“I know that model Malveria. She’s a heroin addict and the only place she ever goes is to see her psychiatrist.”
“But she really suits her yellow hat,” stated Malveria. “She is the most fortunate of women.”
It was time for the Japanese fashion show on cable TV. They settled down to watch. Although Thrix had been determined to spend the night working, the Fire Queen would not leave before the show was over and besides, an hour of relaxation would do her good. She nodded towards the bottle of whisky, bringing it floating towards them.
“The young man Daniel,” said Malveria.
“What about him?”
“Do you think he could be… What is the word that describes those two designers you recommended to redecorate my reception room?”
“Homosexual?”
“That is correct. Could this apply to Daniel?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“For no reason. I just wonder at his aversion to women. I sent him my niece who is not unattractive. Yet he fled the scene. I admit myself to be baffled.”
Thrix was puzzled.
“Why did you send her to Daniel?”
“I felt that he deserved some reward,” explained Malveria, untruthfully. “You will remember that he called me beautiful. And do not forget, he is the guardian of young Kalix, in a way.”
Thrix sighed.
“I’ve been trying to forget about Kalix. My mother keeps asking me to check on her.”
Malveria wondered why the Mistress of the Werewolves could not send someone else. Thrix admitted that she hadn’t told her mother exactly where Kalix was.
“My mother would tell Markus. And I don’t trust Markus.”
“Perhaps we could visit Kalix together?” suggested Malveria, who had an urge to see Daniel again, that she might judge for herself why he’d fled from Agrivex.
105
Kalix played on Moonglow’s computer for a long time. She enjoyed the learning to read website. Each page was a like a game and Kalix, by choosing the right words, led hopping frogs across a pond, and goats safely over a mountain. The young werewolf had never played any sort of computer game before and even though this was all rather simple, she was entranced. Without her really noticing, Kalix’s reading skills began to improve. The next page involved helping a kitten crawl back into its basket. Cat - mat - sat - bat - hat, typed Kalix, triumphantly leading the kitten to safety by spelling all the words correctly.
Kalix was vaguely aware that Moonglow’s boyfriend was now in the house. She wondered if she should go down and say hello. Daniel knocked on the door. Kalix immediately felt self-conscious. While she had been quite happy using the website alone, Daniel’s appearance made her realise that she was playing a child’s game, and learning very simple words. Daniel was bound to think she was stupid if he found her typing out cat, bat, and mat.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” mumbled Kalix.
Daniel walked across the room. Kalix’s poor computer skills meant she was unable to close the website before he saw it.
“What’s this?”
“Nothing,” mumbled Kalix again, now feeling very embarrassed.
“You have to get the kitten back into the basket?” said Daniel, picking up the idea the moment he looked at it. “Let me try.”
Daniel sat beside her and typed in the right words, soon succeeding in taking the kitten safely home.
“What’s next?”
They clicked on the link for the next page. This page, containing some words of four letters, looked very challenging to Kalix.
“Okay, lets get that buffalo safely across the prairie,” said Daniel.
“It looks hard,” said Kalix, doubtfully.
“Hard? To a smart werewolf like you? Definitely not. You better make a start, the buffalo’s looking anxious.”
Kalix smiled a very small smile, and made a start.
Downstairs Moonglow was feeling happy. Life had been stressful but now she was settling into her new house and her boyfriend was visiting for the first time. She’d cooked a meal and Jay had eaten it appreciatively, as he always did. They were sitting on the couch listening to Kate Bush and Jay was telling her about the astrological chart he’d drawn up for a friend of his which had several interesting insights. Moonglow listened attentively, and twined her fingers in Jay’s long black hair.
Upstairs, Kalix, with a little help from Daniel, had now led the buffalo safely across the prairie. In addition she’d helped a baby kangaroo back to its mother’s pouch and a lion cub back to its den. In the process she had learned to spell several new words and was feeling pleased with herself. Daniel was a good companion for this sort of thing. He enjoyed all computer games, from the simplest to the most complex, and for some reason it didn’t make her feel stupid that he was sitting beside her when she was struggling to spell lion.
