《South in the Flowers, North in the Birds, Book 1: The Cabbie and the New Moon Killer》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 It was nearly 3 AM. The bar rush was over, and the night was quiet. Almost all of the UW Madison students were home in their dorms or apartments. Only one or two could be seen wandering along Fraternity Row on Landon St. In another 15 minutes, Mickie could head back to the office to check in. Dispatch made another announcement about the Red Top Taxi that had gone missing earlier. They had been announcing it every half hour since around 6:30 PM, but no one had seen it, yet. ¡°Once again, Madtowners, if you see Red Top #192, please let dispatch know.¡± James Baker growled over the radio. Mickie stretched in the driver''s seat, and hoped the missing driver was ok. She could see the cab in her mind''s eye, parked by the side of a small road. Wait, she knew that road! Why was she imagining it there? She could see it quite clearly. It was dark, no lights on. The road was the one that ran along the north edge of the trailer park on the south side, the one referred to in Cabspeak as ¡°South in the Flowers.¡± ¡°This is nuts!¡± she said to herself. ¡°What would it be doing there?¡± She had an urge to drive down there and look. ¡°No way! I''m less than ten minutes from check in. I do not want to drive all the way from Lake and Langdon to the south side at this hour!¡± ¡°Mrrp?¡± came a sound from her cab bag, strapped to the front seat beside her. Emily''s grey furry nose and ears poked out from under her towel. ¡°What''s this? You have a vision?¡± the cat spoke in Mickie''s head. ¡°No, it is not a vision! I refuse to have a vision now!¡± Mickie replied. ¡°I want to go home to my nice warm bed, not gallivanting off on some hare brained search for a missing cab!¡± ¡°It feels like a vision.¡± Emily insisted. ¡°You can''t ignore that. Bad things happen when you ignore visions.¡± A memory of fire flashed in her brain. If only she had heeded that hunch, that vision, Ivan might still be with her. ¡°But then you wouldn''t have me.¡± Emily purred. ¡°But this vision...¡± ¡°Oh, all right! I''ll go look.¡± Mickie grumbled. She started the 1981 Dodge Diplomat ex police cruiser that was her assigned cab, #16. She turned on the headlights, and pulled out of the taxi stand. This was going to be a waste of time. She should just go back to the office. She drove all the way down Park St to the last light before the Beltline. At this hour nearly all of the traffic lights were flashing, so she didn''t have to stop at more than two of them. She turned left onto Badger Rd. There wouldn''t be anything there. She had to be imagining this. Gaah! She hated having these visions! Left on Rusk, left on Nygaard, left on the access road to the trailer park (a collection of potholes referred to as the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Cabspeak), left again onto Honeysuckle Lane. ¡°Oh, crap!¡± There it was, facing her, half off the road into the trees on the downhill side. Mickie drove slowly up to it, and past it. The number #192 and the Red Top Cab logo and phone number were clearly visible on the fender. The door lock buttons were down, there appeared to be no one in the cab. She drove up to the next driveway, turned around, and parked a couple lengths behind the empty cab. Picking up her radio mike, she keyed it and said, ¡°16.¡± ¡°Go ahead, 16.¡± Came the response. ¡°Um, I found cab #192.¡± ¡°What? Where are you?¡± Mickie rattled off the location. ¡°Is the driver there?¡± ¡°I don''t see anyone.¡± Mickie said. ¡°Hold on.¡± Said James. ¡°I''m calling MPD.¡± ¡°10-4.¡± Mickie replied. A moment later James spoke again. ¡°Stay put, 16, the cops want to talk to you.¡± ¡°10-4, but I''m locking my doors.¡± ¡°They said they''d be there in five. Let me know!¡± James said. ¡°10-4¡± Mickie repeated. She looked around at the empty road, and into the dark trees to the right. Nothing moved that she could see. She had no desire to get out and look more closely. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. It wasn''t even five minutes later when flashing red and blue lights appeared in the rear view mirror. ¡°16. The cops are here.¡± Mickie told dispatch. ¡°Let me know when they''re done with you.¡± James'' response came back. Emily climbed out of her bag and crawled into Mickie''s jacket, curling up against her stomach. Mickie closed the jacket over the small grey and white cat, just as a tall cop walked up beside her window. She lowered the window part way. ¡°You found the cab?¡± the cop asked, as another walked past and started shining a light into the Red Top vehicle. ¡°Yeah, I just turned the corner and there it was.¡± ¡°You have a call down here?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You live near here?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why were you here?¡± ¡°I had a hunch.¡± Mickie curled down a little in her seat. ¡°You had a hunch?¡± The cop sounded suspicious. ¡°Did you see the driver? Did you know her?¡± ¡°Her? I didn''t even know the driver was a woman.¡± ¡°How did you know the cab was here?¡± ¡°Like I said, I had a hunch.¡± Mickie said. ¡°I get those sometimes.¡± The cop looked up at the other cab, listening to something the other cop was saying. ¡°Let me see your license.¡± She handed it to him. ¡°Stay here.¡± he said, and walked forward. Mickie rolled the window back up, and took a deep breath. Emily purred and kneaded under her jacket. ¡°Don''t worry. Keep your shields up. I will protect you.¡± ¡°I know you will.¡± Mickie spoke softly. ¡°But I reserve the right to worry.¡± She unzipped her jacket halfway and reached in to stroke Emily''s ears. She had no doubt the 8 pound cat would do her level best to destroy anyone or anything that threatened Mickie. Emily was the fiercest being Mickie had ever known, of any species. Mickie jumped when the cop rapped the window. She rolled it down a bit. ¡°What have you got in your jacket?¡± He asked, hand on his gun. Mickie slowly pulling the jacket open. Emily stuck her head out and hissed at the cop. ¡°Is that a cat?¡± The cop asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s a mountain lion.¡± Mickie replied sarcastically. The cop gave a hmph. ¡°Tell me again how you knew the cab was here?¡± ¡°Look, I don''t know how I knew.¡± Mickie said in exasperation. ¡°I get hunches about things. I don''t know how they work.¡± ¡°So you drove down here on a hunch. And you don''t know the driver.¡± ¡°Yes. And that''s all I know.¡± Mickie replied. ¡°I only know one person who ever worked for Red Top, and that¡¯s because he works for Mad Town now.¡± ¡°Did you get out of your cab when you got here?¡± ¡°No! I locked my doors and stayed right here after I drove by and turned around.¡± Emily growled, and Mickie stroked her again. She wasn''t sure who that was calming, herself or the cat. Maybe both. ¡°And you didn''t see anyone? Someone leaving?¡± ¡°No, the cab was dark, the lock buttons were down, there was no one around.¡± ¡°16?¡± the cab radio squawked. ¡°16, are you still talking to the cops?¡± ¡°I gotta answer that.¡± Mickie told the cop. ¡°Go on.¡± he said, not moving. Mickie grabbed the mike. ¡°16, yes I''m still talking to the cops.¡± ¡°10-4, 16,¡± James growled. ¡°Just checking in on you.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Mickie replied, hanging up the mike. To the cop, ¡°Can I go now?¡± ¡°Which direction did you come from?¡± the cop asked. ¡°From the back access, down there.¡± She pointed towards the road ahead of her. ¡°I drove past, and turned around in the next driveway over there.¡± She pointed to the driveway in question.¡± ¡°All right, I guess you can go.¡± The cop said, looking at her license as he handed it back to her. ¡°Mikkela Korpi. We can contact you through your company if we need anything else from you.¡± The cop walked away, Mickie started the cab, turned on the headlights, and pulled out, driving slowly until she was out of the trailer park. She drove several blocks away, and pulled over and shifted into park. Emily stood up in her jacket, and put her small paws on Mickie''s shoulders, rubbing her face against Mickie''s cheek. Mickie wrapped her arms around the cat, shuddering. ¡°I hate visions!¡± she told Emily. ¡°I''m not too crazy about cops, either.¡± Emily purred in her ear. After a few minutes, Mickie straightened up. ¡°I better call in and let James know they''re done grilling me.¡± ¡°Yes, it''s not a good idea to let him get too worked up.¡± Emily said. Picking up her mike, she keyed it. ¡°16.¡± ¡°Go ahead, 16¡± ¡°They cut me loose.¡± ¡°Are you ok?¡± James'' gruff voice actually sounded concerned. ¡°Other than a bad case of the heebie jeebies, yeah.¡± Mickie replied. ¡°Get your butt back here to the office!¡± He barked. ¡°Safely!¡± ¡°10-4.