Tales of the Scarlet Knight Collection: The Wrath of Isis

by P. T. Dilloway

  “Look, why don’t you go back to the Plaine Museum and harass the security guards? I’m going home to take a hot bath and get some sleep.” Before Marlin could say anything, she added, “Tomorrow we’ll get back to work on the rest of it. I promise.”

  “Fine. Slacker,” Marlin said with a hint of a smile. She shook her head as the ghost flew away; he soon winked out just like the meteor that had risen into the sky.

  ***

  After a hot bath and another dreamless night of sleep, Emma awoke to someone shaking her. She opened her eyes to see that Becky was Becky again. “She’s awake,” Becky said. Emma rolled out of bed; she knew to whom Becky referred.

  Ms. Chiostro sat up in bed to eat a bowl of chicken noodle soup. As Ms. Chiostro slurped some of the broth into her mouth, Akako wiped at her cheek with a napkin. “I’m not an invalid,” Ms. Chiostro said.

  “I’m only trying to help,” Akako said.

  Ms. Chiostro looked up then and noticed Emma and Becky in the doorway. “Oh, hello girls. Are you two back to your old selves?”

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “Good to hear it.”

  “How are you feeling?” Emma asked.

  “I’ve been better.” She lowered the spoon to sigh. “I forgot how volatile magic could be. I shouldn’t have tried to do so much so fast.”

  “I’m glad you did,” Becky said. “I don’t think I could have taken another minute as a baby.”

  “You’re welcome, dear,” Ms. Chiostro said. For a moment she sounded like her old self again. She looked around the room. “Where’s Sylvia gone off to? Is she downstairs polishing a sword or something like that?”

  “I’m right here,” Sylvia said from behind Emma and Becky. They stood aside so she could pass. Ms. Chiostro dropped her spoon back into the bowl at the sight of her sister.

  “What did you do to yourself?”

  “I guess I had a near-death experience too. I spent the last hundred years living as your shadow, but not anymore. From now on I’m going to have my own life and my own friends. I’m going to open my own salon somewhere and maybe my own gun range too. And if you don’t like it, you know what you can do with yourself.”

  An awkward silence descended over the room, everyone else too shocked by Sylvia’s outburst to say anything. Ms. Chiostro broke the silence when she reached out for her sister’s hand and said, “I’ve never wanted to hold you back, dear. If that’s what you want to do, of course I won’t stand in the way.”

  “Oh, Agnes,” Sylvia said. She leaned down to hug her sister.

  “I think we’ll leave you two alone,” Emma said. Becky and Akako followed her downstairs to the kitchen. As Emma started to make some toast, she asked Akako, “What are you going to do now?”

  “I’ll have to return to the archives—for a little while. At least until a replacement can be found.” Akako shrugged. “After that will depend on what Agnes wants.”

  Emma wasn’t sure what to say to this; from the corner of her eye she saw Becky shift uncomfortably in her seat. This was something that would take some getting used to. “I hope you two can work something out,” Emma finally said.

  As they ate their breakfast, Becky said, “You know, I was thinking that with so much going on around here, maybe you’d like to move somewhere a little quieter.”

  “I can’t go back to my apartment—”

  “No, I mean my house,” Becky said. She shook her head in mock anger. “Sometimes you geniuses can really be dense.”

  “Oh, well, yes I’d love to move in with you. If it won’t be a problem.”

  “It’s no problem. That house is too big for just one person.”

  As Sylvia and her big sister had done a few minutes earlier, Emma leaned across the table to hug her surrogate big sister Becky; she knew the emotional sacrifice Becky had made. “Thank you.”

  “It’s the least I can do for my best friend.”

  They were still embracing each other when Emma’s phone rang from upstairs. She couldn’t imagine who would call her so early in the morning. “I’d better go see who that is,” she said.

  To her surprise, it was Dr. Maxwell from Rampart State. “Good morning, Dr. Earl. I hope I didn’t wake you up.”

  “No, you didn’t. I was just downstairs having breakfast.”

  “I see. Well, Dr. Earl, I thought I’d call to see if you’d like to interview for a job.”

