Motorcycles

They were in Zoe's garden. However, shouldn't a garden actually be a piece of land bordered by a fence at or around a house? But where Douxie was standing right then and there, there was no fence of any kind, nor was there a house to be seen far and wide. Not to mention Zoe's apartment...

"Oh, shut up, Douxie," he heard Zoe scold next to him.

"What?" he pulled his left shoulder up questioningly, showing his palms, and frowned. "I didn't say anything!" he defended himself.

"Ha! Your thoughts are screaming at me. Don't give me any know-it-all dictionary wisdom. I've been cultivating and shaping this piece of land here to my liking since I moved here. So, it's my garden, got it?"

Zoe pointed accusingly at him, but in the next moment made a come-further gesture with the same finger and walked toward a small hill.

And so he walked among what appeared to be wild medicinal herbs, bee and other insect-friendly flowers, discovered the distinctive green leaves of carrots that Zoe loved to eat, and secretly wondered how many of these little flowering islands, protected by her magic, were scattered around the world. For Zoe, of course, didn't miss the opportunity to plant and grow her garden everywhere and to cherish and care for it wherever she had settled down domestically in the course of her long life.

"Is that catnip?" Archie suddenly asked, getting restless on his right shoulder while yawning profusely.

"Only the best for the familiar of my wizard companion," Zoe replied with an amused tone and no sooner had she uttered it than Archie had leapt from his shoulder and disappeared into a corner overgrown with several bushes and shrubs. Only an appreciative mewing announced that Archibald was still around...

"You do realize that it's going to take a miserably long time for him to come down from that trip, don't you?" Douxie shook his head, looking reproachfully at Zoe.

"Let him be. He hasn't so many secret guilty pleasures to enjoy by himself. And that way we'll both be undisturbed. Because..." she dragged out the word as she stopped in front of a small sitting area made of artfully arranged stones, smiling as she pointed to the laptop sitting on the stone that no doubt acted as a table. "I found an old treasure of yours that I'm sure you'll have to think about for a while."

And while the glow of her magic flickered briefly in her eyes, a window opened on the screen, showing a motorcycle.

Douxie's breath caught and his eyes widened. Could this be possible?

"Is that-"

"Oh, yes."

"My Wolfbrand," he stammered breathlessly and, without taking his eyes off the screen, slowly settled down on one of the stones.

"Yaaa. But seriously, Douxie, I can't stand that name. You, who write pretty much all of our awesome songs, named your bike as a mix of the manufacturer's names? So unimaginative!"

But her complaint flowed over him like the balmy wind. Now that he saw the machine in front of him, all the memories came flooding right back. Of how he had almost worked himself to death to be able to afford it. How Archie and he had driven it from place to place and on and on. And the anger that had boiled in his stomach when he had returned from that bloody World War and his motorcycle was no longer where he had left it.

"You found it?"

"Well, obviously. Turns out a farmer's boy had taken it back then. Since then, Good Hilde has been passed down through that family from generation to generation. But that's a good thing, too, because she's been kept in good shape and properly cared for. And I must say, the current owner is a decent person. When I showed him the bill of sale of your ancestor, who had left the motorcycle here because he was off fighting in the war, he apologized profusely and was immediately willing to return it to you, since you are the only heir of your ancestor." Zoe winked at him.

"I can get it back..." Douxie sighed. But then he looked sharply at Zoe. "But the name is not Good Hilde!"

"We'll talk about that later," she grinned cheekily at him, "but yes, you have to decide now if you want her back. Or you can officially sell her to him. Because he's already very attached to her, after all, he got her from his father and he got her from his father and so on. He also lives only one state away, so we could bring her here as a weekend getaway. What do you say?"

But Douxie honestly didn't know what to say to that. Oh, he had loved the machine. It had character and personality and had been a wonderful addition and drivable vehicle for Archie and him. It had made them both independent of the public transportation system. But it was also a fact that he had been without it for over half a century now and honestly hadn't thought about it at all for years. And that, well, was a clear sign that he didn't need it at all. Especially with his current living and working situation - he could easily walk to everything important, and to the band rehearsals and sporadic gigs he was taken by his fellow ADP members.

"You really don't have to decide right away, Doux," Zoe's voice snapped him out of his thoughts and brought him back to reality. When he looked up and noticed that the lights around them had taken on an evening shade, he winced. How long had he been lost in thought?

Zoe, meanwhile, had turned off and closed the laptop, and had obviously brewed herself a peppermint tea, judging by the smell.

"You want some?" she asked and gently pushed a cup to him from which a little steam was still rising.

"Thanks," Douxie murmured quietly and nodded.

But even as he lifted the cup and blew into it, watching the dancing curl of smoke, he suddenly heard a bloodcurdling hiss that ended in a deafening crack.

In the next second, before his cup hit the ground and shattered, Archie came running toward him, eyes wide and panicked, and without reducing speed sprinted onto Douxie's shoulder again, nearly costing him his balance. And behind him, his pursuers broke through the bushes.