 Swollen Bud Award "Continuous Arousal" (series) December 2000 |
Legal Disclaimer: You guessed it, the
characters of Xena and Gabrielle, and Argo, as well as all others that
may appear in this anthology and are associated with the show belong to
you-know-who (MCA/Universal and Renaissance Pictures, in case you
don't). No copyright infringement was intended in the writing of this
fan fiction. The story ideas and premise, however, are MINE, as well all characters not covered by the previous statement. No part of this anthology may be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of the stories may be made for private use only and must include these disclaimers. |
Sex, Drugs & Violence: With three exceptions, all of these are rated G.
If you have any CONSTRUCTIVE comments, feel free to mail me at verrath@gmx.de.
Be sure to check out Verrath's Book Of Tales for more fan fiction!
March 26, 1999
"Giddiyup, Argo!"
The golden warhorse snorted and reared before she launched herself into a dead run. The warrior atop her enjoyed the thrill of the fast ride, the breeze tugging at long dark tresses, the horse's muscles stretching powerfully underneath her and the creamy white mane whipping her face. The early morning air was crisp and refreshing.
The girl's legs pumped furiously as she pedaled her bike along the sidewalk at breakneck speed, long black hair whipping in the wind. She was tall for her age, and dressed in a faded black, worn dress. Strapped to her back was a satchel. The wooden handle of a toy sword peeked out from under its flap.
"Sina, wait!"
The little blond scurried along behind, her short little legs carrying her as fast as they would go, but the distance between them was growing rapidly.
Rolling her eyes, the taller girl slowed her bike to a more leisurely pace.
"Sheesh, Gabby, when are you going to learn to ride a bike? It's no fun when I have to keep stopping for you," she said as the younger child came panting up to her.
"I told you they scare me", Gabby pouted.
"You're such a baby, Gabby, I swear. Come on, get up here on Argo. We've got to hurry!"
"All right," the blonde girl said doubtfully as her taller friend brought the bike to a stop to allow her to mount behind her. "But promise we won't take the short cut through the quarry today?"
Sina snorted. "Wimp!"
"Yeah right. I still got those scrapes from last time. And I got in major trouble for messing up my good new dress. Mom got really mad and I had to go to bed without any dessert. Tell me Sina, why don't you ever get into this kind of trouble with your mom?"
Gabby settled herself behind her friend, and the bicycle jerked into motion. With a yelp, the blonde girl threw her arms around Sina's waist, desperately trying not to slide off.
"First," Sina explained, "I don't have the kind of fancy dresses your mom makes you wear." Her disdainful sniff showed exactly what she thought of her friend's attire. "Second," she continued nonchalantly, "I get in trouble all the time. I just don't make such a great big deal out of it."
Sina clicked her tongue. "Alleyoop, Argo," she yelled as she sent the bike hurtling forward once more.
She laughed and yelled wildly. "Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyi!" Then she whinnied and snorted, lending her voice to Argo as she put her trusty wire mare into a gallop, pedaling madly.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Gabby mumbled when she had regained her precarious balance after the sudden lurch.
"What, you wanna be late again?" Sina rumbled, and took the bike off the road into a jagged gorge.
Gabby sighed, defeated. She could have known that her big friend would not miss going through that scary place if she could help it.
"Ayiyiyiyi," Sina cried again, "I'm Xena, the mighty Warrior Princess. Nothing can stop me!"
She turned briefly to glance at Gabby, found her holding on for dear life, eyes squeezed shut in fear. She smiled a knowing little smile. "Where are we? What do you see? Tell me, Gabrielle," she said as she steered the bike around a large rock.
A small smile played around the younger girl's lips at the sound of the words. Her friend knew her so well! These words were what made her forget her fears, for they were her entrance into the secret world they had created for themselves. Her eyes remained closed, but her face relaxed as she turned her mind inward.
She became the bard, Gabrielle, traveling across the land with her friend and protector, Xena the Warrior Princess. Xena, that fabled hero of their dreams, who used to be an evil warlord but now fought only for good (and for a good-sized ice cream cone, if it was the right flavor. Xena had a definite weakness for vanilla fudge).
And while Sina, no Xena, maneuvered the bike, her trusty warhorse that is, with varying skill along the gravelly path, the bard at last opened her eyes and brought their world to life.
"This is a dangerous place," she said, her voice quivering a little from the many shocks sent up her spine as the bike jumped and skittered over the rugged ground. "They say that a family of ugly, people-eating giants live here. They take on the shape of rocks to fool passers-by, and jump out at them when they pass too close." She eyed a large boulder they were passing suspiciously, but it made no move to attack.
"What are we doing here?"
For a brief instant, the child Gabby was back, and she pouted a little. "We're here because you always think we have to take the shortest route."
The bard returned, and she added. "And because you thought we might give the monsters a hard time while we're here."
Xena ignored the reproach. "Okay. Tell me what's happening."
"We are making our way through Deathbringer's Ditch. Everything is quiet at the moment, but we know the infernal giants are hiding here somewhere." Gabrielle's eyes lit up as an idea came to her. "The terrain is treacherous, and you have to slow Argo to a walk so she won't hurt herself."
Xena grumbled at that, but she had to abide by the rules they had made. What had been spoken could not be undone. She reluctantly slowed their mount a little. When she glanced over her shoulder, she noticed that Gabrielle looked quite pleased with herself.
Xena reached back to draw her sword out of her satchel. "So, we make our way through this gorge. I have my sword drawn and scan the surroundings carefully." Steering Argo with only one hand was a little tricky, since the wheels tended to slide and skip over the larger rocks, but she was confident that the faithful warhorse would not betray her.
Everything was quiet, except for the scrape and clatter of Argo's hooves on the gravel as the mare carefully picked her way along the treacherous path. Xena gave the impression of being completely unaware of her surroundings, though the bard knew that in truth every one of the tall warrior's senses was alert and constantly on the lookout for danger.
Trusting those warrior instincts completely, Gabrielle allowed herself to relax a little. The thought of man-eating monsters masquerading as rocks was not a pleasant one, especially when boulders and rocks of considerable size were strewn all around you. But she was certain that no disgusting denizen of Deathbringer's Ditch could best her fearsome fighter friend in battle.
The path wound through a narrow canyon of jagged cliffs, topping a slight rise at its end where a monstrous contraption stood. It was made of a strange, yellow metal, and sat on a set of large wheels that seemed to be able to propel the whole affair forward. A curious extension carrying some sort of huge mechanical gripping device protruded from its front. Up on top of the thing was a little cubby that held a seat, a panel with switches, and a few levers, made for a much larger bulk than their own, and obviously used to manipulate the apparatus in some way.
"What is that, Gabrielle?"
The bard rubbed her nose thoughtfully. "It looks like a giant siege engine. Those man-eating brutes must be planning an attack on the town! We've got to stop them, Xena!"
"Right, Gabrielle. Let's go check it out."
"But, Xena, don't you think we should go on and warn the villagers first? We have to get there anyway, and we don't want to be late. If we warn them now, we can come back later and get a closer look at that thing, while the townspeople can start building up their defenses."
"Yeah, but if we can sabotage this thing now, they won't be able to attack at all. Come on!" She slid off Argo's back, leaving Gabrielle no choice but to follow. The bard told the mare to stay put (though, seriously, why Argo would listen to her remained a mystery), and went after her friend, who was scaling the side of the huge yellow monstrosity.
"You stay down there and keep watch," Xena told her. Thinking that was probably a good idea, Gabrielle complied.
"Drat. It's locked," the warrior muttered when the door to the cubby wouldn't budge. She rattled the handle, then tried to force it open with her sword, but to no avail.
Gabrielle looked around nervously. So far, there seemed no sign of the giants. "Come down from there, Xena! We have to get going. What if this thing goes off?"
Xena paused in her examination of the door to look at the bard. "What do you think this does? Tell me, Gabrielle."
Gabrielle considered the contraption. "I suppose they roll it up to the town wall, then this claw thingie up front is used to pick the villagers off the balustrade when they try to defend the gate. I suppose they just drop them into carriages they take along for the purpose. Pretty devious."
"You're right. So maybe if I just tried to disable the claw thingie... I could cram something in there so it won't close..." Xena muttered softly to herself as she groped around the top of the machine in search of some way to disable the apparatus.
Out of the corner of her eye, Gabrielle saw movement. Something was coming up the slope towards them.
"The giants are coming," she cried, pointing.
Xena's head whipped around, blue eyes widening. Quickly, she considered their options.
"Better for them not to see us here," the warrior rationalized as she started to climb down from the machine. "That way, they won't know something is wrong until the siege engine malfunctions. Let's get out of here!" She landed neatly on the ground, and jumped up onto Argo's back.
"Finally, you're talking sense, Warrior Princess," the bard said as she scrambled up onto the horse behind the warrior. A click of Xena's tongue, and they were off.
They headed for the mouth of the gorge towards the path that would take them into the town. Suddenly there was a jolt. Xena hissed a filthy curse as they were suddenly headed down the steep decline off to their side.
"Look out Xena, we're going the wrong way," Gabrielle cried.
"I know, dammit, I know. Argo's out of control, I can't stop her! The giants must have spooked her. Hold on, it's gonna be bumpy!"
Hold on she did, but they were cruising down the gravelly hill faster and faster. She was thrown about roughly by the erratic jumps of the frantic horse, while Xena vainly tried to calm the animal down.
"Aaaaaahh look out!"
"It's no use Gabrielle! We're going doooooowwwwwwnn!"
It was only a matter of time before Argo's knees buckled. The world started to spin out of control, and bard, warrior, and horse tumbled in a tangle of flailing limbs down the slope, followed by a huge cloud of dust.
The dust settled around them as they ground to a stop at the foot of the hill.
Xena was lying flat on her stomach, trying to decide if the ache in her bruised backside was worse than the burning pain of the raw and torn skin along her thighs where they had scraped across the gravel. Her eyes stung and her nose tickled with dust. She finally decided that it was the bruise to her ego that smarted the most.
Slowly she raised her head. Her eyes came to rest on a pair of shiny black boots covered in a light layer of dust. Slowly, her eyes traveled up a pair of dark trousers, past a club tied to a belted waist, coming to rest on a scowling, bearded face. This was not good.
Cursing roundly, Gabrielle extricated herself from underneath the fallen bike. She dusted off her dress, and winced as she tried to put weight on a twisted ankle. "Xena, I swear, next time you-" She broke off when she became aware that they had company. She gulped.
Xena slowly got to her feet, and grasped her sword that had miraculously landed close by her side.
He stood head and shoulders taller than the warrior, and he wore the dark blue uniform of a police officer.
"What are you two doing here? How many times have I told you that this is private property?"
Mighty Xena drew herself up to her full four feet seven inches, and glared at him defiantly. "My name is Xena. I'm a warrior. We're on a dangerous mission," she said importantly.
"Well, Sina, last time I caught you two here you promised not to trespass again if I didn't tell your parents. This time I'm afraid I'm going to have to be more strict with you."
The church bell chimed eight. School was starting, and once again they were going to be late. Gabby looked down at her own tattered dress, and back at the officer. She sighed.
They were definitely in trouble. Again.
Few things in the world are more devastating than a bored kid...
April 11, 1999
Gabrielle was miserable. For the third day now, she had only been allowed bread and water, and her stomach was rumbling something awful. And it wasn't exactly a pleasure to be cooped up in this little hole all day, the only connection with the outside world being a small window at the end of the oblong room she was being kept in, with the ground outside at eye level.
The only times she was allowed outside of her prison was for brief trips to answer calls of nature, and to pick up her more than meager rations of ill-prepared, tasteless food. These people were really trying to make her suffer!
Lying upon the straw pallet (at least the covers with the little running horse patterns were warm and soft), she found herself cursing the Warrior Princess for the fix she had made her get into. But the fact that she missed her friend so much tended to interfere with her efforts to be truly mad at the blue-eyed warrior.
She was wondering when her friend would show up to get her out of this. She had not heard from Xena since the moment she had been taken prisoner, and suspected the warrior had a few troubles of her own to deal with. She sniffed. It wasn't as if Gabrielle hadn't warned her! But of course, listening to sensible advice was not one of the Warrior Princess' many skills.
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream broke the silence of the dungeons...
"Gabby, come on up! Dinner's ready."
Gabby sighed, and wrinkled her nose. It smelled like spinach. Ugh! And of course, there would be no desert tonight, or the days after, while she was grounded. Sina was going to have hell to pay.
To say that Sina felt bad for getting her friend in trouble once again might have been exaggerating. But still, hearing Gabby's mom yell and rant had given her a twinge of guilt. Besides, Sina missed her playmate, who had been grounded for the whole first week of summer vacation! Being the Warrior Princess just wasn't the same when little Gabby wasn't there. Nobody could make Xena come alive the way Gabrielle the bard could!
Sina's own mother had just looked at her with that long, sad look that seemed to be reserved only for her, and told her there was to be no riding her bike for the time being. So poor Argo had been locked away in the garage, her wheels still dusty from the ride through Deathbringer's Ditch. The unfairness of it all!
She was comfortably installed in the tree house the two of them had built together with Sina's older brother Tom during the past few weeks. Well-hidden from view by big leaves and bigger blossoms, it nestled snugly between the broad branches of the tall Magnolia tree in the front yard, and allowed a unique view of the street below. If she stretched a little, she could even see the gable of the house where Gabby lived, a few blocks away. But of course, the hapless pedestrians walking blissfully by below her were infinitely more interesting.
She had been forced to stop dropping the water balloons after her mom's insistent rapping on the kitchen window, and now she was using a little blowgun to pepper them with spitballs and cherry pits she had been hoarding during the spring. Much less conspicuous, and a lot more fun if you really thought about it, because of the way people were looking around stupidly to figure out what had hit them.
Thwap! There went another one. She complimented herself silently on a master shot. Right between the shoulder blades! Mr. Wright, the police officer in charge of this neighborhood, whipped his hand to his back and spun around, a fierce glower on his face. Sina slid silently lower behind the wooden wall of her little fortress.
"I know you're here somewhere, Sina," the policeman growled, looking around him, but thankfully forgetting to check above him.
"If you want a free trip in a police car, you just keep it up, young lady," he threatened as he continued on his round, muttering under his breath and shaking his graying head.
A tousled head appeared again as soon as he had walked on along the street. Sina pushed her unruly hair out of her face and stuck out her tongue at Mr. Wright's retreating back.
With dinner time approaching, fewer people were on the streets, and soon the little ambusher found herself entirely without victims. Sina soon tired of watching the empty pavement below. Murmuring about the cruelty of life and how all the bad luck always came her way, she carefully stowed away her ammunition and decided to go play in the yard.
It was a sunny day, but there was no sun in the Warrior Princess' heart as she glumly descended the tree where she had been on the lookout all day. "She's not here," she thought sadly. "I never knew how much she has become part of my life until now."
With her feet firmly back on the ground, the warrior sat down in the soft grass, remembering adventures they had gone through together.
There had been the day when the warrior and the bard had ridden out of town early in the morning. Extremely early, even. Well actually, it had still been night... this had been after a rather long stay at the local Tavern, during which Xena had gotten into the middle of a huge tavern brawl once again. Well, served the guy right, for calling her 'cute'!
They had felt lucid enough when they left town, but now it seemed they had both had more drinks than they realized. Gabrielle kept falling on her face when Xena forgot to support her with a hand to her back, and Xena herself had trouble staying upright on Argo. Whenever the horse shifted direction, she found herself sliding out of the saddle....
Utterly frustrated, Sina contemplated the Barbie dolls and horse on the ground before her. Gabby had dyed one doll's hair black, and it wore a black dress and boots, complete with a little scabbard and sword. The other was garbed in a plain brown skirt and green blouse.
The horse was one of the posable ones, a Palomino, that Gabby had gotten for her birthday. Sina's large blonde doll, the one she had been given for Christmas but hardly ever looked at, had quickly received a fashionably short haircut so they could glue a real golden mane and tail on the horse.
But, Barbie-Xena had a propensity to tilt and side slowly off posable Argo, and the fact that Barbie-Gabrielle wouldn't stay on her feet by herself didn't help the grouchy little Warrior Princess' mood any.
"Oh, fiddlesticks," Sina muttered (A girl her age is not supposed to know any dirty words, so let's all assume this is what she really said). "Crummy dolls! Kids' stuff!" She made as if to kick the plastic horse across the lawn, but remembered at the last minute that the toys were Gabby's and she had better not ruin them any more than she usually did.
Sina plopped down onto the lawn, where she sat cross-legged, her chin resting in her hands. "I'm bored, Gabrielle," she told the blonde Barbie-Bard at her feet, before giving it a little flick with her toe that sent it rolling into Plastic-Argo, toppling her and dumping Barbie-Warrior on her butt.
The window on the neighboring house opened. Sina watched as Mrs. Castor, their neighbor, sat a bowl of something covered with a cloth on the sill. Before she closed the window again, the middle-aged woman with the hawk-like nose gave Sina a warning glare. She did not like kids as a rule, and she especially did not like this particular kid. The feeling was mutual. Sina gave her a baleful stare out of chilly blue eyes.
Mr. Castor was another matter. Round and cheery where his wife was thin and dour, he always had a friendly word whenever he saw Sina or Gabby. He even went so far as to tell them a story from time to time, when he could be sure Mrs. Castor was far out of earshot.
The window closed with slightly more force than strictly necessary, and the girl found herself staring at the bowl on the sill. Whatever could be in there? Mrs. Castor might be an old hag, but she had quite a reputation for baking the best cakes and cookies in town. And no kid ever could resist the temptation of sticking a finger into a bowl of dough. That must be what was in there. Surely. Little Sina licked her lips as she slowly crept close to the window.
She edged carefully along the wall of the Castor house until she was right beside the window sill. Slowly, slowly, she extended a hand towards the bowl...
"Ha!" the window was flung open, and out poked Mrs. Castor's nose, followed quickly by the rest of her face. Sina almost jumped out of her skin.
"I knew it," the woman screeched, "I knew you'd come and try to steal my cookie dough, you pesky, good-for-nothing little brat." The rest of the tirade was lost on the girl, as she tried to recover her equilibrium. Mrs. Castor ranted on, and Sina pretended to be listening as her wicked little mind cast around for a way to get revenge on the old dragon. She and Gabby had long since some to the conclusion that the woman only baked all this wonderful stuff so she had something she could forbid kids to have.
The child's eyes flicked to her right, where the water hose lay. With an effort, she kept an evil little smile from her face and tried to look properly chastised as Mrs. Castor wrapped up her litany. No-one treated the Warrior Princess this way! She would have her revenge.
Gabby was sprawled on the floor, colorful crayons spread all around, and a partly finished drawing of Xena the Warrior Princess before her. Sticking out the tip of her tongue in concentration, she filled a spidery-legged Argo's golden side with color. The war-horse's mane looked like so many spikes, and if one of Xena's hands was missing a finger that had somehow found its way to the other, it did nothing to diminish the overall splendor of her artwork.
Once again she silently berated herself for leaving her Barbie dolls at Sina's place again. With a defeated sigh, she asked herself what piece of equipment would be missing this time when she retrieved them. Or maybe her dad would have to glue Argo's leg again.
Frantic rapping on the window interrupted her musings.
"Gabby! Gabby," came Sina's urgent whisper. "Gabby open up! They're after me!"
"I can't," Gabby said. "I'll get in trouble. You'd better go before anyone sees you."
Down the street she could hear the commotion - a screeching voice that could only be Mrs. Castor, and the unmistakable low rumble of Mr. Castor trying to calm her down. The third voice would be that of Mrs. McRunnel, Sina's mom.
"Please, Gabrielle!"
The blonde girl threw up her hands in defeat as she got up to slide open the window and push aside the wire grill that protected the lower level windows from burglars.
"Hurry, I can hear them coming!"
"Okay, okay," Gabby said, "but you owe me for this. If dad finds you here, he'll have fits. I'm not supposed to talk to anybody."
"I know," Sina said as she crept inside, careful this time not to step into the cactus that sat below the window. "I'll make it up somehow."
When the dark-haired girl was safely in the little room, Gabby closed the window and rounded on her friend. "So, whatcha do this time, huh? Flood the Castors' cellar or something?"
Sina looked at her out of wild, haunted eyes. "I don't wanna talk about it," she grumbled. Pressing herself against the wall beside the window, she pushed the drapes aside and peered out, chest heaving with ragged breaths.
"It's the Persians, Gabrielle. A whole darn army of them, and they're coming this way! We have to retreat and find a place where we can ambush them and turn them back."
The bard moved closer to Xena to get a look at the approaching horde for herself. She watched as they passed by their shelter, talking among themselves in raucous voices and making enough noise to wake the Gods. And there really were a whole lot of them!
Their voices faded into the distance, then grew louder briefly before they abruptly stopped. Xena tensed. "I think they've found us," she whispered. "We can't be found yet. We need more time."
Thinking quickly, Gabrielle whispered back. "They won't be looking for an innocent village girl like me," she mused, rubbing her nose in thought. "Okay, listen, here's what we'll do..."
The bard sat on the straw pallet mending a skirt when one of the men opened the door to the rickety little shed where they had taken cover. He looked at her, then let his eyes wander around the room. Gabrielle was careful not to raise her eyes to him, and to look properly demure. "Are you alone?" the soldier asked her.
"Yes, Sir, all alone. Just mending this skirt," Gabrielle replied in her best, innocent damsel voice.
The huge man gave her a suspicious look, and seemed about to approach her, but then he apparently changed his mind. "You stay here, woman, and don't leave this place. Do you hear?"
"Oh yes, Sir, I promise I won't go anywhere. Honest."
Nodding curtly, the soldier turned and left.
When Gabby's father closed the door behind him, Sina heaved a sigh of relief from her hiding place under her friend's bed. Four days until Gabby was un-grounded. It was going to be long.
The premise for this story was shamelessly stolen from a very cute children's tale titled "Someone Is Eating The Sun" by Ruth A. Sonneborn. Again, no copyright infringement is intended, no profit gained.
April 11, 1999
What a perfect summer day!
Finally escaped from the maddening prison of being grounded, Gabby skipped along on the sidewalk, quickly covering the distance to Sina's house a couple of blocks away. The sun was beating down on the sidewalk for all he was worth, and not a trace of a cloud marred the endless expanse of deep blue sky.
The blonde child had a little duffel bag slung over her shoulder. They had decided to take Argo out for a ride to the lake, and go swimming. Sina had promised to show her how to reach the bottom of the lake today, a trick Gabby had not been able to accomplish so far, and she was excited.
When she arrived at Sina's place, the little Warrior Princess already had Argo saddled (after pleading with her mom for the last three days to be allowed to take her out of the garage again after their faux-pas at Deathbringer's Ditch). The bike, freshly polished and oiled, shone in the sunlight, the bag containing Sina's towel and a spare bathing suit dangling from the handle bar. Of course, the wooden handle of her trusty sword peeked out from the bag as well.
"About time," the black-haired child muttered when she caught sight of her friend. "Come on, up you go, the water's not gonna get any cooler," she told a pouting Gabby, who nevertheless climbed up onto the bike behind her friend, and off they went. Down the street, and to the right, a few minutes through open country, to the lake that was the town's place for recreation. No shortcuts, no straying from the path, like the good little kids they were.
"Come on, try again! You almost got it this time!"
Two figures could be seen, head and shoulders above the relatively calm surface of the lake, bobbing lightly with the soft undulations of the crystal-clear water. Their breath made little clouds of steam in the early morning air.
"Hang on, Gabrielle, what are you talking about? There is no way I can see us blowing clouds of steam in this heat."
Treading water, Gabby rolled her eyes. "I just thought it sounded more idyllic than a crowded, luke-warm lake full of people bathing."
"Whatever," Sina agreed, "just make it warm, and midday, okay?"
"Oh all right. Spoilsport."
"Okay, here goes," Gabrielle said, took a huge gulp of breath, and dove forward. Her legs kicking briefly above the surface of the water, she disappeared below while her dark-haired friend looked on with a tiny half-smile. "Remember to let the air out as you go down", she called after the bard.
The surface of the water calmed again while the bard was down, the occasional bubble rising and betraying where she must be. Still expectant, Xena remained very still and stared at the spot where the blonde had disappeared.
A huge splash, and Gabrielle emerged again, a triumphant yell escaping her even before she had quite broken the surface. In her hands, a silvery, shining form was flopping wildly back and forth, struggling to wriggle out of her grasp.
"I did it!!! Look Xena, I really did it!"
"I knew you could do it Gabrielle," the warrior said with an indulgent smile. "And look what a nice one, too. Now, why don't you toss it over there with the others, and lets go prepare lunch, huh?"
"Sounds like a plan."
She tossed her prize ashore. It flew in a huge silvery arc, to land on a large pile of large multicolored stones. No longer a fat bass but an ordinary piece of wet rock again, the stone joined its companions with a loud clack.
From the water rose two young girls in cartoon-character bathing suits, wringing water from their hair and shivering a little when a breath of air stirred. Gabby grabbed their towels, and tossed one to Sina, a pleased grin nearly splitting her face in half.
"All the way to the bottom, Sina. I really did it," she chattered on excitedly.
The other girl's blue eyes sparkled with quiet pride for her smaller friend. "Yes, you sure did," she said.
They sat down by their pile of treasure, Gabby unpacking the sandwiches her mom had prepared for them. She handed one to Sina before taking a huge bite out of her own. Hmmmm, peanut butter and jelly! Just the food for hungry warriors and bards!
Suddenly Sina stopped in mid-chew, and frowned up at the sky. "Hey, Gabby, what's with the sun?" she said around a sticky mouthful of sandwich. "Does it look funny to you, too?"
Gabby shielded her eyes and squinted at the glowing ball. "Looks okay to me," she said. "Why, what's- Holy Shoe!!!!" (Of course, she wasn't allowed to say that other word) "It looks like there's a tiny piece missing."
"Yep. I've been watching it for a while, and it looks like it's growing. We've got trouble, Gabrielle."
"For sure! We need to see Zeus about this! Something is eating the sun! Let's get Argo saddled and warn everybody!"
Indeed, mighty Apollo looked like someone had chewed a bite from him. Xena quickly threw the saddle onto her trusty mare, while Gabrielle gathered their belongings and crammed them into the saddlebags.
In a matter of minutes, they were riding hard across the plain, fear gripping their hearts, yelling a warning to anyone they passed.
Little Jock crouched on the sidewalk, pushing his matchbox cars along the roads he had chalked there, when he heard the commotion at the far end of the street. Sina came pedaling up on her bike as if the Hounds of Hell were after them (which probably wasn't far off the mark, Jock thought), yelling wildly, while little Gabby seated behind her was frantically waving an arm at him.
The bike screeched to a halt before him, both girls out of breath and obviously quite distraught.
"Joxer, something terrible is happening," Gabrielle panted.
"What, has the sun gone out?" the would-be-warrior replied in a slightly bored tone, never looking up from whatever it was he was doing crouched on the ground.