  ***

  Emma dropped the last box into the rear of Sylvia’s truck. The witch had volunteered to vanish all of Emma’s belongings to Becky’s house—Ms. Chiostro was still too weak to use magic—but Emma insisted they do it the old-fashioned way. She had been involved far too much with magic in the last ten days.

  “So what kind of job is this?” Becky asked as they climbed into the truck.

  “Teaching. One of their professors has to take a leave of absence and they thought I might be able to fill in.”

  “So it’s just a temporary thing?”

  “Just for one semester. But there’s a chance it could go longer.” Emma shrugged as she got the truck underway. “It’s better than working for a man like Bykov.”

  “I suppose so. I guess I never saw you as the teaching type.”

  “You don’t think I can handle it?”

  “You’ve never exactly been a people person. What are you going to do if some punk gets out of line, chop him in the throat?”

  “I’d never do that.”

  “I’m just teasing.”

  “Oh. Sorry.”

  “But seriously, are you sure you can keep a class full of kids in line?”

  “It’s college, not high school. They shouldn’t be that rowdy.”

  “True, the rowdy ones will probably be sleeping off their hangovers in the dorms.”

  “It’s a chance to do something different. And it’s not like I have much choice other than to go on welfare.”

  “I suppose it would be better for my tenant to have a job.” That Emma was Becky’s tenant had become a running joke between them in the last few days, even though Becky wouldn’t charge her any rent—at least in cash. To earn her keep, Emma was expected to help keep the place tidy, something she would have done anyway. There was another condition Becky had set: “Make sure that friend of yours doesn’t swim up the toilet while I’m on it.”

  “I hope I can come up with a lesson plan in time. And I’ll have to write tests, come up with lab assignments—”

  “You’ll do fine.” Becky smiled at her. “When have you ever failed?”

  The answer to that question sat on Becky’s front doorstep. Dan stood up as the truck came to a stop. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know you weren’t home. I hope you don’t mind me waiting around for you.”

  “No, of course not,” Becky said. Her face and Emma’s turned red in unison as Dan kissed Becky on the lips.

  Only after he pulled away from Becky did he seem to notice Emma in the cab. “Hi, Dr. Earl,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Emma is moving in with me. At least for a little while.”

  “That’s great,” Dan said. He smiled at Emma like a stranger. She felt her heart break. “How was your job in Russia?”

  “Oh, it was fine. It’s a really interesting country.”

  “I’ve been wanting to go there myself.”

  “Emma’s going to be a teacher now. She just got the job this morning.”

  “You did? Congratulations.” When he shook her hand, she wanted desperately to pull him close and kiss him the way he had kissed Becky. But she couldn’t. She wasn’t the woman he loved. “Where are you teaching?”

  “Rampart State.”

  “That’s a good school.”

  This was not entirely a lie as there were plenty of schools worse than Rampart State—there were also plenty of better ones. “It is,” she said.

  “Anyway, I just stopped by to see how you were doing,” he said to Becky. “What happened with our friends?”

>   “We won’t be seeing them for a long time,” Becky said. She played coy since Emma wasn’t supposed to know anything about it.

  “What a shame. You seem to be doing well, though.” Dan had probably noticed Becky was about a hundred twenty pounds thinner than before, but he was too much of a gentleman to mention it. “Why don’t I help you and your friend?”

  “I couldn’t ask you to do that—”

  “I insist.” Before Becky could stop him, Dan took a box from the truck. “Where are we going?”

  “Upstairs, second door on the right,” Becky said.

  Dan nodded and then set out with the box. Emma waited until he was inside the house to sag against the side of the truck. She put her head against the door so if he came back out he couldn’t see her cry.

  Becky patted her back. “I’ll talk to him tonight. I’ll break it off.”

  “You can’t hurt him like that. Not after what he’s already been through with Isis.”

  “I’ll let him down real easy. Leave it to me, kid.”

  “But what about you?”

  “I’ll be fine. I’m not the one who loves him.”

  “You don’t?”

