Six
Rain pattered on Ben’s face and he jerked to consciousness with a start, coming to instant attention and springing to his feet in the same breath. To his left Dan was laboriously pushing himself to his feet with hands planted in ground carpeted in wild herbs. His nostrils flared, taking in the scent that was becoming synonymous with the Mystery House, and he turned his head quickly, not stopping until his gaze fell on Ivan who stood a short distance away with his legs spread and his arms crossed.
“Nice of you to join us. Have a good rest?” Ivan arched a brow then smiled as Ben threw himself across the space and jumped on Ivan like a monkey.
Ivan staggered under Ben’s enthusiasm, then recovered enough to keep them both on their feet. “I thought you were dead!”
“I thought I was dead too.”
Ben suddenly realized he was clinging to his best friend like a sailor on shore leave. He quickly released his arms and legs and dropped to stand and scurry a short distance back. Reaching over he cuffed Ivan on the arm with his fist, a manly gesture that probably did nothing to smooth over his leap.
“Glad you didn’t die.”
Ivan popped Ben on the shoulder in return. “Glad I didn’t die too.”
“I was already spending your money in my head.”
Ivan shrugged. “I would have done the same.”
“Yeah, cool.”
“Cool.”
Manly proclamations of deep and abiding manly love completed they both shifted their gazes before it ‘got weird’.
To the right Gwen and Kim were sitting side-by-side. Every second or two one of them would lean over and nudge the other with a shoulder and the other would rock sideways.
“I thought you were dead.” Gwen muttered, hitting Kim particularly hard.
“Kind of thought I was too.”
“I cried.”
“Snot actually shot out of my face, so you know, I think you probably win the “stuff came out of my face” lotto.” Kim nudged Gwen back. “You probably looked pretty crying.”
“I cried ugly tears. Ugly! There was snot.”
“Snot twins.” Kim fist bumped Gwen and they broke into an impromptu shimmy shake dance that involved some finger clicking.
Prairie was lying flat in a bed of something that smelled green, making a green-smelling plant angel while staring at the sky with heavy-lidded dreamy gaze. Siobhan was crouched, gently tapping the cheek of a vaguely-familiar but definitely-not-of-their-party young man.
It took seeing the axe the kid clutched to awaken the connection in Ben’s head. Guess you lost something when you transferred from Real to Fictional and back to Real.
Ben went over and crouched beside Siobhan, “Hey kid, good swinging back there.”
“Swinging?” The young man blinked, confusion suffusing his features.
Okay, seems like Ben wasn’t the only one with a little disconnect going on. That established, he tried another tack. “So, what’s your name?”
“I’m…” another blink of confusion then a pointed look around. “Where am I?”
Siobhan slid in, “You’re in the swamps near Ourton.”
“Ourton?”
Damn. Kid was fried. Ben dropped to a sit, bending his knees and propping his arms on them. Hands loose in front of him he leaned back and applied a measure of the charm which often got him out of a situation or two.
“My name is Ben. This is Siobhan. What’s your name?”
“I’m Jack.” The kid stopped. Looked to the side. His mouth twisted to the side and his forehead creased. “No. That’s not right. I’m… Mal?”
The look he gave Ben begged clarification.
“Yeah,” Ben supplied. “I think you might be. Your mom asked us to find you.”
“My mom?” The kid’s – Mal’s – eyes widened comically. “Oh, she is going to be so pissed!”
“I think worried is a better bet,” Ivan came in. “Seriously. I think she’d call in the National Guard if she could. As it stands though she decided to ask my friend Dan here for some help.”
“Dan?”
Dan shifted where he sat and leaned forward to hold his hand out. “I’m Dan. I find people.”
“You find people?”
Dan shrugged. “Ahuh. So, that axe you have there. What’s up with that?”
Mal looked down, his look of confusion deepening as he shifted the tool in his hands. “I don’t… Uhm. I…”
Dan shifted his strategy. “Jack? Is that your axe?”
Mal’s expression cleared and his voice shifted into the cunning cadences that were Ben’s specialty. “No. It’s the giant’s axe. Stole it from him myself.” He casually lifted the axe and propped it on his shoulder. “Got some gold and a har… har…” His expression shifted, fear and confusion creeping in again and his voice went up an octave as he turned his head to look at the axe handle resting against his cheek. “Oh! Ah!”
When he made as if he was going to fling the tool from him, Ben reached in and gently took it from him. “Axe throwing is third-level stuff there. Not for amateurs.”
“What’s going on with me?” Rapid blinking foreshadowed some tears which Ben was sure the guy, not quite an adult but definitely not a kid any longer, would be ashamed to own.
Ben gave him a conspiratorial smile, inviting him to share. “That’s what we’re trying to find out, Mal.”
