I had an air freight container in my workshop in Bogview Castle. When I asked the fellow that I summoned to go to my office in New Jersey, he advised me to send my shipments as early as I could and provided me with the address of one of our offices that shipped materials overseas.
After talking with the men who packed and shipped things, I came up with a plan. I made a range of aluminum parts that could go together and locked into place as a range of trees. With branches set up to hold and manipulate instruments, channels for cables to control the instruments and wire pickups, I came up with a way to put together several different tree forms together and stick new instruments up in and around the trees. I was shipping a wide range of parts in six air freight containers with the plan to use that as cover if I needed to put together an instrument.
Unless the customs agents showed up and had a really good memory, no one would know that the stuff I had shipped was not the same stuff that I presented as just put together.
#
Jeremy and I were sitting in the lobby facing the boarding desk. I had just looked up the spot price of gold and decided I needed to increase what I was going to charge for my sculptures when I felt a dark spirit.
I didn’t want Jeremy to get involved, so I got up and turned. I saw a man in an embroidered shirt with four other men around him. He was laughing and smiling but was clearly possessed. This was not my image of the beings I had met before. I wanted to deal with this possession, but I was in the middle of a busy airport, and we were about to board.
I wanted to slide a gateway over but again, I didn’t know what he could see and how things might end up. There was a line forming and Jeremy nudged me. “They just called for us to board.”
I looked back and the group with the possessed man had gone out of sight. I didn’t know what to do. If I summoned someone he might notice. I was with Jeremy so shadow stepping was out. I had one of those evil things in me before. I knew what they were. Monsters that destroyed minds.
I went with Jeremy and got in line. I felt guilty for letting such a monster pass by.
#
Jeremy opened the carry-on bag he had kept with him and took out a bottle. “This one is for nausea. Do you get car sick?”
I shook my head.
He took a pill and a sip from his ice water. “The next one is so you can sleep. If you don’t sleep now, you will miss half of everything. Jet lag can last for days as you try to adapt. Best thing is to get all the sleep you can on the way over.”
I shook my head. He took a pill. I think he took more than a pill. He said, “If there is any food offered that can be kept in a pocket, take a share for me in case I wake up hungry.”
I nodded.
He got comfortable and closed his eyes.
I looked out the window for a while and then I closed my eyes and spent my spare time on the voyage making gateways. Jeremy woke for a bit and then went back to sleep. Like all Goblins, I kept odd hours and caught sleep when I could. In this case, I was spending time in Real, so I might as well use it. I continued making gateways.
#
After making it out of customs, Jeremy made a phone call and found out where our driver was parked.
I decided that there was another reason why humans and Goblins were a combination doomed from the start. I wanted to shadow step through the town that we were driving through. We were driving towards a tower in the distance, and as we got close enough to see details we really couldn’t since we were in the back of a long fancy car. I wanted to open the window and lean out to see the tower, but instead I held still as Jeremy pointed at things.
I’d resisted drumming on things for the entire flight, and the car was stuck in traffic so my hands were desperate to beat a rhythm. There was faint music outside so I asked if I could open my window partway. Through the open window, the rhythm was wonderful.
Jeremy said, “That’s Chaabi. Forget everything you know. This is a different pattern entirely.”
I smiled. I was barely educated and had been magically gifted. I never got a music lesson, and from childhood, I’d pounded any odd beat that came to mind or I thought I’d heard. I could catch and care for fish, but that was easy. The only thing I could really say that I did—and is what I did well—was to hear a rhythm and let the rhythm move me. I started cupping my hands and flattening them, striking with fingers full palm and partial palm on the seat beneath me like it was my cajon. This rhythm was wonderful and it had ranges of variation within it that could be explored for years. I wanted to hear more. I wanted to learn what the music was. I had a basic rhythm, but there was more to it.
Jeremy said, “Not fair, someone taught you.”
I just continued exploring the rhythm as we drove on and away from the wonderful sound.
