Clue and the Tree Spirits, page 1
Clue and the Tree Spirits
By Wendie Nordgren
Copyright © 2017 by Wendie Nordgren
www.wendienordgren.com
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, places, and events are fictional and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Victoria Cooper Art
A special thank you goes out to Susan, Lisa, and Eliana. I’m fortunate to have such wonderful friends. I don’t know what I would do without the three of you.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter One
I did my best to drown out Ms. Larosa’s voice while she redirected her noisy students and encouraged them to begin their individualized educational programs. She had agreed to be my instructor of record for the classes I was taking at the Community Center for Hyperion College’s Distance Education Program. Ms. Larosa had to enter her palm scan before I could begin. I had a feeling that if I were to grab her by the elbow and drag her over to my interface that she wouldn’t be pleased.
To pass the time, I decided to look up something that Cosmo had said weeks ago. I was certain it had a profane meaning and that adding it to my already abundant vocabulary of expletives would in fact be an educational pursuit. After searching for the word “fellatio,” using various spellings, my eyes bulged, I grimaced, and I tried to hide my console’s screen while clearing the information which included pictures and instructional videos before any of the kids in the room saw it.
“Mrs. Shimizu,” Ms. Larosa hissed in a quiet whisper. She turned her back and blocked my screen while I fumbled to clear the content.
“I didn’t know!” I whispered back.
She turned around and raised an eyebrow at me. Annoyance had made her face look pinched. Raising a hand to her hair, she smoothed her bun. “You should research such matters in the privacy of your own home. There are children present.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Embarrassed, I navigated back to my course selection. I was working on biology today. Ms. Larosa smirked as she pressed her palm to the scanner. I mumbled, “I knew what it was, just not by that word.”
The expression she gave me was blank. “Mrs. Shimizu, I am willing to overlook this incident on one condition as long as in the future you remember your status as a matriarch of Scorpius.”
I scowled at her and crossed my arms over my chest. “What is it?”
“I am taking the children on a field trip to collect the leaves of vascular and nonvascular plants for their biology unit. You can help chaperone.” She looked at me primly, and my expression withered. “I’ll give you credit for two of your biology labs,” she coaxed.
I looked at my screen. Then, I glanced over at the sticky-looking kids. “Do I get to pick which labs?”
“I suppose that would be acceptable as long as you comport yourself with the decorum our society expects of the wife of Tadashi Shimizu.”
I assumed Ms. Larosa didn’t realize Tadashi and I were pretty much opposites. Smiling sweetly, I said, “I will behave in a manner of which Tadashi wouldn’t be surprised.”
Ms. Larosa took my words as acquiescence and returned her attention to the children. I had told her the truth. It wasn’t my fault that she had no idea what I was like. I began reading through my assignments and made note of everything that I could accomplish for my own class during the field trip. If I were to collect enough samples of my own, I would be able to complete the botany chapters quickly.
Annoyance rolled through me. The course was required, but it was investigative studies which intrigued me. As a master thief, Winks, my father, didn’t approve of the Protect and Serves and didn’t want his daughter to become one. Winks had a proclivity for taking expensive items that didn’t belong to him. As a wedding gift to me, he had returned a valuable painting that he had stolen from a Laconian Ambassador in a distant sector of space. I still had no idea how he had accomplished it in the amount of time he had. The sounds of children leaving for the day pulled me from my thoughts.
Ms. Larosa announced, “Be here at sunrise and bring a sack lunch and a drink. We’re having a picnic.”
Smiling, I said, “Okay! Great!” while cringing inside. After closing down my program, I, like the children, rode my hover board home.
At 888 Honjo, Cosmo and Gregory were laughing about something at the dining table. I left my hover board and helmet with its frolicking cartoon dolphins by the door and glared at Cosmo.
