I rummaged around in my pockets for something I could use to keep the dog off our trail, and my hand clasped around a small, oblong disc.
The muting charm. Yes, this was just the thing. If I could muffle our noise, then the dog wouldn’t be able to hear us. It was a bit of a shame. That thing was expensive, and I hadn’t wanted to use it like this, but what choice did I have? Rick was practically screaming as he ran. I needed to do something and fast.
The failinis’ ears perked up and it took a few steps in our direction right as Rick let out a strange wail.
Damn it all! I was out of time. I threw the disc, letting it shatter on the ground between us into a hundred little pieces.
Rick’s wailing dropped off straight away, and he stopped right in the middle of the lit ground. I gave him a heavy shove, stealing back the eclair box in the process, trying to get both of us back under the cover of the semi-darkness. A few more hurried steps, and we were through.
Behind us, I heard the failinis growl a few more times, but then the noise stopped altogether, and the dog went back to his half-annoyed sitting position, pawing mindlessly at the floor.
I let out a huge sigh, which I didn’t hear. We were through. We were safe. At least for now.
Rick pointed toward the guard station, arms flailing about and lips flapping, but no noise came out of his mouth. He was obviously flustered by the whole thing, but I found it mildly hilarious, so I watched the whole thing with a bemused expression, slightly shaking my head.
Once he’d calmed down a bit, I pointed my free arm behind him, and he seemed to understand. We went back to our march, leaving the enemy guards well behind.
I smiled. We had made it into Canada. Not the way I’d been hoping, perhaps, but we were there all the same. That was one more obstacle down and one step closer to seeing Mei again.
10
About thirty minutes after the failinis incident, the muting charm finally wore off, and my brooding companion was once again full of words.
“Did you see those guys back there at the border?” He was talking fast, and his eyes were wild.
“Uh huh,” I said, nodding. “I was there, too, remember?”
“But… the tall, lanky guy. You… you killed him.”
“Yep.” I mean, granted Rick was always a little slow on the uptake, but the whole thing really seemed to have shaken him. “At least, I thought I did. Who can be sure these days?”
“But that’s impossible,” Rick droned on. “I saw you kill him. He was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood, not breathing. I saw it happen. The scene is burned into my skull!”
I shrugged. “Sure, I guess. But he was still there at the gatehouse, too.”
“There’s got to be a reasonable explanation for all of this,” Rick insisted. “Maybe he’s got a twin brother or something.”
“I suppose it’s possible.” I rubbed my chin gently. “Doesn’t really explain the mythical failinis with them, though.”
Rick stopped and spun around to face me. “Failinis?” There was a vague look of recognition on his face again, like his resolve was starting to crack, and he was starting to believe in all of this stuff for once. Then it was gone again.
He shook his head vigorously. “No. It was just a wolfhound. A rather large, scary wolfhound, but one just the same.”
I let out a long sigh and patted Rick on the shoulder. “Look, you don’t have to believe in magic and all that if you don’t want to, Rick, but it sure seems to believe in you.”
Rick gently brushed my hand off his shoulder with a look of disgust in his eyes. “Yes,” he said slowly. “Well, we’ll see.” His eyes darted around a bit, and his expression soured even further. “We’re going to need a new car if we’re going to reach Vancouver anytime soon. Any ideas?”
I gave that some thought. “Hmm. Car rental agency, maybe? There are usually a few of those in places like these.”
Rick shrugged. “It’s as good an idea as any. Any idea where we could find one?”
I pulled out my phone and pulled up the maps app. Fortunately, I had international data roaming on my device, so it worked just fine in Canada. It was one of those expenses I considered essential with all the traveling I did for my job.
A few moments later, I had a destination pulled up on my phone. “As a matter of fact, there’s a Bert’s Rent-A-Car about twenty minutes that way,” I said, pointing off to the left.
Rick threw up his hands. “Sounds great. Let’s get going.”
I held out my phone in front of me and started walking. “Look on the bright side, Rick,” I said as I passed by him. “At least the eclairs are still safe.” I peered into the plastic container. The two leftover eclairs looked to be okay, but the creme puffs had seen better days. Their cream had all melted and they looked mushy. Not good eats.
He shot me an icy glare. “Really? Again with those damned eclairs of yours. Are they even good after being out in the sunlight all day?”
I flashed him a big, toothy grin. “Why, you finally want one?”
Rick punched me in the arm and scowled.
“I’ll take that as a no, then.”
I heard him mutter something under his breath as we kept going, but whatever it was, I let it drop. It didn’t really matter. Before long, he’d have to get hungry. Then he’d be happy I’d managed to save a source of food. Even if it
