Maggie Get Your Gun (21 page)

"You call this play?" she said as she rubbed her
arm.

I gave her a grin, "You grab the stakes.  I'll grab
the knives and arrows.  Maybe we can see if Thomas will hide everything in his
house in case we ever have to come back."

"I am never coming back here," informed Mindy.

"Sure, sis," I replied.  "Me, too."

"What shall I collect?" asked Killian, following
behind us like an eager puppy.

"I dunno," I said, looking around for some
assignment.  My eyes fell upon the motionless lumps of werepires and vampwolves
we had left strewn about the street, "Would you mind taking care of
those?  We don't need any of them deciding what this town needs is to restock
its ghosts."

"Come on, Killian," said Dad as he rested his
hand on Killian's shoulder and steered him away, "Let me tell you about
the time I stopped a horde of vampires at a homecoming bonfire..." 

"Stay out of trouble!" Mom yelled.

By the time all of us were done, it was quiet as… well… the
dead. 

False dawn was starting to crest over the mountains.  Mom
had worked her magic and the ghosts were gone.  We all looked like we were
ready to fall over.  Pretty much every inch of my body was bruised.  I could
have slept for a week.  We had made it through the night, though, and that's
what was important.  It was also important not to spend another night here.

"All’s-Well-That-Ends-with-the-Right-People-Dead-and-a-Paycheck,
right Maggie?" joked my dad.

"We didn't get a paycheck for this job, Dad."

"Oh, now, listen to you, pessimistic pumpkin.  I'm
thinking we might get at least a couple months knocked off our rent.  Who knows
when Mr. Smith will be back?  It's not safe to send off checks to an empty
office.  I'm thinking we might just hold off until he stops by personally to
collect."

I smiled.  I kind of hoped he did get away from Vaclav,
just so Dad had an opportunity to make sure he received all his due.

"I'm so glad we were here to help those poor
people," said Mom, sighing as she looked at the empty streets.  "Can
you imagine?  Stuck out here for over a century."

"I can't imagine being stuck out here for another
minute," Mindy replied. "Can we go yet?"

"Sounds fantastic!" I agreed.

Killian cleared his throat, “That could be problematic...”

I turned around to where he was looking.  I had forgotten
that our cars were now completely trashed thanks to Werewolf & Sons
Junkyard Dogs. 

“Shit.”

Man, I was going to miss my car.

“Cars.  We don’t need no stinking cars,” said Dad, throwing
his arms around our shoulders.  “Lucky for you guys, you have a couple of world
walkers in the family.”

"It was really wonderful to have a chance to get out
here," said Mom, soaking in the last of Ghost Town. She paused, "You
know, I was very surprised not to see Thomas try to cross over."

“Thomas said he wanted to stay here,” said Mindy.

Mom stepped forward slowly, “Did you talk to Thomas?  Did
you actually hear him?”

“No.  I meant… I…” Mindy stammered, wild eyed.

“My baby!” said Mom, running over to swoop her up in her
arms and smother her with kisses all over her face.  “I always knew it would be
you.”

“Help!” croaked Mindy.

I shrugged my shoulders, “Sorry.  I have to open a portal. 
But we can come back to hang out with your imaginary friend anytime you’d
like.”

“I’m going to kill you, Maggie,” she started to say, but
was interrupted by more kissing and smothering.

I went over and gathered everyone up into a group hug, “What
do you say we head home?”

I poked a little hole through the ether.  Nothing came
rushing at me.  No lava, no fire, no saltwater, so I kept opening.  I grabbed
Killian and pushed him on through.  Then grabbed Mindy and pushed her through. 
Then Mom and Dad and I followed behind, closing the door as I left.

Done and done.

Not bad for a night’s work.

Chapter 27

Our portal opened up onto Main Street of Old Historic
Orange.  It’s this restored town with brick sidewalks and adorable little
thrift shops.  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed things like intact glass windows
and paved roads and living people.

The place was slowly starting to wake up.  Loud delivery
trucks were dropping off baked goods at the coffee shops and a couple of the
antique showrooms already had their lights on.

“Oh, I always meant to come here,” said Mom.  “Funny how it
takes leaving your dimension to get you to actually play tourist in a place
you’ve lived your entire life.”

Mindy and I rolled our eyes.

“Okay, kids, we need to find a ride up to Pasadena,” Dad
proclaimed, assessing one of the very real issues we had before us.

“Call home.  Pipistrelle can come get us,” said Mindy.

“Pipistrelle?” I asked.  “Does he have his license
yet?"

Mindy shot me a look.  She was done with our little family
adventure.

I dialed my phone and the brownie’s chirpy little voice
came on the line.  I had no idea what the cops were going to think about an
infant-sized man driving a car down the 5 freeway.  But this is Los Angeles, so
I suppose they’ve seen weirder.

Mom suggested we browse in the antique shops and stop for a
cup of coffee as we waited.

“I think we should start walking towards the freeway,” said
Mindy.

“That’s not going to get us home to Pasadena any quicker,”
I pointed out.

She shot me a death glare, “We. Walk.”

Mom stood there mystified, “Walk?  No one walks in Los
Angeles.”

“We are in Orange County.”

“It is the same rules.”

“I don’t think so, Mom,” said Mindy.

Killian, sensing that perhaps this situation could use an
elf’s touch took my mom’s elbow and suggested, “Think of it more as a leisurely
stroll through the more historic parts of town.”

So, we strolled.  Through historic parts of town.  Note to
the world, I am not what one would call a particularly “good” window shopper. 
Unless it featured armament, in which case, I wasn’t so bad.  I was about to
crawl out of my fucking skin if I had to look at one more set of Fiestaware
when the brownie finally decided to show up.

