Coopers found Vanessa naked in front of the bathroom mirror, curiously waving her head and neck back and forth. "My whole face has changed," the duck-turned-swan marveled. "My beak has a sharp point, my eyes are green instead of brown…why is this happening to me?"
"Consider yourself lucky," joked her mother. "Some people spend thousands of dollars for plastic surgery to look like a swan."
"What if I keep changing and changing?" said Vanessa, frightened tears forming in her eyes. "What if I turn into some kind of freak?"
"I'm sure it's all temporary," said Odette, her tone suggesting that she was trying to reassure herself. "You'll wake up tomorrow, or the next day, and you'll be the way you were again."
"In a wheelchair?" Vanessa snapped. "Forget it. I'd rather stay a girl."
"I'll call Dr. Barrett," Mr. Cooper offered.
"What can he do, man?" said Logan incredulously. "For a case like this, you totally need a witch doctor."
"Logan!" Mrs. Cooper scolded the boy. "There'll be no more talk of witches in this house." She looked seriously at her husband. "Mel, I insist we move immediately, even if we have to plunder the children's college fund to make a down payment."
Mr. Cooper nodded reluctantly. "I agree, dear."
Vanessa stretched her swan neck backwards and gazed down at her unclothed backside. "Omigosh," she remarked. "My butt looks huge."
"Hey!" said Odette sharply.
Vanessa gazed at her with pleading eyes. "I'm gonna have to depend on you, sis. You've been a swan all your life, and I just turned into one."
Odette opened her mouth, and her lower beak started to tremble. Grabbing a large towel from the rack to cover herself, she rushed from the bathroom, vanished into her own room, and slammed the door. Vanessa's head bobbed erratically as she followed her sister.
"Odette?" she called out, but she only heard sobs from behind the door.
Mrs. Cooper came up behind Vanessa and put a hand over her shoulder. "Don't worry about her," she said calmly. "She'll be fine. She's just going through her first period."
"Welcome to first period," said Mrs. Krantz to the fifth-graders who had routinely assembled. "I'll start by calling the roll. Clark Philip Barnes."
"Yo," said Binky, raising his hand.
"Buster Cletis Baxter."
"Here," said Buster.
"Van Cooper, missing. Mary Alice Crosswire, unaccounted for. Ezekiel Eugene England."
"Here," said Zeke quietly.
"Francine Alice Frensky."
"Here," said Francine.
"Susan Ellen Krantz."
"Here," said Sue Ellen.
"George Nordgren, unaccounted for. Arthur Timothy Read."
"Here," said Arthur.
"Beatrice Margaret Simon."
"Here," said Beat.
"Fern May Walters."
"Last, as usual," said Fern.
(A/N: Sorry about all the saids.)
"You're not last today," said Mrs. Krantz, looking across the room at the blond swan girl in the peach-colored dress. "We seem to have a new member in our class. Care to introduce yourself?"
Vanessa swallowed. "Uh, not really."
"Say hello to John Smith, class," said Mrs. Krantz.
"All right," Vanessa blurted out. "I'm…I'm…" Her new, unfamiliar neck muscles ached as she tried to come up with a new false name.
She's gorgeous, thought Binky wistfully.
"She looks just like Odette Cooper, only younger," Arthur whispered to Francine.
"She's wearing the same dress Vanessa wore," Francine remarked. "Same shoes, too. That's weird. You don't suppose she's…"
"Oh, heck," Vanessa finally said. "I'm Van. You may as well know the truth, since I won't be around much longer."
A gasp spread through the classroom.
"Won't be around much longer?" said Binky, startled. "Why?"
"My mom's had it with all the magical transformations," replied Vanessa. "I turned into a curly-haired swan this morning, and that was the last straw. We're moving."
Another collective gasp was heard.
"How soon?" asked Sue Ellen.
"Next week, my dad says," answered Vanessa.
"If we can still recognize you by then," quipped Beat, "we'll throw you a farewell party."
As soon as first period let out, the kids began to flock around the glum-looking swan girl.
"I'll be sad to see you go," said Fern. "I was just getting to know you."
"You've known me for more than a year," Vanessa pointed out.
"But you're a girl now. I'll have to start all over."
