Other Places 1: Shortcuts (21 page)

He started to shrug as the woman next to him, who was wearing a tan colored robe, practically flowed over the hard gray stone floor. Then he realized that might not cross cultures very well, so he used his words. It was something his grandparents had told him to do for years after all, especially if he was being sulky.

"That's right. Running an errand for Wu-Li from the Washington node, in the U.S. Just popping in and then back as soon as I can." It was probably too much information and wouldn't make sense, but the woman seemed interested and looked at him with eyes that looked to lack spark and focus, but hid a lot.

"I have family there. Are you a Demon then, to use the in-roads so? I mean no offense if you are." She seemed pretty humble suddenly and slightly nervous about the whole thing.

"No, I'm just weird. I'm a regular person, other than a few skills like walking the rifts. Technically I guess I'm a Mage, but I can't do any magic, so... yeah." The he did shrug, not caring if she got it or not.

There was a hand pointing to the correct door and a look that felt questioning, even though the face looked slightly angry, due to the heavy features.

"Could I send a package back with you? If you're going that way anyway? Just some gifts for my family there. I can pay. Probably not what it's worth. I shouldn't ask." That seemed to be her final answer and she started to walk off.

"OK, but I'm leaving as soon as possible, like I said, so, if it's not
too
heavy, I can do it. About ten minutes?" That was a guess, but if the current errand was faster than that he could wait. It couldn't hurt to help people out every now and then.

The large being moved away faster than he could have run and he had a strange sense it wasn't top speed for her at all. She was nearly silent as it happened too. Going through the big, old fashioned looking door, he didn't know what to expect. It was pretty much like what Wu-Li had, except the counter top was polished stone and metal and had brass scales on it. Behind it was a man that...
wasn't
really. Not anymore. It was clear that he'd once been human, but what he'd become was truly unique, as far as Zack could tell.

He was yellow for one thing and very thin. His skin was wrinkled, but his eyes were nearly black. There were no whites showing at all. This was offset by some fantastic bushy eyebrows and pointed ears that flopped over slightly at the top. The strange thing was that the fellow was clearly a human being. A very, very old one.

"Hello, I have this? It's from Wu-Li?" Zack knew he didn't sound confident, but he handed the paper over anyway, which the man took so deftly it almost didn't seem like he'd moved at all. It was a thing he'd seen Bey do too, which might mean it was a trick learned by the very ancient. An economy of motion that was nearly a power in and of itself, but a learned thing. After reading it for a while, obviously more than once, the very old being started working, folding thick paper into an envelope and making up a half dozen other things as well, not just the root which he pointed too, smiling.

Then he put them all in a small brown sack. It was made of cloth and felt heavier than he would have expected, when the man passed the whole thing to him.

There was a smile with it and a deep bow, but no words at all. It was an eerie thing. People generally talked to one another when they met. Unless they couldn't. The man was obviously bright enough however. It was just possible that he didn't care to speak at the moment. Who knew what a person that old would end up being like?

"Um, thank you."

Then he left, since the man was making him uneasy. There was something
too
ancient about him. Wu-Li felt old, but this man seemed to be from the beginning of time itself somehow. Worse, it was like he'd seen far too much of the Universe and that doing so had hurt him on a very deep and fundamental level. How Zack knew this he wasn't certain, but it felt right.

Outside the door there was a very large, brutish looking woman that held a large box. One nearly the same size he was. He'd mentioned a weight limit, but then, she was holding it with one hand, pretty easily. It was a very finely crafted thing, made of unfinished sanded wood.

"It's for my great niece, Hildegard. A kind of... adult present? A thing given to girls when they become old enough to seek a mate. Some blankets and food preparation supplies. I hope she will enjoy it. I missed the actual celebration last year, being so far away." She handed it over carefully, and winced as he nearly went down under the weight, grabbing at it to keep it from crushing him. "And it is too much for you to take, isn't it? Perhaps I can take some of it out... It will seem I stint her if I do." There was enough sadness that Zack sighed, feeling pressured. He didn't glare at her, but it was a bit of a pain in the rear, since he was a little busy. Still, it actually seemed important to her, even if he didn't get the idea.

"Wait. We'll just have to do this a different way."

It took nearly twenty minutes for Barb to be located,
and
he had to go and get her from the club, where she was helping to redecorate the inside, then go back to get the package from the giant woman, who he found was named Sigrid. There was a lot of bowing from her, which looked totally out of place. She was just far too big for it to look right.

"OK, we should be able to do this now. Are you here a lot? In case they want to send a message back, or, I don't know, visit?" They could jump, right? If they were from his Mall he could work with them for a while until they got the timing right. If they wanted.

"I live here. Please do come again. I'm sorry, I didn't get your name."

"Oh, my fault. I'm Zack Hartley and this is Barbara. Um..." He didn't have cards or anything, but did know the phone number for Candles and More, since he'd gotten bored and memorized it. Once that was given to the giant, who assured him she'd remember it, they left, ending up back at his shop, with Lisa standing and staring at the back room. She jumped a little when they came in.

"Please don't tell me that I have to be locked in a box for my treatment. That seems like a bit too much right now." The tone was playful at least, like she mainly knew that wasn't going to be the case.

He explained the whole thing then, and gestured to the case.

"So, a kind of present for Hildegard. She's a... Trolleinkein?" He hoped he got it right at least. "Barb and I can take it to her, after we drop you at Wu-Li's." He didn't know if they needed to set up treatment or what, but just getting everyone on the same page was a good start. If he had to he could take Lisa home with him for the night. Sleep on the sofa and give her his bed or something.

