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Part One
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He knew...at last...she would not fly and so he moved his body closer to hers, pulling his cape over her like a warm cocoon, using his large hands to press her to him. Her tears soaked the front of his rust-colored tunic as he cupped one palm around the back of her head, pulling down the rest of the black cloth, freeing her long waves, then tangling his fingers through them, physically knitting her to himself. He inhaled so deeply, so fully that the air seemed to roll down through his legs to his feet, then he let it out, bit by little bit. The long warmth of his exhale flowed down over her hair like the benediction of anointing oil and she stilled at its peace and its blessing. Both arms wrapped securely about her, he kissed the top of her head. "Let us do this thing...together," he murmured. He felt her head nod under his lips and he squeezed his eyes tightly together in relief, his own chin trembling now.
Time ceased all meaning. Indeed, it seemed as though there had almost been no October but that September had flowed straight into November. The chocolate was gone, absorbed into the villi of the womenfolk who lay, replete as ticks, about the floor of the factory. The males had been laboriously and with intricate attention to detail restored to cleanliness. Only Jack's innermost epaulette fringe showed traces that chocolate had ever coated the characters so completely. The women had done their task well, above and beyond any normal call to duty. Why the long hours, the terrible leg cramping annsmac had endured to remove the final bit of the last of the 43,782 pecan halves inlaid in secret Creole patterns concentrically about Terry's equipment... was a feet, er, feat beyond compare. One might have thought she would bear a look of great physical suffering, but, no, she still smiled in that way those gifted with massive fortitude are able to do. And Marti, respecting Jeff's entreaties for her to be gentle, had found the inner strength to be gentle with the plumber...many times. When Bud
removed the last of the splints from Berti's sprained tongue and she
was, at last, able to speak again, she said, "Have we missed
it? Have we missed October?"
Bud smiled. "We have not only missed October, we have missed the Autumn!" "How
can that be?" Berti exclaimed, truly appalled. "It's an epi thing," Marti supplied, conveniently forgetting to mention how she had sent all available muses to north central Florida for her own lucky sunbursting uses. (Marti, on Enchantments, was working on adding to two stories at the time..."Lucky" and "Sunburst") Berti ran
to the window, peering anxiously out at the now-leafless
Pennsylvania landscape. "But what of Joimus and Maximus? The
General asked us to meet him at the confluence a week from
Friday!!"
Marti smiled, not minding at all the extra time she'd been given to be ever more gentle with Jeff. "We'll be late," she shrugged. "So what?" "So WHAT??!" gasped Berti. "Epis happen in real time! Don't you KNOW that?" Marti shrugged again. "There is nothing real about epis. What does time matter anyway?" Berti had paled so that Bud was standing behind her, his strong hands clutching her shoulders in support. She moaned softly, shaking her head from side to side. "It's everything...simply everything," she murmured. Lifting her chin and gazing at the Queen with despairing eyes, she continued wearily, "Maximus could have been at the confluence for weeks now." So what?" Marti repeated off-handedly. "Alligators," Berti whispered, her voice catching. "Or alien pumpkin people." Her lower lids brimmed. "Category 6 volcano eruption." Marti
humpffed. "Humpff! Volcanoes don't HAVE categories!" Berti closed her eyes tightly, her forehead deeply furrowed. "In Pittsburgh they do," she said, then opening her lids, turned suddenly and locked eyes with Bud. "We have to GO!" she shouted. Bud knew she was right. He lifted his nose, sniffing. Why the very AIR was laden with danger and sinister unknowns. "We haven't a moment to lose!" he said, pretending not to notice the Captain's frown at his flagrant dialogue usurpation. Ando nudged Sue's ribs. "What's a confluence?" Sue looked
at the former Welshwoman disdainfully. "Someday you'll have to
read up on American chimney architecture," she said, then
walked off arm in arm with an all-too undusty sheriff toward the
loading docks. Meanwhile atop the forested ridge of the Blue Mountain range, Maximus opened his eyes in the morning light. It was cold and his breath condensed and froze on his moustache. He studied the tree limbs above them. The green canopies of late summer were gone. The ground around where he lay with Joimus was covered with crisply dried brown leaves.
A few stray snowflakes floated down, resting only briefly on his rust-colored wool cape before melting into nothingness. Joimus stirred in his arms and he smiled as she opened her eyes. Reaching up with his forefinger, he traced the line of her cheek. "We have slept long," he said softly, moving his eyes to indicate the state of the forest surrounding them. "MmMMmMmmmm!" she mmmmmmed, stretching slightly in his encircling arms. "How long?" "Seven weeks...maybe eight," he said. Her blue
eyes opened more widely. "That IS long...even for an epi!"
