The Ghost Lights of Marfa Read online

  Chapter Three

  Kneeling, facing the rear window, Cody watched the orange orb hovering above the car. “Mommy, the light likes me. It’s going to camp out with us.”

  “It‘s not following us, Cody, it can’t. It just looks like it is.”

  “It is so following us. Mommy, I see it.”

  With no other cars on the highway, Kristy braked to a stop. “Let me show you.” She threw the car into reverse and drove backwards. “See, Cody. If it was following us, it would move back just like it moved forward, but–” She noticed the light stayed directly above them. “Oh no! Shit! It is following us.” She pulled to a stop.

  Her hands shook on the steering wheel. “This can’t be happening.”

  “The light likes me, Mommy. Can it come home with us?” Cody shook his plastic sword at the light. “To play with me.”

  “No, punkin, it’s a light in the sky. It can’t go anywhere with us. And it can’t hurt us. Whether it follows us or not, it’s only a bright light. It can’t do anything.” Her breathing grew shallow. She shifted back into drive and sped forward.

  “Look, Mommy, it stays with us. When you go fast, it goes fast, and when you go slow, it goes slow. Mommy, why are you stopping?”

  “Oh no.” The fuel gauge pointed past the E. The car came to a complete stop. “Damn.” She smacked the steering wheel, pushed the gearshift to park, clicked off the headlights, and switched on the emergency blinkers. ”We’re out of gas.” She trembled as shrill, yipping howls of coyotes sliced through the night air. “Don’t worry, Cody, it will be okay.”

  “Mommy, if the car won’t go, we get to stay with the light.”

  “Yes, the light’s still here. Just like us.” She gazed at the orange ball hovering above them. “You’re no help at all. Some magic you are.”

  Suddenly, the ghost light descended, drawing closer and closer to earth, like a paper kite that lost its wind. “Cody, jump out, now!” Kristy shoved the car door open.

  She leapt out as did Cody and she pulled him to the side of the road with her. The orange light surrounded the stranded car.

  “Mommy, the light’s coming to ride with us.”

  “That car is out of gas, it’s not going anywhere, not even for a ghost light.” She bit her lip to hold back a scream.

  The orange dome enveloped the old clunker. Just like that, the headlights popped on. The car honked by itself, repeatedly. Windows rolled up and down on their own. The trunk flapped open and closed, like a bird’s wing. An old Sinatra song about flying away blared on the car radio.

  “No!” Her heart beat so hard it nearly leapt out of her chest. “This can’t be happening.” She grabbed Cody’s hand and yanked him further away from the car and the light. “It’s not right, we’ve got to get away.” Her foot slid on a rock in the ground. As she fell, his fingers slipped out of her grasp. “Cody, no!”

  As he rushed to the light, Kristy let out a terrified scream, “Cody!”

  Petrified with fear, she watched her small, wiry son, dart into the dome of light. She managed to push herself up. “Help! Someone help!”

  Cody went still. “The light loves us, Mommy.” His whole face beamed with pure joy. “I want to stay with it.”

  “Cody, get away. Come to me, now.”

  Caught in the light, glowing with happiness, he didn’t seem to hear his mother.

  She reached out her arms, intent on grabbing her son and pulling him free of the freaky ghost light. “Cody, please.” She dashed into the light to save her baby.

  The moment her foot slid into the light, complete, utter peace flooded her. She’d never felt such deep joy, even at the happiest moment of her life, when Cody was born. Kristy didn’t want to leave the light. Instead of grabbing Cody, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

  “I want to stay.” His beaming smile echoed in his exuberant voice.

  She squeezed him tighter. “Yes, of course we’re staying in the light.”

  Mother and child lovingly embraced, standing beside the car in the center of the radiant glow, basking in its rapt warmth. The light blinked, then it vanished with Kristy and Cody.

  * * * * *

  Kristy squeezed Cody’s hand and gasped with shock as blue-skinned beings strolled past, on a street paved in a gleaming silver material.

