The Lost Mage (10 page)

“Well, it uses suction to, um, okay, I don’t know exactly,” she said in frustration. “I’m not an engineer. Just come here and I’ll show you.”

She turned the vacuum on again causing Mrowley, who’d settled beneath the sofa to run out and do a lap around the room again before running into the bedroom.

Darakin approached the vacuum slowly. Nora took his hand and held it up to the open end of the hose. “Feel the suction?”

Darakin yanked his hand back.

“Now watch,” Nora said as she ran the vacuum over the dirt on the carpet, sucking it into its canister.

“You’re summoning some kind of wind vortex!”

“You mean like a tornado? I don’t know about that. At any rate, I’m not doing anything. The machine is.” Nora finished vacuuming and put the machine away.

“It’s okay now, Mrowley, you can come out,” she called.

Mrowley’s muffled voice came from the bedroom. “Not until the cat eating machine is gone.”

Darakin laughed. “It’s gone, kitty. It’s safe now.”

Mrowley poked his head out from the bedroom and looked around. When he felt the coast was clear, he walked out and jumped onto the sofa to sit between them again.

Nora gave him a pet on the head.

“I didn’t know you were such a coward, cat,” Darakin teased.

Coward?
Mrowley sputtered.
I’m not a coward.

“But you were hiding.”

Not hiding, Darakin, getting ready to make a sneak attack.

“Ah. My mistake.” Darakin looked over the cat at Nora. “He was getting ready to make a sneak attack,” he whispered in a loud voice.

Nora laughed.

Humph.

Chapter Eight

That evening, Nora made a roast. As she cooked, she explained as best she could, how the oven and stove worked to Darakin. The startled mage wandered around the small kitchen hesitantly touching various things, trying to figure it all out. The fact that the power of the elements was readily available to the people of this land was still unbelievable to him. He felt sad and powerless in this environment.

“I can’t believe this,” he shook his head.

“What?”

“All these machines you have. They summon fire and wind and water. Those are things that only a mage can do at home. I’m not even needed here.”

“I’m sorry.” Nora didn’t know what else to say.

“I have to find a way home.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I don’t know. Are there any mages or wizards here, I mean other than the ones that would make me fly?”

“Not that I know of. I’ll let you know if I think of anyone.”

“Thank you.”

While she cooked, Mrowley walked back and forth rubbing against Nora’s legs in an attempt to get her to drop some scraps of food for him.

“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, would you feed that cat so he’ll stop tripping me?”

“Okay, sorry.” Darakin took the cat to another room and opened a can of cat food for him.

Sure, you’re getting roasted meat and I’m getting chicken byproducts
, the cat complained.

“What’s a chicken byproduct?”

I
don’t know, but I hear that that’s what in this food.

“Where did you hear that?”

On the magic box.

“Cat, I really don’t understand. It’s called cat food. Is it not appropriate for you?”

I guess it’s better than nothing.

“Ingrate.” Darakin turned in annoyance.

Dude, don’t be mad. It’s just that the meat smell started my tummy rumbling and I used to get scraps of meat from restaurant garbage bins. It tastes a lot better than this does. But thanks for getting me the cat food.

“You’re welcome,” Darakin said, mollified by the cat’s apologetic words. He returned to the kitchen where Nora was dishing out portions onto plates for the two of them.

“Go sit down, I’ll bring the food in.”

Darakin walked over to the small table that sat in between the kitchen area and the living room of the small apartment. Two burning candles sat in the middle of the table.

“Ah, fire,” Darakin muttered with longing.

“What’s that?” Nora called from the kitchen.

“Nothing, just missing my fire-calling abilities.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. It must be hard for you.”

“Does that mean you finally believe me?”

“Well … I believe that you believe.”

“Nora, what do I need to do to convince you?”

“I’m not sure you can, sweetie.” Nora flushed with embarrassment as she realized that she called him sweetie.

Darakin, who also noticed the endearment, cleared his throat and sat. “It smells delicious.”

Nora, relieved that he was letting the sweetie slip pass without comment, said, “Well, I hope it tastes as good as it smells.” She put a plate in front of him and sat with her own food. “Wine?”

“Yes, please.”

Nora picked up the wine bottle and poured a glass for each of them.

“To avoiding the INS,” she said, clinking her glass against his.

“Um, okay.” Darius clinked his glass against hers a little too hard. His wine spilled onto the white tablecloth.

“Oh, you must not do that where you’re from. It’s called a toast. We drink in honor of something and
gently
touch glasses.” She took a napkin and dabbed at the stain.

“Sorry.”

“It’s okay, I’ll add it to the list.”

“What list?”

“The list of replacement items I need to buy. You know, one container of cream, a bag of sugar, a new houseplant for my table and now, a new tablecloth.”

“I’ll give you my dollars when I get paid again to help pay for the items.”

“Thank you.”

Mrowley stationed himself beneath the table, alternating rubbing against their legs. Each dropped food for him, unbeknownst to the other. Before long, the cat’s belly was full and he sauntered to the sofa to lie down.

Darakin listened in fascination as Nora talked about her homeland. She described it in the hyperbolic style of an Irish storyteller, making it seem like an enchanted land and Darakin soon found himself wanting to visit. But even more enchanting than the description of her homeland, was Nora herself. She glowed with beauty as she described her childhood haunts and exploits.

When they had finished eating, Darakin took Nora’s cue and cleared the table with her. He picked up a clean dish towel and dried the dishes as she washed them, causing their hands to touch several times.

When the kitchen was clean, they turned toward each other and stood there in an awkward silence.

Finally, Darakin cleared his throat. “Nora, this is … well, I don’t know how to say this. I don’t know how things are done here and I don’t want to make another social mistake or insult you, but I find you very attractive.”

“Thank goodness! I want you, too.” She jumped forward and embraced him.

Surprised by her sudden movement, Darakin staggered back a step or two, but quickly caught her in a strong embrace. She lifted her face to his and he bent down to kiss her. She returned his kiss with fervor and started moving out of the kitchen, pulling him with her.

Darakin allowed himself to be dragged out of the kitchen toward the bedroom.

Dude,
the cat nodded his head with approval as the two shuffled past him.

Darakin ignored the cat, who decided to try to tag along. Just as he reached the door, it swung shut. The cat sighed and returned to the sofa.

He looked at the remote and then at the magic box. Nora had left the doors to the cabinet open. The cat walked on the remote several times until it turned on.

Even though the human stories rarely featured cats, he still liked watching the stories. He enjoyed the movement on the screen and found the sound of voices comforting, although music programs were his favorite. He sat there watching the magic box, reveling in the warmth of the apartment and the full feeling in his belly. He was happier than he’d been in a long time.

A few hours later, the bedroom door opened and Darakin came out. He was puzzled that the magic box was on and tiptoed over to find the small box that Nora had used to control it. He found the remote and looked at the symbols on it. He pressed several buttons, causing various messages to appear and changed the channel several times before he found the power button. With the box finally quiet, he turned around.

Dude,
the cat whispered.

Darakin jumped at the unexpected sound. “What?”

Nice.
The cat looked at the bedroom and nodded in approval.

“Hey, that’s none of your business, kitty.”

Where are you going?

“The bathroom. I have to say that I love the indoor outhouse thing in this dimension.”