by Martha Carr
He held out his hands and blew into them, his eyes briefly flashing a deep red. No one noticed. They were too focused on his hands. Large opaque bubbles formed instantly and joined together, forming one, even larger bubble. “I’ve been working on a little something to deal with her protectors so we can get closer to Ms. Parker. Damn Huldus would ship us off to a place unknown! They are a threat to our very existence and a roadblock to our happiness. Join me with your energy!”
Simon’s followers put their hands into the circle, the bubbles all joining together, twisting and turning toward the ceiling. Ropey vines appeared inside the massive bubble and large, flat leaves unfurled, exposing a deep violet blossom with a sweet perfume. The bubbles surrounding the vines slid off, forming a foam at the base that sizzled and popped. A follower reached out and touched a blossom, yelping in pain, even as Simon lunged forward to stop him. The man’s skin was already bubbling and oozing, dotted with small razor-sharp thorns.
The vines bent toward the man, reaching out their vines and he ran for the door. Simon opened his arms wide, setting a new intention but it wasn’t working. The vines scurried after the follower, catching him around the ankles and dragging him back. The others pressed back, jumping into the shadows as Simon worked furiously, waving his arms around and mumbling every spell he could remember from the ancient diary. Black splotches appeared on the vine opening up steam vents and an acrid smell that burned the eyes, but the vines were determined.
A tentacle peeled away, swiping Simon across the chest, sending him crashing to the floor, a burn mark across his jacket.
There was a tearing sound as the vines created an opening in the center, pulling the captured follower inside even as he screamed, and the other followers looked on in horror. Even the older woman who had shaken her fist earlier had her hands pressed against her mouth. The man disappeared into the center of the vines as they closed around him, muffling his screams till the room became silent once again.
“That was a very mixed success.” Simon stood up, shaken, and brushed off his pants. He pressed his lips together in a thin line and pulled the front of his singed jacket away from his body not looking at anyone. He cleared his throat and lifted his chin. “No one wants to see a good man sacrifice himself like that.” He cleared his throat again. “Let’s make sure it wasn’t in vain. Everyone needs to keep their wits about them and realize this isn’t a game.” His voice was low, but he spit out the last words. “Give this mission the respect it deserves.” He did his best to stand up straighter and adjust his clothing the best he could as he made his way around the vine.
He startled, a slight tremor passing through him as he came to where the opening had been and saw the outline of a face, twisted into a scream.
Chapter Fifteen
Maggie stood in the West Austin Neighborhood Park away from the street lights. “We look like we’re up to no good.”
“It was your idea to come to a park just down the street from your house. I think I can see the smoke rising up from your mom’s place from here. That crowd loves their funny cigarettes.” Bernie held out his hands. “No judgment, of course.”
“Of course. I’m told it’s medicinal.”
“Of course. Now focus, it’s time you learned how to control some of this magic. It’ll come in handy if you get cornered by a Kashgar. Those tall bastards.”
“I’m trying.”
“To quote a rather famous distant cousin of mine. There is no try. There is only do.”
“That’s not the quote.”
“Close enough, now come on, shake off what happened at the Galaxy Cafe, or what didn’t happen. If we stare at what we don’t have for too long, we’ll miss the really small clues that add up to locating the compass. You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” She looked down at her phone. “I only have an hour.”
“I know, you have a date. Only trying to save your life here.”
“I’m not the best at this whole dating thing. I can’t afford to ghost this guy. He seems normal. That’s harder to find than you think.”
“That’s crazy. You’re young, hot and pay your own bills. Has to be a dozen guys who’d buy that.”
“I’m told I don’t come off as warm and inviting.”
“Nooooo, you? I’m sorry but making you trusting is third level magic. Let’s just stick with something easy tonight.”
“Hardy har har. Less than an hour and then I have to go. I need the practice at that too.” Maggie took a deep breath and felt the cold air fill her nose and go into her lungs. She always like this time of year. Her leather jacket was just warm enough against the wind.
She looked around, making herself take in the shadows as the trees blew in the wind and felt the cushion of the grass underneath her feet. The moon was only half full, illuminating the stars but covering most of the ground in darkness. “It’s a beautiful night,” she whispered.
“When you’re ready, put out your hand and concentrate on creating bubbles of light. Nothing too hotshot. It can have just a glow and we’ll call it a victory.”
Maggie felt the soft spread of a tingle on the back of her neck and a crooked smile spread across her face. She felt a mild ringing in her ears as she held out both hands, palms up and opened her mouth. A cool thread of magic spread through her mind as a bubble grew just inside her mouth, glowing through her cheeks. The smell of magnolias filled her nostrils.
It slipped effortlessly out of her mouth and rose into a nearby redbud tree, resting on a branch before popping, the light disappearing in a twinkle.
“Bravo! You have accomplished a basic bubble and nothing’s on fire. Okay, do it again.” Bernie was smiling from ear to ear, his thumbs underneath his overalls.
“What’s with the smell whenever there’s magical bubbles?”
“It’s like a fingerprint. Everyone has their own variety.” Bernie hesitated, clearing his throat.
