by Martha Carr
"I think you already have the details," Maggie frowned, glancing over at him.
"Hey, there's a reason they call it secret sauce."
"Okay, keep your short-shorts on and quietly eat your burger."
"We needed to get food. Can't stop by the library without a deposit for Slim. It's just rude."
Maggie had on her sunglasses and was ignoring the cars passing next to them, and the people pointing at the raccoon. A school bus pulled up next to them at a light and the elementary school children plastered themselves against the windows, waving and yelling out to Bernie. He waved and gave them all a thumbs up, but when he went to lower the window Maggie beat him to it and put on the parent lock.
"You're not helping." She glanced over at him as he shrugged up at the kids and gave another wave, putting his paws together to shake overhead like he was the winner of a bout.
"Hey, they think I'm a trained pet. Where's the harm? They'll be talking about this over PB and J for weeks. I'm being of service."
"We need to find Simon Wesley." She glanced over at Bernie and put on the lights and siren, taking off past the bus and speeding down the shoulder of the road till they got to West Avenue and she hung a right.
"That was cold. Fine, we can talk about the problem at hand." He tapped a claw against his head, crossing his ankles. "I may know of a spell we haven't tried but you'll have to do it. You have a stronger connection to the Earth and that's a requirement."
"I have to also trust the Earth that's also trying to bump me off as part of this bargain. A life lesson that packs a punch."
"Sure, it's a love you, kill you off kind of relationship, but not out of hate, just necessity."
"You've said that before." Maggie pulled onto Cesar Chavez Street and into the library parking lot, sliding into a space near the dumpster in the back. She turned off the car and twisted in her seat to face Bernie. "Quick question. How am I supposed to get you past the security? Tell them you're my emotional support animal?"
"Funny magical lady. I'm not going in this time, clearly. I'll be hanging out here with Slim. Give me the bag, now." Bernie held up his paw. "I promise not to eat any of his fries."
"I'll tell Slim later so don't think about double crossing anyone on your short walk to the dumpster."
"Same to you, sister. No checking out any books. They all have magical tracers on them, unlike that one you stole from down under and still have, I might add."
"It's temporary. I'll give it back when the quest is over, or I'm dead."
"Don't even joke about that! How many times do I have to tell you that the Earth is listening? Bernie unlocked his seat belt and opened his car door.
"You're really getting the hang of this raccoon thing. I'm just saying, plan B. We can make it work."
"Good to know. Listen carefully and don't write this down. You have to remember."
"Why can't I write it down?"
"The fries are getting cold. Just pay attention. You're going to be reading from one of the oldest books in there and it doesn't take kindly to intruders. It'll know if you have its location written down and you won't be able to open it. Hell, it takes having a certain mastery over your magic just to get it to cooperate. You'll have to trust what you're doing for this to work."
"I'm getting tired of that word."
“What word?”
“Trust.”
Bernie shrugged. "I know, what can I say. This is how things worked out. The Earth picked you as the Elemental and that means you have what it takes, Peabrain, trust me."
Maggie scowled at him and leaned over to lock her gun and the compass in the glove compartment. She got out of the car as Bernie scampered down, carrying the fast food bag and she turned to lock the door.
"Too soon? Fine, I'll start over." Bernie stood up on his back legs, holding on to the bag. "Go to the middle of the middle of the bookcases. Wait there and maintain your magic levels."
Maggie stopped walking toward the entrance and turned back around. "Then what?"
"You'll know. I can't say anything more than that for this to work, trust me." Bernie slapped a paw over his mouth. "Don't walk off mad. The book will know! Come on, are you sure that's smart leaving the compass in the car? We fought pretty hard to get that back."
Maggie turned back around again for a moment. "Quit yelling. You're breaking rule number one. Don't be annoying. It won't make it through the metal detectors and this car has an alarm system. Plus, you'll be right over there talking to Slim. You don't have any bubbles right now, but you still have claws and sharp teeth."
"Good point. Just so you know, that's not rule number one."
Maggie was already walking away and called over her shoulder. "It's my rule number one."