  “Not like you do.” Becky squeezed her shoulder. “You’re my best friend. You’re practically my sister. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. All right?”

  Emma nodded. Then she began to furiously wipe at her eyes; she hoped he wouldn’t notice how red they’d turned in the few minutes since he’d gone inside. “Now come on,” Becky said. “Let’s get you moved in.”

  Before Becky could step away to take a box from the truck, Emma hugged her again. “I am so lucky to have a friend like you,” she said.

  “I know you are,” Becky said. She gave her back another gentle pat. Then they went back to work.

  Epilogue

  She finished writing her name on the chalkboard and then turned to face the class—her class. “Welcome to Geology 101,” she said, her voice hoarse. “My name is Dr. Emma Earl. I was a geologist at the Plaine Museum for five years.” She reached down to her desk for her cup of tea and took a hearty sip before she continued, “I’m going to be your teacher for this semester. Before we enter the fascinating world of geology, I have to take the attendance.”

  Her first class went better than expected. No one tried to pull any pranks or interrupt her as she lectured—rambled really—on the importance of geology to understanding the planet. From what she could tell, no one even fell asleep during the class. The only problem came in that she ran out of tea in the first half-hour, so that by the end of the two hours her throat felt like ancient parchment. She made a note to buy a bag of throat lozenges from the campus bookstore.

  As she gathered up her notes and textbook, someone knocked on the door. She looked up to see Tim Cooper. “Dr. Earl?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “You aren’t in my class.”

  “No, I’m not. But I have read your work. It’s fascinating.”

  “Thank you.” She reminded herself that she had not actually met Tim before—that had been Becky.

  “When I heard you were going to be teaching here, I couldn’t believe it.”

  “I couldn’t believe it myself.”

  “I was hoping maybe if you had some time, I could talk to you about a couple projects of mine. I’d really like to get your opinion.”

  “I’m not sure I have time right now. I have another class in a half-hour.”

  “How about tonight? For dinner?” He must have seen her face go red as he added, “Not as a date or anything. I’ve already got a girlfriend. I meant to talk about science.”

  “I guess there wouldn’t be any harm in that,” Emma said. They set up the meeting for a restaurant downtown, far away from any faculty or students. It wasn’t against any rules to have dinner with a student who wasn’t in her class, but she didn’t want anyone to gossip about them. At the same time, she saw a lot of herself in Tim; he could be a great scientist with some nurturing.

  Thanks to her meeting with Tim, she didn’t have time to run to the bookstore, but she did at least manage to get a Diet Coke before her next class—Geology 102. Though she could easily have taught the most advanced courses, Dr. Maxwell had only assigned her the basic classes. “That way you can get your feet wet without drowning,” he said. Whether her semester at Rampart State would turn into anything more she didn’t know, but by the end of her second class she began to hope it would. To see all those receptive faces as they listened to her talk about geology gave her a thrill she’d never experienced in the lab or in her office at the museum.

  Since she was only a temporary instructor—for the moment—she didn’t have much of an office. It wasn’t much bigger than a closet, with just enough room for a desk, filing cabinet, and two chairs. She nearly dropped her briefcase when she saw Markova in one chair. “Hello Dr. Earl. It is good to see you doing well.”

  Emma waited until she shut the door to hiss, “What are you doing here?”

  “You have not returned my calls. I thought perhaps it would be inappropriate to show up at your house.”

  “I don’t want to talk to you. You or your employer.” She pointed to the door. “Get out of here before I call security.”

  “Please, Dr. Earl, I know things ended badly between us. I came here to make amends.” Markova reached into her handbag for a white envelope. Emma didn’t take it, but she knew what was in there. “This is the money my employer owes you. He asked that I thank you for saving his son from his—illness.”

  “I don’t want your money,” Emma said, although she could still use the money. With that money she could buy a new motorcycle, fix the damage to the Sanctuary, and maybe add a few upgrades. But to do that she would have to take Bykov’s blood money, something she couldn’t do.

  “My employer will be very displeased if you do not take this money.”

  “I can’t take it—not knowing where it came from.”

