Loyalty...

There was no loyalty anymore. That’s what she was thinking as she worked to pack up her mother’s things. Everyone who had worked for her had disappeared. Run off really. She should have help packing up the office, but instead it was just her here in an empty building going through literal decades of paperwork.

She knew she shouldn’t blame them. After all they were all going to need to find a new place of employment. There was no way they would think she was planning on taking over the family business. She hated politics. Hated it. But still, they should have shown a little more loyalty.  Stuck around until it was all wrapped up.

A little courage would have been nice. At least a few of them had to have seen what happened. Been witness to it. There was no way her mother would have been alone in the office that night. Okay, yes, sure it was a Friday, and most people would have left to start their weekend but there were always assistants around to help her mother with research or projects. She never worked completely alone. It wouldn’t have been in her nature.

Not since her aunt.

Her aunt had been struck down in the prime of her life. It was clearly a political assassination. They tried to play it off as a freak accident, but her mother had never believed that. And now? Now that the same thing had happened to her mother? She didn’t believe it either.

She knew who was responsible. It was impossible to her to imagine that others couldn’t see it as well.

She wished she could get a chance to speak to the girl. She didn’t have any animosity toward her. But the girl probably thought she’d try and exact revenge as soon as she could, but she knew that the girl had been set up. Convinced that she was doing something heroic. All the while giving him a paper hero he could use or a scapegoat he could sacrifice.

His main form of transportation is a hot air ballon, and her aunt was killed by a house that fell from a tornado. It’s pretty clear that the person who can control the winds was behind it. But the girl was in the house and that freak from the south made sure that she put the Shoes on the girl. Then tried to play it off as a good deed. If it was a good deed why did she tell her she was from the north then? She is Glinda the “Good” Witch of the SOUTH. She was as much a northerner as she was good.

But it did keep the Shoes out of his hands. He needed the Shoes to consolidate his claims. The Shoes. The Hat. The Bubble. You had to assume he got the Emerald from Glinda’s sister already. She hadn’t been seen in years and Glinda felt awfully comfortable calling herself the Witch of the North without worry her sister would step in and correct her.

She thought about taking the security tapes to the authorities but all it showed was the girl and her friends walking in and then running out. The tapes in the inner sanctum were erased. Someone inside had not just abandoned her mother in her time of need but had erased the crime scene evidence. So now it was just them claiming self-defense.  And her mother’s reputation made that fairly believable.

Nobody trusted a strong woman.

She sat down to watch the footage one more time before packing the tapes away. She wasn’t sure why, but she just felt like it was the closest she could come to being with her mother in her final minutes.

She watched. Then she backed up the tape and watched again. Then she slowed it down and watched one last time.

Why was the girl carrying her mother’s broom as they left? What use would she have for the broom?

She stood up and ran toward the room where the murder had happened. Throwing open the door she surprised him in the act.

“Figured it out did you?”

“You told her to bring you the broom. That the broom was the important thing. If she brought you the broom you would what? What did you promise her?”

“I told her I could send her home then. That if she took care of your mother it would save the land from the evil that was released when she killed your aunt.”

“But you told everyone else it was an accident.”

“Of course I did. To protect the child, you see. From the likes of you and your mother. Scary, scary. Just out for revenge.”

“And she believed you. Of course she believed you.”

He smiled. “Of course.”

“So, she drowned my mother and stole her broom. You gave her a parade and then what? I’m assuming you have her somewhere waiting for her to give you the Shoes? Or if you send her away to her own lands will the Shoes just stay behind?”

“The theory is that they would stay here. If I cut her feet off before I send her back I will ensure that the Shoes are here.”

“Wouldn’t she bleed to death on the journey?”

“Hmmm…maybe? I don’t know. It’s not my concern. I would have the Emerald and the Shoes. And, of course, the Hat, which has to be around here someplace.”

“But you don’t have the Shoes just yet. You are keeping her here incase you need to use her again.”

“Never waste a resource. That’s the problem with you witches. You follow your family names, Good, Bad, but you don’t pay attention to what that could mean. Effective! That’s my family name. Or it should be. Great and Powerful Oz the Effective!”

“Or the unobservant.”

“What?”

“The Hat. Did you think I wouldn’t notice my mother’s Hat being left behind? Did you not even for a minute consider that I would protect the Hat? That I would understand what power the Hat holds?”

“Oh, silly girl, you don’t want the Hat. You don’t like politics. Everyone knows that. Just give it to me and you can go on your way without any problems. You don’t want problems from me. Believe me.”

“If I give you the Hat you would have the Emerald, the Hat, soon the Shoes and then what? You bully Glinda into giving up the bubble? Or just assume she wouldn’t be any problem?”

“Glinda is soft. She only cares about looking young forever and having the Munchkins adore her. She is not my worry.”

“Not even though she has the Shoes? And the Hat?”

“What are you talking about?”

“See, she put the Shoes on the girl, she didn’t give the girl the Shoes. She just put them on her for safe keeping. She’s the only one who can remove them. And if I’m not mistaken as soon as I gave her the Hat she went and got the Shoes. And since I tripped the alarm as soon as I realized you made the girl grab a useless broom to throw off anyone else as to where the real power was, she should be here any second.”

“Why would you work with Glinda? She’s Good. You…”

“She’s as Good as she is a Northerner. Did you never wonder why she took her sister’s name? It never crossed your mind she would be seeking revenge? You thought she would just accept that you killed her for the Emerald and move on? The Great and Unobservant Oz? You should have followed my lead and stayed out of politics. You have gotten too complacent trying to control the winds instead of paying attention to which way they are blowing.”

She looked toward the window and saw a glow coming from Emerald City. A golden bubble floating their way. Inside stood Glinda wearing the Shoes and the Hat. They nodded at each other as she opened the window to let her in.

“I’ll leave you two to ‘negotiate.’ Glinda, lock up when you’re done, please. I’m going back home.”

And with that she clicked her heels together three times and disappeared into the night.