Transports & Trouble

By Sara Tiger Ryan

A holiday transport is missing. The transport wizard happens to be one of the Pretty Babe cross-dressers in town, so they hire Miss Kitty's Private Spy Agency in hopes that this time, unlike previous times of missing transports, the transport wizard can be found. Even better would be finding the wizard and all his passengers.

Dusty and Cady, Miss Kitty's two People Seekers, Find the transport wizard, Yaddy Rose, amazingly still alive, so amid snowstorms, buying gifts, and making winter holiday plans, Miss Kitty's, with the help of their friends, go searching...and finds far more trouble than any of them expect.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sara Tiger Ryan
• Release date: Jan 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005755409

Sara Tiger Ryan

Sara Tiger Ryan was born in New Hampshire. She now lives in Florida with her 2 cats. Make that minus one charming boy cat, add in a Mama cat who brought me 5 kittens--all of them adorable! Sara started writing novels in 1973 in high school study hall and hasn't stopped (for long) yet. She started out writing fantasy and added mystery. She also writes metaphysical non-fiction. Ryan was active in the small press in the mid 90's, and had her own 'zine, Star Triad.

Book preview

Transports

&

Troubles

Miss Kitty Mystery 16

Sara Tiger Ryan

All characters herein are entirely fictional.

Author's Note:

Herm is short for hermaphrodite.

All the work herein is copyright Sara Tiger Ryan, Tiger Moon Press. Smashwords Ebook Edition, December 2020.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting this author's work.

Table Of Contents

1, A Missing Transport

2, Another Pretty Babe

3, Smears of Magic

4, More Magic Residue

5, Three Little Towns

6, A Relay of Legend

7, A Cross-dressing Accountant

8, The Station Owner

9, Yaddy’s Mum

10, Suspicious Magic

11, Transport Lies

12, An Irrtating Mediation

13, To The Dogs

14, Fiery News

15, Holiday Notions

Appendices

Cast of Characters

Map of Conyor Ness

Map of Vantage

About Sara

Other Books by Sara

All My Miss Kitty Mysteries

Miss Kitty Mystery 17, Songs & Secrets, first chapter

Chapter 1

A Missing Transport

AngelDancingday

As she came through her suite’s side door into Miss Kitty’s Private Spy Agency’s waiting room, Sazzy froze mid yawn. She could read the headline in today’s Crier from across the room: ‘Early Holiday Transport Lost’. Two of her partners had relatives transporting in for the holidays, so did her best friend Merriweather. Her older brother and his family often came this early so they could attend the Royal Ice Follies.

Which transport? she asked Evan, their bookbinder renter, who held the scroll, reading the other side.

The early morning one in from Dancing Ghost. No one arrived, not even the transporter. Dancing Ghost said they didn’t have trouble with any other transport and that that one left on time with no difficulty. There were seven people in the transport, plus the transporter. I thought transporters only took a maximum of five at a time.

She knew a transporter to ask. Sazzy took a breath and her foresight blinded her with a horrifying image of her transport friend being torn apart by roiling gray nothingness. She asked with trepidation, Who? Who was the transporter? Except her foresight had just told her. Besides, she remembered Yaddy speaking of having trouble with a transport early last spring. What had he said? That it had felt as if someone had tried to steal it. His employers hadn’t believed him. So he probably hadn’t mentioned any further problems.

He had gotten a shaman journey on it, though, to get a firmer control of his magic.

They are withholding names until the next of kin are notified, Evan said.

The transporter doesn’t have any next of kin; he’s an orphan.

Evan glanced up and blinked at her.

Foresight, she answered. Or, in this case, she supposed past-sight.

The foyer door snapped open. Sharp, heeled footsteps crossed the foyer. Certain who would be coming through their waiting room door, Sazzy set her cup of kasha on their ex-receptionist’s desk and took a step forward.

Jack Carter, in his usual alternate persona of Miss Kissana, wearing a swirly forest green and scarlet gown, swept into the room looking far less put together than Sazzy had ever seen him. He also looked as if someone had kicked him in the heart. Tears had streaked his eye makeup into black smudges under his eyes.

Even though she had never particularly liked him, Sazzy crossed the room and wrapped him in a hug.

You’re going to unman me, he said shakily and ducked his head briefly to her shoulder.

I remembered Yaddy saying he thought someone had tried to steal his transport last spring.

He told his employers once more, then stopped. He didn’t dare tell them again in case they would fire him. No other transporters admitted to having any problem.

Do you think they did?

