Trust in Oneself, Draft 1, CH 14 (Patreon)

Paul stared out the window of the hotel room and saw nothing.

The whole world on the other side of the windowpane was white.

Paul couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea he was looking at a snowstorm in fucking June (the month can be changed, I couldn’t confirm when doctorate graduations happen, so I figured they were around the same time other graduations did). Sure, he was in Iceland, but it had been well above freezing when they’d landed the day before with green grass and tree with all their leaves on them.

Paul wasn’t much for geography, but he vaguely remember something about how Greenland and Iceland should have their names switched because the current arrangement lied.

This had not been what he’d expected to wake up to. Breakfast, since he’d made sure to set the alarm for the local morning, then wait for Donal to find something about Grant and Thomas’s whereabouts.

Instead, when Paul woke up, the squirrel was nibbling on eggs and pointed to the window when asked why he was still in.

“How is this possible?” Paul asked Donal and felt foolish. Magic, of course. Fuck if magic was being used here. The morning they’d landed, it could only be one group.

How had the Chamber tracked him and Donal? The only thing the golden tiger could think of was his phone. He hadn’t messaged anyone, but he had been on the chat. Could the Chamber have traced him just from that? Donal had a Talisman keeping them from being easily found, but electronic magic had been Shila’s power, not Donal’s. If the Chamber had someone else with an electronic staff, which magic would win?

He took his phone out, looking at it. He turned it over and wondered if this was one of the models where the battery could be removed. It would be safer to—

“No need for anything drastic,” Donal said, appearing close before Paul and taking his hand. “We aren’t there yet.”

“I wasn’t,” Paul started, then noticed the squirrel was looking between them. Paul was naked, but then he’d gotten naked last night, so Donal shouldn’t be looking at him as if it was a revelation. “Donal,” he said cautiously, “do you mind stepping out of my personal space?”

The squirrel looked up and his ears folded back in embarrassment. “Sorry.” He stepped away without letting go of Paul’s phone and hand. Maybe they should take the time to find a club so Donal could work out his sexual need?

The squirrel shook himself and let go of Paul’s hand. “Don’t jump to the conclusion this is because of us.”

“It seems sort of coincidental.”

“Which is all it might be.” He took his phone and showed Paul a weather page for Reykjavik. The map showed the storm covered more than half the country. “I’m not going to say there isn’t a staff out there that couldn’t do this, in the right hand. I’m not Grant; I have no idea what staves exist. But I don’t think anyone within the Chamber would have the kind of connection to their staves to do this. So it would take time to set up.” He swiped to a new page, and a video of the weather for the region appeared, going back a week. The temperatures grew progressively colder with an increase in wind and snow.

“I’ve been looking through the last day’s reports. The start of it’s caught the weather bureau by surprise, but it’s been progressing as if it was a normal pattern after that.”

“Only it isn’t, is it?” Paul asked. “Not with Grant and Thomas in the area.”

Donal nodded. “They’ve had the Chamber after them for a while. Seems they’ve caught up.”

Paul considered the timing. “Do you think this is because Shila called Grant?”

“I doubt it, but there’s no way to know. All we can do is deal with this.”

Paul chuckled. “And by this, you mean figure out where in Iceland the two of them are before the Chamber does? You realize that with the way things have been, there’s no way they are somewhere in the city.”

“Yeah. We’re going to have to drive to wherever they are.”

Paul looked at the window again. “You want us to drive in that?”

The squirrel nodded.

“Tell me you can afford to rent us whatever we’ll need to deal with this kind of driving conditions.”

* * * * *

Donal couldn’t. Neither could Paul.

At least they’d been able to buy winter clothing. The hotel’s store dealt with enough tourists to stock appropriate wears and the weather was unpredictable enough they kept everything within reach, simply moving the winter stock to the basement during summer.

Paul kept his complaining to a minimum and he pushed through the whiteout conditions. He was from Minnesota, so he knew cold, but these last years in San Francisco Bay had gotten him used to a warmer climate. Donal stayed close to him, guiding them to only the squirrel knew.

