Chapter 35
The Capture
“It’s them,” Lisa cried out and padded to the door. I knew she meant Martha and Grayson. Harry looked out of the window, where the first rays of sunlight were just appearing.
“You think? So early?” he said, just as Lisa opened the door.
“The early bird catches the worm,” Grayson walked in, followed by the Mistress.
She was dressed in different shades of green: an emerald-green poncho thrown across her shoulders, while her head was covered by a thick bottle-green scarf.
“Or the Firebird,” he added good-naturedly, high-fiving Harry, who lifted his right front foot in greeting.
“Grayson, did you forget?” Martha called the wolf over, and he turned back to the door, wagging his tail.
“Sorry, Mistress.” Grayson sauntered into the corridor and returned, carrying the gilded cage in his powerful jaws. “I keep leaving this thing—it’s tough to carry around,” he said, setting it carefully in the middle of Lisa’s living room, next to the couch.
“I wonder, will it make it through the portal?” I asked as I flicked the rooster on top of the cage and the door swung open.
“Of course. Everything will be just fine. Have you prepared the feather?” The Mistress walked over to the table. It was her first time in Lisa’s apartment, as far as I knew, but she acted as if she owned the place.
“It’s right here.” I reached into my pocket and produced the glowing feather, noticing Lisa and Harry observing us from the corner of the room.
“That’s wonderful. And I see the gloves.” Martha looked over at the table, nodding in approval. “Failing to prepare means preparing to fail. Benjamin Franklin said this.”
“Who was Benjamin Franklin?”
“He was one of the founding fathers.”
“Oh, I know. It’s the men who built this resort, right? And used the bathhouse,” I noted cheerfully, picturing the founding fathers as a happy, carefree bunch splashing in the pool.
“Something like that,” Martha snorted. “We won’t get into it now. I hope everyone remembers what to do. Why don’t we go over the details right now?”
Martha’s tone sounded more like an order. My lovely Vasilisa flinched. I knew Lisa wanted to avoid the topic of my forthcoming quest as much as possible.
“Of course, that’s a good idea.” There were steely notes in Lisa’s voice as she sat down at the table.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Grayson and Harry exchanging glances, and their interaction warmed my heart. I was glad Harry had made another friend and hoped the pony had reached a turning point, where he would expand his social circle beyond humans.
Martha sat down at the table and adjusted her scarf, pinning it with a large, peacock-shaped brooch. Grayson hopped up on a chair, putting his paws on the table, while the pony remained standing next to him. I positioned myself next to Harry.
“I’m going to draw a diagram for you.” The Mistress reached into her pocket and produced a green notepad as well as a bright-green pen. “I guess you know my favorite color,” she snickered, setting the items in front of her.
“It’s green, Mistress,” Grayson said unhelpfully.
“Yes, that’s true, Grayson. Now, let me show you what I have in mind.”
She drew a circle in the middle of the page and then added a small figure of an animal with two humps on its back. “This right here is Harry. He’ll be distracting the peacocks.” The four of us watched as Martha drew a few trees and added another animal figure next to them.
“That’s me, right, Mistress?” Grayson asked.
“Yes, that’s you, Grayson. Waiting with the cage.
” Martha added a drawing of a box next to the shape that was supposed to be the wolf.
In the center she drew a stick figure of a man with ten tiny circles around it.
In its hand, the figure held a feather. “And this is Ivan with the rubies. Makes sense?” She raised her eyebrows, surveying us.
“You forgot to add me,” Lisa added. “We agreed I’ll be with Harry and the peacocks.”
“It completely slipped my mind.” Martha flipped her braid, then added another figure next to the humpbacked horse. “I think that’s it.”
“And you, Martha, where will you be?” Lisa squinted at the drawing.
“Oh, I don’t plan on staying. I’m just dropping everything off, and I’ll go back home.”
“But what about the portal? What if Ivan doesn’t make it through? What then? So many things can go wrong.” Lisa wrung her hands.
