Josie crested the top of the path. She paused at the bodies of several monsters with
stab wounds. She looked around cautiously.
“Boim?,” called June from the path. Both women placed their hands on their watch
faces. The walk up from the stony beach had given the artifacts time to partially
recharge.
“I’m here, June,” said the slender woman. She waved from behind the floating boat.
“These things came up the path and I had to fight them.”
“I’m sorry,” said June. “We got a little overwhelmed at the bottom. We should have
planned better for what we might have found.”
Josie remembered Boim saying the Russes were trained with swords. She hadn’t
asked which one was the best out of the seven. She had assumed it was Number
Three, the adventurer. Maybe she had been wrong.
“Are you hurt, Boim?,” Josie asked. She could summon Doctor Occult in a few
minutes to deal with any injury.
“No,” said Russ. “I lost my shirt. It’s embarrassing.”
“Give me a second, I will make you another one,” said Josie.
She checked her watch. She had enough juice for one shirt out Zatanna. She changed
form and summoned a baseball jersey with a large seven on the back, and GIANTS
on the front. She changed back and walked to the stern of the boat and handed it over
before turning around and walking back to the start of the path.
“What’s going on?,” Jack asked from the head of the path, looking at the chopped
monsters there.
“Boim is changing shirts,” said June. “She killed these guys when they rushed up here
to get away from being put back in that vault.”
“Good work,” said Jack. “We should do something about these bodies.”
“Let’s recharge first,” said Mister Warner. “Then I can burn them up with the Flame.
Then we can head home.”
“I am presentable,” said Boim. She was covered with purple blood, and her new shirt
was stained, but she was not running around half-naked which was the most
important part to her.
“I wouldn’t quite say that,” said June. She smiled.
“I know,” said Boim. “Thank you for the new shirt, Josie.”
“Can you give us a second to recharge?,” said Josie. “I would also appreciate it if you
didn’t tell your sister about the vault. Shemmaria will probably want to seize all the
monsters and use them for shock troops the way they have been acting.”
“I understand,” said Boim. “Four should know better than that. I don’t know why she
would agree to help in such a way.”
“All right,” said Jack. “We still need to do a ton of stuff. It’s a good thing I whipped
up the Enterprise, despite what the Society said. We couldn’t do any of this in a
timely manner without her.”
Josie silently agreed. Despite the fact that Jack had done the deed out of spite and
anger, it had been the right decision at the time and had helped them a lot with their
quests. June would never have been able to rescue Boim without Matilda and Aviras
helping her steal it and giving them transportation from Hawk Ridge to that city in
the north.
It wouldn’t been possible with what they had given her unless Deku was
superhumanly fast.
Maybe they had counted on that when they made Matilda and Aviras her coaches.
She checked her watch. She had enough for a basic cleaning spell. She changed into
Zatanna and sent out a bird to get rid of the stuff covering Boim, and clean her
clothes, get rid of the monsters and their spilled guts, and to make sure the signs of
a battle were erased from any locals who might come down to see what had
happened.
She changed back as the firebird did its job.
“Thank you,” said Boim. “This is much better.”
“All right,” said Josie. She surveyed her crew. “I think we can go ahead. The
Enterprise will slow any charging of our watches, but we are going to need to get
back to do our duties and we need to find you guys a house to move into from Hawk
Ridge.”
“Not the monster house though,” said June. “I don’t want to live where people were
being cut up for spare parts.”
“We only have a couple of days to handle things,” said Josie. “Sunset tomorrow is the
end of your trial period, and you go home.”
“Let’s start with the easy stuff first,” said Jack. “First, we need to head home. Mister
Warner wants to be dropped off in the village. Then we have to get the Royals
together until the sunset deadline for the King. Then we have to settle the Queen in
at the Hole in the Wall. I think we did a good job on Caroline so she will look and
feel a lot better. She might renege on Case at this point and that whole straightening
out thing might be moot. June and Boim’s house is going to have to be put in with all
of that.”
“We’re going to have to split up,” said Josie. “I’ll take the girls north and look for a
house. You drop off Mister Warner, and look out for the King and Queen.”
“We’ll need a place for Red,” said June. “He has done a good job getting us here on
time.”
“We’ll look for a place with a garage or courtyard for him,” said Josie. “Besides
we’re probably going to need him to move around your new town, unless I teleport
us everywhere.”
“We’re splitting up?,” asked Jack.
“Go ahead,” said Josie. “Try to keep Case out of trouble. Don’t forget your writeup
for the demon book thing.”