After the lion cub adventure, Kalix felt fatigued.
“I can’t do any more.
Daniel nodded in agreement.
“You shouldn’t do too much at once, it’s a bad idea. I follow much the same philosophy at university.”
“Is Jay here?” asked Kalix.
“He’s currently eating every scrap of food in the house and droning on about the time he went to the Dracula Festival in Whitby,” said Daniel, morosely. “You’d think Moonglow would have better taste.”
“Should I say hello?”
“Probably. Moonglow told him you were my young cousin come to London for a visit.”
Daniel went off to his room to listen to music and lie on the bed being unhappy about Jay and Moonglow. Kalix shut down the computer. So Daniel said she should say hello to Jay. In that case it must be the right thing to do. Maybe if she didn’t say hello, it would be rude. Kalix suddenly remembered all the things Moonglow had instructed her not to do. Now she felt nervous. What if she did something weird and upset Jay? Moonglow would be annoyed. Just thinking about going downstairs began to make her anxious. She was bound to do something weird.
‘No matter what I do,’ thought Kalix, ‘It’ll be wrong. Everyone will hate me.’
She decided she’d better just stay in her room where she was safe. But Daniel had said she really should go and say hello. Kalix growled. Living with humans was too stressful. To quell the rising tide of panic Kalix took her bottle of laudanum from her bag. She took a large swig and waited for it to calm her nerves. A memory of life at Castle MacRinnalch floated into her mind. Once, when she was twelve or so, guests had been gathered round the banqueting table. Kalix had by this time developed her aversion to food and wouldn’t eat. Verasa later berated Kalix about embarrassing her in front of her guests. She’d been banished to her room in disgrace. Thinking of this now, Kalix had the confused notion that if she went downstairs, Moonglow would offer her food and then berate her if she refused to eat in front of Jay. The thought made her anxious so she drank some more laudanum.
In the living room Moonglow and Jay were studying an astrological chart. The door opened and Kalix walked in.
“Hello,” said Moonglow brightly. “Jay, this is Kalix.”
Kalix advanced with a smile on her face. Unfortunately, as she was now under the influence of a huge dose of laudanum, she was unable to stop. She stumbled over Jay’s outstretched legs, bounced off the couch and plummeted to the floor.
“It’s okay I’m fine,” said Kalix, quite gamely, attempting to rise. Her legs gave way and she fell again, this time onto the table where she tore the astrological chart in half and took the remnants with her onto the floor, along with two glasses, a bottle of wine, and several dishes. Jay seemed rather shocked. At that moment the doorbell rang. Moonglow shouted for Daniel to answer it but he was listening to music in his room and didn’t hear.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” said Moonglow, and hurried off.
At the door she found the Fire Queen and the Enchantress with their arms round each other’s shoulders.
“Oh… hello…”
said Moonglow.
“We’ve come to…” began the Enchantress, then stopped. She turned her head towards Malveria.
“Why have we come here?”
“To enquire after the health of Kalix.”
“Of course. We’ve come to enquire after the health of Kalix.”
“It’s not really a very good - ” began Moonglow, but the Enchantress and the Fire Queen were already brushing past her and climbing the stairs. Moonglow caught the powerful aroma of whisky. As she watched their unsteady progress up the stairs she realised, rather desperately, that they were both under the influence of alcohol. Moonglow gritted her teeth and set off in pursuit. The evening had taken an unexpectedly bad turn.
The Fire Queen snapped her fingers as she walked up the stairs, causing the light to come on.
“I have a visitor,” said Moonglow, urgently. “Please don’t use any magic, it’s - ”
She broke off as they entered the living room. Thrix and Malveria were bemused at the sight of Kalix, who was sprawled on the floor in the midst of a great mess of plates, cutlery, and glasses.
“Is this the best you could look after her?” said Thrix.
“Has there been a fight?” asked the Fire Queen.
“No, Kalix is just…” Moonglow stopped. She wasn’t sure what Kalix was. Drunk? Collapsing from lack of food?
