Chapter 13

Wendy barely noticed the freaked out crippled girl.

A man stood, not five steps away. Tall. Lean. Wiry, almost. His hair was dark, the same black as her lost Gary, cut short. A black mustache stood above lips set in a firm, strong expression. His eyes ... He was obviously the leader of this group. One look showed that. He had the bearing of leadership, strength of mind and will, if not hands and limbs. Yet there was strength there, too. She could see it. Wanted to feel it. Feel those arms hold her ... those hands touch her...

"WENDY!"

The furious face of Polly's little sister shoved itself in front of her, a face she had hoped to forget. Wendy's mind focused on what was important. The girl was livid. To Wendy's shock, her hands grabbed her shirt, a button popping off.

"What the fuck did you do?" Sam yelled into her face. It was a stupid question, from a stupid little girl. She obviously hadn't changed. Polly was there, arm going around Sam's waist, pulling her back before Wendy could do more than blink in surprise.

"Sam! She did nothing! Magic is weak here!"

As the girl released her, Wendy stepped back. Maybe she should call Jack to her. Use him to flee, the way she had fled the last time Sam had threatened her. Yes, that resulted in a year's exile, but wasn't that better than dealing with this psycho? Not to mention the yelling crippled girl. What sane person would not want to flee...

"QUIET!"

It was the tall stranger. He stood there, a brown haired woman at his side, looking first at the seated girl, then at Wendy and the others. Wendy inhaled sharply as his eyes found hers, almost whimpering as they left. All went quiet at his command, apart from Polly's brat who began to cry. Polly released her sister to fuss with her baby, which did quiet him some. The man nodded to Wendy.

"First, welcome. I'm Anthony."

"Wendy," she said, meekly, getting a sharp look from Polly. He smiled.

"And I assume that's Sam's sister with the child. Greetings." He turned to a brown skinned woman nearby. "Nona, see if there's anything you can do for Cathy. The rest of you ... I think we should call it a night. Show everyone where they can get some sleep. We'll deal with everything in the morning."

How could Wendy sleep, having seen the god named Anthony?

Nona had no idea what they expected her to do.

She knelt down next to Cathy, hands trying to comfort the poor girl. She was not alone in this. The blind boy, whose name escaped her, knelt on the other side, hands on her bare arm, saying her name, trying to get some response. The amazon knight knelt before her, confused and angry. And, Cathy...

"Why why why why why..." Her hands were clenched fists, eyes shut so tight you'd think she was trying to deny all reality. Nona looked at the knight, feeling bemused.

"What the hell was supposed to happen?"

"The necklace," a voice said from above, "was to let her walk." Polly knelt down beside her, baby still in hand. Nona just shook her head.

"A magic spell? Really?"

"My husband cast it." Her face clouded. "It was a difficult spell. It took weeks to write, with signs and words from a dozen books. He was brilliant. It SHOULD work!"

"But magic is weak here?" Nona shook her head. "I suspect there's more than that involved."

"It is weak," Polly agreed, "but, even still..."

Cathy opened her eyes, her tear filled gaze still not seeing.

"I just want to walk ... that's all. Just walk ... is that ... DAMN YOU, LEGS!" Cathy's right fist slammed into her leg. Nona blinked. This was a ... strong willed girl. Cathy sent her fist down again, hitting just above the knee. The attached lower leg and foot jerked. Cathy began using both her fists, punishing legs that refused to work.

Or did they?

"Stop ... Stop!" Nona shot her hands out, grabbing flailing fists. "Cathy, stop! I think it did work!"

The girl froze instantly. Her eyes opened, fear in them. Fear to once again hope.

"What do you mean?" she whispered. Nona gently lowered the girl's fists, placing them in her lap with no resistance. She smiled, using her best bed side manner.

"Just let me check, Cathy. I'm a Doctor."

Or, at least, she played one in this reality. Not sure, exactly, what she was doing, Nona placed her hands on the girl's right leg, just below the knee. She could feel the withered limb under her pants. Running her hands down, even not seeing she could tell there as almost no muscle there. Just bone, covered by skin. Coming to her feet, Nona gently slipped off her shoe, then sock. The foot was normal, but pale, a bit wrinkled. There was some red, though, in the toes. Gently, she touched them, running a finger nail over the bottom of the big toe. Cathy let out a gasp, the toe moving slightly.

"Oww! What are you doing?"

"You've never walked, have you?" Nona lifted the foot some more, touching the girl's sole. All five toes moved. "You were born like this?"

"Yes ... oww. What's going on?"

"Have your toes ever moved?"

"No, nothing can move..." Cathy's eyes widened. Heather gasped as well, moving closer. Nona pinched a bit of skin, the whole foot jerking away, just a fraction. She nodded.

