by Taki Drake
His cheerful attitude and the cocky grin that Derek wore was a much-needed note of energy into the conversation. Both Phil and Maddie were fascinated by him. Even though Derek was only a few years older than Maddie, his exposure to a wider world and a less controlled environment made him seem strange and appealing to the more sheltered brother and sister.
The other guest at the meal was a pleasant-looking woman in her mid-30s. She was well dressed, looking more like the wife of a successful trader than the herbal Witch that she was. The woman had brought baskets of freshly cut herbs to Jeremiah in trade a set of vials. These she carefully packed into a padded basket, covering it with additional soft cotton wool and a small quilt.
As she left, she reminded the older Witch, “Remember that TT needs to be with the caravan no later than 6 AM tomorrow. The wagon master is one of the most trusted men that my husband employs, but he is a stickler for leaving on time. One of the teamsters, a man named Pierre Rabin, is a very low-level Witch. He has a Familiar that is also not highly skilled, but the combination of his skills with animals and the Familiar’s enhanced senses make him an ideal member of the crew.”
“I remember, Gina! No need to nag me, my mind hasn’t started to go yet.”
“It doesn’t hurt to check one more time, Jeremiah. Pierre is very good about helping people, but I don’t want his business to suffer for his generosity.”
“Yes, yes, I know. I do appreciate it, as you very well know.”
The woman continued as if Jeremiah had not spoken, saying, “His Familiar is a large dog, one of Adelphia’s pups. Both Witch and Familiar can mindspeak, even if it is only possible to speak with them when you are physically close and if you speak slowly.”
Jeremiah answered her, “Thank you, Matilda. I appreciate your assistance in this.”
“It is no problem, Jeremiah. We all have an obligation to make things right, and this is a small contribution that I can make.”
Turning to TT, the woman said, “I am sorry that it is going to be an uncomfortable journey for you. This wagon is carrying tanning supplies, and the odor is horrible. Hopefully, no one will think of looking for you in such a surrounding but the two days that it will take to get you to your home is going to be very difficult for you.”
TT jumped down to wind her body around the woman’s legs in thanks, knowing that her mental voice would not reach the woman. Purring as loudly as she could, the small cat communicated her feelings to the best of her ability.
Gina had departed, carrying her basket of potions. Jeremiah had remained in the kitchen and was discussing the preparations necessary for the herbs that the younger Witch had brought with Dora. Suddenly, the elderly Witch straightened in alarm. Stopping in midsentence, he said urgently to Dora, “Get the children and come into the kitchen immediately. Do not shout for them, but get them in here as quickly as possible.”
Before Dora could start to move, TT said, << No! Don’t go out there! >>
Focusing on the little boy, TT projected as hard as she could toward the emergent mage, saying, << Phil, please get your sister and come inside immediately. It is very important, and you need to join your mother in the kitchen quickly. Hurry up and come now! >>
The adults could hear an abrupt break in the noise that had been coming from the garden where the three children had been playing. Rapid footsteps heralded the entrance of all of them as they arrived curious and breathless from the outside. A flash of approval came toward TT from both Davin and elderly Witch.
There was no time for further discussion, as Jeremiah said urgently, “I need Dora and her children to go down to the protected part of the cellar. Someone is coming, searching for you, and they mean you harm. I want to make sure that they do not find you.”
Dora clutched her children to her in sudden fear but stopped short of panic. Looking trustingly at Jeremiah, she asked, “What do we need to do?”
There was a swish of air as a door suddenly appeared in the in her wall of the kitchen, crashing open without visible direction. Jeremiah motioned toward the stair saying, “Go down in there. The door will close behind you, and there is a room at the bottom where you can stay and relax while I clear whoever it is out of my home.”
Even as Dora started to move toward the stairway, she asked, “What about the evidence that we have been in the house? We have our things laid out in the rooms upstairs, and there are signs that we were staying in the one bedroom. Also, it looks like there was activity in the kitchen and I’m not sure if there’s any sign that it was me rather than you.”
