Chapter 23, Storm Clouds

The first rays of dawn started to shine through Central City.

Jill awoke and sat up in bed. It took a few seconds but she re-recognized her surroundings. She was back in the Cains' house.

As she put her glasses back on she saw the handgun on the nightstand. She placed her hand on the left side of her chest and ran her fingers down the leather straps of the holster. With dismay she realized once again that last night was no dream. She took the handgun and put it back in its home. Muted voices drifted up from downstairs and she cautiously went to the door. She opened it a crack and heard the familiar voices of Cain and Jeb. It was comforting.

She walked back over to the dresser and looked at herself in the mirror. She had a slight bruise where the piece of charred wood had hit her from the night before. She touched it gingerly. It hurt. Of course it would hurt, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

She grabbed the riding jacket from the end of the bed, put it on, and then opened the door further. She slowly walked down the steps. Cain was sitting in the chair next to the radio and Jeb was sitting on the couch. Both held mugs of steaming coffee. Their rifles were propped up beside them.

Cain looked up and said, "Mornin' Jill."

She continued down the steps and stood in front of the staircase. Jeb asked, "How did you sleep?"

"Okay I guess for what I got. Did you guys get any?" Jill asked with a look of concern. Both looked weary and had faint dark circles under their eyes. She thought that Jeb's lower lip looked slightly swelled and that Cain had a very faint bruise on his cheek. She had offered to take a watch but of course was refuted and sent to her room.

She walked in to the kitchen to get some coffee. Jeb replied loudly so that she could hear, "We got a little… How's your head?"

"It only hurts when I poke at it," she answered as she poured herself some of the steaming brew. She held the mug in both hands as she re-entered the room and sat down in the other chair.

"The burning of the Wolfsangel Tavern made the front page," Cain said as he tossed the morning paper at her.

Jill put the mug down on the floor and held the paper with both hands. She quickly scanned the article. It listed the cause of the fire as suspicious and that it was under investigation. It also stated that a body was found outside of the tavern and that the police were treating it as a homicide.

"Do you think that anyone would have recognized us?"

"I don't know. The bartender wasn't the one that I usually see," replied Cain. Jeb shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know either. After Dad went upstairs most people ignored us."

For a moment neither said anything. Jeb turned around and pulled back the curtain a little to look outside. The city was beginning to wake up. It appeared to be business as usual for the old city.

Cain looked at Jill and let his eyes drift to the side of her chest. He wondered if she was packing. Jeb told him of the expression after she was sent to bed. Why else would have she put on her riding jacket? "Jeb needs to report back to the barracks. And we need to report to General Turnbaugh this morning." Cain said to her.

"So we're going to act like nothing at all happened?" she asked incredulously. The memory of Antoine lying in front of her with some of his forehead missing flashed before her eyes. In only a few short days she had enough nightmare material for the next twenty years.

Cain stated quite plainly, "We'll be rousing suspicion if we don't go."

"Dad's right. I don't like it either but I have to report for duty like I do any other time. There'll be more questions and more trouble if I don't." Jeb added as he rose up to leave.

Cain slowly and wearily stood up. Jill could tell that the prior night's fighting and lack of sleep were starting to take their toll. He walked over to Jeb. "Be careful son," he whispered as he hugged him.

"I will Dad." Jeb pulled away from his father's loose embrace. "What are you going to do about that picture disc?"

"Give it to the Queen," he dryly replied. "It's evidence."

"Do you think that any of it is really true?"

Cain said nothing for a moment. "I think that most of it has been fabricated." His thoughts drifted to DG. He was still doubtful that she gave her body to the men in the House of Lords in exchange for peace. No, it was not doubtful. It was truth. The DG he knew would never do that. "She still needs to know of it, real or not."

Jill interrupted them. "How are you going to explain that you got it from Antoine in the Wolfsangel?" She glanced at the paper lying on the floor. "Certainly she reads the paper too."

He looked at her for a minute. "She'll understand that Antoine's death was an accident and that there were henchmen in there that attacked us." Do you really think that?

Jeb had trouble moving his fingers and he clumsily buttoned his uniform. "I gotta' get going." Before he left he told them, "Try to get word to me if you find any more out."

