Sunday, December 7

DC stuck her head around the doorway to the kitchen, a mischievous smile on her face. “So, what did Drew do?”

“Huh?” Molly asked, turning from the stove with a tray of bread in her hands. “What do you mean?”

“He had to do something,” DC said, coming into the kitchen with a huge vase of roses in her hand. “This was just delivered to you, and who else would be sending you roses? So what did he do?”

“Nothing.” Molly set the bread on the top of the side counter to cool and slipped off her oven mitts before coming over to the island, where DC had set the vase down. There were at least two dozen roses, in varying shades of crimson, pink, white and cream, and there was a deep crimson ribbon tied around the crystal vase. She picked the card out of the center of the display and opened it.

“So who is sending you roses, then, if it isn’t Drew?” DC asked impatiently.

Molly read the card again, frowning. She started to reply, stopped, read the card one more time, and then shook her head. “This situation is getting out of hand.”

“What are you talking about?” DC said. In response, Molly handed her the card and walked to the phone on the wall. The number to the Station flowed from her fingertips, and she waited until Heidi picked up the phone.

“Carter’s Cove Gate Station, Heidi speaking,” the older woman said brightly. “How may I direct your call?”

“Hi Heidi, it’s Molly. Can you check the logs for me?” Molly twined the phone cord around her fingers, not looking over at DC, who was now staring at her, confused.

“Sure, Molly! What are you looking for?”

“I want to know where the flowers that were just delivered to me came from.”

“Those were pretty,” Heidi said, and Molly heard the clack of her computer keys in the background as she called up the logs. “Did Drew send them to you?”

“No,” Molly said. “They were from someone else.”

Heidi chuckled. “Better not let him see them then, unless it was Pavel. That pirate loves you almost as much as Drew does.”

Molly made a noncommittal sound, and Heidi chuckled again. “Here you go, Molly. It came from the village of Hemsted. From the flower growers there – no wonder they were gorgeous. Enjoy them!”

“Thank you.” Molly hung up the phone, wondering if she’d asked the right questions. Hemsted was a tropical village, well-known for its gardens. And not cheap, not at all. She wondered if that was a sign.

“So, is there something we should know about you and Drew, then?” DC asked her, handing her back the card. “Is this Caliban a serious suitor?”

“No!” The denial exploded out of Molly. “Well, at least, not to me.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, DC. I can’t really talk about it.” She looked over at the flowers. “Can you give me some time alone, please?”

“Sure.” DC gave her a quick hug as she walked by her. “Let me know if I can help.”

“Thanks.” Molly just stood and looked at the flowers for a long while, then she leaned in. Underneath the heady scents, she could taste the same dry, dusty smell as the wind that had chased them on the Road to Old Man Winter’s. It sent a shiver through her.

She looked at the card still in her hand, read the words one more time. In an ornate script, it read,

“To Molly, who it seems holds the key to my beloved’s heart. I wish to apologize for my actions before, and would like to press my suit in person. If you are willing, you can contact me at the inn at Stumpleton, and we can talk more. – Prince Caliban”

“Schrodinger?” Molly didn’t make the call very loud, but the CrossCat came trotting in from the tea room. He stopped short at the sight of the vase, and his nostrils flared.

I smell dust, he said, and she nodded.

“Apparently, Prince Caliban has discovered that I’m helping Jack, and wants to make his own argument to get me to help him. Or at least stop helping Jack.” She read him the card, and Schrodinger sat back on his haunches, suspicion radiating from every whisker.

What are you going to do?

“I need to talk to Pavel. Can you go get him for me and ask him to come over? Without Jack, please. I need to figure out more about Caliban before I can deal with Jack.”

Schrodinger nodded. I can do that. He got up, then added, You aren’t going to help Caliban, are you?

“Probably not, no,” Molly said. “I already promised to help Jack. And hearing what Old Man Winter said about Caliban, it doesn’t make me want to help him anyways. But I need more information, and I think Pavel can help me with that.”

Okay. I’ll be back soon.

Schrodinger was as good as his word. Within an hour, he and Pavel came strolling through the door of the kitchen. Molly had taken the hour to move the flowers to the tea room and had put another batch of bread into the oven, removing the heady odors of the roses.

“I hear the other player has made a move,” Pavel said, his tone unusually solemn. He slid onto one of the stools and shook his head when Molly held up a tea cup. “I should have known.”

Schrodinger jumped up next to him. I told him about the note, he said, and Molly handed the card over to Pavel. Jack wasn’t around, so he doesn’t know.

“I think it should stay that way, at least for now,” Molly said, and Pavel nodded, grunting to himself as he read the card. “But I don’t know what to do with this.”

“Burn it?” Pavel said, and tossed it back onto the island. “Seriously, Molly, have nothing to do with Caliban. He’s bad news.”

“So you say.” Molly picked up the card. “So Old Man Winter says. And I trust the both of you.”

“I hear a but in there,” Pavel said.

