The grocery store had benches out front, usually occupied by the elderly in the brighter hours of the day. Avery sat cross-legged, using her legs as a space to hold books, post-its, and general notes. Her dinner sat next to her. Zed had a policy about not shopping hungry, so he’d wanted to eat. Now it was getting darker out. Bugs buzzed around the glowing lights at the front of the store and bounced against the window, convinced they could navigate their way to the bounty inside.
Montague. Montague was solved. Probably. She tore an orange post-it in half and wrote ‘Monty – solved?’. She stuck it on the notebook page. She added a note: Montague was used to keep Miss out so perpetrators could hold power and guide proceedings. It let them keep the three of them out.
There were only a few days left before the end of summer. It felt simultaneously like every day was very full and yet it was impossible to make any headway on the stuff that mattered.
Nibble and Chloe. Solved? Dangerous elements that could easily be aimed at them. Except Edith had said that she didn’t intend to send Chloe at Lucy. Not solved.
Cig. Co-conspirator. Solved and dealt with. They had him in custody and they’d keep him in custody at least until this was over. A rare case where she wouldn’t have to put a question mark.
There was a lot of noise and commentary thrown around about how this world forced people to tell the truth, but that really drew out the deceptive language. And, with the exception of maybe Witch Hunter Cleo, earlier, there were a lot of people who could lie but didn’t.
She had to put Charles in that category too.
But there was another side to that. She’d experienced it herself. The language they used started to have a lot of ‘I thinks’ and ‘maybes’ in it. There were very few certainties. An antibiotic cleaner could claim it killed ninety nine point nine nine nine percent of germs. They had to hedge against the possibility that some germ would survive impossible conditions. That was probably advertising law, not Solomon’s law, but yeah. Same idea.
It just really drove home the sheer amount of uncertainty out there. They’d worked so hard to break things down, to reach out to the Others, to build stuff up, and work out what had happened. But a Maricica could be another Faerie disguised as her, and something asserted as fact could become disaster.
Tashlit. Invited by Verona. Safe.
She added a question mark above the period. Safe? They always shared their notes with one another and she worried Verona would take grave offense to that question mark. But there were no certainties.
Then, on the flip side of Tashlit… Lis. They knew she was a co-conspirator. But they didn’t know why or what she brought to the table. If Lis could emulate them, could Lis stand in for them, in some way? That got tricky.
When they’d chased and fought Lis, Lis had shown a new trick, that she hadn’t demonstrated before. And she’d done it… how to put her finger on it? Avery wanted to check with the others but her gut instinct was that Lis really hadn’t wanted to show off that particular trick. Reluctant.
They’d been operating off the assumption that Lis copied people she was around. But when she’d been cornered, she’d reached out and she’d drawn on traits of people who weren’t around. The strongest, the most athletic, the biggest.
Why did that feel important?
Goblin gangs. The Barney Crew that had been led by Creamfilled, now working under Bluntmunch, who they’d pegged as suspicious. Charles didn’t think much of that, but Charles could lie. Not safe.
Tatty’s group had come because Verona had wanted Peckersnot. Safe, with a question mark. Two more question marks.
Crooked Rook. Another odd case. Rook seemed to think her anti-practitioner bias was reason enough to bring her in. A bit of a feint, that gave them an ally instead of an enemy. Safe, with a question mark.
And Ken. Ken seemed upfront. Charles and Matthew had seemed to be the ones who wanted to bring him in.
Avery arranged some of the sticky notes, by order of priority, then leaned back, rubbing at her thigh. Her shoulder hurt where she’d air-shoe-kicked herself midway through her fall off the roof, tumbling into a roll. She was kinda proud she had pulled that off, but ugh.
She twisted around, hands on her books and things so they wouldn’t fall to the ground, and she looked past the window decals and through the window.
Inside the grocery store, Zed, Brie, and Jessica were shopping. Jessica went her own way, while Zed and Brie were going together, each carrying a basket. The store wasn’t busy, and there was only one tired-looking cashier that manned the express lane, while most shoppers had way more stuff than the express lane normally allowed.
Zed grabbed a product off the shelf- a one-serving thing of mini-cereal, it looked like, then tossed it underhand to land in Brie’s basket.
Brie looked surprised, then delighted, then walked up to Zed, holding her basket with both hands, and kissed him. Zed said something, and leaned in for a kiss, and Brie pulled back just enough to dodge him, replying. That process repeated about three times, Brie getting an increasingly mischievous smile, until Zed lost patience, pushed his basket onto an empty space on the shelves, captured her in a hug that pinned her arms at her sides, and kissed her.
They stayed like that in the empty aisle, Brie holding the basket and smiling, and Zed hugging her, turning slightly.
Zed spotted Avery outside the window and winked.
Avery smiled, raising a hand in a wave, then made herself turn around and look away. She felt a bit like a voyeur. She felt a bit like her heart was swelling because she was happy for them and Zed had been an absolute champion for them, and she felt like her heart was breaking because she wanted that so badly.
Be the best you you can be, Avery, she told herself. Don’t force it, don’t screw it up. Just focus on picking up those checkmarks. Get strong, get cool, get reliable. Lots of kids our age don’t date yet, or feel awkward, or don’t have the stars aligning right.
Notes. She distracted herself. Notes were one way she could be better. Getting this right would help in all things. Because getting it wrong would make everything harder.
Green highlighter formed a box around a grouping of post-its on one page. Cig, co-conspirator, solved and resolved. Tashlit, safe? Rook, safe? Montague, mostly solved? Charles- Solved and resolved, with a question mark. Charles was in custody.
Yellow zone. Yellow highlighter- she started drawing the box and switched to orange highlighter. Tatty’s gang. Nibble and Chloe. It was hard to imagine them becoming key pieces of the master plan, and it was hard to imagine them as schemers or real dangers, exactly. Nibble and Chloe were nice and Tatty’s group was a bit incompetent.
That orange zone stuff was like… worth keeping an eye on as things went on, but probably not the linchpin in Maricica’s ploys.
She tore off another bit of paper and added it to the orange zone. He wasn’t a new Other, except he kind of was, and he did warrant keeping an eye on, if they didn’t end up deciding to take action. Guilherme.
