VVVVV
Consequences Part One: Fortune and Men's Eyes (2/3)
a Gargoyles story
by Merlin Missy
Copyright 1997, 2005
PG-13
VVVVV
She'd chosen to wear simple navy-blue pumps today, but still
her heels made a distinct clicking sound as she walked through the
long row of cells. The Women's Annex to the Riker's Island Maximum
Security Correctional Facility had all the charm and affability of
a dentist's drill. Just as she remembered.
Fox paused outside of what had once been her cell. How many
months had she spent in here, first alone, and then with Hyena as a
constantly grating companion? It had been the closest thing she'd
ever known to hell. She recalled the hours she'd spent, staring out
the tiny window, wishing she could just think herself into a
butterfly and slip out through the bars. There had been times when
she'd closed her eyes and felt the breeze buffeting her wings as she
fluttered over the water to David's waiting arms.
Recent events suggested to her that, had she only known how,
she might have actually changed her body into the small one. As the
song went, it was a little too ironic for her taste.
The guards looked at her with a mixture of nervousness and
contempt, no doubt wondering why she was pausing here. They
knew who she was, had known her when she'd been the butterfly
trapped in their cage. But now, she wasn't their prisoner. She was one
of the wealthiest people in the city, if not the world, and they had to
treat her with respect. She could see how it nettled them, and she
secretly gloated.
One of them, the male, was about to say something to her when
she continued her walk. There were faces in the other cells, some
familiar, some strange, some making vulgar comments or gestures,
some lost in their own private worlds. This was me, she thought. A
year and a half ago, this was me.
When they reached the door at the end of the hall, the guards
took out two keys, inserted them into the matching locks, and turned
them simultaneously. The door ground open. They made a sharp turn
towards the innards of the building. The brick walls were now
hidden behind reinforced steel plating, all painted the same
disgusting yellow as the bricks had been. The light was a little
dimmer down here, though she wasn't certain it was due to lower
lighting as much as lack of sunlight. Her heels echoed louder. She
wished she'd worn slippers, for the clicking was beginning to drive
her nuts.
Another locked door led them to their destination. Three armed
guards stood outside the cell. She made a bet with herself that the
safeties were off on their rifles. Dangerous, she thought, but
probably smart. Her escorts took out their own weapons, holding
them at their sides so as to be ready just in case.
"You have five minutes," said her female escort. She nodded
and stepped to the bars. The other guards tensed slightly, and she
hoped they wouldn't open fire if she sneezed.
"Hey," she said to the occupant of the cell.
Hyena, who had been inspecting the wall, turned her head
towards her.
"So you finally decided to pay a visit." She hopped up from
her bunk, going about a foot higher than necessary. Fox noticed the
guard nearest to her clutch his gun in reflex. To be fair, he
showed no other sign of agitation. Hyena prowled over to the bars,
until their faces were less than six inches apart.
"I got your message. It took me a few days to convince my
parole officer I wasn't going to have a relapse by being in the same
room with you." She turned her mouth to show her opinion of the
parole officer. Hyena rolled her eyes in response.
"So didja bring me anything?" For an instant, she sounded like
a little girl whose mother had just come back from vacation.
She nodded. "Your favorite, x-rayed, picked over, metal
detected, and completely read three times to make sure there's
nothing in it." She handed the "Daily Tattler" through the bars,
under careful scrutiny of the guards. Hyena grabbed it and looked
longingly at the headlines.
"Cool! When did Rush admit he was bonking Jerry Falwell?"
"Last week. They've got pictures on page 10."
Hyena looked at the other items on the front page, then set it
down. "Thanks, Fox."
"You're welcome. So how're they treating you?"
"Just fantastic." She spread her hands. "I've got constant
company, the best in prison food, and they even let me keep a pet."
She opened a compartment on her arm. A cockroach about the size of
Alexander's big toe looked out helplessly from inside before the
compartment slid closed again. "I call him Spike." Her face turned
cold. "How do you think I'm doing?"
