Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl Yule Call Home One
DISCLAIMER: Daria is the creation of Glen Eichler and is the property of MTV Viacom. Harry Potter is the creation of JK Rowling and is the property of JK Rowling, Wizarding World, and Warner Brothers. I own neither franchise. I do not seek or deserve any sort of financial reward for this work of fiction. I am writing this story for my amusement and for ego gratification.
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ADVISORY: Rated "T" for foul language.
Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl*Daria Ravenclaw: The Year of the Owl
Daria put the coins in the slot and then dialed the operator. She looked around to see if there were any Muggles close enough to overhear her reading the numbers off her credit card. There weren't. Good, she thought. She told the operator that she wished to charge the call to 1234 5678 9101 1121, told her the card's expiration date, then waited for the system to make the connection. She heard the ring tone at the other end ring once, twice, a third time, then somebody picked up the receiver. She smiled.
The Morgendorffer house
River Run Cove
Highland, Texas
Veronica Morgendorffer heard the kitchen phone start ringing. She wondered who that could be; most people didn't call them that early in the morning. She picked it up, smiled and said "Hello?"
"Hey, June Bug!" said the voice at the other end of the line. "How are you doing?"
"Daria!" said Ronnie. "I'm doing fine! I thought that you were going to be home for Christmas."
"I'm sorry, but I won't be," said Daria. "I thought I told you that I wasn't going to be back until June the morning I left."
"Oh," said Veronica. She felt tears forming in her eyes. She missed her oldest sister. She loved Quinn, but despite their differences, she felt a tighter bond with Daria than she did with Quinn.
"So who's there?" said Daria.
"Mom is up," said Veronica. "Quinn and Dad went to the store. They'll be back soon."
"Is she out yet?" said Daria.
"No," said Veronica. "She's still getting dressed."
"So what's going on at school?" said Daria. "Is it still standing or did somebody manage to burn it down?"
"It's still there," said Veronica. "Nobody burned it down. Mrs. Marston still remembers you and asked how you were doing."
Daria grinned. "Tell her I'm OK and I'm thinking of all sorts of ways to get into trouble," she replied.
"You?" said Veronica. "You're a goody two-shoes."
"I had a bad influence," said Daria.
"Who?" Veronica said skeptically.
"You," Daria replied.
A Convenience Store somewhere in the Midlands
December 22nd, 1990
Veronica laughed so hard that Anahita could hear her. To her surprise she saw that Daria was actually grinning, something she almost never did at Hogwarts. Clearly she was enjoying herself.
"Seriously, Ronnie, if Mom's not dressed yet, could you tell her I called?" said Daria. "And also, could you tell Dad and Quinn that I called and that I'm safe at the Warings? I'm sorry I missed them today and I'll try another time before Christmas if I can get at a phone."
"I can do that," said Veronica.
Daria was still talking on the phone with Veronica when someone pulled into the parking place closest to the pay phone. Their car's windows were down and their radio was set too high, blasting the area with bad metal. A loutish-looking boy in his late teens got out from the passenger side and walked over to where Daria and the Waring sisters were standing, earning dirty looks from all three girls. The glares weren't enough to stop him from looming over them, gum popping in his mouth for added emphasis.
D1ck wad, thought Daria. There are times when the left-hand path looks attractive. She imagined the lout's palms developing a nasty rash and felt her cheek muscles contracting at the thought.
"You tykes through with the phone?" said the boy. "Some people have important calls to make."
Daria shot him another dirty look. Memo to self: learn some jinxes, she thought.
"I'll try another time. Take care, June Bug. Merry Christmas," she said and hung up. The Yob nudged her away and started dialing.
The girls waited for the Yob to finish. He continued to talk for what seemed like forever: Daria wondered how he could hear himself talk over the sheer volume of noise coming from his car's speakers, but he did it. He eventually hung up, then drove away, but not before a big truck pulled into the lot, its engine rumbling as loudly as a freight locomotive back in Highland.
"Crap," Daria muttered. She asked Anahita to watch her bag for a moment, then went back inside the store to check the time: it was getting close to three. She walked back outside. Anahita was frowning.
"I think we'd better start back," said Anahita. It's beginning to get dark and I think it might rain soon. I don't like to walk in the dark and the mud."
Daria thought about Anahita's advice: her friend had a good point. "OK," said Daria. The girls picked up their packages and started walking back to the Warings' hamlet.
The walk back wasn't as pleasant as the walk to the store. It was cloudy and it felt colder: the chill had seeped in through Daria's clothing while they were outside the store.
The girls had passed under the power line but were still in what Daria thought was Muggle territory when they heard someone come up behind them, honking their horn at them, following with a bellow of "Get outta da way!" in what Daria knew was a Northeastern US accent. Daria moved over to the side: she didn't want to get run down by that jerk, and found her right foot sinking into muck past her ankle.
"D_n it!" she said.
Anahita looked at her. "What's wrong?" she said.
"I stepped in some mud," said Daria. "My foot went in past my ankles."
Anahita looked at Daria's shoe. Daria was wearing a boot something like the ones she wore for school, except that Daria's were somewhat taller. "Daria, those shoes really don't work around here," she said. "Don't you have any Wellies?"
"No," said Daria. "I just have these. I thought they'd work fine. They would back in Highland."
Anahita grinned and shook her head. "I think you need some rubber boots," she said. "We have a lot of mud out here. You told me that you visit that family's ranch. Don't they have mud out there?"
"Not this much," Daria said ruefully, eying her mud-caked shoe and sock.
"We'll talk to Mum after we get back," said Anahita.
The girls continued their back to Anahita's house. Just under half a mile later, they came upon a gratifying sight: the jerk who'd run them off the road had gotten bogged in the mud past his wheel rims. He'd tried getting out by gunning his engine, but the only effect was to throw mud and dig him in deeper. Sometimes what goes around comes around, thought Daria.
It was still light out and the driver saw them coming. He turned on his car and lowered his window.
"Hey, ladies," he said, acting if he hadn't nearly run them off the road just a short time ago. "Like can you get me to a phone?"
"Sorry," said Anahita. "My parents don't have a telephone. My neighbors don't either. The nearest phone is back from where you came from."
"You're shitting me," said the driver. Daria tried to guess his accent: New York area, Pennsylvania, someplace. Daria decided that he had to be from New Jersey.
"They aren't," said Daria. "They're rugged individualists. That's why we're out here. It's about a two-mile stroll from their place to the nearest phone."
"No phone?" the Jersey guy said plaintively.
"No phone," said Anahita. "Neither my parents not my neighbors have one."
"Don't you guys have a tractor or something?" said the Jersey guy.
"My neighbor use oxen sometimes," said Anahita. "He's very old-fashioned. But I think his oxen are bedded down for the night."
"Isn't this the short cut to Gedney Hill?" said the Jersey guy.
"Sorry," said Anahita. "This is a dead end road."
"So where am I?" said the Jersey guy.
"Out in the boondocks," said Daria.
"So what do I do?" said the Jersey guy.
"If you want a tow, there's a pay phone back at the convenience store," said Daria. "We just came from there."
"You mean I'm out in the boondocks and I have to walk in this stuff?" said the Jersey guy.
"Perceptive, isn't he?" Daria said to Anahita.
The Jersey guy rolled up his window, but Daria and Anahita heard him howl in frustration. He lowered it again a little later. "So where is the convenience store?" he said.
"Back the way you came," said Anahita. "You might want to set off soon. The sun sets early hereabouts."