Josie walked the girls through the tour. They were impressed by what she had done.

They checked on Marla and her twin girls. The other woman was asleep. The midwife

on duty said things were going as well as expected according to the scanner and the

patient herself.

They didn’t have any medicine for pain, or for conditions they couldn’t treat by

cutting something away.

Josie put that down as something they would have to iron out when they had a few

alchemists onboard.

She put down an idea for a replicator the nurses could use to pitch to Jack. He had the

Enterprise. Maybe he could make that technology work for them like the com bands.

Josie whisked the girls back home. She still had to make plans to carry out in the next

few days.

And she wanted to make sure her pirates were writing up their adventure.

“You said you were going to try to build another place like that?,” asked Laura, as

they finished popping into existence at the Hole in the Wall.

“The other building Jack and I cleared out is owned by the bank according to Guin,”

said Josie. “They were trying to clear the deed. I have a feeling that the owner stepped

in front of Jack at the wrong time.”

“Dead,” said Alicia. “Have a shooting range now.”

“Really?,” said Josie.

“Juniper set up a target for Alicia with her magic,” said Beatrice. “She can practice

at the Hangar if she wants.”

“I take it you want to go out and shoot some before dinner,” said Josie. “Do you have

the equipment?”

“Need a bow, and some arrows,” admitted Alicia. “I hope that The Rick will help me

with that tomorrow.”

“All right,” said Josie. “I will go out and assess the build so you can shoot without

having to worry about monsters. That way you can practice on your own without

having to have someone watch your every move.”

“I understand,” said Alicia.

“She also put out a practice dummy for herself,” said Laura. “She showed us some

punching and grappling maneuvers.”

“That’s good,” said Josie. “You do need to know stuff in case you can’t cut someone

to pieces with a blade.”

“Hey, Jo-jo,” called June. “We are done with our reports.”

“Great,” said Josie. “You can start cooking dinner.”

“What?,” said June.

“You’re on Kay Pee duty until things are over,” said Josie. “So the three of you need

to get started. It’s not like we have a microwave.”

“I don’t know how to cook,” admitted June. “Especially not with what passes for a

kitchen here.”

“I can do it,” said Matilda. She grabbed June’s much bigger arm and pulled. “I will

show you how to do it.”

“Missus,” whispered Angelica. “Is it okay if I help them?”

“Lessons?,” asked Josie.

“I will go over everything after dinner,” said Angelica. “Please, Missus. I don’t want

to be poisoned by bad cooking.”

“Go ahead,” said Josie.

Angelica split from the girls and headed into the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves.

“Everyone else, I guess you should get started on your lessons,” said Josie. “Aviras,

where are your reports?”

“Dining room table,” said the dragon. He watched the cooking from his perch on

Matilda’s head.

“Miss Russ,” said Josie. “Could we talk privately while everyone is doing everything

else?”

“I guess so,” said Miss Russ. She pushed back a strand of hair from her face as she

looked for a place to go.

“We can talk out at the Hangar,” said Josie. She gestured for their visitor to precede

her to the living room and the gate. “We’re waiting on June’s status, and what the

Society thinks of her. After that, things will have to be decided. It’s better to consider

things now while we can before we have to deal with things in the middle of a crisis.”

“I understand,” said Boim. She turned and walked to the gate.

Josie followed, pausing to pick up the handwritten reports on the table. She would

read them later when she was done. They went through the gate and paused in the

closed Hangar. She let the exit door remain closed. She could look at the target

dummies later.

“What do you want to talk about first?,” asked Boim.

“Let’s start with what you want to do,” said Josie. “June may get moved out of Hawk

Ridge. If she does, are you going to want to move to Jane’s, go with her, or go back

out on your own?”

“I can’t stay here?,” asked Boim. She gestured at the Hangar.

“You can if you’re honest,” said Josie. “Jack told me he talked to your sister. I’m

wondering why you aren’t trying to live with her until you get back on your feet.”

“He talked to my sister?,” said Boim. “How?”

“I assume he asked the Enterprise to look for anyone who looks close to your genetic

profile,” said Josie. “The scanners would do the rest. He told her he would look out

for you, which means I am looking out for you at the moment. That’s why I didn’t

want to have this talk in front of the girls, or June, since they don’t know. So you

aren’t asking any of your six sisters for help. I get that you don’t want to, or can’t. But

we can place you with one of them in a few minutes.”

