WARNING: There is a section in this chapter that may offend anyone with
strict religious beliefs. Please note that it is only for the effect of
the story and is not meant as a commentary on any certain religions. It is
a product of someone who is truly sick in their beliefs (Master). This
part is marked within the story as to where it begins and ends if anyone
wishes to skip that particular part.
Richie entered Master's office silently carrying the tray of hot tea. He stood by the wall with the tray until Master beckoned him forward to place the tray on the desk. Master took it from there. Richie took his spot kneeling at Master's feet.
"What about that one?" the man on the other side of the desk asked.
"I'm afraid he is not available for scheduling."
"Surly we can come to some agreement?"
"I'm afraid not. He has a select list of clientele who all have him reserved for exclusive service."
"How do you get on the list?"
"I'm afraid he's booked," Master insisted, scratching Richie's head as if he were a loyal dog. "Now, any of the other children are available. All you have to do is look through the book and pick one."
This was a new guest. Richie had never seen him before. And he didn't like to serve strangers. Master knew that and would never make him serve someone new without Richie agreeing to it. Richie only served people he liked. Master made sure of that.
"Alright then," the man agreed at long last, taking the book from Master's hand.
Richie had looked through the book before. It had pictures of all the children along with their ID numbers, areas of service, special talents, price of their service and asking price for purchase. Richie was the last page. No. 25897, $10,000 a night (chamber services only), $15,000 a day (chamber, meal, and needed service), not for sale. Richie was very proud of that last line; he was the only of Master's children not for sale.
"I'll take him," the man decided. "Number 18362. Three nights. I'll use a house child during the day."
"Excellent selection. I'll have a boy attend to your luggage. You'll find a daily schedule in the top desk drawer. And I will arrange for a girl to be prepared to serve your meals. I hope you enjoy your stay." Master stood, shook the man's hand and ushered him out of the room as Richie scurried to open the door ahead of them. He then returned to his desk and picked up the phone. It connected immediately to the girl who helped Mamma keep things running smoothly. He ordered for a house boy to take the man's luggage to room 34. "Now," he said turning to Richie. "I have a new girl to see to. Would you like to come along?"
"Yes, Master," Richie answered. He had been curious about the girl who had been in Time Out for the past month. He had only seen her when she had been brought in.
He followed Master down the hall, around the corner, and down the stairs to the Time Out rooms, where they met Mamma.
"Girl is ready," Mamma said with a proud smile. "Mamma has spoken with her and she has agreed."
"Master," Richie said moving to the door. "I want to see her."
"Ahem?"
"May I see her?" Richie corrected.
Master smiled. This was one boy who had completely devoted himself to the role he was chosen for. The first moment Master had seen him, he knew he would be a hard case to crack. But like a coconut, once cracked he had been completely defenseless. He made the perfect total child. He was curious, adventuresome, innocent looking, and needy of the attention. He had become exactly what Master wanted.
"You may help Mamma prepare her. Would you like that?"
"Yes, Master."
"Okay. Now be good and wait here while Mamma and I speak with her."
"Yes, Master." Richie knelt next to the door as they walked into the small room. He could hear them talking softly then Master left the room.
"Be a good boy," he reminded him before going up the stairs.
Mamma came out a few minutes later with the girl following her. Richie waited for them to pass then followed. This was the first new child since he had arrived. The three went into the kitchen where Mamma sat the girl at the table in the corner and Richie sat beside her. Richie sat quietly as Mamma fed the girl and was rewarded with a cookie, as was the girl. Then they went into the nursery to give the girl a bath. Richie helped by giving Mamma the shampoo, soap, or sponge depending on what she needed. Finally, it was time for bed.
"How would boy like for girl to stay in the nursery with him?" Mamma asked Richie.
"Can she?"
"Yes, because she is a baby, too."
"Okay."
"Good, now why don't boy and girl say their prayers together?"
"Okay." Richie took the girl by her trembling hand. "I'll teach you," he told her with a warm smile as he led her to the other bed. He knelt on the floor, put his elbows on the bed, and clasped his hands together. "You, too," he told her. She moved to comply. "Okay, repeat after me. Holy Master."