“Don’t do that.” Maggie pursed her lips in annoyance.
“Do what?”
“Tell me half of something. What’s the other part?”
“It’s not good that you can already see my tells.”
Maggie put her hands on his shoulders with a firm grip. “Spill.”
“Fine, there are exceptions. None of them good. Those who dabble in dark magic, their bubbles rot. The scent starts out all right and pleasant, but it quickly stinks to high heaven. Like rotten eggs.” He let out a sigh and shrugged. “Might as well tell you the other one. Sometimes, we have found that a Peabrain can join forces with other Peabrains and merge their magic. The scent becomes the trademark tell of the leader of the pack. Also bad news. That much magic tends to warp the head guy because your little average peabrain wasn’t designed to hold that much power. They start to burn out. Poor decision making of the evil kind generally follows. Now, come on, enough chitchat. Focus, do another bubble.”
“You weren’t worried I could do it at all, were you, Bernie?”
“Not at all. You’re an Elemental.”
“What happened to rule number four?”
“That’s not a lie. I knew you’d get there eventually. Go on, do another. Try for a string of them. All you have to do is imagine it and then, let the peabrain part of you do the rest. Surrender to it.”
“Surrender to it,” Maggie whispered. “Become the observer.”
“Never said that but okay, sure if that works for you.”
The chatter coming from Bernie faded into the background and Maggie listened for the other noises across the park. She heard rustling in the bushes nearby and wondered if it was the McCreary’s cat out for an evening stroll. She heard a car honk in the distance and pictured people still coming out of the bars on Fifth Street. The cool thread spread out across her brain, filling her head and she felt a sense of calm fill her chest. She opened her mouth to exclaim and was surprised to see a string of bubbles emerge, all of them glowing from the inside, tied together like twinkle lights, one right after the other. Breat
he, keep breathing.
The bubbles floated on the wind, swirling through the trees, wrapping themselves around the branches of an old live oak that spread its branches across a corner of the park.
Maggie went to stand beneath it, keeping her mouth open for as long as she could till her jaw began to ache and the branches had taken on their own glow. “It’s beautiful,” she said, cutting off the stream of bubbles. The lights held in the tree, twinkling against the leaves.
“Not bad, Maggie Parker,” said Bernie, softly, his head back, smiling at the light. It cast a gentle yellow glow all around the knobby roots just underneath. “The bubbles are holding their shape. That’s a good sign. You have a lot of promise. The Elemental indeed.” Reluctantly, he waved his hand and a stream of gold sparks shot out, quickly finding their mark and popping all the bubbles, putting out the light.
Maggie snapped her mouth shut and felt the calm leave again. “I suppose an unusual beacon of light right near my house would attract the wrong kind of attention.”
“Yeah, but it’s probably made your mother’s night.”
Maggie let out a laugh and patted Bernie on his shoulder. “I’ll bet they drum about it for days. I wish I could tell Diana everything. She deserves to know, doesn’t she?”
“Deserves, definitely, but you’ll put her at risk. Now, come on, we’re not done. Those bubbles were pretty, but they were child’s play. You need to keep going. Someday you’ll tell her everything. This time, I want you to try to create something small inside a bubble. Something easy, please. Nothing with a beating heart.” Bernie shivered, his eyes widening. “Man, that is never a good idea when you’re starting out. I’ve seen some creations, hoo boy!”
“Got it, I’m convinced. I’ll think of something easy.” An image of toothpicks popped into her head and wouldn’t leave. She held onto it and felt the icy chill that was already becoming familiar leaving her a little light headed. She leaned against the old oak and yelped with surprise. Her hand easily slipped through the bark and inside the tree. She took a step back, pulling her hand almost all the way out, just as her heel struck a root, tripping her forward, into the tree.
The world went dark for a moment and Maggie could feel the warmth of her breath bouncing off something nearby. But just as suddenly, a pale blue glow erupted inside of the tree, lighting all of the pathways up and down the trunk, illuminating the insects crawling furiously for the top. She could hear Bernie’s muffled shouting, barely making out the words.
“Are you okay? Boy, this is a new one!” Bernie stood on the outside, slapping the tree with one hand, while patting the top of his head in frustration. “Is there even air in there? Can you hear me? Think, Bernie, think. What kind of bubbles do I use for this? Jack is never going to let me forget this!”
Maggie put out her hand and a trail of glowing, pale blue ladybugs jumped on to her arm, crawling up to her hand. She lifted her hand and let them crawl back onto the tree. “How is this possible?” The light swirled around her taking up all the space but leaving room for her at the same time. She could feel the vibrations of the tree pulsing through her and down into the roots. The tree was receiving messages from other trees and sending just as quickly in a continuous pattern that streamed back and forth.
She could hear the messages in her head, overlapping each other one right after the other.
“You are always talking,” she said with delight, turning in a tight circle, the blue glow reflecting in her eyes. She held up her hands to her face, feeling the vibration pass through her cheeks as the bubbles poured out of her mouth, even as she giggled and laughed. Small, jeweled beetles appeared in some of the bubbles, while others held tiny butterflies that spread their wings as the bubbles popped and flew just above Maggie’s head in a circle, creating an iridescent crown above her head.
