Simon slammed the phone in its cradle and turned angrily to the kitchen, setting about making himself some strong tea.
"Well?" Barney said as he sat at the kitchen island in Simon's flat in London. "What did you expect? They're Old Ones."
"I can still beat the little pest up," Simon said angrily.
Barney looked surprised. "I thought you were pleased when he proposed to Jane."
"I was. But I didn't realize at the time that her relationship with him would get Jane kidnapped." He dug deeper into the cabinet and took out a squeeze bottle of honey.
"He loves her, Simon. Don't ask me how," he added with a lopsided grin, "but he does. And he's an Old One. Personally, I think Daniel ought to watch his back. Will is likely to kick him out of Time four times over."
Simon squirted the honey into the tea and stared into the liquid as he stirred it slowly. "He said they're at Bran's house, right now. They've got Catherine and Michael with them; Michael's nine now. What do you say we drive there and offer our services?"
"Drive? To Wales?"
"We've done it before."
Barney still looked doubtful. "Oh, why not?" he finally asked. "Flying's faster. And if they won't let us help, which they can do, I feel obliged to remind you, we can just pull the whole tourist thing."
"Great. Let's get packed."
"Come again?" Catherine asked. Without waiting for an answer, she exploded. "What the hell do you mean, she's your fiancee? Does the word suicidal mean anything to you? Because the word homicide is kind of flashing through my mind very quickly right now."
Ignoring her, Isabella curtsied gracefully. "Hello, Bran. Will. I'm glad to see you again."
Catherine stopped ranting and placed her hands on her hips, nostrils flaring. "Oh, yeah," she said. "That's common courtesy. Where's my hello, huh?"
"Where's mine?" Isabella asked smoothly.
"Probably up your-"
"Catherine," Bran warned.
"She started it."
Isabella curtsied again. "Dinner's almost ready," she said. "I was going to get Mr. Rowlands to go with me to pick it up."
"McDonald's again?"
"One on every corner," Isabella said happily. "You've no idea how quickly they can put so much food together."
"That's because the actual meat is tasteless," Catherine said. "They ship the meat and this sort of flavoring to the restaurants. When the restaurant makes the hamburgers, they put a few drops of the flavoring on them. They all taste the same, and they only need so long on the grill to get warmed up again." When Will and Bran both gave her odd looks, she shrugged. "What? I can read a newspaper, you know."
"Who would have thought?" Bran muttered. She glared at him.
Isabella shrugged. "Oh, well. It's still good. Shall I invite Mr. Rowlands to eat with us?" she asked Bran.
Bran nodded. "If you want."
Isabella smiled. "Soon then, love."
Catherine made a face after she'd gone. "Love? Who the hell talks like that?"
"She didn't even say hi," Michael said with a pout.
Bran cleared his throat. "Never mind," he said. "She's busy. It's a lot to get used to, moving across Time like she's done."
"Yes, it's very hard," Catherine scoffed. "If I remember correctly, I got used to it pretty quickly."
"That's because you're unique," Bran said, giving her a slight push into the kitchen. Will was already at the table, laying out maps.
Catherine looked at them dubiously. "Got any of New Orleans?" she asked.
Will pushed three of them over to her silently.
As she sat down, Catherine looked at him, noticing circles under his eyes. "Get some sleep, Will. Jane will kill me if she finds out I didn't take proper care of you."
"How would you know?" Will asked.
"Oh, you know. Jane and I have kept in touch, after all. If you can call it that. It's been nine years for me, and two for her, so it's a bit confusing."
"How did you keep in touch?"
"Miss. Starling," she said, perusing the maps. "Get sleep, Will. Now."
Will frowned and looked at Bran, who shrugged. Will finally gave up. They wouldn't leave him out of anything, he knew that. And he did need sleep. He hadn't slept at all the night before, always thinking Jane- Well, he needed sleep, and Jane would say the same thing, so he'd get some sleep. Or at least try. He left for Bran's guest bedroom.
Behind him, Michael asked Bran where the TV was while Catherine pored over the maps.
"Sorry, Michael. Don't have one."
The boy's jaw dropped. "Wuh? Mom, he doesn't have a TV. Even we have a TV!"
"This is Wales, honey. Anything worth knowing you can find out through local gossip. I'm afraid you'll just have to settle for the old form of entertainment: Reading." She didn't look up. "Got a pen?" she asked Bran.
He tossed her one and said to Michael, "You want to play chess?"
"Don't know how."
"I'll teach you, then."
