Chapter Twenty Two

Harrison sat in the hangar reading his dad’s notes and comparing them with the information he’d found on the web about Armand’s chocker. Armand told the press that his chocker could go five hundred kilometers per hour. Harrison scratched his head and messed up his black-brown hair to a ruffle. From what Harrison could figure, his father’s calculations intended Excalibur to fly closer to six hundred. Harrison let his hands droop while he studied the propellers on Excalibur. He didn’t know if the machinery could stand to move that fast.

Harrison scowled. He was going crazy. He had too many problems to weigh.

Ring. Ring.

Sleeping Beauty Inc. was calling him. Even though they were the last people he wanted to talk to, it was better to hear what they had to say.

“Hello,” he answered.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Fox. I’m not sure if you remember me. I was the client coordinator you worked with when you bought Rose Red: Model 85001, Vivian.”

“I remember you, but I’m not sure why you’re calling me. I already informed your company that I have no plans to sell Paige.”

“Yes. We know. That’s why I’m calling you. I thought it only proper to let you know that the party that wanted to purchase her from you was most unhappy when they learned of your unwillingness to sell. A gentleman named Zaphier Rawson is on his way to your property right now to make you an offer in person.”

“Did you give him my address?” Harrison asked. It hardly mattered now, since Zaphier had already been there, but still—Sleeping Beauty Inc. wasn’t supposed to give that sort of information out. The problem was that he knew there had been an initial indiscretion. They shouldn’t have accepted Paige’s contract in the first place.

“Uh …”

“I already know that your agency forwarded Zaphier my contact information after her sale. I could sue you for breach of our confidentiality agreement.”

“I know,” she said tightly on the other end of the line. “That’s why I’m also calling to inform you that we’re refunding her entire purchase price.”

“Care to explain that in more detail?”

“Certainly. We would like to end our agreement with you by refunding the total cost of the model.”

Harrison was supremely relieved, but he kept his voice unyielding. “When will the money be transferred?”

“In less than half a minute. I need you to waive your right to sue before going through with the transaction. Do I have your word?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.” There was a pause. “The money has been transferred. Thank you for your patience. Please, take care, Mr. Fox.”

“Thanks.” He hung up.

He got out his pocket watch and called Paige into the hangar.

Harrison grinned when he saw her. She was wearing a yellow T-shirt, an old pair of his jeans, and a blue bandana around her neck. Pink-cheeked and out of breath, she panted with a little stamp of her foot. “What’s going on?”

“Zaphier is on his way.”

“Here?” she gasped.

“Here.” Harrison shoved the keys to his truck into her hand. “I need you to drive to town. I’m going to fly Excalibur to Wystan’s and meet you there. It’s okay if Armand and Zaphier get into the lab. I’ve already taken the important things out. So, get in and drive. I’ll follow you and make sure you get there safely. Okay?”

Paige took the keys from him, planted a swift kiss on his cheek, and got in the truck.

Through the open window, he put his hand behind her neck.

“I need a better goodbye than a peck on the cheek,” he said, pulling her toward him.

He paused just before their lips met, giving her the chance to push him off if she wanted to. Their eyes met and their breath mingled while he waited for her response.

“Don’t tease me,” she said before she kissed him.

The feeling Harrison experienced as Paige pulled him close almost undid him. He realized how much he needed her to want him, but he wasn’t prepared for how it set his nerve ending on fire and made his insides ache. How could he let her go?

He couldn’t and held her longer.

Finally, he broke free and said with more conviction than he felt, “Just start driving. I’ll catch up.”

She stalled the engine as she tried frantically to start it.

“Are you scared?”

“What’s the worst that could happen?” she declared, trying again and igniting the engine properly the second time. “I’m going to do exactly what you tell me and I’m sure it will work out all right. How bad could things be if we’re not where the killer virus is?”

“Point taken. Drive safely and slowly if you need to. Don’t put the truck in the ditch over nerves.”

“I won’t.”

He was completely satisfied. Not only had she kissed him back but she was so shaken she was fumbling with the gear shift. Her cheeks had the darkest rose flush and she was having trouble backing up. He smiled brilliantly as he watched her go around the corner. If that wasn’t ecstasy then he didn’t know what was. He put his hands in his pockets and strolled over to the glowing drafting boards. He had to pack up.

Then he turned around and stared at Excalibur. He’d just about made a huge mistake. He turned around and took off at a dead run towards Paige and the truck. He’d been thinking about kissing her, not about flying. Damn! Running like a mad man and screaming, he got her attention. She stopped right away.

Poking her head out the window she yelled to him, “What’s the matter?”

He was out of breath and panting, but he stopped and rested his hands on his knees. For a second he couldn’t bear to tell her his mistake and he just stood there like an idiot.

She honked the horn. “What’s wrong?”

He raised his head and smiled sheepishly. “I need you to pull Excalibur out of the hangar for me.”

Paige rolled her eyes and laughed. “Right.”

***

After Paige helped wheel Excalibur out of the hangar, she was about to head down the long driveway when she realized that Harrison wasn’t the only one who was forgetting things. She wanted to get a few things from the house. The drive to town wasn’t short and she would surely die without a bottle of water, and, she reflected sadly, the first aid kit. She knew she shouldn’t want it. Harrison had told her repeatedly that she didn’t need to check her PH levels every two minutes. He said that within a day or two a patient’s saliva turned yellowish, so all she had to do was spit on the ground if she wanted to know if she had M.T.N. Knowing that made Paige spit into the sink ten times a day to see if her spit was yellow. Going into town was a different matter and she couldn't spit if she was driving, so she ran into the house to get a bottle of water and the PH balance test strips.

