Upheaval!

by Deborah Martin

  “It’s me, Amy.”

  “Amy? What are you doing here? Where are we?” he slurred.

  “One of Marianna’s minions zapped me and Fudge with a sleeping spell. The next thing I knew I was here. How are you feeling?”

  “Like shit. Fuzzy. Nauseated but…hungry. How long have I been here?”

  I shrugged my shoulders. Then it dawned on me he couldn’t see gestures. “I’m not sure how long I’ve been here but you’d been missing two weeks the last I knew. Magic bounces off ogres. How’d they get you?”

  “I have no idea. One minute I was having a nice dinner with Marianna, the next thing I knew I woke up here. It’s all been a blur. Wait. You said one of Marianna’s minions. What’s she got to do with all this?”

  While I filled Ev in on what was happening in the outside world, he groaned and I assumed the popping I heard was his joints as he stretched. I was close enough to feel him rise off his cot but not close enough to grab him before he walked smack into a wall.

  “That bitch. I’m going to kill her when I get out of here. How did she get my signature? Ow. I hate not being able to see. Where the hell are we?” he yelled, his voice magnified by our confines.

  “Keep your voice down. It echoes in here and hurts my ears. Fudge says we’re in some sort of a manmade cavern, probably on the outskirts of the city. Based on his description, I’d say there’s a hole somewhere above us with a wooden cover. But there isn’t even enough light for him to see.”

  “You’re a witch, aren’t you? Can’t you just conjure us out of here? Or at least a light?”

  “So now my magical abilities are okay?” The sarcasm in my voice had to be evident, even to him.

  I heard him heave a sigh. “Where the hell are you? I know you’re near where I was lying and I’d like to sit down again soon. My stomach doesn’t like standing up.”

  I felt Fudge leave my side. “Tell him to get down on his knees and put his hand on my back. He can crawl and I will lead him to you. It is only five paces or so.”

  I relayed Fudge’s instructions and shortly heard the “swoosh” of Ev’s knees on the ground. Then came the sound of wood creaking as Ev sat back down. I continued to stand. It was as close to an unwashed ogre as I wanted to get and the ground was just too damned cold to sit on.

  “To answer your question, I told you two weeks ago I’d just found out about being a witch. I’m really new to all of this and haven’t the slightest idea what to do. I’m assuming Gregory would know, or even Cassandra or Tommy but I don’t have a fucking clue about most of it. New to the magic stuff, got me?”

  “I’ve never heard of a witch not born to and growing up with magic. Why you? Why now?”

  “How the hell should I know? Both Gregory and Cassandra tell me it’s rare but not unheard of for powers to manifest late. Cassandra said something about stress. Working for you is definitely stressful. So it’s probably your fault.

  “As we seem to have time, why don’t you tell me why Marianna wants your company so bad and why you fired me?”

  “Can’t you at least magic up a light? It’s dark in here.”

  I sent a mental query toward Fudge. “Light requires a manifestation of Fire. You have never worked with Fire and it can be dangerous, especially in an enclosure. One misstep and you will incinerate all three of us. This is why I did not suggest it in the first place.”

  “I wouldn’t suggest me conjuring a light unless you like to be crispy,” I told Ev. “I’d have no idea how to control the fire needed.”

  “Okay, okay, fine. We’ll sit here in the dark. It’s all fuzzy but if I recall, at some point, someone’s going to give us some food. I hope it’s soon. I’m hungry.”

  A hungry Ev was a grumpy (grumpier) Ev. I had to take his mind off food. “So, back to Marianna and the reason I was fired?”

  “That bitch,” he said again. “She’s been asking me questions about the company for weeks. The last night we were together, she was commenting about the parties and clubs I took her to. I don’t know, maybe she thinks the company is glamorous or something. Anyways, she was glowing about it all and the fact that I had the time and money to go partying a few times a week. I just thought she was interested in me when all along, she’s wanted to get her fingers into my business. Fucking gold digger.”

