Open, Charlie

Chapter Six ~ Denver

Slade met them at the dirigible terminal with a gig and took them to their rental apartment. Nobody accosted them on the way there: no journalist with their zesty pens, no photo camera flashes. Mary introduced Charlie to her half-brother, but Charlie's brief talk with the captain had exhausted her. She could hardly walk. She didn't register what Slade looked like except that he was big and loud, and his booming voice hurt her ears.

Her head throbbed abominably, making her queasy. She was dimly aware of Mary chatting with Slade, hugging and kissing him, of their trip to the city, of the din in the streets, but everything flowed around the periphery of her senses. She functioned like an automation, did what Mary told her to do, shuffled where Mary led, and dropped into her bed as soon as she reached it.

When she opened her eyes again, her head was much better. It hardly ached at all, just faint twinges in her temples now and again—a habitual residue of her magic-induced headaches. It would be all gone after breakfast.

Soft diffused sunlight streamed through the thin curtains drawn across the window. The large room contained two beds, a table with two chairs, a wardrobe with a mirror on its front panel, a drawer, and a couple of armchairs. Everything was shabby and worn, but the light-colored wood of the furniture and the faded but cheerful wallpaper with small pink rosettes scattered across a yellow field gave the room a friendly and warm feel. Mary sat at the table, her back to Charlie, writing, but she sprang to her feet as soon as Charlie called out a greeting.

"Good morning," Mary said. "How is your headache?"

"Better. Almost gone. Is this a hotel?"

"No. It's a furnished room. Don't you remember? Slade rented it for us for the next month."

"Right. Sorry." Charlie shrugged sheepishly. "Yesterday is a tad fuzzy in my head."

"There is a bathroom down the hall and a big kitchen. And there are three more rooms in this apartment. A family with a young daughter lives in one, and an elderly couple in another."

"And the third room?"

"Oh, there is a single man living there." Mary blushed. "He is an engineer."

"Great," Charlie said trying not to laugh. "Well, I'm going to the bathroom, and then... How do we eat here? Have you had breakfast? I'm so hungry. Do we cook ourselves? Can you cook, Mary? You'll have to teach me."

"I will, but I need to buy some pots and pans before I cook. Go wash up, and then we'll have breakfast in a cafe across the street. This seems a nice quiet neighborhood."

Mary ordered a huge breakfast for them both and piled food on Charlie's plate. "You have to eat. George said that your headache was a sign that you used too much magic. You have to eat a lot in the next few days to replenish your magic."

Charlie slathered jam on her pancakes. "Who is George?" She stabbed a piece of pancake with her fork and stuffed it into her mouth. It tasted heavenly.

"Our neighbor."

"Oh, the single man. And you already told him about me? About what I did up there and about my headache? You just met him, and you trusted him with my life?" She chewed savagely.

"Charlie." Mary looked stricken. "I'm sorry. Slade knows George. He said he was a decent fellow, and I agree. He is not going to betray you. Or me. We talked for a long time yesterday, after you fell asleep. He is going to ask around for a secretary position for me. He might inquire into finding a mentor for you too. He works for a mining company, and they have some metal mongers there."