Book extra

by Veronice

This is Book extra. It overlaps Book 9 and 10. It also overlaps the books of Valencio's story, now available with some re-writing, as original fiction. I was not intending to republish this book, but since every month, there are several readers of the first ten books, then maybe some will enjoy this as well.

21. Chapter 21

Notes: Workers at Loch Lomand: Michael & Dot, small son, Robin, Therese, Katrina. The freed slaves: Carol & Helene, leaders. Brigitta, Inge & Evita, the young girls. Jimmy from Enclosure 3. Tasha & Valencio, (Vince.) Clarence & Bernice. Gloria, Mary, Connie, Emma.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter & his world belongs to J. K. Rowling. By the time of this story, Harry Potter is known as Bellamy.

Chapter 21:

Both Zoe and Najia missed Bellamy quite painfully, but for Zoe, at least, there was just a little relief.

They heard some news when they made a brief visit to Loch Lomand some weeks later. He'd been there, ensured that everything was being taken care of, and now there was one more damaged person who called it home. Jimmy Rawlings now lived there. He was the one from Enclosure 3, who'd been inflicted with Confusion Spells. He'd been unable to reconcile himself to his own confused memories being so much in conflict with the official version of events.

He was happier now, ever since Brigitta decided that she couldn't do without the sex her body craved. They didn't stay long, and scarcely saw any of the medj. Zoe said, "Let us know how they're going."

Dot nodded, trying to conceal her antipathy. Taken when just children, sterilised so they could never be mothers. She didn't know much of what had happened to them otherwise. They never spoke of it.

Najia wrote to Bellamy, a careful letter full of their doings - that the plain, functional App. Box looked much better surrounded by a bright red fence with some fancy decorations designed by Kei, who now worked in maintenance. That Haru was very busy teaching the women apparation, using the Enclosure 3 area, where anti-apparation magic had never been laid. That there were now a dozen sheep and a dozen goats in Enclosure 3, subjects for practising spells, but that nothing painful or lethal was ever done. That the women were practising duelling against each other, mostly using the disarming spell. That three of those men who had resigned, had returned, as well as the one who'd been afflicted with spells in Italy - Maslechi. That Grandmother Bouchra walked every day and was beginning to become less fat.

Najia did not say that she'd taken a lover from among the Khatabi-Richi, and did not say that she suspected that Zoe cried every night, for her lost love.

There was a short reply from Alison, his secretary, that Bellamy was out of touch, but her letter would be held for him to read on his return, probably in late June for the summer school holidays.

Alison did not say that he'd spent just two days at home, that he was trembling again far too much, and that Peter had mentioned that he'd spent most of both nights restlessly wandering the property. It was over a year since Pat died. His family and staff wondered whether he'd ever get over it.

**x**

Loch Lomand:

By the beginning of June, the medj no longer worked together amicably. Each of them had their own little unit, the two married couples in cottages, and twenty had bedrooms within the castle. All the furniture needed was provided, and there was almost never a need for the medj to see the magic they hated. Even the App. Box landing and App. Zone were enclosed in an attractive shed.

But somehow the women were restless, there were constant arguments, and Dot was beginning to wish she'd never taken on the job. Instead of living on site, as they had been from the start, Michael took Robin, and returned home, and Dot arranged to work in shifts with Katrina and Therese, to make sure there was always at least one available to take responsibility when needed, and not a wizard.

Pierre Tranter, Britain's Dachier, visited one day, with the intention of making a speech. He wore wizard robes. There were mutterings, a reference to 'bloody wizards,' and the medj walked out, first a trickle and then a flood.

Pierre was pleased that he hadn't allowed any of those who'd made donations, to inspect the rescued medj. Cilius Malfoy, for instance, was tall and arrogant, and looked every inch a powerful wizard. If enough of them attacked at once, he might have found himself in trouble.

Clarence and Bernice were a force for stability, taking strength from each other, perhaps.

Valencio worked hard, whistled as he worked, and usually had Jimmy with him, who also whistled, from the day that Brigitta started sharing his bed. Jimmy was still confused, still needed looking after, but was not unhappy. He felt secure with Vince, who looked after him, and with Hilde, Clarence and Bernice whom he knew. They hadn't tried to get him to know any others. Best to leave him always with those few familiar ones.

Carol had retreated. She'd worked and worried for so many years, and now she sat in her unit, all day, every day, and watched television. She even missed meals sometimes, too much absorbed to tear herself away. There were a lot like her. It was all too much, and they didn't have to think while they stared at the small screen.