“Don’t worry about a thing, Grayson knows what to do. Right?”
“Yes, Mistress,” the wolf barked.
“But we were counting on you,” Lisa insisted, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“I wish I could stay, but I must go back. Bingo is waiting for me.”
“Who’s Bingo?” I stared at Martha in surprise.
“The new puppy. The wolf dog. We got him at the kennel to replace Grayson. Well, not replace,” Martha chuckled, blowing a kiss to Grayson. “Because no dog or wolf could ever do that. But to help me so I’m not all alone while Grayson is in Zorya.”
“But surely Bingo could wait a few hours,” I said.
I didn’t like openly contradicting Martha, well remembering her threats earlier, but this was serious. Without Martha, our endeavor was surely set to fail.
“I’m confident you’re quite capable of handling everything without me.
” The Mistress reached into her pocket and produced the pouch, pushing it across the table to Lisa.
“Here are the rubies. Now you’ve got everything you could possibly need.
” She pointed at the canvas bag and the gloves, nodding in approval.
“And what do we do with the rubies once we’re done?” Lisa asked.
“Just bring them back to me the next time you’re at the Seven Birches.” Martha waved her hand casually in the air, as if she wasn’t speaking about returning precious stones.
“I suppose that’s it then,” Lisa said, her voice trembling.
“And I trust you’ve been practicing with the mirror?” The Mistress looked over at me, then glanced in Lisa’s direction.
“Not really,” I responded quietly. After seeing my disturbing reflection in the mirror, I hadn’t planned on taking it to Zorya.
Hoping Lisa would forget about it, I hadn’t mentioned it to her since.
Now, I watched in quiet resignation as Lisa pushed her chair back and walked over to the cabinet, where we’d been keeping the silver mirror.
“Good thing you mentioned the mirror,” Lisa said. “I’m pretty sure Ivan would have forgotten all about it. I guess it’s just so many things going on at once.” She checked her reflection, “Oh, would you look at that?”
We leaned over the mirror to see Lisa in front of the Seven Birches resort, stretched in triangle pose. Having assisted Lisa during yoga classes, I knew it was her favorite.
“I don’t consider a class done until I’ve done triangle pose with my students.
It’s such a good stretch,” Lisa always said.
In the reflection, her face looked bright and happy, as it usually did when she was doing this pose.
Her right hand was pointing to the sky, and her legs were firmly on the ground.
What shocked me, however, was her hair. It reached down to her waist. I gasped, calculating in my mind how long it would take for Lisa’s hair to grow that long. Years. It had to be several years.
“You look lovely,” Martha said in approval.
“Thank you, and would you look at my hair? It’s so long.” Lisa raised her eyebrows. “Ivan, why don’t you look in the mirror now.” She pushed the mirror toward me.
“That’s okay, I’ll do it later,” I mumbled.
“Well, I suppose sometimes it’s best not to know what lies ahead.
All right, I’ll be off. If there’s one thing I dislike, it’s long goodbyes.
I’ll see you soon, Lisa. Grayson, be well.
Harry, you’re welcome anytime. I’ll be keeping fresh hay just for you.
Ivan, please walk me out,” she said, and I felt my stomach flip.
Without waiting for me to respond, Martha marched to the door.
I followed her out, my shoulders slumped.
We walked out of the building in silence, and then, right as we approached Martha’s car, she turned to me and spoke, her voice steely.
“The portal is pulling you, Ivan, I can feel it. Before you go, I need you to understand something. The deal we made wasn’t a casual thing.
When you come back to Virginia, and you will come back, the favor will need to be returned.
I won’t send a curse after you across the fold.
But when you return to Lisa, you return to me as well. That’s the nature of it.”
I swallowed hard.
“Do you understand?” She narrowed her eyes.
“I do.”
I’d made a deal with two witches, not one. Baba Yaga had left me no choice. But the deal with Martha I’d made out of my own free will. This is the last deal I ever make with a witch, I told myself as I waved the Mistress farewell and returned to Lisa’s quarters.