She had been expecting this. She had to tread carefully. "I didn't
force you to break into the museum, Hyena. You had a choice."
"Some choice. Jackal and I had a job to do, and if those damned
gargoyles hadn't shown up, we could have done it and been living the
good life now."
"Those 'damned gargoyles' saved Alexander's life. David and I
are grateful to them."
Hyena's head shot up. "Don't tell me you've called a truce."
"A temporary one, I assure you. Just enough to get their trust
back to where we need it." Although, she thought, it might be more
permanent than we thought. David hadn't once mentioned any
intention of breaking the peace, and she'd chosen not to bring it up
without a cue from him.
Hyena grinned and slammed her fist into a metal palm. "I get
it. Get them to trust you, then 'WHAMMO!'"
"Something like that."
The other woman's face turned wistful, and again Fox was put
uncomfortably in mind of a very young child. A child she had
created, in too many ways. "What's it like?"
"What?"
"To live in the castle, with the man of your dreams and a baby
and the world at your feet. I've been trying to imagine. Back a
few months ago, I had this idea that maybe Coyote and I might hook
up, and then we could live with you guys up there." She looked
away. "It was stupid. I mean, he's just a machine, right? No
feelings, and he had a bad habit of getting blown up, but he was the
closest thing I had to having someone in a long time. You know?"
She looked back to her, some last trace of whatever innocence she
might have once had reflected on her face.
"I know," said Fox. This she hadn't been expecting, and she
tried hard to think of the right thing to say. "It's great, I guess. I have to
sit in on too many board meetings for my liking, and Alex takes up a lot
of time." She felt a burning sensation in the back of her thoughts, but
ignored it as she continued: "David and I have only gotten out a few
times in the past couple months." She realized moments later what
she'd said when she saw Hyena's face.
"Only a few, huh?"
She found that she couldn't meet her eyes. "Yeah."
"It's not fair, Fox." Her voice was a low whisper; the guards
probably couldn't hear. "I know what you did."
"What are you talking about?"
"How you set the rest of us up, you and your hubby. He broke
us out of jail to get you out legally. He probably got Jackal and
me arrested in the first place."
"What gave you that idea?" She was floundering and trying not
to show it. She thought back desperately to their time on the show,
when she'd forget her line now and then. Ad libbing had worked
wonders. Of course, it was easier when their dialogue never got
more complicated than: "Wibblefish!"
"It all adds up. He gets us to go after him, we get caught and
locked away. Then he busts us out while you play good, and
suddenly, you get an early parole. All nice and legal. Meanwhile,
we're on the run for the rest of our lives. And after a while," she
flexed her left hand, the metal scraping together with a screech,
"we're ready to do anything to stay out of this place, whether it
means trading in our bodies for spare parts, or selling what's left
of our souls to your waiting husband." The other woman looked at
her through the bars, daring her to deny it.
She couldn't. She really hadn't been expecting this. Hyena had
never been very bright, preferring to use her weapons, muscles, or if all
else failed, the rest of her body to meet her ends. Fox had never
considered that she might figure out just how much she'd been used in
the past two years, and come to resent it.
"What are you getting at?" She put enough impatience in her
voice to hopefully make the guards think she was annoyed rather than
worried.
"You owe me. You got me into this, all of it." She extended her
hearing-sensors out six inches from her head and pulled them back.
Fox tried not to show her disgust. "You owe me," she repeated.
"I'm not breaking you out, Hyena."
Weirdly enough, she laughed, in the same way she always had, and
Fox's skin crawled. "I didn't expect you would. And anyway, that's not
what I'm asking. Not this time." Her face turned deadly serious. "I've
got a little problem."
VVVVV
"Did she say who the father was?"
"No. She might not even know."
David made a noncommittal sound. He had seemed only
peripherally interested in the conversation anyway, his attention more
focused on counting Alex's toes than on listening to her. She shifted
the baby's position as he nursed, allowing a slightly different view of
the scenery and found his eyes back on her again, albeit lower than she
wanted right now.
