Toy Soldiers

by Keith LaHue

  "What do you think it is another disruption of the lay lines, or...what?"

  "It could be another disruption, or worse." Jane One stopped, and reached out to Jane Two, placing her hand on her arm. "Wrong way. We need to go to the Brooklyn Bridge. That's where they'll be coming."

  "I know the way too. Much of Brooklyn had been built up. Do you know any more about the others, will they be able to navigate the city that wasn't there when they left?"

  "I think so, if not we'll cast a locator spell and go to them. But I think waiting at this side of the bridge is a safe bet."

  "Let's go."

  Miles away, Jerome, Jimmy, and Tom were looking into the distance, still ensconced in the Arizona desert.

  "That's it," said Jimmy. "Only bigger. I think we're looking at Brooklyn, it wasn't there when we left."

  "It's imperative that we find the two Mage's in Manhattan," said Tom.

  "You still believe in the vision?"

  "Yes."

  The night before, the company had managed a small fire from the scarce wood they could find. It was amazing that they found any in this wasteland. Tom felt as though it was kismet that their journey had taken them so far with so little. The magic users couldn't generate something from nothing forever, yet they had found wood, and with the ever-increasing need for food, they'd managed succor as well.

  Jerome, the one who had been a drug addict in New York, had come upon a nest of rattlesnakes. With the mages help, they'd secured food; albeit not to everyone's taste. Tom thought they could probably stop eating and nothing would happen except for momentary discomfort. They managed before. Still, the food was welcome.

  Tom was peering into the fire, letting his mind idle; wandering the ethereal, when he saw them. Two women, powerful mages both, that had the same name. One from New York, the other was from a place that like this desert, adjacent to New York, yet was modeled after ancient Rome. He saw that they were key to their survival, yet the vision could not tell him why. Only that great peril was imminent, and they needed all of the magic users they could muster to save them. His vision gradually encompassed him.

  His mind was in Manhattan. He was certain that his twin was here. The streets were laid out on a grid, and he knew the streets well. While he knew it was unlikely that he would simply run into him, he had to try and find some way to connect with him. He could tell that his twin was unaware of him.

  He forced himself to focus on the two Jane's. His vision narrowed, and the ether attenuated. He could see them clearly. They were standing in the place that Jimmy and Jerome had come into this part of the world. The base of the Brooklyn Bridge. They were waiting for them.

  When he came out of the vision, the others had all drifted off to sleep. In the morning he told them what he had experienced. The others had surmised he was simply lost in thought. Technically true.

  He told them of what had transpired in the vision, and the heightened importance of reaching New York. All of the mages, there were five of them including one with only nascent powers, told them that they too had felt the lay lines shift, yet were unaware prior to Tom's story that they were in any danger.

  Now they stood in the morning sun and looked off into the distance at their destination. Teleportation had yet to be discovered by the mages, so they'd hoof it, it looked to be about a day and a half off. Distanced could be deceiving, they gathered what little they had, and began the trek.

  Jane and Jane were at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge.

  "Can you remember the way back to Yankee Stadium?" asked Jane One.

  "Of course. I can just take a cab. They all seem to be half-formed, and while they need occasional directional help, they never try and charge you anything."

  "True. Do your best to find them. The game may be over."

  "Is that game ever over? From what I understand the same teams play constantly, with the Yankees always winning."

  "That was before. Who knows what's going on there now?”

  “I'll be back as soon as possible."

  "No rush. I think we've got a while to wait. I can sense them; they're a ways off in some forsaken desert. But they'll be here."

  "See you later."

  Artimus and the others weren't entirely sure what to do when the game ended with the Red Sox wining. Artimus was sure that the Yankees were supposed to win. His connection with the pitcher had allowed him to experience the shock of losing for the first time. It had been hard to tell, but he could swear that the shortstop for the Red Sox was a half-formed.

