Burned to a Crisp

by K A Miltimore

  “I will return.” Almost immediately, the voice that had so lovingly caressed her now turned to a shriek in her mind. The salt grew harder on her skin, dragging her down, making it hard to move her body. It thickened and dried into an armor, making her heavy as a stone.

  “Your place is here, with the undine.” The voice hissed at her and she felt herself struggling to rise against the weight.

  “You said I had a choice! You said I could return.” She tried to thrash, to move her arms but they felt glued inside the cast of salt.

  “Your choice is wrong, little undine. We will choose for you.” The voice seemed to wrap itself around her and the weight of the salt seemed unbreakable.

  With every ounce of strength she had, Ana began to force the water inside her body to flow out of her pores, pushing against the salt that encased her. The water, full of the Artemis poison could not be released; it was blocked by the force of the lake and her skin of salt. Anahita pushed as hard as she could muster.

  She felt the cracking as the casing began to break and the water from inside her joined the water of the lake. She knew she wouldn’t be able to rise and leave the water if she didn’t push out the last drop of the watery poison from her body and so she continued to force it from her pores, squeezing out the very thing that kept her alive to rejoin the light.

  “You will die, undine. You cannot live without water in your body, you who are a creature of water.” The voice hissed again but this time with a note of fear.

  “I will replenish, I will renew with the water of a new home, of a new place, with those who love me.” Ana felt her body begin to rise, the last crumbs of salt releasing their grip on her skin and the weight leaving her limbs. She felt the grip of the water lessen and release her, even as she felt the last of the water leave her body, leaving her breathless and drowning in dryness.

  Ana managed to break the surface of the water in the tub, forcing her arms up to the porcelain edge. She was so weak, she could barely hold herself from falling back into the water. She didn’t think she could make it to the shower to restore the water she so desperately needed.

  “Mel,” she called weakly, afraid that her voice wouldn’t be heard. But the sound carried just far enough and Mel hurried into the bathroom.

  “Ana,” Mel came toward her, appalled at how weak and drawn she looked, ashen gray and pale.

  “The shower, help me.” Ana tried to rise again but couldn’t. Somehow Mel knew what she was trying to do. She came behind her and lifted her from under her arms. She felt almost light in her arms, with a kind of dried husk weightlessness. Mel helped Ana into the glass shower that stood next to the tub and she hurriedly turned on the faucet, flowing a flood of water over both Ana and herself. She held Ana up, keeping her facing the water and bracing her so she didn’t fall. The water was cold but Mel didn’t feel it. All she felt was the frail and weak frame of Ana leaning against her and that Mel had to be strong.

  Moments passed and she felt Ana stir in her arms, starting to stand on her own feet strongly and lean less on Mel. Ana opened her mouth and let the water cascade down her throat. She blinked away the last traces of salt that clung to her eyelashes. She let the water pool around her feet and she felt her skin breathing in all the water and oxygen around her.

  “Thank you, Mel.” Ana’s voice was still dry and strained but the color had come back to her face and she seemed to be stronger. She reached out and gently turned off the faucet, letting the last of the water drip down the drain.

  “Are you alright now?” She loosened her grip around Ana and suddenly became aware that she was soaked to the skin in her clothes and Ana was completely naked. Mel kept her gaze looking up at the pale blue ceiling.

  “Yes, I think I am. It was…difficult but the poison is out of my body, and now most of it is bound to the salt crystals.” Ana took a step out of the shower, reaching for the large towel on the rack, wrapping it around herself before she turned back to face Mel. “I cannot thank you enough. I was not strong enough to make the final steps without you.”

  “I am glad I could help. And I am so glad you are alright.” Mel stepped out of the shower, squelching in her Converse shoes and soaking the floor with the drip of her denim coat.

  “We better get you something dry to wear. And I need Bren to help us get rid of the poisoned salt and the bathwater.” Mel began to shed the wet coat, throwing it into the shower, as Hedy came into the bathroom, with Bren and Darro behind her.

  “Everything alright?” Hedy looked at Mel shivering in her wet clothes and then Ana, looking exhausted but alive.

