by Al K. Line
"Haha, tell me about it. It's all good, I'll handle it. But I appreciate the offer for today. It'll give us a chance to unwind and get to know each other a little without anyone watching. It's been so hard, Arthur, all these years. Tough beyond belief. What they put in her head is anyone's guess, she could believe anything."
"Then it's your job to set her straight. First we need to let her relax, then we can look into who might be after her. Form a proper plan. Sound good?"
"Sounds awesome."
I went to get the two wildcat women. Oh boy, this was gonna be a nightmare.
At Last
"Do not," I warned, "let go of your dad's hand."
"Sheesh, okay already, you just said that." Sunshine rolled her eyes.
"Because it's important," I lectured. "This is a magical portal, ancient beyond compare, priceless, and it will chew you up and spit you out into tiny pieces if you go through without being linked to me. So, like I said, I'll hold Vicky's hand, Steve will hold Vicky's, and you hold your dad's."
"So, what's really going to happen?" asked Sunshine. "I mean, this is funny and all, but you can't actually travel through space and come out somewhere else, can you?" Sunshine looked at us in turn but nobody was laughing.
Guess it was hard to believe, but you'd have thought she would be one of the first to believe in magic given her abilities.
"It's real, and it's dangerous, so be warned." Without any more faffing about, I took Vicky's hand and then we all linked up. I nodded then stepped through.
A moment of intense pain and then I was in a familiar place, with country smells welcome after the stench of death I hadn't even realized was lingering, stuck in my nose hairs like death snot.
"That was so awesome," squealed Sunshine as she stared around at the back room of the barn in shock and wonder. Her eyes sparkled, her face lit up with joy, and a slight sheen of sweat covered her pale skin, washed out in the morning gloom of the room with no windows.
"Sure was," I grunted, so used to it now it was easy to forget the true wonder of the Gates of Bakaudif.
I let go of Vicky's hand and led the way into the barn proper. The huge building was ancient, with a vaulted roof made from rough-hewn timbers as hard as nails, criss-crossed with spider's webs and the dust of ages. Motes drifted lazily in the air then danced manically, disturbed by our passage and the hint of magic that lingered. Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the ancient wooden cladding, giving hints of green fields and the blue of the sea off in the distance.
Home. Cornwall. Quiet, with space to breathe. Away from the madness of the city. Far from the amassed crazies who congregated in the cramped places where humanity fed off the energy of others and slowly drove themselves insane.
Sunshine hopped from one bale of hay to another dotted around the edge of the barn, flapping her arms and spinning about, generally acting like a kid for the first time since I'd met her. This was as it should be, what she should be allowed to do, what she needed to do. Steve caught my attention and smiled, then nodded his thanks. He looked so relieved, thankful for the chance to have some down time and feel safe with his girl. Guess he never saw her like this. Free. Free of care and worry, just living in the moment and enjoying her youth.
"Let's go. Maybe we can get a proper breakfast after that crap at the service station. And I can show you my kitchen."
"You really like your kitchen, huh?" asked Sunshine as she hopped down and came close to peer up at me like I was an interesting insect.
"Only because it's awesome," I said, meaning it.
Within minutes we were out of the barn, the doors were closed, and I was driving down bumpy lanes heading to the best place in the whole world.
Home.
Suspicions
"And this is all yours?" asked Sunshine as we stood outside the worn wooden gate, staring at the yard and the old house, deceiving in its simplicity with the barn behind, now knocked through and home to the best kitchen in the universe.
"Sure is. We have fields, there are the stables," I pointed at the block of buildings that housed the scary steeds, "and the house is all done. We haven't been here that long though. A, um, a bomb kind of flattened the old place. But this is better anyway," I added hurriedly, "and nobody will drop a bomb on this one."
"So cool. And you can come and go as you want? Nobody will stop you? What about George, and your wife, do they just like, leave then come back whenever they fancy? What about security, nobody patrolling?" Sunshine searched for men with guns wandering about looking menacing.
I glanced at Steve and Vicky, saw the hurt they felt for Sunshine for the world she knew and how wrong it was. I knelt down and took her small hands. "It isn't like that for other people, Sunshine. Your mum was protecting you because you are special, but most people don't have security, they come and go as they please. Just hop in the car and go shopping, do chores, whatever. Freedom."
"That's what I want. Freedom. To be normal."
I stood up, as my knees were beginning to ache, and said, "And today you have it. You can hang out here today and tonight while your dad sorts a few things out, and you can see how other people live. I'm not saying this is normal, I am a wizard and there are always bad guys out to get me, so I have magical wards around the property, but yeah, no security patrols, nobody but us here. Speaking of the family."
I waved as the front door opened and George and Penelope came out with their waxed jackets and wellies on, ready to do more chores. George would have already sorted out the horses and Penelope would probably have checked on the chickens always underfoot in the yard, so I forgot about the car, left it where it was, and smiled, my shoulders easing, the weight of the world lifting as I opened the gate and went to have what can only be described as the best thing in the world ever. A cuddle.