“Hey, why the grumpy face?” He grinned at me and blew me a kiss. Cosmo was my father’s apprentice, helping him melt down jewelry amongst other things. His brown eyes, black hair, sinful body, and dangerous recklessness allowed him to get away with a lot. Well, all of that and the memory of a few of the steamy kisses we had shared before I had married Tadashi had me overlooking his rakish behavior.
“This is all your fault.”
“What’s my fault? Are you torn apart by conflicting desires because you’ve finally realized I’m the one you want?” Cosmo’s brown eyes glittered seductively at me.
“No. I decided to look up what ‘fellatio by a shark-toothed whore’ was and got caught by my teacher.”
Gregory choked on his tea, but Cosmo laughed.
I turned my back on them and grabbed a plum juice out of the cold storage. After taking a swig of it, I said, “Now, as punishment, I have to serve as a chaperone on a field trip in the morning.”
A freshly showered Tadashi heard the last part as he jogged down the stairs and joined us. My Okami husband had excellent hearing. “Clue, I am proud of you for contributing to the educational development of our youngest citizens. Lord Tanaka will be pleased as well.” He kissed my nose and got his own drink.
I narrowed my eyes at Cosmo and Gregory daring them to tell Tadashi why I was really going. A scraping sound drew my attention to the floor. Snappy, my blue sea dragon, tapped his claws twice against the floor. It signified that he needed to do his business.
“Come on, Snappy,” I said.
Walking to the front door, I grabbed his collar and leash. He made a chuffing sound at me as I fastened his collar around his neck. Seeing Snappy on a leash gave the citizens of Scorpius and its visitors a false sense of security. Snappy appeared to be a five-foot-long sapphire-blue lizard. However, my boss, Elan Tavora, had called Snappy Master Talvi, the father of the seas, and had bowed low to him. I had seen Snappy grow in size to the equivalent of an apartment building. Once, I had even ridden on his head to safety. Also, Snappy could control the weather. To him and the rest of us, the collar and leash were laughable.
Regardless, I held the leash as Snappy led me down the sidewalk to the vacant lot Winks had purchased so that my sea dragon would have a place to do his business. I sat on a bench and waited while he wandered off. Several pairs of eyes stared out at me from within the crates we had stacked and secured together against the side of a building at the far side of the lot. Stray cats flocked to the lot that the sea dragon had marked as his territory. It was a place where they could escape the mononoke, troublesome spirit creatures who fed on spirit energy and enjoyed torturing them.
I didn’t blame the cats. Aside from terrorizing me in the past, the mononoke had almost killed Winks and me. The Okami pack, to which I now belonged as Tadashi’s mate, had saved us along with Cosmo. Right now, the cats looked terrified.
“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” I called.
Usually, such an invitation would result in the cats rubbing themselves all over me. However, they remained huddled together in their makeshift cat apartment complex fearfully staring out of the openings at me. Curious, I layered the reality of the spirit realm over me.
The whump of sound took me into a realm of silence, black, and white. Snappy turned his head and looked at me. In the spirit realm, he alone was resplendent in vibrant blue scales and glowing amber eyes. Unable to discern the cause of the stray cats’ fears, I released the spirit realm. Sound and color returned to me along with Snappy, who had completed his mission. After making sure the cats had food and water, Snappy and I returned to 888 Honjo Street.
Chapter Two
“Wash your hands, baby girl. It’s time to eat,” Winks said when I walked into the kitchen.
I removed Snappy’s collar, and with sinuous movements and a swishing tail, he went to his big white bowls, which anyone else would have used as planters. After all, I had purchased them at Farm Supply. After a few slurps of water, Snappy began crunching through a pile of raw fish. Tadashi and Gregory were already setting the table. Cosmo was filling our glasses with tea, so I did as I was told washing my hands and taking my seat.
During dessert, Winks said, “I have some business to see to off world. I’ll be back in a few weeks.” I sighed wondering what my master thief of a father was up to. “I’m taking Cosmo with me.”
