Tony said, “He’ll get by.” He tried to set his hand on Carlos’ shoulder, but Carlos wouldn’t have it. He backed away from us and turned his gaze towards the river.
“Jerome!” he called, but Jerome was nowhere in sight. “Jerome! Come back!” He turned again to us. “We have to wait for him, Tony.”
Tony shook his head softly. “Carlos, we can’t. We don’t know how long this portal will stay open. We’ve got to go now.”
“Then we at least have to let him know about the portal. That way he can get back to his side of the world.”
“Sure. We can do that. Just leave something of yours behind. You can leave it right here at the portal. He’ll find it.”
“I’ll leave my monk robe. It’s in your sack. He’ll know what it means.”
“Sure. He’ll know. Leave the whole sack. Maybe he can use it.”
Carlos knelt and placed the burlap sack at the base of the portal, patting it gently as if saying goodbye to an old friend. He stood and pulled the kinks from his uniform. Tony palmed his shoulder. This time Carlos allowed it. “Okay. I’m ready.”
I looked at the others. “Is everyone else ready?”
They all answered yes.
“Good. We’ll do this just like last time. Leona, that means I’m driving this bus. I want you to clear your mind. I have a spell that will help you do that. The thing to remember is that when we get to town, we may run into some undesirables right away. We’ll have to be ready. Carlos, do you have your bolo?”
“Yup. Got it right here.”
“Tony. Where’s your bayonet?”
“I gave it to Jerome back at the castle when I thought you and I were going to take the swords.”
“You didn’t take it back when we changed our minds?”
“No, because we didn’t change our minds. You made the decision for us.”
“Forget it. Anyone have any questions?” A collective shaking of the heads told me to continue. “All right. I’ll start now. Join hands everyone, take a deep breath and relax. Here we go.”
I began my recitation.
“Through swirling fog of mountain mist, and fields of white that clouds have kissed, let thoughts meander, lost in time, and leave thy heads with clearer minds.”
As before, with their blank expressions and relaxed minds, I led them into the portal where the tidal force around the opening sucked us in immediately.
At last, we were going home.
Chapter Twenty-six
After stepping into the portal, I focused on images in my mind of the downtown as I remembered it when we first arrived in the ES. I didn’t know where the closest portal to town might be, but I knew it had to be closer than the one we found at old Yammer’s campsite.
To my surprise, the closest one turned out to be in the same alleyway where it all started for us. We spilled out of the portal and onto the ground in rapid-succession.
“Shit!” I heard Carlos cry.
“You all right?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, I’m all right.”
“Then why’d you say shit?”
He began wiping his hand in the dirt. “Because I landed in shit.”
“Nice. Is everyone else okay?” He started counting heads and taking stock of our physical well-being.
Ursula had fallen awkwardly on her shoulder and bruised it. Leona, though wearing a nightgown that offered little in the way of protection, fared surprisingly better. Except for a minor scrape on the knee, she emerged relatively clean and unscathed.
Tony also fared well, as did I, which seemed to bolster my claim that our luck had changed for the better.
“This is great,” I said. “I’d never have guessed it.”
“Guessed what?” asked Tony.
“This alleyway, it’s obviously a portal junction, both a stop on the regular pipeline of connections throughout the ES, and a direct-connect line from the ES to Earth.”
“How do you know that?”
“This is where it all started for us.”
“So you mean the portal we just came out of is the same one that brought us here?”
“Oh, no, not at all. They’re two entirely separate pathways. They just coincidentally meet at the same place. The electromagnetic convergence here must be exceptionally strong.”
“I don’t care about convergence, electrometric hocus pocus or any of that diddly crap,” said Carlos. “I just want to get home. Can we do that now?”
“Of course.” I turned to Ursula. “We’re going to need the witch’s key to open the next one.”
She palmed her chest and felt around her neckline, softly at first, then more frantically as she realized the key wasn’t there. I knew from the expression on her face that fate had screwed us again.
“Ursula?”
“It seems I have misplaced it.”
“Misplaced it? Where?”
“I cannot but remember.”
“She didn’t misplace it,” said Tony.
I shot him a raised brow what-the-fuck. “How do you know?”
“Jerome’s got it.”
“And how do you know that?”
“This morning at the campsite, the girls went down to the river to freshen up while Carlos and I gutted fish. I saw Jerome with the key.”
“What was he doing with it?”
“Admiring it?”
“And you didn’t take it from him?”
“No. My hands were all fishy.”
“Tony!”
“Hell. Lilith, I didn’t know.”
Carlos asked, “What does this mean?”
I leveled a biting stare at him designed to shut him up. “It means your little green friend fucked us again. I hope you’re happy.”
I watched the lines on his face gather in anguish. “No. I’m not happy.”
I turned away in disgust.
“Can we still get home?”
“No, Carlos. We can’t get home. Don’t you understand what fucked means?”
“All right.” Tony put his hand on my arm. “Let’s not get hostile. We’ll figure something out.”
“Figure what out, Tony? It’s not as if I can pull another witch’s key out of my butthole.”
