Smoke and Mirrors - 59

“So this is where you’ve been holing up,” Daniel said as he looked around the small cabin. “You realize, now that I know where you are, I can come and bother you ad nauseam.”

Norris chuckled from where he was kneeling next to the fireplace, working on getting a good blaze going. “You can if you don’t mind the lack of amenities, city boy.”

With a laugh Jared told him, “Then you’re safe. He’s spoiled rotten.” 

“And whose fault is that? I was a sweet country boy until I met you.” Daniel nodded vigorously. “Yep, sweet and innocent, unspoiled.”

“Right,” Norris muttered as he got up and went to see what he had to offer them in the way of refreshments. He said over his shoulder to Jared, “He stopped being unspoiled when he was, let’s see, three maybe and father took him to Charles Forte with him for the first time. Damned kid came back loaded down with more stuff, I swear. Well, more stuff is relative of course, since that was in the fifteen hundreds, but still father was spoiling him rotten back then.”

“First and last time,” Daniel said somewhat waspishly. “But that’s past history and I so do not want to revisit it.” He wandered over to where Norris was digging through a cupboard, wrinkling his nose when he saw dried meat in a couple of containers. “How bout we go hunt up some real food. Jared’s going to have to anyway, whether he likes the idea or not.”

“Not really,” Jared interjected. “I dined before we left. I should be all right for at least a week.”

“You’re not helping things here,” Daniel muttered.

“Not trying to,” Jared replied with a grin. “However the idea of hunting has merit other than just getting you some fresh meat. No time like the present to see if we can spot the Chupacabra.”

Daniel looked at his brother, asking, “How far from here was the last kill?”

“Maybe fifty miles as the crow flies, or the were transports. I can get us to the site but, by now, there’s no guarantee that he’ll actually be anywhere close.”

“We’ll start there and fan out, because the last thing we need is for him to wander onto someone's farm. Or worse yet a town, and you said he was heading in that general direction.”

Norris nodded. “Whether by accident or intent he is. From what I read about them they are at least somewhat intelligent. Enough so that they know to change their colors like a chameleon to match the environment, when they think they may have been seen. That could explain why the one I ran into seemed to vanish from sight. There’s also a rumor that they mesmerize their victims much the same way a vampire does.”

“I hadn’t heard that.” Jared tapped a knuckle against his lips. “It would be interesting to see which of us is better at that, if it comes down to it.”

“Unless he’s as old as you, I think you’d have the edge,” Daniel declared.

“In theory, of course, but you know that the universe loves to toss in a kink or two just to make things interesting. Anyway all this talk is getting us no closer to him. Shall we go hunting?”