"I will son."

After Jeb left, he asked her, "Are you ready to meet with General Turnbaugh?"

Jill smiled that shy smile again; trying to look optimistic. She said "As ready as I ever will be." But what about you Wyatt, are you up to it?

DG's eyes fluttered open. She was lying in her bed, flat on her back. She rapidly sat up and felt the bile rise to her throat.

"Easy there doll. You've had a rough night."

She blinked hard a few times and gently touched the back of her head. It hurt when she touched it and she felt the tiny knots of the stitches.

She looked up and her eyes came in to focus. It was Glitch. He was leaning forward in a chair that had been placed next to her bed.

She reached out her hand towards him and he took it in his.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. I didn't find out what happened until you were brought… " He paused, trying to will the words to come out. Until you were brought, until you were brought…He smiled softly, " in to the infirmary," he finished quietly. "Then you were brought to your chamber to spend the night."

DG replied softly, "Glitch, that's okay. What matters is that you're here now."

He turned around in his chair to look at the door and got a confused look on his face.

DG furled her brows, "What is it?"

"What happened to the nurse?" he replied.

"I don't know Glitch, was there one in here?" She started to get uneasy in the place where she should feel the most safe.

He turned back around in his chair to look the other way. He shrugged his shoulders and then looked at her wishfully, "Maybe I was just dreaming that there was a nurse in here."

"I don't think so. I'm sure that they wouldn't have left me alone in here."

DG began to wonder if Glitch had totally forgotten about their conversation from the night before. If he did remember any of it, he sure was not acting like it. And if there was a nurse, where did she go?

A wave of nausea hit her and she tasted the bile rising to her throat. She managed to get out, "I'm sorry Glitch."

Glitch looked bewildered. "For what?"

DG rolled over to the other side of the bed, away from Glitch, and proceeded to throw up.

Cain and Jill slowly walked down the sidewalk. She made sure to match her pace with the Tin Man and not walk any faster than what he was doing. She felt like crap and she was not even the one who was doing most of the fighting last night. She saw that he held his arm across his stomach.

She looked over at him. "Are you sure that you're all right?" she finally asked.

"Yeah. Why?" he gruffly replied without turning to look at her. He sounded like a bear who had just been poked with a stick.

Jill sighed. Anything she said would just be another poke with the stick. "Just concerned, that's all," and she left it go at that.

Cain took a glance at her out of the corner of his eye. He wanted to tell her to stop worrying but all he could do was grunt in acknowledgment.

The chambermaids, Meredith and Kyra, came scurrying at the first sound of her heaving. After the waves of nausea and sickness had passed, they helped to prop her up in her bed and then went about cleaning up the mess. All the while DG could only mumble about how sorry she was. Their only response though was the nodding of their heads. DG could not tell whether it was out of understanding, sympathy, or something else however.

After it was over, Meredith finally spoke; but it was short and to the point. "Miss, if you need us please ring the bell on your nightstand. We will be in your outer room." Without waiting for a response she turned on her heel, walked out of the bedroom and loudly shut the door.

"She got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," Glitch said after he watched her shut the door.

"I think everyone knows what happened last night," DG said hoarsely. Her throat was still raw and she ached all over. She leaned her head back on her pillow and looked over at the window. The chambermaids had pulled the heavy curtains back. She saw that the twin suns were beginning to rise higher in the sky and their light filled the room with warmth.

Glitch said gloomily, "They're blaming Az for the death of those two soldiers aren't they?"

DG turned her head to look back at him, "Yeah… what else are they saying?"

He swallowed, but he knew better than try to withhold any information from her. He was gloomy in his response once more. "That you attacked Dr. Addison. They say that he was trying to help you but that Az had you under a spell. She made you attack him."

DG raised her hand in a half-hearted effort to rub her forehead and shield her eyes from the tears that welled up all at the same time. "Do you think that's what happened?

"Naw…." Glitch answered as he cocked his head.

"Dr. Addison tried to hold me down and shove a needle full of something in me," she said softly. Her memories of last night started out foggy but then slowly became clearer. "Glitch… Az's magic is green now. It never used to be. It was always the same soft yellow glow as mine. And that same sort of green lit up Dr. Addison's eyes. It was like he was the one that was under a spell, not me."