The guy’s features shifted again. “Jack. I’m Jack.” He shook his head. “No, I’m Mal.” Another head shake. “No. I’m Jack.” His eyes grew wider still. “What the fuck? Am I going crazy?”
“No.” Siobhan poured on the gentle feminine tones. Mal turned towards her like a flower to the sun. “You are not. We think you were affected by a very strong Magick. We’re trying to figure out exactly what and whatever you can tell us could help.”
Gwen got up and approached. “Can I?”
Siobhan nodded and pulled back.
“Mal. I’m a healer.” Gwen crouched down to be eye-level with Mal. “I can fix body stuff but my real Magick is with injuries of the heart and the mind. I’d like to try to help you. Is that okay?”
He nodded. “What do I have to do?”
Gone was the joking Gwen of earlier and in her place was an intense, focused woman who had learned to hone her empathy to a scalpel’s edge. “Just look into my eyes. It might feel a little weird but I’ll try to be quiet in there.”
“You’re going to be in my head?”
“Nope.” If you weren’t watching closely or familiar with her you would have missed the look of confusion that flitted across her features. “Not any more. Already done. Try again.”
She moved back to sit beside Kim, her expression benign. Kim said something quietly to her. Shaking her head and making a shooing gesture with her hand she mouthed, “Later.”
Mal dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’m not sure what I can tell you. I was taking the cow to the market to sell. We need the money. My ma’s farm suffered a blight and we might not make it to next year if we don’t get some income.”
Siobhan shifted a quick glance at Ivan who gave a nod. It would be handled. Siobhan gently placed her hand on Mal’s leg and gave it a reassuring pat. “Okay. That’s a start. Can you remember what happened after that?”
“There was a… I…” When Mal’s breathing picked up pace Siobhan gave his leg a squeeze.
“Let’s step back from that. How about what happened before that?”
“I had a fight with my ma. About…” His gaze searched and then his expression shifted and it was clear who talked next was not Mal, “I told my mom I could make the money and we wouldn’t have to sell the cow but she said she was done with my schemes. I told her I agreed and took the cow. I knew a guy who would take her as a stake in a game and I was fairly sure I could rake in some coin. I’m good at reading people.”
“I’m sure you are.” Siobhan’s smile was encouraging and her tone remained even. “And I’m hoping you can read that I need to speak with Mal now.”
“Who’s Mal?”
“He’s a guy with a mom who really misses him.”
“Must be nice.”
“He lives on a berry farm with her. They make jam. She really misses him and wants him back. Even if he made a bad decision that might seem like it can’t be overcome. It can be.”
Mal’s tone shifted again. “Do you really think my ma will understand?”
“I think she’ll probably yell but that’s because she’s been scared stiff.” Dan said. “But after that I’m guessing she’ll cook your favorite meal and try to tuck you into bed like when you were six.”
A tentative smile lifted the corner of Mal’s mouth. “I… I’d like that.”
“Okay. That’s what is going to happen. Why don’t we start walking back to your ma’s farm. We can talk on the way.” Dan stood up and offered Mal a hand.
“Okay.” Mal nodded and took the hand up.
The group fell into an easy formation, nothing very obvious unless you were looking for it. Gwen and Kim started ahead, arms swinging easily as they talked quietly together. Nothing to see here. No pressure. Just some people walking through an overgrown herb garden. Siobhan and Dan fell to one side of Mal, subtly taking the more shadowed side of the path as they pushed open the fence and entered the swamplands. Ben took the spot to the other side of Mal and Ivan and Prairie dropped to the back. In that way they subtly formed a circle of protection around the guy. Nothing was getting to him except through them.
“This place is kind of creepy.”
“You can say that again.” A quick smile from Ben and then an exaggerated shudder. “I come out here as little as I can. I’m only here because these guys dragged me. Also I hate to think of the ladies going into a creepy place without a man to protect them.”
Gwen flipped the bird without turning around and Kim held two down low by her leg. Ivan snorted.
Mal seemed to take this as an opening. “I like to protect my ma. Its hard being a single mother, you know?”
“I do,” Siobhan said.
“Are you a mom, ma’am?”
Siobhan threw a face at the ma’aming but smoothed it away to say softly, “I’m not that lucky, Mal.”
“So, Mal. Do you want the axe back?” Ben popped the axe onto the shoulder near Mal.
Mal gave a visible shudder. “Ugh. No. Those creepy ass people might come…” he slowed, his eyes going wide.
Ben remained silent, letting Mal process. After a moment Mal continued, “There was creepy people. When I got the axe and I got to the bottom of the beanstalk. Wait…” Another pause as his gaze darted around, “that wasn’t me. But it was me. But it was… Jack?”
Dan made an encouraging noise. “So, Mal. How much do you know about Magick?”
