The Ways of Mages: Two Worlds (7 page)

The next week went slowly for Jewel. On the one hand she was excited that she carried Gawi
n’
s child. On the other, she was anxious to get about the business of rescuing the man she considered her father.

The first few days were spent browsing the various shops and markets with Kindra and Tommy. More than once Kindra slapped the thie
f’
s hand as he made a suspiciously obvious attempt to practice his craft. Jewel suspected his true goal was attracting and maintaining Kindr
a’
s attention.

Much to Jewe
l’
s delight, many of Elaini
a’
s mannerisms and expressions were starting to surface in Kindra. Kindra herself reported occasional flashes of memory that could only have come from Elainia. Certainly Elaini
a’
s fascination with Tommy T had survived as their continued courtship games attested to.

Gawin and Robert were rarely to be seen. The older man had found a machine shop on the far side of town and had rented the facility for crafting whatever it was that he and Gawin had spent the last several months designing. Her husband would come back to the hotel late each evening bubbling over with excitement but absolutely refusing to say what they were working on.

By the middle of the week, Jewel had had enough. She blew up at the two men when they arrived back at the hotel late one evening. A husband had an obligation to spend time with his wife and that was that.

Gawi
n’
s reaction took her by surprise. He simply kissed her on the cheek; smiled at Robert and sai
d“
Great! W
e’
ll move in the morning
.
”

The move turned out to have been a prearranged relocation to another hotel located a few blocks from the machine shop the two men had been frequenting. Jewel could
n’
t help feeling she had been manipulated but the new hotel was opulent, had an excellent view of the lake and a pristine beach for swimming. In addition, the new location meant the men could join them for meals.

Moving Sergeant Tolivier was not without its own complications.  The portly soldier had steadfastly refused the carriage hired to transport him and the ladies to the new accommodations. He insisted that he be allowed to walk or ride on horseback.

“
Lacy things with cushions is fer women and I
t’
aint no woman
.”
He had said.  

It was
n’
t until Kindra unblocked his pain centers that he consented to the carriage rid
e–
explaining to Tep that someone had to guard the women. Tep raised an eyebrow; but otherwise said nothing.

Despite the move, the men were no more willing to talk about what they were working on than before. At one point Gawin asked Bendon if he would like to help. The old mage shot an alarmed look at Robert and the older engineer put a hand on Gawi
n’
s shoulder and said simpl
y
…
“
Lad, for reasons I really ca
n’
t get int
o…
tha
t’
s really not a good idea
.
”

“
Bu
t
…”

“
Trust me lad
.”
Robert said with a amused smile on his face.

Bendon, as usual, spent much of his time running from pub to pub looking for the odd traveler to engage in games of chance. His luck at cards seemed spotty at best. Yet he always seemed to have enough on hand to pay the innkeeper for their room and board.

By Saturday, Jewel had decided she would die of boredom. She and Tep went for a walk on the beach with Mister Underfoot and Rat in tow.  The cats enjoyed following Jewel to the lakefront as there were always minnows and small crabs to be had on the beach. Rat, the cat that had joined their party in the city of Thioden was finally coming to terms with the fact that she was not a rodent. That said, she still tackled Mister Underfoot each time he made a move towards a mouse. The situation served to confuse the older cat to no end.

As Jewel and Tep walked along the sandy lakefront they passed behind the machine shop where Gawin and Robert were working on their mysterious project. Jewel made a decision. Picking up Mister Underfoot and signally Tep to do the same with Rat, she walked up the wooden beach stairs towards the back of the stone and stucco structure.

Once at the top of the walkway she and Tep made their way towards the back wall facing the lake. A single large but curtained window afforded the occupants a view of the water. A door next to the window provided a back entrance to the shop. Jewel could hear the men arguing inside.

“
W
e’
ll never get it calibrated without taking the risk
.”
Gawin was saying to Robert.

“
Aye yer right lad, but the important question is deciding how much risk is acceptable. A smidgeon too much and we could destroy it
.
”

“
And we ca
n’
t know the extent of the risk until I do the mat
h…
I understand what you are saying. The problem is that it will take years to derive the calibration formula without empirical data. Years GrimHolden does
n’
t have
.
”

“
So what are you suggesting, lad? Plug in all four vertices and see what happens
?”
the old man said with exasperation.

