Ghoulies Abroad by Julie Steimle (bts book recommendations txt) 📖

no idea how much I needed to hear that.”

Rick patted him on the shoulder as a covered tram rolled up to the slushy curb. He gestured for them all to climb on. The attendants working that area heaved bags onto the cart behind the tram.

“Is that a sword?” one of the attendants asked, pointing to the one Daniel was carrying.

Daniel and the others looked at it.

Rick blinked at it and then the attendants. “Yep.”

“That has to be checked,” the attendant said.

Rick shook his head. “No, it doesn’t. He is going on my plane, and he has a license to carry. I’ll allow it.”

The attendant stared at him, then stared more, his eyes widening on Rick. “Pardon?”

Sighing, Rick took out his wallet and showed him his driver’s license. “I am Howard Richard Deacon the Third, and I am allowing them to carry swords onto my plane.”

“But what if—”

“They are my friends,” Rick said, sighing heavily. “I trust they won’t go after the pilot or me with those swords. You can calm down.”

The attendant stared at him, blinking. He thought about it, then shrugged. They weren’t paid to mess with luggage for private jets. They were to just assist in the loading.

Once Rick stepped onto the tram where everyone was already seated, and the bags were all loaded, they took off across the tarmac. It was cold and windy as they rolled along over the salty damp, as ice had been regularly cleared. Andy was next to Rick as they went. He leaned over and said, “Bruce Wayne, huh? Or are you really Tony Stark? It is like you are walking around declaring you are Iron Man with all that ‘they can carry swords onto my plane shtick’.”

Turning one eye on him, Rick said, “Would you prefer that I let him take your sword?”

“I put my sword into my bag,” Andy replied tersely. “Which is what Daniel should have done.”

“Whatever,” Daniel called up.

James snickered.

“My point is,” Andy said, “Chen was right about how convenient it is for you to just walk around without a care about your future. You’re pretty secure in it.”

Turning to face him, Rick glared hard on his best friend. “Do you really think I don’t care about my future? Abey, you keep forgetting I am a werewolf. I don’t have a secure future. I could get shot next full moon. Dad could get shot next full moon and the company’s board of directors could stage a coup where I lose everything.”

“A coup?” Andy gave him a wan look. “You aren’t a prince in a kingdom.”

“Practically,” Tom shot up.

Andy glanced back to him sharply. “You keep out of this.”

Tom stood out of his seat and said, “Hard to. Your imps are shouting all sorts of things. I haven’t been this entertained since I-don’t-know-when.”

“Don’t take your frustration out on Tom,” Rick snapped at Andy also.

Andy grumbled, “Well, it is like you ordered us all here.”

Moaning, Rick replied, closing his eyes. “Fine. Just stay behind. If you are going to be like this, then you shouldn’t come.”

For a second Andy looked like he would jump off the tram and do just that. However, a sulkier look settled on his face as he said, “I said I was coming.”

Everyone was silent.

Except Tom. “So, wolf boy, what kind of food will be on this flight? Please tell me it isn’t just a choice between chicken and fish.”

Turing around in his seat, Rick gazed plainly at him as he said, “Oh no. Of course not. You only get chicken.”

Chen smothered a snort. So did Daniel and James. Eddie and Semour rolled their eyes while Andy stared listlessly at the falling snow. Chicken was Rick’s favorite food, so it was possible he was serious while also joking.

As soon as they arrived at the private jet on the tarmac, they jogged to the stairs and up to the ready-open door.

“Hurry on and choose a seat. We have a long ride but plenty of room.” Rick waved to the aircraft, as if he needed to.

Andy was the last to go to the steps before Rick. He halted and said in a low voice, “Look. I’m sorry. I’m just so frustrated. I am working so hard and there is no easy out for me. And with you bagging on me about it—Howie, I am doing the best I can just to get by at school. And with you and Jessica—”

Rick held up a hand. “This conversation can be had later, because I don’t have the time to argue with you right now. We have to go. You can either stay here and keep doing what you have been doing, or you can come with us. Your choice.”

Huffing, Andy tromped up the steps. “I promised, ok?”

Rick followed, going up. A sulky promise felt worse than if he had just decided not to come.

Inside the plane there was plenty of room. Everyone had chosen a seat. Daniel and James selected seats in the back next to each other, chatting as old buddies who had long missed each other’s company. Eddie had found a seat along the wing, stretching out his lengthening legs and enjoying the space. Semour selected a corner where he could rest his head in such a way that it propped it up and all he had to do was sit there and silently watch the room. Chen found a seat not far from the door, a degree of claustrophobic anxiety in his eyes. Tom plopped himself on one of the nearest chairs looking like he had no intention of staying in one seat at all. And Andy found a seat at the other wing, a degree of consternation on his face. Rick set his backpack to the side and stood in the center of the cabin.

