Chapter 29. Duel

Mrs. Penny arrived early each morning that week, even before the family was up. Though she'd only started on Tuesday afternoon, by Thursday she was family. Toby loved her, and she seemed to be genuinely fond of him as well. Sarah asked if she were interested in being their full time housekeeper and she accepted the job with one or two provisos. She didn't wish to live on site, preferring to keep her own home separate. Sarah was only too willing to let the woman have her way and gave a key to the woman after signing a contract.

On Friday as they were breakfasting in the kitchen, Linda announced she'd be driving back to the City and would not be back for a week or so. "I've a shoot that I have to do," she said snubbing out her morning cigarette. "My contract with the soap is up for renewal, and I want to see what offer they make if any."

"You thinking of retiring?" Sarah asked as she ate her breakfast.

"Yes, actually, I am." Linda looked at the little boy who was not really her stepson, but sure felt like it. "How would you feel about me living here full time, champ?"

"Fine," he said with a mouthful of cereal.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," three female voices echoed before the kitchen filled with merry laughter.

Linda tapped her fingers on the table top. "I have to finish my contract," she said thinking out loud. "Unless they want to buy me off… and I'm more than willing."

"What about Jeremy?" Sarah asked quietly, noting her mother had not mentioned her off and on again beau in some time. "Will he mind?"

Consternation was the only way to describe Linda's expression following the question. At last she answered. "There's a Swedish blond that's taking up his mind right now… I doubt he'll even notice I've gone. And as we don't live together, it doesn't really matter."

Extending a comforting hand, Sarah sighed. "I'm sorry Mom," she gave her mother's hand a squeeze when it was placed in hers. "I know you really cared about him."

"For a time," Linda said quietly. "But that was then, this is now…"

"What will you do?" Toby asked wondering what a stage actress could do in this one horse town.

"Well, little man, I'm thinking of writing a book…" Linda divulged.

"About acting?" Toby wrinkled up his nose.

"No," Linda raised her cup to her lips; "Not about acting…about goblins actually."

Sarah's fork hit her plate. "What?"

Snickering at the reaction, Linda put her cup down. "You remember all the stories Granny Mae use to tell you? Well I'm thinking of writing about them."

Toby frowned, "Whose Granny Mae?" he didn't recall the name.

"My grand mother," Linda said pointing at his cereal. "Finish that, Mrs. Dalton will be here in a few minutes." She turned to Sarah. "We kept the cabin, you know…. And I thought you and Toby could go up there with me…"

Sarah looked panicked. "Not goblins Mom, anything but Goblins…." She looked at her watch and excused herself from the table. "I'm late; I'll see you all at dinner."

Linda turned to Toby, "She has a problem with Goblins?"

A flickering light filled the blue eyes. "You could say that," he giggled before he pushed away from the table, coming around to kiss the woman goodbye. "I'll see you when you get back Auntie Linda."

"So long munchkin," she said watching him grab his school gear.

Mrs. Penny cleared the places left open by the absent children. She gave Linda an understanding glance.

"Mrs. Penny," Linda lit up another cigarette. "Promise to keep a close eye on those two for me."

"You don't even have to ask ma'am;" the older woman said placing a hand on the younger one's sleeve.

Linda looked about the kitchen, "I've never missed this place," she admitted. "Yet right now, I'm missing it and I'm still here."

The hand on the sleeve tightened. "Don't stay away too long, ma'am."

Linda nodded, "I won't." She vowed.

--

Sarah found Jeanie in a state of panic, there had been a break in and Sarah's office looked like wild dogs had been set free. Carmine was speaking to a law enforcement officer and answering questions. Sarah waited until the officer was finished or so she thought when she asked if anything were missing. The officer turned on her as if she had perpetrated the crime.

"What would be missing, Miss Williams?" He railed at her. "Did you keep something in that office you shouldn't have, say drugs?"

