Finding her body.

This has been a real frustrating time, but things seemed to change once the Watcher and I got to the Magic box. He'd not only found a spell that might work to get people back into their own bodies, he'd got the stuff to do it.

I didn't expect that to be easy. I'd failed to find Erynne's body. I just didn't know the Wicca who had it. Not well enough to recognise her vibes, anyway. She could have been in any building I'd passed and I'd never know it unless I saw her. Her ID said her name was Tara Mclay, but that was all I knew.

I think I'd maybe met the girl once, when we first arrived in this dimension. She'd seemed to be a potentially powerful Wicca then, if I'm remembering right. It was her friend who had the real power, though, and I hadn't seen a trace of the strong one.

I thought finding Tara would be difficult part, but as we came up the storeroom stairs to the shop itself I saw a stranger. A scrawny kid was slumped over a round table beside the counter, looking as though she was acting out despair.

Then Giles snapped on the main light and she looked up. This time I only recognised Erynne's body by her marmalade-coloured hair! I can still hardly believe it, but the Tara girl managed to make a werewolf body look both frail and clumsy!

(OK, I suppose it's just possible that I hadn't looked at her objectively for a long time, but the mind makes the difference. It's not something you can glamour over, long-term, either.

You might imagine that I'd be used to seeing scared girls wearing that talisman and gawping at me. You'd only be partly right. Over the centuries there's been plenty who used it knowing the terms and conditions - and knowing that every alternative they had was worse. You think I'm kidding? Read your history.)

It's one of those times that I missed having minions. I'd have cheerfully left Giles to deal with her, but there wasn't time. Erynne had been right. There didn't seem much chance of this one learning enough, before the hunter's moon rose this month.

The Hunters Moon is Coming

I'd had a discussion with Giles and the Mclay girl and at least managed to confirm that she hadn't stolen my wife's body deliberately.

She'd even sung that she wanted her own body back, (although she'd got the best of the deal, in most ways. She wasn't thinking about that - and she'd be even less likely to appreciate the change if she was still in Erynne's body when the full moon rose.)

(When she was singing I thought I caught something about her being part demon. She seemed to believe it, but I hadn't thought that she had enough spirit for that.) Then we suggested that she should come with me to exchange with Erynne. Her reaction was the nearest thing to spirit that she'd showed. There was no way that she was going to go anywhere with me.

She looked panicked enough to fight, too. (Sometimes I really miss having minions.) So, I thought we'd arranged for Giles to drive her over, while I smoked up to alert Erynne.

I'd gone a couple of blocks when it hit me that Tara could be getting pre-moonrise tension, by now - and the Watcher might fail to allow for either that or the infection factor. I hadn't seen any trank guns in that shop, and there wasn't likely to be one in his car.

Safe wolfing takes practice. Erynne was not going to like it if her body bit anyone. Anything could happen if she was seen to do it and somebody "caught" lycanthropy. That kind of thing can cause real trouble. I've seen it in the past.

So I turned back and told Tara and Giles that I'd bring Erynne to the Magic Box and they could cast the spells there. They both looked relieved.

I phoned from the shop to ask Erynne to join us. but I smoked up to bring her, anyway. Sunnydale has been crazier and more dangerous than usual, since this started. It seemed a good idea to have at least one trank gun around, too. There are several at William Tallisker house.