"Not yet, but it might," the Warrior Princess told him coolly. (Though her flushed, sweaty face somehow belied her nonchalance)
"Look up and see for yourself," the bard added with a reproachful frown.
"Oh yeah, right, you two. I'm not buying it. You're just trying to make fun again of poor little Joxer."
Abruptly, he found himself in a headlock, with the razor-sharp blade of Xena's sword held to his throat. "Listen, Joxer, we don't have the time to put up with your foolishness. Look up there now!"
Gulping, Joxer complied. And gasped. The missing bit in the sun had grown larger in the meantime, and the sky was darkening already.
"Something is eating the sun," Gabrielle explained, "and we're on our way to tell Zeus! Are you coming, or what?"
Moments later the three of them were racing along, the warrior on horseback, Joxer and the bard running as fast as their legs would carry them, fear gripping their hearts.
Darker the sky grew, as more of the brilliant golden ball was gouged out by the unseen monster. And onward the little party raced, their time growing short.
Whistling to himself, Andy strolled along, one hand in his jeans pocket, the other holding a stick he was dragging along the fences. He made such a ruckus that he didn't hear the frantic party of three and a bike until they were almost upon him.
"Oh, it's you, Autolycus," Xena said. Her blue eyes were getting a little wild with frustration at her inability to stop the rapid consumption of the sun.
The King of Thieves made a little bow and a flourish with his hand. "Always at your service, lovely Warrior Princess."
Xena rolled her eyes in irritation. "Yeah right. We've got a problem. Look."
Twirling his mustaches between his fingers, he raised his head to look where the warrior pointed. Almost half of the sun had disappeared. "I take it that isn't good," he remarked with false bravado.
"You got that right," Joxer the Mighty cried, "come on, we're gonna go see the Big Man to see if he can help."
"That's Zeus," Gabrielle reproached as they resumed their frenzied trek, speeding along the path, fear gripping their hearts.
Emily was just having tea with her dolls and teddy in the front yard when the panicked little procession reached her.
"Xena! Gabrielle! How good to see you," the blonde Amazon greeted them. "It's been ages. To what do we owe the honor of your visit?"
"Something is eating the sun," Gabrielle practically screeched.
Ephiny looked up at the sky. Indeed, Apollo was missing a huge chunk, and the area seemed to be growing as they looked on. "Oh, this is terrible! What are we going to do?"
"We're on our way to warn Zeus," Xena explained. "Will you come with us, Eph? We can use all the help we can get."
"Of course!"
And thus Ephiny the Amazon joined them as well (but not before grabbing her favorite teddy) as they approached the Olymp, fear gripping their hearts.
'Zeus' was sitting in his favorite rocking chair out on the front porch, reading a paper, and looking forward to the impending spectacle when a small horde of children came panting up to him, his own daughter and that black-haired little troublemaker on her bike in the lead.
"Daaaaaad," Gabby wailed. He couldn't make out any more words, because all the children just started talking at once, gesticulating wildly and pointing at the sky. He caught snatches of "eating the sun" and "monster in the sky". Smiling, he raised his hands.
"Now now..." he began, but they didn't seem to hear him. He tried again, louder.
Zeus's voice boomed out mightily. "Silence, mortals!!!"
And a hush fell across the assembled party.
"Okay kids," Gabby's father said in a soothing voice, "there is nothing to be afraid of. Nothing is eating the sun. We are going to have an eclipse. That's an extremely rare thing, and we're lucky to witness it."
"What's an ets-lips?" Jock asked, stumbling over the unfamiliar word.
"It's when the moon gets between the sun and the earth, and covers it so completely that it blocks off the sunlight. It doesn't happen often, and if it does, we usually don't get to see it here. So, I suggest you sit down here and enjoy the show!"
Which the children did, though still ill-at-ease.
They watched with their mouths hanging open as the black chunk eating at the sun grew larger and larger, until only a tiny, sickle-shaped slit remained. Soon that, too, winked out. The world was covered in darkness.
Gabby had crept closer to Sina, and slipped her little hand inside her friend's for moral support.
"Xena, you've got to go up there and move the moon, or we may never have any sun again," Gabrielle whispered insistently.
"Yes, but how," the warrior whispered back.
"I've got it," the King of Thieves piped in. "Use Pegasus!"
"Great idea, Autolycus," the warrior said excitedly, "I'm sure he'll help."
"Of course he will," Gabrielle assured them. "You just have to bribe him with a bushel of alfalfa. Pegasus will do anything for alfalfa.
Xena got to her feet to approach the winged stallion grazing a little way off.
"Here, you may be able to use this," Autolycus said, and tossed the warrior a length of good, stout rope.
"Thanks," the warrior said as she approached the tall equine and explained their predicament. Soon the flying horse nickered his agreement, and Gabrielle and the others witnessed one Warrior Princess borne into the skies by mighty Pegasus, headed for the offending celestial body. (Funny how Gabrielle never released her friend's hand during the whole time, though)
Warrior and winged horse soon flew up out of sight. They succeeded in their mission, however, for soon the moon reluctantly gave up its position, and a thin sliver of the sun started appearing again.
Gabrielle could just see the Warrior Princess up there in the skies, the rope looped firmly around the moon, muscles bulging as Pegasus' wings strained against the huge weight.
Ever so slowly, the moon grudgingly gave way to the pressure and proceeded to move along its ordained course. The skies lit up again as the black shadow blotting out the sun slipped away to the side, and soon was gone. Apollo stood once more in all his brilliance. Indeed, he seemed even brighter than before, after that terrible moment of darkness.
A cheer went up among the mortals as Pegasus alighted once more, and a weary warrior jumped from his back, giving him a friendly pat before returning to her companions.
"See, children?" Gabby's father told them. "There was nothing to be afraid of. The moon went its way all by itself, and the sun is shining again."
The children exchanged smiles and winks. They knew better, of course.
April 20, 1999
"Show me that thing you do," Xena said, her eyes intent on the bronze-skinned woman before her.
The dark beauty looked her in the eye, and extended her hand towards Xena's leg.
The warrior stopped her with a shake of her head. "Not on my leg." She gestured towards her throat. "Show me on my neck."
Black eyes fixed the warrior in an unspoken question. "Yeah, come on!" At Xena's slight nod, the other woman extended two fingers and jabbed a spot on the warrior's neck with blinding speed.
Xena's eyes widened as her spine went rigid, and she sank to her knees, a trickle of blood appearing at her nose. "That was too fast," she gasped. "Now, take it off and do it again, slower."
The young woman looked at her with a cold smile and did not move.
Something akin to panic grabbed the warrior. "Take it off! Come on!"
Another lightning quick movenemt, and Xena felt her circulation return. Rising and rubbing her arms, she glared at the woman, who looked smug.
"Very funny. Now, teach me how you did that." When the woman extended her hand again, the warrior gestured her away. "No, not on me. Teach me on yourself."
"...and so the mighty Warrior Princess first learned about cutting off the flow of blood to the brain," Gabby finished her story.
"Cool," Sina said. "Where'd ya learn about that, Gabby? Can Xena really do that?"
"Sure she can," Gabby said smugly. "I saw it on TV the other day. They showed people in the desert using it. You know, when they don't have doctors but are hurt, and have to take the pain away, so they can get to where there's water and stuff. Xena can do that too, and she can use it to make people tell her what she wants to know."
"And to kill," Sina mused, rubbing her chin.
"She would have," Gabby agreed, "but that was before she met Gabrielle, and turned good. Xena doesn't just kill people for the fun of it now."
They were snuggled comfortably in Gabby's broad bed, with the little smiley night light casting its faint yellow glow over the scene, to keep the monsters under the bed where they belonged.
Sina's mom was away for the weekend, and with her brother now at Summer Camp, Sina would have been home alone. So Gabby's partents had agreed that she could spend the weekend here. The thought of two nights spent together had had the girls in an excited chatter all day.
Truth be told, the adults had surely begun to have doubts about the wisdom of their decision after finding Gabby's little sister Lena tied to a tree in the back yard and wailing at the top of her lungs, even after Gabby assured her fuming mom that Xena the Warrior Princess was even now on her way to save the captive maiden from the tribe of cannibals that had abducted her.
Little Lena, none the worse for the experience, had nevertheless avoided the tall, dark-haired girl with the wild eyes for the rest of the day. She had not even protested when Gabby's mom had prepared her for bed.
Earlier on, Sina had left the mattress that had been set up for her, and taken her blankets and pillow with her to Gabby's bed. There was more than enough room there for the two of them, but they had fought screeching and laughing for the best spot anyway, until Gabby's mom had told them to cut out the giggling and go to sleep already. Which, of course, had had them giggling even harder for quite some time.
Now, though, as the night wore on, most of their energy had dissipated, and they just lay there next to each other with Gabby telling stories. Sina, for the most part, listened in rapturous silence as her friend weaved tale after tale about the Warrior Princess. This last one, from a time when their imaginary heroine had still been evil, seemed to grip Sina more than the rest.
"Gabby?" Sina propped herself up on one elbow to look over at her friend. The night light drew eerie reflexes onto her face as she spoke, making her blue eyes sparkle fiercely as if with a light of their own.
"Hmm?" The blonde girl replied. Sensing her friend's sudden serious mood, she sat up with her back against the headrest, and hugged her knees. She looked at Sina expectantly.
"Do you think we can be bad before we remember?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, my mom never says so, but I'm sure she thinks I'm bad. It's the way she looks at me sometimes. And sometimes she talks as if I had done something really really bad when I was little. But I don't know what it is. And then all I want is for her to stop looking at me that way. And Tom, he always calls me 'little witch'. Witches are evil, right? But I'm not sure he thinks I'm evil. Because he's always smiling when he calls me that. Maybe it's because I look like my dad. Mom says dad was bad." She fell silent.
Gabby was sucking on a strand of her honey-colored hair as she thought about what Sina had told her. "What was your dad like? Do you remember him at all?"
"The only thing I remember is when he took me on a ride on his motorcycle." A dreamy smile came to Sina's face. "I think my dad was very cool, and he was always smiling when he looked at me. I think I was four, or five. When we came back from the ride, my mom got really mad at him for putting me on the motorcycle. They were yelling at each other, and then I was crying. But the next day he was smiling at me again, and rocking me on his knee. And one day, he was just gone. Mom never talks about it. Tom says he doesn't know, that he just took his motorcycle and left."
Gabby rubbed her nose. "I think you have to know you're being bad for it to count. When you're very little, you never really want anything, except for mom to change your diapers and feed you. When Lena was a baby, all she ever did was sleep and stink and cry. I think we must have been the same, only we don't remember. So we really can't have been bad."
There was a silence. Presently Sina said. "But maybe some people are just bad inside when they're born."
"No," Gabby said firmly.
"I'm being bad all the time," Sina said quietly. "I went into Deathbringer's Ditch even though I wasn't allowed to; I did that thing with Mrs. Castor's waterhose..."
"But she deserved it," came Gabby's fervent reply. "She was being mean to you." She paused to pick her words. "I don't think you're bad inside. I don't know about your dad, but I don't think you can be bad just because your dad was bad, or your mom. You can learn to be bad, and you can learn to be good, but you can't be born bad. You do bad things sometimes, but that doesn't mean you have to be bad inside."
Sina nodded, seeing the logic of her friend's words. Then she sighed deeply. "But I still wish I knew why mom looks at me that way sometimes."
"Maybe it's because of something bad that happened way back, that wasn't your fault at all, only she thinks it was because you were there when it happened," Gabby surmised.
Sina shrugged. "Could be." She leaned across Gabby and flipped the light switch. Blinking a little to adjust her eyes to the light, she crawled over her friend and out of the bed.
"Where are you going?" Gabby asked, curious. She rubbed her eyes against the sudden brightness.
"Just getting something," Sina murmured as she crossed the room to the shelf where Gabby kept most of her Barbie toys, neatly arranged. She reverently picked up the Barbie doll with the black dyed hair and the little sword tied to her back, and carried it back with her to the bed. She crept back under the covers, turned off the light, and settled back down facing her friend.
With a rustle of covers, Gabby gave up her sitting position and snuggled into her own blanket, watching as Sina idly twisted Barbie-Xena in her hands.
"Do you think I could be as brave and strong as she is?" The black-haired girl asked wistfully.
"Sure I do. Just as brave and strong."
Sina looked at her and grinned, her somber mood finally dissipating.
Gabby giggled. "And just as mule-headed, too, I'll bet. And of course, without Gabrielle to-" she cut off with a yelp as a pillow hit her smack in the face.
"I'll give you mule-headed, smart-mouth," Sina said. "That pillow looks good on your face. Leave it there." Now it was Sina's turn to giggle wickedly as she pinned the smaller girl to the bed and started tickling her. Within moments, they were engaged in the most delightful pillow fight, with much tickling and wrestling and laughter thrown in.
The door opened, and the light went on. The girls froze where they were, Sina with one of Gabby's bare feet firmly wedged between her legs and wriggling fingers poised above it, Gabby with a pillow in her hands that she had been about to fling at her tormentor.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Gabby's mom said sternly from where she stood in the doorway. "Now I'm telling you for the last time, either you two behave yourself now, or Sina is sleeping in the guest room tomorrow."
The pillow dropped from suddenly limp hands, and Sina's firm hold went slack as the two children hastily disentangled themselves and put on their best angelic faces (though, truth be told, it didn't look quite right on Sina).
"I'm sorry, mom." Gabby looked up at her mom out of large, woeful eyes.
"Go to sleep now," was all her mom said before she turned off the light and left, shaking her head in exasperation.
Like the good little kids they were, Sina and Gabby straightened out their blankets and lay back down, determined now to behave. Sina sleeping in the guest room was unthinkable, after all!
Silence fell.
"Gabby?" Sina rolled onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, where flashes of light from the occasional car passing by outside played in erratic patterns.
"Hmm?" Gabby murmured, already half-asleep.
"Do you think Xena is really good inside now, or is she just being good because Gabrielle is making her be good?"
Gabby thought about that for a long time before she answered. "Xena really wants to be good deep inside. She wanted to be good even back when she was still bad. But she doesn't know how because she was bad for so very long she doesn't know anything else. So she needs Gabrielle to show her how to be good again."
"Kinda like you, always trying to keep me out of trouble, huh?"
"Yeah, kinda."
"That's pretty cool," Sina murmured, before she drifted off to sleep, clutching Barbie-Xena tightly to her chest.
Gabby soon joined her, a little smile playing around her lips.
May 14, 1999
Flickering images from the TV screen made erratic light patterns chase themselves in an otherwise dark room. The sound was turned low, but loud enough so the eerie, screeching background music could be heard faintly as something weird and slimy, and only seen in fuzzy outline or short glimpses shuffled through a dark, black-and-white alley in a late 50's London. Inexorably, the thing made its way towards the dead end where a pretty blonde woman was pressed against the wall, her face distorted with sheer terror, her chest heaving mightily with strained breathing.
As the music picked up in intensity, and the gruesome creation on the screen neared its goal, a broad, ugly snout scenting the air for its delectable prey, something moved on the little couch that faced the TV set. The top of a dark, tousled head slowly appeared above a heap of blankets and pillows, wide eyes peering at the screen.
"Has it seen her yet? Are you watching?"
"You can come up. It's sill looking. And they still aren't showing it close up." Sina's voice was a curious mix of indignation and trepidation. Both of her hands were before her eyes, her fingers splayed so she could peek through.
A second head cautiously poked up, this one blond. Gabby's hands clutched the blanket firmly, so she could dive back down quickly in case she needed to.
This whole thing had started with Sina having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. It was the second night she was spending over at her friend's house. Her mother and brother were away, which would have left little Sina alone at home. The mere thought, of course, would have raised a few hairs on any grown-up's arms, and her mother was no exception.
Not really familiar with this house, Sina had ended up in the little study Gabby's dad used, and seen the TV set there.
Much to her credit, it must be said that she only gave the TV a graze with her fingertips, and then left the room to do her business, bursting with curiosity. Of course, she was not allowed to watch TV much after ten o'clock at night. It seemed Gabby never even watched after eight, so Sina considered herself rather privileged.
But often, lying awake at night, she had heard the most intriguing sounds coming from the living room where her mother was sitting up late. Whenever Sina had gotten up to investigate, she had been shooed back to bed, none the wiser and utterly frustrated.
Back in Gabby's room, of course the little rascal was unable to go back to sleep, visions of forbidden night time shows dancing before her eyes. Why didn't grown-ups want kids to see this stuff anyway? Maybe Gabby knew...
"Gabby?" she said, softly patting her friend's shoulder. "Hey Gabby, are you awake?"
"Mmmmno," came the muffled reply from where Gabby's face was buried in the pillow.
Sina rolled onto her back and crossed her arms behind her head, staring up at a ceiling that was dimly lit from the smiley night light. "Gabby? I've been wondering.... Why is it that we kids aren't allowed to watch TV at night? I mean, there must be something there that they don't want kids to see, dontcha think? So what could it be?"
She waited a little for an answer, and when she got none, she went on. "Do you think grown-ups hide stuff from kids on purpose? Do you?"
Her friend mumbled something into the pillow.
"So what do you think, Gabrielle? Oh man, isn't that something that just doesn't let you sleep?"
With a frustrated sound, Gabby sat up in bed and shot her friend a dark look out of heavy-lidded, sleepy eyes. "You are something that just won't let me sleep," she flared.
Sina wasn't impressed by the display. "Well, why do you think we're never allowed to watch TV late?"
Gabby yawned, and rubbed her eyes to work moisture into them. She considered her friend's question. "Well if we knew everything they did, maybe they'd have no more power over us. We'd be as smart as they are. I guess they don't want that because then they couldn't boss us around anymore."
"That makes sense," Sina agreed. She paused, her fingers idly playing with the covers. "You know, that TV set, in your dad's study..."
Though hesitant at first, Gabby really didn't need much convincing.
And now, the dread Crypt Thing was on the loose in London, with two mesmerized children looking on, trembling with fear while clutching their blanket, but unable to tear their eyes away as the gruesome, slimy monster slurped and shuffled its way closer to the trapped young woman. Groaning eerily, it passed right by the woman hiding in the shadows, who was shown briefly holding her breath and rolling impossibly wide eyes.
One of the girls whimpered, and the blanket moved up a notch. Then, a relieved sigh as the undead thing passed by the blonde on the screen.
But then it stopped, lifted its half-decayed nose into the air and sniffed, before it peered into the shadows with its milky-white eyeballs.
Gabby gave a strangled gasp, while Sina slipped silently under the blanket until only one eye and the top of her dark head were visible. The children had edged closer together and were now clinging to each other under the blanket in an attempt to ward off the terrible monster.
By the time the Crypt Thing reached out a slimy hand toward its victim's throat, both girls were once again hidden completely under the covers, eyes squeezed shut. All they heard was an ominous, low thrumming music and a piercing, high-pitched scream that cut off suddenly. They bit their lips and held their breath, listening to the gruesome noises.
"God, what do you think he's doing to her?" Sina whispered. "Is he gonna eat her, do you think?"
"I don't wanna know," Gabby whined past the chattering of her teeth.
"You're a sissy," Sina told her. With sudden resolve she squared her shoulders, and stuck her head up slowly. Just in time to see the scene fade to black.
"Oh poo," she murmured (and secretly hoped Gabby had not heard her little relieved sigh).
Both girls screamed when suddenly the light came on. When they saw it was only Gabby's mom, in her night gown, looking both sleepy and angry, they did not relax a whole lot.
"What are you two doing here?" she went to the TV and turned it off, while launching into a tirade about doing what your parents told you, and was Sina allowed to watch TV this late (to which Sina replied with a mute shake of her head), and what would Sina's mom say when she heard about this? "Now get in bed, you two. We'll talk about this tomorrow."
Wide-eyed, the girls complied, fully aware that they were probably in big trouble come tomorrow.
Actually, the trouble started somewhat sooner. The moment Gabby's mom closed the door behind her after seeing them to bed, an eerie silence settled across the bedroom. Both girls huddled deep into their blankets, grateful the other was there, minds whirling.
"What do you think happened to the Crypt Thing?" Sina said after a while. "Do you think they caught it in the end?"
"I don't know," Gabby said in a shaky voice. "It's a pretty mean monster. I don't think it would be easy to catch."
The room was dark but for the milky glow of the smiley night light. Far from comforting, it bathed their surroundings in bizarre shadows, hiding from view the very places where monsters might be lurking. There! Had that been a glimmer of luminous eyes over by the desk? And wasn't there something moving by the chair? In fact it looked like...
"Sina, look," Gabby whispered urgently, "there on the chair, do you see?"
Sina's breath caught as her gaze went to said chair. Something was sitting on it! "It's the Crypt Thing," she breathed, as she felt Gabby slide closer and grasp her arm. The dark-haired girl's mind worked feverishly. Things did not look good for her and her friend. Unless...
"Quick, Gabrielle, what would Xena do? Tell me...."
Gabby rubbed her nose as her eyes took on that faraway look. Even in the face of the terror of the Crypt Thing, she relaxed visibly as images of the great Warrior Princess and her feisty little bard flashed before her mind's eye. Xena always found a way.
Hiding behind the corner of a wooden building, the Warrior Princess and the bard watched as the man-shaped, slimy thing made its way shuffling towards the houses. Tall mounds that were the graves of fallen heroes on the nearby burial grounds could be seen in dim outline against an overcast night sky. A full moon shone in fuzzy brightness through the thick clouds and bathed the land in a faint, milky glow.
"By the Gods, that thing is hideous," Gabrielle breathed.
"Uh huh," the warrior agreed, her usual, talkative self.
"I wonder what would make it rise from the grave like this."
Xena shrugged. "Indigestion?"
The bard just shook her head, faintly exasperated, and turned her attention once more on the approaching shape. "Are you going to fight it?"
"Uh huh."
"I'll be right by your side." The shorter woman hefted her staff, a look of fierce determination on her face.
"Nuh uh," the warrior grunted. "Stay here. Guard my back."
"But I..."
A do-not-make-me-discuss-this look cut her short. Gabrielle rolled her eyes, but nodded, reluctantly.
Xena waited patiently until the lumbering form was past their hiding place, before she let out her piercing battle cry and launched herself at it with her sword poised. Before the creature could react, the trusty weapon was buried to the hilt in slimy goo that offered little resistance to the sharp weapon. Her opponent did not even flinch.
When she withdrew the blade, it was covered in a green, viscous substance that smelled strongly of fungi and decay. A wisp of vapor rose from the blade, accompanied by a soft hiss.
Blue eyes wide, Xena looked at the sword in her hand. "Oh, yuck!"
But she had the Crypt Thing's attention now. It trained milky white eyes on her and approached her slowly, both arms extended grotesquely.
With a lightning quick move, she attacked once more, and felt the crunch of brittle bone as she delivered a powerful kick to the side of its head. The monster's head snapped sideways at an impossible angle, then came back up, showing a huge dent where her foot had connected. And still it advanced.
"It's no use, Xena, you're not hurting it at all," Gabrielle advised from where she had come out of hiding. The bard looked around frantically for something that might to damage to the creature. Then she saw a small torch flickering near the entrance of the house they had been hiding behind.
"Xena! Try this!"
Only half-looking, the warrior deftly caught the burning torch with her free hand, and immediately thrust it towards the groping monster.
She was rewarded by a piercing screech as the Crypt Thing drew back, clawing at its eyes in obvious pain. It shrank away from her, and when she made another pass with the torch, it fled at a lumbering trot towards the burial grounds.
"Fire!! That's it," Sina whispered. "It hates bright light, all monsters do!" She slowly crawled to the foot of the bed, where the light switch was, never taking her eyes off the monster lurking on the chair. She could almost see the drool running down its chin as it sat there watching her every move, just waiting for one of the girls to get off the bed.
With an evil little smile, Sina extended her hand towards the light switch. "Begone, fiend," she intoned ominously. She was sure she saw the monster flinch just before the light came on. Both girls squeezed their eyes shut against the sudden brightness. When they opened them again, the hideous denizen of the dark had dissolved into the pile of clothes they had carelessly tossed over the chair's back when changing into their jammies.
"Phew! That was close," Sina said.
Gabby cocked her head and looked at her friend, considering. "But what if it comes back...?"
"It will be back," Xena said knowingly. "The torch won't scare it away for long. We have to find a way to destroy it once and for all."
"We could trap it and set it on fire," the bard mused. "I'm sure that would destroy it." (At least, that was what the people on TV had considered doing.)
"Good thinking, Gabrielle. So, how do we go about setting up the traps?"
"Well, first, we'd need a pail of burning pitch..."
Not much later, the two companions were once more in hiding, waiting for the Crypt Thing to approach the village again. Everything looked just as it had before, but the seeming serenity of the sleeping village was deceptive. Only the occasional chirping of a cricket close by broke the peace of the night.
The warrior's eyes carefully scanned for any signs of their work, for what must be the hundredth time. Everything was set perfectly.
And they waited.
And waited.
"Phooey," Xena whispered, and very nearly pouted! "I don't think he's coming back tonight.
Gabrielle considered for a moment before speaking. "Maybe we need to attract his attention somehow. Act like you're hurt, and helpless."
"Good idea. Let's do it."
"Right."
Very soon a pain-filled moaning sounded through the night, and it reached the dead ears of the dread graveyard denizen, who lifted a mold-covered nose into the air, sniffing. Then the creature rose once more from its dank and decaying tomb to shamble back towards where the living made their home.
"He's coming, Xena," Gabrielle whispered excitedly. "It worked."
"It sure did," the warrior replied with a grim smile. "Now let's see how he likes the little welcome we've prepared for him."
They watched as the twisted shape made its way towards the boundary of the village. They held their breath when he passed the first line of houses. Suddenly he lost his footing as something shot up out of the ground to snare his legs. With an angry roar, he picked himself up, only to fall back down again. In this manner, he covered a few more paces of distance, when suddenly, from the treetop above, dropped a black, searing hot mass that covered him head to toe. His screams and curses had by now started to sound decidedly human!
"We got him, Gabrielle! Quick! The arrows! I'll throw the blanket over him."
Not needing to be prompted, Gabrielle had already loaded a crossbow with a quarrel. She quickly set fire to it, took aim, and pulled the trigger. Another burning bolt soon followed.
Meanwhile, the Warrior Princess approached the downed monster with a large blanket, and quickly threw it over the struggling shape, entangling him further.
"Goddammitlemmeouttaherethismomentorisweartogodyouregonnagetit!" the trapped Crypt Thing yelled, furious.
The two friends paused, and looked at each other. "Did you hear what I just heard?" Gabrielle asked the warrior, who nodded mutely, biting her lip.
A moment later, the light came on for the second time in the little bedroom, and there in the doorway stood Gabby's mom, hair in disorder and eyes puffy after being roused from a deep sleep yet again.
"What in heaven's name is going on here? Where is dad? I sent him down here to check on y-" she broke off, becoming suddenly aware of the twitching bundle at her feet.