He sat up, pulling her up with him so that his cape still covered
her as she snuggled into his chest. "Where are the
others?" she asked, contentedly listening to his strong
heartbeats. "I left them at the chocolate factory," he explained. "They were very...involved... in their activities and were in no condition to leave when I was ready." He sucked in his breath with a long hiss, remembering something, then continued, "I told them to meet me at the confluence a week from Friday." "You
DID!?" Joimus exclaimed, sitting back a little to look into his
face. He nodded seriously. "That was well over a month ago. Do you think they have gotten themselves into trouble?" Joimus, familiar with the confluence as she was, had images of alligators, volcanoes, mutant rats passing through her brain. Then her mind flashed back to the sight of the characters so well covered in their thick coatings of chocolate and her mouth quirked into a grin. "I doubt they have even reached the confluence yet," she said. "Truly?" he asked. "Yep!" she said, nodding her head in assured affirmation as she remembered the grateful look in annsmac's eyes. "Brrrrrr!"
said Ando, looking up at the grey November sky. A snowflake floated
down, seeking out the tip of her nose for its perch.
"Bugger!" she exclaimed, brushing it away. "Why
couldn't we have left the chocolate factory back in September when
it was warmer?" Marti, who had churned out chapter after chapter of her own fanfic, smiled to herself. Some things were just better left unexplained. "At
least we're not hungry," annsmac remarked, full to bursting as
she was with chocolate and pecans. Terry had gallantly taken off his
camo jacket and placed it about her shoulders. His equipment was,
alas, still a bit sticky and as they crossed the fields, several
crispy maple leaves adhered to its rounded surface. "But WHEN will we ever get new outfits?" complained Ando, looking down at the tattered remnants of the Fuegan gown she had been forced to wear for the better part of two years. "Yeah," agreed Wanda a bit grumpily. "The wardrobe department is certainly not playing a big role in these storylines!" Buggie narrowed her eyes, thinking how Joimus, at least, was attired in the warmer garb of the female ninja at present. But WAS she? Unbeknownst to everyone, beneath Maximus' cape, encircled in Maximus' arms, the black material had begun to take on a definite yellowish cast. A sudden shiver took her and she moved one hand to her shoulder, suprised at the gossamer feel to her ninja fabric. "Wh..what?" she said, puzzled. Maximus smiled, letting his fingers trace the outline of her collar. "You are becoming you again," he said happily, leaning forward to place light kisses on her brow. Her entire
countenance brightened. "Oh, Maximus," she whispered,
tuning in for the first time to her entire contentment in being with
him. He cupped her chin in one of his large hands, gazing into her eyes. "Perhaps we may not even need to go to the confluence after all," he said softly, pleased beyond measure at what he saw in their depths. "Well, hullo!" greeted the Countess, stepping out from behind a small white pine, her eyes instantly taking in the unninjanessing of Joimus' garb. The rest of the cast soon gathered about them in the small clearing and the encaped couple stood to welcome them. "You didn't get very far,"Ando commented, looking askance at the rumpled cape and the mashed bed of leaves. "Far
enough," Maximus replied, eyes twinkling. Catching sight of
Braddock, he added, "Is your movie out yet, Jim?" "Not till the summer," Jim replied with a sigh. Himself shook his head. "I barely get one out a decade any more." "Well, I...," a strangely familiar voice said from behind a quercus, "must get to New South Wales by February." "YOU!" cried Joimus as the man she had spoken with under the live oak back in The Village came into the clearing. Who's HE?" asked Anna, raising one eyebrow. "He has no name," Joimus explained, "making it truly difficult to incorporate him as an epi character." "No name?" repeated Diz, glad that The Man had been referred to as Egan once in his film. "Nope...none at all," the stranger confirmed. "You are a long way from New South Wales," Himself said, walking up to study the man.
"As are you," the nameless one added with a grin. "He's right!" Phyllis said seriously, gripping Himself's bare forearm. "YOU must get to New South Wales before February as well." "True," Himself said, nodding his head. Wanda nudged Eryn. "This sounds like the getting of Braddock to Toronto." Joimus, overhearing, remarked quickly, "Oh, I'm sure it will be NOTHING like that!" "You should know," Ando grumped. "But...we have no other form of transport than our feet," Julie pointed out. "We'd better start walkin' then," Himself said. "Eastern Pennsylvania is quite a ways from New South Wales." "Not
to mention the existence of the Pacific Ocean," Ando added, a
bit of concern beginning to rise in her voice.
"When has THAT ever stopped us?" Berti remarked. Ando just rolled her eyes. A low growl came through the woods from about a dozen yards to their left. Buggie looked around wildly. "Where's BIEBE?" she shrieked. |
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