It served a purpose, as there was so much knowledge they needed to acquire. There was new technology they didn't know, sometimes changes in the way words were used, current events that were new to them, even new fashions. It took a lot of getting used to. Aside from Valencio, none of them had yet crossed the boundary.

Susan Bellamy was there every day, pleased that Loch Lomand was within apparation range of home so that she could continue spending her nights with her boyfriend, Marcus Pickering. She took no part in organisation, suspecting that it would only make her unpopular. Instead, she led rides all over the property, giving the medj the choice of route. The ponies were very quiet, placid and obedient, but none seemed to want to take them off by themselves. Susan consulted, more stables were built, and a few more ponies and horses were supplied. With so much dissension, the horse-riding began to seem like the one thing they were doing right.

Kaede found it very much to her liking. Her favourite pony was called Alexander, that Susan told her had been bought for Lesley, her sister, when she'd had a short-lived interest. Susan and Lesley were daughters of Bellamy, who'd rescued them, and Alexander had lived at his home. And when Kaede took her place in a line of ponies, led carefully by Susan on her own pretty mare, she felt a very great contentment. At last, she was someplace where no-one was abused.

She made no attempt to help organise things, though she did assigned tasks when her name appeared on the roster. Kaede had done more work than any other in the enclosure, trying to ensure the children had a reasonable education. Now, she chose to relax.

Even many of those who had not started riding, took an interest in the ponies. Mary, every day, talked to a friendly black pony called Ruby. Ruby was her special friend, who didn't think her silly because she cried when she should be happy. There was so much space around, and things were untidy, far different from the manicured gardens and formal order of the Moroccan enclosure.

The essence of freedom, Carol had called it, but at the moment, it seemed that Carol had lost all of her courage, just like herself, though gentle Mary was unsure whether she had ever had much courage.

Dot was still essential, as someone had to deal with local authorities, and arrange for the purchase of those things still needed, but even Carol and Helene looked at her with resentment. There were rosters compiled by Dot, with lists of medj who were supposed to help with all the routine chores that needed to be done for eighty-two people, not counting Anirage. If they didn't want to see magic, it was obvious that they'd have to help.

Carol had given her two separate lists to begin with - those whom she could rely on, and those who should be put only with others, because they were not yet capable of helping.

But fewer and fewer turned up to help, and when Dot stopped Carol, to talk about it, Carol listened inattentively, and when Dot persisted, she lost her temper, and said loudly she should just be grateful they were not all in screaming hysterics.

Dot looked after her in bewilderment as Carol hastened to her unit, stared at the blank TV screen for a while, before starting to sob her heart out. It was too much. She'd worked so hard for so many years, and she just couldn't do it any more.

The young girls ran wild, neglecting their own cleanliness, exploring every inch of the large property, and each time, coming to the old fence which marked the boundary, touching it cautiously, and retreating. The three spent almost all their time together, Inge and Evita at night as well, though Brigitta always slept with Jimmy. No-one treated the three girls like children. They were not children.

Bellamy appeared near the end of June. They hadn't seen him since the App. Box, and now they stared, fascinated. Just like then, he wore faded casual jeans and shirt. They didn't want to talk to him, but word spread, and they watched him from a distance. He was Wizard, and it was Wizardkind who'd destroyed them, as they thought. Their courage, and the cool efficiency with which they'd engineered their own survival, were forgotten. They felt guilty and ungrateful. He leaned against the wall in the corridor outside Dot's office, and spoke to her in depth about the problems they were having.

Jimmy and Brigitta turned into the corridor, and Brigitta almost pushed Jimmy towards him. Jimmy said, "Please, John, can you tell me again what is real and what isn't? I get mixed up."

"Of course," and Bellamy spent an hour walking and talking with Jimmy, Brigitta trailing a little way behind, not close enough to touch, but not out of earshot. At last, Jimmy thanked him and said he could go away now, as he wanted to think.

Bellamy said, "Tell Dot whenever you want to see me, and I'll come as soon as I hear."

Brigitta said bravely, "We hear you're away a lot these days."

"I'll be home for two months, as the girls are home from school." He added to Jimmy, "Charlie's fine by the way, and so are all the others." He grinned. "I hear some of them are to be given bravery awards, and they deserve it too, though not for the stated reasons."

Jimmy laughed suddenly, "Harry made a good story."

