Chapter 12. Rebellion in a tea pot

Sarah sat huddled in the passenger seat of Karen's car, pissed off at the world at large. From the moment the woman had waved her down, the teen had given her the cold shoulder. At long last, unable to bear another moment of the sullen teen, Karen pulled the car over. "What?" She demanded.

"Private counseling?" She snapped.

Karen lowered her forehead to the steering wheel. "Oh, really!" She groaned. "Sarah, give me a break."

"Give you a break?" The girl spat back. "I'm the one who's just undergone several weeks of being under a microscope; only to find out I'm not free. I'm still under the scope!" She crossed her arms, turning her glare out the front window. "It's not fair," she whined.

Karen, still recovering from Toby's teething let out an exasperated little growl, "Sarah really, it was not even two weeks!" She took a deep breath and started again, trying to keep calm. "What did you want us to do?" Karen asked quietly. "We were on the spot. And you know yourself things have been," she paused not wanting this battle, not now. "Sarah, things have been strained between you and I."

Knowing it was true, the girl nodded, "I know." Guilt made her look away; so much guilt over things that Karen could not even imagine.

"Doctor Mayfaire suggested counseling with one of his colleagues, and your father wanted him to be the one doing it." Karen's voice was low and sad. "Your father thinks he's fair, and Robert is usually a pretty good judge of character."

"I called him a Goblin King." Sarah whispered, turning to look at her stepmother. Karen looked at her, blinked, and began to sputter out a giggle that took Sarah by surprise. Suddenly, as if by magic, both women were laughing breathlessly and in tears. "I hope he's fair after that!"Karen pulled the car back onto the street; "How about a nice new pair of jeans?" She offered, still snickering.

"How about a nice new life?" Sarah laid back her head.

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Meg saw Terry walking toward her in an excited state, and she moaned to Lana. "Here comes the walking dead."

Lana cocked her head to one side, "Looks like she's found something out."

Terry was near running as she reached the pair. "Wait until you hear!" She spouted near out of breath, "Sarah's being ordered into therapy."

"Therapy? Are you sure?" Lana shook her head; "What for?"

"Coming to terms with mommy and daddy's divorce," Terry giggled. "Wait, there's more." She crowed. "She's still stuck with Mayfaire."

Meg slapped the laughing girl. "Stupid cow!" She uttered with fire in her eyes. "We don't want him involved with little Miss Sarah."

Terry held her face, shocked that she'd been slapped. "Meg?"

Lana placed a hand on Meg's arm. "This could work for us, instead of against us." Meg looked skeptically at her. "I'm serious." She calmed the squall of anger. "Think about it, if Sarah is disturbed, they won't be surprised when she turns up going wild."

Meg looked at Terry who was still looking at her with wounded puppy eyes. "Come here, Terry." Meg opened her arms and caressed the girl, while giving Lana a knowing exchanged glance. "You did good, telling us what's going on. I'm sorry I over reacted and hit you. I'll make it up to you my pet."

Terry nuzzled into the embrace, but was not comforted.

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Sitting on her window seat, Sarah looked at the gathering night sky. She watched the white bird that was circling in the sky above the house. She sighed, "I wish there was a way out of this." The white bird landed in the tree opposite her window, staring at her with feral eyes. "Why don't you just take me away?" She asked the bird who just stared. Sarah turned her back on the creature of the night and growled; "Now I'm arguing with a fuckin' bird." She covered her face with her hands. "Why did I have to call him Goblin King?"

Feral eyes, not only watched, but understood. For an owl has all the answers from the moment it is born. It didn't flinch; it didn't flutter; it didn't move. He just watched, and waited.

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Meg waited in the girls' lav for Sarah; she smiled at her when she entered between classes the next morning. "I hear the perv Doc wants to shrink your head." She teased.

"It's not funny, Meg." Sarah leaned on the wall. "I have to see him every Friday, for God only knows how long."

"Shit." Meg frowned, "I thought we could go to the basketball game this Friday and root for the home team."

"Basketball?" Sarah looked at her with suspicion.

"Guys in shorts," growled Meg, outrageously making obscene gestures with her hands.

Sarah laughed and shook her head. "I see," she sighed. "No, no game for me. I'll be sitting in an office with Mayfaire picking apart my psyche."

"Shit, I'd rather eat worms than be stuck in a room with him." Meg hooked arms with Sarah. "Well, how about we go to the library during Study Hall? We can use the sound booth and listen to this great new album I got this weekend. The singer is really hot for an old guy."

"Sounds good," she looked at the girl. "I'm sorry if you didn't get to turn in the art assignment. I don't know what happened to me; I nearly ended up under the bus instead of on it. Then Mayfaire was there holding me up… and I had the strangest sensation of dizziness."

