Chapter 7: Tuesday Afternoon

Lunchtime was always a interesting part of the day for me. Part of it was food. Part of it was the company. The combination was always interesting. Cindy, Bernie, and Lynn were all waiting for me at a table when I finally got through the line and went in. Seeing them together filled me with anticipation and dread. Anticipation because of what the three of them can cook up. Dread because of what the three of them can cook up.

“So, Have you got to Reggie yet to ask if we can all come to the New Years bash this year?” Bernie asked.

“Not yet. I’ve been busy”

“Busy doing what?” Lynn asked.

“School. Eating. Sleeping. Studying” I said by way of a snark.

“Studying what?” Cindy asked. “Magic?”

“Reading journals if you must know. Looking at some things that can make a difference to business.”

“Have you talked to Natalie yet?” Cindy asked.

“Yes. She’s going to call and write a letter of recommendation to the office of admissions. And I am going to see what contributions I can make toward the Duke Medical development lab. “I answered. “Not that they need any money.”

“That’s good. I don’t want any screwups. Hank, Can I do any early research into alternative patients?” Cindy asked.

“Don’t you think you ought to get Human anatomy down first before you start to study non-human anatomy?”

“Well, I can do both. Of course, I must do a lot of Latin studies, what language do Elves use when they call body parts?”

“I don’t know. I can ask Arno later this week.”

“Do humans and elves cross breed? I mean elven fathers and human mothers. Or what about dwarves? Or Ogres? Or Trolls?”

“I don’t know. But if the respective parts are comparable, I would think that Ogre and Troll interbreeding with humans might be a challenge. Men are too small and women too tight.” I said as a snark.

“I don’t know. Something really, big might be nice.” Bernie said with a laugh.

“I’m not sure I want that big in me. It might break me.” Lynn said. “Although Orgenaut is not all that big.”

“Are you checking out my security person?” I asked.

“Why, are you jealous?” Lynn answered.

“No. Just want to keep things in scope. Orgenaut is two feet shorter than the next smallest Ogre. He literally is the runt of the family.” I remarked.

“Well, he’s the politest person I have ever met. Almost child-like. And his sense of timing is amazing. How did he learn to do all the cooking he does?” Cindy asked.

“He loves to cook. He says that is how he is most creative. But he is also a master carpenter as well as stone mason. He’s been working with his hands for as long as he’s been mature. He said his biggest advantage over all of the others is that he is small enough to get into Human spaces when he works.” I said. “But we probably shouldn’t be talking much about that where others can hear.”

“I know. But I’m excited. Do you guys go up there every weekend?” Cindy asked.

“Almost. Unless there’s a special event. Speaking of which, when are you going to get ahold of Reggie?” Bernie asked.

“When you three get your schedules aligned.” I answered.

“Well, I think mine is now permanently open.” Cindy said.

What she didn’t know is that some parents won’t take no for an answer. I should have expected some additional trouble to flare up.

At the end of seventh period, as I was walking by the office to my car, I saw a Richmond County Sherriff’s car parked outside of the main entrance. And Cindy arguing with two men in the office. One in uniform. The other wearing a oversized suit of clothes and an old style skinny necktie. And vice principal Andrews trying to mediate what was looking like a buildup to an incident. I opened the door and said “Cindy, do you need a ride to Lynn’s?”

“Young man, just move along.” The deputy said. “We have some questions for this young lady.”

“Is this about the abuse by her father over the weekend?” I asked.

“Do you know anything about this case?” The deputy asked.

“This young man doesn’t’ know anything” the skinny man in the suit said.” This girl is obviously under a spell of some sort and needs to be in her home.”

“Deputy, I do know a couple of things. First off, I picked her up when her father threw her down the stairs of her home and out the front door. She didn’t want to press assault charges at the time, but instead wanted to go to a friend’s house. Second, she’s eighteen years old, which is the age of Majority in Georgia. Third she has a room with her friend here in town in the same school district and is not in need to burden the county with her support.”

“Young man are you a lawyer?” skinny asked with a snarl.

“Nope. But I have one on speed dial. I assume you are the Deacon from pastor Taylor’s church.” I replied calmly. At least I think I was calm. At the time.

“Ms. Taylor, do you have proof of your age?” the deputy asked Cindy.

“I have my Georgia Driver’s license. I have not yet submitted a change of address, as this only occurred on Sunday. I believe I have thirty days to update my residence.” Cindy replied.

“Hank” Paula’s voice echoed in my head” I think we have this. I’m with Natalie right now and we are feeding Cindy some advice. Gee this mental talk is nice.”

I smiled and looked at the deputy who was feeling a little upset. “If I can see that driver’s license, please.”

He then went out to the car with the license to run a check. Leaving me looking up at the ceiling while skinny tie was talking in a low and intense voice to Cindy. Who was steadily shaking her head and saying “no”.

When the deputy returned, his face was rather grim. “Ms. Taylor, I apologize. There has been a bit of a mistake here, and you’re free to go. But first, Deacon Thomas, would you care to give this young woman your full name so it can be added to the restraining order that was filed this morning against Reverent Taylor, and his congregation for interference in this young woman’s education. And Ms. Taylor, please get the new address on file with the state Department of Motor Vehicles within the next three weeks.”

While Deacon Thomas was sputtering, I exited the office and waited by the door for Cindy to catch up. We both got into the car and left and drove very carefully to Lynn’s house.

“What restraining order?”

“I guess team Natalie got something done when I talked to her this morning. When you see her again, be nice.” I said.

“This weekend?” Cindy asked.

“Sure. Today’s Tuesday, so we can leave Friday. Pack your overnight and meet me at my house.” I replied.

