by Les Goodrich
“What about those guys that protect her?”
“Grayson and Charles. Her brothers.”
“Capable.”
“Yes capable.”
“And the young girl?”
“Fallon. Josephine’s niece. Not sure what her deal is. Just a kid I think.”
“Okay. Tomorrow we’ll search the north end. It’s a lot of ground to cover so I want to do it in two teams. I’m thinking us with Jordan. We’ll let Josephine take her bodyguards and look around if they will. They might have their own plans.”
Tanner finished his beer and met Jordan in the Lemort house common room. She told him what she had learned from Josephine. She showed him places on the map and described what she had been told.
“There’s a known Shadowclan coven in this house. A hotbed of undead activity along this cemetery row. Disappearances common in this block. And see this.”
“What of it,” Tanner asked looking at the corner where Jordan pointed.
“A tavern run by known vampires.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Creepy. Speaking of creepy, let’s go to sleep. A big day tomorrow. Ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jordan said and they cautiously made their way down to their macabre accommodations.
Chapter 16
Enemies and Traps
Jordan and Tanner slept through the night but their dreams were filled with sounds and voices and the scraping presence of something always just out of sight. They both sat upright at eight a.m.
“That was fun,” Jordan said.
“You take a shower first. I’ll go up and see if anyone is awake yet.”
“Oh no you won’t. I’ll get ready but you stay here. Then I’ll wait for you. We go up together. Call Agent Rick if you want.”
“I’ll text him.”
Jordan got ready and Tanner texted Rick. Rick agreed to meet them at the Lemort place. Jordan and Tanner ascended into the kitchen both wearing jeans, hiking boots, black sweatshirts and black fleece jackets. Jordan wore a grey baseball cap with her hair tamed into a ponytail behind it. They both had backpacks and packed wands, rope, knives, gloves, various crystals, and Tanner had a cork board pentacle that had been charged with moonwater. In the kitchen the aroma of strong coffee welcomed them.
“Good morning,” the tall slim man said. “I’m Barton, the cook, caretaker, handyman, gentleman helper, and the truant officer for Fallon. Did you sleep?” He took a sheet of croissants from the oven.
“Somewhat,” Jordan said.
“Coffee is here. Help yourself to croissants. Ms. Lemort is about.”
They drank coffee in the dining room and ate. Josephine joined them as did Grayson and Charles.
“Agent Warren is to meet us here this morning,” Tanner said. “I hope that’s okay.”
“Yes it’s fine,” Josephine said. Today we search the north end. Jordan knows everything we do now. Has the IWM agent added anything new?”
“He’s found a few places we can rule out. He wants Jordan and me to go with him today. We thought you might have your own plans,” Tanner said and sipped coffee.
“Yes, Grayson, Charles, and I will start on Kerlerec Street and work our way south between Bourbon Street and the waterfront. You three do the same, but cover the area from Bourbon to North Rampart Street. Stay in touch, and if you find anything reach out to us.”
Jordan and Tanner agreed. Josephine and the men began to discuss something among themselves.
Jordan whispered to Tanner, “I want to look at the bank though.”
“Where is it?” Tanner asked.
She pulled up a map on her phone. “It’s up here. Saint Claude Avenue.”
“At some point we will. We’ll run it by Rick.”
They finished eating and Jordan refilled her coffee cup. She sat back next to Tanner when they heard the trundling sound of footsteps bouncing down the stairs. They heard Barton’s deep voice in the kitchen then Fallon emerged in what Jordan and Tanner were realizing was her trademark white dress attire. She held a steaming cup of coffee and a croissant wrapped in a paper towel.
“Use a plate Fallon,” Josephine suggested.
“But I don’t need a plate,” Fallon assured her and she ate the bread from one hand and sipped her coffee with the other. She sat. “Good morning Jordan and Tanner. Good morning everyone.”
“Good morning,” everyone said at once and Fallon smiled then spoke with great maturity.
