"You're heading out?" Mr. P spoke as he came across Mother Glen and Gillian.
"We can not stay here all day," Mother Glen told him and brought her head down to nuzzle the side of the head of the Pack's elder, "we'll be underfoot... and besides, while my dear Gillian will be staying with my elder granddaughter until everything can be arranged for us to marry and for a separate one of the Pride's homes to be procured, there is still a lot of work for me to do."
Mr. P looked to Gillian and then sighed.
"Visit when you have the time, Snow-white," Mr. P licked Mother Glen's cheek, "you too Gill. It is good to see old friends again."
"Blackie," Mother Glen shook her head, "you know we will visit when we have the time."
"You'll at least do me the honor of seeing you out?" Mr. P asked.
Mother Glen and Gillian both nodded.
+++++++++++
As the Chance finally made its way into Boston harbor, Marie looked out at what was already beginning to grow into an important city. Captain Wesley and his crew were working frantically to navigate the ship as the harbor seemed to be filled with dense fog.
"Are we there yet?" Katherine asked curiously as she came out from the interior of the ship.
"I believe so," Marie answered, "though this fog is testing the Captain's skills as a navigator."
Katherine looked out. The fog didn't trouble her eyes quite as much, but it did restrict her vision a bit.
"You don't think it's the witches, do you?" Katherine asked nervously.
"Maybe," Marie answered, "I'd think the storm clouds that are still in the distance ahead of us are connected to them, but while I can sense their evil and know they are using magic to spread it, I am not schooled in those arts..."
"I'm sorry if I stopped you from learning them," Katherine told her friend.
"Neither of us did anything wrong, Katherine," Marie answered as she took Katherine's paw, "God may have permitted me to see the future, but I do not think he has blessed me in that way... and if he did, my father didn't have those skills and could not have taught me."
"I guess we could really use Merlin then," Katherine gave a slight quip.
"Possibly," Marie nodded, "though he died shortly after Arthur... what we could really use would be Excalibur. The sword. Enchanted by the word of God to defend the righteous from the wicked, hence why only Arthur was able to wield it."
"All the stories say it was made by the Lady of the Lake," Katherine commented.
"And they are just that, stories," Marie reminded her, "the Council has records of Merlin's activities as a leader of the early Church in Britain..."
"A shame you'll never get to read them to me," Katherine sighed, "it sounds interesting."
"You can read as well..."
"True, but I'm afraid that I'd shred the paper with my claws," Katherine admitted.
By that time, the crew was able to guide the ship into an open birth and was already scrambling to tie it down. As the workers began tying the ship up to let their passengers disembark, Draco came out, carrying the bags. Captain Wesley came up closely behind him.
"So, what is the next move?" Draco asked curiously.
"For tonight, we'll need an inn," Marie told him, "then we'll need to do just a bit of research. We need to find where Glendale is."
"You're building your mission in Glendale?" Captain Wesley asked as he approached.
Draco nodded.
"It's all very strange," Captain Wesley muttered under his breath, "I wish you all the best of luck. As we'll be heading for Jamestown. They are not so hyper religious there and we might gain the supplies needed to return to the old world there."
"We wish you the best of luck as well," Draco told him.
Captain Wesley nodded and made his way to check on what he would need to do. Vatican then made his way toward the group.
"I will wait for you on those heights there to the south of the city," Vatican said pointing in the direction of the hills from which Washington would place the cannon from Fort Ticonderoga in 1775 to force the British out of Boston.
Marie looked out in that direction. She could only just make the outline of land through the fog.
"Be careful, Vatican," Marie told the gargoyle, "It will take us awhile and I do not know how well versed the Puritans are on gargoyle design. They may identify you as one of the gargoyles from the Vatican."
"I will, Marie," Vatican answered, "but I will remain as close as I can."
The large gargoyle then hugged Marie as carefully as he could. Once that was finished, Vatican took off into the air, heading toward the heights while Marie and her comrades left the ship.
++++++++
"Did they meet the fifth hunter in Boston?" Abbey asked curiously, "Like he was using the fog to conceal their landing..."
"Are you trying to inquire as to whether or not the fifth hunter was a white witch or wizard?" Marie asked, lowering one ear in confusion.
"Well... yeah," Abbey admitted, "We needed Amy to defeat Kurse and protect those of us that went to the island to free those that Kurse had enslaved there... no offense."
"None taken," Lawrence told the glass pup, even if her present form was that of a blond pup in a blue and white dress.
"And you said that the witches had laid down some protection against the weapons that Marie and her friends were armed with," Abbey then finished.
"Yes, but protection does not mean invincibility," Marie answered, "Naval strategists thought the battleship to be invincible. It was so heavily armed and armored that the only thing that they figured could defeat it was another battleship..."