Jeremiah reassured her, saying “I will take care of it, I promise you. Stay in the cellar until Davin, the witch that just left, or I come to let you out.”
Stopping at the top of the stairway as her children quickly ran down to the basement, Dora looked at the older Witch and said, “Be safe. You are important to us.”
The door closed with a hiss, and the wall became whole again. There was no sign or Mark that betrayed a concealed doorway let alone that there was a way to get to a basement.
Turning his attention back to his young helper, Derek, Jeremiah said, “Here we go again, boy. I am going to throw the mental shield on you, and if needed, you’ll know when to come in and pull your cheeky bits.”
The boy simply smiled and spread his arms as if to say, “Bring it on.”
There was a small flash of light and Jeremiah cast a blue cloud that seemed to seep into the skin of the young man. It was visible just for an instant and then soaked totally into the boy's body leaving no trace to either magical or mundane sight.
TT looked questioningly at Davin, who replied << It prevents anyone from reading his mind or successfully questioning him. We have used this many times before. It’s not detectable, and no one else can break it.>>
TT asked, << What should I do? Where do you want me? >>
Jeremiah answered, saying, “I want you curled up in front of the fire like you are tired and not well. I don’t want you to act as if you have a single brain in your little head. No one will be able to tell from your appearance or even from feeling you that you are anything but what you look like. So if necessary, feel free to wander up to any visitors we might have and act as a normal, non-Familiar would act.”
Davin asked, << The usual? >>
Jeremiah nodded and led the way into the front room.
TT immediately headed back to the bed by the fireplace. The warmth of the fire had kept the bed welcoming and comfortable. Realizing that she was still exhausted and low energy, the little cat crawled into the middle of the soft bed and relaxed with a sigh. If she was going play act, she might as well enjoy it for as long as she could.
Chapter 15 – Interrogation
The door and marker knocker made a thunderous pounding, resonating down the hall and into the front room. Even though TT had expected the arrival of visitors, thanks to Jeremiah’s foresight, the noise was still startling enough that it made her jump. Trying to cover her surprise with a minute inspection of her left front paw, TT noticed that Davin was also checking his grooming. For some reason, Jeremiah had a profound look of amusement on his face as he went to answer the door.
The old Witch’s voice could be clearly heard in the parlor as he answered the door. “Hello there, young Johan! Whoops, sorry, Officer Brontë. What an unexpected pleasure. What can I do for you today? And who are these other gentlemen that you have with you?”
The voice of an adult male, not in the first blush of youth, answered him, “Good day to you too, sir. We are canvassing the neighborhood checking if anyone has seen a missing woman and her children. I was hoping perhaps in your travels around the city that you might have seen or heard something that will help us to find her.”
“Come in, come in. Surely, you can take a few minutes and sit down and rest your feet while you ask your questions. I would be happy to tell you about my day yesterday, although I’m not sure anything that I saw will be helpful.”
A third voice entered the convers
ation, stating in a peculiarly flat-sounding voice, “Yes. We would like to come in and sit down with you. I am sure that you will have noticed something that could be helpful.”
Jeremiah’s voice took on a slightly querulous note as he said, “I don’t believe that we have been introduced, sir.”
The patrolman hurried into speech, saying rapidly, “This is Special Investigator Menue. He is accompanying the patrol teams to try to consolidate the information as we look for the poor missing family.”
“That is interesting, but I’m inviting you in because of you, not because of him.”
“I know that, sir. And I truly do appreciate it.”
The footsteps that approached the room where the two Familiars waited was a mixture of the deliberate, studied step of the elderly Witch and the assured rapid steps of the patrolman. There were two other, very different, walking rhythms that prepared Davin and TT for the group that entered the room.