  “Cody, I think you’re dreaming or I’m dreaming or we’re both dreaming.” Now daylight, a yellow orb, like the sun, along with two white moons, one small, one huge, hung in the pale green sky. “This can’t be real.”

  As she squeezed Cody’s hand, he reached out with his other and pinched her.

  Kristy yelped. “Cody, stop it!”

  “You’re not dreaming, Mommy.” He placed his hand on his hip. “Why are they blue?”

  Blue people with wide, square heads clustered around, jabbering in an unfamiliar language.

  “Where are we?” She slapped her hand below her throat. “Another planet?”

  “Actually, another dimension, our world is called In.” A blue man, whose head took up a third of his body size, smiled. “Are you from the Lipan Apache Band? I not only speak English, I also know Apache, as well as thirty-five other terrestrial languages. I am a professor of Earth Studies.” He bobbed his flat, turquoise head. “My name is Yog.”

  “What?” A surge of ice-crusted fear shot through Kristy. “I’m not an Apache and I just speak English.”

  “Not Apache? Then you may not know the Hactcin are the creators of both In and Earth. You must have fallen on hard times. The Hactcin send the lights to help anyone in that area, in the Apache territory, who have bad luck.”

  Even the lights have it in for me. “What happens here? Is it some kind of purgatory, I’m to be punished for having bad luck?” Her body shook and her legs went as limp as boiled pasta. “And why is Cody here? He hasn’t done anything wrong.” She pushed Cody behind her. She wasn’t about to let that blue stranger touch her child.

  “Oh no, what happens is your luck turns around, of course. That’s the whole purpose, to give you and your son a second chance here on In.”

  Kristy’s fingers shook as she tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. “The orange light beamed us up?”

  “Yes, the lights are portals and porters all in one, finding those who are worthy of good luck.” His rectangular lips spread into a wide, toothy smile. “If you go to the council office, they will help you with everything you need.”

  “Mommy, this place is cool. How did you bring us here?”

  “I don’t know, even though Yog explained it.” She shrugged to hide her shock and fear from Cody and shifted her gaze back to the blue professor. “You’re not human.”

  “No, in this dimension we are called Inids.” Yog pointed to a one-story, flat-roofed building. “They will explain all.”

  “I can’t go in there. I left my purse in the car with my ID and our birth certificates.” Kristy knew of the long list of documents you had to bring. She’d heard stories about people who’d spent all day in the immigration office only to be told to come back and bring more paperwork. The building looked just like one on Earth, so surely the procedures wouldn’t be too different.

  Yog blinked his black eyes. “If the light brought you, the council has already given their permission and approval.”

  “Okay, that’s convenient.” Kristy took Cody’s hand. “Come on, punkin.” They strolled into the white, stone building and up to the counter, where a blue-skinned woman worked. She glanced down at Cody. “Stay next to me and don’t let go of my hand. I don’t know anything about these blue people… or beings…whatever they are.”

  The square-headed lady babbled something, but paused when Kristy didn’t answer. “Oh, you don’t speak Inish. That will have to be corrected,” she said in English and pointed to a box on the counter, gesturing for Kristy to peer into it.

  “What is this, a vision test machine like the ones at the department of motor vehicles?” Kristy pressed her eyes against the lens
in the box, a bright light flashed and her scalp tingled. “What was that?”

  “A language upgrade. It’s a type of mind enhancement.” Instantly, she could speak and understand Inish.

  The large-headed woman pulled two turquoise necklaces out of a drawer.

  “You both need to wear one of these, unless you want to have your flesh dyed blue, like ours. You see, the color will bring you luck.” The woman glared at her. “Your skin is very pink, isn’t it? That’s odd.” The lady reached out her long blue fingers to touch Kristy’s skin.

  Kristy jumped back. “Yes, it is and no, we don’t want to dye our skin. We’ll wear the necklaces.” Kristy slipped one of the silver chains, dangling a wire-wrapped apache tear, around her neck and the other around Cody’s.