David, finally noticing her less than amused expression at being
ignored, made eye contact and had the good sense to look apologetic.
"I'm sorry, my dear. What does she want us to do about it? I can
probably arrange an abortion. I don't see the prison officials raising
more than a token objection, and moral considerations aside, even they
have to see that she can't possibly carry a baby to term."
"I'm not so sure about that." She stood swiftly, holding Alex
with one arm and digging through her briefcase for papers with the
other. She found what she was looking for, and sat down again.
"Here are the specs behind her design. I had them sent up this
afternoon." After spending half an hour on the phone with two of
our now ex-employees who couldn't understand why on earth I'd want
to see them.
David took the plans from her and looked them over. She
continued, "Not a lot of her is still organic, but the right parts
are there. She'll have some difficulty around month eight, if she
carries anything like I did." She reached over and pointed out
positions where Hyena's implants would get in the way of an
expanding abdomen. "However, if we have this one removed, that
one can be adjusted to where it won't hurt her as much, or damage
the baby."
Alex squirmed, his own positioning getting offset by her
movements. She settled back into place and winced as he grasped
hold of her with tiny, sharp fingernails.
David continued perusing the diagrams. "It's possible, I
suppose. So does she want to have the baby?"
She shrugged, then regretted it as Alex squeezed again. She
gently pried his fingers open as she said, "I think she knows this
is it, if she wants kids at all. And she does, but ... "
"But?"
"Prison is no place for a baby. You know that. So does
Hyena."
She had his full attention. "Fox."
"She said we owed her. We arranged everything that got her
arrested, that made her what she is."
"You knew her record when we hired her, dear. If Hyena and
Jackal hadn't been working for us, they would have found their own
route to jail all by themselves."
"Maybe. And maybe we paved the way."
He took her hands. "Don't tell me you've discovered guilt for the
first time. Maybe we opened the door for her, but remember she was
the one who walked through."
"It'll only be for a little while, possibly only a few days. I'll ask
Owen to start looking for family members in the morning."
"Can it wait until Monday? I've got him working on something
for me this weekend."
"It can wait. We've got until at least January. Then we'll
have a nice, normal human baby around the castle for less than a
week, and ship him off again. No muss, no fuss."
"Are you sure about that?"
"About the 'normal' or the 'human?' I don't really know, if
you want the truth. I mean, there weren't that many men she was
around, and unless Coyote 3.0 had an added feature you neglected to
mention, he certainly wasn't the father." She'd been going over a
mental list of potential daddies, and had found herself hoping it
was Vogel. It wasn't that she could possibly picture him ever
getting cozy with Hyena, but more along the lines that she found the
rest of the list quite short. And disturbing. "Normal enough,
anyway."
"I meant about the staying only a few days part. If we get
many more residents, we're going to have to declare ourselves an
independent nation."
"He's not staying." Which wasn't quite what Hyena was
expecting, admittedly. She would be signing papers soon enough to
give custody of her little mistake to Fox and David, who would then
grant it to whichever non-clinically-insane relative of the woman
they could track down first. "I don't want another baby, David."
Alex moved in her arms, bright blue eyes looking up at her
inquisitively. If it weren't for the fact that Owen had sworn he
wasn't telepathic, yet, she would have been convinced her son was
asking what was wrong with having another baby.
She added quickly, "Besides, who knows what this kid will be
like? Do you want a little copy of Hyena, or gods help us Jackal,
running around underfoot?"
"Of course not." He was watching her face. She knew what he
was thinking, how he was assessing her behavior in regards to her
words. He was judging how much to trust what she said, and how
much to disregard, and while he did so, he toed a very thin line between
understanding and patronizing. She hated when he did that, and
glowered at him.
And the truth was ... ? She tightened her hold on Alex a tiny
bit more. She'd been with him for two hours and hadn't broken him
or gotten him arrested. David had been nearby, and Owen had been in
calling distance, and damn, but she'd been grateful for them both,
hadn't she?