#
On the yacht, Mansour, the owner introduced himself. He led us to a large and ornate room with a great view of the port and water around us. Set up around the room were drums like I had never seen before.
Mansour played drums and we played around on them. There were drums of all shapes. He even had a range of cajons. We played and food was brought to us. We played around with rhythms until Mansour begged off and we were shown our rooms. I went to Fairy and rested. The advantage of controlling time rates was that you could get rest and match up with time. Fully rested and ready to go, I cleaned up, messed up my bed sheets, and made them back, showered and dressed in fresh clothes. I stepped out of my cabin desperate to shadow step into a new town and found that we had left port during the night.
There were staff members awake, but everyone else was still asleep so I went to the room with all the drums and spent a while with my eyes closed memorizing how the ones that interested me were put together.
At breakfast, Mansour asked me about my sculptures.
I said, “Having played on your drum collection last night, I am thinking of a few changes.”
Mansour asked, “Have you thought about my request for a percussion tree that resembled a Cedar of Lebanon?”
I nodded. “Yes. I think a nice version can be made.”
Mansour slid a pen and a pad of paper over to me. “Can you make a sketch of it?”
I drew a sketch. I had the materials to make it in the air freight containers I had shipped, but it would need adjustment for some of the drums I wanted to incorporate. I planned to just take the parts back to Fairy and make it all new.
I showed him the sketch, and he turned it to look at it. “This is wonderful. How are you going to manage the drums?”
I made another sketch showing my plan. To hit the various parts of the drum correctly would take several controls with different pads to get the strikes right. Properly done, though, it should allow the percussionist to have nearly full control of the drum despite it being hidden in the leaves above him.
When I finished, he asked, “Can I purchase these sketches?”
I shook my head. “It’s your pen and paper, and it’s your yacht. Call it a gift.”
He nodded and smiled.
I asked, “Where are the containers I shipped? I can probably start putting it all together.”
He gave me a worried look. “There was a problem with the shipment. We should try to go back to the wharf and check on your shipment. I have a couple of people in Morocco that can look for us.”
I nodded. I had gateways in all of the containers so I would be able to find them. I put gateways in so that I could change out the contents if I needed to make drastic changes without anyone knowing, but that gave me the opportunity to figure out where the containers were.
After breakfast, Mansour got up first. “Please entertain yourselves until noon. We should be able to find out where your shipment went after we get to the port. I have a bit to do before then, and I should have them turn the yacht around.” He spoke in another language to one of the staff, and they left the dining area.
I nodded to Jeremy and said, “I need to go clean up. I’ll meet you in the music room.”
#
In my cabin, I opened a gateway and went to Fairy and sped time. I set up a gateway to allow viewing and slid it out of one of the containers.
Mansour had made printed copies of the sketches I had made and was looking at the parts in one of the other containers I had shipped.
I was sped up so I stared at his image not even knowing how to react. I watched long enough to see him change position and decided I needed to learn a few languages quick. I didn’t know what to do. Clearly, he was stealing my work of art without my work of art even being completed. I couldn’t even wrap my mind around what was happening.
I didn’t want to go begging to Mrs. Nelson for language gifting, and I wasn’t sure about asking Count Juniper so I summoned my teacher, Goldilocks.
Goldilocks answered, “Phil, we were talking about you just the other day. Have you made any new statues?”
I said, “I have been making trees. Mostly aluminum and small. I put percussion instruments in them so they are within reach as I play.”
Goldilocks asked, “Can I see?”
I shifted gateways around me so I was in my workshop and brought Goldilocks there.
She looked at the trees scattered around the room. “They are lovely. Are they as musical as the kitchen?”
I nodded. “Different but yes.”
She walked over to play with one of the trees.
I said, “So, technically, I’m on a yacht in the water offshore from Morocco. I had a bunch of air freight containers with the parts to make several trees. Mansour, the man who owns the yacht, is claiming they never came, but he has them in a room somewhere else on the yacht. I can’t believe someone with that much money would just steal something like that and then pretend he was such a good friend. He implied that he had people looking for the missing equipment.”
