out of his
neck.

Ted and Sid dragged Tavia into the back of the van. Chris got into the driver’s seat.

“Tie her up with duct tape. I’ll meet you up there.” Coon looked at Deter’s still and blood
soaked body on the sidewalk. “Do I have to remind you to not let her touch you?”

The three surviving thugs shook their heads and drove away.

Coon smiled. These Indians were tough. He liked a challenge.

----

Drew’s heart pounded and he struggled to fight down the panic. Someone had kidnapped
Tavia. How had they gotten into his city, how had they done this, without him noticing.
He had been too fixed on the four from Vegas. Guilt and regret almost overwhelmed him.
He should have made certain Tavia was protected.

He could feel her aura, dimly, to the west, far outside of Denver. Outside of his home
ground.
He wished he could blink to her location, but he had never been able to do it deliberately.
It either happened automatically, or not at all. Furthermore, he could only blink to a
location he was looking at, or a place he was very familiar with.

So, he was driving west as fast as he could. As fast as he could was very fast indeed. The
necklace sharpened his vision, his sense of where the other cars were, and which way they
were moving. Sometimes cars conveniently moved out of his way before the other driver
even saw him. His electric blue Maxima was weaving and dodging through traffic like a
ghost. His speedometer was pegged at over 150 miles per hour.

Drew was heading west on I-70 toward the mountains. He was so afraid for Tavia, near
panic, and he realized he was not thinking clearly. But there didn’t seem to be anything he
could do about that.

----

Seannie, Tace and Yazzi made it back to the Thunderbird only a few minutes behind Drew.
They quickly found out about the envelope with Tavia’s mitten.

Yazzi looked intently at Seannie. “Do you have any idea what’s happening?”

Seannie tried, but it was impossible to calm her emotions. After a moment she said. “I
need to go up to my room. Sit down.”

“Let’s go”, said Trace and the three of them went up to room 571.

Seannie sat on the couch, while Trace and Yazzi sat down quietly at the table.

Seannie felt so afraid. Someone had Tavia! She had never suspected that anyone would
go after Tavia.

Seannie took a deep breath, then another. She needed to calm herself. She tried to
remember what Grandfather had taught her.

It was if his voice were saying, “To calm yourself, remember a happy and peaceful
memory.” Seannie pictured herself sitting beside a clear blue mountain lake. The breeze
was gentle. The sky was blue with an occasional puff of cottony cloud. The pounding of
her heart gradually subsided, and Seannie tried to open her mind, extend her senses.

“Tavia is to the west, up in the mountains.”

“Drew is going after her. Ok, obviously. He’s driving impossibly fast. He’s upset, not
really in control of himself.”

“What can we do to help?”, asked Yazzi quietly.

“I don’t know”, said Seannie sorrowfully. “It would take a helicopter to catch up with
him.”

“Good idea”, said Yazzi, pulling out his cell phone. Seannie had meant “helicopter” as a
statement of the impossible, not as a serious suggestion.

Yazzi hung up his phone and said, “Be on the roof in ten minutes.”

----

A short way into the mountains, Drew could tell Tavia was no longer straight west, but a
bit off to the south. He took what he thought was the right exit, and got on a road winding
to the south. There was a lot of snow, but his car had front wheel drive and good tires. He
could tell he was getting closer.

He could only feel Tavia’s aura, but he knew Tavia was not alone.

A lonely forestry road branched off to the left, and Drew took it. He hadn’t seen another
car for miles. In a few miles the road ended at a trail head. There was a black van. The
bodies of three men were laying in the dirt beside the van.

Drew could tell Tavia was somewhere up the trail.

Drew tried to climb the steep trail as quickly as he could, but the adrenalin rush had worn
off. He was cold and shaky. He reached a ridge and was then in a small, bowl shaped
meadow. Trees were all around, exactly as in his recurring nightmare.

In the center of the meadow was a large, table shaped rock.

Standing still, a few paces behind the rock, was a hooded figure in a flowing black silk
robe. Obscured by the hood, Drew couldn’t see the figure’s face.

Drew was horrified to see a huge mound of ice lying atop the rock, and Drew immediately
knew the ice contained Tavia’s frozen body.

Anger, grief and hatred filled Drew and he screamed “NO!”. Twin lightning bolts crashed
down from the sky to strike the black robbed figure. Lightning and electricity sheeted
around the black figure without touching him.