“Yes, Mrs. Lovelace,” said Jack. “I will do the homework.”
“She was the best English teacher ever,” said June.
“I wouldn’t know,” said Jack. “I used her class to catch up on my sleep.”
Josie frowned. She had been neutral with Mrs. Lovelace in school, and didn’t
remember much about the woman except she liked to wear pink a lot.
“All right,” said Josie. “As soon as we find a place for June and Boim, I will bring
them back so they can meet the Queen and have dinner with us.”
“Dinner with the Queen?,” said June. “I never did anything like that before.”
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“Do you want to continue helping us, Boim,” said Josie. “The future will be just as
dangerous as today.”
“I think so,” said Boim. “I think this secondary position is good enough for what I
want. Maybe in the future, I might want to stand more on the front line, but for now
I can be more like Elaine and assist.”
“All right,” said Josie. She checked her watch. “I am about half full, so I am going to
transport us. I wonder if there is any real estate agents there.”
“It would make our job a little easier, wouldn’t it,” said June.
“I don’t know,” said Josie. “We have just been seizing property with the force of our
arms. I don’t know if we should keep doing that. It has to fail at some point.”
“Enterprise,” said Jack into his com band. “Mister Warner and I need to come aboard.
Then we need to set course for his village. Does the village have a name yet?”
“Not yet,” said Mister Warner. “The survivors will name it eventually, or some
traveler will name it and spread the name around so it can be added to the maps.”
“Call from Officer Elaine,” reported the Enterprise.
“Open the channel,” said Jack.
“Jack?,” said Elaine’s voice. “Someone is trying to open the shutter on the door.”
“Are the kids and Aviras there?,” asked Jack.
“No,” said Elaine.
“Go to the Hangar,” said Jack. “I will be right there. Don’t confront them. Just get out
until I can get there.”
A letter dropped into Josie’s hands. She read it. Her face became placid as she
considered the implications.
“Someone is trying to move on Caroline’s room,” she said. “Case?”
“He said he would take some extra bodies,” said Jack.
“Jack, Elaine,” said Josie. “June, find Case and the Royals. Keep them safe. Can
you go with her, Boim?”
“I’ll go with June,” said Mister Warner. “We’ve made an all right team so far. I can
get back to the village when this is over.”
“Red Dragon,” said June. “Can you navigate back to Hawk Ridge without me and
Boim?”
“Yes, mistress,” said the figurehead. Steam blossomed from its nostrils.
“I will meet you at the hospital,” said June. “Go.”
The floating boat unfurled it sails and spun in place. It started the long journey
north as quickly as possible.
“Enterprise, beam me up,” said Jack. “Set course for Hawk Ridge. I want to be over
the Hole in the Wall as fast as possible.”
He vanished in a cloud of sparks.
“I am going to throw birds out for you three,” said Josie. “Case might be a little
jumpy. Just tell him that you’re Jack’s sister, June, and there’s trouble.”
Josie felt that if their enemy had gone after the Hole in the Wall and Caroline, then
they would go after the royal couple too. She didn’t like sending June into such a mix,
but hopefully Mister Warner would keep her out of trouble.
She changed into Zatanna and sent out birds to carry the three of them to wherever
Case and his future in-laws were walking. She hoped she wasn’t making a mistake,
but she had guaranteed Caroline’s safety. And if she couldn’t do that, she would at
least avenge her.
The trio vanished a second later.
She sent out her own bird and waited for the transition from the shore and cliff over
the sea to the hospital room. She felt the pop and blinked. She nodded at Emily.
A group of adventurers and men in livery held each other at sword point. If anyone
moved, a fight would break out in the room. Emily had taken a position at the end of
the bed, ready to use the door as a choke point.
“These men were trying to take Caroline against your wishes,” said Emily.
The adventurers nodded at the statement. She didn’t know all of them, but some of
them knew her. And they knew her word was the law despite what anyone else said.
“Who is in charge of the adventurers?,” asked Josie.
“I am, Madam Witch,” said one of the more weathered men. He had a shaved face and
his hair was cut in what Josie thought of as Marine normal. “Harby Strick.”
“Mister Strick,” said Josie. “Has anyone shown you where the dead bodies go here
at the hospital?”
“No, madam,” said Strick.
“I am going to count to three, and if these intruders don’t drop their weapons, you
will get your chance to see it,” said Josie.
“I was hoping we would see the thing your brother used on the camp,” said one of
the other adventurers. “One of the guys on your expedition said he made people
drop dead in the middle of an open field.”
