Halfway Drowned (Halfway Witchy Book 4)

by Terry Maggert

  “Possibly. They would have to find a damned good reason to deconstruct those ships and plunge into the forest. I know this land, and that’s no easy haul. A rumor wouldn’t do. They would need something more, more than just a map or a runestone or scrap of bark.” Wulfric stared into the distance, thinking.

  “What about an invitation?” I asked.

  “That might do.” Wulfric allowed. “If they were convinced by someone, then possibly. It would have to be a compelling story, most likely with some kind of evidence.”

  Eli looked over his shoulder, toward the lake. “We need to go back down there.”

  “I know.” There was no hesitation at all from Wulfric, meaning he’d already been thinking the same thing.

  I put my hands, small though they were, on the table and half stood in the booth. “Nope. Wait, let me amend that. Not a chance in hell, unless I grow gills and carry a lightning bolt with me down to the wreck. There’s something under that water, and it’s not human. We may as well quit shadowboxing and get to the heart of it. I’m not letting him down there without me, and you’re not going down there without us. That means we either go under the water as a trio, or we use your miracle robot to do the dirty work for us and hope that it finds something that can shed a little light on this.”

  “You can go,” Eli said.

  “Look, I--wait, what? I can?” I turned my head to make certain I’d heard him.

  “Sure you can. In fact, I’m willing to bet you can do it without a mask, Carlie.” Eli sounded dangerously smug.

  I narrowed my eyes and saw him look at my charm bracelet. Dammit. I had all manner of baubles with odd symbols jingling right in front of the super brainy scientist’s face. A guy who could read certain old languages and was already in a heightened state of suspicion about me.

  I didn’t even bother to deny anything, but turned to Wulfric and held up my wrist. “I can breathe underwater for a few minutes, and see, too. It’s a simple spell that won’t take a moment to cast.”

  “Hah! Hot dog!” Eli barked, slapping the table with his hands. “I knew it!”

  “Did you just say hot dog as an actual expression?” I asked, stifling a laugh. I knew he thought I was a witch, so I’d have to live with that. As to his choice of exclamations, it went a long way to explaining why he wore clip on ties.

  Eli seemed to flush a bit, which was impressive given his cocoa colored skin. “I, um, wasn’t allowed to cuss until I was out of college. My mom was kind of against it, so, you know. Formed a habit.”

  Wulfric grinned, understanding little of our exchange. His concept of curses usually involved damning someone’s ancestors to the bowels of a frozen hell or some other unpleasant turn of phrase. Vikings weren’t big on jocular invectives.

  “Is it necessary for me to describe, in detail, what I’ll do to you if you reveal anything about Halfway to the outside world?” I asked, only partially joking.

  Eli stopped smiling. The transformation of his face was electric, leaving him grim and charmless. “I can’t do that, Carlie, and you should know it. It countermands my purpose here.”

  “Which is?” I drummed my fingers on the table with impatience.

  “To save people. Sure, to learn, but I don’t want anyone getting hurt. I thought that was your purpose too. And yours, Wulfric,” he added with a nod.

  I was pleased to hear we were on the same page. “We’re in accord, then, but the nature of your discoveries and whatever follows has to stay here. If it doesn’t--well, may I speak plainly?” When he merely stared, I continued. “I’ll use magic to make the events go away. Memories will fade, and you’ll feel a vague sense of confusion for years to come. There will be a gap in your experiences, but you won’t understand why or how, and one day, like a diver surfacing, a memory might force its way to the surface. That’s unlikely because I’m very good at what I do, but the people of Halfway supersede your desire for knowledge. They always have, and they always will. Does that make sense to you?” I purposely left out the part where Gran would be casting a spell, too, because he didn’t need to know my entire history to understand what I meant. Some cards are best held up the sleeve.

  It was a thoughtful moment before Eli answered, which I took to mean he was giving me serious consideration. That was good, because I meant every word of what I said. “We’re on the same page, but I’d be lying if I said I’m not buzzing with excitement.”