¡± Mickie smiled. James Baker would never admit it, but behind the growling, gruff face he presented to the world, he cared deeply about all his drivers. Mickie knew he always had her back. Of course, he¡¯d also be the first to tear her a new one if she screwed up. She drove carefully back uptown and into the near east side. The office was on East Wilson down near the tracks. She gassed up the cab at the single pump, and parked it at the back of the lot. Emily hopped up onto her shoulder as she picked up her bag. In the dispatch office she pulled the pile of call slips off the hook for #16, replacing it with the cab key. ¡°So what the hell happened?¡± James asked, leaning past the partition around the dispatch desk. His beard seemed thicker than usual, but it was new moon. She must be imagining it. ¡°I had a hunch.¡± said Mickie. ¡°A hunch. Uh, huh.¡± James raised an eyebrow. ¡°Next time you get on of those, you want to tell me before you go haring off?¡± He said. Switching his gaze to Emily, he growled, ¡°That cat is only 8 pounds, after all.¡± Emily yawned. ¡°I''d really rather I didn''t have the damned things at all.¡± Mickie complained. ¡°Visions are always a pain in the ass.¡± ¡°Sometime you''ll have to tell me about some of them.¡± James said. ¡°But meanwhile, when you''re done with your waybill, write up a report. That way if the cops come in here with questions later, I can wave it under their noses and tell them not to bother my driver.¡± He handed her an incident report form. ¡°Now, I got work to do.¡± He keyed the desk mike and started rattling off intersections. ¡°I got calls at Full House Corners, Ingersoll and the Ave, King at the Square, Park and Drake. Go ahead 12.¡± Mickie headed out to the driver''s room to do her paperwork. It was after 4 AM and there was no one else around, which suited her just fine. She had no desire to explain it all to anyone else tonight. She added up her waybill, stuffed her call slips and cash in an envelope, and dropped it in the slot on the top of the safe. It took her a little longer to fill out the report form. Once done, she took that back to James. ¡°You need a cab home?¡± he asked. ¡°No, thanks, I''ll walk it.¡± Mickie only lived 8 blocks from the office, and usually walked unless the weather was seriously awful. ¡°I want to clear my head.¡± ¡°All right,¡± said James. ¡°Be careful. I don''t want to have to train another driver right now.¡± ¡°10-4.¡± she said with a smile, and left the office. Chapter 2
¡°Chicken.¡±
¡°Nothing good.¡±
¡°The echoes.¡± she said.
¡°The mind leaves echoes when it spends time and energy somewhere. The longer the time, the louder the echo.¡± the cat explained. ¡°A strong emotion or a strong mind can leave a strong echo. Violence always leaves stronger echoes. So does love. Like when you read an object by touching it. You feel the echoes.¡±
¡°That was the echo I felt. Well, the surface of it.¡± Emily told her.
¡°You would have felt it, too, if you touched that cab.¡± Emily said. ¡°Or if I wasn''t shielding you.¡±
¡°Don''t worry. I will always be there to protect you.¡± Emily purred.
¡°Always.¡± Emily repeated.
¡°I''m here! It''s OK! It was just a bad dream!¡± Emily said.
Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Emily was a small, warm weight on her hip. The sun was high enough that it no longer shone in the east facing kitchen window. She did not want to wake up. She closed her eyes and willed herself to go back to sleep. Her body had other ideas. She sighed, and stretched. Emily slithered off her hip, curling up in a ball on the corner of the bed. Mickie flipped the covers back and sat up on the edge of the bed, yawning. Down in her basement bathroom, she washed herself up while standing at the sink. Her mom had always called this a ¡°bird bath,¡± running soap and then a wash cloth across the ¡°stinky bits.¡± Not having an actual shower, she did this most mornings, saving full baths for when she had time for the luxury of soaking in a tubful of hot water. She combed her light brown hair, kept short for easy care. She hated having to fuss with it if it got long enough to need tying back, or if it fell into her green eyes. The face that looked back out of her mirror was fairly plain in her opinion, with a square jaw and wide mouth. Her heavy eyebrows countered a high forehead. She shrugged her robe on over broad shoulders, turning toward the door. At five feet ten inches tall, she had to duck slightly under the low, timber framed doorway. Heading back up the stairs, she quickly dressed in a plain black t-shirt and black jeans, her usual workday clothing. She started water boiling for coffee. She rinsed the glass pot and set up the cone and filter, spooning dark roasted ground coffee into the paper filter. A glance at the clock showed her it wasn''t even 11 AM yet. She usually slept til noon, and here she was already washed and dressed. While the water heated, she opened the back door and stepped out onto her porch. A bright, sunny day greeted her, making her squint. The light reflected off of a pale yellow envelope lying at the top of the steps. She stared at it. What was that doing here? All her mail and packages came to the front door. She picked it up, noting a floral scent. Her full name was written on the front in a graceful calligraphic script, in green ink. Running her fingers over the heavy paper, she had a momentary vision of a garden filled to bursting with a wild profusion of flowers. She blinked, and the image was gone. She turned back toward the door, sliding a finger under the flap. It was only lightly sealed, and opened easily. Stepping inside, she extracted the card, setting the envelope on the table. The cardstock was the same pale yellow as the envelope. On the front was an embossed image of irises. Not a photo, but somehow so realistic that she almost expected them to move. Brushing a fingertip across the embossing brought her another flash of the garden scene, along with a mixture of floral scents. She opened the card, finding words within that were rendered in the same green ink, and in the same calligraphic script. You Are Cordially Invited To Present Yourself And Your Cat To The Queen of Flowers At Your Earliest Convenience #214 Iris Circle The Court of Flowers Well, that was odd. And where the heck was Iris Circle? Mickie had never heard of it. She dug her street guide out of her cab bag. Nope, no Iris Circle listed. It didn''t show up on the city street map, either. The teakettle whistled, so she poured water over the coffee grounds in the cone above the pot. While waiting for it to drip, she examined the card more closely. There were no markings on the back, no company logo or copyright date on either card or envelope. The green ink writing had variations in it that made her think it must have been hand written, in spite of almost perfect consistency from one letter to the next. Where on earth could this have come from? And how had it ended up on her back porch? Somehow, though, it felt as if it was very important. But how could she find a street not on any of her maps? ¡°Ask Kaito.¡± said Emily. Mickie looked sharply at the cat. ¡°Why would he know?¡± Emily flicked one ear. ¡°He is a kitsune. He will know where all the fae things are.You can¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve never noticed his ears.¡± Mickie raised her eyebrows. ¡°You mean that¡¯s real? I always thought I was imagining that.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. ¡°When will you learn to trust your sight?¡± Emily responded, tilting her head. ¡°You know more than you know. ¡± ¡°I need coffee.¡± Mickie poured herself a cup, and assembled a bowl of cereal for her breakfast. ¡°When you see someone you think isn''t human, you should look more closely.¡± Emily said, washing her face with a paw. ¡°There are other creatures everywhere.¡± ¡°I guess there are.¡± said Mickey, ¡°But Dad always said it was rude to look too close.¡± ¡°Perhaps he was afraid of what he would see.¡± the cat replied. ¡°Huh. Maybe he was.¡± Mickie thought of how her father had always shut her down when she told him about things she''d seen as a small child. He dismissed them as childish foolishness. ¡°You''re imagining things.¡± he''d say. ¡°Don''t stare sideways at things. It warps your view.¡± Of course, she had to try harder to look sideways, then. She saw more things. But since he kept telling her they weren''t real, she stopped telling him about them. She tried to stop looking for them, stop believing what she saw. After a while, she almost convinced herself it really was just her imagination. That last summer up in the UP, though, after her mom died, her body had begun to grow and change. The physical changes, she had been expecting. Mom had made sure she knew what becoming a woman involved. But there had been other changes, too. There were the voices she started hearing whenever she got near anybody. And the flashes of vision she got when she touched certain things, like old jewelry, or second hand clothing. She tried real hard not to see things, not to hear thoughts. It was even worse if someone touched her. And, of course, if she acted on anything she ¡°heard¡± or ¡°saw¡± she got called a weirdo, or a witch, or worse. Her dad had always said it was her mother''s blood that gave her these problems. Usually right after he told her to ¡°Stay out of my head!