She said, “I’d believe it. That’s how the rich get rich. Steal and pretend they’re your friend. That’s the basic MO for politicians, preachers, and the rich. First off, do you have proof he is stealing from you?”
I nodded. I opened gateways and shifted gateways so we were in darkness and could see the scene better.
Mansour was laughing as he and a member of his staff were putting together the structure for a tree.
Goldilocks altered the gateway so we could hear what they were saying. It was in a language I didn’t speak. Goldilocks sped time, gestured to me, and then gifted me with the language. “Are you going back to Morocco?”
I shrugged. “I plan to leave a few gateways there. I’m curious about the music.”
Goldilocks said, “Good idea. The oracles all seem to think Morocco’s going to be the pivot of everything in the not too distant future. It’s always good to be familiar with such places. Be ready to run though.”
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She gifted me with a few more languages and then pointed to the gateway and slowed time to match with Real so we could hear them talk.
Mansour and his employee were discussing putting the tree together, and they weren’t plotting anything wicked against Jeremy and me, but I was suddenly nervous that they might poison us or do something else to get rid of us. The way they talked, it was clear that Mansour considered the tree his.
Goldilocks said, “This is perfect. Smile, don’t trust him, and get out of there as quick as you can or fall overboard and make it look like you’re gone. Then with the gateways, after he has this placed in his private art gallery, we can return the favor by stealing the tree. The odds are good that he has stolen other people’s works, so he won’t dare make too much trouble.”
I said, “I have an innocent friend on board with me. He doesn’t know about Goblins or Fairies.”
Goldilocks shook her head and her ringlets bounced. I kind of felt a sort of odd shift in my crush on her as I looked. She smiled and patted my head. “Phil, don’t let your suspicion or knowledge show. Don’t tell your friend. Tell this Mansour guy that you have an inspiration for an even better design. Ask him to keep looking for your stuff, but you need to get back to your shop to make him something incredible. That way he will think he might be able to get more than one work from you. Just keep playing stupid.”
#
I returned to my room and went to the room with all the instruments. Jeremy and I had a good time playing percussion together but I was nervous. I put a gateway on the small of his back and hid a few around the room.
At lunch, I examined all the food and drink carefully. None of it was poisoned or tainted, so I didn’t have to come up with an excuse about eating or try to keep Jeremy from eating.
I told Mansour, “We were playing and I realized that all my plans for the tree I was going to make you could be improved immensely. I need to get back to my shop. It is sad, since I put so much into the previous plan, but I am going to redo everything. If you would try to recover my equipment wherever it is, I would be grateful, but with my new plan, it won’t be that much of a loss.”
Mansour managed to maintain a flawless act. Even with my watching carefully, there were no signs of his deception.
“That sounds wonderful. I very much look forward to seeing what you come up with.”
He signaled the crew member that was with him earlier and said in Arabic, “Call our government friend and tell him to cancel our plan. He will still get paid, but we don’t need to follow through.”
I was trying to puzzle out the meaning of what he said when I felt one of the possessing beings.
I got up, realized that might seem rude, and said, “Excuse me.” The feeling left as I got out to where I could get a good view. Our yacht rocked as the waves from the large yacht that had just passed us. Behind me, Jeremy asked, “What’s wrong, Phil?”
I shook my head. I doubted there were a lot of yachts that looked like the one that just passed us. The yacht we were on was huge and impressive. The one that just passed us made this yacht seem small.
A crewman spoke to another crewman in Arabic, “Don’t worry, we are letting the Americans go.”
Jeremy guided me toward the front of the yacht. He stopped before we reached the prow and pointed at a large yacht that we were going to pass by.
While looking, the glare from the sun glancing off of Jeremy’s cell phone nearly blinded me.
I winced and while still pointing, Jeremy asked, “Would you look at that?”