“I know you’re all going out today and I want you to be very careful. The Moon is full tonight and that gives you the edge. The full Moon sheds the light of hope on all good deeds. But tomorrow it begins to diminish, and as it does, the dark powers grow. The tides turn. Today is your best chance to catch a mouse.”
“Hardly a mouse,” Josephine noted.
“I have these for you,” Fallon said and she pulled two necklaces from her small purse. Each necklace was on a black leather cord and each held a small white silk bag. She handed them to Jordan and Tanner. “Please wear them.”
“Thank you,” Jordan said.
“What are they?” Tanner asked and he looked his over.
“They are protections. You seek a Shadowclan witch intent on not being found. He will have allies. His allies are your,” and Fallon paused and her eyes met Josephine’s. “Your enemies,” she concluded and she took a large bite of croissant.
A knock at the door caused Josephine to look to the kitchen and she nodded when Barton emerged to answer the door. “Show Agent Warren in,” she said.
“As you wish,” Barton replied.
When Rick joined them Josephine stood, made the introductions, and offered him coffee and croissants which he accepted. They discussed the general plan for the day and Jordan expressed her desire to inspect the bank where the most recent robbery had occurred.
“I went through that bank when I met the FBI agents a few days ago,” Rick said. “There’s nothing there. Besides it’s miles out of our way. We only have so much time before the Moon wanes and we have to find this guy.”
Fallon smiled and ate the last of her bread.
“Fine,” Jordan said. “But I still think we should go there.”
“Depending on how today goes, but it’s not our priority,” Rick said.
“And this is for you,” Fallon said and she slid a third protective charm necklace to Agent Warren across the glossy wood table. “Protections against Shadowclan spells.”
“Thank you,” he said.
“I agree with Agent Warren,” Josephine said. “That robbery is in the past. We are tracking a dangerous fugitive. We must use our time wisely. Stay in touch. Do not engage him without me.”
The group stood. Rick shook hands with Charles and Grayson. He bowed to Josephine then went outside.
Fallon stood and hugged Tanner then Jordan. “If you live through this day, I’d like to show you my room tonight,” she said to Jordan.
“Thank you,” Jordan said warily. “I think.”
Jordan and Tanner headed outside where Rick stood packing his pipe. He zipped up his leather jacket, pulled his fedora down tight, and dug through the items in his leather messenger bag. He retrieved a sturdy, unadorned, hawthorne wand. “Fire-Born” he whispered and with the wand tip lit the pipe. He shook the spell out and the wand tip smoked. He puffed the pipe then held it smoldering in his teeth. “I hope you put your walking shoes on. I do better walking, like a golf match. Gives you time to think. This way.” Jordan and Tanner set off with Rick up Pirate Alley then to Orleans Street. At the corner where the three waited for traffic, Rick felt something in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out and saw it was the necklace and pouch given to him by Fallon.
“Kids,” he said and he dropped the charm into a trash can on the sidewalk. “I say we go straight up Bourbon Street. Why the hell not, right? We’ll blend in there as well as anywhere.”
“Are you opposed to one of my protective spells?” Jordan asked.
<
br /> “More girl magic,” Rick said. “Okay, fine. Let’s see it.”
“Okay stop right here,” Jordan said. “Back to back.” She arranged Rick and Tanner so their backs faced. “Dick,” she said as she turned the agent by his shoulders.
“What?” he asked.
“Rick,” Jordan smiled and said. She pulled out her wand and drew a pentacle in the air above them. She repeatedly traced the circled star and as she did she chanted, “Morrighan Goddess of battle, protect your witchcraft soldiers. Let your courage be our own and help us to be bolder. Today we venture far afield and work beyond the altar. Bless our quest with all your might. Our faith will never falter.” As she concluded the invocation they each looked up to see the pentacle where she had drawn it in the air glow purple and spin. An indigo light surrounded them then faded, but the pentacle rose and wobbled and followed them as they began to walk again.
“Can other people see that?” Tanner asked.
“It will fade soon,” Jordan said.
