Jake's War, Book Two of Wizards (19 page)

I thought about it and his argument seemed to make sense. I relaxed a bit. Dad patted me on the shoulder.

“You've got a lot to do today, lad. Best you get on with it.”

I hopped to the Bat Cave to collect the kids.

Jenny wasn't in her room or mine so I assumed she'd gone ahead. I looked in the mirror and noticed my clothes were blood splattered and covered in God only knows what else. I concentrated and made the dirt go away. Putting the creases back proved too difficult so I gave up on that. I hopped to the banqueting room…

…which was empty. The ballroom was the only other choice. I hopped again.

 “Wizard Morrissey.”

I had inadvertently hopped directly in front of Sir Danth Yard and his wife Lady Hilta. So much so that if I'd leaned back I would have stepped on her toes.

“So sorry, Sir Danth, Lady Hilta. I do apologize.”

Sir Danth was unbothered by my arrival. His handlebar moustache quivered as he held out his hand to me and boomed.

“To be expected. Wizards, hopping here and there. Bound to trip over someone from time to time.”

“If you ever need to borrow another of my husband's rings you need only ask,” Lady Hilta said cheerfully. I smiled at them. They were good people.

“That's a kind offer and I may take you up on it one day,” I said bowing low to her. She looked like a dowager aunt out of a television play, slightly haughty but friendly underneath it. I noticed Sir Danth was wearing the jacket Helda had embroidered.

“Lady Hilta, may I compliment you on your dress? And Sir Danth, that's a fine jacket you have there. Some of Grimaldi's finest work if I'm not mistaken?”

Sir Danth leaned close and whispered. “The work's magnificent, but I do wish they wouldn't always do everything in the family colors. Gets me down, don't you know.”

“I believe Lady Jenny and Princess Esmeralda are trying to catch your attention, Wizard Morrissey,” Lady Hilta said. She was right. Their arms were waving in the air. I made my farewells and set off towards my brides. I must be getting better at this fancy royalty party talk, as I'd not managed to upset anybody so far. That was good going for me.

Meldar Lind stepped in front of me before I reached the girls.

“Wizard Morrissey, you are a very elusive man. I've been trying to talk to you since the funeral.” She put her piercing gaze on me and I felt she might be weighing my soul.

“I've been busy, affairs of state and stuff,” I extemporized.

She sniffed as if she was breathing in my scent.

“Off-world, I see. You have the scent of at least three on you.”

Was that possible? To smell another world?

“There was a chance I could catch the wizards that attacked us. It turned out I was mistaken.”

Meldar frowned.

“We determined they left no discernible trail while you were healing the injured. Wizards usually leave some residue when they hop no matter how hard they try to hide it, but those two were extraordinarily careful.”

“I knew which world they fled too. But they had gone before I got there.”

Meldar gave me an appraising look. “Why did you heal the injured people? They were nothing to you.”

“It's my job to protect them.” I had no idea where this conversation was going, or why.

“You acted out of duty and not compassion?”

“I acted from both compassion and duty.”

Meldar inclined her head at me. “Thank you for your time, Wizard Morrissey.” She turned and walked away.

“What was that all about?” Jenny asked a few seconds later.

“I think I'm being judged.”

“If it's your mind she's judging you on, we're in big trouble,” Esmeralda said and punched me lightly on the shoulder.

I gazed in the direction Meldar had gone. What did the wizards of Valhalla want? It was becoming a major puzzle.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Truce

There are many ways to wake up. Sometimes a shaft of sunlight from a gap in the curtains tickles your nose and you wake up sneezing. Sometimes you drift out of a dream into warm comforting reality. Sometimes you just awake instantly. All of these are good ways to wake. Having a pair of knickers stuffed into your mouth is not a way I would recommend.

“Grrrwhaffft?” If you have ever tried to speak with girls' underwear stuffed in your mouth you'll understand that perfectly.

“How could you? It was Urda, wasn't it? You had the little tart!”