The truth was, she was a failure at this. She could admit that
to herself. Some people were excellent parents, and some just
weren't cut out for the task. If Alex were a puppy, she would
return him to the breeder. So sorry, not what we expected, find
another good home, please. But he wasn't a puppy, and she couldn't
send him back where he came from, because she'd been the damned
broodmare. She frowned even deeper at David. This had been for
his personal little dynasty, and now Alex had to suffer because
she wasn't a good mother.
She felt tears welling inside her, and pushed them down hard.
She wasn't about to cry. Crying was stupid, especially over
something as trivial as the fact that she had no hope of raising her
baby right, and David thought she wanted another one?
No, she would find a home for the other kid, as far from her as
she could take him, and then maybe she could make up for all the
mistakes she was about to make with her own child.
David said nothing.
VVVVV
It had been a very long day for Beth. Her parents were early
risers, something none of their children could understand, and while
they had let her sleep in because she was on vacation, they'd made
enough noise to make certain she was up by eight-thirty.
Sarah, who was also a morning person, had worn a smile to
breakfast. It really wasn't fair that she could get by on two or
three hours of sleep a night, when Beth needed at least six just to
be able to move the following day.
If it hadn't been for an afternoon art class the previous Spring,
through which they'd only barely kept one another awake in, she
doubted they would have even met, much less become best friends.
Since Sarah couldn't exactly fly back to Malaysia for a four-day
holiday, and since she otherwise might not have the opportunity to
see New York at all during her time in the States, it made perfect
sense for her to come home with Beth. That was what she'd told her
mother on the phone when she'd mentioned Sarah was coming with her
for the Break, and that was the story she'd stuck to when Elisa had
come early in the afternoon to pick them up for a tour of the city.
They'd parked the car at Elisa's apartment and walked through
the downtown district. They'd spent a long time walking around FAO
Schwartz, where Elisa had dropped a surprisingly large amount of
money in the Sesame Street section. Back outside, Sarah had taken
two rolls' worth of photos, while Beth had questioned her sister as
best she could on the status of things with Goliath, without giving
too much away. She hadn't been able to tell Sarah about him, or
Derek, or a lot of other things, and phrasing her inquiries had been
as challenging a task as she'd ever undertaken, especially when
Elisa's mood clouded over the moment they caught sight of the Eyrie
Building.
So the gargoyles were living there again.
She wasn't happy at the thought. Beth had hated Xanatos since
she'd discovered what had become of her brother. Having her and
their father arrested while he'd been in the process of desecrating
tribal property really hadn't improved her attitude. She could only
imagine Elisa felt the same, and probably wasn't keen on letting him
have his clutches on her friends while she was stuck driving her
sister and some stranger around.
When Elisa had asked if she was seeing someone, she'd only been
able to answer, "Yeah. Kind of." She'd kept her eyes forward, felt
an expectant watch from the back seat, and had dodged the question
when Elisa had asked her what his name was.
They'd all been in bad moods by the time the Fairlane brought
them back to the house. She'd hugged her sister good-bye, but
hadn't watched her drive off. She'd made a reminder to call her in
the morning and explain everything, maybe find out more about why
the gargoyles were there rather than anywhere else in the city.
Yes, tomorrow.
"Mom, Dad," she said, unlocking the door. "We're back."
Her mother's musical voice came from the kitchen. "Your father
went to the store. Is Elisa with you?"
"No. She had to go see Maggie about something." More like,
she needed to blow off some steam. For whatever reason, she'd been
edgy all night, even before they'd seen the castle, and saying she
needed to talk to Maggie was probably her way of not worrying their
parents.
"Who's Maggie, anyway?" asked Sarah, not loud enough for her
mother to hear.
She shrugged casually, she hoped. "Friend of the family."
Even lower, "Is she cute?"
"My brother thinks so."
Sarah's eyes glittered as she said, "Then maybe I can meet her
when I meet Derek."