The Fire Queen sniffed the air.
“Ah,” she said, knowingly. “Laudanum.”
“Laudanum?” said Jay, who up till now had been too busy brushing food scraps from his clothes to pay attention their visitors. “There isn’t any laudanum any more.”
“No laudanum?” said the Fire Queen, immediately displeased at being contradicted. “What a strange thing to say.”
“It hasn’t been made for a century or more,” said Jay, knowledge-ably. “Not since morphine and heroin arrived.”
“You are quite mistaken,” said Malveria.
Daniel, having now heard the commotion, arrived in the room to see what was happening.
“Daniel!” cried Malveria. “How well you are looking! Very like a young man who would attract girls. You are a young man who wishes to attract girls, yes?”
Kalix tried to stand, gave up the attempt, and slumped heavily on the couch. The Fire Queen wondered if there might be a pop-tart in the toaster, waiting to be eaten. Thrix apologised for troubling them but wondered if it might be possible for her to have a cup of coffee as she was feeling rather tired. When Malveria noticed the TV guide on the floor she asked if they subscribed to the Japanese fashion show and was surprised to learn that they did not.
“No cable? My dears, how do you manage?”
106
When Sarapen heard of Markus’s savage attack he immediately flew to London. Sarapen was incensed by the destruction of his property and the killing of his counsellor Mirasen. He was furious that Markus had so easily invaded his house in London. Of the four werewolves who had been there, two were now dead, and Decembrius was badly injured. It was unfortunate that Andris MacAndris had not been at the house. Andris, the head of Sarapen’s household, was a fierce warrior, almost as strong as the mighty Wallace MacGregor, son of the Baron. If Andris had been there he might have ridded Sarapen of Markus for good, and Verasa could not have held Sarapen responsible. It would have been ideal.
Sarapen was baffled as to Markus’s motives. It was a far more adventurous exploit than he would have expected from his young brother. Despite his fury, Sarapen realised that he could turn the situation to his advantage. Markus had killed Sarapen’s advisor. Sarapen was now free to kill Markus. The clan could not protest because the revenge would be justified.
Now that Sarapen was free to seek out Markus, he knew he’d have less time to hunt for Kalix. Decembrius, his chief hope of finding her, lay wounded, so Sarapen called ahead to instruct Andris MacAndris to summon the Douglas-MacPhees.
At Castle MacRinnalch Verasa was agitated. She had just learned from her informants in Sarapen’s camp of events in London. She cursed Markus for flying off in a rage. Talixia’s death had been a severe shock but really, it was no time to lose control of one’s emotions. She didn’t think Markus could defeat Sarapen in combat and was relieved that Sarapen had not been at his house when Markus attacked. She urged Thrix to find Markus and take him to safety. Not entirely trusting Thrix to do this, she sent more of her werewolves to London.
“This is all very bad,” said Verasa to Rainal, in her chambers. “Particularly the assault on Decembrius.”
Rainal nodded. Verasa’s sister Lucia was not going to be pleased. Lucia had voted for Markus and would be furious to learn that he’d subsequently attacked her son.
“It’s fortunate Decembrius wasn’t killed but even so it might cost Markus her vote.”
“Sarapen is to blame for this outbreak of violence,” Rainal pointed out. “He was behind the murder of Baron MacAllister and he seems to be responsible for Talixia’s murder.”
Verasa pursed her lips. She wasn’t certain that Sarapen had been responsible for Talixia’s death.
“Although now that Markus has acted so rashly, it hardly matters.”
Verasa clenched her fists. All Markus had to do was stay out of the way till Verasa had collected enough votes. Now he’d put himself in danger and quite probably alienated Lucia. It was all very aggravating.
“Most irritating,” agreed Rainal. “Particularly as Dominil has been making such good progress. Do we have news of Kalix?”
“She’s safe, according to Thrix. Though I don’t believe Thrix is putting as much effort as she should into protecting her. I don’t believe she doesn’t know exactly where she is, either.”
