A form massed from the trunk of the sycamore tree by his trailer. The form stepped out into the yard this time. It was tall. Taller than Terry. It was the shape of a man in a cloak but it was made entirely of tree bark so Terry couldn’t make out any of its details. Terry scowled at the form.
“Do you make these dreams?” he asked the form. “Because if so, we need to have a talk.”
The form turned its head to watch the dream Delores continue walking and talking. She was smiling. The bark-shape turned to face Terry. It tilted it’s head in curiosity.
“I merely come to your dreams, child. The contents are your own.”
Terry stood and watched the girl stand at the back door of the house. The door opened on it’s own and she nodded to no one before entering, the door closing a moment later. He shook his head and looked at the form.
“Look. I don’t know who you are or why you’re here.”
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Should I?”
The form walked around Terry. It seemed to be studying him. As it did, there was a familiarity to the voice. VOICE. He stayed silent. He needed to think and he'd have to think while awake.
“I like your friends, Terry.”
“I don’t know that I’d call Elton a friend, yet.”
“None the less,” it said as it continued a slow circle around him, “they will remain true to you. IF you remain true to them. And yourself.”
Terry watched as it finished its small circuit. He was losing his patience with this.
“Is that it? You just wanted to let me know you approve of my friends?”
It seemed to nod.
“Yes. That, and to give you advice.”
“Let me guess. It comes?”
It didn’t have eyes but Terry could feel it staring.
“No. Though that remains true. You will find your next task today. It is important.”
Terry blinked. He realized he was becoming entirely too petulant with this being. It was just trying to help. The beginning of the dream had him off balance. And if this was the voice. God, if it really was, he owed it to it to listen.
“Sorry about that. This setting has thrown me off. How important? Is another town in danger or something?”
“No. But there are few knights who live that can truly meet this task. They would face it in the only way they know. You are more. Be aware of what comes to you. Stay safe, child.”
And with that, Terry felt something in his soul pull him backwards, back into the wide world. . .
Terry opened his eyes. It was light and he was back in his sleeping bag. It was still overcast but the storm had finally moved on sometime in the night and even the dim morning light was welcome. Things had been dark yesterday. Darker than just the absence of light. He rolled on his side and his breath caught.
Delores was across from him, also on her side, and dead to the world. He laid there and watched her. He remembered the dream before the thing with the voice. He allowed himself a small smile. She'd held his hand. In the dream, yes, but last night as well. She'd held his hand.
It wouldn’t work, of course. The codes. The vows. His interactions with mages was strictly limited. But maybe it would be ok if he just thought of her every now and again? Just when he felt bad? To cheer himself up? It was probably too much. He didn't think good things were supposed to be something he could have.
“Morning!” a voice called out.
Terry sat up and looked as Elton came traipsing up from a small building Terry had missed in his exhaustion. He saw Delores stir and stretch in the corner of his eye and kept his gaze firmly on Elton. The guy had an arm load of cereal bars and sodas.
“Where’d you get those?” Terry asked, his stomach responding to the idea of any kind of food.
Elton gestured to the building with his head.
“Over there. There’s restrooms, some small shower stalls, and some snack machines. I know you guys missed dinner last night so I figured I could at least cover breakfast.”
He let the bars drop and carefully placed the cans down. He was smiling the whole time and Terry just shook his head. He remembered what the bark-thing had said. If he stayed true to them. . . .
Terry finally hazarded another look at Delores as she got up, rubbing sleep from her eye. She saw the cereal bars and sat right down and opened one.
“Elton,” she said, “I could kiss you right now.”
Elton sat at the opposite end of the table and laughed.
“Well, unfortunately I am married to my work. You’ll have to take it up with my laptop and tablet. We kinda have a thing.”
Terry finally stood up and looked around. The area looked like any rest area along the highways in Mississippi. He could literally be anywhere. He sat down, grabbed a Coke and a cereal bar, and started mechanically feeding himself.