"I just hope Muffy comes back in time to see me off," said Vanessa with emotion.
"Yes," said Beat. "It's not like her to take an extended holiday without boasting about it for weeks beforehand."
Light-years away on the planet Orelob, Muffy and George held communion with Lieutenant T'l'p'g'r under the sound dome in the Crosswires' room at the Scaly Arms Hotel. George, at Muffy's prodding, had purchased a new wardrobe which he complained made him look like George Jetson. Nearby, Mr. Crosswire was straightening his tie while his wife fed baby Tyson with synthetic milk and strained carrots. (She strongly suspected that the milk really came from alien-abducted cows.)
"Muffy and I have been talking," said George, "and we decided that we want to help your investigation in any way we can."
"You decided that," Muffy chided him.
"What do you propose?" came the alien officer's rumbling voice.
"We'd like to visit with the head of the Black Veil organization," George went on. "He would know more about Heath Holcombe, like whether he was an agent or not."
"I strongly advise against it," said T'l'p'g'r. "The Black Veil has already denied any association with Holcombe, and you would put yourself at risk of exposure by traveling to another planet."
"What do you mean, risk?" said Muffy. "There are 460 million people in this city alone. No one knows where we are, except for you and that big hairy lady."
"I do not know where you are," was T'l'p'g'r's response. "Glieph has not apprised the Thrag Star Police of your location. Also, our communication link passes through an isotropic quantum encryption network, so I have no more power to deduce your whereabouts than anyone else who may be interested in you."
"Thanks," said Muffy flatly. "I feel safer and more confused."
Finished with his tie, Mr. Crosswire picked up an English-to-Mipata language book and began to recite from it. "Galapu nitzakh. Where is the bathroom. Doki blem neegu. I wish for a cigarette."
"The Thrags have matters well in hand," said T'l'p'g'r to the two children. "Your best course of action is to remain where you are, and enjoy the amenities made available to you by the Provision Theta Administration."
George's younger sister Sal charged into the zone underneath the sound dome. "Who are you talking to, Georgie?" she inquired.
"My imaginary friend," her brother answered.
"Who's Muffy talking to?" asked the little antlered girl.
"We have the same imaginary friend," replied George. "Now go play with your robot dolls."
Sal skipped back to her own hotel room, where several long-haired, reptilian-looking figurines marched back and forth under their own power at the foot of her bed. "There you are," said her mother, Mrs. Nordgren. "I was about to send out a search party."
"Please describe the appearance of the missing person," came a gentle female voice from the ceiling speakers.
"Never mind," said the moose woman.
She idled on the bed for a few more minutes, and then her husband hurried in, a leather-bound book in one hand and a serious expression on his face.
"What is it, Carl?" asked Mrs. Nordgren.
"Take a look at this, Lena," said her husband, waving the book in front of her face.
"To Serve Man," Mrs. Nordgren read the title. "Wait, I know this joke. It's a cookbook, right?"
"Worse," said Mr. Nordgren. "It's a guidebook for lawyers."
"How can that be worse?" asked his wife, sitting up to take a closer look at the tome.
"This book contains a summary of Alliance laws governing relations with Earth people," Mr. Nordgren related. "Chapter 3 is all about Provision Theta." He flipped open the book to a postcard he had inserted. "Guess what, Lena? Participation is not mandatory."
"Why should it be?" wondered Mrs. Nordgren. "The Witness Protection Program on Earth isn't."
"The alien lieutenant told us it was mandatory," said her husband earnestly. "Which means we're all being held here against our will."
Mrs. Cooper received a shock when she drove the family's old Buick to the curb at Lakewood Elementary. She recognized Vanessa, or at least a smaller version of Odette, standing on the sidewalk with several chatting girls. Now a new change had occurred—the swan girl's feathers were black instead of white. Even her blond tresses had become dark as pitch.
"Is that you, Vanessa?" said Odette as she pushed the car door open. "If so, get in."
The black swan girl dropped her book bag from her shoulder, then climbed into the Buick after it. "It started happening during lunch hour," she explained. "I got darker and darker, and by afternoon recess I was completely black."
"It's nothing to be ashamed of," said Odette understandingly.
"That's right," added Mrs. Cooper as she pulled the car onto the street. "Some of my best friends are black swans."