"Oh, don't worry about it, Sarah." Meg shrugged, "I faked it. I copied of some old nude calendar in my dad's bottom desk drawer and turned it in yesterday morning."

Sarah giggled. "Good thinking."

"I'm sorry Daddy started all this hoopla." Meg said putting on a good act. "He's so overly protective. And we didn't do anything wrong, you heard Mayfaire. He said we were just being normal girls. But Daddy's, well…Daddy's seeing boogie men everywhere; ever since my tits came in."

"I understand." She looked at the clock and frowned. "You're going to be late for your next class, Meg."

"I can waltz in and there will be no questions." Meg boasted, hugging Sarah goodbye. "See you at lunch, we're going to sit with Terry and Lana. They want to get to know you too."

Sarah felt the red flag go up, but ignored it. "Okay, see you then."

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Hank looked at Meg when she climbed into his truck a few blocks away from the school. "Well?" he asked as he pulled the truck onto the road.

"You won't believe this," Meg groaned. "What Terry told us is true; Sarah has to have sessions with that quack for a while longer. Every Friday after school she has to go let him dig in her mind."

Hank shrugged, "Fine. He can have her on Fridays, we'll start taking Saturdays."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Meg grumbled.

He smiled at his stepsister, "The holidays, my little sister, the holidays. You can get Sarah to go to the mall with you for shopping. What girl doesn't like to go shopping?" He headed the truck toward the road that would take them to Hazelcrest. "And there's the Christkindlmarket in the park, not to mention the winter festival and ice skating. Use that over active imagination for something besides getting laid, Sis."

"Complaints?" She teased.

"When you see the pigeon at school tomorrow, tell her you girls are going to the park for ice-skating. Invite her to join you. I'll just happen to be there," he said confidently. "It will all seem so natural."

"What are you going to do about Cathy?" Meg asked, her voice indicating just how little she cared for Hank's current girl friend.

"Nothing, for now. Cathy is a great cover. The old man knows she and I hump like bunnies. He'll never suspect that Cathy is just the filler." Hank laughed wickedly as he pulled into the driveway of the Hazelcrest house.

Meg followed him as he went toward the house and unlocked the door. She giggled as he began to raise her skirt even before she had her coat removed. "So, who do you like humping better? Cathy or me?"

He was looking at the satin panty she wore, "Oh sis, no contest. You win hands down." He ushered her toward the bedroom guiding her in with a hand on her satin clad rump, knowing he'd give a similar answer to Cathy if she ever asked. 'Tell 'em what they need to hear.' He thought as he began to undress.

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Mayfaire sat in his new office; the furnishings were all in place, new lighting installed and a coat of new paint had done wonders for the suite of rooms. He was doing more research on the name that Sarah had called him, and frowning. There was more here, he knew it.

Standing up, he wandered over to the wide, tall windows and looked out on the little town. He could see for a long distance from here. Most of the buildings in town were no more than two stories tall. This one, being three, was the odd man in the setting. He felt it rather earned the name given by the builder, The Rookery. Often he heard the colony of birds that were nesting in the eaves and overhangs. He was half tempted to go up to the roof and investigate, but only half tempted.

Something soaring above caught his eye. It was well after sundown now, and most of the other birds had retreated to nests for the evening hours. Not this one; he could see it was one of the birds that lived for the darkness, a great barn owl. Feathers of white, tan, and gold were nearly invisible unless you knew where to look, as the bird seamlessly glided in the night sky. Mayfaire watched for a bit longer, smiling. He loved the night and its creatures with their dark and dangerous secrets. As the wings of the night bird opened and closed, Mayfaire turned from the window. It was time to leave; he had other duties to take care of, and other needs to fulfill.

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Karen looked in on Toby before coming to bed where Robert was waiting for her. "He's resting." She said as she climbed in beside her husband. "Those teabags did the trick."

"Old folk remedy," Robert said knowingly. "My mother used teabags, as I recall."

"You could have told me about it, couldn't you?" Karen cuddled into his arms, rubbing weary legs against his. "Do you think we're doing the right thing? Making Sarah go for counseling?"

"It couldn't hurt." Robert said quietly, kissing her fears away. He would have taken the kisses to the next stage, but Karen turned on her side, signaling that she was too tired and just wanted to cuddle.

"I don't know," She murmured. "I hope we're doing the right thing."

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In her room, the girl sat at the vanity applying lipstick and speaking the words of a play that she'd read some months before. Something fluttering outside her window startled her and she dropped the lipstick. She pulled her robe closer and whispered the words of her mantra. "It was just a dream…. It was just a dream…. It was just a dream."