Chapter 37

Naomi picked at her dress as she stared out the window. Agatha was at the wheel holding it steady. Mr. Squibbles slept on the witch’s shoulder. Yula was dusting. Tavik still sat at the table. No one had replaced the mask, and he had not demanded it back which was probably good because if he had, Naomi would have pitched it out the open door. She had no idea how this whole thing was going to play out once they reached the northern plateaus. The only thing she could figure was that they would tie Tavik to a tree where unicorns were likely to pass and hide till a unicorn showed up. It seemed reasonable and highly likely to fail.

She got up and paced the room. She wanted to talk about the plan, but Agatha had dropped cues not to reveal anything to Tavik. Naomi was not sure why keeping him in the dark was important but played along. The paranoid part of her brain wondered if maybe the reason Agatha did not want to talk about the plan was because she did not have one.

“If you’re bored, there are some games in that cabinet,” Agatha said.

Naomi stopped pacing to check out the cabinet, curious to know what sort of games the witch would have. An assortment of odd shaped objects lay nestled in the cabinet. Naomi began drawing each out to take a look. She pulled out a stone board that had a checker squares scratched into it. There was a small tied bag with the pieces for it. It looked like the game might be similar to chess. She pulled out a stack of cards in another tied bag. She shuffled through the cards looking at them. Odd pictures were drawn on all of them. Naomi did not think any of the cards repeated. She pulled out a bowl with small round stones piled inside. There were toys in the cabinet as well: a stuffed bear with a lopsided smile, a blocky wagon with fat wheels, hand carved animals. Naomi took the toys down and examined them before putting them back. She only kept out the items she supposed were games. “Any suggestions? I don’t know how to play any of these.”

Agatha bounced the shoulder the mouse slept on. “Mr. Squibbles, hop down and show Naomi how to play Cirrant.”

“I don’t want to play Cirrant,” Mr. Squibbles grumbled as he turned over and tucked his nose under his tail.

Naomi looked over at Yula, but the old woman was on her hands and knees with a wash bucket and rag and hadn’t even looked up when at the talk. By the time they reached the northern plateaus, the cottage would sparkle and gleam if Yula had anything to do about it. Unwillingly, Naomi’s eyes landed on Tavik. He sat staring at them silently. Agatha’s eyes shifted to him as well. She arched an eyebrow to her as if to say if she wanted to ask him, ask him.

Naomi did not like that idea. Feeding him had been fine, but playing games with him while tied up seemed not cruel but pathetic. She decided she could amuse herself without having to know how to play any of the games. She took the stack of cards over to the table and sat down across from Tavik. He arched an eyebrow at her. Naomi did not respond. She took the deck out and flipped through them to study their pictures. The closest she could figure was that they were like a Tarot deck, but Naomi had no interest in divination. She took two cards and balanced them on their edge on the table making a T. She would build a card house. No need for instruction or other players with that. Naomi could not believe she was this bored. She should probably relish the break in action, but in actuality, it made her antsy. She focused on the card castle and blocked out everything else on her mind.

The card castle was four stories tall when Yula began fixing lunch. Tavik had sat there silently watching Naomi at her idle pastime without ever saying a word. Naomi appreciated this as it allowed her to utterly ignore him. Mr. Squibbles had finally finished his nap and had taken on the daring enterprise of sneaking through the castle’s foundations. Naomi could not see where he was currently among the cards.

She carefully began the fifth story of her masterpiece. She had never built a house of cards this tall. She was kind of impressed with herself. She grinned to herself as laid down another layer of cards. She sat back to enjoy her success. Suddenly the table lurched, and the card castle tumbled.

“Ack! I am buried alive,” Mr. Squibbles cried.

Naomi’s jaw dropped at the total destruction of her idle work. Not a card was left standing. She looked at Tavik. There was an evil smirk on his face. He had caused the ‘table-quake’. Naomi narrowed her eyes and glared at him. She would get him back for that.

“Naomi, clear that mess away so I can start setting out lunch,” Yula said.