"That he did." Jimmy would be confused again by the following day. It was taking a long time.

Bellamy smiled at Brigitta in her ragged clothes, and she suddenly noticed that his cheek was bruised. He asked, "Do you want to go shopping?"

Brigitta said, "They've brought in clothes for us, but I didn't like them."

"Ania often have little idea of what ordinary girls like to wear. If we went to a shop, you could make your own choices."

Brigitta smiled, pleased. Was she an ordinary girl, in spite of her history? She knew she'd had it easier than a lot of them, but the long months knowing how vital it was that Abensur was kept happy, had taken their toll. "A big city?" she asked, "And apparating?"

"If you want, and anyway, I'm a rotten driver."

Two hours later, Brigitta was back, waiting next to the App. Zone, standing beside some large parcels. Two minutes later, Bellamy was back beside her, holding a black Labrador pup in his arms.

Outside, two very grubby girls waited, asking excitedly about Brigitta's purchases, and making a fuss of the puppy. Bellamy leaned against the wall of the App. shed, and watched, but quickly joined by Susan. "Hello, Dad," she said, hugging him, and then saying reproachfully, "We haven't heard from you since May!"

"I've been travelling."

"Where?"

"Canada, then Holland and Sweden. Bronn Zylman's left home, and upset about it, but not upset enough to leave Holland, and Helga's married."

The two girls had decided, and suddenly they were standing in front of him, voluntarily approaching a man for the first time in many weeks. "Can you take us shopping, too?"

Bellamy looked questioningly at Susan, who said, "We can take one each."

It was a landmark, and Evita and Inge each wound up with a pup from the same pet shop.

Bellamy continued to come every day, and more of the women timidly asked to be taken shopping. After a week, Bellamy sat in a small bus with a dozen women, and Dot drove them out through the gates to Duich, thirty miles away, where there was an animal shelter.

"It's the way you changed our lives," said Gloria to Bellamy. She held a scrawny Siamese cat, who didn't appear to like being held very much. She lifted it to her face, and spoke to it severely, "And you should be more grateful!"

Bellamy glanced at the cat and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Cruelty leaves scars. You can't expect that cat to be as sweet and nice as some kitten that's never known ill treatment."

Gloria looked away, but she took in his words and felt a little less guilty.

Katrina offered an excursion to a scenic area nearby, but when they saw that Bellamy wasn't waiting to go with them, the passengers melted away. He gave them confidence, and they couldn't face it without his presence.

Valencio kept right away from Bellamy. The women might not worry that he would claim them for sex, but in Valencio's experience, the more powerful the wizard, the more they wanted him. And that last night as a prisoner had shown him that his advanced age was no protection, either. Wizards only hurt and raped. He kept as much out of sight of the wizards as possible. He wanted to leave, but Tasha became upset if he even suggested it.

The next day, Bellamy went in the small bus with Carol, Helene, and a few other women to Duich, where they wandered and spent their allowances. For Carol, it was the first time she'd been off the property. It was time to pick up the pieces. Daytime television was not for people with work to do. She reconvened the Committee, and things began to change.

As soon as it was the medj Committee that made up the rosters, they were more respected. Women were allotted responsibilities, and those who worked, were paid, in addition to the small allowance they all received.

Dot breathed a sigh of relief when she found she was no longer ostracised, and the medj began to work with her again. Katrina and Therese felt the difference, as well. The pointless bickering that had persisted for several weeks, was at an end.

At the end of July, the contract of the caterers expired, and they were replaced with just one head cook, and by Clarence and Bernice who wanted to take over as soon as possible. They were to have six helpers every mealtime, rostered from those without other responsibilities.

The head cook, Svetlana, was consumed with curiosity about the background of the odd community, whose members seemed so ignorant in some ways, and so mature in others.

Tiffany finally gave the prepared story, said that it was very painful to talk about it, and Svetlana stopped asking questions. She didn't look at them with pity, though - but with awe, interpreting their story as soooo romantic! Tiffany was rather pleased with herself, and most of them amused. If only she knew!

For discretion, there was now an 'App. Zone 2' just around the corner from the gate. Three small cars were garaged there, so that people arriving by apparation could then drive the car normally through the gate and the half-mile to the castle, and not arouse curiosity from visiting medj, or make the ex-prisoners uneasy.

Carol was present when Bellamy emerged from App. Zone 1 and was sternly rebuked by Dot. There was a more discreet way to enter, and he should use that!

