The Big Sleep (Duology)

Chapter Twenty - The Screaming Cowbird

Beyond the wheat fields, I could make out a small town. Like the fields, it seemed empty compared to home. Squat wooden buildings sat on large swaths of dirt and grass, connected by wide streets. Here and there, people and animals strolled about, most seemingly without purpose. Certain I had thoroughly searched the fields, I turned my condor's head toward the town.

As we flew over, I called for our friends. Billy joined me this time. He was almost chipper now and getting better and better every minute. I hoped Kayle was doing the same, wherever she was.

"Rain!"

I turned on my condor's back, careful not to jostle Billy too much, and saw Kayle standing in the doorway of one of the wooden structures. As she waved to me, Jacob and Beth appeared beside her. I cheered, turning my condor toward the hut and landing lightly on its roof, which strained against our weight. Billy and I dismounted and rushed to climb down from the edge of the roof.

"You're ok," I said as I landed in front of the hut. "Thank goodness."

Kayle pulled me into a hug. "I couldn't bear it in there," she said. She was still shaking, but she was talking, hugging. She really was ok. "That woman... She's awful."

"It wasn't her," Billy said, dropping down behind me. "That wasn't my mother."

I nodded. "She's a projection. The real Dr. Farrah is in the Green City."

"You're sure?" Kayle said.

"Yes," I said. I placed a hand that I hoped was consoling on Billy's shoulder. "That wasn't Billy's mother."

He gave me a weak smile, but it seemed genuine. "Thanks."

Once our greetings were done, we all stepped into the wooden building the three had claimed as a temporary shelter. Inside, everything was wood and stone. A granite fireplace was set into the paneled wall in what seemed to be the kitchen, which took up half of the apparent house. Black pots and pans sat on the edge of the fireplace, which roared with warm light. The other half of the house was part sitting room, part living room, all cushions.

Kayle and I slumped onto a small couch that faced the fire, Billy climbed into a bed, and Beth and Jacob perched on two wooden chairs near the fireplace.

"Why haven't we been attacked?" I asked, glancing at the door. "It was a Greyman that took us down, wasn't it?"

Jacob prodded the fire with an iron poker. "I think it's hunting us," he said.

We all looked at him, waiting for him to go on. When he didn't, Beth prompted him with a hand on his knee and a meaningful look.

"Before I found the Green City, I was trapped for a long time. In my mind, it was a hundred years. I went crazy and... It's like you said, Rain. The same Greyman keeps attacking us."

"Dr. Farrah?" I said.

Jacob nodded. Billy flinched.

"We have to stop her," Kayle said.

"That's enough," Billy said, rising to his feet. He had wrapped the blanket from the bed around his shoulders and it hung behind him, a ragged cape. "Stop talking about my mother like that. It isn't her that's doing any of it. It's the Greyman. Call it something else."

"Like what?" Jacob asked.

"Not-Billy's-mom?" Kayle said, laughing. "Oh, or Greymom."

I giggled, but stopped when I saw Billy's face. "How about Nemesis?"

"No," Billy said. "That makes it sound too cool."

"Fartface?" Kayle suggested.

"Not that, but you're on the right track," Billy said.

"The Screaming Cowbird." Beth said. It wasn't a suggestion.

Billy guffawed, slapping his knee. "What in dreams is that?"

"A parasitic bird. Lays its eggs in the nests of other birds and they get tricked into feeding the cowbird babies, while their own chicks starve."

"Like cuckoos?" Jacob said.

Beth smiled fondly at him. "Exactly."

"I love it," Billy said, "'Screaming Cowbird.' It's perfect."

"Great, we named it," Kayle said, sarcastic. "Now we know exactly what to do."

Beth shrugged. "We need to start somewhere."

"The Cowbird's tower," I said. "We have to go back."

Beth shook her head. "We've been over this, Rain. Billy and Kayle need to recover, plus we need help."

"I'm fine," Kayle said, looking away from the fire. "Let's go kill it. Right now."

"Oh yeah." Billy laughed. "You sound super stable."

"Beth's right. We need help," Jacob said, wrapping an arm around my sister's shoulder. They certainly were getting comfortable with each other. "Your father and the Speaker, the other Dreamwalkers and Dreamcallers. We need to attack the Cowbird with our full-force. If it's strong enough to successfully target us, it's going to put up a fight."

"We can do this—" I started.

"No, Rain," Beth said, placing her hand on Jacob's. "We're going back to the city. We can worry about the Cowbird later. Better yet, Dad can worry about it."

I sighed, sitting back on the couch next to Kayle.

"Don't worry," Kayle whispered so only I could hear. "I have a plan."

After long nap and several more moments of respite, we finally stood and filed out of the tiny, warm hovel. As I stepped over the threshold, Billy caught my hand and pulled me back in, shutting the door behind us.

"Are you sure that's them?" he said as soon as the door was shut firm.

I stared at him. Of course. How did I miss it? This was the attack.

"How long were we in here?" I said, stroking the wooden door. The wood felt soft and welcoming under my palm. The fire crackled and the bed called to me. I shook the feeling away.

"Shit," Billy said, rushing out the door.

I followed him out. He was already climbing a pile of wooden crates by the door, halfway onto the roof. I climbed up onto the first crate, pulling my body up behind me.

"Where are you going?" Kayle put a hand on my back. I kicked her away as hard as I could. She flew across the small town, crashing into the hovel across the road.

"Hurry!" Billy shouted from the back of my condor, reaching his hand out to me.

I pulled myself onto the roof, scrambling up the crates. With a hard kick, I sent the makeshift wooden staircase tumbling down behind me, just as Jacob tried to climb up.

"Wait!" Jacob shouted.

Ignoring him, I hopped onto my condor's back and kicked. We took off, soaring away from the town.  

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