§ § § -- November 6, 1982
Lauren welcomed her cousin with a big hug and offered both girls something to drink; having just had lemonade, they declined. "Get yourself something if you want," Andrea suggested. "I've got some questions to ask you. Leslie's with me because she's kind of helping me out concerning Camille."
Lauren's expression curdled. "Oh," she said, managing to convey a wide range of emotions in the one small word, and gestured toward the sliding glass door at the back of the living room. "Well, let's sit on the deck and you can ask away."
"On the outs?" Andrea asked once the girls were seated around a glass-topped, umbrella-shaded table.
"That's putting it mildly," Lauren said. "Do you know what happened at our friend Myeko's Halloween party last weekend?"
"I got the basic story from my parents," Andrea said, "and some from Tommy. Something about Camille insulting a friend of yours from Sweden, because she thought she was defending me in some warped way."
Lauren snorted. "Yup, that's about it. Well, here's what she said." Lauren proceeded to outline her version of the story in fairly graphic detail, and Andrea winced several times on her sister's behalf as she listened. "And you want to know something?" Lauren concluded. "I could have sworn that somehow, every single person at the party was on Frida's side -- even Tommy. There were so many kids there, you'd think the odds favored people taking sides, but no. Not one single person agreed with Camille. Nobody left with her, anyway." A small puzzled frown formed on Lauren's face. "I wonder why?"
Utterly out of the blue, Leslie remembered something Frida had told Roarke on her very first day on Fantasy Island. "Hey," she ventured hesitantly, "maybe I know. I don't think Frida told anyone else about this, and I know about it only because Mr. Roarke made her tell him the day she first came here." She focused on Lauren and Andrea. "Frida said that she can make people think things."
"What do you mean?" Andrea asked.
Leslie scoured her memory. "She said that she looks at a person and makes them think something she wants them to think, or do something she wants. She told Mr. Roarke that was how she got a pass for the charter plane so she could get to the island from Hawaii. She just looked at the person with the passes, thought 'give me a ticket' at him -- and he just gave it to her, no questions asked."
Lauren stared uncomprehendingly, but Andrea's quick mind made the jump instantly. "So what you're saying is, this ability of Frida's might have influenced all the kids around her at the party," she said.
"But how?" Lauren demanded. "It's not like she was looking at them and thinking, 'be on my side and against Camille', or something like that. She couldn't have been; she was too upset."
"I'm not sure," Andrea said slowly. "I think the thing to do here is get Frida and bring her to see Mr. Roarke, and maybe he can help us figure this thing out." She glanced at her watch. "But I've already been here two hours and I still haven't been back home to see the folks. They're going to think something's up if I don't show up pretty soon. Leslie, when do you expect Mr. Roarke to have some free time?"
Leslie thought for a moment. "Probably not till this evening," she said. "I can call up Julie's house and see if Frida can come over for awhile then. Why not make it for about eight? Things usually calm down by then."
"Okay, sounds like a deal," Andrea said.
Lauren had been watching them. "Can I come too? I'd like to see how all this comes out."
Leslie regarded her friend and grinned. "Want to sleep over tonight? I'm pretty much free tomorrow, because Mr. Roarke said I'm 'assigned' to Andrea's fantasy for the weekend. So whenever Andrea feels like getting up and doing something about it, then I go along. If she feels like sleeping in till noon, then so can I."
They all laughed. "I don't think I'll be doing that," Andrea said. "But sure, Lauren, why not. Why don't you get Aunt Carole's permission to stay the night at Leslie's, and then I'll come over later on today and say hi to your folks, and make you tell me all about that fantasy Leslie gave you for your birthday back in February!"
Leslie was able to get word of their plans to Roarke, and also secured his permission to have Lauren stay overnight. From the main house, she then called Julie's bed-and-breakfast inn and learned from Julie that Frida was busy at the moment, but could be spared for whatever Andrea had in mind at the appointed time. "Don't worry, Leslie, I'll send her over in plenty of time," Julie said. "Good luck."