  The crowd was dispersing, Artimus and the others waited outside the stadium. Jane was coming for them. She had been known as Laelia. She was Caius' wife back in Rome. Somehow he was certain from the moment she had taken off into the city that such matrimonial contracts meant nothing here. Or anywhere.

  "Caius, your wife is looking for us. Only now she's named Jane. She's found her twin. My twin was the pitcher for the Yankees, but I haven't actually met him. Laelia, now known as Jane Two, has found her twin. Now she is trying to find us. I suggest they we stay here, to make it easier for her to locate us."

  "Well. She never was much of a wife. Most of the...functions of a wife were unknown to me until most recently. She's a powerful magic user. When she left, she said she doubted she'd see us again."

  "She needs the rest of the magic users, apparently something is threatening us on a fundamental level - don't ask what it is, I don't know, I just know that she's looking for us, and it would behoove us to stay put."

  "It's not as if we have a place to go."

  "Have we ever?"

  "No. I would trade all of the magic users in our company for one sound philosopher that could explain the whole 'being and not being' thing to me. We haven't always been self-aware. Now we are. The more I think about it the greater the headache I get. I can't conceive of 'not being' anymore. It wasn't that long ago you know."

  "I wish I could help you, friend. But I cannot. This is all new to me too. None of us seem to know the why of any of this. If you think about it too hard, you'll come to the depressing idea concerning all of it, and why do we bother doing anything if we really don't exist."

  "Stop, I've had enough. I exist because I think I exist. Although I'm not sure if I would indeed bleed if cut. I guess we could try it."

  "No, it would just hurt. And I'm not sure I want to know."

  "Well, we know for sure that some of us are more here than there. One look into the crowd of that ridicules game we just watched. Some of them had no faces. At least back in Rome we were all fully formed."

  "No, we weren't. I caught a glimpse of our illustrious Caesar. He was close to being as faceless as those things filling the stadium, the ones with mostly blank faces, very little in the way of features."

  "Why is the crowd going back in?"

  "Why....they are. Have we skipped a day? I don't recall anything happening after the game that would indicate another one was starting. I got the distinct impression from the Yankees pitcher that there was only one game per day. They repeat the same actions over and over, as all of us did prior to the awakening."

  "'The Awakening', I like that. Maybe we truly did come to life, and we're not consigned to some kind of purgatory after all. I for one would like to go on being aware of my actions and thoughts, and not simply being an automaton."

  At length, Caius caught sight of Laelia and called out to her. "Laelia! My dear, some here!"

  She quickened her stride and met them. "It's Jane Two now, and we're not married anymore you old coot. And it's not you I'm here for, it's the magic users. Something bad is going to happen and we need them." She regarded the two men. "We don't need you." She hesitated, and then said grudgingly, "But you're welcome to come along. You may be of use yet."

  Artimus looked shocked. "I'm sure that we can be of some use! We're not imbeciles. I discovered I have a twin here, just as you did. And who's to say which of us are important and who is not? Certainly not you."

  "I agree with
Artimus," said Caius. "And yes, you might find some use for us!"

  Camilla and Antonia laughed at the men. "Don't you know that women run the world?" said Antonia.

  Artimus looked at them stoically. "What world?"

  42

  James and Donna were lounging by the pool. Donna was concerned about James, he seemed so far off. James had honed in on his twin, and ever since then had been caught in a web of despair over what was and wasn't real. He knew that his twin was no headed for New York and that some great calamity was to come. The other James, or Jimmy as he was called, was on a quest with some others that he couldn't quite make out, to save this...this what? This nightmare they were firmly ensconced in? He had considered trying to find some way to permanently off himself, but new that he'd just come back. Donna had.

  "Donna, let's go to Byzantium. I have this feeling that there's something there we need to investigate."

  "Like what? We did meet that one guy who was self-aware. Still, the city seemed backward, as if the whole city was one of the half-formed. Why do you want to go?"

