Friends and Enemies (Gwen Farris Book 5)

by P. S. Power

  That started a flow of gossip about her as if she wasn't there. It was interesting, since both Heather and Ethyl did it, and kept on when Beth came back in.

  Now she was a bit less than happy to see Kate out and about, it was clear. It showed in her stiff posture and in how she barely spoke at all.

  At eleven-twenty five sharp, which was exactly one hour according to the clock standing against the wall, an old grandfather type, Gwen found herself suddenly back in charge. Suddenly and without any warning.

  She cleared her throat a bit.

  "I'm back."

  Beth smiled and touched her hand, warmly. "Good. I'm still very uncertain about this. It could be a ruse, meant to allow her enough freedom to set something up. For instance, could she have been responsible for hiring those men? I mean, she didn't make the payment herself, which I took from her mind, but she could have set it up. She truly isn't a good person. You need to remember that. There's more going on here than you may know."

  It seemed almost out of place, warning her like that, Beth normally being a bit more trusting when it came down to it. If anything Gwen was the one that generally had to bring her buddy around to realizing how horrible people really were. Not that she was wrong about Kate. It just seemed... Like too much.

  'It's because she likes you, I bet. She isn't into girls, but she still feels that way about you anyway, so it's making her afraid to have me around. After all, what if I kissed her or something? Then where would she be? Left all wet and confused. It's easier for her to dislike me, as if my evil ways are the problem here. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Truly enough, it's a common enough situation."

  Gwen rolled her eyes, knowing firsthand how annoying that would be on the inside now. It was a theory, but not a real one, she didn't think. She wasn't gay either, but Beth was probably the one woman she would have tried it with, if her friend had wanted to give it a go. At least she didn't think she liked women that way. It was an odd thing, because she wasn't really certain, one way or the other. Most people had that one nailed down by the time they were in their teens. For so long in her life having any option at all was so unlikely she'd given up on ever having anything. When other kids knew what they were, sexually, she'd been pretty much resigned to being forever alone.

  It left her feeling uncertain for a moment. Thinking about it, she had to wonder if she was more into Bethany than a regular gal pal would have been. It wasn't like she had a concept of what a real friendship would have been like.

  Katherine snorted, in her head. There was enough derision in it she made a face in response.

  'I'm only teasing you. I know, I shouldn't do that. I didn't realize you'd be so interested that way though. I figured on more conflicted whining about the whole thing, to tell the truth. You do tend to be good that way, not understanding yourself. You know, it might be a good idea for you to do some things before you get married. If nothing else you could at least read a book on the topic. Otherwise when Christophe fumbles the first ten times you won't know that it's just him being inexperienced, rather than love making always being like that.'

  She didn't respond, even inside her own mind.

  There were limits about what she was planning to do in life, and one of them was take sex advice from a girl whose entire reputation was this world's equivalent of... Honestly, Gwen couldn't think of who she was like from her own world. It wasn't good though. Slutty, in a place that thought of that as being a particularly bad thing.

  'Loose, and perverted.' This got projected, a bit more forcefully than Gwen meant it to be.

  'You mean fun?'

  The bad thing there was that Gwen actually feared that she kind of did. She'd never had sex, or done a lot of things that normal people had. Not even a little bit of it. The idea that she might get to try it someday, frankly terrified her. Not because it would be awful though. No, that she could handle. If sex ended up being her laying there while Christophe did things to her that mildly hurt, she'd deal with it well enough.

  Pain she knew.

  Discomfort was an old and constant friend who never stayed away for long.

  The problem was that she might like it. Gwen knew that she could easily get a taste of that kind of contact and go crazy for it, wanting nothing else. That thought left her feeling lost. This time there was no snappy comeback, since the thoughts were hidden inside. That was her intent, anyway. It was weird, but she knew that Kate couldn't get what she was thinking most of the time, just like she couldn't tell the other way around. Both could make themselves known, but it wasn't the natural fallback of the thing. Otherwise it wouldn't be a fair and equal situation.

