Beets and Beats

Monday, 22 Sep 2014
508 N. Union Street
Natchez, MS
2300 hrs, EDT

The Mercedes pulled up to the curb in front of the house. "Go inside," Renny said warmly. "Lonya will be happy to see you. I'll go drop our new friend off in the holding pen." And stay away until after the smell of cabbage has had a chance to dissipate.

"See you when you get back." Irina hauled out and pulled her duffel with her. She paused a moment to sweep the house with a discerning eye. It had been re-painted since she'd seen it last, a lighter color scheme that made it look cheery against faded white and drab blue-grey neighbors. The overgrown bushes and junk trees had been removed and what flourished instead was a fabulous garden that covered the entire front yard. From the porch light, Irina recognized the distinctive heads of cabbage, the red veined foliage of beets and other vegetable laid out in ornamental patterns. As she made her way through the green to the front steps the scents of thyme, oregano, rosemary and dill mixed with earthy soil wafted up to greet her with the first dew of the morning. She gained the porch and rang the bell, keeping a sharp ear for movement inside even as she kept an eye on the outside.

Without warning the door flew open, her arms were pinned in a crushing bear hug, her feet left the floor as Alona picked her bodily up and spun her around.

"Dobro pozhalovat'! Vkhodite, vkhodite, vkhodite!" Welcome! Come in, come in, come in!

Irina wasn't expecting such an effusive greeting but her manners returned with her senses the next instant and she answered back in Russian. "Lonya, dorogaya . Vy pop menya kak vinograd, vy nastol'ko sil'nym." Alona, darling. You'll pop me like a grape, you're so strong. And she had, if Irina had judged it right: the ghoul had gained several inches in height and at least twenty pounds of muscle. In a quieter voice, she said, "Life's treating you well, I see."

"Exercise and Good Eating," Alona replied in English. "Do you like the garden? I've been able to grow all my favorites."

Her English has improved. "It's beautiful, Lonya. Cabbage and ... are those ... Beets, yes? My mother grew them in her community garden back home."

"I've been practicing, with the garden. It's been going well, no?"

Practicing? Why do I get the impression she means more than just gardening? Memory slapped her then: Of course. The Wizard of Vidalia gave her Arete, too. Slow, DiSanti. Slow. Aloud, she said with a genuine smile, "Konyeshna. Basnoslovna." Certainly. Fabulously. She picked up her duffel and asked, "Is that borscht I smell? I haven't had a decent bowl in years." It was a decided verbal nudge but Irina was hungry after a day of multiple connecting flights to muddy her back trail.

"My father's borscht and peppered cabbage and spicy cucumbers and bread. Come in, you must be hungry." Alona's voice had an insistence that implied a lack of hunger would simply not socially acceptable.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Irina laughed and nearly froze on the threshold as the delicious aroma of childhood comfort food washed over her. It damned near made her faint. Irina took that last step inside and dropped her bag by the door. "Bozhe moi, Lonya. I'm home."

Alona squeezed her friend's shoulder. "On sogrevayet moye serdtse." It warms my heart. "Come, you have much eating to do," she said with a grin.

"Yes, Ma'am," Irina said with another laugh. "Please." She shrugged out of her light linen jacket and hung it on the hall tree. No longer concealed by her clothing, her Sig Sauer sat snug at her right hip and Irina kept it on. As a former cop and detective, she would have felt naked without it. As a Hunter, it was merely one weapon in her arsenal. Still, old habits die hard and the last two years had reinforced them by necessity. Irina noted the entrances, exits, and blind spots as she walked through the house, as well as noting anything that could be used in a fight.

Comparing her memories of the house with what met her now, she had to admit it was a vast improvement. The elaborate, Victorian woodwork had been restored and polished to a loving sheen. A table in the front hall sported a huge planter of living (as opposed to cut) plants, partially obscuring a restored mural of a reclining nude woman that Irina didn't recall from her earlier visit. More potted plants and garlands of flowers further decked the front hall and the rooms to either side. The furnishings were an eclectic mix of late 19th to mid 20th century, including the polyphon and a standing console radio. Colors were rich without being garish or dark. The overall effect was comfortable and comforting, rather than fussy or singularly fixed on a style. Irina could feel the stress of the day dumping right out of her.. Sighing, she ran an appreciative eye over everything and wondered if the rest of the house would look and feel the same.

She also decided that Alona had adjusted wonderfully to being Renny's ghoul. No doubt Renny treated her well. It's good to see that some things haven't changed.

The dining room retained the chandelier that Irina remembered from years ago, but the rest of the room had been transformed as the rest of the house, save for the Soviet era poster on one wall. The table and sideboards groaned with food, clearly enough for a dozen.

"Sit. I will serve," Alona said, pulling out a chair for Irina. "We can talk. Would you like tea?"