  “You are putting me in a difficult position, Dr. Earl.”

  “If you want to give it to someone, give it to the people of Grakistan. They could use it a lot more than I could.”

  Markova tucked the envelope back into her bag. “Yes, perhaps you are right.” She held out her hand, but Emma refused to shake it. “I am sorry about what happened between us. I hope that one day we may meet under better circumstances.”

  Before Markova could leave the cramped office, Emma touched her shoulder. “Katarina, why don’t you stay here? We could find somewhere for you to hide. You could leave that evil man behind.”

  “I could never leave Mr. Bykov. I owe him my life. It is a debt I can never fully repay.”

  Emma sagged onto her chair as Markova left. She stared helplessly at her desk for a long time and wished there was something she could do. But not even the Sword of Justice could sever the bond of loyalty between Markova and the man she loved like a father.

  ***

  The restaurant was already full when Emma arrived. The meeting with Markova had left a sour taste in her mouth for the rest of the day that no cup of tea or throat lozenge could cover up. She had made it through her two other classes; she felt as if she had just gone a round with Koschei by the time she climbed into the cab to head for the restaurant downtown.

  The maitre d’ led her to Tim’s table, which as befitted a student’s income level was near the kitchen. Emma stopped in her tracks when she saw Sylvia next to Tim at the table. The witch only nodded slightly to her as Tim rose to greet Emma. “Dr. Earl, I’m so glad you could come. I hope you don’t mind I brought my girlfriend. This is Sylvia.”

  “We’ve met,” Emma said.

  “You have?”

  “I’m Dr. Earl’s stylist—sometimes,” Sylvia said. She winked at Emma.

  “Well, that makes things easier,” Tim said. Though they weren’t on a date, Tim pulled out Emma’s chair for her.

  “How did you two meet?” Emma asked.

  “In the bookstore,” Sylvia answered. “He
was looking for a book on government grants and I was looking for one on small business regulations. We got to talking and hit it off.”

  “That’s nice,” Emma said. She supposed it was good not only for Sylvia to find a friend of her own, but also for Tim to find someone to drag him out of the laboratory once in a while. “I’m happy for both of you.”

  They placed their orders and then Tim began to talk excitedly about his RAT project. “Once I get everything finalized, I’m going to write a proposal for NASA. I think we can make RATs far more cheaply than what they’ve got now and they can be just as effective in exploring other planets.”

  Sylvia stifled a yawn and then interrupted to say, “I’m going to use the little girl’s room.” She gave Tim a peck on the cheek before she headed off for the bathroom.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  “It sounds like an interesting idea. I’m not sure they’ll go for it.”

  “You don’t? Why not?”

  “I think they prefer to come up with ideas in-house. You might run into some bureaucratic politics.”

  Tim deflated visibly at this. “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Even if they don’t like it, I’m sure there are other applications. Commercial applications maybe.”

  “I thought maybe if you have some free time, you could help me.”

  “I’m not sure how much time I’ll have,” she began and then saw Tim deflate again, “but I’m sure I can find some.”

  “Great. Just great.” He had folded the schematics to stuff back into his coat by the time Sylvia came back.

  “Was he talking to you about his pet project?” she asked.

  “She’s such a mind reader,” Tim said. “It’s like she’s psychic or something.”

  “You have no idea,” Emma said.

  After the main course came, Tim excused himself to use the bathroom. This gave Emma the chance to talk to Sylvia about her new beau. “He’s a great guy, don’t you think?”

  “He seems nice. And he’s very enthusiastic.”

  “He can go on with that science stuff for hours—like you.”

  “Thanks, I think.”

  “I thought maybe you could help me with that. I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about most of the time. Maybe you could stop by the house sometime this week. Aggie’s still visiting her friend at the archives, so we’ll have the place to ourselves.” After she’d gotten her strength back two months ago, Ms. Chiostro—or Aggie as she liked to be called now—had gone off with Akako to the archives to get things in shape for someone else to take over. What would happen then remained up in the air. Although Sylvia’s hatred of Akako had cooled somewhat, she still refused to refer to her sister’s friend by name.