Naomi began picking up the cards and dug out Mr. Squibbles, who quickly scurried away to avoid any further calamity.

Yula laid out a large spread for lunch. Naomi retook her seat from breakfast for Tavik feeding.

“Do not give Lord Tavik any of the soup. I put carrots in it, and he can’t eat those,” Yula warned.

“Why, would they kill him?” Naomi asked.

Yula shook her head. “Oh no, they just give him an upset stomach.”

Naomi chuckled. “Damn, I was hoping we could kill him with a carrot that would be fun to watch.” Yula gave Naomi a nervous look and moved the pot of soup out of her reach.

“Tell me Tavik, how long have you been in service to the god Errilol?” Agatha asked.

Tavik stared at the witch silently. Naomi poked him in the ribs. “Answer her, politely.”

Tavik did not even turn his head to glare at her. He seemed to be locked in a staring contest with the witch. “Your family must be so proud,” Agatha said her voice dripping with contempt.

“I have no family,” Tavik replied flatly.

“Then Naomi’s motivations must seem completely foreign to you. You see this is all spurred by her simple wish to return to her family and home. She misses them. I bet her parents are very proud of her.” Tavik swung his head to look down at Naomi.

Naomi hunched her shoulders feeling like a pawn in the argument but didn’t know exactly what the argument was about. “I don’t know if they’re like really proud of me. I mean, I guess they are because I have my own place, an okay job, and no criminal record, but I’m probably more proud of them than they are of me. I mean they raised me, gave me a good home, helped me get through college, and they never made me feel like I owed them for it even though I know it was hard for them sometimes financially.” Naomi shrugged her shoulders not feeling like she was saying it right. “I miss them. They make me happy, and I love them.”

“You are a good girl,” Yula said softly.

“Damn, now I want to visit my mom,” Mr. Squibbles grumbled.

“Interesting because I still do not,” Tavik said.

Naomi glanced at Tavik. His face was unreadable. His eyes were again locked on Agatha. Agatha stared back with a grim look on her face.

“I miss my boys. They were good boys, too. Whenever I would go out to chop wood, one of them would pop up to do it for me, and the oldest did not even live at home anymore. He was apprenticed to the blacksmith, but he still would come by to help around the house.”

“Do you know where Yula’s sons are?” Naomi asked Tavik.

He looked down at her for a moment. They stared at each other. Naomi tried to keep her face blank, but she really wanted to give Yula something for helping her, and nothing would be better than knowledge of her sons. She could feel that wish leaking into her eyes. Tavik’s face was truly blank. He stared at her, and she thought for a moment she saw his eyes soften, but then he turned away, and Naomi couldn’t be sure. Yula stared at him with an open face. Her hope was clearly stamped on it.

He grimaced and shook his head. “I could ask one of my officers to check into it for you. I can’t offer a guarantee that they will discover where they are though.” Yula deflated at this less than hopeful news.

“I have asked at the different camps, but could never get information. No one knew them.”

“Do you still have something of theirs?” Agatha asked.

Yula mutely nodded.

“Give it to me; I may be able to help you.” Yula’s face broke into a true smile. She rushed to her small bag and retrieved the stuffed rabbit.

“They both played with it. Is this good enough?”

Agatha took the toy and smoothed its ears back. She smiled and nodded. “Yes, but I need to collect a few things before I can try the spell. We will do it tonight.”

“Oh thank you, thank you,” Yula said clutching the witch’s hands. Naomi smiled for Yula. She had high hopes that Agatha would be able to help Yula. The witch had shown how formidable she was; after all they were flying through the air in her cottage.

“There’s no need to thank me. Family is important. It’s all most people have.”

Naomi noticed that Tavik clenched up at the witch’s statement. It took him a couple of seconds to loosen his jaw to take the beef off the fork she offered him.

“I never met any of your family or heard anyone talk about them. Are they still alive?” she whispered.

Tavik’s eyes stared at her with a coldness that made her instantly regret her inquiry. “I have no family,” he said again.

She nodded and didn’t ask any further questions.

Continue to Chapter 38.