When Andrea arrived at about a quarter till eight, Roarke was still out; so Leslie and Lauren waited with her in the study. Tattoo came in a few minutes after Andrea arrived and surveyed the three girls. "How's the fantasy going, Leslie?" he asked.
"So far so good, I think," Leslie replied.
"Do you want to wait with us, Tattoo?" Andrea invited. "Frida's coming over shortly, and Mr. Roarke's going to help us out with something we thought of earlier today. It ought to be interesting."
Tattoo's eyebrows shot up, vanishing for a moment into his jet-black hair. "Really? Then I just might stick around," he said, and settled comfortably onto a Victorian settee that reposed beneath the tall shuttered windows to one side of the room. Andrea joined him there, opening the notebook she always carried around and showing him what she had thus far. At about ten till, Leslie let in Frida, who had to be introduced to Andrea. Then Frida, Lauren and Leslie stood in a nervous knot between the club chairs in front of the desk, while Andrea continued to fill Tattoo in on the progress of her fantasy.
Roarke walked through the door at precisely eight, just before the grandfather clock finished tolling the hour. "Well," he said, his gaze sweeping around the room at its five occupants. "I didn't realize everyone on the island was to be in on this." But he smiled, belying the tone of his voice.
"This sounds too intriguing to miss, boss," Tattoo said. "I promise, I'll just watch. I won't get in the way."
"Not to worry, my friend," Roarke said. "In fact, it's good that you're here, in case you are needed. All right, then, and what exactly is the purpose of this meeting?"
Andrea came to the desk and explained to Roarke what had happened after she and Leslie had gone to talk with Lauren. Frida's big blue eyes got wider and wider with apprehension as Andrea spoke, and Leslie found herself hoping Frida wouldn't decide to bolt. Roarke listened quietly, then nodded a couple of times and settled in the chair behind the desk.
"I see," he mused and focused on Frida. "I remember that day very well myself. And I must admit, even I had forgotten all about this ability of yours. We never had a chance to properly discuss the extent of this power you have, Frida, and I believe this is an excellent time to find out just what you can do."
Frida looked scared. "Will I get into trouble for it?"
"No, child," Roarke assured her, "we are simply investigating. It is my understanding that no one seemed to agree with Camille's point of view at the party last weekend, that all the guests seemed to side with you. As you have just heard, Andrea's theory is that perhaps you projected something of your thoughts onto the other young people at the party, causing them to empathize with you."
Frida's hand went to her mouth; she looked horrified. "No, Mr. Roarke, I would not do such a thing!"
"I am not saying it was deliberate," Roarke said. "First of all, tell me precisely how you were feeling at the moment Camille left the party."
Frida swallowed loudly and forcibly calmed herself, thinking back. "I was very unhappy," she said at last. "Frightened because Camille seemed to hate me so. Afraid that others would hate me also."
"She was crying up a storm," Lauren remembered. "She was with a girl named Michelle, and Michelle was practically in tears too. Heck, even I kind of felt like crying."
At these words, everyone turned sharply to her. "Do you recall experiencing any sudden emotion that you hadn't been feeling before?" Roarke asked intensely.
Lauren considered it, thinking carefully. "You know, now that you say so," she murmured, "I do remember that it was pretty sudden. Just out of nowhere, I wanted to cry and try to comfort Frida all at the same time."
"What if the other girls felt the same way?" Leslie exclaimed. "Gosh, we ought to have asked Maureen and Michiko and Myeko over here too."
"By all means, ask," Roarke said, gesturing at the phone.
Leslie made several quick calls, and within fifteen minutes the three girls had arrived, all looking puzzled. Leslie and her friends greeted one another, then turned as one to Roarke. "What's going on?" Maureen asked.
