Chương 189: Day One Hundred And Eighty-Seven

Dear Diary, I wonder if Saffron felt this way marching out to Newark. So after yet another day of chef Saffron dreams and night of staring at the sky, I woke up in my own bed, surrounded by warm people cuddled against me. I gently nudged Saffron awake, giving her plenty of time to blink and stretch herself awake. Once she looked more or less aware, I whispered, "hey, you. Good morning." She snuggled up to me, tilting her head to keep eye contact.

"Good morning, Goof."

"Please tell me I didn't dream the last few days?"

"You didn't. What made you think that, and why would you be worried about it?" I smiled down at her.

"I don't remember coming back to the room, but I do remember delegating a whole bunch of work that I don't want to have to do again."

"The delegation, or the work?"

"Either, really. Nobody told me delegating was work." She chuckled, the sound reverberating through me.

"Welcome to my world, love. Any time I'm not actively Curing people or working on Mass Cure? I'm either meeting with the Council or delegating work to people." I winced.

"I'm sorry." Her laughter deepened, and she wriggled her arms around me.

"Only you, Goof."

"Only me what?"

"Only you would hand your wife the world on a platter and then apologize when she has to deal with the consequences." I put my arms around her in turn.

"Well, yeah. You never asked for this, and now you're dealing with the consequences of my actions." She nipped at me a little bit.

"I haven't complained because I knew you'd react like this. Which, while endearing, is absolutely unneeded."

"Why?" She snuggled into me, so I felt her words as much as hearing them.

"Because I've discovered that I love it. Oh, it's work, don't get me wrong, but being the one people turn to when decisions have to be made? I find it thrilling."

"Not worried you're gonna screw it up?" She shook her head, although with how she'd burrowed into me, she couldn't move her head all that much.

"Anyone else in the same role would make more mistakes, and probably be unwilling to admit when they were mistakes. I have no illusions about that."

"Okay. Just promise me something?"

"Of course."

"When you get tired of it, you hand it off to somebody else and we get a little bungalow down the shore." She purred against me.

"You remembered."

"Duh. I remember important things." We lay there in each others arms, her purr rumbling the bed just a little, until the other half of my question hit my brain like a poorly thrown frisbee.

"How did I get back to the room?"

"Me." Marie's answer came from behind me a second before she lay her arm over both of us and snuggled us in tight. Tighter; not like there's a whole lot of leeway if all four of us are on the bed, and I felt Isnomi laying across our calves. Questions answered, I just enjoyed the feel of family all snuggled together. After a while, the menace stirred, then wormed her way between us, eyes still closed, and nudged her way into nursing from Saffron. Purring intensified, both from the little one and the big one.

I asked, "anybody know what time it is?" I felt something from Saffron, who then replied, "the Maids are still setting up breakfast."

"So, time for us to get vertical and mobile." Of course, I couldn't do that until Marie moved, at least not without either shoving her out of the bed or climbing over her. After one final squeeze of the rest of us, she did her trick of slipping out from under the covers without letting any cold air in. I sighed, gave Saffron and the menace another hug, and did a much clumsier version of the same thing. When the cold hit, I decided to chance discomfort and used my insta-dress trick.

That prompted disappointed Saffron noises from the bed, so I leaned over the bed and kissed her thoroughly. When I pulled away, she asked, "how are you feeling, by the way?" I blinked.

"Huh. Much better, I guess, because despite not moving like a geriatric on Quaaludes, I'm not hurting." I spun both arms through a full range of motion, then bent over and pushed my hands to the floor. duBois flexibility training for the win. Same for Sister Siobhan's masseuse skills. When I straightened up I said, "everything seems to be more or less back to normal, body-wise."

"What about the damage you'd done to your soul?" If she stuttered a little on that last, I didn't comment. Most of what I'd done to myself had been done when I thought she'd been killed, after all.

"Not sure. I suppose I could Translocate a little and test it out."

"What does your Patron say?" I shrugged. Hey, Boss? Yes, Tabitha? I'm feeling pretty okay today, so I'm guessing I don't need to come back for another session where you treat me like play dough. How soon should I be able to start Translocating and Co-Locating again? I would recommend you do so regularly, but keep it to short distances for at least a week. Short meaning? Line of sight or within the same building. Thanks, Boss. You're the best. I know.

"Sounds like I'm in rehab for that. I can hop around the building, but shouldn't do much more for at least a week." She made the cutest little face.

"Dammit. I'd hoped you could come back here overnight, like I'm doing now." I looked at her, one eyebrow going up.

"You do realize you could come pick me up?" Watching her mouth drop open was so cute. Like my very own surprised Pikachu meme, only way cuddlier.

"I'm going to blame that one on nursing." I laughed.

"She's sucking on your tit, not your brain, Kitten."

"I didn't say nursing was at fault. I said I'm going to blame it."

"Point." I turned to Marie, who'd got herself dressed while I sat there trading quips with Saffron.

"So, can you and Grandma keep the menace from tearing the Academy down while we're both at work?" Sometimes I forget that while she's not talkative, Marie probably has the sharpest sense of humor of all of us. The look she gave Isnomi, eyes going wide in a fabulous horrified look like she'd just been told she had to dig out a community cesspit with her bare hands. Claws. Whatever, she just nailed it with the world's least confident, "Maybe."