"So good to be home," I said as I gathered my loved ones close and hugged them tight. For a moment, all was right in the world as they hugged me back and I took in the scent of strawberry shampoo and the horsey aroma that lingered on George's jacket. It smelled of warmth; it smelled of love.
"I missed you so much. What a night."
"Missed you too," said Penelope as she reached behind and pinched my bum.
"Weirdo," said George as she smiled.
Then I doubled over as Penelope punched me in the knackers and George laughed before pointing at me and singing, "Loser. You so deserved that."
"Where the hell have you been, Arthur Salzman?" shouted Penelope. "You can't pick up your phone? You can't check messages? Why didn't you let me know you were okay? We just got back off honeymoon."
"Honey, let me explain. I'm sorry," I coughed, my eyes watering, my balls aching, "but I've been busy." Damn but this never happened when I was single. It was awesome, in a ball-breaking kind of way. Showed they cared, that was the main thing.
"You can explain later, once you don't stink. Go get a shower, and get changed. Look at your shirt! Is that blood? And your hair is all gross. What are those bits in it? Ugh, you wizards and your games. Always so messy." Penelope pushed me towards the house but I turned to her, unable to stop smiling, and said, "Um, we have guests."
Penelope turned around and saw the others standing there, gobsmacked. Vicky was smiling, Sunshine looked confused, and Steve was enjoying watching the mighty wizard being told off.
"Oh, hello," she said, scowling at me before smiling at everyone. "Arthur never said we were having guests. Arthur never said anything at all."
I smiled and shrugged. "Sorry, still getting used to it."
"It's been months," hissed Penelope.
"Told you," said a grinning George. "He's flaky, and always will be."
"I am not flaky. I was just busy. Anyway, I'm home now, and that's the main thing."
"Idiot," said Penelope, but I saw the happiness she was trying to mask, the relief I was okay, and I promised myself I'd try better to always update her on what was happening.
"Let's go eat," I said.
"Aren't you going
to introduce us?" asked Penelope.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. Sunshine, this is Penelope and George. Penelope and George, this is Sunshine. Steve's daughter. She was kidnapped so we rescued her, but turns out she didn't know she was kidnapped but was merely trying to escape where she lived on a boat. There are probably shifters after her, and there are a few other issues too, but that can all wait."
"Just another day at the asylum," said George rolling her eyes then smiling at Sunshine. "Hi."
"Hi," said a suddenly timid Sunshine.
"Hello," said Penelope. "Let's get you inside where it's warm." She took Sunshine's hand, scowled at me then Steve and Vicky too, and led the girl inside.
"Ha! You're in trouble too now," I gloated.
"Am not," said a glum Steve.
"This is all your fault," said Vicky, staring at me.
"Me? What did I do?"
"Shut up."
"Some things never change," said George. "I'll be back soon, just got a few chores to do. Don't go telling all the gossip until I return. No way am I missing this." George wandered off and we went inside to face the wrath of my new wife.
It was awesome to be home.
An Ungodly Mess
"Don't get cross," whispered Penelope, looking anxious as we went from the narrow hall into the cavernous kitchen.
"Why would I get cross? I could never be cross with you."
"Oh, nothing. And that's nice." Penelope smiled and my heart melted.
I loved this woman. How had I got so lucky? She knew me so well, and I'd laid my cards on the table the day we met. I told her who I was, what I was, the kind of man I was. Not always good, sometimes very bad, always in trouble, out at all hours, how I needed magic like I needed to breathe, and that if she stayed with me her life would never be the same again. She accepted it all, and she welcomed it. The madness, the magic, but most of all me. I loved her more each day for that. For all of it.
But I was seriously reconsidering as I stood at the threshold to my kitchen, with its black tiled floor, its waxed beams, its huge island, the shiny taps, the expensive ovens, the gleaming coffee machine, and took in the carnage.
"What the hell happened?" I gasped, trying to get my head around the assault to my senses.
"Don't get upset. We didn't know when you were coming back. We haven't tidied up yet, that's all."
"Is that jam on the floor?"
"Um, maybe."
"Is that flour stuck to the tap?" I asked, squinting to check, hoping it wasn't so.
"Or baking powder," offered Penelope with a smile and a fluttering of eyelashes.
"And is that butter smeared all over the counter?"
"I hope so."
"Dear God in heaven, why have you forsaken me so?" I wailed, stepping gingerly into the room for fear of slipping on something greasy.
"Don't be so dramatic, it's a wee bit messy. We were going to have pancakes. We made batter. From scratch," Penelope added, like that wasn't obvious.
"What, by chucking everything at the ceiling and seeing how it looked when it landed?"
"Hey, cool pad," said Sunshine as she came in with the others.
"It was, now it's a war zone," I grumbled. I removed Grace to rub at my head; it felt fuzzy, like I was dreaming.
"Looks great to me. You want a hand cleaning up?" she asked Penelope.
"Sure, that would be great."
For the next ten minutes we watched, bemused and surprised, as they went to work cleaning up the mess. Sunshine was thorough, bordering on obsessive, which I admired, and Penelope, as fastidious about keeping a clean kitchen as I was, or almost, worked just as diligently wiping up what were admittedly minor spills. I was just being sensitive after the night I'd had. Soon the room was spick and span and gleaming like it was freshly installed.