The figure laughed, a young, deep voice. “Is that the best you can do?”, he asked Drew
mockingly.

Drew strode forward, deliberately. Lightning snapped down and struck the figure, and
then struck again. Each lighting strike was accompanied by explosive thunder, but it
seemed to sheet off the black figure with no apparent harmful affect. The ground all
around him was smoking from the heat caused by the lightning.

“Now it’s my turn!”, said the black figure gleefully. Drew had a sudden feeling he should
be elsewhere and instantly he was standing behind the black figure. Shards of razorsharp
ice fell out of the sky onto the spot where Drew had been standing.

The black figure laughed, “Good one!”, and spun around to face Drew. The black figure
flung an arm in Drew’s direction and an icy blast of wind hit Drew like a sledge hammer.
Drew was knocked backward against a tree.

Ice started to form around Drew, but the bear tooth bracelet around his wrist radiated
incredible ice, melting the ice nearly as quickly as it formed.

The black figure stepped forward and grabbed Drew’s other wrist. Cold like a terrible
river poured into Drew, bringing with it agony. The pain made it almost impossible to
think, but Drew willed electricity into the black figure. Electricity and sparks chattered
angrily around the pair. The black hooded figured twitched as if being shocked by a tazer.
“Hurts, doesn’t it?”, the figure managed to gasp.

Drew could feel the cold pouring into him, overwhelming him. “I dreamed this many
times, but I never say you!”, gasped Drew.

The black figure wiggled his left pinky, which contained a ring with a black obsidian
jewel. The ring looked exactly like the one Nick had given Drew.

“I’m protected. Nobody can see me in dreams.”, explained the black figure. “I can’t see
you either.”

Drew reached deep inside himself and pulled all his power. He sent a force of electricity
into the black figure, who twitched even harder. It should have been enough to burn him
to a crisp, but Drew could see that the rings and bracelets worn by the black figure were
somehow protecting him, shunting away most of the power. So much electricity was
pouring into the ground that the dirt was actually glowing orange and melting into glassy
lava.

Most of Drew’s body was cocooned in ice and the cold and pain were sapping his strength.
His strength was starting to fade.

There was an enormous rush of hot air and Drew saw the strawberry blond woman flying
down from the clouds. She was dressed in an elegant, flowing red silk robe. She was
pointing a red, ruby wand.

Through clenched teeth, the black figure shouted. “Get out of here Sonya! I don’t need
any help! I’ve got this covered!”
But the black hooded figure’s back was to the red robed woman, and he couldn’t see how
her face was twisted in anger and horror.

She shouted, “IGNIS!” and a bolt of white hot liquid fire shot out of the wand and hit the
black hooded figure in the center of his back. The explosive impact threw the figure like a
rag doll. He landed, rolled and layed flat. A six inch hole burned clean through his chest,
killing him instantly.

Sonya landed next to black hooded figure, then kneeled beside him, tears filling her eyes.
“I’m sorry Coon, I’m sorry Pakov.” She pulled a black silk bag out of a packet and took
off Coon’s rings and bracelets.

The ice was gradually melting, but Drew was still frozen to the tree. Drew moaned in pain.

Sonya walked over to Drew. He didn’t know if he should be afraid or grateful. He

flinched when she put her hands on his shoulders. She smiled sweetly and closed her eyes.
She kissed Drew gently on the mouth. A massive rush of warm air swirled all around
Drew and the remaining ice melted almost instantly. Drew collapsed to his knees. Sonya
supported his weight for a moment to keep him from falling flat onto the ground. When
Drew had recovered a bit, she helped him to his feet.

“I think you’re the first person to fight my brother and survive.”, said Sonya, her soprano
voice musical.

Then Drew remembered and groaned, “Tavia!”. He stumbled to the table shaped rock and
pulled at the ice.

“Let me help”, said Sonya. She placed her hands on the ice and half closed her eyes in
concentration. A torrent of hot air swirled and circulated around the ice, increasing in heat
and intensity. The ice eroded, melting into water that poured away.

The ice shrank, and eventually disappeared, revealing Tavia’s pale and motionless body.
Tears pouring from his eyes, Drew threw his arms around Tavia’s body.

Tavia’s eyes fluttered open lazily. “Drew?” she said.

