Natty nodded, eyes on Gabe. Then he said the very words I did not want to hear, “Gump’s got her.”
“What. The fuck. Is going on?” Gabe demanded, looking at the two of us. “What is a Gump? What realm? What is this thing?”
“Natty, this is my boyfriend, Gabe.”
“Nice to meet you,” Natty said, holding out a paw that Gabe just looked at, eyes wide, taking in the rough pads and long curved claws.
“And what is a Natty?” Gabe said turning to me. “And why aren’t you surprised to see something that looks like a mutated kangaroo in your fucking storeroom?”
“What’s a kangaroo?” Natty asked, scratching at his neck. “Is it some kind of warrior?”
“Huh, he does look like those kangaroo things from Tank Girl,” I said before I noticed Gabe’s eyes narrowing. “Natty is a being from another realm, another world. My grandmother was a fairly proficient witch and she created an inter-dimensional portal in this storeroom. One day, someone knocked on it and when we opened it, we saw it was Natty. He used to sell supplies to my Nan.”
I watched Gabe start to say something, only to stop, frown even more and then have another go at least a couple of times. Finally, he straightened up and looked me square in the eye. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“At what point in a relationship do you share this kind of thing? I’ll have to consult my Emily Post. Look, I watch a lot of movies when people start telling people about this kind of shit, it gets out. The CIA, the FBI, they all descend and take over and start doing anal probes. That didn’t sound like too much fun, so we kept it quiet.”
“When?”
“A month or so ago. Merlin was helping us learn how to use it and Tess, obviously, decided to put her learning into practice."
"Merlin? Don't you mean Mervin? That guy who was helping the other bloke with the mental illness?"
"No, I mean Merlin," I said, looking straight into his eyes, resisting the urge to pull away from his grey stare. "And that guy didn’t have a mental illness."
"So, that guy was really King Arthur? And Mervin was what, Merlin the magician? Are you kidding me with this shit?"
I shrugged. "You're sharing a room with a mutant kangaroo and you're questioning that?"
"What is a kangaroo?" Natty demanded, throwing his hands in the air. “And how do they get mutated?"
Gabe seemed to re-see Natty, flinching when he saw his claws flex. "Fuck. Fuck!"
"You can see why I didn't want to tell you. Natty, who is this Gump? What will he do to Tess?"
"I think he's going to sell her."
"Ash? Ash! What are you doing?"
"Looking for supplies," I said, opening cupboard after cupboard. I found a knife and an old packet of nuts. I placed them in a pile. We had a million magical items, but I had no idea what to do with them.
"You're going after her," Gabe said.
"Have to. Natty, what’s something useful to take to your world?” I asked.
"Ah–"
"Don't answer that. You don’t know what or who is on the other side of that portal. You don’t know what passes for a weapon, who this Gump guy is, or what the hell to do about it,” Gabe said.
“Swords, knives,” Natty said.
"What?"
"We usually use blades as weapons."
"Well, I don’t have one of those," I said, "but I'm not leaving my sister to the tender mercies of a guy called Gump. I'
ll ring Jez, sort out access to the shop and be back when I can."