Harriett
The reporter on TV wore an expression of the hardest iron. She held a microphone with UBN in large white letters on it standing before a pair of non-descript red doors against a drab grey brick wall. Beside her a heavy-set man, with a face like the last thing a child would see before the van door closes, wore the Sovs synonymous grey suit trimmed in red, sporting a salesman’s smile. He held his chin up proudly.
“Hello and good afternoon. Uncle Bob’s Network News reporting. I am here with Geoffrey Foster, a representative of the Sovereign Sect. Mister Foster, can you comment on the new evidence that has come to light that links the Sovereign Sect with the bombing of the Panama Canal?”
“Comment? I will tell you exactly what happened. We stopped a bomb from blowing up the Pacific side of the canal at the cost of two brave Sovereign lives.”
“And what of the reports that the Sovereign Sect was responsible for the attack in an attempt to sway the Panamanian government to block access to the canal for certain ships?”
Geoffrey shook his head in frustration. “All made up, fabricated evidence by Mistress Kreeg and her incompetent Wrecht Order as a way to discredit our peaceful organization. They also had people there but were conveniently not around when the bomb went off. And you know why that is? I’ll tell you, it’s because it was two brave Sovereign family members who sacrificed their lives to save the canal. I can’t help but think if the Wrecht Order hadn’t been involved, the whole situation would have resolved itself, without the loss of life, the ship collision in the canal, and the bomb being detonated. I mean, I am not one for name calling, but the Wreckies definitely fits here, am I right?”
“Can you comment on reports of mind control—”
“Harriett, turn that drivel off,” Nathaniel’s voice drifted in from the hall, as he closed the now repaired front door behind him. “You know you can’t believe anything from them Sovs, they’ve been spouting them same lies forever, and ain’t nothing changed. I’m surprised UBN is even airing them, besides have I got something wonderful to share with you.” His keys clattered down on the coffee table.
Harriett muted the tv. Her favorite part of the day was always when Nathaniel returned home. “Hey sugar cakes, come over here and give me a kiss.” She started to slowly rise from her chair.
“Now, now, you just sit there.” Nathaniel placed a hand on her shoulder and bent down to kiss her forehead. “Look what I got.” He dug into his pocket with a glint in his eyes she hadn’t seen in some time and pulled out a large handful of radiating brilliant sky-blue ESH money.
She gasped. “But…” The crystals buzzed her fingers as she gently rubbed them. “I don’t understand. How?”
“Well, I am sitting there at work, minding my door last night when there was this whole kerfuffle between the Sovs and this man. It was a serious scrap. Them Sovs were throwing cars and that man was trying to get away and wow did it make a mess. Anyway, they were trying to get away and the Sovs wouldn’t let’em until finally that same guy with the beard and kind of longish brown hair, handled’em. Handled’em easily, I tell you. I never saw someone handle so many Sovs like that. So, anyway, after he beat’em down, he’s over there asking questions. Like all these plain questions anyone would know. Didn’t know what a Sov was. Can you believe he smacked’em down and hadn’t even heard of them? Crazy. It’s like he’s been hiding under a rock or something—” Harriett touched his shoulder, a signal for him to get on with it. “Right, sorry, so anyway I figured a man with his abilities could use a little knowledge in exchange for payment. So, I got their license plate number and called on them just now once my shift ended. And I was right, they gladly paid for a little chat. They seem like nice folks too.”
“Oh, baby, you’re so smart. There is enough here you could heal that bad back, fix up the house with—”
“Now you just stop right there, the only place we are using this is on you. Your lungs have been on their last leg for a while now and there ain’t no discussion, it is decided.”
He was always so selfless. He never could do anything nice for himself, even when it was inevitable, they were never going to get enough ESH to save her. “Now sweetie, we’ve talked about this. You can patch me up all you want, but unless we get a lot more ESH than we’ve seen in years, I ain’t gonna make it. It’s time for you to stop wasting it on me.”
“No! We’re going to make this work, you watch. You don’t know—"
“Sweetie!” Harriett said with determination. “You’re only putting off the inevitable. If we’d had that shard of metal them damn Wreckies stole, we might have been able to make it happen, but we ain’t seeing that thing again.”
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“Now, now, don’t you go talking like that.” His voice began to crack, and his eyes started to water. “I am going to find a way, I just can’t…”
“Baby, look at me.” Harriett grabbed his head with both her hands forcing him to look in her eyes. “I’m not going to make it, use it for yourself, I’ve lived a long life, it’s okay, baby. It’s okay.” She pulled him close for a hug which was broken up by a fit of coughing.
Nathaniel pulled away from her and wiped the tears out of his eye. “It’s my money and I will spend it how I want to, and if it means using it to fix up those old lungs of yours so be it. That’s my choice.” He set a portion of the glowing crystals down on the armrest of her chair. “Now I am going to fix us some lunch, and I expect that cough to be gone by the time I’m back.”
