by Martha Carr
Maggie took in a few deep breaths, letting them out slowly. Her entire body ached from fighting off too many things and taking in way too much all in one day. “When I got up this morning, my biggest concern was whether or not I’d beat Taylor to the Krispy Kreme doughnuts with the Nutella inside.”
“Those are good, and please note that parts of this day have been downright fun. Now focus, I’m trying to teach you something. All of these magicals are using bubbles to hide who they are. Simple trick and simple to spot. Concentrate and at the same time let go.”
“Do the opposite of each at the same time.”
“Exactly.” Bernie nodded, relieved Maggie was getting it.
“I’ll rub my belly and tap my head for good measure.”
“If you think it’ll help, but I don’t see how. Start already, I need to eat something, and we have a little work left to do.”
“I could use a bath and a soft bed.” Maggie felt her eyelids droop from weariness. Shake it off. You need to prove you’re useful to the Earth and that’s going to take a compass. “Okay, here we go.” She shook out her arms and shut her eyes, breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. Let go, let go, let go. Make sure and stop for cream on the way home. Nope, that’s not working. Okay, let’s do it. Billions are counting on me. A giggle escaped her, surprising her. That’s new. I could save billions. Can’t even figure out a date. Another giggle escaped her. Too tired and hungry.
“Focus on a memory of something you liked.”
Bernie’s voice sounded like it was coming from somewhere far away. Being at the beach and watching her sister, Diana dancing in the waves, laughing. She was so happy. She folded her arms across her chest and stretched her back just as a tingle spread across her neck and a cool, soothing thread of energy spread through her head. There it is.
She opened her eyes and focused on letting it go and leaving a space for it to stay. As long as she didn’t think about it at all and just noticed the energy was there, it was working.
“You’ve got it! I can tell! Okay, put out an intention into your mind. Let it know that you want to see who’s magical and who’s not.”
Maggie didn’t say a word, not sure if she could speak and hold onto the energy. She kept focusing on her breathing, noticing the presence of the cool energy in her head and turned to look around the large open room in the library.
The librarian who was still trying to adjust her tight pantyhose had pointy ears peeking out of her hair and luminescent wings fluttering from her back. Her eyes glowed when she looked up at Maggie and she smiled and waved. Maggie gave a crooked smile but kept looking around, not sure she should move too much. A mother with two small children looked perfectly normal except for the pale white skin that almost glowed and the silver hair that caught the light.
“That’s a witch,” whispered Bernie. “Somewhere in that book bag is a wand. Look at the man you saw earlier on the stairs.”
Coming down the stairs was the same elegantly dressed man who had nodded at Bernie. His ears were now pointed, and his eyebrows rose on the ends. He looked more closely at Maggie as he passed her and gave a slow nod. “Good evening, Peabrain,” he said with respect.
All over the library dotted in between the human beings who were reading quietly were different magicals of every kind minding their own business, going about their day.
“Those human beings, they don’t know there’s a small peabrain that could just wake up one day and flood them with magic.”
“No, a Peabrain kind of glows with a pale blue aura. See any of those?”
Maggie looked around. “Not a one.”
“You’re still kind of relatively rare. The only kind of magicals this doesn’t work on are Kashgars, tall handsome bastards!” Bernie pounded his fist into his palm. “They pretty much look the same, either way. But there are other things that will tell you if you’re looking at one of those traitors.”
Maggie looked at Bernie. “Kashgars.” The magic slipped away from her at the mention of the group that wanted her dead. Her mind started to put together a plan, stepping into the middle of a problem, no longer observing. She shook her head. “This isn’t easy.”
“It’ll get easier. It’s not about doing as much as it is allowing. Tough for a Peabrain. Come one, lesson over. Let’s go track that compass and keep you above the ground. I mean…”
“I know what you meant. Not six feet under.”
They headed back to the dump and found Slim asleep, tucked back against the wall where no one could see him.
