“No-Name…Charlie?” Roz echoed with sudden curiosity on her part.
“Unless he has a real name, that’s what I’ve been thinking about calling him all this time.”
Roz giggled mostly to herself. “Blessed Mother that’s cute. I would have never thought about that—knowing him.” Then she glanced back at her best friend and said: “You okay with that?”
Charlie grimaced in response. “Not likely.” He said dismissively.
“Not even a little bit?”
“I said no.”
Roz glanced back at Tillie Gunderson—knowing she was licked on this one.
“Guess you’re out on that one, girlfriend.” She said to her.
Tillie wasn’t about to fold on that front—knowing what she knew.
“That’s okay. I can still tease him about it.” She threw out. “Until we find out who he is and where he came from.”
“You mean in a pile of trash bags—strapped inside a baby basset, with a blanket and that ancient-looking pistol he carries with him now?”
Tillie glanced up at Charlie for a moment. “That’s how they found you?” She asked.
Charlie nodded. “I’m afraid so. I was crying up a storm apparently. Not sure what drew that Resistance patrol to me, but…well, here we are—seventeen years later.”
“Sixteen and a half.” Roz corrected again on the fly.
“Again?” Charlie added with irritation.
“Yup.” Roz decided with a malicious glint in her eyes. “I can count.”
“I probably was only a few months then—if you want to get technical about it,” the older boy pressed on while arguing.
“If you do that, I’m going home and you can have Tillamook here take my place instead as the guest of honor at your pad.” The other girl sniped with some annoyance on her part.
“I’m game for it,” Tillie chuckled with some girlish intensity. “Will there be any spare pillows or at least a blanket for me to try out?”
Roz said something in her native Elva language that didn’t exactly translate well to either ear. But Charlie caught the gist of it regardless.
“Tillie…?” He warned brusquely.
But the other girl just shrugged innocently.
“What? Is that a no?”
“…not exactly. Play nice. Please.”
Tillie grinned. “I am playing nice, man. Ask anyone who knows me. Heck, ask my mom.”
“She said you were a pest.” Roz fired off unhappily.
Tillie’s eyebrows climbed a bit. “That’s not news. I knew that already.”
Charlie got up from his spot on the bench.
“Okay. Time for us to go. No need for any unneeded blood to be spilled tonight on the account of a few misunderstandings.” He vouched.
Tillie smiled. “See? That’s what I like about you, Charlie. You’re a no-nonsense, take command kind of guy.”
Roz growled a bit at her displayed sense of compliments. But the other girl didn’t back down much from that thinly veiled threat.
“Minus your attack dog.” She continued to push.
“Tillamook…” Charlie verbalized in a final warning.
This time the teen girl did back down. She didn’t want to ruin any possible chance she might have with him later on, so she decided to cool her jets—and Roz’s—so another cold war wouldn’t erupt between the three of them.
“Fine. Fine. Fine. Let’s go. I still have to see inside your digs and see what my hunk of a guy spends his nights sleeping—?” She rambled on without thinking—knowing that everyone just heard her.
Doing so earned the girl a well placed dirty look from Roz herself while Charlie lead the squad further up the street and past a small convenience store—trying to keep his mind where it’s at and not on the brewing fight between two very high strung (and determined) teenage girls.
***
Jake chuckled as he took his seat at the table right next to his girlfriend and said: “Isn’t this where we last left off? We never got a chance to finish dinner last night—did we?”
“No. We didn’t.” Kara said as she finished serving what was on his plate—before taking something for herself. “But there are plenty of leftovers in the fridge in case you ever change your mind.”
But her boyfriend took one look at the magnificent feast before his eyes and shook his head.
“Huh? No. No. Definitely not. This is fine just the way it is.” He quickly amended, before he muttered the Maiden’s Prayer of Bounty on a ten second spread while he started cutting into his first slice of the pot roast.
Kara reached out to him then with the sweetest and most forgiving smile of the evening.
“Baby, it’s okay. We’ll say it together. You don’t have to rush it.” She said gratuitously.
Jake paused for as second—fork halfway to his mouth—in confusion.
“What…exactly?”
“The prayer,” the other woman said, composing herself and holding out her hands to him.
“So come on, lover. Let’s say it together.”
“Okay.” He said, stuffing his mouth for a quick second—chewing as he went—before he swallowed. “Let’s do it.”
Kara giggled a bit at his display, but let things slide for the time being.
Jake held her hands while he led the two of them into a one minute prayer of forgiveness, bountiful harvest, and an added prayer for clear horizons and good fortune.
“Praise be to the Maiden Magdalene.” He finished and sighed happily.
There was a couple moments worth of silence from the table—before Kara picked up her fork and knife and began cutting into her carefully portioned meat.
“I don’t want you to hide what you are, Jake.” She passed on in forewarning.
“And what’s that?”
“A devout Jesuit follower.”
Her boyfriend blushed. “Is it that obvious?”
