Embarrassed, Oengus braced himself and took a first sip of coffee. It was bitter sweet and he was glad he’d added milk and sugar.
“This coffee will take a bit of getting used to,” he joked to hide his embarrassment.
After breakfast Maedbh took Oengus into the campus of New York University. It was alive with students. Venus snoozed in her arms seemingly oblivious to the world about her.
“I have to go to class,” Maedbh said.
Oengus understood immediately that he was required to cope without her.
“Class?” he asked.
“I’m doing Math, Physics and Chemistry,” Maedbh added.
“I thought you were a witch?”
“Apprentice witch,” Maedbh corrected, “There’s a lot to learn and magic is easier if you understand the laws of physics. When I have my PhD I will move on to witch training proper, but not of course, at New York University.”
In her jeans, shirt and casual jacket Maedbh looked very young to Oengus.
“You’ll need lots of brains to be a mathematician,” he remarked.
Maedbh smiled. “I got in on a scholarship. They do scholarships for high IQ people regardless of age. It’s for advanced intelligences. You have to be clever to be a witch,” Maedbh explained without seeming self-conscious.
“O.K.” Oengus agreed, unable to think of anything else to say to detain her further.
“Will I meet you later?” Maedbh offered.
“Sure. Right now I’m going to find the Bronx.”
“The Bronx?”
“Yes, my mother gave me Uncle John’s address in a place called the Bronx. I understand it is a place of penitence?” Oengus explained.
“Be careful, all big cities require the exercise of common sense and I understand the Bronx can be rough,” Maedbh cautioned.
“Don’t worry I sent Puca Beag out as a pigeon to reconnoiter.”
“Try Google maps, it’s better,” Maedbh offered.
As she spoke she smiled and handed Venus over. Venus woke with a startled mew and then settled back in Oengus’s arms. She liked an after breakfast nap. Maedbh turned and left them to it.
Oengus felt a bit self-conscious walking the streets of New York with a cat in his arms and a pigeon on his shoulder. But no one passed remarks.
Venus on waking up, had suggested a better way to keep a low profile would be if Oengus would keep conversation with herself and Puca Beag to a minimum, suggesting that talking in an animated way to a cat and a pigeon might draw attention.
“Fine,” Puca Beag said, but informed Oengus that based on his reconnoiter the Bronx was not to be found in Manhattan.
“And don’t spend your time looking up at the Skyscrapers. That will single you out as a tourist and you might get mugged,” Venus added.
Oengus would have been happy to spend the morning absorbing the bustle of Manhattan but he knew he had a mission.
“I should have come to New York sooner,” he remarked.
“You needed a catalyst,” Venus mewed supportively.
“I don’t think we’ll find the Bronx just wandering about. We need a map,” Oengus decided.
“We need a taxi,” Venus countered. “But Puca Beag will have to fly. No pigeons in taxi cabs.”
“I do have an address in the Bronx,” Oengus said, cheered by the suggestion of a cab.
Beag followed the yellow cab, riding the air currents between the skyscrapers. Beag was delighted with his new job. His previous job as a portal guard had been boring but now he could soar and fly.
Venus paced purposely around the rear seat of the cab and mewed with emphasis.
“The cat all right?” the driver barked over his shoulder. “If it does its business, you pay.”
“It’s ok,” Oengus reassured. He pulled Venus onto his knee so she would sit and draw less attention to herself.
“Say again?” Oengus asked.
“I said you need a strategy to realize a vision and to realize a strategy you need objectives and you need to break the objectives down into key tasks and measures of achievement of the objectives,” Venus repeated patiently.
Oengus considered Venus’s advice. He wondered if Venus was trying to find out his intentions under the guise of trying to get him to structure his thoughts.
“Getting to the address will be a key task in the objective of finding Uncle John,” he offered.
“Further objective?” Venus pressed.
“Finding my dad.”
“On finding Uncle John what will be your strategy?”
“Venus, I will attempt to assess his state of mind.”
Venus closed her eyes. She wondered if Oengus did not want to reveal his true strategy.
“You seem to know a lot about strategy,” Oengus added.
“I was once the Corporate Planner on the Council of State of the Faerie Queen,” Venus explained.
“Then how is it you are the cat of an apprentice witch?” Oengus inquired.
The cab driver observed his client in the mirror. Apparently he was in conversation with a mewing cat called Venus. Normally the cab driver would start a conversation with a view to working a tip. But he wondered what if the conversation stimulated an apparent nut case? He decided to stay quiet as he worked his way through traffic while keeping a wary eye on his passenger. He’d be ready if the nutter made a false move.
“I was downgraded due to misbehavior,” Venus confessed in a muted mew.
“Misbehavior?”
“Well I also became and outlaw tied to an evil druid called Druid Lochlain. But then things changed and Lochlain got a job working for the Faerie Queen. But I was exiled to earth.”
“As an apprentice witch’s cat?” Oengus checked.
“Yes. They were afraid that if I linked up with Lochlain we might do evil.”
