Chapter 14: Springtime with Mayday

(It’s a Spritely World)

It was the first Sunday in May, and the Lambert Clan Council were engaged in private session. Private meaning shields up, notebooks down, and all electronic monitors removed.

There were several items on the conversation table, among them the proposed formation of a new company for goods and services. But first, old business.

The latest “Dragon Corp” activity was for an imprisoned Sprite named Mayday that had happened in La Paz, Bolivia. She had been making a delivery to a Hedge Witch when three Mages attempted to imprison her. When she realized that there was a threat to herself, she asked for help. Deamonus reacted (maybe a little over enthused) by sending two teams. One to secure the Sprite, and one to secure the area. So, there were two Dragons, four Dragonets, six Gargoyles, and a dozen Elves and Dwarves in a single dispatch. And the three Mages were properly chastised when Deamonous appeared himself on site to inquire about “What were you doing to our Fae Companion?”

Total time from panic to stabilized area was three minutes. From the time of the alarm to the time the Sprite entered the clinic in Brazil was even less... “Its’ a matter of policy, we want to make sure you are ok,” she was told by the recovery team. And as usual, there was no waiting at the Fae Clinic where three Elven physicians saw to her health. Nothing serious was seen, but the Elves made a thorough check to make sure that there was no trauma. Besides, two of them had never attended a Sprite before and so Mayday was a bit of a live classroom for them.

Two of them remarked “It’s unusual to have a patient being this polite to doctors here. But it’s evidently the rule of the Clan Lambert brand”.

The head Physician answered “It’s the brand. Sprites are usually sweet, shy and eager to hide. But those with Lambert are less shy and feel they can do no wrong. And they don’t. Everything in that Clan is socialized to a fault.”

The “Questions” for the three Mages took a little longer. Karen was called by Deamonous to work with the local Bolivians to determine the proper treatment of them for their behavior. The conversation went like this.

“Why did you try to trap and contain our Fae Friend?” Karen asked.

“We felt that there was a wealth of Magic that could be obtained. She flies, she appears and disappears without movement. These things are valuable to us.”

That was the excuse.

There was some discussion (among the Spanish speaking Dragonets) as to the proper way to cook an Aztec. Some were in favor of char broiling. Some wanted to just burn the entire carcass to ash and blow it away. There were several other opinions offered by the captors of the hapless Mages who listened to the possibility of being basted with Onion and tomato, or just plain catsup. Until Karen reminded everyone that “Fae don’t eat humans anymore, and neither do Fae Creatures living on Leylines.”

Eventually, it was decided to let the Mages go. With this being a good general lesson.

The general lesson was that “Sprites are Sweet, Gentle, and Very Kind. The people who will come for them if they are afraid will not be any of that. Don’t bother the Sprites.”

The South American council of Mages expressed their concerns with the speed of response and with the demonstration of force by Clan Lambert. Reggie laughed when asked what he thought and said “it’s amazing how fast that got to the American Council. When people ask me what I thought, I point out that my two Warlocks were wearing Lambert Amulets as a communications device.”

Requests for “Sprite Observation” by mages then grew enormously.

Among other things, they were seen as the ultimate “Finders” for lost or missing objects.

At the last week of April, two Hedge witches on the NYPD used sprites to find missing children. Care was taken to avoid release about how the clues got to the Missing person’s section, but the results were all hidden below the press releases. And the results were applauded by everyone.

Some of Clan Lamberts “friends and Family” saw the presence of Sprites on a permanent basis as a sign of friendship. Mayfly sat at Webster’s table most evenings and answered questions about all manner of things Elven, and Pat never was surprised when Sprites were seen in his office or home anymore. And Victoria insisted on baking chocolate chip cookies for the delicate visitors. The scar on her neck had healed nicely.

Others in Clan Lambert were quick to accept the appearance of slight, white and ghostly images while working. Diamond cutters became accustomed to small creatures watching them work, as did wood workers and other artisans. Some people (like Yana) put them to work fetching cloth, threads, and other items while she worked on special gowns. Sometimes there were as many as six flitting around in her clothing store, retrieving and returning gowns and other items.

