Children of the Pomme - Book 1

by Matthew Fish

  “I’m sorry,” Captain Dickson said as Mark placed the letter back down on the table. “It was about revenge…as I’m sure you have already guessed. I think his plan was to train you in secret and take you into action last night with just him and you. When Emily came into the picture, I suppose he felt that he had an ace up his sleeve. I should have been more wary about him following his own leads and he should have came to me right away when he discovered you had the ability. I just trusted the man. He’s worked for me for nearly a century and I blindly believed that he would never go overboard or become a loose cannon. I cannot tell you why he did it—it brought you no closer to finding out who killed your father and put you only in more danger.”

  “He had us both fooled,” Mark said as he nodded. “I still want to do it…I know that it’s not what my father would have wanted—but, I have a purpose here. I have people I care about. I just can’t go back to a…I guess, an ordinary life.”

  “There’s more,” Captain Dickson said as he let out a heavy-hearted sigh. “Your father’s house was burned down last night—as was Bradley’s.”

  “My coins…?”

  “Taken,” Captain Dickson spoke as he rapped his fingers against the table. “We have connections—we can find you everything you need. Just know that if you stay and you cross paths with Bradley, your orders are to take him out. Either you or Madeline will have to do it.”

  “I understand,” Mark said as he looked down to the paper once more. “It’s a lot to take in…but, yeah.”

  “He never gave you his birth year, did he?”

  “No…” Mark answered. “I never thought to ask.”

  “It’s a sign of trust,” Captain Dickson said as he placed two old, time worn coins on the desk and placed them in front of Mark. “1806…that’s Bradley’s year… the other is an 1810…that’s mine.”

  “Thank you,” Mark said as he nodded. “I appreciate your trust…so where exactly, where do we go from here? Do we stay here and work out of the basement?”

  “Well, for me—I’m going back into the field. I’m a Spotter and we’re short one, besides the Perpetual Council has been grooming my replacement for years…even amongst my people it’s all about politics. Let’s just say that my trust in Bradley was also a bad move on my part. It doesn’t look good when you allow an agent with a chip on his shoulder to drag three people who aren’t even old enough to drink into a potential war zone,” Captain Dickson said as he shook his head as though he was deeply disappointed in himself. “Anyway, I’ll be working with a new Conductor we managed to pull from Europe—I’m sure it cost quite a large amount.”

  “I can do it,” Mark said as he was confused as to exactly why he was being left out. “I’ll be your Conductor.”

  “You need to train a bit more,” Captain Dickson said as he placed his hands in front of him, “I don’t mean any offense, by that—but your training with Bradley was rushed…at best. I have a safe place for you, Emily, and Madeline. It’ll give Madeline time to heal up and train you at the same time. You’ll all still be on the payroll, of course, and once you’re ready you can come back…”

  “I understand,” Mark softly spoke. In the heat of battle he had frozen a few times and even when things were going as planned—without Maddie there they would have probably gone a lot worse. “Where am I staying?”

  “We’ve had a long standing friendship with a very old Perpetual who has a certain interest in Conductors. He also has a vast knowledge of their history. I think he will prove to be helpful in providing you sanctuary and information. I had hoped Bradley would take you to see him before the mess he made—but I’m glad that he ignored me and didn’t get him involved as well.”

  “And he can be trusted?” Mark asked. He felt as though finding people to trust would seem a rather daunting task, especially given the two Perpetuals already hunting him down.

  “I believe at this moment he is the best option.”

  “Thank you then, Captain,” Mark said as he nodded.

  “It’s just Bill…or William—whichever. After today I’m no longer a Captain of anything—hell, next time you see me you probably won’t even recognize me.”

  A knock came upon the door as Maddie and Emily entered and sat down beside Mark.

  “How are you holding up there, quarters?” Emily asked as she let a wide smile cross her face and pointed to her leg. “Not even a scar—that’s what a good night’s sleep will get you…though it was a fucking pain in the ass finally falling asleep.”

