seymoure

Chapter 63
“Just Off Omaha”

They all stood in a bar, and they stood alone.

Harriett Dante (who knew this place far too well).

William Wetfoot (who knew that he was only here because he entered an
inter-dimensional back door).

Sebastian Claus (whose path had been through so many lives, so many worlds and whose body was all the worse for wear).

Baron Vaskania (who had given up all the Royal Receptions, Official Teas and Formal Balls to devote himself to selfless trips down the left hand alleys of the darkest parts of the world).

Ethel Muntz (who was known as a renowned author of best sellers who wouldn’t even know how to tell the tale of what she had just gone through).

And Emilio Sanchez (who had, for much of his adult life, toured the world in the company of men and women who had never existed on paper, but had changed the realities of persons everywhere).

These six looked at each other and wondered how they would plan such a foray, one which would hold in its success or failure, the future of all mankind.

As always, Claus was the one who first stepped forward.

“We have to strategize,” He announced.

“I can offer you little help,” Wetfoot, for once in his own voice, counseled, “He can, most probably, blow me away like a smoke ring on a summer night. That doesn’t mean I won’t join in. I would be destroyed like the rest of the world if he had his way. Oblivion is not what it’s cracked up to be, but then nothing ever is.”

Baron Vaskania spoke for all the company when he said, “My friend, we could not offer any defense had it not been for
you. Your brave offer is noted and appreciated. You will always be part of this team, a valued part.”

Harriett looked at her dead friend and asked, “I still don’t know how you were able to bring everyone here. Is it a dark secret of the afterlife or can you tell me?”

Wetfoot used the most serious voice she had ever heard him speak in. “It’s pretty simple, really. When we are stuck in that world we can only see that one world, unless we are gifted with special sight. But, once we cross over we see thousands of possible gateways to infinite worlds. Some people hold on to this world and ignore all the other ones. Some pass from one world to another, but we can all see the final door, if we choose to go through or not.”

Muntz furrowed her brow and asked, “You know how to move on and don’t?”

“I made a choice,” the apparition confessed, “There were a lot of things I did on that side that I am not proud of, and if you ask me what they are I’ll tell you it’s none of your damn business. But I have chosen to deposit a little more positive into my Karmic account before I cash in my chips.”

“Sort of,” Sanchez wondered, “A self imposed purgatory?”

“All purgatory is self imposed,” William told him, “But I knew I could do something good. The book Dante gave me told me I could follow clues to find you all and bring you back.”

Claus asked, “What clues?”

“Traces of your beings were imbedded in Harriett’s heart, they left a glowing trail a blind ghost could follow,” He said

“But,” Vaskania queried, “The ability to transport us . . .”

“Heck,” William chuckled, “Once you can see the doorways anybody and push anybody else through. Unless you are so powerful that the universe senses it and because of the threat to the balance, puts up a barrier. I am no threat, so I can go any place and carry anybody with me. You could have passed through the gates, if you could have seen them. But, hadn’t we better get back to planning some sort of attack?”

“I think, with that in mind, I should let you all know something,” Ethel Muntz meekly proffered.

Claus might have looked a bit weary, but tried not to let it show when he said, “And that is?”

Muntz turned towards the front of the building and lifted both hands before her. A low thrum vibrated through the room and the air seemed to ripple before her.

Then it happened.

With a flash of light and an explosion of sound, something erupted from Ethel Muntz’s hands.

Instantly the front of the bar, nearly a city block, exploded and flew across the street. The wall continued and passed through the offices and landed in shattered shards in the alley behind it.

Without really thinking about it, Muntz turned back to her comrades and lightly blew on her hands like a gunfighter cooling his pistols. Then she smiled that Cheshire Cat smile that no one likes to see anyone else smile.

A beat passed.

“How hard was that to do?” Claus inquired.

“Like tossing a bean bag,” Ethel smiled back, with a knowingness that was, at the very least, confidence building.

“How did this happen?” The Baron questioned.

“They gave me the fullness of my potential powers. I didn’t know how to use it until they fed me a ‘Special Tea.”

Vaskania turned to Claus, with just the slightest glimmer of a new twinkle in his eyes.

“It may or may not last,” the concern was visible on his face, “We must act quickly in case it is a weapon we could lose.”

"I already have a plan," Claus beamed.

Everyone drew near to listen.

Harriett asked Ethel, “They didn’t give you the recipe for that tea, did they?”