I looked where he was pointing. The yacht was huge. Jeremy shoved up against me and pointed again. “I wonder how tall that is.”
The corner of Jeremy’s cell phone was poking me in the ribs. I looked down. There was text message from Jeremy’s uncle. Only part of it showed. “In that case, be ready to abandon your luggage. Keep your passport on you, if you can.”
I looked up.
Jeremy pointed to the tall square tower in the distance and shouted over the wind, “We should visit the Hassan II Mosque this afternoon.”
I shouted back, “Sounds like a great plan.”
Jeremy shouted, “I think we are about to dock. Since we are staying on the yacht for the week, just take what need to keep with you.”
I shouted back, “I’ll just bring my backpack.”
Jeremy shouted, “Keep it light.”
#
We had left most of our luggage on the yacht. Jeremy’d brought a pair of small egg shaped shakers with him that he’d showed me on the plane. Since his bag wasn’t making any noise, he’d probably left them behind.
One of Mansour’s men was with us to act as a guide and a guard.
Jeremy said, “First thing you need to do in Casablanca is get a fruit drink. Then you have to visit the mosque.”
Jeremy came back to the table, and he had a drink for the guard as well.
The music wasn’t as interesting here as the short bit of sound I heard at the intersection, but they used a different style of singing. I listened to it and drummed on the table as we watched people go by. Our guide was acting odd, and Jeremy caught him and managed to have him sitting with his chair and back to a wall.
Jeremy said, “They overwork labor on yachts when the owners are on board. Let’s let him rest while we go to mosque.”
We got up and hailed a taxi. Jeremy negotiated price to a place I didn’t recognize, and we got in the taxi.
Jeremy said, “Before we go to the mosque, I need batteries for my cameras.”
#
In the marketplace, Jeremy said, “My Arabic is poor and mostly Egyptian, but from the snippets I heard, I got nervous. It may be nothing, and we might be running for no reason, but I fear I’ve gotten you into a dangerous situation. I checked and there are available flights. How does a visit to France sound since we are leaving Morocco early?”
I asked, “France?”
Jeremy said, “Just in case we don’t want to be too predictable. I hope I am wrong. But sometimes it pays to be careful.”
We walked past a place that had musical instruments and drums. We both wanted to look, but we were in a hurry. I left a gateway since this might be my only chance to see the sights.
I asked, “Do you want to get some shakers to replace the ones you left?”
He shook his head. “I dropped them overboard. Maybe they will think I still have them on me and will use them in a description. Maybe accuse me of stealing them. Probably not, but there’s a chance.”
#
In a taxi on the way to the airport Jeremy angled his phone towards me. “How about Lisbon?”
I got out my phone and looked up Lisbon. I nodded since Portugal sounded interesting.
#
At the airport, Jeremy had us stop by a window and pointed at a plane outside. “We went through security, so we are probably okay. The Lisbon flight is the quickest we can get out of here. I don’t speak Arabic very well, but a few things I heard made me suspicious that they have your musical tree sculpture. I didn’t quite put it all together, and I think they might have decided to cancel some further plot against you. I’d avoid Casablanca and probably Morocco for a while. Were your shipments insured?”
I slid a gateway off my foot and down into the window seam in front of us. “Yes, they were insured. Not for as much as I would have sold it for, but I suspect I’ll be able to recover my losses.”
Jeremy said, “The window here gives us a good reflection so we can see anyone coming. If it’s an official, I’m not sure what we can do. Keep your eyes open. We want to keep away from trouble. We don’t even want to run or defend ourselves. So maintaining distance from suspicious people is our best bet. We have an hour before our flight boards, so we need to just stay out of trouble.”
In the reflection, I saw a very large man smile and approach. I turned and he wasn’t there. I looked back and he was in the reflection of the window.
He bowed. “Honored one, I wish peace upon you and your family.”
I glanced at Jeremy, and he was looking at the reflection but not at the man. There was no evidence that he could see or hear the man.
