A/N: Thanks to Jessica for your review on Ch. 12.
Ch. 13: Halloween
I felt the now-familiar sensation of falling as the gate opened My head spun for a moment. When I regained my bearings, we were all sitting on the ground in a grassy area just outside the nursing home. It had felt like we were falling through water, but none of us was wet. Looking around, I realized the others were still a bit dazed. Looking at them, I realized another problem. We were all still dressed in our Elven clothing. That would take a little bit of explaining if anyone questioned us. Then I noticed something. I have never been so relieved to see children trick-or-treating. It was Halloween night. That meant we had either been gone less than 24 hours or at least a year. The neighborhood hadn't changed so I doubted we'd been gone long. The others were getting to their feet. Pete suddenly motioned for all to be still.
"What is it?"
"Don't move. Bloody Mary just walked out the door. Maybe she won't see us."
We weren't so fortunate. She spotted us and literally ran over. She seemed a little unsteady, but she'd never had a very good sense of balance. I've been blamed for her tripping over her own feet more than once. "Jenny!! Where on God's green earth have you been? We couldn't find you last night! You know you the rules. You have to get permission from the staff to leave the premises, especially overnight! What are you trying to pull here?" The tirade didn't end until she took in the absence of the wheelchair. "Are you hurt? What happened to your wheelchair? Of all the foolish things to do, disappearing like that…" She finally stopped to take a breath while she leaned over to check me for injuries. I was totally shocked to notice alcohol on her breath.
"Maria, it's a long story. I'm OK, but you're going to have to trust me." Just then Mary and I both noticed that I was sitting cross-legged. Before leaving, I wouldn't have been able to sit up without support at all. "I'm OK. Really." Just then, I noticed the number of insects on the ground. Now, I don't have a big problem with bugs, but we have fire ants in this area, and they can really bite. I decided Maria would just have to deal with the shock and I stood up. She stared for a minute, then passed out. Fortunately, Glorfindel managed to catch her.
"Old Man Carson must have spiked her punch. She is definitely drunk, and I've heard her give temperance lectures to beat all. It's for the best. She'll probably think she dreamt it all up." We took her inside, and put her in a spare room where she could sleep it off. We got outside with a minimum of trouble. Mrs. Peterson was sitting in her wheelchair in the hall. She recognized me, but I managed to convince her she was remembering someone else. Her Alzheimer's is so bad she'll believe anything so long as you tell her she's misremembering. On the spur of the moment, I ran back to my room quickly and grabbed the bit of cash I had in there. It was only about $40, but it might come in handy. After dodging a few trick-or-treaters, we finally managed to get outside.
"OK, Renée, where are we going?"
"My mom's—stepmother's apartment." The woman was the only mother Renée had ever known. It was logical that she would think of Amanda as a mother.
Renée took off in the lead. Those with weapons hid them as best as they could. The last thing we needed was trying to explain a sword to the police. Swords and bows got tucked under cloaks as well as possible. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough. Glorfindel could not understand why he had to hide his bow, and eventually I just begged him to trust me. He stuck it under his cloak as best as he could. I had to hope it would be enough, but there wasn't much else we could do.
The police were always out in force Halloween evening. There are a lot of 'mischievous' characters in this neighborhood. While we walked, I spoke quietly with Glorfindel, telling him some of what we might encounter. Elves don't tend to get really drunk, and I don't think he'd ever seen a truly drunk human, so I tried to explain as well as I could. When we reached Renée's old house, I wasn't sure what to expect. Loud music and drunken voices floated from the window. I didn't know most of the voices, but I was able to identify Joe's. I could hear arguing. It wasn't terribly intense, but it sounded like it could easily escalate. Renée started to approach the house.
"Are you sure we want to just walk in? I really don't think that's a good idea." We walked away, and hung out at a local 24-hour greasy spoon that was relatively safe. It didn't serve liquor, and most of the occupants were relatively sober. The waitress didn't even bat an eye at our outfits. I had coffee, and Renée had a soda, and we had yet another opportunity to astound Glorfindel. He tried the coffee and made a face, but it was nothing compared to the look on his face when he tried Renée's soda. It was a mixture of shock, horror, and bewilderment, but he recovered quickly, and a few minutes later he was sipping on one of his own. We could see Renée's house from the restaurant's window. Soon, the police came and broke up the party. We watched most of the guests leave.
Pete spoke up. "OK, guys. Whatever's going to happen, it's going to happen now. The guests are gone and the police have made him mad. If he's going to beat her, it will be now. She's the only target left" Glorfindel was shocked at the concept of a man beating his girlfriend. He still hadn't come to terms with the idea of an unmarried couple living together. He just looked at me, unable to take it all in. Pete was speaking again. "Let's go. Calador and I will go in first. Glorfindel, watch out for the women. We might get into a fistfight, but keep your weapons hidden. We're fighting drunk humans, not armed Orcs. We will not use weapons." He was firm on the last point. I left the entire $40 on the table. The waitress would get the tip of her life. The bunch of us got up quickly and marched up to the house.
