(Untitled)

[goingtodorking]

Karen has been looking for Rollie all morning. She's got Josiah with her, dragging him along in his cart. She's been having a one-sided conversation abotu whether 'Josie' or 'Joe' or 'Joey' suits him best but, mostly, she's been doing it to cover her rising sense of panic. Ainsley disappeared and so did Shadow; Karen's old enough to know that

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[giftless]

Edmund was, for the most part, thoroughly amused with how the day was sorting itself out. He hadn't woken up with any special powers himself, which usually would be a blessing, but as he walked along he wondered what he would have gotten, how he would have used it, and all the other sort of things that young men dream about. (Mostly, how cool he would have looked if he could fly.)

When he saw Karen, however, some of that good mood diminished, replaced by a rather brotherly sense of concern. And wary curiosity about the giant growth that had attached itself to the clinic. "Karen?" he called, coming closer. "I wouldn't touch that. Do you know what it is?"

[goingtodorking]

"I think it's Rollie," she says, tears still shining on her face even though her expression has turned my thoughtful than anything. She bites her lips and frowns, gives the cocoon a more deliberate push.

"Maybe it ate him."

[giftless]

"Karen," he said again, a warning in his tone this time, and he reached out to keep her hands away from the object. "Don't. You don't know what it is."

Saying that, however, only reminded Edmund that he did not know what it was either, and that perhaps they would need to do some poking to figure it out. "Why do you think it's Rollie?"

[goingtodorking]

"I just do," she says, looking up at him. "It's in the clinic. Who else would it be?" She slips her hand into his and squeezes. "What if he never comes back?"

[giftless]

Edmund tried to give her hand a reassuring squeeze in return, even though half his mind was puzzling over the object. It did look rather much the size of a man. "Then I'll take care of you," he said, confident and off hand, then reconsidered his remark. "Or whoever you'd like, provided they were responsible."

[goingtodorking]

"You'd be alright," she says, quietly, glancing up at him. "Bu I'd prefer Rollie." She tilts her head.

"What do you think it is?"

[giftless]

"I really don't know," he admitted, not without a great note of befuddlement in his voice. Finally, Edmund gave into a simple urge and shoved at the object, much like he had told Karen not to do. "Do you think I should cut it down?"

[goingtodorking]

The thing swings alarmingly and Karen gapes for a minute. Her hand still in Edmund's, she grips at his arm, clinging to him.

"Don't do that!" she says. "What if it has catastrophic consequences!"

[giftless]

"I have a sword," Edmund replied, again with an easy confidence that said he hadn't given much deep thought to the issue at hand.

He steadied the thing with one hand, then knocked at it with a closed fit, wondering if he could hear if it was hollow or not. "We'll have to cut it down eventually," he reasoned. "No one's going to want to use the clinic with this thing hanging here."

[goingtodorking]

"It's not a thing!" she protests, snatching her hand out of his and glaring up at him. "That might be Rollie! How would you like it if someone wanted to do that to Charlie?"

[giftless]

"Well I'm not going to hurt whatever's inside," he argued. "And if it were Charlie, I would hope someone would take it down and figure out a way to get him out. .. Gently," he added, frowning at the thing. It was somewhat bigger than a fully grown man. How was he going to handle this?

"Relax, Karen. I'm not going to try and hurt it," he said.

[goingtodorking]

"Not it," says Karen, looking both sullen and genuinely upset a the same time. "Him. You're not going to hurt him."

She frowns, the thought occuring to her that maybe this could be an epidemic.

"Where is Charlie?"