David Baldacci - The Finisher

She took out a little bottle with a tiny hose attached to it and a round inflated part at one end. She squeezed on the inflated part and some liquid misted on my neck and cheek. I flinched and she just laughed.

“Take a wee sniff, Vega,” she said.

I did so and the most wonderful aroma entered my nostrils. “Lavender,” I said.

“With just a touch of honeysuckle. Made it myself.” Darla gazed at me, and her face crinkled into a smile. “Very nice, Vega. Very nice indeed. Now, once your face heals up proper-like, what a stunner you’ll be, luv.”

A stunner? Part of me was certain this would be a dream from which I would awake and have to deal once more with filthy duds and grubby hair. I paid over my coin and took my packages and walked out of the shop, feeling things I had never felt before.

Two Wugs whom I knew were passing by as I came out. One was a young Tiller named Rufus, the other was Newton Tilt, the Cutter at Stacks who I always thought was so slithy. Rufus gaped and ran into a post supporting the roof over the walkway and knocked himself to the cobblestones. Newton simply stood there looking me up and down with a silly grin on his face.

“Vega, is that really you down under?” said Newton.

I hurried on, my face reddening. Down under?

I had one more shop to go to and one more item to purchase. I paid my coin and had it wrapped in pretty paper and then hurried on. I had shopped more this light than I ever had before. Which wasn’t saying much because I had never really shopped before.

I got back to my digs and threw Harry Two for a loop. It seemed that at first my canine didn’t know me, and his hackles rose and he bared his teeth. But after he sniffed around me for a bit, he seemed satisfied I was actually his owner after all.

I found a scrap of looking glass that had once belonged to my mother. I managed to angle it so that I could see my face and hair. I again shook my head in disbelief. But my eyes were still swollen and the skin blackened, my nose broken and my cheek bruised and swollen as well. It sort of ruined everything.

I sighed and then a wistful desire crept into my head.

I found my hand going into the pocket of my frock and pulling out the Adder Stone. I held it in front of my face and thought good thoughts and the blemishes instantly vanished. My eyes were normal, the swelling was gone and I could feel my nose reset and mend immediately. I slowly put the Stone away and then set off.

I checked the falling sun and believed the time to be right. I walked quickly, for my energy had returned with my physical transformation.

The trip to Morrigone’s went quickly and I was able to sneak up to the front door and push the parchment through the slit there. I knew that Morrigone would not be home yet, nor would John. But I was certain the ever-faithful William would ensure that Madame Morrigone would receive it.

That errand complete, I hurried on to my next destination. The Care.

AFTER LEAVING HARRYTwo to wait outside, I spoke with a Care Nurse I found in the corridor. A coin was passed after I told her what I wanted. As I thought, Delph was perched on his dad’s cot. He looked up when I opened the door.

“Vega Jane? What are you doing here again?”

“I’ve arranged for a Nurse to sit with Duf.”

“What?” he said, looking puzzled.

“When was the last time you had a proper meal, Delph?”

As I came fully into the curious light provided in each room, I could see Delph’s eyes widen in amazement. It actually sent a chill up my spine and I found myself smiling like a silly young.

“Vega Jane, whatta ya … whatta ya done to yourself?” he sputtered.

“Just … just tidied up a bit,” I said shyly.

He rose and walked over to me. “Tidying up? Is that what you call it?”

“What would you call it, Delph?” I asked bluntly, and then wondered why I had.

This query caught him off guard. He scratched his head, looked unsure.

“Uh, I think I’d call it … Well, you do look quite tidy, now that you mention it. Quite tidy indeed.” Then his face turned crimson.

I smiled. “I’m here to take you to meal.”

He started to say something but then shook his head. “Dunno, Vega Jane, just dunno.” He looked over at Duf. “What ’bout me dad?”

“That’s why the Nurse is coming.”

“You look so, well, you look so, you know and … and I don’t.” He ran his gaze down his dirty self.

I hooked my arm through his. “I think you look perfectly respectable. And I’m going to eat a meal at the Starving Tove and I want you to come with me.”

He suddenly grinned. “What’s the occasion?”

I decided to just tell him. “It’s my birthlight. I’m fifteen sessions old, Delph.”

He looked dumbstruck. “But I ain’t done nothin’ … I mean I didn’t know….”

“There’s no need for you to do anything other than accept my offer to join me for a meal to celebrate my coming into Wormwood fifteen sessions ago.”

With one more anxious glance at his dad, which was vastly alleviated when the Nurse I’d paid walked in and announced herself ready to look properly after Duf, we set off.

Wugs watched goggle-eyed as we passed by on the High Street, Harry Two bringing up the rear. Delph was so very tall, and me in my heels was in good proportion to him. He wasn’t dressed as fancy as me, but I had caught him wetting his hand with his tongue and using it to drive his wild hair a bit into place. And he had stopped at the pipes outside the Care to wash his face and arms and rinse some of the grime off his clothes.

“Been meaning to do it for some lights,” he explained sheepishly. “Just ain’t got round to it is all.”

We were seated at the Starving Tove at a table not in the back this time but up near the front. Every time I looked around, I caught Wugs staring at me. Females seemed irritated with their mates and kept hooking them by the chin and pulling their attention back to their own table.

Delph said, “Every Wug’s watching you, Vega. ’Specially the males. Har.”

“Well, they’ll get over it. Can’t make silk out of a sow’s ear.”

He gazed at me blankly. “Do ya hear yourself? Sow’s ear, my eye. You’re, you’re …” He took a deep shuddering breath. “You’re beautiful, Vega Jane.”

Now he turned so very red in the face that I thought he was choking.

“Thank you, Delph,” I said quite sincerely, although I was also blushing. The only Wugs to ever call me beautiful were my parents and my grandparents, and I had always believed they had done so out of a sense of duty.

We ordered and had the best meal I had ever had. Later, our bellies so full I could not pack one more thing inside mine, I managed to do so anyway. It was a bit of cake that we ate together as Delph wished me a light and night of happiness.

“I am happy, Delph,” I said. “Very happy to be with you.”

He tried to stop me, but I paid for the meal with my coin. “I should be giving you something,” he protested. “Not the other way round.”

“You have given me something.”

“I have not,” he said firmly.

I reached over and gripped his hand. “You’ve given me the pleasure of your company on a very special light.”

He smiled bashfully and squeezed my hand back. “Wouldn’t want to be no other place, Vega Jane.” He paused and his lips quivered. “’Cept maybe with me dad.”

“I know,” I said quietly.

He seemed to read my thoughts. He leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Now, ’bout the next round of the Duelum.”

I reached over and put my fingers over his lips, quieting him. “Not this night, Delph. This night let’s just …”