Snowbound Nomad

by Cassie Power

  After getting ready, sneaking a little so that she wouldn’t be seen too much by Dan before she was relatively presentable for the day, she managed to get cleaned up and washed. That took some work, but was needed. The night had been wild. Even after the magic and warping of her concept of reality.

  By the time she got back in, the kitchen table was set up with her breakfast. Dan’s as well.

  The look on his face wasn’t proud of the work that he’d done, but it should have been. Warm, golden pancakes, melted butter and syrup. There were eggs as well. Scrambled, but given they had to have come from a can again, that could be overlooked. There was no juice, but there was a large mug of warm, heavenly scented, coffee.

  “This is amazing. You do know that we’re dating now, right? You can probably get away without bribes now. Not that I don’t like it. I mean, seriously, bribe away. I shouldn’t have said anything. Oh well, I don’t need to have this every day, anyway.” She felt a little insecure suddenly, about the padding around her middle. Even if it wasn’t all that bad, a man like Danson Meeres could probably get any woman he wanted.

  Which made her want to wince about what she’d just said.

  Sitting across from her, Dan smile warmly.

  “Well… you see, I’m trying to make myself seem useful and common, first thing. You know, so that you remember the decent food when you see me changing shape later and remember that it’s still just me. My mind doesn’t change when my shape does. I’m still just going to be the same person. Just looking different. Like I had makeup or a costume on.” He sounded calm about it all, as if his imaginary ability or skill with impersonations wasn’t a big deal.

  “Got it. I’ll…” Taking a bite of pancake, which had some raspberry syrup on it she nodded. “How did you even think to bring this? Can you even buy it in stores? Is it a rich person thing?” To make sure he knew what she meant, she pointed with her fork. It was probably a bit aggressive, but got a chuckle.

  “You see, I’m really skilled. Well worth keeping around, just for my kitchen abilities. I warmed up some raspberry preserves. Smuckers, I believe? You like it, though? I didn’t bring any maple syrup. We can get some when we go into Copperton. In half a week.” He looked out the window and then shook his head. “Or in the flooding to come tomorrow. It’s much warmer than it should be. Even with the snow on the ground it’s already nearing fifty. That will mean a heavy melt off. It’s… I can feel magic in the air again. It’s being done on purpose. I just wish I knew why.” There was a shrug, and a look away as if mentioning the idea was going to shock her.

  As if she was going to allow that, a whole ten hours after seeing what she had the night before. In fact, almost grumpily, she snorted.

  Then relented a bit. After all, she’d styled herself a skeptic for years. Suddenly adapting probably didn’t seem to be in the cards. Proof was proof, regardless. What they had might not be scientific, but it had really been something. Claiming it wasn’t would be ignoring the real. That wasn’t a thing Merry Seaford was going to do in life.

  “That tingling? I thought it was just nerve damage. You know from the unrelenting ache that is my spine right now?” She managed a grin, then ate some eggs. They weren’t bad, for canned. Not that she was the world’s expert on things like that. If she’d ever had them before at all, it had been at college. In which case, she couldn’t tell the difference, truth be told. They tasted like eggs to her. Well done, but only lightly seasoned.

  There was a somber nod from across the way, and a sigh.

  “I just… You know, there’s a big difference between telling people about things and showing them. I can say magic twenty times, and you might even nod and agree with me, while thinking about how quaint I am in my simple ways. Seeing that kind of thing first hand… Well, the world is more complicated than most think. Not more dangerous. There are a few things that are, which is where we, my groups, come in. We try to protect people. To collect information and make sure that no one is put in too much danger. Sometimes to head things off before the trouble can move in.”

  It sounded noble enough to her, but Merry understood he wasn’t talking about dogmen in the woods, or the crew slinging bits of magic around to control the weather. It was about him.