Sylvia Groton, the mage with Paints and Optical devices, thought they were the finest extra set of hands available. And knew in the back of her mind that enormous help was always just a thought away.

All of this activity was an outgrowth of Hank’s belief that “Everyone has something that they can do that will benefit others as much as it benefits them.” Rule four. The Sprites benefitted by having things to do. Clan members and friends benefitted by having spare hands that watched, listened, helped and could yell for help if needed. Clan Lambert benefitted from the reputation as being vastly different from the beast of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. At least among the normal witches, mages and wizards in the world.

Reports from overseas and among certain English and European Mages, not so much.

“This is a verbatim playback of the activities that Springtime recorded and saved for this meeting” Natalie said. “Below we have what she observed.”

“Sir Thomas. What progress have you made on civil redaction of these criminals. Don’t we have an extradition treaty with the Colonies? “Robert Barron asked.

“We do. But there are some obstacles here. First, they are American native citizens. All of them except the fae creatures. Hank Lambert is the son of a distinguished and recognized American Army officer. So, no leverage there. The Americans don’t have Witchcraft laws in the states where Lambert is operating. And our planned revelations about the history of the activities of Mages and their abilities leaves us open to counter questions of “What do you know and when did you know it?”. Which I assume that none of the councils wants to have open to discussion currently.”

“Since the Philby case, they have become rather insistent that we open the kimono. Which we cannot afford to do.” Barron said with some anguish. “Damn that man and his friends.”

After a few moments, “I assume that this Reggie person is still ignoring our requests.” Thomas continued.

“Yes. In point of fact, he has stated that we have already accepted the remains of people who tried to forcibly capture American Mages on American Soil. His implied warning was that we shouldn’t try that again.”

“What about the elves? Can’t they do anything?”

“The Elves have told us that they don’t care what or where we try to do, they are limited by the treaty that they signed with us. And they don’t wish us good luck.”

“I hate to say it, Thomas. But we need to work on extracurricular channels now. We need to open up our archives and see if we can find other levers that we can use to pry this disgusting mess out of existence. We must enable our own research. All that we have done so far is fail. We need to approach this differently and to do that we need to do some research of their history.”

“You want to open the archives at the Bodleian Library?”

“Yes. As soon as we can.”

Springtime quietly sat in the corner and waited until both Sir Thomas Heatherington and Robert Barron left through the door. She quietly fell in behind Sir Barron, who was as usual careless with his shields, and went through the doorway and out into the world. And left. And our recording ends here.

Follow-up on Springtime’s report

“Springtime has done an exemplary job following Heatherington around, and I admire her courage. I hope that she never needs to cry for help. Are we sure all of our Sprites have the latest and greatest of Wrist bands? And the ability to return here or to Arch Park I in any emergency?” I asked.

“Hank, with the Gnomes doing the tracking, and the voluntary behavior of the Sprites in being monitored, and the addition of their amulets to keep them unobserved and energetic, and by broadcasting their location continuously, there isn’t much chance of anything happening to them. And as the behavior shows, some Mages don’t pay attention to their surroundings. Sprites are innocuous. And all of them have confidence in the Dragon Corp.” Natalie said. “Recent events have only proved to strengthen everyone’s confidence in them and that they will work to save them.”

“All of them have heard that favorite line from your favorite song.” Deamonous said quietly from the corner.

“Ok, I’ll bite. What song is that?” I asked the smug dragon. How did I know he was smug? It’s easy. He’s always smug. Ever since he got the charter for the Dragon Corp, he has been smiling inside. And once he adapted to having Sprites write things down in his diary, he was notorious for bringing it out when he was engaged in any discussion. He was as tenacious a note keeper as Natalie. And far worse than Jerry. And sometimes his smiles show on the outside as well.

“Peter Gabriel. Solebury Hill. You know that line, “Grab your things, I’ve come to take you home.” Deamonous smugly said.