TT already expected to see the patrolman, bright-eyed and eager, proud of his ability to get the answers that his bosses’ wanted. The other two were the ones whose presence jangled discordantly along the TT’s senses and had her watching carefully through barely-slitted eyes.
Of the two men, the younger had not yet spoken. He looked to be in his early 20s and of medium height and build. There was something wrong with the expressions on his face as if there was no conscious control over the minute expressions that made someone’s face look alive. TT thought perhaps that he could have been recovering from some sort of brainstorm or stroke, until she caught a glimpse of his eyes, roiling with some form of power, but remote. Thinking to herself, He looks possessed. TT decided then and there that she was not going to attempt to speak mind-to-mind with Davin or anyone else. There was something about those eldritch eyes in the mismatched and immobile face that warned her that some form of the mental magic was in the air. She definitely needed to keep her head down.
Davin must’ve come to the same conclusion because there was no mental contact with him either. Instead, the large, scarred cat got up from his place by the fireplace and stalked over to stand between his Witch and the others. His defensive stance and watchful eyes made the fourth man say in a supercilious voice, “I trust you’re going to keep your animal under control.”
The old Witch drew himself up to as much height as his diminutive form could assume. Fixing the man with a gaze of disdain and dislike, he said, “This is his home. If you do not like my cat or if he doesn’t like you, you are welcome to leave.”
This fourth man, dressed in the overly elaborate clothing affected by minor noblemen, sniffed loudly and dabbed his nose with a perfumed handkerchief. His gaze swung around the room in a disdainful observation of the cheerful clutter with which the elderly Witch normally surrounded himself. The man’s every movement telegraphed his feeling of dismissive arrogance toward the old Witch. However, even as he was looking down on the old man’s home and position in life, he was busy cataloging every magical item in the room with his eyes.
The room was one of the repositories of hundreds of years of careful exploration and acquisition that the old Witch had accumulated. Jeremiah was insatiably curious about many things and chose to spend his money and energy exploring interesting spells, artifacts, and methods of thinking. The room’s content was a treasure trove to a magical user, and the undisguised greed in the nobleman’s face warned TT that there was now another possible threat to Jeremiah and Davin.
The Persian cat became increasingly uncomfortable the longer the man studied the items in the room. She knew that they would have to take protective measures sooner rather than later because she could see the look of greed growing in the back of the man’s eyes. She also could smell a spell that he was trying to cast unobtrusively. Using his handkerchief to conceal his mouth, the man completed the words of a spell. Before TT could do more than tense herself to shout to Jeremiah what it happened, the globe of stone that sat above the mantle spat out a bolt of light that hit the nobleman directly in the mouth.
“Oh! How dare you!”
Jeremiah came to his foot feet in assumed fury, saying, “It is considered extremely poor manners to cast a spell inside of another Witch’s house. Who are you that you would presume to do so without invitation?”
The other man jumped to his feet and began to shout back, “You uneducated buffoon! I will have you know that…”
“Silence!” The voice issued from the magic user with the strange eyes. The voice didn’t belong to such a young man, sounding instead like someone older and more arrogant. The nobleman immediately shut up. His face had paled, and he sat down again quickly. TT noticed that his hands were shaking and wondered what was frightening him so much.
The younger man continued to speak, “I am sure that no harm was intended. Please excuse my colleague’s enthusiasm. We don’t want to derail Officer Brontë’s information gathering. So please excuse us, and we’ll just stay here and listen.”
Jeremiah appeared mollified, even though TT knew that he was anything but calm. Looking back to the patrolman, he asked, “Officer, is there anything else that you would like to know?”
“Yes, sir. I know that yesterday was your normal market day and that you were gone for a good portion of the day. I saw you when you came home, and you had your usual procession with Derek to carry your bags and your protective cat. Also, it was noticed that you had acquired another cat again. From the description, it might be the one that is curled up next to your fireplace.”
