I have my first response on The Gellboar! Jerome D. said by e-mail, “The Gellboar is a thrilling short story by a fantasy writer at the top of her genre. By turns chilling, titillating and heart-warming, it is heartily recommended for fans of dystopian magical cosplay with surprise twists.” Thanks, Jerome!
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Part 7
Christine abruptly set down her glass. “Hey! Talk to me, pal.”
He shook his head. “It’s my business. My family. I’ll deal with it.”
“How can you say that?” She reached across the table, closing hard fingers over his clasped hands. “That thing is going to kill you. You have to get rid of it.”
“No.” He jerked away, putting his hands on his knees, where he didn’t have to look at the mark. “I’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, right.” She leaned back, folding her arms across her chest. “You’ll be fine right up until you keel over.” Then her harsh voice softened. “What’s going to happen to Grace when you die?”
“I’m not going to die.” He had to believe that. If he thought for a moment the Gellboard would win, he would borrow Christine’s gun and shoot himself. At least that way he could deprive the monster of his psais.
The woman propped her chin in her hand and added a bit more liquor to her glass. “So where’s your family? Or your wife’s family?”
“They’re out of town.”
Like Dan, Marilyn had been a runaway. She said her parents were in Yabble, but she wouldn’t even discuss contacting them and she wouldn’t say why. Of course, there were a few things Dan had never told Marilyn, either.
“Out of town, where?” Christine’s gentle tone unnerved him more than her abruptness had.
“Ettloes, in my case.”
She raised her brows. “That’s practically the Holy Mother’s backyard, isn’t it?”
“That’s why I had to leave.”
Her eyes suddenly took on a calculating expression. “That’s farmland, isn’t it? Ever worked with cattle?”
The sudden change of moods made him wary. “Dairy cattle,” he admitted.
“Can you buck hay bales?”
“Ladies don’t buck hay bales,” Dan laughed. To further his feminine persona, he strictly avoided any activity that might build muscle mass.
“Silly of me to forget.” But she was smiling. Dan just watched her, passively feeling with his psais for her motives. She wouldn’t be asking without a reason.
Christine took a sip of her drink, and then said, “If you don’t want to break the spell, maybe I can make you a better offer.”
“Like what?”
“Well, my brother runs cattle on a couple thousand acres in Ishe. He might be able to use a hand, especially if you can ride a horse.”
“I can’t ride a horse. Why doesn’t he find someone a little closer to home?”
She shrugged. “The local boys, they don’t want to stick around. It’s too quiet, and they don’t make enough money. So they leave for Yabble or Kroi, the bigger towns. There’s always work for someone who isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. And the locals, they love to see new kids in the area.”
Dan thought about that. It wasn’t like he wanted to stay in Chantain. The city was big and busy, but it drained your life while you weren’t looking. Still, that didn’t mean farming was what he wanted instead.
Christine went on, “My folks own the place, but my brother’s running it. I could call and ask him.”
“You hardly know me,” he pointed out. It was her turn to laugh.
“Pal, I know more about you than you’d like! What do you have to stay here for?”
“I couldn’t have left,” he answered evenly. “Grace’s doctors are here.”
That was only half the truth, of course. All his contacts were in Chantain. He would have to completely re-establish his career in a new place.
“What about my magic?” Dan asked. “I don’t plan to give it up.”
She sat back, sipped her drink. “Technically, it’s illegal, but there aren’t any neighbors close enough to snoop. Anyway, folks mind their own business, out there. Besides, Mike might be able to use another magician. I do the enchanting when I’m there, but I travel a lot, too. It would be good to have some backup.”
It might also give him something more satisfying to do. Dan hadn’t chosen stage magic because he enjoyed performing. Cheap illusions in cheap clubs — what was that worth? It had just been a convenient way to have magic without all the questions asked.
Of course, he could also go south, toward Chull, where the power of the Mother-God was weakest. The bog-witches were famous for their curses. That might be just the sort of thing he needed. But there would be a price for such power. Dan wasn’t even done with the Gelboar yet. He didn’t want to get tangled up in something else that might be just as nasty.
Christine lifted her cup again, waiting while he thought things out.
“It sounds good,” Dan admitted. Too good to be true, his mind amended.
“Smart boy,” she said, and there was a gleam of triumph in her eye. “I’ll call him tomorrow.”
A suspicion blossomed in his mind. “You just want to keep an eye on me,” he accused.
She didn’t deny it. “Someone’s got to. What if you can’t get rid of the life link when you want to?”
Dan glared at her, his earlier jealousy returning in a venomous rush. It was all so easy for her. Christine Cooper had never had to lie to protect herself. She had never held a loved one, so wasted she seemed nothing but bones and air, while her breath grew fainter, fainter. The Gellboar had to pay for what she’d done to Marilyn. Come to that, Dan didn’t know if Grace was really all right.
Still, he did have to think of the future. He’d had enough of his furtive existence, living hand to mouth and moment to moment. There was nothing wrong with moving on, especially if it meant securing shelter for Grace. If Christine was going to insist on interfering, he might as well use her. Dan had learned all about using people, these last few years.
Stiffly, he admitted, “The fresh air might do Grace some good.”
Christine set down her empty cup and smiled broadly. “Now you’re thinking.”
“I can go as soon as we’re done at The Cauldron. I’ll need cash for the road.” Dan forced a smile. “It’ll be just us girls.”
“An all-girl road trip!” Christine threw back her head and laughed, a response out of proportion to the weak joke. Relieved to end the confrontation, maybe. Or just thinking she had won. Like the Gellboar thought she had won.
Dan’s stomach tightened again, a bitter knot of guilt and rage. It wasn’t over between them. That filthy female was going to pay for hurting Marilyn and Grace. No one was going to get in the way of that. Not even the real Christine Cooper.
That’s it! The story you’ve waded through… uh, savored and told all your friends about. Check back next time for a return to my usual dragony goodness.
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