  “Fair enough. I have a somewhat different reaction, but I can understand that,” I allowed.

  Eli cocked his head, watching us. “You must have seen many things.” He sighed, shaking his head slightly with a repressed expression of wonder. “I guess I can’t know everything, thought I’d certainly like to.”

  I reached over the table and took his hand. It was warm, and he started at the physical contact. “Trust me, Eli. You don’t.”

  Eli winced, then cleared his throat nervously. “Ah, you can let go of my hand whenever you want, Carlie.”

  “Oh. Okay?” I withdrew my fingers from the back of his hand.

  He sighed and smiled awkwardly. “We’re holding hands and Wulfric is just kind of sitting there. It’s a touch unnerving.”

  “I am considering another pizza, nothing more.” Wulfric adjusted himself next to me and patted his stomach, which, to my disgust, was still flat despite holding what could only be five pounds of pizza. “More rolls, too. You shouldn’t be concerned with me, friend Eli. Carlie is a demonstrative woman of great passion, and I don’t bite.” He laughed softly, then looked at me with his secret, heavy-lidded gaze. “Anymore.”

  We walked together under the stars at the edge of the lake. The town flowed around us, still busy in the fading warmth of the day. The air was clear, the lake still. In the distance, the lights of Eli’s crew shone on the beach near their temporary command tent. It looked like the outpost for a war being fought in a faraway place, the tent filled with quiet activity of unknown purpose. Shadows moved around on the tent walls in a weave of darkened silhouettes, their actions quick and decisive.

  “Everywhere the ships have risen, there was unexpected deep water. We’ve found new, unmarked places that have managed to escape surveys, satellites, and even local fisherman. I find that hard to believe,” Eli said, as we slowed to let a family herd their children past us. Every kid wore a shirt festooned with ice cream. It was a happy bunch.

  “I can explain that. It’s magical.” I knew without looking at a map that there were no coincidences regarding these wrecks. If they’d been hidden, it was by design. If they were emerging, it was for a purpose.

  Eli thought about that before pulling at his lip, then exhaling in frustration. “I can’t imagine the method, but I’ve got nothing better. Is there--well, why deep water? I can’t get ahead of the curve, and I don’t even know why these wrecks have been popping from the bottom like corks. Is this the last one?”

  “I have someone we can ask, and easily. I’ll need something from my house first, but I’ll warn you--she can be a bit nervous. We’ll have to approach her with the utmost delicacy,” I warned.

  “She? Delicacy? Okay, I guessss,” Eli agreed, but to what was unclear. To him, anyway.

  “Take him to the point where you went in the water and find a green willow stick for me?” I leaned up to kiss Wulfric as he smiled. Eli looked even more confused, but Wulfric took his elbow and began steering him into the darkness. The point was to our left, quiet, and shadowed by trees. It was perfect for what I had in mind. As they moved off into the dark, I heard Eli asking a series of questions followed by Wulfric’s noncommittal grunts. He’d get nothing out of my honey until I was back. When he wanted to, Wulfric could do a fair impersonation of a stone.

  I quickened my step towards home. I needed to make a call, and it didn’t require a phone.

  Chapter Fifteen

  No Answer

  I could hear Eli
before I saw him. He was delivering a running commentary on the general geography of the lake and certain tributaries.

  It was a one-sided conversation.

  Wulfric sat quietly watching Eli as he pointed out various areas of the water, punctuating each with an enthusiastic gesture. I approached unseen and unheard, though Wulfric smiled slightly in the low light. I held a lantern in one hand, keeping it still and quiet. In my pocket were other things I needed. Witchy things.

  “Did you find my stick?”

  Eli squeaked like a chipmunk, whirling on me with his hands raised in an incredibly awkward approximation of what could only be Nerd Kung Fu. “Carlie! You can’t just”--

  Wulfric chuckled, a low noise that made Eli cut his eyes at him sharply.

  “Not. Cool. I could’ve gone in the water,” Eli continued in protest, then smoothed his shirt as a sheepish smile broke across his face. “You’re really quiet. And small. But mostly quiet.”