  “Yes, all is well now. Thanks to Mel. But we need to get her some dry clothes and we’ll need Bren to help us clean up this mess."

  “We can manage all that. Mel, come with me and let’s get you changed. Ana, there is a robe hanging behind the door if you’d like. Come get Bren when you are ready.” Hedy led the soaking wet girl from the bathroom and ushered the men out of the room into the hall.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Ana called to Bren once she had the robe wrapped around her and she had taken a moment to savor the fact that she was alive. Bren came back to the room and gripped the edge of the tub, warming the air and the metal of the cast iron tub just enough to cause the bathwater to evaporate. Ana would never have thought having a salamander in the house would come in so handy.

  “I haven’t thanked you yet. You saved me. Twice, really. You had every reason not to, after I accused you and pried into your life. So, thank you.” Ana sat on the closed lid of the toilet as the last of the water evaporated into harmless steam, with most of the poison trapped in the remnants of salt at the bottom of the tub. He cupped the salt in his hands and melted the crystals into a puff of air.

  “There is no need to thank me. I did what anyone would have done.” He turned to face her and perched against the edge of the tub, the warm metal not bothering him.

  “You saved Jeffries from the fire and he was the only one who could tell where we were taken. Anyone else would have left him to burn and saved themselves. And you came to the cabin and helped Hedy rescue me. If you hadn’t come, things would have ended very differently. So please, let me just say thank you and to apologize again for doubting you. As you can imagine, trusting a salamander might not be my first instinct.” Ana smiled softly.

  “Alright, I accept your apology, Anahita of the undines. There, very formally and with respect, I have accepted both your apology and your thanks. Now, can we get out of here? I’m starving.”

  “Me too, strangely. And really thirsty.”

  “This calls for whiskey. Some good stuff, I bet Darro has some Glenlivet in that truck of his.” Ana and Bren left the bathroom and headed downstairs to join the others, who were clearly cooking up something if the smells were to be believed.

  “Oh, that smells like something wonderful, I am so hungry.” Bren was the first to comment as they entered the kitchen. Mel and Darro were at the table and Hedy had a huge enameled cast-iron pot on the potbelly stove.

  “Nothing fancy, but some lasagna soup and crusty bread. Vanquishing evil calls for cheese, pasta and soup. It will be ready in a few minutes, have a seat.” Bren found a spot between Darro and a rather taciturn looking chinchilla, while Ana took the empty chair next to Mel. She had barely sat down before Mel wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

  “Is anyone gonna explain why a rodent is at table?” Darro looked at the chinchilla and around the room at the smiling faces, all clearly in on the joke as far as he could tell.

  “Oh, you’ve done it now, Darro. Maurice will never let us hear the end of it after being called a rodent.” Hedy laughed and Darro looked at her with consternation.

  “I dunna know what you mean by ‘hear the end of it’ but it's got eyes as black as the Earl of Hell’s waistcoat and it is staring at me. I don’t like it a bit.” At this, Maurice gave him a disgusted stare and hopped from the table in a huff. The group broke out in laughter, all except poor Darro.
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  “We’ll tell you later, old boy. Let’s have a drink of whiskey and celebrate that we are all still here amongst the living.” Bren took a bottle of Johnny Walker down from the shelf - it was no Glenlivet but it would do - and poured out a small glass for everyone, even the minor, Mel.

  “Lang may yur lum reek!” Darro toasted the group and to that the group said cheers before tossing back the whiskey. Mel could be heard sputtering in the corner and though it tasted terrible, she liked the warmth as it spread down to her belly.

  “Alright, before we get too carried away with this party, I need a few questions answered.” Darro was already holding his glass aloft for Bren to refill, who obliged.

  “How did you know where to find that old git’s cabin? He didn’t say anything to Bren when he came out of the fire.”

  Mel chimed in, placing her glass down on the table, upside down. “We tried to look up property records under his name but no cabin came up. If Hedy hadn’t told me to look up the name ‘Wilkerson’, we never would have found it. How did you know his name?”

  “Adelaide told me. I guess she is speaking to me again.” Hedy said simply.