Muffled curses unfit for a child's ears, accompanied by dire threats of what he would do once he got hold of those little monsters, sounded from underneath the blanket as her husband slowly extricated himself from "the trap". He was soaking wet, his glasses askew, and the bucket that had held the water up on the partly opened door still sat crookedly on his head. A skipping rope was looped around his legs. With the stubble of beard that had grown over the day on his cheeks and the suction cup of a toy arrow still attached to his cheek, he did indeed look somewhat like a monster. And the scowl on his face didn't help!
Gabby's mom stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, before giving a loud snort. "Oh my," she said, "you sure are a sight." Then she caught herself, and looked sternly at the children, who expected nothing but death.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out. Instead, she seemed to be fighting a grin, of all things! She took a couple of deep breaths, put on a scowl, and tried again. "You've really done it this time, you two," she began, but then her eyes caught sight of the "Crypt Thing" once more, and she lost it completely, collapsing against the doorframe, shoulders shaking with silent laughter.
Gabby's dad was not amused at all. He rose laboriously, dried his hands on the blanket as he glowered first at the children, then at his wife, who was wiping tears from her eyes.
"It's not funny," he told the ground between the bed and the door.
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear, I know it's not," Gabby's mom said between giggles.
"Yeah, well," he began. Then he did a double take, and looked down at himself, his soaked, gray striped pajamas, slippered feet still tangled in the rope and blanket, the empty bucket now lying on the ground, and a huge puddle of lukewarm water all around him. "Yeah, well," he said again, his lips twitching. Very soon he, too, was laughing so hard he had tears streaming down his cheeks.
The two girls looked at each other and shrugged. Grown-ups sure were strange!
End
Dedicated to all those people out there who have ever worked with children on a regular basis. *GBG*
July 31, 1999
"Giddiyup, Argo!"
The golden warhorse snorted and reared before she launched herself into a dead run. The warrior atop her enjoyed the thrill of the fast ride, the breeze tugging at long dark tresses, the horse's muscles stretching powerfully underneath her and the creamy white mane whipping her face. The sun beat down on them, warming her face and causing a thin sheen of sweat to coat both warrior and mount.
The girl's legs pumped furiously as she pedaled her bike along the sidewalk at breakneck speed, long black hair whipping in the wind. A wooden toy sword bounced madly on her back, held there by a rope looped around the child's shoulders and waist.
"Sina, wait up!"
Slamming down on the rear brakes, Sina wheeled Argo about with that shift of weight she had been practicing. A screech of tires, and the bike skidded sideways before coming to a stop. With a triumphant smirk, Sina casually braced one foot against the ground, and waited for her blonde friend to catch up.
"Didya see that, huh? Didya? I finally got that power slide right."
"I wish you wouldn't keep speeding off so fast I can't keep up," a panting Gabby said with a pout.
"Get a bike," Sina snapped.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Gabby grumbled. The sound of an approaching car cut short what might otherwise well have become a full-fledged argument.
A large green Chrysler stopped next to them, and out stepped Mr. Ronald, the principal of their school. He walked around the car to hold open the door for his passenger, a tall woman with her brunette hair cut short and piercing pale, bluish-gray eyes that almost rivaled Xena's for intensity. She looked very smart and imposing in her fancy black-and-blue jogging suit. She was even bigger than Mr. Ronald, and looked like she didn't take any nonsense from anybody. Gabby swallowed, wondering what kind of trouble they had been getting themselves into this time. For once, she really couldn't imagine. Sina had been almost suspiciously good ever since the incident with Mrs. Castor's water hose.
"Hi, Mr. Ronald," she said nervously, and heard Sina echo her in a small voice.
"Hi, kids," the principal replied. He must have noted their nervousness, because he chuckled. "Don't worry, you two, you haven't done anything this time." He scowled. "At least not that I know of. I just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce the neighborhood's greatest adventurers to my new colleague. This is Miss Megan O'Leary. She will be your PE teacher next year. Mr. Walsh is retiring. After almost two years around the two of you, I think he's earned it." He laughed a friendly laugh, to show he didn't really, really mean it.
"Sina and Gabby," the tall woman said in a deep, rumbling voice, "it seems you've got quite a reputation in these parts." Her eyes glinted like steel, and it was all Gabby could do not to take a step back and cower. "Well, as long as you stay out of trouble, we're going to get along just fine. If you don't..." A feral grin finished the sentence for her as her tightly balled fist casually came to rest in the palm of her other hand.
The children looked at each other with big eyes. This lady spelled trouble.
"Oh, and I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get acquainted at summer camp. I agreed to be a supervisor this year." The grin dissolved into something that was decidedly evil, before she turned and got back inside the car.
The girls could only nod.
The huge, strange woman looked at them with menace in her gaze. "Beware the wrath of Oleara Dragon Lady." Her voice dripped venom. "We shall meet again, Warrior Princess. And soon. This I swear."
Xena and Gabrielle exchanged worried glances. This lady spelled trouble.
"Well," Xena said after the tall stranger had galloped away on her black stallion, "looks like brute strength won't be enough against that one. She's mighty tall and strong. We'll have to use all our wiles to overcome someone like her."
The bard nodded her agreement. She had a feeling they would see much more of this 'Dragon Lady' than was good for them.
As children will, the two friends pushed the incident out of their minds until a few days later, when the time came for their bus to leave for the eagerly-awaited summer camp.
It was only when the tall PE teacher greeted Gabby's dad and exchanged a few words with him that the reality of 'Oleara: Dragon Lady' came back to them full force.
The two children watched as the imposing woman made her way over to the doors of the waiting bus, every ounce of her radiating authority. She wore the same jogging suit they had seen on her on their first meeting, over a black T-shirt. A shiny tin whistle hung on a string around her neck. When her eyes met the girls' for an instant from under dark eyebrows, there was a wicked twinkle in them.
More than forty children and their parents, as well as the odd dog, were gathered around the bus, baggage still being loaded lay scattered everywhere. Yet when Miss O'Leary spoke, her voice carried clearly above the general hubbub.
"Okay, everybody, listen up! I'm not gonna say this again. In fact, I'm not gonna say anything twice in these four weeks, so I expect you to pay very good attention." She paused for effect, and let her gaze sweep over suddenly still, attentive faces.
"All of you, after you hand your bag to the bus driver, line up here in front so Mr. Pride and I can do a head count. I want no horsing around, no giggling, no straying. Do I make myself clear?"
In the utter silence that fell could be heard a solitary giggle.
Miss O'Leary glared at each child in turn. Innocent, angelic faces looked back at her. Only little Andy, standing next to Gabby, wore an incredulous smirk as he stared at Sina, who managed to look even more innocent than the rest - no small feat for her! Gabby, on the other hand, wore a nice little blush that she managed to cover up with a sweet smile.
The twin line of slaves moved slowly up the plank and onto the waiting ship, the shuffling of their feet accompanied by the clanking of the chains around their ankles as they scraped along the wood. The manacles on their hands and feet were not only chained together but also connected to a long chain that ran all the way from the front of the line to the back. Walking was possible only in tiny, shuffling steps, and in sync with the rest, which made for an eerie, dragging rhythm, counterpointed by a groan here or there, and the occasional crack of an overseer's whip. The music of misery.
Of all those who were part of the dreary procession, Autolycus alone had an air of nonchalance, arrogance even, about him. Even the Warrior Princess' features were subdued, her head bent. The bard looked no different. But of course, underneath that mask of misery, Xena's mind was milling madly. They had allowed themselves to be captured in order to stop the Dragon Lady's sinister machinations.
Gabrielle, who walked in line beside the King Of Thieves, cuffed him roughly with her elbow.
"Wipe that smug smirk off your face, thief, or you're going to give us away!"
Autolycus' face went slack, and slowly the corners of his mouth drooped as his eyes took on a woebegone look.
"That's better," the bard murmured her approval.
Once all the slaves were installed at the oars, an evilly grinning Dragon Lady cracked her whip once again, and her lackey, Gulliver Pride, started up a slow, rhythmic beating on a large drum in the ship's prow. Soon the only sound that could be heard was the boom! boom! of the drum, and the creaking of leather and chains as the slaves strained in their harnesses and the ship started moving lazily off shore. They were on their way.
The three hour trip was uneventful, even boring, and it was all Gabby could do to keep Sina from setting off a firecracker under Miss O'Leary's seat, just to spice up the journey. Much to Gabby's distress, they had been seated right behind the imposing PE teacher and Mr. Pride, which had Sina's mind scheming for all it was worth. The dark-haired girl was bound and determined to get herself in deep, or so it seemed.
Their destination was a secluded little valley with a small lake, not ten minutes away from the next town but well hidden by thick forest and the high mountainous ridge that surrounded it. A dozen little cottages stood in a semicircle facing the lakeshore, just big enough to hold six little pallets and a closet each.
There was a flurry of activity until the big mess tent had been set up and all the children were settled in their respective cabins. There were some discussions when best buddies had been assigned to different cottages, but all in all Miss O'Leary, with a little help from Mr. Pride, had matters firmly in hand and managed to sort everything out with practiced efficiency.
In no time at all, it was dinner time. A few of the children (not Sina, for a wonder) had drawn enough attention to themselves during the day to be pressed into service as kitchen helpers, and they were busy stirring huge pots, while the motherly looking woman who had come along to do the cooking was cutting up loaves of bread. There was a general hubbub and some jostling in the big mess tent as each child tried to be first in line with his or her camping dish.
"Gee Sina, why'd ya take your Frisbee to dinner?" Andy asked, noticing the round disk she had tucked into the belt of her black dress.
Blue eyes stared at him haughtily. "Well, you never know. We may need it."
Andy just shook his head, muttering "girls," and slipped in line in front of Sina, which earned him a disapproving sniff from Gabby. She even managed to stare at him down her nose, no small feat since she was about a head shorter than he.
When it was Sina's turn, she watched in growing disgust as a blob of some nondescript, brown substance was ladled onto her plate along with a Wiener, a slice of white bread and a mug of lukewarm tea.
"Ewwwww, what is that?"
"Refried beans and Wieners," the cook said. "You got a problem with it?"
"Looks like cat barf and dog poop," Sina grumbled. Gabby almost dropped her own plate. Andy guffawed.
All three turned when a shadow fell across them from behind. There stood the huge form of Miss O'Leary, staring down at Sina. Gabby squeaked, while Andy looked suddenly weak in the knees. The little Warrior Princess, however, pushed out her lower lip and gave the woman a defiant stare.
One by one, the slaves were handed their meager rations, hardly enough to keep them on their feet, let alone work at the quarry they were destined for.
Xena sniffed the proffered food suspiciously. Steely-cold blue eyes bored into the cook, who just gave her a flat stare.
"Are you trying to poison us?"
"It's porridge and turnips," the cook grated. "You got a problem with that?"
"Looks like centaur droppings to me." Now, warrior princesses do not pout, but at this moment, Xena came rather close. Beside her, the bard gave a little gasp at the warrior's revelation.
"Talking back, slave? This isn't the Ritz, you know." Both Xena and Gabrielle whirled at the rumbling voice behind them. Autolycus looked suddenly nervous, and started edging slowly away.
Behind them stood the towering, muscular form of the Dragon Lady, and she did not look amused.
"Now, Gabrielle!" shouted Xena as she crouched down and pulled her chakram from its concealment under the coarse sack they had been given to wear.
"Xena, catch!" Gabrielle tossed her a long-bladed dagger she herself had managed to smuggle into the slaver stronghold. Xena caught it by the blade (good thing that, in truth, it was only a dull-bladed, plastic camping knife with cartoon stickers on the handle) and immediately launched her attack.
"Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi!!!"
A powerful, fluid motion launched the mighty chakram on its whining course. It knocked the plate right out of an unsuspecting Autolycus' hands and sent it flying. On the shining circle flew, bouncing off a tent pole, careening into the huge pot that held the food. The pot swayed dangerously on the rickety stand that held it, but remained upright.
The thief's plate sailed high, and descended in a graceful arc straight towards the Dragon Lady!
A hubbub of voices rose in the tent as the slaves became aware of the commotion and crowded in to see what was going on.
Xena deftly caught the circular weapon as it swished by her, only to fling it into the fray once more.
This time, it grazed Oleara's forehead, though without doing serious damage, then thudded into the tent's wall and slid to the ground.
From somewhere flew a glob of porridge, hitting Gabrielle smack in the face. The airborne plate emptied itself, dumping its contents neatly on the Dragon Lady's head with a slurping sound. The plate itself clattered harmlessly to the ground at her feet.
Now the huge woman's anger was aroused. She took a step towards them, brandishing her whip, a dangerous glare in her eyes. "Prepare to meet your doom, Warrior Princess!" And with a mighty roar, she threw herself at Xena, meaning to crush her in a bear hug.
All through the tent, Tartarus broke loose then! In the blink of an eye, all the slaves were engaged in a free-for-all, yelling and screaming and throwing food, dishes and napkins.
Xena easily sidestepped Oleara's first attack, taking advantage of her smaller mass. The huge woman was strong, though, and agile for her size, every bit the seasoned fighter. Xena knew instantly that she had very likely met her match in this one! Her only chance was to tire her by using an evasive tactic, involving a merry-chase around the tent as the others cheered her on. She ducked under tables, threw over benches and slipped between tent poles, Oleara hot on her trail and getting angrier by the moment.
Meanwhile, Autolycus and Gabrielle were not idle. Gabrielle could tell that her warrior friend was in dire straits. Then she noticed the thief frantically motioning to her from where he was standing close to a tent pole.
Though doubtful, she joined him in his efforts to work loose the pole. Together, they managed what Auto alone did not have the strength to do.
And then, just as Xena went past them at a dead run, a section of the huge tent slowly collapsed, burying under it one very irate Dragon Lady.
The mess tent was indeed a mess!
Muttering under her breath, Miss O'Leary battled with the partly collapsed canvas covering her, extricating herself finally with some effort.
Dead silence fell.
"You," she panted, still on all fours, pointing at a sullen Sina and scowling fiercely, "are in trouble." Her hair was plastered with goo, and lukewarm tea was dripping from the tip of her nose. An errant blob of refried beans made its way down her cheek and fell to the ground with a lazy splash.
Andy was nowhere to be seen.
Gabby sighed deeply. And this was only the first day.
Some time later, back in her own cabin, Megan O'Leary buried her face in her hands and groaned softly. And this was only the first day.
End... for now
Lucas Films owns all whip-wielding, leather-clad archeologists other than Janice that I know of. ;-)
September 19, 1999
The leather-clad archeologist made her way carefully along the rocky ridge, back pressed firmly against the hard, uneven surface. She watched the tips of her boots protrude over the edge and could see the raging torrent that roared through the rugged ravine below. One misstep would send her plummeting down into that pandemonium.
Janice Covington took a deep breath. Ah, the excitement! The danger! The thrill of it all!
This was life!
She spared a glance at her companions.
Otto was doing just fine, but then, considering his past as a master acrobat and sleight-of-hand trickster in a German circus, it was no big wonder. The only trouble was that his feet were so large that only the heels rested securely on the ledge. But Janice trusted his skills. If anyone could make this climb, it was Otto.
Jacques was okay, as long as he didn't look down. The archeologist was a bit worried that his messed-up motorics would betray him, though. The Frenchman was good-natured and loyal, but sometimes his clumsiness and inaptitude got the team into more trouble than they cared for.
This whole thing had been Otto's idea, haring off to look for this alleged mystical treasure hidden somewhere in this godforsaken place. It was so typical, the man going crazy whenever some hidden treasure was mentioned! However, Janice suspected that the wealth and fame meant a lot more to him than the thrill of discovery. That thrill was what was pulling Janice out of her nice, comfortable home to go adventuring time and time again.
Janice was just as glad Mel had remained at the camp. She may be one of the best-educated and smartest women alive today, but Melinda Pappas just wasn't made for strenuous climbing.
"The map says there should be a cave entrance at the end of this," Otto was saying.
Jacques was idly picking his nose. He appeared utterly unconcerned for now, his mind blissfully empty. His eyes wandered to take in the breathtaking scenery that Janice never ceased to find so very alluring. Lush green vegetation and harsh cliffs complementing each other in rugged beauty, the rapids far below only adding to the dramatic mood...
Below???
Below! Mesmerized, the Frenchman looked down at the swirling mass of water. The ground seemed to recede before him, then rush closer at dizzying speed....
Too late, the archeologist looked around to see Jacques' foot slip, kicking loose a few pebbles and a small cloud of dust. Flailing wildly, he grabbed the first thing his fingers came in contact with - which happened to be Otto's sleeve on one side, and Janice's ankle on the other. After a flurry of motion with acrobat and archeologist frantically struggling to keep their balance - Janice even went so far as to try and push Jacques' hand away with her free foot, to a string of very unladylike language - all three of them started slipping down the ledge, slowly at first but quickly gaining momentum, with much yelling and cursing. Finally, they tumbled in a little tangle down the face of the cliff to land with a huge splash in the water below.
Otto was the first to recover. His head and shoulders emerged from the water, and he wiped excess water from his mustache with all the dignity the situation allowed.
"Watch your step, Jacques," he said when the Frenchman came up gasping and spluttering.
"Good job, Jock," Andy said dryly. Little Jock stuck out his tongue at him.
All three of them sloshed out to the shore, soaking wet and dripping, their shoes squishing noisily, to much grumbling and muttering.
Gabby tossed back her long, wet tresses and hit Jock, who was too close behind her, smack in the face with a loud thwack.
"Hey, whatcha do that for?" the boy whined.
"Watch your step," Gabby told him, and proceeded to wring the water out of her hair.
The small, tranquil lake lay in the same secluded valley where their camp was situated, surrounded by thick forest and a small range of low mountains. A cluster of large rocks rose up out of the lake with a narrow ridge connecting it to the shore, and this was where they had been playing. While scouting around on the other shore, they had seen a most intriguing formation of rocks that did indeed look as if it might hide a small cave, and had decided to explore.
The honey-blonde child sighed softly. She just wasn't cut out to be an adventurer. It was exciting to watch archeologists on TV snap their whips and get what they were hunting for in the end (even if they were named after dogs), but in real life, Gabby just lacked that last bit of recklessness that true heroes had.
Her gaze went to Jock who had his pinkie finger in his ear to get the water out, his tongue sticking out in concentration. She sighed again. Of course, at the moment, she also lacked a competent partner in crime... Like Xena, for example. Little Jock was a poor substitute for the Warrior Princess!
The girl's thoughts wandered to her tall friend, condemned to kitchen chores for the whole day, after the disaster in the mess tent of the day before.
Since both Gabby and Andy had played some part in the whole thing but had not been considered the driving force, they had been assigned cleanup duties in the mess tent (which had deserved its name in more than one way) this morning.
So, having served their punishment, they were now free to explore, until the activities started this afternoon. But it just wasn't the same without Sina! Yet, while Gabby felt a twinge of guilt at being out here when her friend was toiling away in the kitchen tent, she could not help grinning at the mental image of the brunette girl muttering under her breath about revenge while cleaning out greasy pots and cutting up the vegetables for dinner.
"What do we do now?" Jock asked. "I don't wanna go back up there. It's scary."
"Well, I do," Gabby said stoutly. "We're gonna find out what's on the other side of that rock pile!
"How about we get dry first," Andy put in. The others had to agree.
"And let's go check on Sina while we're there," said Gabby.
Upon entering the kitchen tent, Janice found Melinda perched on an upturned crate cutting up some carrots. The tall, dark haired woman did not look amused. The carrot in her hands was suffering the brunt of her bad mood. She was not merely cutting it, she was viciously hacking it to bits.
"What's wrong, Mel?" Janice asked her friend.
Melinda Pappas sighed deeply, and paused in her work.
"Nothing, Janice. I'm all right," she said meekly, not looking at the archeologist, or the other two who were with her. She wondered briefly why their hair was so wet, but with Janice, sometimes you just did not want to know. She rather suspected she wouldn't get an answer beyond a wry "don't ask", anyway.
"No, you're not," Janice told her. "You look upset."
"It's nothing, really. Just a little out of sorts. Don't worry about it."
"Why, what is it?"
Mel's shoulders slumped in defeat. She really couldn't keep anything from her friend. "I don't know, Janice. Must be those scrolls I've been working on. It seems that every time I feel I'm really close to discovering something big, along comes one word that's essential to the text, that I just can't figure out the meaning of. It's so - frustrating. I know there are as yet undiscovered truths in these writings, and I'm close enough to grab them, yet they might as well be on the other end of the world for all I can make of them."
She resumed her cutting of the vegetable with renewed fury.
"Aw, come on, Mel, if anyone can translate these scrolls, it's you. You're smart, you're a scholar, after all. Just give yourself some time."
The tall, dark woman jumped to her feet and pulled a circular weapon from her belt that she brandished above her head.
"Here she goes again," Otto muttered to Jacques, who was staring blankly at the two women.
"I am not!" Melinda flared, and stamped her foot. "I don't wanna be smart, and I don't wanna be a scho- whatever. And I don't wanna play this stupid game anymore. I'm the Warrior Princess! Ayiyiyiyiyi!"
When Megan O'Leary came into the kitchen tent to check on the little troublemaker, she found Sina standing there, one foot resting top of an upturned crate, whirling that confounded pink Frisbee over her head.
Her friend, Gabby, and two of the boys were there as well. While Jock and Andy were merely watching the scene warily, as one might watch two lions fighting, the blonde child was obviously in heated discussion with the Frisbee-wielding little spitfire.
"Geez, Sina, can't you play any game besides Xena?" she was saying. "I thought it would be cool for a change to be someone different."
"Who else would I wanna be?" Sina said, pouting. "Xena's the best. I don't wanna be no dumb wimp sitting around figuring out what's on a scroll. That's just as boring as cutting up carrots and taters."
She considered for a moment, looking at the smaller girl, who looked hurt for some reason, and bit her lip. It seemed her words had struck a nerve.
"Well, of course, it wouldn't be half as much fun without the bard," she amended with a shaky half grin.
Gabby brightened visibly at those words. Megan had no idea what on earth the two of them were talking about, and she wasn't at all sure she wanted to know. She drew herself up to her full 5'8", and put on her menacing face, gray-blue eyes blazing.
"What are you kids doing in here?"
All four of them gave a start at the sound of Megan's voice. Also, all of them except Sina (of course!) had such guilty looks on their faces that it took a supreme effort for the teacher not to burst out laughing and ruin her intimidating act.
She had witnessed their little stunt at the lake from afar. There had been a tense moment when it was clear to her that they would slip, but after seeing them unhurt and none the worse for wear, she was confident that their impromptu bath in the chilly water was punishment enough for them.
"We just wanted to see if Sina was done yet," Gabby said bravely, while Sina quietly tucked her Frisbee away and sat back down on the crate. She picked up the peeler and a carrot, and with a sullen glower, she resumed her work.
"Well," Miss O'Leary said flatly, "She still has a lot of work to do. I don't think she'll be done any time soon."
"She'll be able to make the rally, though, won't she?"
Megan shrugged. "If she finishes before it starts..." She made that sound as if she thought Hell would freeze over first. Sina continued her cutting, studiously ignoring the conversation.
Gabby bit her lip. She looked at Sina, then back to the area of Megan's knees. She glanced at her friend again, and this time the other girl met her eyes for a moment before returning her attention on the peeler in her hands. Gabby let her gaze wander to the two boys, who still looked anything but relaxed in the presence of the big PE teacher.
Then she took a breath, visibly steeled herself and raised her large green eyes to meet Megan's.
By that time, Megan O'Leary was thoroughly amused by the kid's obvious inner struggle. Her face remained impassive, however, except for one eyebrow raising in question.
Gabby cleared her throat. "Maybe if we all helped...," she croaked. The boys behind her made surprised, strangled noises, but did not speak up.
"What was that you said?" Megan asked Gabby.
Picking up courage from somewhere Megan could not quite grasp - though she noticed how the girls eyes flicked to Sina again - Gabby spoke. "Well, if we all helped her, we could be done quicker, right? Then we could all go to the rally together."
The girl glanced around at the boys, who had a look about them of flies caught in a spiderweb. Andy was edging slowly towards the tent flap, with such an innocent expression on his face that Megan almost laughed out loud.
"You are willing to take part of Sina's punishment upon yourself?" The tall teacher asked a touch incredulously. Gabby nodded, eyes large and meeting the woman's stare bravely.
"And what about you, you boys?"
Jock actually squeaked at being addressed directly. Andy's face lost its serene countenance to a sudden pallor. Megan noticed that Sina very carefully did not look at anybody in the room. The dark-haired girl was biting her lip as she studied a carrot that was thin as a hay stalk because she had been peeling it diligently ever since the camp supervisor had entered the tent.
"Jock?"
The smaller boy squeaked again, but then he nodded, looking calf-eyed at Gabby. "If Gabby is staying...." Gabby groaned softly at that. Megan's lips twitched as she turned to the other boy.
Andy?"
Andy looked as if he wanted to shake his head. He considered for a while, looking out through the opening to the lake that lay there, glittering and tempting, in the sun, then to Sina, who sat there toiling, then back to the lake, longingly. Having made up his mind, he sighed. "Okay with me, Ma'am." He did not look so very sure of it, though.
Miss O'Leary looked at them for a long time with an unreadable face. "Very well," she said. Then, as an afterthought, she added, "If you finish in time, you may all join the rally. If you don't, you all stay here until you're done." With these as her final words, the tall woman turned smartly and left the tent.
"Whew," Andy said when he was sure she was out of earshot. "Now, Gabby, what did you do that for? We could have gone back out there on the rock and looked for that treasure cave."
Before Gabby could reply, Sina murmured. "Thanks, guys, for helping me."
"Uh, yeah, well... " Andy said, "you're welcome, I guess." Without another word, he rolled up his sleeves and went to the tub of dishwater, eyeing the pots from the day before distastefully. At an impatient gesture from the older boy, Jock joined him there, picking up a damp towel and waiting for Andy to get to work.
"Brilliant thinking, Gabrielle," Xena whispered as she handed her friend a peeler and a bucket of potatoes so she could blend in with the other slaves. "You managed to get us all together so we can work on our plans..."
By the time the rally was scheduled to start, all the pots had been cleaned and stowed away, the vegetables and potatoes all prepared for the stew, and four kids changed from clothes gritty from the kitchen work into fresh ones that would very likely be in no better state a few hours from now.
They had toiled diligently, even Jock. Even with the added handicap of Sina and Gabby still discussing the merit of the new game Gabby had come up with, they had finished in a few hours what might well have taken Sina alone the rest of the day. After dutifully muttering her thanks several times, she took care not to let on how very grateful she was to all three of them.
At lunchtime, when the four of them had been given a short break from their chores, the kids had been formed into groups of six by Miss O'Leary and Mr. Pride. This had been accomplished by simply splitting each cabin of six down the middle and mix them so that there were now three boys and three girls on each team. Due to the fact that there were less boys than girls, Sina and Gabby found themselves teamed up only with Jock and Andy, and one of the girls from their cabin. Cindy was a dark-skinned, cheery child about Gabby's age.
