{"sf1_id":883192,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Looking For She Who Cannot be Found","author":"StGeorgesHorse","words":2053,"posted_at":"2015-07-05T21:22:00.000Z","tags":["Adventure","Human","Plot Development","Story Progression","Werewolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/883192-looking-for-she-who-cannot-be-found","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/883192","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=883192\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#105 of The Moonrise Chronicles\n\nJust a few more pages of the story to keep myself fresh on it.","content":"They were provided clothing of a\nsuitable size, even if it was a little outdated. And yet, Maggie had to smile\nas she put her's on. \n\"You know, if I didn't know better,\nI'd say these were from the sixties.\"\n\"Yeah, I'd have to agree with you.\nBut the uncanny thing is, they fit like a glove.\"\nMaggie was in a patterned dress\nwith a hemline that came above the knees. There was a purse that coordinated with\nit, and a pair of boots that completed the ensemble.  The only thing she really had to do was\nadjust her body to fit into the top of the dress. She was still rather stuck in\nher immature form. She grew just a little and looked at Edward.\n\"Can you tolerate me growing up?\"\n\"Can you tolerate my persistent\nrash actions?\"\n\"Yes.\"\n\"Then I guess we were made for each\nother. But I'm still wondering about these clothes. They are original you know.\nThis one has a tag that's a little yellowed from a clothing store I've never\nheard of.\"\n\"I take it you're reading something\ninto that?\"\n\"Yes I am. I'm thinking that\nsomehow this lady knew that she was going to meet us and in what manner, and\nshe knew it a very long time ago.\"\nMaggie shivered. \"That's sort of\ncreepy.\"\n\"More than you realize I think.\nThat means that she probably knew about both of us before we were even born. So\nif that's the case, why didn't she intervene before now?\"\n\"I guess you'll have to ask her\nonce you see her.\"\n\"Yeah, finding her... that's going to\nbe an interesting experience. Do you think it will be worth it?\"\n\"To find out who she is and what\nshe wants from us? Do you really need to ask? And you can tune into her to find\nher now that you know what she looks like.\"\n\"I doubt it'll be that easy Mags. I\nhave a feeling that the face I saw was one of many. Don't ask me why, but I\nthink she left an impression of herself on my mind.\"\nShe snorted. \"Are you sure it isn't\nsomething left over of Robert's?\"\n\"Yeah, that. I guess I shouldn't\nhave done it. But destroying something inherently good is abhorrent to me.\"\n\"Well, it looks like you're stuck\nwith it unless this lady can tell you how to deal with it. Does it bother you?\"\n\"What? The fact that I did it or\nthe random memories that keep filtering through?\"\n\"That last one.\"\n\"It's unnerving to say the least,\nseeing things you know you never experienced. He seems to have retained everything he\ndid as Hyde as well as all of the things from his normal life.\"\n\"Ouch! That would be unsettling. I\nguess you'll have to find some way of containing it until you can be rid of\nhim.\"\n\"I'm doing what I can. At the\nmoment it seems to be just enough for me to retain my sanity.\"\n\"You mean you still have some left\nafter all of this?\"\n\"Barely!\"\nThe nurse came in on them again.\n\"I have gotten word back from your\nbank in Italy that they are making you new credit cards. They are sending them\nand the cash you requested; in Euros, via a courier to this very address. I am\nnot happy about that, but they insisted that they have your signature to match\nwith the one they have on record. But I assume you know all of this.\"\nEdward nodded. \"We have a sizable\naccount there. I'm sorry if I'm putting you in jeopardy by having them meet me\nhere.\"\n\"No jeopardy. It is very difficult\nto put us in jeopardy. What you are doing is taking up our time in an\nunreasonable manner. Still, the lady said to afford you everything you might\nwant or need before you leave.\"\nEdward sniffed a little at her tone\nand then smiled. \"We'll need transport once we're ready to go. Do you have an\nautomobile we can use?\" \n\"There is only one such vehicle here,\nand it is not for your personal use. I would suggest that when the time comes,\nyou use your own means for conveying yourself away from here.\"\nMaggie was feeling a bit prickly.\n\"The only means we had was a life boat.\"\n\"That was your last means, yes.\nWhen the time comes, you will travel as you have in the past.\"\nMaggie could feel the heat rising\nwithin her. \"Look, you sourpuss! We have walked, we have swum, we have flown, and\nwe have floated down a river. We have used just about every means of locomotion\nthere is, so maybe you can quit being so coy. \"\n\"I could, but the mistress said to\nenlighten you no more than is necessary. Therefore, her words take precedence\nover yours.\"\n\"Fine! We'll walk. It's not like we\nhaven't been all over the Russian countryside, or wandered around America, and\nItaly, or France or...\"\nEdward tapped her on the shoulder.\n\"You're awfully picky for someone who was recently rescued from the open sea.\nEven if we were fairly close to shore when she rescued us, we very well might\nhave drifted on past land without ever knowing it. You should be glad that\nyou're on dry land to even be able to use your legs for walking. You might\nstill have your wings to contend with. Be grateful for once and shut up.\"\nHer eyes widened a little before\nshe turned to the nurse. \"I'm sorry. I guess I was getting a little out of\nline.\"\nThe nurse smiled. \"You were. And\nyou are forgiven. I would suggest you take a little time to reflect on your\npresent situation. As your husband has mentioned, you have much to be grateful\nfor. Never let the dark overshadow the light.