  “If only we could all be so lucky,” Maddie said as she attempted to wave with her right arm, which was wrapped up in gauze and slung to her shoulder. “You still onboard, Mark?”

  “I am,” Mark said shortly.

  “Yes,” Emily said as she slapped Mark on the back. “I get to keep my paycheck…fuck yeah, I get to keep my gun!”

  “That’s good to hear,” Maddie said as she smiled. “Was a bit worried you’d throw in the towel. I wouldn’t blame you with what when down last night—I promise it won’t be that way next time.”

  “They’ve both been fully briefed on the situation,” William said as he nodded. “We were all just waiting on your decision. So…my last orders—Maddie, get better and get Mark a bit more trained up with the coins. Mark…listen to Maddie and learn as much as you can, we will need you back, sooner I fear, rather than later. And Emily…you…you become a good bodyguard. Work on whatever it is that you can do.”

  “Work on your Projecting…” Maddie muttered beneath her breath.

  “I was shot in the leg!’ Emily said as her ears picked up on the quietly snide remark. “I can usually go…twice as far.”

  “Alright,” William said as he shook his head. “One last order, get along.”

  “We’re all cool, right, quarters?” Emily said as she rested her head on Mark’s shoulder.

  “We’ll be fine,” Mark said reassuringly to William. “I think they’re secretly friends—they just don’t want to admit it yet. They’ll be having pillow fights and watching the Notebook in days.”

  Maddie scoffed as she shot an angry look towards mark. “The Notebook…really…? I like movies with a bit more substance. With some intelligence and respect to the art of film.”

  “Oh my god,” Emily said, offended. “I fucking cried so much at the end.”

  “Yep, this is going to work out perfectly,” Mark said as he allowed a bit more of his usual sarcasm to creep back into his speech. “We’re going to be great.”

  Chapter 5

  William drove us all in a silver SUV, our meager belongings packed in the back. I remember back to when I felt sad that everything I owned and cared about could fit into two small luggage cases. Now it was just a single duffle bag with some clothes and my Conductor stuff. Maddie had the most stuff as her belongings were already being stored in her dorm room at the department—she seemed to luck out the most. Emily lamented the loss of her expensive luggage, but like most everything, she took the loss well. That was something that took me a while to notice about her character—she was disowned by her own family (for good reason), she was betrayed and shot, and she lost all of her belongings—but she took it all in stride. She didn’t get depressed or sad about it. She was more enthused that she got to keep her gun. She was definitely a bit off—but kinda in a good way, if that made any sense.

  We drove for about an hour and some change, headed southwest. I spent a lot of time staring out the window—something I apparently did a lot back then. I found the countryside of Illinois a little on the boring side, with its nearly endless fields of corn and the occasional hill or home. My sprits spiked up a bit when we pulled off the highway and I found myself among rolling hills, bluffs, and thick green forests. We passed through a small picturesque town called Utica—a small place with only around two-thousand or so people living there. The buildings were all painted in bright colors, there was a great bridge at the entrance and lots of tiny little tourist shops. We went through the sur
prisingly busy downtown as we made our way up a tall hill that framed the little town and made it feel like it belonged on a postcard. We took a rough rock road into the forest—an entrance that anyone driving by would have easily missed if they did not know exactly where to look. We followed the rough and bumpy road through tall trees that gave the entire driveway a dusty emerald glow until the foliage gave way to a large gated mansion. As the car pulled to a halt, I remember staring in awe at the strange gothic building. It was about three stories tall with a little spire on the front. It was painted rust red and had iron-worked dark metal accents and swirls around the black tiled roof and windows. The yard was full of large statues, mostly of men—Greek statues of heroes of myth wielding swords. A lot of the statues were covered in thick ivy and others were crumbling. Even the gate we were stopped at was an imposing wrought iron affair with twisting spikes at the top. Little red and green colored vines spread across the surface which was rusted in some areas. The yard was unkempt and high prairie grass obstructed the view of the first floor.