  I could tell he was fuming. I would be, too. I was, actually. Not only was it the principle of the thing, she’d kidnapped me. But there was an ace up my/our sleeve. “She can act the executive all she wants but she has no access to the money. Martin won’t let her. She’ll be hard pressed to pay bills or payroll unless she’s got a lot of her own.”

  “I know that and you know that but if she fucks up my business, there will be hell to pay. It took me years to build it and she can tear it all down with a few misplaced words. But you’re right, she doesn’t have access to the money and I don’t think she has enough of her own. Small consolation.”

  “We’ll get out of here at some point,” I tried to soothe him. “The authorities have been looking for you and I assume they’ll start looking for me. Sally would have noticed that I didn’t leave a note and I always do if I’m going to be out when she comes in.”

  “What do you mean Sally would miss you? I fired you and she quit!”

  “I rehired myself when they arrested Gregory and you turned out to be definitely missing. I brought Sally back, too, because the piles of work were too high for me to deal with alone.”

  He sighed. “That’s another thing I’m going to get out of her hide. She framed Gregory because he’s the one person who can find me wherever I am. I don’t know how but he can. I made the mistake of commenting on it one night when she didn’t like the fact that he was always nearby. I told her it wouldn’t matter how close he was.”

  “Big mouth. About my job,” I prompted.

  “I’m sorry, Amy. I had a run-in with a witch about forty years ago that…didn’t sit well.”

  “I know spells just bounce off you so what did she do? Hex your shorts so you had a permanent snuggie? Short-sheet your bed? Oooh. I’ll be she hexed your bed so you couldn’t have sex in it. Come on. Tell me.”

  “I…”

  His explanation was interrupted by the sound of wood scraping. We both rose at the sound and a little bit of light leaked in when the cover was removed. I made my way over to the spot and looked up. A hand held a lantern, allowing me to get a glimpse of my jail. Then the light moved and Marianna’s face came into view.

  “Good evening, darling. And witch. It’s dinner time.” Her voice drifted down. “I do hope you enjoy roast beef and vegetables. I can’t say I went to the effort of cooking it myself but it should be tasty nonetheless. I know the restaurant’s chef personally.”

  “What do you think you’re doing, Marianna?” Ev roared. “Let us out of here now!”

  “Now, now, darling. Once it’s an accepted the fact that I run your company, you can come out and play my husband. Since I have the paperwork turning it over to me, people will eventually come around. But that will take awhile. So, enjoy your vacation. I know how much you like vacations.”

  Ev roared again. I covered my ears. Fudge yowled. “I never signed any such paper. You won’t get away with it. Everyone knows it’s my company.”

  She snickered. “Yes, darling. But you’re not around to run it and I have that paper. So, everyone will eventually accept me.”

  A tray on a rope was lowered down to us. On it were two plates of food and a couple of jugs of what appeared to be water. One plate was much larger than the other, the smaller obviously meant for me. I didn’t see anything for Fudge.

  “Hey,” I yelled up. “My cat’s down here, too. Doesn’t he get to eat?”

  Her sneering voice returned, “Who gives a damn about a cat, especially a witch’s familiar? You can share your food with him if he’s that important. Take the food off the tray and eat. I’m not going to leave it there all night. I have a party to go to as the new head of Angelich Security an
d don’t want to be late for my debut.”

  While she was talking, I was trying to gauge the distance between the floor and the hole. Fudge had his neck craned, as well. It was probably twenty feet, which was too high for even Ev to jump. By what little light filtered in, I could see the hole was about three feet from the nearest wall. It gave me some things to think about. I grabbed the plates while Ev took the jugs of water.

  We quickly ate the food, me sharing what I had with Fudge, who ate sparingly. “I can go longer without food than you. However, I do need water and cannot drink out of the container. Please finish eating so you can use the plate as a dish.”

  After I’d gulped down over half of one jug, I trickled the rest onto the plate. Fudge lapped it up almost as quickly as the droplets hit.

  “I need to go, whether you’re finished eating or not. Put your plates back on the tray.”

  “Hey, what about a light? It’s pitch black down here,” I called up as I duly put everything back on the tray. “A blanket or two wouldn’t go amiss, either. It’s chilly.”