"I don't do drugs," Sarah retaliated. "And I don't have anything to do with anyone who does." The detective didn't look as if he believed her. Sarah looked at Carmine. "You know I don't do drugs."

The little man nodded, but he too looked disturbed by the state of her office. "I just don't know what they could have wanted in there."

"Is my computer intact?" She asked removing her street coat, and handing them to Jeanie who offered to hang them on her coat tree.

Phillip Reynolds appeared; he was also talking to a detective. "We've have a few computers hacked in recent months, but nothing like this… and our security system should have gone off…but there's nothing." He looked over at Sarah and nodded to her. "That's the young lady whose office was ransacked."

The detective talking to Reynolds motioned to Sarah to join them. "And you are?"

"Sarah Williams," she said politely.

"Williams," the man wrote the name down then paused; "Any relation to the Late Robert Williams?"

"He was my father," Sarah answered.

"I see," the man looked truly disturbed. "Did you know that his offices were also ransacked last night?"

"My father died a week ago," Sarah answered. "I've not been to his offices since; we've been busy with the burial and seeing to domestic arrangements."

Reynolds stood beside Sarah, protectively. "Do you see a connection?" The other man shrugged, wrote notes and moved on to speak to someone else. "All your notes for Sunday's feature have been lost." Phillip informed her quietly. "And I received a court order to put your features on hold until further notice."

"This is crazy," Sarah groaned putting her face into her hands. "Why?"

"Randal C. Drake," Reynolds answered making sure his voice didn't carry beyond Sarah. "And I'd bet you good money this was him as well…."

"Why don't you tell the cops?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, there are times when the cops don't help." Reynolds looked at her with a meaningful glance. "Feuds between papers or reports should stay out of the hands of the law unless someone gets physically hurt."

Sarah looked at her office. "I guess my office does not count."

"No," Phillip's voice turned a little harsh. "It does not…"

Under her breath Sarah whispered. "I wish whoever this had their lives turned upside down."

--

Linda had called her agent the day before and had set up a meeting with him in the City at one. She had packed her bag, and had promised Mrs. Penny that she'd call in once she arrived. Traffic was light, unusually so, and Linda made good time, she arrived in the city before noon. She parked her car in her favorite garage, and had a taxi deliver her to the building her agent was officed in.

This trip back home and the short stay had changed Linda. Not that she was not still looking out for herself, Linda was. Only now she was also thinking about Sarah and Toby. She was glad to have found Mrs. Penny who was now ensconced in the house. Speaking to the fencing master had settled her feelings over her daughter's fate. Soon she'd be free of the burden of feeling she'd let Jeremy down as well. She thought about her lunch with Matt on the way up to the agency office.

Matt had never made a secret of his feelings or his desires. At one time, she had not only been flattered, but had been turned on by that fact. Now, with some years under her belt, she found that was not going to be enough. It wasn't even that she felt she needed to be responsible, it was that she didn't feel a fling was going to be nearly enough for her at this stage of her life. No matter how much pleasure Matt could give her, and she was well aware of the measures he'd go to, it would not be lasting. There had been no fling during Tuesday's lunch, and she knew both of them were sensing relief. They had lunch, wine and a good long heart to heart.

Looking in the mirrored surface of the doors of the elevator, Linda was not happy with what she saw as neither her past nor her present. True, she and Robert had both been hungry and ambitious when they had married. He wanted to be the youngest partner the firm had ever had, and she wanted to help him achieve that role. Then when it had been achieved, she found herself feeling a little bit used. The affair, and that's what it was, even if Robert had sanctioned it, had not lasted long. Due in part to her own feelings of emptiness, she had ended the affair. She had gotten pregnant with Sarah, and had rejoiced at the birth of her beautiful daughter. She knew in her heart she had tried to be the devoted mother. But that too had not held any feeling of achievement for her. Then came the involvement with the Village players, and the advent of Jeremy. Everything, even the affair with Jeremy had left her hollow.