  The party planning went on, with Beth holding her hand occasionally, in a sympathetic way that made Katherine snicker a little bit. No one else seemed to think anything of it however, since women did things like that in this world. Finally though, she managed to get up from the table, and go set up her workout.

  It pained her not to do it, but she left off the practice of anything magical. Mona really had told her not to, for a week or so, if she could help it. Not that she wanted to follow the rules of that old bitch. She would though, since the woman was right. So she geared herself up in an old tan jumpsuit, slipped on her heavy boots, and went for a jog in the backyard, only to be followed into it by both Peter and Heather. Beth skipped out on it, in order to stay with Ethyl.

  She was a bit of a wimp when it came to physical things like that. It was almost cute, the way she made excuses. As far as Gwen was concerned, she could have just said she didn't want to. Bethany was an adult, and while being in shape never hurt, Gwen wasn't the boss of her.

  The training was still fast paced and violent enough to be interesting. On the good side Peter managed to hurt both her and Heather well enough when they practiced unarmed against him that he got to use his healing tricks too. It was good enough practice, and while he pushed into the realm of pain a bit, healing them a bit too fast, they were all presentable at the end of the session, which was at about three.

  She was hungry, so moved her head into the kitchen as she walked past. There was no way she was going in, being all gross and sweaty like she was.

  "Magda? I seem to have forgotten to eat today. Would it be possible to have some tea sandwiches set up? If it isn't a problem. Otherwise I can just wait."

  The woman she spoke to was a bit heavyset. Not fat, but round in a way that women here seldom really were. They tended to a softer look than what was strictly good looking back home, but no one was really fat. Not that she'd ever seen. Even the head cook was more of a square shape, rather than chubby. If she could have hung out in America with Gwen, the woman would have looked thinner than normal, for her age.

  "Oh, certainly my dear. For your friends as well? Would the second sitting room be good?"

  She thought for a bit, and then nodded. After all, they weren't going to be working on anything, as far as she knew. Having a table was nice at times, but it felt like a shame not to use the entire house. Not that they did, most days. It was just far too vast for that.

  "Sounds good to me. Thanks." She nearly asked when it would be ready, but knew the answer, which was before she got back down to eat it.

  The staff wasn't going to leave her hungry for too long, she didn't think. It wasn't so much that they were speedy however. It was more to the point that Gwen wasn't going to get herself together inside forty minutes. She had to shower, dress and slap on some makeup. That all took time, especially the last bit. She wasn't very good at it, and tended to skimp, but it had to be done. Each day, too. Going down earlier without anything on would pretty much be her admitting that she was sick. Too worn down to care about life. So if she didn't do at least a bit, Gwen would probably end up in the hospital, to rest.

  That was what she was doing then, when she heard the screaming start. The sound was incredibly out of place, given that no one was supposed to be undergoing any Westmorland training that she knew of, that day.

  Running, her
skirt getting in the way, she headed toward the noise. It probably wasn't sane, but she didn't even consider that most people would have frozen in place. The voice was male, she thought. Not Winslow, or Peter. She would have recognized it if it were one of them. Besides, Pete was in the hall with her, carrying a crin, before she was halfway to the stairs.

  Heather was behind them, having started her shower after they had, it seemed, given that her hair was down and all wet. She had on a loose shirt, which was damp too, which hugged her fit body, and held a PC in her left hand as she padded down the hallway barefoot.

  Not knowing what they were going to run into, Gwen started to call out suggestions.

  "Pete, stay back... and cover me. Heather, get about ten feet back, and stay to the left. I'll try to deal with this alone first. If the attacker is armed, I'll duck."

  It turned out to be a moot point.

  When they all got out front, they found that it was Winslow that was helping a strange man make the noise. He had the fellow, who was thin, and in a nice suit of shiny cotton, by the arm. It was gold and copper colored stripes, which made the slightly older guy on the ground look a bit like a tacky sofa.