"And the Germans proved that the Submarine and the Japanese proved that the Aircraft Carrier were far more deadly," Lawrence commented, "considering the Scapa Flow raid and the sinking of HMS Barham by German U-boats and the December 7 surprise attack that destroyed the entire US Pacific fleet with the exception of the carriers..."
"Which were at sea on that day," Marie nodded, "Yes. Just because the witches protected themselves, did not make them invincible. Marie and the others could have won using their own weapons eventually... but the results would be different. So they would need to turn to a new weapon that the witches couldn't defend themselves against... but they would still need to meet the fifth hunter for that."
"So, was he like some new version of Merlin?" Abbey asked again, too curious to let it go.
"Not in the way that Merlin Ambrosius was, or Amy and I are," Marie sighed, "He knew about Magic and how it worked, but did not have the powers to use it."
"A scholar, then..." Betty commented with a glare at Lawrence.
Lawrence whimpered.
Marie nodded.
++++++++++
They ended up settling into an inn not that far from the harbor. The inn keeper bought the cover story that they were traveling to visit family already in the colony, but did give Draco a second look. He gave Marie and Katherine one room, and Draco another. Once he had gone back to his own duties, Marie then sneaked to the room he had given Draco.
"We're here," Draco sighed heavily, his guilt at lying to the innkeeper not hidden at all.
"Yes," Marie nodded, "all that is needed now is to find this Glendale."
Draco sighed again, "Have you seen anything?"
"Only that people are fleeing the town," Marie told him, "I've seen nothing that would indicate where it is, exactly, and we don't have the time to go wandering around New England looking for it."
Draco nodded.
"We will need you to do some research," Marie told him quietly.
"See who is a refugee from Glendale?" Draco asked.
"Mostly to get directions to Glendale," Marie answered, "if they're fleeing Glendale, these witches have to have started something that has terrified them. They won't lead us there."
+++++++++
In the end, Molly decided to place "ivory" throwing knives on display again. Something about what had recently struck the world made her feel that people needed to remember what the town had gone through because of the witches, and of the battle that killed them. In its own way, Molly hoped this would persuade those who had turns to never use them.
+++++++++++
"Gillie appears to have left already," Gillian commented as they made their way out.
Gillian had never seen the van that Gillie had come in, but assumed that she had taken some vehicle.
"She likely went back to work," Mother Glen commented, "she's been very determined to do her job well... which, privately has hurt her. She doesn't show it but she is good with cubs."
"You can't force anyone to do anything they don't want to do," Gillian told her.
Mother Glen nodded, "and I don't intend to."
"You can never know," Mr. P commented from Gillian's other side, "she might secretly want to... but has been so focused on fighting the game that a lot of other things have been ignored..."
"Maybe," Mother Glen gave her best attempt at a shrug, "but I still can not push Gillie to do what she doesn't want to."
Mr. P nodded and pressed a button that would open the gate.
"Visit again soon, my friends," Mr. P told them.
"You too, Blackie," Mother Glen told him.
+++++++++++
Searching for "refugees" from Glendale was rather easy for Draco. He had to tie it with the cover story that his group were planing to meet with family in the town and was asking for directions. He wound up getting half a dozen horror stories of people going insane for the no apparent reason and at the drop of the hat. Many of these stories essentially proved Marie's visions correct, but did not betray the location of the town.
"Why are you planning to go there?" a nervous father asked him as they sat in small dinning hall that was part of the inn.
"My original intention was to visit family," Draco answered, loathing the lying that went with how he was to act, "from what you tell me, it'd be to save them, now."
"Do yourself a favor, don't go," the man answered, "I doubt even dragons can survive this madness..."
"If they can be saved, I will try," Draco answered, sounding brave.
"You won't let this go?"
"Not until I've saved them, or died trying," Draco answered.
The man sighed and pulled out a small pad of paper and a pencil. He then began scribbling what looked like the colony map of Massachusetts. He put one "X" where Boston was, and then drew another one to the northwest.
"This is Glendale," the man said pointing to the second "X", "and if you listen to reason, you'll have the two women you're with stay here..."
+++++++++
"Women?" Betty asked, "I could see that for Marie, but Katherine was a female Felman."
"Many humans used either very generic terms in regards to gender or used human terms," Marie explained, "some still do, unless you'd prefer the gender correct word for a female Lupman or any other Canid of the Genus: Canis, a "bitch"."
Maddex was quick to cover his daughters ears.
"Hey! No swearing!"
"I apologize," Marie bowed to him, "although, the negative connotations that go with that word come from the way it is used in common language. The official meaning is innocent."
"Yeah, but when it's used to insult people, it is easier to avoid using the word," Betty spoke up, "and to be honest, I wouldn't like that. I'd prefer my name or at lest "lupman" or "wolf" but not a word that humans use to insult each other."
Marie nodded.