After a time, he realized Delores and Elton both were watching him.
“What?”
“You were kinda out of it last night.” Delores answered. “You still seem a little, I dunno. Off?”
Terry looked at Elton. He raised his eyebrows to pose the question again.
Elton toyed with his wrapper before answering.
“I sort of joined you out of, well, I could have asked. I wanted to see if you were angry.”
Terry thought about that. He put himself in Elton’s shoes. Stuck with someone like Robert Lawless. The threatening step the man had taken toward Elton with a sword. The looks. “Shut your hole” replayed itself in his head. Several things snapped into place in Terry’s mind all at once and he felt terrible for the man. Before that though. . .
“I’m ok, D.” He said. “I just don’t think I’ve ever been that angry in my entire life. I hope to God I never am again. I still feel a little drained, but I’ll be alright.”
“You’re sure?”
He gave her a reassuring smile.
“Yeah. I just don’t want to fight anything for a few days. This is only my third day as an Errant and I’ve fought a dragon, a gargouille, and a massive jerk.”
Delores laughed.
“Fair. You’ve been a busy boy.”
Terry turned the smile on Elton.
“Look, Elton. I can’t pretend to know what your life has been like. What I can do is guess how you’ve been treated by Robert Lawless. You left that behind to follow me and D.”
The man still looked nervous about the two of them. Geez, Terry thought, what did he do to him?
“Last night, you took a vow for me. Well I’m making one to you right now.”
Terry reached down and pulled his sword from it’s pocket in his coat. He walked around the table and grounded the point in front of Elton. He took a knee and placed his right hand over his heart.
“Elton Beasley AND Delores. . .” His eyes got wide. He suddenly realized he hadn’t gotten the girl’s last name. She understood.
“Cody. Delores Cody.” She said. She and Elton both watched him with interest. Terry just mouthed thank you. He placed his hand back on his heart and bowed his head.
“Elton Beasley AND Delores Cody. I, Terrance Lingal, Errant Apprentice, solemnly vow that while you are a part of my entourage I will protect you from any and all dangers seen and unseen. I will place myself before you. I will keep you from any harm I am capable of keeping you from. I am your servant, your guide, and your protector. In the name of my father, the Lord, and the honor of the Order of Saint George the Dragon Slayer I do swear.”
The silence that followed was so complete even the birds were terrified to break it. He looked up to two shocked faces. Delores’s jaw was hanging open. When the silence was finally broken, it was Elton who did it.
“Where in the FUCK did you come from?!”
Terry smiled.
“Raymond, originally."
Delores walked over and knelt beside Terry.
“You really didn’t need to do that.”
“I felt like I did.”
She shook her head.
“You can’t protect us from everything. I don’t want you to beat yourself up when one of us gets hurt.”
Terry nodded.
“I can try.”
Delores sighed. Terry tilted his head and looked at her. He thought he saw the issue.
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“I won’t be a mother hen. I promise.”
Delores looked at Elton. Elton shrugged.
“If it keeps him happy, you know?”
Delores stood and threw her hands up.
“I give up. Let’s find a way station and find some work.”
Terry shared a quick smile with Elton. He knew he could have just sworn that oath to Elton, but something told him he needed to swear to both of them. Delores was right though. They were burning daylight and lunch today wasn’t going to buy itself.
Before leaving, he looked at the shield Elton had brought. The rounded cut in the top confused him. Then he looked at Thunder and he grinned. He walked up to the scooter. He knelt in front of it and sure enough, the cut seemed to be about the right size. He looked into the little thing's round headlight.
"Ok buddy, I'm not super excited about having a shield, but maybe you can make use of it."
He sat there and realized he was waiting for a response and shook his head, laughing at himself.
After a few minutes of work, the shield was in place, the bottom point behind the front wheel well and the headlight hanging through the cut out portion. He'd used the arm straps and some extra belting he had to attach the thing securely to the steering column. He stood back and admired his work. He turned to Delores.
