Defying the Odds

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Photo courtesy of www.Arwen-Undomiel.com, property of New Line Cinema.

 

 

 

Soft leather, moccasin-styled boots hugged the feet of Morgan muffling his footfalls down the hallway to the kitchen. His only thought this morning was of a rich hot cup of coffee. Aromatic whiffs of the potent bean drew him closer to the counter and his reward.

 

“Morgan!”

 

The tall night elf groaned. When his sister bellowed, he was usually in trouble. He set a mug from the cupboard on the counter and poured precious brown liquid inside.

 

“MORGAN!”

 

Throwing caution to the wind, he didn’t answer but took a swig of the life giving fluid. Searing pain racked his throat sending him into a coughing spasm.

 

“What?” he croaked.

 

Gitty’s measured gait put him on guard. Her normal mode of travel was to barrel her way through, heedless of anything in her way. Most valley folk had learned to step back when they saw the statuesque blonde headed their direction.

 

“Good. We need to talk about the plan to get back our magic.”

 

Blowing across the top of the cup, he lifted his eyes to stare at this sister. “What plan?”

 

“Again, I’ve had to come up with everything. So sit there and listen while I explain how we’re going to accomplish our plan.”

 

Our plan? He’d not submitted any input into the plan. How was it our plan? He could guarantee if anything went wrong he’d be the only one to pay.

 

Gitty filled a mug with coffee adding sugar and milk to the dark brew. Beckoning her brother with a finger, she moved to the living room and sat on one end of the couch. Morgan followed her into the high-ceilinged room choosing to sit in the tufted leather chair near the fireplace.

 

“Your suggestion last night got me to thinking…”

 

“What suggestion?” Morgan furrowed his forehead.

 

“The suggestion about kidnapping the librarian.”

 

“Wha? I, I, I didn’t make any such suggestion.”

 

Gitty watched the color drain from his face. She pushed an exasperated breath between her lips. Constitution of a jellyfish.

 

“Right before you skulked off to bed you said, ‘why don’t we just kidnap her?’ The more I thought about it the better I liked the idea.”

 

“I was being sarcastic. I didn’t really mean it.” Morgan’s hand shook as he lifted the mug to his lips.

 

“Of course you were being sarcastic. It’s one of the things you do best. However, the idea took root. I think we have the means, without magic, to take back what’s ours.”

 

Morgan stared at his sister. She’d hatched some pretty wild ideas to get what she wanted before but this was—insane! Without magic they risked being caught and taken to the Others jail… for life.

 

“Well, I think I can safely say you’ve lost your mind. I need more coffee.” He pushed up from the chair and snatching his mug disappeared into the kitchen.

 

Gitty ground her teeth but waited for him to return.

 

“What makes you think we can pull off taking the Librarian from under Uther’s nose while all those miserable little fae people are meandering around her?” Morgan set his coffee on the side table and dropped into the chair.

 

Agitation drove her to stand. It took all her restraint not to start pacing.

 

“I have it on good authority the Librarian goes to the river around the same time every day… and she goes alone; no fae, no Uther.”

 

“Right. Who is this good authority?” A sneer began to form on Morgan’s face.

 

“Lancelot.”

 

“Ha! Now I know you’ve been into the liquor cabinet. We don’t have our magic so how can you communicate with your—pet?”

 

Because you both still have your telepathy. The aforementioned animal padded in and started rubbing against Gitty’s legs.

 

I’m hungry.

 

Morgan sat blinking his eyes in disbelief. “It’s a trick. You’ve learned to throw your voice.” He pointed a shaking finger at his sister.

 

Gitty shook her head. “I can’t believe we have the same parents. You’re an idiot, you know? Mental telepathy isn’t magic. That’s why we can still talk with Lancelot. I’m going to feed him then we’ll continue this discussion.” She strode to the other room.

 

Morgan heard the banging of silverware against the cat’s bowl and clatter as the spoon was dropped into the sink.

 

Gitty strolled into the lounge and dropped to the couch.

 

“I think you need to take up a hobby.”

 

“Do you now? And what would that be?” He cocked his head to one side and proceeded to cross his arms.

 

“Fishing.” A sly smile tilted Gitty’s lips.

 

“Okay. That’s it. I hate fish. I hate fishing. I won’t put squishy wiggly worms on a hook and throw it in the water to stand around for hours doing nothing. I can’t stand the thought of cleaning them and if you don’t eat them, what’s the point of fishing?” Morgan scowled at her.

 

“You won’t actually be fishing.”

 

“What?”