Bernie gave a snort and reached into the bag, pulling out just a few french fries, stuffing them into his mouth.
Something stirred next to the dumpsters and Slim came crawling out of his hidey hole, rubbing his eyes in the sunlight. He looked around, startled by the raccoon dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. He reached behind for an old golf club with a dent in the middle of it and jumped to his feet, raising the club. But he spotted the fast food bag and slowly lowered the club, scratching the day old beard on his chin. "Is that for me? Has Bernie found a new way to drop off food?"
"Slim, it's me!" Bernie held out the bag, even as Slim raised the golf club back over his shoulder.
"Whoa, whoa Slim." Bernie carefully put down the bag and took a step back. "I only ate a few of the fries. Chillax."
"What the hell, it's finally happened. I've gone round the bend. I'm talking to a woodland creature."
"I wouldn't go that far. Do raccoons count as woodland creatures? I mean, come on, there’s a reason the nickname is trash panda and I'm standing here by the dumpster. No one will be surprised by that."
"I'm living by the dumpster." Slim lowered the golf club.
"True enough, respect. I take it back. Okay, sure, woodland creature. But it's still me! It's Bernie. I had a little mishap and got stuck like this."
Slim let out a sigh and picked up the bag, looking inside. "Looks like you ate more than a few."
"I did my best. The car was parked all the way over there. It's at least a few yards. I'll try and bring you more later. You ever try Taco Bell?"
Maggie walked into the library, already setting an intention to see who was magical to practice her skills and build her confidence as she walked toward the stairs. A woman in a cashmere coat and a tartan scarf, with neatly groomed blonde hair passed her, smiling with a nod and whispered, "Hello Peabrain." Maggie smiled and noticed the aura around her but no other magical characteristics. Witch, most likely.
She looked at herself in a passing mirror and noticed a different kind of glow. The blue light of the trees. She stopped short and looked again. "Peabrains are connected to the trees," she muttered.
"Excuse me? Can I help you?" A librarian stopped next to her, her hands folded in front of her chest.
Maggie looked at her and saw the detail she had missed when she was trying this same magic the last time. Even Peabrains who couldn't remember still had the same aura, just running at a lower level and almost impossible to detect, but it was there. "No, I'm fine, thank you. Heading upstairs." Maggie pointed to the stairs, as she moved along.
She climbed the stairs quickly and headed for the back wall. "You can do this," she whispered as she plowed ahead, walking easily through it, feeling a rush of air as she found herself in the hidden room. "I did it!" She patted down her chest and stomach and held her hands out in front of her. "No missing parts, check. First step done. Now, walk to the middle of the middle." She counted the number of book shelves and found five book shelves and only four aisles. "Okay, not sure what to do with that." She took the second aisle and headed to the middle of it and waited, but nothing happened.
"Not so fast, I'm not giving up." She put her hands on her hips and narrowed her gaze. "The middle of the middle..." She felt the hum of energy along the
back of her neck and took a chance, stepping forward, passing through the bookcase into a small chamber that held one book on a stand. There was a chill in the room and Maggie pulled her coat tighter around her, stepping closer to the book.
"You must be something really special. A room within a room in the middle of the middle that can only be reached by the confident. Diana says confidence is my best and my worst trait."
There was a soft click and the lock opened. "This isn't going to be your standard kind of magic, is it? That little bit of honesty did that, didn't it?"
Maggie gingerly opened the heavy book, turning the pages, but there was nothing on any page. "Next challenge to unlock. Okay, let's see. We are running through some kind of list of virtues. Confidence, honesty... Hopefully, group activities isn't one of them." She reached out to turn a page as the book slammed itself shut, the lock slipping back into place.
She bit her lower lip, staring at the closed book. "Damn, strike one. Okay, no more jokes. No displays of weakness."