“We agreed to split up because we look alike,” said Boim. “Because of how we were

made. How much do you know?”

“I have a broad overview of your history, and a knowledge base about some of the

subjects involved even if it isn’t quite up to what a scientist would know about

specifics,” said Josie. “Jack can probably find your sisters if he wants to, or has

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already talked to one, and can find the others is what I should say. I’m not worried

about your history. I am more concerned with your present and future. I don’t want

an unknown threat close to my girls, and what happens if things go wrong for you.”

“I am not a threat,” said Boim. “I don’t know why your Society asked June to rescue

me. I’m not anyone important.”

“This could be part of June’s provisional test,” said Josie. “I don’t know how they

think she could figure out what you are unless Sakura gives her something that

detects for non-human life.”

“You won’t tell her?,” said Boim.

“I said I wouldn’t,” said Josie. “My word is good. How did you wind up in the secret

prison?”

“The woman that June killed approached me on the street,” said Boim. “She said her

husband wanted something extra for his birthday. I told her I would do it. I needed

the money and selling my body was fine enough work. Then when I got in the

carriage, they took me and put me in that hole.”

“Did you see the husband?,” said Josie.

“No,” said Boim. “There was a lady, and three large men. None of the men acted like

husbands. They all acted like servants. They had scars on their arms and necks from

what I could see.”

Josie frowned. She didn’t like the stray thought that roamed around in her brain. It

meant putting Matilda at risk again, and she didn’t like that most of all.

She flipped through June’s eyewitness account. She decided to flip through it again

as Grundy. She frowned at the description of body parts in the boxes. June hadn’t

been specific about what kind of parts.

Maybe the husband had been a lie to draw in the victim. There didn’t have to be

someone else out there. If there was, he was going to be mad that Mister Warner had

blown up their operation and put a hole through his wife.

But June hadn’t checked to make sure they had taken them all. Neither had Mister

Warner to be fair.

What happened if they had missed someone cutting people up?

Could June find anyone else if she went back and looked around?

Matilda had reported that there was no one else at the shop when the Enterprise

scanned it. That was how they had found Russ in the bolt hole behind the shelf.

Should they take another look at things?

“What’s wrong?,” asked Boim.

“According to June, and Jack,” said Josie. “Mister Warner and June accounted for a

woman and three golems at the scene. So that should be the whole group. It bothers

me that she didn’t get one of the golems to pose as a husband.”

“I didn’t see anyone else,” said Boim. She gestured in her puzzlement.

“All right,” said Josie. “Let’s put that aside for a moment. June might need a guide.

If she gets stationed somewhere else, could you do that?”

“I guess,” said Boim. “I never thought of professionally helping people. I have tended

to avoid anything like the Guard where possible.”

“I understand that,” said Josie. About three quarters of the Guard she had run into in

the city had been corrupt, and then dead. “We’re going to look out for you until you

decide what you want to do, and your sisters by extension. Only Jack, Elaine, and I

know about this as far as I know. I would not bet against Mister Warner doing his

own check out, and just not saying anything because it’s not mission critical. I will

be irate if you try to stab us in the back to keep your secret. The Society knows but

they won’t tell anyone about it, and I don’t think you can hurt them where they live.”

“I will agree to this,” said Boim. “I don’t understand why you don’t treat me as a

monster.”

“I’m not from here,” said Josie. “I have a different standard that applies to monsters.

I will take you by to meet Jane, or Hilda. If anything happens to Jack and me, they

will be able to take you in and let you blend in with others. I have a lot of work to do

in the next few days, and you are going to have to be part of that until we get things

straightened out and have some kind of final disposition for June, and Mister Warner.

You’re going to have to pull some of the weight even as a guest.”

“I’m willing to help out,” said Boim.

“All right,” said Josie. “Do you need anything?”

“No,” said Boim. She smiled. “My sisters are all on better footing than I am. I never

thought I would have a guardian extending a hand to me.”

“I guess that’s what I felt when I met Grandma Lee, and her extended family,” said

Josie. “We should help with the chores before Jack gets back. We’re burning

daylight.”

“It feels good to have something,” said Boim. “All of my sisters have things to do, or

they want. I wasn’t made with their ambition.”

