The Dark Lord's Demise, Page 2

  "They were happy," Kurt insisted. "Remember what you said that day? You said Uncle John stayed single for so long because Eleanor was the only one he ever loved."

  "And I still believe it. And vice versa. He was the only one she ever loved. You know, at first I was jealous of her. We'd had Uncle John all to ourselves for so long. I could hardly bring myself to call her Aunt Eleanor. I remember how they'd sit here on the couch or at the kitchen table and hold hands." Lisa picked up a rag and tenderly dusted the photograph. She flung the rag onto the floor. "What happened? Why aren't they happy like they were then?"

  Wes tightened his grip on the sword's scabbard. The points of the cut gems dug into his hands. He wanted to make sense of it all, not only for himself but for his brother and sister. "Look, Uncle John had been on his own for a long time. He'd led a pretty tame life, except for going to Anthropos of course. And Aunt Eleanor may be a university professor now, but she had a rough life for a lot of years. Both of them were set in their ways. I can't imagine getting married for the first time when I'm over fifty years old."

  "I can't imagine you getting married at all," Kurt scoffed.

  "Too bad, because you're going to be my best man." Wes carefully balanced the sword in both hands as he stepped down from the chair. He set the sword on the coffee table and polished its jewels. "Look at it this way. Let's say John and Eleanor are world-class athletes. She's a sprinter and he's-I don't know-a pole vaulter."

  Kurt was glad for any excuse to laugh. He whooped, "Them? A sprinter and a pole vaulter? They're not even athletic!"

  "Don't take me so literally. I'm only using athletics as an example. Okay, let's say they both go to the Olympics, and they meet there and fall in love. They both win gold medals. After the Olympics they get married. For some reason they don't make the team four years later. Before long they find out that being Olympic athletes was all they had in common. They can't handle ordinary life together. They've got their gold medals on the wall, but those medals only remind them of how great life used to be."

  All three Friesens gazed at the gleaming Sword of Geburah.

  Kurt asked, "What will happen to the sword? I mean if-if they do split up?" He nearly choked on the words.

  "Never mind the sword," Lisa replied. "What will happen to us?"

  Wes smiled slightly. "I'd like to know both those things. But you know what I was just wondering? What will happen to the old TV sets in the attic?"

  Kurt's eyes got big. Mention of the TV sets got him back on the subject he preferred to talk about. "Maybe they've come to life again. Let's go up and see."

  "I guarantee you they haven't!" Lisa snapped. She strode back into the kitchen.

  "You went up there to check, didn't you?" Kurt demanded as he and Wes followed her into the kitchen. "You came out of the attic right in the middle of our sword fight!"

  "I went up there to look for some fancy old china that I heard Aunt Eleanor mention last night. She said it was stored up there in a box."

  "First I've heard of it," Kurt mumbled.

  "She didn't tell me about it directly. I overheard her. She was ... she told Uncle John that it was hers and he shouldn't think he could keep it if ... Well, I couldn't listen anymore after that. Anyway, today I wanted them to come home to a really nice dinner. I thought it would help. What's wrong with that?"

  "So that's what you heard that bothered you so much," Wes said. "And that's why you were so upset about the roast. Why didn't you explain?"

  Lisa shrugged. "I found the china, but it looks so breakable; I'm scared to use it. Of course I noticed the old TV sets while I was up there. I could hardly miss the five of them, could I? They're enormous." She opened a cabinet and got out a stack of five everyday plates. "Number Four. Set table," she quoted. She put clown the plates with a clank that made Kurt say, "Watch it! Or we will have to use that old china."

  Lisa took a deep breath, held it and let it out slowly while Wes got out silverware and Kurt arranged the plates on the table. After a moment she said, "Kurt, I shouldn't be mad at you because you want to go back to Anthropos. I wish the "hV sets would come to life. I want to go back and see Gaal again. He's the most wonderful person I ever met, and I really miss him."

  "Me too!" said Kurt and Wes together.

  "No matter how had things are between Uncle John and Aunt Eleanor, Gaal could put it right, couldn't he? Of course he could!"

  "Yeah, but he's in Anthropos," Kurt reminded her. "And even if he was here, they'd have to accept his help. Like I did."

