Chapter 4

My next problem was where to go? After all, this trip was just to cover the change in my appearance and my magical education ... nothing more, nothing less.

"Why not take that trip that I have always wanted to take?" I thought.

I had wanted to do a motor trip up the New England coast all the way to the Canadian Provinces. Now I had the means to do just that, while I learned the Craft of Magic. With a firm nod to myself, I turned the rig north. I smiled as Willie Nelson's voice filled the RV from the radio. Appropriately enough, he was singing "On the Road Again."

The only stress that I encountered was the stress of driving the huge motor home in traffic. That was right on the edge of my abilities, at that moment. Oh, I knew that things would get better with practice; but right here at the start of things, I admitted to myself, that I was scared out of my mind.

I pulled over at the first rest area that I came to, and let my heart rate drop back down to normal, before I even tried to get out of the driver's seat. After ten minutes, my breathing and heart rate were again back down where they belonged, and I went out side for a short walk to stretch my muscles.

"I can't do that again!" I said as I looked at my hands.

They were still shaking.

There were large granite stones spaced several feet apart all the way around the parking lot and I chose one that was of the right height and shape and sat on it heavily.

"Shit! I need a plan, here!" I said loud enough that people started looking at me strangely.

After a few minutes of thought, the light went on. It was now late afternoon and I had left the dealership right in the middle of the lemming like rush of people trying to get home. All that I needed to do, was to travel between the rush hours! Greatly relieved, I stood and walked back to the RV with a spring in my step.

I was feeling the first pangs of hunger as I climbed aboard, so I started to search for food. It was then that I realized that I had driven right by several super markets without a thought. I now found that the only things in the kitchen were a box of herb tea and half a bag of Ginger snap cookies. I hated both things with a passion! However, a quick look out onto the highway, showed that the traffic was still backed up.

Grimly, I made the tea. I picked a DVD out of the stack, and settled in for the duration.

I must admit that the cookies were filling and mixed with the tea not as bad as I had remembered. At any rate, the DVD was coming to an end and the heavy traffic was dissipating right along with it. The show had been about the southwest. Though it had been interesting, I was not quite sure if I wanted to visit such a place. I mean, all of that sand and so little green ... it made a chill run down my spine. I had never been away from the arboreal area of the continent, and was not at all sure that I ever wanted to be.

I drove for another hour then pulled off of the highway and started to look for a supermarket. Since I was now at the edge of the next town it only took a short time before I found a store. I parked at the far end of the parking lot and stretched my muscles as I walked from the RV to the store. The air was clean and brisk and I felt wonderfully free for the first time in my life. I don't know if it was my rejuvenated body, or the fact that I had plenty of money, or what all else ... but I just felt great.

However that feeling didn't last! As I was half way to the front of the store I passed a ratty old El Camino with a scruffy man at the wheel and a really dirty looking woman in the passenger seat. The woman's hair was uncombed and she looked as though she hadn't washed her face in weeks. As I was passing in front of the car, it felt as if I had walked into a cooler. The vibes around that vehicle were dark to say the least, but those feelings subsided as I moved on past the car.

However, the vibes never went back to the level that I had when I left the RV. I felt the eyes of the two people follow my progress the whole way to the store.

I thought, "This doesn't look good. I bet they want to steal my food, or perhaps even the RV."

When this thought fully formed in my mind I decided to just stand near the door and watch the two dirty people for a bit. Sure enough the El Camino started up and moved to the far side of my motor home, out of sight from the store. I raced back out the door and back toward my RV but I bent low, staying behind the parked cars as I moved. I mouthed a spell to make all of the other people ignore my suspicious actions as I ran.

By the time that I reached the motor home the man had managed to pop open the door and enter my camper. I was amazed at how fast he got the engine running without a key. He had then climbed back out of the now idling RV and went to his car and returned dragging the woman by her hair—she was bound but still fighting.

