Chapter 52: Marlowe’s Mystery

With only a few days remaining until the president arrived, things still seemed impossible. They had decided to focus their recreations on a few key inventions, like their altered car, the Freeze-it and new stove, and the Time-Stretcher, with the latter being their biggest focus since the rest were done and safe.

The actual construction wasn’t hard with people from the town helping them. It had seemed like such an impractical thing at first, accepting help. How could a bunch of people without real knowledge of what they were doing lend a hand? With Darlene’s direction, pretty easily, as it turned out.

With a few extra hands to work and people to run and get supplies as needed, it didn’t take that much time to get everything needed for another Time-Stretcher. Bram put all of his time in it, while Wil and some contractors built a small workshop on the edge of Mack’s land. The cook and restauranteur welcomed the extra business that came from people watching and helping the work.

It was almost funny to be locally famous again, but this time for something others did. Wil liked to think that he was accepted and appreciated, but nothing made him feel it more like the Cloverton wizards blowing up Bram’s house and the outpouring of support for it. It was the best bit of town gossip in half a year, so maybe it wasn’t entirely altruistic. He’d take it anyway.

They had their Freeze-it, Time stretcher, stove, and car. It wasn’t enough.

“I disagree,” said Darlene. “We’ve proven you can change leylines and harness them, and then you have a selection of inventions that will change the world. Who cares if you’re not outdoing the traitor? We’re revolutionizing public transportation and medical care alone. We’ve got the proof we need.”

They were on his porch in the mid-afternoon with a stack of plans and papers underneath books to keep the wind from blowing them away. Wil rocked back and forth anxiously. Not even the staggerleaf helped.

“I need to beat him,” said Wil. “He can’t have credit with us and then be on his own and show us up. Not after everything he’s put us through. Not after using me and lying to us all.”

The anger lingered, but it was cooler than he’d ever admit to it. He was more hurt than angry, and the idea of Thomas successfully getting his way after betraying him like that…well, it sickened him.

Darlene sighed. It wasn’t the first, second, or even third time they’d talked about it. They’d gone around all the same points, and she had been a saint until this point. “I’m not any happier with him than you are, but what else can we really do? He’s going to pay for Bram’s house, he’s going to testify against Ferrovani’s men, and he did help us see it through.

“Think of it this way, Wil. Will you let it go, or let it consume you? The best thing we can do is finish up and let Thomas go on his way and never speak to him again. If you’ll excuse me, I need to pee for the fiftieth time today.” She stood with a groan.

“As always, my apologies for the necessity. But we’re getting close to seeing our kid, right?” Wil grinned, and a pang went through his heart. “You’re right, by the way. I should just let it go. I am having trouble. If you think about it, the more success we have, the better we can provide for the baby.”

She shot him a look. “That’s a low blow and you know it. We’ll be fine either way.” Darlene went inside.

They would be. She was right, and he wasn’t about to deny it. Wil still wanted to do something big. Something that would belong to the three of them. Every time he stopped to think about it, he wanted to laugh.

Wil felt so greedy lately, and hungry for more. Where had that simple civil servant gone? He’d never chased fame or recognition before. Once upon a time, Wil had been proud of that. The sham Tribunal had trampled all over his confidence and patience, and now he had bounced back and gone further.

He didn’t care about impressing Cloverton. The government didn’t care, they just wanted to get what they could out of him. The rest was superfluous. Impressing them wasn’t right. Wil realized then what he wanted, above all else: to be taken seriously.

To be understood as a powerful, capable wizard and not the mage class washout who volunteered for a simple farming town. For people to know that he may have chosen something close to his heart, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t excel at it. When he was done, Harper Valley would be the place where everyone, magical or not, fae or human, chose to live by blending together and providing for everyone's benefit.

To be focused on helping one another and making it possible for everyone to thrive and live their best lives, by making things easier. That was why he had to win. Wil, Bram, and Darlene had all led the way, here and in Faerie, for what the world could be if they tried to make it better.

Winning wasn’t about beating Thomas, or showing anyone up. It was about screaming their names for all the world to see, and saying “Life should be enjoyed. Join us!”

Wil took a deep breath. He had his epiphany, now what the hell was he supposed to do about it?

The answer came ten minutes later in the form of Bram, driving in with their Time-Stretcher strapped to a small cart hitched to the car. He parked and got out. It was clear he was still unhappy, but it had lightened up from miserable. Now, there was even a spark in his eye behind scratched glasses.

“I come bearing two pieces of good news!” he slapped the solid metal box that absolutely looked like a coffin. “I think I’ve gotten the Time-Stretcher working. We need a potential test subject who won’t mind being in a box with weird temporal and spatial spells interwoven. Any takers?”

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“Pass,” said Darlene.

“Naturally,” said Wil. “I’ll handle it. It’s just going to be a minute in there, right?”

“If my calculations are correct,” said Bram. His lips twitched. “If I’m wrong you could be stuck in there for a thousand years with only your thoughts to keep you company.”

Wil nodded thoughtfully. “Good thing I can make illusions. I’ll do a puppet show to keep me company if I am stuck in a temporal bubble gone wrong.”

Darlene rolled her eyes. “The misery’s getting old! But there’s no risk, right?”

After reassuring her that the risk was minimal, they gathered around the Life-Stretcher. Bram opened it up, and said, “I added one more thing to the design, that shouldn’t tax the batteries too much. Remember how we said that sticking someone with life threatening wounds alone in a box for even a minute or two might be a bit jarring?”

