Chronicles of Love and War

Chapter 15

"What time do you think you'll be back?" Angelica wanted to know, slipping her shoes on and fixing her hair in the mirror.

Spy cleaned his gun with a handkerchief, saying, "It depends. It could take anywhere from a few hours to the rest of the day. We are not entirely sure what's going to happen this time..."

Angelica walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. "God, this makes me nervous...you stay safe, and for the love of God, keep Jeremy outta trouble!"

"Of course, dearest, of course," Spy assured, and he turned around to embrace her in return. "It's very kind of you to spend your day with the children..."

"Oh, it ain't any trouble," she smiled up at him. "It's been forever since I took any of my boys to the movies! Taking these girls is gonna be a great time..."

Spy stepped back, though he reached forward to tuck Angelica's hair behind her ear. "Mm, I know...you are amazing with children, you know that?"

"Always have been!" Angelica giggled, before reaching for her bag. "All right, I'll get the girls and we'll drive into town...you boys stay safe!"

"We will," Spy assured her, and the two shared a kiss. "We will, mon petite..."

Outside, Olivia and Lucy were reading a toy magazine Helen had given them while sitting side by side on the base's front stairs.

"Look at that one!" Olivia pointed to a giant stuffed swan. "It looks really pretty!"

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "But the beak is pink! Real swans don't have pink beaks..."

The door behind them swung open, and Angelica stepped out. "Hey, girls!" she announced. "You two ready to go?"

"Yeah!" Olivia quickly closed the magazine and stuffed it in her bag, standing up. "What movie are we gonna see?"

"Hmm, I dunno!" Angelica smiled, taking the hands of both children and leading them to her car. "We'll go to the theater and see what looks good, okay?"

"Okay!" Lucy piped up in agreement. She looked over her shoulder, waving towards the base and shouting, "Bye, daddy!"

Merasmus stood near the cars, waving goodbye to his daughter as she climbed into Angelica's car with Olivia. He tried to push down the wave of anxiety he felt about being separated from his child, but he reassured himself that she would be fine if she was with a motherly woman like Angelica.

He shook himself and turned around to look at Helen. "Tell me what we're doing next."

Helen pointed to where the mercenaries were equipping their vehicles with weaponry. "We will be driving over to the Applegate Mansion in separate cars. I have divided us into separate groups, and we will each be taking different routes to the mansion. I figured you and I would be leading the way, since you seem more familiar with the wooded areas than I am."

"Oh," Merasmus thought about it. "Well...all right. That sounds fine by me."

"Good," Helen gave a nod and stepped over to her own car, where Miss Pauling was already waiting for her. She opened the door and asked, "Do we have everything?"

"Yeah!" Miss Pauling nodded, checking her clipboard again. "Engie's got the hydro-pump all strapped to his truck, so I think we're good to go."

"Wonderful." Helen got into the driver's side, and she watched to make sure Merasmus got into the passenger side all right. "You may need to crouch...you're a bit too tall for my car."

"Your car is just too small," Merasmus grunted, but he managed to get the seat belt on without a problem. "Zelda is really going to get it this time..."