A yellowish-green gas started to seep out of the pages, filling the room with a noxious odor. Maggie covered her face with her coat as her eyes burned. "I'm not leaving!" She coughed, taking in shallow breaths, determined to stay. "I'm going to find answers and solve this riddle!" She was in danger of losing the contents of her stomach and looked around for a trash can but there was nothing else in the room. She held out a hand trying to form bubbles, but nothing materialized in the room. "I'll stay here till I do, I'm not letting down my sister, hell, or even that raccoon." She slid down onto the floor, wheezing with tears filling her stinging eyes. "You can't defeat me if I don't quit."
The gas subsided and the noxious air was sucked back into the book. Maggie wiped her face with the sleeve of her jacket and sucked in fresh air. She held her tongue, carefully parsing her words. She got on her knees and pushed herself back up to standing and stood in front of the book. "I trust my sister, Diana with my life." The lock clicked again, and Maggie carefully opened the book.
She stood there as the minutes passed, not willing to say anything, searching herself for something. "Wait... I see what you're doing. I remember." She lifted her hand, blowing out air, sure it would work. Bubbles emerged, each one containing the same single memory. They surrounded her, forming a cloak and wrapping her in the moving images that repeated themselves over and over again. It was her father down on one knee, close to her face telling her something important.
"Remember this, Maggie. It's very important. Set the truth free and let it do it's own work." She put out her hand to touch his face but the images faded and the bubbles popped leaving her alone in the room again, an ache in her heart. "It's not any virtue you're after. It's honesty, rigorous honesty."
The pages shimmered, words appearing and fading. She hesitated, biting her lip again. "I can do this. I can trust others." She said the words slowly. "Even in a group." The words continued to appear and disappear, waiting for more. She thought about the words that had gotten her into so much trouble. No displays of weakness. What is the opposite?
She grasped the edges of the large book and said each word carefully. "I miss my father every day and I blame him for leaving us." Tears filled her eyes as the words appeared, running down the page, line by line. The title of the tome appeared at the top. The Dark Art of War.
She didn't dare let any candid words slip out of her mouth, but a gasp still escaped. A warning appeared at the top in red. Use these spells with caution. Only those who are of sound mind and can be honest with themselves can escape slipping into the darkness. Maggie thought of Simon Wesley and the darkness in his eyes. She put the image out of her mind and turned the pages, searching for a way to find Simon.
"Spell to incinerate an army. Spell to eat the flesh off a foe." She got to a tracking spell and ran her finger along every line, doing her best to memorize it. She read it through one more time and stepped back from the book. "I've got it," she said, nodding. She went back to the wall she came through, and heard the book closing behind her, the sound of the lock ticking into place and kept going without looking back. She found herself back in the second row of the hidden room and kept going, out the other wall and landing back in the library, heading straight for the stairs.
Once outside, she made her way to the dumpster and found Slim sitting on a folding chair that was missing a slat. "Where's Bernie?"
"Taking a nap," said Slim, hooking his thumb over his shoulder. "Being a large, furry rodent has worn him out." Slim picked up a yardstick and poked it into the makeshift tent he had set up behind the dumpster. "Bernie, your ride's here. Come on."
Maggie heard chittering and whistling as Bernie made his way out of Slim's nest, scurrying on all four legs. "Did you get it?" He got closer to her and waved a paw in front of his face. "Ewww, you got the gas bomb, didn't you? I was afraid that might happen."
"That's you?" asked Slim. He shook his head. "I was worried someone threw a dead animal in the dumpster."
"You could have warned me, Bernie."
He held up his paws. "I was following the rules, and believe me, these are rules we can't mess with. Even I wouldn't bend one of those. Harsh consequences. Did you get it? Come on, no teasers. Do you know how to find him?"
"I do and I get why there are rules. That's the worst of what was recovered from the library fire, wasn't it?"
Bernie nodded, sitting back on the ground, wiping his face with an old beach towel. "Those spells could destroy the ship but in a long, tortured way. Very little good can come from those pages, but once in a while we can take just a little and use it cautiously. Did the book demand something from you before it would give up its secrets?"