Carol looked in surprise. Dot was addressing him as Boss, and acted as if he was only ordinary. He looked ordinary. He always wore ordinary clothes. He wore glasses, too, and once she'd seen him trembling, as he'd done when at the Khatabis. But Inge told her he said he trembled now and then, and it didn't mean anything.

It turned out that Bellamy did actually know how to drive, and he adopted a small orange car, and each day, drove slowly and cautiously the half mile from the gate to the castle.

He was looked for now, and women would be waiting and watching for his arrival. There were more excursions in the bus, shopping, and getting to know a little more of the area. A few started to refer to Bellamy as their 'Good luck.'

Tasha was one of those who waited for him one day, Valencio next to her, though he had every intention of vanishing as soon as he saw the car. Tasha thought he was foolish, but had given up telling him so.

Jimmy was going. Clarence and Bernice were both going, and he was accustomed to them. It was summer, and they'd prepared for swimming.

Tasha pointed as the orange car appeared and turned into the drive, but she clutched her husband painfully when the car thumped straight into the fence post, and then Bellamy didn't get out of the car.

Brigitta panted, "I'm getting Dot," and Tasha and the others ran towards the car, Valencio first, suddenly acutely anxious for the man he avoided. What would happen to them if he wasn't there any more?

Their worst fears seemed to be confirmed, and Valencio was not the only one who felt a panic. John Bellamy was slumped forward over the steering wheel, and with blood on his forehead. Valencio reached in and felt his neck, where the pulse beat strongly. It was all right. He wasn't dead. But he still looked around anxiously as Dot hurried to join the group surrounding the car, and also touched.

Dot said reassuringly, "He's just knocked out. He was probably only going slowly as he knows perfectly well he can't drive!"

The relief in the air was palpable.

Dot stood back, considering. Connie asked, "Why can't he drive better?"

Dot answered, "It's a very old brain injury. When he's sick or very tired, he staggers, always to the left. And when he tries to drive a vehicle, it has a strong tendency to veer to the left."

"It's the left hand gate post he hit," observed Valencio.

"Just so," said Dot.

At that moment, Bellamy moaned slightly and stirred. Dot waited until he sat, blinking at those around him, and then asked, "Ready to get out of the car now, Boss?"

Bellamy did as he was told, and just as Dot had said, he didn't seem to be able to stay upright very well, nearly falling until grabbed by Valencio, who then moved to his left, and securely held him. Dot carefully backed the car away from the gate post. Bellamy was put back in, but the passenger side, and driven back to the castle.

Valencio only stood, watching after them, though Tasha already hurried with the others. The great wizard was human. He had something wrong with him, though it never normally showed. And he'd accepted the support of Valencio, with even a slurred 'Thank you.'

Ten minutes later, Dot rejoined the waiting medj. "He's all right, but not really fit enough to go out with you, I'm afraid."

Carol asked, "Really all right?"

"Go and see for yourself."

Bellamy was pale, but apologised for letting them down.

Clarence said suddenly, "Maybe it's time we were a bit brave again. Maybe we can do without you."

Bellamy said rather faintly, "Of course, you can. You're almost the bravest people I know."

For the medj, going out without Bellamy was one more step on the road back to normality. Valencio joined them at the last minute. He'd not been planning on being anywhere that Bellamy was, but it was different when he wasn't going, and they were going to the beach.

Bellamy was to stay the night. Dot explained that it was unsafe for a person to apparate when sick or dizzy for any reason.

Carol consulted with the Committee. They were unanimous, and Carol and Clarence went to Dot with their request - that Dot and Michael, with Robin, move back in properly, and would they please eat with the medj from now on. Bellamy, too, of course.

Dot smiled, very pleased, and Clarence picked up the high-chair that their son Robin, used, and carried it into the large dining room, although neither Michael nor Robin were there that evening.

Valencio wasn't given a chance to skip dinner in order to avoid seeing him, but at least Tasha didn't object when he went to the table furthest from where Bellamy sat. He watched him, although pretending not to. It was when he saw him stagger once, just slightly and swiftly disguised, that he relaxed a little. It made him appear less potentially threatening. And someone whispered to him that he often had trembling attacks, almost every day, that he always said it meant nothing.

Bellamy had only helped them, had never threatened him in the slightest. But he was a wizard, and Valencio knew not to trust a wizard. He was constantly surprised that the women were prepared to trust, even the most timid ones, Mary and Connie and Emma. If not for Tasha, he'd have been not only gone, but hiding from anyone who even knew wizards.