Lisa suddenly seemed unhappy about it all, her right hand taking her left elbow and holding it. It made her seem either cold, or very young and scared. She walked with them anyway, Zack locking the door as they left. If nothing else he could give the man the herbs and stuff that Master Yang had provided. The door to the herb shop was still unlocked, and both Wu-Li and the other man were standing behind the counter, not seeming to do anything at all, just waiting. It was freaky.

"Ah! You have the root already? Most amazing." Holding out his right hand he waited for the brown sack to be handed to him and then took out all the packages inside it, then made a very happy sound that didn't really fit with the man. He normally had more of a calm air about him.

"Yang has come through for us! He added two of the ingredients we will need to aid your friend against her condition, Lisa. They are
very
rare. I added in some things just in case he had access to them. This will decrease the amount of travel needed greatly. Very well. Dan here has agreed to stay with Lisa for her ordeal. I will, of course, also be looking in on her. This may take some time. I.. cannot recommend you visiting her, Mr. Hartley. Not for some days. When this is done she will need rest for a while as well. Can that be arranged? I am most anxious to see to the other cure, since timing is crucial in that case. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to make work. It may already be too late, but dithering will only add to the problem."

Zack smiled, not knowing how to make everything happen at all, but then he shrugged.

"Yes. I can see to all that other stuff, no problem." At first he wondered if he'd grown the ability to lie, but it wasn't that. He just had to ask some people for help, that was all. Scary, needing others, but it would work out. Or not, in that case he'd just go a few days without sleep or something.

The Master made little hand motions to get him and Barb to leave, and she headed to the right, when they got out of the herb shop.

Barb carried the large box easily by the rope handle on the top. She gestured with the other hand.

"Down this way. Last place on the right."

It turned out to be a power lifting gym. Because all malls had to have one of those. A decently busy one as well, almost as if the place were trying to give the lie to his somewhat snarky thoughts about it. The girl that he'd seen before was working at the front desk, eating something that seemed like noodles with sauce. She looked embarrassed when she finally looked up, and wiped her mouth delicately with a paper napkin. It was completely out of place to his mind, but it felt right for her.

"Sorry, I missed dinner. How may I help you?" She spoke better English than he did, Zack decided, even if it did seem not to fit perfectly. Barb had warned him that they were smart though. She probably spoke a dozen languages or something too.

"Delivery for Hildegard? From her Great Aunt Sigrid?" Pointing to the box he pretty quickly figured out that this young lady was the one in question. That or she was stealing Hildegard's present, snatching the large box a little abruptly and calling something out in a strange language that sounded like German, but wasn't.

It got them surrounded by half a dozen very large men and three giant women almost instantly. One of them ran back to the man he was spotting for though and picked the weight up for him easily, then slapped the man on the shoulder with a deep chuckle and moved back to see what was in the box.

It was some nice stuff, but they made sounds that seemed to indicate it was very special indeed.

One of the big women, who had enough muscle to put an ox to shame and easily intimidate a lowland gorilla, explained it all to him, seeing his expression. That or she just liked to explain things.

"Sigrid is... A great one, for our people. It is an honor that she has remembered Hildegard at all. For her to go to such great lengths to deliver these is... there is no word for it in your language. The closest I can come is a special honor. The things are handmade as well. It is very good. It means she is, possibly, marking Hildegard as a great one as well." She started watching the unpacking far more closely then, making appreciative sounds.

Barb smiled a little and took his hand, leading him out carefully so as to not disturb the event.

"So, plans for the night?" She hadn't let go of his hand, her own cool one in his.

"Not really. I need to get to bed soon, if I can. In the morning I have to find some way to keep the store open and also get out with Wu-Li to find a cure for cancer. It doesn't sound like it's going to be easy. Hopefully someone will volunteer from the guild. That
or
I can draft someone. I think. I'm not actually a guild official, but I kind of have the right job to allow things like that. Maybe someone will step up though, if I explain it all well enough?"

"Cool. I just needed to know if I was going to be yanked out of what I'm doing again. I actually have to get to TTLA and tend bar tonight. We're back open and I'm up. First real night back for me, but Edom agreed to let me have a shot after the Kevin thing, since I'm working with you now too. No one is admitting it openly, but this is kind of a big deal. You choosing me to be your assistant. The Bey was so happy when he heard that he
hugged
me. I think he was a little worried that you might actually take some of us as slaves. He'd have to comply, but Lenore told him she didn't think that was the way you did things." There was a wistful tone to her voice then, that didn't make sense. "He told her that I was very promising and that he hoped you and I would get along well. I know that he just doesn't want to have to pay for everything in a way that will be too much work or cause suffering, but it can't hurt, having him think I'm a good Vampire. I might be able to use this to go places a lot faster than I would have otherwise. Lenore is happy for me. The others are all really jealous though. Don't be surprised if some of them come around soon, trying to steal my job."

They kept talking as they went outside. It was snowing, a gentle curtain of white falling like lace from the night sky. It was being shown mainly through the lights around the edge of the parking lot. Barb looked at it and smiled, then kissed his cheek gently, her cool lips warm compared to the frosty air.

"Oh, now, isn't this just the sweetest thing? The little girl is kissing her food before she eats it. I should get a picture for my album." The joke wasn't funny and the man that said it didn't mean it that way, his face rough looking, with a single long scar on the right hand side, running from eyebrow to chin. It glinted a little in the dark.

As if to prove he wasn't there to ask about candle sales, he moved through the falling white that had barely frosted the ground and slapped Barb so hard she flew through the air to the left. Then he moved toward Zack, his mouth open.