Red zone. Red zone was stuff they needed to handle. She didn’t have a red highlighter but she had a red pen and she could scratch out lines in a way that looked menacing.
Ken. Complete unknown. He seemed nice and innocent enough, he’d been helpful and he’d given gifts. They also had no idea what was up with that. Was it a sub-fragment of Ken?
Jabber, complete unknown. Her observations earlier hadn’t turned up anything. He’d been brought here for a reason.
Bluntmunch and the Barney Gang. Suspected co-conspirators, maybe late to the game, possible suppliers of traps.
Lis. She was out there, she had capabilities they didn’t understand, and she was a definite co-conspirator.
Maricica. She was out there. She was a definite player in this screwed up plan. If Charles was right, it had started as a revenge thing for him, with Edith picking it up and finding her own parallel motivations, and then Maricica had joined in later, giving the plan what it needed to get this far.
Maricica was so dangerous. And Maricica had allies who were out there, who might turn this chaos in Kennet into something more…
Avery sighed.
There was a good chance they’d only get a shot at dealing with Maricica directly when everything came together at summer’s end. Lis too, potentially. If they could unravel what was happening, and get ahead of any tricks and plans, maybe they could find the edge they needed to win. To save John. To save Kennet.
Then maybe things could calm down and maybe she could leave in good conscience. To see what else was out there. To have a bit of what Lucy had, a home she could go back to.
Snowdrop crossed the parking lot, doing a bad job of telegraphing her direction as she approached the road, forcing a car to stop abruptly. Snowdrop resumed moving at the same time the car did, and the car came to a sharp stop again. There was a three second pause, like both Snowdrop and driver were waiting for the other to move, and then both moved at the same time. The car stopped and grazed Snowdrop’s hip with its bumper. Snowdrop ran across the parking lot to Avery. Her t-shirt read ‘a beast in bigness of a pig and in taste alike’, with florid, old-school font.
“You dink,” Avery told her friend. “Be careful with cars.”
“It’s not like I’m predestined to get hit by a car.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s never been even a bit funny to me.”
“Do you know what is funny? You went in there and you have snacks.”
“Don’t be a greedy-guts.”
“I’m not saying anything,” Snowdrop said, slumping into the bench seat beside Avery. To keep the homeless from sleeping there, the bench had armrests at set intervals. Snowdrop leaned into the one by Avery, looking at the papers.
They had about a week and a half. Blunt and his gang, Jabber, Ken, possibly Lis, possibly whoever Maricica sent.
“Everything good?” Avery asked.
“Toadswallow and Rook want to stay away from… them.” Snowdrop finished the sentence by twisting around, focusing her attention on Zed, Brie, and Jessica. They were paying for their groceries.
“Why?”
Snowdrop shrugged.
“Is it a bad sort of ‘wants to meet’? Because they seemed okay with these guys sticking around and helping.”
“I think it’s bad,” Snowdrop told Avery.
“Okay. Hmm. Okay. I’ll ask them, then.”
Snowdrop turned her attention from Avery’s work to Avery’s shoulder. “Hurts?”
“A bit, when the skin stretches. I kinda like the idea of having scars. Gotta balance out the freckles.”
“Goblins have the stupidest scars.”
“Do they?”
“Great ones, too.”
Jessica stepped outside, carrying two bags. It looked like she’d put stuff into the bag she wore at her back, as well.
“Heya,” Avery said. “Shopped for yourself?”
“They don’t want to stay at the motel, so they’re sleeping in the back of the station wagon. I already have the stuff to camp, weather’s fine for it.”
“That’s awesome. I definitely want to be the sort of person who just has what she needs to stay anywhere, camp anywhere,” Avery said.
Jessica approached, setting bags on the empty part of the bench. “When I was your age, I had friends I enjoyed, but I’d mostly hang out with them for a little while and then go back home, do my own thing. Crafts, reading.”
“That’s cool.”
“You don’t want to go back home?”
“Ah, oh,” Avery replied. “It’s not like it’s bad, exactly. Just… stopped feeling like home.”
“Zed said you seemed different. Quieter.”
“I… do that,” Avery admitted.
“She doesn’t,” Snowdrop agreed.
“You seem different too,” Avery told Jessica. “I hope that’s like, okay to say.”
“Yeah. I feel different. I’ve been working at the one thing for so long I don’t know what to do with myself now.”
“I’m glad you’re here, at least.”
Jessica shrugged.
She turned as Zed and Brie came outside, carrying a good few more bags.
Zed approached, reached into a bag, and grabbed a thing of strawberry milk and flavored water. Avery took it, held out a five dollar bill, and when Zed wouldn’t take it, pushed the money into the bag of his groceries.
“Horrible choice,” Snowdrop muttered, as she opened the milk carton with both hands and teeth.
“Of course, as we finish shopping, Lucy and Verona ask if we want to come over for dinner at some point,” Zed said. “Apparently they said friends from the summer thing were in town and one of their parents insisted?”
“Jasmine, Lucy’s mom,” Avery said. “I can see it.”
“How do you see that going?” Brie asked.
“The visit with you guys? Ummm… there’d be a lot of questions that are hard to answer, obviously…”
“I went to Brie’s to meet her parents,” Zed said. “I’m pretty good at that part.”
“Jasmine’s pretty sharp,” Avery said.
“So are my parents,” Brie said.
“I didn’t mean to imply-”
“No,” Brie said. “Just… trust Zed.”
“I was asking if there was anything awkward to navigate. I’d rather surround myself with good, positive people,” Zed said.
“She’s good,” Avery said. “Jasmine’s good, pretty sure.”
“And, sounds like they wanted to include you, so she wanted to include your dad, maybe possibly your siblings?”
Avery deflated a bit.
“Maybe not, huh?” Zed asked.
“I don’t know,” Avery said. “But I don’t think my kid brother is that positive to be around, and my dad’s… positive but not always good, about stuff.”
“You talked about that a bit before.”
“Yeah,” Avery said. It was a one-word response, and not the kind of response that kept the conversation moving, but… she wasn’t sure what to add.
“I don’t meant to change the subject,” Snowdrop said, interjecting. “Toadswallow and Rook?”
“Right,” Avery said. “The local Others want to meet, talk to you guys.”
“Can we take our groceries out to the car at the rest stop?” Zed asked.