When Jeremy had asked her to run away with him, she had gone willingly. They had taken the New York Stages by storm. For the first few years, they were the toast of the town. Robert had given her a no contested divorce on the condition that he was allowed to raise Sarah. At the time Linda shrewdly thought it had been the best thing for her more than how it would be for Sarah. After all an up and coming actress didn't have time to play mommy. Not if she wanted the parts that Linda was going after. Soon she and Jeremy were unbeatable and top draws. Linda thought of what that had given her, a penthouse apartment in a well known artist colony. Money, which Linda enjoyed spending, power to pick good parts… and what she'd lost.

She'd been telling Sarah the truth that night she'd confessed to her why she'd done the things she had. She had been afraid when the girl came to live in the big city. She was getting older, and the parts were dying up. Jeremy had lost interest in her when she was no longer able to get the hot parts she'd once gotten. In fact since she'd started acting on Soaps he'd barely been civil to her. Now he was off with his twenty-something stewardess, and Linda was finding herself wishing him luck.

She looked at the reflection in the mirrored doors. "Well look at you," she said aloud; "Finally growing up." The doors parted and she stepped out with the kind of calm and confidence that comes when one knows they are doing the right thing for the right reasons. Honesty was not foreign to her, just under utilized. She mused to herself as she strolled down the hall, that Robert and Karen's deaths had a profound effect on her. It had forced her to face herself and grow up.

--

Sarah had worked through lunch; Jeanie forced her to eat a tuna sandwich at her desk in the conference room. Although she was precluded from writing, the court order could not stop her from editing nor from setting up the Sunday edition. Carmine marveled at her stubborn streak.

--

Melvin Goodstine had been an agent long enough to know when things were going to take a down turn. This seemed to be one of those times. He looked up when his secretary opened the door to let Linda in, prepared to give her the bad new. Her appearance froze the words in his throat, and instead he blurted out, "You're quitting the business."

Laughing Linda took a seat, "Hello to you too, Mel."

He leaned back and looked at her down his prominent nose, his aging eyes twinkling like a young man suddenly. "I see fire!" He commented in a sing song voice. "Someone's up to something… is it interesting?"

"It could be Mel; it could be… you ever represent an actress who turned into an author?" She asked leaning on his desk. "Tell me, any nibbles at the contract?"

"No," he said honestly. "And to tell you the truth, I'm surprised. Your character on the soap is popular…."

"But not young and not romantic;" Linda stated tapping her fingers. "And lacking a good storyline… the new writers are not interested in women in their…forties." She placed her hands flat on the desk. "The writers want to do sex with teens and young hot twenty year olds… so…" She waved her hands and leaned back.

"What happened to you?" Mel asked with a grin. "The Linda I knew would have been flying off the handle and accusing me of not trying hard enough."

"I grew up a bit on this trip home," Linda lit a cigarette up.

"Home?" Mel blinked. "I don't recall you ever calling that little town home."

"It wasn't before, it is now." She snubbed out the cigarette just as quickly as she'd lit up. "Mel, I'm going to let the show buy out my contract if they want to… or they can keep me on until its run out…but I'm moving back to that little back water, one horse town." She smiled knowing she was making the right choice.

"Are you serious about writing?" He asked.

Nodding she kept the smile, "And not a tell all either, there's enough of those… and will always be more…I'm going to write about folklore," she stated.

The agent's eyes were dancing. "Good subject to write about, lots of interest in that just now." He then teased, "Just steer clear of romance novels….please."

"Deal," she relaxed. "So, want to pitch my first novel?"

"It would be a pleasure," Mel said as he buzzed his secretary. "Call The Russian Tea room, reservations for two this evening."

--

Sarah called home at four and told Mrs. Penny she'd be running late and not to hold dinner for her. The woman said she'd have something ready for Sarah when she did arrive but she'd take care of Toby at the usual time. It was a little before five when a note arrived at the office for Sarah. Jeanie brought it in just before she left.

