by Tom Larcombe
“She's right though. What I did was horrible. I just couldn't think of anything else to do. I wasn't going to let them treat us like they did Debbie and my mind froze. All I could think of was fire since that's what I'm strongest in,” Rynn said.
“You did what needed to be done,” Andi said. “I'm glad you did, because even if I had the power to do that, I don't know if I would've been capable of it. I'm glad that you were though because the things Debbie told me they did to her...”
She shook her head, unable or unwilling to continue.
Eugene nodded emphatically and gave Rynn a thumbs up. Andi's response made Rynn feel slightly better about herself. Cindy's responses helped even more.
“Todd's alive because you did that. He'd be dead now if you hadn't reacted quickly and who knows what kind of shape we'd be in this morning if you hadn't.”
Rynn closed her eyes for a moment and swallowed.
They're just kids, but they still understand. That helps, more than I want to admit, even to myself.
She took a deep breath and let it out.
“Thank you. But now we need to take care of some things. Cindy, would you go check on Todd? Eugene, you were talking about making him a crutch, right? Do you want Sean and Randall to help you with that?”
Eugene nodded and the three boys headed down to the basement. Meanwhile, Cindy finished her breakfast.
“Andi, would you help me? If he's in good enough shape I want to get him to drink some. We'll need to help him sit for that and I can't hold him up while I get him to drink,” Cindy said.
Andi went with Cindy into the living room and Rynn was left alone in the kitchen. A few minutes later Cindy returned.
“You were saying you could channel me some extra energy? The wounds look clean, no infection, and I'd like to start actually healing things now as opposed to just stabilizing him,” Cindy said.
Rynn stood and followed Cindy back out to the living room. Andi was talking to Todd in an attempt to keep him from trying to sit up.
“Please stay lying down,” Cindy asked. “We're going to try to get your wounds healing some.”
“How...”
“Don't try to talk,” Rynn said. “Just lie down and relax as much as you can. If it's Debbie you're worried about, she's mostly okay, but finally asleep and she needs the rest. So do you.”
Todd relaxed at Rynn's words. He let Andi arrange him on the couch so there was the least pressure on his wounds.
Cindy looked at Rynn.
“Let me get comfortable. I'll follow you in and attach my consciousness to yours. Then you can draw on my energy. If I disengage, that means I've given you as much as I can so don't try to draw more, alright?”
“Yes, I haven't done this before though. How do I draw on your energy?”
“You'll feel me attaching to you. If you reach for that attachment, I'll make sure you connect to my power.”
Cindy nodded. She sat down and her face went blank as she projected her consciousness into Todd's wounds. Rynn let herself relax and sent her own consciousness out, seeking Cindy's. When she found it, she attached herself tightly. A moment later she felt Cindy reaching for her power. Rynn guided Cindy's attempt to her own power and just let her draw on it.
An indeterminate amount of time later Rynn felt Cindy withdraw. She came to herself and found Cindy sprawled on the floor, tears leaking from her eyes.
“Are you alright?” Rynn asked.
“Head... hurts,” Cindy answered.
“I'm sorry, I thought you knew or I would've warned you. Just like you get a headache if you use too much of your own power, you can get one from channeling too much from someone else as well. Eat and drink, that will help a little.”
Rynn went and got Cindy a glass of water and two more energy bars. It took Cindy several minutes after Rynn's return before she could even sit up and start drinking. She drained half the water and then took a dainty bite out of the bar. Rynn watched as Cindy's eyes lit up when she started to eat. Three bites later the bar was gone and Cindy was tearing the wrapper off the second one.
“Slowly. You don't want to lose it before you get a chance to digest it. It won't do you much good that way,” Rynn cautioned.
Cindy ate the second bar slowly, then drained the rest of the water.
“I think that should be all for now. Both for the healing and for eating. Keep some water with you to sip though,” Rynn said.
Cindy nodded.
“Wow, check this out,” Andi said.
She peeled back one of the bandages to show a bullet hole that was almost entirely healed over. Rynn cast her consciousness into the wound and saw that Cindy had re-knitted the larger arteries and veins, sealed off the smaller ones, and encouraged everything that needed to regrow to do so faster.
“No wonder you feel like you do,” Rynn said.
“With all that power, I knew I could get everything just fine, but my body gave out before I finished,” Cindy said.
“If you're feeling better this evening, you can try some more. Only if the headache is entirely gone though.”
Cindy nodded, slowly.
* * *
By mid-afternoon Eugene had a serviceable crutch constructed. He brought it up to Rynn along with a note.
'Will this be strong enough to support him?'
Rynn took the crutch and leaned her weight into it. There was no flexing and it felt solid.
“I don't think he weighs that much more than I do. It should be fine, although you may want to sand the top. It's a little rough.”
Eugene scribbled on the other side of the paper.
'I'll finish it with magic. I just didn't want to construct it entirely that way, less reliable than solid workmanship.'
“Good plan. I think it's strong enough to hold him.”
Eugene returned to the basement with the crutch.