They did not question their good fortune at being grouped together. Only once did Gabby look over at Miss O'Leary, wondering. Imagine her shock when the tall teacher actually winked! The little girl looked away quickly, pretending not to have seen.
For the rally, the teams were to collect certain types of plants from the woods. They had been given a list of 5 species, a copy of a nature guide and an admonishment to stay on the designated paths within the valley. Leaving the valley was not easily possible, since it was surrounded on all sides by a medium sized mountain range, except where the dirt road ran into it.
So, confident that the little explorers would not get lost, the two counselors sent them on their way. Mr. Pride had brought a large horn that he would blow two hours from now, when the time was up. When the last of the teams had disappeared out of site, the two of them sank onto the bench in front of Megan's cabin and relaxed with a cup of steaming coffee and some biscuits. Two precious hours of peace and quiet! What bliss!
Two hours later, the droning sound of a large hunting horn sounded through the valley. One by one, the teams returned to the camp, presenting their findings to a waiting Miss O'Leary, who carefully sorted them for later evaluation. The results were to be announced after dinner. Soon, all the children were gathered around the tall teacher hoping to get a hint as to how well they had done.
All the children but five.
"Xena?" Gabrielle panted as they hurried through the dense brush, away from the well-traveled path where the slavers would be looking for them first. "Xena, do you think we'll make it?"
"It can't go wrong, Gabrielle," Xena replied, not slowing her pace and expecting the others to keep up. "The plan is perfect. O'Leara will never find us. We made a perfect, clean escape. Now as soon as we're out of this valley, we'll grab food and horses from the nearest farm and head straight to Amazon Country so Chilapa can return to her people."
They scrambled on through the woods, avoiding the paths and breaking through thick, thorny vegetation. Muttering under her breath, Chilapa, the dark Amazon, untangled herself from yet another bush that clung to her dress way too affectionately.
"Speaking of finding," she piped in, "are you sure you know where we're going?"
"Hush," said Gabrielle. "I'm sure she does. Don't you, Xena? Xena?"
The Warrior Princess did not turn around. "Of course," she murmured. Had the others been able to see her face, they would have seen a set of blue eyes widened in near-panic as she cast around for a familiar landmark. She had been so sure they were headed straight for the mouth of the valley.... But by Ares' boots, these trees all looked the same!
Finally, when dusk was beginning to set in, Xena called a halt by a fallen tree. The hollow trunk was large enough for all of them to crawl in and would provide a serviceable shelter for the night.
All of them got to work in setting up the camp with what little they could find around the site. They had not been able to take much from the slave camp, but Gabrielle had her scrolls and a pen, and they had gathered a few plants along the way that they thought might make a nice herb tea.
They gathered some dead wood and arranged it to make a fire, but to her utter frustration, Xena's fire kit had somehow gotten wet, and she could not get a blaze started.
So, nightfall found them huddled together for warmth inside the huge tree trunk, with Gabrielle telling stories. Xena had taken the first watch and was sitting outside of the natural shelter with her back against a large rock, idly twirling her Chakram between her fingers.
"... and that was how Xena first faced the Dragon Lady," the bard finished another of her tales.
Chilapa especially had been captured by the story of the Dragon Lady, and now she was full of questions.
"But Xena was very lucky to get away with her life if the Dragon Lady really is this strong, right? Did she really turn into a dragon during the fight?"
"She sure did," Gabrielle said. "And a mighty fierce one it was, too. Set my staff on fire and heated Xena's sword so she had to drop it and fight it only with her whip and Chakram. It was quite a scene, I tell you. Good thing it started raining just then."
"But how is that possible?" the Amazon persisted. I've never heard of a human being that could do that. She's pretty smart, too, and stronger than anyone I've seen, except..." she broke off, not wanting to continue that particular line of thought.
"Except a god," the bard finished in an ominous voice. A collective gasp went through her companions. "Well, a half-god maybe. I've been thinking the same thing. That has got to be the answer."
After listening for a while to the excited whispers that her statement had given rise to, Gabrielle got up. "I'll go outside and take Xena's place for a bit. Why don't you all get some sleep? Tomorrow will be long."
Gabby found Sina leaning back against a rock, fingering her Frisbee, biting her lip.
"Hey," the smaller girl said softly.
Sina grunted. Wordlessly, Gabby sat down next to her, folding her arms around her knees and resting her cheek against them.
"I got us lost," Sina said presently.
"Hey, we foiled the Dragon Lady."
"Yeah. But we got lost."
"We'll find our way back to the camp tomorrow, don't you worry."
"And then what? We'll all be in trouble - again."
"Maybe she won't notice we were gone?" Gabby offered.
"Yeah, right." Sina's shoulders slumped. "I don't like this place. I want to go back home. I miss Argo. And Tom." She paused. "And mom, too, I guess." The last was barely a whisper. It would never do for anyone but her best friend to hear that kind of admission out of Sina.
"I've never been out in a forest when it's dark," Gabby said after some thought. Her wide eyes took in the dark shapes that were the trees and bushes around them, and she rubbed her arms against a sudden chill. "Little scary out here, huh?"
In the near darkness, Gabby saw the brunette head turn towards her. Sina shrugged. "Could be."
"Good thing, you've got your Chakram then, Xena," Gabby said with a half grin. "As long as you got that handy, no-one's going to dare bothering us!"
It took a few moments, but slowly Sina's face brightened, and she flashed Gabby a huge grin. "Did you see what I did with it in the mess tent? Wasn't that too cool?"
"It sure was," the blonde agreed, smiling. "So, you coming? We were telling stories and stuff."
Sina got to her feet. "You gonna tell the one about how Aphrodite enchanted those scrolls? I love that one...."
As she hurried along the narrow forest path calling for the kids, Megan O'Leary had to remind herself repeatedly why she had decided to work with kids rather than join the police as she had originally planned. At this moment, she had trouble remembering. In what way were these little monsters easier to manage than, say, your common crook? At least you were allowed to put handcuffs on a criminal, or lock them up...
Stopping for a moment to catch her breath - she had been up and down that blasted mountain at least three times - she groaned irately. "I can't believe I'm doing this during my vacation..."
She could hear Gulliver rustling through the undergrowth and muttering under his breath between calling the children's names.
Following yet another path of trampled vegetation, Megan cursed the failing batteries of her flashlight. For all she knew, she might have missed a truckload full of traces of the kids in this wicked darkness, made darker and more bizarre by the trees and plants all around. She had to scold herself repeatedly for jumping whenever a branch brushed her.
And then she saw it.
On the ground just at the edge of the beam of her flashlight, lay a bright pink, round object. Sina's Frisbee. She stepped closer to investigate.
Megan couldn't help grinning as she called to Gulliver Pride in a loud whisper, a few moments later. "Over here, Gully! Look what I found!"
There, in the hollow of an old tree trunk, lay five kids, curled around each other, sleeping peacefully with little smiles on their faces.
August 29, 1999
"This place is pretty impressive," Xena said to the bard as they strolled along the fenced area, lined on both sides by cages and enclosures. They were just outside the walls of the city of Athens, where they were spending a well-deserved vacation from the road.
"I never knew these still existed..." The warrior was looking at a large form perched on a rock in a huge cage. With the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, shining like gold in the late afternoon sun, the griffin was a majestic and formidable creature indeed.
"He's beautiful. I have never done them credit in my stories," the bard mused.
"But what I don't understand is, why do they have to keep them in cages?"
"Yeah, isn't it kind of sad? Griffins used to roam the country in large prides, and now the only way we get to see one is here, behind bars. Poor thing."
"Poor thing? If he was out here instead of in there, it would probably be trying to make dinner of us!"
"Good point," Gabrielle said dryly. "But I still feel kind of sorry for him. He looks unhappy in there. Maybe they should just have let him be."
"That's what I'm saying," the warrior said.
"Only if they had, he would probably have been killed by now... and his kind with him. He's supposed to be the last."
"Makes the world a safer place," said Xena, her usual, practical self.
"And a poorer one, too, Xena."
They watched the creature in silence for a while as he sat there preening his feathers. From time to time he raised his head and looked at them out of a bright gray eye that held an unsettling amount of intelligence.
"Yeah well.... Let's go on before I get depressed."
"Look at these! What are they? Tell me, Gabrielle," the warrior said when they saw a small band of strange, horned little creatures skipping and playing on a grassy hill. "Are they Satyrs?"
Gabrielle shook her head. "They're fauns. Smaller, gentler cousins. They're really playful little fellows. Watch them."
The fauns looked like a curious cross between a goat and a man. They walked upright, with human torsos and bearded human faces, although their shaggy heads sported small horns. Their hind section, however, was that of a goat, fur-covered legs ending in little cloven hooves. One had a little pan flute that he was playing, though no sound could be heard. All the others were dancing to the unheard tune, a merry mix dance, leaps and capers. They looked utterly content and carefree.
Xena raised a questioning eyebrow to the bard.
"They're the only ones who can hear their music. Some philosopher once thought the notes were too high for a human's ears, that's why we couldn't hear anything."
"That's nonsense!"
"Of course," the bard agreed. "Their music is just plain, simple magic, that's all. I always thought the guy was crazy. I guess he was just trying to sound important. Every child knows what strange and wonderful things can be done with magic. He'll probably be trying to tell us that the earth isn't flat, next."
The warrior nodded her agreement, while her eyes rested on the little dancers.
"They look happy. How come being fenced in doesn't seem to bother them?"
"Well, they may look human, but they're actually pretty dumb. They don't know much beyond merrymaking and chasing nymphs whenever they see them."
After watching them for a while, it was evident to Xena that the bard was right. The fauns really were a bit air-headed. "You know, they're really rather boring. I don't think I can stand this much bliss. Let's move."
Without waiting for the bard, she strode in the direction of a large body of water she had become aware of a while ago.
"What in Tartarus...? There are horses in the water here, Gabrielle!" Xena was staring dumbfounded at the pool of clear water, where indeed it looked like a herd of horses was frolicking in the water, as the bard came panting up to her, looking faintly indignant.
"Look closer, Xena, they're not horses."
At that moment, one of them leaped out of the water, and the warrior could see that Gabrielle was right. The creature had the foreparts of a horse, but the rear body and fluke of a dolphin.
"I can never get their name straight," Gabrielle admitted ruefully. "It's a real tongue-twister: Ich- ickti- whatever. They're the mounts of the nereids, nymphs that live in the sea and look like the mermaids.
"I never knew such creatures existed," the warrior said, shaking her head.
"Yeah, it's a fascinating world we live in, isn't it?" The bard smiled dreamily.
"Yeah, whatever," Xena agreed, and walked on, the bard following behind, grumbling softly to herself at her best friend's lack of appreciation.
A sound like a human voice caught Gabrielle's attention, and she turned her head.
"Xena, look! Over there, it's Atis! You know, the wall paintings we once saw in Aphrodite's temple, about the King of the Apes?" She hurried to catch up with Xena, who, while no doubt impressed by what they had seen, was getting impatient to be back at the inn with a good meal.
Xena looked where the bard pointed, and groaned loudly. "Zeus, I hope he hasn't seen us. I've had enough of primates in pink nightgowns to last me a lifetime!" They hurried on until they were out of sight of the Ape Man, who seemed to be snoozing at the moment.
"Now this is atrocious!" Xena shouted when she looked at the herd of creatures behind an especially high fence. "They can't keep these prisoner here, these are centaurs!"
"Strange centaurs, though," Gabrielle put in. "I have never seen them with that kind of coat. Though I have to say the black and white stripes look neat."
"Strange or not, Gabrielle, they're intelligent. We can't allow them to be locked in here. They might as well put us in cages."
"I'd like to see them try," said the bard, smiling. "You're right, though. But can we be sure they're intelligent? I've never seen this kind before. Maybe they're like the fauns and only look like they've got a human mind."
"We should find out."
"We should." Gabrielle stepped up to the fence and called softly. "Hey there... Can you hear me?"
"Of course we can hear you, silly," one of the black-and-white centaurs said irately. "It's about time somebody noticed us. Can you help us out of here? They're feeding us hay, for Zeus' sake!"
"Centaurs don't eat hay..." Xena murmured. "That does it, Gabrielle, I'm getting them out right now!"
"Xena, wait...!"
"Okay, kids, now we've seen the eagles, the mountain goats, the dolphins, and the gorillas. What else should we- Sina! What on earth are you doing in the zebra enclosure? Get out of there this instant!"
Megan O'Leary, in charge of the field trip to the zoo, covered her eyes with one hand and shook her head slowly. Was there no end to trouble with this kid?
Author's note: And yes, I do know the name of the horse-dolphin-creature. It's "ichthyocentaur". But that doesn't mean I know how to say it... ;-)
This one's for all you soccer players out there in general, and one goal keeper in particular... <GBG>
December 30, 1999
Xena drew a deep breath as she surveyed the battlefield before her. The air was hot and dry, even this early, and the strength of the sun's first rays promised smoldering heat for the day. She had her army strategically spread across the plain, each with specific orders on how to engage the enemy, and when. The warrior hoped she had been luckier in her choice of soldiers this time!
A glance towards the edge of the battlefield told her that Gabrielle had, for once, listened to her. The blonde bard was watching from a safe distance, gingerly holding a restive Argo's reins. Tossing her head and stamping her forefoot, the mare was eager to be part of the fray. But the warrior knew that her battle-wise mare was the best protection she could offer her friend right now.
She smiled briefly. Good thing Gabrielle never suspected the true reason why the warrior had been leaving Argo with her lately when she engaged in battle! Xena could almost see the outraged look and the tongue-lashing the smaller woman was sure to give if she ever found out she was being protected!
One last check of her own weapons, looks and nods passing between her and the soldiers, and then, suddenly, the battle was on!
Staying back like the competent warlord she was - the head of the army had to be preserved at all costs, or the army would shatter - Xena supervised the ongoing battle with an air of detachment, calling out orders where necessary. Occasionally, one of the opponents managed to get a clear shot at her, which she deflected with negligent ease; catching arrows or crossbow-bolts out of the air and snapping them in half single-handedly before tossing them to the ground, or deflecting sling bullets with her gauntlets had long since become second nature. The hurled javelins were a bit tougher, but nothing she couldn't handle. Especially since she knew her friend to be safe.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Argo lay about her with hooves and teeth, wasting three attackers that had detached themselves from the enemy's ranks, thinking the bard an easy target. Gabrielle herself was whacking away with her staff, holding her own quite nicely against a fourth. She'd be okay.
When a spear thudded into the ground right in front of her feet, however, Xena lost patience. Her blue eyes lit up angrily when she caught sight of the poor man who had been foolish enough to let this last attacker get this close. What was this bunch of imbeciles doing calling themselves soldiers?! She pulled out the weapon that had imbedded itself two feet deep into the soft earth, lifted it up, and, with a mighty heave, hurled it back into the melee.
The unfortunate soldier flinched as the weapon grazed his ear and hurtled on to embed itself firmly into the chest of the attacker who had been about to run him through with a sword. He looked back at Xena, and flashed her an uncertain grin.
Xena snorted. "What kind of a defense is this?" she ranted. "Get moving over there, they're charging again. Flanks! Go at'em from the Flanks, for Zeus' sake! Their left side is all open!"
This was frustrating! She had this perfect view of the situation. Just one clever soldier, moving into that open spot, could mess up the enemy's defense and finally put her own into an offensive position again, but nobody was listening to her, all struggling frantically and pointlessly in the thick of the fray. It was an effort not to tear at her hair. Just one!!
"C'mon, guys, are you blind???" Just one...
Growling in irritation, Xena the mighty warlord pulled forth her Chakram and advanced to take the matter into her own hands.
"Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi!" Her battle cry echoed across the plain even as the circular weapon left her hand in a whining arc to work its devastating magic among the hapless enemy troops.
Quickly gaining momentum, Xena advanced to the tip of the attack, her sword connecting to flesh again and again. She was going to show these idiots how a true warrior fought her battles!
"Xena!" At first, the voice hardly registered, such was her battle frenzy. On she went, her goal almost in sight...
"Xena, stop! Get back here!" The voice sounded so authoritative that Xena felt compelled to pause and turn to see who the speaker was...
"Just so we're very clear on this, Sina," Megan O'Leary said in a carefully controlled voice, although her eyes looked a bit bloodshot and the corners of her mouth just a little too tight. "This is soccer practice, and we do not take Frisbees to soccer practice. And you, young lady, are the goal keeper, and you have no business up front. Understand?"
Sina looked at her defiantly. "But these idiots can't play worth a d-"
"Sina!" the PE teacher said in a warning tone.
"...Dime," the dark-haired girl finished lamely. "There was a perfect opening there, and nobody..."
"I said, do you understand? This is the second time you've abandoned your position today, and I've just about had it. You want to play on this team, don't you?"
"Yes, ma'am," Sina pouted.
"Good. Then you play by the rules. And rule one is, you do what I tell you. Do I make myself clear?"
No, you're a little fuzzy around the edges... Sina very nearly giggled at the stray thought. That story about the bard getting high on nutbread Gabby had come up with yesterday had been a hoot! But now the situation was serious. And she did want to play on the team!
"Yes, ma'am," she said again, trying to look properly chastised.
Miss O'Leary drew a deep breath, her lips moving briefly, soundlessly, as she rolled her eyes heavenward. "Very well," she said presently, "you guys, come here and sit down for a minute, will you?"
Sina and the others complied, and watched as their coach squatted in their midst and started drawing into the dirt with a stick. She sketched the outlines of the soccer field, and drew little circles and crosses for the players, recreating the scene the way it had been just before Sina broke rank.
She addressed the team that had opposed Sina's. "Andy, Chris, do you realize you left yourselves wide open there in the left field? Let me show you how you can avoid giving yourselves this kind of weakness..."
As the tall coach continued her explanation, she did not miss the pleased, satisfied grin that was spreading on Sina's face. It made her own lips twitch.
As for Sina, she took care to look faintly aloof and not in the least amused whenever the dark-haired woman looked her way.
She exchanged glances and a grin with Gabby, who had come down here to meet her after practice, and was waiting by the fence with Argo the bicycle.
"Well kids," Megan finally said, "this is it for today. Let's see you run those two cooldown laps, and I will see you tomorrow." Then, noticing Sina's smug look despite the girl's efforts, she added for her ears only, "don't let it get to your head. You're this close to dropping out." She held up thumb and forefinger to indicate about half an inch. Her smile was less than friendly now.
Sina just looked at her out of glacier eyes, before she turned around to follow the others and run her laps in icy silence.
"You haven't won, Dragon Lady! I am their general, and they need me. We both know that. Ha! You can take Xena out of the fight, but you can't take the fight out of Xena!"
For Mayn, who, because of his dislike for horses, set in motion the chain of events which resulted in me writing "Tell Me, Gabrielle". And who has been griping about not being given credit - I guess he does deserve some! <G> Plus, he helped me through this one when I got stuck. Thanks, pal!
April 2, 2000
"... And then she told the others how idiotic they had positioned themselves."
They were on their way home after Gabby had picked Sina up from soccer practice, which had started up again a few days ago. Even though Sina had been yelled at severely by Miss O'Leary, her new coach (and what a shock that had been!), for abandoning her position as goal keeper, she was beaming. After all, she had seen and diplomatically pointed out a serious flaw in the team's positioning.
Sina related the events animatedly to Gabby, who, from her vantage point (and, truth be told, because she really didn't care much for soccer at all), had not been able to grasp fully what had happened.
"Only she said it like they weren't idiots at all. I could have told them all they'd done wrong, but Oleara said what I would have said in that weird way only grown ups have."
"And what way is that?"
"Oh, you know, the way grown ups have of telling you you're a dumbo without you really noticing because they use all these fancy words and stuff. It's kinda like when my mom says, 'Sina, the weather is gorgeous, so why don't you go outside and enjoy it?' I've been thinking about how she only seems to say that when she's having a bad day or something, and I realized that what she really means is, 'get lost, Sina, I can't bear having you around right now.'"
Gabby was silent, sensing troubled thoughts in her friend that the taller girl rarely let surface. But, as always, after a few thoughtful moments, Sina smiled, and shrugged them off.
"Anyway, even though I got yelled at, I think I did good today," she said, her face nearly split in half by a huge, pleased grin. Dragon O'Leary's cutting remark she had pushed firmly to the back of her mind. Oleara was a villain, and had to act the part.
Gabby giggled. "For a moment there, I could almost think you were getting to like Miss O'Leary."
Sina looked at her in outrage. However, it seemed she hesitated just a tad before replying heatedly. "Like her??? Dragon O'Leary? Are you kiddin'?"
Gabby giggled harder. "You coulda fooled me, Warrior Princess."
Sina cocked an eyebrow, warrior-style.
"I have many skills," she drawled.
Half a moment later, they were both giggling helplessly, Sina almost letting go of Argo's handlebar.
They had an hour or so before Gabby had to go to her clarinet lessons. (She had only recently graduated from an ordinary flute to the clarinet, and was quite proud of it. Although, it was terribly hard to produce a decent sound from the instrument. You had to purse your lips just so, and Gabby kept messing up. However, she was not about to admit defeat).
Thus, the girls headed towards Gabby's house, to while away the time with all the fun stuff Gabby had in her room.
"Gabby, look," Sina said suddenly, pointing. There, in front of that old villa that had been vacant since the old man it had belonged to had died the year before, parked a huge furniture truck. Broad-shouldered, burly men in red were unloading all kinds of stuff from it; chairs, a table, cupboards and wardrobes, a desk, and huge cardboard boxes that must be filled with heavy things, from the way the men groaned under their weight.
To the children, the old, stately house had always had a sinister quality to it, giving rise to a number of creepy stories about the exact nature of the demise, or lack thereof, of the old man who had lived there. Consequently, most of the neighborhood's children tended to quicken their step when walking past it, casting an anxious look at the closed shutters, wondering what kind of eyes were watching them.
So having real, live people move in there was big news indeed! In fact, the villa looked less threatening already. That might be because of the way the unloaded furniture cluttered the porch, and people were crowding in and out of it, sometimes yelling at each other to work faster, or watch where they were going, as the case might be.
"What do you think they're doing?" Sina asked excitedly. "Think they're moving in?"
"Sure looks like it," Gabby said sagely. "I wonder who they are."
"Maybe they have kids."
"They seem to have a dog, or something, at least." Gabby pointed to one of the men carrying a miniature doghouse, and a basket with an assortment of squeaky doggie toys, brushes and blankets.
"Must be a small one though," Sina surmised.
They watched in silence for a while as the men unloaded various boxes stuffed to overflowing with all sorts of stuffed animals and dolls, each girl lost in her own thoughts.
Will their kid be our age? A girl, probably, with all the dolls. Is she their only child? Boy, those things sure look expensive. I'll bet they're pretty rich. Will she be in our school? In our class, even? Is she nice? Will she be fun to play with? I wonder what her name is, thought Gabby.
Oh great. Probably another of those snobbish sissies. Can we go now, thought Sina.
Bard and warrior, safely hidden from view by a large rock and the thick brush growing around it, watched the small group of people unload their wagons. They were travel-worn and dust-stained, the horses hanging their heads after who knew how many days of pulling their heavy burdens across Greece.
"I wonder who they are," Gabrielle murmured. "This village has been deserted for ages. I never thought that anyone would want to live in this place again, after.... after what happened here."
Xena made a noncommittal sound.
"Powerful neighbors," she remarked.
Which could be good or bad, depending on these people's intentions, the bard mused. But the warrior was right. Xena's own home village was a scant two days' ride away, and this hamlet sat practically on the Amazons' doorstep. Formidable protectors, if you knew how to deal with them. Implacable enemies, if you didn't.
Xena's glacier eyes followed the people as they started to get settled into their new home, her face, as usual, inscrutable.
They don't have the look of locals," Gabrielle ventured. "Do you think they may be from beyond Greece?
The warrior shrugged.
"It doesn't make much difference, Gabrielle. I don't care where they come from, as long as they don't cause any trouble."
The watched as a car pulled up, a fancy one, all shiny with lots of chrome that sparkled in the sunlight. The driver's door opened, and out stepped a tall, thin man with a balding head and a beak of a nose, looking aloof, and faintly bored.
Gabby could not help but think of a stork when he strode to the rear of the car to hold open the back door.
First out of the car was a little girl of about eight years, with golden hair and dark eyes. She looked regal in a black velvet skirt and white blouse, although she was a bit on the chubby side. A red velvet ribbon held the generous blond curls back from her face. A basket containing a white, fluffy something hung from her elbow. Gabby's breath caught as the furry bundle twitched, and formed a flat face with bulging eyes, black nose, and pink, lolling tongue. It was a Pekingese dog!
The girl caught sight of the two girls watching her, and stared back at them haughtily. For what seemed a long time, the three children just stood there looking at each other, three little minds churning. Then a woman climbed out of the car behind the strange girl, shot Sina and Gabby a quick look, and grabbed the child's hand.
"Come, Alice. You don't want to get yourself dirty in your good clothes," the woman said, and pulled the child after her. They both disappeared into the house. Alice's eyes, utterly expressionless, never left the two watching girls, until the door closed after her.
She stood there before them in all her splendor, clad in black leather skirt and a top that left her muscular abdomen bare. There was fire behind her, and the licking flames framed her in a red-hot, angry light.
The woman's blonde hair, reddened by the fire, fell in generous curls over her shoulders from underneath a strange, horned helmet, her dark eyes glittering dangerously. She did not speak, just looked at them with a small but not entirely benign smile etched upon her face.
Both the warrior and the bard stood enthralled by the beauty and menace emanating from the strange warrior.
"Who are you?" Gabrielle asked, awestruck.
"I am Callisto," the stranger replied. And then she turned around and walked straight into the flames!
Gabby looked thoughtful.
Sina's eyes gleamed with a wild light. She didn't like the new girl at all, for some reason.
They went on their way silently. After a while Sina said. "Who is she? Tell me..."
Gabby's face lit up, as it always did when her friend asked a story of her.
"You know, I'll just bet she's some queen from a distant land..."
She went on to tell about how Callisto was the queen of a tribe of fierce warriors way up in the north. She had been forced to leave her homeland when an evil usurper had chased her from the throne, and had vowed to get revenge. Even now, she was gathering those who still supported her in a secret place. She planned to lead them into glorious battle for the throne as soon as they were ready to march.
It was a good, strong story, but something didn't sit quite right with Sina. She just could not fit this fierce but noble 'Warrior Queen Callisto' to the girl they had just seen. For now, though, she held her peace. After all, Gabby could be right. Sina herself, of course, would not have been able to think of a better story anyway.
So she just said. "Hmm, that horned helmet looks a little silly on her, don't you think?"
Gabby rubbed her nose. "Well, I heard that's what warriors from the north wear... but I suppose she only puts it on when she plans on doing battle. She doesn't want to ruin her hairdo."
"Makes sense," Sina said reasonably.
A few days later, Gabby's mom handed Gabby a card.
"I found this in the mail for you today. It's from the little girl that moved in down the street the other day, Alice Parker. I think she's having a get-to-know party, and all the kids on the street are invited."
"Cool," said Gabby. "Do you think Sina can come, too?"