Oh. Great. "Well ... Maybe."
Her eyes lost the sparkle. "Yeah, maybe." Perfect. Now Sarah
would think Beth didn't want her brother to meet her, and she
couldn't explain that wasn't the case at all without spilling
everything. Yet another reason to hate Xanatos.
Her mother appeared in the doorway. "Did Elisa feed you? If
not, we're having smothered burritos."
Beth's stomach rumbled appreciatively. "Sounds great."
"I'm still full from those pretzels," Sarah said, "but thank
you."
Oops. Guess what else she'd forgotten to tell her parents.
"We've got bread, cheese, pasta, all sorts of things for salad."
Mom looked confused. Sarah explained, "I'm a vegetarian."
"Beth, why didn't you tell me? I could have made something
else. I still can."
"No, really," said Sarah. "Like I said, I'm full. Elisa
bought us huge pretzels with cheese on them about an hour ago. But
thanks."
The door opened, and Dad came in with a small brown bag.
"You're home just in time," he said, pulling out a pint of sour cream
with a flourish and setting it on the table. "Where's Elisa?"
"Gone to see Maggie," said Mom, ending the conversation before
it started.
"If you don't mind, I'll go back to your room so you can spend
some time with your parents."
"Sarah ... "
"You can talk to them," she said, and waved as she went down the
hall into Beth's room and closed the door most of the way.
"What was that about?" Dad was still a few steps behind.
"A lot of things," she said, and before they could ask, she went into
the kitchen to wash her hands for supper, and try to figure out what to
say next.
VVVVV
Brooklyn flared his wings and dove nearly to street level, before
gliding off again. He sighed in pure joy as the tendons in his shoulders
and back stretched taut and relaxed. He'd been pining for this kind of
exercise; staying inside, while prudent considering the city's attitude
towards gargoyles right now, was wearing on muscles best moved
nightly. It felt good to be allowed out.
Feeling better, he gained altitude, choosing a higher vantage
point for his patrol than he might normally. Being outside did not
necessarily equate to being stupid. They had gathered around the
t.v. shortly after waking, to see a news broadcast about some
vigilante group called the Quarrymen. The spokesman for the group
declared them "part Guardian Angels, all concerned citizens,
protecting the rights of humans in the city to exist without fear of
winged monsters." The leader, whose name he'd forgotten anyway,
couldn't be reached for comment.
Just the way he'd wanted to start his night.
Hell with it. He wasn't going to let slow-witted ramblings of
a few scared humans ruin the night. He snorted. There were plenty
of other things waiting to do that.
Angela was avoiding him, had been since before they'd gone back
to Wyvern. The only thing making him feel remotely better was the
knowledge she was also avoiding Broadway and Lex, though it seemed
not nearly to the extent she stayed away from him. He could accept
and respect her decision to stay "just friends" with all of them; if
he didn't, he was sure she'd rip him a new nostril, and that was
even before Goliath did anything. He would stay away while she got
whatever together in her own head.
But ...
His mind returned to the problem it had been whispering to him
since the moment she'd arrived. What if, when she made her choice,
she chose someone else? Could he live with the thought of her smile
being for one of his rookery brothers? With the knowledge that,
once she chose, he would never have another chance with her, or
possibly anyone? When he slept, he dreamed of her bright face,
seeing something new for the very first time. When she was in the
room, it was empty to him save for her. When she hugged him, as she
had all of three times, his heart ached to enfold her in his wings
and never let go. If he were to lose her, it would be the single
worst blow to his soul he'd ever experienced, save only the loss of
his entire clan.
Love wasn't all he'd thought it would be.
VVVVV
"I don't want to talk about this," Maggie said, turning her
face from Elisa's. That brought her eyes back to the kids, who
really shouldn't have been watching this, playing quietly in a
corner of the room. She closed them.
"Maggie, please." Derek had hit a state of calmness she'd
almost never seen in him, a perfect counterpoint to the disarray in
her own emotions.