  She shifted her gaze back to the blue woman. “Since I’m new here, I’ll need a place to stay until I can find a job, is there a family shelter for my son and me?”

  “The council will provide housing for you. We consider you a very important person. The accommodations provided do not require any financial compensation on your part, you will be allotted full citizenship and a monthly allowance.”

  “Government housing, I don’t know.” She sighed. “I guess for now. Maybe I can get a job soon and get us a better place.” She leaned closer to the woman. “How much is this monthly allowance?”

  “Twenty thousand a month in your currency, American dollars, I believe.”

  Kristy crossed her arms. “Ma’am, I think there may be some mistake in that calculation.”

  “If it is not enough, we can offer more.” The woman pointed to a thin, blue man. “He will escort you to your new home and see that you have everything you need.”

  “I’ll go with the blue guy. But if it’s a bad place or dangerous, I’m not staying. I have my son to think of.” Holding Cody’s hand, Kristy followed the man out of the building and down the street.

  “Why are we stopping here, Mommy?”

  The square-headed man flashed a wide, rectangular smile. “This is your house.” The man pointed to a huge mansion, which took up a whole block.

  Kristy’s jaw fell open. She stared, speechless.

  Chapter Four

  Cody let go of her hand and darted inside. Before Kristy reached the door, he dashed back out and ran to her. “Mommy, I think it’s a mall.”

  The slender, blue man led them into a marble foyer. “Your house, and all that is in it, has been fashioned after a nice Earth home.”

  “How many people live here?” she asked the blue man. ”Do we have our own room?”

  “This home is just for you and your son, of course. You have all the rooms.”

  Kristy glanced up at a glistening crystal chandelier.

  “I hope the home and all the furnishings are satisfactory.” Their guide gestured to her to follow him. “We’ve added toys and novelties to accommodate your child.”

  “Oh, good, if it’s not too much trouble, he needs a plastic sword.” Kristy took Cody by the hand as they trailed behind the blue man.

  “I left my sword in the car, Mommy.”

  “Yes.” Kristy gasped as they entered the first room. Her gaze scanned the video games, pool table, and an air hockey table.

  Cody dashed to a racing game and spun the steering wheel back and forth. “Look Mommy, you don’t need tokens or money, it’s free.”

  Her senses reeled as she left Cody to play, and followed the blue guy into the other rooms, which held a full basketball court, an indoor swimming pool, a bowling alley, a skating rink, and a skateboard ramp.

  “Cody’s playrooms take up the entire first floor.” She took a deep breath.

  “Mommy, I won the game.” Cody ran up to her.

  “Good, punkin.” Kristy had to ask her guide the obvious question. “What’s upstairs?”

  The blue man led her and Cody up the winding staircase and into a movie theatre. She stared wordlessly at the huge screen and rows of seats. Next, he showed her a dining room as large as most restaurants. Her heart hammered as they entered the library, lined with shelves, crammed with books.

  When she glanced at her guide, he nodded his head, anticipating her question before she asked it. He said, “They are earth books. In English.”

  Her mind spun with excitement as she followed their guide to the bedrooms. Both of them had large closets full of clothes and shoes. Hers included a salon area with makeup and a cosmetologist’s table and chair.

  “A hairdresser will come once a week to do your hair and nails.” The blue man smiled.

  “Wow.” She couldn’t even speak, then a disturbing thought crossed her mind. “But no blue nails and no blue hair.”

  “If that is your choice.”

  “Yes. And no dying our skin blue.”

  “As you wish.”

  The man called forth, and introduced her to, a staff of twenty servants.

  Cody pointed to the row of blue servants. "Mommy, are they going to watch me while you go to your new job?”

  Kristy rubbed his head, gently tousling his soft, black hair. “Right now, here on In, I get to stay home with you. I don’t have to go to work.”

  “Mommy, that’s the best thing in the whole word.”

  “Getting to spend time with my little man is the best thing in this world and the one we came from, the best thing in all the worlds, Cody.”