The laughter was contagious. And long lasting. After it ebbed, Deamonous continued. “We have a process. We have a procedure. We have a protocol. And we never leave anyone at risk. Especially our small friends the Sprites. And everyone knows that anyone who has been seized has to go to the Fae hospital first to be checked out. And to tell us what the learning experience was that got them in the trouble we responded to. So we can share it. Jeffery has helped us all a lot to put these processes in play.” Deamonous got a perplexed look on his face and then asked “Hank, what does sandbagging mean?”

“It means exactly what you just did. An unexpected response from someone you might have underestimated before. Well done, Deamonous. Very Well Done.” I said with a smile. “Now all you need to remember is “don’t tell your grandmother how so suck eggs”.

The human collection laughed at Deamonous’s confusion. “I’ll explain, later. Deamonous, it means you did good” Natalie said with a smile.

“So, I take it we continue to observe the slimily Limey’s for future planning, and work on more exercises for defense and offense. Deamonous, I liked the writeup on Bolivia. And my only comment on the force deployed is that it’s better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it on hand.” I said looking around the table. “These mages wanted to start a fight. We finished it. Reggie approves and I don’t want any further critique on this incident.”

Paula looked embarrassed. She had argued for less force. Until she had looked at the numbers that had our Sprite imprisoned. And the assets that the Aztec group had assembled to keep her there.

Which led to the resolution of the council to provide a Transportation and cartage service for Mages, Hedge Witches, Fae and any Wizards who requested such support. Payments were to be reasonable, the Sprites involved were to be volunteers, and Deamonous was to get two more Gnomes and an Elf to do orders of shipping and transport. We were doing Magic FedEx. Magical goods, jewels, and artifacts to be brought from point to point anywhere on earth. And now Deamonous had an even bigger job, with more work. And I never would ask him how to do his job. I think he memorized “don’t ask how to suck eggs”

Our next job was to start a listing of goods, prices and availability. We got that idea from this hedge witch in California. He named his company after a river in Brazil. For Wizards and Mages, we needed a Web Site. That was the next job for Chris and the guys in Palo Alto.

Communal bliss questions

“Honey, are we really going to start a website for Witches, Wizards, Mages and others offering services and delivery globally?”

“You heard about that eah? Yes. I think it’s probably one of the smartest things we can expand into. We have hedge witches growing all sorts of plants and creatures and harvesting them and no market. We have stacks and stacks of requests from people asking for engraving and gemstone rehabilitation from around the world. I think what we need is a “dark Web” place where orders can be placed and where shipping can be arranged for all the goods and services that Mages, Wizards, and Witches can provide and obtain. Commerce makes everyone healthier.” I said to the beautiful blonde in my arms.

“What are you going to call it?” Karen asked. “The Witches Caldron?”

“That’s probably a good name. Hide the obvious in plain sight. Make it a joke to the normal people and an insider information to the Magic Community.” I said in response.

“I take it that our California developers are on the track to do that.” Karen said.

“I think it’s something that Chris can manage to have built for us. As long as we don’t venture into selling illegal drugs or other items that are a seen as a risk by our American Legal Liaison, I think we can get away with a lot of commerce and make everyone happy. What do you think? Will William be upset at ordering things over the web?”

“There’s going to be a lot of issues with Sales taxes, I am sure. Natalie will need to expand the accounting group. But other than that, we just have to be careful what things we put in envelopes.”

Which is how “The Witches Caldron” got its start. With homeopathic remedies and salves and alternative health foods, coming out of the Southwest US, to all manner of customers, both normal and enlightened around the world. Paula was seriously looking to expand the shipping area as a through point, with needs for some inventory management. It looked like another million-dollar business was going to take off in the nation, hidden within the descendants of the Hippie generation who had parents in the sixties and seventies. The big thing was “no Prohibited Drugs.” No need for the DEA to come around. Everything we sell is THC and other things free. Just good stuff from different growers to different customers. Delivered by Sprite mail. Or USPS Express Shipping. Either one. In any quantity you want. Normals get USPS. Other get “alternative shipping”

Mutual Education in Washington D.C.