Bellamy stayed again a few nights later, explaining that his own place was swarming with medj, the local Pony Club Gymkhana, and he wasn't supposed to be seen. Tiffany nearly made him an offer, but Carol told her that it would change things too much, that they all needed Bellamy just to be as he was, not to be a lover for just one of them. Bellamy, himself, never showed the slightest indication of looking to any of them for sex.

They were all, without exception, very curious about Bellamy, and the Anirage found themselves answering questions all day. Dot finally suggested that she order in a few of the wizarding newspapers and magazines.

Carol asked, surprised, "You have your own newspapers?"

"Newspapers, magazines, books... The boss is the great wizard. He often gets a mention, though you have to remember it's often thoroughly exaggerated, what they say."

A week later, the Aniragi News was making the rounds, with a picture of Bellamy wearing elaborate formal wizard robes, emerald green. The headlines, 'Hoist with his own petard,' which seemed to refer to a device that Bellamy had invented to tell if people were related. An illegitimate daughter had announced herself very publicly at a formal function he was attending, and there was a photograph of Susan and another girl, who looked very similar, 'Yvette Bouys.' The newspaper editorial was almost gleeful - the great wizard who dared to criticise the conduct of others, and now there was an illegitimate daughter of his own, and not the first, though there were no details supplied about any other illegitimate children.

Mary read the newspaper. But that night, she tossed and turned, frightened that he'd somehow know and punish her for her insolence. In the morning, she decided she was being very silly, and that day, she was waiting to ride Ruby when Susan appeared at the time she always took the morning ride, 'the gentle ride.' The afternoon ride included a canter now, and she also gave an hour's lesson to those who wanted, only the young girls, so far. Brigitta said she wanted to learn to gallop.

Bellamy was only coming every two or three days, now. Not every day. His youngest daughter was home from school, and his second daughter had just left school and had started a bookshop. He was working sometimes, spell-breaking, Dot said.

Brigitta asked him about it - did he really break 'unbreakable' spells, and did it really make him bored, as they'd heard? Word spread afterwards - Yes, he did break spells, and it was often boring. He did it because there were ones that no-one else could do. It was an obligation.

An obligation! None of the wizards that the medj had known would have done anything merely because it was an obligation!

**x**

Morocco, September:

Najia was still curious about Bellamy's doings, though Zoe pretended not to be. He didn't seem to be much of a letter writer, and she combed through English magazines and newspapers for news of him. She also saw the headlines, 'Hoist with his own petard,' and studied the photographs, one of him in dress robes, another of four girls. 'His four daughters!'

Najia swallowed. Was he really a man who took advantage of women? She read on, and came to a quote, 'She's intelligent, charming, and her mother was delighted when she discovered she was pregnant, or so she said when she told me some years ago. I may not intend to sire children like Yvette, but she's a daughter to be proud of.'

It made her feel better. There was a more detailed article in a magazine, which made her feel better still. She'd heard rumours before that he'd spent years wandering the world, lost and confused, and while the article scarcely hinted that he may not have been rational for a while, the story of a sad, broken down roundabout, renovated, made her feel very good.

Later issues showed the opening of Lesley Bellamy's new bookshop, 'A raging success!' She continued to read, his name leaping out at her whenever she came across it.

A date was announced for his last spell-breaking session, and patients were advised to book in quickly, as he was to be going abroad again shortly, destination unknown. The date was already past, and Najia wondered where he was now.

**x**

Loch Lomand, September:

With the medj seeming so much more confident, Dot put a note on the notice-board. Who wanted to learn to drive a car? Valencio put his name down, and Tasha after a lot of urging. But it was only when Dot conferred with Carol, and it was made known that the teaching would be on their own property, that more names were added, a lot more names.

Michael did the job of making temporary roads that wound around three large paddocks, with intersections, and road signs that had to be observed. The head cook, Svetlana, who was medj, and not supposed to know about magic, was a complication, but Dot checked the cost of getting in earth-moving machinery, and decided to cross her fingers, and, if asked, to say the tracks had been there for months - hadn't she noticed?

There were eight small cars, plus one twenty-seater bus, available for the use of all of them. But they were accustomed to working together, and shared willingly. They all had to have identity papers before they could expect a driver's license. It would be organised by the DMT - magical forgeries, but their own names and nationalities as much as possible.

