When Alan, Boy Dolly, Maria, and Winslow the rabbit woman arrived at the
Prufrock house, they found that most of Prunella's friends had gathered to
welcome the long-missing girl home. "The city should be more or less back to
normal now," Winslow announced to all present.
"Except for you and Dolly," said Francine.
"I wonder what my dad would say if he saw you like that," mused Arthur.
"I guess we'll find out," Winslow replied.
Muffy approached Winslow and looked over her gray dress. "Dolly may know a lot about magic," she remarked, "but she doesn't know the first thing about fashion. We need to get you out of that tacky dress into something more presentable."
"Absolutely," said Winslow, straightening her hair. "How about it, Maria? Want to go clothes shopping with us?"
Maria grinned. "I'd love to, Angus."
"Call me Augusta," Winslow instructed her.
"Well, come on, ladies," said Muffy, hastening Maria and Winslow along. "Let's get to the mall before all the stores raise their prices."
As the trio left the house, the remaining kids turned their attention to the sad-faced Boy Dolly, who stood in a corner with his back turned.
Fern was the first to attempt to console him. "Gosh," she said earnestly, "I never know what to say when a tragedy like this happens."
"What do you mean, tragedy?" retorted Buster, who stepped up to Boy Dolly's other side. "This isn't a tragedy, it's a...a...hey, Alan, what's the opposite of tragedy?"
"Comedy," Alan replied glibly.
"Yeah, it's a comedy," Buster told Boy Dolly.
"I don't think it's funny at all," the rat boy murmured.
Their efforts proving fruitless, Fern and Buster returned to their seats.
"He'll get used to it sooner or later," said Beat. "He doesn't really have a choice."
"We can't call him Dolly anymore," Binky observed.
"Yeah, we need to give him a boy's name," said Arthur.
"Fred!" suggested George.
"Johnny!" Prunella threw out.
"No, no," Alan interrupted. "Let's think of a name that sounds like Dolly."
"Polly?" Buster proposed.
"Molly?" Mavis contributed.
"Those are girl's names," said Alan.
Then Boy Dolly briefly turned his head and muttered, "Dudley."
The other kids thought about his suggestion for a moment.
"Dudley it is," Alan proclaimed. "Welcome to the gang, Dudley."
Dudley didn't respond, but continued to stare glumly at the corner.
----
Augusta Winslow, as she now called herself, stood in front of a hotel desk, surrounded by bags containing boxed articles of clothing she had purchased at the local mall. "May I see your driver's license, ma'am?" requested the clerk, a pimply young cat man.
"You don't need to see my driver's license," said Winslow, waving her hand at the young man's face.
"Uh, I don't need to see your driver's license," muttered the clerk.
Once finished at the desk, Winslow ported her bags to the elevator, relieved at not having to explain why a man's picture was on her license.
In her hotel room, Winslow gazed at her reflection in the full-length mirror for about half an hour, trying to accustom herself to her new appearance. Then she changed into a blue evening gown Maria and Muffy had helped her pick out, lay down on the comfortable queen bed, and thought about the many adjustments she would have to make.
How would she convince her associates that she had once been Angus Winslow? Given the powers she had exhibited, would she even need the help of her associates anymore? Should she remain in Salem or move to Elwood City, where the dating pool favored women? Should she admit to others that she had been a man once, or should she keep the fact hidden?
As she pondered such weighty questions, a knock came at the door. She rose from the bed to answer it, but made sure to look through the peephole--as a woman, she might find it more difficult to defend against intruders. She could easily drain the evil from an attacker, but then she would have to place it in someone else, and she didn't want to do that, especially if someone else was herself. For if she should ever be swayed to the path of evil, no force on Earth would be able to stand against her...
No one was at the door. Curious, Winslow opened it a crack and stuck her blond rabbit head out. It seemed for an instant that something was pushing on the door, opening it wider, but she saw no one. Closing the door and fastening the lock, she turned around...
...and cried out in surprise. Standing before her was an orange-haired cat girl who appeared to be about twelve years old. Attached to her back was a large green pack that seemed to be filled to capacity. "Who are you?" asked Winslow suspiciously. "How did you get in here?"
"Sit down, Augusta," the girl ordered, removing her pack. "You may find my story a little hard to swallow."
Seating herself on the edge of the bed, Winslow wondered how this girl had known the new first name she had just chosen for herself.