“Yes, yes. I did my normal shopping and decided to stop by one of my favorite booksellers and picked up some books. As you know, I love books.” With a slightly abashed smile, the elderly Witch waved his hands toward the massive bookshelves that occupied every wall. He then continued his speech, saying, “It was a nice day, and I walked further afield than I had planned. I was all the way to the Seine when I noticed that we had picked up a little follower. I am not sure if she was following Davin or me since she appears to like both of us. She followed us home, and she seemed to be a little hungry. I gave her a bath which she did not like and fed her. She’s been asleep next to the fireplace ever since.”
“She looks like a nice cat…” began the patrolman.
Jeremiah interrupted, asking excitedly, “Perhaps you would like a cat? She really is a very pleasant little thing, and I don’t need more than one.”
The patrolman recoiled as if presented with a dead corpse. “No! I mean, no thank you. I don’t believe that my landlord would approve of my having an animal in my room.”
Sighing dramatically, Jeremiah said, “Oh, all right.”
Chapter 16 – Misdirection
It took a little time for the room to settle down again. Jeremiah continued to wear a visibly affronted face when looking at the nobleman who sat uneasily in his front room. The rattled man was obviously uncomfortable, pinned as he was by the gazes of Davin and the offended Witch.
Trying to get back on track, the patrolman asked, “I understand that you went past the Rue Alphand in the 13ème during the late morning.
“Why, yes I did. I just finished coming from the bookseller and decided that my feet were telling me that enough was enough. It seemed the correct time to start on my way home.”
“Did you happen to notice on your trip the excitement in the block by the intersection with the Street of Five Diamonds?”
“No, not that I remember. It was a very pleasant walk the whole time, and there wasn’t anything that looked like it was a problem or even something very special.”
The nobleman made a gesture as if to get up and leave but was arrested when Jeremiah added, “Let me see if Derek noticed anything.”
Taking a deep breath, the old man raised his voice in a shout, “Derek! Come on in here please!”
All of the men in the group had jumped a bit when Jeremiah had raised his voice. Before they had any time to make comments, the pound of running feet heralded Derek’s entrance into the room. His cheerful, freckled f
ace was grinning and his eyes sparkling as he asked, “Yes? What do you need your Witchiness?”
The shock on the familiar form of address changed both the magic users’ expressions into a frown of dismay. Rendered speechless by the casualness of the interaction, the two strangers listened voicelessly as Jeremiah and Derek began a rapid-fire exchange of comments.
“Derek, did you notice anything weird when we were going down the Rue Alphand?”
“Nope, nothing weird at all, unless you count that one lady that was parading around in something that looked like a dye pot had spit up all over her dress.”
“No, no. I’m talking about maybe a lost woman and her children?”
“Nope, no woman and kids that looked lost anywhere. Why, was she murdered?” The avid curiosity in the boy’s voice was apparent, and the patrolman had to conceal a smile behind his hand.
Jeremiah responded, “No, not to my knowledge. These people would not be here asking about her if she been murdered, I think. Speaking of which, why are you gentlemen here asking about this woman?”
There was an awkward pause in the conversation as Jeremiah and Derek both turned to stare at the three men. Finally, the patrolman answered, saying, “I was told to come ask you if you had seen anything because someone noticed you walking on the road that ran in front of the woman’s house. I don’t believe there’s any other reason than that.”
The still affronted nobleman chose to contribute his own comments, saying, “The woman and children are the family of an employee of my own superior. He is concerned about the home life of all of his employees, and since the man in question is tied up in a magical working, Lord Grunwald thought to reassure him as to his wife and children’s safety.
Jeremiah looked hard at the man, holding his silence like a weapon. The man began to fidget before blurting out, “My superior is thoughtful that way. He really is!”
Finally, Jeremiah nodded his head and said, “That explains the situation. Well, I’m glad I could help. Even though it was just a report of nothing. It would make your job far easier if you could show people a picture of the woman and children. Surely, her husband has one of those.”