Grace and the Drawl, Page 3

  ‘You got any weed on you son?’ Mr. Kelly asked. Grant looked up both surprised and worried.

  ‘No sir,’ he replied uneasily.

  ‘What about alcohol? You must have some beer in your car right?’

  ‘Sir, my mum’s in the car, she’s driving us to the dance.’ Grant felt embarrassed enough, but Mr. Kelly was killing him. His face flushed red, his ears burned and his palms were sweating a river. He wiped them on the legs of his pants. Grant was seriously starting to wonder if all dates would be as bad as this. Was this whole dating thing worthwhile? And then Grace finally came to the porch and pushed past her dad.

  ‘Oh daddy,’ she said as if admonishing a child ‘don’t wait up.’ But regretting it the minute the words left her lips.

  ‘I most certainly will be waiting up young lady, and if you’re not safely tucked away in bed by nine thirty tonight I will be coming looking for you.’ Now it was Grace’s turn to blush. Her dad was about to say something else when Joyce come up behind him.

  ‘You kids have fun! And be home by ten thirty please.’ She reached past her husband and pulled the door closed. George had a dry grin on his face.

  ‘Do you think I was too hard on the boy?’ he chuckled.

  Grace paused as Grant opened the door for her. How sweet he is she thought. Sweet and yummy.

  ‘Mrs. Minke, can we pick up Naomi on the way? She doesn’t have a date to escort her to the dance.’

  ‘Sure can honey,’ said Mrs. Minke as she dug some nicotine gum out of her pocket.

  It took less than five minutes to get to Naomi’s house. Grace ran inside to get her. She still hadn’t decided on what to wear and Grace had to help her pick something out. Naomi was Asian so her tastes were very different to Grace’s. But she had some lovely clothes that her grandmother had brought out from Japan.

  Grace and Naomi descended the stairs from Naomi’s bedroom and popped into the lounge to say goodbye to her parents. Grace followed Naomi in. Naomi’s dad Mr. Ishibashi was asleep in his chair and his wife was watching the television. As Grace moved past Naomi she gave a loud yelp. There was a large black figure hovering over Mrs. Ishibashi. Just like with Grace’s father this thing was sucking energy out of her head.

  ‘Okasan, ittekimasu!’ called Naomi. Naomi’s mother didn’t seem to hear. The creature moved and seemed to smother her face with its dark vapour-like body. Grace looked at Naomi.

  ‘Do you see that?’ she asked

  ‘Nani?’ replied Naomi. She liked to speak Japanese with Grace, who was studying it at school. Though, after three years Grace still couldn’t work the language out.

  ‘That thing by your mum,’ Grace replied, not wanting to freak her friend out, but hoping that someone else could see it and that she wasn’t going mental after all.

  ‘Oh that? That’s my dad’s Go board. He has been practicing with the Korean guy from down the road. They take that game way too seriously,’ Naomi reflected heading for the door. ‘We must not keep your date waiting any longer.’ And with that she disappeared out the door. Grace paused a minute to look back at Mrs. Ishibashi, a second creature had joined the first and they appeared to be fighting over her. Mrs. Ishibashi turned and looked up at Grace; the same vacant stare on her face that she had seen on her father the night before.

  ‘Itterashai,’ she slurred. Grace turned and ran to catch Naomi up nearly colliding with their cat as it came running inside.

  ‘Don’t let the cat in,’ cried Naomi as Grace shut the door. But it was too late, Miru had disappeared inside. Grace looked up at her friend but Naomi shook her head, they were already late. They piled into the back of Mrs. Minke’s shiny silver Mazda and sped off to the school.

  Chapter Five

  Yang hurried down the long palace hall. His claws could purchase little traction on the polished marble floors and he had to concentrate to stay upright. At the end of the hallway he turned right and dashed into the imperial secretary’s office.

  ‘Is he in?’ he panted through deep breaths.

  Miss Crablebottom, the imperial secretary, was a large cat, and carried out her duties to the Emperor with exceptional diligence. She was of the mind, that it was her duty in life to prevent anyone from seeing him. She reasoned that he was far too busy, and that citizens shouldn’t be able to just drop in, no matter whom they thought they were.