“Uh, yeah. I think. Maybe we can meet them on the way back, or they can come partway to you?”
“I can’t ask, not a job I’m comfortable with,” Snowdrop said, picking up a stray piece of post it and trying to stick it to her forehead.
“I asked and I don’t think it’s a bad want-to-talk,” Avery said. “But let me field this, make sure?”
Zed nodded.
Avery put her things away as quick as she could without making a mess of it. “Can I carry a bag?”
“Here,” Zed said. “I’ll carry the heavy stuff, you carry the lighter bag with the awkward baguette and stuff sticking out the top.”
“Sure, or I could carry heavy stuff,” Avery said. “You’re already doing us a favor by being here, the least I could do is make things easier.”
“Let me have my little moments of machismo,” Zed said. “It gives me strength. And thanks for offering. Heavy is fine, awkward is fine, but heavy and awkward together are a pain.”
“Sure,” Avery said, taking the bag with the baguette and some spring onions doing their best to escape and fall out. She found a way to hold it while moving comfortably.
They resumed their trek up to where they’d left Zed’s station wagon.
“Any word from Ray?” Jessica asked.
“No. I think he’s probably working out the Charles thing. It’s heavy stuff and he tends to respond to that stuff by pulling away, going quiet, being hard to get in contact with,” Zed told her. “Like someone else we know.”
“Me?” Jessica asked.
“Yeah,” Zed said, a bit of humor in his voice. “You.”
The layout of Kennet didn’t really lend itself to walking around the downtown area, stupidly, so there was a bit of jaywalking and crossing the middle of the street as they headed north.
“I’m going to go find Toadswallow and not tell him what you’re doing. That way, he’ll stay put and the meeting can’t happen,” Snowdrop said.
“Thanks,” Avery said.
Snowdrop gave her the middle finger as she crossed the street. Even though the street was clear of cars, Avery winced, imagining Snowdrop’s bad car sense as Snowdrop navigated downtown.
She kept an eye out for Witch Hunters, but it seemed things were quiet. No telltale motorcycle, there were hints of a party or something happening on the shore of the water, but the parking lots, streets, and general downtown area radiated a skin-prickling heat and that seemed to drive a lot of casual shoppers away.
Avery thought about the batch of people she’d marked as ‘red’. But they weren’t everyone. The Witch Hunters needed to be figured out and resolved, as did Musser. Raymond was an enigma, Charles could have told lies, and…
Avery looked over at Zed, Brie, and Jessica.
They were green, she was pretty sure. And it was one of those things, like Snowdrop or her friends, where if they weren’t green then she wasn’t really sure what she was fighting for anymore.
The north end of downtown was covered in streaked, bloody handprints, giving the place a macabre appearance. The fog that rolled in with her Sight picked up that red tint, and the broken edges of things that appeared incomplete had glistening edges.
Almost as bad as Verona’s Sight.
She kept an eye out down the street as they crossed the big road that led down to the motel and music store. Mostly empty. The Witch Hunters weren’t around. Her bracelet didn’t indicate they were being watched.
They passed under the highway, reached the wooded area with the picnic tables that sat just outside the perimeter, and put groceries into the car. Some groceries went into a cooler, which Zed moved out of the trunk and into the legroom behind the front seat. Clearing the space so it could be a bit of an awkward, square bed. Jessica lifted out her bag.
She handed over the groceries she had been carrying, then left them to that, hands in her pockets, skin now prickling because the shade of the trees around the parking lot and the dirt road were cooler than the downtown area had been.
Avery could sense Snowdrop heading over, the dim, distracted amusement that was goblin company, and then that… fondness, Avery supposed. Familiarity. It came, was recognized, and went, and it went toward Avery, very quickly. She wasn’t surprised when it turned out to be Miss. Miss walked through the trees, and stopped where her head was blocked by a leafy branch.
“Snowdrop’s fond of you,” Avery said.
“That may be fondness in the same way she’d recognize a fellow opossum as one of her own. She and I are both touched by the Paths.”
“Maybe. Maybe that night she was young and scared for me and you stepped up, and she appreciates that.”
“Perhaps. How are you?”
“A bit sore, tired. Procrastinating on going home. Where are we at?”
“Toadswallow is coming, as are Rook and Reggie.”
Avery nodded.
“Rook has been keeping an eye on Musser. He’ll likely make a foray tonight.”
“I might be the person who’s gotta step up for that if the others are still grounded.”
“You may, maybe not. Let’s see what Rook and Toadswallow say.”
Avery nodded.
“Is there anything we can do to make home an easier place to return to?”
Avery shook her head.
It took a few minutes. Jessica had a little portable stove where a canister of gas plugged into a single oven ring, and put water on to boil. Brie set out a cutting board and chopped up some meat and bread. Zed was reorganizing some and set up a generator to plug his electronics into, which left Brie with less to do once the food was prepared.
“Walla! Tersimmon nog!” Jabber cried out, as he stumped his way forward out of the trees. Goblins escorted him, adjusting him when he stopped moving in a straight line. “Vorello culler! Illahillahan!”
Snowdrop followed along with the goblins, and as Avery made eye contact, Snowdrop pushed a feeling and vague impression at Avery.
The little notebook with post-its.
She’d noted that Jabber was on the priority list.
Earning that strawberry milk.
Biscuit and Cherry laughed at Jabber’s nonsense like it was the first time they were hearing it. Peckersnot mimed Jabber’s way of moving and made small sounds in the same cadence that Jabber did.
“Aldongon parado, walla!” Jabber cried out, as he approached the picnic table and, given that he was smaller than Avery’s youngest sister, bumped the seat with his chest.
Avery leaned over and picked up Jabber by the armpits. She set him on the bench, and put one hand out to steady him from tipping backwards. Snowdrop put Jabber’s arms against the tabletop, helping him brace himself. Some goblins clambered up, their attention apparently on the meat. Avery passed them slices of pepperoni and crackers with cheese. She looked down at the little alchemical disaster, and told him, “We’ve been meaning to interview you, Jabber.”
“Erra shall!”
“I wonder if a nightmare conversation would work, like we did with Monty.”
“Walla!”
“I believe that would be a singularly bad idea,” Miss said. “Reviewing the situation with Jabber, he’s… toxic. Further tainted by involvement with some nasty business.”