We met at the door to the camper and I calmly asked what he was doing. The man looked like a dirty 'B' movie Marlboro man, cowboy boots, hat and all. He didn't say a word but, without breaking eye contact, he just stooped down and pulled a wicked looking Bowie knife from his boot. The thing was huge!

"Git inside this here camper, else I'm gonna cut ya," he said as he threatened me with his weapon.

I felt as if my head would explode from all of the magic that was filling my mind. Suddenly I knew what to do, and how to do it.

I lifted my right arm away from my side and said in a loud voice, "STAFF!"

Instantly there appeared a wizard's staff in my hand, it was made of the blackest Ebony and it was as smooth as silk. At five feet in length it was perfect for combat!

The woman stopped fighting at the sudden materialization of my staff and the man's eyes went wide as he said, "What th' fu..."

I quickly spun the staff around and slammed it into the wrist of his knife hand, breaking the bones and causing him to drop the knife. Before the weapon hit the ground I reversed my swing and slammed the staff into the side of his head. His eyes rolled back and he dropped to the ground dragging the woman with him, he had never let go of her hair.

I thought, "In for a penny, in for a pound," and used my staff to break his other wrist. Instantly that hand too went slack and the woman was able to pull herself away from her captor.

I looked at the woman and saw clearly that she had been severely abused. She was absolutely filthy and her clothes smelled sourly of old sex. Also any exposed skin was covered with bruises that ranged in color from pale yellow to dark purple, further her wrists were rubbed raw from the rope that bound them. I leaned my staff against the RV and asked, "May I untie your hands?"

The woman didn't say a word or look up to meet my eyes. She just stared at her tormentor as he lay unconscious on the ground and extended her arms toward me.

I had made a mistake. Let's face it I was really new to this magic business. I had not sent my staff away after I was finished with it but had just left it leaning against the motor home. As soon as her hands were free the woman grabbed the staff and commenced to beat the unconscious man's crotch viciously. After only a couple of whacks I could see blood seeping through his jeans. I was about to stop her, but a voice in my head said to let her vent her rage and indignation.

After the eighth or ninth blow she faltered and started to weep. She wept so hard that she could no longer raise the staff to hit the man again. I took my staff back from the woman and again set it against the side of the RV. I hugged the woman to me and uttered soothing words. She clung to me so tightly that I feared she would break one of my ribs as she wailed and wept from her very soul. After ten minutes of this extreme emotion she exhausted herself and began to sag as her legs gave out.

I took my staff back and supported her with one arm as I extended my other arm and rested the end of the staff on the ground and said in a firm voice,"

"STAFF, AWAY HOME!"

The black wood shimmered with multicolored lights and faded from view. This time the woman was not looking in the right direction and was crying too much to notice the magic.

I then lowered my mouth to her ear and said softly, "Miss? Would you like to come inside and clean up a bit?"

She stiffened and then pushed herself away from me. Her face was filled with distrust and fear.

"You are welcome to use the facilities while I get some food in the store. You will be quite safe and alone. You may use the robe that is hanging on the bathroom door and then we can wash and dry your clothes.

She looked at the man on the ground and asked, "What about him? And why aren't the cops here yet?"

"I will just put him back in his car and leave him. After all, he is defenseless with two broken wrists and smashed balls. Once we leave I'm sure the cops will come, he is that escaped convict everyone is looking for isn't he?"

"Yeah."

"Well there will be a 'BOLO' for that car so..."

"Ok, I get that but people don't seem to be interested in us standing over a downed man. What's with that?"

If I lied again I would have trouble later remembering so I just said, "Can't say."

The woman shrugged her shoulders and went into the RV. Before she closed the door she turned and asked, "Would you please buy some extra strength Tampax for me?"

"Of course. Is there anything else that I can get for you?"

"No. Nothing that I can think of at the moment."

"Oh, Miss? Would you mind if I fixed the wires that this creep messed up? You can stay out here while I do that if you wish."

"What I want right now is a hot shower and this is your home. As long as you leave me a lone I don't care what you do."

"Ok, then," I said.

