Josie woke with the sun shining in her eyes. She should have known that Jack would

have known which way the sun would shine to make sure it shined in her face. She

would have to do something about that when she felt like it.

She dragged herself out of bed and got ready for the day. She had to get the kids to

school. Then she had to consult with Fass and Guin over which Montrose holding

they wanted ripped up. Then she had to figure out how to find Sawtooth and the Lich

Queen.

She had to make sure that Jack didn’t decide to bring miniature versions of them

home too. One enemy in rehab was enough in her opinion.

Aviras had calmed down after the kids had let him enjoy his spot on the dining room

table. At least he hadn’t set anything on fire. And he seemed to be engaged with Jack

over something in the making.

Josie expected some new version of the com bands to come out of those talks.

She didn’t expect her new houseguest to be flying around the dining room with

some hooting from her partner and laughter from the girls. Elaine stood to one side

and smiled.

Josie walked around the flying circus and entered the kitchen. She made some

coffee and sipped it as she went back to watch her family.

“This is well done,” said Aviras. “I don’t feel any effort at all.”

“All right,” said Jack. “Do you think you can show Laura how to do the same thing.”

“Yes,” said the dragon. He landed on the table. “I think we should go outside if

she wants to do anything more than hover.”

“Do you want to try this out, Laura?,” asked Jack. “You’ll have to be careful with it,

but you should be able to lift yourself and some weight into the air. I don’t know what

the speed will be like under your control.”

“So I’ll be able to fly?,” said Laura. “Could I try it out?”

“All right,” said Jack. “Let’s go outside. Aviras, can you keep an eye on her. I don’t

want her hitting the wall, or flying so high she passes out.”

“I will fly along,” said Aviras. “I am much faster than what I was when I was bigger.”

“Why do you think that is?,” asked Jack.

“The jewel is geared to an adult dragon, but I am a miniature dragon now,” said

Aviras. “If it stays like this when I break the curse, I could be slower but still faster

than other dragons not built for speed.”

“All right,” said Jack. “That’s something that you should look for, Laura. The jewel

might snap you out faster than what we think.”

“All right,” said Laura. “Let’s see what I can do.”

The group went outside. Josie stood at the back. She wondered if she should change

into Zatanna, or Hawkgirl, to stay with them. She didn’t want Laura to bash herself

against the wall like a bird against a window.

“Ready?,” said Jack. He held up an arm to keep the girls back. He waved at some

of the neighbors watching from their houses. “Try to stay in a straight line up. If the

flight cuts out, spread your arms and legs out to catch the air until you can cut it back

on again. I don’t know how much of a draw it will be with the com band too. If you

feel weak, come down before you crash.”

“Straight up,” said Laura. “If the jewel cuts off, hold out arms and legs until it comes

back on. If I feel tired, come down and land.”

Josie sipped her coffee. Laura had said she wanted to fly on her own. This was her

chance if Jack’s invention worked.

“All right,” said Jack. He held up his hand. “When the hand drops, you go.”

He dropped the hand. Laura and Aviras flew straight up and were out of sight in a

matter of seconds. Jack changed to the Vision and watched from the ground.

“Are they doing all right?,” Elaine asked. She watched the sky too, but she didn’t see

two specks among the clouds.

“They are doing okay,” said Jack. He smiled. “Aviras is showing her some moves. He

might work his way back to his top form faster than I thought.”

“Maybe you are a better influence than you thought,” said Elaine.

Josie smiled. Jack seemed happy. Starting over in a brand new world with hero dials

had certainly been good for him.

“All right,” said Jack. He changed back. He activated his com band. “Laura? Aviras?

Can you hear me? I think you need to come down and pick up the others and see

how far you can carry them.”

“On the way,” said Laura. “This is great. Aviras knows where the hangar is so he can

find a place there if he wants to move out of the city.”

“Understood,” said Jack. “Bring it in. If you can carry everyone to practice, Melanie

will be happy. Remember you might have to snack to pay the cost.”