  "Like all of us did," Wes added. "Gaal won't force anybody to do what he wants. Hey, I just thought of something! Maybe this time he won't use the TV sets to summon us. He could do it some other way. He can do anything he wants to. He could even summon us by ..."

  A bell sounded. This time it wasn't the smoke alarm. It was the front doorbell. All three children looked toward the front door and froze.

  "Maybe it's Gaal!" Kurt whispered. The others gave short nervous laughs. What if it was Gaal at their front door? They'd be thrilled, excited, scared, awestruck, happy, humbled-

  "I'm going to tell him we need help!" Lisa declared. However, her feet stayed planted to the kitchen floor.

  The bell sounded again.

  Wesley unfroze first. "We're being ridiculous!" he scolded all of them, especially himself. "It's probably nobody. I mean, it's somebody, but not somebody from Anthropos." He strode out into the hall, past the door to the parlor where the Sword of Geburah shone from the coffee table. His hand grabbed the cold brass knob of the front door. What if... In his mind he saw Gaal on the other side of the door. If only! The white robe, the glow of his face that was young yet ageless, the brightness beyond sunlight dancing from his powerful figure as he laughed and opened his arms in welcome ...

  The bell sounded a third time. Wes turned the knob and swung the door open. He stared. He didn't know exactly who or what he had expected to see, but the sight of an ordinary girl about Lisa's age surprised him.

  The girl grinned at Wes. In a rather loud voice she announced, "Hi! I'm Betty Riggs. I'm your new neighbor." Her attitude was so bold and confident, Wes thought she must be older than she looked, closer to his own age. Number Five: Go meet new neighbor kid, he thought. The new neighbor had beaten them to it and come to meet them.

  Betty Riggs raised her eyebrows. "Well, aren't you going to invite me in?" It was more a statement than a question, especially since she was already halfway across the threshold as she spoke. Automatically Wes opened the door wider and moved out of the way to let the visitor in. He wasn't sure what to say. It didn't matter because the new neighbor kept talking. "We only moved in yesterday. I couldn't help but notice there were kids about my age who lived here. I hope you don't think I'm nosy, but a person is naturally curious about who else lives on the block. I'll bet you go to River Heights School, right? You didn't see me there today. I didn't go. We're still unpacking. So what are your names?"

  "My names?" Wes was confused. He thought Betty wanted his first, middle and last names. He noticed she was focused on something behind him. He turned to see Lisa and Kurt watching with curious expressions. Kurt leaned on his wooden sword.

  Wes got his voice back. "I'm Wes, and that's my sister, Lisa, and my brother, Kurt. Uh-Friesen. Our last name's Friesen."

  Betty looked unhappy at this news. Her sour expression irritated Lisa. What was so bad about the last name Friesen? Betty said, "Oh, then you're just visiting here. The name on the mailbox said McNab. I hoped there were other people my age who lived here-"

  "We do live here," Lisa insisted. "With our Uncle John and Aunt Eleanor McNab." Her own defensiveness startled her. Wes shot her a look that asked What's wrong with you? Lisa decided she didn't care. They had enough problems right now without a nosy new neighbor on top of everything else.

  If Betty felt the lack of welcome in Lisa's voice, she gave no sign of it. "Oh, you live with your aunt and uncle. Then your parents are-

  "Diplomats," Kurt said
quickly. He was positive the visitor was about to say "separated" or "divorced." He didn't want to hear either of those words.

  Betty surveyed the hallway. She acted like a building inspector in search of an excuse to condemn the place. "Looks like this house is laid out basically the same as ours. The parlor's in here, right?" She walked into that room as she said the words. "Of course, our house is bigger. Your parlor is really small compared to ours."

  "I'll bet it only looks smaller," Lisa retorted as she and her brother and sister followed Betty into the room. "You notice it's packed full of things our parents have brought back from all over the world." Right away Lisa wanted to kick herself for the remark. It only encouraged their visitor to snoop more.

  Betty started to inspect Fred and Jane Friesen's souvenirs. Most of the objects met with her obvious disapproval. "That's a funnylooking piece of junk," she would say, and "Where'd they get this ugly thing?" and even "I'll bet they paid too much for this. Looks like a fake to me." When Betty picked up a fragile vase, flipped it over and examined the bottom, Wes said, "Watch out! The only way our parents can replace these things is to go back where they got them."