Debbie came downstairs a little while later. She walked out onto the porch without a word and a few minutes later Rynn smelled marijuana smoke.
I should have guessed. Well, maybe it will help her relax some. She looked pretty tense when she walked through here.
A half hour later Debbie came back in the house.
“What the hell did you do yesterday?” she asked Rynn.
“When?”
“To those men.”
“I burned them. I couldn't let them get their hands on the children. Not with a pair of teenage girls under my protection.”
“I know you burned them. I was there. I meant how?” Debbie asked.
Oh, I get it. Do I tell her that magic is real or do I make a fake story? How do we explain how quickly Todd is healing also? I'll try the truth, see what she says.
“Magic. I'm a wizard. My specialty is fire.”
Rynn had hoped that being stoned would help Debbie accept the explanation. The look on Debbie's face let Rynn know her hopes were misplaced.
“Don't give me that bullshit. I want to know so I can do it myself if I ever get attacked again.”
Rynn searched her brain for a plausible explanation.
“A lighter and an aerosol can. Makes a miniature flamethrower if you have the right kind of aerosol. Some of them are still flammable,” Rynn said.
“What about that big ball of flame thing?”
“Oh that, one of them grabbed for the can and tore the sprayer off the top. The whole can let out its contents under pressure. I was just glad it wasn't pointed anywhere near myself. I thought I was going to burn my hand off when that happened.”
Debbie turned and left the room, moments later Rynn heard her rummaging through a cupboard.
Guess she's looking for an aerosol can. I know that trick used to work, I don't know if it really still does or not though.
“Why'd you lie to her?” Andi asked.
Rynn jumped, she hadn't heard Andi coming up behind her.
“Some people just won't even acknowledge that magic might exist. Trying to convince them that it does is like trying to teach a pig t
o sing; it just wastes your time and annoys the pig. I think that Debbie might be one of them.”
“But she saw what you did. She would have seen if you had a can and lighter in your hands.”
“Michael, the man that's going to take us in, mentioned this to me a long time ago in a different context. It's called normalcy bias. If something doesn't fit into someone's worldview, if it isn't normal to them, then they can be utterly unable to believe it. Sometimes they can't even see it.”
“That's stupid. How do people explain things that don't fit into their worldview then?”
“Oddly enough, Michael's an example of that also. He didn't see that the same thing would affect what he wanted to do. He wanted to let the world know that magic is real. He just didn't get it when I told him that trying to do so would demonstrate his normalcy bias theory in action. I told him it would keep people from believing in magic, they wouldn't be able to adjust to the idea that it was real, that they'd call him a fraud and be angry with him. He thought that if he just showed it to them in a manner they couldn't explain away, then they'd believe.”
“That makes sense to me,” Andi said.
“People can explain anything away if they really want to. They doubt their senses or think they were hallucinating. They set themselves against believing what they've seen with their own eyes. Over time their memories get fuzzy and it's even easier to explain things away.”
“I don't get it. Why would people do that?”
“Would you be happier if you didn't know what those men had been planning to do to Debbie and, by extension, us?”
“Well, yes. But now I know something like that can happen, I can be on guard for it.”
“Other people react differently. They'd decide that maybe the men weren't really going to do anything bad or maybe Debbie was lying, or any number of other things. Just because it's more comfortable for them to think that. I'm glad you aren't like that, lots of people are though.”
Andi shook her head slowly.
“If you say so.”
She went down the hallway into the living room.
Dusk arrived and Cindy's head was still bothering her so any more attempts to heal Todd would have to wait for the following day. He'd spent several hours awake earlier on and he and Debbie had spoken for a while. Now it was almost dark and everyone but Rynn was ready for bed. She wasn't tired in the slightest and had plans for the evening.
Since those are all the candles Todd has and we're going to a crystal mine, I'll take one of my crystals and make it into a sun crystal so they can have light. I'll explain it away as a new style solar light or something.
She spent the night removing the spells from one of her crystals and replacing it with the ones that would allow it to store sunlight. When dawn came, she checked and made sure it was charging in the sun.
* * *
Chapter 12
Michael woke to the sun shining in his window. He stayed in bed, staring at the window.
Why not? There's no-one around until Jeff gets here and since it isn't a school day, he'll come by later. There's no reason for me to get out of bed since I'm the only one here. What am I going to do if I get up? I'll just bury myself under the covers and...
Michael's bout with self-pity was interrupted by a staccato tapping on the window. When he heard the sound, a slight grin flitted across his face.
Correction. Calvin's here and he'll keep doing that until I open the window for him.
He dragged himself out of bed and opened the window. Calvin flew into the room and took his perch on the dresser, staring into the mirror.
Michael suppressed a chuckle.
“Alright Calvin, I'm up. What do you want, food?”
“Caw!”
“I'll take that as a yes. Let me get dressed and we'll have breakfast.”
Michael pulled his clothes on and opened the door.
“Come on, Calvin,” he said.
