The officer took the ID and turned away, talking into the microphone on his vest collar. He glowed, or at least his yellow-green vest glowed in the morning sun. On a whim Lelia shifted to magic sight. No glow. She shrugged a little to herself, and caught Deborah as she tottered a bit.

  As the officer turned back toward her, a boy's voice yelled, "Look! A police bike." A rush of motion heralded a small stampede as kids raced to look at the motorcycle. Lelia didn't hide her smile quite fast enough.

  "Thank you, ma'am, Master Tay." Officer Harris returned the cards. "I don't suppose you'd wear a vest like Angus Macbeth, would you, Master Tay?"

  "Only if it came in leather in the 'Leaping Lemurs MC' colors, with sterling silver studs and chains, officer," Tay sniffed. "Or silk brocade, preferably silver on black."

  Lelia couldn't see Officer Harris' eyes behind his mirror shades, but the corner of his mouth had started twitching. "Tay, you have a brocade waistcoat already," she sighed. "It's for the club, Officer, not the park."

  He shook his head. "Understood. I'll remind Ms. Cooper that Familiars do not require leashes. Thank you, and have a good rest of the day."

  "You too, Officer, thank you." Once he'd gone to rescue his motorcycle from the curious flock, Lelia sat down hard on the bench, Deborah in her lap. Calm down, relax, calm down. She'd never stop over-reacting to police. Ever. Tay leaned against her and false purred. "Thanks."

  The boys resumed playing on the pirate ship after the officer departed. Lelia finally gathered them up almost an hour later and they returned home far more slowly than they'd departed. She got all of them to rinse their hands and faces, then gave them a hearty snack and made sure that they drank plenty of water.

  After Mrs. Green picked up Joe and Ezra, Art and Hiram got busy cleaning their room and putting away their laundry. Only then did Lelia tell André about the raven. "I don't like this, Shadow," she admitted. "I wasn't sure if it was trying to scare the kids or what, but I didn't want to hit it too hard with so many children under it."

  "No." He finished his snack and leaned back from the table. "That would have been just too hard to explain, blasting the bird to pieces and terrorizing the kids, not to mention the mess. That's a lot of bird to make a mess with, too."

  Lelia made a face. "I don't even want to think about cleaning up after something that large and messy."

  "Put a note on the magic workers' net, and we'll see what the others think. We do need to see about working on stand-away shields, though. That would be a better way to discourage it, if shadow balls don't work." André stood, carrying his plate to the sink. He grinned. "So, what's for supper? Raven roulade?"

  She thwapped him, lightly, with a dishtowel.

  Chapter 10

  A Visit to the Farm

  The minivan climbed out of the river valley and up into the rolling hills. Patches of forest and woodland alternated with old family farms, a few complete with red and white barns, white farm houses, and silos, just like a farm play-set. "I have soil envy," André sighed yet again as they stopped at an intersection and he pointed to the black loam between rows of corn. "And rainfall envy."

  "Do you want to be on the ranch with ninety-five percent humidity?" Lelia teased.

  "No. I just want the sixty inches of annual rainfall, evenly spaced around the calendar." He smiled at her, then turned his eyes back to the road. "And a pony, and all the ice cream I can eat, and an autographed baseball glove, and . . ."

  Familiar snickers interrupted his wish-list. Art and Hiram stayed quiet, probably a little tired from marching in the parade. The flags were not light, and grew heavier the longer the boys walked with them. Lelia glanced back, saw Deborah napping, and faced the front of the car again. Different shades of green covered the rolling land, dotted with white and faded red. Dairy cows grazed here and there, black-and white or brown-and-white, and a few farms had horses as well, and sheep. André turned off of the county blacktop onto a well-kept dirt road that wound back toward the river, growing more shaded and narrower the farther it went.

  "I keep waiting for the 'Here be dragons' sign, boss," Rodney said.

  "Why would they advertise?" Tay inquired. "Especially now that dragons are trendy again?"

  Both André and Lelia winced. "Please do not remind me. That last batch of sweet-prints from Shoshana almost spiked my blood sugar," he murmured.