"I don't know, honey. Why don't you ask her if she got invited?"
"What do you mean, you didn't get one? Why wouldn't she invite you, too?"
"Because I don't live where you rich people live," Sina said darkly. "I don't wanna go to a dumb party anyway." She pouted.
"Maybe she'll let you come. She has to. You're my friend."
"I don't like her," said Sina flatly.
"You don't even know her," Gabby protested.
"Yeah well."
"Why don't you just come along? I'm sure she must have overlooked you, because you don't live on our street."
Sina muttered something unintelligible, and probably not very nice.
"Well?"
"Oh, all right," said Sina finally. "But not for her sake."
"What's she doing here?" Alice asked, staring down her nose at the tall, dark-haired girl in Gabby's company. "I don't think I invited her.
They were standing in the entrance hall of the big ancient house, where a butler - a butler!!! - had led them after opening the door for them. It was sort of weird to be standing on the inside of the house that had been the object of the better part of their childhood horror stories, but actually it looked almost... normal. Huge and fancy, perhaps, but normal.
Alice had been called from a back room to greet them. The little Pekingese was running in circles around her, yipping shrilly for all he was worth. A murmur of children's voices and laughter was coming from that room. It seemed the party had started already!
"I brought her because she's my friend," Gabby said stoutly. "I thought it would be okay... It's a get-to-know party, isn't it?"
Alice looked at them for a while, considering. At last she said, "Okay," and turned to walk back into the house, expecting them to follow.
Which they did.
Sina pulled Gabby's sleeve and whispered, "I don't wanna be here."
"Oh, come on," Gabby whispered back, "let's at least go see who all is here."
Sina shrugged and followed, a sullen glower on her face.
That glower darkened when they entered the large room that had been decorated prettily for the party. Pink and pale blue ribbons hung from the ceiling and around the two big windows on the far side, and matching balloons were strewn about. The whole thing looked utterly disgusting. Even the toys scattered across the room matched the candy-cane colors.
"I'm gonna throw up," Sina murmured. Gabby cuffed her with an elbow, and got a baleful glare in response.
A number of kids were gathered in the room; Gabby knew most of them by sight, as they lived in her neighborhood. Some of them, however, went to a different school, so she knew little more than their names.
There was Jock, and Emily (with her Teddy, of course), of their closer friends, and several kids from their class. Two children, obviously brother and sister about her own age, Gabby had not seen before. These turned out to be Alice's cousins, Bess and Michael
"There's cookies on the plate over there, and iced tea in the pitcher," Alice told them. "Help yourself. We'll have Wieners later on, and a chocolate eating contest. Antoine will be here in a bit to play some games with us." Her smile did not quite reach her eyes, and died when she looked at Sina.
Gabby shook her head incredulously. She had never in her long, long life seen two people dislike each other on sight. You just never stopped learning!
As for herself, she did not quite know what to make of the new kid. Alice was a tad too aloof for her liking, but maybe she would be more open once she got to know them better. Some kids were that way. Sina had been a regular terror when she first moved here. No one had wanted to be friends with Sina back then. But that was another story. She was okay now, mostly.
Antoine turned out to be Alice's nanny - a nanny! - who had prepared a few games; boring kid stuff, in Sina's opinion, but of course her schooled warrior features betrayed nothing of her true feelings.
"Lighten up," Gabby muttered to her as they were dodging a blindfolded Jock's clumsy gropes. "You look grumpy enough to scare the bedbugs!"
"What are you talking about?" Sina whispered back. Her face was, of course, the very picture of joyful enthusiasm.
Thankfully, the games were done soon - Sina ended up winning quite a few of them, and she was the undisputed champion of the one Alice called "Journey to Greece" where you had to grab a chair before the music stopped, only there was always one chair less than there were kids. She had not enjoyed herself. Not one bit. Although she admitted getting a savage glee from the fact that Alice had ended up losing to her more times than she had won.
"I'm glad you're finally liking it here," Gabby said to her brightly after they had finished the last round and Sina had received yet another gaudy plastic toy for a prize. "Most of the kids here are really nice."
"I'm not enjoying myself," Sina protested grumpily. "I'm having a terrible time."
"If you say so," said Gabby, and proceeded towards the dinner table, where hot Wieners and potato salad were waiting for them. Sina followed her. She wasn't hungry, either, by the way.
In no time at all, the twelve children present were gathered at the oblong table, seated on elegant, high-backed chairs. Some of them were small enough to have difficulties looking over the tabletop; two dozen short legs dangled underneath it.
But any discomfort this might have caused the smaller ones among the children was forgotten when they each had a steaming wiener and a generous helping of potato salad on their plate, and a glass of homemade lemonade, too! This was life!
Anyone who has ever been at a children's party will know that such an event can never be a quiet affair; squeaky giggles, less than pretty noises, slurps, and snorting laughter echoed through the large room, accompanied by the metallic scraping of spoons on plates.
It was shortly after Alice's cousin Bess suggested a sort of game that involved everybody freezing in mid-move, when everybody was laughing because they had managed to catch Gabby with the spoon poised halfway inside her mouth (which, truth be told, was not very hard to do), it was shortly after this that disaster struck.
"Stop!" yelled Emily, whose turn it happened to be, and the room went still.
Everybody, except for Jock. Now, you need to know that Jock had been in the process of drinking from his glass of lemonade, the glass tilted way back because he was thirsty after polishing his plate. Just before that fateful command, he had started to suspect that there was something wrong with the drink. Indeed, the liquid burned like something he wasn't allowed to say, way down deep in his throat.
But he had been laughed at so many times today, and he was determined not to be laughed at now for moving when the game forbade it, so he bravely let the rest of the lemonade slide down his throat, tears stinging in his eyes. God, this stuff burned! So intense was the pain that it cut off the flow of air into his lungs, and he felt himself go weak with sudden panic.
And in that hush, when no kid wanted to be the first to move, poor Jock could keep it up no longer. The glass fell from hands that went to a suddenly way too narrow throat as he wheezed and coughed, tears of pain now streaming freely from bloodshot eyes. Moments later, his chair toppled, and he fell over backward clutching his throat and moaning softly.
If possible, the silence in the room deepened, the mood going from excited tension to shocked surprise. Antoine was by his side in no time, with a glass of water. She was speaking softly to him while the children silently gathered in a semi circle around the pair. Alice, Gabby noticed, had a sort of hunted look in her eyes and was biting her lip. Sina's eyes were narrowed to slits, as she scanned the scene to determine what was happening. She looked every inch the Warrior Princess, thought Gabby fleetingly.
But concern for their friend got the better of her, and she approached the nanny to ask timidly what Jock's trouble was.
Antoine helped Jock to sit up and gave him some water, which he gulped down greedily. Then she straightened, and looked at each of the children in turn.
"Somebody put black pepper in his lemonade," she said slowly, menacingly. "A lot of it."
The semi circle of kids unconsciously widened a little. Antoine was a tall, somewhat plump woman with dark hair, and in that pose, hands on hips and that frightful glower, she looked ready to eat every one of them alive.
Somebody whimpered.
Whoever had played this prank on the poor boy certainly hadn't expected it to turn out this seriously, and all children were relieved when the little boy eventually recovered, and got to his feet asking for more water.
"Who did this?" asked the nanny. For some reason, her gaze went directly to Alice, who looked slightly uncomfortable, but had her lip stuck out in a gesture of defiance.
The blonde child raised her hand to point. Everything seemed slow-motion to Gabby from that point on. Up went that hand, forefinger extended. Pointing straight at... Sina.
"She did it," said Alice, and the words rang like bells of thunder in Gabby's mind. "I saw her."
A soft gasp went through the assembled children as gazes turned on the accused.
Too stunned to speak at first, Sina's jaw went slack. She just shook her head mutely. Gabby felt like somebody had hit her tummy with a hammer.
"Are you sure, Alice? Did anyone else see this?"
Any response Sina might have been working on was lost when Bess, Alice's cousin spoke up.
"I did, I saw her do it."
"But I..." Sina stammered, and broke off, a stubborn look that Gabby knew only too well appearing on her face. The dark-haired girl had been in too much trouble already for her to show any sort of weakness in its face. She was a warrior, after all.
Now Antoine turned to Sina, looking stern. "That wasn't nice at all, and he could easily have gotten hurt. You know that, don't you?"
Sina met the woman's gaze with flashes of glacier blue lightning. And then, without a word, she turned and stomped out of the room. The Pekingese who had been curled up in a basket in the corner jumped up and followed her to the door, yipping and snarling at her feet.
Nobody spoke.
Gabby's mind raced. She did not know what to think. Sina wouldn't have... ? Or would she? She had done all these naughty things before... In any case, Sina was her friend, and it seemed she needed her now.
With a last glance at Jock, who by now looked none the worse for his experience and was already scanning the dinner table for more wieners, Gabby followed the little Warrior Princess outside.
She found Sina sitting cross-legged on the sidewalk, chin resting in one hand, and the other scraping a stick across the pavement in small patterns.
"Hey," Gabby said softly and crouched down beside her.
For some time, Sina made no reply, just continued drawing little circles in the dust on the pavement.
"Fat lot of help you were," she said at last, acidly.
"Well, it's not like I had a whole lot of time to do anything," Gabby retorted. Then she said more softly, "Did you do it?"
"So now you're believing Alice, too? I thought you at least would stand by me." Sina still refused to look at her friend, preferring to wallow in her somber mood.
"I'm here, right? I just want to know what happened. And you haven't answered me."
"Wasn't me," Sina said dully.
Silence.
"I never lied to you about the bad things I did."
"What about the incident with Mrs. Castor's waterhose?"
Sina grunted. "I don't wanna talk about that!"
"See?"
"Well, I never denied doing something. But I swear I had nothing to do with this. I swear. He's my friend, too."
"I know," said Gabby softly. "I believe you."
Now at last, Sina did look up at her friend. Her eyes were glittering. She blinked them a few times before getting to her feet.
"Can we go now?"
"Sure."
As they headed down the street side by side, each holding on to Argo's handlebar, Sina said, "So, do you still think Callisto is a noble Warrior Queen from the north? Tell me..."
Gabby laughed, relieved to feel the tension melt away between them. "Maybe not."
The village lay in heaps of rubbish as the marauding army finished its gruesome work on the last of the villagers. Fire was already dying among the houses, few of them had more than one or two walls left standing.
"I don't wanna die!" a woman screamed, cradling a small infant in her arms as she wandered aimlessly through the ruins that had once been her home, her life.
"Kill them all!" a soldier yelled as he raised his sword.
"Help! My baby!"
"Run, woman!" a man, running past her, cried. "They're trying to kill us all!"
The blonde leader of the army appeared before them, an evil sneer on her face. "Trying? I think we're succeeding."
Then, as the soldier was about to finish his filthy task, Callisto stopped him." Stop! Let her live. You, old crone. Tell the world what we did here. Let them know what devastation awaits anyone who defies me."
"Who are you?" the trembling woman asked.
"I'm Xena, Warrior Princess!" And her maniacal laughter sounded through the ravaged village.
Sina nodded in satisfaction. "Yup, that's a lot more like it. And you left out that silly helmet, too."
And they continued on down the road in companionable silence.
~ For PD, chiding me because Alice never got her come-uppance. ~
October 18, 2000
The Walk of the Wight.
It was the bane of small children. This narrow, graveled pathway leading from behind the school's gym through a neglected section of the park, where weeds grew freely and bushes stretched their gnarly fingers towards you, seeking to entangle or even trip you. Just across a rusted wire fence was an old, creeper-infested graveyard.
Grown-ups didn't have a name for it, beyond "that path over there", but children, of course, knew better.
It was always dark, this path, for even in bright daylight, the foliage and thick brush kept out the sun, except for the occasional golden patch of light, and glittering dust specks dancing in shafts of brightness. During the day, it was a warm, friendly kind of darkness.
But with afternoon, when the sun was no longer directly overhead, came the Walk's horrors.
Worse than weird shapes forming from out of nowhere, and those quick movements you thought you saw out of the corner of your eyes, but when you looked, there was nothing there; worse than that was the impossibly loud crunch of the gravel under your own feet, and the hammering of your heart that muted the noises around you. You had to stop frequently and listen, to make sure the Walk's vile creatures were not after you. But of course, stopping meant that they knew you knew they were lurking!
Now, this was the shortest path home from school for the kids in Sina's and Gabby's neighborhood.
When you walked it with a friend, its horrors receded to a faint, vaguely unpleasant fluttering in your tummy, and the occasional frightened squeak at an unfamiliar, and likely imagined noise, close by, or a shadow flitting out of sight.
It was the thought of walking it all alone that sent the frosty fingers of fear clawing at your heart...
"Look out, Xena, behind you!" cried Gabrielle.
The Warrior Princess, locked in combat with the twisted shape hovering just above her head, did a quick somersault to deliver a kick to its skeletal face while slicing a hand off the creature that had dashed in from behind. The appendage fell to the ground with a sickening clatter of bones. Both winged creatures screeched in outrage as they regrouped for a second attack.
The two dryads found to their dismay that it was more difficult than they had thought to destroy the Warrior Princess and her little friend, who, pitifully ground-bound, still put up a remarkable fight. However, the creatures were not too keen on being reduced to a bundle of bones, and, being bound by the strange laws of the spiritual realm to this place, were fighting with the fury and strength of the supernatural.
The bard, having learned to keep well out of her friend's battle range, suddenly found herself facing a few problems of her own.
"Uh-oh," she muttered as she watched the earth tremble and crack a few paces away, and putrid, gaunt arms clawing their way into the open air.
"More trouble," she observed as she hefted her staff and took a battle stance.
Somewhere off to the side, Argo whinnied, frightened.
Xena just grunted, and slashed at one of the attacking dryads, succeeding only in momentarily getting her trusty sword wedged between two of the creature's ribs. Grimly, she wrenched and twisted until her blade broke free in a shower of mould-covered bone splinters. A nasty hole gaped in the unfortunate creature's rib cage.
"Bet that hurt," the warrior remarked.
Meanwhile, in front of Gabrielle, the ghoul had risen up in its gruesome glory; foul, decomposing, horrible. The stench was overpowering. It had hardly begun wriggling its way out of the earth, when another slimy hand erupted next to it, and another.
"Ummm, Xena..." The bard was using her staff to whack ineffectively at the approaching undead monster, while watching the others emerge slowly. "I don't think these guys are here to exchange nut bread recipes."
The warrior's head whipped around to take in the three ghouls and her friend, and back to her two attackers.
"Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyi!" echoed her mighty battle cry, as she drew her trusted Chakram, and in a fluid motion hurled it towards the clumsily shuffling monsters.
Whine! Thud! Whine! Thud! Whine! Thud! Whine!
Three ghouls where milling about stupidly, minus their heads, which had been cleanly knocked off by the force of the mighty Chakram's flight. Xena caught the circular weapon deftly out of the air, even as her sword sliced up a dryad wing almost negligently. It seemed hardly possible that a skeletal head could register shocked surprise, but this one made a fair attempt. The airborne creature fluttered for a moment, spun out of control, and careened headfirst into a tree trunk, where it slid to the ground in a gruesome jumble.
"One down," the Warrior Princess told the remaining dryad.
The creature looked at her for a moment, weighing its chances, then it promptly dissolved into a puff of green-tinged air!
At Gabrielle's feet, the earth started trembling once more.
"Okay, Gabrielle, time to go," cried Xena, as she grabbed Argo's reins and motioned her friend to get moving. The bard did not need further prompting.
"Phew," said Gabby, still a little breathless after emerging onto the street, with Sina right behind her, pushing Argo for all she was worth. "The dryads must be new around here. If the Wight had been around today, we would've had it."
"Nah," said Sina, "piece o' cake." She looked a bit pale around the nose, and her breath came in short gasps. But her chin jutted forward in that stubborn way she had, as she put the wooden sword she was still holding back to its place in her backpack. The pink Frisbee she kept clasped in her other hand, just in case.
"I hate overcast days," said Gabby. "It's worse than usual in there when the sun is gone."
She did not see the blonde girl watching them emerge, some distance off down the street, with a wicked smirk on her face.
Sina did, and she stuck out her tongue at her behind Gabby's back, before the two friends and their bike continued on their way, Gabby still chattering excitedly about another near-death experience of the warrior and her bard.
"Do you really think so?" Gabby asked Sina a little while later, as Barbie-Xena and Barbie-Gabrielle were braving a wicked storm whilst making their way towards the abode of a bothersome band of Bacchae, on Gabby's front porch.
"She hates me, I know it. You should've seen the mean grin on her face when she saw us after we fought the dryads. Bet she was disappointed they didn't get us."
"That was a mean thing she did the other day. Hurting poor Jock and getting people to think it was you."
"And her idiot cousins playing right along with her." Sina hissed through her teeth. "They all need a good beating up, if you ask me," she added darkly, while Barbie-Xena was slashing at an unsuspecting toy Tigger with savage fury.
Gabby made no reply. She just rubbed her nose thoughtfully. There must be something better they could do to get back at Alice Parker for what she had done.
As luck would have it, when they emerged from the Walk just before dusk on the following day, panting and breathing huge sighs of relief, there was Alice again. She was leading her Pekingese dog on a leash, watching them from a few yards away. The little animal almost strangled himself on the collar in his frenzy to get at the two girls, all the while yapping and growling furiously.
"Quiet, Prince, you'll scare the girls," Alice told the dog with a little smirk towards Sina and Gabby. 'Prince' however, gave no indication of hearing her and continued his mad barrage.
"What's it to you?" Sina murmured acidly. She fingered the pink Frisbee as if considering how it would look plastered against the impertinent girl's face.
"Prince?" Gabby mouthed silently, biting her lower lip to keep from giggling. As far as she was concerned, that dog could not look any less like a prince if it had a roll in the mud! She did have a soft spot for dogs, though, and was almost sorry for the little thing straining against the leash, with its eyes bulging Pekingese style and its tongue lolling in a canine grin as it barked away at them.
Alice appeared not to have heard Sina's comment. "Why are you so out of breath? You're not scared of that pathway, are you?"
"Well, we-" Gabby began.
"Nuh," said Sina.
"I'm not scared," said Alice down her nose.
Sina snorted. "Yeah right."
"You're just saying that," said Gabby. "Everybody knows about the Walk."
Sina mumbled something concerning female dogs and what they could do with their rear ends, which Gabby didn't quite get. Any fool could see that Prince was a boy, after all. She decided to ignore her friend's comment. She was more worried that Sina might jump Alice and beat her up. The little Warrior Princess certainly looked as if she would like to.
Alice sniffed, but obviously she wasn't quite sure what Sina had meant, either. Rather than admit to it, she pointed at the Frisbee. "What's with that thing? Why are you hauling that along?"
"None of your business," Sina growled.
"If you must know," Gabby said helpfully (she was a nice girl, after all), "it's to keep bad things away in the Walk. They won't come near us as long as we hold on to it."
"Oh, really?" said Alice.
"Yes, really," Gabby said, and Sina nodded defiantly.
"And I suppose you go around making loud noises too?"
"Yeah, I think singing scares them, too."
"Singing?"
"Let's go home," Sina murmured darkly.
"Uh huh, sometimes I sing 'Pop! Goes The Weasel'. They don't like that."
"Gabby..." Sina urged, and gave her friend a stern look.
"'Pop! Goes The Weasel'? Oh, that's good," Alice cackled.
Gabby blushed, a little embarrassed, and feeling like a fool for having admitted about the singing. Only Sina had known until now!
"Hee hee, nya nya, afraid of the dark are ya? Sissies! I walk that path every day, it's a piece o' cake. I'm not afraid." Alice stuck out her tongue.
Sina returned the gesture. "It's no use, Gabrielle," she said. "Let's go. We have things to do. Big, important things. Secret things," she added with a baleful glare at Alice, who was still laughing mockingly as Sina dragged her smaller friend on down the street.
"I was only trying to be nice," Gabby said sullenly when Alice was out of earshot.
"Yeah well, see where it gets you. What a goat."
Gabby thought from the look on her friend's face that Sina probably regretted not having beaten Alice up after all.
"I guess she doesn't want to be friends," she said a bit sadly, but mostly angrily. "Well, tough."
"Yeah." Sina straightened her shoulders and grasped Argo's handlebar. "Let's go to my place. I heard a frog in the creek out back earlier, maybe we can catch it." She mounted the bike and started pedaling, wobbling a little in her effort to go slow enough for Gabby to keep up.
Gabby's nose wrinkled at the thought of a frog's slimy skin and bulging eyes, but she happily skipped along beside her best friend. She had forgotten Alice and Prince almost before they had disappeared behind a bend in the road. There were adventures to be had, and she had a best friend to share them with.
Only when the two other girls were out of sight did Alice let out a long breath. Her steps quickened until she was almost running. It was dusk already. Quite apart from the fact that she had to be home before nightfall, she did not like the dark one bit. Strange black things were always hiding in the dark, waiting to grab her. The were getting worse lately, and she was sure it was somehow this Sina's doing. Gabby was just a dumb tagalong, but Sina - she did not like Sina. Not one bit.
For a moment, she thought the two of them might have seen her own frenzied scramble through the Walk. She could have sworn she had escaped some creep's cold, clambering claw by a hair's breadth. But she had not cried for one second. She was brave. Sina and Gabby were wimps. Alice wasn't afraid of a bunch of ghosts and ghouls. No way. Frisbees and nursery rhymes! Ridiculous!
As if in reply, 'Wilbury's Little Prince Charles', barked at her and tugged on the leash. Grateful for the excuse, Alice gave up pretending to walk and made for home at a dead run, the small dog bounding happily along beside her.
Sina and Gabby would have forgotten all about the episode, but a few days later something happened that brought it back to them.
They were walking down the street with Jock, Andy and Emily, not far from the dread Walk of the Wight. Gabby was telling the story of how Ephiny, the Amazon regent, had first met Phantes the Centaur and how they became friends, to much ooh-ing and aah-ing from little Emily, and a few grunts and giggles in all the wrong places from the boys. The curly-haired blonde was being a touch too sappy for Sina's taste, but then having a centaur for best friend must be a cool thing, really. For some reason, Emily had always identified with the stoic Amazon. She loved hearing stories about Ephiny.
Just when the little bard was pausing for effect before revealing the end of the story, they heard it, coming from inside the Walk. The voice was a little shaky and had a slightly hysterical pitch to it, but the tune was easily recognized:
"'Round and 'round the cobbler's bench
The monkey chased the weasel,
The monkey thought 'twas all in fun
Pop! Goes the weasel.
A penny for a spool of thread
A penny for a needle,
That's the way the money goes,
Pop! Goes the weasel.
A half a pound of tupenny rice,
A half a pound of treacle.
Mix it up and make it nice,
Pop! Goes the weasel.
(here the words picked up speed)
Up and down the London road,
In and out of the Eagle,
That's the way the money goes,
Pop! Goes the weasel.
I've no time to plead and pine,
I've no time to wheedle,
(here a loud throat clearing could be heard)
Kiss me quick and then I'm gone
Pop! Goes the wea- "
At this moment, the singer emerged from the Walk. It was none other than Alice, dragging her dog along behind her. A pink Frisbee was fastened to her belly with a piece of skipping rope, and she clasped a second one in her hands. Prince's leash was looped around her wrist. The little Pekingese did not look altogether happy with his own new outfit - yet another pink Frisbee, with an opening cut into it the size of his head, that hung around his neck in lieu of a collar.
Alice was looking around her with a hunted expression, her fear of being seen by people clearly almost as big as the terror of the creatures within the Walk. She stopped dead when she saw the five children looking at her, their jaws hanging open.
No-one spoke a word.
Much to their credit, Sina and Gabby managed to keep a straight face as the conversation of a few days ago came back to them, even when Alice blushed the darkest shade of red either of them had ever seen.
Jock and Andy, however, burst into guffaws after the initial shock of the strange sight had faded, pointing and breaking into a raucous chant of "Pop! Goes the weasel. Pop! Goes the weasel." Unable to stop themselves, the girls soon joined them in laughter.
Alice, on the other hand, was not so amused. She was standing there rigidly, clutching the pink Frisbee to her chest, eyes bulging much like those of her dog, and her breath came in short, angry gasps. Faster and faster came those gasps, until finally she stamped her foot and screamed out her rage at the top of her lungs. It was a long, wordless scream, the kind that made you cover your ears with your hands, and still you thought your head would burst from it.
Then, her face a stony (if somewhat flushed) mask, Alice Parker turned wordlessly and walked away. Prince's pink collar bobbed nervously as the little dog trotted after her.
"We are not finished, Xena," Callisto screeched. "I will return, and I will make you regret the day you were born. I swear!" With that, she turned and stalked away through the devastation of the battlefield. The light of the dying fires framed her blonde head in a hellish, flickering red glow.
"Pop goes the Weasel," Joxer called after the Warrior Queen, who stiffened briefly before hurrying on into the distance.
"Well, that's what I call a smashing victory," the bard said, satisfied.
Xena grinned.
It was the beginning of a beautiful enmity.
"You know," Sina said thoughtfully, when they were walking back home after saying good-bye to their friends, "I kind of like what she did to that Frisbee around Prince's neck. Don't you think a throwing ring would be a much cooler weapon than a disk? It could have a sharp outside edge and be much better for cutting things..."
Please note: No real or fictional dogs, hard-headed or otherwise, were beaten or harmed in the production of this tale.
November 6, 2000
Rain. Always rain. Thunderclouds veiled a sky rent by lightning, as the water rushed relentlessly down. Gabrielle found herself wondering why the weather always seemed to know whenever they were in dire straits, and pick those times to make things worse. Apparently some god was out to give them a hard time.
The water hitting the ground faster than it could be accomodated had transformed the grassy plain into a squishy, slippery bog. Every step was clumsy toil, and the warrior's grip on her sword was precarious as she battled their unearthly foe.
The creature seemed to have much less trouble, being large and having the advantage of four feet on the ground. Raindrops hitting its coat evaporated with angry hisses, so that little clouds of sulphurous steam rose constantly from its black hide.
Like burning hot coals, three pairs of vile, orange eyes glimmered in three canine heads that wove and swiveled in their effort to get a bite in. Yellowed fangs the size of daggers glistened dangerously, drooling strings of saliva as the creature growled and barked. The thing's hot breath wafted at them, sulphur mixed with he heavy stench of decay, nauseating. This was Cerberus, guardian of the Underworld, standing as tall as the women, and he was not a happy dog at the moment. He hated getting his feet muddy. He hated getting his fur wet. But most of all, he hated obnoxious warriors trying to stick swords into him, as delicious as this particular warrior might look.
"Nice doggie..." said Gabrielle, and got three dissonant howls in reply.
"Stay back, Gabrielle!" Xena cautioned through the rush of the rain, as she delivered a wicked blow to a sensitive snout with the pommel of her sword. The left hand head flinched and yelped, while the remaining two launched a new attack that was all the more furious.