“Are you evil?” Oengus though he’d better ask.
“Not really, just loyal. Druid Lochlain is now chief minister to the Faerie Queen. Now that he is on the side of the established order I am happy to be a witch’s cat.”
“Is Maedbh a kind boss?”
“It is just something to do. In fact she is kind. And I don’t want to be declared redundant.”
“Fine,” Oengus agreed.
Oengus turned his attention to the journey. The buildings they were passing had a run down appearance and there seemed to be a lot of adults just hanging about on steps or in basement areas.
The cab came to a stop in front of the steps leading up into what seemed to Oengus to be a derelict building.
“This is it,” the driver said.
As Oengus paid the fare, “looks derelict?” he remarked.
“Nah just looks that way. Good luck son, have a nice day,” the driver said, satisfied with the tip but also anxious to get back off the side streets. He gunned the engine and left Oengus standing on the sidewalk, cat in hand, pigeon hovering.
Puca Beag made a good landing on his shoulder and Oengus faced the steps looking towards the building.
“Hey man!” a voice shouted.
It was then Oengus noticed that there was a group of Negro teenagers lounging in the well of the steps to the basement.
Venus tensed. Beag took off.
“Hi,” Oengus replied with a bit of a smile.
“What you want man?” the voice demanded, sounding aggressive.
“My uncle John. He lives here. He’s a fireman,” Oengus explained.
A young man of about twenty came up out of the group. “This is our street man,” he said.
“This is his address,” Oengus replied looking the young man in the eye. The others began to drift up out of the stair well. They weren’t smiling.
“Leave him be Hugo,” a girl said.
Oengus realized there were two young girls amongst the group.
“He don’t talk American,” the other girl said.
“I’m Irish,” Oengus interjected
“I’m Hugo,” the young man said, sounding neutral, but not friendly.
“Oengus.”
Hugo held out his hand, palm up. Oengus remembered a TV series he’d seen and slapped down a friendly slap. Hugo did a twisting movement around Oengus’s hand and then he smiled.
“Your uncle is the last man standing,” Hugo said.
“What?”
“Only white man in the building. Do you always walk around with a cat?”
“No just today. Ignore the cat. I just need a talk with my uncle and then I’m out of here,” Oengus explained.
“I’ll take him in. Hi, I’m Nina,” the first girl who had spoken said warmly.
“Hi, Nina.”
“Go man,” Hugo said. He grinned at the group and they grinned back. Nina liked to have a bit of fun and kid around. The group drifted back to the stairwell.
Nina led Oengus up the steps to the building. “We all live here,” she said as she opened the front door with a key.
“I live on the fifth with my mother,” she added, leading Oengus to the elevator. The walls of the corridors were dirty with an underneath coat of cream paint. The elevator felt like it could use a good overhaul.
They smiled at each other on the way up.
“Brace yourself, this is your uncle’s floor,” Nina said as the elevator door opened.
“Why?” Oengus asked, thinking the elevator ride had been smooth enough.
Nina led him down along the soiled walls of a cream colored corridor with doors on each side. She stopped in front of a door.
“This is it,” she said.
Oengus just stared in shock.
The door to John’s apartment was crossed with tape marked, ‘crime scene do not enter.’
“Sorry man,” Nina said softly.
“Can I go in?” Oengus asked.
“The door is locked,” Nina pointed out.
“What happened?”
“A while ago the floor was wakened to the sound of screams. He was found dead.”
“Uncle John?”
“No his room mate, his, em, friend.”
“Friend?” Oengus asked picking up on something in the tone.
Nina looked at him. She had decided to help as he had an attractive face but a lost look. Nice open smile. But the eyes. His eyes disturbed her deep down. She couldn’t hold his gaze and felt herself blushing.
“I think your uncle was gay,” she explained.
“Gay? He seemed a terrible cross, bad tempered man to me,” Oengus contradicted.
“No, no homosexual. Where have you been man?”
“On the side of a mountain in Kerry.”
“Ireland, that’s Ireland, right?”
“Yes Nina. But are you saying he shared his apartment?”
“Just a few rooms and a single bedroom, it’s not big like a real apartment. He shared with another fireman called Barthy. Bartholomew, I think.”
“They lived together like a couple?” Oengus asked.
“Day and night.”
Oengus nodded in comprehension. He’d seen this on television.
There was a squeak from the hinges as the door of the apartment began to open. Beag, having reverted from pigeon to Puca, appeared as an extraordinarily ugly naked little man. As he emerged partly around the door he spoke to Oengus in Gaelic.
“I flew in an open broken window,” Beag began to explain...
“Pigeon, right now!” Venus barked in a harsh mew as Nina squealed and jumped behind Oengus to peer around at the sight of Beag. There was a flutter of wings, but Beag left the door open.
“I’ll investigate,” Venus mewed, jumping out of Oengus’s arms and sliding in through the half open door.
“Did you see that?” Nina hissed.
“It’s ok,” Oengus reassured and without really thinking, gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead to reinforce his point.