  "And some of those places, we wouldn't want them going back to," Kurt added.

  Betty smirked. "Sounds like your parents are the travelers in the family. Haven't the three of you been to any exciting places? We've moved a lot. I've lived all over the place."

  The Friesens exchanged quick looks but said nothing. Exciting places? If Betty Riggs only knew! They had a rule among themselves: they never talked about Anthropos with those who hadn't been there. The only exception was their parents. Early on they had tried to tell their father and mother about their adventures, but Fred Friesen grew impatient with what he thought were wild imaginings. Only when Gaal had allowed Fred and Jane to see into Anthropos-briefly, through a hotel room wall-had they finally believed what their children were telling them.

  Betty completed her tour of the perimeter of the parlor. She moved toward the center of the room. Now she was sure to ask about the Sword of Geburah. She would probably even try to pick it up off the coffee table. Wes hurried to a carved stand in a far corner and started talking fast. "Say, I think you missed these porcelain figures over here. They're from Hong Kong. That's where our aunt and uncle got married. So you could say they're souvenirs of the wedding as well as Hong Kong."

  "I already saw them." Betty's scornful tone expressed her opinion of the figures. She stopped and stared, not at the sword on the coffee table but at Kurt's feet! "What happened to you?" she demanded.

  Kurt looked down at his shoes. "Me? Nothing happened to me. Why?"

  "Did you fall down the stairs or something?"

  "What are you talking about?"

  "You're using a cane."

  Kurt had forgotten he still leaned on his wooden sword. "Oh, you mean this thing. It's not a cane. It's sort of a-a walking stick."

  "Not a very fancy one," Betty sneered.

  Embarrassed, Kurt tossed the stick behind a chair. She acts like a spy, he thought. No, she's not subtle enough for a spy. More like a detective.

  "Last year I sprained my ankle playing volleyball," Betty informed them, not that they were interested. "It was awful! It took weeks to heal. But I walked on it anyway. I just told myself the pain wasn't there. And it worked! I'm pretty good at volleyball. So you're having roast beef for dinner?" The Friesens blinked at Betty's flying changes of subject. She took a deep noisy breath through her nose. "Who's the cook around here?"

  "I am," answered Lisa with pride. "At least I am tonight."

  "Actually, it's kind of a group effort," said Kurt.

  Betty Riggs gave a shorter sniff. "Smells like you got it a little too well clone."

  Lisa fumed. Who did this Betty Riggs person think she was? Lisa and her brothers were trying to get together a decent meal for when their aunt and uncle came home from work. She was about to snap out an irritated response when Betty frowned and said, "Hey, do I smell cooking gas?"

  They all sniffed. There was a gas odor in the air. Lisa ran out into the hall. They heard her shriek, "Wes! Your potatoes boiled over and put the fire out! You could have asphaltized all of us!" The others hurried into the kitchen. Betty obviously enjoyed the scene. She giggled, "Asphaltize? Don't you mean asphyxiate?"

  "I mean suffocate. Poison. Murder. Wes, why didn't you watch this pot?" Furious, Lisa broke several matches in her attempt to relight the flame under the pan. Wesley felt as if he would boil over like the pot. He tried to contain his aggravation. Through his teeth he said, "As you may recall, I was busy answering a doorbell."

  Betty looked around at the others wide-eyed. "Do you realize what might have happened if I hadn't walked in here and smelled that gas? You could have all been killed!"

  This was too much for Kurt. Bad enough that this new invader was nosy and critical, she also had to play the hero. He couldn't hide his sarcasm as he said, "Yeah, Betty, you saved our lives! It's like you were sent here to us!" Kurt's own words jolted him. They jolted Wes and Lisa as well. Sent to them? Questions poured into their minds. They shot secretive looks at each other. Kurt stammered out, "I mean, at least you saved the potatoes." All three wondered if his first statement was more accurate.

  Apparently Betty did not notice the others' reaction. She plopped herself into a chair at the kitchen table (in Lisa's usual place) and looked over the neat arrangement of plates and silverware. Wes and Kurt waited for her to criticize their table-setting job. Betty only sighed and remarked, "It feels good here. Our house is still wall-to-wall boxes and packing crates. And all we've had to eat for two days is pizza."

