Wickedly Magical (Baba Yaga, #0.5)(8)
The flickering glow of the burning wick danced across the dark surface of the glass like the shadows from a bonfire, and Barbara remembered the last time all three witches had been gathered together, sitting around a fire and sipping Chablis from carved wooden goblets. She focused on that evening, and the rare feeling of companionship they’d enjoyed.
With a whispered spell, she sent that connection out into the ether, along with a mental call to Beka. Then she waited, relaxing into the light trance state necessary for Baba-to-Baba communications across time and space; legs crossed and hands resting lightly on her knees, she settled in to wait for as long as it took. Beka would probably sense the summons right away, but there was no way of knowing how long it would take her to find the quiet and solitude she would need to be able to answer.
Some time later—an hour or three—a deep ringing sound arose from the mirror, much like the tone one heard from the metal rim of a singing bowl. Barbara opened her eyes and stared into the dark center of the scrying mirror. A dim glow slowly brightened to show the face of a lovely young woman, as blond and tanned as any California surfer girl. Which this particular Baba Yaga was, when not out chasing monsters or preventing ecological disasters.
“Beka!” Barbara said, a rare smile lightening her usually severe face. “How is the world’s most ridiculously cheerful and perky Baba?” Barbara herself only had a rare acquaintance with cheerful, and if she met perky in a dark alley, she’d probably stab it if no one was looking. But she was quite fond of Beka despite her very un-Baba-like sunny disposition.
“Hi Barbara!” Beka said, her voice echoing slightly as it traveled through from her mirror to Barbara’s. “I’m sorry it took me so long to respond to your call, but I was in the middle of an epic wave, and I hated to leave it. I figured that if it was something urgent, you’d yell louder.” A crooked grin made her look even more adorable, if that was possible. But Barbara saw dark shadows under Beka’s eyes that belied her light tone.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Barbara said. “I would have. Are you okay, Beka?” Beka’s mentor hadn’t been as emotionally distant as Barbara’s had, but there had been other issues there that Barbara suspected had left their mark. “I know Brenna has only been retired for a couple of years. Have you been running into anything you need help with?”
The glow in the mirror dimmed briefly as Beka looked away, and her smile wasn’t as bright as it had been when she focused her attention back again. “No,” she said. “I’m fine. Why, don’t you think I can handle the job?”
Barbara blinked in surprise. “Don’t be silly. Of course I think you can handle it. Hell, you had a longer training period than any Baba Yaga in history.”
If anything, Beka looked grimmer. “I know.” She let out a sigh, then shrugged off whatever was bothering her and gave Barbara her usual cheerful grin. “Since you called me, I assume there’s something you need help with. Maybe an ogre you can’t handle with one arm tied behind your back? Or perhaps a handsome prince that’s bothering you, who you’d like me to take off your hands?” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, hah,” Barbara said. She tried to remember the last time a handsome man—prince or otherwise—had showed up. Other than Koshei, of course. But he was a dragon, so she wasn’t sure that counted. Still, what the heck would she do with a Human guy? Even if she met one she found attractive, he’d probably run screaming as soon as he found out who and what she really was. There was a reason Baba Yagas didn’t date. Numerous reasons, actually.
“I am calling about a guy,” she said. “But he’s no prince. I have a situation here involving a so-called guru who might or might not be using magic to influence people. I tracked him back to his arrival in this area a couple of years ago, but then the trail went cold. There was a suggestion that he might have been somewhere around Monterey Bay before he got here, so I thought I’d ask you to check around.”
Beka looked intrigued. “Huh. How did you get involved? The traditional worthy seeker?”
Barbara nodded. “Yup. A guy whose wife ran off to join this guru’s merry band, and took their two little girls with her. Then, when my seeker tried to get them back, our mystery man somehow convinced a judge and a social worker and the guy’s own lawyer that he’d molested them.”
There was a weighty silence for a moment. “Well that just sucks,” Beka said vehemently. “I mean, assuming he didn’t do it.”
“Chudo-Yudo says he’s telling the truth,” Barbara said. “Beside which, he has a token from my old Baba. I’d have to help him anyway, unless I was sure he really didn’t have a good cause.”
“That’s good enough for me,” Beka agreed. “You know, there’s something about this whole situation that sounds familiar, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. What’s the name of the guru-type you want me to look into?”
“Jonathan Bellingwood,” Barbara told her. “If I have to, I’ll find a way to get a lock of his hair or a piece of his clothing, and trace him magically, but it might be easier if I didn’t have to try to get close to him until I’m ready to resolve the situation.” She gave a slightly predatory smile. “One way or the other.”
“Uh-huh.” Beka rolled her eyes. “Try not to turn him into anything too unpleasant until I see what I can find out on my end, okay? I mean, it is just possible that the dude is innocent.”