The crimson witch

ride?”
        “Looks that way.”
        Kaliglia grumbled, then raised his head. He opened the great, cavernous mouth and bellowed at the top of his stentorian voice, straight at the running mothers. The blast shook the ground and whined out like a rusty fire siren and the noise from an avalanche mixed together. In the space of three feet, every one of the advancing mothers turned and ran wildly back toward the equipment, to the gate, and out of the park.
        Jake laughed.
        So did the children.
        And Kaliglia.
        They started the ride again, taking three children at once. There was the air of a carnival about the whole thing, and Jake realized Kaliglia would have made a prize catch for any circus. He would have to safeguard against that. Now, though, he relaxed and enjoyed the warm air, the bright sky, and the laughter of the children. Until the police came…
        They drove right through the gates of the park in the two cars, sirens going, red dome lights flashing. They roared up the graveled lane through the playground area and turned into the field where Kaliglia was giving rides. Both cars braked at the same moment, spewing dirt and stones and grass into the air over each other. The doors burst open, and the city police got out.
        “What are those things?” Cheryn asked, amazed.
        “Police.”
        “No, no. The things they were in.”
        “Automobiles. Machines. You've lost track of them in your worldline. They're about as common as dragons are in your own world.”
        “I must see how one works,” she said.
        “You'll get your chance.”
        The police rushed up the hill, guns drawn, and stopped behind Jake and Cheryn. They stood, watching the great beast carry the children up the hill-unable to speak. Finally, one of them, a burly man with shoulders as wide and straight as a heavy plank, said, “Hey you!”
        Jake turned to him. “Me?”
        “Yeah. What's going on here?”
        “We're giving the children rides on our dragon,” Jake said, savoring the slapstick situation for all it was worth.
        “Dragon,” the cop said. It wasn't a question and hardly a statement. It came out between his lips somewhat like a sigh, somewhat like a gasp.
        “Dragon,” Jake repeated, grinning.
        “Well, what's a dragon doing here?”
        “Giving the children rides.”
        Suddenly the burly policeman grabbed Jake by the shirt and twisted him around, lifting him nearly off the ground. “I don't have to take smart talk from hippies!” the cop snapped. “Now you come across with some answers quick!” Jake coughed, sucked in breath. The cop shook him harshly until his hair flew all about his head and his walnut shell necklace clattered wildly. “Quick, I said!”
        Abruptly, the cop's fingers let go of Jake's shirt and turned on the cop's own uniform. They laced themselves in his shirt and rugged. In another second, he was hanging in the air as if he had lifted himself with his own hands. His hands shook him. One of them left go of his shirt and slapped his face.
        “Hey! Hey!” the cop shouted.
        The other policemen had drawn their guns.
        Cheryn dropped the lead officer, turned on the others. In a moment, they were all hanging in the air, all held by their own hands. Then, in perfect unison, each officer began to slap his own face, helpless against Cheryn's psi powers. She gave each one a good shaking up, then dropped them as she had the first. All four turned and ran, leaped into the cars. The cars started, turned with a squeal of wheels, and roared out of the park, some of the doors still hanging open. When they hit the street, their sirens were going.
        “No more of that,” Jake said.
        “What?” she asked innocently.
        “No more Talent. You'll have to conceal it here. If you use it, they'll make a lab specimen out of you.”
        “But they-”
        “No buts, wife.”
        “I'm not your wife, yet.”
        “You will be. And I don't want you using your Talent unless I tell you to. Understood?”
        She sulked a moment. Then: “Okay. Understood. Yes, chief.”
        He grabbed her, slapped her behind, hugged her to him. They stood watching the children and the dragon. Kaliglia was having a tremendous time, perhaps better than the kids. He frolicked up and down the hill. Had he been able, he would have stood on his head to please them. For a time,