April 14 - Day 1
So, when dad said that Selene wanted to talk to Catlin, he meant alone. I mean, I sort of get it, and she certainly seemed a little happier when I got back from packing up my old campsite, but Selene's my master damn it (in a teacher sense).
Ok, maybe I jumped the gun a little there. While Selene was showing me how she was making the Egyptian workaround for traveling between Earth Bet and the next two worlds, she explained that you need three magic users in order to make it properly, as you're basically making a permanent channel between all three worlds.
I can honestly say that I have no idea how these wooden panels are made, despite watching Selene make them. Before she put a decorative cover over the whole thing, it looked a bit like the circuit board from inside a TV remote. Apparently, learning to make these sorts of things is going to take years of study unless I have some unknown talent with Runes. Which Selene assures me I don't, as it would already be obvious in my inner world.
Anyway, Selene's plan is for me to activate the first panel while holding against one of the internal walls in the house while the canyon is open. Selene will then guide Dad and Catlin in activating the panels in the next two worlds. Once the canyon closes on Earth Bet I'll take over from Catlin, as being guided through Selene's mark is apparently quite stressful on the body. When the canyon closes again I'll take over from dad, and he'll head out here to have his time with Selene. Once the canyon closes again, I should be able to use the three panels like I do the cracks between worlds, except they always go to the same place.
While I think about it, the new campsite is great. Selene found a cave in the side of a mountain valley that has a large stream running through it. The ground is flat enough that we could build houses near the cave, and the whole valley is covered with grass and flowers.
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Day 2
Wow, Catlin obviously needed her sleep, as she was still asleep when I woke up despite being asleep while Selene was showing me those panels.
Damn Catlin's got a mean right hook. Hardly surprising in Brockton Bay, but still. Apparently it's my fault that Connor has magic, based on her description of the inside of the bank seeming to breath when I lost it. What's worse is that Selene confirmed it. Apparently Connor is still young enough that even a brief exposure to a lot of magic is enough for him to absorb some. For older children and adults I'd have needed to be pouring out enough magic to warp space for several seconds, and up to a minute.
Anyway, today's trip is going to be cut short as Catlin wants to find out just how much magic Connor has.
FML, Selene pulled me to one side before we returned to Earth Bet, and I just had a 10 minute lecture on how important it is that I keep practicing my sewing whenever I'm not using my magic for something else. I tried to explain about secret identities, but apparently those are not as important as getting control and finesse of my magic. I can sort of see her point, but I don't want to be an open cape.
Selene just had me use my cutting power on the ground 10 yards away, and it was nearly 8 feet wide. When she did the same it was only 6 inches wide. My arguments sort of died when she pointed at my line and said, "Three dead bystanders."
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I can't help smiling as I teleport Catlin back into the house. Dad it still holding Connor, who is still chewing on the same cookie. Catlin, on the other hand, almost seems to teleport from my side over to dad where she scoops Connor up into her arms.
Dad smiles up at the sight and says, "You were quick."
I nod, "We were, Catlin was worried about Connor."
Dad nods and looks at Catlin, "I don't blame you for that. We were the same when Taylor was little. Once she got to three we were thankful when Anette's parents took her away for a night or two. I've got some formula warming in a bowl by the stove."
A crescent moon starts to glow softly on Catlin's forehead as her body language suddenly stiffens, and Connor starts to cry. Then she raises her hand over Connor's chest and seems to pulls a dim spark of light out of it. A few seconds later she relaxes and starts sobbing as she pulls Connor into her chest and starts rubbing his back.
"Thank you, thank you." She looks up at us with tearful eyes, "Selene says his magic is at the high end for people that were born here when she was last here. So he'll just be a couple of years behind other children by the time he's 18."
Dad smiles and rubs Catlin's arm as she comforts Connor, "I'm glad. I dread to think what it would be like if Taylor was stuck as a toddler for a few hundred thousand years."
As Dad levitates the bottle of formula out of the water, I exclaim, "Oi! I'm right here you know."
Dad squirts a little formula on the inside of his wrist as he says, "I do believe you're right. I think this is the right temperature if you want to check it."
I huff good naturedly as Catlin takes the bottle and jiggles Connor around in her arms until he can start suckling on the teat. Once he's started to settle, I levitate the three slabs of wood into the kitchen, and grab the one that's for the house, "Dad, where do you think we should put this one? I was thinking upstairs by the bathroom door."
Dad looks at the stylized diorama of the moon contemplatively, "I was originally thinking the basement, but you might be right, the upstairs hall makes more sense if we want to hide it's existence. As nobody can see into the hall up there, and it's not suspicious for us to walk upstairs."
I nod, "Makes sense, I was just thinking that it's too pretty to be hidden away. Apparently, once we've got a bit of practice at using it, we should just need to be close enough to touch it with our magic."