I don’t know any of them, only Yaddy. He’s shy and easily put off. If someone hadn’t wanted to answer, they could have just looked at him wrong and he would have stopped asking. Jack backed away and avoided her gaze. I actually thought Dusty wouldn’t mind taking the case and doing a Seek on the wild chance that everyone is wrong and Yaddy can be found.

Dusty should be here in a half wizardmark, if you can wait. She paused. If you haven’t eaten, you can join us for breakfast.

What have I told you about being too nice? he answered with a scrid of his usual brash attitude.

Sazzy isn’t too nice, Evan put in, she just cares about people.

I’m embarrassed to death, Jack answered, turning back-to Evan. Can I use your necessary to mop up, Miss Sazzy Kim, private spy?

She pointed toward it, then ducked out into the foyer and hung the plaque on the outside door that warned Dusty they already had a client.

Before Jack came back out of the necessary, Dusty entered the waiting room with his arm around his handfasted’s shoulders. Saffie tilted his head in greeting. Dusty glanced at her questioningly. She nodded toward Evan, who held the Crier up.

Scrappy won’t be coming in till late, Dusty said, speaking of his youngest brother. He let go of Saffie’s shoulders and took the Crier from Evan. Saffie followed and read over Dusty’s shoulder.

A bunch of mine usually come in Ice Follies week, Saffie said. I don’t remember anyone due in today, though.

Dusty glanced at her. What about your relatives?

Jack—Miss Kissana is here, Sazzy said instead of answering.

Yaddy was the transporter? But he’s... Dusty paused and jumped to the same conclusion she had, Maybe he didn’t imagine someone trying to steal his transport before. He laid a hand on the back of the couch, closed his eyes, and tranced. Saffie slid the Crier from beneath Dusty’s hand, sat on the couch, and continued reading.

Sazzy watched Dusty and waited for the verdict of his Seek, even though she had never heard of a lost transport being recovered.

Dusty frowned slightly and opened his eyes. I’m not even getting a glimmer of him. Which also means not the uncomfortable feeling I’ve started getting if the person I’m Seeking is dead.

A scrid of hope, Kissana-Jack said from the hallway.

Cady will be in later, we’ll both try. He can tell if a person is behind magic. He has a longer range than I do.

Can the girls hire you to keep looking?

I would keep looking anyway.

To cover expenses then.

That works.

Jack handed her two silver Cousins, then focused on her new truth-sensing pendent. Is that one of the infamous counterfeit coins?

It was a gift from the previous head of the Lyy’s mint.

A gold grande as a pendent. Different.

It’s a truth-sensing pendent.

I don’t lie all that much anyway.

The outside door opened and firm bootsteps crossed the foyer.

Here’s Cady, Dusty said, then greeted the short, dark-haired ex-guard, now their sometimes branch office partner, with, We have a combined case to start off our week.

Cady shot Jack as an uncomfortable a look as Sazzy supposed she usually did, but he nodded. Everyone is talking about a transport gone bad. Was it your friend’s? The people I’ve found that were most likely his folks got lost in a transport, too.

Jack stiffened.

Give Yaddy a Seek, Legend boy, Dusty prompted lightly, and see if you can Find him, even so.

Cady went into a short trance, but didn’t fade, meaning he wasn’t Seeking from the Space Continuum, which would give him the most range. Cady dropped his Seek, glanced at Kissana-Jack and away and said, He isn’t dead. That’s all I can tell right now. I need to eat.

Sinister Magic, their black and white cat, leapt onto the couch back and grabbed Cady’s hand with sheathed claws. Cady snatched away with a growl.

Longwish, Dusty chided, a warning not to mistreat their cats.

I had dinner with my folks’ last night, the bad mood is a carry over. He gave Sinister a cursory stroke. Miz Yallow said she would be a few minutes late with breakfast, I left Paff there helping. He started towards the hallway that led to the meeting room where they usually ate.

Dusty made a motion for Kissana-Jack to precede him down the hall, then asked Cady, What about Brollie? naming Edgy Yallow’s foster boy, who had been helping the old woman make their meals lately.

He’s down with a cold. Paff says half his station is, too, since the weather turned. Cady shot Kissana-Jack a quick look over his shoulder. I’ll give it another shot after I eat.

I’ve never heard of anyone recovering a transport either, Kissana-Jack answered. But we girls figured we had to try.

Does Yaddy have enemies? Cady asked.

Yaddy? He’s the most agreeable of the lot of us. But I suppose you are asking if us girls do. No more than the people like you who are uncomfortable with us. Kissana-Jack paused. If you ask about jealous fellow transport wizards, now, I’d have to say a resounding yes. I can hear them chortling now and saying, ‘It serves him right, he thinks so much of himself.’ Which he doesn’t, but they are too envious to see that.

