Globe Tracers 1: The Case of Thomas Crain

Chapter 18: Peddler of Miracles

Kyle:

The car approached the bus stop again and Jessica and I both scanned the kids. Allen pointed out John. John was the tallest of the kids and I actually recognized him from yesterday when we went to school. John was a very dark-skinned child of what I would learn was called "Nigerian" descent, though banshees often referred to themselves as "Biafran". He was dressed in a green jacket with dark blue jeans and a redshirt.

Allen looked back at us in the back seat. "Just to let you know, Banshees have a weird way of talking."

"Some kind of slang?" I asked.

"Um... let's say it's a dialect," Allen replied.

As we got out of the car, I realized that out of context, John didn't look any different from anyone else at the stop. He was the biggest kid there, but not by much, a few of the kids were only a few inches below his brow and one or two looked tougher if looks mattered. I waved at him, remembering I needed Jessica to somehow do most of the talking since she was supposed to be more mature. If I could get our group out of the crowd I could drop that rather... not so promising facade.

I ran up to him and tugged on his right pant leg. "I remember you!" I announced.

Jessica ran up behind me, pushing me back a little. "Can we talk?" she asked. "We're here for help... more than we suspect just you can give. But we do think that you are a way of obtaining said help, through you helping us so what we're saying in short is... help!" The dark-skinned boy shook his head in confusion.

I motioned for him to lean down so I could whisper to him. "Look, I can't help much long as I have to act like I'm somehow the least mature of the group. She means we need to get access to the banshee society as a whole. We've run into a pretty big snag in locating Thomas. Allen explained the situation to you right?"

John walked towards a series of trees near the stop. Looking around to see that no one had followed he spoke up. "Surely t'will not matter much whatever a group of grade-schoolers observe or hear, however better safe than sorry. The police currently are already starting to get concerned regarding this case with the human prison they turned up the day before this day. Not to mention the officer you killed."

I was able to follow- but wow that was formal! "That's public knowledge already?" I asked.

"The police currently are trying to keep a lid on it for the moment, to avoid panic, however, remember I am a banshee. We monitor the police all the time. By the way, I know the cop was... dirty, so do not expect any concern regarding that matter from me." He folded his arms on that statement. I figured it not best to dwell on his last statement.

"Figured you monitored the cops. Whole thing about banshees protecting humans and all right?" I asked.

"I guess that tis the general idea. Really our goal as a society is to be bulwarks of justice. They naturally do not know about us," John answered.

"Naturally," I said with a shrug.

"Alright, here it is," said Jessica speaking like she was being covert. "Tommy left the state on a metal bird get it? We know the terminal he left from and when he left. We figure you can give us the low down on where this little birdy was heading."

"Was that slang?" I asked, mouth slightly ajar.

"I think it was..." John said. "You mean he got on a plane but you only know when it left and where from right?" Jessica nodded. He... he understood her? "Do the police know about Tommy taking off?"

"I left a note, they do now," I said with a nod.

"Well... they will surely follow up on that note in time."