Catlin shakes her head ruefully, "I can't believe you're seriously talking about magic." I pointedly smile at her, and she adds, "I know, I know, I've got magic. But it still seems unbelievable. Fuck, this time yesterday I was just a high school drop out who lost her only job at Walmart because of a contraceptive failure." She sags down into one of the chairs as she starts to cry, "Now I'm back to 'no fixed address' because some bastards decided to rob the bank. How the fuck am I supposed to find another job now?"
Helplessly, I look over at Dad, who scoots his chair around and starts to rub Catlin's back.
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I viciously stab my needle into the tea towel as I watch Connor sleeping on my bed. I daren't put on any music, assuming my CD player still works, but without it I can hear Catlin crying downstairs as Dad comforts her.
Stab! Why couldn't he have done that for me when I came home in tears last year after the bitches stole mum's flute.
Stab! I glance at my wind up alarm clock, 10:30. Still too early. And who hands a sleeping toddler to a teenager and tells them to put them to bed? I've never handled a baby before, so how the fuck would I know what to do.
Stab! Yes I know I'm being jealous of Catlin, but I'm allowed to be aren't I.
Stab!
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It's around 15 minutes before 1am when I jerk into alertness as I feel the canyon open up beneath me. At some point in the last few hours my jealousy ran its course and I was finally able to concentrate on my sewing. I think it was when Catlin started complaining about her ex-landlord demanding that she pay her rent in sex if she didn't have the cash.
When I don't hear any movement, I carefully push myself out of my chair and tiptoe to the door with my sewing floating behind me. Ever so slowly, I open the door and creep through, before closing it again and carefully making my way downstairs, avoiding the creaky step.
When I walk into the lounge I pause in surprise, as Catlin is curled up on the sofa, while dad's fallen asleep in his armchair with the TV running a Sienfield marathon.
With a shake of my head, I walk over to dad and gently shake him awake. I can't help giggling as he blearily opens his eyes just before he vanishes from his chair.
A minute later he reappears wide eyed and with a crescent moon glowing on his forehead and bits of grass in his hair. "Shit, what just happened?"
I giggle, "I think you lost control of your magic."
Dad groans, "Of course I did, what time is it?"
I point at the clock, "Nearly two, can we get this done, as I've left Connor asleep in my bed, and neither of you came to relieve me."
Dad chuckles as he starts to shake Catlin's shoulder, "Taylor, you didn't need to stay there. Once a toddler's asleep, you just need to leave the door ajar so you can hear if they're in trouble."
I huff as I reach out for my notebook in the kitchen, "Why didn't anyone tell me that?"
Note, dad's an ass for not telling me I didn't have to watch Connor while he slept.
Catlin sits up blearily, a crescent moon glowing gently on her forehead, "Blurg, tell you what?"
"That I didn't have to stay with Connor while he slept."
Catlin looks down at her hands, "Sorry, you shouldn't have needed to do that. Especially after letting me stay here."
Dad shakes his head, "Catlin, you needed to let someone else handle it. God knows I've been a shitty parent to Taylor these last few years. It's only over the last month or so that Selene's started talking some sense into me. God only knows why I didn't listen to my friends."
I really want to snap at them, to tell them that she should have been the one taking care of Connor, because nobody was there to take care of me when I needed it. Instead, I take a deep breath and step into my inner world to scream imprecations at the heavens. A couple of seconds later I'm back in the lounge and I say, "Before we get started we should make up the couch properly, as checking Connor's magic seemed to be hard on Catlin earlier. Would you grab some sheets while I show her how to unfold the bed?"
Dad chuckles as he walks up stairs to to the landing cupboard.
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April 15
This is mind numbingly dull, just standing here holding the connection open between the three anchors. I mean, I know I'm the only one that can actually feel what's happening without help, but still.
Great, no sooner did Selene let go of Catlin, than she collapsed on the floor. Now I'm stuck here holding the anchors open and looking out for her. I wish I'd brought my staff. I also forgot to bring a light so I can't even practice my sewing properly. At least I know how to write, though I dread to see how messy this is tomorrow, today, in the day time.
Well, dragging people with me down the canyon is certainly much easier than pulling them through cracks. On the other side of the coin, dad's sleeping too. At least I'm not standing in the middle of a jungle here, so I can use the moonlight to sew and read by.
Note to self, just because there's no trees doesn't mean there's no predators, especially when they can turn invisible. On the plus side, the predator is now dead. On the down side, I've got some rather deep claw marks in my arm and shoulder, and they hurt like blazes.
Ok, it's done and I've put Catlin on the sofa, and taken dad to Selene. Selene also healed my scratches, and used an illusion to show me what she was doing. Oh, and I am to 'go home and get some sleep' and 'come back after you've spoken to Mr Persons'. Honestly, I almost thought she'd say that Catlin should stay with us.