Harriett watched Nathaniel retreat to the kitchen. She clenched the handful of crystals in her fist. Over the last few years, every breath had been like inhaling an acidic cloud into lungs surrounded by lead jackets. This was often punctuated with coughing fits that felt like broken shards of glass being sprayed into her chest. This windfall of ESH would help, no doubt about it. But it would only be a stop gap. Her body was so old that upkeep required more and more ESH each time. But here she still was.
She focused on her lungs. The tingle of ESH flowed from the crystals into her chest warming and burning as her lungs regenerated. A few minutes later with the crystals drained of their power, her breathing eased for the first time in several years. She took a deep breath from the bottom of her soul without the slightest tickle of a cough. It was amazing.
Nathaniel came back in with sandwiches in hand. “Well, how them ole wind bags feel?”
She rose from her chair, body still aching, but breath normal. She sang out loudly. “You make me feel!” She started shimmying. “Oh, you make me feel! You make me feel like a natural woman! Look at me, no coughing, no wheezing, I feel like a spritely one hundred again.” She laughed. “Thank you, sweetie, thank you.” Nathaniel danced over to her and grabbed her in a warm embrace.
When he squeezed her, a tiny cough popped out.
Nathaniel’s hug became rigid. He nestled his head into her neck. “Now don’t you worry. I got a few double shifts coming up. We’ll figure this out. I promise you.”
She plopped back down in her chair. “Oh sweetie…”
His face grew sullen. She couldn’t tell him he had just wasted his windfall of ESH on her.
“Fine, fine.” She forced a smile. “What’s for lunch? All this dancing sure is making me hungry.”
Adelfried
Nathaniel’s visit left Adelfried uneasy. They had been found much too easily. Additional precautions would need to be taken. After giving Zarg his much-needed bath, Evan joined Adelfried in the basement and camped out on the blue couch. This had become the standard routine during Adelfried’s stay and he had warmed to Evan’s constant companionship. He owed it to Evan, and the whole family, to keep them safe.
“I have something for you.” Adelfried opened a small bottle of a clear liquid on his workbench.
“Huh?” Evan looked up from his tablet and rubbed his eyes. That boy liked his sleep. Why were the children of this world allowed to sleep so late? It wasn’t his place to say, he was after all, a guest here.
Adelfried dipped a tiny paint brush into the bottle and dabbed it on his finger. He removed the concrete insert on the concrete orb that housed the Root and retrieved it. With the Root in one hand, he charged the drop of viscous liquid with magic. “Can you come here for a second?”
Evan rose from the couch. His eyes locked on the drop on Adelfried’s finger. “What’s that?”
“Hmm, what is that word Jim used? ...insurance. Now, put your head down. I need to do this before it dries.”
Evan tilted his head. “Okay.”
Adelfried gently dabbed the drop of the viscous liquid at the edge of Evan’s hairline behind his ear where no one would notice it unless they were looking for it. “Now, don’t move while it dries.”
“Okay this a little weird.”
“If someone is causing you trouble, just stick it on them.”
“Wait, how does it work? I thought I absorbed magic.”
Adelfried rubbed the liquid; it had hardened. “You do, and if that was on anyone else, they would be out cold. So, it should stay uh…oh, what was that other word? Inert. Yes, it will stay inert until it is no longer touching you.
Evan rubbed the spot. “It feels like a scab.”
Adelfried leaned in giving his handiwork one last glance. “Now, do not pick at it.”
“Okay, first, this is amazing, but do you think I really need this?”
“I don’t think anyone is after you if that is what you mean, but I want to be very safe. It is clear now that I am a magic uh…noob by this world’s standard.” Adelfried grinned proudly at Evan for working in one of his words. “Everything I know about magic is from what Leyna, Harold and I figured out. These people have so much more skill. It is bewildering honestly. Only because I have the Root do I stand a chance.”
“Sounds like you need help from someone who knows about magic then.”
“You are correct. Oh, and don’t tell your father about the scab, okay?” Adelfried said, with a sheepish smile. “I don’t think he would approve.”
Evan grinned ear to ear. “Not a word.”
“Have you seen Kae? I need to talk to her.” Adelfried put the Root back in its housing and replaced the insert sealing it up.
“What, are you going to give her one of these too?” Evan laughed. “She’d probably use it on a teacher knowing her.”
This constant fighting between them wasn’t good. He frowned. “No, this would not work on her. Besides I think she is more responsible than you give her credit for and fighting with your sister is not good. Trust me when I say it is better to keep your family close.”
“Yeah, well does your sister constantly do everything she can to get out of stuff she’s supposed to do? And then Mom lets her. It’s not fair.”
Should he tell him about Harold? No. He’s in another world. It doesn’t matter. “Let’s just say I would trade my brother for your sister any day.”
“Sure…”