"This just came for you, Sarah." She handed her the note in an envelope from the academy of fencing.

Sarah opened it and read, "Need to see you, come to the academy as soon as you can." She read aloud. It was not signed, but Sarah suspected it was from the Master. She wondered what could be so important. And why had he not just called her, but then she was not at her phone, and she was not even sure her line was working.

At a few minutes after six, Sarah left the lot and headed toward the other end of town and the academy. The lobby was not dark, but only dimly lit when Sarah entered the unlocked door. She called out, but no one answered. Something inside her told her not to go any beyond this space. To wait, but she didn't listen to that inner voice.

"Hello?" she called out entering the even dimmer practice room. She thought she heard movement. "Hello, Master Dé Danann… its Sarah Williams, I got here as soon as I could…" She called out, feeling something was very wrong about all this.

"I'm afraid Master Dé Danann has been…detained," a harsh female voice answered from one of the darkened corners. "He sends his regrets," she chuckled in a sinister manner.

Sarah watched as Anise emerged from the shadows with a foil in her hands. She was dressed in practice gear, and a mask was perched on her head ready to be drawn down. She was advancing on Sarah, blocking any hope for departure Sarah might hold. "What do you want, Anise?" she kept her tone level, as she found herself backing up slightly.

"What I've always wanted, Williams…" Anise answered with a tense vibe; "You out of my way."

"I'm not in your way," Sarah denied as she was being herded further back.

"Of course you are… but that won't be for long…" she swung the foil and revealed that the safety tip had been removed, and it looked as if the foil had been honed to a sharp point somehow. "We're going to alter that pretty face of yours."

Sarah had mentally been counting the steps she'd been taking backwards, and if Anise had not moved the foil rack it should be within reach in two more steps. "I don't think I'd like that," she said firmly, trying to keep the attentions of the other on her, and not the direction they were traveling.

"Did you really think I'd let a tramp like you get away with it?" Anise's voice filled with anger and envy. "That I'd let the tramp daughter of a tramp actress just waltz in and take the finest man in fencing away?"

"I don't think I did that," countered Sarah taking another step back and moving one hand behind her slowly. "If Master Dé Danann had any inclinations toward you, he'd have acted on them…" she said defensively.

"He would have if he'd not been distracted by you, you little trollop!" Anise lunged.

Sarah's hand had connected with the hilt of the foil behind her and she swung it wildly to the front to counter the strike from the foil aimed at her face. She was not sure what had happened to the purse she'd been holding when she came into the room and prayed she didn't trip over it. "Anise you don't want to do this," she reasoned as she countered each parry and each thrust.

--

David pulled into the lot at the school, "Isn't that Sarah's car?" he asked as he pulled into his parking spot; "Where you expecting her?"

Concerned about Sarah, Jareth looked from the car to the darkened academy. "No, I was not…but I think I smell a trap."

"Anise," David growled. "She's the one who pushed us to go to that meeting… little did she know it was going to end so quickly."

"She must have gotten Sarah here on some ruse," Jareth said as both men began to move quickly toward the school. Once in the doors Jareth paused to listen. "That does not sound good."

David moved swiftly into the practice room, thinking of preventing his cousin from doing something stupid. "Anise, what the hell are you doing?"

"Dispatching garbage," the woman roared.

Sarah was moving defensively and kept her mind on the blade that kept whacking away at her.

"Stop it," David moved forward, thinking his cousin would surrender to his authority. Instead she spun and thrust her unshielded blade into his shoulder and pulled it out to renew her attack on Sarah. David, with a deep wound in his arm fell back into the embrace of the Master who pulled him back out of the arm range of the woman. David looked up, pained. "She's removed the tip…and the foil has been compromised."