  "At least you don't have to look at them all day while you're working," she murmured back. The minivan slowed and they rolled down the windows. André stopped, and the adults leaned out the open windows. Someone sensed them, identified them, and a ward lifted. They leaned back into the vehicle and drove farther, turned hard to the right, then drove another quarter mile or so before parking under an ancient, enormous oak tree. "We're here."

  By the time she and André unbuckled their seat belts, Art and Hiram had freed themselves from booster and car seat respectively, and were out the doors racing toward the Old World farm house. Parents, Familiars, and Deborah followed at a more dignified pace. They carried several bags of baked goods, bar-b-que, baby things, and the book.

  "I could be back in Germany, or farther east," André observed yet again. Rendor, Dumitra's husband, beckoned from beside the steep-roofed, two-story house. Ornately carved patterns decorated the eves and balustrades on the porches. The bright blue door and shutters accented the golden brown wood of the house. A large American flag, waving a little in the soft breeze, hung from brackets on the edge of the porch eves. Long, low outbuildings glowed in the late afternoon sun, white walls decorated with colorful floral or seemingly-abstract stencil patterns. Large trees shaded the buildings and part of the farmyard. Multicolored chickens clucked as they roamed here and there.

  Lelia had wondered why so much of Arthur's family remained farmers, until she'd realized that they were almost completely self-sufficient. And that the buildings could be defended from both magical and mundane attackers relatively easily. "What were you saying about paranoia as an art form?" she whispered yet again.

  "Well, when everything and everyone is out to get you, it's not paranoia," André reminded her. Arthur personally owned Belle, Book, and Blacklight and the building housing it, and other men had a few similarly small, specialty businesses here and there in the area. Neither Lelia nor her husband asked questions. The German and Polish farming families in the area tended to be closed mouthed and clannish, so Arthur's people fit in rather well, at least that way.

  "Cousin Katoka! Cousin Garridon!" Dumitra waved. "You did not need to bring anything," the young matron protested, smiling.

  Lelia smiled back. Dumitra joked that they could be sisters, and she wasn't too far off. Both women wore kerchiefs over their hair, and had dark, almond eyes. Like Dumitra, Lelia wore a long-sleeved blouse and long skirt. André wore the embroidered black shirt he'd been given. They'd been adopted into the clan through service and spirit kinship, something Lelia still didn't understand and didn't want to break her brain by trying to sort everything out. "What sort of guest comes to a feast without sharing, Cousin?" Lelia called back.

  They rounded the corner of the house to find a huge herb, flower, and vegetable garden with a garden house and bower. Long tables, some already laden with food and drink, extended down the wide spaces between the garden rows. Unlike most European families Lelia had read about, Arthur's family did not imbibe much alcohol, or at least didn't when she and André were present. "Meat things here, vegetable things there, breads there," Dumitra told them. "Unshi Arthur comes soon."

  Lelia found a place in the shade and set Deborah's carrier down for a moment, watched by the Familiars, then hurried to help André put the food in the appropriate places. Judging by the uneven stacks and missing slices, the party had been in full swing for a while already. The boys raced up. "Mother, Father, may we go—"

  André held up one hand, stilling them as Arthur's older sister walked up to them. White cataracts covered her eyes and she used a silver-capped staff to sweep the way ahead of herself. The clan healer walked beside her. "Well met, sufliti filu," the healer said, smiling.

  Lelia curtsied and André and the boys bowed. "Our thanks for the welcome," André replied formally "May the Lady and Her Defender watch and prosper this place and family." The women and a passing younger man made an odd hand gesture, not the sign of the Cross but something similar.

  "With such good will, much good may come," the blind woman replied. Having welcomed them, she returned to the house.

  André turned to the boys, and the healer smiled at Lelia. "So, the newest member of the family?" Lelia smiled back and helped Deborah out of her carrier. Deborah stared around from under a little ruffled sun hat, then took a careful step, holding onto her mother's hands as she toddled. "She is so big. How old?"

  "Nine months, ma'am. Deborah Judith."

  The white-haired woman smiled even more, showing slightly sharp teeth. "Deborah Judith. Strong names indeed."

  "She is named for my husband's grandmother Judith, ma'am." Deborah tried to turn around, so Lelia helped her before letting her stand. Deborah balanced for a moment on her own, then grabbed her mother's legs. That meant pick-me-up, and Lelia obliged. The baby stared around, not fussing about all the strangers.