“Make him a blanket from the bubbles.” Maggie looked at him, curled tight in a ball. “Do it.”
“You’re super bossy.” Bernie held out his hands and made his mouth into the shape of an ‘o’, leaning forward on his toes as he pushed out softball sized bubbles that knit themselves together in a dark blue translucent blanket, falling gently onto Slim. They quickly changed into wool as Maggie reached down and covered his shoulder. “That’s something.”
“That’s something your mother would have done.”
“Maybe, if she wasn’t eating one of her brownies.”
“That’s the kind of attitude that makes this magic tough to do.”
“Then, how come you get anything done?”
“Well played, sister. Are we done now? Let’s get outta here while we can.” Bernie rubbed his hands together, speeding up until they were a blur. Just as suddenly, he pulled them apart, creating a large, oversized translucent bubble that encased them both. “Hang on,” he said, grabbing onto her arm. We can take this one together.”
Chapter Thirteen
The large bubble quietly popped, leaving them in a dark parking lot. Maggie looked around and realized they were on the west side of the city.
They were standing outside the Galaxy Cafe that was doing a bustling business for dinner. “See anyone you recognize?”
Maggie leaned forward from where they stood in the dark in the parking lot between two pickup trucks, staring at the distant window. “Not from where we’re standing.”
“This is where the compass was not too long ago.” Bernie held the sextant up to the stars, reading the numbers that floated out from it, disappearing just as soon as they appeared.
“How old is that thing?”
“It’s called a sextant and it’s older than this ship. We brought it with us on the journey when we set out on this trip. A three-hour tour.” He looked at Maggie’s surprise. “I’m kidding, kid. Don’t you ever watch TV? Geez, what are they teaching you guys these days? Some good stuff on there. Those Golden Girls, they crack me up.”
“You get distracted easily.”
“Not really. I know why we’re here. I can multi-task, it’s a finer point of being a Huldu, especially when you have to keep such a large ship functioning as well as it can. I know we’ve had our moments but come on. This trip has lasted thousands of years past its arrival time.”
“Every time you tell me something it gives me ten more questions to ask, like where are we really from?”
“Peabrains? You’re from another galaxy.” Bernie waved his hand absentmindedly in the air, pointing in a due south direction. “Nice area, lots of places to visit. This was more of a long-distance trek that would have taken a dozen years. Hence, the big ship, top of the line and newest model back then. We were only supposed to be passing through the Milky Way. Not too many like to stop here. Too many of the destinations are inhospitable.”
“Until you took that wrong turn.”
“Don’t you start. There are plenty of mechanics who still like to talk about that little error in judgment.”
Maggie looked up at the night sky. “There are more of us out there somewhere.”
“Sure, as long as giant space worms or some kind of war or a weird virus didn’t get them all. Oh, this is the part where I give you hope. Sorry, really new to this mentor thing. I’m trying here,” he said, waving his hands. “
It was useful when the Earth was ac
tually moving through the cosmos.” He held it up for her to look at it. “It was linked to the inner workings of the machinery.”
“The parts you scattered all over the world.”
“Not necessarily. Frankly, no one has known who the Elementals are for hundreds of years. You’re the first we’ve discovered in a very long time. There could be two in one town and no one would know it. This sextant is what helped me locate the compass in your garage. I tried for years but no signal. Then, for some reason the thing lit up a few days ago and started spitting out data again.”
“What did Jack say about it?”
Bernie looked sheepish, glancing up at the stars. “I didn’t tell him. I know I should have but I wasn’t sure what he would do with it. The mechanics want to go home,” he said wistfully. He looked back at Maggie. “I’m not sure where home is anymore.” He looked around at the quiet houses not far away. “Who’s to say a ship can’t be home? Works for Star Trek.”
“That’s not real and you watch too much TV.”
“Details. But it’s still the same. This place has grown on me.”