"Holy Master."
"Bless my master."
"Bless my master."
"Bless my brothers."
"Bless my brothers."
"Bless my sisters."
"Bless my sisters."
"Bless Mamma."
"Bless Mamma."
"And help me to be a good boy.. except you say girl."
"And help me to be a good girl."
"Amen."
"Amen."'
"And now it's time for bed. This is your bed."
"Mamma will handle this," Mamma said with a smile shooing Richie away. Richie went over to stand by his bed. Mamma spoke quietly with the girl for a minute before coming to tuck him in. She smiled sweetly at him as he crawled into bed. "Boy was very good today," she told him as she pulled the blankets up.
"Why is she sad?" he asked nodding to the girl across the room.
"Girl is sad because she is scared."
"Why is she scared?"
"All children are scared when they are somewhere new. It will pass."
"Was I scared when I was first here?"
"Boy does not remember?"
"No."
"Boy was scared. Is he now?"
Richie smiled and rolled his eyes. "No."
"And girl will not be for long. Boy learned and so will she."
"Maybe she wants a story," Richie suggested.
Mamma smiled. "Does she want a story or does boy?"
"Both. Don't you want to hear a story?" he asked the girl across the room. She sniffled and rolled her back to him. "Maybe just me."
"Okay," Mamma agreed. "What story does boy want to hear?"
Richie thought it over. "The story of the first Master."
*****RELIGIOUS THEME*****
"Alright. Long ago the Holy Master created the world. Then he created a boy to take care of the creatures and plants. But boy was lonely, so the Holy Master created a girl to keep him company and play with. Holy Master said that they could do whatever they wanted, except."
"They couldn't eat the apples off the tree," Richie supplied.
"That's right. But one day girl decided to go against Holy Master and she took two apples from the tree. One for her and one for boy. She gave the apple to boy and they ate them."
"Then Holy Master found out."
"Yes, and he was very angry at the children for disobeying him. So he punished them. Then he created a man to watch over the children and keep them from being bad. And that man was the first master."
*****END RELIGIOUS THEME*****
"Now," Mamma said, kissing Richie's forehead. "It is time for boy to go to sleep."
"Good night, Mamma."
Richie closed his eyes and quickly drifted into a light sleep. He was forced to sleep so much, ten hours a night and an hour and a half in the afternoons, that his body had adjusted to sleep lightly the entire time. The girl in the bed across the room, however, didn't find it so easy to sleep. She was too scared. The silence left her time to dread her new situation. Her quiet tears turned into sobs, which got stronger and stronger until she gagged herself and threw up all over the bed. Richie was awake a split second later and at her side.
"Are you okay, girl?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder. She continued sobbing. "You threw up. I'll get Mamma; she'll make you feel better." He knocked on the wall by his bed a few times. There was a knock in return and a few seconds later the door opened.
"What is wrong?" Mamma asked.
"She's sick," Richie explained. He was back at the girl's side trying to comfort her. "She threw up and everything."
"Oh, poor girl," Mamma cooed. "She is sick. Boy, take the sheets to the wash then get Master."
"Yes, Mamma."
Mamma led the girl out of the room and Richie did as he was told. Soon he and Master were in Mamma's room where the girl had been settled into another bed.
"What's wrong with her?" Master asked standing next to Mamma.
"She's sick," Richie said. "She threw up."
"I know that!" he snapped. Richie jumped. "Go wait in the hall."
"Yes, Master," Richie said softly, hanging his head because he had no tail to tuck between his legs. He went out into the hall and knelt by the door. Master was angry with him and he didn't know why. Richie was left to think about what he might have done wrong for a few minutes. Then Master came out of the room.
"Boy," he said, gently putting his hand on Richie's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Master," Richie answered bowing down. "I was bad."
"No, no, you weren't bad. I was concerned about girl and snapped at you. Now, sit up." He did. "You thought you were helping." Richie stayed quiet, not sure what to do or say. "Would you like to sleep with me tonight?" Master offered.
A big grin broke across Richie's face. "Yes, Master," he answered excitedly.
"Okay, come with me."
