Thru the Badger Hole

by Taki Drake

  Brechal was off like a shot, moving faster than anyone expected him to act. When a 7 ½ foot man moved at an Olympic sprinter pace, everyone took note. Emesh and Madrik watched as the bartender came to a crashing halt halfway down the length of the bar. Staring down at something that was out of the sight of the other two men, everyone in the room clearly heard Brechal as he said, “No guttering way!” His hands moved so fast that they were almost blurred. One after another he pulled bottles of different types of beer out of the cooler. He had pulled 15 or so bottles out before Madrik heard Emesh take a deep breath. Turning to Madrik, Emesh asked, “Tentacles?”

  Madrik simply nodded. Cryptically, Emesh asked once more, “Where?”

  Once again Madrik responded nonverbally, substituting a shrug for anything more specific.

  Once again, Wynn cut the exchange short. “Well, I would imagine the squiggly bits are below his waist and stuffed into his pants.”

  Both Emesh and Madrik blushed. Looking up from the bar, Brechal asked, “How would you know that?” Realizing what he had just asked, even the huge bartender turned an embarrassed red.

  “Men! They embarrass so damn easily.”

  When everyone stared at Wynn in silence, she finally answered, “It just makes sense. They’re not visible the rest of the time and where else can you hide lumpy coils of long appendages?”

  The conversation probably would’ve gone on longer, to the continued embarrassment of three of the people in the room, but the middle door to the BHB opened up, and a group of rowdy people entered. After the quiet of the BHB over the last few days, none of the staff was anticipating the amount of energy and chaos that came in with the group of drinkers, clinging to them like invisible cloaks.

  As the men sat frozen, or motionless behind the bar, Wynn hopped up from the table and went over to the group, already chattering.

  “Welcome to the Badger Hole Bar. We are not actually fully open, but we are certainly able to provide you with some drinks and some general food. Are you chilled? Or do you want a cooler table?”

  The group resolved into four beings. One of them resembled the swordsman of the day before, with white skin and dark eyes, while the others look like they could’ve been related to Madrik, although more heavily muscled and armored in a variety of manners. The biggest of them was the one who answered Wynn, saying, “Hey there, girly! We heard that the doors might be open and we thought we would come and visit. We’ve got a thirsty crew here! We really could use some beers!”

  Looking toward the bar, the big guy smiled at seeing the bottles already laid out on the counter. Grinning cheerfully at his friends, he said, “It looks like you are expecting us! The beers would be great, something to eat if you got it, but the main reason we are here is for alcohol!”

  Wynn laughed and got the party seated at one of the tables, quickly opening the bottles of beer and pouring them into steins. She carried them over to the table, placing one in front of each of the men before Brechal broke out of his daze. The huge bartender quickly got moving behind the bar, prepping for more drinkers. Nodding in embarrassed gratitude at Winn, he acknowledged her assistance and apologized for his momentary immobility in one gesture.

  Madrik was conscious of a splash of surprise like a warming spark that illuminated shadows at the interplay between the bartender and the waitress. There was a wave of satisfaction that started in his gut and bounded along the companion bond to the BHB and back again. They were both pleased that the team was settling out.

  << <> >>

  Emesh had left shortly after the drinkers had gotten there. He had stared thoughtfully at the group as they interacted with Wynn, his confusion growing as he watched the interaction between the waitress and Brechal. Madrik didn’t have a chance to ask the older man what was causing him confusion because the bar had gotten busier.

  Without any advertisement or formal announcement, the BHB was attracting drinkers. While Wynn had cheerful exchanges with the drinkers, creating a lighthearted atmosphere of enjoyment within the bar effortlessly, Madrik and Brechal kept their concerns and confusion under control and simply did what they could.

  Although Wynn’s lighthearted repartee with the drinkers kept any serious problem or confrontation away from the bar, Madrik knew it was just a matter of time. Eventually, there would be problems, and they needed someone who could handle them.