"God, yes," Irina said with feeling, trying not to stare at the elaborate feast Alona had waiting for them. Everything from zakuski and pirozhski to caviar and blini, from fish in dilled cream sauce to a steaming tureen of borscht, from shashlik to mushrooms, multiple salads and relishes, Alona had spared no effort. Let's not forget the wine and vodka. Dear God, she's thought of everything. "Please tell me that's a samovar?"

"Yes," Alona said, sidling up to it. "It belonged to Renny's Baba Anya. I have tea and glasses and sugar cubes. Would you like tea and cake before food or after?"

"Both, please. Before and after." Irina sat down and beamed at her hostess. "I've been running on empty and my stomach would be very upset with me if I didn't warn it that dinner was coming, but nothing starts and finishes a feast like tea and cake."

Alona busied herself with pouring two glasses of tea. "And have you been good? The last time I saw you it was across a street and through a rifle scope, but you seemed tense."

Irina blew on her tea as she parsed that remark. Ah. Got it. "Boston." It wasn't a question. She smiled over the rim of her glass. "I was. I'm less, now." She sipped her tea and her appreciation of Alona's cooking rose several more notches. It was expensive and aromatic, neither too heavy nor too light for the meal waiting for them. And Irina would have bet her eyeteeth that it wasn't decaffeinated (which she loathed on sheer principle). "But the last time I saw you, you were thin and pale and worried. Not anymore," she added warmly. "You look wonderful, Lonya. Did you do all this? It's amazing." Irina gestured at the house and grounds with a tip of her chin and sipped her tea. Damn, this stuff is good. I hope she stocked a ton of it.

"The tea is Reyneke's", Alona said seriously as she cut and served two slices of glazed almond babka. "He is so picky about it. He'll go to shop and spend an hour going from one bin to another, sniffing and haggling with the clerk about provenance and age like an old woman." She made little sniffing noises. "It really is quite funny."

Irina had privately pegged the New York native as a Toreador, so the description didn't surprise her. The imagery was amusing, however, and Irina breathed a laugh. "I can imagine."

"As to the other parts," Alona continued. "I have been studying. More than I ever did when I was in school and learning things, about magic and wamphirs and such. and also gardening and exercising. It is good life. I am not a ballerina or Anna Kournikova, but it is a good life."

"Magic and Vampires." Irina said over her cup. "Did Renny tell you what I've been doing for the past two years?"

"What he said was that he got you scholarship in vampire hunting university, but I understand it was a religious organization, The Society of Leopold. I have been reading up on them."

"Good. Then I can cut to the chase." Irina put her fork to her babka and took a bite. The first taste almost made her moan with pleasure. It had been literally years since she'd had anything as good. As good as Mom's. And that's sayin' somthin'. It did, actually. Nadia Alexievna Rudiakova was a professional baker by trade and inclination. Irina had grown up eating nothing but the best her mother could make. "But first, this babka would make angels weep. Did you make it?"

Irina forked up another mouthful and savored it as she waited for Alona's response.

Alona looked away, her tanned skin noticeably reddening. "Yes, but it was an easy recipe. What of your training? Can you really make your own holy water now?"

"It always pays to be prepared," Irina said. Not a lie but not entirely forthcoming either. "As for the training," she sighed. "It nearly killed me but I managed to survive it."

"Making holy water?"

"Among other things." Irina was reluctant go to into details. What she had learned from the Leopolds was supposed to be secret, as was their Society, and it was an added layer of protection against a hostile world. For all they were fighting on the side of the angels against the supernatural, she'd instinctively known that it wasn't wise to admit it. Popular geek genres notwithstanding, the world at large didn't like its definition of reality challenged and one disturbed it at one's mortal peril.

As a mortal, Irina didn't intend to throw her life away on chatter over tea and cake. Not that she believed that Alona would betray her to a mundane. Rather, knowledge was dangerous and would make Alona a target. Until Irina ascertained how secure Alona was, she had to be careful about what she revealed.

Stick with a topic she already knows.

"Migraines, for one, are hideously inconsiderate in their timing. One struck me down at a particularly delicate point in my training and I nearly ended up killing myself and my team. One of my teammates recovered fast enough to save our asses but after that, I was put on medical probation until their docs could come up with a regimen that would keep them under control."

"Oh, I can help with migraines," Alona said, making her way over to a large soup tureen: light blue and white, with little vignettes of country life painted on it. She lifted the lid and the rich smells of beets wafted out. "Taste."

"Oh da, pazhalusta," Irina said, slipping into the Russian language easily. "Spasiba."

"Good Borscht cures all ills." Alona said as she filled a bowl for Irina. "But seriously, next time you have one, let me know." Alona smiled enigmatically. "I might be able to help."