It was a rare treat indeed to sleep with Master in his chambers. He usually let Richie sleep with him if he had had a particularly bad day. Whenever the other children picked on him too much, or if he hurt himself, or if the other kids tricked him, then he got to sleep with Master. Never without a reason. But Richie was not going to question the unexpected treat. He followed Master into the huge sweet. He waited for permission, and when he got it crawled onto the foot of the king-sized bed. The bed was so big and soft. It reminded Richie of something, he could never remember what, but he dreamed about it sometimes. Master ordered the boy who took care of his chamber to get Richie a blanket then to go to bed themselves. Richie fell asleep comfortably at the foot of the bed, wrapped in a think blanket that smelled of something familiar and calming.
. . . . . .
Their search for Richie had all but stopped. No one really expected to see him again. But the small piece of hope that still remained kept Duncan and Tessa at the antique store. They couldn't stand that if by some miracle Richie was alive he wouldn't be able to find them if they moved. So they stayed. When friends called, they usually asked about Richie out of habit. It had been seven years and Richie was legally dead so the police had stopped searching.
"He'd be 25 today," Tessa said looking at the calendar.
"Yes, he would," Duncan agreed putting his arms around her waist. "How do you want to celebrate this year?" Every year they celebrated Richie's birthday in one form or another. They would close the shop and do something that they thought Richie would like to do for his birthday.
"Angie called this morning while you were jogging. I invited her and Gary to dinner." Angie and Gary had married three years earlier. Angie was now expecting. "I thought we could go to the pier. Richie loved eating on the pier."
"Sounds like a good idea. I'll make reservations for four," Duncan said, picking up the phone.
That night the four met up for dinner. Angie was just starting to show and Tessa fussed over the slight pouch in the young girl's stomach. An hour into the meal, the topic turned to the one thing they always wanted to talk about, but went out of their way to avoid: Richie.
"You know, he may have been the runt of the litter, but he was the toughest one we had," Gary said fondly. "I remember in fifth grade we were getting picked on by a bunch of junior high kids. Richie threw the first punch. He got his butt kicked, but he wasn't scared."
"I remember that," Angie smiled. "He got a black eye and two teeth knocked out. He bragged for weeks because he gave one of them a bloody nose."
"I don't think he changed much," Tessa said with a slight laugh. "He was always getting into trouble. I can't count how many times I had to bandage a cut or stop a bleeding nose. He thought he was so tough. he was a klutz."
"You have to give him points for trying," Duncan cut in. "He would do anything to help people who needed it."
"And when he needed help the most, no one was there," Angie sniffed. "He must have been so scared."
"Must have," Duncan agreed, looking down.
"Oh, Duncan, I didn't mean it like that," Angie apologized quickly. "You did everything you could. It's not your fault the bastards got him."
"I know," Duncan said, forcing a smile and putting his hand over her's. "It's just.I can still see his face when they had him in their car. He was so close and there was nothing I could do."
"You tried," Gary said. "That's all anyone could do."
"When did you two become the adults, huh?" Duncan asked.
"We grew up."
"I just wish Richie was still here," Angie said sadly.
"We all do," Tessa agreed.
Three hours later, Duncan and Tessa were getting into bed. Suddenly Tessa started giggling.
"What?" Duncan asked.
"Do you remember that bad storm and we ended up with no power in the middle of the night?"
"You mean the one that had Richie scared out of his mind?"
"He was so sure that the roof was going to cave in on him. And then the wind blew something through his window."
"And we had to board it closed and he refused to sleep in there because he said it was unsafe."
"So he went out to the living room. But there were too many windows so he snuck into the hall."
Duncan smiled fondly. "And somehow he ended up at the foot of the bed. I don't remember how he got there, but I wasn't surprised when I woke up."
"He looked so cute curled up under the blanket. He was so small then. He grew a lot those first months."
"He did. He was actually starting to look his age."
Tessa sniffed as the first tears of the day came. "Then he was taken. I miss him so much."
"We all do," Duncan assured her, pulling her close.
"He was just a baby!"
"Don't you let him hear you say that. He was a man as far as he could tell."
"I don't care what he thinks. He was just a baby. Nothing more than a child."