Drew straightened. “Tavia! You’re alive!”. Drew looked at Sonya. “How could she
survive that?”, he asked.

“Grandfather wrapped me in his arms and kept me warm.”, responded Tavia.

The three of them looked up at the sound of a helicopter, coming in for a landing in the
meadow.

Sonya looked at the helicopter and said, “Your friends are here. Both of you will be fine.”.
Sonya took a few steps in the direction opposite from the helicopter. She looked up at the
sky, took a quick step and jumped into the air. There was an enormous rush of hot air and
she flew up into the sky.

The helicopter hand landed, and the rotor was spinning down.

Seannie and Trace burst out of the helicopter, with Yazzi following behind.

Seannie ran to Tavia and threw her arms around her.

Trace walked up next to Drew and stared up into the clouds. “Did. A. Blond. Girl. Just.
Fly. Away?”, Trace asked unsteadily.

“She sure did.”, said Drew with a smile.

Seannie carried Tavia to the helicopter and the rest of them got back in.

After the helicopter had left, Nick came out of the woods and picked up Coon’s body.

The hood fell back, showing the face of a handsome young man with strawberry blond
hair. The similarity to Sonya was striking.

Nick, carrying Coon, disappeared.

----

A week later, Nick was sitting alone at a table in a cantina in Guinea. Sonya strode in
angrily. She upended a black silk bag and dumped rings and bracelets on the table.

“I killed him, just like you planned.”, said Sonya, angrily.

“I didn’t plan for that to happen. Well, not exactly. I didn’t want you to kill Pakov, but I
didn’t want him to kill you, either. He was out of control. If he had listened to my
warning and stayed away from Drew, then Pakov would be alive today. For years I’ve
tried to find a way to help him regain his sanity, but it only grew worse.”

“If you had told him Drew had the Egyptian necklace, then Pakov would have known
Drew was very dangerous. Pakov might have sayed away.”, she said accusingly.

Nick shook his head sadly. “If Pakov had known about the necklace he would have been
even more determined to get it from Drew.”. Sonya nodded grudgingly.

“Nick was very weak when you arrived. I was pleased, and a bit surprised when you
didn’t kill him to get the necklace. I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks”, said Sonya sarcastically. Then, continued, “I admit I was tempted.”

Sonya pointed at the rings and bracelets on the table, and said: “What about these?”

Nick pointed at the platinum ring that previously belonged to Luke. “Luke has a son he
never told anyone about. The boy is too young now, but someday he will have
considerable talent. If I may have your permission, I think he should wear his father’s
ring.”

Sonya nodded. Nick took a black velvet bag out of a pocket and picked up the ring,
without touching it. He put the black velvet back in his pocket.

“What about the rest?”, asked Sonya.

“Well, that’s up to you.”, said Nick. Sonya’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

Nick continued, “One or two of them you might want to wear. But, I recommend you
consider Pakov’s sanity, or rather insanity, and go slow.” Sonya nodded.

“One or two of them might look good on Drew, if you judge him worthy. But, he should
have some time, a considerable length of time, to get used to the ring, the bracelet and the
necklace he already wears, before anything more is added.” Sonya nodded again.

There were several moments of silence, before Sonya realized Nick had given all the
advice he intended to give.

Finally, in a small voice she said. “I’ve done terrible things. I’m sorry. Can I ever make
up for them?”

Nick smiled ruefully. “You know the evil I fight against. I can always use another ally.”

=====================

Afterword

I wrote “Luck and Lighting” for the November 2010 National Novel Writing Month,
writing 50,000 words in just 24 days. Please consider this a first working draft, with many
known limitations. For example:

- Pretty much every paragraph could be improved by rewriting.

- The story starts in first person, and then switches to third person for the remainder. This
should be more consistent.
- The characters are rather flat and I would like them to be deeper, to reveal more about
their backgrounds, motivation, feelings, etc. In particular: Drew, Drew’s parents, Mason,
Seannie, Trace, Sonya, etc.
- Character names could be improved, particularly: Seannie, Selma, Sonya.
- I wanted Mason Williams to be the wise old medicine man, or the modern day equivalent
of that, but some of his dialog is not consistent with that goal. I would like to be better at
presenting Mason’s “voice” and then make his entire dialog consistent with that voice.

Note: Many of the names used are nods to various people, including NaNoWriMo interns.