episode 20: Babe's Story

-Ellen-

"Ah," interjected Babe, "the interesting part of the story."

"It was at the Royal Winter Fair, just after Babe had changed, though we didn’t know it yet."

"Wow," David said, then paused. "So, he," he paused again, and looked directly at Babe instead, "So you couldn’t always talk?"

"Oh no," said Babe, "I was the product of pride’s folly, hubris unconstrained."

"Oh, for heaven’s sake, will you stop reading those renaissance morality plays?" I asked.

Babe laughed. It was an odd sound.

"Babe’s story began," I continued with a portentous tone, to which Babe gave a small cheer, "when we first took over the farm, and we were taking a trip just prior to, what we knew, would be a very challenging transition. We decided to go with the sun and sand of Greece, and it included a visit to Crete — I had always wanted to see what a matriarchal society might look like and promptly became fascinated with the culture, its magic and the role of the Bull in various ceremonies. So, when I saw a breeding pair for sale, I had a momentary fit of madness and bought them both, and shipped them to the farm, determined to populate Napier farm with the bovine descendants of Minoan culture.

"And when we got them home, they mated with all the other cattle we bought rather than each other, and promptly died in the first winter. Ultimately, we were left with offspring that were almost as poorly suited to the colder climate as their parents. Much to the amusement of folks like Simmons and, well, your brother."

"It wasn’t that bad," said Shigeto.

"It was bad enough, and the vet bills were killing our savings," I replied rather tartly.

"Let me state for the record that I think that my brother’s an asshole," said David.

"Point taken," I responded. "Anyway, I intervened using some old family recipes."

"Spells," said Babe, in a stage whisper.

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, spells — I had combined some of my grandmother’s work with some of what I had learned or guessed at regarding Minoan traditions. The physical aspects of the spell reflected that: sea water from the Aegean; a labrys, an old coin with an inscribed labyrinth; and a few elements from the farm - stone, soil, herb and grain. It was one of my first truly personal spells, as much an artistic statement as a test of my abilities. And it seemed to work. The cattle got healthier and seemed to have all the vigour you would hope for in breeding a big domestic animal with a rangy mountainous breed."

"And this was Babe?" asked David.

"Oh no, I was special," said Babe. "Ellen had to be properly motivated."

I rolled my eyes, but felt a bit of a smile on my lips. "As annoying as our familial quadruped might be, he’s also right. The night you met us, Simmons came by our stall at the Royal with a friend of his who was one of the judges at the Fair," said Ellen. "Simmons kept going on and on about how Babe was just a freak with unpredictable bloodlines. I was pissed, even more because he was going on about the preferential treatment that ‘foreigners and women get these days’. It drove me a bit mad. So, I did a summoning."

"You’re shitting me?" Said Takara.

"Yes, yes," I know, I responded.

"No, no, you really didn’t," said Shigeto, still sounding a bit pissed, after all this time. "She hid that minor fact from me. Fed me some bullshit about an enhancement spell."

"Ah, well. What I was doing was summoning Babe himself, his potential, not opening the way for another being."

"Oh Jesus," said Takara.

"Seconded," agreed Shigeto.

"Anyway," I continued, "What I hadn’t considered was how thoroughly the first spells we had cast may have changed his bloodline. It made him capable of being much more than a pleasant, well-mannered bull and transformed him into the mouthy and sarcastic creature you see before you."

Babe snorted and pawed the ground most convincingly before breaking into a giggle, a high-pitched hiccupy moo. I scratched Babe’s forelock and smiled.  

David pondered all of this, then said, "Poseidon. He said that name on that night, didn’t he? I wasn’t imagining things. Is he," he paused, turning again, "Are you connected to that whole Minotaur story?"

"Yes," said Babe, "I have something of his memories. His understanding of labyrinths and endless paths," he frowned. "It’s all a little vague."