Forty minutes later, Catherine had circled twelve places on the map that looked as if they might be some help, and Michael had finally talked Bran into playing checkers instead and had won twice.
Catherine ignored the pieces on the board and lay one of the maps on top of them.
"Hey!" Michael said indignantly.
"Those are the places I think he could be," Catherine said, rubbing Michael's head. "The circles with the checks are the places I've heard he hung out at, used. The ones without checks are his friends' houses."
Bran nodded. "I'll wake Will up. We'll leave right after dinner."
"Why not now?" Catherine demanded.
Bran didn't look up from the map. He pointed with his thumb behind him to the driveway. "Izzy and John just pulled up."
Catherine watched the headlights roll across the wall and said, "Oh." The four must have gotten to Wales late in the day. She turned to see Bran already walking down the hallway. "This John guy. He a stiff too?"
Bran knocked on a door, ignoring her, and disappeared inside a second later.
Will rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He must have slept longer than he had thought. It was darker than it had been before, and he'd actually managed to sleep, period. Bran grinned at him. "So, Old One. She thinks she may have found some of the places he may be." He spread the map out on the table in the room, and Will got up, studying it and committing it to memory as he tried to flatten his hair with a hand.
"Dinner's here," Bran continued.
"Great," Will said. "You don't know how starved you are until you hear food mentioned."
At the table, John Rowlands, his hair thinner and grayer now, his face leaner, his mouth still firm, and as strong as ever, was passing out ham and cheeseburgers. "A big mac for the lady," he said, passing it to Isabella, who accepted it with a grateful smile, "and we didn't know what to get the two of you, so we got you plain cheeseburgers."
"Amen," Catherine said, accepting it happily. John tossed the other to Michael, who dug in immediately, and tossed double macs to Will and Bran as they came in.
"Hello, Bran. Will," Isabella greeted them. "How are things going?"
"They're looking up," Bran said. He explained to John what had been going on. "Would you be interested in joining us?" he finished. "We're going to check them one by one."
"Ought to have asked for pay," Catherine muttered. She quickly took a bite of her cheeseburger as the three men looked at her.
As the three turned back to their own conversation, and Michael couldn't have cared less, Isabella said softly, "It isn't becoming for a lady to act as you do."
"I'm not a lady. I just have to put up with them. And if you think you know what a lady is, you're sorely mistaken."
"Am I?"
"Yes. Nobility is not something that is deserved because of parentage. It is deserved by the person."
"What ideas you have," Isabella said softly.
Catherine smiled. "You know, I had a lizard named Izzy once. I caught it, put it in a jar, and it took off its own tail trying to escape. Didn't do it any good. Left it out too long in the sun. Fried. Stiff as a twig by the time I took it out. Crunchy."
Isabella made a face and put her burger down carefully.
A few minutes later, Bran rose. "Ready?" he asked Catherine.
"Too ready," she said, observing Isabella, who was once again the very picture of docility.
"Come on, then. Izzy, could you watch things again, please?"
Isabella bowed her head. "Of course. I'm sorry, but is she going?" She indicated Catherine, who lifted her eyebrows slightly, along with John Rowlands.
"Yes. She knows Daniel the best."
"I'll say," Catherine said conversationally as she walked over. "Nearly castrated him a few years ago. Of course, I don't know how long ago it was right now. This is actually kind of confusing."
John Rowlands's eyes sparkled. "You think it's confusing for you?" he asked. "I grew up thinking Old Ones were myths. At least you don't have to deal with misconceptions."
"Depends on what kind you mean," Catherine said as she and Michael walked over. Bran looked at Michael, then to Catherine, and did the spell.
Simon and Barney walked down the driveway. "Stupid directions," Simon said, kicking a rock away. "You'd think my own brother would know left from right."
Barney shrugged. "You were the one who taught me. Who can complain?"
Simon glared and got ready to knock. Suddenly he paused. His brows knitted together as he asked Barney, "Do you hear that?"
Barney shrugged again. "People."
"Listen."
Barney did, and he felt his blood run cold. "Daniel," he whispered.
Simon nodded. "And Isabella. What are they doing here?" His fists balled up. The person who had taken his sister was in there with Bran's fiancee. How were they to know she wasn't trying to trick them again?
He got ready to go in.
Sorry this one took so long to get out, guys. I had it written, but then we went to Miami for a while, and I lost the computer disk it was on. Luckily, I had a backup on my computer, so then it was just a matter of getting another disk. Took me long enough, don't you think?
© 2001