“So, Jeffery, what can I do for you?” Peter asked when Jeffery arrived at six.

“Before I burn up another phone, where can I put it while we talk?” Jeffery asked.

“Leave it here, I have an experiment I wanted to try with you. Let’s walk down the hall” Peter said after picking up his monocular out of the drawer.” I guess you wanted to ask about the incursion we had last month, just after Halloween.”

Going down the elevator to the first level and walking to the rear of the building and opening the lounge door Peter gestured for Jeffery to precede him. Inside was a quiet space with several large, overstuffed chairs around an indoor electric firepit. Or it appeared to be a firepit. The room was well lit and was almost a library in appearance.

“Ok. So, what do you want to know?”

“Was there an incursion?”

“There was an attempted burglary by several armed assailants who did not identify themselves, nor did they have any visible identification that would cause anyone to think that they were anything but men with illegal actions at heart.”

“Was there a police report requesting service filed?”

“The damage to the property was minimal and no one here suffered any injury of consequence, so we wrote it off rather than have the insurance company involved.”

“Ok. That’s the official line. What really happened?” Jeffery asked.

“Are you asking as FBI agent Jeffery Gibbs, or as Jeff Gibbs, emergent Mage and friend to Paula Olsen?”

“I guess this is where I have to make my decision. I am an emergent Mage. And Paula is a lot more then my friend”.

“Ok. Let me tell you a cute little fictional story. Let’s pretend that four men in black assault suits broke in through the rear doors and then two of them broke into here. They were here to take Hank out of the building shuffle him into an airplane and then take him to some facility in Alaska. Two of them came in here and Hank froze them in place with shields the way only he can do so far. The other two told Orgenaut to stop and then when he came onto them, they opened fire. He was struck twenty-seven times with nine-millimeter bullets from a H&K MP5 SDs. The shield that he wears on his wristband prevented the rounds from injuring him, and he banged their heads together. A little too hard, it appears, because both were dead before they hit the ground. And me? I went across the street and pointed out the two snipers in overwatch of the front door, and Hank teleported them into his office with the other two. We packed all four living ones up and shipped them to Brazil where they are enjoying re-education as humans on the Fae colony of Brazil. And dumped the bodies of the two that attempted to kill Orgenaut in Atlanta’s drug district. Then we took the van to the north side of the river and left it to be stripped and burned. And now that you have heard my wild fanciful tale of magic and mystery, are there any questions?”

“Ok.” Jeffery said in reply. “So, legal assaults encounter Natalie, Paula and you, illegal assaults on Hank encounter Orgenaut and you and Hank. Got it. Bottom line is don’t assault Hank. So how do these shields work?”

“We’ll get into that. I need you to do something right now. I have this monocular I want you to look through and tell me what you see.” Peter said, handing the monocular to Jeff.

“Oh wow. What is that? Those flames are invisible until you look at them through these. Are they infrared? I have never seen blue, green, orange, and maroon in a fire pit before.”

“Do you see shades of orange too?” Peter asked with trepidation.

“Oh yea. Lots of different shades. From bright orange to red to maroon and all the way up to clear yellow orange. It’s like a rainbow. Is this the Power of the Leylines that Paula was talking about? Just fountaining up here and up through the ceiling? Wow is that what we felt this weekend? What do you see?”

“Orange. Simple dull orange” Peter said with a note of dismay. “Jeffery, welcome to the club.”

Moments later, Sylvia appeared in the longue and looked around. “This looks entirely too much like an old English boy’s club. I will have to work to keep Nathan out of here or he will never come home. Don’t tell me that the bar stocks McCallan Scotch.”

“No, that’s in our offices upstairs. This is just the reading room where Hank does his studying and where he charges the artifacts.”

“Well, it certainly is nice enough for that. So, what is the issue, Peter?”

“Simple. Could you look around here, with your Monocle and tell me what you see.”

“Ok. Ohhhh My. This is not just a wellspring. This is a veritable fountain of orange and some red reaching up through the ceiling. Oh my. It’s a good thing it’s not warm or this would be a steel blast furnace.” Sylvia said. “This is impressive”

“What colors do you see?”

“Orange with a slight tint of red in the core.”

“No yellows, or all of the range of the rainbow from Red to yellow?” Peter asked.

“No. Hank is the only one I know of that can see all of that with a leyline eruption.”

“Can you try with my Monocular?”

“Sure. Same thing. I turn the dial but it’s still the same image. Is something wrong?” Sylvia asked.

“What does Hank see when he uses your Monocle? Do you remember?”

“Peter, what’s this about? Hank is one of a kind, and when he looked at the wellspring, he saw rainbows of colors. We figured that it was his Power addition when he emerged. No one else has seen the width and variety of the streams that he has. Why?”

“Sylvia, can you keep a secret?”

“I can if you can.” She replied. “What’s this got to do with Hank?”

“Its’ not to do with him. It’s to do with Paula and her friend. Apparently, both, Paula and her friend, emerged over the weekend and have been knocking boots since Friday night in the bed that is right above this wellspring.”

“Oh My. We have a breeding ground for Mages?”

“No. Both can see a wide range of color from the well spring. A veritable rainbow of Reds, yellows, orange, and deep dark blues. The whole spectrum of a rainbow.”

“Oh my. And you are the fortunate one tasked with helping them to mature? Along with Hank. Well, you have a good start on a class, Peter. Bless you. Have you determined your reading list yet?” Sylvia said with a laugh.

“Not yet, but when I want help writing my syllabus, I will ask for you personally” Peter said.

“Peter, what crazy idea has Hank hatched up now?” Natalie asked. She and Paula were sitting in her office while Peter was giving them the latest.