A coyote howled nearby and Grit started awake. For a moment, he had no idea where he was, until a small knot in the small of his back reminded him that he was under a tarp in a field somewhere in southeast Ireland. No longer feeling disoriented, the events of the last day came blasting back into his brain.He glanced quickly at the sleeping boy behind him to confirm he was still there, and still asleep. Then he pulled back the tarp and wriggled out into the darkness.
There were too many clouds in the sky to see many stars. Grit absently reached for his jacket pocket for a pipe before he remembered that he hadn’t had one since this whole mess got started. He contented himself with frowning at the dark countryside around him. Just yesterday, it had begun to feel like they were reaching an ending point. Now, everything was in chaos once more and he couldn’t even reliably say where any of his friends were. Odd that he considered them his friends now. He’d spent most of life keeping people from becoming just that.
There was a rustling from beneath the tarp, and a dark haired child poked his head out. His eyes seemed like they were perpetually wider than others, as if he were constantly in a small state of shock.
“Is there danger?” the kid asked in a quiet voice. Grit shook his head.
“No more than normal,” he answered, trying to keep the typical gruffness out of his voice. He didn’t really have any idea how to interact with kids, and he was fairly certain that this one was somehow much different than the average kid. As if to prove his point, the Eldest nodded his head, and then moved out from under the tarp to sit next to Grit. He gazed up at the cloudy night sky in silence.
“You are feeling sad,” the boy said, after waiting just long enough to make Grit uncomfortable with the silence. He said it as a statement, rather than a question. Grit thought about it for a moment, before nodding.
“Yes,” he replied. Again, the boy didn’t say anything right away, but just sat there staring upwards. Eventually, Grit decided that he didn’t need to fill the silence. If the boy was comfortable being silent, then he would be also. Instead, he let his mind wander back over the last twenty four hours.
The warning from Derrick and Elaine had been helpful, albeit very unexpected and initially confusing. Eli Thorn had been the one to finally explain about the existence of a shadowy organization called the Switchboard, and its ability to send messages across the multiverse. Still, the IPF had been right on the heels of the message, and had exploded into the cottage soon after it had been delivered. Cassia had been with the Eldest in the kitchen, near Grit, when the IPF breach had happened and she had pushed the boy towards him with instructions to get out immediately. He’d started to protest, but the look Cassia gave him had shut that down quickly. Grit was pretty sure he’d never forget that face.
“I am sorry for causing your sadness,” the boy spoke again. His voice was still quiet, but the contrast to the silence of the night still caused Grit to jump slightly. He glanced sideways at the boy.
“It’s not your fault,” Grit replied, and the boy turned his dark eyes upwards to look at him.
“It is,” he countered. “The IPF wants me, of course, and your actions to protect me have placed you and your friends in danger.” Grit wondered again at the maturity of the boy’s words, even though he looked so young. Grit sighed, and shook his head.
“Look, kid, I’m positive that, whatever the situation is, the IPF probably didn’t need to keep you in a cell to get it resolved.” The kid seemed to be surprised by this answer, as his eyes widened even further before he went back to staring at the sky.
“What should I call you?” he asked abruptly. The kid looked at him, startled, and Grit was glad the darkness hid the color rising in his cheeks. He really didn’t know how to talk to kids.
“Well, I mean…do you have a name?” he asked, trying again. “Or do you just get called the Eldest?”
The kid thought about this for a moment. Grit was realizing that he gave almost everything an element of thought, regardless of whether it was a question or a statement. Eventually, the boy shook his head.
“I don’t believe I’ve been called anything but the Eldest,” he said slowly. “Though perhaps I was called something else before my memory began.” He gazed back up at the sky, as if he had properly answered the question and not said something completely strange. Grit decided to let it go.
“What if I just call you El, then?” he asked. The kid looked at him for a long moment, unblinking, then suddenly smiled.
“I like that,” he said simply. “A nickname.” This time, he didn’t look back up at the sky, but instead stared out into the darkness with Grit.
“We should probably get some more sleep,” Grit said. “I doubt the IPF thinks we moved as far as we did, unless they think we jumped. Either way, we should be safe here a while longer.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Again, the boy considered the words as if weighing each one before considering the thought as a whole. Then he turned his wide eyes back on Grit.
“I do not feel tired,” he stated. “Do you? Is there a reason we should not begin our journey now?”
Grit realized that he was also feeling surprisingly awake, maybe due to the brief fear of discovery when waking to the coyote’s howl. Still, he felt a strange reluctance to leave the area. They were still close enough to Thorn’s cottage that he could entertain thoughts of his friends running into him, or going back to check on them. Leaving meant abandoning that hope. He sighed, and kept his thoughts to himself.