"My name is April Murphy," the cat girl began, "but that wasn't always my name. Two years from now, a girl named Sue Ellen Armstrong will be pronounced dead from complications of the AIDS virus. That girl is me. The death will be fake. Two weeks later, my parents"--the girl's face grew somber--"my parents will be murdered by enemy agents."
"What do you mean, will be?" Winslow wanted to know.
"None of this has happened yet," April explained. "But it happened to me, because I'm from the future."
Winslow glared incredulously at her.
"Your newfound talents will bring about huge strides in the field of alchemy," April continued, pulling some objects from her pack. "Your inventions will include this." She held out a round, sapphire-hued stone. "It's a stone that can make its bearer invisible. And this." She showed Winslow a box-shaped device containing several dials. "It's a time reverser. With this, you can go as far into the past as you want. Only catch is, you can't use it to go into the future. It's a one-way ride."
"Interesting," said Winslow, brushing a hair from her face.
"When my parents were murdered, I was heartbroken," April went on, emotion discernible in her voice. "I would do anything to bring them back. I knew you were working on a time travel device because of the intelligence the CIA gathered about you. You didn't want to test it on yourself because you were pregnant with a baby girl, so I volunteered, and here I am."
Winslow found herself becoming increasingly intrigued by the girl's tale.
April replaced the two objects in the pack, and pulled out a sizable black box. When she opened it, Winslow saw an odd-shaped crystal about the size of a loaf of bread inside.
"This is a crystal battery developed by scientists at Los Cactos," April told her. "You were studying it for its potential as an evil-storage device. The first thing I did when I came to the past was sneak into Los Cactos with the invisibility stone, and steal the crystal."
The term "evil-storage" caused Winslow to light up like a bulb.
"The Law of Conservation of Good and Evil is an inescapeable reality," April went on. "If you want to drain all the evil from the world, you have to put it somewhere, and the Los Cactos crystal may be the answer."
By this time Winslow was smiling greedily.
"I want the same thing you want, Augusta," said April, dropping the crystal case into her pack. "A perfect world. No war, no crime, no prejudice. And we've got two years to make it happen, or my parents will be murdered all over again." She put out her right hand. "What do you say, Augusta? Partners?"
It appeared to Winslow that she had just been handed the realization of her wildest ambitions, and then some, on a silver platter. Suddenly being female wasn't so frightening anymore.
She reached out and shook April's hand. "Partners."
Lowering her hand, she began to laugh.
THE END
"Except for you and Dolly," said Francine.
"I wonder what my dad would say if he saw you like that," mused Arthur.
"I guess we'll find out," Winslow replied.
Muffy approached Winslow and looked over her gray dress. "Dolly may know a lot about magic," she remarked, "but she doesn't know the first thing about fashion. We need to get you out of that tacky dress into something more presentable."
"Absolutely," said Winslow, straightening her hair. "How about it, Maria? Want to go clothes shopping with us?"
Maria grinned. "I'd love to, Angus."
"Call me Augusta," Winslow instructed her.
"Well, come on, ladies," said Muffy, hastening Maria and Winslow along. "Let's get to the mall before all the stores raise their prices."
As the trio left the house, the remaining kids turned their attention to the sad-faced Boy Dolly, who stood in a corner with his back turned.
Fern was the first to attempt to console him. "Gosh," she said earnestly, "I never know what to say when a tragedy like this happens."
"What do you mean, tragedy?" retorted Buster, who stepped up to Boy Dolly's other side. "This isn't a tragedy, it's a...a...hey, Alan, what's the opposite of tragedy?"
"Comedy," Alan replied glibly.
"Yeah, it's a comedy," Buster told Boy Dolly.
"I don't think it's funny at all," the rat boy murmured.
Their efforts proving fruitless, Fern and Buster returned to their seats.
"He'll get used to it sooner or later," said Beat. "He doesn't really have a choice."
"We can't call him Dolly anymore," Binky observed.
"Yeah, we need to give him a boy's name," said Arthur.
"Fred!" suggested George.
"Johnny!" Prunella threw out.
"No, no," Alan interrupted. "Let's think of a name that sounds like Dolly."
"Polly?" Buster proposed.
"Molly?" Mavis contributed.
"Those are girl's names," said Alan.
Then Boy Dolly briefly turned his head and muttered, "Dudley."
The other kids thought about his suggestion for a moment.
"Dudley it is," Alan proclaimed. "Welcome to the gang, Dudley."
Dudley didn't respond, but continued to stare glumly at the corner.