  In between providing a foil for Wynn’s silliness and seating new visitors, Brechal and Madrik were having urgent, whispered conversations about the need for a bouncer, rules to control behavior, and the damned cook. Even with those worries, Madrik could feel that the silly comments and smiling interaction that Wynn initiated were lowering the tension in the bar. Using humor to ease the atmosphere, she was also providing what felt like a balm to the soul.

  Pushing a thought across his companion bond, the bar manager confided to the BHB, I think we were very lucky when Wynn came through that door. I’m not too sure how we would’ve coped without her. The BHB’s response was a massive pulse of agreement.

  Sometime between the second and third group that had come into the bar, Madrik had decided to prop the door open. It had been far easier to cope with the drinkers wandering in when the door wasn’t constantly swinging open and shut. Although the bar was half full, none of the people working so hard to provide simple food and drink to the patrons registered when an unaccompanied person walked through the doorway.

  It was with a major start of surprise that Brechal realized that he had a party of one that had pulled up a stool at the bar itself. Stumbling in his speech for just a split second, the bartender found his tongue and started to interact with his direct customer.

  “Welcome to the Badger Hole Bar! What can I get you?”

  It was the universal greeting of many a bartender. Sometimes drinkers needed reminding of where they were, and that they needed to order what they wanted, so this first question was reasonable.

  The man sitting on a spindly -looking stool answered Brechal easily, saying, “I would like a Thunder Pigeon and make it a double. I need to get the feel of that fog off my skin.”

  Brechal responded “I know exactly what you mean. It is a creepy feeling.”

  “Yeah it was like having chaos touching my skin, and it was totally nasty! It messes with your mind. For a while, I felt like I forgot a word that was really important that I normally knew. Or maybe it was like a memory that I just couldn’t grab.”

  “For me, it reminded me of something missing and caused my bones and my gut to ache.”

  “That’s exactly it, bartender! I can tell that you have been out in it.”

  “Yes, we all have. Those of us that are drinking here and those of us that work here.”

  “Brave people. However, as good as your beer is, I can see a reason to come back.”

  Excusing himself from the lone drinker with an apologetic smile, Brechal moved down to where Wynn was waiting with another order. The barroom was now about three-quarters full. The waitress had been moving rapidly among the tables, making sure that everyone had plenty to drink. Madrik had been working in the kitchen, slicing up cheeses and sausages, trying to figure out how on earth he was going to ask for payment.

  That was one area they had not covered and was a gaping hole that the poor bar manager felt like an aching tooth that radiated through his head. What on earth am I going to do about that? he thought to himself.

  Handing the latest plate off to Wynn on one of her whirlwind trips to the kitchen, Madrik had enough time to go out and join Brechal behind the bar. His timing was impeccable since the answer to his question was about to be provided.

  The first group of four beings that had come into the BHB to drink were ready to leave. The big redheaded leader had come over to the bar with his hands full of a variety of items. As Madrik stared, open-mouthed in astonishment, the man dumped the mass onto the countertop and said to Brechal, “Here you go. I hope that’s enough. It was awesome beer and good sausage. We will stop by ag
ain in another couple of days to see what’s going on. Perhaps you’ll even have work for us!”

  He and his friends had disappeared from the bar so quickly that Madrik had not gotten through his astonishment to tell them farewell. Brechal, acting nonchalantly, had swept the payment off the top of the bar and placed it behind the counter. It was down far enough that it was concealed from an easy view.

  As Brechal industriously wiped the counter clean where the payment had been dumped, Madrik looked in obvious astonishment at what, and how much, they had been paid. Gold, jewels, jewelry, and packets of some substance, carefully wrapped. The bar manager had no idea how to value it.

  Seeing that Brechal had been subtly conducting his own examination, Madrik stepped right next to the big man asking in a low-toned voice, “Do you have any idea of the value of what we just got?”

  “Lots. Far more than I would’ve expected.”

  “Oh.”

