Dance of Magic - The Books of Beginning [1]

24. Halfway Around The World

"Who in there right mind would want to meet in Russia! It's so cold there and it's got, like hackers living there?" Emma complained.

"Hackers?" Gabriel questioned. 

Emma shrugged, "I slept through world history and geography. I'm just guessing cause in a lot of spy movies the hackers are Russian."

"I don't think that's accurate, Emma," Michael sighed.

"The part about the cold is," Kate said, "and while Gabriel and Dr. Pym cannot feel the cold, we can. Does everyone have a jacket?"

Previous to this conversation, she and Abigail has gone around bundling everyone up as best as they could with their limited materials. Now Emma was in a thick purple sweatshirt, and a grey hat and scarf. Michael had on a heavy brown coat he was borrowing from Beetles and had double layered his socks. Rafe wore a thick black jacket. Wilamena had on Abigail's warmest  blue sweater, and Michael was trying not to get distracted by the way it managed to compliment her eyes. 

Kate adjusted her own long green coat, satisfied as everyone affirmed that they had on warm clothing. She took a deep breath and said, "then let's get going."

Rafe closed his eyes and concentrated on the location Pym's contact had given them. He thought of the distant country halfway around the world, and an image snapped into focus, an image of a barren forest, thick layers of snow, and peaking through the trees a large and castle like manor house.

"Got it," he said, reaching deep within him for his magic power. Gosh he had missed using magic.

Quickly and efficiently he opened the portal to the scene he had seen in his mind. Wilamena cocked her head at the sight of it, "is that it? It looks surprisingly fairytale for a meeting with a mysterious informant ."

"That's it," Dr. Pym confirmed.

"Who goes first?" Michael asked, a hint of apprehension entering his voice as he adjusted his glasses nervously.

"I will," Gabriel said, striding purposely through the portal.

When he was on the other side, unharmed and perfectly safe among the trees, everyone felt a bit more confident. Emma even put on a brave face and boldly followed her mentor into the Russian woods, standing by his side.

"I was right," she declared, "it's cold here!"

Seeing his sister unharmed, Michael took Wilamena's hand and together the pair slipped through the portal. Emma was right, it was bitterly cold and their meager outfits only did so much against it. But they would be inside soon, and it was better than nothing, Michael knew. Considering he had once been pushed into a freezing lake by some bullies when he was eight, he had very good knowledge. Kate had gotten him warmed up, and the death stare she gave those boys sent them scattering in terror (as did Emma threatening to kick them all where it hurt) but it had still been a miserable experience.

Wilamena simply laughed in delight and grabbed Michael's arm, "bunny, look at the snow on the trees! Isn't it beautiful?"

Michael couldn't help but smile at her infectious enthusiasm. He didn't even care that Emma was snickering when Wilamena called him 'bunny.'

Dr. Pym went through the portal next. Then it was Kate sand Rafe's turn. She held out her hand to him and he took it, resisting the urge to smile. The couple stepped through, the portal closing behind them once they were on the other side.

Once they were all there, Gabriel said, "I assume that manor is our meeting place?"

Dr. Pym nodded, "you assume correctly."

"Then let's move out," the warrior declared. 

Though the manor wasn't far away, after all it was clearly in sight from their place in the woods, it took quite a bit to get there. Gabriel and Dr. Pym, being ghosts, could easily glide over the thick carpet of snow. The children, however, left deep footprints as they shuffled through, trying very hard not to trip.

"Fuc- I mean fudge!" Emma said hastily, narrowly avoiding cursing as Kate had to keep her from falling yet again.

They were almost at the manor now, though it had been slow going. Gabriel tried to give the children hiking tips but it was hard for them to follow his instructions. Michael was absolutely miserable, getting stuck in the thick snow and having to be pulled out by Wilamena, who's elven grace actually made her the best at this of the children. Emma was getting frustrated, and Kate and Rafe were simply powering through.

Finally, the weary group of heroes reached the manor. It had taken them forty five minutes but they had done it. Rafe pushed the heavy door that was mercifully unlocked open to let them all in.

The manor itself showed signs of once having been a grand place, but had now fallen into decay. No furniture or paintings had survived the castle's long abandonment, and the floor wascoayed with a thick layer of dust that made Wilamena's nose itch. Still, it was dry inside and warmer since the wind could not get in. It wasn't necessarily cozy, but it wasn't miserable either.

Michael whistled, "well, this place must have been fancy once. Not as fine as the great palaces of the dwarves of course. Those are made by the finest craftsmen and done up with lovely jewels the dwarf royals mine themselves. Murals show the strong values of the dwarfen people-"

"Michael," Emma said, interrupting his reciting of the dwarf omnibus.

"Yes?" Michael replied.

"Shut up."

As their group wandered the halls, they found many rooms common in old castles like these, from a giant ballroom to a set of kitchens that looked like they hadn't been cooked in for a century. They had just made their way upstairs and we're going to start inspecting the rooms there when they heard something behind them. A cackle of sorts.

"Who's there!" Emma yelled.

"Oh Emma Wibberly, I see your spunk never fades," a familiar female voice brimming with false cheer said.

"Countess," Gabriel sneered.

The ghost came into form. To everyone's surprise, she was not the mangled creature Emma had met in the land of the dead. Instead she was sort of back to her old self, looking elegant and stylish though still very elderly, unable to retain her youth.

"Hello Wibberlys and friends," she said with a smile that was all teeth, "how nice to see you again."

A/N: If you guessed that the Countess would be there, you get an imaginary gold star!