Carlos laughed, perhaps painting a mental picture of that in his mind. Tony let it go. I let the silence that followed steep in the anger that bore it. What else could I do? I had already sliced and diced Carlos for no good reason. It wasn’t as though I wanted to berate him like that in front of the others. He simply made a good target.
Truth was, I should have taken it out on myself, instead. Hadn’t I also learned to trust Jerome, just as Carlos did? Didn’t I already know about Jerome’s fascination with the witch’s key? Wasn’t I just as fond of the frog-faced fucker as everybody else was?
I owed Carlos an apology, and was about to give it to him when he said, “I’ll go back.”
“You can’t,” said Tony.
“I have to. I’ll go back through the portal. I’ll find Jerome, get the key and––”
“No.” I shook my head emphatically. “I agree with Tony. It’s out of the question.”
“But––”
“Carlos.” I took a deep breath and softened my posture to reflect my sullen mood. “We can’t open up that can of worms again. There’s no guarantee that one, the portal will stay open for you, and two, Jerome is still there. If he has the key, he won’t want you to find him. It’s probably the reason he took off in the first place.”
“So where does that leave us?” asked Tony.
“Between a rock and a fucked-up hard place.” I looked at Leona. “Excuse the language.”
She turned a shy eye to the ground. “Is okay, Lilith. I do not hold you in bad thought for bad words. You have saved me from Doctor Lowell. For that I am grateful in my heart, even if you cannot get me home.”
“Well, I haven’t given up yet, cupcake.”
“Ooh,” said Carlos, “cupcake.”
We all laughed at that, easing the
blanket of doom that stoked our fears. I was about to suggest we find a place to freshen up and maybe look for something to eat, when Tony looked out into the street and uttered, “Uh-oh?”
“Uh-oh, what?”
“Isn’t that the old barkeep heading this way?”
“Tiny?”
“Yeah.”
I poked my head around Tony’s broad shoulders to have a look. “The same Tiny whose bar we burned to the ground?”
“Ah-huh, and he’s got company. Six alphadytes.”
“Is Tiny smiling?” asked Carlos.
“Hard to say, does gritting one’s teeth constitute a smile?”
“Not if one is still wearing pants,” I said.
“He’s wearing pants.”
“Crap.” I clapped my hands and rubbed them against the side of my jeans. “I think we’re done here, folks. The best advice I have for everyone now is... RUN!”
We tore off through the back of the alley, finding temporary refuge in the town’s livery barn, a two-story wooden structure consisting of four stalls and a loft.
One stall at the far end housed a strange-looking donkey-like creature with four legs and two heads, one on each end of the animal. The other three stalls were empty, save for random piles of manure and mounds of hay.
Carlos pointed at the unusual beast. “Damn! What is that?”
“It’s a double-headed donkey,” I said, as if such a sight was an everyday occurrence.
“It’s stupid then, isn’t it?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Just look. It has its heads up its ass.” He laughed. “Get it? Donkey. Ass. Huh?”
“Yeah, Carlos. We get it.”
“This way they come!” cried Ursula, retreating to the third stall.
We followed her and scrambled to bury ourselves under the mounds of loose hay. Moments later, two alphadytes busted in. They rooted around in the first stall, slashing through the hay mounds with their massive claws.
Finding nothing, they moved on to the second.
At one point, a pitchfork leaning between the second and third stall fell over. It clipped a fence board, narrowly missing Ursula’s leg. She gasped and let out a tiny squeak before covering her mouth to squelch it. The first alphadyte didn’t hear it. The second one did.
With a grunt, it directed the other to circle the back end of the stall while he covered the front, effectively cutting off any chance for our escape.
At that point, I knew we were dead. I expected Tony and Carlos would put up a good fight, but taking on two alphadytes bare handed in any world is suicide.
I thought of jumping out of the hay and zapping them with zip balls, but the static energy I needed to do that just wasn’t there. The barn was a dead zone, in more ways than one.
After careful consideration, I decided to do what any red-blooded witch would do in my shoes. I would stand by my man and fight. The instant Tony and Carlos sprang from hiding, I would do the same. With luck, it might buy the chance for Ursula and Leona to make a break and get away.
The door latch clicked. The gate opened slowly on creaking hinges. A rustling of claws pawing at hay followed. The first jab narrowly missed Tony. The second skimmed off Carlos’ armored shoulder plate.
We were about to spring into action, hoping maybe we’d take them by surprise, startle them perhaps, though alphadytes don’t startle easily, when someone in the next stall spoke.
“Yo, big guys! You come!”
The two quickly turned to investigate.
“I donkey,” said the voice. “You come here. I tell you secret. Make you hero.”
They took the bait and edged closer to the stall.
“Dat right. Come closer. You look for strangers?”
Carlos whispered in my ear. “That’s Jerome.” I shut him up with a classic nipple pinch.
“They hide in field,” said Jerome, “behind warehouse. You go now. You catch them. Big reward.”
It almost worked. They both started to leave when the larger one stopped and loped back to the stall. He stared at the donkey, hesitated, and then sniffed the air. The other joined him. They circled about, grunting and snorting through their curiosity.
Jerome, sensing their suspicions, said, “What? You not hear of talking donkey? I smart. Got two heads. Better than one.”
