No Quest For The Wicked

“On the other hand, if someone else does take it, they’d follow them just as readily, so it may be too risky to hang around here.”

“Riskier than being out there?”

He turned to look toward the busy street, then back at the crowd of magical folk. “I don’t know. I don’t think there’s a right answer, just a bunch of answers that are all wrong in different ways. I suppose it won’t hurt to stay here as long as we can, and then we can leave if we need to.”

We stopped, and then I edged closer to Owen as the crowd caught up with us and circled us, still singing to the stone. The air crackled with magic, and I wondered what those spells would have done to me if I weren’t immune to magic. They didn’t seem to affect Granny, but Rod swayed along with the crowd. As long as that stopped him from trying to get the brooch, that was okay with me.

Then I realized that there was one member of our party unaccounted for. “Where’s Thor?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Owen replied, scanning the crowd. “Did he stay with Earl?”

“They had a truce, but I don’t think they’d yet become friends. Maybe he wandered off since he got his money. That was his main goal.”

“Yeah, and money’s probably more powerful than the stone to a gnome.” But Owen didn’t stop scanning the crowd. “It’s not like a gnome to blend in with elves and fairies, so he probably is gone,” he added.

“Granny!” I called out. “Have you seen Thor?”

“He was here with me a minute ago,” she said.

“Oh?” Now I was worried.

“He was very politely escorting me. Not that I needed any help.”

“Then where is he now?” If meek, gentle Earl had turned on us, I worried about what Thor would do. He’d gone after Mimi with his battleaxe, but the Knot had protected her. I had no such protection. My calf muscles twitched in anticipation of an axe blow.

A war cry rang out in contrast to the sweet singing, and I screamed and jumped. “Thor!” shouted Granny, her voice ringing with iron.

The war cry stopped, and I saw Thor swaying on the edge of the crowd, directly in front of us. “I need it,” he whispered.

“You have your money,” Rod reminded him. “Remember money? Put your hand in your pocket and jingle those coins.”

Thor did so, a look of pleasure so intense that it was nearly obscene coming over his face. While he enjoyed a special moment with his money, Rod crept over and reached to grab the axe. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it in time.

As though sensing Rod’s approach, the gnome jumped to attention, got both hands on his axe, then ran right at Owen and me, shouting, “The brooch is mine! It will bring me much gold!”

Some of the elves and fairies in the circle rushed forward, surrounding him and keeping him away from me. A melee ensued as the elves and fairies fought first against the gnome and then against each other. The stone seemed to feed on and encourage hostility, and soon the love-in atmosphere was gone.

“Okay, now we get out of the park,” I said to Owen. We had to fight our way through the other side of the circle. Hands grasped at me, but I kept moving, glad I’d thought to pin the brooch to the inside of my pocket so it wasn’t easy to take. If I moved quickly enough, they didn’t have time to unpin it before I swatted their hands away.

The battle cry rang out again, and Owen shoved me forward, but at his yelp of pain I rushed back to find him on the ground, his hand clasping his calf. Thor lay motionless nearby with Granny and her cane standing over him.

“Oh my God, Owen,” I cried out as I knelt beside him. “Are you okay? Did he get you?”

“Just a glancing blow,” he said through clenched teeth. “It’s not deep, and I don’t think he hit the Achilles tendon.”

I touched the wound and my fingers were immediately covered in warm, sticky fluid. “You’re bleeding pretty badly,” I said. “We’ve got to get this bound up.”

Granny joined me, already digging in her copious tote bag. “I’m sure I’ve got something in here,” she muttered to herself. To Owen, she said, “Pull up your pants leg, son, and let me get a look at it.” She pulled a vial out of the bag and poured a liquid on the wound as she said, “I’m not sure how well this will work on you without magic, but at the very least, it’ll kill germs.” I clutched Owen’s hand as he hissed in pain. Then she pulled a length of cloth out of the bag and said, “I’ll have to buy a new pair of support hose, but these’ll do for a bandage for now.” She wrapped the hose securely around his leg, tying them off and tucking in the ends before pressing her hands on the bandage and murmuring a few words. “There, that should hold back some of the bleeding. I don’t know if the spell will help, but it can’t hurt.”