“I suppose now is as good a time as any,” he said to the boy. “We should take the tarp, though.” El nodded, and they folded the tarp before climbing on the moped they’d taken from Thorn. They didn’t really have an idea of where they were headed, other than a general northern direction. At this point, Grit didn’t really care. All he needed to know was that this kid was important to the multiverse somehow. The IPF had confirmed that fact by showing up for him so quickly. Therefore, his first mission was to get the kid to safety. His next mission after that would be to find Cassia, Mel, and Kevin. Or die trying.
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Cassia woke up to a pounding headache. With a groan, she rolled over and realized she had been sleeping on a sandy floor. Squinting her eyes against the glare of the sun, she could barely make out that she was in a small hut. There was no door, and the sun was streaming through the opening directly into her face. She sat up slowly, the headache throbbing in protest. On a small cot to her right was Eli. The leprechaun seemed almost comatose, but his breathing was steady so she assumed he was ok.
Standing up carefully, Cassia made her way to the door. The light was still causing her headache to pulse, but her eyes had finally adjusted to it. With a shock, she realized that she was looking out at a beach. Waves were gently crashing to the shore a hundred feet in front of her. Stepping out of the hut, she looked up and down the water line, but couldn’t spot anyone else. In the distance, she thought she could see a similar hut, but overall the beach appeared to be deserted. There was a thump behind her, and she whipped around, reaching for a knife that wasn’t there.
“Ach, I hate this part,” Eli said from the ground. Apparently, he’d rolled himself off the edge of his cot. The fall wasn’t far, but it had been enough to wake him. He sat up groggily and looked at Cassia in confusion. Her headache hadn’t liked the jumping she’d just down, so she sat down in the doorway and rubbed her head, wondering why her body hadn’t healed itself yet.
“Oh right,” Eli said, still staring at her. “I know you. We should get some food.” He tried to stand up using the cot as support, but immediately fell straight back to the floor.
“What did you do to me?” Cassia grumbled. Headaches were not normal for her, and it felt like she was trying to think through a cloud of smoke. Somehow, Eli managed to grin at her from the ground.
“Ain’t this terrible?” he said. “Magic jumping really takes somethin’ outta ya. Sorry ‘bout that, lass. I ‘ad teh use some of yer energy as well.”
Cassia just blinked at him. Was she supposed to understand those sentences? The leprechaun saw her confusion, and sighed heavily. Then he heaved himself to his feet, cursing under his breath.
“Get yerself outside then, lass!” he said, shooing her with his hands. Cassia slowly got to her feet and stepped back out onto the beach.
“Eli, why are we on a beach?” she asked. “And why is my head pounding?” The leprechaun frowned at the sun, and then at her. Finally, he reached into a pocket and pulled out a piece of squished caramel.
“Eat that,” he commanded. “Should help. Yer gonna need more food though, lass. Follow me.” He set off through the sand towards the hut Cassia had seen. She cautiously put the caramel in her mouth and started chewing as she followed Eli. Almost immediately, she could feel her headache begin to recede. Quickly, she caught up to the leprechaun.
“That caramel worked!” she said. Eli barked a laugh at her.
“Course it did!” he exclaimed. “Magic jumping eats through your energy. Sugar replaces some of it quicker than other things.” He glanced sideways at her, with a strange smile on his face.
“Betcha it works faster for you,” he said, with a mysterious tone. “Considering yer healing abilities.”
Cassia frowned. She didn’t remember telling Eli anything about her healing power. For that matter, she didn’t really remember telling anyone about it. She knew some had seen it in action, but Eli wasn’t among them. Still, she had bigger questions.
“Magic jumps?” she asked. “What exactly is that?” Eli looked up at her, chewing, and she realized he’d eaten a caramel as well.
“Pretty simple,” he said. “Ya just use magic to jump.” He faced forward again, still walking in a determined fashion though Cassia’s longer legs allowed her to easily keep pace with him.
“Wait, we jumped?” she asked, suddenly very worried. “We’re not in your universe anymore?” Eli shook his head, and looked at her as if her question had been extremely stupid.
“Course not!” he said. “Whadya think I was gonna do, stay ter be questioned by the IPF? Not on yer life, lassie!”
Cassia almost imagined her headache returning as she thought about the ramifications of this. The last thing she remembered had been shoving the Eldest towards Grit and insisting that the old man take the kid to safety. She’d been about to resist the IPF when Eli had grabbed her from behind. There’d been a loud pop and…well, then she’d woken up on the beach.
“Where the hell are we, Eli?” she said, stopping in the sand. The little man continued a ways before sighing theatrically and turning around to face her.
“We are safe, lass,” he replied. “For which yer very welcome, by the by. We are currently on Earth-29.” He turned back to continue walking, but quickly faced her again.
“And yes, I intend to get ya back to yer friends. But first, we need food. Magic jumps have lasting effects if yer not careful.” Cassia nodded slowly as she again followed Eli. Then she remembered her other question.
“Eli, how did you know I could heal?” she asked. The leprechaun stopped again and looked at her in surprise.
“Why, lass, because that bullet nearly killed ya.”