Apart from the treacherous ground and the overgrown canine, Xena faced another problem - trying to keep herself between the infernal hound and Gabrielle, who was stubbornly trying to get in a few whacks with her staff, and kept moving around in order to find an opening.
Teeth closed with a loud clack, a hair's breadth from Xena's head, drawing a rather filthy curse from her. The right head snapped at the staff Gabrielle was twirling in front of its eyes.
"I can't believe he got out again," Gabrielle complained. "Hades really should take better care of his pets."
"I don't care how he got out, Gabrielle. I do care about how we can get him back in. Any bright ideas?"
The bard deftly dodged a vicious lunge that would have cost her her face, literally, before replying.
"How about a prayer? Maybe Hades is listening," she offered.
"Yeah, and maybe some day, people will walk on the moon," Xena replied wryly.
Gabrielle very nearly stuck out her tongue. "Well, I'll try a prayer anyway," she mumbled between twirls of her trusty staff.
"Suit yourself," Xena grunted.
The warrior considered the huge canine as he stood there with his hackles raised, snarling and slavering, seemingly debating with himself which of the two morsels in front of him was tastier.
Finally, the hound decided on Gabrielle, and tried to circle around Xena in order to better rip open the bard's throat. He licked his chops, looking forward to the feast.
"Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi!"
Xena, of course, would have none of that. In a fluid motion, she rapped the flat of her blade smartly against each of the dog's heads in turn, and while he was still blinking in mild confusion, she removed the Chakram from her belt and flung it at the three-headed brute.
At least, that was what she meant to do. However, the wet metal was slick, and it somehow slipped from her grasp as she threw it, and flew off whining into the distance. "Rats," the warrior cursed as she stared after it.
Gabrielle bit her lip. Xena had lost her Chakram. They were in trouble.
Alerted by the sound, three black heads turned to watch the flight of the circular weapon that glittered with the droplets of water that were flung outward as it rotated.
The snarls were replaced by delighted canine grins, and with a happy yip - well, three of them, rather - the huge dog bounded after the flying object.
"What the...?"
With their jaws hanging open, the two women watched as the creature gathered up speed and finally launched himself up impossibly high to catch the Chakram neatly out of the air!
There was a bit of disappointed whining from the right and left heads who had missed the catch, before Cerberus came trotting back, proudly carrying the shining ring between his center jaws. He dropped the Chakram at Xena's feet, and stood panting, looking back and forth between the warrior and her weapon expectantly, tail wagging.
"What the...?" Xena said for the second time, eyes wide in disbelief.
Gabrielle, who recovered first, nudged Xena with an elbow. "Throw it again," she mumbled.
Xena looked at her. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, go on."
The Warrior Princess shrugged, and complied - and Cerberus once again deftly snapped up the weapon in mid-flight, and carried it back to them.
"Would you look at that," Xena said, still incredulous.
Cautiously, Gabrielle extended a hand to pat the head nearest to her, ignoring Xena's warning hiss.
Cerberus not only appreciated the gesture, but grunted happily, and within moments, he was lying on his back presenting his tummy to be rubbed, tongues lolling and his legs pointing heavenward.
"Why you're just a big puppy," Gabrielle told him as she complied with his wish, and was rewarded by a set of canine grins, and more tail-wagging. "See, Xena? He really isn't so bad..."
"See? He isn't so bad. You can pet him."
Sina, still dubious, extended a cautious hand and briefly stroked the little dog's long coat, half expecting to lose that hand in a second.
"Hey, he didn't bite," she exclaimed, astonished. "I wonder why?"
"Maybe he's really a nice dog," Gabby mused. "I suppose if you had to be around Alice all the time, you'd be a pain in the butt, too."
"Never thought of that," Sina agreed a little gruffly.
Gabby nodded sagely. "Alice'll probably be looking for him."
Sina made a face. She reached for her pink Frisbee - it now had a circular piece cut out from its middle, and the outer rim was trimmed flat to give it an almost sharp edge.
In the blink of an eye, Wilbury's Little Prince Charles bounded to his stumpy little feet and looked at her expectantly, his squashed-looking face split by his huge grinning mouth, willing her to throw it again.
"Prince? Priiiiince!" As Alice's shrill and slightly whiny voice could be heard in the distance, a change came over the small animal.
The panting mouth snapped shut, the bulging eyes lost their playful twinkle. Prince cocked his head, listening. Then he growled at the girls and barked shrilly, before turning and trotting back to his mistress.
Sina and Gabby sighed in unison. Some things, it seemed, you just couldn't change.
December 11, 2000
This story is a tribute to one of my favorite series, the Narnia Chronicles, by C.S. Lewis. There will be references to his fabulous books here, as well as mention of some of Lewis' characters (Lucy and Aslan, among others), for which I wouldn't dream of claiming any credit.
"Hey, whatcha doing, Gabby?"
"Shh. Reading."
Gabby did not even look up when her best friend came walking up to her, ready to wreak havoc on this beautiful late summer day, prepared for anything - except this.
The blonde girl was sitting propped up against a tree in her back yard, her eyes riveted on the pages of a large hardcover book on her knees, her index finger sliding awkwardly along the lines of text. Her lips were moving soundlessly as she read, her brow creased in concentration. She had only recently started reading beyond her school books, and some of the less familiar words required saying them to yourself so you could grasp them better.
From time to time, she'd pause, frown, and stick out her tongue, considering, before nodding a little to herself and reading on.
Sina squatted down beside her, slightly puzzled.
"Whatcha reading?"
"Book."
"Duh! I can see that! What's it about?"
The smaller girl made an impatient sound. "It's on the cover. See for yourself." She turned a page.
Sina craned her neck so she could see the title. "'The Line, The Wish And The Wardobe'," she read haltingly. "What kind of a dumb book is that?"
Now, it would probably help to know that Sina wasn't really good at reading, simply because, with a friend like Gabby who could tell such wonderful stories, she never needed to. And, to be perfectly honest, she didn't really enjoy doing any kind of work for school, and reading just seemed entirely too much like school stuff. Therefore, she disliked it on principle.
"The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe," Gabby murmured absently. "Found it in dad's study."
"Why are you reading that?"
Gabby carefully placed her finger so she wouldn't lose her spot, and finally looked up at her friend. "He said it was okay to read it."
"You mean it's a grown-up book?" Sina said incredulously.
Gabby nodded importantly. "Yup. It was sitting on his bookshelf, so it's got to be a grown-up book."
"Makes sense. And he said it was okay for you to read it?"
"Uh huh, he sure did. He was a little angry when he caught me going through his books, but then he said 'Oh, that one. Why not, you can read it.' It was weird, he looked really relieved for some reason. But he said to go ahead and take it."
"Wow, grown-up stuff..."
"Well, it's got children in it," Gabby amended.
"Really? What's it about? Tell me..."
"Well, it's got these four children who have to stay in a huge old house with an old professor. And then the little one, Lucy, she hides in a wardrobe and finds a magic land there, and then she goes back through the wardrobe, only her brothers and her sister don't believe her."
"A magic land?" Sina was mildly interested.
"Yeah, Narnia, with fauns and nymphs and dwarves and a lamp post. The faun says an evil witch is making it be winter all the time. And then he says he has to take Lucy prisoner and give her to the witch, but he won't since she's so nice, and the witch so evil."
"Cool," Sina said. "A witch? And are there dragons too?"
"Probably."
"And what happens when her folks don't believe her?"
"I don't know. I've only got this much." She held up the book to indicate the few pages she had read.
"Oh."
Resigned to the fact that her little friend would not be roaming the streets with her any time soon, Sina settled down beside Gabby, leaning against the tree trunk and playing idly with her long, dark hair.
Meanwhile, Gabby happily buried her face in the book again.
From time to time she'd gasp, shake her head, and answer Sina's questioning looks with intriguing snatches of a magical tale. Thus Sina learned that animals talked in the land of Narnia, that there was a divine lion named Aslan, whom Sina would have like to meet, but that only humans could deliver the land from evil, and that time passed differently there.
But very soon Gabby was too immersed in the book once more to pay much attention to her surroundings. Sina was left sitting a little forlornly at her side, sighing softly from time to time and counting the ways in which Xena the Warrior Princess might dispose of the White Witch, and bring Spring back to Narnia. She was going to ask Gabby about it as soon as Gabby paid attention to her again.
But Gabby read on.
Sina drew patterns into the dust with her finger. Chakrams and swords came into existence and were wiped clean again.
And Gabby read on.
Sina found it hard to believe that a book could be so much fun. There must be some sort of magic there that held Gabby's face glued to the text. Surely otherwise she would have responded more to Sina's subtle prods to come play now.
Although admittedly a bit curious, the little Warrior Princess finally decided she wanted no part of it. She would go home and play with Gabby's Barbie dolls - she still hadn't returned them to their rightful owner - and come back in a few hours. If Gabby still hadn't moved, she'd save her from whatever bane held her in thrall. She owed her friend that much, even if she did feel utterly neglected just now.
With one last look at her friend, she slowly got to her feet. Gabby didn't seem to notice. So, with a little sigh, Sina slunk dejectedly back home.
As usual during the day, the back door was unlocked, and Sina let herself into the kitchen quietly. Passing by the fridge, she decided a snack was in order, so she helped herself to a mug of cold milk and some cookies from the jar on the counter.
She sat at the kitchen table for a while sipping her milk and nibbling around the chocolate chips, which she carefully hoarded on a little plate.
If she craned her neck a little, she could see into the small living room, where her mother was typing away on the computer, with that frowny look on her face that suggested that she was "nearing a deadline", whatever that meant. In any case, it meant that she needed to concentrate, and was not to be disturbed.
Tom, her brother, had left with friends earlier that day. Once, just once, she wanted to accompany them, but while Tom had promised he would take her along some time, today had not been it. That was okay, though, she knew Tom would keep his word.
So, she was on her own for now. Excellent.
With a tiny splat, a chocolate chip found its way into the milk. With mild interest, Sina watched it bob to the surface, where it floated, oozing snakes of brown color into the creamy white liquid.
"Die, vile fiend," she murmured, and put the mug to her mouth. When she put it down, the chocolate was gone. More chips soon shared its fate, until all the milk was gone. Books! Who needed them anyway? She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and got up from the table to head to her room and find Gabby's toys.
Tiptoeing past the living room - mom was grumbling to herself in that frustrated way that suggested she would not take kindly to any noise - she padded lightly up the stairs and towards the end of the corridor where her bedroom was. She'd let mom know she was home later.
In passing, her gaze fell upon the stairway up to the attic.
She stopped.
She wasn't allowed up there, because her mother feared she might hurt herself on all the accumulated antiquities that were stacked haphazardly all over the place. But she knew, from a previous excursion (I hope you won't tell on her!), that there was a huge, oak wardrobe up there, that had belonged to her great-grandmother...
No, she couldn't. She wasn't supposed to. She put her foot on the bottom step.
Surely, by now it would be okay to go up there. After all, she was so much older now than when her mother had forbidden her to do it.
But no, she wasn't allowed. She'd only get in trouble if she was caught. She climbed the second step.
She could take care. She wouldn't disturb anything. No-one would even know she had been there. She would be quiet as a mouse....
But if mother found out...? She wanted to be good, honest, she did. It was just so... hard sometimes!
She was still debating with herself when her hand touched the rusty handle of the door to the attic. She usually only saw it from the bottom of the stairs, that door with the flaky blue paint and the little window with the crossed bars that was so covered with grit that you couldn't look through, even if you were tall enough.
We all know that Sina never really had a chance to resist this particular temptation, not after learning of all the wonderful things that could be hidden in wardrobes. Before she knew it, she had opened the door - ever so slowly, because its rusty hinges tended to protest screechingly - and closed it again behind her. The wonders of the forbidden attic rose before her in all their dusty glory.
The dry smell of old linen and aging wood wafted towards her, mingled with floating dust so thick she had to rub her nose fiercely to keep from sneezing. At her feet, she could just barely make out two sets of girl-sized footprints covered in slightly less dust than the surrounding floor panels. One was leading in, the other out. Her own, obviously. Nobody had been up here since. She bit her lip. She'd have to remember to cover her tracks this time. Some warrior she was!
Looking around, her gaze scanned stacks of old newspapers, tons of cardboard boxes stuffed with all types of odds and ends, an open chest with some of her and Tom's old toys - Hey! What was her Tonka fire engine doing among those? She'd been looking all over for that. She also made a mental note to check out that pirate ship later. She'd been jealous of it every time she'd seen it sitting in Tom's room, with all the little pirates, cannons, and treasure chests. The captain even had a tiny eye patch, a peg leg and a parrot sitting on his shoulder. Funny, though, she'd never realized it was gone from her brother's room.
She shrugged, and continued her scrutiny, dismissing the blonde doll with the straggly haircut (Barbie-Horse Argo had received a beautiful golden mane in exchange) and the teddy bear with the gash down his tummy, where the stuffing protruded like an explosion in mom's knitting basket.
A beam of bright sunlight shone through the slanted attic window, glittering dust motes setting it off clearly against the musty darkness. It fell directly onto a large, dark object that sat against the opposite wall, outlining it in a brilliant halo.
The wardrobe.
Drawn like a moth to the flame, the little explorer carefully made her way past shelves of yellowing, mottled books (Ugh! Books, again!) until she stood facing the wooden monstrosity.
It was a massive thing, with heavy double doors carved with all types of vines and leaves - quite ugly, to Sina's eyes. One door was ajar, hanging slightly crooked, but not enough to really attract attention. Her gaze went up and up until her head was bent way back. It was gargantuan.
A scraping noise coming from underneath the monstrous wardrobe made her jump and very nearly shriek. She held her breath and listened intently, poised to make a dash for the door.
There it was again. Something scrabbling across the wood.
Silently, so as not to betray her presence, Xena pulled her sword. She felt vaguely out of place in this strange environment, and had no idea what horrors awaited her. The Magic Wardrobe rose up before her, its enormous bulk obliterating everything else. She could only guess at the wonders and the horrors awaiting her within.
Apparently though, there were guards even here, on the outside. The White Witch didn't fancy intruders!
Closer and closer the sound of pattering feet approached, and yet Xena could not make out its source.
Envisioning a horde of kobolds with wicked, pointy teeth and large, gnarly feet, Xena pointed her sword towards the sounds, ready for mayhem, and waited.
She breathed a colossal sigh of relief when she saw a rather fat mouse emerge. It paused and raised itself on its hind feet when it saw her.
Sina grinned, although her heart was still pounding so hard it made her tremble all over.
"You just be glad it's me and not my mom, or you'd be a dead little mouse," she told it in a shaky whisper. She made a lunge at it with her invisible sword, accompanied with a whispered battle cry (mustn't betray her presence to the Mom, after all).
The diminutive rodent raised its quivering snout and froze briefly, before dropping back down on all fours and scuttling back into the darkness.
With a satisfied sniff, the little warrior sheathed her make-believe blade, and then, straightening her shoulders resolutely, she pulled at one of the wardrobe's heavy doors. Rusted with age, its hinges resisted with a grating, tooth-shattering groan. Eventually, though, Sina managed to pry it open far enough for a little girl to slip through.
An aroma of brittle leather and musty cloth wafted out at her. In the narrow beam of light that found its way in from the window above, Sina could just make out a dark, tailored suit. One of her father's, presumably, although she only ever remembered him wearing blue jeans.
She grazed the rough fabric with her fingertips, and sighed. Man, she missed him, sometimes!
But, she had a witch to battle. Her jaw set, she squeezed quietly through the opening. The door, happy to be released from her grasp, lazily swung back into place with a hollow, wooden thud. The metallic click of a long-unused lock snapping shut was barely audible above the sound of the door closing, but Sina was already forging on ahead.
It was dark in here, the air dank from years of confinement. Xena wrinkled her nose in disgust as she dug her way through tangles of moldy clothing. It wasn't long, however, before the stagnant tightness of the space gave way to a rather chilly breeze blowing into her face from up ahead.
It seemed Gabrielle had been right after all. There really was a whole secret land inside the wardrobe!
"Cool beans," the stoic warrior murmured, but she drew her sword nonetheless. You never knew.
As old air gave way to fresh, so the old suits, coats and dresses soon gave way to thick, tangled forest, covered in pure white snow, just like Gabrielle had said. Which probably meant there would be a lamp post shortly up ahead, but there was nothing to be seen. The forest was nearly as dark as the inside of the wardrobe. That, of course, made sense, if you really thought about it.
A low, rumbling growl close by made her snap to full attention. She barely had time to regroup before a large, shaggy shape rose up before her, clawed paws the size of the warrior's head waving threateningly, fanged snout glistening with saliva as the monstrous bear lunged forward.
It was right around that time that Gabby put down her book, rubbing bleary, stinging eyes that felt like they had gone all dry from staring at the text so hard. She had read far enough to be with the four children as they entered the magic land of Narnia, and felt a sense of great satisfaction at the fact that Lucy's siblings were now forced to believe her, and had felt suitably bad for making fun of her.
But now, she simply could not read another word. Letters were blurring before her eyes, strange patterns were forming on the pages that weren't there when she looked again - she was just not used to reading much.
So, although she was just dying to meet that wonderful talking lion, Aslan, she knew she had to take a break, or she'd go blind. She'd go to Sina's and tell her all about the story. To be perfectly honest, she felt a little bad because her friend had grown bored and left, and that she had been so captivated that she had hardly noticed. She didn't even remember saying good-bye to Sina. Maybe if she gave a good account of the tale so far, Sina would understand. Gabby bit her lip. She hoped so.
Skipping along the sidewalk, she made her way to Sina's place - it was only a few streets down and around the corner. A few minutes later, she was pulling the string on a rather old-fashioned and - for a child - absolutely fascinating doorbell. She knew that the back door into the kitchen was unlocked during the day, but she was a polite child and reluctant to just sneak in when Sina wasn't leading the way.
The door was answered by Sina's mother, Mrs. McRunnel. Her eyes looked rather red and strained, and her hair was in disarray, like she'd been running her hand through it a lot, thinking. Why, she must have been reading a very interesting book, much like Gabby herself!
Mrs. McRunnel looked at the girl in mild confusion. "Yes? Do you need something?"
"Hi, Mrs. McRunnel, can Sina come out and play?"
"Sina? She went out to play with you hours ago. You mean you haven't seen her?" Now she looked a little worried.
"Well, she was there for a while, but she left. I thought she'd gone home..."
Sina's mother ran her hand through her hair again. "I suppose she could have come in through the backdoor. I'm working on this article that's due tomorrow, you see, so I might not have heard her." She grinned guiltily. "Why don't you go upstairs and see? She'll be in her room, then."
Which Gabby did, up the stairs, past that dark and creepy stairway with the old, blue wooden door to the attic at its top, into Sina's bedroom at the far end of the corridor.
It was empty.
Plus, it was tidy, except for a sloppily made bed and a single sock on the cartoon character rug in front of it. Sina could not have been in here much since getting up. Not one toy was carelessly left on the floor.
Gabby bit her lip. This was not good.
Breathless, she ran down the stairs to tell Mrs. McRunnel, and almost bumped into her on the way down.
Breathless, she reported.
Breathless, Sina's mother hurtled up the stairs to see for herself (she was in pretty good shape for her age, thought Gabby).
This was how Tom, Sina's brother found them when he came home - breathless and distraught, both talking to him at once.
Now, Tom was really a rather calm and sensible young man - he got that from his father, Mrs. McRunnel said - and he managed to get his mother and Gabby settled down enough to get the full story from then, and to organize a search. After all, Gabby knew all their favorite haunts better than anyone else. Sina was probably just hanging out somewhere playing pretend in that strange warrior game the two girls liked to play. Nothing to worry about.
All over they searched, Gabby even took them into the dread Walk of the Wight that led through the park to the gym, and on to the soccer field where a few bigger kids were playing. Everywhere they went, calling Sina's name, asking people if they had seen a brunette little girl, about this tall, anywhere.
Of course, nobody thought to check the attic.
Nobody had been up there in a while (not that Sina's mother knew of, anyway), and so it never occurred to her that Sina might have gone up there.
As for Gabby, she really should have thought of it, but having her best friend missing and, to be honest, feeling more than a little responsible for it, she was too frightened and confused to think clearly. Oh, how she wished she was as brave and smart as Gabrielle, surely she would have been able to find the errant warrior in no time at all.
Unaware of the commotion she was causing downstairs, a little Warrior Princess was having a few problems of her own.
The bear had been much brawn and bravado, but finally had not been too hard to convince that mangled warrior was not going to be on the menu this time. It all but slunk away whimpering after she had been through with it. A few smart raps on the snout with the pommel of her sword had made it pause to reconsider. Then a whack on the head had sent it sliding to the floor like a boneless fur rug.
After Xena had jumped on top of it and hopped up an down a few times for good measure, the bear's appetite swiftly turned elsewhere.
But as she ventured deeper into the dark, dark forest, still in search of the lamp post Gabrielle had spoken of, she found herself assaulted by all kinds of creatures. The further she went, the stronger became the sense of something evil, close, all around. She must be getting closer to the White Witch's Abode.
If she had been a little girl instead of a fierce, big Warrior Princess, she might actually have been a little frightened...
And then, at last, she stood before a large set of oak doors, thick and heavy - and locked. The entrance to the Witch's castle, no doubt. She'd have to have a word with Gabrielle. The bard's descriptions of this place had been anything but accurate, so far. Except for the snow. And the fact that it was dark.
The surrounding wall was overgrown with vines and hardly discernible, but it was clear that this was where she had to go. As she prepared to throw herself against the wood, she became aware of a slight movement off to the side, amidst the tangled vegetation.
At first glance, it looked like one of the vines stirring in an errant breeze, but the low hiss and the glistening of scales in what little light there was, was warning enough for the seasoned fighter. Her sword was in her hand before the large serpent had raised its head for the strike. The animal was huge, almost as big around as Xena herself.
"Who ssseekssss to enter my domain?" the snake hissed.
"You talk," Xena remarked. But then, Gabrielle had told her that animals talked in the land of Narnia, so it really wasn't that much of a surprise.
"Well, who do you think you're dealing with, human?"
"Snake," Xena grunted, faintly disappointed since she had hoped to face a dragon. But, you had to take your opponents as they came. She raised her blade high above her head. The serpent opened its maw wide, displaying a set of fangs as long as a finger, dripping green with venom.
"Ugly one, too," the warrior added, swinging her weapon in a wide arc aimed just below the creature's neck. She missed, though, underestimating the thing's agility when its head whipped to the side, neatly avoiding the cut and very nearly nipping Xena's arm.
"Oh, you have no idea," it said.
Jumping aside to dodge the wicked teeth, Xena whirled and came in for a second cut, again aiming for the monstrous head. The serpent's sinuous form swung to the side, hissing face hovering just above the warrior as its body twined and writhed.
This time, Xena's attack was more successful. Her weapon cut a gash down the creature's length. She heard the enraged screech of the snake with satisfaction, and watched, expecting it to go down after this hit.
Far from it, though. The Warrior Princess gaped as the scaly hide slid back, revealing not the mess she would have expected, but something resembling white satin - in fact, that was what it was, pristine and spotless, like snow on a moonlit night.
Blue eyes wide, she watched a figure peel out of the now limp snakeskin. Writhing and twisting to free herself of the hide's confines, a voluptuous woman dressed in white soon emerged. Any beauty one might have perceived in her was utterly destroyed by the evil glint in her eyes and a harsh twist to her features that spoke of a cold, cold heart.
There was no doubt in the warrior's mind now that she was facing none other than the White Witch herself.
Inhaling deeply even as her free hand went to the trusted Chakram at her hip, the Warrior Princess prepared to unleash her fearsome battle cry.
If Xena had anything to say about it, the evil one was in for a nasty surprise.
Meanwhile, in Sina's bedroom, Tom was trying to calm down a very distraught Mrs. McRunnel sitting on Sina's bed and playing with the lone sock, for of course their search had been fruitless.
Quite possibly, the only thing that kept her from losing it completely was wide-eyed Gabby, sitting beside her chewing her lower lip, obviously just as frightened as she was, but bravely biting back her tears.
"I'm calling the police," she said, getting to her feet.
Tom nodded his agreement. He, too, looked worried.
Then they heard it.
"Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi!"
"What the..." said Sina's mother, just barely catching herself before saying a word a child like Gabby was not supposed to hear.
And again. "Ayiyiyiyiyiyiyiyiyi!"
Tom cocked his head, listening. "It's coming from above..."
Sina's mother jumped to her feet, slapping her forehead. "The attic! I should have thought of that, how silly of me."
"The attic?" Gabby asked.
"What would she want up there?" asked Tom. "There's nothing up there but an old wardrobe, shelves, and a bunch of... oh, my... of old toys. Well..."
At Tom's words, Gabby's face lit up. "A wardrobe..." she said thoughtfully. A slow smile spread as comprehension dawned.
"Plus, I told her not to go up there," said Mrs. McRunnel, a relieved grin finally finding its way to her face after all the stress.
"Heh. You told her she couldn't go up there? What are we waiting for?" Tom, smirking, was already on his way to the stairs. Woman and girl followed on his heels.
Sure enough, when they opened the old, blue door, and Tom flipped the protesting light switch, they could see where Sina's little feet had disturbed the dust of the decades. In fact, it looked like she had dragged the old doormat across the floor, partially obscuring the footprints, and discarded it at the base of the wardrobe. Strange, that.
Gabby's jaw dropped at all the wonderful things stowed away here. Toys, old furniture, and dusty shelves full of old books (she resolved to have a closer look at those later), and who knew what was hidden in the dark depths beyond, or all those closed boxes. Paradise! No wonder Sina had snuck up here!
Loud, insistent thumping from the inside of the large wardrobe ahead yanked her out of her reverie. Tom was already prying open the stubborn door, grunting with the effort. He'd carefully left it open last time he and his mother had been up here, because he knew the old, rusty lock was not working properly and tended to block. Yet, he had to grin. Trust his little sister to get herself into this kind of fix.
"Don't worry, Sis, we'll have you out of there in no time," he said.
"Watch out, Tom, she's got a few beastly spells up her sleeve!" came a muffled voice from the other side of the door.
Tom paused for a second, catching his mother's mildly confused look that mirrored his own. He shrugged, and with a final heave, managed to force open the heavy door.
Out jumped Sina, waving her invisible sword, a victorious grin on her face. She wore her dad's old tweed jacket.
Behind her, the inside of the wardrobe was a sight. Not one piece of clothing remained hanging. A mink coat lay crumpled on the floor, next to it was a pair of trousers in snakeskin look that apparently had once belonged to Mrs. McRunnel (although Gabby thought that Sina's mother couldn't possibly have fit in there, ever). There was a long tear down the inside seam.
All manner of clothing lay strewn around the place in a jumble of color, topping it all was a fancy wedding dress, sitting upright against the right wall, bent at the waist and looking almost as if it was a living, moving thing. Gabby's breath caught as she realized who 'Xena' had just vanquished.
Meanwhile the little Warrior Princess did a double take upon seeing her mother, bloodshot eyes staring wordlessly back and forth between the jumble of clothes and her daughter. For a terrible moment, Sina wasn't sure if she was going to die a slow or a quick death. The smile fell from her face. She'd gotten into trouble. Again.
