Charm

By Tal Turing

The young woman appears at the doorstep of his secluded, mountain cabin attired in LL Bean and Erewhon but her hair in tangles and myriad cuts on her face. She makes a fantastic claim even as she directs him to make some cryptic phone calls and write out a simple document: his will.

As they walk, the woman tells him the strange story of her life, one whose next chapter promises to be be even stranger; one he will witness first hand.

Charm

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tal Turing
• Release date: Mar 7, 2016

Book preview

charm

By Tal Turing

All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

© Tal Turing 2016

Published at Smashwords

Smashwords Version 1.3

All rights reserved

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Table of Contents

Dedication

Isabella – Introduction

The Soldiers – Eric

The Soldiers – Malcolm

The Soldiers – Darla

The Soldiers – Chad

The Soldiers – Tina

The Soldiers – Isabella

Porter – Introduction

Porter – Stacy Sullivan

Porter – Isabella

Porter – The Watcher

Charm – Righteous Rules

Porter – Hidden Butte

Charm – The Raid

Porter – Isabella

Porter – The Ski Lodge

Charm – Grand Master P

Porter – Climbing

Charm – The Sentries

Porter – Reaching the Top

Porter – The Stakeout

Porter – The Church

Porter – The Return

The Letter

Porter – The Package

Author's Notes

Dedication

This work is dedicated to the memory of Jodi Huisentruit. If you don't know the name, please take the time to google her.

Isabella - Introduction

Something tingled as she pulled her Volkswagen into an available space and stopped the engine. She paused. She didn't have 'spider sense' as her old college friends used to say way-back-when, but wasn't there a different name for this feeling? The feeling that something was askew, not immediately but in general, like the slow realization of being on the wrong road, one that ends badly.

The term she wanted was not 'feminine intuition', she disliked that term, just another societal mechanism for letting the female of the species get her way without having to substantiate herself. For Isabella, it was more a type of event pattern recognition. One could look at a person's face and know there was something aberrant long before determining what or why. And she had this same feeling about life. Something was wrong.

She snapped out of it, forcing herself to ignore whatever it was which bothered her, and having already checked the mirror, she opened the door, stepped out into the busy street and moved quickly to the safety of the sidewalk. Isabella was not the type to be caught looking the wrong way figuratively or literally.

She tossed her dark, reddish-brown hair as she located the store. Upon entering, she ignored the large advertisements and the aisles of merchandise and strode directly to the service counter.

She gave the man behind the counter her name, and when he was unable to find the order she realized that her earlier feelings had muddied her brain, she was not thinking clearly.

She tried again, this time providing her brother's name. Malcolm had placed the order but the weekend would be spent with her friends and she was so excited for him that she almost felt that this was her idea. It was often that way between big sisters and their little brothers and Malcolm was the only sibling she had.

The man returned with a single large heavy box and she was immediately annoyed with herself for not realizing how much equipment she needed to haul back. There would be ten packages, one per person, and already the box which held them all would not fit in her car. How would she get it home?

Do you have scissors? she asked eyeing the container as the man processed her credit card.

Sorry, I don't have any here, the man replied.

She tugged at the box lid but it was sealed securely with packing tape, she started to puncture the tape with one of her nails when she thought the better of it. What had this man said? He didn't have scissors?

She turned back to the middle-aged man in the Gumby T-shirt. He was looking at her as if her presence kept him from continuing his life. She smiled to herself, it had been so long since the last time she used her power and so the thought of breaking her vow for such a trivial reason amused her. Besides, she hardly ever needed it anymore, and sometimes she wondered if she ever really had. Power was like any weapon, you use it because you have it, else you find a different and often better way.

Could you go look? In the back perhaps? Scissors, a Swiss army knife, box cutters, a steak knife, anything like that will do.

The man walked away so suddenly that she thought he was either angry or that...somehow she had done it anyhow.

Gumby-man returned quickly as well, an exacto-knife in his hand, he opened the box and began placing its contents on the counter.

She counted the rifles; there were ten. She also found ten uniforms each encased in plastic. She tore one open and found a crimson jump-suit, and a pair of plastic, white-rimmed safety glasses, the lenses tinted dark-yellow. Then her eye caught the white lettering on the back of jump suit, L-A-R-R-Y.

