Chapter 14
Going through the gate was an adventure. I had not considered what it would do to the newly formed connections I had. When I passed through, I lost a lot of the new connnnnections to the world I had just left. A wave of dizziness passed over me. New connections were formed, though, new connections to the land I had called home for well over the last hundred years.
I closed down the gate. More connections were severed. One stayed though, a connection to the land I had just left. It was weak, but pulsed in my new vision. I waited until I was sure there were not going to be any new connections formed, then made my way to my camper.
It was as I had left it. No surprise there. I had put a spell on the area, after all. I canceled the spell, and went inside. I checked the clock on the counter. It had a day date calendar. I saw that while I had lived through only two days in the other world, a week had gone by here!
Amazing! How did the gate synchronize with the worlds? This was yet another thing on my list of things to find out. That list was getting quite long. The problem with magic is that it sometimes defied explanation.
I opened the refrigerator and noticed that some of the meat inside had gone bad. I threw it in the trash and took the trash out immediately. As I did, I noticed a police car roll up. Officer Shelton got out.
"Hello, Mr. Lindsy. I kept meaning to stop by, but for some reason it kept slipping my mind," she paused then continued, "Did you get a tan? Have you been to a tanning booth? It hasn't been sunny enough for you to have gotten that tan," she said.
"Not really, I just had a dragon breathe fire on me. Seems a tan is a side effect," I replied truthfully.
She laughed. She had a very nice laugh. She came over and caught a whiff of the trash.
"What are you going to do with that?" she asked.
"I was thinking about sending it to the government as a top secret weapon... biological type. But I thought a dumpster somewhere might be better," I said, grinning at her.
"Drop it in the bait shop dumpster. They won't mind. At least you don't just drop your trash out in the woods like some people do," she said approvingly.
I looked at her. I mean really looked at her. She had a nice soft glow about her. She shimmered a very nice airy blue color. I don't know what made me do it but I just had to.
"Officer Shelton? Would you care to have dinner with me this evening? I am tired of my own cooking, and your company would be better than anything I have had recently" I said. A slight exaggeration, but worth it if she said yes.
She cocked her head and looked at me.
"Are you asking me out on a date, Mr. Lindsy?" she asked, her eyes seeming to get larger. Women had that trick down pat.
"Why, I think I am, Officer Shelton," I replied in my best courtly manner.
"Tell you what. I go off duty, soon. What say I swing by? We can head to town, and decide what we want on the way," she said.
"Sounds fine to me. You probably know the best places, anyway," I said.
She got back in her car, and was soon out of sight. I got another trash bag out of the trunk of my car, and double bagged the garbage. It really stank. A part of me was constantly watching my surroundings. As I loaded the trash into my car, I noticed that someone who could do magic, was probing me.
Damn. It was that girl who I had run into before. The last time, was when I had gone to see Markus, at the Hamilton. Ok, I was about to get some answers. I let her continue her probing while I sketched a spell in my mind.
I tapped into a power line, and cast my snare. I got a sense of startlement.
'Well, she would be real startled before I am done, ' I thought grimly to myself.
I reached, and pulled her through space to me.
She popped out of wherever she had been, and looked with fear at me. I'll give this for her; she was fast on her feet. She had a shield raised before I could do another thing. Ok, that flashy show had off-balanced me. It had taken me a moment more to recover than I had thought it would.
"We meet again," I said, starring at her.
"So it seems. How did you do that?" she asked me.
"Clean living, and good hygiene habits," I responded.
We stared at each other for a moment. I decided to try pressuring her a bit to see how good she was. However good, I knew I was going to be better. I looked closely at her, and saw she had a dark Burgundy color to her body's glow.
I threw a small spell at her, and her shield stopped it easily. She just sort of smiled at me. I smiled back and created another shield and cast it around her shield. Then I cast a hammer blow spell at her. It bounced off her shield, and hit my shield which I had placed around her shield, bounced off, and went back and forth for a minute.
I hadn't been sure I was going to be able to get the spell through the shield, and then solidify it again before it bounced off. I shouldn't have worried. I t was actually a really cool effect. Both the way my spell fazed through my shield and then they way it bounced around.
About this time I felt another spell of transportation opening up a short distance away. I waited, and Markus popped into being a few feet away from me. We all stared at each other. Markus looked at the girl (woman, actually) caught up in the double shields.
"Paul, we need to talk," Markus told me.
"Apparently. This is the second time this woman has attacked me. Also, you seem to be around her a lot. She your girlfriend?" I asked.
"No, she is my daughter," he said.
I just stared at him. Daughter? I remember he said he had one, but this girl?
"She seems to be... very anti-social. She has been a supposed victim, and has been a thorn in my side since I first met her. What is her problem," I asked him.
Markus sighed. "Melissa, stop bothering, Paul. Paul, I give you my word that she won't try anything. Would you please drop the shield you have placed around her?"
I considered what he was requesting. Ok, she really never hurt me, but it is annoying to be spied on and attacked out of the blue. I silently prepared and cast a spell that would block just about anything short of a nuclear blast, and dropped the shield I had around her.