Jenny sounded a smidgeon upset. She was straddling me as she continued to push the knickers in. I rolled her off me with a great effort and pulled the offending item out of my mouth. I was grateful it was clean and pressed before it found its way in there.

“I have not
had
Urda.”

One advantage of being a terrible liar is that people are more likely to recognize when you're telling the truth.

“Oh.” Jenny stopped fighting and sat back on the bed. “So how did those get into my drawer? It wasn't one of Grimaldi's girls was it?”

Did my women have a set of jungle drums or something? Did Jenny know that Helda had hit on me?

“No, I have not had sex with Helda or any of the Palace staff, or Urda. I promise.”

“And the knickers…?”

“Ah… well… I needed a shower so I hopped to my room forgetting that Urda and Anna were using it.” I stopped. Surely Jenny would let it lie at that.

“And you stole a pair of Urda's knickers to pleasure yourself with later?” Jenny suggested.

“No… Look, I was naked and I needed to cover myself…”

Jenny's mouth made a big O. “You mean you wore them? If I'd known you were into that I'd have brought you some of Mum's old flannelette ones.”

“Stop it!”

It took some time before Jenny stopped laughing long enough for me to begin another explanation. I really don't know when it's best to keep my mouth shut.

“I wouldn't have gone except I was sticky…”

“And why exactly was that, Jake Morrissey?” Jenny put her hands on her hips and I knew I was now in big trouble.

“If it wasn't Urda and it wasn't any of the staff… You've slept with Esmeralda!”

“No, I…”

“You did! It's written all over your face and after she got me to sign up to that abstinence thing as well.”

“Well, you broke it first and she…”

Jenny's look of outrage increased. “You told her! That was private between the two of us and you told her.”

I put up my hands in surrender. “She guessed and you know what a lousy liar I am.”

Jenny calmed a little. “That makes sense and you probably had that self-satisfied smirk on your face.”

“I don't have a…”

Jenny laughed. “God yes. The whole world knows when Jake Morrissey's been laid.”

“I…” Actually I gave up and lay back on the bed. I know when I'm beaten. Jenny stayed quiet as she thought for a while.

“How many times?” she asked, taking me off guard.
Don't give anything like an answer,
I thought desperately.

“I spent the night.”

“That many?” Jenny got off the bed. “Come on…” She beckoned me towards the door.

“What?”

“You're coming to my room and you better have taken lots of vitamin E. I'm not letting Esmeralda get one up on me. I want full restitution.”

I got up trying to look reluctant. This two wives thing might have an upside after all.

It was early afternoon before I hopped home. I wanted to keep an eye on the house while my parents were away and it was still the place where I stashed all my clothes. I changed into a fresh pair of jeans and wandered down to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. There was a note propped up in the center of the kitchen table next to a mobile phone I didn't recognize.

The note said “PLAY THE VIDEO.” It took me a few moments to figure out how to work the phone. A video icon was on the screen.

I started it up and Bronwyn appeared on the screen, face much too big as she was holding it too close. She looked older and tired. That was the impression that stuck with me later, how tired she looked.

“Hi Jake. Bet you didn't expect to find this. I can go anywhere, do anything.”

She paused and the phone moved away showing an anxious looking Wenna standing beside her.

“I could get your family any time I wanted. I could kill Jenny's parents too. How could you stop me if I wanted to do it?”

My blood chilled. She was right. Until I could find her there was little I could do to stop her.

Bronwyn giggled insanely and then a haunted look crossed her face.

“I've killed a lot of people, Jake. Crushed their balls while they died in agony. They all deserved it, though you wouldn't think so… Have you got my children safe, Jake? They didn't deserve what those men did to them. You look after them good.”

Bronwyn bit her bottom lip and turned her head from side to side the way kids her age do with videos. For a second I saw her as a normal twelve year old girl.

“I'm calling a truce. You leave me alone and I'll leave your families and Salice alone too. I don't need that kingdom anyway. It's a bit tatty and they never even invented the shower. I'll leave that whole world alone, Jake. Provided you send me a text message agreeing. Your call, Jake.”

