Chapter #5Reunion Tour by: imaj   “It’s been a while buddy,” says Frank as he sits down on the couch next to you, a bottle of beer in his hands. “What, two years now?”
“A little over,” you reply. Frank’s filled out in the intervening time. He was always muscular, but the last two years seem to have given him a physicality that almost dominates the room. “I like the beard by the way,” you add a little sheepishly. It is a rough, hairy thing, almost unkempt. Unbidden, thoughts of the second last time you were with Frank jump into your head. Not that he knew it was you.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” he says, entirely truthfully. The reason for that is you’ve hardly spent any time as ‘Will Prescott’ in the last two years, just a few weeks here and a few weeks there. As you jumped about between different Stellae during your apprenticeship, different requirements were made of you. Spending a couple of months as Maria Cardozo’s live in maid was particularly galling. You got revenge for that cover being foisted upon you by using Hélène as a template for the identity – the one woman in your collection of imagos definitively more beautiful than the Brazilian Stellae.
“I’m just lucky,” you reply sourly.
“Something like that,” grins Frank before taking another slug from his bottle. He leans back in the couch and spreads his arms, an action that causes you to huddle up nervously at the far end of the couch from him. “I can’t believe you chose Glundandra,” he adds.
“Well I wanted to help out my…” you begin.
“His sister,” finishes Rosalie walking into the room. “Or cousin, or whatever it is we are again,” she teases. You haven’t seen Rosalie a little under a year, shortly after you had settled on Glundandra as your second ousiarch. Charles had sent you both to Sweden to spend some time with the young Malaika Mbulu as some sort of Glundandrae bonding exercise. Back then, Rosalie had still been the same skittish young woman you’d met back in Saratoga Falls.
Today she is completely different. Oh, she looks the same, but the way she carries herself is completely different. She is more confident and at ease with herself. Even her clothes are different – the short sleeved blouse and knee length skirt she’s wearing show a lot more of her skin than she ever used to whilst still remaining elegant.
“Distant cousins,” you reply, trying not to let the way that Rosalie and Frank have changed while you appear not to have done so unsettle you. After all, you’re only wearing your Will Prescott face because it seems the most appropriate one to meet them in. “I asked John to check it out for me once when Nash took me to the archives once.”
“Nash took you to the archives,” asks Frank, his voice rising in surprise.
“He’ll take you if you ask him nicely you reply. “So long as you don’t mind spending three hours in a car blindfolded.”
“But in another, rather mystical sense, we are brother and sister,” adds Rosalie. “Like you and Joe are Frank.”
“Then you should both count yourself lucky that you have each other,” grins Frank. From outside there is the sound of a loud car engine which persists for a few seconds before being turned off. “Because my brother,” he adds nodding towards the window. A figure appears outside it and knocks on it enthusiastically before waving at the three of you. “Is still an idiot.”
Joe enters a minute later, still wrapped in a massive coat to protect him from the cold of the winter in Olympia. He walks straight up to Rosalie and wraps his arms around her before kissing her deeply. You turn away, embarrassed at the display and find yourself staring straight at Frank.
“Sickening isn’t it,” he grins. “Well at least he hasn’t changed a bit either.” You blush again and look away, finding your feet to be the safest thing to look at. In fact, Joe has grown a little too. He’s nowhere near as imposing as Frank, but he’s certainly more of a young man than a boy now.
“Wow,” says Joe once he’s finished with Rosalie. “I’ve been waiting a long time for that.”
“Been saving yourself up,” smiles Rosalie.
Joe hesitates fractionally. You’re sure you are the only one that catches it, since watching people closely is part of your job now. “Yeah,” says Joe. “Wow,” he says again. “Two years since the four of us were last together.”
“It was for all of five minutes Joe,” says Frank tiredly. “We said ‘hi’ to Prescott then you three drove off here.”
“Huh,” says Joe. “I guess it felt longer,” he adds, winking at you surreptitiously. Fucker. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, I mean it’s really great to see you Frank. Honestly. But why are we here anyway?”
“Because I’ve got an assignment for you,” says Rosalie.
“He never does anything when I tell him to,” you mutter under your breath.
“That’s because you don’t have those boobs,” shoots back Joe with a grin, earning himself a reproachful stare from Rosalie.
Of course, you can’t resist the temptation to fetch Rosalie’s imago from you collection, wrapping it round you until it settles into place. Apart from a subtle weight redistribution, you barely notice the change as you become Rosalie’s not quite double – You last got a fresh copy of her in Sweden. Your clothes do feel a little tight in places, but you’ve gotten in the habit of wearing looser clothes just so you can pull quick changes like this.
“I hate it when you do that,” sighs Joe. You make a harrumphing sound and change back.
“Not as much as you hate it when…” begins Rosalie.
“…we finish off each others sentences,” you interrupt.
“Gyah,” gurgles Joe.
“You better tell us what it is you want the three of us to do Rosalie,” says Frank patiently. “Otherwise we’ll be here all day.
“Not the three of us,” replies Rosalie. “All four of us. I’m coming too.” That causes some raised eyebrows.
“That’s quite a war party” says Frank mildly. “Is it something serious?”
“I think so,” says Rosalie firmly. There’s just a touch of uncharacteristic venom to her voice that you haven’t heard since just over two years ago. That can only mean one thing.
“It’s the Shabblemans isn’t it,” you ask. Rosalie nods and you can see the fire in her eyes.
“Isn’t that a little overkill,” asks Joe. “All four of us for a two bit backwoods witch?”
“You don’t understand her like I do Joe,” replies Rosalie quickly. “Once she knew that I’d left her, she would have spent time preparing for me to return with other Stellae, fortifying Cuthbert.”
“It was two years ago Rosalie,” says Joe. “She must think you aren’t coming back by now.”
“All that means is she’s had more time to prepare,” snaps Rosalie. Everyone freezes for a second. The outburst is very much out of character for her.
“If Rosalie says she need all of us, she needs all of us,” you say calmly.
“Thank you Will,” continues Rosalie. “It needs to be me that does this. Or me and Will. This is about the Shabbleman family so it has to be a Shabbleman that sorts it. That’s what I told your Dad two years ago Joe, when he offered to send a team to Cuthbert to deal with Grandma Shabbleman.”
“I didn’t know that,” says Joe quietly.
“But I know what we’re going to be up against and that’s why I need all of your help. It’s not just going to be Grandma, she’ll have the whole town stacked against us,” explains Rosalie. “And I really mean everyone.”
“Of course we’ll help you,” you say, standing up and taking hold of Rosalie’s hand comfortingly.
“One more thing Joe,” says Rosalie. “You’d better get used to Will pretending to be me because he’s going to be doing it a lot over the next few days.”
Joe scowls. “Well just so long as you wear namebadges or something so I know which one of you I’m allowed to kiss.”
*****
It’s a long drive from Olympia to Cuthbert and Frank takes the first shift behind the wheel. You’re taking his truck, so it makes sense. In the back seat Joe and Rosalie are talking quietly to each other, making up for lost time. You watch as the road slowly winds down from Olympia.
“Must have been interesting,” says Frank as he guides the truck carefully round a hairpin bend. “Working with all those different people. I only know Maria and Miko by reputation,” he adds. “You gotta have some interesting stories.”
You turn to look at Frank. “I don’t know if they are that interesting.”
Frank keeps his eyes on the road, though he glances briefly in the rear view mirror. “I don’t think we’ll get much out of those two for a while. Besides it’s a long, dull, trip, especially when we hit the plains.”
You do have a lot of stories and reminiscences about the last two year, although not all of them you’d want to share.
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