"They laugh about it now," said Shigeto, looking stern, "but it was a potent spell. There was far more magical potential in Babe than we knew, and she had prepared nothing to provide the energy to drive the spell. So, it used her – the spell – it just kept pulling and pulling and pulling. In the end I broke the circle - dangerous in itself, but I had no choice."

"I didn’t remember any of this," I said. "I collapsed and slept for over a day, ‘til the following evening when there was the reception."

"Throughout that day," said Babe, "I knew something was wrong. It was the first time I’d ever really thought of ‘I’. Do you have any idea how confusing it is to have a sense of self when previously your most complex thought was how to get to that tastier morsel of hay?"

"Instead," I said, "It gave him intelligence and knowledge - mostly pulled from my mind."

"Including the principles and precedents of law which, I assure you, is exactly as boring as you would expect," said Babe.

Both Shigeto and David laughed while I made a face, and said, "I am unclear, however, as to how the spell managed to instil Shigeto’s questionable sense of humour in him."

"Anyway," said Babe, "the sensation of thought seemed to crowd me and I just had to get out, so I flipped open the latch, a feat that rather astonished me, and ran off into the night."

"Which brought you to my backyard," said David.

"Yes, but not directly. I felt like I walked further than I had. And the scenery kept changing. One moment I was on one side of the fence, then there was a field, and then I was on the other side."

"You passed through Faerie," said Takara, "though I’m not sure why you were drawn to that plane."

"Perhaps," I began, and then stopped, unwilling to suggest further links to David’s situation.

"What?" Takara’s voice was harsh.

"Much of my tradition is Welsh, so…"

"Faerie. Fuck."

"It could have been worse," I suggested.

"Like what, an elemental plane? So, we could see Toronto turned into a gaping fire pit rather than a hunting ground for the Sidhe or maybe the Wild Hunt? Yes, given the difference between a knife in my gut or a bullet, yes, it’s probably better," sneered Takara.

"Jesus, Takara, give it a rest. It’s a lot to take in," said David, "even for them. It definitely is for me."

"Maybe for you, she’s an old hand, aren’t you?” asked Takara.

"Sure," interjected Shigeto, before I could respond. It annoyed me, his tone, but he stroked my forearm and I subsided. Perhaps my temper wasn’t the best way of handling the situation. Shigeto continued. "If you want to talk spells for drainage, or fertility, or calming animals, then yeah, we know our way around a grimoire. But this – this is like nothing we’ve ever seen. Never imagined, outside of a good fiction story. From the sounds of things, you’re the only one who’s seen anything like this."

Takara scowled. "Not on this scale. Not in a very long time."

"So, yeah, the spell that Ellen did, it was just supposed to be an enhancement. But I think she had reason to act out a little. Or are you telling me you’re always given to calm, measured responses to extreme situations?"

I found it entertaining to see Takara’s glare directed at someone who seemed so imperturbable before it. Takara was considerably less amused, but it seemed to blunt her ire.  

"Perhaps not." A pause. "Fine, then. But that means that Babe is the cause of the gate, however inadvertently, and it still leaves us looking for a solution."

"Assuming that there’s anything that I can do. The spell that created Babe was obviously wild. And I get David’s concerns about your goblins, but I still think something like a ward or similar should suffice."

"Your wards are ineffective against creatures that know of them," said Takara with a tone that was unpleasantly dismissive, more-so, given her half-hearted attempt at diplomacy.

“I design my wards for the task at hand," I said tartly. "With a bit of research, I might be able to come up with something better."

"You could talk to Louise," said David. "She’s got a lot of stuff."

"Louise Beacon?" Shigeto asked. "The one who runs the magic shop? I read about her in your article."

"You read it?" David’s voice sounded genuinely pleased. Despite myself, I felt my attitude towards him softening. "Yeah, that’s the one."

David proceeded to tell us about his trip to her shop. I felt like he was leaving something out, but I didn’t know what. Certainly, Takara looked a bit uncomfortable about the whole thing — there was something going on between the two of them. I wasn’t sure that they were a couple. Their body language was unclear. Maybe a new couple? Fodder for later.