  ‘Do you have an appointment?’ she asked, pulling her horn rimmed glasses down over her nose to get a good look at Yang. Yang still had his white lab coat on which probably made him look like one of the building janitors. He tried to smile at her but it only made matters worse.

  ‘He can’t be disturbed without an appointment I’m afraid.’ She closed the diary with a loud thump.

  Yang thought for a minute. He had dealt with Miss Crablebottom’s type before and realised there was no point in arguing with her, in fact she would probably just enjoy that.

  ‘May I use your phone?’ he asked finally.

  ‘There is a phone over there,’ the old cat replied curtly. Yang looked around and plodded over to the public phone by the wall. He picked up the receiver and dialled.

  Miss Crablebottom picked up the phone now ringing loudly beside her.

  ‘Emperor’s office, Miss. Crablebottom speaking, may he reign a thousand years.’

  ‘May he reign for a thousand more,’ came the reply, followed by: ‘I would like to make an appointment to see the Emperor this afternoon, if at all possible.’ Then hastily added: ‘Please.’

  ‘One moment.’ A pause followed while Miss. Crablebottom ruffled through the pages of her large appointment diary. ‘Yes, I have an opening today at one thirty. Does that suit?’ Yang marvelled at the change in attitude, he looked at his watch, it was one twenty nine.

  ‘That will be splendid,’ he said. He gave his name and hung up.

  The Emperor listened carefully to what Yang was saying. Although he was fascinated by science, much of what the scientist was explaining was beyond his understanding.

  ‘So in essence, Dr. Yang, you are saying that your machine is ready?’ the Emperor asked, leaning forward in his chair expectantly.

  Yang licked his lower lip.

  ‘Yes sir,’ he said.

  ‘Then I see no reason why we can’t begin immediately. Liaise with General Talus and make the necessary arrangements. I’d very much like to meet this human.’ The Emperor rose and Yang realized that the meeting had come to an end.

  ‘I do hope that nothing goes wrong Doctor.’ The words hung in the air like a thick cloud. It was such a change from the friendly half hour that they had just spent in conversation. Yang smiled weakly.

  ‘Everything will be just fine,’ he assured the Emperor. However, Yang felt far from assured as he hurried back to his lab to give his assistant the news. There was still much to prepare.

  ***

  General Talus was a large cat, and crammed into a small chair behind Jasper’s desk he looked even larger. Jasper was standing at his side beaming from ear to ear as only a cat could. There was a rap at the door.

  ‘Enter,’ growled the General. The lean shiny black body of Boot entered the room. Although Boot wasn’t shaking on the outside, his insides were pitching like a rollicking pirate ship. His mind raced. What could I have possibly done to upset the general he thought?

  ‘Sergeant Boot reporting as ordered sir,’ snapped Boot as he straightened to attention.

  ‘Boot? What kind of name is that son?’ The general began with a voice that shook the tiny office. A picture of the Emperor hung over the wall behind the chair began to rattle. The general looked at Jasper, but he could only smile.

  ‘Sir, it’s my human name Sir!’ Boot wondered if this was the trouble he was in but would it warrant a general’s time?

  ‘Why in all the worlds would you want to be called after a piece of clothing?’

  ‘Sir, I just like it sir,’ Boot looked a little confused.

  ‘Sergeant why are you in this army?’ the Gene
ral drilled.

  ‘Sir, to fight the Drawl and protect the ignorant sir,’ replied Boot automatically.

  ‘At ease Sergeant,’ the General finally relented. ‘You have been selected to perform a valuable service to your country. As a soldier in the Emperor’s army and an elite scout I am confident of your ability to perform this operation. The details are classified and are on a “need to know” basis. What you need to know is that it involves your host family and the human, Grace. You are to report to Dr Yang at Science HQ and he will explain your mission. It is imperative that this mission succeeds. There are to be no screw ups. Are we clear?’ barked the General.

  ‘Sir! Crystal sir,’ Boot’s crisp reply carried his confidence well.

  ‘Dismissed and good luck,’ the General smiled as Boot wheeled about face and marched himself out of the room.

