A BP&G adventure - Pockets; Heretic

[joegoda]

"So...," Bags glanced at Pockets, "I'm assuming that anyone coming to the front door of the Mansion will just waltz in to the wagon?"

"That's sorta the way it looks, yeah." Pockets admitted.

"Did you think of this before you built... before you put... whatever the hell it is you did to bring the Mansion inside the wagon?"

"No... Not really. Actually, not at all. Never figured you'd get company." Pockets scratched his head.

Capitani looked at Bags, looked at Pockets, and said, "Chester Pockets, what have you got yourself into this time, besides a whole town that wants to kill you?"

Pockets blushed. "Nothing, Capitani. Just a little hole in the world so Griz can leave home and take it with her."

Capitani looked around, looked at Grizelda, looked at Thom, placed her hands on her hips and said, "Why don't you ever do this for me?"

Thom smiled shyly and said, "Honey, if even knew what he was talking about half the time, I probably could."

Capitani hugged her husband and kissed his cheek. "I know you would, honey. I was just funnin'." To Grizelda she said, "Griz, I'm assuming you know where you're going?" She winked. "Because I doubt these two," she indicated Bags and Pockets have any earthly idea.

Grizelda hugged Capitani. "Now don't be running down my boys, Capi. They're pretty handy from time to time." She smiled and said "Bags is taking me home for a while. Ever heard of Forest Edge?"

Capitani smiled broadly. "Yes! I know exactly where that is. We did a bit of a show there a while back, almost joined in Perry's Perfect Performers. That's your home?"

Grizelda nodded. "Yep. That's where I met Bags and Pockets, too. Seems like an awful long time ago." She caught Bren yawning out of the corner of her eye. "I bet you folks are done in." She looked at Pockets. "Think it's safe to put them up stairs in the guest rooms?"

Pockets scratched his graying beard and said, "Oh, I imagine it is. I mean, it's not like the Mansion has moved or anything. It's still in the same place it's always been, we've just got a little hole into it, is all. Like a door."

"Yeah," said Bags. "A door apparently anyone can walk into." He walked over and opened the front door, looked out, and shrugged. "Still looks like the Blacksmith's to me." To Pockets, "Think you can fix it so nobody can just wander in here?"

From Grizelda; "Come on, you three. Let's get you settled up stairs."

Capitani smiled and clapped her hands. She turned to Thom and said "Honey, we're going on a vacation! Isn't that great!"

Bren said, shyly. "Can I go to bed now?"

Grizelda reached out and took his hand. "Aw honey, of course you can. You just follow aunt Griz and I'll get you all tucked away." She led him to the winding stairs and looked back at Capitani and Thom. "Well? You folks coming or not?"

Thom nodded, "You sure it won't be a bother?"

"Don't be silly!" Capitani exclaimed happily. "We're all family here, and we're all going on an adventure." She grabbed Thom's hand and started pulling him up the stairs. When she caught up with Grizelda, she said, "Tomorrow, after I've rested, we'll talk about Forest Edge. I think it may have changed a bit since you were there last."

The two women were quietly chatting away and faded upstairs.

Bags and Pockets were left alone.

Quietly, Bags asked his friend, "Look, Pockets, we can't be having anyone that drops by just waltzing in here. I mean, what if they had been an angry mob with pitchforks?"

"Pitchforks? Really?" Pockets looked dubious.

"You know what I mean." He walked to the front door and opened it. "Look at this. It's your backyard. If someone came to the Mansion and we had to throw 'em out, they'd land here." He closed the door and said, "Is there a way to fix it so nobody knows we're even here?"

"Uh." Pockets thought. "Have you tried locking the door?"

"And you're supposed to be a genius?" Bags threw the bolt and locked the door. "There. That should keep everyone out except for any one that really wants to get in. A decent battle axe and hey, we have company."

Pockets looked miserable, turned his eyes to the floor and let his shoulders sag. "You know... I just thought I was doing something right for a change. I'm sorry Bags. I'll figure something out."

Bags took in the form of his friend, felt something move in his chest and place a large hand on Pockets' shoulder. "You did a great thing. I know that Griz certainly appreciated the gesture. You just didn't figure it all the way through." He sighed. "We're both tired, Pockets. Let's get some sleep and we'll figure it out tomorrow... together, okay?"

Pockets raised his eyes to meet his best friend's face. A small smile crossed his face. "Okay," he said tentatively. "I know you're just trying to make me feel better, Bags. Get some sleep. I'll figure something out."

"I know you will, Pockets." Bags said. "I know you will because, after all," he pushed his open palms toward his friend, as if serving the truth as a dish, "you're you."

"Ain't it the truth." Pockets said, a bit of his cheerful side peeking through. "For good or not." He scratched the side of his face, and looked up and away. "You go to bed, Bags, okay? Grizelda will wonder where you are."

Bags started for the stairs, and when he got to them, he turned. "Just remember. Let's try to fix it together... Okay?"