She nodded. “At one point, the Snow Queen was at least fond of him. So there has to be something to him, right?”

“Why do you say that?” Pavel asked her. “She could have been fooled, and banished him when she realized his true nature.”

“The same thing could be said about Jack,” Molly pointed out. “After all, she was close to him and banished him too.” Pavel started to object, but she held up a hand to stop him. “Hear me out. I didn’t want to help Jack, but I listened to you and Old Man Winter, and agreed to help him. Don’t I owe Caliban the same courtesy?”

“No,” Pavel said bluntly. “Jack was an ass to you, but didn’t Caliban actively chase you down the Road when you went to see Old Man Winter? And he’s got a guard at every Gate into the Snow Queen’s realm. Those aren’t the actions of a suitor, they’re the actions of a stalker.”

“True, but I want to know why he’s doing this,” Molly argued. “And if I can’t talk to him, then I guess I know who I have to talk to.”

“Who?”

“Jade,” Molly said. “She’s the one at the center of this. She’s the one who banished them. She’ll tell me.”

Pavel hesitated. “You may not want to do that.”

“Why not?” Molly said. “Jade has always been a friend to me.”

“It’s not that.” Pavel looked down at his hands to avoid looking Molly in the eye. “You might not even get in to see her now. It’s not a good time for her.”

She’s not looking like herself, Schrodinger guessed. Because her powers are fading?

The pirate nodded. “It’s a bit more than that, but yes. It’s harder for her to keep mortal shape now.”

Molly pounded her fist on the island in frustration. “Then I go talk to Caliban. I need to know what really happened, and if Jack won’t tell me, and I can’t go see Jade, then that really only leaves Caliban, doesn’t it?”

“At least let me go with you,” Pavel said. “Drew would never forgive me if I let you go alone.”

Molly gave him a puzzled look. “Why not? It’s not like he’ll keep me captive. I’m just a mortal, after all.”

The mortal helping his rival to win the Snow Queen, Schrodinger said. I agree with Pavel. You need to take us with you when you go.

“You two are really over-concerned, but fine.” Molly threw her hands up in the air. “Tuesday, we’ll go and see Caliban.”

“I’ll be ready, and I’ll bring transportation,” Pavel said, getting up. “Can I make a suggestion?”

“Sure.”

“Don’t bring any gifts,” Pavel told her. “And get rid of the flowers.”

“Why?” Molly asked, frowning.

“Because I don’t trust him,” Pavel said. “And I don’t want to give him any more ways to wiggle himself into your life.” With that, he left.

Molly looked down at Schrodinger. “Do you really think that he’d hurt me, just to get at Jade?”

I don’t know, Schrodinger said softly. But Pavel is worried. Very worried. And he doesn’t get worried like that, unless there is a good reason. He swiped at his face with one paw. And I didn’t like the way the cloud that chased us smelled. Something is going on here. He looked up at her. Maybe I should go back to the Librarian. There has to be something about Caliban that she knows.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Molly said, going over and giving him a hug. “I just want to make sure that I’m not missing something. He can’t be all bad, can he?”

Maybe? Schrodinger leaned against her, a purr starting in his throat. But maybe not. That’s something we have to find out. He snuggled a bit longer, and then jumped down. I’ll go now, and see what I can find out.

“Be careful!” Molly said, as he went out. Then she took the card and with a decisive movement, she ripped it in half and tossed it in the trash.

<><>

The crystal ball in front of him glowed with a warm light, showing the interior of a quaint room. There were several small tables, with various mortals at them, and from his vantage point (it must be on a mantel or something, since it was up to one side), he could see the doorway to another room. As he watched, a large CrossCat came out of the doorway and headed out to another portion of the room, out of his view. Then the young woman he’d been watching for came out and stood in the doorway, evidently surveying her domain.

As she stood there, he studied her. Why Jack had gone to her was beyond him. She was pretty, he supposed, in a human way, but she was mortal. Completely and utterly mortal. Even if she did have the touch of magic that many mortals gained from living in close proximity to a Gate, she was still nothing compared to a spirit. So why her? What was so special about Molly Barrett?

That pirate Pavel had been there too. He snorted. Shocking that the fool didn’t have enough sense to stay out of things that didn’t concern him. Must be his mortal blood clouding his judgment. He’d learn soon enough.

He glanced at another crystal ball that sat near him. This one was faceted, fractured into six different faces, each one showing a Gate into a snowy realm. He wrinkled his nose at that, anticipating when the snow would be gone. There was fertile land that had been sleeping for far too long in an icy tomb. It was past time for it to wake up. Just like her.

Movement in the crystal ball in front of him brought his attention back to Molly. She was coming towards him, filling his view. Then everything moved; there was a dizzying blur, and then the crystal ball shattered in front of him, spraying razor-sharp shards in every direction.

Caliban sat in front of the ruined ball, a thin trail of blood trickling down his right cheek, for a very long time.