"Where ever he is, Tess, I'm sure he's okay. Let's try to get some sleep."
He turned off the bedside lamp and they huddled down under the covers to try to sleep.
Richie entered Master's office silently carrying the tray of hot tea. He stood by the wall with the tray until Master beckoned him forward to place the tray on the desk. Master took it from there. Richie took his spot kneeling at Master's feet.
"What about that one?" the man on the other side of the desk asked.
"I'm afraid he is not available for scheduling."
"Surly we can come to some agreement?"
"I'm afraid not. He has a select list of clientele who all have him reserved for exclusive service."
"How do you get on the list?"
"I'm afraid he's booked," Master insisted, scratching Richie's head as if he were a loyal dog. "Now, any of the other children are available. All you have to do is look through the book and pick one."
This was a new guest. Richie had never seen him before. And he didn't like to serve strangers. Master knew that and would never make him serve someone new without Richie agreeing to it. Richie only served people he liked. Master made sure of that.
"Alright then," the man agreed at long last, taking the book from Master's hand.
Richie had looked through the book before. It had pictures of all the children along with their ID numbers, areas of service, special talents, price of their service and asking price for purchase. Richie was the last page. No. 25897, $10,000 a night (chamber services only), $15,000 a day (chamber, meal, and needed service), not for sale. Richie was very proud of that last line; he was the only of Master's children not for sale.
"I'll take him," the man decided. "Number 18362. Three nights. I'll use a house child during the day."
"Excellent selection. I'll have a boy attend to your luggage. You'll find a daily schedule in the top desk drawer. And I will arrange for a girl to be prepared to serve your meals. I hope you enjoy your stay." Master stood, shook the man's hand and ushered him out of the room as Richie scurried to open the door ahead of them. He then returned to his desk and picked up the phone. It connected immediately to the girl who helped Mamma keep things running smoothly. He ordered for a house boy to take the man's luggage to room 34. "Now," he said turning to Richie. "I have a new girl to see to. Would you like to come along?"
"Yes, Master," Richie answered. He had been curious about the girl who had been in Time Out for the past month. He had only seen her when she had been brought in.
He followed Master down the hall, around the corner, and down the stairs to the Time Out rooms, where they met Mamma.
"Girl is ready," Mamma said with a proud smile. "Mamma has spoken with her and she has agreed."
"Master," Richie said moving to the door. "I want to see her."
"Ahem?"
"May I see her?" Richie corrected.
Master smiled. This was one boy who had completely devoted himself to the role he was chosen for. The first moment Master had seen him, he knew he would be a hard case to crack. But like a coconut, once cracked he had been completely defenseless. He made the perfect total child. He was curious, adventuresome, innocent looking, and needy of the attention. He had become exactly what Master wanted.
"You may help Mamma prepare her. Would you like that?"
"Yes, Master."
"Okay. Now be good and wait here while Mamma and I speak with her."
"Yes, Master." Richie knelt next to the door as they walked into the small room. He could hear them talking softly then Master left the room.
"Be a good boy," he reminded him before going up the stairs.
Mamma came out a few minutes later with the girl following her. Richie waited for them to pass then followed. This was the first new child since he had arrived. The three went into the kitchen where Mamma sat the girl at the table in the corner and Richie sat beside her. Richie sat quietly as Mamma fed the girl and was rewarded with a cookie, as was the girl. Then they went into the nursery to give the girl a bath. Richie helped by giving Mamma the shampoo, soap, or sponge depending on what she needed. Finally, it was time for bed.
"How would boy like for girl to stay in the nursery with him?" Mamma asked Richie.
"Can she?"
"Yes, because she is a baby, too."
"Okay."
"Good, now why don't boy and girl say their prayers together?"
"Okay." Richie took the girl by her trembling hand. "I'll teach you," he told her with a warm smile as he led her to the other bed. He knelt on the floor, put his elbows on the bed, and clasped his hands together. "You, too," he told her. She moved to comply. "Okay, repeat after me. Holy Master."
"Holy Master."
"Bless my master."
"Bless my master."
"Bless my brothers."
"Bless my brothers."
"Bless my sisters."
"Bless my sisters."