"Magic isn't enough," she said, looking up at the amazed girl. "You have no muscle. No strength. If you could stand now, your legs might snap under the weight. We have to build you up. Make you strong. The magic, maybe, is bringing your legs back to life, but we have to help them grow."

"How long?" she whispered.

Nona shook her head.

"Months? Years? I've never done anything like this. We'd both be learning. But you'll get stronger every day, gradually improve. It will be hard work..."

Cathy's hands shot out towards Heather, face suddenly a mass of emotion. The older woman grabbed her, half pulling the girl out of the chair. Nona sat back on her heels, the two friends crying, sobbing. She could barely make out the words.

"Thank you ... thank you ... thank you ... I'm gonna walk..."

Anthony stood outside the door to their home, looking up at the sky. There were clouds, up there, blocking the stars. Black clouds, from a forest still smoldering.

"The day," he said, "had started out so well. So ... quiet. What will tomorrow bring?" He turned to Hannah, smiling an almost sad smile. His wife took his hand.

"We'll find out come morning. Come, let's go look at the baby ... then try and make another."

"Oh, really." He cocked an eye at her. "What about today has you thinking about babies?"

Something flew overhead, yelling.

"Thirty eggs! She laid thirty eggs!"

Anthony closed his eyes.

"I just want to sleep..."

Mary grimaced slightly as she opened the sickbay door.

Her shoulder still hurt, naturally. One day wasn't going to heal her, especially given the rather primitive knowledge Nona had to work with. Still, she was awake, nobody was around, and she wanted to see what the hell had happened the day before. One day in bed was quite enough.

She stepped out into the pre-dawn air. There was enough light to see, if barely. Enough to see the remains of the previous day's activities were still about. Tables and chairs from a dinner she had missed, scattered plates and cups she knew had not come from the dining room, and thus must belong to one of the groups of strangers. There was a general look of ... well, a party that went late, and everyone went to bed not wanting to deal with the cleanup.

Well, she wasn't doing it. She was hurt.

She didn't see the stranger until she had walked barefoot past Nona and Tammy's home. Her hair was light red, an amazing color, one she hadn't see before outside of a cartoon. It contrasted with her dark brown skin. The teen looked to not be much older than Mary, although MUCH more endowed. Those breasts could almost be used as a flotation device. She sat at one of the tables set up outside the dining hall, a glass held on the table between her hands. Her eyes looked up, saw Mary ... only to drop back down to her drink.

Curious.

"Mind if I join you?" Not waiting for a reply, Mary sat across from her, only wincing a touch. The teen's dress was old, tattered, ill-fitting. She, though, looked in good shape, not hurt. Mary smiled. "I'm Mary."

The girl looked up at her.

"Wendy."

"You do not know," Mary said, still smiling, "how long it has been since I've seen someone new. Especially a girl! Did you come through the glowing thing with the girls on horseback?"

"No," Wendy frowned. "I ... walked." She closed her eyes, shaking her head. "Wait. I did ride the last bit, when they came to get us." She put a hand to her forehead. "Goddess, it's been a long night."

"You haven't slept?" Mary looked at her closer. She didn't look that bad. Wendy shook her head.

"Been thinking."

"About what?"

"Everything. It's..." She sighed, looking back down at her drink. "I've made mistakes. Sort of. I didn't mean to, I was just doing what was best, but..."

"Nobody's perfect." Mary reached her hand out, touching the top of Wendy's. The teen looked at the point of contact, expression bemused. Her mouth opened, then closed. Her gaze went off into the distance, as if having decided ignoring the contact was best.

"All I wanted," Wendy said, "was to not work as a slave any more. Not to do all the cooking, cleaning, ever again. Was that so wrong? So, I had to have power. The power to be above others, as to be under them was to be their slave. That's what my Mistress said, as well. Those who do not command, serve. So..."

"So you did things." Mary gave her hand a squeeze, then released it. Wendy looked at her, confused.

"Um, yeah ... things. Things that ... well, I might do them again, as the bad things weren't my fault, and maybe this time everything would turn out OK, and I could save him..." her eyes dropped for a moment, then she looked up. "What is this place?"

The change in topic caught Mary off guard. She considered.

"It's ... a place to start over. None of us came here by choice. Well," she corrected, "I did, but I didn't understand what I was doing. I just saw Mom, and ran to her. If I was able to go back..." She shrugged. "I'd probably still do it, but I'd say goodbye to Dad first."

"Starting over..." Wendy took a swig of her drink. Mary nodded.

"Yeah. Most of us liked our old life, but have created a new, better one here. It's not perfect, but we're friends, enjoy each other's company." She smiled. "You'll like it here."

Wendy gave her a look that was hard to decipher.