“I know I don’t have a lick of it. My ma neither.”
“Most people don’t.” Dan’s shrug suggested it wasn’t all it was cut out to be. “I do. So do my friends.”
Mal slanted a glance to Ben who obliged by summoning up a small spool of darkness on his palm. Mal’s eyes widened. Kim started walking backwards, giggling, and then clicked her fingers and a small flame danced from tip to tip on her splayed hand.
“Damn!” If Mal’s eyes went wider they’d pop out of his head.
Gwen popped Kim in the back of the head. “Less showing off, more looking at where you are going.”
Turning back around Kim snorted and almost fell in a hole.
“See!” Gwen extolled.
Kim flicked a tiny flame at Gwen’s face. Gwen puckered her lips and blew it out. Ben knew she had allowed the flame to go out – no way was some just blowing out a Magick flame. But, it seemed to do the trick, getting a snort out of Mal too.
As the guy’s shoulders visibly relaxed, Dan continued. “My Magick is nowhere near as showy. I can read stuff and do Magick with it.”
“Like spells and stuff?” Mal’s tone suggested respect.
“Like spells and stuff.” Dan nodded. “I think someone who does what I do messed with your head.”
“Why?”
“Don’t know yet. That’s also what we are trying to figure out. I think they did Magick and made you into Jack in the story for some reason.”
“To take the Magick out of the axe.” The certainty of Mal’s response caused Dan’s brows to rise. “The creepy people were real excited when I came down the beanstalk with the axe. They all gathered around me and started doing this thing,” he made gestures with his hand, like grabbing a rope and pulling. “And I saw these glowy ribbons come out of the axe and… kind of… out of me. Right here.” He pressed his hand to his solar plexus. “it felt really weird.”
“I bet.” Dan nodded. “Were there a lot of these people.”
Mal frowned, his expression clouding then it cleared and he said with certainty, “There were three.”
“Male or female?”
“They wore really big hoodies. I couldn’t tell.”
“That’s cool,” Ben said. “Did their voices sound like guys?”
“Maybe? I don’t know. Maybe guys but could be chicks. You know how some chicks have real low voices? They weren’t talking real loud and I think maybe they were wearing masks. You know those kind that cover your nose and mouth? Like in the winter?”
“Balaclava?” Ivan supplied.
“Bala..?”
“Like a ninja?” Ben clarified and Mal nodded. “Yeah, like that. Maybe. I think I saw them in the hoods. Basically I only saw their eyes but they were really shaded by the hoods.”
Mal’s expression changed and he said in Jack’s more confident tone, “They were in the story. Around the point I tried to steal the harp. I don’t know what made me want to steal a harp. That was a stupid idea. The gold made sense and the golden eggs were sweet, though one broke and that thing was just weird inside, like gooey and I think there was a tentacle or six,” he shuddered at the memory, then continued. “I really thought I was caught and then these three people in hoods were in the castle with me and they did something to make the giant go away.” He shrugged. “Probably magic.”
“Did they have books with them or maybe fancy pens?” Dan pressed.
“Not that I saw but, man, at that point my ass was just focused on getting gone, you know?”
Ben nodded. “One hundred percent with you on that one.”
Mal – Jack – held his hand up for a high-five. Ben obliged with a knowing grin.
“Were you there at the end? At the bottom of the beanstalk?” Siobhan asked.
Mal slanted her a “are you kidding?” glance. “Uh, yeah. I shagged ass down the beanstalk. Chopped that thing down. Dodged the giant and then cut that fuckers head off. Chop chop.”
“How many times?” Dan asked.
Mal gave him “a look”. “Weird question. Onc…” he peetered off, cocking his head. “Uh. Of course it was once. How many times can you chop down the same beanstalk?”
Dan nodded. “Good question. One makes sense. It must have been one.”
“It wasn’t one,” Mal’s quieter tone shifted into contemplation. “I remember dozens of times. But that doesn’t make sense.”
“It actually does. Here, kid,” he reached back and Ivan slipped a wallet into his hand. He offered it to Mal, “This should help you and your ma through the winter.”
“But I didn’t do anything to deserve this!”
“You did.” Dan assured. “And we want you to have it. We can spare it.”
They were nearing the outskirts of town when Mal’s mom came rushing up the road at them. “Mal! Mal!” Her voice broke. Mal shoved the wallet into his pocket and rushed to meet her. They met in the center of the street in a clash of arms. Mal’s mom stepped back and smoothed her hand over the hair at his temple.
“Where have you been?”
A note of uncertainty crept into Mal’s tone and he looked back at the crew. “I don’t know.”
Dan stepped forward. “He took a pretty bad hit to the head, ma’am.”
From behind her Ben pressed his finger to his lips, daring Mal to play along.
“I don’t know what happened, ma. Maybe I got rolled.”
