Minerva Gold and the Wand of Silver Pt. 19

"We go...as soon as we can go..." Kat rumbled. "If we wait, you never will leave. Will you?"

Minerva nodded.

She never would.

***

The wind blew warm and filthy off the Themes as the steamship Empress of Britain waited for passengers to embark. The line vast and snakelike, and Minerva felt herself faintly relieved that she was going to be sitting down for the wait. Small blessings.

She grinned up at Kat, trying to seem chipper. Harry, Selene, Gina, all of them stood next to Kat, while Petunia and Gregory stepped forward to take the line. Gregory seemed exceptionally alert - his eyes tracking about in the crowd - but he didn't immediately dive for cover...so, Minerva supposed she might as well try and relax.

"Remember, get many postcards!" Kat said, her voice own too chipper, too cheerful.

Harry smiled, sliding his arm around Gina, who waved her good hand - her bad arm on full display, flaunting it. A few mundanes even noticed, but a shocking number simply walked past Gina as if she were the most normal thing in the world. Minerva supposed there was a staggering amount that a human brain could miss, if it expected normalcy.

"Have fun in America!" she called out.

"Take care of them!" Harry added.

"Oh, I will," Gregory called out. "Minerva!"

Minerva turned, her wheelchair spinning slightly too smoothly, too easily. As she did so, she noticed a tawny cat, threading its way through the pedestrians and the people waiting to board. Minerva narrowed her eyes - then started as the cat leapt up onto her lap. It sat back on its haunches and then cocked its head...then spoke, clearly, in Melissa Stevenson's voice. "Well, Miss Golding," she said, calmly. "I did want to say goodbye before you left for your little adventure."

"Professor!" Minerva exclaimed.

"Please, it's Headmistress now," Stevenson said, sniffing. "You will be my last student...indiscretion, I think." She licked at the back of her paw - an animalistic gesture she weighted with elegance and class.

"Well, good," Minerva said. "Even if I will miss you."

"And I you, MIss Golding. Minerva." Stevenson paused. "You're off to a new adventure. A new place to learn. I hope...what you've learned at Hexgramatica will serve you well." She put her paw on Minerva's thigh. "And..." She looked down at the wheelchair. Despite being a cat, she arched an eyebrow. "...and I think you will cause the Department of the Arcane or whatever it is the Yanks call it a lot of vexation."

"I intend to, Headmistress," Minerva said.

Stevenson paused, then shifted. For a moment, a woman straddled Minerva's lap. Passing mundanes might have noticed. They might not. The kiss was fleeting and warm. And when Minerva opened her eyes, there was nothing but the hint of departing fur among the crowds.

Petuna and Minerva got into the line. They waited. And sooner than they expected, they watched London begin to cruise away from them. The buildings Minerva had found so familiar grew smaller and smaller by the moment. The Themes and the yawning gulf of the English Channel shifted before her eyes as the steamship picked up speed. Minerva didn't feel the rocking as she leaned back in her wheelchair.

Next to her, a man in a business suit groused in an American accent. "You hear that madman Hitler claims to have an entire order of these bloody wizards on his payroll?"

"I'll believe it when I see it," his friend said, chuckling. "But if he thinks he can stand up to England, France and the United States? Well, he's got another think coming. Have you seen what those...those fellas did to Ohio?"

"It scares me almost as much as the Nazis, to be honest." The first man took out a cigarette. "Do you have a light?"

"Please, let me," Minerva said, smiling. She held out her hand and snapped her fingers - focusing as she did so.

Just as she had hoped, a small bead of fire appeared between her fingers and thumb. She touched it to the stunned man's cigarette, then clenched her hand. The flame vanished.

"Jesus Christ," the other man whispered.

"Minerva," Petuna said, her voice warning.

"Personally, I think that if Hitler's wizards want to have a chance, he may want to hire for more than just blond hair and blue eyes," Minerva said, smiling at the men. The man with the smoldering cigarette blinked...then laughed.

"Damn right!" he said, turning to his friend, then back to her. "Might I ask you to take dinner with me, ma'am? I think I want to hear more about wizards from a wizard."

"Are you sure about this, Jack?" his friend asked.

"Don't be a nervous nelly," Jack said, chuckling.

Minerva smiled, enigmatically. "I think..." She glanced away, at the vanishing shorelines. "I think I will take a quick flight before dinner."

"A quick..." Jack's friend asked - but Minerva had already pushed herself forward. The wheelchair lifted up, and then dropped over the railing. The two men cried out in fear as Petunia laughed, despite herself. She laughed, as Minerva dipped, then sailed upwards, her wheelchair soaring through the air as she laughed, whipping up and up and up, and up, around the smokestacks, to peer down at England as she slipped over the horizon.

And was gone.

THE END