¡± But what if some of it came from him? Did that have anything to do with why he wanted to leave Upper Michigan? She wished she could ask him about that. She wished she could ask her mom a lot of things. But that would never happen now. -)O(- As she walked onto the lot, Emily riding on her shoulder, Corry waved to her from where she was cleaning out her cab. Mickie waved back as she headed towards the building. She didn''t know Corry well, but the dark haired, dark eyed woman was always friendly and seemed happy to see her. Mickie''s shift started at three in the afternoon. She always tried to arrive at least a half an hour early. That gave her time to find her cab, make sure everything worked, and replace lightbulbs or top up the oil if needed. She hated seeing a car with a light or signal out. She didn''t want her cab to be that car. She would always wash all the windows, and check the trunk for anything someone might have forgotten. She''d look under the seats and in the glove box. Why people called it a glove box, she wasn''t sure. She''d never found any gloves in one. She had found some pretty odd things left behind by passengers, usually in the back seat. Some of them were ordinary things: clipboards, sunglasses, the aforementioned gloves, even wallets. Some were best to not think about too hard. The oddest thing she had ever found had been a small leather bag in the corner of her trunk, containing an entirely unremarkable looking rock. It was dark grey and pockmarked, looking almost like a sponge. When she had poured it out into her hand, she had a vision of the rock surrounded by fire. None of the flames could get near the rock, as though it were holding them away. She had shoved the rock back in the bag, pulling the drawstring tight. She still had it, in the bottom of her cab bag. For some reason she could not bring herself to throw it away. Nor had she ever told anyone but Emily about it. ¡°It may be useful.¡± was all the cat had to say. So she kept it. Shaking her head to dispel the memory, she walked into the dispatch office and plucked the keys for #16 off the hook. ¡°Good afternoon, Ms. Korpi, Ms.Emily.¡± Kaito said. ¡°Good afternoon, Kaito.¡± Mickie replied. Emily chirped a small meow. Kaito was always very formal in his speech, and most of the drivers tended to respond in kind. It just felt horribly impolite not to. Kaito tipped his head slightly to one side, nostrils flaring. ¡°That is an unusual perfume. Is it something new?¡± he asked. ¡°Oh! Right!¡± Mickie reached inside her jacket, pulling out the card. ¡°I found this on my back porch this morning. Have you ever seen anything like it?¡± He accepted the card from her, eyes widening and brows rising. He read it, and handed it back to her. ¡°Well, you must go. It would be most impolite to ignore a summons from the Queen.¡± ¡°But where is Iris Circle?¡± Mickie asked. ¡°I can¡¯t find it on any of the maps.¡± ¡°It is in the Court of Flowers.¡± he said, his eyes shining. ¡°Which is where?¡± Mickie felt he was laughing at her. ¡°South in the Flowers.¡± Kaito replied, as though that were obvious. She was sure she saw his ears, now, red furred with black tips like a fox. ¡°The trailer park is a Fae Court?¡± She asked, a bit sarcastically. Kaito simply nodded once, slowly, a small smile on his lips. ¡°You¡¯re kidding!¡± Mickie said. ¡°On the contrary, Ms. Korpi. I am quite serious. You are bonded to a fae cat. Surely you cannot doubt the existence of the Fae Courts.¡± Mickie looked at Emily sitting on her shoulder. ¡°He¡¯s got a point.¡± the cat told her. Mickie looked up at his ears again. He flicked one in her direction. ¡°You must go.¡± Kaito said. ¡°I have a call for you on the Square going to S. Park St. After that, go up to the Court of Flowers. You will have no trouble finding the address.¡± He handed her a slip of paper with a call written on it. Mickie took the slip, clipped it to her clipboard, and wandered out of the office, feeling bemused. ¡°Give Iris my regards.¡± Kaito called as the door swung closed. South in the Flowers, North in the Birds Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Mickie drove into the trailer park up on the top of the hill overlooking the South Beltline. All the streets in the park were named after flowers, which was why the dispatchers referred to it as ¡°South in the Flowers¡± when there was a call there. As she drove up the central curving road, she spotted a sign she had never seen before. ¡°Iris Court¡± the sign read. It looked just like all the other street signs, though it might have been a little cleaner, a little brighter. It marked a street that led to a small circle that had exactly one address on it: #214. She parked in front of it and got out, Emily perched in her usual spot on her shoulder. The trailer was smaller than most of the homes in the park. It looked more like a vardo than a mobile home. Painted in bright colors, it was surrounded by a white picket fence that barely contained of a wild profusion of flowers and herbs. The entrance to this garden was a wooden archway dripping in flowering vines. She ducked her head and walked through the arch. As she passed under it, she felt a bit dizzy for a moment. Suddenly, Emily was not on her shoulder, but standing beside her, bristling and hissing. In front of her was an enormous rabbit. And Emily was also enormous. Her shoulder was the same height as Mickie¡¯s shoulder. And there was a tiny, light brown skinned woman sitting on the rabbit¡¯s back, elbows leaning on its ears. Her face was framed by long, wavy green hair. ¡°Greetings, Mikkela Korpi.¡± the tiny woman said. ¡°Welcome to my Court. I am Iris, Queen of Flowers.¡± ¡°Um, Kaito sends his regards?¡± Mickie managed, before blurting, ¡°What have you done to Emily?¡± Iris laughed, sounding like tinkling bells. ¡°Not a thing!¡± she said. ¡°But you have been made small enough to fit in my garden. Oh, don¡¯t worry. Passing through the arch will restore you when you leave.¡± Mickie spun around and looked at the arch. It looked exactly the same size as when she had entered through it. She could see her cab parked in the circle. But when she looked over the picket fence to either side of the arch everything blurred. It was almost as though there were a heavy fog surrounding the place. She spun back the other way and looked around. The path before her was made of bricks, Very large bricks. And edged with tall trunks that she realized were not trees but flower stalks. Daffodils, tulips, and of course irises lined the path, which curved gently into the distance. When she faced the Queen again, she didn¡¯t know what to say. Iris smiled at her, and slid down off the rabbit. Standing, she was only as tall as Mickie''s shoulder. She settled her long green dress around herself. Tiny embroidered flowers and insects glimmered on the fabric. At least Mickie thought they were embroidered. ¡°Come.¡± she said. ¡°We have much to speak of.¡± She turned and led the way along the path to a pair of chairs and a table set in front of the vardo. Iris seated herself, and waved Mickie to the other chair. Mickie sat. There was a teapot in the center of the table. It was pale yellow, like the card she had received, and decorated with purple irises. There were two matching teacups of delicate porcelain. The Queen picked up the teapot and poured tea into each cup. The scent that rose from the tea was as delicate as the cups. Mickie found herself relaxing. She reached for her cup, and then stopped, looking at the Queen. ¡°Oh, don''t worry!¡± Queen Iris said, laughing her musical laugh. ¡°There is no magic in the tea, just chamomile and mint. You may drink it safely. I have no desire to magically coerce you into anything. Just enjoy your tea while we chat.¡± Mickie smiled, though she still felt a bit nervous. She sipped her tea, and sat back in her chair. ¡°You have become involved in a disturbance that has impinged upon my demesne.¡± the Queen said. ¡°No, no, don¡¯t fret.¡± she continued as Mickie opened her mouth. ¡°I do not blame you. Your vision brought the appropriate entities to deal with the issue. But now I have been made aware of the problem.¡± ¡°Is it some kind of fae monster?¡± Mickie asked. ¡°That is unlikely.¡± Iris replied. ¡°There are very few of the fae who could enter, much less drive a conveyance made of so much iron. And what is a monster? Is a bear who defends her cubs a monster? Is a wolf who hunts to live a monster? Is a gardener who kills pests to protect her plants a monster?¡± ¡°Well... no, not really.¡± said Mickie. ¡°The fae are very direct, and tend to be consistent in their actions. Remember, just because you do not understand someone¡¯s motivations, that does not make them evil. Of course, it doesn¡¯t make them good, either.¡± Iris mused. ¡°And some of the fae will kill if they are threatened. Many of us have reasons to hate humans. But this has not the feel of that.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± Mickie asked. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Because you are the one who will be dealing with it.¡± Iris replied. ¡°I''m just a cab driver!¡± Mickie protested. ¡°What can I do about it?¡± ¡°Keep your eyes open, and don''t get killed.¡± said Iris, matter of factly. ¡°And keep Emily close.¡± ¡°But, why me?¡± Mickie insisted. ¡°Just because I had this damned vision?¡± ¡°You, for the same reason you have visions.¡± Iris said with a small smile. ¡°The visions are from the power that comes from your bloodline. And power always carries responsibility.¡± ¡°Now you sound like my father! He was forever blaming my problems on my mother''s blood.¡± ¡°Did she have visions?¡± asked Iris. ¡°Not that she ever mentioned.¡± said Mickie. ¡°And how do you know anything about my blood?¡± ¡°Oh, I can smell it on you, for one thing.¡± Iris shook her head sadly. ¡°Humans! You have all become so afraid of your magic! So dependent on your technology. You have forgotten so much. Did your mother never tell you?¡± Iris straightened up in her chair. ¡°Tell me what?¡± Iris looked consideringly at her guest. ¡°How old were you when you came back to Madison?¡± ¡°Twelve.¡± Mickie replied. ¡°Wait! Came back?¡± ¡°Yes, you were born here, but your mother took you away almost immediately.¡± The green haired queen said. ¡°For you safety, she said.¡± ¡°You knew my mother?¡± Mickie was incredulous. ¡°Why, yes, of course. But if she died before you came of age, well...¡± She looked vaguely uncomfortable for a moment. ¡°But enough of that! You will need to keep up your shields. There is a feeling of something evil about all this. Know that the fae are not the only ones living here beside you humans. In the shadows there are many races, and some of them do not like humans at all. But they will gladly steal human power, and human lives, if it serves their purpose.¡± Mickie shifted uncomfortably. ¡°I still don¡¯t see what I can do about this.¡± she said again. ¡°As I said, keep your eyes open. Trust your instincts, and your visions.¡± Iris smiled at her. ¡°You will need help, at some point.¡± She picked up a small box from the table, and extracted a bit of jewelry from it. ¡°Here, pin this on something you always wear.¡± She handed Mickie a golden brooch shaped like a honeybee. Mickie accepted it, and was amazed at the detail. She could see each hair on the bee''s back, and the facets in its eyes. She pinned it on her vest. As she closed the catch, her finger brushed the minute stinger, and she felt a slight buzz. She jerked her finger away, and saw a small drop of blood. ¡°Good.¡± said Iris. ¡°It is now bound to you.¡± There was a buzzing sound, and a honey scented breeze. Mickie found herself looking into the face of a giant bee which had landed on the table in front of her. She froze. The bee was as long as her hand, and nearly four inches tall. Iris''s tinkling laugh made her turn to look at the Queen. ¡°You are not afraid of bees, are you?¡± Iris asked with a smile. ¡°Not usually.¡± said Mickie, ¡°But bees are not generally this big.¡± ¡°Oh, she''s a perfectly normal size. You are currently rather small.¡± Iris reminded her. The bee stuck out her tongue and gently touched Mickie''s face. Then she jumped into the air and flew off. ¡°If you find yourself in trouble, prick your finger on the stinger, and they will come to your aid.¡± the Queen told her. Mickie started to scoff, but then she looked around the garden. If she could believe her senses, accept her surroundings, was the bee so far fetched? Was any of this weirder than having visions in the first place? ¡°You must find again the confidence in your senses that you had as a child.¡± Queen Iris said. ¡°Your power, and your life, will depend on it.¡± ¡°I still don''t see how,¡± Mickie responded, ¡°but I will try.¡± ¡°I am certain you will manage, somehow. The Queen said. ¡°You are resilient, and you come from a strong bloodline. Your great grandmother was a force to be reckoned with!¡± She gave Mickie a long look. ¡°My great grandmother? How could you know her? Wait, how old are you?¡± Mickie clapped her hand over her mouth. ¡°Sorry!¡± she mumbled behind it. Queen Iris laughed again, then turned suddenly serious. ¡°I am far older than you can imagine, human child.¡± she said. ¡°Do not forget that.¡± Mickie nodded. ¡°I...I meant no disrespect.¡± ¡°Well, you must be getting back to your day.¡± said Iris brightly, rising to her feet. ¡°But feel free to visit!¡± she said with a smile. Mickie stood, and looked toward the garden arch. Emily and the rabbit were sitting, nose to nose, as though deep in a conversation of their own. Emily looked up as Mickie and the Queen approached. The rabbit bumped its head against the cat''s shoulder, and then hopped off. Again, there was another moment of dizziness as she passed under back the arch, and then she was standing in the circle, Emily at her feet. ¡°Have a wonderful day!¡± Iris called after her. The Flower Queen''s tinkling laughter followed her through the arch. Mickie turned to look back at the garden. The door to the vardo was just closing. The table and chairs sat on the brick patio, looked perfectly normal in the garden of flowers. Steam still rose from the teapot. Mickie shook her head to clear it. She opened the driver''s door and got into the cab. Emily hopped in after her, crossing her lap to curl up on the passenger seat. ¡°That was, bizarre.¡± said Mickie. Emily blinked up at her. ¡°That is a common reaction to encounters with fae queens.¡± she observed. ¡°What did you and the rabbit discuss?¡± ¡°Oh, this and that. Nothing all that interesting¡± Emily licked a paw, pulling it over her face. ¡°He did mention that the Ravens have been in a bit of a kerfluffle lately. Something about an uppity marsh spirit.¡± ¡°Ravens?¡± ¡°You know. Large black birds? Like to eat dead things and peanuts?¡± Mickie let out a snort of laughter. ¡°Yes, I do know what ravens are!¡± ¡°Well, it seems the King of the Court of Birds is upset by something up in the marsh that has been driving all the ravens out of part of their usual range.¡± ¡°Don''t tell me. The Court of Birds? North in the Birds?¡± Emily looked up at her, a cat smile on her face. ¡°I always knew you were smarter than the average human!¡± she said. Mickie reached over and ruffled the cat''s ears. Emily batted at her hand, then rubbed her cheek against it. ¡°16? Ms. Korpi?¡± the radio squawked, ¡°Are you available?¡± Mickie grabbed the mike. ¡°16. Yes, I am.¡± ¡°I have a call for you over in Scenic Highland Manor.¡± The emphasis was always on the word ¡°Scenic¡± when a dispatcher was referring to the mobile home park next to the sewage treatment plant. The view was its best selling point. Possibly the only one. ¡°On it!¡± she responded, and started the cab. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Most of driving a cab was fairly boring routine. She bid on calls, picked people up in one place and dropped them off in another. When it wasn''t busy, she found a taxi stand and sat reading to pass the time. When the weather was nice, she sometimes took a break to walk in a park. When the weather was not nice, she was usually busy. Bad weather almost always meant good business in the cab industry. In Wisconsin they say there are only two seasons: Winter and Road Construction. As soon as the snow cleared up in the spring, usually around April, the road crews would start tearing up whatever they were going to fix that year. This year, that included First St, between Winnebago and the Avenue. Three blocks of First St were completely closed, and had been dug out well below the freezing depth. Even 10 to 12 feet deep in some places. There were stacks of large concrete tubes to one side, so it appeared they were redoing the storm sewers while they had it torn up. Mickie was heading east on the Avenue one afternoon, when she stopped at the light at First. An odd tingle made her look to her right, into the construction zone. There was a man walking down the sidewalk toward it, cane tapping in front of him. There was no barricade on the sidewalk before the drop. Mickie swung her cab around the corner and pulled up beside the man, rolling down her window. ¡°Sir!¡± she called, ¡°There is a hole in front of you!¡± He stopped, turning his face toward her. It was clear that he was blind. She recognized him as a fairly regular rider. ¡°It''s alright,¡± he said, ¡°They told me I can get through.¡± ¡°No!¡± Mickie cried, ¡°There is no way through!¡± ¡°I called the city this morning and they assured me that there is a path.¡± the man said. ¡°Please! There may have been this morning, but now there''s just a big hole! No sidewalk! Nothing!¡± ¡°Why should I believe you?¡± He asked, suspiciously. ¡°I''m driving a Mad Town Cab. I have driven you places before. I know you live on E. Johnson St. near Emerson School.¡± she said. ¡°Please let me take you to the other side of the construction. I won''t even charge you.¡± ¡°I don''t believe you.