  "I can feel my twin's presence more acutely. And he knows...not thinks, but knows, that there is magic in the world. Byzantium seems like a place that would have magicians, or wizards, whatever you call them. I think my twin and the people that he's traveling with call them 'Mages'. At any rate, they're going to New York to avert...I don't know what to call it. Something that they can sense is catastrophic is going to happen. If we can help prevent it we should. And that requires getting some wizard, or mage, to New York."

  "Byzantium we can get to, but New York? Last I checked we knew about Byzantium, and that's it. How would we get there? Planes don't fly here."

  "My twin and his group have crossed the desert to get to New York. Of course, we don't know where that is either. We have cars, they work most of the time. And we all felt it when the barriers fell. Donna, if there's some way to get there, we need to. But first, we need to go to Byzantium and see if they have any of these mage's that are so important."

  "We can go by car at least. C'mon cowboy, let's get 'em." She smiled at him. When she did, part of him broke, and tears came to his eyes. He knew about crying, he wasn't sure he'd ever cried before. Donna looked at him and cradled his head in her hands. "It's not that bad baby. We're alive and well. We'll find some magic users, if not in Byzantium, then maybe right here in tinsel town!" James laughed.

  "Let's hit the road."

  On the road that ended in another part of the world, one that was supposed to be thousands of miles away, it was Donna's turn to contemplate the nature of her existence. She knew she couldn't die. But death was a part of life. All living things must die. She shuddered inwardly as James piloted the car into the unknown, and the unknowable. Brushing aside her insecurities, she was quiet while James drove.

  "We can't all pack into a cab," said Jane Two. "I for one don't want to hoof it, it would take too long. Busses don't run, but now thanks to Jane One and me, the subways do. There's a station not far from here. Let's go. No tokens necessary."

  Camilla asked what a subway was. The question made Jane Two wonder if she was fully formed. She was a mage and a powerful one at that, so she dismissed the idea. Apparently, she didn't have a twin that knew the layout of the city.

  Jane Two took charge, and they were on their way in short order.

  Jimmy and Tom took point during the last part of the trek. Jerome helped out as well; he had come from Brooklyn in some other reality. The street grid had been programmed into him at least.

  "Man, Brooklyn is big now!" said Jimmy. "It wasn't here before, at least most of it. This part was still desert when we came over into the scenario that you lived in Tom."

  "It's growing,” said Tom “Just as our sense of self has grown, so has the world. I know my twin lives somewhere on the Upper East Side, does that mean anything to either of you?” he said, directing the question at the two native New Yorkers.

  "It means your twin is wealthy," said Jerome. He wondered if the Bronx was building itself too. Or Staten Island.

  After getting lost a few times, they stood at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. Jimmy looked back at Brooklyn. The city had grown, in tandem with the awakening of those that were now aware.

  "Jimmy, Jerome, you guys take the lead. I have a feeling we'll find some people waiting for us on the other side."

  The group moved down the side of the bridge. The occasional car passed them. As they drew nearer to the Manhattan side, the cars were more frequent. Jimmy recognized some of them from his great experiment that had led him and Jerome into the desert, and set in motion the machinations that had brought them back here.

  As they approached the base of the Manhattan side of the bridge, they all spotted the welcome wagon. Some guy in a white sheet was waving at them. Moving forward, they met up with those they had sought for what seemed so long a time.

  "I'm Jane One." She looked them all over, the ragtag band of what appeared to be Indians and two regular guys she knew must be the ones that brought them all here.

  "You're Jimmy. And you, Tom. You've both got twins," said Jane One. "Let's get to work before the world goes to hell."

  43

  Karl was lost. He'd been borderline lucid for some of the today. He was focused on one thing only. He had to get out. It was after dinner, the kitchen staff would be leaving soon. Earlier in the day, when the staff was busy up front, serving, he'd sunk into the kitchen and stuffed a wad of paper in the latch receptacle of the back door. He knew that it was quite likely that they would find it, but he had to try. More than ever he wanted out.

