Jack smiled as he showed Angelica how the stove and oven worked. She nodded at

the temperature dials and the safety precautions he was showing her.

“Do you think you can cook on this?,” he asked.

“It will be different than what I am used to with the open fire, but it should be

doable,” said the girl. She frowned as she looked everything over again. “How long

did you say it takes to cool down again?”

“The burners will take a couple of minutes, the oven will take more than that,” said

Jack. “To let that cool down faster, you’ll have to leave the door open.”

“All right,” said Angelica. “I got it. I am not happy about the singing cakes.”

“Magic,” said Jack.

“Josie said she would punch you in the face,” said Elaine. She smiled at his grin.

“What would you like for an enhancement?,” asked Jack. “I think I could do

something cooking related.”

“I don’t know,” said Angelica. “I would like to think about it a little more. What are

you doing for Alicia and Melanie?”

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I think something archery related for Alicia. She might

have changed her mind into something more widespread weapon mastery. She is

already almost decent with a sword with her practice, and I think she can hit a target

with an arrow most of the time depending on the range.”

“I can see that,” said Angelica. “How long do I have to think on things?”

“Until we’re replaced,” said Jack. “After that, it will be anybody’s guess if our

replacements will look after you.”

“I do have one question,” said Angelica. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I can,” said Jack. “We won’t be here forever. The future is going to need

you and your sisters. I think the queen is going to want her breakfast. You ready to

talk to her?”

“I’m not dressed to talk to the queen,” said Angelica. “Why are you a loon?”

“Poor family relations and four sisters,” said Jack.

“Let me get dressed,” said Angelica. “I need to see if the Missus is ready to fix my

clothes. No more singing cakes.”

“All right,” said Jack. “I will talk to the queen without you.”

“All right,” said Angelica. “I will need to practice with this new stove thing.”

“You can cook as much as you want,” said Jack. “Go ahead. Tomorrow, we fish. Be

ready to cook by the water.”

“Yes, Milord,” said Angelica. “Be ready to catch some, or we don’t eat.”

“I can catch as much fish as I want,” said Jack.

“We’ll see about that,” said Angelica. She headed out of the kitchen to go back to her

room to get regular clothes.

“Can you catch as much fish as you want?,” asked Elaine.

“I have no idea,” said Jack. “Let’s feed the queen and get the rest of this show on the

road. Could you do me a favor?”

“I can’t dance nude in the kitchen with the children cleaning the dirty dishes,” said

Elaine.

“That would be a sight to see,” said Jack. He paused as he let his imagination run

away for a second. “I need you to raid as many book stores as you can. Get Matilda

to help you after her practice. Also let Harp know we’re skipping tomorrow so he

knows he won’t have to show them any moves.”

“All right,” said Elaine. “You are going to add to the library?”

“Yep,” said Jack. “I want to make sure I don’t have magic books everywhere. I’ll take

the queen over to move Caroline here. That part should be a snap. The rest is going

to require steps to get done.”

“Go ahead,” said Elaine. “I will supervise the girls and get everything ready while

Josie fixes Angelica’s clothes.”

“I wonder if Angelica would be a good alchemist, to go with her chefry,” said Jack.

He picked up the tray of food for their guest.

“I think she would,” said Elaine. “I don’t know what she wants to do in that way.”

“Neither do I,” said Jack. “I’ll think about it.”

Jack took the tray of food and the guest cup through the gate. He hoped the tunnel

didn’t ruin the taste. He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door.

“Breakfast if you want it,” he called through the door. He put the tray down outside

the door. He headed back to the gate. Maybe he should ask for cook books if they had

those here.

He thought he could use the Enterprise to go north, and then bring June and Boim

back for their dinner. Mister Warner could come up from the village at any time.

He found the dining area clean, and the kitchen also clean. He smiled as Elaine sipped

her tea while she waited by the sink. He wondered if she wanted six girls of her own,

but didn’t say anything. He didn’t want the romance to fail because of considerations

of the future.

One day, they would have a talk about that. Elaine would want to know where he

stood, and he wanted to know about her plan in advance. Their relationship could

founder on the plans they made.

He grimaced at the ding in his head. Apparently the quest system wanted to make sure

he had that talk no matter what. He put it out of his mind. He still had a number of

things to get done before the day was out.

“Josie is fixing Angelica’s clothes, and her own,” said Elaine. “The girls are getting

ready for their practice.”

“As soon as the queen gets moving, we can start with Caroline,” said Jack. “We’ll do

our day trip tomorrow. Then we have to get back on the grind and figure out how we

can help the city.”