  Behind her, André said, "Yes, you may. Do not get into the pond."

  "Yes, sir!" Whoosh! Art and Hiram raced off to join the other boys and some of the girls.

  André turned and smiled. "Soccer, sort of. I have no idea where they find the energy, but I want some."

  The healer laughed mightily. "Ah, Garridon, should you find the source, guard it carefully, for you will never needs work again if you bottle and sell it."

  The healer left to check on something, leaving André and Lelia alone in the shade. That suited them just fine. Lelia sat on a bench under a tree, got one of Deborah's bottles out of the little cold-stuff bag and fed her a snack while André found them something to drink and sat, carefully. They heard the breeze in the leaves above them, and the happy chaos of children chasing a ball as adults came and went, bringing more food or taking servings with them. Deborah finished and yawned. Lelia tidied her, then set her in her rocking carrier to nap. "Would you like something to eat?" Lelia asked, taking a moment to make sure that the black kerchief over her hair remained in place.

  "Yes, if you don't mind." He watched the baby as she went and made a small plate for him, then brought it to him before getting her own. "Thank you, love." They ate. Tay sampled some of the fruit. Rodney sniffed the meat and heaved a long sigh. André frowned. "Dude, you want raw meat, catch your own, but not the chickens."

  "Boss, some of those chickens would kill me!" Rodney tipped his head toward an especially large specimen with a brilliant green tail and mean looking spurs on his feet. "That rooster has murder on his mind."

  "Well, he probably remembers when he was one of those giant dinosaurs and wants to get even," Tay opined from the bench. They heard a mild commotion in a language not English and he added, "Master Saldovado has arrived."

  Arthur appeared to be getting an ear full from the healer. Lelia pretended not to hear or see anything. André leaned to her and whispered, "Tell me again about the oppression by the patriarchy in traditional societies and all that?"

  "You mean the patriarchy that refuses to argue with the head of the Ladies Aid about when to schedule the big mission fund raising quilt sale and auction out of fear for its life? That all-powerful patriarchy?" She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Though she had seen Arthur command some of his clan once, when a bonfire got out of hand. They'd obeyed without question, women taking the children and getting well clear as the men dealt with the emergency. I don't think I want to be around if Arthur and his older brother are both giving orders. I think that means we'd be in Last Battle levels of trouble.

  Arthur finished speaking with the healer, looked around from the porch, and saw them. André got the book out of Deborah's bag and they stood as Master Saldovado approached. He'd combed back the little poof of hair, revealing his grey-frosted widow's peak. He moved with a predatory grace, perhaps even more than at the shop. Most of the men did as well, even André, Lelia had noticed. Arthur smiled. "Well met."

  "Good afternoon, sir. We brought something we thought you might find of interest." André handed Arthur the book. "It needs to be in the care of someone who understands the import of the contents."

  Arthur's expression turned wary, and he glanced at the cover. Dark eyes widened, and he opened the book, turning to the first pages. His eyes went wide indeed, and he took a long breath as he looked at the pictures. He closed the book. "Where did you find this?"

  "A used book seller at the Thaumatological Association asked us to look at it, sir, because he did not know how to list it for sale." Lelia gestured to the book. "We purchased it before he could put it out for sale. Shadow and I, and Rings and Ears, thought that it, ah, needed a good home."

  André rested his right hand on her shoulder. "A home that appreciates the importance of the contents. Silver and I, and our Familiars have read it. No one else has seen it since we bought it."

  "Look at chapter nine, sir," Lelia advised.

  Arthur did. His eyebrows rose almost to his hairline, and he closed the covers once more. "Thank you, suflit fiica, Master Lestrang. You are correct. It is better that this not pass into unfriendly hands. Excuse me." He turned and hurried away, calling to someone in the farm house as he did. Lelia and André took the opportunity to get more to eat, and to check on the boys. The soccer game had come to a halt for the moment, and the kids had divided up to join some of the men for a horseshoe toss.

  Arthur returned as the couple walked back to where the Familiars napped with Deborah. "Thank you," he said. "The book will be kept safe. There are . . . concerns . . . that something moves, perhaps, that would make that even more dangerous."