  She nodded. He wasn’t really wrong. Odds were that she’d been sitting next to ghosts for a year and not really thinking they were real, since the evidence hadn’t been enough to impress her. Part of her really did want to claim that what she’d seen was something else, even as they sat there in the dim room. Lit only by the white light coming through the snow. Drips coming from above in a steady stream already.

  “This melt is going to make things fun today, I bet.”

  That got no answer, at first. When Dan spoke, it was with a shrug. That was a considering thing. Slow and pensive. There was also no looking at her.

  “I can do it alone, if you want? That was my first plan really.”

  Thinking about it, she nodded after a bit.

  “I can see that. It would probably be faster and easier, but if we’re under attack, then we need to stick together. I need to be armed, too. My magic casting ability is pretty weak, so far.” Playfully she focused and waved her hands around, as if it were going to have any effect at all. Nothing happened, of course.

  Except that Dan went wide eyed.

  Then he chuckled, softly.

  “That… Makes sense. You weren’t really looking at the world like that could work at all, but you can clearly sense magic. That doesn’t always mean you can do it to any real effect, but…” He stopped then and ate again, explaining only after a few bites. “Um… You just created a bit of light, when you waved your hands? A little magic as well. I mean, not anything big, but I could see it. My low light vision is a bit more acute than most.”

  She didn’t know how to process that, so rolled her eyes.

  “Mwa-ha-ha! See who has the magic now, right?” That was teasing as well, but got a wink back.

  “No doubt. Well, we don’t have to do anything about it now. I wonder though… Well, you work with strange things, and haven’t been getting a lot of them. Some of your coworkers are high perceptives, um, psychics? Only it doesn’t really work that way. I wasn’t kidding about that. It pretty much really just is being aware of your subconscious mind at a higher level than most. Really, we didn’t test for magic in any of you. That does happen. It’s hereditary, but if your people don’t use it, you could have it and never know.”

  “Seriously? Um… I can’t believe that one really. That magic might exist. Okay. I mean, I saw what I did, so it’s real. That isn’t the same as me being invited to Hogwarts, is it? I didn’t get my owl post or anything.”

  She looked at him then, which got him to wrinkle his nose.

  “You probably think I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I not only saw the movies, I read the books. They have very little in common with reality, but I liked them. They reminded me a little of the stories I learned as a boy. Only, you have to understand, with less ice in them. Harry and his friends were far from that part of the world.” He seemed oddly content then, eating in silence, his face mild, with brief interruptions to smile.

  That warmed her, deep inside her chest. Every single time he did it, part of her went gooey and melted. That kind of thing wasn’t normal for her. It was… So different.

  So… good.

  The food was warm and better than she’d expected, given their situation. Really, she’d sort of figured they’d be out at first light that day, heading toward the neighbors. That one of them was going to be the place they needed made sense. No human was living outside just then.

  For a minute she felt sorry for the animals that had to be in the wild, living however they could under those conditions. Most of the time she wouldn’t have thought about it, since they were used to it. The fact that the weather had been highly weird should mean that it should be for squirrels and bears as well. Hopefully, they’d be fine.

  The
food vanished, even if she wasn’t sprinting to get done. They did need to get out, as had been mentioned. When she was finished, her plate empty, she stood. Dan was already at the sink, using the metal hand pump to fill up a bowl with clean wash water. As she approached, he turned, hand out to take her plate and silver. Their hands touched as he did it. Probably on purpose. He was warm, she noticed. Even after having been working with the cold water. That part had been a thing that she’d noticed herself, earlier. What came out was close to being liquid ice.

  That got her to smile.

  “So… Shape changing? Or we could just go. That way I don’t have to call you on your, um, thing.”

  She meant his fantasies. If it weren’t just a joke or him trying to impress her in some kind of strange way. If so, she could deal with that. Probably by not bringing it up again. Except that she was her, so of course she would.

  Rather than get mad at her for not believing him, even if it was clear that he understood that part from his expression, he did the wash. All without speaking, using the wooden drying rack off to the left-hand side of the metal basin. When he was done, he took a deep breath.