  “Wilkerson, George Wilkerson, that was the name we found at the library, the one who was the suspect in the death in this house, back in the 1920s. Wilkerson must have been Jeffries’ grandfather.” Ana said, shivering, even in the warmth of the kitchen.

  “Rotten fruit doesn’t fall far from that old tree, does it? I haven’t met whoever this Adelaide is, but I’d say we all owe her a dram of whiskey as well.” Darro swallowed the second shot of whiskey, hoisting his glass in the air in salute to the unknown Adelaide. Again, the group broke out in laughter.

  “I must be missing out on all the jokes around this place.” Rising from his chair, he snatched an end off the loaf of bread on the counter before Hedy could stop him.

  “Don’t worry, Darro. We will fill you in on everything you have missed.” Hedy poured in a mix of dried basil and oregano into the pot and room was full of the savory herbal scent that made everyone’s stomach growl.

  “I wasn’t at the cabin, Hedy thought I should stay away, but how did you all get away from Lyssa? What happened to her?” Mel hadn’t had the chance to ask anyone until then but she really wanted to know.

  “Hedy managed to wound her, with that knife she brought. That thing seemed to have made a big wound for such a small blade. I’m guessing there is a story to that as well.” Bren poured himself a bit more whiskey and offered the bottle to Ana, who surprisingly also took a bit more.

  “That knife is actually mildly famous, for those who have read the Grimm fairy tales. It is mentioned in a tale called The Hand in the Rock. It’s not a very famous story, and really not a very good one either, but the knife once belonged to an elf who would offer it to the girl he loved as she went every day to cut peat for her cruel stepmother. The blade could cut through anything. It’s been in my family since before the days of the Grimms; supposedly my ancestor was the girl who received the blade, but who really knows. I took a chance that it would work on someone like Lyssa.”

  “An elfish knife? Fairy stories? You all are daft, no mistake. No wonder you have rodents at table for supper.” Darro was shaking his head, clearly missing key elements to what had been happening over the last several days.

  “So, you wounded her but what happened to her? Did she run away?” Mel was worried that Lyssa might come back and try to harm Ana again.

  “Honestly, I don’t know. One minute she was there and the next she was gone, melting into the night. We never saw her go.” Hedy stirred the soup clockwise, careful to avoid going the other way to avoid bad luck, because goodness knows they didn’t need to push it.

  “Well, let’s hope that is the last we see of her. Maybe the wound was fatal.” Bren gratefully took a bowl of the soup from Hedy, already planning his second helping. The worries of the forest and Greek demi-goddesses and arsonists were very far from the warm kitchen and the hot soup.

  “I can think of someone I’d like to see the last of.” Maurice chimed in from around the corner and Darro spilled nearly all his soup on his chest, howling as he did so.

  ✽✽✽

  After more soup, whiskey and several explanations about the nature of the house for Darro, everyone was ready to sleep. Mel had called her mother and let her know she was spending the night at her friend’s house; she wasn’t willing to go home just yet, not with the danger so recent. Darro too decided it was wiser to sleep on a sofa given the number of whiskeys he had consumed. He was serenading the house with a Scottish lullaby as he made his way to the sofa.

  “Sweet the lavrock sings at morn,

  Heraldin' in a bright new dawn.

  Wee lambs, they coorie doon taegether

  Alang with their ewies in the heather.”

  They heard Zelda hiss and Darro mumble apologies for no doubt stepping on her, before he started in on another refrain.

  “The man sings like a bagpipe. Oof.” Bren was relieved when Hedy closed the pocket door that lead from the kitchen to the shop, thereby effectively muffling the song. The girls had made their way upstairs, exhausted and grateful to be safe and together.

  “You do provide your guests with excitement, Miss Leckermaul. I should be sure to let the Concierge know that for the next traveler.” Bren was standing at her elbow by the sink, ready to dry the next dish that came out of the water with the warmth of his hands.

  “Full service establishment here, sir. Bed, breakfast, kidnapping and arson. We aim to please.” Hedy handed him the heavy pot and he had it dry in only a few moments. “Neat trick. Very handy.”