\"\n\"Husband?\" The word seemed to be a novel\nidea.\"I guess maybe he is my husband.\"\nEdward smiled. \"If you would like\nto make it formal, there's still the pope.\"\n\"Maybe. But I think that lady was\nright. It's what is in our hearts that matters.\"\n\"Good thing it's not what is in our\nheads, or we'd be in deep trouble.\"\nThe snort came this time from the\nnurse, who actually cracked a smile on her hardened face. \"A sense of humor\nwill take you far young man. Never lose it.\"\nThe courier arrived the next day,\napparently spending all night traversing the seventeen hour trip from Rome. He did look\ntired, and Edward handed him a small stack of bills. The man's eyes nearly\npopped from his head.\n\"Signor, non posso accettare\nquesto!\"\n\"Yes you can, because I just gave\nthem to you. Now go and get some rest before returning home.\"\nMaggie chuckled as the man drove\naway.\n\"What's so funny?\"\n\"This is Amsterdam.\"\n\"So?\"\n\"God, are you that naïve?\"\n\"About what?\"\n\"Prostitution. It's legal here. I'll\njust bet he won't be getting any sleep for a long, long while.\"\n\"If not, then he deserves what he\ngets. I figured I would reward him for his efforts. How he spends his money is\nnot my concern.\"\nShe let the matter drop, but still\ngiggled now and again as she pictured the driver in bed with a girl of his\nchoice.  But the fact was, now that there\nwere intact, clothed and equipped with financial means, their time at the house\nwas finished. It all happened so quickly that neither of them had much time to\nexplore it or its location. That may have been part of the plan. No point in\nletting them get too cozy. They were intrepid explorers after all, setting out\nto find this Lady Lily.\nThe day after the courier arrived\nthey were shown to the door. Maggie was still grumbling silently about the\nboots she was wearing. She would be better off in bare feet, or better yet, as\na wolf. The boots were fashionable, but hardly suitable for trekking long distances.\nEdward's shoes were little better,\nbeing more for dress than for hiking. Brother Carcharoth and the nurse walked\nthem to the door. It was the first time the old man had reappeared since they\nhad arrived here. He looked upon them with renewed interest.\n\"I have been retracing your lines.\nMost curious indeed.  The Leeds line has\na certain stigma attached to it, and for this reason I left off attempting to\nfollow it a very long time ago. In this I have been remiss. From a coal mine a\ndiamond of exceptional brilliance has emerged.\"\nMaggie choked on whatever words she\nhad ready. \"Thank you.\"\nHe looked at Edward. \"You are the\none who should never have been. It was written that your fate was sealed by\nsilver. And yet, here you are. I do not know what the lady thinks in helping\nyou. It has been a very long time for an animacomedentis to make themselves known.\"\n\"A what?\"\nThe old smiled. \"What you are. It\nis a very old term. You have greater power, and you must use it wisely. Never\nallow it to overpower you.\"\nMaggie put her hands on her hips. \"Now\nwait just a minute! What did you call him?\"\n\"I'll tell you what my dear. You\njust go and figure it out. I am sure you know the lady wishes us to tell you\nonly the minimum information. I have told you just enough to pique your\ninterest without telling you more than I need to. Go forth and find out more. The\ndata is out there; you must go and find it. It is what I do with my life. The lady\nknows all, but she doesn't tell all. She helps me from time to time, but she\nbelieves in self-reliance.\"\nEdward bowed. \"And so we shall abide\nby her wishes for now. And yet, a car would be nice to have right at the moment.\nI rather dread going across Europe on foot.\"\nThe old man opened the door. \"On\nfoot is the best way to see where you have been. But you will have time for\nthat later.\"\nThere, parked right outside was a\nred Alpha.\n\"It can't be!\"\n\"Why not? The lady saw to it that\nyou might have need for it again, so she made arrangements to have it put away\nsafely until now. Since it is your car, paid in full, there can be no claim\nagainst it or you. Your lack of a proper driver's license will be your problem to\ncontend with down the road,\" he coughed, grinning. \"Sorry for the pun. You will\nhave to deal with your problems as you face them. From here on out you are on\nyour own.\"\nThe door was shut with a dead thud.\nThey both knew that no amount of knocking was going to get them inside. Edward\nopened the passenger door for her and closed it after she got inside. He got\nbehind the wheel and turned the key. The little engine roared to life. \n\"You know, these clothes kind of go\nwith this car.\"\n\"Yes they do. Let's just hope that\nthere isn't going to be any time travel involved with this. I don't think that\nis something I could handle right now.\"\n\"Time travel is impossible!\"\n\"And so are werewolves. I'm not\nputting anything past anyone right now.\"\nHe started to put the car into gear\nbut stopped. \"Now don't go saying things like that. We've been through\nenough.  Skipping into the past will do\nus not a bit of good.\"\n\"Maybe not, but it would be an\nadventure!\"\nHe sat there, listening to the\nengine purr. He was looking to the future. And he was looking to the past. \"Nope.\nThere's nothing there. If there was, I think I would see it.\"\n\"Let's hope so. I'm all for doing\nsomething interesting, but I think I'm about tapped out for now.\"\n\"Me too.\"\nHe pressed the clutch in and ran\nthrough the gears, heading out to the main thoroughfare and off into traffic,\njust like he had dealt with this city's congestion as though he had lived here\nhis entire life.  It failed to dawn on\nhim that this was the first time he had ever been here, though it wasn't likely\nto be the last."}