Before I could say a word, Tadashi said, “Clue will be kept safe
Winks met Tadashi’s eyes. “I know. If I weren’t absolutely sure of it, I wouldn’t be going.” Getting up, Winks kissed my forehead. “Are you packed?” he asked Cosmo.
“Sure am, Boss.”
“Wait. Right now? You’re leaving right now?” I asked in shocked disbelief.
“We’ll be back before you know it,” Winks promised. “Clean the kitchen, baby girl.” With that, they entered the lift presumably to go to the garage.
“How long have they been planning to leave?” I asked Gregory.
With sincere blue eyes, Gregory said, “Cosmo, Mr. Taylor, and I have an understanding between us of minding certain elements of our own business. Some of their business is perfectly acceptable. The rest of it.... Well, I’d rather not know.”
Tadashi nodded.
While washing dishes, I tried to search my memory for any hint Winks might have inadvertently dropped about his so called off world business trip. Lost in my own thoughts, the kitchen was clean before I realized it. Upstairs, I took a bath and then joined Tadashi in bed. He was immersed in reports.
“What’s all of that?”
Absently, he said, “Whenever there is a problem or disagreement amongst Scorpius’ citizens, it is reported to Lord Tanaka. Then, I deal with it.”
I had known that Tadashi and Dorian served as Lord Tanaka’s enforcers, but I hadn’t realized that they functioned for all intents and purposes as the only two Protect and Serves for the entire city.
“Well, can you put all of that away? I want to show you what I learned at school.” I grinned at him and then ducked my head under the covers.
“Oh, Clue.”
The next morning, Tadashi handed me a silver canister as I was leaving.
“What’s this?”
He grinned at me. “Your lunch. Enjoy your scholastic adventure.”
The previous evening had made my husband even more supportive of my academic studies. Laughing, I kissed his cheek and made my way to the Community Center. After arriving, I put my board and helmet away.
Ms. Larosa had procured a large transport for the field trip. “Okay, children, take your seats.”
Richard, a snotty thirteen-year-old, got in the front passenger seat before I could. Then, he stuck his tongue out at me. I didn’t see his parents around and was about to punch him, but thought better of it and instead narrowed my eyes and him and took a seat beside Dalla, a ten-year-old girl. When he smirked at me, I grinned at him.
Dalla said, “You better be nice to her, or the Okami will eat you.”
Richard turned pale, jumped out of the seat, and said, “I’m sorry Mrs. Shimizu. I forgot who you are for a second. Please, don’t tell.”
Shrugging, I said, “I’ll think about it.” I started to tell Richard about how I had once seen Liam, a serpent demon, eat a man whole, but I decided to wait and tell him about it if we were ever alone together in the forest. My grin was enough to make Richard behave all of the way to the bamboo forest.
Of the five children, Richard was the most annoying because he was a little know-it-all. Ivan earned second place. He was eleven, aspired to emulate Richard, and enjoyed teasing both Dalla and the other girl, Hope. Hope was nine. She and Dalla were both fascinated by insects. I didn’t think that I had ever seen either of the girls with clean elbows or knees. At the moment, they both had clean hair. Their mothers had made every effort to send them out in pristine condition. Dalla had a cute set of braids. When Ms. Larosa wasn’t looking, Ivan yanked on one of Hope’s pigtails.
“Ow! Stop that!” Hope complained. She looked at me like I was supposed to do something about it.
I whispered, “Wait until no one is watching and then pinch him as hard as you can on his side.” I shrugged at her.
The other kid in the transport seldom spoke or interacted with anyone. It was probably the reason I liked him. His name was Nelsan, and at eight years of age he was the youngest of Ms. Larosa’s students. Nelsan always seemed sad. He stared out of the window at the trees all of the way to the bamboo forest.
“Now, children, the forest is extensive and can be dangerous. Each of you must select a buddy with whom to stay at all times. In addition, each of you will keep your global positioning trackers synced with mine. Understood?”