  Kurt was envious. "What's wrong with pizza?"

  "Nothing, except ... I don't know. I guess our new house doesn't feel like home yet. It's nice to come into a place that feels like people really live here. Do you know what I mean?" Betty turned away, but not before Lisa saw her blink rapidly several times.

  Now the Friesen children were embarrassed for Betty and themselves. She still irritated them, but they began to feel a little sorry for her too. They searched for something to say that might be helpful. Wesley sympathized, "Moving can be hard. I remember when we first came here to live. It was kind of scary. I guess I have the strongest memories because I'm the oldest." He looked at his sister and brother for confirmation and to encourage them to join in.

  "Did Mom and Dad ever sit us down and explain to us why we had to live here?" Lisa asked. "I don't really remember."

  "They probably did," Kurt replied, "but I'm sure it went right over my head. Another scary part was that I don't think we'd even met Uncle John before. At least, I didn't remember him."

  Wes chewed his lip and tried to recall more details of their arrival at Grosvenor Avenue. "We'd probably met him, but I don't think we'd ever been to this house before."

  "It was scary," Lisa admitted. "One day we were living with our parents, then all of a sudden, bang, this was going to be home." She looked at Betty Riggs with new sympathy. She pictured herself at school tomorrow with "the new girl." No doubt Betty would be a deadly combination of clingy and bossy. I'm sure to lose friends because of her, Lisa thought. Then again, what if Kurt's right and she really was sent to us? Gaal and the Changer must have done it. But why?

  Betty gave a big sigh. "I can understand how this place felt strange to you at first. But before long it felt like home, didn't it? Our family has moved so often, I don't even know what I think of as home. I guess nowhere." She sniffled a little. "You don't know how lucky you are. You know you're going to be here forever-at least until you're out on your own. Even then, you can always come back."

  The Friesens glanced at each other. Painful lumps formed in all their throats. This house, their home forever? Probably not. Life for them was going to change very soon, and who could say where the three of them would be?

  Betty's next words distracted them from their worries. "I've tried to do with this problem like I did with my sprained ankle. So far it
hasn't worked."

  "With your what?" Kurt asked. "What's your sprained ankle got to do with moving?"

  "Remember how I said I told myself the pain wasn't there? And I walked on it anyway, and it worked? Well I've tried to do that with moving so often, but so far it hasn't worked. I have to concentrate harder. You know what I wish more than anything in the world? I wish I could sit here at this table and eat with you and your aunt and uncle tonight."

  By now the Friesens were used to Betty's boldness as well as her sudden changes of subject. They weren't even startled that she invited herself to dinner. Lisa did wonder how the presence of a guest would change what she hoped would be a special meal. At least Uncle John and Aunt Eleanor were less likely to argue at the table if they had company. As for Kurt, he thought Betty would feel happier if she sat and ate a good meal with their family (though he still envied her all those pizzas). Wesley thought it would be good for his aunt and uncle to have someone else to focus on, someone whose problems were as bad as theirs.

  Lisa smiled at Betty. "Sure you can eat with us!" she said. "We'd like that! I'm certain our aunt and uncle would too!" She hoped she was being honest. She still wasn't crazy about their new neighbor, but somehow it felt right to invite her to stay-or rather to accept the way she had invited herself. Kurt and Wes enthusiastically agreed.

  Betty stood up so fast that she nearly knocked the chair over backwards. Excitement and happiness flooded her face. She hadn't lost her take-charge attitude, however. "I'll run home and tell my parents I'm eating with you, okay? Don't worry. It'll be fine with them. They'll be glad I've made some new friends in the neighborhood." She was out of the kitchen in a blur. The front door slammed.

  The house felt strangely empty and quiet without their new neighbor. Kurt spoke first. "She's really different. "

  "Strange is more like it," said Lisa. "I'll say one thing: she can sure move fast. Wes, what were you saying about Olympic sprinters?"

  "Huh? Never mind that. You know, Kurt, I think you were right when you said Betty was sent here. You may have meant it as a joke, but couldn't Gaal have sent her to us?"