  William rolled down his window and pressed a button on a console held up by an ivy covered wooden pole. “Caesar, are you there?”

  “Well…Captain William himself,” a man responded in a slightly annoyed but playful tone. “You’re about an hour late by the way, I had tea out and everything…afraid it’s all gone to cold now…anyway, what’s done is done—let me get that gate for you.”

  “Thank you,” William said abruptly as the gate slid open on wheeled rails causing a grinding, noisy racket to fill the quiet wooded air.

  “This is where we’re staying?” Mark asked as he kept his eyes fixed upon the huge building. For a moment he caught a glimpse of a man through a large rounded window with a sunburst design painted in black around it.

  “Yep,” William said as he slowed the car down a bit. “Now…a little bit about Caesar Rodriguez, he’s a bit of an eccentric old Perpetual. He’s been around a very, very long time and he’s picked up a lot of rather odd behaviors and moods. He changes his name every so often, last time I met him it was George Strongbow or something like that, and before it was Leonardo…just Leonardo. It’s best to just go along with it. He’s a little quirky, but he has one of the most brilliant minds—especially given his age, he’s been around for centuries, possibly even a millennia. He knows history very well and has always taken a special interest in Conductors—however his own history is a bit of a mix of fabrication and truth…he likes to make himself seem a bit grander than he probably is.”

  “Sounds like a fun guy,” Emily said with a short yawn. “So what is there to do out here other than wander around in the woods?”

  “You’re here for your own protection…and to learn,” William said in a stern tone. He then sped up a bit and pulled the SUV beneath a large brick carport. “A walk might clear your mind a bit…help you get better control of your powers.”

  “Sure…why not,” Emily said as she shrugged. “I’m going to shoot some squirrels though—that’s just going to happen. I’ve always found them annoying, has anyone else just seen how smug they are?”

  “What’s wrong with squirrels?” Maddie asked, sounded a touch insulted. “What makes them smug?”

  “They’re just twitchy little things,” Emily answered and then gave no further explanation.

  William helped everyone unload their belongings from the trunk as he led the way through a large black door with stained glass windows with a different floral design in each setting. They entered a large room with a huge oriental rug covering up a dark cherry wood floor. The room was filled with floor to ceiling shelves containing various items from books to taxidermy animals, there were strange jars filled with liquid and sea creatures, a rusty rifle took up one shelf with a shed snakeskin lying next to it. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to the haphazard décor sense—it was all just an odd collection of oddities. At the far end of the great room a man say reclined in a brilliant red chair with bronzed circle accents. He was seated next to a huge fireplace and was sipping wine from a glass that he placed down on a small silver table. The man short salt and pepper hair and black moustache that worked its way just past a wide set of crimson lips. He had a large nose and blushed cheeks, big bushy black eyebrows were perched above dark colored eyes. He was wearing a Kimono with adorned with an intricate floral pattern and a black Obi. One leg raised in the air and resting upon the edge of the couch, Mark could make out a pair of floral patterned boxers.

  “Do you like this Kimono?” The man Mark presumed to be Caesar asked as he noticed the attention that it was getting. “It was a gift from the Emperor of Japan given to me back in the fourteenth century for services rendered.”

  “It’s very nice,” William said as he nodded in respect to the elder Perpetual. “Caesar, this is the young Conductor Mark that I had mentioned.”

  “A pleasure,” Caesar said as he held out a hand to mark and squeezed it tightly. “I knew your father well—he never mentioned having a son though…especially one with ‘talents.’

  “He didn’t want me to be a Conductor…” Mark said as he returned the odd gesture. “Thank you for having us.”

  “Oh posh,” Caesar said as he released Mark’s hand. “Believe me, boy, the pleasure is completely mine. And you…you are the outcast daughter of that Zampa atrocity.”

  “Yes,” Emily said softly. “The name Is Emily, thanks for um…all this hospitality and stuff.”