“Yes, Ms. Larosa,” the children answered.
Richard and Ivan ran off with their collection bags.
“You can come with us, Nelsan,” Dalla said. The boy followed after the girls.
“What’s the deal with Nelsan? Why don’t Richard and Ivan like him?” I asked Ms. Larosa. I didn’t get why he wasn’t part of the boys’ group.
Ms. Larosa watched as the children kneeled to cut leaves from a bush. “Nelsan’s mother passed away shortly after his birth. It’s just him and his father, who works long hours in construction.”
Sympathetic pain for Nelsan washed over me. Losing Momma still hurt me at times. I didn’t want to think about how hard it would have been to have grown up without experiencing her unconditional love. After helping Ms. Larosa set up a couple of tables and folding chairs, I went off into the forest intent on collecting my own samples. Hopping over a small stream, I found some moss clinging to a rock. After adding it to my bag, the sound of someone softly crying reached my ears. Soon, I found Nelsan seated at the base of a thick bamboo stalk with his face buried against his knees, and his small arms hugging his legs. He looked so small and pathetic that I couldn’t resist sitting beside him.
“Hey, Nelsan. Did you get lost?”
“No, ma’am.” Big wet eyes looked up at me. Then, he wiped his nose on the knees of his pants.
“What’s wrong?”
“Tiny Toes ran away, and I can’t find him.” Nelsan tried to calm his distressed sobs.
“Who is that?”
“He’s my only real friend.”
Awkwardly, I patted the kid. “I’m really good at finding things. What’s he look like?”
“He’s white with orange striped spots. His whole tail is orange.”
“Tiny Toes is a cat?”
The boy nodded.
“When’s the last time you saw him?”
“Three days ago. Do you think he’s dead?” The boy cried harder.
I took his hand and slipped. The whump of sound, lift, and fall took us both. With wide eyes, Nelsan looked around at the spirit realm. Just as I suspected, a mononoke had its fangs embedded in the boy’s thigh. Nelsan looked down at it in horror. My sea glass ring flared blue as I struck the mononoke and banished it. My ability to slip wasn’t the only thing that had improved. As I scanned our surroundings, my blood froze. Over Nelsan’s shoulder, I saw a ghostly woman with long, dark hair. Her hands were cupped before her, and as she came closer, she opened her hands letting dry leaves fall to the forest floor. Unlike the Widowed Bride, she made no attempt to speak, and unnerved by her silence, I released the spirit realm.
“Come on, Nelsan,” I said as I took his hand. I breathed in the smell of dirt and sunlight.
“What was that thing on me?” he asked in a small frightened voice.
“That was a mononoke. They feed on sadness. It is probably the reason your cat got scared and ran off. I’ll tell you what. Help me get our leaves for our projects, and I’ll walk you home. Do you have a picture of Tiny Toes?”
“Yes, ma’am. You’ll really help me find him?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t want to add to Nelsan’s fear by telling him about the ghost, but whenever no one was looking, I slipped into the spirit realm. Other than a few glowing lights that rose and fell while flitting from tree to tree, I sensed no danger.
After lunch, Ms. Larosa allowed the children a few minutes to play. I kept a watchful eye on Nelsan whose mood had drastically improved. I caught Ms. Larosa staring at me in a knowing way. “You like kids. Don’t you?”
“Who me?” I made a face like I smelled something pungent.
Smiling patiently at me, she asked, “Will you help me load the transport?”
On the ride back to the Community Center, Hope sat smugly in her seat. She had taken my advice when Ivan had pulled her hair a second time. Ms. Larosa parked the transport, and everyone got out taking their things with them. I went inside of the building for my helmet and hover board. Then, I waited while Nelsan put his leaves away. Mine were in my backpack. There was an hour of daylight left on Cassini. I hadn’t seen the ghost for a while, but I wasn’t going to take any chances with Nelsan’s safety.