¡± the man said, and started walking again. He was moving more slowly, though, tapping his cane more carefully. At this point Emily hopped up out of Mickie''s cab bag, and jumped out of the window. She meowed loudly at the man, who stopped and cocked his head. Emily ran over and leaned against the front of his legs, meowing again. ¡°Who are you?¡± the man said to the cat. Emily pushed against his legs, staring up at him. Suddenly, he stumbled back a step, looking shocked. Emily followed and rubbed against his legs, purring loudly enough that Mickie could hear it from the cab. The man leaned down, extending his hand. Emily raised her head up under it, letting him pet her. She then grabbed his sleeve in her teeth and pulled in the direction of the cab. Now Mickie was a bit shocked. Emily rarely let anyone else touch her. But it seemed to have been the right thing to do. The man stood up and started tapping his cane to find his way across the grass to the curb. He found the cab, felt his way to the back door handle, and opened it. Emily jumped back in the open window. The man sat down in the back seat, saying, ¡°Alright, the cat convinced me.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± said Mickie, relieved. ¡°Where are you going?¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°I have an appointment at a medical office at the corner of First and Winnebago.¡± he said. ¡°I know the one. I''ll just take you there.¡± said Mickie. She knew she could get in trouble for not charging him, but she didn''t really care. She was just glad to have gotten him in the cab, and not walking toward what would have been serious injury, if not outright death. She knew she would never have forgiven herself for not acting. If there was a problem later, she would tell them to dock her pay. She put the cab in gear and drove the six blocks down and five blocks back to get around to the other side of the construction site. She pulled up in front of the office building. ¡°Here you are.¡± she said. ¡°Your door is lined up with the sidewalk to the front door.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± he said, getting out of the cab. ¡°You''ve been very kind.¡± She watched him tap his way to the door and enter the building. She let go a breath. ¡°What did you do?¡± she asked Emily. ¡°I let him feel what was in front of him.¡± the cat replied. ¡°Like this.¡± Mickie suddenly felt herself walking and then stepping on air, falling forward. She jerked back in her seat, eyes wide. ¡°Whoa! I didn''t know you could do that!¡± ¡°It was necessary.¡± Emily said. Mickie reached down and stroked the little cat''s fur. ¡°You are amazing!¡± she said. ¡°I know.¡± Emily said, smugly, and curled up to sleep under the towel in the bag. The next two calls were school kids who lived outside the area covered by the buses. There was a program that paid for them to get cab rides to and from school. One of the kids talked animatedly about her day, happy to be going home to her new puppy. The second one sat sullen and silent the whole trip. Mickie got a flash of arguing, yelling adults from his thoughts, even through her shields. Just before she turned onto his street, she heard a sniffle. She looked in her mirror at him, and saw a tear on his cheek. ¡°It''s not your fault.¡± she told him. He looked at her, startled. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Whatever they''re fighting about. You didn''t cause it.¡± ¡°But they always blame me for stuff.¡± he said. ¡°If I wasn''t there, they wouldn''t fight.¡± Emily sat up and looked over the seat at him. He met the cats eyes, and she slow blinked at him. ¡°If you weren''t there they would find other excuses.¡± Mickie said. ¡°You are a good kid. They are having trouble with their own anger. You didn''t cause it.¡± The boy nodded, eyes still on Emily. ¡°Hang in there.¡± Mickie said, as they came to a stop at his driveway. ¡°Thanks.¡± the boy said, looking up at Mickie in the mirror. He reached up and gave Emily a tentative scratch behind her ears. He looked a little less lost as he gathered up his backpack and got out of the cab. Then it was a bartender on his way to work, followed by a man picking his car up at the dealership where it had been dropped off for service that morning. Three women sharing a ride home from the office talking and laughing about their boyfriends, and an elderly man going back to his daughter''s house after spending the day at an adult day care center. An amazing number of stories passed through her back seat every day. Sometimes Mickie felt like her cab was a vignette in a series of soap operas and sitcoms. Sadly, she didn''t usually get to hear the ends of those stories. She often wondered how things turned out. After the dinner rush Mickie drove out to the airport, where she pulled up at the back of the line in the taxi loading zone. There were three other cabs in line ahead of her, two Red Tops and one Mad Town. She got out of her cab for a stretch. ¡°Hey, Mickie, how''s it going?¡± Mickie looked up to see Jock leaning on the Mad Town Cab in front of her. His thin face and bulbous nose were unmistakeable. He had his dark blue stocking cap pulled low on his forehead and over his ears. She''d never seen him without it. ¡°Eh, it''s going.¡± Mickie replied. ¡°How ''bout you?¡± ¡°Ah, it''s ok, I guess.¡± He chewed on a toothpick. ¡° I heard ye had quite the experience last night.¡± He looked at her sidewise, his eyes intense. ¡°Yeah, you could call it that.¡± She replied. She didn''t really want to talk about it. Besides, there was something about Jock that made her slightly uncomfortable. ¡°Well, the night crew''s got yer back, if ye need it.¡± he said, looking away, as if what he was saying wasn''t very important. She looked more closely at him. ¡°Thanks.¡± she said. ¡°I appreciate that.¡± Jock gave her another sideways look. ¡°Ah, ye''ll figger it all out. Ye got the power.¡± ¡°The what?¡± Mickie asked, looking up sharply. A whistle sounded from the front of the line. They both looked that way, and saw people coming out the door towing suitcases. ¡°Well, here we go.¡± Jock said, clamping down on his toothpick and popping his trunk open. A man hurried toward him, pushing his suitcase into Jock''s hands. ¡°I need to go to the Concourse!¡± the man said. Mickie heard no more as she was approached by a pair of college students wanting to go to the Lakeshore Dorms. She would have to try and catch Jock again later and ask him what he knew. When she walked into the office at the end of her shift to pick up her slips and hang her key, James leaned out around the dispatch desk. ¡°I got a call about you today.¡± He growled. ¡°You did?¡± she said. She worried that she might, indeed, be in trouble for the freebie from that afternoon. ¡°Yeah, the receptionist at the medical office over at First and ''Bago called. Said you probably saved the life of one of their clients.¡± he told her. ¡°Oh, the blind guy?¡± She said, ¡°I couldn''t just let him fall in that hole! You can take the fare outta my check if you have to.¡± ¡°What?!?¡± James looked shocked. ¡°No way! Id''a done the same thing. Besides, it''s good PR.¡± He turned back to his desk. ¡°Now get outta here! I got work to do!¡± Mickie grinned to herself, and did as he said. South in the Flowers, North in the Birds: Chapter 6
On a Monday night in May she picked up an older couple at the airport, going up to Commanche Way. It was late, and they were tired, but pleasant. They talked about the trip they had taken to see their new grandchild. Their daughter and son in law lived out west, and her passengers had never been there before, so it had been a trip of discovery for them, as well as a family visit.
Mickie got them to their driveway, helped them with their luggage, and wished them well. The man handed her an extra $20 as a tip. She smiled, thanked him, and got back in her cab.
She always enjoyed it when people told her about their travels. She learned so much about other places that way, even though she couldn''t afford to visit them all herself. Maybe someday, she thought, she''d be able to travel some, herself.
Business was slow at this hour, two hours before the bar time rush. She could go back to the airport and just sit. Or she could go get a bit of excersize.
¡°A walk would be nice.¡± she said aloud.
Emily made no reply. She must be napping, Mickie thought.
They were close to one of her favorite night time hiking spots. The gate would be closed, but she could park her cab in the lot near School and Wheeler and walk down the gravel road toward the boat ramp off the Cherokee Marsh. It was always quiet there, peaceful.
She looked forward to walking down the dark road. It would be open for a good distance before the trees closed in again. Even at night the view across the marsh towards the lake would be visible, the lights of the few houses on the far side small accents in the darkness.
She turned into the lot, and stopped abruptly. The gate was standing wide open. The chain had been cut, with the lock still closed, and dangled from the loop on the post. She felt the hair on the back of her neck move.