Nina shook and stared at Oengus. Something just happened was the thought that came into her head.
Feeling her shake, Oengus gave her a warmer hug. “It’s ok,” he repeated gently.
“Would you kiss me?” she asked.
“I was told no tongues.”
“No tongues,” Nina agreed, with a blush and a laugh. Was this guy for real!
Oengus kissed her upturned lips. This was his second kiss of lips so far.
Better, he thought. I’m getting better at this. Nina seemed to fit easily into his embrace and he felt somehow more in charge, more confident.
Nina sighed deeply and snuggled into him. There was warmth about Oengus that made her feel safe.
“You ok?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” Nina whispered. She was tingling all over, “but I like it.”
Awkwardly, Oengus let her go. “Let’s take a look inside,” he said.
Nina froze. “They say a vampire killed him,” she said.
Chapter Eleven
Nina was intrigued that Oengus had a cat and even more intrigued that he also had a pigeon. And the cat and the pigeon seemed to get on together. The small naked man was nowhere to be found and Nina wondered if she had really seen him.
It was clear that the murder squad had given the apartment a good going over. Drawers were open and clothes and papers were strewn about.
“What a mess,” Oengus remarked.
“You can be sure that Hugo and his gang have been through the place. You can see no television, no saucepans. They would have taken anything of value once the cops cleared out. It’s just another unsolved murder. Who cares?” she said.
“I do,” Oengus said grimly. There must be a clue to my uncle’s whereabouts.”
“Easy, go to where he works. He has to work to eat. You’ll find him at work I expect?”
“Nina if this attack was meant for him it’s likely he is in hiding,” Oengus pointed out.
Nina shrugged, what did she care? She wondered would she get another kiss, just for the fun of it. He was sexy serious and the eyes...
“I’ve told Venus and Beag to search every nook and cranny,” Oengus said.
“Who?”
“The cat and the pigeon.”
“Oh, ok,” Nina said doubt clinging to her tones.
“I’ve looked everywhere obvious,” Oengus said.
“Toilet cistern?” Nina prompted, “or the floorboards?”
“Nothing.”
“Behind pictures on the walls, secret drawers in desks,” Nina built, remembering her last burglary with Hugo’s gang.
“Did you?... were you here when Hugo robbed the place?” Oengus ventured.
“Yes, and there’s nothing left and nothing to show where your uncle went,” Nina admitted with a tinge of embarrassment.
“So first the cops and then Hugo went through the place?” Oengus checked.
“Hugo was meticulous and because the cops were gone we had a lot of time. Crime scenes are easy to rob when the fuss dies down, especially when there are no relations or survivors staying on in the apartment,” Nina explained patiently.
Venus came and turned around Oengus’s ankles.
“We’ll need a sharp knife or a screwdriver,” Venus mewed.
“Well done,” Oengus said.
“It was Puca Beag, he went about as a snake, and got into corners and sussed out things out,” Venus gave credit where it was due.
“Well done Puca Beag,” Oengus said.
Nina squealed. She’d been about to stomp a snake when it turned into a pigeon and flew up on to a wardrobe.
“It’s ok,” Oengus said and gave her a comforting hug. She puckered up for a kiss but Oengus asked her if there were knives or a screwdriver in the kitchen.
“No, Hugo took everything saleable.”
“Oh.”
“Take mine,” she said producing her knife from up her sleeve.
When Oengus stared she said, “a girl has to be careful, especially alone with a boy.”
Oengus reached for the knife but before he took it Nina pressed a catch and the blade shot out.
“Wow,” Oengus said impressed despite his reservations. As far as he knew no girls in Kerry carried knives.
Nina considered taking out the pigeon. She was still unnerved about its sudden transformation. A quick flick of the wrist and she’d impale him to the wardrobe with the knife. But she decided not to upset Oengus. He was a nice boy and clearly was uneasy about girls who were proficient with knives.
She swiveled the knife and handed it handle first to Oengus.
“This way,” Venus mewed.
To Nina’s surprise Oengus followed the mewing cat into the bedroom. Curious, she followed.
“The mattress? Oengus asked.
“No the bedpost, where it meets the bed,” Venus mewed.
The bed had strong uprights in teak at both ends and was supported on strong teak plank side-lengths. The mattress was no longer on the bed but ripped open and propped against the wall after previous searches. However the frame of the bed seemed intact.
“Puca says it’s not solid at the top where the cross plank meets the upright.”
“Looks solid,” Oengus said doubtfully.
He lay on his back on the floor and probed.
“What is it?” Nina asked, coming to sit beside him.
She rubbed his chest while he fiddled under the bedpost.
“Oengus, do you think I’m attractive?” she asked.
Oengus grunted.
“Have you ever been with a girl?” she asked.
“I intend to be a virgin when I marry,” Oengus said, without lifting his head from under the bed frame.
“You serious?”
“Yes.”
Nina regarded him with solemn eyes. She’d heard of girls deciding to marry as virgins but his was the first time she’d come across it in a boy?
The Great Fury Page 9