"Okay, Bags." Pockets said in a dreamy tone. "Whatever you say."

Bags nodded and headed up the stairs, knowing full well that whatever Pockets was thinking, he probably wouldn't know about it until after the fact.

Pockets watched Bags go, but didn't really see him. His mind was far away, thinking about other things that couldn't be explained in words. As was his wont, he muttered to himself, which helped move things from his imagination to the world of the real. "So...," he began, "Let's say we keep the door, just move the people." He wandered back to his room, which was hidden behind the door to the front hall closet. "No, not quite like that. Maybe if we just shifted the time just a bit." He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. "Yeah." He nodded. "Yeah. That just might do it."

Late the next morning, Bags came down the staircase to a bright, sunny day, filled with the chatter of women in the large dining room. Capitani and Grizelda were sitting, drinking tea, over the remains of a breakfast finished long ago. It warmed his heart to see Grizelda doing something so mundane and yet something so special as just sitting, talking and not fretting or having to settle some argument.

Bren, Thom and Esmeralda could be seen on the patio. Esmeralda had her little hands balled up into fists on her hips. She was, apparently, explaining how the world was to these two older giant men. Their reaction was to look at her with an all-serious face, which didn't quite hide the large grins they didn't pretend to have.

The world was quiet, wherever they were. The wagon rocked, gently, as it moved and the ticking of the gears that ran it purred under the hardwood floor. If there had not been the feeling of movement, and the purring of the gears, Bags would have sworn that they were at home. Which, in matter of fact, they were.

"Morning, Honey." Bags said as he kissed Grizelda. "I hope there's coffee?"

"Coffee, bacon, eggs, a bit of ham, some bread. In the kitchen, my love." Grizelda leaned her head back against Bags chest and smiled. "Capi tells me that Forest Edge has become a stopping place for traveling entertainers because it's the one safe place on this side of the mountains." She looked up into his brown eyes and asked, "Want to go see the circus?"

Capitani smiled broadly and nodded vigorously. "Yep, yep! I'm all sorts of anxious to see some of my old crew again!" She got up slowly, showing a bit of pain from her illness, and came over to Bags. "Thank you, thank you, Sir Bags, for letting us come on this adventure with you!" She hugged him gently and kissed him on the cheek.

"Um..." Bags blushed and Grizelda laughed. "He blushes very nicely, doesn't he?" she said.

Bags stepped back from the two women and went into the kitchen. From there he called back, "Well, I'm not sure it was a case of me letting you, Capi. It was more of a case of once we got started, I couldn't very well say no, could I?" He brought back a large plate of breakfast and a mug of hot, black coffee and sat across from the women. "I haven't looked out the front door yet, but I noticed we're moving. Any idea where we are?"

Grizelda nodded, looked out to the patio where Esmeralda was using a very small sword and running the two older men through some sword practice. Esmeralda held her sword firmly in her grasp and swung it with authority. "I do wish she would try, just a little, being a little girl," she sighed. Turning back to Bags, she said, "Pockets says that we are about fifty miles from Tears, crossing Nomad's land."

"Fifty miles!" Bags sputtered, his coffee not quite spraying. "We've only been asleep... what? Five or Six hours?" He lay his fork down on his plate and said, "Where is he?"

Grizelda and Capitani pointed, as one, to the entryway closet. "In his office, of course," they said.

Bags stood up and crossed first to the front door. He opened it to see a bleak countryside, whizzing past. Red rock, red dirt, red dust. It was pretty much red all around, topped off with an amazing baby blue sky, dotted with small fluffy clouds.

His front covered with dust, his back as clean as it could be, Bags closed the front door. Looking at the back, towards the patio, he could see Bren on his back, Esmeralda sitting on his chest and pummeling him with her fists. Bren was laughing, as was Thom. There was no sign of apparent movement, no red dust. It was the same patio, the same garden, the same rocks and the same sky that Bags had seen for the last four plus years.

Bags opened the closet door, and stopped. There was Pockets, sitting in a well-padded chair looking through two windows. Over the one against the far wall from Bags was a handwritten sign that read "Here". Over the window on the same side as the front door was a sign in Pockets scrawl that read "There".

Pockets himself was sitting, happily humming and drinking from a large stone mug. On a shelf behind him was a contraption that looked like a box with a spigot hanging from the bottom. There were hissing sounds coming from the box, and little puffs of steam as well. As Bags watched, Pockets reached over and turned a dial an amount so small that Bags couldn't tell any difference at all.

"There," Pockets said, satisfied. "That's better." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bags standing at the door. "Hi Bags!" he said. "I fixed it. Oh, and Good Morning."

"Which part did you fix this time, where are we, how fast are we going, and how safe is this thing?"

