Season of the Witch part 2

Calla’s eyebrows scrunched together, and then raised.  “She’s real too?”
“Oh, yeah.  She’s real, powerful, and dangerous.”
“And she-and she wants you to come solve a case for her?”
“That’s not exactly what she says, but-oh, here.”  Xen passed her the letter.  For those of you readers who are irritably wishing for me to just say what’s in it already, you may read along with Calla.

Dear Chernobyl,


I need your help.  You must come to my cottage at once; this letter, when burned, will open a gateway.  Time is of the essence, so I suggest you do it soon.


I await your arrival.


Typically for her, the note was not signed.  I sighed.  As much as I knew that I didn’t trust the old witch, Xen was right about my curiosity being piqued.  If she claimed to need my help, then it had to be something big.  Maybe.  People with that level of power can afford to obsess over extremely petty things; just read the ancient Greek myths sometime.  Nevertheless, the idea that it could be important meant that I really, really wanted to go and find out.


“Why does she call you Chernobyl?” Calla asked, passing the letter back to me.
“It’s Russian for Wormwood.”
“Whoa, really?”  My assistant chuckled.  “That’s kind of appropriate, actually.”
“Very funny.”  I smiled as I went to the cupboard, and grabbed the matchbox.  “I don’t know when I’ll be back.  It depends on what she wants.”
“Why can’t she just come here?”
“It’s complicated, kid.”
“Do you have to go now?”  Xen gave me a slightly pleading look.  I immediately felt guilty; even though she was used to my job taking me off into dangerous situations on short notice, it definitely wasn’t easy on her.  Especially now that we also had a baby to look after.


I set down the matchbox, and put my arms around her.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.  “Should I wait until tomorrow?”
After hugging me back for a second, Xen placed her palms on my chest, gently but firmly pushing me away.
“She’ll probably just get cranky and retaliate somehow.  You’d better strike while the iron is hot.”
“Xen-”
“I’m fine,” she lied.  Seeing my expression, she amended, “Okay, I’m not fine, but that’s not important at the moment.  Go see what the old witch wants.”
My heart stung, even though I knew she was trying to do what was best at the moment, and I promised myself that I’d do something about it the first chance I got.
“Should I-” Calla began.
I quickly jumped in, turning and pointing a decisive claw at her.
“You are definitely not coming.”


Calla looked both confused and hurt, and I regretted the abruptness in which I had spoken.
“Why not?” she whispered.  It sounded almost like she was about to cry; maybe a bit of an overreaction, but she just wasn’t used to me talking to her like that.
I slowly crossed to the other side of the table and plucked Phil out of his seat, cleaning him off as I explained.
“Sorry I said it like that, kid.  I didn’t-it’s not that I wouldn’t want your company.  But I don’t think it would be safe for you.  Baba Yaga has this bad habit of collecting rare and interesting objects.  And to her, that includes people.  I think that if she knew about your eyes, she would all too happily add you to that collection.  It seems a lot easier in the long run if you just sit this one out.”


The hurt was still there, but now that she better understood the situation, it had faded somewhat.  Calla nodded.
“Okay.”
“If I need your help, I’ll text you.”  I extracted the washcloth from between Phil’s fangs, and handed him to Xen.
“Okay.”  My assistant sat down, combing her hair with a few fingers.
I kissed my wife goodbye, trying not to think that I was like Hector just before he went back outside the walls of Troy.
“I’ll let you know what happens, okay?”
“Okay.  And try not to start another international incident, would you?  We don’t need Russian spies as well as British ones persecuting us.”
“You kidding?  Baba Yaga won’t need to hire any flunkies to persecute me, she’ll just-”
A claw covered my mouth.
“Try not to start anything.  Capisce?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Thank you.”  She lowered her claw, and kissed me once more for luck.  Then I struck a match, and set the letter on fire.  Instantly it began to glow, and the ashes formed a portal which sucked me up, up, up and away…