"Bless Mamma."
"Bless Mamma."
"And help me to be a good boy.. except you say girl."
"And help me to be a good girl."
"Amen."
"Amen."'
"And now it's time for bed. This is your bed."
"Mamma will handle this," Mamma said with a smile shooing Richie away. Richie went over to stand by his bed. Mamma spoke quietly with the girl for a minute before coming to tuck him in. She smiled sweetly at him as he crawled into bed. "Boy was very good today," she told him as she pulled the blankets up.
"Why is she sad?" he asked nodding to the girl across the room.
"Girl is sad because she is scared."
"Why is she scared?"
"All children are scared when they are somewhere new. It will pass."
"Was I scared when I was first here?"
"Boy does not remember?"
"No."
"Boy was scared. Is he now?"
Richie smiled and rolled his eyes. "No."
"And girl will not be for long. Boy learned and so will she."
"Maybe she wants a story," Richie suggested.
Mamma smiled. "Does she want a story or does boy?"
"Both. Don't you want to hear a story?" he asked the girl across the room. She sniffled and rolled her back to him. "Maybe just me."
"Okay," Mamma agreed. "What story does boy want to hear?"
Richie thought it over. "The story of the first Master."
*****RELIGIOUS THEME*****
"Alright. Long ago the Holy Master created the world. Then he created a boy to take care of the creatures and plants. But boy was lonely, so the Holy Master created a girl to keep him company and play with. Holy Master said that they could do whatever they wanted, except."
"They couldn't eat the apples off the tree," Richie supplied.
"That's right. But one day girl decided to go against Holy Master and she took two apples from the tree. One for her and one for boy. She gave the apple to boy and they ate them."
"Then Holy Master found out."
"Yes, and he was very angry at the children for disobeying him. So he punished them. Then he created a man to watch over the children and keep them from being bad. And that man was the first master."
*****END RELIGIOUS THEME*****
"Now," Mamma said, kissing Richie's forehead. "It is time for boy to go to sleep."
"Good night, Mamma."
Richie closed his eyes and quickly drifted into a light sleep. He was forced to sleep so much, ten hours a night and an hour and a half in the afternoons, that his body had adjusted to sleep lightly the entire time. The girl in the bed across the room, however, didn't find it so easy to sleep. She was too scared. The silence left her time to dread her new situation. Her quiet tears turned into sobs, which got stronger and stronger until she gagged herself and threw up all over the bed. Richie was awake a split second later and at her side.
"Are you okay, girl?" he asked putting a hand on her shoulder. She continued sobbing. "You threw up. I'll get Mamma; she'll make you feel better." He knocked on the wall by his bed a few times. There was a knock in return and a few seconds later the door opened.
"What is wrong?" Mamma asked.
"She's sick," Richie explained. He was back at the girl's side trying to comfort her. "She threw up and everything."
"Oh, poor girl," Mamma cooed. "She is sick. Boy, take the sheets to the wash then get Master."
"Yes, Mamma."
Mamma led the girl out of the room and Richie did as he was told. Soon he and Master were in Mamma's room where the girl had been settled into another bed.
"What's wrong with her?" Master asked standing next to Mamma.
"She's sick," Richie said. "She threw up."
"I know that!" he snapped. Richie jumped. "Go wait in the hall."
"Yes, Master," Richie said softly, hanging his head because he had no tail to tuck between his legs. He went out into the hall and knelt by the door. Master was angry with him and he didn't know why. Richie was left to think about what he might have done wrong for a few minutes. Then Master came out of the room.
"Boy," he said, gently putting his hand on Richie's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Master," Richie answered bowing down. "I was bad."
"No, no, you weren't bad. I was concerned about girl and snapped at you. Now, sit up." He did. "You thought you were helping." Richie stayed quiet, not sure what to do or say. "Would you like to sleep with me tonight?" Master offered.
A big grin broke across Richie's face. "Yes, Master," he answered excitedly.
"Okay, come with me."