The crow flew over and landed on Michael's shoulder. Michael wasn't sure, but he thought that Calvin intentionally wing buffeted his head while landing.
“What was that for?” Michael asked.
Calvin leaned forward and stared at Michael's eyes for a moment.
“Yeah, so I was indulging in some self pity. I'm used to having someone around here all the time. The house just feels empty with only me in it.”
“Caw!”
“Yes, you're here, but you were outside then.”
Calvin leaped from Michael's shoulder and flew down into the kitchen. Michael followed after him and fixed them both breakfast. He was putting the dishes in the sink when he noticed the stains on the table from the strawberries they'd had for lunch the day before. He thought of Jeff and Liz for a moment before remembering what Liz had seen.
Crap, I need to pay better attention. I should've remembered when I woke up. I'll take care of it now though.
He went back upstairs and removed his rifle and magazines from the gun safe. Once again, he slid the magazines into his pockets. The rifle went over his back on its sling.
I'll keep this nearby, just in case. My house might not be unoccupied, but it is just as remote as the trailer they broke into yesterday.
He took his rifle and his second cup of coffee onto the back porch. It was Sunday so the mine was closed. For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of light over near the mine entrance. He decided to keep an eye out in that direction while he finished his coffee. Then he'd go over and check it out.
He put his coffee mug in the sink and then walked to the mine entrance. A small patch of dust on the ground glittered in the sunlight.
I guess the current crushed rock we're pulling out has a high mica content or something. It must have blown up a little in a breeze and caught the sun... Except there's no wind.
He shrugged and shook his head, then turned to walk back to the house. Calvin flew over his head, darting a little way into the mine. The crow cried out repeatedly.
“Caw, caw, caw, caw!”
“What are you doing Calvin? Is there someone in there?”
Calvin let out a final “Caw!” then flew back to Michael's shoulder.
“Everything okay then?” Michael asked.
Calvin turned his beak and started digging it down under his feathers.
Michael shook his head again and returned to the house. When he passed the garden, Calvin took off and flew over the fence. He flew to Jeff's newly dug bed and landed. Then he turned to Michael and cocked his head.
“Yes, Jeff will be by later on,” Michael said.
Calvin dipped his beak sharply once, then flew up to the top of the fence.
Michael went over to the shed and removed two shovels. He leaned one against the fence near Jeff's area then took the other to the beds he was working on. He leaned his rifle against the fence close to where he'd be working.
“Calvin, let me know if anyone comes around, will you?”
“Caw!”
“Thanks...”
Michael started digging.
* * *
Jeff arrived later than Michael expected and he had Liz in tow again. Calvin announced their presence well before Michael saw them.
“Hi Michael. I had to bring my sister again, my mom got called into work. Sorry we're late, but the power went out again for a while overnight and my alarm never went off.”
“Not a problem. Either with having Liz here or being late. Unless you have to go to school that day you can show up whenever you like.”
Jeff grinned.
“Well, there's only one more week of school and then it's summer vacation.”
“Guess you can work on the garden as much as you like after that.”
“And I can go swimming in the lake, too.”
Jeff's excitement was contagious and Michael found himself grinning back at the boy.
“Maybe I'll go with you sometime. I think I remember how to swim,” Michael said.
Jeff wandered over to his garden beds.
“Di
d you add more amendments on top here?” he asked.
“No, why?”
“There's something kind of glittery on top of the soil.”
Jeff's voice raised with excitement.
“And my cress has sprouted, so have the radishes.”
Wait a minute, Michael thought. The cress maybe, but radishes take longer than this to germinate.
He walked over to look at what Jeff was talking about.
“I'll be dam.. I mean wow, you're right. That's really fast for radishes to sprout, we must have hit the amendment mix exactly right or something. Normally they would've taken at least two more days.”
“Cool,” Jeff said, “I guess I'm getting the hang of this.”
Michael looked at the surface of the soil. Just like Jeff had claimed, there was some sort of sparkling dust on top of it. He heard Liz making a clicking noise with her tongue and looked over.
She was trying to coax Calvin down from the fence, but the crow wasn't cooperating.
“Oh Liz, Calvin's working right now. Later on I'll make sure you get a chance to pet him if he's willing,” Michael said.
“What work is he doing? It just looks like he's watching all around him.”
“I asked him to let me know if he saw anyone coming this way. He let me know you two were coming a minute or two before you got here.”
“Oh, he's on guard?”
“Exactly.”
“Can I go pick some more berries then?” Liz asked.
“We should probably wait a few days for that. There's something else you can do if you like though,” Michael said
“What?”
“Could you be very careful picking things?”
Liz nodded.
“There's a bunch of wild roses on the other side of the house. Could you go and pick one or two petals from each until you fill a basket I get you?”
“I can do that. I need to be careful because of the thorns, right?”
“Right. Only take one or two petals from each flower because they'll make better rose hips later in the season if they have petals left. Rose hips are like rose berries. Both the petals and the berries make a really nice tea. If you can fill the basket, I'll make rose petal tea for us to drink with lunch.”
