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The Gift

Stephanie's Storyline, Chapter 6.5

copyright comidacomida 2018

The Rhino snorted and looked like he was about to object but I held up a hand and he thankfully didn't. I looked around at the four sets of eyes on me and I weighed my options. Everyone wanted to help, which was a good thing, but I honestly didn't know how worthwhile such an expenditure of resources would turn out to be. Considering what was best for me meant that I had to balance cost versus potential reward, opportunities as opposed to expense, and, most likely, a little bit of luck.

There were a lot of variables at work and, not for the first time, I regretted not paying more attention in statistics class; businesses used math all the time to resolve questions of logistics and I definitely could have benefitted from some insight. In the end, after considering all of the options, I looked to my Spirits and I apologized to Tom. "I'm sorry, Tom, but I think Kyle may have a point. When Billy's friends come over I'm sure he can get one of them to help with the ritual."

I'd seen Tom frown before; his scowl, in fact, seemed to be his neutral expression... but his face at that moment held such unrestrained disapproval that I quickly second-guessed myself. If not for Kyle's support I was pretty sure I would have changed the plan immediately but, thankfully, the Raven stepped in. "Relax, Sentinel-- I shouldn't have to Skin Ride either of Billy's friends... we just need to make sure that Stephanie can get them to help with the ritual. That's all."

The Rhino stood up and dusted his hands off against one another before turning to look at me. "I do not approve, but I have spoken my piece. If you are intent on pursuing this poor choice then perhaps you should at least consider how you will get these boys to do your wishes without sounding as if you were insane. Humans in this day are not familiar with magical rituals, so what will you tell them to get them to help?"

Kyle let out a 'hmm' and clacked his beak several times in thought. "That IS a good point... I mean... it's not like it's the same as asking them to run to the store for some milk or something..."

Tom interjected further. "And no Skin Riding."

I acknowledged the limitation. "Right. I know, Tom... you already said you don't approve of it."

Medved, seated by the totem nodded. "Neither of us do, Lapushka... to influence a mortal's will even lightly is an act of questionable character."

Although my Bear spoke without any specific tone of judgment in his voice, Kyle nevertheless puffed up defensively. "Hey! Just because I--"

Then the idea hit me. "I'll get them to help spray for ants!"

Tom and Medved focused on me, each with his ears up. It was Tom who asked "How will that help with the ritual?"

It was a long-shot, I knew, but I turned to Kyle with the inspired thought still in my mind and directed him. "Ask Anapa-- How flexible is the ritual requirement with the brass and the reed and everything?"

The Raven did as I requested and nodded thoughtfully at the Jackal's reply. He translated for me. "He said that the water must be stored in a brass container and that it must be sprinkled on the ground after passing through a reed."

I'd spent enough years in an agricultural town to know a thing or two about spraying for bugs, and that was what had given me the idea. "If we put a brass bowl inside my dad's insecticide sprayer, then fill it with water, then we can have Ashton and Kyle-- the Human Kyle spray the water around the foundation to the house... that'd work, right?"

Kyle the Raven Spirit relayed my suggestion to Anapa, who seemed to consider it for a moment before his ears lowered and he slowly shook his head. The Jackal had a lengthy explanation for the Raven, who then looked back to me and shrugged helplessly. "He said that there still needs to be a reed involved."

It only took me a second to come up with an answer for that. "The plastic tube that goes down into the reservoir could be exchanged for a reed... that would allow the water to have been put in a brass vessel and then travel through the reed before going into the rubber hose that'll carry it to the spray nozzle. Would that work?"

I asked the question of Kyle, who quickly translated it to Anapa; I recognized a few words like 'plastic' and 'rubber'-- probably because ancient Coptic didn't have words for those materials. Regardless, I was more focused on the Jackal, whose ears slowly raised and, thankfully, he preceded his statement with a slow nod. The Raven looked back to me. "He said he thinks it may work."

Medved cracked his knuckles and let out a breath. "May? I do not like the idea of your safety being given over to chance, Lapushka."

A single step took me to where Medved was sitting and I reached out to rest a hand on his forearm; he was warm, and his thick fur helped provide me a degree of calm that I realized I shouldn't have been feeling. "We're doing what we can. Hopefully it'll help and if it doesn't, then at least we've tried... if we're really lucky then we're doing this all as a precaution and it won't even be needed... but I want to try as much as I can to keep everyone safe-- me, my family... and all of you."

Although there were still some rumbling and objections from the spirits within the room I decided to move forward. Anapa (through Kyle) reassured me that he would know very quickly if the ritual was going to work and, if it wasn't then he would cancel the plan and conserve his energy-- apparently the magical portion of would be very draining on him and wasting Spirit Energy wasn't the way he chose to function. I agreed, and went about taking the first steps we'd need to make things happen.

I located my dad's sprayer, a five gallon plastic can with a long plastic application wand connected to it by an equally long rubber hose. Unscrewing the top, I washed it out thoroughly and then went about working the plastic intake tube out of the lid. My family's house was situated right along a small seasonal creek and, even though the water had long-since dried early in the summer there were still enough reeds along it to have my choice. I looked for one that looked to be about as big around as the tube and ended up harvesting three in case I needed to experiment; the second one fit perfectly.

From there I found an old brass bowl my great grandmother had given my mom as a present; apparently, as the story went, it was from 'the old country', and had a mark on it that identified it as being crafted by a Jewish smith. According to my grandmother, Jews working as professional metal workers at the time were required to identify their wares, which wouldn't fetch as high a price as those made by other craftsmen. The history was nice to know, but, even better, the bowl was a near perfect fit for the jug; from there, the only thing left to do was to fill it with water and make sure it worked. Thank goodness, it did.

As Kyle had expected, Billy's friends came by around 5. I was back in my room at that point so my mom had to come get me but I was ready, having rehearsed what I was going to say. It felt bad asking them to help out with the chore, especially since I had no real intention of interacting with them past that point but my own opinion on the matter was of secondary importance; I needed their help, and I'd make it up to them later.

Thankfully they didn't seem to catch my inner turmoil and promised to do exactly as I asked... but not before Ashton brought up something else. "Hey... uh... Stef? Kyle and I were gonna go to the drive-in tomorrow... you know... kinda like a-- a thing... for Billy."

It was Kyle (the Human) who finished the thought. "It'd be a lot cooler if you could come too..."

Counting through the number of things I KNEW I'd have to do and not counting everything I didn't know I'd have to do while visiting it was hard to make plans or accept commitments so I tried to be as evasive as I could considering they were helping. "I'm not sure... I mean... I'm not in town very long and my parents--"

Ashton became more animated immediately. "All the more reason you should join us!"

It felt a little like I was leading them on when I gave my final reply. "We'll see."