"Thank you. Might we sit while we talk?" Markus asked me.
I went into my camper, and brought out three camp chairs I had stored inside. I hadn't really had a chance to use them, until now. I went back in, and got out three bottles of water. If I was going to play host, I might as well be comfortable.
"Ok, it's your party. I am all ears," I said to them.
"It's hard to know where to start. I don't know how much to tell you," Markus said heavily.
"Well, with Melissa here, I am afraid I used to talk about you a lot while she was growing up," he went on, but I was looking at his aura. He, too, had a Burgundy glow. But of a shade lighter in color, than his daughter. Was it a family trait?
"... So you see, she is only being a little curious about you. I admit she took the wrong way about meeting you, but I am sure you can understand, can't you?" he asked me a little desperately.
"Dad! Don't explain to this guy. You have always bragged about how good he is, how important, but how you could never tell him everything. Well, I don't see anything special about him.
"It was always, Paul this, Paul that, Paul could do this by the time he was 15. I am so sick and tired of living in his shadow!" she exclaimed.
She glared at me. "Do you know what it was like, living in your shadow? I was never good enough for my dad! You were always better. Well, I am just as good as you, Paul Lindsy! And I think it's time someone took you down a notch or two, and I am just the girl who can do it!"
With that said, she teleported away. Markus sighed. I looked at him.
"There are a few more things you have kept from me. Like the way home," I said to him.
"Paul, it is a bad situation there. I went back a few times and checked. There is no reason for you to go back. Yes, I tampered with your memories a bit. It was only to let you be happy, I swear! It is just too dangerous, and you don't know enough of what has happened or what the political situation is there," he stopped.
"Oh, I don't really think so, Markus. There is peace there, now. A truce is in place. My sister the titular head of the family, or whats left of it, or so I understand," I told him.
His eyes got huge. "How do you know that?"
"Why, I made my own gate, and visited. I just got back after a very instructional time spent over there," I said a bit smugly.
"Are you mad! You have no idea what could have happened to you there! Assassins are still looking for you! There is a price on your head!" he stopped, abruptly.
"Well... My not knowing what is going on there, is not my fault. My not having memories of that place is not my fault. My not knowing I was Duke De Landkur, was notmy fault!" I finished with my voice raised.
His shoulders drooped as he said, "I know. I'm sorry, believe me. I was just trying to make the best out of a bad situation," he replied almost whispering.
So I launched into a bitter tirade, and he listened. I let him have it, but good. I told him what I thought of his manipulation of me, of stealing my memories, of his inability to control his daughter. I also told him some of the history I had found out. He positively went white at some of what I mentioned. He definitely winced, when I told him about the dragons.
I finally ran out of steam, and came to a halt. I had really let loose a lot of built up anger. I was emotionally exhausted.
"Markus. You might think you had my best interest in mind, but I think it was more than that. I don't know everything, might never know everything you have done. But you will never do anything to me, or in my name, again. Do you understand? Now, begone, I must think," I finished.
I gathered my will, and drew the necessary power, and sent him to the dining room of the Hamilton. Let him explain his way out of that one! I laughed.
I put my camp chairs back in my camper. I got in my car and drove into town. I stopped by the bait shop, and dropped my trash bag in the dumpster that was located at the side, and towards the rear of the shop.
I was still fuming over events of the last hour. It had been a revelation to me, and I am sure to Markus. Firstly, that I knew what I knew; and secondly, the power I had called up to teleport him the way I did, would give him a lot to think about.
Melissa. She was a lovely girl, but eaten up with jealousy. Markus had inadvertently made her my enemy. I would have to take her seriously. If Markus could not regain control of his daughter, I might have to take an action we would both regret.
I stopped by a phone. I called the lawyer who was handling negotiations for me, with the town of Clinton. He was happy to hear from me. He told me about a missing person's aspect to the case that I had originally been implicated in. I was not a suspect for her having gone missing, he was just curious to know if I knew anything about it.
I denied any knowledge.
So, they were looking for the girl who that guy had fed to that... whatever it had been. Glad I wasn't the suspect. I wished I could tell them what happened, but then I would have to tell all. That was not going to happen.
My attorney said that they were at 750,000 dollars, and did he want me to settle?
"Hell, yes! The less I have to do with that town, the better!" I said, and hung up.
I was pleased with how things were working out with that. Seven hundred grand would let me buy a lot of land, if I needed it.
I went back to my car and drove back to my campsite. Officer Shelton was not there yet. I went in and cleaned out the fridge. The spoiled meat had definitely made it stink.
I also had to think about what I was going to do with my business. Although small, I had a good reputation, and good rapport with the local police there. Also, what was I going to do with Vivian? Should I help her find a new job? Now why did I think that?
I care for Viv, and wanted the best for her. I was going to close my business. I was going to move to the other world, and I most likely was not returning for a long time, if ever.
That got me wondering what I should take with me. What would work in that world, and what wouldn't?
'Still more to put on my 'I don't know' list, ' I sighed to myself.
Edited by TeNderLoin