“Pretty cool,” Rick said. “Now I hope you don’t mind if I take a little protective potion of my own.” He pulled a silver flask from his bag, unscrewed the cap, and slashed back a shot.
“What’s in that?” Jordan asked as they turned onto Bourbon Street and Rick shook the effects off.
“Whiskey,” he said. “When on Bourbon Street, right?”
“If you say so,” Jordan said and she looked at Tanner who shrugged and the three moved along the sidewalk with the visible sigil hovering above them. Pipe smoke swirled behind them and Rick puffed the last of it. He tapped the pipe out as they waited for a garbage truck to pass before crossing the next cross street.
Jordan still held her wand and when Rick put his pipe away he pulled his wand out and that caused Tanner to do the same. The three witches walked down Bourbon Street wholly ignored by the few pedestrians in the growing morning light. With wands out and a protective sigil glowing above their heads they crossed Dumaine Street. As they approached Saint Philip Street they saw a small crew already drinking at Lafitte’s on the corner.
The trio made their way into the north quadrant and by noon they had walked several blocks and tramped many alleys and through a few courtyards. Tanner confirmed his old map to be accurate as they found a few dead ends they expected and a few shortcuts that proved true. The afternoon advanced and the streets filled with people of every sort.
“I’m starving,” Jordan said. “That croissant is long gone. Let’s eat. We’re finding zip anyway.”
“This way,” Rick said and they followed his lead down to the corner of Esplanade and Dauphine Street. They ducked into a dark ale house and ordered beers and burgers. The server was a short curvy redhead with long braids and freckles and she and Jordan had some flirty connection from the instant she walked up.
“If I’m ever gonna pick up a girl,” Tanner said. “I’m gonna have to stop going places with you. It’s not fair.”
“Oh Tanner don’t be jealous.”
“It’s not a level playing field. That’s all.”
Agent Rick didn’t exactly understand what they were talking about but he was also not fully listening. He drank his beer and dug through his bag. As always, Jordan spoke her mind.
“No progress so far. What are we looking for, exactly? A sign that says Shadowclan Villain This Way?”
“I think we’ll try this again,” Rick said and he showed Jordan his aqua aura quartz. She looked it over and handed it back.
“Pretty. What does it do?”
Rick retrieved the silver chain, opened the wire cage, and snapped the crystal closed inside it. He held it like a pendulum. “It can deflect but also locate negative energy. We’ll see.” He wound the chain around the crystal, replaced it in his bag, then ordered another beer when their food arrived.
“I still wanna go check out the bank. On this end we are as near it as we’ll be,” Jordan said between bites.
“Maybe later,” Rick said. “We’ll check a few blocks between Burgundy and Rampart first.”
“You’re the boss,” Jordan said. “But so far this is a goose chase.” She looked at Tanner for some support.
Tanner said, “If we don’t find anything after two blocks, we’ll go to the bank.”
“Agreed,” Rick said and Jordan shook her head. “Okay. You guys pretend to be the men. Just let me know when you need me to save your asses.”
Rick laughed at the thought of it and Tanner laughed at the truth of it. Jordan looked at them and fought to remain serious. She finally laughed with them. “Assholes,” she said and ate. Her phone chirped and she pulled it from her bag and saw she had one missed call. She tapped into her voicemail and listened to a brief message from Carol. She deleted the message, put her phone back, and kept eating. “Awesome,” she said.
“What was it?” Tanner asked.
“Carol. She said Gwen knows we’re here and might come to New Orleans.”
“Is that good for us?” Rick asked.
“Not exactly,” Jordan said and she took another bite of her burger. She drank her beer.
The winter day was pushing into the afternoon as they moved up Dauphine and turned left around onto Kerlerec. The glowing pentacle charm had faded from visibility, but a witch might have noticed the thin purple haze that encircled the three as they walked. From the corner of Burgundy Street ahead of them a man emerged pushing a wheel barrow. In it there seemed to be some pile of rags or soiled bags and as he came closer they saw the lump stir. The man walked in faded and stained brown clothes, anonymous behind a tattered hood. He labored with the cart and shuffled along as if one leg were asleep and every few steps he shook that leg and plodded on.