  “It’s part of having small feet. No one hears me coming. Anyway, my stick?” I looked around hopefully for the piece of willow. Wulfric held it out with a flourish. “Ahh, perfect.”

  It was springy and wet with sap, exactly as I needed. Eli looked at me in the gloom, his feet shuffling from barely contained curiosity. Wulfric ignited the lantern, the mantles firing into white light after a few seconds. He lowered the flame until it was a pair of small blue points, hissing softly in the evening air.

  “What’s the stick for?” Eli lasted all of ten seconds before asking. I gave him credit. I didn’t think he’d make it half that.

  I began tying a silk thread around the end of the stick, then attached three minute silver bells to the loop. Every motion sent a tiny peal of music across the darkening water, only dissipating after a slight, cheerful echo.

  “You want to see the other side, Eli? It starts rights here.”

  “Are you sure?” Wulfric’s question was low, my nod certain. He knew I was going to reveal things to Eli, and he also trusted me. In response, he folded his long legs and sat, idly watching me prepare. I took some of the thread in my hand and made loops, swirled it gently, and loosed. The bells hit the water twenty feet away, sinking with a startled ting . I slipped the willow stick into the soft, mossy bank in front of me before lowering myself to match Wulfric’s position. I kept my index finger on the thread and began to twitch it in a rhythmic pattern.

  “Are you, um, fishing?” Eli’s brow furrowed as he watched me. It was a logical conclusion. In a sense, he was right.

  “Sort of.” I kept up my series of tugs on the line, pausing and following a beat only I could hear. “You’re about to meet a friend of ours who has information we need. If there’s something unknown in this lake, she’ll know.”

  Eli looked at the water, then back at me. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, the question unspoken.

  “Oh, she’s real. Her cousin Bindi is a real chatterbox, but she can’t help us with things that are underwater. She’ll do anything to avoid despoiling her silver armor.” I smiled as I spoke, keeping my eyes on the water. I imagined the series of merry noises down below, a metallic call that would bring water sprites at top speed. They were incorrigible gossips and prone to bouts of loneliness.

  “Who is Bindi? And who is her, um, cousin?” Eli asked. He was cautious, but asking questions. That was good.

  “She’s a wisp. A good friend and the sort of mouthpiece for a lot of the small folk who live around Halfway. They’re all related to each other in one way or another, but they live in different areas. Quite a competitive little bunch despite being family,” I said with a laugh. It was true. You haven’t seen aggression until you’ve been to a forest gathering of the small folk. It’s like the worst Thanksgiving dinner ever, but sped up and with everyone drunk on sweet cream and old grudges.”

  “And wisps live underwater?” Eli scanned the lake, his eyes cutting left and right in the lamplight.

  “No, but sprites do, and Flidha should have answered by now. That’s odd, they hear everything that happens in their waters, including my calls.” An uncertain flutter began in my stomach as I thought of the times that Flidha had answered almost immediately. She could move through the water at impossible speeds, and her hearing was--well, she was a small folk. Their senses are inhuman.

  Eli folded his arms as a frown began to pull his lips downward. “Carlie, look. I know it might seem fun to drag me out here into the dark and convince me that”--

  “Shh.” Wulfric gestured to the water just before us. A tiny light began to rise from the depths, its bluish globe growing closer with each second. “I’d say she’s here, Eli.”

  “What is that?” Eli’s voice was barely a whisper, his slender frame held like he was trying not to scare a deer. He stood transfixed by the tiny creature rising toward us, swimming with a blur of motion and bubbles.

  The tiny shape that burst forth was not Flidha. In fact, it wasn’t anyone I’d ever met before. He floated just above the surface, his elemental magic leaving him in a discrete hover as his silver armor dripped into the lake. A miniature axe rested on his back, its edge keen and shining with care. He was a sprite, and a warrior, but he was unknown to me.

  The chill in my bones grew more pronounced.