Maggie pressed her lips together, her eyes shining for a moment. Bernie tilted his head to the side, his whiskers twitching. "Yeah, I figured. That book's a righteous bitch, but it has a point. If you have hidden secrets and you want to use those spells, you put yourself at risk. That's the small hole the darkness needs to seep inside." Bernie got up and walked toward the car, reaching up for Maggie's hand. "See you, Slim. I'll bring you Taco Bell the next time I'm here."
"See you, Bernie. You're a good friend, no matter what you are."
Bernie looked up at Maggie. "That's a real friend right there. Doesn't ask many questions except did you remember the extra ketchup, and accepts me no matter what kind of creature I am on any given day."
Maggie gave him a sidelong glance, furrowing her brow. She opened her mouth to say something but thought better of it.
Bernie squeezed her hand, careful not to press the claws into her skin. "Don't worry, kid. You don't have to tell me what your darkest secret is. I'm not the big bad book and I'll help you no matter what. But you should tell somebody. The book knows what it's doing and if it made you cough it up, then it needs to go."
I miss my father and I feel betrayed by him. Who do I land that one on? "Yeah, you're right Bernie. But that's for another day. Let's go get Simon Wesley and arrest his ass."
"Really? No pew, pew, one good one in the last part over the fence? Fine, we'll haul him in and lock up the coroner on his old turf. That's something I suppose. Hey, can we stop at Taco Bell on the way?"
"We can do it after we're done, I promise."
Bernie let out a sigh. "Okay, but I'm getting hungry," he said, patting his belly.
"I appreciate the sacrifice, Bernie." She stopped and looked down at the raccoon. "I'm glad you're here, Bernie, even as a raccoon."
Bernie sniffed at her hand, looking up at her face. "Wow, that book really does pack a punch, doesn't it? Sorry about sniffing your hand. Raccoon instinct kicking in. You really can smell fear, but good news, you don't have any."
"Good to know. What did you smell?"
"Magnolias and a little sadness mixed with the smell of french fries. I knew you took some too."
"Get in the car. It's time to get Simon Wesley and make him pay for Lucinda's death. And I want to find out what the hell he wants with all those supplies."
11
Maggie stood in the center of Republic Park not far from her house. Bernie climbed up a nearby tree, causing grackles to take to the air. Bernie saw them take flight and let out a resigned sigh. He watched them swirl in a pattern before breaking off into three different directions.
"Well, that secret's out of the bag. Should have known my brethren were keeping an eye on her." He climbed up a few more branches till he could find a spot that kept him hidden from view, snarling at a squirrel who came out to argue with him, but quickly disappeared.
"First step... concealment." Maggie took in a deep breath and blew out streams of bubbles that swirled around her ankles, building on each other till they rose above her head, spreading out to give her enough room to work. Bernie watched from his perch as she slowly disappeared from view, his whiskers twitching. "Here we go..."
The young Elemental moved her hands in concentric circles, bending her fingers at the precise moment, following the book's instructions. She felt the wind pick up, lifting her hair off her shoulders. Tucked in her pocket, just in case, was the compass and her gun was holstered at her waist. "Tha an fluil a 'ceangal dhuinn uile. Thoir dhomh an te air a bheil Simon Wesley." She pulled out the small knife she sometimes hid in her boot and cut her hand, blowing a bubble across it. The end of the spell. Here we go.
The bubble soaked up the blood, swirling it around inside and seeping into the ground. Maggie waited, wondering what to do next. Moments passed with nothing happening and she reached out to burst the bubbles right in front of her, keeping her concealed.
Bernie saw her hand and arm appear out of thin air and felt a sense of relief wash over him.
The spell wasn't done.
Maggie felt the ground hum under her feet and a deep black ooze crawled up her legs, tightening at her chest and throat as a gurgle escaped her mouth. Maggie waved her hand more frantically even as the ooze surrounded her face and slid down her arm. Bernie leapt down, from branch to branch to the ground, running across the grass until he got to the space, tearing at the bubbles even as they burned his fur. Passersby pointed at the raccoon in clothes, applauding at the woman being drowned in a black tide, mistaking it for a magic trick.