Potter's Field

Chapter Six/Part Five: Mud Bath

The swim was unpleasant to say the least.  It was more difficult swimming through mud than Mars had anticipated, especially since he still held his cane in one hand.  The earth was surprisingly warm but slimy as it slid silkily over his arms, across his face, down his back and around his legs.  The higher he got, the colder the mud was, making him shiver more than once since his night shirt offered almost no protection against the slimy earth.  He had to breathe steadily out his nose to keep the mud from penetrating, but accidentally opened his mouth once and got a full mouthed taste of salty, grainy mud. 

He’d never planned on using this particular entrance (or exit) himself.  It was there more for kicks to see other magicians attempt it, fail miserably, and trudge away covered from head to toe in mud.  He’d had many a pleasant afternoon peeking out his second story window watching Silver do just that.  Of course he’d never even considered attempting to make it more comfortable.  Needless to say, he started to regret it…slightly.  At least he knew that Silver had to make this exact journey more than once, though she’d gotten to take the swim in significantly more clothing.        

            When he finally clawed his way out of the ground, Mars was completely covered in mud, gasping for breath, and wondering if it was possible to clean mud from lungs.  Pushing himself up, Mars tried to get his feet under him so he could trudge out of the property line.

            A soft chuckle traveled across the grounds.  Mars stood up immediately, feeling mud dripping off him like water.  The ground around him started to sink downward.  Mars casually started pumping his legs to keep from sinking completely and studied his mud-encrusted nails nonchalantly as if he’d been waiting there all day for the man. 

The man stood, framed in the back doorway, where he leaned casually against the opening, grinning broadly.  “Brown’s a good color for you.”

            Mars itched to swipe away the steady drip of mud down his nose and dig the grime out of his ears, but instead let out a delicate cough to clear his mouth of mud and folded his hands behind his back, nodding his head at the compliment from the man.  “Yes, it is, as is every color.  I’m quite fond of orange at the moment.”  He barely suppressed another more violent cough, trying to hold on to some semblance of dignity.

            The man laughed again, standing upright.  He paused before stepping out of the doorframe into the mud, shuddering as the barrier hit him.  Grimacing, he shook his body as if to get the feeling back into it after it had fallen asleep.  He looked over at Mars, took a few steps, pausing only when Mars took a few steps backwards, toward the cliff behind him.  “Well, I suppose you’ve outsmarted me this time,” he sighed, pouting.    

            Mars nodded cautiously.  “Yes, I suppose I have.”

            “Quite the barrier here.  Impressive.  Don’t really like the sting of it.” He folded his arms and smiled.  “But I hope you don’t think this,” he waved his hand around as if indicating everything that was happening, “will stop me from coming after you.  I’ve been waiting a long time for this.”

            “Yes, I suppose you have.”  Mars smiled back. 

            “Well, then, I’ll be after you in a bit.  Don’t go too far.”  He wiggled his fingers at Mars. 

            Mars narrowed his eyes.  “Perhaps I will.”

            The man giggled.  “Well then, I’ll see you soon.”

            Mars nodded in agreement.  “Yes, see you soon.”  He turned away from the man, and slogged his way over to the edge of the cliff marking the end of his property line.  Glancing back toward the mansion, he called out, “Don’t touch my refrigerator.”

            The man roared with laughter, slapping his knee as he bent double.  Mars grinned before turning back to the cliff.  Taking a moment to breathe in and out, he closed his eyes and jumped over the edge.  Plummeting, he let the wind whistle around him for a second, not even caring about it lifting his night shirt almost completely off, as his magic flooded back into his veins.  He took a moment to revel in the feeling of being at full power again before he dematerialized his third, and hopefully final, time.