  Before either man could make additional comments, a small hole opened in the surface of the low counter. Forming directly under the pile of valuables, there was a faint clink of disappearing coins, and all of the items disappeared from view. Brechal’s reflex grab at them was too late. Madrik could feel through the bond that the BHB was amused. The bar manager even noticed the telltale signs of that amusement in the slight shaking of the lights and the rippling spurts from the fire. Brechal obviously had made the same deductions because he said, “Laughing at me, is he?”

  Madrik’s cheerful smile was all the feedback that the bartender needed. “Darned pea-brained pit of a fallen mausoleum! He’ll be sorry he laughed at me!”

  When the BHB pushed an image over the companion bond to Madrik, the bar manager was reduced to helpless laughter. A clear image of a muscular, short man in a short-sleeved shirt motioning in circles toward his chest said it all. The BHB was telling Madrik to “bring it on.”

  Chapter 19 – On Shaky grounds

  The walls of the bar shook, and small showers of dust spurted from corners and off the rafters in light-altering plumes of flying debris. There was a rumbling from behind the bar. Brechal reacted with trained reflexes, instinctively throwing his bar towel over the open containers of garnish and swiftly capping the open bottles of liquor. He shouted, “Watch out!”

  Madrik’s spike of alarm touched a harmonic note in his companion. As the ground continued to shake, thick rootlets exploded from the floor and secured the legs of the tables and chairs. Nothing shifted in the room, although some of the drinkers were startled and forgot to tend to the pitchers and glasses on the tables in front of them.

  The floor and walls rumbled with grating sounds, like earth plates moving deep below them. Contained in that deep groan of immense transformation was the sharp screech that indicated a spark of life. Birth and rebirth shook the land and power announced its emergence and readiness for shaping.

  Madrik felt the raw power of that sound was diffused as if it were missing a transforming lens. All that was needed was a route that would channel the energy of that immense roar, that potential, into a pathway, like electricity did when it found the ground.

  Luckily, Wynn was close to one of the tables in danger and managed to stabilize the very full pitcher in the center of the table. Thinking that it could have been much worse, Madrik glanced around the room, noting no signs of panic and no major spills.

  Waiting for a moment, Madrik started to relax when there were no further signs of trouble. No ground-shaking swells, no crashes. It seems that his world was safe, but Madrik was conscious of a sense of disappointment and irritation. If I’m the main anchor of this domain, I would’ve thought that I had some warning of this happening. Why on earth wasn’t there any sign that the whole world was going to shake?

  The waitress was quickly moving around the room making sure that everyone was fine. There didn’t appear to be any lasting damage, and none of the bar patrons seemed to regard the experience as significant. This was confusing to Madrik, who regarded anything that shook the foundation under his feet as a substantial cause for concern. He could tell by the look on Brechal’s face that the bartender was equally concerned.

  When Wynn made her way back to the bar, Madrik stepped over closely enough that he could use his body to block eavesdropping from the general floor. Motioning Brechal over with his eyes and a jerk of his chin, Madrik said in a voice that only reached the ears of the other two, “I think we better check this out. Brechal, can you hold down the fort here while Wynn and I take a quick look around outside?”

  “Yes, and I think that’s a very good idea. I don’t know why nobody else appears to be confused or upset about it. But I would feel better if we knew what had caused the problem. Maybe then, we can predict it.”

  Madrik said, “Wynn, how about if we go right now rather than waiting?” When she nodded her agreement, Madrik turned and made his way unobtrusively toward the open middle door. A few seconds after he had stepped out Wynn joined him.

  At first glance, there was no change in the area in front of the BHB. The walls of the bar itself looked fine, and Madrik was fairly sure that the BHB would’ve told him if there was a problem. The cobblestone road and the paths that Madrik could see appeared unbroken and unbuckled. This was not the behavior that he was used to from quakes back on his home planet.

  While Madrik had been looking carefully at the streets, Wynn had been ranging further afield. Returning to where Madrik stood, she said, “There really doesn’t appear to be anything wrong here, and I didn’t even see anything when I walked around the building to the right.”