¡°That''s not good.¡±
Emily popped up out of her bag, looking around.
¡°What happened?¡±
¡°The gate''s open.¡± Mickie told her. ¡°The chain''s been cut. Something is very wrong.¡±
She backed out, parking on the street a few car lengths back, and grabbed her mike.
¡°16.¡± she said
¡°Go ahead, 16.¡± James'' voice responded.
¡°The gate to the Cherokee boat launch has been busted open.¡± she told him. ¡°I think the chain''s been cut. I got a bad feeling...Crap! Call the cops!¡±
A small, dark car with a pizza delivery sign on top shot out of the gate. She slammed the cab in gear and took off after it, rattling off the license number over the radio.
¡°Its a Chevy Vega, heading south on School Rd!¡±
¡°On it!¡± came James'' reply.
Mickie chased it over the hill and down to Northport Dr. The Vega turned right, tires squealing, heading out of town. A cop with lights and sirens going full blast came up over the hill on Northport behind it, accelerating, and they both sped out of sight.
¡°16. The cops are chasing it out Northport.¡± She said into her mike as she stopped at the corner.
¡°You OK?¡± James asked.
¡°Yeah, I''m fine.¡± She replied.
¡°That''s good, cause the cops want to talk to you up at Cherokee.¡±
Emily say up in her bag, looking up at her and putting a paw on her leg.
¡°OK. I''ll go talk to them.¡± Mickie told James. She did not think she would enjoy this, but there was no way to avoid it. She checked traffic, pulled a U-turn, and headed back up the hill.
The cop had his car in the lot, headlights shining on the gate post. He stood up from examining the broken chain when she drove up. She parked on the street where she had been before. He walked over to her cab. She lowered the window as Emily crawled into her lap.
¡°Mikkela Korpi?¡± the cop asked, shining his flashlight at her face.
¡°Yeah, could you not blind me, please?¡± Mickie said.
The light shifted to Emily.
¡°Is that a cat?¡±
Emily hissed at him. Mickie managed, just barely, to not make a sarcastic reply to that.
¡°Yeah, she usually sleeps in my bag.¡± she said instead.
Emily blinked her eyes and hissed again.
¡°Can I see some ID?¡±
She pulled out her license and handed it to him. He shined the flashlight on it, and handed it back.
¡°So what were you doing up here?¡±
¡°I just dropped off a fare over on Comanche Way. Business is slow. I came over here to take a walk.¡±
¡°In the middle of the night?¡±
¡°Its peaceful. There''s nobody around.¡± she said. ¡°Well, usually.¡±
¡°So what happened?¡± He asked, eyeing Emily who was glaring at him.
¡°I pulled in, saw the gate hanging open and the chain cut. I backed out and parked right here, and called dispatch. Then this car came tearing out.¡±
¡°How did you know the chain was cut? Did you get out and look at it? Did you touch anything?¡±
¡°You can see the cut links from out here. Besides, you can''t just break a chain that big with your bare hands!¡± She couldn''t entirely hide the sarcasm. ¡°And no, I did not get out of my cab.¡±
¡°You want to give me your trunk key?¡± He asked, though it was clearly not a request.
She pulled the keys from the ignition and handed them to him. He went back, opened the trunk, and rummaged around in it. Shutting it with unnecessary force, he opened her rear door and shined his flashlight around the back seat and floor. He shut that door hard as well, and brought the keys back to her.
¡°Well, I don''t see any bolt cutters, though you could have pitched them out the window before you came back.¡± he said.
¡°What? I didn''t cut that! Why would I call it in if I did that?¡±
¡°I''m sure I have no idea.¡± the cop said.
¡°And one of your guys is chasing the car that came out of here!¡±
¡°So you say.¡±
Mickie stared at him open mouthed. Emily hissed again.
¡°Don''t leave town.¡± he told her, and walked back to his cruiser.
She sat there seething for a couple minutes. Emily growled and grumbled in her bag.
¡°I hate having light shined in my eyes!¡±
¡°Yeah, I''m not too crazy about that, either.¡± Mickie said.
She put the key back in the ignition and started the cab. She drove away very carefully, resisting the urge to floor it and peel out.
When she reached the top of the hill she looked in her rearview mirror. The cop hadn''t moved yet.
She drove back to the office.
She was still angry when she walked into dispatch. She threw herself into a chair at one of the phone desks.
¡°I am beginning to hate cops!¡± she said.
James raised one bushy eyebrow at her.
¡°He practically accused me of making the whole thing up after cutting the chain myself!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°He searched the cab for boltcutters!¡±
¡°He didn''t tell you anything?¡± James asked.
¡°Nope.¡±
¡°Well, they called me. Wanted to know if we had a ¡°relationship¡± with the pizza company.¡± he said, moving his fingers in air quotes. ¡°It seems the car was stolen.¡±
¡°Well that''s no surprise.¡± Mickie said.
¡°And the driver is missing.¡± James continued. He paused. ¡°The female driver.¡±
All the hair stood up on Mickie''s arms, and Emily bristled where she sat on Mickie''s shoulder.
¡°And its new moon.¡± she said. South in the Flowers, North in the Birds: Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Mickie''s next shift did not start well. Arriving at the office, she found a black unmarked car in front of the building. It screamed ''Cop!'', and so did her gut. In the hallway she was met by a tall man in a black suit and tie. His square jawed, rugged face was topped by a regulation haircut of black hair just starting to go grey at the temples. He was so obviously a plainclothes cop she nearly laughed. ¡°Mikkela Korpi?¡± the man asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± she replied. ¡°Who''s asking?¡± The man raised an eyebrow. ¡°I''m Detective Harper. I''d like to ask you a few questions.¡± She looked into the driver''s room, where three other cabbies were doing their end of shift paperwork. Across the hall, Carolyn Parks, the office manager, stood up from her desk. ¡°Use my office.¡± she said to Mickie. ¡°I could stand a break.¡± She ran her hand through her greying hair, and stepped out of the door, patting Mickie on the shoulder on her way past. Carolyn was pretty much the office mom, as well as manager. Her touch gave Mickie a quick feeling of reassurance. ¡°Thanks, Carolyn.¡± Mickie said. The detective followed Mickie into the small office, shutting the door behind him. Mickie walked around the desk and sat in Carolyn''s chair, setting her bag on the desk. The detective frowned, but pulled up the only other chair, and sat. Emily sat up in the bag and glared at him. Detective Harper raised his eyebrow again. ¡°Is that a cat?¡± ¡°No, she''s a mountain lion!¡± Mickie could not stop herself from snarking. ¡°Why do you guys keep asking me that?¡± Emily hissed. The detective glowered at them both. Mickie leaned back in the chair, folded her arms across her chest, and waited. Detective Harper pulled a small notebook and pen out of his pocket. He flipped a few pages, and looked up. ¡°Have you ever worked for Alfano''s Pizza?¡± he asked her. ¡°Nope.¡± she replied. ¡°Ever eat there?¡± ¡°Not that I can recall.¡± ¡°Gotten delivery from them?¡± ¡°They''re on the west side. I live on the east side. I doubt they deliver that far.¡± ¡°And yet, you saw their car last night.¡± Mickie could not stop the eyeroll. ¡°I saw a car with a pizza top light on it. On the North side.¡± ¡°How do you know where their office is?¡± ¡°I''m a cab driver. It''s my job to know where things are.¡± ¡°Did you see the company name?¡± ¡°No, I was too busy trying to get the license number.¡± ¡°Did you get a look at the driver?¡± ¡°No. It was dark, and he was driving fast.¡± ¡°How do you know the driver was male?¡± That made Mickie pause. ¡°I don''t know. I only saw a head in silhouette.¡± She closed her eyes. ¡°Short hair, large nose, heavy brow, snarling expression.¡± ¡°Why did you chase the car?¡± ¡°I was trying to get the license number.¡± she repeated. ¡°And why was that?¡± ¡°Because it came tearing out of Cherokee Marsh through an open gate that had had its chain cut. That seemed just a little suspicious.¡± He paused to make a note, then asked, ¡°And what were you doing there?¡± ¡°I stopped there after dropping off a fare in Comanche.¡± she said. ¡°I was thinking of taking a walk.¡± ¡°The park closes at dusk.¡± ¡°Am I being charged with trespassing, now?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The detective flipped back a few pages in his notebook. ¡°A month ago, you were involved in an incident with a missing Red Top cab. What can you tell me about that?¡± Mickie''s eyebrows shot up. ¡°I turned a corner and found an empty cab.¡± she said. ¡°How did you know it was there?¡± "I had a hunch." ¡°You had a hunch.