“I’m going inside. We’re not going to learn anything lurking out here.”
“Hey, I thought we were sharing. What, no hug?”
“I’ll hug you after we find the compass.” Maggie strode up to the door and went inside, blinking at the lights. She grabbed a menu from a wooden holder by the door and glanced at it for a moment, looking up to scan the room.
Bernie was right behind her, eagerly taking a menu and walking toward the cashier at the other end of the room. A musty odor of overturned soil followed him.
“Hey, we’re not here to eat. It’s only 5:30.” Maggie tried keeping her voice low, smiling at the surprised waiter passing by. “Looking for a friend. Might stay and eat, you never know,” she muttered. She tried smiling and giving him a nod as he raised his eyebrows but kept walking.
Bernie looked back, rolling his eyes and turned, still heading for the counter. Maggie pressed her lips together and took another look around. She followed Bernie, still holding tight to the menu. “Stop walking, I have a date later. I can’t take time to eat.”
Bernie ignored her and smiled at the cashier and pointed to the menu. “I’ll take the Zocala Buddha bowl and throw some steak on top of there.”
Maggie came and stood next to him, still holding the menu. “That’s probably the healthiest you’ve eaten in a while.”
“What can I say? You have to adapt. It has cheese, meat, corn and tortilla chips in it. I’ll eat around the beans. Order something, we may be here for some time and I’m hungry.” He leaned closer to her and whispered, “You don’t want to see a gnome when they’re too hungry.”
Maggie stared back at him and he held her gaze not blinking. “Fine,” she said, holding up the menu. “I’ll take the same.”
“She’s paying,” said Bernie, grabbing the rolled-up silverware and empty water glass. He wandered off to find a table without looking back.
“Of course I am.” Maggie paid the bill and found Bernie sitting by the window at a small table.
“Best view of the room,” he said, hitching his thumb at the window. “And we can see who’s coming and going in the parking lot. The sextant seems to feel pretty good about this place. The compass was here for a little while.”
“That could be as simple as someone stopping to eat for a while before moving on, never to return.”
“Very true, and if you have a better idea for us to pursue, please speak up. No? Okay, then we sit here, eat something and see what the universe dishes up. Worst case, we aren’t running on empty. Best case, we get another clue.” He leaned forward and put his rough, wide hand on top of Maggie’s. “We’ll find the compass and we’ll find it in time.”
Maggie sat back, letting her hand rest under his. “I believe we will, I do, but no one’s going to make it easy.”
“Well, that’s a given. Oooh, food, at last.”
The waitress put the food down in front of them and Bernie picked the large bowl up in his hands, holding it close to his face, grunting and snorting as he ate.
“Okay, I guess we can take a short break for food. But I have a date in a couple of hours. Eat fast.”
Chapter Fourteen
Simon Wesley sat behind his desk in his office with the door closed. On his lap sat open an ancient book bound in leather with page after page of hieroglyphics. In his hand sat the compass, the five small black arms frozen in position.
He rubbed his temples, feeling the beginning of a headache and swallowed hard. “Ten years studying this thing, day and night and still the details get away from me,” he hissed, clenching his teeth in anger. His chest heaved up and down with each breath as he did his best to calm down. He ran his finger over each symbol, repeating each phrase. “One for each element of the earth, but the compass is the key.”
He poked the last symbol. It had always bothered him, never feeling quite right. “The compass is the key.” His eyes widened in surprise, even delight as a flood of relief came over him. “Not compass, not compass at all. The Elemental who holds the compass.” His relief quickly turned to a million thoughts racing through his mind. “The Elemental is the only one who can use the compass. Maggie Parker has to be willing to hold the compass and use it as a guide. Willing.” A chill went down his spine. “It’s necessary, if only she knew. We have to travel back to where we came from and return home, at last. But first I have to get her to come to me.”