“Well, you did try and hide the Fisherman’s Bible from me yesterday before we finally went to bed. I found it down below on the floor boards before coming downstairs.”
“So that’s the noise I heard,” he said with a small rush of embarrassment. “I wasn’t sure at first. I thought it was you.”
Kara reached over with her free hand and bopped him on the top of his head.
“Nope on both counts.” She said with a small laugh of her own. “But seriously, baby. You don’t have to hide your religious faith from me—even though there are restrictions on such here in the New Republic.”
“It would have been so much easier—don’t you think?” Her boyfriend postulated openly.
“No. What exactly?”
“Having the freedom of religion. Back in the old days—say…two hundred years ago?”
“Having such freedoms is what led to the decimation of the old society—among other things. Eventually it was decided to do away with everything entirely and start over from scratch with new laws and new instilled obedience in the public at large. It’s worked—for the most part.”
“Because of fear.” Jake implied slowly—before taking a bite of what was on his plate.
“I won’t argue that,” Kara said freely. “It’s helped solve a lot of previously unsolvable issues that had been plaguing this country for decades. Sure we have less freedom than we ever did after the Great War—but it’s a paradise compared to things one hundred years ago. Or one hundred and fifty to be precise.”
Jake shuddered a bit at some of those past memories. The visits to the state museums of history and shown a world completely split apart from the one they knew.
It was…barbaric to say the least. Completely unhinged and not even uniform.
Not like the world of today.
“I can’t imagine living in a time like that. So lost and alone,” he said softly.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure if people back then saw the world we live in now, they would be just as equally lost and horrified. In a sense, both are a bit of a culture shock and works both ways.”
Kara freely explained then.
“Because of what we lost? Or what we’ve gained in hindsight?”
“A bit of both, I’m afraid.” His girlfriend amended easily enough. “And it’s been going for society as a whole—even though we still share some noticeable setbacks with those we have strong disagreements with.”
“Magical kinsfolk?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you think we’ll ever get rid of them all? Last I heard, they are really that integrated into our society. It will be hard to weed them out—even with the new government run programs and those of the Regency Council.”
Kara smiled thinly. “I wouldn’t worry. Things will be well taken care of between everyone before the week is out. I have the assurances of the Supreme Chancellor himself on the matter.”
“Well, if Reiter has your back…how can things possibly go wrong then?”
Kara sighed a bit, before she sat back in her chair—her plate all but forgotten. Then she reached over for the glass of wine that was on the table in front of her and took a much needed sip.
Setting it back down, she responded flatly: “You’d be surprised.”
“Are we talking about that witch girl again?”
“Who else? Tillie Gunderson. Aged sixteen. Daughter of Arnold and Alicia Gunderson. No known siblings. Last known residence was somewhere in the Great Lakes area of upper New York state. Present address unknown.”
“But you never told me why she is so important…?” Jake questioned delicately.
“The Regency Council is the only agency that knows what they have in store for her. My orders have been trying to track her down and have her incarcerated. Alive if at all possible.”
“Alive?”
Kara nodded. “It’s a little insurance policy—straight from the Board of Regents. The girl must be brought in for interrogation and questioning. But if she resists in any way—?”
“—and she probably will.” Jake interjected quickly.
The other woman nodded again.
“I don’t expect any less than a fight from her when the time comes. She’s already proven to be a thorn in my side—having escaped from me twice in a three day period.”
“And…what about this other former High Witch? This Ashley Dietrich?”
“Oh, she has her uses—as a loyal agent to the Council. It was she whom first approached us four years ago with information regarding the girl’s whereabouts and her capabilities. Let’s just say that we were intrigued by the possibilities and tried every effort to get her.”
“Doesn’t look like you were very successful,” her boyfriend was kind to point out—even knowing that this would piss off his girlfriend to no ends.
Kara’s face hardened a bit into a noticeable scowl.
“No. We didn’t. Her mother was just one or two steps ahead of our containment teams. It’s been my belief that someone on the inside was tipping them off the entire time. Hence, our flushed little quail bird. But then, she vanished two years ago off the face of the Earth—only to reappear here in Old New York under an assumed name.”
“An alias?”
“That’s what we discovered last month. But by the time we moved in to get her—three days ago—?”
“—she ended up in the hands of the Resistance. The Underground.” Jake said in quiet realization. “And you missed your target of opportunity.”
Kara breathed out a small sigh of exasperation—before taking a much needed drink from her wine glass.
“Pretty much. Like I told the High Command…she’s slippery. But I’m pretty sure that both time and luck is on our side at the moment.”
“Because of the newly approved operation?”
“That’s only designed to flush her out. The city will take a beating regardless, but that’s all part of the plan. We just have to make sure she’s right where we want her to be when we drop the hammer.”
“A…containment net?”
His girlfriend nodded.
“More like a grid square several city blocks in length. But she won’t know it until she runs into it—which is why this part of the operation must remain a secret.” Kara warned up front. “Even from the public. You get me?”
“I know, I know.” Jake caved instantly. “My lips are sealed.”