Glitch's face became white. "Do you think that Az is becoming the sorceress again?"

DG reached for his hand in order to comfort him. "No Glitch. The evil witch is dead. Az and I melted her on the tower remember?"

From the look on his face she did not know if she convinced him or not. "Something else is going on," she added. In order to change the subject she asked, "Where's Az now?"

"Oh. She's in your parent's chamber but she's under heavy guard. I guess they have her knocked out too."

Well, at least she won't be getting in to any trouble for a little while.

"Glitch, will you do something for me?"

Glitch's mood changed instantly. He smiled and answered, "Of course doll, what?"

If you remember anything from last night you won't sound so happy.

"Will you find Cain for me? I need to talk to him."

Glitch pulled his hand away from her. A look of hurt crossed his face. "About what?" He remembers now.

She chose her words carefully. "We need to talk to him Glitch… together. We need to talk to him about Dr. Addison. Don't you remember how he questioned him last night? "

Glitch did not answer. He looked down at the floor and would not look at her. He was trying to remember last night's dinner conversation with the Queen. Then his memories turned to their conversation afterwards.

They were interrupted by a swift knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer, Kyra, the chambermaid, brought in a silver tray of toast and tea. She placed it gently down on the nightstand but said nothing. She turned to walk away and DG said, "Thank you Kyra."

Kyra paused a moment but then continued out the door. At least she closed it gentler than what Meredith had done.

Just what the hell is going on? "Please Glitch." DG's voice brought him back to the present. "You know something's up. We need his help to figure it out."

Glitch looked up at her. "All right."

Calvert was by no means a sleepy little hamlet. It was a bustling town that saw much traffic; both for commerce and tourism. If a person from DG's or Jill's world wandered through it, they would say that it resembled a Wild West town. And in most respects it was.

Lieutenant Lundgren, Zero, and the rest of their men thundered down the main street on their horses. They had ridden all night. Their horses were on the brink of exhaustion but it did not matter. They were in Calvert now, and could easily arrange for fresh horses to take them to the Father's ranch complex right outside of town.

Some of the townsfolk watched them ride by, but then returned to their business just as quickly. For some it was not a strange sight; to others, it was better not to ask.

The band pulled up in front of the public stable. Stable hands came running out to greet and assist them. All of them were young boys hoping to make extra in tips.

Lundgren and Zero dismounted and took note of the stabler leaning in the doorway to the main office. They walked over to him.

The stabler looked past the two of them and saw the horses breathing heavy in the cold morning air. He took the pipe out of his mouth before he spoke, "You'll have to pay more for those horses. They're goin' to need extra care." He put the pipe back in his mouth.

Lundgren answered him, "Charge Father Diekmann's account."

The stabler looked at the two men standing in front of him. They were dressed as hunters in heavy winter gear. Without taking the pipe of his mouth he replied, "I'm afraid I can't do that son. Cash only." He turned and went inside the office. Lundgren and Zero followed him inside. Zero shut the door and went over to the window to watch the stable hands tend to the horses.

The stabler walked behind his desk, sat down, and leaned back in his chair. Lundgren stood in front of the desk. He reached in to his inside pocket and pulled out a small trinket that was connected to a chain. He threw it on the stabler's desk.

The stabler leaned forward and picked up the trinket. It was of the letter Z on its side with the vertical line through it. As the stabler rubbed it with his fingers, Lundgren told him, "As I said, charge it to the Father's account."

He threw it back on the desk towards Lundgren. "If you see him, tell him that he's behind on his payments."

Lundgren picked up the trinket and walked to the door. Zero had already opened it and was ready to go out. He could not leave without a parting shot though, "Keep that attitude up and you might receive the Father's special blessing," he sneered.

The stabler glared at them but did not answer.

Lundgren and Zero stood outside. They continued to watch their men and the stable hands. Zero finally broke the silence, "Direct your men to continue on to the Father's ranch. They will rest there for the remainder of the day and then proceed to Central City according to plan."

Lundgren sensed that Zero also had something else in mind. "And what about us?"

"We're going to Central City early; as soon as we have fresh horses." Soon, very soon Zero thought to himself.