Or, considering the way Donal’s staff worked, maybe even he had no idea where they were going. Finding lost and hidden things did imply a lack of knowledge of where they were. They paused by a snowbank and Donal rummaged through it, coming up with something in hand, then got moving again.

Paul wanted to ask what he’d taken, but he worried opening his mouth to cause him to choke on all that snow.

When they finally had something to block the snow, Donal opened the door to the vehicle and climbed in. Paul followed and found himself seated behind the wheel of a rugged SUV. Donal offered him a wallet with something dangling out of it.

That was clearly not a phone.

Paul looked at the dash and didn’t find a slow for a phone. How was he supposed to get it started? He turned the thin wallet over in his hand. Was this a talisman?

“The key goes in the ignition.” Donal chuckled at Paul’s incomprehension. “The key’s what sticking out. The teeth going in, with the flat part aimed at the center of the ignition.”

Paul took the piece of metal attached to the leather wallet by a string. Wide head, narrow extension with one side flat and the other jagged with the teeth the squirrel referred to. He looked at the dash for something it would fit into.

Another chuckle from Donal.

“You’re welcome to sit here and do this,” Paul told him.

“It’s been years since I’ve driven anything. The ignition is on the steering column. It’ll be small and round, protruding. The slop will be on top.”

“How do you know about these?” Paul asked, looking and locating the ignition. He put the key in. Nothing happened. When Paul looked at him, Donal’s lips were tight with the effort not to smile. “Now what?”

It took him a few seconds to get in under control, but the squirrel finally spoke. “Turn it. And I know about it because these used to be how every vehicle worked.”

Paul turned it, and a series of explosions happened, shaking the SUV. When he let go of the key in surprise, they kept going.

He glared at Donal, but instead of laughing, he was holding onto the dash. “I thought you know about these.”

“Read about them. Libraries are places to go when it gets too cold. Did a lot of reading there. I saw one when I was a kid, but never rode one.” He swallowed. “This is how they used to be powered, before the switch to electric.”

“So this is normal?” no wonder they’d moved to something better. “Why are they still using these here? Iceland isn’t a backward country.”

Donal looked calmer. “Fuel deals with very low temperatures better than batteries. Have you read the recommendations that come with all cars to remove one hour from the driving range for every ten degrees below thirty? Fuel vehicles don’t have that problem. Also, this one’s made to drive in this level of bad weather.”

“Which you just happened to find the keys off?” Paul said, placing his hands on the steering wheel. The way it vibrated, even though they weren’t moving, was slightly unnerving.

Donal shrugged. “It’s summer. They probably didn’t expect to need it and didn’t realize they’d misplaced the keys. They’re going to be pretty pissed when they come here and find us sitting in it. So it might be best if we get moving.”

They could explain the situation, get permission. Not steal it.

Yeah, Paul could see how that would go. Looking for friends when we have no idea where they were. Yeah, driving aimlessly seemed to be the plan.

Sure anyone would be happy to lend them the only workable mode of transportation available for this weather. He pressed the accelerator and was surprised when the wheels didn’t spin needlessly. Slowly they drove until the deserted road.

“Where to?” Paul asked.

Donal consulted his phone. “We need to get on the forty-nine and leave the city.” He pointed to the left. “It’s in that direction.”

Again, Paul was impressed with the traction as he turned in the direction. He’d driven cars supposedly built for Minnesota winters that had slid all over the place before finding traction.

“Any idea where we’re going once we’re out of the city?”

Donal shook his head. “I’m hoping that because of the storm, they’ve gotten lost.”

“Donal, you do remember Thomas can teleport. How does a teleporter ever get lost?”

The flicker of worry was quick, then covered up, but it was enough to tell Paul Donal had realized that potential problem with the plan.

Then the squirrel smiled. “If they were gone, the Chamber wouldn’t need to keep this storm going.”

Paul thought about it and decided that as something to hang all his hope on, it wasn’t half bad.