Chapter 6

Gazza had to admit that he had ridden in better-sprung vehicles.

After only an hour, both his and Bette’s arses were sore. He noticed an area where autos had deviated off the road in the past. He pulled the Auto over and got out. He walked around rubbing his arse. They had barely travelled ten klicks.

He reached behind and pulled the little book from his back pocket. He then went to find a shady spot to sit. “Book, I need to do something to make that Auto travel better along the road or to make the darn road smoother,” he said.

He watched the pages flip and then stop. He read the page and then the ones either side of it. “Hon ... ney,” he called out.

“It had better be good,” Bette grumbled crankily as she approached him. Gazza handed her the book and she read the page he had it open to. “How come you keep finding spells that I need to do?” she asked him.

“Sorry, the road is earth and that’s your specialty, babe,” he said. “We don’t need to make it permanent. We don’t plan on coming back this way for a while. You can just do the rolling and flattening spell if you like,” he said. “I can even put some extra crystals along the front bumper of the Auto and if you attached the spells to them, they would do the work for us.”

Bette looked at the spells again and nodded. “Yeah, I think that would work. We don’t have anything to lose other than the bruises on our butts and my wings.”

“That’s the spirit, my girl,” Gazza said as he got up. He gathered her into his arms and laid several very sloppy kisses on her mouth and face. He then nibbled on her ear and rubbed her sore butt, just because he knew she liked him doing both of those things to her.

Bette shivered and then pushed him away. “Go and see if you can make the seats a bit more comfortable, while I do my spells,” she told him.

“Yes, my love,” he replied happily and flicked through his book again. He then looked around to see what he had to work with and went to gather the materials. He removed his poor abused sleeping bag from the seat and dropped a ‘Keep clean’ spell and then a ‘Repair’ spell on it when he found a nasty rip in the material.

Distracted by the damage to his sleeping bag, he didn’t realise he hadn’t put the spells just on the bag, or that it would eventually work on every item in the Auto and the Auto. He rolled up the bag and put it in the boot. He then gauged the size of the seats and pictured how he wanted the covers to look and feel.

Gazza directed the spell at the pile of vegetation that he had gathered from the side of the road. A haze formed over the mess, while the spell activated. When the haze cleared, he had his new cushioned seat covers for the seat and its backrest. He put them on the bench seat and spelled them to stay in place. Delighted, he then repeated the spells on the second pile of grass and put new covers on the back seat.

Basil and Petal inspected the new seat covers and informed him that it was a vast improvement and they liked the green grass pattern with the little flowers. Gazza just hoped that Bette thought so too. He looked up when she came to inspect his efforts. She pushed on the cushion and then climbed in. “Much better, dear,” she told him as she settled on the seat.

Tickled, Gazza got back in and started the Auto again. He noticed it seemed to be running a lot smoother and the meter said the battery was fully charged. He started down the road and found the ride was a vast improvement. He looked back and saw that the road was nice, smooth and as wide as two Autos’ behind them as if it had been freshly graded and compacted.

He chuckled when he thought of what other people would think of the new road. He decided to stay in the middle of the old road unless someone came from the other direction, as that was where the worst ruts were anyway. He tried different speeds and found he could travel at a comfortable fifty klicks an hour and Bette’s spell still worked just fine.

It wasn’t as fast as he had travelled in the past but at least it was faster than walking.

Several hours later, they found themselves entering the city of Green Bay.

Gazza was surprised by just how big the city was. Bette had been here many years before and directed him to a store her father had brought clothing from in the past. She asked Gazza to form a glamour so that he looked like he was dressed more like a local. She had pointed out a nicely attired young man and told Gazza to copy what the man was wearing.

Bette then perfected a similar glamour to cover her grubby travel-stained clothes and used magic to fix her messy hair. Gazza wasn’t surprised she had found that spell in her book. They told the flickers to stay in the Auto or they would get lost in the city.

Petal wasn’t impressed with the noisy street and while Basil was game to go look, he knew Petal would be terrified if he left her alone, so he decided he had better stay with her. Plus he knew that Gazza expected him to guard their possessions.

Bette being not so trusting placed a shield over the Auto to keep other people out and the flickers in unless they left with them. She felt much better going shopping knowing they were safe. Gazza had cracked a ration pack and given the flickers the sweet biscuits and the chocolate to share. He made sure their canteen was full before he left them to their own devices.

In the shop, Gazza checked out the clothing options for men. They made him think of the early nineteen hundreds when lighter and loose fashions came into vogue for warmer climates like this one. The women also wore lighter three quarter length dresses without the petticoats or they wore the soft looking baggy pants similar to what Bette wore.