  Winslow was using a move that she'd taught him, an arm bar with a wrist lock added for the pain of it. That part was totally working.

  Gwen stopped in place and held up her right hand.

  "Um... Charles? Are we just torturing newsies today? Not that I can't get behind that, but Will here isn't exactly the worst of them. I have a list, up in my room, if you're looking for something to do?"

  There was a grunt, from the butler. That was strange enough that Gwen nearly didn't get it at first.

  "This is... A private matter, Miss Farris. I'm sorry that we disturbed you."

  "Oh? All right. Um, maybe you should let him go now though? Unless..." She floundered for a moment, since she couldn't imagine how in the world the whole thing could be a personal thing. That didn't seem right.

  Selling information came to mind, if Winslow was trying to do that. The man not meeting the right price, might make that happen, but that didn't seem like something Charles would do.

  No one else seemed to know what to do either, but they kept coming into the front of the house. Finally, with half the staff standing there, Beth and Ethyl in the back of the group, Will Werner explained.

  It had already gotten his arm broken, by the sound of it, but the newsie went on.

  "I was just... Agh! Just asking if he knew about his sister and Katherine Vernors twisted relationship. Ah! It came up, earlier, at work, and might help me out of a jam there."

  There was a twisting motion then, meant to silence the man. It was pretty clear the Winslow did know all about what Kate and his sister had gotten up to, once upon a time.

  Gwen shrugged.

  "What about it? They dated. That wasn't me, but even if it was, I don't see the issue here. Certainly not one that deserves this kind of treatment, Charles. I know that Deborah is your sister, but this is a bit much, isn't it? She's more out than anyone else I've ever met here." Gwen was trying to seem sensible about the whole thing, but knew that it might end up being a real problem for them all, given that Will could press charges. It was technically considered wrong to suppress the news there, if you used violence for it. Even if the Vernors used their clout to cover the whole thing up, the man could just turn around and go on the air with it all.

  It was, most likely, why most newsies were still alive. It couldn't be how well loved they were.

  Will looked at her and made a face. It was much different than she would have expected. Annoyed, but not angry. Gwen would have been pissed, if it had been her favorite arm.

  "See Charlie? I told you she wouldn't be a problem about it. Why couldn't you see that before you broke my arm? Miss Farris is always so reasonable about this kind of thing. I have to give my boss something though, and it was this story specifically, or being fired for us being together. I rather need my job."

  Gwen felt baffled for a moment, and shook her head several times before she worked it out.

  "Wait... Charles, are you beating up your boyfriend?"

  "Yes, Miss." His voice was tight, and angry still. Possibly slightly embarrassed.

  "Oh. Well... Let him go. That's just wrong. I can't get behind domestic violence, even if he is a newsie. Come on everyone. Let's go inside and work this out. Peter, you're the resident healer here. I'm sure you can practice on Will." Then she walked inside, not even looking back.

  People were weird, so she really shouldn't be surprised by them.

  She almost always was though.

  Chapter five

  The thin boy, dark hair neatly combed, face washed to un-pimpled dewy perfection, and looking spiffy from his shower, if that was a thing, got to work right away. From what he was muttering it seemed that Will Werner, WGN Newsie in the seven o'clock time slot, had a dislocated arm, not a broken bone.

  "Which is good, and bad." The kid didn't explain it quickly, his face closing into a focused and locked expression. One that indicated he was working on a deeper level at that moment than Gwen thought she could really match. That the kid was able to do something she couldn't wasn't exactly hard for her to imagine. Her entire life had been filled with other people being better than she was.

  She was just about to ask why that was, a dislocation being both things at once, when he spoke, seeming annoyed. Like she'd already bothered him with the idea, or something.

