[Change, Military]

  I jumped Dogberry, Lu and I to Juliet’s world where I authored identical clothes to those that thug one and two had worn for Lu and Dogberry. Then I portaled us to town hall, the closet portal to Ivy lane. Both Lu and dogberry had the hoods on their cloaks up. They had face masks to put on once we were close to the shack. Dogberry had a hold of my left arm and Lu had a hold of my right.

  Dogberry also had Nora posted at the end of Ivy lane; he wasn’t sure if any more of his guard had been bribed by the cartel. He wasn't going to take the chance as we hoped to arrest another of the sons.

  I heard that oddly eerie but also friendly voice. “It’s a trap ma’am.”

  I signaled for Lu and Dogberry to stop.

  “I know it’s a trap Ashley, but we’re going to surprise them, it’s three against three.”

  “No ma’am, there are eight of them in there and you are not surprising them, they know you are with Lu and Dogberry, they expect to kill the lot of you when you enter the building ma’am. With you and Dogberry out of the way they expect to take over the town. What do you want us to do ma’am?”

  “How many of you are here Ash?”

  “Nine, ma’am, as soon as Woody heard how many men were here he sent us under orders not to be seen by the town folk.”

  “Could you safely capture them as they come out without getting hurt or killing anyone?”

  “Yes ma’am there is no way for them to hurt us.”

  “Just a second Ashley, Dogberry you heard Ash, you and Nora go, you can’t arrest them and you also can’t die here. These people are playing dirty, I think it’s about time, the gang from Veracity gets sent away. You know I won’t hurt them but I do think it’s time for a little rehabilitation. How long should I make them lose their memories for, what would they realistically get in a fair trial.”

  “Most cities or towns in Emain Ablach would give them life sentences, the lightest sentence I know of is twenty five years,”

  “The worst part is I might have to trade David Harris back to his family to end this war, but these gang members from Veracity, I’ll have them lose their memories for twenty five years, if you agree. Maybe tomorrow we could figure out which of the guard is on the cartel’s payroll. If they want you dead, they must be hoping to promote your successor. Please come see me at the book store tomorrow and I’ll tell you how things went tonight and how I might be able to help you.”

  “That sounds good Rose, Nora and I will go back to the guard house. I might be able to ferret out the compromise by how surprised they are that we’ve come back alive. Both of you be careful and thank you Ashley for saving our lives.”

  “Your welcome, Dogberry, sir.”

  “Ashley do you you want Lu and I to do anything.”

  “No, Rose, ma’am just gives us ten minutes to go in and capture them.”

  “Wait, Ashley will you be safe If I jump you and the prisoners to one of my fictional worlds?”

  “Yes, ma’am perfectly safe.”

  “Thank you Ashley.”

  Then it began, first one of the trees entered and you could hear a commotion, then as more trees streamed in it got quieter and quieter. We heard breaking glass and a tree with a human firmly wrapped against its trunk emerged from the back of the house.

  It was deathly quiet, Lu insisted on entering first.

  “It’s alright Rose, they’ve all been captured.”

  I went in and the trees firmly grasped all nine of the ambushers turned ambushed. I jumped the first three to Tranquility Two. Some of them were less likely to admit a childhood dream job, some of them like astronauts weren’t real jobs in this world, so I tried to get them on the path to the nearest thing. All eight of them were sent in eight different compass directions, their memories had been wiped except for their ideal job, the memories would return in twenty five years. That way they could choose what to do with the rest of their lives freely.

  Lu had David Harris by the collar, he’d ask Ashley to release him.

  “Ashley, all of you, thank you so much, you saved our lives tonight. I won’t forget it. If I can do something for any of you, you just have to ask. I do have an idea that I want to try out. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”

  Then Lu and I jumped David Harris to Hilltop World. I authored a large cage, with a two day supply of some cheap food and water, and a bucket for him to relieve himself in. I added a couple of blankets, so he wouldn’t be cold. Lu searched him and found a gun.

  “Alright Harris what’s your family's next move, do you have any more brothers and sisters”

  “Like I’d tell you, my family will come for me and annihilate you and your friends.”

  “You better hope not, Harris, take a look at the sky, you’re not in Emain Ablach anymore. If I die, you’ll starve to death in this cage. Even if you somehow made it out of the cage, this world has no animal life nor any sentient beings. So you better pray to Fortuna that no one is lucky enough to kill us.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Information, how to end this war without me filling up books with empty prison planets with the sole occupants arrogant cartel members. How to I get the cartel to just move somewhere else, they have enough money, although everyday that pile is shrinking as your crops rot in the fields. Who’s your weakest member, the one who wants to sell out already?”

  “Sophie Evans, she’s bleeding money the worst. But you’ll never beat my family, we’re vintners, so we haven’t lost a dime. The longer the wine sits, the more it’s worth.”

  “So why is your family fighting this the most, if they haven’t and seemingly can’t be hurt?”

  “We’re the head of the cartel, if all of your wine spoiled would that hurt your family?”

  “What, you can’t do that, that would ruin us.”

  “What is your most expensive bottle of wine?”