It was nine forty-five on the first June Monday and Mayfly was early to Websters office. He loved to talk with her in prep for his Monday meetings with Karen.

“Mayfly, I cannot stress enough how much I have benefited from your time here with me. The education I have gained from you and your friends about the Magical World is an absolute mind bender. And I do have to applaud Hank’s strong separation of Magical users from normal humans. The fact that he is so stringent about clear separation of the physical from the Magical and the prevention of intrusion in either direction proves to me every day that there is no threat to sovereignty, economy or people. But how long will this last?”

“For as long as the Friend of Fae is alive. Or his progeny. If the lifespan of quiet Wizards is any indicator, I expect that several centuries will elapse before any erosion of this state of affairs.” The Sprite replied.

And when the Monday clock struck ten, like magic, Karen appeared.

“Good morning, William. Playing the ‘Sprite Quiz’ game’ again?” Karen asked as she appeared in William’s office.

“Just getting my morning dose of magic education. Karen, I have to admit that I feel a lot more secure knowing that my invisible friend is close by. My wife does as well. I hope that has not caused any distress.”

“Not at all, William. You are both friends of the Friend of Fae. And we care for our friends.”

“I keep getting pinged from the State Department and from English officials about wanting to find and talk with Hank Lambert in England. They don’t seem to want to visit here, for some reason. I assume that they are reluctant to make a physical visit here. Any ideas about why?” William asked with a smile.

“None that I can share. So far, extreme measures have not been needed for any recent visitors. And our security team has been built up with recent additions over the last few months.”

“Last time, it was pretty impressive. Oddly enough, there were no questions about the two that were in my office. Do I want to know what happened to those?”

“They are living free in safe and humane conditions on extensions of the British Empire with new identities and have no desire to return to England. And I think that you can feel comfortable about that.”

The conversation went on for another hour with William asking questions about any political or social plans that Hank Lambert LLC had in mind. And was pleased to hear about the new ideas for a delivery service for the Magic world. He was amused to hear the latest of items with respect to contact with the English. “They want to start to study the documents that they locked away in the Bodleian Library in Cambridge. Only we have checked out all of those already and put the originals back. If you want to look at any of our copies, let Mayfly know.”

“So, you are saying that they are five or so years behind you in researching their own materials?”

“Didn’t you once say that playing catch-up was not a good game?” Karen asked.

“Frequently.” Wiliam said with a smile.

Karen continued. “We are branching out into Express shipping for Friends and Families of the Fae. We are calling it “the Witches Caldron” and we are providing homeopathic and other goods to those customers interested in our products. Sales Tax will be a bit of a challenge, but we can guarantee no “Silk Road” goods being shipped.

“That sounds like a great service. IF it matches your economic planning, I am sure it will go well and never be seen by most of the people.” William said with a smile. “What measures are you taking to ensure security for your delivery services?”

“William, if you like, you could sit down and have a conversation with our tactical and strategic planning team. One is a former Active-Duty Marine. The other is older and has a different history. They make a pretty interesting pair. I am confident that they have things covered.” Karen said with a smug smile.

“That rescue scene in my office was very smooth. And too practiced. And not off the cuff. After seeing that in real life I don’t imagine that there are any situations you don’t have plans for.”

“We take kidnapping and extortion of our friends very seriously. And we discourage its repetition. Strongly discourage.” Karen said, her face suddenly turning grim.

“You know, that’s a very comforting statement.”

“Please let us know if you receive any other intimidations by any electronic means. We only have physical observation and operations on a personal nature. We would like to expand that to include threats by any other delivery.” Karen said. “We want to extend the umbrella a little further to reduce risk to our friends.”

“Now that you mention it, it’s a shame you tend to eat recording devices. I have had some very interesting phone conversations in the last few weeks. Apparently, the Russians and French are curious about Lambert LLC. We keep getting inquiries from the Board of Trade and Board of Export.”

