~4.37~

“Well… we’ve all got things that need doing,” Mama said.

“Yes,” John said, completely at a loss for a quote or reference or bit of glibness to append to his response. “Indeed. We do.”

Was the coinciding of tribe’s depopulation with Ginger’s overpopulation just a coincidence? A silver lining in a tragedy? An ill wind blowing some good?

“Let’s move along,” Mama said to Ginger. “I’ve got lots of folks to talk to today, and if we can get your kids settled before it gets any colder out I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.”

“One moment, Mama,” Ginger said, not taking her eyes of John. “I’d appreciate a chance to talk to our noble savage, since we’ve never really had a chance to chat before.”

Mama raised an eyebrow, looking between the red-haired witch and the young man who was doing his best to smile calmly at her.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll be in the candle shop, then. The van needs new air fresheners.”

Ginger waited until Mama walked away before she said anything.

“The thing about Ivan,” she said, “is that he’s very good at discovering enemies. He can find them wherever he goes.”

“This is true,” John said.

“If he spends enough time investigating these attacks, he’ll find an enemy,” Ginger said. “And it will be a gang, or a renegade lodge or circle, or something tribe’s prepared to deal with… and there might be fighting and it might be horrible, but it’ll beat a lot of the alternatives: that the attacks came from a single powerful figure beyond Ivan’s reckoning, or that they came from a perceived ally with roots in tribe and connections all through it, or someone who would be shielded by innocents… civilians, say, or children. None of those things would be good to find.”

“You raise some interesting points,” John said.

“Go on and follow your breadcrumbs back the way you came,” Ginger said. “Before they all get eaten and you’re left alone in the dark forest.”

Et fini.