“If you can keep June out of trouble, that will be a big enough ambition for seven

sisters,” said Josie. “Good luck with that.”

“She pretends to be rough, but she is good,” said Boim. “Do you really think there are

other body choppers?”

“We had a run in with a guy representing a cult that wants to destroy the world with

human sacrifice,” said Josie. “We didn’t get all of his friends. This might be an

offshoot, or another group doing their thing. I’m wondering if I should go to your

town and look around.”

“There were rumors of people vanishing,” said Boim. “There are always rumors and

the Guard do check, but if someone is taken and chopped up, only family and friends

would notice unless it grew so large that someone would sound an alarm.”

“I have a feeling we have seen the surface part of this,” said Josie. “I wish the Society

would just come out and say what the goal is. Some of these quests are mysteries on

mysteries.”

The women stepped back through the gate. Josie nodded as the older and middle girls

were working on their lessons. Matilda and Angelica should be in the kitchen. She

wondered if they had time to deal with more quests while trying to clear the sleepers

out of the way.

Should she check on Jack? She decided to let it go. He would call if he needed help.

And Mister Warner was out there with him, and according to the reports was just as

good with his watch as they were.

She hoped she didn’t have to talk Jack out of giving Alicia explosive arrows to use

with her bow when she got one.

“Don’t worry, Missus,” said Beatrice. “Milord will be home soon with some new

story to raise the hair on the back of your neck told in three sentences.”

“That’s what has me worried,” said Josie.

“Do you think we will see the Society again?,” asked Laura.

“Do we want to see the Society again?,” asked Melanie. “I can do without talking in

my sleep.”

“I think if they call all of us again, it will be to talk about June’s disposition,” said

Josie. “She still might not have passed because Jack and Mister Warner interfered in

some of her quest.”

“Cheaters,” said Alicia.

“A job interview is a job interview,” said Josie. “We were lucky they allowed June

to use the Enterprise, or we wouldn’t have Miss Russ as a house guest. As soon as

Jack gets back, I will put him on building the gates we need, and the machine to expel

the spine growths in the Amazons. Then we can start sorting out the sleepers we want

to move. I’ll ask him to get you a bow from the Enterprise, Alicia.”

“Thank you, Missus,” said Alicia.

“Let check on dinner,” said Josie. “Then we can settle in for the night.”

“I will still need a room,” said Boim.

“I will build one for you at the Hangar,” said Josie. “We need to get the Quinjet back

from the Enterprise as soon as we have things straightened out.”

“Are you going to show June how to fly it?,” asked Beatrice. She had a raised

eyebrow at the thought.

“No,” said Josie. “We have a couple of hours until sundown. What do you guys know

about what you are reading?”

“I’m struggling,” admitted Beatrice. “I think this version of Hurley’s legend has a

different ending than Jack and Elaine’s play.”

“I am reading a mystery about Counton Mansion in the north,” said Laura. “Some

wizard doing bad things in the dark.”

Boim firmed her lips to hide her surprise.

“I have a travel book,” said Melanie. “There is an inn in the west with its own hot

springs.”

“I found a journal,” said Alicia. “I think it is about someone on campaign in the south.

They are fighting goblins from what I can make out so far.”

“Miss Russ and I will check to make sure Angelica hasn’t strangled her help while

fixing dinner, and then we will ready to sit down,” said Josie. “Do you guys think you

can write your reports on your books?”

“I am still having problems forming letters,” admitted Beatrice. “I can do it but it will

be ugly.”

“I am with Beatrice,” said Laura. “Matilda is the only one of us who seems to have

a grasp on the handwriting part of things. It’s almost like she was locked in with a

bunch of books and told to read or die.”

Josie frowned. The other girls agreed with Laura’s assessment from their expressions.

She didn’t doubt that Matilda could have had something like that happen to her

before she was swept up with the rest of the Ducklings.

“Practice while you can,” said Josie. “Responsibilities will come along soon enough.”

“Do we really need this?,” asked Melanie.

“One day, god willing and the creek don’t rise, you are going to have to run your own

household,” said Josie. “And when that day comes, you are going to have to figure

numbers for bills and how much is fair and what isn’t. Part of that is being able to

write a letter to complain about conditions imposed by your landlord if you have one.

So you will need it eventually. Learning it now is better than trying to learn it then.”