“Oddop ruff! Nary winish ruff! Walla!”
Avery shifted position to sit sideways, ready to stick her leg up and out to catch him as he fell backward if it looked like that might happen. Elbow on the table, hand on her cheek, she looked at him. “I guess you’re going to remain something of a mystery, Jabber?”
Jabber stared vacantly forward, a smile carved into the clay of his face. “Or, human child, you could ask politely.”
Avery frowned, looking down at him. That had… definitely sounded like Jabber.
Jabber looked up at her. “Walla!”
“Uhhhh…” Avery said. “Jabber, asking politely, what brought you to Kennet?”
“Bista.”
“He can talk!” Cherry exclaimed. “You gotta- you gotta be his kinda polite! Compliment his toesies!”
“Jabber… you have well molded toes. They’ve survived better than some parts of you.”
“Thank you, Avery. You -Shagga!-”
“I what?”
“Vincia arjest!”
“Compliment- compliment his face!” Cherrypop urged.
“Not enough people smile in this world,” Avery said, frowning a bit. “You’ve always got a smile on your face, don’t you? It’s better you were molded that way, I think. Can you tell me what brought you to Kennet?”
“I must confess it’s farts and blood, but not farts and blood together, which you may be glad about.”
“Farts and blood?” Avery asked. “I’m more confused, not less.”
“Easy does it, watch your words,” Miss said. “You don’t want to be gainsaid, even if this sort of business may be necessary for Kennet’s sake.”
“I- I’m confused, that’s not a fib or anything,” Avery said, glancing back at Miss. The heat shimmer of air and the steam from the kettle on the table obscured Miss’s face. Rook had approached and watched from a short distance, and stood by Miss.
“Iball shebag!”
Avery floundered, feeling like every eye here was on her, watching patiently as she messed this up.
“Farts and blood drew you to Kennet?”
“Farts are a matter of mating.”
“That’s creating more questions,” Avery said.
“And Kennet is soaked in blood. What fun, what celebration! Walla!” Jabber jerked, tilted his head, and then shouted, “Walla!” in a different tone.
“Do you mean Kennet, Kennet’s Others, or Kennet’s people any harm?” Avery asked.
“Did you have any direct involvement with Edith, Maricica, or Charles, for any plans or agendas?” Avery asked.
“Did you-”
“Ahahahajabba!” Jabber cried out, arms flailing, nearly knocking himself and the goblins who sat next to or leaned against him off the bench. Avery put her leg out and blocked the fall. “Bahhhhhhh! Baaaahhh! Baaaah!”
“Calm down, it’s okay, you’re safe.”
“Walla.”
“Can you-”
“Jabba!”
“Yes, can you, Jabber, please-”
“Jabba!”
Avery bit her tongue to keep from getting frustrated. It looked like Toadswallow had arrived, and Toadswallow was talking to Rook, who’d stepped back a little. Both were smiling.
“Jabber, could you-”
“Jabba!”
“Compliment…” Cherrypop hesitated, then, eyes wide, like she was a child who’d just seen Santa Claus, “compliment his butt.”
“I don’t think that’ll work any better than the other stuff,” Avery said.
“It should!” Cherrypop exclaimed. “I’m a expert! I know stuff! And that’ll- that should be the only way you’ll ever get him to talk again!”
“Did Kennet invert?” Avery asked, looking up toward Miss, even though Miss’s face was blocked. “Am I in some mirror world where Jabber can talk and Cherry is an authority on complicated alchemical constructions?”
“Ey! Yer the assthority on complicated chemical constipations!”
Avery held out her hands, indicating Cherrypop, who now stood on the bench, indignant.
“Jabber,” Avery said. “Your butt-”
Goblins broke into giggles. Jabber leaned forward, hissing faintly.
“Jabber?” Avery asked.
She picked up Jabber from the bench, and his arms moved, legs kicking at air. “Walla!”
And, twisting him around a bit, found Biscuit with her face pressed against Jabber’s armpit, traces of clay dust on her hair and face. There was a crack there.
“No!” Biscuit called out. “So close!”
“So close!” Cherrypop exclaimed.
Avery moved Biscuit to the bench, and set Jabber on the table, so she could hold him with one hand while cupping another hand at his armpit. She spoke into the crack. “Hello?”
The sound came out of Jabber’s mouth, hollow and distorted from echoing deep within him.
“Were you in on this?” Avery asked, looking at Snowdrop. Snowdrop was apparently stuffing her face to keep from smiling. Which was a yes. The bond between them was guarded, and as the guard dropped, she could feel Snowdrop’s amusement.
“The fact that Jabber is cracked is a mild concern,” Matthew said. He’d joined the group. “He’s not holding the influence he should. It might mean we can’t influence the people we need to influence, later in the week, if we don’t wrap up the Witch Hunter and Musser thing soon.”
Avery settled Jabber on the bench, sitting again, and steadied him with her hand. “We could have Verona look into the alchemy and upkeep.”
“Perhaps we should hold back our secrets until we know the guests in town can be trusted?” Toadswallow asked. “Better safe than sharted.”
“I don’t think Zed is a shart,” Avery said. “He’s backed us up enough times.”
“He was fair, if a bit stingy with the power from the Choir. We could have used more,” Matthew said.
“It’s what we negotiated,” Zed said. “Sorry.”
“Our fault, I guess, for not negotiating harder,” Avery said.
“Feeling outnumbered here,” Jessica said. “A little intimidated, if I’m honest.”
“That’s not the intention,” Miss said.
“You can attest to the other intentions here?” Zed asked.
“Enough of them I can speak to the collective will.”
Zed nodded. He paused, then said, “Would you break bread with us? If we’re going to talk, let’s do it in a civilized way, with the usual procedures.”
“Ray has taught you well,” Miss said. She took a piece of bread without revealing her hand.
Because the table was crowded, Avery lifted up the board and held it down for Toadswallow to take a bit of pepperoni, cheese, and bread. He accepted a cup of black tea, but added to it before settling.
“I believe Abraham Musser is acting tonight,” Rook said. “He’s giving orders to his familiars, Reid Musser, and Wye Belanger. They’re taking stock of what they have and making calls. If they aren’t already planning to march on Kennet, then there’s still a chance they’ll be intrigued by what happens to Kennet in the evening, as the wraiths, spirits, and other forces stir to wakefulness. Nibble and Chloe will be active, our goblins freer to roam.”
