The Mage and the Bear

5. (Sorry, no sex in this one, but is just to move the story along. Sex next time, promise.)

*

Roger was stronger but not as limber as me, so we tried to find a place where the brambles were not so thick. About maybe thirty feet toward the water, I found a part in the stone wall broken, and brambles grown around it. I stepped into the brambles, hissing and muttering, "Ow, ow" as the thorns pricked me. Amazing how tiny thorn pricks hurt, but big ones don't.

Anyway, I cleared that, and watched as Roger followed me, also spitting "Shit, ouch, fuck -- ". He had khakis on as opposed to jeans, so he really wasn't made for this. After clearing the wall, I happened to see Nettie's car park near on the curve before where we had been.

When we to her I asked, "Are you sure this is the place?"

"Well, while you guys were doing whatever you were doing -- " and she smirked at me -- "I marked off where we were." She pointed into the woods and I could see a white strip of cloth tied to a branch. "Think you can track her?"

I still had the piece of material in my pocket. I could have done the spell to find where the rest of it was -- but then the necromancer would notice if that zombie turned around and suddenly started heading toward me.

"Got an idea," I said, and knelt on the asphalt in front of the car. I took out my Swiss Army knife -- the one that doubled for an athame in a pinch -- and cut a piece of it off. Next, I went in my wallet and took out a small crystal-shaped dark stone -- not iron, hematite -- on a string. I placed the piece of material on top of the hematite and closed my eyes, letting the string move on its own.

When it started swinging is when I opened my eyes. It was swinging deeper into the graveyard. "Let's follow this," I said. "It might take longer but it's not as noticeable."

We walked about ten feet and then I'd stop and do it again. It wasn't until we got to the other side of the driveway loop that the thing took a hard swing to the north -- heading back out the graveyard.

"Damn," I hissed, and took off the piece of fabric. "They left."

"Well, of course they left. Any way we can use that in the car?"

"Unless you want to piss off traffic for driving ten feet and then stopping for a reading."

Said Roger quietly, "Sometimes people return to the scene of the crime."

"This isn't _Murder She Wrote_," I said, and turned back to Nettie. "Does your grandmother have something hidden? Some family legend?"

"Not my grandmother, my grandfather."

I waited, tapping my foot.

"He had something from India. Something some Raj gave him when he was visiting."

"And...?"

"It was gold. But nobody's ever found it."

"Did your grandmother know about it?"

"She told the story."

"So she never found it."

"Well, nobody did."

I asked the last stupid question I could think of. "Did anyone look?"

"I didn't. I don't know. It was a myth. You'd think if it was gold --"

"Our necromancer wants that thing from India and just raised your grandmother to go find it."

"Why didn't he raise my grandfather?"

"Where's he buried?"

"In the Veteran's Cemetery."

"The Vet's Cemetery is too well-guarded," I said, heading back to the car. "Know anyone in your family ruthless enough to want this thing?"

"I don't even know what it is—"

"Let's go see your mom, maybe she knows."

"My mom's not talking to me."

I leaned against the car. "Again?"

"She keeps after me to find a better boyfriend."

"-I- keep after you to find a better boyfriend but I still talk to you."

"Well, she's different."

Meanwhile, Roger was quiet through the entire exchange, a small look of amusement on his face. "What about an uncle, an aunt?" he put in.

"I could see Uncle Blair. He's at Oak Hill right down the street."

I sat in the back of the car. Roger sat in the back with me, putting a hand on my thigh. "Does this happen every weekend?"

"Only when I'm trying to get laid."

Nettie yelled, "If you're too BUSY to do this—"

"No, Nettie, I'll help you."

Roger squeezed my thigh and grinned. "Maybe you should try to get laid more often."