This name isn't right, she murmured as she inspected another package before adding, And neither is this one.

The large green Gumby on the man's chest expanded as he sighed.

I...I dunno. We had a couple orders coming in, maybe they mixed the order with another group. But this is the only shipment we received today, so...

So if she made too much of a stink, she might not get anything. And Malcolm would be so disappointed.

Forget it, I'll take them.

The Soldiers - Eric

Eric realized it was time to stop and check on the others. He had been in a hiking stupor for at least 30 minutes, immersed in the joy of the outdoors, the scents and sounds of the wilderness. He was in his element even if the region was new to him and he was excited to see this butte. It was the sort of thing he would have gladly come to see on his own and he was starting to wish that would have been the case.

When his new girlfriend, Izzy, had invited him on this weekend adventure, he had naturally assumed that she and her friends had done this sort of thing before, that they had hiked longer than five miles, that they had cooked over a camp fire, that they had spent the night outdoors. But now he knew differently.

He couldn't help his personality and had quickly assumed leadership of the party of ten, deciding when they would leave, who would carry what supplies, and he had chosen the path. And when they reached the base of the mountain, he would decide how best to navigate to the top.

He had not been familiar with Hidden Butte or the Ski Lodge of the same name, perched on the formation's southern wall. But Google provided him with all he really needed to know, the rest would come from his eyes, his senses, his experience.

The ski lodge was abandoned now having gone bankrupt a decade ago. Although located on private land, it bordered several State Parks and it had remained an attraction for hikers until a bridge on the only service road was condemned, making Hidden Butte accessible only by serious hikers; and in this group, only Eric qualified on that score.

Eric turned to see how far behind the rest had fallen. He was pleased to find one of the women not too far back. It wasn't Izzy, who was probably shepherding the weaker hikers or doting after her little brother, a strange kid who looked and acted like a tweenage tom girl.

Hi! a woman smiled enthusiastically at him. He forgot her name but was pleased to notice she was not out of breath. She looked like the type which might teach yoga or spinning or both. She turned easily on one foot upon reaching him, like a ballerina, presenting her back to him and calling, Can you adjust my pack? Something keeps hitting my thermos and it's driving me crazy!

Sure, he said as he examined her backpack which was now thrust into his face. Some of the straps had come loose, allowing a carabiner free to swing against her state-of-the-art thermos. He approved of her choice in gear, as well as her toned and tanned legs. He forced his attention back to her equipment, making sure it all met his standards. It did.

Eric patted her shoulder, tearing himself away and taking in the site of the rock formation in the distance. Hidden Butte was a marvel indeed, like a perfect piece of forest thrust upward nearly twenty stories into the air, becoming an island to its surroundings. One could not look at it without wondering what lied at the top. He sensed the rest of the party arriving, at least one was limping from, no doubt, an unattended blister. It would be a longer journey than he had thought.

Eventually they reached the base of the cliffs. While the rest investigated the old ski lodge, Eric examined the cliffs. The face was plenty irregular with stone outcrops, ledges and bushes growing from the rock face. If they chose their route carefully, ropes would not be needed though the women might need some help to navigate some of the ledges.

Izzy joined him as he surveyed the situation and he spoke to her without turning.

The best route, the safest route will also take the most time. We'll start from the west side of the base and then criss-cross to the center and back until we get about half-way up, then we'll move to the other side. He continued thinking-out-loud until everyone had arrived.

Why don't we go straight up the middle? asked Tyler, a tall, athletic young man.

You and I could probably go that way, but not everyone here has the height or the strength to ascend vertically like that. But see those ledges along the left? He turned to Darla and spoke to her directly, It's a short hop onto each ledge and then walking in between, you would have no trouble right?

In answer, the young woman walked up to the wall, slipped up onto the ledge and climbed up. Then she stood and walked easily along the ledge until she found the next ascension point. She turned to face the group from her new perch and nodded happily.

What about on the way down? Izzy speculated, "It will be harder to see where you are stepping on the way down, especially if it