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The next morning I'm woken up by the sound of Catlin screaming. A few seconds later, Spike appears on the bed with me, and starts to kneed my stomach. Blearily, I look around the unfamiliar room until I realize that I'm on dad's bed. With that, I fully wake up, as I last remember going to sleep on the floor outside the bathroom.
As I sit up, a piece of paper flutters off my chest towards the floor. Absently, I reach out and catch it with my magic as I head for the door and open it to see Catlin pacing the hall way with Connor held in her arms.
"Catlin, are you ok?"
Catlin shakes her head, "No, I'm not ok! There was a cat in bed with Connor, along with a dead rat, and Connor was playing with it!"
Curiously, I ask, "The cat or the rat?"
"The Rat!"
I nod, "Ok, if you could just step into the bathroom, I'll get rid of the rat. Spike likes to bring them as presents."
Catlin shivers as she goes into the bathroom, "How did it get in there anyway?"
"Um, Spike's not exactly a normal cat. He hitched a ride home from my original camp, and has sort of stuck around. So far as I can tell, every animal in that world can teleport, so doors don't really mean much to him, or her, we haven't sexed him yet."
As Catlin shuts the bathroom door, I hear her mutter, "I didn't think things could get any stranger."
I chuckle as I head into my room to get the rat and a change of clothes. On the way downstairs I knock on the bathroom door, "Do you need anything from the shopping cart?"
Catlin calls back, "Could you grab the blue bag with aeroplanes on it? It's got Connor's clothes and nappies in it."
"Sure."
As I'm walking down stairs I hear the shower start to run. Once I've binned the rat, and got the bag, I read dad's note while I'm walking back upstairs.
Don't you know that sleeping in the hall is a trip hazard. Also, when you go to see Selene, don't forget your sewing and staff.
I sigh as I knock on the bathroom door. "The bag's just outside the door."
I can hear the sound of the shower moving, and Connor laughing as Catlin shouts, "What was that?"
I call back, "Your bag's outside the door, I'll leave a clean towel on top of it too."
"Thank you."
I open the cupboard and take out a towel for Catlin, and I look at the other towels thoughtfully before I take another towel, and a flannel. Touching the new wooden picture of the moon, I quickly skip over a couple of worlds, before returning to the house and grabbing my staff and clothes from the kitchen.
Once more I use the new things to skip a couple of worlds, and then I start searching for cracks as I make my way to my old camp.
"Fuck it, I might as well go and see Selene, as all my stuff's there."
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When I get to Selene's cave there's no sign of her, though all of grandma's stuff is neatly stacked at the back of the cave, so at least I know nothing wrong.
Whistling a tune I make my way down to the stream to wash after I dig a small hole downstream of where we get our cooking water from, and do my business there.
I'm lying back on my towel as I air dry when Selene gets back and walks down to the stream.
"Good morning, I was not expecting you yet."
I stare up at Selene with a smile, "Catlin was using the shower, so I figured I'd go and wash at my old camp. Then I figured that this camp isn't that much further, and time passes faster here anyway, so I figured I'd get washed here."
Selene sits down beside me, "It is nice to be able to bathe unhurriedly. Did you sleep well?"
I nod as I go back to watching clouds, "I did, I didn't even notice dad moving me."
"Your father cares very deeply."
I sigh, "I know, it's why he's still working for the union. I just wish he'd…"
"Go on."
"I don't know, is it bad that I wanted to shout at him last night while he was comforting Catlin but he wasn't there when I needed him?"
Selene shakes her head, "Not at all. I would say that it is rather normal to feel like that. The fact that you find it unusual says a lot about how bad things were for you."
I frown as I turn my head to look at Selene, "What do you mean?"
"Let me ask you a few questions. Before you found your way into the dream, did you feel safe? Did you have anyone that you knew you could confide in?"
Tears prick my eyes as I turn back to the clouds, "I used to, before Winslow. But dad, he never really recovered from mum's death. Emma used to be my best friend, until suddenly she wasn't. They stole my mothers flute and destroyed it. Then they stole it again just after I found it in the dumpster. But dad didn't even notice."
I flinch slightly when Selene puts her hand on my shoulder, "Taylor, what you are feeling is natural. You finally have a place where you feel safe, and you have people that you can confide in. I'm happy that you also feel that this camp is safe for you to come to. But if you still went to the place that is yours, I would not begrudge you that. I have seen many warriors and slaves reacting the same way once they won their freedom and found a place to be safe. Some took longer than other, but their healing always started with their emotions running high. Eventually, this will run its course and you will be able to learn how to ask for what you need, and handle it when those you ask are unable to provide it."
I'm not sure when it happens, but at some point I end up with my head in Selene's lap as she strokes my hair while I cry quietly.