It was a rare treat indeed to sleep with Master in his chambers. He usually let Richie sleep with him if he had had a particularly bad day. Whenever the other children picked on him too much, or if he hurt himself, or if the other kids tricked him, then he got to sleep with Master. Never without a reason. But Richie was not going to question the unexpected treat. He followed Master into the huge sweet. He waited for permission, and when he got it crawled onto the foot of the king-sized bed. The bed was so big and soft. It reminded Richie of something, he could never remember what, but he dreamed about it sometimes. Master ordered the boy who took care of his chamber to get Richie a blanket then to go to bed themselves. Richie fell asleep comfortably at the foot of the bed, wrapped in a think blanket that smelled of something familiar and calming.
. . . . . .
Their search for Richie had all but stopped. No one really expected to see him again. But the small piece of hope that still remained kept Duncan and Tessa at the antique store. They couldn't stand that if by some miracle Richie was alive he wouldn't be able to find them if they moved. So they stayed. When friends called, they usually asked about Richie out of habit. It had been seven years and Richie was legally dead so the police had stopped searching.
"He'd be 25 today," Tessa said looking at the calendar.
"Yes, he would," Duncan agreed putting his arms around her waist. "How do you want to celebrate this year?" Every year they celebrated Richie's birthday in one form or another. They would close the shop and do something that they thought Richie would like to do for his birthday.
"Angie called this morning while you were jogging. I invited her and Gary to dinner." Angie and Gary had married three years earlier. Angie was now expecting. "I thought we could go to the pier. Richie loved eating on the pier."
"Sounds like a good idea. I'll make reservations for four," Duncan said, picking up the phone.
That night the four met up for dinner. Angie was just starting to show and Tessa fussed over the slight pouch in the young girl's stomach. An hour into the meal, the topic turned to the one thing they always wanted to talk about, but went out of their way to avoid: Richie.
"You know, he may have been the runt of the litter, but he was the toughest one we had," Gary said fondly. "I remember in fifth grade we were getting picked on by a bunch of junior high kids. Richie threw the first punch. He got his butt kicked, but he wasn't scared."
"I remember that," Angie smiled. "He got a black eye and two teeth knocked out. He bragged for weeks because he gave one of them a bloody nose."
"I don't think he changed much," Tessa said with a slight laugh. "He was always getting into trouble. I can't count how many times I had to bandage a cut or stop a bleeding nose. He thought he was so tough. he was a klutz."
"You have to give him points for trying," Duncan cut in. "He would do anything to help people who needed it."
"And when he needed help the most, no one was there," Angie sniffed. "He must have been so scared."
"Must have," Duncan agreed, looking down.
"Oh, Duncan, I didn't mean it like that," Angie apologized quickly. "You did everything you could. It's not your fault the bastards got him."
"I know," Duncan said, forcing a smile and putting his hand over her's. "It's just.I can still see his face when they had him in their car. He was so close and there was nothing I could do."
"You tried," Gary said. "That's all anyone could do."
"When did you two become the adults, huh?" Duncan asked.
"We grew up."
"I just wish Richie was still here," Angie said sadly.
"We all do," Tessa agreed.
Three hours later, Duncan and Tessa were getting into bed. Suddenly Tessa started giggling.
"What?" Duncan asked.
"Do you remember that bad storm and we ended up with no power in the middle of the night?"
"You mean the one that had Richie scared out of his mind?"
"He was so sure that the roof was going to cave in on him. And then the wind blew something through his window."
"And we had to board it closed and he refused to sleep in there because he said it was unsafe."
"So he went out to the living room. But there were too many windows so he snuck into the hall."
Duncan smiled fondly. "And somehow he ended up at the foot of the bed. I don't remember how he got there, but I wasn't surprised when I woke up."
"He looked so cute curled up under the blanket. He was so small then. He grew a lot those first months."
"He did. He was actually starting to look his age."
Tessa sniffed as the first tears of the day came. "Then he was taken. I miss him so much."
"We all do," Duncan assured her, pulling her close.
"He was just a baby!"
"Don't you let him hear you say that. He was a man as far as he could tell."
"I don't care what he thinks. He was just a baby. Nothing more than a child."
"Where ever he is, Tess, I'm sure he's okay. Let's try to get some sleep."
He turned off the bedside lamp and they huddled down under the covers to try to sleep.