"We're doing a little research," Andrea said, without elaborating. "Hi, Michiko, good seeing you. Listen, can you tell me what you felt when Camille insulted Frida and Myeko made her leave? Any sudden emotions that you didn't have before?"
Michiko's bewildered expression melted slowly away as she contemplated. "Well," she said softly, "I do recall suddenly feeling very upset for Frida. At first, mostly I was horrified that Camille would say such terrible things, but then I had this feeling of wanting to cry because Frida was so upset. It seemed to me that I was upset in the same way, as if I were the one Camille had insulted."
"That's how I felt too," Maureen said in surprise.
"So did I," Myeko concurred. "I mean, the feeling just overwhelmed me, to the point that all I could think of was to throw Camille out." She glanced at several of the others before focusing on Roarke. "What's this all about, anyway?"
"Frida apparently has the ability to project her emotions, as well as her thoughts," Roarke said, addressing the room at large. "Frida, you have been aware that you can cause a person to think or do something you wish them to. Judging from this occurrence, and from the fact that this is the first instance of it, it seems to me that you can project your feelings onto other people when you are under emotional stress."
"Get outta here," Myeko burst out. "How can it be that this never happened before? We've known Frida for at least a year. Are you saying that in all that time, she never felt something strongly enough to project it onto somebody else?"
At that moment Frida started to cry, drawing everyone's attention. "It isn't the first time," she sobbed, sinking into a chair. "Only once it happened before, and it so frightened me that I have always tried very hard to control my emotions ever since then."
"It's all right, Frida," Michiko soothed, patting her friend's shoulder. Roarke, watching her closely, saw tears spring into her eyes. "We know you can't help it."
"She is doing it now," Roarke pointed out gently. "Try to calm yourself, Frida. You must realize that you're affecting your friends."
"She's got me too," Andrea said, wiping her eyes. "This is really fascinating." Abruptly her face took on a stunned look. "Hey...Mr. Roarke, I just thought of something! What if Frida could influence Camille into not being prejudiced anymore?"
Lauren welcomed her cousin with a big hug and offered both girls something to drink; having just had lemonade, they declined. "Get yourself something if you want," Andrea suggested. "I've got some questions to ask you. Leslie's with me because she's kind of helping me out concerning Camille."
Lauren's expression curdled. "Oh," she said, managing to convey a wide range of emotions in the one small word, and gestured toward the sliding glass door at the back of the living room. "Well, let's sit on the deck and you can ask away."
"On the outs?" Andrea asked once the girls were seated around a glass-topped, umbrella-shaded table.
"That's putting it mildly," Lauren said. "Do you know what happened at our friend Myeko's Halloween party last weekend?"
"I got the basic story from my parents," Andrea said, "and some from Tommy. Something about Camille insulting a friend of yours from Sweden, because she thought she was defending me in some warped way."
Lauren snorted. "Yup, that's about it. Well, here's what she said." Lauren proceeded to outline her version of the story in fairly graphic detail, and Andrea winced several times on her sister's behalf as she listened. "And you want to know something?" Lauren concluded. "I could have sworn that somehow, every single person at the party was on Frida's side -- even Tommy. There were so many kids there, you'd think the odds favored people taking sides, but no. Not one single person agreed with Camille. Nobody left with her, anyway." A small puzzled frown formed on Lauren's face. "I wonder why?"
Utterly out of the blue, Leslie remembered something Frida had told Roarke on her very first day on Fantasy Island. "Hey," she ventured hesitantly, "maybe I know. I don't think Frida told anyone else about this, and I know about it only because Mr. Roarke made her tell him the day she first came here." She focused on Lauren and Andrea. "Frida said that she can make people think things."
"What do you mean?" Andrea asked.
Leslie scoured her memory. "She said that she looks at a person and makes them think something she wants them to think, or do something she wants. She told Mr. Roarke that was how she got a pass for the charter plane so she could get to the island from Hawaii. She just looked at the person with the passes, thought 'give me a ticket' at him -- and he just gave it to her, no questions asked."