Some, like Valencio, had decided to change their names, and Emma, whether because she was taken so young, or because of the trauma of the time, could not supply a surname at all. Valencio offered to share his - she could be McDonald, as well, if she liked.

Emma said scathingly, "McDonald!"

Valencio grinned, "Vince McDonald, perfectly respectable name."

Emma nodded, and said to Dot, "I'll be Emma McDonald."

Dot wrote it down. "Nationality?"

"Canadian, I think," said Emma uncertainly.

Dot made the note, and concealed her pity.

Valencio pulled Emma to him, and said, "Now you're my sister, you'll have to come driving with me."

Jimmy said, surprised, "I didn't know she was your sister!"

Valencio kissed Emma, and said, "She's been my sister for years and years, and now it can be official."

Emma smiled at him, "I'd like to be your sister."

There was a new entertainment at dinner times these days. Now, almost every dinner time, they'd coax Jimmy into telling 'John Doe' stories. Sometimes it would take a while to get him started as Jimmy's memory was erratic. But the strange man who pretended to be ordinary had changed their lives, rescued them from slavery. And no-one understood how he could do the things he did, and yet seem so approachable. A powerful wizard who presented himself as merely someone kind, someone who cared about them, though they were only medj. Dirt-people, as many still thought of themselves.

It was so strange to think that John had been a prisoner, that maybe he, too, had not always been treated well.

Jimmy told them, "They said he was a John Doe, because no-one knew who he was. And he didn't, either. Couldn't remember anything, you see."

They knew why. Riza Khatabi's revenge. The curse that was supposed to turn him into a mindless vegetable.

Jimmy forgot he was telling a story, and had to be coaxed again. "Who was John Doe, Jimmy?"

Jimmy said vaguely, "John Doe..."

"Yes, Jimmy, John Doe. Tell us about him."

"They told him it was just a hospital at the start, and he could barely see, so didn't know there were fences and soldiers. But he must have suspected, because one day, he tried to walk straight out the gate, and knocked down Joe. So then Kyle used the stun gun, and he had a terrible fit and was very sick. But he got better again, and they told us that Kyle did the right thing, as he must not be allowed to escape. But only to use the stun guns if absolutely necessary."

"Were they nice to him mostly?"

"Always to be nice to him. But to shoot him if we had to."

"What did they think he was?"

But Jimmy was suddenly uncertain. "A Martian, I think. But someone said he was from Alpha Centauri."

"Did they know he could work magic?"

Jimmy stared into the distance, and then shivered. They stopped asking him questions. Jimmy had seen some terrible magic, and they didn't like seeing him upset.

But their curiosity was overwhelming, and the next dinner-time, "Tell us about John Doe, Jimmy."

Jimmy said, "There's no-one called John here. I don't know anyone called John."

They often had to remind him. "He was in a prison, except they called it Facility 19. You were a guard, and had to make sure he didn't get away."

"They let him ride a horse, but he had to be on a lead."

"Was he a good rider."

"A good rider. Horses did what he wanted. Sometimes he made it kick the fence, to make Force B frightened of him."

"Were they frightened of him?"

"They wanted to shoot him, I think. But they never did. And then he got away."

"How did he get away?"

"He turned into a horse and galloped away."

Brigitta laughed, "That's not right, Jimmy. People don't turn into horses."

Mary wondered. He was a wizard wasn't he? And that was how Jimmy always ended his stories. Jimmy was fidgeting. He didn't like them contradicting him. He was sure he remembered John being a horse. It was when he was not a cat.

Valencio asked, "What about the birds, Jimmy?"

Jimmy remembered the birds. "They liked him. He would sit in his tree, and they would come and sit on his shoulder. He gave them bread, sometimes, I think."

He stared into the distance, and said, "I was reading a newspaper. It was when he was being a cat. He asked me to read a bit to him because he couldn't read, but when I started, Sergeant-Major Willis said I wasn't allowed. It was rules. And John said, very quietly, Rules, and then he walked quickly away."

"Did he turn into a horse that time, Jimmy?"

"No, he fell down because they hurt him."

"How did they hurt him?"

"Hurt him. They said we had to be nice to him, and then they hurt him."

"Did they use a stun gun?"

Jimmy's eyes had tears, and he said, "They hurt him, and yet he came for me. And he wasn't a cat any more, and there were high fences..."

Time to stop, and Brigitta came to him, and said, "Let's go to the ballroom, and maybe we can ask if Belinda will play the piano for us."