107
Sarapen’s werewolves had done what they could to clear up the mess but Sarapen could still smell the blood. He asked for news of Decembrius and was told that the young werewolf was being cared for in another apartment nearby. He was not in danger. His injuries had been serious but his inborn werewolf vitality would allow him to recover.
Sarapen was eager to search for Markus and take vengeance but there was another task to attend to first.
“Bring in the Douglas-MacPhees.”
The door opened and three sullen werewolves were shepherded into the room. Duncan, Rhona, and the huge, lumbering Fergus. Duncan was the eldest, around forty, the others a few years his junior. They were thieves and quite probably murderers. Baron MacPhee had banished them from his keep and all surrounding lands. After being run out of Scotland they’d established themselves in London and were busy with various criminal enterprises of their own. They gazed sullenly at Sarapen. They had no respect for any other werewolf, member of the ruling family or not. Duncan, Rhona and Fergus had little regard for clan tradition, and no regard at all for humans.
Sarapen stared at them with open dislike. They were almost as objectionable as the cousins about whom the family did not speak. The Douglas-MacPhees were all dark, heavy browed, and dressed in black. Not well dressed like Markus, or formally dressed like Sarapen, but shabbily and aggressively dressed, with leather jackets and bandanas, and tattoos.
“I sent you to capture Kalix MacRinnalch. You failed.”
Duncan shrugged.
“We went back for her next day. But the humans had moved.”
“I want you to find her again.”
“We’re busy.”
“You will do this for me.”
“We’ve got other things to do.”
Sarapen strode forward and took Duncan by the throat, lifting him from the floor so he couldn’t move. Duncan stared straight back into his eyes, refusing to show fear. Sarapen wrinkled his nose. The Douglas-MacPhee wore a leather jacket that reeked of age, blood and death.
“You have no other things to do,” said Sarapen, raising his voice. “You’re a vicious little gang and if I didn’t want your help I’d snap your necks now. Baron MacPhee would thank me. But I do want your help. Find Kalix MacRinnalch.”
“What if we don’t want to?�
� said Rhona, defiantly.
“Then I’ll run you out of London. And if you annoy me any more I’ll kill you.”
Sarapen released Duncan.
“Andris MacAndris will arrange for you to be paid. Now get out of my sight.”
After they’d gone Andris looked questioningly at Sarapen.
“They’re a vicious trio, Sarapen. Not trustworthy.”
“I know. But they fear me and they’ll do as I tell them.”
Andris nodded. It made sense. But he shuddered inside at the thought of Sarapen setting such a gang on the trail of his sister Kalix. They weren’t the sort of werewolves to show mercy.
Sarapen selected four strong MacAndris werewolves from his entourage.
“Now,” he told them. “It’s time to attend to Markus.”
108
Dominil made ready to drive the sisters to the rehearsal studio. It was no easier to get them out of bed than it had been before. They seemed to have a great disinclination to rise before three o’clock in the afternoon, something which Dominil found very frustrating. Werewolves did have a tendency to nocturnal living but there was no need to take it to ridiculous extremes. Not when there was work to be done. She dragged the pair from their beds, ignoring their protests.
“Get ready. We have to leave soon.”
“Can’t leave now,” muttered Delix. “Hair’s a mess.”
“Then wear a hat.”
Delix seemed scandalised by the idea.
“There’s no way I’m leaving the house till my hair’s exactly right and you can scowl all you want you white-haired bitch it doesn’t make any difference.”
Beauty and Delicious headed for the bathroom to attend to their hair. The sisters’ excessive vanity was infuriating. Neither of them could so much as step out into the street without preening themselves for hours in front of the mirror. Even a trip to the shops to buy a pint of milk had to be preceded by a long session with their make-up bags.
While waiting for the sisters to get ready Dominil worked at her computer. She’d downloaded some new hacking software and was modifying it. A few days ago Dominil had attempted to break into the Guild’s computers but she’d been unsuccessful. Since her last cyber spying mission the Guild had increased their protection. Dominil was now upgrading her own software to penetrate the Guild’s new security encryption.
Lonely Werewolf Girl Page 30
