A Wizard Abroad

they represent. But when they're awake, they co-exist many times more powerfully than before. They themselves become weapons of considerable power; and the earth and air and water and fire themselves become weapons that we can turn to our advantage. We sincerely hope.' She took a drink of her tea. 'What about the Sword?' Kit said.

'It's hard to say,' said Annie. 'The Cup is more awake than any of the envelopes they're thinking about using for the Sword; so they're going to try the spell on the Chalice first, and see how the re- animation works on that. If it does, they'll move on and try it on the Sword in the museum.' 'And the Spear?' Kit said.

Aunt Annie shook her head. 'No news. There are a lot of spears and pikes and whatnot lying around, but none of them seem ever to have been the Spear Luin. Which is a problem, for Luin was the weapon that overthrew Balor. The others were basically support for it.'

Kit shrugged. 'Well, something'll turn up. Something always does.'

'I wish I had your confidence,' Aunt Annie said, getting up to pour herself another cup.

'Something has to turn up,' Kit said. 'We're here.'

Nita punched him lightly. 'Something's always turned up before,' she said. 'This is not like before j Kit shrugged again. 'Listen, if I can't keep your spirits up, you won't do good work.'

'How can my spirits be other than wonderful when I have this to look at?' she said, pushing the paper at him.

The Bray People had come out that morning, and the usual details of the fortunes and misfortunes of Bray people overseas, or the failure of the county council to do something about an urgent local problem, or the accusations of one of the local political parties about the purported bad behaviour of one of the others, had been forced off the front pages. Other people besides Nita had been having problems.

SILLY SEASON COMES TO NORTH WICKLOW! Said the headline. Underneath it was a story concerning some of the bizarre occurrences in the county that week. The trouble had started out in the country. A farmer had claimed that a dinosaur a small one, but still plainly a dinosaur — had been eating his sheep. These claims had been greeted with amusement by his neighbors, some of whom had suggested that he had, in the local way of putting it,'drink taken.' The Gardai declined comment on the business, as they did about the rocks rolling uphill at Ballywal-trim, or the problem incurred by the dairy cattle farmer over by Kilmacanogue, who claimed his Guernsey herd was stolen — driven away across the dual carriageway by a man who said he was Finn MacCumhal, and was entitled to take any cattle that their owner was not strong enough to defend in clean battle. There were a chorus of noisy protests to Bray Urban District Council and Wicklow County Council about this — some people insisting that the psychiatric hospital at Newcastle needed to look into its security.

They were perusing these accounts when Johnny O'Driscoll arrived. Nita put the newspaper aside and introduced Kit to him. 'You're very welcome,' Johnny said to him. 'Your friend here will have warned you about the overlays, though.' 'She mentioned, yes.'

'Well, just, you know, don't. We have enough problems at the moment.'

Nita poured a cup of tea for Johnny; he took it, drank it with a thankful air, and said, 'Everyone else I've talked to this morning has had a problem, so I might as well hear yours, too. What happened to you yesterday?'

'Nothing really,' she said. 'But I did have an interesting conversation with a fox the other day.' And she described her meeting with the dog-fox, and the information he had given her. Johnny looked thoughtful at that. 'I have to say,' he said,'that I had suspected for some time that at least one of the Bright Powers was in the area, in human form. I had no solid confirmation. Normally, if one of Them is going to be in the area on business, the manuals give warning of it: or the Knowledge does, depending on which you use. But there's been no such warning. Then again, this isn't a normal situation. Anyway, I had other indications. Interesting to hear them confirmed.' Nita glanced over at Kit. 'Why do They hide?' she said.

'To keep the other side from knowing that They're here. Except that the other side seems to know already, so that reason doesn't work in this case.' He shook his head. 'I don't know. The Powers are frequently beyond our ability to explain. but there's nothing strange about that. They're the next major level of creation up from us, after all. Should a rock expect to be able to explain a human being?'