They took their usual places around the meeting room table. Kissana-Jack slid into one of the several empty seats. Sinister leapt onto the table and tucked himself in Dusty’s arms. Dusty hugged the cat and said not to bother about ’old, grumpy Cady’.

Sazzy pulled their map of the country over in front of her, located the town of Dancing Ghost, and drew a straight line with her finger to Vantage. If Yaddy had fallen out of his transport, he and his passengers would be somewhere along that line. Would they fall out into this world or stay in his magic?

My guess is: either, Cady said. You might ask your Relay friends. I think transport magic is closer to theirs than mine.

If we have transport money, Dusty said, I can travel from here to Dancing Ghost and try Seeking as I go.

She and Saffie made unhappy noises. Sazzy said, Why don’t you use Filtch and Flit? They would be more agreeable to experimenting.

Filtch might be agreeable to experimenting, but Flit certainly isn’t, Dusty corrected.

Paff, their dark-curly-haired, city guard friend, interrupted by bringing in breakfast. As usual, he filled plates for their three cats first. Before Paff finished serving the rest of them, Thane, their creature-Seeker and third partner, entered.

Thane glanced around the table before sitting and asking, It wasn’t Yaddy’s transport, was it?

Life is a bitch and then it gets worse, Kissana-Jack answered without looking up from eating.

Does someone need to take care of his cat while he’s gone?

You just elected yourself, Thane-my-sweet.

Sweet I am not. Disgruntled, ready to leave town screaming—

Family? Saffie interrupted sympathetically.

All right, I’ll stop moaning. You’re right, mine aren’t as bad as yours. My only problem is that they are all converging on the manor here for the holidays, hoping to hear Ally and I have become model gentlemen since our rescue from the underside of the city.

Watch who you’re calling the underside, Kissana-Jack objected lightly.

You and the girls aren’t the underside, you’re the unmentionables, Thane returned with a laugh.

Cady pushed his empty plate toward the center of the table, closed his eyes, and faded a bit.

A moment later, he had faded entirely, then his hand came out of nowhere and waggled at Dusty...who stared a long moment, before taking hold. The hand pulled Dusty into nowhere.

No wonder people are leery of the Races, Saffie said. That’s creepy.

A quarter wizardmark later, Cady returned. Without Dusty.

Saffie straightened.

Cady waved him back down. He stayed in Wing Way to try to find out if anyone felt any disturbance in the Green World. We found the largest smear of residue in the Continuum there.

Kissana-Jack drew a sharp breath.

Cady said quickly, Neither Dusty nor I Find your friend dead yet.

Yet?

Cady waved for Jack to calm down and addressed her. Dusty plans to take a Jump Hunter team back after he’s checked the area. Cady pulled the map over and pointed. We found magic disturbances here and here, meaning to me, your friend was trying to save his transport starting right around Karizan. Cady checked Jack, then added, If he was trying to save his transport, he was still alive. If he saved his transport and lived, there wouldn’t be any more disturbances. Cady helped himself to seconds. I’ll check more later.

Later, Jack echoed.

Cady shot him an irritated look. I’m not used to taking anyone with me; I have to recover my magic before I try again.

Kissana, do you have a key to your friend’s flat? Thane asked. I’ll go by and talk to his cat, and feed it.

One of us should take it in while he’s gone.

Are you volunteering? I thought you wanted me to take it.

Better you, than me. I’m almost never home. Yes, I’ll let you in his place, if you have time now. It’s on my way to work. Even though I won’t get much work done today, I should still be able to keep Prancy from alienating any more of our customers. Kissana-Jack pushed to his feet and glanced at her.

If you come by tonight, we might know more, she answered. She paused. If you or your friends remember anything more about the transport he felt someone tried to steal, let me or Dusty know.

You were there when he was talking about it that night.

But she’d been too worried and upset over Dusty then, and too focused on finding Dusty’s poisoner.

Kissana-Jack and Thane left. Sazzy went to her desk and started a new folder for the case-even though it was really Dusty’s case. She got one of his copies of the Spymaster’s report pages and began filling it in.

She didn’t have any big cases right now, only a find-my-lost-jewelry case. . .upon which she was waiting for a sketch of the piece from the jeweler to Seek by.

On Yaddy’s case, they might have to go to Dancing Ghost, where the transport had originated. One of the other transporters there might have been jealous enough to have thrown Yaddy’s transport off. Right, she had never read the whole article. Sazzy jumped up and got the Crier from Evan.