  “I won’t tell you.”

  “Fine I’ll go back to Wyldwood and ask the wine merchant, I’ll bet he tells me, but I want to make a point to you.”

  “It’s Cabernet Sauvignon”

  I authored a bottle and handed it to Harris.

  “Open it and have a sip.”

  “It needs to breathe before it’s drunk and I need a glass.”

  “Just take a sip to prove I haven’t handed you a bottle of vinegar.”

  He took a sip, while I spoke some gibberish and waved my hands around and authored the wine to vinegar.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  “Okay take another sip.”

  He spit it out.

  “No you can’t do that, my family will be ruined.”

  “Yes they will, won’t they, but I actually just thought of a better way. How much does that Cabernet Sauvignon cost?”

  “Five hundred gold per bottle.”

  I authored another bottle, opened it. Took a sip.

  “That is delicious, try this Lu I know you prefer beer but this is really special.”

  “Wow, Rose that is really good.”

  “Here David, you can have the rest.”

  “Thanks for the chat, one last question. If I were to try and kill someone in your family, but I was caught before I could do it, what punishment would they give me?”

  “You want me to say death so that you can kill me?”

  “Why were you really going to kill Dogberry and I?”

  “Yes, that idiot is standing in our way, he won’t take bribes and he won’t step down, killing or maiming is the only way to get rid of him and you witch deserve to die because you opposed your betters.”

  “One last question and if you answer it truthfully, I promise to bring you back to Wyldwood tonight if you also promise not to try and kill Dogberry or myself again. Who is working for you inside the guard?”

  “How do I know you’ll keep your word?”

  “How do I know you’ll keep your word and not try to kill Dogberry or me, I’ll just have to trust you. I’ll give you till three then Lu and I are going. One, Two…”

  “Guardswoman Kristi Noem.”

  “How much did you have to pay her?”

  “Nothing that’s the beauty of it, we caught her killing her neighbors dogs because they barked too much. So we blackmailed her into helping us for free.”

  “Thank’s Harris.”

  “Hey you promised.”

  “Right, Lu, would you mind grabbing him by the collar.”

  I dissolved the cage, Lu held him up off the ground and we portaled to the guard house.

  “Hey you said, you were letting me go.”

  “No I promised to bring you back, no one said anything about releasing you.”

  We walked into the guard house. A guardswoman sat at the desk.

  “Kristi arrest them, they are trying to kidnap me.”

  “I wouldn’t do that Kristi, you are already in enough trouble. I don’t think you want to add to it. Is Dogberry in?”

  “No ma’am he is not, and you ma’am please put down the Harris boy and we’ll get this all straightened out.”

  I did a locate spell on Dogberry and portaled us out of the guard house. We walked the rest of the way to the Jack in the Green Inn. Dogberry and Nora looked surprised to see us but even more surprised to see David Harris, who still dangled by his collar.

  “Dogberry is there anyway we could go back to the guard house. I believe that Kristi Noem might be trying to have Lu and I arrested because we didn’t comply with her order to release David here. You might want some guards you trust with you.”

  “What have you done Rose? Don’t answer that we’ll sort it at the station.”

  We walked back out into the night. Dogberry blew three short blasts on his whistle and almost instantly we were flanked by two more guards. Then we walked back to the guard house.

  Kristi Noem was seated at the desk by the front door.

  “Kristi, join us in my office. One of you lock up Mr Harris, Nora. Please take over the front desk for a few minutes until we have this sorted out.”

  Once we were in Dogsberry’s office.

  “Guardswoman, why did Rose fear it was necessary to flee the guard house?”

  “I honestly don’t know sir. Rose and this woman” She pointed at Lu, “came in dangling David Harris like a piece of meat. I asked them to let the boy go. Then poof they were gone sir, they clearly portaled somewhere.”

  “Yes guardswoman, they portaled to the closest portal to my location. What are your ties to the Harris family?”

  “I have no ties Sir. They live in the hills, I live in town. I’m loyal sir. I’m not sure why your friends are upset.”

  “How do you feel about dogs, Guardswoman?”

  “I love dogs sir.”

  “Your neighbors will concur with that statement. All their dogs are healthy and accounted for?”

  “As far as I know sir.”

  “Where did you go before Nora and I went out with my two friends, guardswoman?”

  “I went out to dinner sir?”

  “With who and where?”

  “Alone sir, the Hole in the Wall pub.”

  “You sat alone at the pub as you had your dinner?”

  “I did.”

  “No one joined you?”

  “Sir, someone might have sat while I was eating because it was crowded.”

  “Guardswoman I’ll be checking all of this before the night ends, so if you have something to amend you better do it now, because I don’t appreciate being sent to my death, by you with a smile. If I find out you’ve lied in the least, I’ll be bringing conspiracy and attempted murder charges against you. You are on back desk duty and are not to leave the building until your statements have been verified. Do you understand your orders?”

  “I do sir.”

  “Dogberry, if you have any doubts about her, bring her to the bookstore tomorrow morning. The store itself can tell you the truth.”

  I pulled the cellphone from my pocket.

  “Just have a listen to Harris' confession.”