The group advanced and the gap between them and the stranger closed to thirty feet. Jordan heard his rattled breath.
“If we move more than, I’d say, ten feet apart, we’ll lose the protective spell,” Jordan told them. “But so far it’s still running. I don’t know what this guy’s deal is, but it’s not good.” She cut the air with her wand and Tanner beside her tuned his wand in his hand. Rick was between them and just ahead and he pulled out his flask, took a drink, and replaced it. His wand was up and they walked with steady caution.
The figure with the wheel barrow stopped. “Spare a dollar?” he said and his voice was troubled and coarse.
“A dollar my ass,” Jordan said. “Keep walking. Stay together. Tanner, watch our backs.” She moved ahead and put Rick between them.
“Hey I’m the IWM Agent here,” Rick said but he made no effort to step ahead of Jordan.
The strange man stopped when they were ten feet away and he tipped up the rusted and creaking wheel barrow and dumped the bail of filthy clothes out onto the sidewalk. He limped around to the side of the mound. “Spare a dollar,” he repeated and kicked at the rags. The pile squirmed and stood into a skeletal figure and together the awful duo advanced. “Spare a dollar,” the raspy voice droned and with each meaningless utterance the two scraped along.
“Zombies,” Jordan said. “Tanner, how are we back there?”
“Nothing back here. Don’t let those things touch you!” Tanner added and the limping and ruinous undead monsters came on with a mindless determination.
“Body-Storm,” Jordan shouted and she snapped her wand toward them. The power of the last hurricane blew down the street and scattered the zombies into a hundred pieces and sent them and a host of street litter tumbling onto rooftops and into courtyards blocks away where they would moulder and rot and be found by cats for days.
“Beautiful,” Rick said.
“How is that beautiful?” Jordan asked.
“Because it means we’re getting close.” Rick pulled out his crystal and let it unroll to the end of the chain. He aimed his wand at it. “Locatus Tenebris,” he said and his wand sparked. “That’s some old school slang right there kids.” He watched the crystal spin then right itself and the point faced southwest down Burgundy Street. He walked and the others followed. The
crystal swung and spun periodically but it always returned to face the same southwest direction and as they moved down the street it aimed more south.
“Witches,” a frail voice said and it stopped them in their tracks. “Witches,” it came again and it was that of an older woman. They moved down the tree-lined median of Esplanade Avenue and under one of the large oaks in an old aluminum and nylon webbed lawn chair sat a woman in gathered and twisted robes of yellow and blue. Her hair wrapped in a matching scarf, she pulled strings from long French beans and cast them into a bucket at her feet. She placed the snapped and strung beans into a bowl on a table beside her. She muttered something and Jordan moved to her. The others followed.
“Thank you honey, for blowing those ghouls back to hell where they belong,” the old woman said. “The neighborhood is grateful to be rid of them.” She continued at her work.
“How’d you see that from here?” Rick asked.
“I saw it,” the old woman said. “Dark soon. I can’t stand the early winter dark.” She looked up through the trees as if expecting the darkness to fall upon her at any second. “I hope you don’t think those two are the worst of them. You have a long row to hoe.”
“What do you mean?” Jordan asked. “Please, tell us.”
“You seek the young devil. The evil-doer.”
“We do,” Jordan admitted and she looked to Rick and Tanner and the three of them nodded. The old woman never stopped snapping and peeling strings from her beans. Her creased hands worked as she spoke.
“This foul soul is known to all of us who can see. His power is enduring but cruel. You are near. His lair is guarded by more than zombies. You will know it when you arrive.”
“Can you tell us where it is?” Rick asked.
“I could. Let’s see. Now, what was the name of that street?”
Agent Warren pulled a twenty dollar bill from his pocket and dropped it into the bucket with the bean strings and tips.