“Got it,” said Laura. She appeared in the sky. She dropped down, slowing as she fell

until she hovered over the street stones. Then she stepped down the last few inches

to solid ground. Aviras landed on her shoulder, folding his wings against his body

like a bird.

“Aviras?,” asked Jack.

“The focus is there,” said the dragon. “I could sense the mana burn as I went. I could

fly many times faster than what we did. I am way faster than Laura, and have more

years experience. I will say this is a successful test for me.”

“Laura?,” said Jack.

The girl caught her breath. She smiled.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“It was great,” said Laura. “It was like running, but I could also sense how much

effort I was expending. If I sprinted flat out, I could burn up everything and reach the

lake where we tested the quinjet in a few minutes.”

“All right,” said Jack. “Go get some ice cream, and then you can work on the weight

part of things. I have to work on the other cards for the other girls.”

“Jack?,” said Aviras in a low voice. “I am also many more times faster than what I

was. This is amazing.”

“Don’t try to go full speed in the city,” said Jack. “You’ll splat against a wall like

that.”

“I will be careful,” said the dragon. “Thank you for this gift.”

“No problem, brother,” said Jack. “I’ll see if I can build you some blasters to augment

the natural flame thing you got going on.”

“I would love to see that,” said Aviras. A smile crossed his face.

“We’ll see what I can do,” said Jack.

Josie sipped her coffee. She hoped Laura knew what she was doing. She really hoped

Jack knew what he was doing. He was arming the kids with spells that could get them

into trouble.

“Can we talk, Missus?,” asked Beatrice. “I have something to ask.”

“Sure,” said Josie. She frowned. “Let’s go up to the office.”

She led the way through the Hole in the Wall, and up to the middle room. She took

a seat behind the desk. She sipped her coffee as she watched her adopted sister take

the visitor’s chair.

Beatrice put her hands together. She made a face as she thought about how she should

approach this talk.

Josie waited. She had been on the other side of talks with responsible adults before.

She knew something was up. She figured Todd was the reason. She hoped it wasn’t

a marriage proposal.

“I have been asked to go on an expedition with a group of adventurers from the Hall,”

said Beatrice. “I wanted to let you know that I am going.”

“It’s good of you to tell me,” said Josie. She sipped her coffee. This was definitely

something Todd had caused. She wanted to rail at the younger woman, but that wasn’t

what she could do in this situation. “When are you going?”

“In the next few days,” said Beatrice. “I would like an emergency letter in case there

is trouble.”

“Why?,” asked Josie. She saw a cloud on Bea’s face. She knew the duckling didn’t

want to ask for help. Jack had said something. She could see that in the way the girl

didn’t want to give a reason. “This is your chance to do something.”

Bea stood up. Anger had started to build up. She was on the verge of saying

something that would cause problems for her.

“Bea,” said Josie. “If you don’t want to tell me that Jack told you to get the letter

because he thinks there is something off, but you don’t want it to be off because you

want to spend time with Todd, it’s okay. But that’s why we’re talking and that’s why

you want the letter. It doesn’t take a genius to see the dots. You don’t have to lie

about it, not with me.”

“Jack said he wouldn’t talk to you about it,” said Bea. She sat back down. “I have to

cut my own path like you two did, even the dragon.”

“He hasn’t said anything about this,” said Josie. She checked her cup. It was empty.

“This is my first cup of coffee, and I haven’t talked to him. What did he tell you?”

“He said that I needed to work things out with you, but I had to say something,” said

Beatrice. “He said something about he had to stand up to go in the Army, and you had

to stand up to get in a band.”

“That happened at about the same time,” said Josie. “What did he say about this

expedition?”

“He said not to let anyone know I had the letter,” said Beatrice. “And to keep it in

my boot until I needed it.”

Josie pursed her lips. Something like that could mean that Jack didn’t trust the

expedition. He probably felt something was wrong. She had to agree. Beatrice knew

nothing about the wilderness as far as she had said. She would be handicapped in the

woods on her own.

That could be what Todd was counting on if that was why he wanted Beatrice to go.

It put him in a more sinister light than what he had presented at the end of the dinner.