"Don't you get it? I don't want to see them. Not tonight, not
tomorrow night, not ever again. They made it clear when I left that
I wasn't welcome back. They can live with that."
Elisa sat back in her chair. She looked ready to give in,
which filled Maggie with relief and also a little unhappiness she
wouldn't acknowledge.
Derek wasn't going to be as easily swayed.
"Love," he said, splaying his fingers on the table, an inch
away from her own, "you've only got one set of parents. Maybe
they'll get upset, and maybe they will say or do something we don't
like. But either way, you've got to tell them you're alive and all
right. You don't owe them anything else, but you do owe them that."
She felt tears hitching in her chest, pushed them down so the
kids wouldn't see. Oh god, something else her mother had taught
her. She took a deep shuddering breath. "I can't. I can't face
them. Please don't make me."
"All right," said Elisa. "Then we're going to have to think of
a story to get them out of town."
"Can't you just tell them you couldn't find anything?"
She shook her head. "If they'd stayed in Ohio, yes. If I don't locate
something on you, the Captain will give the case to someone better at
MP than I am. It might take a while, but whoever it is will get to you
eventually, and they're going to ask questions we'd like to keep
unanswered."
"Why?" asked Derek. "If they trace her back to Xanatos, then
maybe he'll get what's his."
Elisa looked away. "Yeah, maybe." That would mean exposing
the gargoyles to the world. They might be able to cover up what
had already been broadcast, but anything else would be deadly. If
for some reason anyone dug into Sevarius' files, they'd find a hell
of a lot more than just four mutated humans. They would find
records on gargoyles, and on gargoyle clones.
She looked at the kids again. Elisa had brought a few toys
with her, mostly stuffed animals that she said she'd been keeping in
the back of her closet, probably for her own children.
Elisa must have finally realized the truth, that Delilah and
Angela were the closest she would ever come to having kids of her
own. Angela was too old for stuffed animals, and while Delilah
might genetically be her daughter, the emotional ties were still too
odd for anyone's liking. As she watched, 'Lilah cuddled a stuffed
Grover affectionately. It was one of the sweetest things she'd ever
seen, but one utterly unexplainable to someone like her father.
He'd see Delilah as a monster, some genetic freak made by the
unnatural fusion of DNA from two women of different species.
Knowing her father as well as she did, he'd make a comment about it
not being surprising, since Elisa was after all one of Them.
"This is a bad idea," she said. "My father ... "
Derek said gently, "You already told us. He'll learn to deal
with it. Mom's family wasn't too fond of Dad when they started
seeing each other. They came around to the ol' Maza charm."
Elisa chuckled. "Yeah, right after I was born. They'd only
been married what, three years?"
"That settles it," said Derek. "We'll have a baby. Then your
dad will adore me."
"That's not quite how it works," reminded his sister.
"Sure it is," Maggie piped up, trying to keep her voice from
cracking. "Tell them to come back about six months from now."
"Exactly," said Derek. "We'll order up one directly." His
eyes widened. "For. Them." He tilted his head slowly, turning
towards her like some animatronic imitation of her lover. "Huh?"
Elisa's eyes lit like candles, though she said nothing.
Maggie took Derek's hand. "I've been trying to figure out how
to tell you for a few days. Guess this is as good a time as any."
Derek was caught a few steps back. "Six?"
He was awfully sweet when he was confused. "Six. As in nine
minus three. As in Marchish, I think."
Elisa licked her lips. "How do you feel about it?"
"I don't know," she said. "Scared?" She smiled. "Happy?"
She asked Derek, whose head was still tilted, "How do you feel,
Love?"
He said nothing. Elisa snapped her fingers in front of his
face. "Ground Control to Major Tom."
"Huh?"
"You're going to be a daddy. Your girlfriend has just asked
you how you feel about it."
"Oh yeah." His lips curled, showing the tips of his pointed
teeth. His bottom lip pulled down, showing a wide grin. "Baby."