But Jimmy took a long time to forget his upset, and they didn't ask him about John Doe for a few nights, and the next time, he only told them about him walking straight into a new picnic table because he didn't see it right in front of him.

Another time. "Tell us about John Doe, Jimmy."

"I had a fight with him."

But he'd told them about that before, and Connie asked, "When did you see him for the very first time?"

"I was on the gate. I saw his guards first, three of them all around him, but not too close. He acted like he couldn't even see them. There were a couple of male nurses closer. And he was very, very thin, and wore jeans, and a bright red shirt. He came along the fence line, and Les pointed him out. He was staggering, even though he had a walking stick, and he touched the fence now and then. It was hard for him to see, they said, and the first time he came to it, he just walked straight into it."

"What happened then, Jimmy?"

"He turned into a horse and galloped away."

Clarence said patiently, "That's not right, Jimmy. People don't turn into horses."

"Sheila showed him her baby, and then he tried to run away, and Alec had to shoot him."

Michael glanced at Dot. They knew he'd been shot, but had never known what happened.

"There was a baby?"

"Sheila's baby. He wanted to hold it, and she let him. But then he gave it back, and walked straight out, fast, and climbed the fences, and Alec had to shoot him."

He stopped then, and they had to prompt him. "Why did Alec have to shoot him?"

"He was over the two high fences, over the electrified fence, the killing fence, and climbing the last fence. Alec said there was already blood all over him from the barbed wire, and then he had to shoot him, and then Alec got very drunk because he was his friend."

It was a much more sad story than Jimmy had told the previous night, about John getting lost on an obstacle course relay, and handing his baton to the wrong man at the end.

Jimmy continued, "They were a lot more strict after that, and he always had at least two guards with him except when he was locked in his room, and no-one was supposed to speak about babies or children so he didn't get upset again."

They tried to keep him talking. "Did they lock him up?"

Jimmy's eyes wandered, and found Brigitta. He smiled, "You're very pretty."

All they needed was a word that might act like a trigger, and get him talking again.

"You said John had blood all over him. Where was he shot?"

Jimmy played with the pepper pot in front of him.

Michael prompted, "He was shot in the legs, wasn't he?"

Jimmy nodded. "Both legs, very bad, so he had to be in a wheelchair. One day, he was in his wheelchair, and he came to watch us drill, and started teasing Sergeant Davies, so that Davies blew his top, and demanded that he be taken away. But his guards wouldn't, and we were all supposed to allow him as much freedom as possible in case he might be very dangerous."

Michael chuckled, and looked at Dot. "Little did they know how dangerous he could be!"

There was a tense silence, and Michael looked down. He shouldn't have said that. They didn't like powerful wizards, but mostly, it seemed they didn't think of Bellamy like that.

But Jimmy went on, "He told Davies that left, right was not right, and that right always came first, and when Davies told him for God's sake, not to interrupt when he was working, he said that it wasn't work, it was tomfoolery contrived so that soldiers learned not to think for themselves."

"Might be right, too," commented Tiffany.

"What did Davies say?"

"We all thought Davies hated him, but then John collapsed one day while he was watching us, and Davies was terribly upset, and helped take him back to Ward 3. He liked him, I think, really."

They kept trying to prompt him, to try and have him tell them more, until he suddenly stood, and said that they should know he couldn't remember, and they should leave him alone, now.

Clarence said, "Sorry, Jimmy," and Brigitta took his arm, and asked if he wanted to go to bed now.

Jimmy forgot his anxiety at being questioned, and smiled at her eagerly. Bed with Brigitta was something special.

They were very intrigued when Jimmy told them about various experiments they were supposed to do with him, to ascertain the extent of his suspected telepathy. Jimmy was often not very clear in his story-telling, and those stories often seemed to end in the soldiers being rebuked for not being clever enough.

"They said to tell him we were just playing games and he could join in. But when his turn came, instead of trying to guess what was under the hat, he turned into a cat and climbed a tree."

Clarence asked, "Why did they think he had telepathy, Jimmy?"

"He could see through one-way windows when he wasn't supposed to."

"How did they know?"

"Punched someone watching him behind the window, and then tried to break it, but it just looked like a wall."

"Did he punch many people then?"

They'd asked that before, and the answer ranged from never anyone at all, to every single one of B Force, because he only liked A Force.

That time he said, "Timothy once. And he said he never even saw it, just found himself on the floor, and John in a different place."

"Why did he do that?"