  “If you behave, I’ll bring what you ask in the morning. In the meantime, enjoy your evening.” She pulled the tray back up and we were plunged into darkness again as the cover slid over the hole. I heard something that sounded like a padlock snick closed.

  I yawned. All of a sudden, I was very sleepy. From the little light I’d had, I knew my cot was about ten steps away and I gingerly stepped in that direction. “One step to your right,” another sleepy voice said. I bumped into the cot, fell onto it and blacked out.

  Chapter 19

  I woke with sleep-encrusted eyes, a cotton mouth and a swimming head. It felt just like one of my rare hangovers but I’d had no alcohol in a couple of days, by my reckoning. Then it came to me: the bitch had drugged me! While I lay there feeling awful, I noticed Fudge’s body against my side. That made me panic. He’d eaten the same food and drunk the same water. Cats’ metabolisms were completely different from humans’ and vets were careful when they administered drugs of any kind. Was he okay?

  I started feeling his abdomen then worked my way to his nose. He was breathing but his nose was warm and dry. He usually twitched in his sleep and changed positions frequently. Now he was just dead weight. I immediately hated myself for thinking of that phrase. He was breathing. That was the main thing.

  “Hey, Fudge. Can you hear me?” I thought. No answer came. I tried the other occupant of the cavern. ‘Hey, Ev. You awake?” I croaked out. He didn’t answer me, either. I was awake in a place that was darker than night, thirsty as hell and yet had to pee. In a place with no bathroom, no privacy and definitely no toilet tissue. Well, I was apparently the only one awake so privacy wasn’t so much of a concern but location was. I didn’t want to do my business in a spot I’d be sure to walk in.

  Recalling as much as I could from the night before, or whenever Marianna had fed and drugged us, I slipped away from Fudge and started crawling on my hands and knees toward what I thought was a corner, cautiously putting my hand out in front of myself before moving. After what seemed like an eternity, I touched a wall.

  Just to be sure I’d be out of the traffic pattern, I moved farther along the wall four times the span of my arms. I tried to remember all the camping stuff I’d read about over the years (not that I’d actually done any of it before) and dug a shallow hole, using a little energy to help move some of the hard-packed dirt. I was discovering that magic could come in handy. Hating myself for destroying one of my favorite silk blouses, I used my teeth to tear part of it off then squatted against the wall and relieved my bladder.

  Once I felt better (in that regard), I retraced my crawl back to the cot. Fudge hadn’t moved a muscle. I picked him up, sat down and cradled him in my arms. “If she’s hurt you, Ev won’t have a chance because I’ll get to her first,” I told him.

  “I will be fine. Allow me to sleep a little longer.” His voice sounded far away. But I’d heard him! That helped.

  My head was clearing, although I still really wanted about five gallons of water to drink. To distract myself from thirst, I recalled what I was thinking before I blacked out.

  Like the ground back at the park on Lake Mille Lacs, the walls of our prison were mostly hard-packed dirt with some large rocks scattered here and there. The hole was about twenty feet up and about three feet from the closest wall. I wondered if I could somehow build us a rock ladder or staircase to the top with the surrounding dirt and rocks, while not collapsing everything on top of us in the process.

  Not having anything else to do, I started feeling around with my witchy senses. The “roof” seemed to be concrete then dirt about six feet thick altogether. I found plant roots in the dirt. In addition to the hole where Marianna had dropped the tray, there was another one some five feet away that felt like a tunnel large enough, perhaps, for a big rat. That curved a couple of times before it, too, opened to the air. That must be the air source. The curves were why no light came in with the air.

  As far as I could feel, there were no trees above us. So, we were in the middle of a field of some kind. I didn’t know enough about plants to be able to identify what sort of roots I was feeling but the word ‘grass’ felt right. I shrugged my shoulders to myself. It didn’t matter.

  I continued extending my senses. I’m not sure how far I stretched but I finally found a few tree roots. Then, a little farther than that, more concrete. I felt along the cement, trying to gauge what it was. A basement?