¡± She huffed out an exasperated breath. ¡°Yes, I had a hunch.¡± ¡°Why were you looking for it?¡± ¡°Dispatch had been telling the whole fleet all evening to keep an eye out for it.¡± ¡°So how did you find it?¡± ¡°Like I said, I had a hunch.¡± ¡°And where were you when you had this hunch?¡± Mickie hesitated. ¡°I was in the taxi stand at Lake and Langdon.¡± ¡°So you drove all the way down Park St. to the south side on a hunch.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± The detective stared at her. After several moments Emily stood up and put herself between him and Mickie. She arched her back, tail lashing. Mickie put a hand on the little cat''s neck. ¡°Settle down. Attacking him won''t help things any.¡± she spoke silently to the cat. Emily rumbled a growl in her chest, but sat down. She continued to stare at the detective, her tail lashing. ¡°Are we done here?¡± Mickie asked? ¡°Not quite.¡± said the detective. ¡°Why were you at Cherokee Marsh last night?¡± ¡°I picked up a fare at the airport. They were going to Comanche, off Wheeler. After I dropped them off, I went to the parking lot by the road to the boat launch.¡± ¡°What address did you take them to?¡± Mickie gave him the address, saying, ¡°You can check that with our dispatch records.¡± ¡°And do you know anyone who works for Alfano''s Pizza?¡± ¡°No. I don''t¡± ¡°Did you know the driver of the Red Top Cab?¡± ¡°No!¡± Again, he stared at her for a moment. She glared back. Emily hissed. ¡°Don''t leave town.¡± the detective said. He stood and turned to open the door. As he left the room, he said over his shoulder, ¡°If I have more questions, I''ll be in touch. And keep that mountain lion under control.¡± She watched him leave. Emily turned to her, and licked her cheek. Mickie put her arms around the cat and buried her face in fur. She sat there hugging Emily for several minutes. ¡°Are you OK?¡± Mickie looked up to see Carolyn in the open doorway. ¡°I saw the cop leave, so I came back in. Did he give you a hard time?¡± Mickie sat up. ¡°It''s his job, I guess.¡± she said, standing. Emily hopped up onto her shoulder. ¡°I should get to work.¡± She said, lifting her bag off the desk. ¡°Thanks for letting me use your office.¡± ¡°No problem.¡± Carolyn replied. ¡°You be careful out there.¡± ¡°I will.¡± Mickie said as she left the room. -)O(- The first few hours of her shift were fairly boring, if you discounted the rush hour traffic. She took a couple school kids home from after school programs, picked up an office worker going to get her car from the shop, and carried a package to one of the hospital labs. Around 5:30 pm she got a call at the Concourse Hotel on the Outer Ring, the set of one way streets a block out from the Capitol. She pulled up in the taxi stand by the front door, and four businessmen came out. They were heading to a fairly high end restaurant out by Hilldale, and had obviously been waiting in the hotel bar. Three of them piled into the back seat, but unsurprisingly, the drunkest one of the lot crawled into the front seat beside her. As she pulled into traffic, he started regaling her with an account of their activities so far that day. ¡°And you would not believe!¡± he started, reaching out and grasping her wrist. Without thinking, Mickie slapped his hand, saying, ¡°No, no! Hands off the driver!¡± at the same time as Emily stuck her head up and hissed at him. The man plastered himself against the passenger door, looking at her in horror. ¡°I am so sorry!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°I don''t know what I was thinking! I am so sorry! I never do things like that!¡± ¡°¡±It''s ok.¡± Mickie said, ¡°Just keep your hands to yourself. We''ll be fine.¡± ¡°Oh, I am so sorry! I didn''t mean to touch you! You''re the driver! I would never do anything to get in your way! I am so sorry!¡± ¡°It''s ok, you''re fine, just...¡± ¡°I am so sorry! Please don''t think badly of me!¡± And on he went. Mickie stopped trying to talk to him. He kept apologizing, over and over. The other three men in the back seat tried to calm him down, but he was focussed on Mickie, and his apology. All the way down Gorham to University, ¡°I''m not a bad person!¡± Through campus, ¡°Really! I''m a nice guy! I''m so sorry!¡± Out Campus Drive, ¡°I''m a family man! I''m sorry!¡± All the rest of the way to their destination, the man kept apologizing. By the time they got him out of the cab, the other three men were so embarrassed that the tipped her twice the amount of the fare. But throughout the rest of her shift, whenever her cab was empty, she kept thinking about the car coming out of the marsh, the missing driver, and the Red Top Cab that was ditched South in the Flowers. What was going on? Why did she have to be involved in this? She picked up some fried chicken for dinner, and pulled into the overlook at Hoyt park. Sharing her chicken with Emily, her mind continued to worry at the topic. Queen Iris told her she had power. Emily said she knew more than she knew. She thought of various times in her life when she had a hunch, or a dream that turned out to be a warning. There had been a night when she was driving out in the country, just after dusk. She''d had a sudden feeling of danger, and took her foot off her gas pedal. A deer had leapt across the road in front of her, missing her car by inches. Had she not moved her foot, she would have hit it. How many times had she felt the need to slow on the highway, and come suddenly on a fresh accident, or a hiding patrol car? She didn''t usually think about these things. They were just what she considered a normal part of driving. Was this power? She wasn''t sure. And how could such small hunches be useful beyond keeping her safer when driving? She didn''t see how this could help in dealing with whatever Iris saw happening. ¡°These are just the things getting past the walls you''ve built between you and your power.¡± Emily said. ¡°The little things that slip through the cracks.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Mickie asked the cat. ¡°You used to believe what you saw. When you were a child, you saw things. You talked to the creatures you saw. You listened to what they told you.¡± Emily gazed up at her from the cab bag. ¡°But you were told you were imagining things. You stopped believing, stopped looking and listening.¡± ¡°Maybe I was imagining things.¡± Mickie said. ¡°Are you imagining me?¡± Emily asked. ¡°Am I not real?¡± Emily set a paw on Mickie''s arm and extended a single claw into her flesh. It hurt. A drop of blood appeared. ¡°Does that cause pain? Does it bleed? Is that not real?¡± Mickie looked down at the little grey and white cat beside her, at the drop of blood on her arm. Emily licked the blood off her arm and sat back in her bag. ¡°How many times have you had visions that turned out true? That saved lives? Or could have?¡± Mickie saw again Ivan, her first fae cat, lifeless in the ashes. But also, the blind man tapping his way toward the construction zone. The boy in the corn dog stand. The little girl who would have run into the street had she not stopped her cab in just the right spot. ¡°Great power doesn''t always do grand things. Often, it does many small things. But they add up. And the more you see, the more you can help. But if you block that power, you help no one.¡± ¡°I suppose you may be right.¡± Mickie conceded. ¡°But I don''t know how. I mean, I don''t know how I''m blocking it, so I don''t know how to stop blocking it.¡± ¡°Just try not to ignore the hunches, for a start.¡± Emily said. ¡°I''ve got a hunch the right path will appear¡± Emily gave her a cat smile, and turned to finish her chicken. Chapter 8 Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and the wipers struggled to clear 16''s windshield. It seemed like storms were getting worse every year. The rain was coming down so fast it couldn''t drain away, and the streets were running with water. Mickie turned off E. Washington onto Lien Rd. near East Towne Mall, straining to see the edges of the street. The water was up over the curbs in some places, and it was getting deeper by the minute. She was beginning to worry that the cab would stall out in the flood. It was time to find high ground. There was a strip mall parking lot ahead that was a few feet above street level. Mickie aimed for it. As she turned onto Theirer Rd., there was a mound of water in the middle of the street. It looked for all the world like an oversized bubbler water fountain. She drove carefully around it, and was surprised to see a manhole cover next to it, just at the edge of the upwelling of water. Good grief! It was an open storm sewer. It was a large enough hole that a pedestrian could fall into it and never be seen again. Or a wheel could get stuck in it, and break an axle. She got 16 up into the parking lot and pulled into a space facing the street. Grabbing her mike, she said, ¡°16¡± into it. After a moment Kaito''s voice, sounding just a little strained, said, ¡°Go ahead, 16.