Malibu looked up from the toys. "Baby?"
"Yes," said Maggie. "Baby. A little one like Talon and me.
Short and fuzzy with wings and a tail." She set her elbows on the
table. "Oh god."
Derek finally snapped back to reality. "Love, it'll be okay.
Maybe the kid'll be perfectly normal." He held her hand, shining
hope in his voice.
"And maybe it'll be worse. Who knows what Sevarius did to our
DNA while he was messing with it?" The sleep of reason, she thought
madly. The sleep of reason. She trembled.
He pulled her hand against his chest and rubbed it. "We'll
figure it out. We'll figure it all out. I love you," he whispered.
He placed his forehead against hers, and repeated, "I love you."
"I love you, too," she said automatically. "I'm just so scared." She
broke off. She felt his arms surrounding her again, snuggled into the
safety of them, ignoring the fact this was what had caused the problem
in the first place. Another hand, Elisa's, stroked her shoulder.
"Maggie," she said gently, "what do you want to do?"
She knew instantly what Elisa was asking. There was a huge
chance of something, anything going wrong. Her mother'd had
enough pregnancy troubles with Maggie's being a different blood
type. Technically, she and Derek weren't even the same species. It
would be impossible to say what kind of effect that would have on
her, on the child. If there was a cure, ever, she still had some
hope of a healthy human baby, and currently, she had other children
to raise, and if she cursed someone else to the kind of life she
faced, was she any better than Sevarius himself?
"I'm not sure. Of anything."
She was going to have to face it eventually. She would have to
face everything eventually. Now that she'd finally told, she
wouldn't face it alone. And maybe that was the important thing.
Elisa had been right; her parents wouldn't give up looking for her
unless they were certain she was dead. Her mother would do it out
of love, her father from his loathing of the idea of having lost
something he possessed. She was terrified of facing them as she
was, especially now that she had something real and important to
protect, not just this potential child, but the kids in the corner,
who had stopped playing, concerned at why she was upset. Facing her
parents might be enough to bring down the card-castle life they'd
built here. But she wouldn't have to face them by herself, either.
She'd have Derek and Elisa with her, and with them came their
parents and the clan. Her army. Met with that kind of strength,
surely even her father would back down.
She didn't dare. But more, she didn't dare not to face him again.
"So," she said to Elisa, "when do you want to set up the meeting?"
VVVVV
Sarah looked up over the magazine she was reading. Beth
couldn't see the title, but there was a picture of Emma Thompson on
the cover, wearing a wide, innocent smile. Sarah wasn't smiling,
but her eyes were like Emma's: alive, filled with darting light.
"Did you tell them?"
She opened her mouth to speak, closed it again.
"Beth." Sarah's voice was tired. "You're going to have to
tell them eventually. Believe me, sooner is better than later."
Beth sat down on the edge of her bed. Instead of looking at
Sarah, she looked at the two shelves above her. When she'd been
little, they'd held stuffed animals. As she'd grown older, the
animals had migrated to her bed, and then to the closet, to be
replaced by books. She could even remember the progression of the
books. Dr. Seuss had bowed early to Nancy Drew and the Brothers
Grimm. Nancy had been replaced by Judy Blume, but the Brothers had
stayed, and were joined by Homer, Hugo, Raglan and Radin. Judy had
eventually followed Nancy, and Alice Walker and Toni Morrison had
taken her place. The last collection of books had followed her to
Flagstaff, where they now graced her room. In her absence, Mom had
taken the stuffed animals out of the closet to let them reclaim
their rightful territory.
"It's not that easy."
Sarah sat up and placed her hands around Beth's. "It's not
going to be easy."
She sighed. "Sarah, you don't understand. Now's really not a
good time for my folks."
"Elisa or Derek?"
She slumped. "Would you believe both?"
Sarah nodded. "I'd believe it. But you're not Elisa, and
you're certainly not Derek." She smiled playfully. "I would have
noticed by now."