The Crier had concentrated on how this would affect the holiday transports and mentioned that most of today’s passengers were coming in for the Ice Follies and the Queen’s Ice Palace Ball tomorrow evening.

At end of reading, she used the Crier article to fill in some of the Spymaster’s sheet and cited the source.

Midway, Yalarra Witshard, from the Cousin Rag office in their back rooms, peered through the hall doorway. Evan says you know the transporter that died.

Neither Dusty nor Cady Found him dead when they Sought this morning.

Oh! I was just assuming. I’ve never heard of a transport being recovered-not that the transport station will even admit that they’ve ever lost one before.

Making her think that she ought to talk to the transport station people and see if anyone there had listened to Yaddy about someone trying to steal his transport. It hadn’t sounded like it talking to Yaddy that time or Kissana-Jack this morning.

Sazz?

Sorry, Miss Kitty’s has taken on the case, I was thinking about it.

Tris thought we might be able to go with the human interest aspect, since the Crier already covered it as the biggest catastrophe of the year.

Yaddy is one of the Pretty Babes. He has a cat that would be an orphan if we can’t find him.

You’re going to look for the transport? It sounded as if the transport station wasn’t even going to try. They made it sound impossible.

I have to talk to Dusty about how much you can print. And to our client about the same. She paused, then offered, Yaddy is one of the Chance Fair kidnappings, if you can use that.

Can we report your company is looking?

Dusty will be back later this afternoon, you can ask him.

Yalarra sighed and backed out of the doorway. I’ll tell Tris. Yalarra took a step down the hall and came back. Maybe I’ll write something up and let Dusty edit out anything he doesn’t want us to say when he comes in. Let him know.

Sazzy waved her fingers in acknowledgement and Yalarra left. Sazzy returned her attention to filling out the crime sheet, then considered what she could do on the case while waiting for Dusty to get back. The transport manager probably wouldn’t want to talk to her, but what he said passing her off might give her a clue. She might be able to pick up gossip at the station. She might be able to corner another transport wizard and talk to them.

Knots of obviously upset and uneasy people milled around the transport station’s front room, with one main clump of distraught and desperate sounding people in the middle, and the Crier writer Sojo asking questions of the distraught people and the transport station usher in the group. The usher, an older man, looked supremely irritated.

My daughter was supposed to come in this morning, one distressed women said. Is she one of those missing? I have the right to know!

We are not releasing the passenger list until the guards have time to notify the next of kin, the usher said. He paused, then added, If you haven’t been notified, you aren’t one of the next of kin.

If I’m not my daughter’s next of kin, I don’t know who is!

What are you doing to try to find the missing transport? an elderly man demanded.

There isn’t anything to find, sir, the usher said, and Sazzy winced. The transport station obviously needed a better liaison to the public.

Nothing to find? the woman shrieked. Nothing to find! You’re talking about my daughter here! You had better be doing something or you’ll hear about it!

A transport wizard takes his or her passengers into his or her magic, ma’am. We have no way to get into another wizard’s magic-

The woman stared a moment, then fainted. One of the men caught her and lowered her to the floor.

If you’re here about a transport, a girl in station livery said at Sazzy’s elbow, please proceed to the ticketing desk. If you are here to meet someone, we are using the left hand hall for arrivals today. If you are here to gawk, please leave.

I need to talk to the station manager.

Sorry, he’s with the city guards.

Are they arresting him? a young, ash-haired woman asked from behind the female station usher.

No, of course not. It isn’t his fault the transport wizard failed.

Is this something that happens often? Sojo asked, coming up on Sazzy’s other side.

Of course not. We have no record of it happening before.

Sojo snorted. Your station lost a transport two years ago during the holidays. Everything I read about it said it was because your manager overbooked his wizards. Would he be doing that again?

Of course not.

Sojo shook his head. Try harder.

Sazzy held up her truth-sensing pendant, which had lit from the strength of the girl’s lie.

I need one of those, Sojo said, then speared the girl with a pointed look. The station girl backed away and scurried behind the ticket counter.

Did they ever find anyone from that transport two years ago? the woman, who feared for her daughter whispered. She now sat fanning herself on the nearest bench.

Sojo turned to the woman. I’m sorry, ma’am, it appears no one even looked. But, Miss Kim of Miss Kitty’s Private Spy Agency is here, so perhaps they are looking into this one. His words were a question.

Sazzy took a step back.

The older male usher cleared his throat warningly.

Sazzy shot him a look and said, We’ve been hired to look into the matter, but not by the transport station.

If you find anything, do you let people know? the woman asked.

Mama, a girl said from behind the woman. "What are you