  “I hear that you have a talent for fire and wind…” Caesar spoke as he squeezed Emily’s hand tightly. “Is that true?”

  “Yes,” Emily said meekly, acting somewhat out of character from her usual ‘don’t give a fuck’ attitude. “I’m an Elemental—though my powers are more geared towards the fire side, my wind stuff isn’t all that good yet, but I’m going to learn how to be better.”

  “I, myself, actually have a talent for wind,” Caesar said as he nodded.

  “Oh, so you’re an Elemental?” Emily said as she grew suddenly curious. “Perhaps you could…”

  A loud brrrrrt escaped from Caesar’s open legs as he let a large fart escape from the confines of his bottom. Caesar put a hand to his mouth as to mock embarrassment. “Ohh…!” Well there it goes.”

  Mark and Maddie joined Caesar in a fit of laughter as Emily stood there with her fists balled up.

  “That’s not funny you sick old perv.” Emily said as she pouted.

  “It’s only not funny because it was aimed at you for once,” Maddie said as she reached out a hand to Caesar. “I’m Maddie.”

  “Oh yes, my dear—beautiful girl,” Caesar said as he pulled the girl close to get a better look at her. “You, I have been told, are quite a competent Conductor—you honor my humble house with your presence.”

  “Thank you,” Maddie said. “I am very humbled to be here and for your gracious hospitality.”

  “Ass kisser,” Emily muttered as she lightly kicked Maddie in the back of her knee.

  “And Captain William,” Caesar said as he turned his attention away from Maddie. “Come on, give us a hug.”

  “Always a pleasure,” William said as he leaned in and gave the slightly overweight man a large hug. “And it’s not captain anymore…It’s just William.”

  “I have all the confidences that you will fight your way back up to the top,” Caesar said with a wink and a little smile. “You always were an intrepid, driven man. I’m sure the council will give you back your position once they find a new Spotter—speaking of—Bradley…that ass. To think, I hosted him so many times and gave him whatever tidbits of information birds would bring me all the way out here, and he goes and loses his cock and puts everyone in trouble. To be honest, I never liked the guy that much anyway.”

  “Well,” William said as he nodded. “He made a bad call…that’s all I can say. However, speaking of getting back up to the top—I have to get back to my duties.”

  “Well do come and see us when you can,” Caesar as he rose and hand a twiddled his
fingers as William began to head out.

  “Mark,” William said as he turned just as he reached the door. “You’re in charge of your little group—keep everything under control here.”

  “Alright, sir,” Mark said as he nodded. He watched as William left and turned back towards his new odd company.

  “Oh burn…” Emily whispered. “You would have thought that he would have picked Maddie, but he didn’t—she’s even like, the oldest.”

  “I do not feel ‘burned’ in the least,” Maddie said as she turned to Emily and narrowed her eyes. “It’s called being mature, you should give it a try sometime…given that you’re only a year younger than I, it shouldn’t be so hard.”

  “Oh, my little duckies,” Caesar said as he got to his feet and flung his arms around the two girls in an awkward embrace. “Let’s not fight about such trivial things.”

  “My apologies,” Maddie said as she awkwardly placed her good arm around Caesar.

  “Christ you smell like old cheese,” Emily said as she attempted to work her way out of Caesars hug.

  “Come on in here Mark,” Caesar said as mark carefully took a step forward as the man embraced the three of them at once. “Shhh…my little duckies, let’s all be kind to each other.”

  “We will try,” Mark said as he felt terribly uncomfortable.

  “For fuck sakes,” Emily said as she ducked away and headed towards an arched hallway. “Where’s my room, I need some me time, and by that I mean….none of this fruity shit.”

  “Last room on the left, second floor haaaallll,” Caesar said as he kept Mark and Maddie trapped in the awkward embrace. He then lowered him arms and plopped himself back down on the couch. “I feel that was cathartic, don’t you all? Of course she wouldn’t…those Zampa girls—they’re all a bit touched in the head…or so I’ve been told.”