"What do you think?"
She stood there with her hands on her hips, tilting her head back and forth. She finally looked up at him.
"I think I just watched you talk to a scooter and waste a shield."
His smile dropped and he gave her his best kicked puppy look. She sighed.
"Your scooter, man. I'm just riding it."
Terry was fairly certain he’d never been to Columbia before. The problem was that most small towns in Mississippi, if not the South, were built during the Reconstruction. That meant they were all made by the Army Corp of Engineers from the same couple of plans. They all had a central courthouse and a roundabout with a statue to a local hero. Raymond and Columbia were very different towns, but there was that sameness to them. Infinite varieties of blandness.
They rode into town around 10 in the morning on a Sunday. Elton, it turned out, had a lovely red Vespa he had picked up a few months before meeting Lawless. Delores kept looking at it over her shoulder as they rode and grumbled under her breath.
“Jealous?” Terry said to her, not even trying to hide his amusement.
“Why does the bard have to have a better scooter than us?”
“First, I guess he can afford to. Second, I personally know who built Thunder. I’ll take him any day.”
It didn’t do much to stop her grumbles.
Deep in the town, on MS-13, they found the way station in a strip mall next to a place that served fried pig ear sandwiches. That would be lunch sorted after a look at the board. When Terry mentioned eating there Elton turned a decidedly worrying shade of green before following them into the station.
The interior was in much better condition than the one in D’Iberville. It was clean, the fixtures were polished, and there were no bars or plexiglass between the old African-American gentleman and Terry. He saw what he presumed was the man’s wife as well behind the counter sorting a stack of paper into antique wooden filing cabinets. The entire thing made him smile.
“Howdy!” the old man shouted. “Got an update for your tally?”
Terry heard Delores snort behind him. Elton came in right after her and set up at a small mid-century style table and set up his laptop. He began typing immediately.
“Uh, no sir. And g’morning! Just in to check the boards.”
Delores sat down at the same table as Elton and started scrolling on her phone.
“Feel free! Got a couple of new asks over there. One requesting Robert Lawless. You seen him? He quit answering his phone.”
Elton, Delores, and Terry all three froze. The man gave them a questioning look.
Elton and Delores let out a simultaneous “NO”.
At the same moment, Terry said “He’s on sabbatical.”
The man tried to nod and shake his head at the same time, gave up, and shrugged.
“Whatever. Still need someone over in Natchez. Kidnapping’s never a pleasant business.”
At the word kidnapping, Terry ran to the board and was pleased to see Delores had the same reaction. They scanned the note cards pinned to the old corkboard until they found the one. It was newer than the others. Printed at the top were the words “JURISDICTION PROBLEM”.
Terry pulled the card down. Delores read over his shoulder. The hand written text read:
Our daughter was kidnapped from our front yard two days ago by several goblins. Being Fantastics, the police will not take action and say we have to go through the Order. If any knight would be willing to help, we will reward you as best we can. We don’t have much money but we can offer room and board during your stay and can provide hot meals.
- Larry and Cynthia Short
Terry looked at Delores.
“We have to.” He said.
“Of course we have to!” she said, her voice going up an octave.
Terry turned to Elton, urgency in his voice.
“Elton! Run next door and get three pig ear sandwiches to go! We’ll eat on the road. I just need to get the address.”
Elton’s face sank and he went pale. He closed his laptop, tucked it under his arm, and slipped silently out the door.
Terry walked up to the counter.
“Sir, thank you for bringing this to our attention. Can you tell me where the family lives again? I missed it.”
The old man smiled at them both.
“Hot dang, I knew you’d be good kids. Natchez. Like “matches”. Ever been?”
Terry looked at Delores again and she shook her head. He looked back at the old man.
“Anything we should know before we get there?”
The man’s grin went crooked.
