§ § § -- June 8, 1985

"Interesting cars," Teppo said with a laugh as Leslie approached one parked between the fountain and the main house's small front lawn. "I wonder where they came from."

Leslie grinned. "They're fun to drive, actually. Well, hop in. What's your pleasure? We have plenty of lagoons and waterfalls and beaches, and there's loads of jungle in the interior that no one's ever really tried hacking through. We have an allegedly haunted inactive volcano known as Mount Tutumoa; we have all kinds of tropical birds; and there are still the descendants of superstitious Polynesians." She glanced at him, saw that he was listening with amused interest, and switched tracks. "Or, if nature's not your thing, then we've got the local pool complete with cabanas and bar; we have a casino; there are approximately half a dozen empty mansions and castles that are sometimes used in fantasies; there's a marina where you can rent boats and jet skis; we can go horseback riding, rent a bike, or even a moped -- Mr. Roarke's experimenting with that one, and it's been pretty popular with guests from the western U.S. There's an authentic Japanese garden to stroll through, and we even have an amusement park."

"Hyvä luoja!" said Teppo in astonishment. "Is this island so large then?"

"Well, I wouldn't say we're huge, but there's plenty of room for all these things, and I haven't even told you everything we've got yet. What was that you said a minute ago?"

"It means 'good heavens' or 'good grief'. Well, for starters, why don't we go to that Japanese garden you talked about. It sounds like just the thing for me. I need to move around some more, after being trapped in that straitjacket and not knowing half the time where I am or what I'm doing, thanks to my uninvited mental guest."

"Okay then, your wish is my command." Leslie started the car and drove around the duck pond down what the islanders referred to as the Main House Lane, then headed down the Ring Road for about half a mile before pulling into a small turnaround and parking there. To their immediate left was situated the Japanese garden, complete with small, steep bridge over a tiny pond, and a little Japanese teahouse not far away. Several weeping willows ringed the pond, trailing leafy stems in the water, and a pair of swans glided serenely across the surface, drifting under the bridge as Teppo and Leslie watched. Some short distance beyond lay a large expanse of manicured green lawn lined by carefully planted trees, along which people strolled, held picnics, played games or simply lay basking in the sun.

"Beautiful," said Teppo. "Well, let's take a walk, then."

Leslie pocketed the car keys and slid out; Teppo came around the front of the car to join her, and the two ambled side by side towards the garden, in no real hurry. Teppo glanced sidewise at Leslie once or twice, then indulged himself. "Okay, here's the burning question, if you don't mind my asking. Mr. Roarke tells us you're his daughter. If that's so, then why is your last name different from his, and why do you call him 'Mr. Roarke' instead of 'Dad' or something?"

Leslie gave him a quick surprised look, then laughed. "Oh, I don't mind. It's because I'm adopted, actually. I've been here a little more than five years. My parents and younger twin sisters were killed in a house fire when I was not quite fifteen, and a couple of weeks later, I came here to Fantasy Island. It turned out I needed to break a family curse to keep from dying in a fire myself. Mr. Roarke helped me, and then I discovered that my mother had come here when she was pregnant with me, trying to find out whether I was going to survive the curse. When Mr. Roarke showed her what was destined to happen, she made him promise to take me in and give me a home till I came of age, because once my family was gone, I was left without a single living relative. When I graduated from high school two years ago, Mr. Roarke's graduation gift to me was to adopt me, so now I'm legally his daughter." She chuckled softly as they approached the bridge. "Trouble is, I got so used to calling him 'Mr. Roarke' when I was just his ward, I couldn't break the habit; so I just kept doing it. I don't think it makes much difference to him what I call him; I'm just glad he's done what he's done for me. I hope he'll let me stay here forever, even though I come of age next year."

"Ah, I see now," Teppo said, nodding sagely. "That's quite a story you have to tell. How did you break the curse?"

Leslie explained what had happened in the course of her very first weekend on Fantasy Island, and in so doing had to explain who Tattoo was. "He got married a couple of years ago and moved back to Paris. He runs a thriving art gallery now, and he and his wife have a little boy. Tattoo was like the uncle I never had, and that's how we treated each other. I still miss him."

"I'm sure you do," said Teppo with sympathy. "So Mr. Roarke helped you out and then gave you a home. For someone who was orphaned, that's quite a stroke of good luck."

"Very true," Leslie agreed. "So…tell me, what's your story? Why did this Lempo decide to possess you specifically? Family history? Some weird old Finnish deity in your ancient ancestry or something? Or maybe a relative thirty generations back offended one of Lempo's minions?"

Teppo laughed. "I don't know. I doubt there are any deities in our family line, but my mother's name comes from an entity mentioned in the Kalevala. As a matter of fact, the epic Tellervo was also known as Mielikki, which happens to be the name of the oldest of my sisters. So far, my mother's and sister's names are the only connections I've been able to uncover that would provide any suggestion as to why Lempo decided to grace me with his presence."

Leslie considered similar fantasies that she had seen Roarke grant, and frowned thoughtfully. "Well, there has to be some reason. Maybe Mr. Roarke can figure it out. You've been talking about brothers and sisters. How many do you have?"

"Six," Teppo said, enjoying the wide-eyed stare she gave him. "I'm the oldest, and Mielikki is two years younger. There are three more girls and two boys after that."

"Your sister Mielikki is my age, then," said Leslie. "I turned 20 last month."