"Now, who wants pancakes?"
"I do," said George as she returned from her chores. We all said the same so we sat around the table or leaned on the counter and chatted about this and that, filling everyone in on what had happened in a very condensed version.
"You're both welcome to stay," said Penelope. "But no trouble. This is home, sacred. Zero tolerance for trouble. No killing, and no messing with people's heads," she warned Sunshine.
"Deal."
That settled, we set the table and Penelope dished up steaming piles of perfect pancakes with the topping of our choice.
Before we began, I said, "Wait. Can I?"
"Go on then," said Penelope with a resigned smile.
I handed the remote to George—I could never get the bloody thing to work—and she sighed but nonetheless put on a Buster Keaton short.
"It's in black and white," said a shocked Sunshine.
"Yeah, so?"
"Didn't know they made movies in black and white. And where's the talking?"
"Just watch it. It's funny."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
"Oh, positive."
We ate, we talked, I laughed. So did Sunshine.
When we'd finished and the credits rolled, she asked timidly, "Can we watch another one? That was funny. Never knew they had stuff like this."
"Kids," I laughed, stoked she enjoyed something so alien to her generation.
For another ten minutes life was perfect. Lost in the antics of a bygone era where nobody got hurt and danger was always tinged with comedy and the knowledge it would all turn out all right in the end.
Shame life wasn't like that. But I guess that's why they call it an escape from reality.
Sometimes all any of us want to do is escape. Some of us never want to return to our old life. It's easy to understand why. Because often life sucks. Really, really sucks. Not today though, not now, not for a few precious minutes surrounded by family and friends, eating and laughing, the world locked out, everything as it should be.
It made me dread the afternoon.
Weirdly Normal
What I dreaded never came to pass. Nobody attacked, the house didn't burn down, no bombs were dropped. Sunshine behaved, George seemed to like her and showed her around the place, and I got clean along with everyone else. Vicky left late morning to tidy her house and deal with the girls, and once we'd had a light lunch Penelope and I found ourselves alone in the kitchen while Steve dozed on the sofa in the den.
"Sorry about not calling. You know I try to let you know what's happening but it all got a bit mad."
"It's fine. I know what you're like."
"Love you."
"Love you too. Now, tell me what happened. I can't believe Steve's got a daughter. And it's been her all along, messing with everyone's emotions, making us do things."
"Yeah, seems like it." I scratched at my beard.
"What? What is it?"
"Eh? Nothing."
"Yes, there is. You're doing that thing. You get all fidgety when you aren't sure about something."
"It just seems a bit much that Sunshine can have such an effect. I know she's special, and I'll tell you exactly how special in a minute, but to make people act certain ways over countless miles, it seems nuts."
"Guess she's more powerful than you thought."
"Maybe."
I told Penelope everything that had happened, about Sunshine's mum, about the kidnapping, all of it. It was a sorry tale and seemed all the worse when I recounted it. Poor kid was gonna be so messed up from such a life, there was no escaping that fact.
"That's so sad. She's going to have to live with that. But she didn't mean for her mum to get hurt, it wasn't her fault."
"No, it was the others, they got carried away like shifters often do, but still."
"Steve will look after her. It will be tough though."
"Sure will. He's got a lot of trouble ahead, if we manage to keep her safe for the next few days and the heat dies down. I told them they can stay tonight but then he needs to sort something out. We have to think of our family too."
"You're right. People will be after her, but maybe only the ones that protected her, the on
es who attacked you."
"Maybe. We dealt with them but they'll be back. I just hope nobody else knows what she looks like, who she is, or that Steve's her father."
"They can't, as if anyone else knew then Steve would have had people asking. More than asking, he'd have been taken so they could get information from him. So, don't worry, it will all work out." Penelope smiled. I loved her for her kind nature. She always looked to the positive. It was lovely, but life didn't always work out like that. Still, it was nice to think that way.
I spent an hour in the Quiet Room topping up on magic I was sure I'd need, and then did chores while Steve continued to sleep.
Afternoon turned into early evening and I headed back to the barn to go through to the city and pick up Vicky and the girls. I soon returned, keen to escape the confines of the car as one Vicky is bad enough, two little clones plus the original is enough to make you hunt for something sharp to ram through your eardrums.
Dinner was raucous, the girls took to Sunshine like a long-lost sister and Vicky slowly relaxed once she realized Sunshine was capable of behaving and wasn't going to eat her children or anything.
Time passed in a haze of noise and cleaning, of running about and playing childish games. It was chaos, it was insanely loud, and it was a lot of fun. Sunshine was like a different child. Innocent, mischievous, delighted to have friends to play with, and constantly amazed that she was allowed free rein of the house, that she could go anywhere and not be supervised constantly. She kept returning to ask if she could do this or that with the girls, if they could go into different rooms, get board games or toys, not quite able to comprehend that these were all things you could do without asking.
Then it was time for the girls to go to bed. Vicky and I took them home and I promised I'd see her tomorrow.
"You okay?" I asked her once we'd emerged from the city house and bundled the girls into her car. They were asleep in seconds.