“Yeah. Forget everything you know about Mississippi when you get there and set your clocks back about fifty years.”
Delores looked up at Terry.
“Yikes.”
Terry had never seen anything like Natchez before he rolled into town. As he navigated the maze of one way streets he felt like he’d stepped back in time. The town was old. It felt like some vestige of old Mississippi was trying to hang on for dear life, for better or worse. The effect was beautiful though. He'd never seen so many buildings and homes crammed so close together. There were mid-century homes slammed next to homes that had stood before the Civil War. The local buildings were a bizarre mix of restored storefronts from before reconstruction and buildings no newer than the 1950's. He'd known Natchez had been spared during the Civil War because of it's Union sympathies, but this was ridiculous.
He had to remind himself this wasn’t a sight seeing tour. Delores and he had business to deal with first.
Terry checked on Elton at a stop light and the man glanced around occasionally but didn’t seem particularly phased by his surroundings. Either he’d been here before or he’d seen a heck of a lot in his life already. Terry shrugged and went back to letting Delores guide him to their destination.
“You need either a GPS for this thing, or a phone mount for the handle bars.” She said as they sat at another light next to a closed tavern.
“I’d need a phone first.” He said to her over his shoulder. She pointed forward and he turned, saw the light was green and drove on.
They came to a stop in front of a brown shotgun house on the outskirts and looked around. It was run down. All the houses and buildings in this area were. Next door was a big abandoned warehouse of some kind and the whole area was overgrown with vegetation and the ever present kudzu vines. This entire area was the worst section he'd seen in town. It didn't escape Terry that most of the people he'd seen out and about were either minorities or Fantastics. As Elton removed his helmet and walked up, Terry thought of something.
“How does this work now?” he asked the bard.
“I’m just here to observe.” Elton replied, waving a tablet at Terry. “Do whatever you were going to do regardless.”
Terry nodded and turned to ask Delores if she was ready. He stopped himself. She looked at the house and then the neighborhood. She looked sad.
“You ok?” he asked.
“I just,” she started. “I don’t know. I wish things weren’t like this.”
Terry tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. She took it as an invitation to continue.
“Look at this place.” She gestured at everything. “We drove by plantation homes and some of the most expensive property I’ve ever seen and now look at this.”
Terry nodded. He’d grown up around homes like this his whole life, but he wasn’t blind to the implications.
She looked at him.
“It isn’t fair. I dunno. Maybe I’m sounding dumb and naive.”
“Why would wanting things to be better for people be dumb?” he said. “They should be. Everyone deserves better than this.” He looked around. “I just don’t know what to do about it.”
He shook his head and started walking to the house when the door opened and a young, blond, white woman stepped onto the small porch. She was older than Terry, but still young enough that he wouldn’t have expected her to have a child.
“Can I help you three?” she asked, both hands gripping the still open screen door. Terry couldn’t help but notice bags under her eyes. He put on his best smile.
“Yes ma’am. Well, sort of. I’m Terry Lingal.” He nodded to his friends. “This is Delores Cody, my partner, and Elton Beasley the Troubadour. We’re from the Order of St. George. WE are actually here to help YOU. We’re here about your daughter.”
She brightened at that.
“Please! Come in! I’m Cindy. My husband Lawrence is inside.”
She led the way into the house but they didn’t need much direction. The house was several rooms all in a row with doors lined up so you could “shoot a shot gun through them”. Terry knew all about shotgun houses.
The inside of the house was in somewhat better shape than the outside. While the outside looked dilapidated, the inside was cleaned quite well. Fresh paint was on most of the walls. The furniture was well kept. They’d obviously been trying to make it a home.
Just after the living room was a kitchen/dining room and sitting at the table was an African American man, not much older than his wife. He was bald and had several dark tattoos. He had his hands clasped in front of him on the table and didn’t look up as they walked in.
Cindy spoke as she led them up to the table.