  He spoke in a rapid-fire staccato, sort of like Eli but without any discernible pauses. “Yes I am not Flidha I can see that you are confused although the biggest one seems to understand.” His voice was small but robust, and carried well between us. Eli said nothing, merely watching with his eyes goggled so far I thought they might pop out of his head. “Carlie I answer your call we always will but soon we will not.” His breathless delivery was bad news. I could see it coming from a mile away.

  “What is your name, friend?” I asked, thinking that was a good place to start.

  “Gnotra but you may call me Shiver. I am leader of the Second Army hailing from the waters of Lake Champlain and I have come to fight that which is here. Flidha is no more.” The sprite delivered this news without any inflection save a touch of anger. When I looked closely, I could see his tiny brows knit in an expression of rage. It made him look like a miniature soldier who had been given bad news. His skin was pale gray under the blue light, his hair an ebony shock that ran backward and covered tiny ears. He was dressed for war and acting drop dead serious about the entire situation.

  “Flidha--dead?” Wulfric asked. To lose a sprite was unheard of. Their lives were measured in multiple centuries, and their speed and elusiveness made them a hard target for natural predators--if they were ever even attacked. Sprites had relationships with every creature in the lake right down to the slow deliberation of the clams, who filtered water and murmured to each other in their secret chirps and burbles. Don’t ask me what they say; I don’t speak clam and frankly, the idea of waiting two weeks for one of them to say hello is too much to bear. I’ve got things to do and coffee to drink.

  “Taken but not before calling to us through the channel. We heard. We came. We honor our compact from the earliest days when the lakes were young and the Great Ice had just left the ranges around here. We come to avenge her but more of us have gone silent in the chill deeps. Something is wrong. We cannot hear our missing friends and the water now tastes of fear and something ancient. It is not right.” Shiver lived up to his name, giving a delicate shake as he looked around, nervous and aware of his vulnerability at the surface.

  “What pollutes your water with fear, Shiver?” I dipped my hand into the lake and tasted it. Moss, minerals, and something else. Something cold.

  “I do not know and we do not know and this is the problem. We cannot fight that which we cannot see or find. There are deep places here but not too deep for us to plumb. We are without fear but still we cannot continue unless we know what to do. Help us, good Carlie?” He spread his tiny arms as an entreaty, letting me see the humiliation that a warrior of his skill should be forced to a
sk for help.

  “I will. You have my word and the spells of the McEwan women.”

  “And mine as well. You have my arm, and anything else you might need,” Wulfric said, gravely.

  “That is good it is a big arm and filled with power but what of the mage will he help?” Shiver looked to Eli, who started.

  “Mage?” The good doctor Delacourt was caught short by the entire scene. To realize that the world is--complicated--was one thing. To be called a sorcerer by a tiny creature who had been a myth up until five minutes earlier was enough to make Eli’s lip bead with sweat.

  “Yes mage you are the one who casts the light into the water without the moon and sends the call through the depths?” Shiver asked.

  “I’m just a scientist. Those are lights and sidescan radar, not magic”--

  “So you cannot help us find that which waits in the deep?” Shiver cocked his head, a growing expression of disgust on his tiny features.

  “No, I mean yes, I can; it’s just that I don’t know what I can do. I--well, the thing is that”--

  “Are you afraid?” Shiver asked, his words cutting through the night air like a sword.

  Eli paused, and I saw that he might have been afraid, but beneath it all he was in shock. After a moment to gather his thoughts during which no one spoke, Eli squatted to be closer to Shiver.

  “You say that your, um, people are being hurt in the deepest places of the lake?” Eli asked.

  “Yes it is in the shadows and deeps and places which our light cannot cut. We are too few to light the lake from within. There is too much fear in the water for us to swim alone against that which would hunt the hunters. You will help then mage?” Shiver leaned forward, bobbing on his magical buffer as the water beneath him shimmered with tiny ripples.

  “I will. I have a tool to go into the deeps, so that you might not. Have you seen anything unusual around the wreck?” Eli’s scientific mind kicked back into gear. Just because his source was a tiny floating man with armor and a penchant for glowing was no reason to discount that which was right in front of him. He seized the opportunity.