  He smiled and set the pot on the counter as she washed a platter.

  “But seriously, I know Mel was thinking about it but what happens if Lyssa comes back.” Hedy passed the platter to Bren and drained the water from the sink.

  “I don’t really know. I’ve already told the Concierge not to send any more travelers for now. I don’t know if the risk is over or not. She might be dead, she might not, and I guess I’ll just have to watch out for her until enough time has passed that I feel it is safe for visitors again. Not a very precise answer, I know.”

  “She looked like she was mortally wounded. That knife did a nasty cut to her side and even someone, something like Lyssa, likely couldn’t withstand that.”

  “I don’t know, I’ve never encountered a being like her. Sure, I’ve met plenty of travelers; nixies, sprites, a troll or two, a lycanthrope, and of course others of a more sinister nature, but never one that I truly felt would do me real harm, and harm to others.” Hedy dried her hands on the edges of her apron and carefully hung it by the potbelly stove to dry. Alice was lightly whistling in her sleep from her perch.

  “This was definitely a first for me. And, I’m not afraid to say, I hope a last time. Apparently small towns have too much excitement for me.” Bren said and Hedy laughed, leading him out of the kitchen, when they heard Darro’s snoring had replaced the singing.

  “I’m not sure that snoring is an improvement over his singing.” She settled in on the bottom step of the stairs. “Any news on whether Mr. Jeffries survived?” Hedy glanced over at the curio cabinet where the now-cleaned blade was resting back on its shelf; she imagined the questions she would have to answer for the police in the morning.

  “We heard on the radio in Darro’s truck as we were driving back that he was still in intensive care at the hospital. Burns like that will likely be fatal. The news is saying that he was behind the arsons and the man they had in custody has been released. They mentioned a woman of interest being at large but that is all they said about Lyssa.” At least there was some good news about the innocent man being freed. Hedy felt guilty that she had been so quick to believe the man was responsible.

  “So, now that the mystery of the fires is over, will you be leaving for New York and your quest? I’m sure you are anxious to get on with your own journey.”

  “It’s strange, up until toda
y, nothing could have kept me from searching for the cure for what I am. I would have said being a salamander was the worst curse that could be laid on someone and I would give anything to be free of it. But in the course of a day, it was my ability to withstand fire, to save another from it, that ended up saving the lives of three innocent people. How do I walk away from that? Do I have an obligation to stay as I am?” Bren felt the pressure lift off his shoulders as he spoke. He had no answers but he realized just saying it out loud made the choice real and it helped to share it with Hedy.

  “I can’t advise you, Bren. I don’t know what it is to walk in your shoes, to be what you are and see what you have seen. Only you will know what is the right thing for you, but I will say that I’m not sure I want to live in a world where people as wonderful as you and Ana don’t exist. It’s the whole reason I serve as a waystation host. This world is full of strange, complicated, unimaginable people and if we are lucky, we have the very good fortune to meet some and learn about them and spend some time with them. No matter what you choose to do, or why you are choosing to do it, you know that your very existence has meant life to some people. That alone is something to take with you always.”

  “I guess I have some thinking to do, assuming I will be able to sleep over Darro’s snoring, but no matter what happens next, I want you to know that coming here and meeting you, Hedy Leckermaul, has been the strangest experience of my life. And for a salamander, that is saying something.” Hedy gave him a playful shove in the arm before she stood up to head for bed. She had so much baking to do in the morning and it would be dawn before she knew it.

  “Hedy, would you mind if I stayed on a few more days? I know you aren’t officially a waystation right now but if you wouldn’t mind putting up with a deliberating salamander, who is awfully handy at drying dishes, I could use the peace and quiet.” He followed her up the stairs and she paused at the landing.

  “Mr. Aldebrand, as it happens, I do happen to have room for you, and since you are such a hand with the dishes, perhaps you can lend me a hand in the shop tomorrow. I also have a tremendous amount of baking to do and you might be just the person to put in charge of baking bagels.” He gave her a short bow before heading into his room and she continued on up to the third floor.