Could his meek personality be a cover for something else?

“How did this come about?,” asked Josie.

“Todd and I talked last night,” said Beatrice. They might have done more than that,

but Josie wasn’t going to pry. “He said that an expedition was forming, and he had

been asked to go along. He thinks that it will help him to get promotions and move

up. He asked me to go along with him.”

“Do you know anything about living in the woods?,” asked Josie.

“Some,” said Beatrice. “Not a lot. If I can learn some things, I think that I will be

better for it.”

“You will be on your own in the middle of nowhere,” said Josie. “Are you sure about

this?”

“I just want to see what I can do,” said Beatrice. “It’s supposed to be totally safe.

We’re just looking at some abandoned fort in the middle of nowhere for salvage and

then coming back.”

“It’s the kind of quest to give to noobs,” said Josie. “If that’s what really going on.

No matter what happens, don’t go without letting us know. Tell Todd some excuse.

Give me a couple of seconds and I will give you a bird to take with you. It will

get you out of trouble while letting us know something is up.”

“A bird?,” asked Beatrice.

“Don’t worry,” said Josie. “You won’t even know he’s there. Did Todd tell you what

to bring along?”

“No,” said Beatrice. “Jack said he would ask Elaine to help outfit me, and give me

a weapon to carry with me in case there’s trouble.”

“He’s covering the bases,” said Josie. “All right. We haven’t known each other long.

I like to think that you don’t have to be scared of me. When I first came here, I

didn’t have a clue about what was going on, or what I was doing. Sometimes I still

don’t. Sometimes I have found better ways of doing things that I didn’t think of

before. In any case, when I adopted you guys, it made things better for me personally.

It was something that I needed. I value that.”

“I can’t stay here forever, but I will be your friend,” said Beatrice. “You saved my

life. I won’t forget that. Before I met you and Jack, I was killing rats for dinner, living

in whatever doorway I could find, avoiding the Guard because of how some of them

were and still are. You have changed that around, and changed things for the others.

We talk about it sometimes. The others want to follow in your footsteps. I just want

a place of my own.”

“That’s reasonable,” said Josie. “And I will help you with that. Don’t ever think I

wouldn’t.”

“Thank you,” said Beatrice. “Have you ever done anything like this?”

“I used to be in a band,” said Josie. “For a long time, I did nothing but travel around

with a bunch of guys who tried to take advantage. You might be in the same situation

with this. Don’t let them take advantage.”

“I will be ready to defend myself after what happened here,” said Beatrice. She stood.

“Thank you for giving me this chance.”

“I’m trying to be better,” said Josie. “I need some more coffee. I need to get your

bird. And I need to make sure that Laura doesn’t drop you girls while

carrying you around to the Hall.”

“Are you right with this?,” asked Beatrice. “Is there any reason why I shouldn’t go?”

“The only reason I can think of is we don’t know who is involved,” said Josie. “If I

had my way, I would send you out with Fass and his boys. They seem honorable and

right enough not to cause you problems while you are navigating this. Trust no one,

Bea. Go out and come back the best you can.”

“Yes, missus,” said Beatrice.

“If things get bad, and you need a hand, I will come down there and turn people into

pinatas for you,” said Josie.

“Thank you,” said Bea. “I will talk to Elaine to pick out things I need.”

“If Jack gives you a sharp sword, don’t cut yourself with it,” said Josie. “You might

lose a limb.”

“I will be careful,” said Beatrice. “Jack already said not to tell Todd about any of

this.”

“He’s right,” said Josie. “You are trying to set up a net in case things go wrong. Some

people would test that to see what would happen. That generally gets them hurt. So

our first priority is you. We want to make sure you come home above everything else.

Making sure Todd comes home is a second consideration that isn’t as important to me

as you are. Then the rest of the expedition will have to take their chances unless it’s

convenient for us to do something about them. And if things are bad enough, I will

ask Jack to turn everything we see into dust to protect you, and then Todd.”

“Dust?,” said Beatrice.

“At least,” said Josie.