'We have enough trouble with that ourselves,' Kit said.

'Just so. Anyway, whatever Power it is doubtless has good reasons for wanting to stay hidden. I wouldn't want to break Its cover too soon.' Kit and Nita looked at each other.

'Meanwhile,' Johnny said, 'Anne, if it's all right with you, Doris will be stopping in this afternoon with what she's picked up. The Enniskerry area is too badly overlaid for her to keep it up there for a few minutes without the area remembering all kinds of things that are better not roused. Down here is a little cleaner; you and I can do something to suppress those memories about the church and Cromwell's people.'

'No problem,' said Aunt Annie. 'We'll put it in the back office.' 'Fine. Your staff don't usually go in there?' 'Only my secretary. I can ask her not to.'

'Fine. These Treasures are proving a little more dangerous than we thought. Harry, who went up to do the work on the Stone, did it all right. but I think he's probably not going to be worth much of anything for the next few days. We have to be very careful that we don't let people spend too long near these things. If you show me where you want to put it, I'll build a warding for that room, and see that it doesn't do anyone any damage.'

'But how can these be hurting people?' Nita said. 'They're good!'

'Oh, absolutely,' Johnny said. 'There are probably no more powerful forces for good on the planet. except for human beings, naturally. But just because they're good, doesn't mean they're safe.'

'Listen, Shaun,' Aunt Annie said then, 'is there any plan yet for where we're going to do the big ceremony, the re-enactment?'

'It'll have to start up at Matrix,' Johnny said. 'It has all the necessary 'equipment'. That's right,' he said to Nita, 'you haven't seen my place yet, have you? Not really 'my' place, of course. No-one owns Castle Matrix but itself. and whatever's under it. You'll see.' He got up. 'Anyway, Matrix is where it'll start. But where it'll end. ' He shook his head. 'I have to go down to Bray. Either of you need a lift?'

'Thanks,' Nita said. 'We were going to take the bus, but if it's OK.' 'Sure, come on.'

Johnny dropped them more or less in the centre of town, where Herbert Road crosses Main Street. They waved goodbye to him as he drove off, and Kit said, 'I didn't have any breakfast. I'm an empty shell. Is there anywhere to eat around here?'

'There's a chicken place over here that's not too bad,' Nita said. 'I've got some money. Let's go in there.'

They walked in, went to the counter and ordered. Nita took one quick glance at the back of the restaurant, and her stomach turned over inside her in nervous response. Ronan was sitting back there. He shot Nita one quick glance and then looked down again at the Coke he was busy with. 'You OK?' Kit said, as they turned away with their own drinks and went to sit down at a table. 'Your face is all weird.'

'Uh,' Nita said. 'I poured a drink over a guy the other night.' 'You were out with a guy?'

Nita blushed. 'No, not me. A bunch of us were out.' 'What, a bunch of the kids around here?'

'What is this, the Spanish Inquisition? I was out with my aunt. There was a big wizards' meeting in town.'

'Oh,' Kit said. He started to go red again.

Nita rolled her eyes and said, 'Spare me! Never mind that.' She took a drink of her Coke — her mouth was suddenly dry — and said, 'Haifa second.' Then she got up and went back to Ronan's table.

He looked up at her with an expression partly unease and partly annoyance; and he still managed to smile on top of it all. 'You forgot your Coke,' he said. 'No, it's back there.'

'I mean, I thought you were going to pour it on me.'

She looked at him ruefully. 'Listen, Ronan, I'm sorry. Look, come on and sit with us, and meet my partner.'

'That's him?' He craned his neck a little.

'Yeah, he's just in from the States. Come on and sit with us.'

Somewhat reluctantly, Ronan got up, bringing his Coke, and went and stood by the table. 'Kit,' she said,'this is Ronan. Ronan, Kit Rodriguez, my partner.'

They shook hands, Kit willingly enough, Ronan with some reserve, and they looked at each other. 'Dai stiho,' Kit said.