“Yeah,” said Darlene. “The idea of bleeding out and being shoved into a box is a little terrifying. Did you make room for a second person?”

Bram beamed. “I did! That way a doctor or medic can be alongside them, administering care the entire time.” He ran his finger over the metallic edges covered in runes. “It should be good for not jostling those inside much, but that’s untested too. This is a simple box array that should balance all our needs, and --”

“Okay, we get it,” Wil chuckled. “Let me in!”

Bram opened it up. Wil climbed up on the cart and stepped inside it. There wasn’t enough room to stand up, but two people Bram’s size could crouch in here, along with potential supplies kept inside. It was padded, so he could lie down and be relatively comfortable. “You know, if you keep me in here for about five days or so, it’ll only be over two hours for me. I could have a nap and skip the presentation entirely.”

“Long-term testing comes later,” said Bram. “Can’t get ahead of ourselves yet.”

“Let’s hurry it up,” Darlene said. “I’m getting cranky.”

“Getting?” Wil winked and closed the door.

It was dark, so he created a ball of light and stuck it to the top of the Life-Stretcher. Then he kicked back and waited. A second later, the entire box vibrated with a tension that made Wil’s stomach churn. When the entire box listed left and right like it was rocking quickly, he became very glad he was laying down, but all in all it wasn’t too bad.

It was, he reasoned, likely Bram moving him around. Time moved slowly in here, so each bump must’ve been a jostle or turn taken too quickly. Now that he’d had about half a minute to get used to it, he --

The door opened. Wil blinked and looked up. Bram’s face peaked out at him. “We drove to your parent’s for dinner. Took us about twenty minutes all things considered. How long was it for you?”

Wil grinned. “An eternity due to your crazy driving! Each bump was super exaggerated. We might need to refine the design a bit to avoid people getting motion sick. Otherwise? Less than a minute. How’re the batteries?”

“About half dead. We’ll need to put in slots for more so we can guarantee at least one or two hours of use. At a hospital with a leyline, it could be indefinite.” Bram pulled him out of the box and helped him down from the cart.

Wil looked at his parent’s house. It was tiny compared to the rest of the Embassy, but it was the final unchanged part of the land. Twenty four years ago he’d been born there, and here he was, stepping out of a coffin with a temporal distortion in it, ready to change the world. Maybe he didn’t need anything else.

“You bring our notes?” Wil asked.

“And your books and leylines map,” said Darlene, coming around the other way.

“Thanks,” said Wil.

“You know your mom won’t let you read at the table, right?” Bram said with a chuckle. He opened the cab and pulled out a book, the cover charred. “This is the other piece of good news, in case you forgot. I managed to save a couple of books from the house.”

Will took it and opened it. It was Mysteries of Marlowe Manor, still borderline readable. If you could count the confusing gibberish inside readable. “Thanks Bram. Not sure I can crack this in three days, but I can always give it a try.”

“I had a thought about that, actually…”

Darlene sighed. “I’ll see you boys inside, then, whenever you’re done and ready to eat.” Slowly, she made her way inside, groaning from a dozen aches and pains.

Wil winced, but he couldn’t resist. “Go on.”

Bram steepled his fingers together. “You said that Marlowe Manor was in the confluence of a lot of leylines, right?”

Wil thought about it. It wasn’t hard to remember, given how many times his senses had brushed up against them during his time spent there. “Not a lot of leylines, come to think of it. Sometimes it felt like one…big…” Wil handed the book over and dug through the cab for his map.

He unrolled it on the hood of the car. A sea of X’s and notes greeted him, overlaid over an image of the entire basin. Wil trailed a finger in a circle along the edges, then over to his house near the center. He’d never had access to any of a leyline’s power there in the center…but Marlowe Manor did.

Wil played over his time at the manor in his head, every time he walked along the boundaries of the property with Isom at his side. It had felt like one big leyline, not more powerful or potent but stretching on forever. At the center, magic came a little easier. It was where the most powerful wizards practiced and did their experiments, and all spells tied into the property lingered. The only thing they had were anchor spells in key locations, where they were able to control…

“What is it, Wil?” Bram looked over his shoulder.

Wil circled the map again. “What if this was all one big leyline, ringing around the valley?”

Bram blinked. “I’ve read that book and others, and I am still not sure what you’re suggesting. What would that do?”

“I don’t know,” said Wil, excitement creeping into his voice. “But imagine if we linked them all, made them extend around and formed a perimeter of combined leylines. And at key places…” he tapped the four largest X’s in the corners, “I twist the leyline into runes while still keeping the chain going. What do you get?”

“Gods,” Bram breathed out. He shuffled from foot to foot, hands wringing the air. “You think we could turn the entire basin into an array!?”

“What if we could?” Wil buzzed with renewed vigor. “Take what we did on your property with the car, but extend that across the entire basin…”

Bram laughed in delight. Wil joined him, and soon they had tears in their eyes and they laughed and screamed and shook each other. Darlene poked her head out, along with Sharon.

“What’re you boys doing?” Sharon demanded. “What’s so funny?”

Wil thrust a finger to the sky. “We’re going to beat Thomas and prove ourselves, once and for all! We’re going to shape the world.”

“Great,” said Darlene. “But first, dinner with family. You may tell us your plan after dessert.”

“But,” Bram protested.

“Nope.” Sharon shook her head.

“Then let’s eat.” Wil rolled up his map and went inside. Plans tonight, work tomorrow. Victory was in sight.