I went inside, too. When she had disappeared into the bathroom I uttered the repair spell. A mini fog appeared around the wires and then with a pop all was back to normal. I went outside and uttered another spell to prevent her from trying to steal anything, including my motor home.

I next grabbed the feet of the miscreant that lay at my doorstep and dragged him around to his car. I lowered the tailgate of the El Camino and unceremoniously dragged the monster into the bed of the small truck. I left his legs hanging out and turned to leave but then I thought of all of the misery that this monster had rained down on good people—he had killed at least seven people as far as I knew and injured a score more. He was, quite simply, evil incarnate.

I extended my arm and called, "STAFF!"

Again the black wood filled my hand and I proceeded to use the hard wood to destroy the man's ankles, knees and elbows. He would never again be able to hurt other people. Hell! He wouldn't even be able to wipe his own ass.

I smiled as I returned to the motor home. I drove to the other end of the parking lot. Then, still smiling, I went for groceries.

Soon someone would notice the El Camino, and the 'circus' would start.

An hour later found me storing the things that I had bought, but when I came upon the tampons I grabbed the box and went down the hall to the bathroom door and called out, "Miss I have the tampons here and will leave them on the floor for you." I set the box down and made some noise as I went back to the kitchen so that the poor woman would not be afraid that I would grab her. It was easy to see that her trust was nonexistent.

I went back to storing my purchases with a lot of banging of cabinet doors and slamming of drawers.

Some minutes later she startled me as she stood at the end of the hall with her bundled dirty clothes held against her chest, almost as a shield, and asked, "Do you have any detergent? I would like to wash my clothes like you said."

I made sure not to make eye contact but just pointed and said, "It's in that last bag on the counter, there."

She moved stiffly to the bag and dug out the Tide and the Downy, turned and went back down the hallway to the stacked washer/dryer set, and started the wash. She stood in front of the machines uncertainly for some time looking troubled and confused and then she shuddered from head to foot, turned and walked stiffly to the dinette.

She slid into the dinette all the while clutching the front of her robe with a down turned face. This woman had obviously been broken, or at least was well on the way.

I finished storing the supplies, then turned and leaned against the kitchen counter and just watched her for a while. She had been 'trained' well, for she didn't move a muscle, she simply sat and stared at the table. I now knew that this monster had been turning her into a slave and it made my blood boil.

Calmly I asked, "Did he make you call him Master as well as stay in specific stances?"

"Yes ... Master."

"Why do you call me Master?"

"Because you defeated my old Master."

Her manner of speaking was totally flat and lacking of any emotion. She simply stared at the table and spoke. However, I felt that I was near a point that would provide me with a lot of information so I continued, "What makes you think that I want a slave?"

"You fought him for me."

"Then why did you attack him? Those certainly are not the actions of a slave."

"Because that is what he had me do before he killed my first Master."

The light was beginning to dawn as I asked, "How long were you with your first Master?"

The girl furrowed her brow in concentration and answered uncertainly, "Maybe eight weeks ... I think ... Master."

"And how long were you with this man?"

"Four days, Master."

"Ahh. Earlier you talked to me like an independent person. Why the change? I mean why did you revert to your slave persona and start to call me Master?"

"I don't remember, that I behaved such, Master."

I began to believe that this girl could be saved because of the way she acted after her emotional break down when she hugged me. However, I still needed more information before I went to counsel with Book.

"Did your first Master use drugs on you?"

Again the furrowed brow and an uncertain answer, "I'm nor sure ... I remember some injections ... but Master said that they were vitamins. Master."

"What are you supposed to call yourself?"

A look of fear and horror filled her face and she quickly answered in a tumble of words while tears filled her eyes, "This slave is sorry Master the second Master was not concerned with names and I soon forgot after all of the times that he beat me! PLEASE, MASTER, PLEASE FORGIVE THIS FOOLISH SLAVE FOR BEING SO IMPERTINENT AS TO USE PERSONAL PRONOUNS! This slave is terribly sorry..."