We all laughed at that, even Marie after a few seconds of maintaining her doubtful face. I sauntered up to her, gave her a hug and kiss, then bent over the bed to do the same for Saffron and Isnomi.

"See you tonight, Menace. If Mom remembers to pick me up on her way home from work." The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. I stepped down to the Dining Hall, my butt hitting the seat just as the Maids opened the doors. I'd power-nommed a tray of spicy eggs before the rest of the crew got to the table. Once we'd all gathered, I paused my one woman crusade against the chickens of Phileo to quickly review the rest of the ROTC Cadets.

"Everything go well yesterday?" When I got a round of nods from people with full mouths, I turned to Bonita.

"Any problems getting the tinker backpacks?" She gulped down whatever she'd had in her mouth, chasing it with a drink from her stein before replying.

"Nothing we couldn't handle. Turns out nobody wants to tell a Lancaster 'no' when it comes to selling something they're technically trying to sell anyhow. He covered the cost of all of them too. Well, the Lancasters did. He just told them to send the bill to their townhouse and 'his people' would take care of it. I really don't want to know how badly he got overcharged." I smiled at her, "yeah, you probably don't.

Still, one less thing the Academy has to pay for, which means one less thing I have to justify to duBois and Miles when the bill comes due. Are they all here at the Academy?" She nodded, "They're all packed and waiting for us at the Academy loading docks. I asked the Maids to pack them; I figure that way they'll start out slightly more organized than 'everything shoved in every which way', for however long that lasts."

"Good idea. Bill, how'd we do on the crossbows?" He'd been waiting for the question, so I didn't have to wait for him to swallow. Funny, over the course of the last six months he'd gone from the butterball I remembered from the first week to just a stocky guy, maybe a little shorter than average, maybe with a little bit of a gut, but definitely not soft, the way he'd been. I wasn't sure if I missed that or not.

"I couldn't get spares, but we've got one crossbow for everyone in the expedition. We also have ten more bolts each than you initially asked for. Apparently they're overstocked on bolts, and since we're taking most of the stockpile of crossbows, they wanted to get rid of them." More athletic profile or not, his voice still danced around the upper registers. I'd never asked him if he spoke with a deliberate falsetto, or if he was just a natural soprano, but now wasn't really the time to get into that.

I was certain we'd have at least one late night shit-shooting session during the expedition; I'd ask him then. I frowned a little as I thought about our crossbows.

"The bolts are about a pound each, right?" He nodded.

"Pound and a half, really, but close enough."

"That means ten more per soldier is fifteen pounds of kit per soldier." He looked a little worried, but replied, "uh, yeah?"

"That's fifteen pounds less food per soldier." He closed his eyes and sighed, "dammit. I thought I was being clever." Bill's salvation came from the place I least expected it. Lancaster stepped up to the end of the table and cut in to the conversation, saying, "for about half of the trip, we'll be traveling through forests. If we travel line abreast, we should be able to scare up a fair amount of wild game to supplement our stores, at least so long as we're not marching across farmsteads.

Once we are, if food is a problem we can get it there." I took the time to chew and swallow a mouthful of eggs before replying, considering his suggestion. Mouth clear, consideration done, I replied, "that's a really good idea. The troops without too much experience with crossbows will get some target practice as well." He frowned.

"I'm not sure that letting our less skilled archers do the hunting is the best idea." I shrugged.

"Oh, no. We'll wind up using, possibly losing, some of our bolts." If my deadpan delivery didn't clue him in, I'm sure my smile did. He nodded.

"You're the commander. When are we leaving?"

"One second. Raven, Bill, all the paperwork done and submitted?" Raven winced, shaking her hand almost like she didn't realize she was doing it. Bill explained, "way more than we thought there would be, given the relative simplicity of the personnel forms. We got them all in by end of day yesterday, for a sufficiently broad definition of 'end of day'."

"Was duBois still in his office?" Bill sheepishly replied, "no." I grinned at both of them, having to turn my head to do so, since they were more or less on opposite sides of me.

"Excellent. He told me we had anything I wanted for equipment, but I really didn't want to hear he'd reconsidered when I decided to take three hundred or so crossbows."

"You aren't worried he'll change his mind now?" I shrugged.

"We'll cut breakfast short and head out at sunrise. By the time he reads his way through all that paperwork, we'll be across the Schuylkill. If he wants them back, he can come tell us so himself, right?" That got a round of cut off laughter from the table, followed by more intense nomming as people realized this would likely be the last Maid-cooked food they'd have for a while. Probably the last meal with any real spice to it as well. I followed suit, and Lancaster sauntered back to his own table to eat.

As I finished off my current tray of spicy eggs, I remembered something.

"Be right back." I hopped back to the room and immediately felt some kind of way when I found it empty; Saffron gone for her day of work, Isnomi gone with Marie or Grandma for the day. I pulled open the bottom drawer, rifled through it, and found the wax paper packets of spices I'd bought back on the day I first met Rocky. My spices secured, I turned to look around the room, trying to be sure I hadn't forgotten anything else.