"Don't know. I think Timothy was not supposed to tell us, and forgot, because he shut up then."

Dot and Michael were questioned then. Did John have telepathy?

Dot hesitated, and glanced at Michael, who said calmly, "He uses it in some types of cures, so he does. But he says he never uses it normally, not without good reason, and nearly everyone forgets."

Dot said, "I didn't know, until Michael mentioned him getting badly hurt by a patient when he used the telepathic cure. Sometimes, it causes a berserk rage."

Michael added, "There are supposed to be extra aurors when he does that, to protect him. Letting him be hurt that day was my failure."

Jimmy said seriously, "Not supposed to let him be hurt. Only when they did it to him. That was allowed."

Michael asked, as curious as the rest of them, "Did they hurt him much, Jimmy?"

"He called the Colonel, Mark."

"He called the Colonel, Mark?"

Jimmy nodded. "He used to come and eat with him sometimes, but we didn't like it. But John just called him Mark, and talked with him the same as anyone else."

Michael said, "Doesn't sound like he was treated cruelly, then."

"We were supposed to shoot him, and we didn't." But that mysterious statement was followed only by the claim that that Lieutenant Greenspan said that there were too many stray cats, and it would be better to shoot the lot of them.

**x**

Morocco:

An afternoon meeting was beginning to become tense. The Khatabis, with Zhor Khatabi-Vrie as leader, and Bouchra Khatabi-Vrie as support, and a guard of six Khatabi Fighters. Each of the other three main families of wizards in Morocco were represented, and each of them had their guard. Zoe and Bouchra were reaping the benefits now of centuries of powerful, feared Khatabis. None, so far, had dared dispute.

Zoe held the floor, declaring that it was time that Morocco joined with the civilised countries that put restraints on the unrestricted use of power by Anirage. "Medj can no longer be used as if they were of no worth. They are to be respected as human beings!"

Jamal Mellouk rose to his feet and said dangerously, "And who's going to stop us doing exactly as we please?"

Zoe, too, rose to her feet, and Fudo, Patek and the others prepared for a fight. Zoe seemed to be almost letting off sparks in her determination. "The Khatabis will enforce the law!"

"We don't even have a law yet!"

Zoe said, showing not the slightest hint of any backdown, "I prefer that laws be agreed upon. Any who do not wish to cooperate, will have laws imposed."

Mellouk felt a suggestion in his mind, not knowing that it came from without. He sat down.

The Khatabi-Richi gave not a hint of their surprise, and not a hint of their pride in their leader, the diminutive woman who now asked who, of the families, would like to join her in visiting certain countries in order to gain information as to their laws, and the organisation of their governing body.

She had her way, and there would be three with her when she visited certain countries and asked for help to formulate laws. There would also be Fudo and at least two others. One always needed to be wary when with wizards such as Jamal Mellouk. But the Mellouks had conceded, as had the Naybets and Khiris. It was the first step. Zoe was just twenty years old.

There were orders given that night. No-one wanted the formidable Khatabis against them, and medj prisoners were used one last time, and then disposed of. Although no others in Morocco had exploited them as systematically as the Khatabis, each of the powerful families had some women kept for sex. It was not something that Zoe had foreseen, that she would be the cause of the deaths of twenty-three young women the families no longer dared keep. On the other hand, the Mellouk tutor cancelled his request to their manager that thirty be taken prisoner in order to practise the curses that had made the Khatabis so feared, for so long.

Zoe dropped wearily into a chair that night as she rejoined Najia.

"I was right, wasn't I?" said Najia. "You can look stronger without me."

Zoe smiled. "I swung it, but not without meddling in the mind of one Jamal Mellouk."

Najia said proudly, "There's no-one like you. You can do anything!" And they both immediately thought of another who could do anything.

"I wonder where he is now..." Najia said.

"Bahiti's letter said no-one there knows."

"So what's next?"

"Organise a meeting with Dieter Roche, and also their Dachier. We'll start with Britain, check out Italy and France, but avoid America where Khatabis would be very much unwelcome." She smiled at her cousin. "Want to come with me?"

Najia shuddered. "Not with those others."

"Just you and I to begin with, and we can take the App. Box to Loch Lomand, and then apparate in steps to London."

Najia smiled with anticipation. "Tomorrow?"

"The sooner the better."

"How about we ask Bouchra if she wants to come, and go the day after. You're too tired to leave before dawn tomorrow."

Zoe yawned, and agreed. The three of them.

***chapter end***