Protecting the wounded David was Jareth's first concern. He pulled the man away, and inspected the wound. It was deep and viscous. He pressed a cloth into the wound to stay the bleeding, but the foil that Anise was using was a special made trefoil, and it had left a wound a Doctor would need to attend. Jareth watched the two women battling, assessing quickly the strengths of each. His Sarah was holding her own, but would not last long against the adrenaline charged Anise. There was only one way he could be sure she'd triumph, and he shouted to her. "Sarah…Knable!"

Instinctually reacting to the order, Sarah twisted and completed the complicated move that only one other person had ever achieved. It was the move Roy Knalbe was known for, few fencing specialist were skilled enough to even attempt this move. Her blade caught Anise's sending it flying out of her hands as the back of her leg clipped into Anise's. The next moment Anise was on her back and Sarah had her blade at her throat.

Anise's eyes flashed with hate as Sarah held her to the spot she'd fallen. "I'll see you in hell for this, Williams." She growled.

Taking a breath, but keeping the blade at the other's throat, Sarah called over to the Master. "How's David?"

"Not good," Jareth said moving toward the lobby. "I'm calling an ambulance, and the police."

"You do that," Sarah said, with dead calm, both hands now keeping her blade steady. She glared back at Anise. "One move," she warned.

--

Talbot arrived in time to find David being put into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital. As he entered the school he found Anise screaming that Sarah had come into the school uninvited and had attacked her. That David had been injured in the heat of battle while Anise stove to protect herself from the crazy Williams girl. She also screamed something about suing.

The detective looked at Sarah, he wrote all this down in his book while another man was interviewing Master Dé Danann. He sniffed, snorted and then addressed Sarah rudely. "I guess you're sort of a magnetite for trouble aren't' you Miss Williams?"

Anise pulled free of the law officer who was trying to put cuffs on her. "I want that girl arrested."

Talbot looked at both girls and then at the Master. "What happened here?"

"I have no idea," Dé Danann replied. "When we arrived, we found Sarah's car in the lot and them in here going at it."

Talbot drew the master aside, not wanting the officers to hear his next query. "Who won?"

Master Dé Danann gave him a haughty gaze. "Sarah of course," he stated with pride. "Who else would win a battle of wit and courage? Certainly not that coward niece of yours."

Talbot looked at the officers, "We are not pressing charges against Miss Williams," he announced. "We will investigate these circumstances ourselves."

"NO," cried Anise feeling betrayed, shoving the officer aside. "I want her arrested." She moved forward threateningly, but was halted when Master Dé Danann placed himself in her direct path. "You don't understand," she moaned and crumpled to the floor. "Everything I did, I did for you."

Blindly she moved out of the practice room, out to the door where officers and news reporters were gathered outside. Sarah dropped the foil she'd been holding like a talisman, but not before someone in the crowd had taken a picture of her holding the blade as she exited the school.

--

Jareth looked down at the crumpled woman, and felt no pity. He looked at Talbot and calmly commanded. "Take care of this."

Talbot watched as the man strode away.

--

Linda looked about her apartment, wondering if she'd ever feel like it was her sanctuary again. It felt foreign to her, and she knew that her time in New York was coming to an end. The phone rang and she lifted the receiver expecting to hear Sarah's or Toby's voice. "Hello," she said sweetly.

"Linda," a startled voice answered in an English accent. "You're home."

"Hello…Jeremy." She answered.

There was a long pause, almost obscene before the man said. "I was going to leave you a message…. I wanted to say…" He stammered at first. "Darling, as you know…"

"Oh just say good bye and get it over with," Linda said boldly. "Too cowardly to face me, you were going to leave a good bye on the answering machine?"

"Now see here," he snapped.

"No, Jeremy Eden, you see here!" She squared her shoulders. "I've had enough of your silly games, enough of your spoiled childish tantrums… Hell boyo, I've had enough of you… Lose my number would you? Goodbye." She hung up the phone and laughed; "Score!"