Ch. 13: Halloween
I felt the now-familiar sensation of falling as the gate opened My head spun for a moment. When I regained my bearings, we were all sitting on the ground in a grassy area just outside the nursing home. It had felt like we were falling through water, but none of us was wet. Looking around, I realized the others were still a bit dazed. Looking at them, I realized another problem. We were all still dressed in our Elven clothing. That would take a little bit of explaining if anyone questioned us. Then I noticed something. I have never been so relieved to see children trick-or-treating. It was Halloween night. That meant we had either been gone less than 24 hours or at least a year. The neighborhood hadn't changed so I doubted we'd been gone long. The others were getting to their feet. Pete suddenly motioned for all to be still.
"What is it?"
"Don't move. Bloody Mary just walked out the door. Maybe she won't see us."
We weren't so fortunate. She spotted us and literally ran over. She seemed a little unsteady, but she'd never had a very good sense of balance. I've been blamed for her tripping over her own feet more than once. "Jenny!! Where on God's green earth have you been? We couldn't find you last night! You know you the rules. You have to get permission from the staff to leave the premises, especially overnight! What are you trying to pull here?" The tirade didn't end until she took in the absence of the wheelchair. "Are you hurt? What happened to your wheelchair? Of all the foolish things to do, disappearing like that…" She finally stopped to take a breath while she leaned over to check me for injuries. I was totally shocked to notice alcohol on her breath.
"Maria, it's a long story. I'm OK, but you're going to have to trust me." Just then Mary and I both noticed that I was sitting cross-legged. Before leaving, I wouldn't have been able to sit up without support at all. "I'm OK. Really." Just then, I noticed the number of insects on the ground. Now, I don't have a big problem with bugs, but we have fire ants in this area, and they can really bite. I decided Maria would just have to deal with the shock and I stood up. She stared for a minute, then passed out. Fortunately, Glorfindel managed to catch her.
"Old Man Carson must have spiked her punch. She is definitely drunk, and I've heard her give temperance lectures to beat all. It's for the best. She'll probably think she dreamt it all up." We took her inside, and put her in a spare room where she could sleep it off. We got outside with a minimum of trouble. Mrs. Peterson was sitting in her wheelchair in the hall. She recognized me, but I managed to convince her she was remembering someone else. Her Alzheimer's is so bad she'll believe anything so long as you tell her she's misremembering. On the spur of the moment, I ran back to my room quickly and grabbed the bit of cash I had in there. It was only about $40, but it might come in handy. After dodging a few trick-or-treaters, we finally managed to get outside.
"OK, Renée, where are we going?"
"My mom's—stepmother's apartment." The woman was the only mother Renée had ever known. It was logical that she would think of Amanda as a mother.
Renée took off in the lead. Those with weapons hid them as best as they could. The last thing we needed was trying to explain a sword to the police. Swords and bows got tucked under cloaks as well as possible. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough. Glorfindel could not understand why he had to hide his bow, and eventually I just begged him to trust me. He stuck it under his cloak as best as he could. I had to hope it would be enough, but there wasn't much else we could do.
The police were always out in force Halloween evening. There are a lot of 'mischievous' characters in this neighborhood. While we walked, I spoke quietly with Glorfindel, telling him some of what we might encounter. Elves don't tend to get really drunk, and I don't think he'd ever seen a truly drunk human, so I tried to explain as well as I could. When we reached Renée's old house, I wasn't sure what to expect. Loud music and drunken voices floated from the window. I didn't know most of the voices, but I was able to identify Joe's. I could hear arguing. It wasn't terribly intense, but it sounded like it could easily escalate. Renée started to approach the house.
"Are you sure we want to just walk in? I really don't think that's a good idea." We walked away, and hung out at a local 24-hour greasy spoon that was relatively safe. It didn't serve liquor, and most of the occupants were relatively sober. The waitress didn't even bat an eye at our outfits. I had coffee, and Renée had a soda, and we had yet another opportunity to astound Glorfindel. He tried the coffee and made a face, but it was nothing compared to the look on his face when he tried Renée's soda. It was a mixture of shock, horror, and bewilderment, but he recovered quickly, and a few minutes later he was sipping on one of his own. We could see Renée's house from the restaurant's window. Soon, the police came and broke up the party. We watched most of the guests leave.
Pete spoke up. "OK, guys. Whatever's going to happen, it's going to happen now. The guests are gone and the police have made him mad. If he's going to beat her, it will be now. She's the only target left" Glorfindel was shocked at the concept of a man beating his girlfriend. He still hadn't come to terms with the idea of an unmarried couple living together. He just looked at me, unable to take it all in. Pete was speaking again. "Let's go. Calador and I will go in first. Glorfindel, watch out for the women. We might get into a fistfight, but keep your weapons hidden. We're fighting drunk humans, not armed Orcs. We will not use weapons." He was firm on the last point. I left the entire $40 on the table. The waitress would get the tip of her life. The bunch of us got up quickly and marched up to the house.