“Okay,” Zed replied. “I’m not sure why that merits this confrontation?”
“Not a confrontation,” Miss said.
“We have measures. They will be debilitating to practitioners. They’ll be debilitating to Miss, she won’t be returning to Kennet tonight. We may hamper Musser in a critical way at a critical time, but it would hamper you too.”
Montague and the barrier, Avery thought. This had come up earlier. A countermeasure against them.
Now being turned toward outside forces.
“We appreciate you standing by our practitioners,” Toadswallow said. “But the best thing you can do tonight is stand down, stay away, avoid interfering. Camp, eat, talk to Miss, do whatever you wish, but stay clear.”
“You’re going to set the Witch Hunters against Musser and then you’re going to hamper his practice?” Zed asked.
“Part of the reason we’re here is to decide if we need to restrain you until the plan is done, if you might warn him.”
“No,” Zed said. “Musser is… he’s a problem. I don’t want to go back to that school while he runs it. I’ve talked to Ray about it, but he sees it as a necessary compromise, at least for now. But… he’s still human, isn’t he? He’s a father with kids and a family he looks after.”
“I think they decided they were going to do this when they invited the Witch Hunters in,” Jessica said, and she said it sideways, to Zed, though her eyes didn’t leave the Others. “Maybe that’s me doing what you were talking about the other day, taking the most cynical view of people… and Others. But it feels like it’s what happened.”
“Would you stand in the way of us bringing Musser down?” Rook asked.
“Do you mean killing him?” Zed asked.
“I mean only that the Witch Hunters might do what Witch Hunters do. Do you intend to stop that from happening? Knowing Musser represents some of the worst of you?” Rook asked.
“I didn’t come here to pass judgment on whether it’s okay to kill my headmaster,” Zed said. “We were talking to Avery, Verona, and Lucy earlier- I think that’s a bad idea.”
“You’re not being asked to pass judgment,” Miss said. “We’re inclined to do it whatever you say. The question is, do we need to worry about you getting in the way?”
“Woah woah woah,” Avery said, quiet, rounding the table to stand behind Zed. “Woah. Really?”
“We’ve broken bread,” Miss said. “We intend no harm. But if we have to restrain you, as practitioners have sometimes deigned to restrain us, to preserve greater good, then we’ll do that. Or we’ll try.”
“I’m sorry,” Avery said. “I didn’t want to bring you into this kind of mess. I wish you would’ve talked to me about this, Miss. Toadswallow.”
“It’s to your benefit, Mr. Sadler,” Miss said. “Avery, it helps them. They’ll be able to say they were overpowered and restrained.”
“You’ll upend the practitioner community, removing the third major player. People will know. Wye’s already talked to Nicolette and Tanner about why they’re here,” Zed said.
“We have to protect this town for a handful of days more,” Miss said. “This falls on the Witch Hunter’s heads more than ours. Brie, your binding tattoos will be at risk of breaching with what we intend to do. Whatever happens, you should stay out until morning.”
Brie made a face.
“You can stay here. If you’re alright with it, we’ll post a guard for all three of you. This was originally going to be a warning, aimed at you and something for Avery to pass to the others, but several members of our group know you less. You’ve established trust with Avery, Matthew, and Snowdrop. Toadswallow respects you. But with so much on the line, we cannot afford any mistakes.”
“This feels like a mistake,” Avery said.
“I may not shed any tears over headmaster Musser,” Jessica said, quiet and firm. “I don’t believe in killing like that, but he acts the way he does and him getting on the wrong side of Others or Witch Hunters is… unsurprising.”
“Yes,” Miss said.
“But Raquel? Even Reid? They’re young. They haven’t had a chance to figure it out,” Jessica said.
“It came up briefly as a point of strategy, that Zed here could fake a message to the Witch Hunters, urging that Musser’s sproggarts be kept alive,” Toadswallow said.
“While leaving Musser off that list?” Zed asked. “That’s not all that different from me signing off on killing him.”
“A quick and relatively easy resolution that would save more lives in the long run,” Rook said.
“I don’t think it’s fair to ask Zed that, and I think my friends should be here,” Avery said. “Given what’s being decided and everything. Zed came to help and offer assistance and he has. Brie saved me and John, Jessica’s been an ally and she offered to help with the shrines. You’re asking too much if you want them to be part of this.”
“Don’t feel compelled to burn bridges,” Zed said, quiet.
“They’re burning the bridges. When I invited Verona over and my little brother was an ass to her, I stood up for her. We invited them in, you’re breaking bread with them, and you’re being jerks!” Avery addressed the Others.
Silence followed. She was breathing hard, agitated.
Snowdrop rounded the table and stood by her, leaning into her. Avery mussed up her hair slightly.
“Avery,” Toadswallow said.
She tensed, then made herself relax.
“We don’t have many options. We’re speeding toward a resolution, we’re spread thin, civilians keep getting caught in the metaphorical shartspatter.”
“Are you willing to get Raquel caught in this metaphorical shartspatter?” Avery asked. “She’s about my age. She’s… I don’t think she’s had the chance to even think for herself, like she’d need to. I’m not sure Reid has and he’s like, nineteen or so.”
“We could try various things to spare her,” Miss said. “Goblin tricks to separate them, then abducting her. You could participate in that, or Rook could sequester her.”
Rook’s eyes narrowed above the old-woman mask she held at her lower face.
“There are options,” Miss said.
Avery shook her head. Why did this feel wrong?
She wished the others were here. Lucy could argue the outrage and push back against this. Verona always had ideas. She’d managed powerless against two Witch Hunters.
With items.
A bunch of things clicked all together.
“Are we even sure it’d work?” she asked, looking from the table to the gathered Others. “Because we keep hearing that Musser is strong. What if, all these items he has, what if we… use the countermeasure, turn off the practice in the area-”
“Warp it,” Matthew said.
“-and he still has all those implements? Those Others that are… they’d be nastier and angrier, right?”
“It’s our hope that whatever contrivance binds them to him would be warped too. Among their number, there might be one that stabs him in the back.”