“If you happen to note the names and locations, we can do a direct follow-up. Sort of listen in the eves to see what they are really looking for.”

“Karen, do you do that everywhere?” William asked.

“Only in places where our interests or friends are at risk. And I mean risk, not discomfort.”

“I am liking you guys more and more each day. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. See you next week.” Karen said as she backed away and disappeared.

“I’ll never get used to that.” William thought to himself. “Lots easier than airport security.”

Children at risk

Amelia could not be happier. Five years ago, before the evil woman was sent away, she was in a creche with others, awaiting disposal because she wasn’t pretty enough. “No Market value, I am afraid” Abagail said in her evaluation. And suddenly, she had a new owner. Who didn’t want her either. And who traded her to Hank Lambert to be “repurposed”. And so she studied Library science. And found life in a very fulfilling occupation. And a mate in William. And soon she bore a child, who would never know slavery. Hank Lambert promised.

She had become accustomed to the comings and goings of various fae, and thought the Sprites were larger versions of her daughter Jennifer, only with wings. The lack of geas meant that Jennifer saw them as they really were. And she had no fear from the beginning concerning things that were green, or grey, or stood on two leges with a tail or four legs and with horns. They were all just people.

Albuquerque was a beautiful town, but it was so spread out. And there was so long a drive from the school estate to the fresh grocery area that it took lots of time. But Ogrenaut wanted fresh veggies for tonight’s dinner, and so off Amelia went. And with a pushcart loaded with bags and holding the hand of a four-year-old, she was not really too focused on her area when she was approached by two tall Hispanic men who suddenly blocked her way to her car. Men she had seen when she was out and about many times before.

“Don’t make any noise, lady. It won’t help and it means we have to hurt your kid.” The taller one said.

“A cute little blonde thing like you will be a good price, and we have women looking to adopt your cute little daughter.”

Amelia looked around. She was alone in the parking lot, having gotten there early to do her shopping.

The tall one said “You’re gonna go with us, lady. You are a fine-looking woman, and you won’t be hurt too bad, if you just go with us.”

The younger one said with a grin, “Yea, both of you are a pure piece of goods. You will fetch a good price here locally.”

Which caused a panic. And for a moment, Amelia almost panicked.

And then she heard the sound of four guitar notes. Repeated over and over and over and over. And she smiled.

“Gentlemen, I advise you to back away slowly, and carefully, and leave me alone. Because someone’s coming to take me home, and they are not very polite or gentle with people who abuse us.” Amelia said with a smile.

Amelia heard the first round of horns, announcing the words of the song quietly in her ears. Just as the Gargoyles formed at Amelia’s feet. Their grey bodies small and fully charged. And the two would-be kidnappers found themselves frozen. Shortly, the line “Eagle flew out of the Night” signaled the arrival of the two Dragonets suspended in flight looking around for further persons of Interest. When none was detected, Paula appeared, standing next to Amelia.

“Amelia, honey, let us help you grab your things. We’ve come to take you and Jennifer home” Paula’s voice came from behind Amelia’s ear.

“Mistress, please be careful. We don’t want to have a big show.” The larger dragonet murmured in Paula and Amelia’s ear.

“Sapphire, I hear you. You sound like Hank. I promise to keep it clean. No Tomato paste.”

The two frozen men watched as Amelia gently picked up her baby and moved around them to her car and placed the bags in the trunk and then fastened her daughter into the child seat behind the driver.

Frozen, staring at Paula and Amelia, and still unable to move, the two men watched as Amelia pulled out and went around to drive back to the compound.

Looking around, Paula carefully made sure that no one was watching. Muttering under her breath she said, “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” And the two miscreants first shriveled as the water went out of their bodies and the desiccated remains collapsed into two piles of dust on the asphalt. Which a sudden breeze then blew across and around the parking lot.

“Albuquerque has lots of dust and dirt always blowing around. Dust devils are everywhere.” Pat’ma said as he looked and saw that no one was watching. And shortly, everyone stepped through the arch to home. Windsock the Dragonet looked around for a last scan and then left. In his ears were the final words “You can keep my things, we’ve come to take you home.”