 

“You’ll be observing the Librarian and waiting for a good time to let me know when to grab her.” She watched a puzzled expression replace the scowl. “You need to start appearing on the opposite bank of the Lending Library for the next week to ten days. Once you become a fixture, she’ll give it no thought whatsoever. Observe the time she comes out and when she leaves. Once we have her pattern established, we can choose the optimum time to grab her and slip away.”

 

“Yeah but won’t she recognize me?”

 

“Not if you wear fishing gear and a big hat to cover your face.”

 

“Just where are we going to put her? This is the first place they’d look.”

 

“Eons ago, after the war in the valley, I took the time to provide myself an escape from the insanity of this house. My cabin is five miles due north from this location.”

 

She watched the wrinkle in Morgan’s forehead reappear as he contemplated this information.

 

“How do we get there? The area you’re talking about has no roads.”

 

“That’s right. The only way in or out is on horseback.”

 

“Right. So we drag this Other, on horseback, to some cabin in the woods until… what? She dies of starvation? Or are we going into the business of murdering people?” Morgan pushed up from the chair to refill his mug. He wandered back to the chair and took up his position.

 

Gitty shook her head and sighed. “Again I have to wonder how we can have the same lineage. No, we won’t starve or murder her. That would defeat our reason for kidnapping her. We’ll put her across one of our saddles carrying her to the cabin, which by the way is continually stocked with a month’s worth of food and water. One never knows when the need will arise to take some ‘alone’ time.”

 

“Just how are you going to take her without a ruckus?” Morgan lifted a brow in question.

 

“If you’d stop interrupting me, I’d be able to lay out this plan and fill in all the details.”

 

He held up a hand and settled back in the chair. “Please… educate me.”

 

“We don’t have enough time for that. I’ll just fill in the blanks so you can stop whining. like a little girl. Each day you go to the riverbank to fish, Lancelot will accompany you until you’ve seen the Librarian come out and go back into her library. After a week or so…”

 

Morgan groaned.

 

Gitty shot him a withering glance and he refrained from making further noises.

 

“As I was saying… when you’ve established a routine of fishing on the bank, the Librarian should relax. During the second week, you’ll need to ride your steed down the hill. I’ll be out for an afternoon ride waiting for Lancelot to tell me when the time is right. I’ve devised a way to knock her out without leaving any physical marks. Once I’ve accomplished that feat, I’ll throw her across my saddle and from there we’ll head to the cabin avoiding any contact with the locals.

 

“At the cabin, we can restrain her. I’ve located one of the old cameras that spit out pictures to use in making our demand. One shot of her tied up and gagged, and we’ll have Uther eating out of our hands. By my calculations, we should have our magic back by the end of the month.”

 

Silence followed the detailed explanation. Gitty watched her brother mull over the plan.

 

“What’s the issue? I’ve contemplated all the possibilities and worked out things so neither of us will get caught. What’s taking you so long to agree?”

 

“Do I have to wear those stupid looking waders?”

 

“What?” Gitty jumped up from the couch to face her brother. “You’re worried about how you’ll look!” She stomped to the kitchen and slammed her cup on the counter.

 

“Complete idiot. The fates are against me. First a total brainless wonder like Morgan as a blood brother then our father goes and marries a gnome. A gnome! And I’m saddled with that miniature female wanta-be-warrior, Tiamoon. What a joke. I should just liquidate the assets we have here and move back to Emerald Isles.” Scrubbing the cup, she muttered between clinched teeth.

 

“Uh, Gitty?”

 

“What?” She turned to glower at her brother.

 

“I think your idea is really great. When do we start?”

 

She stared at him; a nervous smile attempted to blossom on his face. He shuffled from foot to foot and kept pushing his long hair behind his shoulder.

 

“Truth be told… I’ve been miserable without my magic. It seems I’ve overestimated my attraction to the Other women. Once they discover I have no income, they melt away. I’d love to have my magic back.”

 

Gitty realized his reason was shallow but whatever it took to have him work with her was fine. “We’ll start tomorrow.” She watched his shoulders drop as he relaxed.

 

“What time?”

 

“Lancelot says she takes a break around three in the afternoon. You’ll need to be on the bank a little before. When you get there monitor her actions as you pretend to be setting your line. Check the time she goes in then stay for thirty more minutes; afterward pack up and leave.

 

“We’ll continue this for the week and about Wednesday of the following week, we’ll make our move.”

 

Morgan nodded and drifted off toward his room.

 

Gitty watched his lackadaisical shuffle and mentally kicked herself. If we pull this off, I’m leaving this offensive valley and all the inhabitants behind.