"It sounds like she has a diverse background." I said, "I’d be willing to hear what she has to say. She might, at least, have ideas for a ward."

Takara, though, just made a face. "It’s a bandaid."

"But if they don’t know, baby steps, right?"

Takara glanced around the room, and her face settled into something like acceptance. It was an expression that I knew well, the one that said that you were going to play along with what you thought was a bad decision. I didn’t trust her. When she spoke, she was, suddenly, all balance and reason.

"Okay," she agreed, "we look for some options to prevent the creatures from crossing over and masking their presence. Perhaps you and Babe could meditate on exactly what his abilities are? Yeah?"

"Of course," I said. Annoyed that my own face, with its ‘play nice’ expression mirroring her own. "But, if you do talk to this Louise person, I’d like to keep Babe out of this, okay? I don’t want word of him getting out."

"Don’t I get any say in this?" Asked Babe.

I looked over at him. His expression and tone were truculent. "You’ve just doubled the number of people that know of your nature,” I said. "Can we keep the whole situation from going exponential? Maybe?"

"Maybe," came the grudging response.

I sighed. The whole situation was on a precipice, one that I did not care for in the least.

"Well, you give the matter some thought. David and I will stay with his brother, and we can chat tomorrow before heading home. Okay?"

"What??!!" Came David’s response.

"What?" Takara’s voice was flat. "Are you embarrassed about me?"

Okay, they were an item.

"One does not simply show up at my brother’s house without warning."

"They’re family, aren't they?"

"So?"

"Then they’ll be happy to see you."

David looked at Takara, and I knew that this was not a conversation that was anywhere near over, though I would lay odds that Takara would win this one, in the end. Still, amusing as it might be, I felt some unexpected sympathy for David. So I suggested, "The hotel in town isn’t so bad. It’s a bit of a boutique place these days."

"Thanks," said David.

Takara frowned at him. It was definitely not over.

Babe and I sat for a few minutes as Shigeto walked David and Takara to their car. "What did you think of them?" I asked.

"I like them."

"They have to be nice. They want something,” I sighed.

"We all want something," was Babe’s pointed response.

He was referring to earlier, frequently revisited, conversations about us finding people that he could talk to, but both Shigeto and I had balked. Babe was desperate for a genuine sense of connection to this world, but we were terrified of where that would lead. Well, at least I was. Shigeto was always more trusting of the two of us. Now, though, the cat was out of the bag, or the bull was anyway. And certainly, David and Takara would not have been my first choice.

"Just because they’re part of the magical community doesn’t mean they can be trusted."

"But they’re not likely to betray us to the Church or local authorities, are they? Not with a magical portal in their backyard."

"No," said Shigeto, catching this comment as he came back inside, "but it would diminish our exposure if we could shut it down. Do you think there’s something we can do? What do you remember? Do you know how you did it?" He came over, pulled out Babe’s brush, and began grooming him. Babe made an appreciative sound deep in his chest.

After a moment, Babe responded, "I haven’t really been thinking about it. I’ve, well, I’ve been distracted by, you know, everything."

Shigeto chuckled, "Yeah, I guess acquiring consciousness has been a rather abrupt transition for you."

"Hell, just dealing with the principles of tort law has been overwhelming."

I laughed at this. “Well, we’re alike in that, in any case. But I have to say, your reading has not really been focused if you’re aiming to pass the Bar."

"I was more enthusiastic until I realized I’d have to wear one of those silly robes in court."

"I think you’d be fetching," I said, "the robe over your shoulders, it would look good against your coat. Though the waist coat may be a bit binding."

"Then there’s always the problem that I’d likely be executed right after my first trial for being a violation of the natural order."

"There is that." I said, feeling my face fall. Sometimes Babe was too aware of the realities of the world. "Which is one of the reasons we’ve been keeping you a secret."

"So I need friends that would be able to make a political case for me, and that’ll never happen unless I make friends."