"My birthday was last month as well," Teppo said. "What date?"

"The sixth," she told him.

"Mine is the fifth!" he exclaimed, and they laughed. "I'm 22 now, so I've been dealing with Lempo for the last thirteen months. I'm almost used to it by now, but that doesn't make it any easier." There was a squawk then, and their attention was diverted by a parrot soaring in for a landing on the bridge railing, no more than ten feet away from them. Leslie recognized the bird's markings and grinned.

"I think that's Pepper," she said. "Tattoo expended a lot of effort towards training him, but since he left the island, Pepper's pretty much gone wild." She turned to face the bird. "Good morning, Pepper," she said experimentally.

"Good morning," the parrot replied quite clearly. "Reach for the sky, meatball."

Teppo burst out laughing, and Leslie grinned. "It's Pepper all right. Well, so tell me, is there anything else you'd like to see?"

She watched as he tipped his head back and gazed into the clear blue sky. "Actually, I'd like to do something I haven't done for months. I'd like to just lie on the beach and soak up some sun, and talk with you." At this last he met her gaze and smiled, and something seemed to swirl inside her stomach. Leslie hadn't met too many boys in her years on Fantasy Island, and had always so enjoyed being Roarke's secondary assistant that this had never bothered her much. But for some reason, there was something different about this one. She smiled back.

"If you brought a swimsuit, maybe we could go wading," she offered. "We get some incredibly beautiful seashells on the beaches here. Just don't forget the sunscreen."

Teppo's eyes lit. "You talked me into it," he said. "Do you know which bungalow we're in?"

"The best one," she told him, leading him back to the car. "We call it the Hilltop Bungalow, because it sits right on top of the highest point on this end of the island. There's a beautiful view of the ocean from it, and it's set apart a bit from the others, so there's some extra privacy."

She drove him back to the bungalow in question, which was built with dark wood and surrounded on two sides by a wooden deck. "I'll go home and change, and meet you back here in about fifteen minutes," she promised.

When she returned, he was waiting, dressed in white swim trunks and a loud Hawaiian-print shirt whose primary color seemed to be fire-engine red. "Whoa, turn off the shirt," she teased him, shading her eyes with one hand.

"Just for that," Teppo retorted, laughing, "I'm not going to show you any shells I find." Joking and teasing all the way, they drove to one of the more secluded beaches, where they spread out towels on the sand and dropped bags of gear, their flip-flops, and beach cover-ups atop them. Leslie wore a sky-blue one-piece suit with a short skirt, and when she straightened up from extracting a bottle of sunscreen out of her duffel, she caught Teppo staring at her.

"That ugly, am I?" she kidded.

But he slowly shook his head, his face solemn as he studied her. Her movements faded into stillness as she realized he was serious. After a moment he asked, "Has Mr. Roarke been shielding you from every man who looks twice at you? Does he even know what a pretty girl you are? I suppose he's kept you under a rock all this time."

She blushed yet again, wishing her embarrassment didn't show so readily. "It's not Mr. Roarke's fault," she mumbled inanely. "I just…wasn't interested, that's all."

Teppo regarded her curiously, his head tilted a bit to one side. "Oh, I see," he murmured, then shrugged and started for the water at a trot. Leslie stood and watched him, feeling a peculiar sense of loss and wondering if she had said something wrong.

Then she heard someone calling her name and turned sharply, only to see Kekipi striding across the sand in her direction. Oh, great, she thought. Just what I need. Aloud she said, "Is there a problem?"

"Where've you been all this time?" Kekipi demanded. "Do you think you have permission to frolic with the guests any time you want? You have a job to do, and I think you should do it, before I report back to Mr. Roarke."

Leslie rolled her eyes. "Were you the neighborhood tattletale as a child, or what? Mr. Roarke knows full well I'm here with a guest. Maybe you should get back to doing your job, instead of looking for a fight."

"I'm going to check back with Mr. Roarke, just so you know," Kekipi informed her haughtily, poking her in the chest just below the hollow in her throat. "You know how much he dislikes liars, and if I catch you in a lie…oh, just you wait and see --"

She never finished the sentence, for at that precise moment a whirling dervish seized Kekipi from behind and yanked her away, heaving her aside with strength the like of which Leslie had never seen before. Kekipi screeched in surprise, regained her footing and glared at Leslie as if Leslie were responsible for unleashing a wild gorilla. Leslie, in her turn, was staring at Teppo, who had transformed into something utterly unlike the gentle, laughing young man she'd been getting acquainted with. His features were twisted into a mask of sheer loathing, his lips curled into a sneer, his eyes gleaming with something feral. She knew then that Lempo must have reestablished control and stepped back in spite of herself.

"How dare you let him assault me!" Kekipi howled and flung herself at Leslie. Teppo's reaction was instantaneous. He whipped around and attacked, a miniature hurricane of rage and strength and flailing limbs, connecting more often than not. Yet all the time, he never made a sound. Leslie felt as if she were watching some weird old silent film.

Several beachgoers from some distance away, seeing the fracas, raced up to help free Kekipi from what looked like a madman on the loose; and the demon turned on them as well, landing one blow after another at lightning speed, evading reaching hands, kicking and slapping and shoving. It took several moments, but at last the others freed Kekipi and themselves from the crazed figure and retreated faster than they'd come. The dervish paused, turned to Leslie…and collapsed, still and silent.