Lauren stared uncomprehendingly, but Andrea's quick mind made the jump instantly. "So what you're saying is, this ability of Frida's might have influenced all the kids around her at the party," she said.
"But how?" Lauren demanded. "It's not like she was looking at them and thinking, 'be on my side and against Camille', or something like that. She couldn't have been; she was too upset."
"I'm not sure," Andrea said slowly. "I think the thing to do here is get Frida and bring her to see Mr. Roarke, and maybe he can help us figure this thing out." She glanced at her watch. "But I've already been here two hours and I still haven't been back home to see the folks. They're going to think something's up if I don't show up pretty soon. Leslie, when do you expect Mr. Roarke to have some free time?"
Leslie thought for a moment. "Probably not till this evening," she said. "I can call up Julie's house and see if Frida can come over for awhile then. Why not make it for about eight? Things usually calm down by then."
"Okay, sounds like a deal," Andrea said.
Lauren had been watching them. "Can I come too? I'd like to see how all this comes out."
Leslie regarded her friend and grinned. "Want to sleep over tonight? I'm pretty much free tomorrow, because Mr. Roarke said I'm 'assigned' to Andrea's fantasy for the weekend. So whenever Andrea feels like getting up and doing something about it, then I go along. If she feels like sleeping in till noon, then so can I."
They all laughed. "I don't think I'll be doing that," Andrea said. "But sure, Lauren, why not. Why don't you get Aunt Carole's permission to stay the night at Leslie's, and then I'll come over later on today and say hi to your folks, and make you tell me all about that fantasy Leslie gave you for your birthday back in February!"
Leslie was able to get word of their plans to Roarke, and also secured his permission to have Lauren stay overnight. From the main house, she then called Julie's bed-and-breakfast inn and learned from Julie that Frida was busy at the moment, but could be spared for whatever Andrea had in mind at the appointed time. "Don't worry, Leslie, I'll send her over in plenty of time," Julie said. "Good luck."
When Andrea arrived at about a quarter till eight, Roarke was still out; so Leslie and Lauren waited with her in the study. Tattoo came in a few minutes after Andrea arrived and surveyed the three girls. "How's the fantasy going, Leslie?" he asked.
"So far so good, I think," Leslie replied.
"Do you want to wait with us, Tattoo?" Andrea invited. "Frida's coming over shortly, and Mr. Roarke's going to help us out with something we thought of earlier today. It ought to be interesting."
Tattoo's eyebrows shot up, vanishing for a moment into his jet-black hair. "Really? Then I just might stick around," he said, and settled comfortably onto a Victorian settee that reposed beneath the tall shuttered windows to one side of the room. Andrea joined him there, opening the notebook she always carried around and showing him what she had thus far. At about ten till, Leslie let in Frida, who had to be introduced to Andrea. Then Frida, Lauren and Leslie stood in a nervous knot between the club chairs in front of the desk, while Andrea continued to fill Tattoo in on the progress of her fantasy.
Roarke walked through the door at precisely eight, just before the grandfather clock finished tolling the hour. "Well," he said, his gaze sweeping around the room at its five occupants. "I didn't realize everyone on the island was to be in on this." But he smiled, belying the tone of his voice.
"This sounds too intriguing to miss, boss," Tattoo said. "I promise, I'll just watch. I won't get in the way."
"Not to worry, my friend," Roarke said. "In fact, it's good that you're here, in case you are needed. All right, then, and what exactly is the purpose of this meeting?"
Andrea came to the desk and explained to Roarke what had happened after she and Leslie had gone to talk with Lauren. Frida's big blue eyes got wider and wider with apprehension as Andrea spoke, and Leslie found herself hoping Frida wouldn't decide to bolt. Roarke listened quietly, then nodded a couple of times and settled in the chair behind the desk.