Her lower lip trembled.
When her mother rushed forward, a mixture of irritation and profound relief written on her face, Sina expected pretty much anything except being pulled into a fierce hug. Mrs. McRunnel buried her face in her daughter's hair and held her close for a while.
Sina looked over her mother's shoulder at Gabby, who shrugged, at a loss.
At last Mrs. McRunnel pulled back. "What on earth were you thinking, Sina? We've been looking all over for you. And look what you've done to my clothes!" Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no more words came. She just shook her head and sighed helplessly.
Sina's eyes lit up when she realized she wasn't going to be punished quite as badly as she had feared. "It was incredible, mom, the witch, she cast all these spells, monsters and talking animals came at me from all sides... But, I finished them all off." She grinned expectantly.
Sina's mother looked at Gabby, utter confusion written on her face.
Tom, leaning casually against the open wardrobe, just shook his head and chuckled softly. The antics of his little sister never ceased to amaze him.
Gabby meanwhile, shared a grin with her best friend. Then her gaze fell on one of the shelves. She tilted her head a little, her lips moving soundlessly as she scanned the titles. "Gee, Mrs. McRunnel, you have five books about Narnia..."
And for a third time that day, Sina's voice rang through the murky gloom of the attic.
"Oh, nnoooooooooooooooooooo!"
April 24, 2001
Darkly, the storm raged across the jagged cliffs and out to the sea, where it buffeted billowing clouds massing higher and higher, obliterating the sky and whipping the sea into a thunderous frenzy.
Roaring breakers slammed into the rocks, spraying angry white foam up into the black heavens. From time to time, the spidery fingers of lightning tore into the scene with an eerie white light, until the crack and rumble of thunder brought back the ominous dark once more.
Further inland, the angry belching of a long-dormant mountain went unheard over the raging storm, but the sea felt it in the slight tremors ran along the ground underneath the water, whipping the waves up to even higher peaks.
Gaea, it seemed, was suffering from indigestion, and Poseidon was heaving chaos in sympathy.
Incredible, thus, to see a shape bob up and down nervously among the waters. Tiny it seemed against the sheer size of the waves, and yet it bore an assortment of people, milling about awkwardly on the jolting deck in their struggle to keep the vessel afloat.
Barefoot, so as to have a better grip on the slippery planks, the crew of the ship could be distinguished from the floundering shapes of her passengers, who were clinging to masts or crawling on all fours, frantic for any kind of handhold.
The Warrior Princess, being a quick study, had discarded her boots almost as soon as the sailors had, and was straining, at the side of Autolycus, against a thick tow holding the last of the balky sails. If they could not pull it in soon, they were doomed. And if they did pull it in, and by some miracle survived this, the King of Thieves was doomed.
Autolycus knew it, too, by the nervous glances he kept casting at the tall warrior. He bristled a little. He hadn't asked them to jump to his rescue, after all. He'd had everything under control, letting himself be caught to be shipped off to those mines. Dig up a few stones, maybe slip a diamond or two into his pocket before making his escape... But no, they had to come along and ruin everything. He should be the one who was angry!
But for now, they had a common goal: bare, naked survival. Secretly, he vowed to keep both his feet on firm ground in the future, no matter what riches lay promised at the end of a sea journey.
"Pull harder, for Zeus' sake," Xena yelled above the waves, and gave a mighty heave that brought the sail in about another handspan.
"I am pulling, dammit, I'm not Hercules, you know."
"More's the pity," the warrior mumbled.
"What happened to Gabrielle?"
"I sent her below deck. If she knows what's good for her, she'll-"
"Xena!" came the bard's voice from the starboard hatch.
"Speak of Ares," Xena grunted. Raising her voice, she yelled, "I told you to stay below deck. Didn't I tell you to stay below deck?"
"Well, I didn't listen," replied Gabrielle, straining her voice to be heard. Autolycus wisely did not say anything at all.
Not waiting for Xena's reply, the bard grabbed hold of the rope and pulled.
"Well?" she said, when the other two gaped at her. "I thought we need to furl that sail."
Rolling their eyes in unison, warrior and thief complied. With the added strength of the bard, they finally managed to pull the sail in and stow it away, just in time to save the already straining and creaking mast from sharing the fate of its mate, that was now floating aimlessly in the waters. From time to time it righted itself on the crest of a wave, only to dip down and disappear again soon after.
No sooner had the sail been stowed than what had seemed a full-fledged storm already gathered up yet more force. The ship was flung about this way and that, rising impossibly high with each wave it crested, then dipping low with enough speed to make you feel light-headed and queasy.
Gabrielle made a strangled sound and clapped one hand to her mouth. The other one was firmly clamped onto a strap of Xena's armor. Xena in turn was hugging the mast as the deck heaved and buffeted them about like so much flotsam.
"Easy, Gabrielle," Xena cried. "Hold on. You can be sick later, no time for that now."
"Oh, funny," choked Gabrielle.
"Didn't you use the pressure points like I showed you?"
"I must have missed. Or else, they're only meant for calmer waters."
"Hera's heels," cursed Xena (although with the wind and water roaring the way it was, we can't be entirely sure that she did, indeed, say 'heels'), mouth agape and eyes wide as she stared at something behind the bard, high up.
"What the-" said Gabby, but whatever she had been about to say was cut short by the sheer immensity of the wave now racing towards them.
"Everybody, hold on tight!" they heard the captain cry. And then the monster wave was upon them. The vessel gave a violent lurch, then tipped crazily as it was borne swiftly upwards. Up and up they went, with the vessel now almost topside and spinning madly, until you could not tell where the water left off and the sky began.
Cries of "Man overboard," went up and were blown away by the wind, unheard.
Another violent heave, and down they went again. By that time, Gabrielle was beyond caring, she just clung to Xena with her eyes closed and tried not to think about her rising bile, and the reason why it was rising in the first place.
And then, after a few smaller lurches with the ship miraculously righting itself, the sea went deadly calm.
"Well," said Autolycus, getting to his feet and patting his drenched clothing. "Glad that's over."
"Wasn't too bad, was it? Bit lame, though," said Xena, wringing out her long black hair. "But you know... I hate it when my leathers get wet." She wriggled her rear a little to adjust the squishy garment in question.
"Lame?" Autolycus mouthed silently. His eyes were the size of saucers.
"Guys, maybe we should help out those fellers over there?" Gabrielle put in, pointing at the several men who had gone overboard, floating with heads and waving arms above the surface.
"Then can we go where there are some a little more exciting waves?" Xena said, looking about to pout.
Autolycus, meanwhile, was backing slowly towards one of the lifeboats, looking aghast at Xena. "Uh yeah, well, girls, don't worry about those sailors, I'll take care of them. I see a bit of land over there. We'll be headed there. We should be okay."
"Wimp," Xena snorted, watching the thief fumble with the boat's fastenings and all but dump the small craft into the now eerily calm sea. Grabbing a set of oars, he jumped after it, and was gone.
Gabrielle bit her lip, looking like she would give anything to be joining the man, but could not think of a convincing argument that would save her face with the way too adventurous warrior. She was not a wimp, after all!
With the thief fishing out the sailors one by one, and then paddling double-time towards the dark line on the horizon, Xena took stock of the damage.
One mast had snapped, floating forlornly a few yards away. The hull was cracked in a few places where debris had struck it, one sail was ripped, the figurehead had a bad case of dandruff and was missing one eye. A tell tale sloshing sound from belowship suggested that the water was already about knee-deep in the cargo hold.
"She's still seaworthy, I'd say," the warrior assessed, squinting at the mangled figurehead.
The captain, carrying the splintered remains of the rudder in his hands, was opening his mouth to voice a protest, but a look from the Warrior Princess was enough to strangle him into silence. Clearing his throat, he nodded.
"Excellent. All right then, where should we sail to for some fun? How about-"
"Shh, Xena..." Gabrielle said. "Can you feel that?"
The vessel was trembling in tune with a low, distant rumble. A whooshing, gurgling noise accompanied the sound.
"The water level is dropping," said Xena, creasing her brow.
Slowly, the ship swung about and started moving in a lazy wide arc. Still there was no wind.
"Whoppin' Poseidon," the captain breathed. "Whirlpool! We're done fer! Never thought we'd see one o' those hereabouts."
And sure enough, the ship was now completing its first circle and continued on in a narrowing spiral, towards the center of the vortex.
"Tartarus, but that's a big one," Gabrielle said, now wishing more than ever she'd joined Auto, who by now was probably halfway to shore.
Xena's face lit up with dark glee. "Now the real fun starts."
"Man the oars! Set sail," tha captain yelled, and what was left of the crew hurried to comply. "And row! Row for your lives!" In minutes, the creaking of leather and the strained groans of the oarsmen built a counterpoint to the droning song of the maelstrom.
With the defunct rudder, there was no way of properly guiding the ship, but by putting more men on the port side, they managed to make the ship turn about and face away from the danger. Yet, row as they might, the monster that was the whirlpool pulled them slowly, inexorably, towards its maw.
"You happy now?" Gabrielle growled at the warrior. Xena was using her whip to lash the rudder back together. She just grunted in response.
Panic rose among the crew. The eye of the whirlpool was approaching faster and faster; already the deck was tilting dangerously towards the stern. The were going down, and no amount rowing could save them. With the total lack of wind, the limp sails hung useless, mocking.
Gabrielle could have sworn she heard a gleeful, delighted cry from the Warrior Princess, even as she put all of her strength into pulling the craft away, to no avail.
There was a choked gurgle. Then, where the maw of the maelstrom had been rose an enourmous bubble, soundlessly. With a sneeze of spray, it burst, showering them with more sea water, mixed with pieces of dead fish, and worse. The ship stopped dead and bobbed in place. The whirlpool was gone!
"Well, I'll be..." said the captain, scratching his head.
"What is that godawful stench?" Xena said, while the others were still coming to terms with the fact that they were still here, and breathing air, no matter how smelly.
Before the water had quite time to calm, the sea level dropped once more, and this time, in the distance rose the most feared of all deep sea hazards - the Tsunami, a tidal wave of monstrous proportions.
"Out of the frying pan..."
"Okay, what now, Warrior Princess? That wave high enough for you?" Gabrielle hissed.
"Yup, just about." And the warrior actually smirked!
"Oh no!" the captain shouted. "If that thing breaks on top of us, we're squid food. Row, for Poseidon's sake, row!"
Incredibly, the craft made it close to the shore, before it was borne upward by the building wave. Higher and higher, until the trees of the nearing coast looked like lichen on a rock, and the sheep grazing further inland like little white grubs.
As the wave broke, it froze for a few seconds, the tiny craft perched on its very top, before dipping gracefully forward, downward.
Gabrielle's last thought was that falling was an exhilarating sensation. This was what flying must feel like! Maybe Xena wasn't so crazy after all.
Then, all was darkness.
"Gabrielle? Gabrielle, wake up! Are you okay?"
"Unghh..."
"Ah, thank the gods, you're all right."
"Gnhha.."
"Get up, quickly, we have to get away from here!"
"Whaaa...?" Words were slowly returning to the bard. Her head hurt like a centaur stampede. Bit by bit, shreds of memory returned... the storm, the maelstrom... although, what she was doing on a grassy surface, with enough sand in her mouth to fill an amphitheater, or how she had come to be here in the first place was still fuzzy.
"C'mon!"
"It was the urgency in her friend's voice that finally pulled her fully into the waking world and made her stagger to her feet. If Xena was worried...
"What is it, Xena?" she asked dazedly.
Xena just pointed somewhere up behind the bard. Gabrielle turned, and gaped. Above the treetops, far in the distance where the sky should have met the horizon, rose a wall of water, rushing closer. It was another tidal wave.
Not needing further prompting, she scrambled after the warrior, who was climbing up a rocky slope towards the shore of a mountain lake.
A rickety pier led out into the still water, at its end floated a tiny raft.
Xena rubbed her hands together and crisply set about untying the craft. "Okay, I think it's best if we paddle out into the lake. The wave won't rise any higher than this, so we should be safe there until the worst is over."
"Let's hope you're right," said Gabrielle, and they started paddling.
Dusk was fast falling over the placid lake. At this time of day, most of the children had gone back home for dinner, leaving the place in peace and quiet.
Over in the distance, bobbing gently on water sparkling like rubies in the setting sun, was a small, inflatable rubber boat.
Two small figures cowered in it, oars pulled in, hugging their knees and looking towards the shore with their lower lips between their teeth.
"How long till they find out about the toilet bowl, do you think?" asked Gabby.
"I dunno... the water was rising pretty fast. But my guess is we'll hear mom scream from here," said Sina dejectedly.
Gabby sighed deeply, and rubbed at a smelly, moist stain on her T-shirt. She wrinkled her nose. Having Sina as a friend meant something new and exciting every day, it seemed.
And many days of being grounded.
December 5, 2001
"Pooffff! Ssssssss!"
The placid lake hissed furiously when the blast of fire touched down on its calm surface, less than five paces away from the tiny one-masted raft that was floating serenely along. Steam billowed up, obscuring vision, even as the surface started to boil and bubble like a witch's cauldron.
The craft lurched violently, nearly dislodging one of its two occupants before she could fling both arms around the mast, where she now hung on for dear life. Meanwhile, the other stood upright without a handhold, compensating for the jerky movement of the vessel on supple legs, looking for all the world as if she was checking out the booth of a weapon vendor on market day.
A second blast of white-hot fire struck close by, accompanied by a metallic roar and a leathery, flapping sound, high up above. The figure at the mast squeezed her eyes shut, lips moving soundlessly. It was hard to tell whether the words that left her mouth unheard were prayer, or indignant and slightly jealous rant against her oh so self-assured companion, who was absent-mindedly dodging a burning piece of deadwood that was hurtling towards her from out of the steaming inferno.
"Xena!" the one glued to the mast yelled, barely heard above yet another angry hiss. This time, the fire had struck close enough for the resulting steam to completely obscure her stolid companion for a few heartbeats.
The warrior lifted an eyebrow and half-turned towards her friend.
"I told you not to touch that thing, but no, you had to go and..." A deafening bellow drowned out the rest of the words, and she cowered in anticipation of the next blast.
"Oh, come on, Gabrielle, how could I have known that thing was so attached to a bit of rock? Besides, I've never seen a lump of stone that makes that kind of noise when you squeeze it..."
"Yeah well, that was probably because the 'lump of stone' as you like to call it, must be worth at least all the Dinars in Athens, and you were standing on that monster's tail when you stole it. Warriors! Sheesh."
The warrior had the grace to look sheepish, but only for a moment. Drops of condensed steam glistened on her bare arms and legs, glittering like diamonds when she reached back to draw her sword.
"Well, whatever, it's time to put that steam-head back to sleep," she growled, brushed aside a strand of damp hair, and took a battle stance on the heaving planks. "And it did not steal it. I retrieved it," she added under her breath.
"You know, it might just calm down if you give it his things back," Gabrielle suggested. "As fond as I am of treasure, but there is a place and time for everyth-"
"Nuh," Xena grunted, and barely brought her blade up in time to deflect another stream of white-hot fire. The bard could see the corded muscles on the warrior's arms bulge and strain as the blast was deflected and sent careening into the tall marsh grass on the nearby shore, which promptly caught fire.
"Close," Xena muttered.
Gabrielle rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed.
Above, the frustrated howl of their steam-shrouded attacker echoed angrily.
"Awww put a lid on it," Xena told the misty sky above her impatiently. She was answered by a high-pitched roar, like bronze grinding on stone. The leathery creak of large wings grew louder as the creature descended through the heated haze that its fiery breath had wrought.
And then suddenly, an errant breeze stirred the air enough to disperse the mist, revealing at last the full picture of their aerial attacker.
It was huge, bigger and more majestic-looking now that it was airborne than it had been in the confines of the cave, where only a section of its torso and tail had been visible. Big bat-like wings held the sinuous body aloft while the dragon's reptilian head swiveled slowly to zero in once more on its bobbing target. Gold-green reflections ran glittering along the creature's flank when it writhed to change direction, tail lashing and six legs pedaling to stabilize the huge body in the air.
"Hold it!" a voice boomed out.
The dragon paused in mid-flight, looking around to see where the voice had come from. Warrior and bard seemed similarly flabbergasted.
"What now?" this was a different voice, exasperated.
The dragon exchanged a puzzled glance with the humans on the raft, and all three shrugged, the creature's whole body rippling with the gesture.
"Dragons don't have six legs, you dummy."
"Of course they do! And stop calling me dummy."
"Nuh, they don't, they've got four legs. Four."
The dragon wavered for a moment, and then suddenly it had, indeed, only four legs!
"Six!"
And the dragon, grimacing, changed back to its original appearance.
"Four. That's final, or I'm not playing.
"Oh, sheesh Sina, what's the big deal? You never complained much about my stories before."
"Landbound dragons have six legs, flying dragons have four legs," Sina insisted, tossing another burning stick into the small pond just off the lake, where a soggy little paper boat was leaning crazily although still barely afloat.
The water made a little hiss, and the flame died. "Water-dragons have fins," the dark-haired girl added for good measure.
"And how do you know that?" Gabby asked her. "After all, that one," she pointed to the single, three-inch-long dragonfly that was hovering close for some reason, "has six legs."
"I can rip out two of them," Sina offered calmly, making as if to catch the insect in her fist.
Gabby caught her arm, stopping the halfhearted movement. "Don't be a jerk!"
Sina grinned. There was a gap where one of her front teeth had recently fallen out. "Thought I'd do it, didn'cha?"
"Oh, you!" Gabby pouted.
Sina's grin broadened, and she lit another twig, tossing it at the soaking paper raft. A satisfied grunt escaped her when she scored a direct hit. The boat tilted precariously, and eventually dumped the flame into the water, where it died with another hiss.
"Someone's going to see us and yell at us," Gabby said. "We're not supposed to play with matches."
"This thing is called a lighter."
"Whatever."
"Sissy."
I just don't want another of those... accidents," Gabby said, looking pointedly at a blackened patch close by that was still smoking faintly.
"Oh, don't start on that again. I saved us, didn't I?"
Gabby pouted. "By wasting a perfectly good bottle of lemonade, yes."
"Still mad about the lemonade, huh?"
Gabby said nothing, and watched the large dragonfly as it circled the little paper boat.
Frowning, Sina sat in the dust and crumpled a dry leaf in her hands.
"It was my favorite kind," Gabby finally added.
Sina contemplated the parched remains of the leaf in her hand, and the lighter in the other. "Sorry," she finally mumbled, and looked relieved when her friend seemed mollified. Then, so quickly that Gabby hardly had the chance to gasp in horror, she lit the lighter and set fire to the dried flakes on her palm.
"Sina, are you out of-"
Hissing in pain while trying to seem not to, Sina flicked her wrist and sent the smoldering leaf bits in a glittering shower towards the pond, where they went from hot orange to wet black with a sizzling noise.
I'm the Warrior Princess," Sina said nonchalantly. The act was spoiled a little, however, by her watering eyes and the surreptitious rubbing at a slightly blackened palm. "Pain," she sniffed, " is of no consequence to me."
Gabby rolled her eyes, but then she dutifully acknowledged the 'Warrior Princess' and her antics with an admiring smile.
"Pain is of no consequence to me," Xena said stoically, ignoring the blackened palm of her right hand as she grabbed her trusty Chakram. Above, the reptilian form was doing a series of barrel rolls, before dipping to nose-dive straight at them, jaws gaping as it inhaled.
"It's going to attack again!" Gabrielle shouted above the whoosh of air as the creature huffed and puffed, gathering fuel for its devastating breath weapon, even as its wings beat up a minor storm above their heads.
"Uh-huh," grunted the warrior, and sent her Chakram flying.
"Why is it making that funny noise?"
For now the dragon was breathing harder yet, sucking in air with a mighty wheeze and snorting it out through its snout like an overtaxed cart-horse.
"Dunno. Maybe it's a smoker."
"You oughta know," the bard muttered darkly. She got a flat stare in reply, to which she shrugged apologetically.
Meanwhile, the Chakram had reached the top of its arc just above the reptile's head, where it hovered briefly in midair, before it reversed course and smacked the dragon soundly on the snout before whirring back towards its Mistress.
The monster yelped and started wobbling in the air. It suddenly appeared to be in serious trouble, from the way its legs were flailing (still six of them, or so it seemed) and its tail was whipping back and forth.
"I think it's going down..." cried the bard
"... and it's headed straight for us," Xena observed, snatching the Chakram out of the air and tucking it into her belt in one fluid motion.
"Great, just great. How do you always manage to get us into these things?"
"Animal magnetism," grunted the warrior.
"Oh, no," Gabrielle said suddenly, pointing. "That's no ordinary dragon. It's changing into a human... Hera above, that means it can only be..."
"How do you always manage to get us into these things?" Gabby muttered to Sina as they both watched the tall figure approaching. Clad in gray sweats pants and black top, pumping weights with bulging biceps as she jogged, along came none other than Sina's somewhat less than well-liked soccer coach.
Her face was damp with sweat, and the ragged rhythm of her breath did indeed strangely resemble the sound a dragon might make just before it belched forth its blast of fire.
The dragonfly, startled by the ominous shadow now falling over it and the two girls, zipped upwards with a metallic buzz, and was gone.
"Oh no, what's she doing here?" Sina whispered, at the same time the buff woman said "What are you two doing here?"
"She always jogs by the lake around this time. I tried to tell you..." Gabby fell silent in mid-whisper as the tall form of Miss O'Leary loomed over them, gray-blue eyes luminous in the gently wavering backlight from the tranquil pond. A large bruise bulged on her left forehead.
Sina quickly slipped the hand holding her pink Frisbee behind her back and put on her most innocent face (which in truth made her look more guilty than a dog caught stealing a steak off the kitchen table).
"I believe," Miss O'Leary said in her strong voice, "that a couple of people over at the barbecue place are looking for their lighter." A meaningful glance took in the blackened spot on the ground and the soggy, charred wads of paper floating in the water, before she looked at the two girls, who were biting their lips. "You don't happen to have any idea where it might be, do you?"
Sina quickly shook her head, and surreptitiously cuffed her friend, who seemed about to say something.
Miss O'Leary raised an eyebrow - which made the bruise on her forehead somehow stand out more starkly - and pointed to the lighter in question, which was lying in plain view by the bank of the pond, its metallic surface gleaming innocently in the afternoon sun.
"You don't, do you," said Miss O'Leary in a tone that made Gabby squeak. Sina, for that matter, looked like she would like to run and hide somewhere far away, but only for a moment, before she stuck out her lower lip in defiance.
"I suggest you give those people their lighter back, and don't let me catch you playing with fire again, ladies, or I will have to find a new goalie, among other things. Is that understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," Gabby said in a shaky voice. Sina only nodded sullenly.
"And watch that Frisbee," she said as she turned and continued jogging her round, rubbing her bruised temple briefly with the back of her hand before taking up her weight-pumping once more.
"Don't even think about it, Sina," she added when her back was turned.
Gabby gasped, and barely caught Sina's arm before she could hurl said Frisbee at the tall woman's back.
"A dangerous one, that," Xena said. Her blue eyes were mere slits in a suspicious face that watched the creature assume her dragon form once more.
"Watch that Chakram." Wings pumping powerfully, the Dragon Lady raised herself up and away, a dark shape against the dazzling afternoon sun.
"We'll have to watch her closely," said Xena. "She's a mighty powerful one. Maybe I should-"
"Don't even think about it," the dragon roared from afar.
"Guess not," the warrior said, and tucked her Chakram away.
"Well, you had to rouse her interest, didn't you?" the bard said sourly. "It could've been such a nice an peaceful afternoon, but NO! Playing with fire, that's you. Have you at least learned something today?"
"Oh, come on, wasn't it worth it? Did you see that bruise?" the warrior giggled quite un-warriorlike. I'll bet it'll turn all shades of blue and black by tomorrow. Can't wait to see it!"
"And her temper will hardly be better, when we see her next time...," Gabrielle grumbled.
"Can't have everything."
"Say, wouldn't it be cool if we could tame her? I bet it's a lot of fun to put a saddle on a dragon and ride it up into the skies..."
And voices fading, a little warrior and bard started walking slowly along the well-trodden path by the lake.
"Gabby? That's not the way to the playground..."
"Nope. Come along, we've got a barbecue to go to, and a lighter to give back. If we want hamburger for dinner, that is."
"Awwwwwwww, man! But I like that lighter!"
"I bet my dad is having fits right now 'cause he can't find it. I hope he's not gonna kill us..."
(a companion to the Tell-Me-Series)
April 11, 1999
"Come on, try again! You almost got it this time!"
Two figures could be seen, head and shoulders above the relatively calm surface of the lake, bobbing lightly with the soft undulations of the crystal-clear water. Their breath made little clouds of steam in the early morning air.
"Okay, here goes," the smaller and lighter-haired of the two said, took a huge gulp of breath, and dove forward. Her legs kicking briefly above the surface of the water, she disappeared below while her dark-haired friend looked on with a tiny half-smile.
The surface of the water calmed again while she was down, the occasional bubble rising and betraying where she must be. Still expectant, the other remained very still and stared at the spot where the blonde had disappeared.
A huge splash, and the little blonde emerged again, a triumphant yell escaping her even before she had quite broken the surface. In her hands, a silvery, shining form was flopping wildly back and forth, struggling to wriggle out of her grasp.
"I did it!!! Look Xena, I really did it!"
"I knew you could do it Gabrielle," the taller form said with an indulgent smile. "And look what a nice one, too. Now, why don't you toss it over there with the others, and lets go prepare breakfast, huh?"
"Sounds like a plan."
She tossed her prize ashore. It flew in a huge silvery arc, to land on a large pile of large multicolored stones. No longer a fat bass but an ordinary piece of wet rock again, the stone joined its companions with a loud clack.
From the water rose two young girls in cartoon-character bathing suits, wringing water from their hair and shivering a little in the crisp air. Gabby grabbed their towels, and tossed one to Sina, a pleased grin nearly splitting her face in half.
"All the way to the bottom, Sina. I really did it," she chattered on excitedly.
The other girl's blue eyes sparkled with quiet pride for her smaller friend. "Yes, you sure did," she said.
Windshield-wipers flapped a dull counterpoint to the low music drifting from the radio, as the little car pulled off the Highway. It was raining hard enough to make the world outside the beam of the little car's headlights become a dark blur. Lana peered bleary-eyed ahead, her gaze intent on the road but her thoughts swirling with today's interview, and with the new story she couldn't wait to continue writing as soon as she got to the hotel. She cast an almost loving glance at the laptop sitting beside her on the passenger's seat. Her baby.
She had three more towns to pass through before she would arrive in the small, peaceful country village where her next assignment lay. She worked as a journalist for a small tabloid, and usually got burdened with the jobs no-one else wanted to take, simply because she just could not say no. Her only consolation was her writing, and the fact that she had actually managed to land a minor success with a little volume full of childhood memories. They were just short episodes taken from her not-so-boring everyday life as a kid, at the side of that indomitable, black-haired spitfire, Sina.