“Do you think you, or Josie, can find the missing funds?,” said Elaine. She washed

out her cup and placed it on the sideboard.

“Maybe,” said Jack. “Jo has that divining bird summons she used to show the Duke

the early question of how much was missing.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“So you might be able to find it given enough time?,” said Elaine.

“The problem is where was the money sent,” said Jack. “We could maybe cut a trail,

but we might not be able to follow it to the end. At a certain point, we might only be

able to tell the Duke, and the King, that we know the money flowed in one direction

and not both ways.”

“I understand,” said Elaine. “So that part is an impasse.”

“I’ll think of something,” said Jack. “Mom wanted me to be an accountant but I didn’t

have a good knack for numbers. I had just enough to get out of school and pass the

Army tests I took.”

“I think the Ducklings are ready for you in their melee test,” said Elaine.

“Nobody is ready for me,” said Jack. He grinned at her. “I’m a one man army.”

“Really?,” said Elaine. The look on her face said she didn’t believe that at all.

The queen arrived with the tray in her hands. She put it on the kitchen counter. She

had taken the time to make herself presentable without calling for help.

“Another guest cup didn’t come with the rest of the furnishings,” said Jack. “Would

you like some more tea?”

“We’re going back to the hospital?,” asked the queen.

“Yep,” said Jack. “I was kind of waiting on Josie and the kids, but if you want to pick

up Caroline now, we can. See if you can get us some cook books too, Elaine. Maybe

that will make up for the cakes to Angelica.”

“I’m sure she will be ready to try some things out,” said Elaine. “I will arrange for a

cart to bring everything back to the Hole in the Wall.”

“Do you need anything from me, hon?,” asked Jack.

“I want you to be careful,” said Elaine. “More conspirators might be out there.”

“Maybe I should escort you and the girls around,” said Jack. “I don’t want anything

to happen to you.”

“It will be fine,” said Elaine. “I will have Aviras with me. I think it would be good to

use him to practice with while we are together.”

Josie and Beatrice appeared in the kitchen. The eldest Duckling had changed into a

set of leather breeches, boots and a cotton shirt with a blue mark that might have been

a star on the upper chest area. She had knotted her longish hair back in a sort of pony

tail.

Jack thought they could really be sisters.

“Ready to go?,” asked Josie.

“Yep,” said Jack. “Coming along, Bea?”

“Yes, Milord,” said Beatrice. “The missus thinks I should keep an eye on Caroline

while she is here. Laura is going to be looking after the youngest.”

“Remember, Bea,” said Josie. “Don’t take any guff. Just because she is the heir

apparent doesn’t mean she gets her way. There will be plenty of time for her and Case

to do things when we have some of this sorted out.”

“It will be fine, Missus,” said Bea. “She can’t be worse than June.”

“Point for you,” said Josie. “Let’s go.”

Jack kissed Elaine on the cheek, giving her a stealth hug before pulling away.

“Don’t worry,” said Elaine. “I will have Laura and Aviras with me, and I have some

communication with the Enterprise. We’re ready.”

“All right,” said Jack. “Who wants to get June for dinner?”

“I’ll do it,” said Josie. “Caroline can go to the girls’ practice, and help with the book

and food hunting Elaine is doing.”

“I forgot to mention we might need some cookbooks if they have any, Elaine,” said

Jack.

“I will add it to the list,” said Elaine.

“All right,” said Jack. He hoped things worked out all right, but he could see so many

problems in the days ahead. He was going on that fishing trip even if he had to kill

someone. He got another ding. He silently laughed at himself. He should know better

than just thinking up quests for himself.

“Jack, we’re going to need you to put a stargate down for June and Boim. I know the

Society wants them to work on their own, but I will feel better if they were more of

a satellite office instead of a separate branch,” said Josie.

“I wonder if I can do a com signal through a gate like in the show,” said Jack. He let

the world vanish as he considered the signal, and how to map it.

“What do you mean?,” asked Josie. He came out of his reverie.

“It’s just a thought,” said Jack. “I’ll need to test it to see if it works.”

“So we could potentially talk to them in their city?,” asked Josie.

“If I put a gate down, it will be like stepping into their living room from their

kitchen,” said Jack. “If the gate was open, we have a potential second way to talk to

them from the active radius around Hawk Ridge to the active radius around their

home base instead of calling from the Enterprise and letting them answer. And they

would have a way to call us since they can’t call the Enterprise.”