As she pulled the truck out onto the main road, she looked into her rearview mirror to spot Harrison walking around Excalibur making final preparations. She had to get a head start just like he said. He would be able to catch up to her lickety-split.

But he didn’t.

She checked her mirrors and listened for the chocker blades as she drove on, but no sound came.

She was calm until she spotted a chocker hovering in the sky—except that it wasn’t Excalibur. It was black and orange. Armand was overhead. If it was them, then there was no way Harrison could follow her. That meant that whether he was in the air or not, he had to run. Paige swallowed.

The only thing Paige could do to help was to be where he told her to be, so she kept driving.

The chocker didn’t notice her and flew right over her head.

On the road, she came to the gravel roads that were never grated, never plowed in the wintertime, and degenerated to nothing but pounded down dirt. On these, she couldn’t drive a hundred kilometers per hour. Her speedometer hovered around eighty and at that speed, she knew she was risking skidding out. The roads were narrow and some of them had deep irrigation ditches on both sides.

She dropped her speed down to sixty. Her heart thumped. It really wouldn’t help anything to go in the ditch.

Then she was going thirty.

Then zero as she came to a stop.

There was a cow on the road.

Paige put the truck in park and honked the horn. The stupid thing hardly blinked in her direction. Paige didn’t get it. Why wasn’t it scared?

She got out of the truck and slowly approached it. As she got closer, she saw barbed wire twisted around the cow’s back leg.

Paige stared up into the sky in wonder. Out loud she asked the universe, “Why in its back leg? You know that if I make a wrong move this old girl is going to kick me in the ribs. I’ll be in intense, ridiculous, profuse pain and Harrison won’t be able to pay the hospital bill? You know that, right?”

The universe stared back at her with that big blue expressionless expanse it always has and though she didn’t hear its words she knew the answer. It went something like, “I know.”

Paige pushed her sweaty bangs out of her face with a frustrated hand. This was far worse than feeding a cow.

Getting out of the truck, she approached it. Strangely, the cow seemed used to people and smelled her as she got closer. She patted its back and petted it gently before making her way to the hind end. She touched the barbed wire with the gentlest tap and the beast staggered sideways. Then without thinking, Paige grabbed the fur on the cow’s back with one hand and the barbed wire with the other and pulled the two apart.

The cow bellowed and bolted a dozen steps further down the road, but thankfully, did not kick her.

Paige mouthed a quiet hurray before discarding the wire in the ditch and heading back to the truck to get her water bottle to wash off her hands.

“You’d better thank me, cow,” she said triumphantly as she rinsed the cow stink off her hands.

The cow moved toward her again, which Paige thought was strange. The thorn was out of its paw (figuratively). Shouldn’t it be on its way? But it didn’t leave. It came closer and closer, and then Paige noticed something that made her guts lurch.

The saliva dripping from its mouth was as yellow as pee.

Without hesitating, Paige reached into the cab of the truck through the window and seized the first aid kit. Ripping it open, she scavenged two PH tests. One was for her and one was for the puddle of spit on the ground.

She stuck one in her mouth and the other one in the saliva. While she waited for it to register, she asked herself if she was feeling itchy. She was, but she always felt itchy anytime the question of M.T.N. came up.

She picked up the tester in the puddle. It registered two ticks below dangerous for M.T.N. That was closer to the danger zone than any of Paige's tests had ever come out before. The cow tested positive for M.T.N.

She stuck a PH tester in her mouth and studied the cow. How far along was it? Could it see? She moved around and the cow followed her with its eyes. Then she stayed still and made some noises. The cow moved, too. Looking at the furry thing, she didn’t understand what was going on. All its limbs seemed to be holding together. Had it contracted M.T.N. in the last twenty-four hours?

Paige’s PH test was normal.

By this time, the cow had walked behind the truck, so Paige’s path was no longer blocked. She put the truck in gear and got back on course toward town.

Well, she didn’t care what Harrison would think of her. She was going to the hospital to be tested before she went to Wystan’s. She couldn’t risk getting other people sick.

That was what she thought until another horrible thing happened to her. Her bracelet started ringing. It rang incessantly. Harrison had changed the perimeter on her again and now she couldn’t go as far as town without setting off the alarm.

It rang and rang until Paige thought she was going to lose her mind. It was so loud. It wouldn’t stop. The sound was ruining her driving. She was going too fast. She swerved like a drunkard because she kept trying to put her wrist behind her back to muffle the sound and it didn’t even help!

By the time she got to town, she would have been declared a certified mental patient if she’d gone to the hospital. Instead, she drove to Wystan’s. It was closer.

As she drove up, Wystan was resting between an ancient Camaro and an old ping pong table drinking a beer. He heard her alarm going off, put a shirt on to cover his plaster-white chest, and came up to the truck.

“What the hell is that?” he yelled.

The alarm was too loud, she couldn’t even hear him. She could only figure out what he was saying because, under the circumstances, there was nothing else to say.

She pointed to the bracelet and threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

Straightway, Wystan disappeared into his horde of junk and bought out a pair of bolt cutters. Paige stuck out her wrist and he cut the thing clean off her.

The infernal noise stopped.

“Wystan,” Paige said breathlessly. “You are the wickedest guy I’ve ever met.”

He smiled. “I know.”