“
Controlled tests - Measure what happens
.”
Gawin said firmly
.“
Inch the vertices in until we see temporal or positional perturbations in the immediate locale and then inch the vertices out one at a time
.
”

“
And if you push the wrong vertices too far, you could find yourself translocated in time or space. Are you prepared to miss the birth of your child? Or even worse, can you swim for days on end when you suddenly find yourself twenty leagues out to sea
?
”

Jewel had heard enough. She marched past the window and pushed open the back door. She had intended to confront the men and put a stop to this foolishness. What she had not counted on was the Border Collie sleeping on a mat by the door. The dog woke with a start and immediately started barking at the two intruders holding cats. Mister Underfoot, for his part, was no stranger to dogs and had developed over the years, a distinct dislike for the breed. He launched himself from Jewe
l’
s arms with a great leap that covered over a third of the distance between himself and the tallest person in the room. Two more rapid bounds and he had attached himself to Gawi
n…
mid-thigh, where he proceeded to claw his way up the tall engineer to his shoulder.

Gawin reacted to this unexpected assault by screaming and attempting to defend himself from ten flailing claws. He stumbled back and into Robert who was delicately fitting his strange black sword into a cradle mounted on a mechanism the two men had been working on.

“
NO
!”
the old man yelled but it was too late. The sword fell into place and the cradle slid a full six inches into the mechanism. A powerful wave of nausea enveloped Jewel. Robert grasped the sword and cradle and frantically pulled it back. But it was too late. Jewel along with Tep and Bendon who had come running up from the opposite direction right as she reached the door all disappeared in a shimmering wave emanating from the device before Robert managed to retract the sword. Before the wave vanished, they briefly saw a narrow band of land around the building as it might look in spring with fresh buds upon the trees.

“
Not spatial
.”
A stunned Gawin said as he removed the cat from his shoulder
.“
Temporal
?
”

“
Most likely
.”
The older man agreed
.“
The question is how long
?
”

“
About eight months
.”
Said a very angry looking Jewel who stepped through the door with a belly now substantially bigger than Gawin remembered.

“
Oh my God
!”
Gawin said as he saw his wife. Jewel was clearly in the final stages of her pregnancy and by all appearances was going into labor. He turned to Tep who was sporting a fuzzy blond beard and was now taller than his wife and sai
d“
Fetch Kindra. Get her her
e…
get her here NOW
!
”

“
Bendo
n’
s already run to fetch her
.”
Tep said, stepping back from the door and the puzzling puddle of fluid forming at Jewe
l’
s feet.

Gawin helped his gasping wife to a cot in the corner of the shop
.“
Should
n’
t we have boiling water or something
?”
He said with desperation to the old man.

Robert smiled and patted Gawin on the shoulder as he gently pushed him out of the way
.“I’
ve had some experience with this in my day. Why do
n’
t you have a nice seat over by the hearth and let me and mother here get down to the business of seeing this baby into the world and then we can find out what happened here
.
”

“
But it ca
n’
t be time yet
!”
Jewel argued between gritted teeth
.“
I have
n’
t even had a chance to kick his time tinkering bottom yet
.”
she continued as she pulled Gawin in for a quick hug, kiss, and punch before pushing him away.

“
Aye, but it is lassie
.”
Robert turned to Gawin who was still deciding whether to be alarmed, panicked, confused or concerned
.“I’
d say the sword is on the temporal axi
s…
six inches seems to be good for about eight and a half month
s–
give or take a few weeks
.
”

“
Temporal axi
s–
ye
s”
Gawin said with just an edge of panic in his voice
.“
Jewe
l…?
”

“
Jewel will be all right
.”
Robert said with confidence. He placed a moist cloth on her head and smiled warmly at her.
 “
This appears to be a completely normal pregnancy aside from the obvious shortcuts taken
.”
Jewe
l’
s eyes flashed at this. Unperturbed, the older man sat next to her on a stool and pointed to her swollen belly
.“
I used to be quite a docto
r–
may I
?
”

“
PLEASE
!”
Jewel gritted out.

The old man gently eased her dress up and felt the curve of her belly with both hands. He repositioned his hands and felt again. His professional demeanor which he held while conducting the examination gave way to a broad grin.

“
Wha
t’
s wrong
?”
Jewel and Gawin said in unison.

“
Wrong? Nothin
g’
s wron
g”
The old man said with a smile
.“
Sh
e’
s kicking
.
”

He signaled Gawin to place a hand on his wif
e’
s abdomen
.“
You can feel the foot pressing here
.
”

“
I can feel her
!”
The lanky engineer said with a smile that threatened to split his face. A contraction hit Jewel and she gasped in response
.“
Are you alright
?”
Gawin asked with a growing sense of concern.

“
I think s
o”
Jewel answered while puffing.

“
Tha
t’
s just her body getting ready for the ordeal to come
.”
Robert explained.

At that moment Tep, Tommy, Sergeant Tolivier and a very somber Kindra strolled through the door the border collie had been guarding moments before.

Kindra took one look at Jewe
l’
s condition and turned to face the old man
.“
Yo
u’
ve been tampering with time again
.”
She accused.