  “Did you check out the gardens?”

  “Yes. Other than the fact that the trees are all lot bigger and the plants in the garden look more mature, it looks the same as it did before. Even the raised beds look fine. There is no sign of cracks or fissures or anything.”

  Now even more confused, Madrik led the way back into the bar. With no signs of damage and no change in the enshrouding chaos fog, there didn’t appear to be any reason for concern. However, Madrik’s intuition told him that something was going on and it bothered him that he didn’t know what it was.

  After reassuring Brechal that everything was apparently okay. Madrik continued to circulate around the bar and to put turn his hand to whatever tasks were needed. He noticed that there was a strange, rhythmic hum was coming over his companion bond. Turning his attention to the BHB and scrutinizing the behavior, Madrik was left with a generalized feeling that the bar was anticipating something that was either an old friend or family. All that Madrik knew about this world was that whatever you were expecting, it would be something different. All he could do was wait.

  The bar manager could feel the tense anticipation twisting under the walls and the surface of the floor throughout the BHB. It set his nerves on edge and made him far more sensitive to the energy flow of the people in the barroom.

  So intent was he on exploring this new sense and feeling that Madrik almost jumped out of his skin when Brechal leaned over the bar and said, with his face very close to Madrik’s ear, “This just appeared on the bar counter. It wasn’t there just a moment ago. I think it’s for you because I have no conceivable use for this thing.”

  The bartender placed what looked like a roll of parchment in Madrik’s unresisting hand. When the bemused man unrolled the paper, he was no more enlightened at the sight of an extremely cryptic diagram that had been drawn on the center of the parchment.

  Sitting abruptly down on one of the barstools, Madrik examined the picture more carefully. From the clearly labeled barroom and garden, he realized that the only clearly drawn items on the sheet of parchment were obviously associated with the BHB. On one side of the bar’s garden, two spirals were drawn. One spiral was above and to the right of the BHB, the other to the right and below. The map was well drawn and clearly showed the roads and paths that Madrik had sketched when he had gone on his exploratory trip.

  At least I don’t have to go to the trouble of trying to draw the ma
p out. The BHB, or someone else, has thoughtfully done it for me. However, I wonder what those spirals are, or what they indicate. At this point, I will just have to keep track of what happens in those locations and can use that to project future behavior. However, this does tell me that something is going to happen at those two locations.

  Madrik was lost in his thoughts, staring at the map in his hand intently. Brechal claimed the bar manager’s attention, lightly clearing his throat from a few feet away. Madrik looked at the bartender with a question on his face.

  The bartender hurried into speech, saying, “We are getting people from all sorts of different locations. Nobody’s been very clear on how they know where we are, and nobody is sharing how they got here. However, many people are asking when we are hiring and what type of people we want. I started to make a list of the people and the things that they were offering to do, but I’m not sure what to do with that list right now. What would you like? Should I be telling people that we are not hiring, or what? I just need some guidelines.”

  “Brechal, I’m very sorry. I wasn’t thinking about that and yeah we should figure out what we want to tell people.”

  “If you’re going to have a staff meeting like we usually do in the morning, how about if we talk about it tomorrow morning. Is that okay, boss?”

  Touched by the acknowledgment, Madrik nodded his head and mentally tabled some other discussions for that meeting agenda.

  Chapter 20 – Entry and Rebound

  Madrik was antsy again. As soon as he started to pace back and forth, unable to sit still, Brechal went into motion. Signaling Wynn, the big man bent down and said a few things into her ear. Wynn moved determinedly through the room chatting with people and subtly getting them settled away from the doors.

  While she was doing that, Brechal was rearranging the bar. Someone observing him closely would have noticed that he was moving the vulnerable glassware away from the end of the bar that was closest to the three doors. He didn't appear to hurry, but the rapidity of change meant that he was using all the assets that he had available, tentacles and all.