  ***

  Boot removed his hat as he was led into the lab where Yang was hunched over a bench in deep thought and buried in electronic equipment. Large toroidal amplifiers, scintillating screens and endless rolls of cabling threatened to crush the table beneath their weight. Yang hadn’t noticed Boot’s entrance so Yin walked over and put her paw on his shoulder.

  ‘The soldier is here,’ her voice was practical yet sweet. Yang swivelled around on his chair to speak to Boot.

  ‘Ah! Well ok then. So you are the soldier looking after our subject?’ Yin shot her boss a dirty look.

  ‘He means Grace. She is a human, not a subject. Kindly remember that!’

  Yang shot Boot a look that only two males could share, raised eyebrows and a cheeky smile that disappeared when he noticed Yin glaring vitriolically at him.

  ‘So soldier, what do we call you?’ quizzed Yang shrinking from Yin’s stare and wanting to move on.

  ‘Sir, you may address me as Sergeant Boot, or Mr. Boot, whichever you prefer,’ answered Boot, as he studied the scientist’s appearance. Yang was still young looking but his intelligence was obvious, he just seemed to glow intellect. Boot didn’t have a lot to do with civvies, having served in the army for most of his life so this was the first time he had actually had to work with them.

  ‘Well then, Mr. Boot,’ Yang began, ‘how much have they told you about why you are here?’

  ‘Sir, I am to report to you and offer assistance as it is required.’

  ‘So no one has actually explained what we are intending to do?’ Boot looked blank and Yang took that to mean no.

  ‘Without going into too many technical details Mr. Boot, what we are planning to do here is to bring your human charge,’ Yang shot a nervous glance at his assistant. ‘Grace, into the fourth dimension. Then we can make contact with her kind and organize their help in the fight against the Drawl.’

  Boot looked unimpressed; years of training had conditioned him to think only when necessary. Since he had little say in how this operation was to be executed he didn’t need to think too hard about it.

  Yang continued: ‘You see what we have here is essentially a means of bringing a lodim from their dimension into ours. It’s really quite brilliant. You might recall the work done by Ed Whiskers a few years ago in M-theory?’ Boot simply stared blankly at the scientist. ‘No? Well, he postulated a theory about how one might actually move a third dimensional being into the fourth dimension. You see, the first three dimensions are quite large and chunky, but the remaining seven dimensions are--’

  ‘There are ten dimensions?’ interrupted Boot, showing the first sign of surprise since he got there.

  ‘Yes, yes, it was originally hypothesized that there were over twenty, but professor Whiskers was the genius who realized that they were all simply different per…per…,’ Yang struggled to find the right word.

  ‘Perspectives?’ volunteered Yin, who had been silent until now.

  ‘Ay?’ replied Yang looking up slowly.

  ‘The word you are looking for, perspective?’

  ‘Oh good heavens no. Per… per… perception!’ Yang continued. ‘He realized that they were all different perceptions of the same fundamental ten dimensions. The dimensions above the first three are all tied up in a knotty little ball.’

  ‘You are saying we are all tied up in a little ball? Why aren’t we crushed?’ asked Boot, looking with growing alarm at the apple pulp drying on the walls and the collection of weird objects that looked like they had been pulled inside out. Boot eyed a cup with the handle on the inside, a hairbrush with the bristles in the handle, but most disturbing was a child’s doll that was perfectly inside out.

  ‘The real brilliance was Yang’s theory,’ Yin began, as she interrupted Boot. ‘He theorized you could tease out one of the strings that made up these dimensions making a loop. You could then surround the third dimensional object within this loop and then pull the loop closed, thereby enveloping the subject in a higher dimension.’ Yin beamed at Yang who beamed right back obviously chuffed with himself.

  Boot fought back a yawn. He had felt it growing inside, itching to get out, clawing its way up his throat and prising his mouth open. Although he tried to stifle it, it wasn’t to be denied, and in the end he relinquished a massive yawn that seemed to last forever.

  ‘Are we boring you Mr. Boot?’ Yang’s expression, not as friendly as before, drilled down into Boot. Years of military training instructors however, had left Boot desensitized to hard looks and intimidation.