The video ended. There was a text message in drafts that said 'I agree to the Truce' and was addressed to 'Bronwyn'. I didn't hesitate for a second. I pressed the button and sent it.

Not that I believed Bronwyn was really calling a truce, but I was tired of chasing her and the best approach seemed to be to let her come to me. If she thought I would be off guard so much the better. I checked the phone for magical traces and then switched it off and put it in my pocket.

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ida

My next stop was the Grand Hotel to see how Mam and Dad were getting on with their charges. I hopped outside the hotel doors and walked in. The background music was off and Reception was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop. There was no one at the desk. A sense of foreboding swept over me and I rang the desk bell, but nobody came.

My feelings that something was wrong were getting stronger. I couldn't see any people in the lobby and the doors to the lounge bar area were closed. Rather than phone my parents' room I walked to the bar and pushed the doors open as quietly as I could.

The bar area was where they served breakfast. That much was obvious from the half-eaten food and broken crockery scattered across the floor. Chairs lay on their sides scattered all over the room. I almost missed Mam and Dad. They stood motionless in the far corner of the room. Running would have been too slow. I hopped to them and sighed with relief when I found they were alive. They stood rigid, not even blinking.

“I release you,” I said touching their hands. They collapsed and I held onto them to stop them falling. They put their hands to their eyes and started screaming. I sent my awareness into their bodies and saw the problem. Their eyeballs were raw from not being able to blink. I healed them, taking care to also remove the blood clots in their muscles that might have killed them.

“Thanks, son.” Dad flailed as he tried to get to his feet. I helped Mam up and she staggered off towards the toilets, stopping only for a moment to give my hand a quick squeeze.

“What happened?”

“The older boy, Ida. He got upset when one of the girls serving breakfast laughed at him. He hurt her, son, and when we tried to stop him he ordered us to stand where you found us. I didn't know he was a wizard.”

“Neither did I. Where are they now?”

“He ordered everybody else of the room, that's the last we saw of them.”

“Where was Urda?”

“She ate earlier. I don't know where she is now.” Dad staggered to a chair and sat down. I needed to find Ida and quickly. With luck he would still be in the hotel.

“When Mam gets back tell her to stay here. I'll send anybody I find to join you. Don't leave this room unless you have no choice.”

Dad nodded. He's a bright guy. I wish he'd passed some of it on to me.

I went back to reception and sealed the hotel doors. Distraction magic would make anyone trying to get in go away. Anyone in the hotel would find it impossible to open the doors. The question was where to look for Ida and the other children. The sound of metal clashing on metal gave me a clue and I ran in the direction the sounds were coming from.

This led me through a pair of double doors into the kitchens. They must have been well soundproofed because the kitchen was in a state of utter bedlam. Women screamed and there were shouts of agony. Every stove was stacked with metal pans filled with boiling water. Water spat out of the pans and hissed as it hit the hot oven surfaces. Gas rings blazed on full and the room was heavily scented with it. Some people huddled against the walls while others stood before the stoves with rolled up sleeves and looked as though they were about to stick their arms into the boiling water. Something appeared to be stopping them following through.

The room buzzed with magic. So much so that I couldn't see what was going on. I moved through the kitchen staying close to the walls and spotted Ida with his arms outstretched. The other kids stood behind him and they didn't look very happy. Then I saw Urda, crouched with her sister behind her and I finally worked out what was going on.

Ida was using mind control to get the adults to plunge their arms into the boiling water and Urda was stopping them. She hadn't been entirely successful judging by the people rolling about in agony.

Ida glowed with a staggering amount of magic. I couldn't have missed that much before as it was so bright. What looked like tiny triangular mirrors revolved around his head in the magical plane and as soon as I tried to take his mind over I knew their purpose was to block mental attack.

Fighting Ida here would be far too messy. I needed to move us somewhere where we had room to fight.

Little more than a magical twitch was required to switch off the gas supply at the mains.