  “I haven’t shown this to anyone. In longer than you’ve been alive, Meredith. In longer than this place has been a state on its own, not part of the Oregon Territories. I… Once you see me this way, it might be hard for you. I want you to see, but…”

  There could have been a thousand things that he might have really wanted.

  The first thing that flashed through her mind was that he wanted her to tell him it was all right not to show her anything. To just go on with their day. That was the sort of thing that a lot of people did in life. Not her though. Merry was, at her heart, a scientist. The kind of person that wanted to know the truth, no matter where it took her. If it meant that magic was real, or her new sweetie needed psychological help or at least tolerance, then so be it.

  “Show me? I’ll be fine, no matter what.” She grinned. “You know, after the initial jumping back and screaming. I reserve the right. That, or laughing. I’m a woman of many faces that way, myself.”

  There was a grin, then a nod.

  “Okay. But remember, I’m still me. No matter what I look like outside. The same person you know. I won’t do anything scary or too weird. I guess… Well, this is the most common one.” He went still, for a moment. His face blank.

  Then, a lot faster than seemed normal or right, he melted.

  Merry held her breath at first, since it was kind of a big deal. He looked like wax. Worse, or possibly better, he was compressing somehow. Shrinking and diminishing, until he was about two inches taller than she was herself. His face, after a moment, looked very familiar.

  Wrinkled, with dark black and gray hair, that was very thin on top. He was still white, but several shades darker than Dan had been even moments before. Closer to how Merry herself looked, except also a bit gray at the same time. His teeth were white and straight. Enough that most people would probably guess them as being fake.

  When he spoke, his voice was cracked at the edges. Old sounding, as if the man were in his eighties.

  Instead of the several hundred that Dan had claimed for himself. Which was probably right, she had to agree. After all, the man in his now baggy clothing had just changed form in front of her, in the full light of the window. Exactly as he’d claimed he would. That kind of lent credence to the rest of his story.

  “Like I mentioned, still me, Merry. Don’t get confused. Or upset.”

  She snorted then, feeling slightly abused by the idea.

  “Like I get upset? I mean, sure, if I spill coffee all over myself, or the batteries are all dead for the cameras, but over finding out new things like this? I don’t think so, buddy. So, can you do any other faces, or is it just the two-”

  Before she could even finish speaking, the man shrunk further, melting again, until he looked to be about twelve or so. This time with red hair and deep green eyes that reminded her of the ocean. He had to reach down and hold his pants up. That happened with a silly grin. Then he grew again, until everything fit and he was Dan Meeres. Not Danson, or she supposed Danny, the boy.

  “Impressive. So, everything I know is pretty much wrong then?” She sounded light, though there was a hint of annoyance on the fringe of it. She couldn’t help that. School had been a lot of work, and to find out that things as basic as magic and shape changing where real was kind of a big deal. It hadn’t been covered in school at all. If anything, they were the ones that had coached her to think it was all fake. Delusion if not an outright lie.

  She was still paying off her student loans, too. It hardly seemed worth it now.

  It must have showed on her face, since Dan looked a bit worried about something.

  “You… How do you feel?”

  She crossed her eyes then.

  “You mean other than the fact that the whole world has been pulled out from under me?” She stopped, then tilted her head from side to side. “Not bad. Honestly, I’m holding up better than I thought I would be, so far. So, um, if I’m signing on, you might as well show me what you really look like. I promise, I won’t scream. Unless, you know, it’s too horrible. Then…” She managed to sound goofy, she hoped. It was the goal.

  The words got a strange reaction. At first, then she figured out that he was just waving at his body. Like a person trying to show you their new clothing.

  “This is it. If I get knocked out or something like that, this is what I become. I hope it’s not too bad?” His smile said that he knew that wasn’t the case. He was perfect. Which was why she’d asked in the first place.