“What if this fails?” Avery asked. “What if it has the opposite effect? Can you guarantee that this works?”
There are no guarantees. We live in a world of forced maybes and ‘I think’s.
“No,” Miss said.
“Then, as far as my vote counts, I don’t think we should do this. You guys sent us to the Blue Heron Institute just in time for things to blow up and two headmasters didn’t survive that…”
“That wasn’t a great scheme, Avery,” Miss said. “The hope was that you’d realize what practitioner culture was.”
“And be pushed away from it?” Avery asked.
“In part. I’d like to think that, sociopaths and the most unrepentant of the ambitious aside, most who see Practitioner culture for what it is without being raised and eased into it are pushed away from it.”
Brie gave Zed’s arm a rub.
“I’ve seen what Alexander getting shot did to Lucy,” Avery said. “I saw what Bristow being taken by the Brownies did to Verona. I think it eats away at them in this really quiet, subtle way. And you’re doing this, now?”
“Addressing a problem that faces Kennet,” Rook said.
“I saw what it did to them. Do you want me to shoulder that? Do you want- are you really inviting Zed and Brie and Jessica in, only to make them shoulder that? Because no. No, that’s not okay. No. No.”
“To avoid gainsaying you, I will say it may not be okay,” Rook said, stepping a bit forward. “But it may be necessary. If I may turn the question back on you… what does it say about you all if you aren’t willing to shoulder that?”
“That’s- what?” Avery asked.
“Abraham Mussers, Alexander Belanger, Lawrence Bristow, each represents excesses of practice and they stand for men with too much power at their disposal. What does it say about you, Avery Kelly, if you have the opportunity to put them in check and you decide not to?”
“Raquel Musser said something like, I was what was wrong with practice and practitioners. That I was the corrupting force, or something.”
Rook straightened. “All the more reason to-”
“-And by her logic, if the tables were turned, wouldn’t she be justifying killing me?” Avery asked.
“You know you aren’t what’s wrong with the practice, Avery,” Miss said.
“And I worry Raquel- Raquel might know with that same certainty, the opposite. For all I know, she could believe it, one hundred percent. And if that’s how we’re approaching this entire thing, where do we end up?”
“There’s a chance we emerge from this alive with a place to call our own,” Rook replied.
“Is that the goal? A sanctuary? Or is the goal to chance the practice in little ways? Or lay the groundwork for doing something new with practice, returning to the old ways of wild practitioners?”
“If we’re to have a deeper discussion on that front, with my apologies to Zed, Brie, and Jessica, it shouldn’t be in front of guests,” Miss said.
“Then I guess we need to have this conversation another time. They’ve been really stand-up, you know,” Avery said. “I don’t think you’ve been very stand-up back.”
“Desperate times,” Matthew said.
“Okay,” Avery said. “That’s a pretty good excuse, I’m not going to lie. But I think I’m finding out that if I have a guest and they’re being disrespected or put in a bad position, that’s a pretty good way to make me more Wolf than deer.”
“So noted,” Miss said.
“We are expecting an invasion,” Toadswallow said. “We need to keep that trick up our sleeves. In case Musser attacks and we can’t stand against him. It would be best, out of respect for your guests, and in the interests of keeping them in a safe position, for them to stay beyond the perimeter.”
Avery nodded, lips pressed together.
“The same will go for you, Lucy, and Verona. Be prepared for practice to falter. Don’t depend on wards, don’t trust connection blockers, expect containment to fail, if it comes to that,” Matthew addressed Avery.
Avery nodded.
“Famat jabba,” Jabber said, slapping clay hands against the table.
“Thank you for your gracious assistance, practitioners,” Toadswallow addressed the three at the table. “Given the chance, I would like to give you something as payment and reward for what you’ve done and how you’ve looked after our practitioners. If you have a favor to request, I’m happy to entertain it. Otherwise, perhaps gifts, when we’re in a position to grant them. I know you had a gremlin keyboard before it was confiscated. Something in that vein?”
“There’s no need, but it would be a nice token offer, sure,” Zed said. “A nicer offer would be… this going smoothly. I’d worry a gift after… anything like what happened at the Blue Heron, it would look like I was paid to help bring Musser down.”
“Not the intention.”
“But it’s an implication some would see,” Zed told Toadswallow.
Toadswallow nodded, chin dipping into his neck and out again. “Very well. Something else in due time. We’ll talk.”
“Sure,” Zed said, a bit terse.
“We’ll leave you be to enjoy your evening. Be safe, be well, beware the spirits and echoes that tend to congregate at the perimeter. You may be safer after dark if you’re parked a mile out, instead of parking right here.”
“Thank you for the advice,” Zed said.
“I can handle spirits and echoes,” Jessica said. “I’ve stayed in the ruins.”
“Very good,” Toadswallow said. “There were other things we intended to ask, but it would be crude.”
“Yay crude!” Cherrypop exclaimed.
“Jabba!”
“What things?” Avery asked.
“Assistance with Musser. But that would place these three squarely in the middle of things, and- that was a line of inquiry borne of desperation, as our Matthew said.”
“Let’s not,” Avery said, letting how upset she was leak into her voice.
“Already agreed not to, but you asked. We’ll take our leave. You know where to find us if you need us, Avery.”
“We’ll find another way forward,” Miss said. “Try to get your rest tonight.”
Avery nodded.
She felt something from Snowdrop in the moment before Snowdrop tugged on her shirt. She bent down as Snowdrop whispered, “We didn’t want to tell Toadswallow some stuff.”
“Not tonight,” Avery whispered, quiet enough that she had to push some of the sentiment at Snowdrop to help her understand.
Snowdrop nodded.
If she really was leaving Kennet, there was stuff to negotiate. Toad was counting on Snow to be his goblin sage.
So many things would be messed up.
Jabber stomped his way away, herded by goblins. Cherrypop looked like she wanted to stay, but Snowdrop had her go, and as bummed as Cherry was, she seemed to forget it after getting a chunk of pepperoni. She walked awkwardly away, carrying a cube of stone and a chunk of pepperoni, each as big as her head.
As the Others left, Avery walked around the table, and hovered where she was, not feeling like she should sit and stay, but not knowing what to say or how to gracefully leave, either.