¡± ¡°There''s an open manhole at Lien and Theirer.¡± Mickie told him. ¡°Looks like a giant bubbler. Big enough to break a wheel!¡± ¡°Mad Towners, if you see a big bubbler in the middle of the street, don''t drive into it!¡± Kaito said to the fleet. ¡°It''s an open manhole. Thanks, 16. Are you safe?¡± ¡°Yes, I''m parked by the thrift store. Gonna stay here right now. Can''t see any curbs.¡± ¡°10-4, 16.¡± Kaito said. ¡°Any drivers who need to pull over, look for high ground.¡± Mickie watched a jacked up pick up truck drive slowly down the street, followed by a couple smaller cars. The truck avoided the bubbler, as did those behind him. One of them stalled out on the curve where it was lower, and therefore deeper. The driver peered our the window at the water, which was deeper than his tires. He visibly sighed, and put on his flashers and sat there. Emily climbed up on the dash and looked around. Shuddering, she crawled into Mickie''s lap and hid inside her jacket. ¡°I hate water!¡± she said, and stuck her head under Mickie''s arm. Mickie reached in and scritched the cat''s ears. ¡°It''s ok. We''re on high ground.¡± She reassured her friend. The rain kept coming down in buckets for over an hour. When it finally let up, Mickie could not see any of the curbs on either street. She could see three blocks in two directions, but the water overflowed into many of the lower parking lots, and lapped at the top of the driveway aprons of the one in which she was parked. She could hear sirens in several different directions, and saw occasional flashing lights moving slowly out on E. Washington. Kaito was repeating his message to the fleet to stay on high ground and stay safe until the water had a chance to subside. ¡°We are telling customers it is not safe to pick them up right now. If you are in a flooded area, sit tight.¡± Mickie could see at least a dozen cars on either Lien or Theirer sitting in water up past their wheel wells, most with flashers blinking. None of them appeared to be in any danger beyond their inability to move. Still, she was very glad she had headed up to this lot when she did. She didn''t usually like to have the am/fm radio on while she was driving, but she turned on the NPR station while she waited. The announcer said the police had issued a statement saying the storm had been too much for the storm sewers to handle, and that people should stay off the streets unless absolutely necessary. Well, that''s what Mickie was doing, and she planned to continue until the water drained to a safer level. She always carried a book for the slow times, so she pulled out the current one and settled in to read. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. A moment later, Emily poked her with a paw. ¡°What''s that?¡± the cat said, peering out through the windshield. ¡°What?¡± Mickie responded, looking up. ¡°That dark thing in the water. It looks like a bird!¡± Sure enough, Mickie could see something black in the water, struggling. Her first instinct was to rescue it. ¡°It looks like a crow.¡± she said, opening her door. There was a half a foot of water in the parking lot, slowly draining now that the rain had stopped. She stepped out into it, and up onto the grass above. The ground was saturated, and squelched underfoot. The bird was struggling, obviously waterlogged and unable to fly. Mickie splashed into the water above the sidewalk. The bird, hearing her, started trying to come towards her. She waded into water above her knees, searching for solid footing before putting her full weight down. When she reached the bird, she could tell they were tiring. She stretched out her hands to them. The raven, (surely too big to be a crow)grabbed her sleeve in their beak. She reached below the water and found feet. The raven latched onto her hands, and she lifted the wet creature out of the water. The bird was much heavier than she expected. Probably from all the water in their feathers. Once she was sure of her grip, Mickie carefully made her way back up the bank to the parking lot. The raven stretched out their wings and flapped them vigorously, showering her with water. ¡°Well, better out here than in the cab, I suppose.¡± she said. ¡°I''ll just crank the heat, and we''ll both dry out pretty quick.¡± She opened the door and climbed into the cab, making sure the raven didn''t hit their head on the doorframe. Once she sat, the raven hopped onto the edge of her cab bag. Mickie turned the fan on high and the heat all the way to hot. The raven spread out their wings and seemed almost to sigh in relief. Mickie looked the bird over, but could see no obvious signs of injury. Just soggy feathers. ¡°How on earth did you end up in this flood?¡± Mickie wondered. The raven shook their head, and fluffed up their feathers. Their wings were drying out, and they kept them mantled so as not to hit either Mickie of Emily in the face. Emily sat primly at the far edge of the passenger seat, tail wrapped around her paws. ¡°I think she was chasing someone.¡± the cat said. ¡°Someone?¡± Mickie responded. ¡°Not something?¡± The raven ducked their head, and audibly sighed. They folded their wings and turned and hopped up onto the headrest, and into the back seat. When Mickie looked in the rearview mirror, she found herself looking into the dark eyes of a young woman with black hair. A very naked young woman. ¡°I don''t suppose you have a blanket?¡± she said. Mickie stared at her, openmouthed, for a long moment. Then she shook herself, and reached for Emily''s towel. ¡°This is the best I can do.¡± she said, handing it over her shoulder. The woman took it and rubbed her hair dry before wrapping the towel around her body. ¡°Thank you for pulling me out of the water.¡± she said. ¡°It''s very bad form to shift in front of the mundanes.¡± ¡°Um, I can imagine.¡± Mickie said. Looking closely at the young woman''s face, she asked, ¡°Are you related to Corry?¡± ¡°Yes, she''s my cousin. I work for her father.¡± the woman replied. ¡°My name''s Kerita.¡± ¡°Mickie. And this is Emily.¡± Mickie nodded towards the cat. Emily squeezed her eyes at Kerita. ¡°Very pleased to meet you.¡± Kerita said. ¡°You saved me some serious trouble, not to mention embarrassment.¡± ¡°How did you end up in the water?¡± Mickie asked. ¡°I miscalculated.¡± Kerita replied. ¡°I was following someone, and missed seeing a branch in the downpour.¡± She rubbed at her shoulder. ¡°There were a few too many people stuck in their cars and looking around for me to shift without being seen.¡± ¡°Well, you surprised the heck out of me!¡± said Mickie. ¡°You haven''t seen anyone shift before?¡± Kerita asked. ¡°You work for MadTown, and you obviously have power.¡± ¡°People keep telling me that.¡± Mickie said, ¡°I still don''t know what that''s all about. And, no, I never saw anyone fully shift before. Just James getting a bit hairy when he''s upset.¡± Kerita chuckled. ¡°I''ll bet. James can be pretty scary.¡± While they sat and talked, the water slowly drained off the streets. When Mickie could make out the curbs again, she felt it was safe to move. ¡°Is there somewhere I can take you?¡± she asked Kerita. ¡°Yes, please take me home. I have cash there, if you''ll trust me to go in for it.¡± Kerita said. ¡°Sure,¡± Mickie replied, ¡°Where''s home?¡± ¡°North in the Birds, on Raven Lane.¡± Kerita said with a smile. ¡°Of course.¡± Mickie said, also smiling. -)O(- Most of the cars that had stopped in the downpour had been able to drive away once the water went down. Mickie had no trouble getting out of the parking lot. She drove out to E. Washington and in towards Hwy 51, north to Anderson, across the south edge of the airport, and eventually to the trailer park on Packer''s Ave. ¡°It''s the one with the long carport, down near the end.¡± Kerita said as they turned onto Raven Lane. ¡°Just pull right inside.¡± Mickie found the space deep enough to fit the cab all the way in. She stopped, put it in park, and Kerita hopped out, saying, ¡°Keep the meter running. I''ll be right back.¡± The shifter jumped out and disappeared into an open porch that blocked the view of the trailer door. A few moments later she came back out dressed in a T shirt and sweat pants. She handed Mickie her folded towel, and paid the fair plus a $20 tip. ¡°Thank you for rescuing me.¡± Kerita said. ¡°And for a pleasant ride. I''m sure We will meet again.¡± She waved and went back inside. Mickie backed out, and went on with her day. Now that the floodwaters had receded, there were lots of calls on the board. She was kept busy for most of the remainder of her shift.