After Action Report

“Why do I have to fill out an after-action report?” Paula asked.

“Every clan member that uses force has to fill out one, detailing the reason for the arrival, the reason for the force used, the cleanup involved, and the alternatives and the training needed for the next similar occasion.” Jeffery replied to his wife. “If we want everyone in the Dragon Corp to do it, then we have to make sure that everyone does it. That way everyone knows what force to use, when to use it, why to use it, and how to hide it.”

“And you didn’t need soap and water to clean it up this time.” Deamonous said quietly.

“No cracks from the peanut gallery.” Paula said. “You weren’t even here when that happened.”

“No, but I like how Clan Lambert manages their environmental activities. We were never that neat in in the eighth century” Deamonous said wistfully.

“You didn’t work as a team in the eighth century. You didn’t coordinate forces, and you didn’t mass power on an assault to overcome in a single blast shielded opponents.” Jeffery said quietly. “And dragons almost never worked against groups that did good coordination, until Arthur came along and amassed knights and archers to cripple and then defeat on the ground. Today’s tactics can be beaten, but not by a single element of force.” Jeffery said.

“I know. Which is why the After-action report is so important. To teach us how to avoid mistakes in the future.” Deamonous said. “So, Paula, please get to writing. At least you don’t need a Sprite to do it for you like I do.

Special Effects

“Who edited the special effects on the parking lot camera?” George Douglas asked. George was head of mall security and was watching the parking lot camera to see what his security person had seen while reviewing the previous day’s recordings.

“No one. This is the raw footage. The security company saw this and wondered if there was a problem with the camera, but there wasn’t anything they could find.” The security man said.

“So, these two mopes jumped on this lady, and these others appeared, and the mopes stood there frozen while she moved her bags and kids around to the minivan and then drove off. And then the two mopes disappeared into piles of dust that then blew around the parking lot, and then everyone just stepped into nothing?”

“It’s what it looks like.”

“Who filmed this? Disney? Do we have customer complaints to match with this? Any witnesses? Any police report? Anything?”

“We did have some reports of these two thugs running around. But nothing of any reports from the police or other complaints. These guys just seemed to disappear. What do we do with this film?”

“Put it in the can and wait to see if we get any request for film. If nothing in sixty days, wipe it. No one would believe this anyway.”

“How do I file it?”

“Halloween comes late.” George said. “Someone is messing with the cameras. That’s what had to be. This magic shit just does not happen.”

Peter Hightower looked again at the film that he had seen with George. The woman with the child looked familiar. She looked like the woman at the Clinic that was on the tribal lands north and east of here. If she had been the one being attacked, then the woman with the black hair was the speaker at the school attached to the clinic that the Elders had placed under their care and protection. This film should never see the light of day.

With that thought, Hightower dumped the film to his USB drive and put the drive in his pocket. The clinic was on his way home, and a short stop would take no time. The strange people in the clinic and at the school would appreciate it, he was sure. Besides, George had never given him anything being the skinflint that he was.

“SHIT” Paula said. Embarrassed at seeing the film clip of the incident in the parking lot Paula called her husband. Who called Deamonous. Who called Hank. Who soon got a crowd of people around to watch the recording of Amelia and Paula’s encounter with the two rather unsavory people in the parking lot. And everyone witnessed Paula’s embarrassed reaction to being on film.

“Paula, the lesson we take away from this is that we want to jinx any cameras within view before we dust off the miscreants.” Hank said with a smile. “I applaud you not needing a clean up, but we need to check for cameras first in the future.”

“I am never going to hear the end of that, am I?” Paula answered with a smile.

“Not really. And it’s a great lesson on several levels for everyone here. First, we take care of our own. Second, we respond to the offense. Last, we clean up our own messes. I think that’s a reputation that any company would envy. Remember. A clan is a Family of Choice. For each of its membership. And we have to back up and have confidence in all of our members to make the right choices.”