"Willow's Missing Tail" 3

After being wined and dined by the suave owner of Incognito Inc. Martha and Perfidia asked to hear the plan he had.

Avery stood up and nodded to his staff of waiters and they began to clear the table of all its finery. “Come with me,” he said and walked to one of the glass walls then waited for them to join him there. When they did, the wall opened but it didn’t lead them into the forest, it lead to a spacious office with chairs arranged around a long desk.

“Please come in,” Avery said with a nod allowing Martha and Perfidia to precede him into the room.

“How is this even here?” Perfidia asked, knowing that from the outside none of this existed, not beyond that magical door in the forest.

“It’s like Martha’s meadow; it exists in a different perception than what one sees on the normal canvas of life.”

“How do you know about my meadow?” Martha asked him with a suspicious lilt in her voice.

“Are there not birds in your meadow Martha?”

“Tattle tellers,” she harrumphed.

“Exactly, and that’s how I learned about Daphne too.”

“I don’t get it,” Perfidia said walking over to a comfy looking chair and sitting down as she continued, “If she wants to destroy you, why is she picking on us?”

“I suppose I should tell you, she also broke in here and stole my client files, which included research information on both of you, and your friends.”

Martha frowned at him. “Why would you keep that information on us after your havocs were over and the case was closed?”

“Not necessarily closed, I do at times get repeat havocs requested and the previous information can help.”

“But I can see you have protections here, so how did she get in?” Perfidia asked, interested to know what Daphne had used to get past them; it might be a clue to how she broke into her store.

“She didn’t break in; it was her parrot that breached our system.”

“Her parrot…?” Perfidia asked with a look of disbelief.

“Yes, her familiar is a parrot, Sahara; she uncovered our operation and lets just say, Robin is very embarrassed by his fallibility with Sahara, so please don’t ask him about it.”

‘So the parrot played your delivery bird-man for a fool?” Perfidia questioned with a smile of satisfaction; that delivery bird had annoyed her too.

“There was a moment of opportunity and yes, she took what she wanted from us.”

“But what does that mean to us?” Martha asked, “What was written about us in those files that we should know, and she shouldn’t?”

“Please sit down Martha; it will be easier if I show you,” Avery said turning the computer around on his desk so the screen faced them.

Martha sat down just as the screen changed to a detailed view of both of her houses with an x marking the spot where her meadow would be found, if one could find it.

“Great, are telling me she knows about my secret meadow, how? And why would it matter to her? You know Willow would never let her into it.”

“Willow wouldn’t but Thistle might.”

“Thistle…?”

“Willow’s sister.” Avery advised her.

“Isn’t Thistle the name of a prickly plant?” Perfidia interjected.

“Yes, one with sharp points all over, even on the stem and, from what I could gather from my field agents, the feline named Thistle fits that description too.”

“It doesn’t matter;" Martha insisted, "Thistle doesn’t have the right to enter there."

“She might be able to influence Willow to allow her entry,” Avery said with a worried frown.

“I don’t believe it; I don’t believe she could make Willow do that.”

“I hope you’re right,” Avery said quietly.

“And what about Max’s sibling? What do you know about him? Are you concerned about that influence?” Martha asked.

Avery’s eyes darkened as he expounded. “Max’s sibling is called Ram and he’s quite like the Cheshire cat; he likes to wreak havoc and disappear, and yes, I’m very concerned for Max.”

“So he’s like Max then?” Perfidia said, inferring his cat was just as bothersome.

“Max did my bidding, Max is loyal so you can blame me for the trouble that was done.”

"Okay, I will," Perfidia agreed, giving him an intense stare of dislike.

“Let’s not argue;” Martha told them both, “The bottom line is that Daphne has Willow and Max, thanks to their siblings, and we need to get them back.”

“I agree.” Avery nodded.

“You're right. She has the cats and we need to rescue them but…what did she want from my store?” Perfidia asked turning to Avery, "Do you know?"

“As best as I can surmise,” Avery said as he changed the computer screen to a picture of the interior of Perfidia’s store, “She was after something you’d been working on Perfidia, a combination of plants and potions that could create a brief camouflage, a way to hide someone or something in plain sight.”

“Is that true?” Martha turned to Perfidia.

Perfidia looked sheepish and shrugged. “I might have been experimenting with something like that.”