+++++++++
"This isn't very definite," Marie sighed as they left, on foot the next morning.
"I know, but it's the best I could do," Draco sighed, "the people I ran into were horrified and were trying to put the memories of the town behind them... the best I can say is that it confirms your visions."
"I would have preferred proof that I was merely seeing things," Marie replied.
Draco nodded, "at least this map is a starting point and we won't be walking over the entire colony."
"At least," Marie sighed as they then made their way to where Vatican was likely waiting.
"Are we ready?" Vatican asked as they approached.
"About as ready as we can be," Marie nodded, "although the people are terribly spooked by what the witches are doing in Glendale. We will have to walk."
Vatican nodded, "Lead the way."
They were about to turn when one of Katherine's ears twitched and she turned rapidly toward some bushes nearby.
"Come out!" Katherine instructed.
There was no argument as a middle aged man, although one that looked very fit. His body type struck Marie as the same body type her god-father had. Strong, yet athletic, and looked extremely fit. He carried some sort of musket, Marie couldn't tell which brand.
"You are the ones going after these witches in Glendale?" the man asked as he half leaned against his weapon, although it seemed to be more casual then needing it for support.
"Who are you?" Draco demanded.
"How do you know about the witches in Glendale?" Marie questioned.
"Just about everyone in the colony knows about the witches in Glendale," the man answered, "their details will vary and what they admit to knowing will as well, but just about everyone knows just the same. I first suspected it when I saw these three women go insane in the middle of some rune they'd burned in the ground..."
Marie remembered the vision that confirmed that the three girls she had met in her dreams had turned to evil and turned their backs on humanity.
"Who are you...?" Marie asked.
"I'm called Linus Sure," the man answered, "my friends in Frostville have called me Sure-shot from time to time, as I'm an EXCELLENT marksman."
"And what were you doing in Glendale?"
"At the time? Buying powder," Linus answered, "Frostville didn't have any... I would have gone as far as Salem or Boston if I couldn't find any."
"What are you doing here?" Draco asked.
"After I saw them go insane, I realized that there was something going on in Glendale that had to be stopped and stopped quickly," Linus answered, "I went to the Colony leadership, they didn't really believe me at first, and since, I've been looking around the New England area, see if we can muster enough men to put an end to the crisis... No real luck, and I've even gone as far south as Manhattan... New York... New Amsterdam, it depends on who you talk to..."
"You're one of the colonial militia," Marie interrupted.
"In a way," Linus nodded, "Any way, I had no luck in finding volunteers and returned home, hoping there was something I could read that might protect at least Frostville from these witches... and ultimately the leaders here in Boston did call me down. It seems they don't like the flow of "foreigners" coming into Massachusetts."
"They'll probably hate us, then," Katherine said quietly.
"And how do you know we were looking for these witches?" Marie asked, ignoring Katherine's comment for the moment.
"I overheard your dragon friend here talking about going to Glendale rather openly last night," Linus answered, "now, with as scared as everyone has been of the place in recent years, no one in their right mind would go there... not unless they had to, and they were only "passing through". So, I figured you were planning on confronting these witches and figured you could use the help. They are ultimately what has angered the colony leaders here in Boston. I figure we shoot the witches and their troubles will be gone."
"And how long have you been with the militia?" Marie asked.
"Since I was fourteen," Linus answered, "it's interfered with my reading of things, but it's been for a good cause. And the latest cause I have is stopping these witches."
"So you seek to join us?" Katherine asked.
"No, you are to join me," Linus replied, "I can tell that NONE of you will fit in with the Colony leadership, but these witches have gone too far and I've been desperate for help in stopping them. I'll do my best to smooth things over with the Colony Leadership, and you'll have some protection... but that have to be after the witches are dead."
"How do you..." Draco began.
"I do," Linus answered, "take the deal. It'll make all our lives easier."
Marie came forward and shook Linus's hand.
"Welcome to the Inquisition, Linus Sure," Marie spoke and almost chuckled when he gasped at who she mentioned.
+++++++++
"Fourteen?!" Maddex gasped.
"The assumption that one is not an adult until the age of 18 didn't really apply," Marie explained, "In the largely agrarian society that New England was at the time, young men did go to work the land early, and in the case of Linus Sure, to also serve in the colony's militia. Girls were expected to marry earlier then they are today..."
Marie paused for a moment.
"And a lot of that didn't really change, if not by law then at least by how laws were enforced," Marie continued, "Minimum age for volunteers for the Union army was around sixteen during the American Civil War, but drummer boys as young as NINE would volunteer and some were wounded in battle during the war."
There was a collective shudder from everyone there at that. To Lawrence and Betty, adults of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, to Maddex, a father of two girls, it was incomprehensible that children would volunteer to go into a war and get shot in it... yet they knew that it was true. Lawrence had even read about it in the history books he had read.