"I see," he mused and focused on Frida. "I remember that day very well myself. And I must admit, even I had forgotten all about this ability of yours. We never had a chance to properly discuss the extent of this power you have, Frida, and I believe this is an excellent time to find out just what you can do."
Frida looked scared. "Will I get into trouble for it?"
"No, child," Roarke assured her, "we are simply investigating. It is my understanding that no one seemed to agree with Camille's point of view at the party last weekend, that all the guests seemed to side with you. As you have just heard, Andrea's theory is that perhaps you projected something of your thoughts onto the other young people at the party, causing them to empathize with you."
Frida's hand went to her mouth; she looked horrified. "No, Mr. Roarke, I would not do such a thing!"
"I am not saying it was deliberate," Roarke said. "First of all, tell me precisely how you were feeling at the moment Camille left the party."
Frida swallowed loudly and forcibly calmed herself, thinking back. "I was very unhappy," she said at last. "Frightened because Camille seemed to hate me so. Afraid that others would hate me also."
"She was crying up a storm," Lauren remembered. "She was with a girl named Michelle, and Michelle was practically in tears too. Heck, even I kind of felt like crying."
At these words, everyone turned sharply to her. "Do you recall experiencing any sudden emotion that you hadn't been feeling before?" Roarke asked intensely.
Lauren considered it, thinking carefully. "You know, now that you say so," she murmured, "I do remember that it was pretty sudden. Just out of nowhere, I wanted to cry and try to comfort Frida all at the same time."
"What if the other girls felt the same way?" Leslie exclaimed. "Gosh, we ought to have asked Maureen and Michiko and Myeko over here too."
"By all means, ask," Roarke said, gesturing at the phone.
Leslie made several quick calls, and within fifteen minutes the three girls had arrived, all looking puzzled. Leslie and her friends greeted one another, then turned as one to Roarke. "What's going on?" Maureen asked.
"We're doing a little research," Andrea said, without elaborating. "Hi, Michiko, good seeing you. Listen, can you tell me what you felt when Camille insulted Frida and Myeko made her leave? Any sudden emotions that you didn't have before?"
Michiko's bewildered expression melted slowly away as she contemplated. "Well," she said softly, "I do recall suddenly feeling very upset for Frida. At first, mostly I was horrified that Camille would say such terrible things, but then I had this feeling of wanting to cry because Frida was so upset. It seemed to me that I was upset in the same way, as if I were the one Camille had insulted."
"That's how I felt too," Maureen said in surprise.
"So did I," Myeko concurred. "I mean, the feeling just overwhelmed me, to the point that all I could think of was to throw Camille out." She glanced at several of the others before focusing on Roarke. "What's this all about, anyway?"
"Frida apparently has the ability to project her emotions, as well as her thoughts," Roarke said, addressing the room at large. "Frida, you have been aware that you can cause a person to think or do something you wish them to. Judging from this occurrence, and from the fact that this is the first instance of it, it seems to me that you can project your feelings onto other people when you are under emotional stress."
"Get outta here," Myeko burst out. "How can it be that this never happened before? We've known Frida for at least a year. Are you saying that in all that time, she never felt something strongly enough to project it onto somebody else?"
At that moment Frida started to cry, drawing everyone's attention. "It isn't the first time," she sobbed, sinking into a chair. "Only once it happened before, and it so frightened me that I have always tried very hard to control my emotions ever since then."
"It's all right, Frida," Michiko soothed, patting her friend's shoulder. Roarke, watching her closely, saw tears spring into her eyes. "We know you can't help it."
"She is doing it now," Roarke pointed out gently. "Try to calm yourself, Frida. You must realize that you're affecting your friends."
"She's got me too," Andrea said, wiping her eyes. "This is really fascinating." Abruptly her face took on a stunned look. "Hey...Mr. Roarke, I just thought of something! What if Frida could influence Camille into not being prejudiced anymore?"