The Buick's ceiling uncomfortably chafed Vanessa's curly scalp as she rode along. "My hair feels different," she remarked to Odette. "I don't know if your stuff will work on it now, sis."
Odette said nothing, but only closed her eyes and grimaced.
Company came almost immediately after they had returned home. Arthur, Francine, and Binky were filled with questions about Vanessa's bizarre changes and the family's relocation plans.
"If you don't mind, Binky," said Arthur, "Francine and I would like to talk to Vanessa alone."
"Sure, whatever," said Binky, noticing that a sad-looking girl was staring at her feet in a nearby room. "I'll go talk to Odette."
Vanessa had to fight to keep her head at eye level with Arthur and Francine as the trio sat down on the couch. "So," Francine began, "what caused these new changes?"
"I wish I knew," said Vanessa, shrugging.
"If Augusta were still around, she might be able to explain it," Arthur observed.
Inside Odette's room, Binky awkwardly tried to comfort the troubled swan girl. "So, what are you eating?" he inquired. "I mean, what's eating you?"
For her response, Odette burst into tears.
Binky groaned inwardly as he watched the streams of salt water course down the girl's beak. This is why I like Molly, he thought. She never cries.
"Hold me, Binky," Odette sobbed.
Binky didn't have to lean over very far to put his arms around the older girl's waist. As he did so, he observed that some parts of Odette's body had taken on intriguing new shapes.
"So many awful things are happening at once," the girl lamented. "My folks want to move away…Van's turned into me…"
"But isn't that a good thing?" said Binky. "I mean, for you, not for Van."
"No!" exclaimed Odette, and she began to cry with more volume.
Binky waited with all the patience he could muster for his friend to calm down. There's got to be a limit to how much a girl can cry, he thought.
Odette grabbed a corner of the bed sheet to dry her tears. "You don't understand," she said miserably. "When I was kidnapped, they did terrible things to me. They touched me in…in places…"
When people touch me in places where I don't want to be touched, I clobber them, thought Binky. She must be talking about something else.
"After that, I didn't feel the same," Odette recounted. "I felt dirty. I still feel dirty. I know I can't be the kind of girl my mom and dad want me to be. And now Van's a swan girl too, and she's gonna look to me as an example of how to live." She cradled her tear-soaked chin on Binky's left shoulder. "I'm sorry about the waterworks. I don't normally cry so much. It's because I just got my first period."
"But school's over for the day," said Binky stupidly.
"It's not that kind of period," said Odette, pushing the boy away tenderly. "When girls reach a certain age, their bodies go through changes."
"Tell me all about it," said Binky eagerly.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I want to help."
As Odette explained her situation in detail, Vanessa's conversation with Arthur and Francine continued. "Being a girl's better than being crippled," said the black-feathered girl. "But I just want to stop changing."
As Arthur searched for a comforting reply, the doorbell suddenly rang. Mrs. Cooper went to open it, and was confronted by a pair of strange figures. Blue robes and hoods covered their tall frames. Horse-like noses with wide nostrils protruded from their half-concealed faces, and glowing golden spots were visible on their foreheads.
Upon seeing them, Arthur and Francine leaped to their feet and screamed in terror. Sentinels!
"I've already read the Book of Mormon," said Mrs. Cooper as one of the hooded visitors gently but irresistibly forced her to one side. They moved steadily toward the three children, their robes hovering an inch above the carpet.
"What do they want?" said Arthur with alarm.
"I have a better question," said Francine. "Why aren't we running?"
"Wait," said Arthur, grabbing the girl's arm. "Maybe they're here about Greta."
"No," said one of the Sentinels, whom by this time were towering over the three. "We've come for you." He pointed a trim finger at the startled Vanessa. Not one of them noticed Binky charging out of Odette's room and running for the front door, a horrified expression on his face.
"Leave her alone!" shouted Arthur, jumping in front of the black swan girl.
The other Sentinel, a female, ignored him and addressed Vanessa. "You are contaminated with magical particles," she stated. "You are a danger to yourself and your friends. You will come with us to the land of the unicorns."
"For…for how long?" asked Vanessa, trembling with fear.
"Indefinitely," answered the Sentinel.
To be continued! Please write reviews or I die!