~Ch. 2~

Kitty

The hour passed quickly. Kitty gathered herself and left for Ms. Farrar's residence. A taxi driver was willing enough to drive her across town to the address she'd been given. After she knocked carefully on the door, Jane opened it a crack. "Ms. Jones."

Kitty raised an eyebrow. "Who else would it be? I didn't exactly have to push through a crowd to get up here."

Jane's eyes tightened almost imperceptibly. "I'm so glad to see you haven't lost your delightful sense of humor since the…. incident." Kitty glared at her but said nothing. "Please, come in. It must be so dreadfully cold outside."

Kitty stepped inside through the doorway. "It's not half as cold as some people's attitude towards me." She looked pointedly at Jane, who disregarded the comment.

"Can we get to the matter at hand?" Jane asked impatiently, gesturing with one hand; it grasped the Egyptian book from their earlier meeting. "I can read what's inside this, if we can cease the pointless talk." It was her turn to stare pointedly at Kitty.

Kitty crossed her arms. "Well, get on with it, then." She had no patience for the magician's ambiguous mannerisms.

Jane slid comfortably onto a couch. "Please take a seat." Kitty sat uncomfortably. Jane eyed her rigidness. "Now, come on, Ms. Jones, I'm not going to bite. We have the same objective, yes?"

Kitty listened to Jane translate the ancient Egyptian to English. The process sounded simple enough. "I think I could do that," she said. "But I'll need someone for the second part."

Jane closed the book and leaned forward. She expressed her approval as best she could: "I thought you might be willing. I will stand with you and work the second part."

"Because you need Mr. Mandrake?" Kitty asked. Jane nodded. "If you don't mind me asking" ---Kitty cringed, unaccustomed to politeness--- "why are you so eager to see Na— Mr. Mandrake?"

Jane suddenly avoided meeting Kitty's eyes. "Some things need clearing up," she muttered. "Besides, I also--- Why am I telling you this? It's none of your business."

Kitty held up her hands in mock innocence. "Mea culpa," she articulated sarcastically.

Jane's eyes pierced Kitty's. "We can do it now or never," she bit out. "I'm not going to let you just hang around me all day."

Kitty stood, scowling. "Now, Ms. Farrar, or I'll leave and you can find Mr. Mandrake yourself." This was a bluff, but she performed well. Jane rose also and walked to the other side of a room, where everything was in place for a summoning.

Bartimaeus

When Nathaniel dismissed me in the Glass Palace, I had clung to earth until the final tug of the Other Place yanked me away. As I dissolved, I could feel Gladstone's Staff overpowering --- with Nat on one end, pointing it straight at Nouda. I felt the djinn trapped inside the Staff begin to break free.

That was four months ago.1

Now I shifted in the Other Place, comfortable in the chaos. My essence was almost fully healed. The bright colors, ceaseless movement, and disorder would have been perfect. However, there happened to be one small problem.

"Bartimaeus, help me!"

That problem would be Nathaniel. For some reason, when he dismissed me, he followed. It must have had something to do with our sharing a body, because there's no way in Alexandria that I would have brought him here willingly.

"Bartimaeus!"

I walked over to him.2 How many times do I have to tell you not to use that name? The small body that was Nathaniel's puppet nodded, expressing a silent apology. What do you need this time?

The puppet was lying on the ground. "Something's pulling."

I had noticed it too. It's not me.

"It hurts."

Oh, no. I slowly recognized what the irritating tugging was. I was being summoned. Why he felt it, I wasn't sure.

After a minute or two of struggling3, we let go of the Other Place and dissolved, transported to earth. I must say, I arrived much more stylishly than the boy did. He dropped to his knees with a thump. In contrast, I spiraled upwards, thunder rumbling in dark clouds around my current form, the silver-winged serpent.4

"John!" My presentation screeched to a halt. I suddenly noticed the person standing across from the boy and me. Unfortunately, I recognized her instantly.

"Jane Farrar?" I asked incredulously. The displeased serpent slid back to the ground, its features contorting until it became a distorted image of the hard-faced woman standing across from me.

"Bartimaeus." She spoke a few words to bind me in place5, and she strutted over to Nathaniel, who looked rather peaked from the passing-through. I could hear her whispering to him. As I pointedly ignored them, for the first time I noticed the other figure across from me. It was another girl, with dark hair and pale skin, bent over. I knew her but couldn't seem to place her. Hey, I remember only two people with auras that strong….She looked up once and I identified her.

"Kitty?!" If I had been incredulous before, I was absolutely dumbfounded now. I had pretty much expected to never see her again, since everyone thought I was dead. But I suppose she was too smart to follow the magicians' line of thinking. I always knew there was a reason I liked her.

1 Well, it was three months, two weeks, and six days. But who's counting?

2 Usually there would be no "over" in the Other Place. But since Nathaniel had issues with the lack of structure here, I had to help him out. Like I did with Kitty, I created a small space of a building and a body for myself. I figured that I might as well keep track of the kid.

3 Once again, there's not really any time in the Other Place. It's all sort of strung together. I'm sure I've told you this before.

4 You could practically hear the orchestra screeching some scary music in the background. My magnificence tends to show itself through my form. Hey, I'm nothing if not modest.

5 Not very trusting, that one. Okay, yes, I probably would have devoured her as soon as she moved. But the point remains.

Kitty

Kitty heard the thunder begin to rumble after she and Jane spoke. That meant that --- the summoning had been successful? Bartimaeus was alive? She waited for him to materialize.

She could hear a thump and some snakelike hissing. Daring to open her eyes to look across the floor, she saw a pale Nathaniel on the floor (the source of the thump) and a snake with wings in the air (the source of the hissing). The djinni had squeaked Jane's name, but Kitty couldn't see him anymore. She had dropped to her knees, her vision blurring. At first she thought that the Ptolemy's Gate illness was returning, but when she rubbed her eyes, they were wet. She wiped furiously at the tears with the heel of her hand.

Kitty heard, distantly, the djinni call her name. She wiped the tears as best she could and looked up, smiling weakly. "H-hey, Bartimaeus. How'd, uh, Mandrake do?" She remembered to conceal his name since Jane probably shouldn't know it, assuming she didn't already.

The djinni shrugged. "About as well as can be expected. I will say, though, you were better at adapting to the Other Place." The unattractive imitation of Farrar's face grinned. "How are you doing, Kitty? Haven't seen you."

Kitty shifted from her knees to a standing position. "I'm—" Seeing Jane embracing Nathaniel, she choked on her words. "I'm fine."

The djinni seemed to be trying to walk towards her, but Jane's spell held him in place. Kitty muttered the counterwords, and he ambled to her side and sat down. "Natty boy had such trouble in the Other Place," he mentioned nonchalantly. "He didn't know much of anyone besides me. He kept asking to go back to earth. He wanted you to summon us." He raised a suggestive eyebrow. "Just you."

Kitty glared at the djinni. "Tell that to them." She gestured to Jane and Nathaniel.

Jane's face grinned. "Oh, I will." It disappeared, and a wisp of smoke took flight.

"No, wait!" Kitty cried. The fly kept going. This was going to be embarrassing.