Dad, Mom, and Killian got into the back as Mindy buckled
herself into the passenger seat, “Now, Pipistrelle, take us home!”

“Hold your horses,” I said.  I opened the door to the
driver’s side and hooked my finger, “Out.  I’m driving.”

“But I would be most honored to drive you to your
destination,” offered Pipistrelle.

“Listen, brownie, you’re adorable and I’m sure that squeaky
little voice of yours could talk your way out of any ticket, but I want someone
behind the wheel who can see over the dashboard without a booster seat.”

He gave me a little salute and climbed into the back, sliding
into the seat belt with Killian.

“Sorry about the elbow room, Killian,” I said.

He swung his arm around Pipistrelle and gave him a manly
little jiggle hug, “It is always a pleasure to spend time in the presence of
other fairy folk.”

Pipistrelle looked up at him and beamed so big, I thought
his face was going to crack and fall off.

They were soon deep into manly talk about midsummer parties
and solstice plans as everyone else tucked themselves in for forty winks.

I pulled up the car into the driveway and Pipistrelle
popped out of the door before I had barely even stopped the vehicle.  I swear
to god that dumb little brownie was going to get himself killed if he didn’t
quit doing that.

Mom hopped out, arms spread wide as she announced, “We’re finally
here!”

As Mindy exited, she pointed a finger at all of us, “My
husband is out of town.  When he gets back, none of this ever happened.  I was
not on The Other Side.  I did not stake a vampire.  I did not hear a ghost.  We
never speak of this again.” 

Dad gave her a wink, “What happens in Ghost Town
stays
in Ghost Town.”

Mindy nodded resolutely, glad it was settled.  She skipped
up the stairs and opened the door for Mom.  I got out and leaned against the
car, just glad to have a moment of quiet that wasn’t fraught with something
trying to make a meal out of us.  Killian and Dad strolled over to join me.

Dad gave a great big sigh and stretched his arms over his
head, “What a lovely morning.”

“One of the best I’ve seen,” I replied.

“You done good, kid,” he said.  “You, too, Killian.  We
showed those undead what’s what.”

“They’re still out there,” I said, a little sad that this
moment was going to have to take a turn towards the more serious.

Dad nodded, “True.  Vaclav is just a little more
impenetrable.  You still got that comb, Maggie?”

I pulled it out of my pocket as it gave me one last little
jolt and dropped it on the ground, “Want to do the honors?”

He popped my trunk and pulled out my tire iron.

“This is for putting my baby girls under thrall,” he said as
he split the comb in two.

We stood there staring at the pieces.  It was done.

“Guess we have to stock up our armory on more silver
bullets.  How many clips did you go through last night, Maggie?"

"A lot."

"Think you might be up for a shopping spree this
afternoon?”

Sometimes having your enemies power up has its advantages.

“Next to gun metal black, silver is my favorite color,” I
said with a grin.

Dad gave me a hug and then yawned, “You know, I just don’t
know if I enjoy these all-nighters as much as I used to.”

“You’re telling me.  I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

Dad got a little quiet and then said, “Your mom thinks I
should consider hanging up my holster.  What do you think about that?”

"That she's ridiculous."

"No, I'm serious, Maggie.  What would you think about
me retiring?"

I looked over at him, my heart dropping into my stomach,
“What are you saying?”

“Maggie-girl, it’s a shame that sometimes we just get old,”
he said, staring up at the morning sky.  “I had a couple moments there where I
realized I can’t stake a vampire as well as I used to.  After all that time I
lost stuck in between dimensions and then last night...  Just thinking maybe
I’d like to make sure I’m around awhile longer and maybe a quieter lifestyle
might help make that happen.”

I nodded, feeling like someone had just poured ice water
through my veins, “I don’t know if I can do this without you, Dad.”

“Sure you can,” he said, planting a kiss on my head.  “Sure
you can.”

He jammed his hands into his pockets and whistled his way
up to Mindy’s house.  I stood there, watching him as he went, wondering what
the heck I was going to do.

Killian cleared his throat.

“Oh, sorry Killian!” I said, rousing myself from the shock
of my dad handing in his two weeks notice.  “I need to get you back to the
elfin forest.  Sorry.  Um, as soon as I can get a car…”

He took my hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze, “There
is no rush.”

I tried to give him a smile but I'm sure it came out a
little more grimace-like than I had hoped, “Thanks for helping me to save the
world.  Again.”

“All in a day’s work,” he said, looking up at the house,
“So…”

“So.”

We stood there.

“What will be your next course of action?” he asked.

I shook my head, “I have no idea…”

Except then, I had an idea and realized it had been
standing there beside me the whole time, holding my sweaty palm in his cool hand.

"Killian," I began.  I turned towards him, the
words catching in my throat, "You've been here for me through all of
this..."

I couldn't even look at him.  I stared down at the ground,
unable to finish the sentence.

He took my chin and gently tilted my face towards his,
"Yes?"

"And I was wondering... if maybe..."

"Yes, Maggie?" he said, brushing back my hair.

We looked at one another, both knowing what I was about to
say.

“Have you ever thought about becoming a professional
tracker?” I asked.

 “How is the pay?”

“Lousy," I said, "But I hear that the boss knows
someone with a brownie who makes a kickass breakfast.”

The smile spread across his face slowly.  He wrapped me up
in his big, strong arms and said, “I thought you would never ask.”

Acknowledgements

I have been overwhelmed by the response to the Maggie
series.  You have no idea how much each kind review and fan letter has meant. 
I promise that more stories are on their way!  I rely upon word of mouth, so if
you liked this book, please tell your friends.  And if you didn’t, let’s keep
this book our little secret.