“Which means we can launch a rescue faster because we’ll know they’re having

trouble faster,” said Josie.

“The problem is the gate would have to be open at both ends,” said Jack. “And if they

get overwhelmed on their end, intruders can get into the Hangar.”

“So we’ll have to think of a workaround where nothing but sound can get through,”

said Josie.

“I’ll think about it,” said Jack.

He thought that maybe he could install two gates, one for June and Boim to travel

through to Hawk Ridge, and one for only things two inches across like bugs. That

should be wide enough for a com band signal if the gate would pick something like

that up at all.

The worry that someone breaking into their house and using the gate to attack the

Hangar was uppermost in his mind. He had put a lock going from the hospital and

Jane’s house. That didn’t mean someone wouldn’t try to use those gates to get past

their defenses.

“You know, I, all of sudden, understand why they put lids across the main stargate

now,” said Jack.

“To keep people out?,” said Beatrice.

“Exactly,” said Jack.

“A Get Smart set of doors wouldn’t be excessive if we want to guard from trouble

from June’s end,” said Josie.

“I’ll have to think about it,” said Jack. “I might want to give her a link to the library

at some point.”

“All right,” said Josie. She looked over her crew. “Are we ready?”

“If we’re not, then we’re in trouble,” said Jack.

Jack gave his beloved one more kiss before he led the way upstairs to the gate. He

thought about doing too much for the people around them. He decided they had

committed in the worst way possible. Now they had to follow through and not drop

the ball.

“What’s on your mind, Jack?,” asked Josie.

“I’m trying not to face what’s become of me,” said Jack.

“You’re not near as hopeless as you pretend,” said Josie.

He gave her a grin as he stepped through the gate and out in the Hole in the Wall. He

looked around as he stepped out of the way. Everything seemed in place. The ladies

stepped into the room behind him.

“I really need to put in a klaxon for the gate,” said Jack.

“Rickard has sent me posts through the night,” said Lois. “He has given Rustam’s title

to his brother, and put Brant’s holdings in a trust. He is sending out auditors to the

cities and villages in the kingdom. He has also declared the Montrose as an enemy of

the state. There will be fighting. He is sending out a bounty through the Adventurer’s

Guild.”

“Does he need us?,” asked Josie.

“Not yet,” said Lois. “He has informed the ambassadors of the other nations so their

heads will also be informed of our actions and why we are doing it. He is sure that

some of those nations will give shelter to our enemies. We can’t do anything about

that.”

“Eric Fass said there were two targets he wanted to hit to the East,” said Josie.

“Maybe I can do that while everyone else is off fishing.”

“Nope,” said Jack. “You are not doing that.”

“And why not?,” asked Josie.

“Because we still have to crack the shadow board here,” said Jack. “I want you to turn

your wisdom of Solomon on that problem. There is still someone in the city that can

use the Watch to threaten the kids. I want you to find them.”

“You were paying attention,” said Josie. “I can’t believe you lied like a dog.”

“I always lie,” said Jack. “Shall we, ladies? I can hear the fish calling me from here.”

He gestured for them to use the gate to get to the hospital. He looked around the

living area before following them through to the hospital. He smiled as he looked

around.

“The Doctor Strange picture was a nice touch,” he said as they went to the elevator.

“Magic,” said Josie. “Who knew?”

They took the lift to the top floor. The guards on the door nodded at the group. One

said Madam Witch in acknowledgment.

“We’re checking on the Princess to see if she is ready to be moved, then we’re

moving her,” said Josie. “Any problems?”

“No, Madam,” said the adventurer. “Everything has been smooth since we got rid of

those people from the Capitol.”

“All right,” said Josie. “As soon as we pull Caroline out of here, inform whomever

is running the adventurers, take a day, then come back. If you want, see how the local

patrols are doing. I want to keep the neighborhood around the hospital safe too.”

“Really?,” said the one adventurer. “Why?”

“It keeps Jack from shooting lightning down in the city which makes the Duke

happy,” said Josie. “This is why we got Elaine to supervise him so he doesn’t do

anything like that in the first place, but like a toddler as soon as he is out of view, he’s

causing problems.”

“One time,” said Jack. He held up his index and middle fingers. “Who hasn’t wanted

to shoot someone with lightning? You just can’t pass up an opportunity like that

when it just falls in your lap. You see someone flying through the air with their hair

on fire, it makes your day a little brighter.”

“I imagine it’s not that great for the person on fire,” said the adventurer.

“I gave him a chance to walk away,” said Jack. “But never mistake kindness for

mercy.”