Jules spread his latest acquisition over the worktable in Axelles attic room.
"What year is that?" Daedalus asked.
Jules checked. "Nineteen-ten."
This was painstaking, often frustrating work, Jules thought. But perhaps they were making slow progress.
"Look" Jules said, tracing a ringer down the Atchafalaya River. "It’s different here, and here."
Daedalus nodded. "It must have jumped its banks between the time this map was drawn and the one from… 1903…
"Lets get a computer up here so we can double-check hurricane dates, floods, things like that" Jules said.
Daedalus gave him that patient-father look he hated. 'We can't have a computer up here," he said, just as Jules remembered that electrical appliances wreaked havoc with magickal fields.
"Oh yeah" he said, irritated that he hadn't thought of that. "Its just a pain to run up and down those stairs every time we need to check something. And that girl is on it a lot."
Daedalus glanced at him, keeping his finger on a map. "Is Axelle monitoring her?"
Jules shrugged. 'I don't know."
He heard Daedalus sigh as though once again, he himself had to do everything, had to make sure everything was being done right, done his way. Jules clenched his jaw. He was getting fed up with Daedaluss attitude Daedalus wasn't the mayor, after all. They were all equal in the Treize, right? Wasn't that what they had agreed? So why was Daedalus issuing orders-find this, get that go look up such-and-such? And Jules knew he wasn't the only one whose nerves Daedalus was stepping on.
Richard came in, holding a bottle of beer. Jules tried not to glance at his watch but couldn't help it. And of course Richard saw him.
"Hey, its five o'clock somewhere" he said, popping the top. He took a deep drink, then breathed a contented sigh, "Now that's a beer," he said, shaking his hair back. "Thank God for microbreweries. Have you tried this Turbodog?"
"I don't drink," Jules said stiffly, moving to the bookcase and selecting a thick volume with a cracked leather binding.
"It does dull your magick, Riche," Daedalus said mildly, still poring over the maps.
"I'll cross that bridge when we come to it? Richard said, seating himself on a stool by the worktable. One knee poked through the huge rip in his jeans. "We don't seem to be close to needing my magick, such as it is."
"It won't be long" Jules said. "We're working on the maps. We're getting the rite into shape, practically everyone is here-we each have a role to perform, and we're doing it" Unconsciously he looked at Daedalus, and the other man met his eyes. Some roles were more challenging than others.
"Practically," Richard said, seizing on the word. "We're missing Claire, Marcel, Ouida, and who else?"
"Ouida's on her way," said Daedalus, 'As are Manon and Sophie, I believe. We're still working on Claire and Marcel."
Richard gave a short laugh.'Good luck. So we'll have the map, the rite, the water, the wood-and a full Treize, yes?"
Daedalus straightened and smiled at him. "That's right. This is the closest we've ever come. Nothing will go wrong-we wont let it,"
Richard nodded and took another swig from his bottle. Jules didn't look up from the book, pretending to scan the old-fashioned French words. He didn't share Daedalus's optimism. There were too many variables- too many things that could go wrong. And time was running out.