”Why on earth would you need something like that?”

“I was going to surprise Jon by appearing unexpectedly.”

Martha’s brow furrowed with skepticism. “You mean spy on him?”

“No, I trust him…I do; I just …”

When Martha’s brow remained in the skeptical position, Perfidia caved. “Okay, so there was a day…or two, when I didn’t hear from him, and I wondered if….”

“Perfidia! Why haven’t you gotten past these adolescent jealousies?”

“Hey, I told him I love him and I meant it, that’s shocking for me, so give me credit…but I’ll admit, the trusting….may take time.”

Martha shook her head in disappointment at Perfidia then turned back to Avery.

“So does she have a potion that can camouflage her activities?” Martha asked.

“No,” Perfidia insisted, “it was not a working compound.”

“That may be true now Perfidia, but Daphne will continue to work on what you’ve started," Avery warned, "and remember, she has the familiars to help her.”

“What’s the plan to get Willow and Max back?” Martha asked, “You said you had one.”

“I do. We’ll have to garner the help of every familiar we can find, and their owners, to out power her and rescue them.”

“Sounds plausible enough but how to we find these familiars and their owners;” Martha asked, “it’s not exactly a club we all belong to Avery. We’re pretty protective of our abilities and our friends.”

“That’s where my network comes in handy; my flock already knows them all.”

Martha gave a decisive nod. “Okay, then we should get started.”

“I was hoping you’d say that and I have a list here we can start with,” he said handing a blank sheet of paper to Martha.

Perfidia looked over at it and frowned.

“What’s with the nothing on the page?”

“Turn it over,” Avery instructed with a sigh, “And remember Perfidia, discretion is our best defense.”

“Carol Wilthouser?” Martha read the first name out loud and looked back at Avery, “Are you sure?”

Perfidia looked at the name too and added, “She and her family run the animal shelter. How will we know which of those animals is her familiar?”

“They all are.” Avery told her.

“What? I thought there’s only one familiar per person?”

“There is and the familiar will choose their human, but Carol’s shelter is a way station for familiars who’ve out lived their humans. They need a protected place to stay until they attach to a new one.”

“Huh, I didn't know that so…could I have gone there and tried to-”

Martha shrugged. “it’s possible to go there but you’d only see the non-magical pets; the familiars wouldn’t appear to you; unless they wanted to.”

“Then how do we convince unattached familiars to work with us if we can’t see them?” Perfidia asked.

Avery smiled. “I’m afraid that’s what you’ll have to figure out.”

Martha stood up. “We should go.”

“I’ll keep you posted on anything my flock hears on the twitter branches, and just so you know, as a precaution, I’m moving my door to a different forest; I’ll send you the location when its safe to contact you again.”

“What if we need you before then?” Perfidia asked, not liking his disappearing plan.

“Keep this,” he handed her his blank business card, “clip it to a tree branch and I’ll know you need me; I’ll find you.”

 

Martha and Perfidia left Incognito Inc through the door into the forest and the door disappeared. They continued down the trail to the preserve’s exit.

“A camouflage potion, honestly Perfidia, why?” Martha scolded as they got into her VW convertible.

“It doesn’t work Martha; she isn’t going to get anywhere with it.”

“Maybe not, but she might already have your truth potion.”

“What do you mean?”

“Those files on us remember; she might know about that potion and how you used it at the fesitval's recepton.”

“Oh, right. I’ll have to check on what was disturbed in my store, then I'll know what she was after for sure.”

“You have those photos you took.”

“I do.”

“Then let’s go back to my house and see if we can determine what she might have taken and how she could use them. We can also try to add some additional protections to your store to keep her out.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Perfidia agreed, "and maybe I should stay at your house until we solve this?”

“You’re always welcome Perfidia.”

“Thanks,” Perfidia smiled then turned to look out the window. She noticed all the birds congregating on telephone poles and tree branches and circling in the sky.

“Using birds for news feeds; who’d have thought it?” Perfidia said with a shade of disbelief.

“Avery Silencio, apparently,” Martha answered with a slight chuckle.

“Yeah, and as I said before, it’s diabolically brilliant,” Perfidia whispered, watching a group of crows converging on a large tree. Were they having a group meeting? Probably, she thought. She was going to pay closer attention to the twittering of birds; it was more than idle chirping going on between them.