  "Dangerous, sir, should anyone believe it." André held his left hand palm up and smiled ruefully. "After all, everyone knows that only werewolves and vampires come from the Balkans. It's on the internet, and TV, so it must be true."

  "And the Balkans and Carpathians are absolutely identical," Lelia sighed. "I should stop being surprised by the foolishness on the internet."

  Arthur laughed, one side of his mouth rising into a semi-smile. "Just so. And werewolves date teenaged human girls and walk around with their shirts open."

  "And sorceresses wear long, loose sleeves around open flames, sir."

  Tay poked her in the leg. "They do," he protested. "Once."

  André muttered under his breath, "Yeah, like the explosives specialist named Lefty." Rodney groaned from the bench.

  Despite the fresh air and breeze, Lelia caught a whiff of an all too familiar odor. "Ah, sirs, if you will excuse the young miss and I?" Lelia gathered up dozing baby and diaper bag.

  The men cleared well out of her way. Cowards. Lelia started up the steps onto the porch around the back of the farm house. The door into the wood paneled, wood floored living area opened, and Dumitra beckoned. "Someone needs a change," Lelia began.

  "Oh yes! This way." Dumitra led her to the bathroom. "The covered bin there for the old one."

  "Thank you." Wonder of wonders, Deborah slept through the change. Lelia bagged the diaper and tucked it into the bin, then made use of the facility herself before she washed her hands. When she opened the door and returned to the living area, Dumitra and the healer waited with two other women.

  The healer smiled, making a soothing gesture. "Do not worry Mistress Lestrang, Katoka. We have not welcomed the new family member is all."

  Lelia smiled in turn and set the bag down, carefully, and handed Deborah to the old woman. "Deborah Judith," she told the others.

  One of them nodded and opened a small vial. The healer touched the tip of her finger to it, then touched Deborah's forehead, anointing her as Arthur had done to the boys. Lelia sensed magic stirring, wilder than her own if that were possible, but good. It looked green and grey to her sight, the grey of age-silvered wood. The woman with the vial said something in the not-Latin, not-Spanish language. The healer replied, then looked to Lelia. "Is there another woman of power in your kin-line?"

  Oof, I have no idea how to answer that. "I do not know. My mother's family, no. I do not know my father's people. Garridon's father's mother, perhaps. Her grandmother was," how to phrase it? "Was a woman of this land, a Shoshone Indian, a wise woman of power."

  The healer translated, then returned Deborah to Lelia's arms. The four women of the clan discussed something, then seemed to reach an agreement. Dumitra spoke. "Cousin Katoka, we ask because among us, some gifts travel in the father's line, others in the mother's. Two wise women in Garridon's father's line matches Deborah's sense and scent, especially wisdom that skips."

  A commotion arose outside. One of the older matrons, dark-skinned with grey eyes, shook her head and grumbled something that sounded both unflattering and resigned. Dumitra covered her mouth with one hand, eyes dancing with laughter. Lelia guessed, "The men compete? And wager?"

  Dumitra translated. The grumbling woman folded her arms and nodded, saying something fast and sharp. "Yes," Dumitra replied. "And it had best not be for the ham, or he will get the back of her spoon."

  Lelia got one hand sort-of-free from under the sleeping baby and pointed to herself. "Frying pan. Black metal frying pan." Dumitra translated once more, and four answering smiles bloomed. Some things were indeed universal.

  Lelia and Deborah returned to the shade. Tay yawned, a grey sprawl of lemur on a sunny patch in the grass. "Shadow and Arthur are trying to teach the boys the finer points of something or other."

  This could be interesting, or worrying. Lelia moved to where she could rock Deborah a little while watching the goings on. Arthur and his nume fiu stood at one end of a ring-toss field, André, Rodney, and Hiram on the other. André steered Hiram's arm a little, and the boy tossed. The ring fell a few inches short but in a straight line with the cardinal red wooden peg in the close-trimmed grass. Arthur said something to Art, who grinned mightily and tossed. His ring landed to the right of a sunny yellow peg. After a few more tosses, André took a ring from Hiram and almost made it against Art's peg. Arthur bared his teeth and put three rings in quick succession exactly over the yellow peg. Art smiled even wider, if that were possible. André appeared to growl, and he put two over the red peg, with his bad arm, then missed on the other side.

 

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