Brie chewed on the tip of a pen, biting components off. She didn’t chew them or hold them in her mouth- it looked like she ate them. Blue ink marked her lip.
She saw Avery look, realized what she was doing, and wiped at her mouth. The ink disappeared right away, as did the mark on her hand.
“Sorry,” Avery finally said. “I know you said you wanted positive and good.”
“They’re Others. They sometimes think differently than we do. Or they have different priorities.”
Avery nodded.
Zed gave her a half-smile. “Thank you for standing up for us. I could see that going another way, if they’d pressured, insisted, gotten angry.”
“I don’t think they’d get angry. Maybe Rook would.”
“Good to know. We’ll figure something out, okay?”
“Let’s hope.”
“It might not be a good something but there should be something,” Zed said.
Avery nodded.
“Earlier, I mentioned you seemed different,” Jessica said. “Is this why? Them?”
“They’re not why. I think most of them are good, they’re just… looking for answers. When things get bad, we want a way out.”
“Oh, I think we all know that very well,” Brie said, putting her hand on Zed’s arm.
“We’ll see you in the morning?” Zed asked. “Don’t worry, we’ll steer clear, in case they use it.”
Avery nodded. “We do the shrine visits every morning and every evening. So maybe we’ll loop by.”
“Come before?” Jessica asked. “I’ll come with.”
Avery nodded. She looked down at Snowdrop, who hugged her side. “Let’s head back, huh? No more procrastinating?”
“Nah,” Snowdrop said.
They headed back, using the black rope for the shortcuts.
Some things were falling into place.
For one thing, she’d come to realize what Jabber was probably here for. It was one of the things that had clicked, as she thought about Musser and how he might not be as held back by the anti-practitioner measures as someone else might.
Just like with Verona, and Verona turning to the idea of magic items in the fight against Witch Hunters, they had Charles and they had Jabber, who acted as a big power source. It was in the emails from Matthew, and it was coming up again now. If he just sat there and he soaked up power, if he was intact enough… there was power.
There were probably catches or little tricks to it. If the others weren’t lying or mistaken about things, there might be rules like trying to affect Witch Hunters and Aware, and what it cost Jabber.
Or maybe Jabber was gathering power like normal but someone was draining him.
Maybe it was just that he was very inefficient because Charles couldn’t maintain him any longer.
Either way, she felt like she could confidently pen down ‘power source’ by Jabber’s name, in her notes, and put a big fat question mark next to it. Because there were very few things that were for sure in this world.
Was Charles supposed to use Jabber for something? Because he could, and it helped her imagine the field and where all the players were positioned. It made a kind of sense. She could imagine other configurations. Others using the same power.
The second thing was separate, unrelated, but it tied into Zed and Brie and her thoughts from earlier.
She found herself wanting a girlfriend and wanting what Zed and Brie had at very specific times and maybe it wasn’t a craving for romance at all.
The Others had deeply disappointed her, doing this. Now she was headed home.
She felt very lonely, as she unlocked the door. Snowdrop assumed opossum form, and crawled into the side pouch of her bag.
As she stepped into the hall, her dad was walking Grumble from the downstairs bathroom to his bedroom. Grumble’s hair was wet, bathrobe and pyjama pants on.
Her dad pressed a finger to his lips, then pointed upstairs.
Kerry was already in bed.
Declan hissed words and swore under his breath as he hammered his controller. He did that dumb thing where he moved the controller through the air like it helped him steer. Still, he kept his voice down. He had headphones on and plugged into the controller. Blue light turned into white light and back to blue, filling the otherwise dimly lit living room.
Grumble had noticed her dad signaling her, and made the ten seconds of effort to shuffle ninety degrees. Avery walked up to him and gave him a quick hug. He pointed at her scraped up shoulder, and she shrugged, backing off.
He loved her and looked at her with love and she didn’t feel loved.
“Put something on that,” her dad whispered. “Ask if you need help with it.”
She nodded.
She went upstairs.
If they were being that careful to keep Kerry quiet, there had probably been a meltdown earlier. It wouldn’t surprise her- Kerry had had a few this week. Declan had acted out.
In little ways, the division of the household had gotten to them all.
She got sheets from the closet and made up Sheridan’s bed. Then she shucked off her shorts and pulled her bra off through the armhole of her tank top, and then she settled on the bed, adjusting the fan in the window to blow the air at her. Snowdrop stopped pretending to be a stuffed animal, crawled from the bag to the bed, and settled in there, crawling beneath the sheets that Avery held up and out of the way before peering up at Avery with dark eyes.
Snowdrop pressed sensations at her. Sensing something was wrong, she searched for answers. Snowdrop offered food and snacks, offered bugs with a hint of amusement, and sent other silent signals through that bond they had. She mimed doing something silly, when the image was so vague that Avery couldn’t ‘see’ what the silly thing was, and it was probably a memory of Snowdrop’s. One where Avery had laughed.
Here, at least, she felt loved. As the deep loneliness or the remnants of loneliness from earlier in the year reared their heads, she reached for a solution. Being rejected by Miss Hardy for one on one conversations made her feel like she had to fill that void, made her fantasize, made her feel what she lacked when she didn’t have what Brie and Zed had. The Others and her arguing like they had tonight. The worries about leaving. They stirred up fantasies.
Stirred up thoughts of things just being magically fixed because she’d found a girlfriend.
But wasn’t that the opposite of golden checkmark Avery? Wasn’t that really unfair to the relationship that existed only in her imagination at this point? Expecting it to fill all that void?
A part of her wanted to dismiss the thought, to just go back to enjoying the fantasy. What did it matter? Why couldn’t she? Who did it hurt?
Except maybe her. Except maybe someone else, eventually.
But holding onto that realization, putting everything in another perspective, comparing to Zed and Brie, if they were maybe the best example she had right now, it meant that she was letting go of a bit of a security blanket. A fantasy that was really nice to enjoy.
She felt so worn out and she knew part of that was the day. Some of it was this, though. It was only eight at night now and way too early for her to sleep, when she normally aimed for nine or nine thirty. She was that tired, that it felt right to simply go to bed.
“Just animal snuggles,” Avery told Snowdrop, whispering. Kerry grunted something, protesting, and looked for a moment like even a whisper would see her wake up and immediately go into hissy fit mode.