  If he was really the old man, or the little boy, then she needed to know that. It would be harder to wrap her head around, but for him, she would. That part hadn’t changed at all.

  “Neat. Well, this is what you get too, as far as I go. Except if I get knocked out drool will magically appear on my face. Now, we were going to go out and see the neighbors as an excuse to see who might be throwing magic at us? We should take supplies. That will be fun, I bet.”

  It turned out that she was secretly a genius that way. Dan made up a little pack for her, that had medical supplies, food, water and some survival gear she didn’t know how to use. A gun as well. A handgun, which was an older, black, nine millimeter. It wasn’t a rifle, but he had one of those on his own pack. They both had similar things in them, except that his weighed close to a hundred pounds, where hers was about twenty or so. As soon as they got outside, onto the melting slop that was claiming to be snow, she sighed. It wasn’t white and fluffy at all. It was some quasi thing that everyone knew, but only Inuit had a name for.

  It was much harder going than it had been the day before in some ways. Part of that was pain induced by her muscles as punishment for daring to move. The rest was just the traveling conditions. After they were halfway down the driveway she was already gasping for air. The straps from the tiny pack were a strain as well, through her warm jacket.

  “I am going to be in such good shape.” She didn’t sound friendly about it, but it was kind of clear she needed to do more that way. Especially if rescue missions were in her future. “I need to take up running on top of my gym time, I think. Especially if I’m going to be working with you on things like this sometimes. That, and get some time in at the gun range. The whole team needs to be doing that.”

  She hadn’t been invited to really do anything with him at all, but there was no way her shape shifting boyfriend was pulling some kind of women belong in the kitchen thing on her. Not if there were real uncanny things to find. Not just hints of ghosts that weren’t all that interesting.

  Dan was in front of her, breaking the trail. He was still breathing just fine, being a secret jerk like he was. The thought got her to smile when he spoke.

  “That sounds good. I hadn’t thought of that. What’s your plan?” It was just accepting that she’d have one, which nearly caught her flat footed for a moment. Except that she actually had some ideas
, now that she had new data.

  “We take the show into slightly more interesting things, for one. Not the heavy stuff, with killing or severe danger but there have to be… I don’t know, situations that aren’t too dangerous, but that also might be interesting? We can look at least. Get those other teams to help us on it. You know, if they find things that aren’t that big, but might be interesting. Not too much so, or everyone will think we’re faking it, but something along those lines? Actually investigate things that matter. Instead of making recordings of static and claiming to hear voices talking about cheese.” Her voice was firm, but that was her trying not to gasp as she spoke. Hiding her heavy breathing.

  “I think we can look into that. We’ll need to talk to the crew first. Part of what we were doing with them was having them go after the little things, so that we could catalog them. I have files you can look at though. Are you going to be directing, or just…” He stopped talking.

  She didn’t get it. For a bit she felt a growing sense of unease, thinking that she’d been too assertive or possibly bossy. She could be, she knew. It was a hazard of being her. Instead of asking if what she wanted was all right Merry tended to reach out and take action, first thing. That wasn’t going to change, either. Which probably meant they were going to have a fight over things, which was a bit soon, in her book. They needed to date for at least half a year before that kind of thing started happening.

  After a bit, he kept going.

  “Producing? I mean I’m paying for the show, but if you’re dating me, or at least the grandson version, then it wouldn’t be that odd. That could mean a little less travel.” The way he said it was strange sounding, which again, she didn’t get until he went on. “That could be hard to give up. I miss it. Being tied in one place all the time isn’t natural. We were meant to move. To be part of the world, not just sit and watch a tiny portion of it.”

  “You did mention the nomad thing, didn’t you? I kind of like travel and meeting new people, but I doubt that I need to actually change what I’m doing that much. Especially just because we’re dating, or whatever. That would make it seem annoying, for everyone else. Like I was using you to make changes. I’m not. You just asked if I had a plan. It makes sense.”