In Fairy speech, I answered, “Peace to you and your family.”
Jeremy made no sign that he had heard me.
The man said, “Great one, I have a request. A friend of mine is concerned. His daughter is in danger, and I have no one else to turn to.”
I looked at Jeremy again. He still hadn’t noticed anything amiss.
In Fairy speech, I asked, “Where is she and how can I help?”
He pointed. “I can guide and point, but only from a window farther down.”
I nodded. “My friend does not see or hear this. I would rather not behave strangely in front of him.”
The man bowed. “Man does not see what man does not understand. It has always been so. Our kind can come and go, but still man is dangerous. I cannot enter for fear of the steel.”
I said to Jeremy, “I’m going to the bathroom. Will you be okay?”
Jeremy frowned. “I guess we should be prepared. You go first.”
I walked to a shadow. Jeremy wasn’t looking my way so I shadow stepped to a window farther down and out of sight from Jeremy.
From shadow, I saw the man moving. I stepped out of shadow by a window and he came to it.
He pointed to a man sitting with luggage at his feet. “My friend’s daughter is in the blue suitcase. The man plans to smuggle her out of the country, but I fear she will not survive the journey.”
Jeremy wanted us to stay out of trouble. This looked like trouble.
I asked, “Is his daughter small?”
The man said, “His daughter is a snake. Can you save her?”
I nodded and changed into myself in another form of myself that didn’t quite look like me. A strong family resemblance but no more than that. The man didn’t look or dress Middle Eastern, but I suspected he wasn’t English or American.
I walked over to where the man was sitting and asked, “Do you speak English?”
He looked up and nodded. “A little.” He had a French accent.
I asked, “How much trouble would I be in if it was discovered that I was smuggling a snake?”
The man got up without picking up his baggage and walked away. As he walked away, I realized I had asked the question in French. I picked up the baggage and turned into another me without the baggage and went to the window.
The large man was reflected in the window so I asked him, “There is a music shop in a market that I passed earlier. Can we meet there?”
The man in the reflection bowed. “My interest was drawn when I saw a portal that was not a portal placed. I can go there.”
I put another gateway down in the frame around the window and went to Fairy.
#
With some quick gateway maneuvering, I slid into shadow and through the gateway to the market.
I heard the man say, “Here, let me be a guide.”
The man was reflected in the side of a brass bowl. A tuft of smoke blew past and stayed a distance from me. The man’s reflection was gone. I followed the thin wisp of smoke, and it led me down alleys to a place where I suspected even muggers feared to go. Alone in the place, I opened the suitcase. There were clothes and cameras. I was nervous to check for snakes, and I was nervous that I might have been set up and cornered.
A voice from a pocket inside the suitcase said, “Take the lens off the camera.”
I picked up the camera and took off the large lens. There was a cloth bag tucked just out of sight inside the camera. I took out the bag and opened it. There was a tiny snake inside. I set the bag down, and the snake crawled out.
The voice said, “Great one, we thank thee.”
I said, “Is this all that I need to do?”
The voice said, “Yes, great one.”
I said, “Then I bid thee and thy families peace.”
#
I returned to Fairy, then I returned to the airport and went back to where Jeremy was. I wanted to visit the music shop, but there wasn’t time to do it justice.
Jeremy said, “Okay, it’s my turn in the bathroom. See you shortly.”
#
On the flight to Lisbon I asked, “Are you going to stay up for the whole trip?”
Jeremy said, “We are just going north. No jet lag to speak of. Remind me to get some more sleeping pills in Portugal if I can, though. I used up all of mine at the cafe in Morocco on the guard. But no, I’m feeling sleepy so if you don’t mind, I may snooze a bit.”
I decided to look like I was sleeping while I made gateways and ended up sleeping after making just a few of them.
I woke up as the plane was preparing to descend and the wheels were lowered.
As I looked out the window, Jeremy asked, “We were going to stay in Morocco for a week but that fell through, Do you want to get back to Louisiana or should we spend the week exploring Europe?”