"Magic?" Irina asked as she put it all together: the garden, the cooking, the Arete, and Alona's statement she'd been practicing it. "I won't say no. Sometimes I can't take the time out to pray."

"Yes," Alona said with a slightly more confident smile. "Magic. Did you know beets are magic?"

Irina spooned up a bit of the borscht and as with the babka, the sheer perfection of the soup made her eyelids flutter with pleasure. When she recovered, Irina shook her head, her spoon already halfway to her lips again. "No, I didn't. But if any could be, they would be yours. This soup, Alona, is incredible."

"No, I am serious," Alona said her slight exasperation bring her accent to the fore. "Well, mostly serious. Also try the spicy pickles."

"I was being serious." Irina tried the pickles and had to give herself a moment to enjoy them. "You'll find I usually am, Alona."

Alona nodded, conceding the point, and started serving the dinner in earnest. Irina let the matter lie and applied herself to the food. If magic had anything to do with how wonderful it was, Irina was determined not to let it bother her. She had faith that nothing inimical lay in it. Alona wasn't the sort to poison an adversary. No. She was more straightforward. A sniper bullet between the eyes was more her style. So Irina relaxed and enjoyed her meal, giving the food her complete attention. It had earned that respect.

Once she'd polished off her soup, Irina was served salad and zakuski. Perhaps not quite the proper order of courses in the traditional sense but Irina didn't give it a second's thought. The food was amazing and Irina had to pace herself so as not to fill up too soon. After the zakuski and blini and sour cream and caviar and wine, the beef dish was served next, followed by a vegetable course, followed by the fish which gave way in turn to another vegetable course. And that's before Alona serves dessert.

"So, do you have plans, now that you are here? Renny always claims to have plans, but I think he specializes in making things up as he goes along."

"Technically, it's a valid claim if he always has plans to make it up as he goes along," Irina said, finally sitting back from the table with a satisfied sigh. Under other circumstances, the amount she'd eaten would lay heavily on her. Tonight, she was full but unburdened by it. More of Alona's magic, perhaps. It's a pity she's got only Renny. She's got no one to lavish this food on."My plans are a little less complicated. I'm here to protect Natchez and everyone in it against supernaturals that mean harm. Of course, how one defines the harmful party is the tricky part."

"So, you new Sheriff in town?" Alona tipped her head at Irina, her accent coming strongly now through her skepticism.

"In a manner of speaking." Irina took up her tea and sipped it, thinking how to say it. "I suspect Eliza doesn't want an official Sheriff as it requires giving up some of her current power to the office. But if she had someone she could order to do her bidding and if that bidding matched the duties of a Sheriff, well …." Irina shrugged a minute shrug. "And if I'm not officially a Sheriff, then I'm not required to officially answer to her in that capacity either. The plausible deniability works both ways. Of course, that makes it easier for her to hang me out to dry if she feels it necessary. We'll see how it goes."

Irina cut a look at Alona over the rim of her cup.

"You know what it's like to protect someone at all costs," she continued. "To care enough to do that. So do I, but my obligations are cast a little wider."

"I protect him and he protects me," Alona said under her breath. "Would you like Cognac and Cigars to finish dinner? Renny keeps them in the Study, well what he calls 'the Study'. I think it is just spare bedroom where he keeps his books."

"And I protect my friends, Alona." Irina said, her tone making her words a solemn vow. As a homicide detective in her previous life, she was an ardent advocate for the dead. That she should now be an advocate for the Undead under the guise of their worst enemy was an irony that hadn't escaped her. Not one bit. Nevertheless … "You are all that make my life on this earth worthwhile. Without that purpose, I would have died a long time ago." She held Alona's gaze until she was sure the words had sunk in. Then: "Cognac and Cigars in the Study would be lovely. Thank you. I'd like that."

HOW TO SPEAK RUSSIAN

Dobro pozhalovat'! Vkhodite, vkhodite, vkhodite! = Добро пожаловать! Входите, входите, входите! = Welcome! Come in, come in, come in! Sound clip

Alena, dorogaya . Vy pop menya kak vinograd, vy nastol'ko sil'nym." = Алена, дорогая. Вы поп меня как виноград, вы настолько сильным. =Alona, darling. You'll pop me like a grape, you're so strong." Sound clip

Konechno = Конечно = Certainly Sound clip

Basnoslovno = Баснословно = Fabulously Sound clip

Bozhe moi = Боже мой! = Bozhe moy = Good god!/My God! Sound clip

On sogrevayet moye serdtse = Он согревает мое сердце = It warms my heart Sound clip

Reyneke = Рейнеке = Reynard (Used here as an affectionate nickname)Sound clip

Oh, da. Spasiba. = О, да. Спасибо. = Oh, yes. Thank you Sound clip

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