"You’ve been reading too many political intrigues."

"Or not enough. Look Ellen, I appreciate that you’re trying to protect me, but at some point, I will need friends. Unless you decide to release me to the wilds, where I can create my own tribe of intelligent livestock."

"Okay, okay, we start to make more introductions. But let’s go slow at this."

"The people that David’s talked to look like good candidates," said Shigeto, "and you know, I read his article in the Globe. He might be a good person to move the cause of magic forward."

"I really don’t want to live the life of a political activist," I countered.

"I think that ship sailed when we moved here, and not hide what we were doing. At some point, the magic we do here is going to be an issue."

"So what? We get David to do a profile of us? Some puff piece about our wholesome existence?"

"Well, maybe, yes," said Shigeto.

I scowled.

Babe said, "Does that mean cameras? Should I start worrying about my good side? Is my ass too fat?"

"That depends on how many of those oat cakes you eat," laughed Shigeto.

"I wouldn’t eat so many if they weren’t so damn tasty."

"I can fix that," I said. "I could add raisins."

"Nooooo," cried Babe in mock horror. "Do not speak of such blasphemies."

"Relax, my furry friend, we shall preserve your indulgences. But there won’t be any good press if what Takara says is true, and the gate can allow the Fae to wreak havoc in the city."

"You don’t think she’s overstating the threat?" I asked.

Shigeto shrugged. "I think any degree of Fae mischief would be problematic. In David’s first article, he focused on the religious aspect of Voudou. There was very little ‘magic’ per se. None really, just the rituals. In the one on the Wiccan, he skirted the idea of actual practice by referring to it all as research. Exploring the history of magic. So, it all seemed very harmless."

"My magic is neither an academic exercise nor an empty ritual."

“Indeed not, my dear, so we have to control exactly what people see of us. Control the narrative, and to do that, we need to help solve this problem, quickly, but quietly. Takara strikes me as someone given to acting first and dealing with the mess later."

"So we need to come up with something." I looked at Babe, "which leads us back to Shigeto’s question, what do you remember about that night, about moving between realms? Do you remember how it felt?"

"No," came the reply after some consideration. "Or perhaps it’s better to say that I do remember how it felt, but that it bore no resemblance to the magic that I do now, nor to the rituals that we do now. But part of me, I guess you could say it was my bloodline, that part of me remembers. Those memories of the temple and fields that you tell me must have been Crete." He shook his head. "But my ancestors were mostly beasts, and though they were imbued with the bloodline of the Minotaur, none could speak. The only genuine memories I have of the Minotaur are his dreams, or what feels like them. Who knows, perhaps his life was like a waking dream — he was definitely touched by some sort of divine power, and perhaps that’s what it does to you. The magic I experienced that night was similar to that, but not grounded in a divinity, or, well, anything. You know? The Minotaur channelled Poseidon’s energy. But what I did, well that came from the spell, I didn’t feel Poseidon, or anything else, but a few fragments of Ellen’s memories drifting in a sea of power."

"Oh." I said. Shook my head. "It kinda makes sense. The spell wanted things to go a certain way, but I didn’t let it. It was as much fighting the spell as performing it that drained me. Perhaps it was the residual power that drove much of what happened to you."

"Maybe."

Shigeto rose, "Well, I have very little to add to this. You’re the magicky ones here," and he wiggled his fingers like a bad Harry Potter movie. Babe and I exchanged glances and gritted our teeth. Shigeto had greatly developed his sensitivity since we’d come to the farm and we both knew that he could be a fine magician, if he’d been inclined. But the truth was, he’d rather work on his tractor. Part of me, perhaps uncharitably, also suspected that he pleaded ignorance so that he could continue to make those annoying pop culture references that drove Babe and me a bit mad. We were always ranting about Wingardium Leviosa in Harry Potter (though it didn’t stop us from watching the movies). He waited, taking in our pained expressions, then laughed and started tending to the animals.

Image by Egor Myznik on Unsplash