“Oh no!” She reared back, then started riffling his hair with her hands, probably looking for a lump.
Dan spoke, hoping to forestall her search which would find a distinct lack of a lump. “We found him in the swamplands. He didn’t know what had happened. There was some suggestion of a foreign Magick being used on him.”
“Oh!” Her eyes widened.
“But they didn’t get my money!” Mal intoned, neatly distracting her with the wallet he pulled out of his pocket. “We have enough, I think, to make it through the winter.”
She took it with an exclamation of joy, running her fingers over the marks stacked within before tucking it into her bag. “The cow got this much at market?”
Mal showed some sense in making the right noises to convince her that, of course, it had. Ben threw him a wink which he returned with a look that spoke of a guy who’d done somethings that were on the shady side. For a moment Ben considered he might be looking at Jack and not Mal, but who knew? Mal’s mom had hinted that Mal wasn’t a stranger to bad decisions himself. The Mal they found dazed by his walk through Jack and the Beanstalk probably wasn’t a real introduction to the guy. Trauma could do so some weird stuff. So could Magick.
Mal’s mom turned to Dan, her hands held out. He took them and delicately squeezed in a move that had worked with countless other mothers of lost kids he’d returned. “Thank you. I… Can I offer you some compensation?”
Dan shook in the negative. “All I ask is that we can come and visit Mal at some point. Maybe once he’s over the trauma of the experience he’ll be able to remember more of what Magick was used on him.”
“Would that help?”
“Yes.”
“Then you definitely visit. Maybe next week?”
“Absolutely.” Dan smiled as she pulled back and gathered Mal close to her, linking her arm with his and tugging him from the group. She was already fussing at her son again before they were twenty feet away.
Dan tugged on his earlobe. “Did you notice the shift in personalities?”
Siobhan nodded. “You think its an effect of the Magick?”
“I think so. I have to think about it. Maybe do some research though I’m not sure where to start. Could be I need to go to the club and talk to some of the other Bibliomancers.”
“Probably a good idea.” Ivan agreed. “Not much of anything to do on with the description of the,” air quotes, “’creepy people’ but I can check with the constables to see if there have been any other reports of people in balaclavas and hoodies doing any kind of crime.”
“I’ll check my people too.” Ben offered.
Prairie, who had been very quiet for the walk, said, “There was something odd with Spiritis there. For sure. I need to,” she waved vaguely at her temple, “talk to some people.”
The glance Ivan slid her way spoke volumes. She smiled sweetly in the face of it, a rock indifferent to the tide that nudged at her.
Kim stepped up next to Prairie. “Do you want company when you do that. I’m literally as useful as tits on a boar at this point. I’ll feel like I’m doing something if you let me hang.”
“I’m thinking cupcakes,” Gwen added. Prairie cocked her head. “What? You think Kim is the only tit on that bull? You have a kitchen and I have a craving for cupcakes.”
She slanted a glance at Kim, who nodded in silent acknowledgment of what Gwen wasn’t saying which was that Prairie had a tendency to not eat. Especially when she did her Magick. It would be very easy for her to forget to take care of herself and then her Magick could hollow her out like a spider with a fly.
Prairie pressed a hand to her breast bone. “My heart has a tummyache and my head has a heartache.”
Gwen nodded. “Yep. That’s a thing. I gotchu. Gimme your hand.”
Prairie gave her a look to which she responded, “What? You want me to do that forehead smacking thing and holler ‘Demon be gone!’?”
A giggle escaped Prairie. “Does that work?”
“Only on your demons. Don’t make me headlock you.”
Prairie offered Gwen her hand as they started walking away.
“Well, we all have something to do except me.” Siobhan said. “How about I take that axe, Ben? I can stash it in the safe room where I keep the herbs I don’t want anyone accidentally touching.”
Ben surrendered the axe to her and they split up to follow up on their self-imposed tasks. Siobhan threw out a quick plan to meet up the next day at the pub where they could discuss what they found, if they found anything, and then they were off in various directions.
As Siobhan walked down the sidewalk, doing her best to appear like carrying an axe in the middle of the town was totally normal, she felt an itching sensation between her shoulder blades. Hitching her bag across her chest, she subtly slanted a glance to the left and the right, squinting to peer into the shadows between several buildings. Failing to see anything beyond the usual there she shrugged and started for home.
After she had walked away, the axe jauntily perched on her shoulder and a nod for the people who eyed it, a figure stepped out of the shadow between the grocer and the post office. Pulling off the mask that covered their mouth and nose they shoved it into the pocket of their hoodie and blended with the foot traffic on the sidewalk, just another citizen on their way to pick up some milk at the grocers and grab their mail at the post office.
And maybe a little ink for their pen.
Enter The Woods 