That satisfied them. The two snorted and ran off. For all I know, to this day they’re still blindly snorting and sniffing about the field, looking for us.
We sprang from the hay pile and hurried to the next stall. We couldn’t see Jerome, but we knew he was there. Carlos opened the gate and entered with the donkey. “Jerome?”
Nothing.
“Come on, Jerome. We know you’re in here, show yourself.”
Still nothing.
“Come on, J-man.”
In the corner, masterfully camouflaged among the boards, straw and donkey manure, Jerome revealed himself.
“Buddy, you saved us. Come here. Give me a hug.” Carlos extended his reach to receive Jerome, but the little green turd would have none of it. “Jerome. What’s wrong?”
He crossed his skinny arms to his chest and twirled his toe aimlessly among the chunks of manure at his feet. “Carlos no amigo.”
“What do you mean? We’re amigos. You and me, we’re best amigos.” He cast a glance at Tony and shook his head no.
“Carlos leave Jerome.”
“Okay. See, Lilith.” Carlos gave me that, I told you so, stare. “See what happened. Jerome, I didn’t want to leave you. You went off. We found the portal. We had to go. Lilith, tell him.”
“That’s right, Jerome. We left the sack so that you would find the portal. Does that sound like something someone would do if he wanted to ditch you?”
He looked up at me. Actually, he rolled one eye up at me. He kept the other on the ground. I guessed that meant he was coming around.
“Jerome.” Carlos knelt down and set his hand on the piñata pup’s shoulder. “I didn’t want to leave you. You have to believe me. I especially didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. Can you ever forgive me?”
At last, both eyes rolled up. “Jerome forgive.” He brought his hand out from behind his back and presented Carlos with a gift.
“It’s the witch’s key!” Carlos snatched the key from Jerome, stood up and handed it to me. He then offered his arms again to Jerome. “Hug now, amigo?”
I swear, as long as I live, I will never forget that saw-toothed grin Jerome gave Carlos as he leapt into his arms. I’ll also never forget the way Carlos hugged the little shit as if there were no tomorrows. But then, it was a goodbye hug.
After the rest of us took turns saying goodbye to Jerome, we all headed back to the alley. I instructed Tony, Carlos, Ursula and Leona to sit Indian-style in a circle with me while Jerome served as lookout.
“This will work just like it did when we left the research center. Tony, when I spin the witch’s key, you’ll release the knot in the ladder. Only this time, untie the fortieth knot.”
“Got it.”
“Ursula?”
“Aye, sister. When Incubus doth see red in eye, I snatch thy key what floats knee high.”
“That’s right. Carlos?”
“I know. Don’t tell me. You want me to sit here looking old and handsome.”
I smiled. “You are, you know.”
“Old?”
“Handsome.”
“Can we get on with it?” asked Tony.
“Of course.” I set the witch’s key on its end and gave it a spin. It twirled easily on the hard flat ground, and after only a couple of booster bumps, it assumed perpetual spin. Next, I pressed my hands together and steepled them below my chin. “Everyone ready?”
“Aye.”
“Ready.”
“Do it.”
I began my incantation.
“Spin thee wicked web of wind and weave what we unfurl. Lest not we bilk in spider silk a passage through this world. Feed thy hunger, quench thy th
irst, lo the witch’s ladder. Deliver us through Incubus from dark to lighter matter.”
I opened my eyes in time to see the witch’s key wobble through a clumsy last spin and fall flat on the ground. I looked at my Incubus ring. Its eyes were steel blue.
Carlos asked, “What happened?”
I looked at him. They were all looking at me. “I don’t know. It didn’t work.”
“We see that,” said Tony. “Why didn’t it?”
“I’m not sure. Unless...”
“What?”
I shook my head. “Unless the conversion points aren’t here anymore.”
“Aren’t here? What do you mean? They were here a little while ago. Where’d they go?”
“I don’t know. I told you they wander, sometimes even disappear altogether.”
“How do we find them?”
“We don’t.”
“Lilith!”
“Tony, without an electromagnetic field meter, I have no way of knowing where they are now.”
“Maybe you did it wrong.” Carlos pointed at the witch’s key. “You spun it counterclockwise. Maybe in the ES you have to reverse it.”
“Okay. That makes sense. We can try it again. Everyone ready?”
“Yes.”
I stood the witch’s key on end again and gave it a feathered touch, spinning it clockwise as Carlos suggested. I then steepled my hands below by chin and recited the spell again.
I waited longer this time to open my eyes. When I did, I saw two things: the key lying flat on the ground and four very disappointed faces.
Carlos said, “It didn’t work, Lilith.”
“No shit, Sherlock.” I snatched the key up and pressed it to my palm. “It’s warm.”
Tony said, “Is it because I didn’t have another fortieth knot to untie?”
“No. The ladder’s energy will hang with us.”
“So, what does this mean?”
“It means the conversion points are around here somewhere. Close. I just don’t know where.”
“What about the ones Doctor Lowell found?”
“What about them?”
“Maybe we can find those.” He looked to Leona. She seemed to anticipate his question.
“We came out of water,” she said.
8 Gone is the Witch Page 31