“Ok, here’s the deal,” he said, “This trip is about fourteen or more hours. We’ll be flying across the continental US to San Francisco, where we will be refueling. From there we will be traveling north over Alaska with a possible refueling in South Korea or Japan—I have to talk to the captain to make doubly sure—then we will fly down to Shanghai. We will arrive in Shanghai on Sunday. There we are supposed to be met by a monk who will hold a sign that just has the number seven on it. He will then take us to his monastery where we meet with the monk who contacted me.”

 Their eyes watched him intently. On Eddie’s face was amusement, mostly that Rick was being so serious and business-like. Semour listened like a soldier, waiting patiently for the complete information. The others listened with varying degrees of patient regard, though Tom was now attempting to read the emergency procedure manual from the seat pocket upside down. He was currently stroking the braille with closed eyes, guessing the letters.

“All of us will get the information we need at the monastery to find out what the problem really is and deal with it,” Rick said. “But while we are doing that, I also have to visit a few businesses in the area.”

“So you are using this trip to do work,” Andy said with a degree of bite.

Staring him directly in the eye, Rick replied, “Believe it or not, but I am actually quite busy with business and school at the same time. Dad would have done it, but since I was heading this way he wants me to do it.”

Tom raised his eyebrows, hearing Rick’s imps shout for him to just tell Andy off for being a total prick. But they were also telling Rick to just let out the complete truth that he needed an excuse to ditch them to visit the wolf pack. Tom smirked to himself, nodding once to Rick. Rick had learned ages ago that it was nearly impossible to keep a secret from Tom. But it was also handy to use Tom’s ability to hear invisible imps to send private messages.

“I think, mostly, the monk wanted me to bring you to China,” Rick said. “There isn’t a whole lot I can do if demons are involved. But you—that’s your duty as the Seven.”

“Darn straight,” Eddie spoke up. He shot a hard look at Andy. “And we should be doing our duty.”

Semour and James nodded.

Rick lifted his eyebrows. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had been unhappy with Andy’s current attitude.

Daniel lifted a hand. “Uh… That’s fair enough. But are we at all stepping on the toes of any Chinese government group? I mean, the SRA and our government are practically married. Does China have an SRA that we might be offending?”

Shrugging, Rick lifted his hands. “I don’t know. Probably. So we might have to watch out for them too.”

“Maybe the monks are part of their version of the SRA,” Chen suggested.

They looked to him.

With eyes on him, Chen shrank back a little, yet he said, “Traditionally, monks handled demons. I mean there is Taoist alchemical sorcery in China—or was. And the story of the Monkey King is about Buddhist battles against various demons while on a journey to India.”

“I did research on that,” Daniel said, raising his hand again.

Rick smiled. Daniel would be the one, besides Peter, who would know and study about such things. His major was focused on Mythology and Occult mysticism. His intent currently was to become a professor while opening an occult book shop to keep track of witches and other dangerous folk—kind of like going undercover.

“I even brought a copy of Journey to the West for us to read,” Daniel said. “But I also did a web search about Chinese demons. I don’t know how accurate the facts are, as you know how ‘reliable’ the internet is, but it might at least give us an idea what we might come up against.”

They could hear the airplane engines start to rumble. The intercom pinged and the captain’s voice came up. Rick turned, looking in that direction though the captain’s cabin door was shut.

<< This is your captain speaking. We will be taxying on the runway shortly. If you could please take your seats and make sure your safety belts are fastened and tray tables are in the upright position. The flight attendants will instruct you on safety procedures. >>

Sighing, Rick sat in the nearest seat and followed instructions. As he did, he said to the others while the flight attendants were getting out their safety instruction supplies, “We’ll finish this conversation later when we are in flight at altitude.”

Most of them nodded.

But Tom. He thumbed to the attendants as he plopped into the seat he was just leaning against. “Are those chicks in the know about you-know-what? Or do they just think you and your dad are nuts when they overhear you two talking?”

“Those ‘chicks’,” Rick said with a dirty look to Tom, “Have signed confidentiality agreements and are paid very well.”

Tom raised his eyebrows, peeking back at the attendants who smiled pleasantly at him. He immediately buckled his seat belt.

Taking the pair’s compliance as cue to start, the flight attendants went through the routine procedures of showing the ‘what’s and the ‘how’s of emergency procedures for that airplane. James whispered to Daniel during some of it, asking about his flight anxiety while Daniel shushed him and told him he was stupid.

The plane rocked as they taxied onto the runway.

“Do you know what your monk looks like?” Andy hissed across the aisle as the flight attendants demonstrated the life preserver device in their seat.

Rick shook his head. “Nope. Honestly, I am flying blind here. I just know that it is imperative that we go.”

Andy shook his head, sighing. He finally said, “Look, I’m sorry I’ve been in such a bad mood. I’m just really upset. It’s Jessica. All her emails these days are about the guys she works with. And to top it off, she’s been writing me about Silvia Lewis.”

Rick’s eyes widened on him. “What?”

Nodding, Andy said, “Jessica has been telling me about her and Silvia and some other girl and all the things