“Just know the penalty for leaking highly sensitive information will not bode well for anyone—even those who are my boyfriend.”
“Military discipline all the way through. I like that.” He teased of her then.
Kara kicked him in the leg with her foot.
“I’m serious, baby! You go mouthing off like you did the last time and I won’t be around to protect you!” She bawled at him.
“I never betrayed any state secrets, Kay.” He said with a slightly hurt look as he bent down under the table to rub the affected part of his leg.
“That’s not the point. The point is that you’re supposed to know when to say something that won’t cause a diplomatic row between our two countries and when to keep your bloody mouth shut!”
“So? Everything was fine in the end. The attaché got it all squared away before we were due to meet up. I’d call that a win in my book.”
Kara stared at him for a second. “You fucking dumb ass…!” she fired off. “You almost had your passport taken! That would’ve stopped you from ever entering the country legally! Think of what that would’ve done for your operations’ contracts with the British Navy!”
Jake smiled even though he knew he was skating on thin ice with her at the moment.
“Yeah, I know. I know.” He tried to pacify to the best of his ability. “But everything worked out fine.” Then he leaned up out of his chair to kiss her on the forehead.
“I love you too, Kay Beans.”
But his girlfriend wasn’t in the mood at the moment—still a bit raw from the shit storm she had to go through only a year ago to the day with him.
“Fuck off.” She snarled bitterly in a visible huff. “Don’t touch me.”
“Drunk again? That quick?” He inquired playfully.
“Look at my glass you stupid ass and you tell me.” She invited then.
He did so and grinned.
“Doesn’t take much—does it?” He said straightforwardly.
“No.”
“Must be your dragon blood. It probably doesn’t handle alcohol all that well.”
Kara snorted derisively. “What do you think? It was your idea to buy me some rather expensive wine for dinner tonight.”
Jake laughed and kissed her on the tip of her nose.
“Only the best for my pouty, sexy girlfriend.”
“I am not pouting.”
Her boyfriend sat back down. “You are. You’re mad. Most definitely mad. Can’t believe it’s been a year since that incident though.”
“Yeah, well, thanks to your stupid ass, that cost me some credibility and some points with the Board of Regents. It took me awhile to get back into their good graces. And that wasn’t an easy thing to do.”
‘Well, here you are…a year later with a good thing going and a future promotion on top of that. Can’t say that was small potatoes.”
Kara slunk back in her seat—a bit defeated by her raging emotions.
“No.” She answered softly. “I suppose not. But you try that again and you’ll be feeling my wrath the hard way.”
Jake chuckled to himself. “Can’t wait.” He said with a bit of relish in his voice. But other than that, he shifted in his seat and resumed eating what was on his plate—followed by his own glass of wine.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Girl Interrupted
“Watch out for any loose soot sprites as you go in,” Charlie was telling Tillie as Roz made a big production of going in first as soon as the door to his single room opened up just a hair—before pushing it wide open; only to have it end up smacking up against the door jam in the wall.
The change in air made the teen witch sneeze a couple of times in passing an
d she remarked sourly: “Are you sure those aren’t dust bunnies I’m smelling?”
“Could be the window sill needs dusting.” The older boy remarked as he followed up behind the two girls.
Roz immediately took her rightful place on her best friend’s bed and luxuriated for a moment.
“Hmm…I miss this place already,” she purred.
“It’s only been a couple of days, Roz.” He said. “So sit up and stop acting like Harriet’s house cat.”
Roz stuck a tongue out at him as he went to turn on the space heater in the room and then turned on one of the desk lamps as well—casting a small amount of light on the immediate area in question.
Tillie looked around and didn’t see anything in the ways of a chair—until she spotted one of two work stools next to the drafting desk—which had notes and scribbled diagrams on it.
“Sorry,” Charlie intoned with some embarrassment—closing the file folder on the desk and obscuring her view of his upcoming work.
Tillie looked disappointed by his actions.
“But I promise I won’t bite!” she pleaded with him then. “I promise!”
“Maybe so, but I have a thing with people I don’t know very well viewing my work. It ruins my mystical vibe on things.”
Roz snorted when she heard that coming from him.
“Bullshit,” she threw out in his general direction. “You’re just a woodshop monkey and metal junkie.”
“True.” The older boy said without preamble. “But I have a special bond with my various projects.”
Tillie looked around some before spying the small pile of cut rebar on the floor.
Using a small incantation, she levitated one segment of it into her hands before turning it over and over during her own personal inspection.
“Too late. Looks like witch girl’s gotten into your purchased supplies.” Roz laughed. “Someone needs to put a leash on her.”
Charlie moved to take the six inch piece of cut rebar from her, but she smacked his hands away as she concentrated on the metal itself.
“I’m not done yet,” she hissed in annoyance.
Roz studied for a moment. “What are you planning on doing with it?”
Without looking at the other girl, Tillie responded tartly: “No talking please. I need to concentrate. It’s been awhile since I did this trick.”
Generation Witch Year One Page 33
