Ascension Read Free Page B

it wasn’t going to ring at all.
     
    We caught a fawn that night. Normally young deer aren’t on our menu, but that one was a fall fawn, born out of season and abandoned by its mother. Better to kill it quickly and let its death serve some purpose, rather than leave it to starve.
    We were still feeding when the phone rang. Jeremy had left the study window open again, so the distant ring cut through the stillness of the forest. Jeremy tore off to Change. I listened. The phone rang only three times, then stopped. Jeremy was fast with his Changes, but he wasn’t that fast.
    By the time I finished my Change, Jeremy was already in the house. I ran inside to find him striding down the hall, peering into each room. One sniff and I knew what he was looking for. We found Malcolm in the kitchen, pouring a beer.
    "Did you — ?" Jeremy started, then stopped and made his voice casual. "I thought I heard the phone. Was it for you?"
    "No idea," Malcolm said with his back to us. "Strangest thing. I picked it up, said hello, and no one answered." He turned and fixed Jeremy with a look. "Very strange, don’t you think?"
    I didn’t think it was strange at all that someone wouldn’t want to speak to Malcolm, but he wasn’t asking me, so I kept my mouth shut.
    Jeremy shrugged. "Probably a wrong number."
    "I’m sure it was."
    Jeremy poured me a glass of milk, then grabbed a bag of cookies and led me to the study. Malcolm followed. He walked to the sofa and dropped onto it, beer sloshing to the floor. I looked at the frothy puddle and bit back a snarl. Of course he didn’t care about it. He wasn’t the one responsible for cleaning the floors. That was my job, but I wasn’t wiping it up with him looking on. I’d rather let it dry and scrub the spot off tomorrow.
    Jeremy stood in the doorway, looking at Malcolm and struggling to hide his dismay. "I have work to do," he said finally.
    "That’s fine. You do it. I’ll just sit here and keep quiet." Malcolm’s gaze traveled to the phone — the only one in the house — and his lips curved in a smile. "Seems a good place to relax tonight, don’t you think?"
    Jeremy poured himself a brandy, took a sheaf of his work papers and sat down. I grabbed my book and plopped onto the throw rug to read.
    Twenty minutes later, the phone rang. After a furtive glance toward his father, Jeremy answered it.
    "Hello?"
    Relief flooded Jeremy’s eyes as I heard a man’s voice reply. Malcolm put down his newspaper and perked up. Jeremy gripped the receiver tighter to his ear, muffling the voice on the other end.
    "Slow down . . . no, slow — wait. Stop. You can tell me when I get there. Let me grab a pen."
    He took a pen and paper from the desk. Malcolm stood, sauntered over and leaned around Jeremy, trying to see the paper as Jeremy wrote. Jeremy covered his notes, then ripped the paper from the pad and stuffed it into his pocket.
    "I’ll be there as soon as I can."
    When he hung up, he turned to Malcolm and tensed. But Malcolm just yawned as if the whole affair had proved disappointingly dull, and strolled to the door. He took one step into the hall, then leaned back inside.
    "Oh, if you need someone to look after the boy while you’re gone, just ask." He looked at me with a teeth-baring grin. "I’ll take good care of him."
    When Malcolm was gone, Jeremy glanced at me. "That is a problem."
    "I’m going with you."
    "No, Clay, not this time."
    He picked up the phone and dialed.
    "Jorge? It’s Jeremy. How are you?" A short pause. "Is Antonio there?" A longer pause, then Jeremy winced. "That’s right. And he’s flying straight here Saturday afterward, isn’t he? Can’t believe I forgot that." Pause. "No, no. It’s not important. I was just calling to discuss our plans for the weekend."
    Jeremy chatted for another minute with Jorge, then hung up. After a moment’s pause, he sighed, shook his head and looked at me.
    "I’m going with you," I said.
    "Yes, I suppose you are."
    Lesson
    We caught a