Pockets laughed and said "Nobody will know we're even here. I did a phase shift so that the current occupants are approximately one point zero six... "Seeing the glaze come over Bags eyes, he stopped. "Anyway, anyone that comes in won't be able to see us. We can see them, but they'll be all ghostly like, and pass right through us. The Mansion will still be there for them, it's just that we won't be. That's what you were wanting, right? Took a bit of doing, let me tell you!" Pockets sipped merrily on his drink. "Want some hot cocoa? I made it here in my new invention. I call it a brewing machine." He indicated the hissing box. "It'll heat up water in just a few seconds and you can use it to make coffee or tea or cocoa. I had to do something with the residual heat created by the..."

Bags held up his hand, Pockets stopped. Bags sighed. He was used to Pockets rants, but sometimes he wasn't quite ready for them. This was one of those times. "So, if someone comes in, we'll see them, but they won't see us."

"Right."

"That's all I need to know." Bags leaned against the doorframe. "That and how sure of it are you? You're sure it'll work?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Pockets popped out of his chair and waked to the brewing machine. He poured a large amount of steaming water in to his mug, added some powder from a crock next to the machine and mixed it with his finger. "Brigs came in early today... Did you know he has a key? Anyway, Brigs came in earlier today and wandered around looking for you. I made sure that I stood in front of him so there was no way that he would miss me and he passed right through me. To him, it looks like we left, lock, stock and barrel. It was great! Worked perfectly!"

Bags took this in thoughtfully. "That's good Pockets, that's good," he murmured. "I need to write Brigs a letter to let him know that we've taken a ... erm... vacation." He looked at Pockets. "If I write him a letter, will he be able to see it?"

Pockets pondered. "He should. I would have to twiddle the letter a bit after you've written it so that it transfers to his modulation, but I don't see a reason why not." He scratched his cheek absent-mindedly. "Yeah... that should work. 'Should' being the operative word, of course."

"Of course." Bags said. "Now, where are we, how fast are we going and how safe is this thing?"

"Oh!" Pockets said. "Well, we're going about thirteen miles an hour, pretty slow, actually, but I didn't want to shake anyone up over unknown terrain. We're about..." he looked at another dial, "... sixty-three miles outside of Tears, on the border of Nomad's land. Not as far as I'd like, but I stopped a couple of times to make adjustments to the springs. Gotta rewind the suckers ever so often, you know." He propped his feet up on his desktop. "Pretty cool how it all works. Wanna hear?"

"Maybe some other time, Pockets." Bags said. "Is it safe? It's not going to blow up or anything. I mean, we're going pretty fast."

"You looked outside, didn't you?" Pockets asked. "I can tell from the dust. I told the others not to, but forgot about you." He placed his hands behind his head and said, "Yes, it's pretty safe. I mean, baring any sort of cliff we might fall off of or maybe hitting a large rock or something, yeah. We're as safe as if we were riding a horse." He glanced out the window marked 'Here', and said "Whoops! Big rock, big rock. Sorry, Bags. I'm gonna be busy here for a few moments. Can't talk."

Pockets reached over and grabbed a handle that looked like a tiller. He pulled it gently and Bags could feel the wagon move, imperceptivity, in the opposite direction of the tiller. Looking out the window, he saw what Pockets saw; a large red rock, about the size of two wagons move from the center of the window to a spot just off to the left side.

Pockets swiveled back around. "See? Easy as pie are squared. Safe as houses." His face got a serious look. "Really, Bags. We're okay. I figure we should be nearing Forest Edge before night."

"A two days journey by horse back." Bags nodded. "Amazing." He looked at his friend and asked, "Did you sleep last night?"

"I'll get to it." Pockets said, smiling like a maniac and tweaking a dial. "Thank the Gods for cocoa!"

Comments

[capi.livejournal.com]

*L*!! When asked if i knew the place, the response that popped right out of my mouth (faster than i was reading, even!) was, "Of course! I went to school there!" *L* Because, you know, i've been to school *everywhere*!!

*L* BIG ROCK!! *hee* This is a great grand adventure!! Thank you for bringing us!!

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

This chapter needs a little clean up in the final version. Maybe a lot of clean up. Still, I needed to get back into the writing of it, so here it is!

[capi.livejournal.com]

*waving to JoeGoda*

[tapestry01.livejournal.com]

We still need to get that map drawn one of these days.

[shackrlu.livejournal.com]

O.k, Forest End is now Forest Edge...and the shortcut through Nomad's land cuts weeks off the trip! But other than those couple of things that made me stop and go *Huh?* I likes it!

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

Edge has been changed to End. I've been away from this too long. You're right, the distance is too short, so I'm forgetting something. Didn't WeeHawk and Pewitt make it in only a few days? Remind me of the distances we talked about. I thought that Forest End was only about 200 miles away from tears. I could be wrong....

Ok.. I'm working on a map before I do anything else.

[shackrlu.livejournal.com]

O.k, now I'm gonna have to go read your last one, I didn't remember WeeHawk and Pewitt making it to Forest End. So I may be wrong. I'll look at that map we drew at the pub on the paper towel when I get home tonight.

[joegoda.livejournal.com]

They didn't go to Forest End, dear, just across the desert. Distances are comparable.