----
Augusta Winslow, as she now called herself, stood in front of a hotel desk, surrounded by bags containing boxed articles of clothing she had purchased at the local mall. "May I see your driver's license, ma'am?" requested the clerk, a pimply young cat man.
"You don't need to see my driver's license," said Winslow, waving her hand at the young man's face.
"Uh, I don't need to see your driver's license," muttered the clerk.
Once finished at the desk, Winslow ported her bags to the elevator, relieved at not having to explain why a man's picture was on her license.
In her hotel room, Winslow gazed at her reflection in the full-length mirror for about half an hour, trying to accustom herself to her new appearance. Then she changed into a blue evening gown Maria and Muffy had helped her pick out, lay down on the comfortable queen bed, and thought about the many adjustments she would have to make.
How would she convince her associates that she had once been Angus Winslow? Given the powers she had exhibited, would she even need the help of her associates anymore? Should she remain in Salem or move to Elwood City, where the dating pool favored women? Should she admit to others that she had been a man once, or should she keep the fact hidden?
As she pondered such weighty questions, a knock came at the door. She rose from the bed to answer it, but made sure to look through the peephole--as a woman, she might find it more difficult to defend against intruders. She could easily drain the evil from an attacker, but then she would have to place it in someone else, and she didn't want to do that, especially if someone else was herself. For if she should ever be swayed to the path of evil, no force on Earth would be able to stand against her...
No one was at the door. Curious, Winslow opened it a crack and stuck her blond rabbit head out. It seemed for an instant that something was pushing on the door, opening it wider, but she saw no one. Closing the door and fastening the lock, she turned around...
...and cried out in surprise. Standing before her was an orange-haired cat girl who appeared to be about twelve years old. Attached to her back was a large green pack that seemed to be filled to capacity. "Who are you?" asked Winslow suspiciously. "How did you get in here?"
"Sit down, Augusta," the girl ordered, removing her pack. "You may find my story a little hard to swallow."
Seating herself on the edge of the bed, Winslow wondered how this girl had known the new first name she had just chosen for herself.
"My name is April Murphy," the cat girl began, "but that wasn't always my name. Two years from now, a girl named Sue Ellen Armstrong will be pronounced dead from complications of the AIDS virus. That girl is me. The death will be fake. Two weeks later, my parents"--the girl's face grew somber--"my parents will be murdered by enemy agents."
"What do you mean, will be?" Winslow wanted to know.
"None of this has happened yet," April explained. "But it happened to me, because I'm from the future."
Winslow glared incredulously at her.
"Your newfound talents will bring about huge strides in the field of alchemy," April continued, pulling some objects from her pack. "Your inventions will include this." She held out a round, sapphire-hued stone. "It's a stone that can make its bearer invisible. And this." She showed Winslow a box-shaped device containing several dials. "It's a time reverser. With this, you can go as far into the past as you want. Only catch is, you can't use it to go into the future. It's a one-way ride."
"Interesting," said Winslow, brushing a hair from her face.
"When my parents were murdered, I was heartbroken," April went on, emotion discernible in her voice. "I would do anything to bring them back. I knew you were working on a time travel device because of the intelligence the CIA gathered about you. You didn't want to test it on yourself because you were pregnant with a baby girl, so I volunteered, and here I am."
Winslow found herself becoming increasingly intrigued by the girl's tale.
April replaced the two objects in the pack, and pulled out a sizable black box. When she opened it, Winslow saw an odd-shaped crystal about the size of a loaf of bread inside.
"This is a crystal battery developed by scientists at Los Cactos," April told her. "You were studying it for its potential as an evil-storage device. The first thing I did when I came to the past was sneak into Los Cactos with the invisibility stone, and steal the crystal."
The term "evil-storage" caused Winslow to light up like a bulb.
"The Law of Conservation of Good and Evil is an inescapeable reality," April went on. "If you want to drain all the evil from the world, you have to put it somewhere, and the Los Cactos crystal may be the answer."
By this time Winslow was smiling greedily.
"I want the same thing you want, Augusta," said April, dropping the crystal case into her pack. "A perfect world. No war, no crime, no prejudice. And we've got two years to make it happen, or my parents will be murdered all over again." She put out her right hand. "What do you say, Augusta? Partners?"
It appeared to Winslow that she had just been handed the realization of her wildest ambitions, and then some, on a silver platter. Suddenly being female wasn't so frightening anymore.
She reached out and shook April's hand. "Partners."
Lowering her hand, she began to laugh.
THE END