Beth knew exactly what she meant, but entertained a very brief
mental image of Derek walking in, and Sarah's subsequent reaction.
Oh yes, you would have noticed all right. "I guess it's the
'Grandparent Thing.' Like I told you, Derek's girlfriend can't have
kids, and the guy Elisa's dating already has a family." Boy, does
he have a family.
"So what? You can have kids if you want. And if you don't
want to, you don't have to. You're not a baby machine, dear."
"It's not like that."
"Then what is it like!" Sarah's voice had risen in volume, and
Beth worried suddenly that someone might hear. She motioned for
Sarah to speak quieter. "You're not shutting me up, Beth. We need
to talk, and it sounds like we need to talk right now."
"We can talk. Quietly."
A flicker crossed Sarah's eyes. "You're ashamed of me."
"What?"
"Either that, or you don't trust me. It has to be one or the other. I
can read your eyes. You've got a secret inside that's eating you alive. If
it's me, you're afraid to tell your parents about us, and in my book, that's
tied up with a hell of a lot of guilt. If it's not me, then there's something
else you're holding inside, and you don't trust me enough to tell me
what it is."
"I trust you," she whispered. Sarah nodded slightly, her face open,
ready to accept whatever she had to say. Beth felt her own heart
breaking as she added, "But I can't tell you. It's not my secret to share."
Sarah looked down, and gently pulled her hands away. "Fine."
She grabbed her jacket from where it was draped over the desk chair.
"Where are you going?"
"Out for a walk."
"But it's dark!"
"So? I can take care of myself." She pulled the door firmly shut
behind her. It wasn't a slam, but it had as much force as one.
Beth remained sitting for two seconds, then followed her. She
made it as far as the living room, and was treated to the sight of
another closing door.
Mom looked at the door. "Where on earth is Sarah going? She
didn't say a word."
"Out. She'll be okay."
"Are you sure? She's never been to New York before." That was
something she'd come to both treasure and dread about her mother;
once she'd made acquaintance with one of her children's friends, that
friend had another parent. She could just imagine her mothering
Goliath.
"I'm sure. When she comes back, tell her I'm in my room."
The sound of a running drain came from the kitchen. Dad came
out, drying his hands on a dishtowel. "Maybe we should have a talk
about your friend."
Her heart stopped. His tone was casual, but ... "What do you
mean?"
"I'd hate to think she feels unwelcome here."
"She doesn't. She likes having her own space." Maybe too much
space, she thought. "She's about as free a spirit as they come."
That's why we became friends, she thought. Sarah was so different
from everyone else I knew, so alive, so independent, so real. So
perfect.
She decided in an instant. She opened her mouth, intending to
tell them everything. "I ... " The phone rang. "I'll get it." She grabbed
the receiver. "Hello?"
Elisa's voice was on the other end. "Hi Beth. Are Mom and Dad
home?"
"Hi sis. Yeah. Which one do you want?"
"Both. Can you put it on speaker?"
"Hold on." She pressed the button. "There you go." Her
parents joined her by the speaker.
"What are you doing tomorrow night?"
"Nothing we can't change," said Mom. "Why?"
"Derek's going to meet Maggie's parents. I think it would be
good for them if we were all there at the same time."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Mom, the question
reflected on Dad's face.
"Yes. We're sure." Then, in a completely different tone: "By
the way, can you be there early? We'd like to have a meeting before
they arrive."
"What time do you want us there?" asked Dad.
"Six-thirty. My place. The Reeds won't be there until eight.
That ought to be plenty of time."
Plenty of time for what? Meeting? Beth wasn't sure she wanted
to know, and moments after saying their I-love-you-good-bye's, she
wasn't even sure she was invited. Was Elisa going to prepare the
Reeds for this? How? She recalled her first sight of Derek after
his transformation, how awful and frightening he'd looked, but it
had been her big brother inside the looming monster. Surely
Maggie's parents would understand. After all, no matter what she
had become, she was still their daughter.
Right?
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