“Jack?,” said Josie. “I don’t know how he did that. I have mainly learned how to mass
execute people by putting holes in their heads.”
“That will be just as good in my opinion,” said the adventurer.
“All right,” said Josie. She held up a hand. “One, two...”
The intruders dropped their weapons. They held up their hands. They might be
executed but they would have months of life ahead of them instead of instant death
in the next few seconds.
Josie changed her head popping spell for manacles that wrapped around her targets.
“If something has happened to Elaine, you people will wish you were dead when
Jack gets to the hospital,” said Josie. “Good job, Emily. Mister Strick, I want you to
take these prisoners to a room off of this floor. I want you to guard them until I come
back for them. Tell Eric that I will pay combat bonuses for this. Also double the guard
on the princess until I can move her out of here. I don’t want anything like this to
happen again.”
“I understand,” said Strick. He gestured for some of his men to take the prisoners.
“I will pass the word to the other parties. We will lock this building down tight.”
“I had hoped that you would just have to bring people in and help them out,” said
Josie. “I didn’t think about someone wanting to take a chance and change the
government.”
“There’s always someone doing something stupid,” said Strick. “It’s a rule
somewhere.”
“Thanks for the help,” said Emily. “I appreciate it.”
“I repay,” said Strick. He gestured for the group of adventurers to escort their prisoners
to the elevator. After that, he would ask someone on the ground floor where
they could keep a surly group who was going to be locked away until Madam Witch,
or the King, took their pound of flesh.
He expected summarily executions to be handed out for threatening the royal princess
after what had already happened. And if Madam Witch was as vengeful as people
said, the malefactors might not even make it out of the hospital.
“Eric and Harby go back,” explained Emily. “They were in the same party before they
started their own.”
“Thanks for holding on, Emily,” said Josie. “I have to check on the parents and Case.
I sent June and Mister Warner to protect them. I don’t want to tell Jack’s parents I
got June killed.”
“Go ahead,” said Emily. “I will stand here until you come back.”
“Josie?,” said Jane. A group of Amazons were with her. They were armed with
swords. “We just saw some adventurers dragging some men away in chains. Norae
came down to the office and let me know something was wrong.”
“Someone tried to take the princess,” said Josie. “Mister Strick is arranging for more
guards for this room until we can move Caroline out of here.”
“All right,” said Jane. “I will call the others together in Massa’s room and discuss
security going forward. I don’t want any of my people hurt if we can avoid it.”
“I have to go,” said Josie. “They went after the Hole in the Wall too, and maybe Case
and the Royal couple. I sent Jack to look after Elaine, and June and Mister Warner to
look after the others. Emily and Mister Strick will be able to tell you everything that
happened.”
“Go,” said Jane. “We’ll fix what we can here.”
Josie sent out another bird. She flipped across the city. She let the persona go
as she walked to where June and Mister Warner stood over some beaten men
in tunics and surcoats.
"The hospital?,” asked Mister Warner.
“Caroline is safe,” said Josie. She looked at the beaten men. “Went after the King and
Queen?”
“Yep,” said June. “Their escort was holding them back before we got here. We tore
them up from behind. Boim is checking to make sure no one is seriously injured.”
“We let them live so we could find out who’s behind this,” said Mister Warner.
“Three coordinated attacks at the same time is not unheard of, but shouts conspiracy
to commit a coup.”
Josie nodded. She walked into what could have been some kind of tea house. Boim
had wrapped a piece of cloth around Case’s arm. The King and Queen looked fine.
He cleaned his sword with a cloth so he hadn’t been sitting around while Case and
the three other adventurers had protected them.
The other men, she didn’t know them, but they looked a little dinged up after what
happened. They nodded when she came into the restaurant to find out what happened.
“Madam Fox,” said the Queen. “Caroline?”
“She’s safe,” said Josie. “Her guard held some kidnapers off until some adventurers
arrived to hold them at bay. A man named Harby Strick was leading the adventurers.”
“He leads Strick’s Strikers,” said Case. “He’s good.”
Josie nodded at the declaration.
“I am going to take you back to the hospital and get you checked out,” said Josie.
“Then I have some questions that I need answered.”
“Elaine?,” asked Boim.
“Jack either has prisoners, or left scorch marks in front of the Hole in the Wall,” said
Josie. “We have to uphold our end of things.”
Josie was betting on scorch marks because Jack had shown he was just as protective
of Elaine as Aviras was of Matilda. She doubted he let anyone escape his attention.