  It was all David West's fault he had decided, him and his perfect family. David's family loved him. They gave him presents at Christmas. When Karl's mother was alive, she would get him one present. That was all his father would allow. His father had usually been still drunk from the night before when Christmas morning rolled around. Now that Karl's mother was dead, his dad had celebrated by burning him with a cigarette. One of his favorite tortures.

  There was a closet pantry near the back door. The staff was occupied for the moment, cleaning and getting ready to call it a day. He waited for the right opportunity and snuck into the closet.

  He waited.

  Marigold West was in the basement unloading the dryer when Davey came in through the basement door.

  "Hi, mom!"

  "Did you take the trash to the curb?"

  "Yep. I did. I'm going upstairs to do homework now." He looked at the model, with the now complete Great Wall of China. His mother must have noticed.

  She caught him looking at it. "Davey, how long have you been working on the model by yourself? Does your dad tell you what to do?"

  "Mostly I don't do much...just the simple things."

  "Well, that wall snaking its way through China looks fairly complicated. And that city that's going up in China....why Davey, you haven't even been down here long enough to do all that. Tell me, what's going on?"

  "Nothing mom, I swear. I just do little bits and pieces." He hated lying to his mother. What if she found out that Pangaea was real, with real people?

  "If you say so. Now go upstairs and get to work. Dinner is in an hour. You know your dad is going to be surprised at how much of the model you did on your own. You did a good job."

  "Okay mom," He bounded up the stairs, on his way to his room to study.

  He'd stopped taking the pictures of the model. He was terrified his mother would find out that the model had real people and that they were the ones doing the building. All of this hurt his brain, he had no idea if his dad knew that the model wasn't just a model, but with him getting out of his cast soon, he'd find out. What forces were really at play here? He was only eight years old, but he knew that dioramas didn't build themselves.

  He opened his English book and began to study. The world went away, and he put the thoughts of Pangaea out of his mind.

  Karl could hear the kitchen staff working. How long would it take them
to leave? He wouldn't be missed until much later, at bed check. He'd already endured the talking room, where they asked the questions. Sometimes he told them the truth, like about his dad, but most of the time he lied. He knew that he was never going to be in a happy family, he was going to go with what the Dr had whispered to Carol when he thought Karl couldn't hear, to long term care. That meant a lot more talking, and a lot more lies, then who knew what.

  After he destroyed the model, he was going to run away, as far as he could. He was almost nine. Not old enough not to be noticed. Plus they'd have one of those amber alerts out for him by morning. He had to get into Davey's basement and wreck the model before he got caught.

  He thought about killing himself. He was too numb to cry, but some sounds came out of him just the same. He muffled the sounds in the closet with his arm. He had come this far, now if he could just get out. Gradually the sounds from the kitchen diminished and could hear the head cook locking up as he left.

  He waited a little bit longer. He had to be sure they were all gone. There was snack time at nine o'clock, but that was prepared in advance, one of the regular staff served it. When he was sure they were all gone, he opened the door a crack. Darkness.

  He made his way through the dimly lit kitchen to the back door. He hesitantly tried it. His plan had worked, and as soon as he was outside, he ran. He ran harder and longer than he ever had in his life. He stopped and looked around. Nothing looked familiar. He made his way through the city. His house could be a long way off from here. He didn't remember how he had come when they brought him here. The police station was downtown, that much he knew, but there had been another car ride to bring him to the prison, as he referred to it.

  He picked an arbitrary direction and walked. He was on Elm Street, it didn't ring a bell. His house was on Tenth Street, down a ways from Davey's. He needed to go there first, to get his Louisville Slugger. He'd dismantle that damn model with it. It was in his old bedroom. He was sure it was still there. Before the police had taken him away, they'd labeled the place a crime scene, and put up that yellow plastic all over the place. So he was sure it couldn't have been sold in the amount of time (how much time?) that had passed.