“Larry, these folks have come about Sarah.” She gestured to seats at the table. Larry sat at the head, so Terry and Delores sat on either side of him.
Elton took a position in the corner and typed quietly. The man, Lawrence, finally looked up at them. First at Delores, then at Terry.
“You’re a knight?” he asked.
“An Errant Apprentice, sir.” Terry replied. He made sure to meet the man’s eyes and tried to project confidence.
Larry looked away to Delores.
“And you’re a mage?” he said. Delores’ jaw worked for a minute so Terry stepped in.
“She’s the best I’ve ever met.” He said. It was the truth, too. He’d only met the one. She looked at him, thankful, but incredulous.
Larry threw his hands up.
“I don’t know why I’m asking at this point. I don’t care if you're all clowns escaping the circus. I just want my little girl back. Do you think you can help us?”
Terry nodded.
“I can. Can you tell me what happened?”
Cindy sat down at the foot of the table. “It was goblins. I saw them running into the woods behind the house with Sarah tied up. I don’t know why.”
Terry rubbed his chin for a moment.
“Did they leave a note?”
“No.” Said Larry. “They didn’t leave anything. The neighbors helped us search the woods but we couldn’t find them or her.”
“How many goblins were there?” Delores asked.
“Three carrying her and one watching their back.” Lawrence said. His hands started to tremble and he clasped them together again.
“I’ll find her.” Terry said watching the man’s hands.
“I don’t mean any offense,” said Cindy, “but how do you plan to find her?”
This time it was Terry’s turn to work his jaw. Delores chimed in with a bright smile all of a sudden.
“Does she have a hairbrush?” she asked. Terry noticed she used the present tense. Good move on her part.
“Yes!” Cindy chirped.
She ran from the room and Delores started digging in an inside pocket of her coat. Terry watched in curiosity. She pulled something out and sat it on the table. It was a small compass. The kind you’d buy for a kid from the dollar store.
In a moment, Cindy was back with the brush and sat it on the table in front of Delores. Delores smiled and started pulling hairs out of the bristles. All of them watched her work.
Delores began by braiding as many hairs as she could into a tiny cord. She then wrapped the cord around the compass in a very deliberate fashion. She tied the dark brown hairs in a special knot. After she’d finished, she placed the compass into the palm of her left hand. Terry noted it was the arm with cotton gauze wrapped around it. The same one she’d held his hand in during the healing. She next held her right palm over the compass.
Delores closed her eyes and they watched as she started to slowly rock back and forth. She started to softly speak words that Terry didn’t recognize. A deep purple light began to glow from both her palms.
Terry leaned back in his seat. Magic again. She was using serious magic. He could feel it. A pulling on his mind and in turn on his body. He tried to turn his head away but his eyes kept going back to that glow. It was reaching out now and lifting the compass between her palms. The light of the mana made his eyes feel like they were being twisted backwards in the sockets.
The compass hovered there and the parents stared in rapt attention. After what felt to Terry like an eternity, but could only have been a few minutes, the glow seemed to flow into the compass and it dropped back into Delores’ palm. Terry took a deep breath. It felt like his first in days.
“What did you do?” Larry asked. As soon as the words left his mouth the needle in the compass seemed to snap in a new direction. It was no longer pointing north. Delores smiled.
“I enchanted the compass.” She said. “For the next few hours it will point straight to your daughter as long as she’s alive.”
Terry smiled. And she said she wasn’t any good at this, he thought.
“That, no, YOU are amazing.” He said.
Delores looked at him and gave him a crooked smile. She actually seemed embarrassed!
Lawrence looked at Delores with a new expression. He finally looked hopeful.
Terry laid his palm on the table and leaned toward the man. He turned to face him.
“I said that I-WE would find her. I promise you. We’ll bring her home safe.”
The man turned his head and Terry looked at Delores. Terry didn’t want to embarrass the man by watching him cry.