He did notice the tops the women wore were a bit more like back home. The younger women, in particular, were not opposed to showing a bit of cleavage or having their arms bare. Many of the older women wore light materials that covered most of their arms but let their bodies breathe. He did notice they liked wide-brimmed hats and approved. Even the men wore hats due to the hot weather.

Then he saw it. All thoughts of clothes went out of his head when he spotted a brown fedora style hat that looked just like the one Indiana Jones wore in the movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark. He picked it up, walked over to a mirror and put it on his head. He tweaked the angle to his satisfaction; he grinned and then walked back to Bette.

Bette eyed off the hat but didn’t comment. The salesman took his measurements when asked and informed Gazza that he had a well-cut, lightweight, brown suit to go with the hat in stock. They selected several other sets of clothes for Gazza, and the salesman swore that he would have the rest of the order completed in two days. Bette shelled out the deposit and asked where she could get some gold assayed.

The helpful young man gave her directions while Gazza changed into his new suit. When the assistant saw Gazza, he coughed to hide his smile. He informed them that the shoe store was next door. Bette sighed dramatically and they went to get Gazza some new shoes.

Half an hour later, Bette walked out on the arm of a very well dressed young man that quite a few women and even some men had to stop and look at. Gazza spied a dress store across the road and steered Bette towards it. He attracted the young saleswoman and whispered something in her ear. She giggled and he returned to Bette.

“I’ll go sort out the gold, while you get fancied up,” he told her. He kissed her cheek and strolled out the door.

Bette had to chuckle when she realised the cane he twirled was, in fact, his wand extended to a third of its length.

Gazza happily wandered down the street taking in all of the sights.

He noted that things looked a little run down and wondered why. The road was uneven and the potholes hadn’t been fixed very well. He also noticed that very few of the Autos looked new and they had to share the streets with carts and buggies pulled by large Black Ants.

Bette had told him the ants were incredibly strong and since they had six legs, they were very sure-footed. He still found them creepy and didn’t like getting to close to them. He stopped at the Auto to check on Basil and Petal. The flickers were fast asleep, so he left them alone.

He retrieved the box Bette had made for him out of the old tin cans. He checked the shields on the Auto and returned to the pavement. He soon found the store the salesman had mentioned. He entered the shop called George’s Jewellery Emporium and looked around.

From the signs, he determined the business dealt with jewellery, gems and metals and was basically a pawn shop. He fronted the counter and looked at the middle-aged looking man. He got a bad vibe from the man and wasn’t sure if he wanted to deal with him at all.

“How may I serve you fine sir?” the men asked in an oily voice that grated on Gazza’s nerves from the get-go.

“Who else deals in gold and gems in this town?” Gazza asked him.

The man looked affronted. “Sir, I will give a fair price on any item you wish to sell,” he declared.

Gazza held up his left hand so the man could see the back of it and told the ring to appear. “Do you see this ring? I can assure you that it is the real deal and if you try to cheat me, I will know. Do you still want my business?”

The man’s eyes nearly popped out of his head when he realised what the ring signified. The fact that it had both a topaz and a diamond told him the Mage had very strong mind skills and that he would know if he were being cheated.

Old George seriously thought of sending him to his rivals’ place of business but his pride wouldn’t let him. As much as it hurt, he couldn’t let a mage walk out of his store and bad mouth him or call him a cheat. “I understand, sir,” he said as politely as he could in a tight voice.

“Good, I need some gold assayed,” Gazza said. He placed the tin box on the counter and opened it. He lifted out a heavy pouch and handed it to George. George went over to his scales. He removed the weight from the left dish and placed a new weight on it. He then tipped out the gold onto the dish on the right.

He moved the sliding scale but had to move it back and then add a second weight. He then tried the sliding scale again. He frowned and picked up one of the larger nuggets and a magnifying glass. He squeezed the nugget, sniffed it and even touched his tongue to it. He then tested several more.

He almost felt like crying. He was sure if anyone else had brought these nuggets in, he could have scammed them for half their value. “They are of excellent purity sir, do you mind if I ask where you got them?”

Gazza smiled sardonically, “You can ask, but I’m quite sure you know as well as I do that a prospector never gives up where his claim is.”

George nodded and knew the man would not tell him. A single gemmed Physic was no match for a four gemmed mage even on their bad day. The proprietor sighed, told Gazza the current price of gold and what this bag of gold was worth. Gazza had a hard time hiding his shock.

Bette had told him what the local currency brought on average. The gold alone would sustain them for several years if they didn’t get too extravagant. He didn’t have the heart to tell the man he had two more bags that were heavier than the one he had handed over. He nodded in agreement.

Gazza thought of some of the jewellery pieces that he had and that Bette hadn’t particularly liked, so they had agreed to sell them. He dug out two pieces that they had thought were hideous. “I have some old jewellery I wish to part with,” he said.