He got up and went over to one of his examining trays, holding up the compass under a lit, oversized magnifying glass. “You hold the key to everyone’s future, Maggie Parker. You and this ancient piece of metal that has traveled through the stars. There’s got to be a way to convince you I’m right.” His eyes flashed a deep blood red for a moment, leaving him with a faint ache at the back of his neck.
He picked up his phone and sent out a group text. Meet me at the old location. He sent out a separate text to one of his longest followers, Raymond Twiller. He had believed in Simon’s story from the beginning. He was one of the few people Simon trusted.
Follow her and don’t take your eyes off her. Let me know if you see anything suspicious.
Simon drove around the back of the old warehouse on the outskirts of Austin on the southeast side. It was a peculiar thing about the bustling city that just miles away were open stretches of land and old warehouses of failed businesses. Simon was familiar with this particular one because it had been the scene of a gruesome double homicide. The land had sat vacant ever since and locals still avoided it. It was the perfect meeting place.
They were already there waiting for him, huddled near the back wall of the metal building, standing out of the cold. Simon parked his car and got out carrying a satchel. He walked toward the padlock he had put on the door to keep neighborhood kids out. The owner’s widow had moved to Boca years ago and abandoned the property, wanting nothing more to do with it. No one noticed he had taken it over.
He brushed his silver bangs out of his eyes, unlocked the padlock, opened the wide door and went inside, pushing past the dusty large boxes that had ‘48 Tools in One’ printed on the side in bright red letters. He went to the center of the warehouse and fired up the generator, making his way around the room, turning on a lamp and checking for any signs of vagrants. Nothing was disturbed. The wards he had placed around the property were working. He stifled a yawn, keeping his back to the crowd of twenty people keeping a respectful distance just outside the pool of light from the lamp.
Simon appreciated the show of respect, even expected it. After all, he held the key to the human beings’ deliverance, if only everyone would listen.
He smiled, his eyes still a cold, flat blue. “We are making progress on the grand operation.”
There was a murmur of voices and everyone looked around as Simon patiently raised his hand to quiet them down. He had waited so long for this moment, he wasn’t going to lose his temper and spoil it. “We ha
ve the compass…”
Again, he had to raise his hand for quiet, but he understood. He felt the same thrill run through him at the mention of their success. “It’s all thanks to Brother Frank Winters service.”
The thin, neatly dressed man gave a slight bow, brushing down his beard. His arm was tucked in a sling.
“But it turns out that is only half the battle. The compass is lifeless without its true owner, the Elemental, Maggie Parker. Without her, this great ship…” He held up his arms dramatically, stretching them out wide, “that we call Mother Earth is rudderless. We cannot go anywhere. Now, to a lot of people that would sound like the ideal solution. Stay with what we know! But we know better. There’s another place for us out among the stars in an entirely different galaxy.” He rubbed his hands together, pulling them apart to reveal an oversized bubble that grew to fill the space between them full of a distant constellation no one in their generation had ever seen. The followers ooohed and aaaaahed, their eyes opening wider.
“A paradise that is ours to return to and family lines that will welcome us back, if we could only get there.”
“We need to grab Maggie Parker!” An older woman with wiry gray hair dressed in tight brown pants and a short navy-blue jacket shouted from the back. “Make her do it!”
Simon smiled patiently. “That, unfortunately will not work, and besides, we know in the end it’s not necessary. We have the story, the evidence to show her.” He was practically shouting, his face flushed. He went to the satchel propped up against an empty blue storage bin and opened it, pulling out the old book. “This ancient diary tells our story.” He held it up gingerly, gently shaking it. “We come from nirvana where there were no wars, no famine, no floods. Of course things have gone wrong here! We’re on an organic ship that was never designed to be a permanent home.” His voice broke at the end and he had to take a deep breath and pause for a moment.
“We are the ones who have woken up and know that magic is real and human beings possess so much more inside themselves. We can show Maggie Parker what and who we really are as a group! We are all the evidence she needs.”