But the moment passed and Kerry surrendered to sleep again.
Snowdrop obliged on the animal snuggles front.
One final little realization, Avery thought. Tied to the jabber thing. Tied to their approach.
She groped for her shorts on the floor, got her phone and gave Snowdrop a pat as she texted.
To Matthew, asking him to talk to Alpeana.
So Alpeana could arrange a meeting, and so she could address bigger things with the others.
“It’s good you stood up for them,” Lucy said. “Sounds like you did it right.”
“You could’ve probably said it all better.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Lucy said.
The dreamscape shifted around them. They were in a clearing, surrounded by smoke in the same way a normal clearing in a forest would be surrounded by trees. Except for traces here and there, the smoke stayed at the edges, leaving them with a patch of breathable air.
Verona kept playing with the smoke, trailing her hands through it and letting it filter between each finger.
She’d asked Matthew to make it a gentle entry. They’d had hard days. And they were having guests.
Alpeana had apparently obliged. This wasn’t a pleasant landscape, but they weren’t tumbling through horrible memories or hypothetical events here.
“You think Jabber’s a power source?” Verona asked.
Avery nodded.
“For what?”
“I don’t know, but I could see it being one part of a greater puzzle or effect they’re putting together,” Avery said. “It’s not like Jabber’s… smart? He’s tainted but I don’t know how that helps them. I don’t think it’s a taint that can spread like Montague’s influence does. He can’t communicate.”
“He has functions and one of those functions we keep overlooking is that he stores power,” Verona said.
Avery nodded.
“Do we want to invite Zed and the others to the… is Alpeana listening?”
Lucy shook her head. “She promised she wouldn’t before she pulled me under.”
“Okay,” Avery said. “To the House on Half Street?”
“You want to invite them?”
“To where?” Zed asked.
The smoke parted.
Zed, Jessica, and Brie were there. The smoke around Brie painted images of waifs as she walked through it.
“When we started investigating this thing, I think we ran into a bit of a problem,” Avery said.
“Okay,” Zed said.
“We interviewed everyone relevant, and a lot of the time, we were trying to get to terms with who they were and what they were and how they functioned. And we barely had time around that to squeeze in questions like did you do it? Do you know anything?” Avery explained.
“And then, before we could do follow-up questions, Miss was deposed, and Edith started influencing the Others. Stuff got harder, we couldn’t really squeeze in more questions or loop back around.”
“Plus we were spooked,” Verona said. “If we got too close at the wrong time, there was always a chance they’d put the plan into motion and what could we do then, with only partial info?”
“Makes some sense,” Zed said.
“There were an awful lot of things we wanted to ask that we couldn’t,” Avery said. “We figured out what happened and how with the Choir but then… it was too late? We’d missed our shot. There’s someone else we need to interview, to know what questions we need to ask and what exactly we might need to do to stop the bad guys.”
Lucy exhaled slowly. Smoke around her stirred.
“And you need us for that?” Zed asked.
“You… probably? Possibly?” Avery asked.
She motioned, working as best as she could with the dreamstuff.
Smoke parted, and the red sky got redder.
A cube of meat and fur bound together by rope and cord sat on a little rise above them. The shadow it cast wasn’t cube shaped, though. It was canine.
“You want to Alcazar it?” Verona asked, eyes widening. “Turn it into a place, explore?”
“Is there any way?” Avery asked. “I know it’s dangerous.”
“You do remember we told you guys about how some girl did an Alcazar of a gift a boy she liked gave her, and it went really bad?” Zed asked. “Like, it was the talk of the school for months.”
“Yeah,” Avery said.
“She didn’t have a Zed,” Verona said, clicking her tongue and pointing.
“I get it’s bad, but is there any way?” Avery asked. “We don’t know the victim and she was a loner, she didn’t have anyone close enough to her for us to understand. Her motivations, weaknesses. Why she didn’t fight.”
“There are ways,” Zed said. “Depends what you want to do. Do you want to make it a palace? Where you can find your way through and explore rooms? A wild place that chooses your path for you, and grows and adjusts of its own will? Do you need to get into history, or look for weaknesses?”
“History, I think,” Avery said.
“It’d be nice to know what John is getting into,” Lucy said.
“If there’s a way, it might be pretty shallow, quick dips,” Zed said, looking at the cube. “If this is the source of all that blood, all that intensity… we might be talking like, you go in eleven minutes at a time, aiming for a scene, and maybe you get thirty seconds of grace period, but you don’t want to hit the twelve minute mark.”
“One go for each of us?” Verona asked. “We could take turns.”
“I think one go each,” Zed said. “So you’d want to know what you’re doing and what you’re aiming for before you go in.”
“Each of us?” Brie asked. “Me included?”
“We couldn’t ask you to do that,” Avery said.
“I’d be worried about the bindings,” Zed told Brie.
“Okay,” Brie said. She looked like she wanted to say something, then said something else. “That’s frustrating.”
“Yeah. I’m worried about a lot of things, for the record, not just you.”
Brie nodded.
“What’s my role?” Jessica asked.
“We’d need solid wards, you’re good at that.”
“If it’s about a dive into something intense… that’s what I do.”
“I think…” Zed said, before trailing off. “Yes, for sure, but I’d rather have you available on hand for rescue, if this goes bad, than give these guys one more scene. Me managing the Alcazar itself, Jessica as backup, for wards, emergency rescue. Brie? In case we’re attacked?”
“Like my ritual was interrupted by the Faerie-touched girl,” Jessica said. “Sherry?”
“Shellie. Yeah, let’s avoid that,” Lucy said.
Avery looked at the Carmine furs, bound into a cube shape, the individual furs that weren’t slick with blood blew in a wind that didn’t move the smoke. The longer she focused, the more intense it became, bleeding out into sky, ground, and surrounds. Avery’s hair whipped around so fiercely that it pulled free of her ponytail.
The world dissolved to black and shades of red.
She could have turned away, she could have let it be, but it felt important that she brave the false version of it in this dream.
Because Zed wasn’t giving them a firm no, and this really was something they needed. Answers from the victim herself. Answers that might help them decipher the way forward, figure out what to do about Bluntmunch, or how to address Maricica.
The Carmine Beast might have been dead and butchered, but maybe there was a way they could communicate with what remained of her.
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