  "It takes longer to heal tendons, because the structure is more delicate. Bone is faster, since throwing raw force at it works, as long as there's enough of the proper building resources in the system. That requires more energy on the healer's part. Really, we should just stabilize him and send him off to hospital for a stay. That, or kill him, and hide the body, since he's trying to extort us. I get reward time for this, right? That's the important part. I could hide the body instead?" There was a slightly desperate feeling to the words, as if he were a junky, looking for his fix. One willing to do anything to get it. Which of course, he was. Peter Westmorland was hopelessly hooked on the pleasure device.

  Thankfully the magical creation, a thing that she'd designed, or helped come up with anyway, wasn't a thing that was available on the street. If that ever happened, a lot of people would probably die. It was way too powerful. So much so that Gwen, who'd had a single ten second hit, one time, still wouldn't trust herself to have control over the thing. As it stood, she would have helped hide Will's body for the promise of a fix. That wasn't a good thing to know about yourself.

  Pete had been hooked up to the thing for hours now, if you added the time up. Mainly as a reward for doing what his trainer asked of him. It didn't really matter if it was possible, either. Once hooked, a person on the pleasure unit would do anything to get more. Including beg. Wheedling wasn't out either, but so far the kid hadn't tried that with her, since it wouldn't work.

  "Not for this, but if you can help me learn to make radiatives quickly without being tortured into it, or using the reward device, I'll make sure you get a full hour." She could back that up, she thought, but doubted that the kid would be able to figure out how to do it any time soon. If he could though, it might be worth it.

  He just shrugged.

  "Two hours reward time, and I'll have you up to speed in a week. You don't like sleep, do you?" He was being cute about it, she decided, but nodded back at him, which was pretty much ignored, the thin and slightly thin haired Will wincing in pain as the work took place.

  "Not so much. Nightmares, ever since." It was a statement, and no one in the room asked what the event was that had started it. They knew.

  Even the newsie had a good idea, she didn't doubt. Will took the chance to address her, through his gritted teeth, explaining what was going on. It was good of him, since she really wasn't up to speed on it all. No one else was saying much, which was a major problem in her life in this new world. Somehow, they all got it, or pretended to, and Gwen simply didn't. She was
expected to follow all the rules, but they didn't just let you know what they were. You had to kind of absorb the information as a child, she guessed.

  That was a thing she just couldn't match, not having been a kid for thirty-odd years now. Not that young of one.

  Will was a slightly gray man at the best of times, and had never struck her as particularly gay. Then again Winslow was actually manly, in a slightly distinguished fashion. An abusive asshole, too, it seemed, given how he'd just been torturing his boyfriend. Probably ex-boyfriend, now. That was sad, since it had to be hard to get together that way when there was such a small pool of like minded people in the area.

  What the newsie did well however was talk. He did it then, so clearly attempting to save his own butt it wasn't even funny.

  "My boss, Mr. Clements, found out about my... Lifestyle, and decided to fire me over it. If that happens I'll never work in the industry ever again, being a pervert like I am. I managed to get him to back away from that with a promise of having a story that was so big no one would pass it up. The thing there is that I really don't have anything, do I? I remembered Charles mentioning his sister and you had a thing once, a few years ago, and thought that might do the trick, so I mentioned it to Clements, if-" He was punched in the face then.

  Rather, Winslow had moved in to do that, with a speed that should have connected solidly, only to have Peter block it instantly. He was working and his job was to heal Will. Letting him be hurt more would make that harder. He might not have been the larger man, but Peter was several times the fighter that Winslow was. Given that Charles was ex-Special Forces, or this world's version of it.

  Gwen waved Charles back, before he pushed it too much and got hurt.

  "Easy there. We have a problem, that's all. I'm sure there's some kind of a way around this."

  Everyone in the room looked upset, including Will, but he wasn't even glancing at Charles, almost like he'd missed the idea of what had just happened. Given that Winslow wasn't an evil abuser as far as she knew, the whole thing had to be bigger than she thought, didn't it?