I said, “I should try to be back in Louisiana by Saturday, but you don’t have to return if you are enjoying Europe.”
#
Jeremy handed me a copy of the key to the hotel room. “We probably both need to get some clothing and luggage. How good are you at finding your way around?”
I gave him a puzzled look.
He smiled. “Do you get lost easily?”
I smiled back. “I do alright.”
As we walked from our hotel Jeremy pointed out landmarks. “If you get lost you can probably find your way if you just head for these buildings.”
I nodded. “I have your cell phone number.”
#
Inside a large mall with a glass roof, Jeremy and I split up. I didn’t really need new clothing, but if I didn’t change my wardrobe a bit, Jeremy would notice. The people walking by were wearing clothing that was no different from what you might see in Louisiana. Apart from souvenir shops, the shops were not that different either. By their languages and accents, there were tourists from all over Europe and while the mall was nice, it seemed like I had come to another country just to go to a place that was just like the country I was from. A couple with a girl that looked my age walked by speaking in French.
I understood them and thought back to try and remember when I learned French. My memory of speaking French seemed tied into speaking Hebrew, but Hebrew was more violin and French was the double bass. I remembered a small winged Fairy insisting I make another violin. I shuddered. Lady Kissykiss didn’t teach me Portuguese, but maybe that was a good thing.
I was looking for clothing. I wanted something with local flair but nothing that would draw too much attention.
There were classic Portuguese dressed dolls in a window, but I doubted I could find the same sort of clothing, and no one in the mall was dressed that way. In the window of a clothing store was a manikin of a child that was about my height. The manikin was dressed like the rich kids I had seen on and around the yachts in Casablanca. The clothing looked like it would dry out fast enough, and the shoes looked like they would survive getting wet. They had some duffel bags and some of them were labeled as being the right size for airplane travel, so I got one and picked a range of clothing that I thought would fill the bag.
After leaving the store, I noticed that the perfume smell was coming with me, so I went to Fairy, and took a gateway to Hubert and Anthony’s Mansion in Snipsnort to wash everything. I sped time, and after starting a load of clothing, went to find Hubert and Anthony.
Hubert had bread pudding and homemade blueberry ice cream waiting for me. “Phil, great to see you. Anthony is down in the village. Caerwyn is in your studio in Real, and Mrs. Nelson is at a dog show in Real.”
I spooned up some more ice cream. “Well, then, they are missing out on a wonderful treat.”
Hubert sat beside me with a plate of his own. “How is Casablanca?”
I paused eating. “We fled, probably from nothing, but the stuff I shipped was stolen. It’s all good, but strange. We’re in Lisbon now.”
Hubert asked, “How is Lisbon?”
I shook my head. “So far I’ve been in an airport, hotel, and mall. I might as well be in Louisiana. After Jeremy goes to sleep, I think I’ll explore Lisbon and see what it’s like if you get away from the tourist areas. It seems crazy to me that they would even have such a thing. As a tourist, I would much rather go to Portuguese shops that sell Portuguese things and see Portuguese places instead of a mall. It’s a wonderful mall, but it seems crazy to travel and spend money on planes and hotels just so you can go to a mall that is just like you might find anywhere else. The food and souvenirs are different, but the souvenirs are like nothing you’d ever see on the street.”
Hubert said, “That’s going to be more and more true as time passes. You have Fairies that make wooden shoes. A hundred years ago, they were common in Real. Now you have to hunt to find them. As time goes by, everything changes, but right now all the distinctions are disappearing. For every innovation that comes, three traditions die.”
I asked, “How do we stop that?”
Hubert shrugged. “You have money, so you can support the handmade and independent. You can purchase traditional craft and work. Fairy may be the only way to preserve things. If you can find the right craftsmen and manage to lure them to your Fairylands when they die, then maybe you can preserve some of their art.”
I nodded since that seemed like the only way.