  She’d been nearly hopeless, until she turned off US-67 and drove into a dusty ranch town, which led to the fulfillment of all her dreams. All that was missing was a dreamy man. Of course, he’d probably be blue.

  “Mommy, I’m hungry.”

  She turned and smiled at the row of blue-skinned women and men. “One of you must be a cook. Please show me to the pantry or refrigerator, wherever you keep the food. I need to learn the more important things about this world.”

  “Maybe they eat blue worms, that would be cool,” Cody said.

  She clutched her stomach. “Maybe not.” As she trailed behind a plump, square-faced woman, Kristy’s mouth watered for a hamburger.

  At the chime of a bell, a servant dashed downstairs to the front door. Kristy followed, to see who’d come to visit.

  * * * * *

  Kristy’s gaze froze on the tall, athletic physique of a human man, about twenty-five. His thick, black hair tapered to the scooped neck of his Earth-imported T-shirt and his muscles rippled under the jersey fabric.

  “Hello, you must be the new arrivals from Earth.” His generous mouth curved into a disarming smile.

  Her pulse raced. “Yes, I am Kristy Travis.” She smiled as Cody ran up. “And this is my son.”

  “My name is Nick, I’m so excited to see you.” Compelling electric-blue eyes gleamed from his oval face. “You can teach me about my home planet.”

  Kristy imagined pressing her lips to his as he wrapped his sinewy arms around her and pulled her tight against the muscles of his broad chest. Her breath grew shallow. “What do you want to know about Earth?”

  “Everything. You’ve heard of abandoned children. When I was four, someone, I guess one or both of my parents, stopped on Highway 90 and put me out of the car, right there on the road. That night, one of the lights brought me here. An Inid family adopted me as soon as I got here. I love my In parents, they’re great, but I’ve always wondered about Earth and what it’s like to live there.”

  “I’ll be glad to fill you in, if your wife won’t mind?” She peered at him intently, waiting for his response.

  “Oh, I’m not married.” His blue eyes grew amused and his lips twitched with humor. “While I‘m here, is there is anything I can do to help you get settled?”

  She moistened her lips with her tongue. “As a matter of fact, come with me to the kitchen to find something that tastes like cheeseburgers.” As Kristy climbed the stairs, she forgot all about food and thought only of hungrily, covering his mouth with hers and tasting the sultry heat of Nick’s full, firm lips.

  Chapter Five

  Kristy’s a
rm brushed across his as they walked up the steps together. A hot shiver shot through him. Nick always thought he’d be alone. With his appearance so weird, so ugly compared to all the other people on In, a small oval head, his skin a frightening, monstrous color, and on top of all that he was a giant. Still, he’d resisted having his skin dyed blue. Something didn’t seem quite right about posing as a native Inid when he was Earth-born. He’d never been thrilled with that decision until today. He wasn’t alone anymore, there were two others now, Kristy and her son. He wasn’t ugly or weird, he was just an Earthling. Kristy's head was small and her skin was a light tan shade as well. And she was beautiful. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her.

  Her smile made him feel so light, happy. Her eyes held a gleam of interest, but he wasn’t sure what to say or to do. He’d never mated with a woman before. The only In women who’d seemed interested in him were extremely experienced in sex and seemed curious about what he was like in that manner.

  Something about putting her in this house, supposedly fashioned after the ones on Earth, and fulfilling her every whim, seemed strange. He had to tell her about his suspicions. First he had to show her what he thought was going on. If his suspicions were true, he feared she’d get upset. She might want to leave, return to Earth. He didn’t know if she could or if he could. If the Inids forced her to stay, she probably wouldn’t want anything to do with them. She might not want anything to do with him, either. Still, it was better she found out now and that he was the one to show her. Hopefully, he was wrong and the Inids were genuinely being kind and generous to her. He rubbed his forehead.

  They stepped into the kitchen. He walked over to a cabinet and hit an icon picture. Suddenly a little door opened and a pile of what looked like ground meat slid out on a plate.

  Her eyebrows arched in a baffled expression.