Bernie circled the tree on the outside, wringing his hands, still occasionally knocking against the wood, yelling as loudly as he dared, the words whistling through his teeth. He didn’t want to attract the neighbors or alert any mechanics who might be checking the gauges underneath the ground and hear a Huldu in distress. That would bring a small squadron running. “No, no, not just yet. Might be able to fix it. Maggie! You okay? Still breathing, I hope.” Sweat ran down the side of his face and he licked his dry lips, feeling his heart pound in his chest. “Wooo boy, this is a pickle.”
A connection to the trees, a hum of energy, ran straight through Maggie, filling her with a kind of joy she had not known for a long time. She was rooted to something in this world, a kinship.
Her forehead wrinkled and her eyes widened in surprise as she realized what the trees were buzzing about.
“Maggie, let me know something! Knock twice if you can hear me! What am I saying? Knock at all, I’ll assume it’s you.”
Maggie startled out of her reverie and put out her hands trying to grab onto the glowing light and keep the feeling. “No, not yet!” She put out her hands to touch the inner veins of the tree and felt herself fall through, coming out the other side into a forward roll across the roots. “Ooof,” flew out of her mouth and the wind knocked out of her lungs, leaving her lying on her back for a moment looking up at the stars. The feeling was gone, but the memory was still there. She wanted to hold onto it for just a moment longer.
Bernie came running around the tree, almost tripping over her and stopping just at her feet. “You’re here! You went through an entire tree! You’re still in one piece!” He spluttered, spitting out small bubbles and fireflies in a rapid succession, clapping his hands together.
A porch light went on across the street and Bernie clapped a hand across his mouth to stop the stream of tiny flickering lights from attracting a good hard look. A woman on the ground with a stout old man standing over her was not going to end well for him. “This is good news,” he finally whispered, his heart still pounding. He put a hand to his chest, swallowing hard. “You went through a frickin’ tree!”
Maggie sat up on her elbows and felt the beginning of a mild headache. “I think I have tree hangover. You’ve gone through the ground thousands of times, I imagine. What’s so special about going through one tree?”
“Trees are different, always have been. It’s in our manual we keep in the engine room. They don’t let anything bigger than a bug move through them. Something about disrupting the daisy chain they’ve got going on for themselves. No one has ever seen the inside of a tree!” Bernie bent over and put his hands on his knees, taking in steady, even breaths. “This screw up would have been right up there with that wrong turn around the meteor shower. I wouldn’t even know how to explain it! There was no proof left behind.”
“I’m fine, thank you.” Maggie got herself up to a standing position and cautiously leaned against the tree, still hoping to feel something. A small vibration passed through her and a small smile came across her lips. It’s still talking.
“You were a Keebler elf there for a few minutes.” Bernie pulled an old handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the sweat off his face.
“We’re going to get the compass back.” Maggie felt her head clearing and stood up straighter, her hands on her hips.
“I know, I’m the one who’s been telling you.”
“No, I mean I know we are. The trees are helping. They’re all looking for the compass and relaying what they find.” Her eyes shined in the darkness. “A million trees are keeping watch.”
“Very kumbaya and everything, but whoever has it may not be dangling it outside. Don’t get me wrong. Okay, okay.” Bernie threw up his hands. “This is why I don’t get invited to too many parties. Makes me uncomfortable when things get too touchy-feely. I like a little sand in everything.”
“Some have said the same about me.” Maggie started walking down Pressler in the direction of her house.
“You don’t say?” Bernie followed behind her, blowing bubbles that caught the moonlight and twinkled like little stars following behind them.
“Oh crap, I have to go
. The hour’s almost up and I can’t go looking like this.” Maggie took off running down the street, easily outpacing Bernie, who ran behind her for a block, flapping his arms to get her attention. She was gone without turning back to look at him.
“That girl needs more than a date.” The gnome walked back to the park and found a place on the grass. He took a quick look around to make sure the coast was clear and waved his arm, disappearing from view.
Raymond Twiller stepped out of the shadows after everyone was gone and sent a text to Simon that all was well. Then, he turned and ran down the street past the large three-story stucco, toward the Caribbean blue bungalow not far from the corner. He circled around the corner and came down the alley behind the bungalow and in through the back gate passing by the garage. The chickens were already roosting in their coop for the night and didn’t hear him pass them by. He planted himself just far enough away to be able to see all the windows. He was planning to settle in for the night.
“You want to tell me what you’re doing following me?” Maggie tapped him hard on the shoulder and shoved him for good measure.
Raymond spun around, a surprised comical look on his face, his arms starting to raise. Maggie saw the pattern of four small stars in a random pattern just inside his wrist. She didn’t hesitate.
He never saw the fist coming.
“I’m never gonna make this date,” she muttered, pulling out her phone.
Diana came through the house, racing down the back steps, her red wavy hair loose around her face. Her usual calm demeanor was gone. She grabbed Maggie by the shoulders, quickly looking her over and shooting questions at her. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What did he say? Do we know the creep?”
“Diana, I’m good. Remember what I do for a living. I took him out.”