  ‘Can you perhaps show me what you want me to do?’ suggested Boot.

  ‘We are coming to that Mr. Boot,’ snapped Yang impatiently ‘Yin go fetch the device.’

  Yin returned with a small box clasped in her hands. She laid it down on the table and opened it. The three cats crowded around and Yang plucked out the item and held it up.

  ‘In order to be able to locate the subject in the third dimension we need some kind of anchor, a marker that the machines here can latch onto. It is your job Mr. Boot to attach this marker to the subject so that we can pull her through. Do you think you can handle that?’

  Boot studied the object, it was a small pendant. Yin had excelled in making it more natural looking rather than some obvious piece of foreign technology. It was actually quite beautiful. It caught the light as it swivelled on its chain, and silver poured from its surface as if it was melting.

  ‘It won’t be a problem,’ assured Boot, as he returned the anchor to its box, and placed it into his pocket.

  ***

  Grace lay in bed looking up at the window. Rain was lashing the glass trying to tear its way through and into the room. Grace snuggled down deeper into the blankets pulling them up around her chin. Thank goodness it’s Saturday she thought, I can lie here a little longer.

  But, after a few minutes, another thought surfaced. How can it be Saturday today if yesterday was Thursday? Grace pondered that for a moment then realized it was Friday, and she was now late. She leapt out of bed and quickly started to dress.

  In the hallway Boot was making very strange noises. He was purring and yowling, running up and down the hall, chasing his tail, skidding across the slate tiles as he crossed into the kitchen. Is he on catnip again? Grace wondered to herself. She walked past and Boot tried to hook her socks with his claws playfully. The cat continued his mad display all through breakfast and as Grace was walking back to her room she noticed Boot was chewing on something.

  ‘Eww not another mouse,’ voiced Grace as she bent over to examine it, ‘because Jason can dispose of it if it is.’ Strange how boys seemed to enjoy dead creatures, almost as much as cats did Grace mused, but this wasn’t a mouse, or a bird, it looked metallic. She bent to retrieve it but Boot snatched it with a paw and flipped his body around getting his hind legs under it. Grace drew her hand back rapidly but a tiny red mark was already forming on her hand.

  ‘Stupid cat!’ she scolded, ‘You can keep your silly toy if you like it that much.’ Grace went off to wash the scratch.

  ***

  Grace came home from school a little earlier than usual; she had had another ha
llucination during final period and hyperventilated. The school nurse gave her the all clear and decided to let her leave since the school day was nearly over anyway. Arriving home to an empty house, because her parents were still at work, Grace made a snack of Marmite and cheese crackers with a glass of milk. Boot rubbed madly against her leg as she poured the liquid into her glass. Mum and dad were never keen on feeding milk to the cat. Dad said it was bad for him for some reason. But Boot loved milk and Grace had already forgotten about the scratch on her hand from this morning. Boot lapped happily from his bowl as Grace headed off to her room. As she trudged down the corridor she kicked something with her toe and it rolled under her bedroom door. Looking under her bed she saw the trinket and scooped it up. It appeared to be a shiny silver pendant. It was most unusual in that it was runny, like mercury, yet still held its shape, for the most part. There was also a little ring attached, as if it were meant to be worn on a chain.

  Grace opened the jewellery box on her bedside cabinet and fished about with her finger. She took out a little gold necklace, removed the bauble and attached the pendant to it. Looking in the mirror Grace clipped the chain around her neck. Boot pushed his way into her room and meowed.

  ‘What do you think Boot? Quite pretty isn’t it?’

  As Grace turned away from the mirror she noticed something shining in the middle of her room. Like a crack in a mirror with coloured lights illuminating it. The crack grew bigger, longer and seemed to shimmer a little. Fascinated, Grace stepped closer to investigate. The shimmering sliver of light now bent in towards her.

  Boot jumped onto Grace’s bed and watched with interest. He meowed again, and this time the light jumped, split open and tore a seam in the air, then forming a lasso around Grace pulled her forward into itself. Boot hopped down from the bed and left the room, stepping around Grace’s body on the floor as he did so.