Practical Demonkeeping

call any of the others?”
    “No. I’ll do it. You just be at the caves as soon as you can after two.”
    “Okay, fine, I’ll be there.”
    “And Jenny”—Rachel’s voice had lowered an octave—“don’t tell anyone where you are going.” Rachel hung up.
    Jennifer immediately dialed her home phone and got the answering machine. “Travis, if you’re there, pick up.” She waited. He was probably still sleeping. “I’m going to be a little late. I’ll be home later this afternoon.” She almost said, “I love you,” but decided not to. She pushed the thought out of her mind. “Bye,” she said, and hung up.
    Now, if she could only avoid Robert until she could think of a way to destroy his hope for their reconciliation. Returning to the floor of the cafe, she realized that somewhere along the way her feeling of well-being had vanished and she felt very tired.

31
GOOD GUYS
    Augustus Brine, Travis, and Gian Hen Gian were squeezed into the seat of Brine’s pickup. As they approached Effrom and Amanda’s house, they spotted a beige Dodge parked in the driveway.
    “Do you know what kind of car they drive?” Travis asked.
    Brine was slowing down. “An old Ford, I think.”
    “Don’t slow down. Keep going,” Travis said.
    “But why?”
    “I’d bet anything that Dodge is a police car. There’s a whip antenna pinned down on the back.”
    “So what? You haven’t done anything illegal.” Brine wanted to get it over with and get some sleep.
    “Keep going. I don’t want to answer a lot of questions. We don’t know what Catch has been doing. We can come back later, after the police leave.”
    The Djinn said, “He has a point, Augustus Brine.”
    “All right.” Brine gunned the pickup and sped by.
    In a few minutes they were sitting in Jenny’s kitchen listening to the answering machine. They had gone in the back way to avoid the burnt, doughy mess in the front yard.
    “Well,” Travis said, resetting the machine, “that buys us a little time before we have to explain it to Jenny.”
    “Do you think Catch will come back here?” Brine asked.
    “I hope so,” Travis said.
    “Can’t you concentrate your will on bringing him back until we can find out if Amanda still has the candlesticks?”
    “I’ve been trying. I don’t understand this much more than you do.”
    “Well, I need a drink,” Brine said. “Is there anything in the house?”
    “I doubt it. Jenny said she couldn’t keep anything in the house or her husband would drink it. She drank all the wine last night.”
    “Even some cooking sherry would be fine,” Brine said, feeling a little sleazy as he spoke.
    Travis began going through the cupboards.
    “Should you find a small quantity of salt, I would be most grateful,” the Djinn said.
    Travis found a box of salt among the spices and was handing it to the Djinn when the phone rang.
    They all froze and listened as the machine played Jenny’s outgoing message. After the beep there was a pause, then a woman’s voice. “Travis, pick up.” It was not Jenny.
    Travis looked to Brine. “No one knows I’m here.”
    “They do now. Pick it up.”
    Travis picked up the phone, and the answering machine clicked off.
    “This is Travis.”
    Brine watched the color drain out of the demonkeeper’s face as he listened. “Is she all right?” Travis said into the phone. “Let me talk to her. Who are you? Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”
    Brine couldn’t imagine what was going on in the conversation.
    Suddenly Travis screamed into the phone, “He’s not an Earth spirit—he’s a demon. How can you be so stupid?”
    Travis listened for a moment more, then looked at Augustus Brine and covered the receiver with his hand. “Do you know where there are some caves to the north of town?”
    “Yes,” Brine said, “the old mushroom farm.”
    Travis spoke into the phone, “Yes, I can find it. I’ll be there at four.” He sat down hard on one of the kitchen chairs and let the phone fall into its cradle.
    “What’s going on?” Brine demanded.
    Travis was shaking his head. “Some woman is holding Jennifer and Amanda and her husband hostage. Catch is with her and she has the candlesticks. And you were right, there are three invocations.”
    “I don’t understand,” Brine said. “What does she want?”
    “She thinks that Catch is some kind of benevolent Earth spirit. She wants his power.”
    “Humans are so ignorant,” the Djinn said.
    “But what does she