  I came back to myself, let go of the breath I was holding and gulped air. Even in the cool damp of our confines, I had broken into a sweat. This process was more difficult without Fudge’s help. I’d only gone in one direction and was already as tired as if I’d run a marathon. I would have dropped to the ground if I wasn’t already sitting. I continued breathing deeply and my heart finally calmed down.

  I was mentally preparing myself for the effort of trying to feel in another direction when a groan and a snort came from over Ev’s way. He’d apparently found his way back to his cot, too. “Amy, you still here?”

  “And where else would I be?” I grunted.

  “I thought maybe I had dreamed you up. Just wanted to make sure I hadn’t,” he croaked out. It sounded like he was as thirsty as me.

  I snorted. “You? Dream about me? Is that a nice dream or a nightmare?”

  “In this case, nice. I’m not alone in this godforsaken place and you didn’t yell at me about work. How are you feeling?”

  “Probably about like you. Hungover from whatever drug she gave us and thirsty as hell. She said something about breakfast. I wonder if and when that will be.”

  “No idea. I have no idea what time it is, much less what day. I just eat, drink, pee and sleep. What are you doing?”

  “Oh, come on Ev. I’m in a dark hole. What do you think I’m doing? I’m sitting on my cot, holding Fudge and trying to think of a way out of here.”

  I heard joints popping. He was moving around. “Is your cat okay? He ate and drank the same stuff we did.”

  “He’s not entirely okay but says he will be. He’s breathing but his nose is warm and dry.”

  I heard an intake of breath. “He says he’ll be okay? Your cat talks?”

  I sighed. “It’s that witch stuff again. As I told you, Fudge is my familiar. He’s apparently old enough to have mastered the art of talking to me – in my mind. So yes, he talks. In a way.”

  “What else can he – and you – do?”

  “I’m just learning all this, remember? I know I can feel the earth around me and to some extent, move it. While you’ve been sleeping, I’ve been checking out our surroundings as best I can. I’m pretty sure we’re in the middle of a field somewhere and about six feet down. Beyond that, I’m not sure of anything. I’ve been waiting for Fudge to feel better and wake up to see if he’s got any bright ideas. He’s the one with all the centuries of knowledge.”

  “I’d kill for a drink of water right now,” came the exasperated reply. �
��Can you find water?”

  “There’s water in the dirt surrounding us but I haven’t a clue how to draw it out. Or get enough to drink. Water isn’t my element. I’m as thirsty as you are. Try not to think about it. Especially don’t talk about it or I’ll keep thinking about it. What else should we discuss?”

  Ev was silent for a few minutes then said, “Um, can I offer your job back? Officially, I mean. I know you rehired yourself but I want you to know I’d like you back when we get out of here.”

  I grinned into the darkness. “Even though I’m a witch? I thought you couldn’t work with a witch.”

  “I’ve had time to think about it. A lot of time. At least I think it’s a lot of time. She must have cut back on whatever drug she’s been giving me because this is the most awake I’ve felt since I’ve been here. Anyways, as long as you don’t turn any employees or clients into toads or burn them to ashes, I think things ought to go back to the way they were. We work well together, don’t we? I mean, you taking care of the details and me doing the people stuff?”

  I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to hear him grovel some more. While I waited, I stroked Fudge. His tail twitched against my arm. That was a good sign – he was starting to wake.

  “Oh, come on Amy. If you felt strongly enough about the company to go back in when you found out I was missing, you must want to go back to it permanently. Don’t you? Say something, please?”

  “I’m thinking,” I said. “I only went back because I didn’t like the thought of what I’d worked hard on going down the toilet while you were gone. But I have options. I’m considering them.”

  “What do you want? A raise? A big bonus? I’ll buy your apartment building from James and put it in your name if that’ll make you happy. Or I’ll buy you a house of your own. What will it take?”

  He was being very uncharacteristic. He didn’t usually grovel and the few times he had, he didn’t do it nearly this well. I let him stew a little longer, wondering if he’d agree to my just-thought-of condition. Finally, I said, “Okay, I’ll come back permanently. But Sally and Gregory get their jobs back, too, with no repercussions.”