My gaze crossed the armoire, and I realized I had one more thing to do before leaving for a while. I opened the front, leaned in, and slid the hidden door aside.

"Son?" Conrad popped up in front of me, his smile stretched across his face just a little further than natural, as usual.

"Hey. I'm going to be heading out to Lancaster House in like, an hour. I wanted to be sure you'd be okay with Saffron and I both away." If his smile shrank, it became ever so slightly more real seeming.

"I want for nothing in my workshop, but knowing you care enough to ask fulfills needs I'd not realized I had. Never fear, Mother. I shall remain vigilant and ensure your domicile remains undisturbed by intruders in your absence." I nodded, trying for my best motherly smile.

"Keep an eye on your sister and Marie for me, if you have the time between projects?" He nodded graciously.

"Of course, Mother." Scrambling for something to say so it didn't feel like I'd just dropped in to make sure he hadn't taken to turning random Cadets into equal weights of furniture and kitchen appliances, I asked, "did you want me to pick something up for you while I'm out?" He put one hand to his breast; on anyone else the gesture would seem fake, but somehow he managed to pull it off.

"I... hadn't really given the matter any thought. Should something remind you of me, I would love a souvenir of your travels." I smiled at him.

"Will do, son. Gotta get moving before we start burning daylight."

"Farewell, Mother." I stepped back to the Dining Hall, wax paper packets clutched in their folded manila envelope.

"Just remembered I had these." When everybody looked at me, I said, "a few packets of powdered cayenne and jalapeno. Might have to stretch it out, but they ought to give us a little taste of home, y'know?" Bill looked at me.

"You know how to cook?" I looked around the table.

"You mean none of you guys do?" I stared at Bill in particular.

"Your parents own a restaurant. How did you wind up not learning how to cook?" He shrugged.

"My dad does all the cooking. My mom does the baking. I just waited tables until I started spending all day with the tutor we hired." I facepalmed.

"Okay, I guess we learn as we go then. Still better than, I dunno, Unseasoned boiled rabbit or some shit like that." That got a round of laughs. I kept shoveling in eggs and bread until Lancaster walked back toward us, Rosen, Rider, and Carruthers in his wake. I looked around the table, set down my spoon, and said, "time to go, ladies and gentlemen." As I stood, I grabbed one last loaf of bread, and smiled a little as everyone except Lancaster followed suit.

He shook his head, but said nothing, so I led the way down to the basement. Three hundred and ten backpacks sat, each with a crossbow and shield hooked to the back, with a spear leaning against it. The ten of us grabbed up ours, then opened up the doors to find our troops waiting outside in the dim light of false dawn.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!" I hid my shudder at the shock of cold air; most of the troops stood in ankle-deep snow; they had their armor and boots on, but no weapons or gear other than that. I mean, they all had clothes, including cloaks, but no military or camping gear.

"Cadets Driver," I nodded to Bill, "Aetos," a nod to Raven, "Rider, and Rosen will gear you all up; I'd like to be on the road by sunrise. One unit per bay at a time," I paused, looked at Bonita, Fred, Carruthers, and Lancaster, "can you guys direct traffic here while I go play rally point over yonder?"

"Of course, Commander." Weird as fuck having Lancaster direct his stickler-for-propriety at me, but fuck it.

"Thanks." I turned back to the troops, who stood in more or less unit-sized blobs.

"Cadet Mac Conno and myself will be waiting over there," I waved in the direction where I vaguely remembered seeing a ferry across the Schuylkill.

"We'll be marching in line formation until we clear the City walls. So as soon as you've got your gear, come line up on us or behind one of the units lined up on us. Got that?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Kinda freaky having three hundred men and women all call me 'Ma'am' at the same time. Even weirder was them just taking that frag order and running with it. Well, for a value of 'running' that included stomping their feet trying to stay warm while the units ahead of them got their gear and moved into formation.

Angel and I went over to the crest of the last hill before the ground dropped off toward the river, and if the units lined up weren't perfectly ramrod straight, they certainly were close enough to formation to make it through the city without getting lost. Maybe half an hour later, the Cadets gathered around me.

"Everybody ready for a nice little hike?" Lancaster made a face at my informality, but asked, "how should we arrange ourselves?" I nodded at our double line of units.

"Just off the flanks, alternating sides. Lancaster, can you take the lead, since you're the one who knows where we're going?" He nodded and moved over to stand to the right of the first units, then stood there waiting patiently.

"Okay, Aetos, Carruthers, Obol, Driver," I glanced at the front of Fred's jacket, "Jonopolous, Rider, Rosen, MacConno, and then I'll bring up the rear. Let's get moving, folks." When everybody was in place, I called out, "Okay, Lancaster, move us out!" So, it turns out that ferries? At least the little ones in the here and now? Take a lot longer to ferry twenty groups of people than I thought, so Lancaster led us to a bridge across the Schuylkill. One that added a few miles to our travel. Long story short?

That night we set up camp with the western wall of Phileo still in sight. Great start to our trip. Then again, duBois didn't chase us down to take our crossbows back, so I'm gonna call it a win.