She smiled at the thought of her long-lost friend. She had no idea what had become of her. Just after Lana's 13th birthday, her dad had gotten a better job, and they had had to move to another town, too far away for more than the occasional visit. For some reason, those visits had soon stopped as both girls tried to manage life without the other. There had been letters, though, weekly at first, then monthly. The last Lana had heard from her friend was that she had graduated and was headed for the Police Academy. That had been a minor surprise, seeing how a certain watchman had been one of their favorite enemies back then. But somehow, she could picture the tall, blue-eyed girl quite well as a cop.
She herself had gone to university, gotten a degree both in journalism and ancient history, and finally ended up in this dull job that did not begin to give her abilities credit. But it was a living, and it did allow her to get around.
Around that time, all replies to her letters had stopped. One came back with a note written across that the recipient had moved and no new address had been given. Shortly after that, she herself had moved again. That had been the end of that, but Lana - Gabby, as she had been called back then, Gabrielle being her middle name - could never quite forget the girl she had so looked up to when she was little. Sina had never made many friends, but Gabby had been her faithful and trusted sidekick throughout their childhood. The memory of those last days together still stung. It must have been the only time little Gabby had ever seen her big tough friend weep.
A few years later, she had been surprised to see Sina on the news, now a full-fledged police officer responsible for the arrest of an infamous serial killer. She had not changed one bit in Lana's eyes, even with her once unruly black mane cut short and that smart uniform. She was still an untamed spirit, her blue eyes still staring defiance at the world. She had grown up to be quite a beautiful woman. Lana had briefly considered seeking her out, but at the time there had just been too much on her mind. Her sister's ruined marriage and finally the divorce - a relief. Her mom being diagnosed with a brain tumor, which, thankfully, had been successfully removed and so far had not grown back. Her own messed-up affair with Patrick, and her brief interlude with Jennifer that had been just as disappointing. Best not to dwell on that.
By the time she had found the time and courage to go and see her friend where she supposedly worked, she had been curtly informed that Sina McRunnel was no longer doing police duty, no reasons given. That had been two years ago.
Sighing, Lana forced her mind back to the business at hand. The weather was truly turning nasty, gusts of wind whipping sheets of water against the windshield with enough force to make her flinch. Vision was so bad that she almost missed the left turn she was supposed to take.
Just ahead, she saw a blob of something move erratically across the street. Thinking it must be a deer or some other large animal, Lana slowed the car down. The figure suddenly doubled over and fell down in a contorted lump, right in front of her car. Its outline was definitely human. Lana slammed on the brakes just barely in time to avoid running over the motionless body. Cursing under her breath, she unbuckled her seatbelt and pushed the door open against the howling wind. Rain pelted her face as soon as she was able to put a foot outside.
Throwing all the warnings she had ever heard about roadside robberies in the wind, she struggled to reach the fallen form. It was a tall woman, dimly lit by the headlights of her car, her shoulder-length hair plastered to her face, and a bleeding wound gaping on her forehead that she must have gotten falling down onto the concrete. The water washing down in rivers made the blood spread quickly across a finely chiseled face and into her hair. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn't moving, but a touch of Lana's fingers against a chilled throat found the pulse beating strongly, if somewhat irregularly.
She looked a mess. Even through the wind and rain, she also positively reeked of alcohol. Saliva trickled from her mouth, mingled with the rain water and what must be traces of vomit.
Though more than disgusted at the woman's intoxicated condition, Lana realized that she needed medical care. She had to get her to a hospital.
"Hey, can you hear me?" she called, softly at first, then louder to be heard over the roaring of the weather. But she had to bring her mouth close to the woman's ear before she got any reaction at all.
That reaction, when it came, was a series of incoherent groans and mumbles. "Leeme...lone..."
"What's your name?" Lana tried again, louder and more insistent as she carefully ran her hands along the woman's body to check for more blood or other obvious injuries. She found none.
"Lemme... shleeeep...," she drawled drunkenly, struggling to raise her head, "don't yell... need... a drink..." Lana barely caught the woman's head before it thudded back onto the concrete.
"Oh, no you don't," Lana mumbled to an unhearing audience. It was a mannerism of hers to start talking to herself when under strain, and so she chattered away as she helped a now semi-conscious drunk to her feet and half-carried her to the passenger seat. She was a solid woman, and quite massive, and she leaned heavily on Lana. While certainly not skinny, there seemed to be more muscle than fat to her.
Groping around to get her precious laptop out of the way, she heaved the limp and heavy form into the passenger seat with a grunt, and experienced a brief moment of almost-panic when she heard the woman choke and retch. No more vomit came, though. With a sigh, she slammed the door shut and got in behind the wheel. Before she started the engine, she found an old cloth and cleared away the worst of the blood from the woman's face. It was too dark to see clearly even with the tiny lamp in the cockpit lit, but she could see that the wound was still bleeding profusely. She hastily tied the cloth around the drunk's head to stop the worst of it.
She had passed a somewhat larger town that had a hospital a few miles back, and so she turned her car and drove back there as fast as the weather would allow. She checked her watch - 9:20pm. Hopefully, she would still be in time to check in at her hotel.
An hour and a half later, she passed that same spot on the road again, bone weary and shaken by the thought that she had almost been responsible for the death of a human being.
They had let her off at the hospital after a brief interview, after she assured them that she had no idea who the woman was. It seemed they had found no ID on her at all. Something had tickled her mind, but she had thought nothing of it.
It seemed the woman had suffered no worse than a light concussion, other than having barely avoided a serious alcohol poisoning. They would keep her under surveillance for a day or so, but she would be okay.
Barely in time, the journalist reached the tiny hotel that was to be her home for the night. All thoughts of writing were gone from her mind. She took a quick shower to warm herself, and went to bed for an uneasy sleep, troubled by visions of a blood-covered face on a lonely, rain-pelted street.
Lana had no idea what made her go back to the hospital the following day, though she was later to think that some God must have smiled on her that day.
The assignment had been more or less routine, coverage of that little hamlet's rather peculiar Easter tradition, supposedly brought there by Eastern European immigrants generations ago. She was still shaking her head at the thought of girls and women voluntarily letting males whip their butts with a willow rod, and even thanking them with treats of chocolate eggs afterwards, when she climbed the stairs to the first floor of the hospital and the room she had been directed to.
She almost turned back without knocking, as a sudden, inexplicable wave of trepidation washed over her. For a minute she just stood there in front of the closed door, fist poised for knocking.
Squaring her shoulders, she drew a breath and knocked, knowing suddenly with giddy certainty whom she would find on the other side.
But how... whatever happened to her since we parted? Oh my God!
At the sound of a shaky voice telling her to come in, she pushed open the door, her heart suddenly in her throat.
She lay there with her eyes closed, looking a lot better cleaned up and with the wound on her forehead neatly dressed, though still drawn and pale, with deep circles under her eyes. Lana wondered why she had not recognized her the day before. But it had been so very long, and it had been too dark to see clearly out on that road. And it seemed life had not been kind to her. Not kind at all. The journalist's heart ached for her oldest, dearest friend.
Lana found herself unable to speak, and just silently willed her to open her eyes. She so wanted to look into those eyes again!
Obviously expecting a nurse or doctor, Sina only opened her eyes when her visitor made no move and did not speak for some time. A trace of the old, impatient spirit flared there, to be turned into puzzlement and then into surprised wonder as recognition dawned.
"Hey," Lana croaked past the lump in her throat.
"Not a dream, then," Sina breathed, and grinned weakly, bitterly. "Guess I wasn't as hammered as I thought. Hey, Gabby." Her eyes closed again, briefly. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"For what? Do you think if I ever met you again, I wanted it to be like this? I've dreamed of this moment, but I just never saw it happening. And certainly not like this. I feel like a piece of shit."
Lana sat down on the edge of the bed, and took Sina's hand in both of hers. She was still stunned at the unexpected reunion, and the incredible coincidence that had let them find each other again on some godforsaken, drenched country road, of all places. "What's happened to you in all these years? Tell me, Sina."
A brief smile flickered across the taller woman's features, and with Lana's help she propped herself up against the headrest as she started telling her tale. Hesitant, almost shy at first, Lana's encouraging and compassionate gaze gently urged her on.
She had been a cop for some time, and then something had happened involving bribes and other nasty things going on among Sina's colleagues. Sina had apparently stumbled upon some atrocity that her own boss had been involved in, and had tried to take matters into her own hand. As a consequence, she had been unceremoniously suspended, with a list of nasty charges on her record, which she insisted was not fully justified. After that, she had been able to get the odd job as a body guard, most of these for the more dubious and seedy characters in town. From there, it seemed she had spiraled down a maelstrom of minor crime, drugs, and alcohol.
Lana listened in growing horror, but Sina assured her that she was clean now of drugs. She had even managed to get an honest job again, hauling furniture for a local seller, with the help of one of the few of her ex-colleagues who had believed her rather than her one-time boss. It wasn't heaven, but it kept her alive.
The alcohol was a problem from time to time, though, she admitted. She just got so terribly lonely, and sometimes she just had to drown it all or she couldn't stand it.
As she listened, Lana had started softly stroking her friend's hand. Her own story was told quickly, and by the time she ended, she found Sina's blue gaze resting on her, the old pride at her smaller friend's success evident in her eyes.
"So, you're Lana Bachman, the author, huh? I really should have made the connection. The last name... but then, no one ever really called you Lana back then, not even your parents. Why did you change that?"
Lana shrugged. "It just seemed the thing to do, with so many things changing already in my life. So, I take it you haven't read my book, have you?"
Sina looked sheepish. "I don't read much. You know me. That much, at least, hasn't changed."
"Oh, but I think this will interest you. I've got a few autographed copies in the trunk of my car. I'll get you one later." She smiled excitedly, impatient to learn what her friend thought about her collection of anecdotes from their childhood.
"Sure, you do that," Sina agreed smiling. She turned serious again, her hands fiddling with the covers. "I'm really glad for you, Gabby. Is it all right if I still call you that?"
"Of course it is. And hey, it's not as if my life is pure bliss. I'm really not too happy with my job right now. They just walk all over me, because I'm too chicken and too naive to do anything about it."
Sina stared out the window, only half-hearing her friend's words. "You were always the nice one of us, the pure, good, innocent one. I was just scum."
"That's not true Sina, and you know it," Lana replied intently.
"Yes, Gab, it is. My mom said so, your mom said so... what was there not to believe?" She laughed bitterly. "Look at you, you're educated now. I'm nothing."
Sina's biting remark hurt, but looking at her drawn and haggard face and seeing all the pain and anger her one-time friend must have gone through, she swallowed her own irritation.
"No you're not. You were a cop once, and from what I hear you were one of the best. You can be again."
"Oh, you have no idea. That is one thing I can never be again. I took care of that myself." Another mirthless laugh.
"Listen, Sina, I don't care what you've done to end up where you are, but it's not too late to turn back."
"That's easy for you to say."
"Sina - Xena, Warrior Princess... I have never stopped believing in you, even after all that time. You were my hero back then, and my protector, and I loved you." She paused to cup Sina's face in her hands. "I still do," she finished quietly. The next she did not speak aloud. I wonder why it's taken me all these years to realize that. I should have gone to her right away, and Patrick and Jenny be damned. She needed me. She always did need me, big stupid thing!
"Xena...", the dark-haired woman murmured, "I haven't heard that name spoken in ages..." She closed her eyes, overcome with memories. When she opened them again to look at her friend, they were glistening with unshed tears. A crooked smile accompanied her words.
"And what makes you think even Xena can straighten up this mess she's made of herself? Tell me, Gabrielle..."
Lana blinked at the magic words from her childhood, surprised to have tears sting her own eyes. "Oh, Xena, there is always a way... and now that you've got me to take care of you, what could go wrong? We'll make it, you and I." She sniffed. "Now see what you've made me do. Crying like a little girl."
"Like I'm any better," an equally sniffling Sina laughed through her tears. "Come on little bard, give your warrior a hug! I think I'm finally coming home."
"Oh," was all Lana managed before Sina drew her into a fierce embrace. What ever else was about to happen, let it come. Xena and Gabrielle were together again, and nothing would stop them. Nothing ever had.
The warrior had indeed come home. So had the bard.
Author's Note: This is not the end of the Sina and Gabby stories. Lana - Gabby - is getting ready to write more as we speak. And, with Sina now adding her two Dinars, I'd say the fun was just beginning!
(a companion to the Tell-Me-Series)
April 17, 2001
"Always."
"Always, Gabrielle. We'll always be best friends, no matter what."
In the warm green darkness of the small grove, two little girls knelt amongst pine-needles, their faces flushed from struggling through the brush, their knees bruised and scraped from their effort to reach this secluded little place in the woods out back.
The candle burning between them cast flickering shadows on their faces as they looked gravely at each other, clasping one another's hands tightly as they made the sacred promise.
Smiling fondly, the young woman recalled the childhood memory, only to dismiss it with a sigh as she leaned forward to take another cigarette out of her pack. Keeping that promise was not all that easy just now. If Sina had been in the room at this moment, Lana would not have known whether to hug, or strangle her friend.
With a trembling hand, she brought the cigarette to her mouth, and had to try three times before she managed to make the lighter work.
A long, desperate draw, while she tossed the lighter onto the table of the small waiting room, then she made an impatient noise deep in her throat, and angrily stabbed the glowing stick into the ashtray. She was quitting this idiotic habit, after all. Blast Sina for making her forget herself in this way!
She gave a start when the door suddenly opened, and a police officer walked in. Jumping to her feet, she looked at the man expectantly.
He cleared his throat before he spoke. "Well, Miss, the good news is that there have been no deaths reported that match your description." Clearing his throat again, he scratched his neck. "But I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. We put out a search for your friend. It would be best if you went home now and tried to get some rest. We've done all we can for now."
Swallowing hard against the thickening lump in her throat, Lana nodded. She hadn't really had much hope of success in coming here, but she was getting desperate. She thanked the officer, before gathering up her coat and slinking down to the parking lot.
There had been no word from Sina since she had left the house they shared, over a week ago. No word, except for an email Lana had received a few days later, stating Sina had to "take care of something", and not to worry, she'd be all right. She'd taken her motorcycle - a 20 year old BMW named "Argo II" after her first bicycle - some clothes, and her black leather backpack.
Fingering the email printout again, Lana was pacing in front of the fireplace, as she'd done the nights before. Back, and forth, until her eyes were swimming, then dropping onto the couch to stare at the dark TV screen until fatigue pulled her into a restless sleep. Such had been her ritual for the last few days, and it might well be again today.
It wasn't like the tall, somber woman had never done anything like it before; life had not been good to Sina in the years after they had lost sight of each other, as Lana knew well. There were still times when dark moods and brooding drove her out of their home to be by herself for a while, and Lana let her, even though she ached to reach out and comfort her.
However, Sina had never been gone for more than one night. By silent consent, they never spoke of where she went or what she did. She always came back, and Lana grudgingly agreed that that was good enough for her.
They had come a long way since the freak chance encounter on that rainy road over a year ago, and had been virtually inseparable, just like in the old days.
Lana was making a living on freelance writing, and Sina had found a position as a bouncer in a women's only bar down town.
Sina had been enthusiastic enough about this new position to move here two months ago, and since Lana herself did not have many ties to their previous home, other than her best friend, she'd agreed to make the move with her. She had not regretted that decision. It had actually put her a few hundred miles closer to her childhood home, and her family.
The bar was not a place either woman would consider frequenting, but her friend seemed content there. With her background as a former police officer, a solid knowledge of martial arts and years of experience in the streets, Sina was well-suited for the task. Carrying herself with the grace and ease of a cat ready to pounce, she made most troublemakers think twice.
But then, she'd never taken any nonsense from anybody, and not a few of the kids at school had stepped lightly around her out of respect for her prowess and quick temper. In fact, Sina had been a regular terror when she had turned up in gym class one day, a stranger, and an angry child. A day that would change Lana's life, had she but known.
Still pacing relentlessly, the young woman's thoughts went back to that first meeting, oh so long ago, and she had to smile again. No, their acquaintance hadn't exactly been off to a good start....
"Ow! Watchit, willya?"
"You were in the way," came the hissed reply. The steel blue eyes of the strange new girl where so intense, they almost made little Lana take a step back.
She bit her lip and pressed her hand against her ribs where the handle of the other girl's bicycle had cuffed her painfully.
"Argo don't like strangers," the dark-haired girl snapped as she rested the bike carefully against the wall. She gave it a pat, before straightening her shoulders and adjusting the satchel on her back.
"Good, 'cause I don't like bikes," Lana mumbled sullenly. But the newcomer already had her back turned and was ignoring her. Resisting the urge to give the offending bike a solid kick and send it tumbling to the ground - she knew better than to add a bruised foot to her aching rib - Lana went to join her classmates, who were crowded around the PE teacher at the edge of the soccer field.
To get there, she had to walk past the stranger, who made a nasty grimace at her. Lana stuck out her tongue.
"Lana G. Bachmann! Don't be so rude to your new classmate!"
The blonde girl jumped at hearing the teacher call her by her full name. "Sorry, Mr. Walsh," she said in a small voice.
"I would have expected you to be more considerate," he told her sternly, before turning to the class. "Kids, this is Sina. She will be with us from now on. Maybe you'll want to show her around after class?" Smiling, he addressed the new girl. "Don't worry, Sina, you're going to feel right at home here."
Sina just looked at him.
As class went on, Lana's gaze went to the silent stranger several times, to find her looking her way with a now hostile, now thoughtful expression. It turned out that Sina was an outstanding athlete, but she shrugged off any praise from the teacher or admiring comments from the other children with a sniff and a flat stare. It was with relief that Lana heard the bell ring. At last, she'd be able to get away from those piercing eyes.
However, when she went to stow her things in her locker and retrieve her lunch box, she found Sina standing there, an unreadable look on her face.
"Why didn't you tell on me when you got yelled at?"
"'Cause it's not nice to tell on people."
"But you almost got in trouble."
Lana just shrugged.
Sina was silent for a while. "Just don't expect me to be nice to you in return." And she turned and stalked away, shouldering her satchel. Lana noticed the hilt of a wooden toy sword sticking out from under the flap.
So grouchy, and so tough... Still grinning, Lana returned to the present to find she had wandered into Sina's room. Her friend's bed was sloppily made, and a single sock was lying on the cover.
Lana shook her head as she picked up the sock absently. Some things just never changed. One of them was the fact that one piece of clothing would steadfastly resist all of her friend's questionable efforts to clean up her room.
In contrast, Sina's computer desk was meticulously tidy. She spent a lot of time there these days, when she wasn't working. Too much time, in Lana's opinion, but she'd been holding her peace. She did understand, in a way.
While Sina was certainly on the road to recovery from the various pitfalls and obstacles life had been hurling at her after she'd left home, she was still struggling with a few things, not the least of which being an almost irrational obsession with finding her father again. He'd left home when she was a little child, and neither her mother nor her older brother Tom had had word from him since. A lot of her spare time went into scouting the Internet for something, anything, that might point to his whereabouts. So far, she'd found nothing of interest, not even when Lana had tapped her own considerable resources with the newspaper she used to work for.
For as long as Lana could remember, Sina had been thinking of him, wondering, missing him. She had never fully understood it, having grown up sheltered by a complete, intact family. She could not see why her friend could care so much about a man who had just left his family without looking back, never to be seen again.
"How come your folks let you bring that thing to school?"
"They don't," Sina said flatly.
It was lunch break. The dark-haired girl was mostly hidden from view by the large tree Lana always liked to sit behind during this time. Here she could draw pictures in peace and not be harassed by the bigger kids. Sina was wielding the wooden sword Lana had glimpsed before, hacking away methodically at the tree's bark. Blunt though the blade was, it had already left angry marks upon the rough surface, the pale, live wood shining through in bright patches where strings of bark splintered away.
"My dad made it for me," she grated upon seeing the smaller girl's half curious, half appalled glances at her weapon. "He said I'm his Warrior Princess, so I'd need a good sword." She paused, casually shouldering the toy sword, and shot Lana a dark look, as if daring her to comment.
All Lana could think of, however, was the poor tree. Didn't Sina know that trees hurt, too? She hoped Sina would stop attacking it. But, what was she going to say to a kid who looked more than ready to try out her warrior skills on a more mobile target? Thinking quickly, she decided to drop the matter.
"Your dad must be a nice guy," she offered.
Sina grunted something unintelligible, and viciously attacked the tree once more.
Her breath coming in gasps, Sina finally stood still, looking at the ground. "He's not nice, and he doesn't love us."
Lana bit her lip. "Why d'you say that?"
The girl hesitated. Her lower lip trembled a little. "He went away."
"But why?"
"Dunno. He just went." Her chin went up, and she cleared her throat. "I don't wanna talk about it." The look she gave Lana warned her not to press the matter.
Lana sighed softly. Well, wasn't this just wonderful? She'd put her foot in it, hadn't she? But then, why did it matter? It wasn't like Sina was all that nice anyway. Maybe now she'd not want to talk to Lana anymore, and not give her those looks, and most importantly, keep that beastly bicycle away from her. And yet... somehow... her heart went out to that wild, unruly girl, so different from herself. She rubbed her nose, thinking.
"I always come here at lunch," she said finally, and cleared her throat. "D'you wanna sit with me?"
For a moment, it looked like Sina was going to run away. Then, abruptly, she sat in the dust and folded her arms around knees that peeked out dirtily from under her worn black dress, staring at the ground with her lower lip firmly between her teeth.
Funny, thought Lana, they had just sat there without speaking that day. From that day on, Sina would be waiting for her, to sit beside her during lunch, just as silently as the first time. But apart from those moments of peace, the girl had hardly been pleasant company.
She'd had a quick temper, preferring physical violence to wit, even though Lana had suspected even then that her strange friend was far from stupid. Lana chuckled. Sina still had a bit of a temper these days!
In fact, her friend's disappearance did sound just like the thing she would do, if something sufficiently important had come up... And most likely, it was not something Lana would have liked the sound of, not in the least.
Clenching and unclenching her fists uselessly, she made a frustrated sound. If only she had a clue!
Dejected, she sank down on her friend's bed and curled up miserably, her mind whirling.
"What kind of a name is 'Lana', anyway?" Sina asked her one day, as they were sitting in their by now customary spot during lunch.
Lana had her sketchpad and a box of crayons by her side, her lunchbox sitting on her knees as she munched on a nice, squishy peanut butter sandwich. She paused in mid-chew, her jaw going slack with the shock of Sina actually striking up a conversation.
Then she shrugged. "It's just a name," she said thickly around a sticky mouthful. "Why? What's wrong with it?"
"Dunno. Sounds..." Sina paused, groping for words. "Doesn't fit you. It's old, somehow"
Lana rubbed her nose. "Doesn't bother me, really. Anyway, my mom says when I'm old enough, I get to say if I want my first name, or my middle name to be my real name."
"Oh? And what's that?"
"Gabrielle," Lana mumbled. She'd always felt it was a terribly embarrassing middle name to have.
"Cool," said Sina. "Wish I had two names."
Lana smiled a little. And all of a sudden, 'Gabrielle' didn't seem like such a terrible middle name anymore. "Sina's a good name," she said.
"You think?" Her new friend flashed her a quick, gap-toothed grin when she nodded.
"What's that you got there?" Sina motioned to the notepad and crayons lying by Lana's side, curious.
Lana hastily snatched up the pad and clutched it to her chest. "Just... stuff."
"What stuff? Can I see?"
"No."
"Aw, why not?"
"'Cause."
"C'mo-o-o-n..."
"It's personal stuff," Lana said importantly.
Sina tilted her head. "Pleeeze?"
Reluctantly, Lana released her hold on the pad and allowed the other girl to take it from her. Then she sat, biting her lip, as Sina leafed through the pages.
"Oh, they're pictures! What are they?"
"It's... well, they're a story," Lana said, slightly embarrassed.
"Ooh, a story! What's it about? Tell me..."
Taken aback by the girl's interest, Lana hesitated before replying. She hadn't really meant for Sina, of all people, to see this particular story...
"Well, it's a story about Hercules, who's the son of Zeus, who's the old Greek father of the Gods. He was the strongest man who ever lived.
"Stronger than Superman?" Sina asked.
Lana nodded seriously. "He couldn't fly, though. Anyway, here he's fighting this army of bad guys, led by..." she hesitated, as Sina turned a page to look at the next picture.
Drawn in spidery lines, colored awkwardly, a smiling Hercules looked out at her, pointing his Sword at a frowny-faced woman with black hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a black dress and sat atop a yellow horse that was frowning just like its rider.
"Led by who?" asked Sina sharply.
"By a Warrior Pr... by a beastly, evil warlord," Lana mumbled.
Sina squinted, having caught the slip. "Who wins?" she asked curtly.
"Well, see for yourself." And Sina did, turning another page.
There was another smiling Hercules, although this time his rump was colored in a different brown - the original crayon had given out. Kneeling at his feet was the warrior woman, frowning even worse than before. There was a chain around her neck; her hands were tied. Her army was gone, but the horse was still there, tied to a tree behind the two figures, one wire-thin foot raised as if stamping the ground impatiently.
"I see," said Sina tonelessly. Her face was a mask.
"So, whaddya think?" Lana asked hopefully.
Just then, the bell rang.
"It's dumb," said Sina, before turning and walking back to class.
She must have slept, for when she opened her eyes, sunlight was streaming into her eyes, painfully obscuring her vision. Blinking, she looked around, momentarily disoriented. Sina's room. Fell asleep on her bed. Must've been wiped. Sheesh
The bitter taste of that memory still clung to her mind. She had come to class puffy-eyed and devastated that day, vowing to never touch her crayons again.
But, looking back, she realized that Sina had probably been quite stricken as well, since it was obvious that the "evil warlord" had been modeled after her. The horse had even had the same color as that infernal bike! She must have felt awful!
At the same time, little Lana had asked herself why Sina's harsh judgment had cut so much deeper than the quips of all the other kids. Most had thought her a bit quaint, to say the least, for her dreamy-eyed obsession with her stories.
Lana shifted her position to shield her eyes from the bright light, wincing at a nasty kink in her neck. As she turned, her eye caught something under Sina's computer desk, a piece of paper that had apparently slipped down the back end and now lay against the wall.
Curious, she heaved herself up to get a closer look. Her still sleepy limbs protested, but she ignored them as she crawled under the table to pick up the note.
Sneezing at the dustballs gathered there, she edged forward until her fingers closed around the crumpled paper, feeling slightly guilty for snooping. However, worry made her push her misgivings aside. Besides, who knew, it might not even be relevant.
It was a brief message scrawled untidily in no handwriting Lana had seen before.
Meet me in Central Park, at the entrance to the children's zoo, 6pm. Be on time, and please don't tell anyone. Not anyone, you hear?
It was not signed or dated. But Lana strongly suspected that it had been lying there approximately from the time of Sina's disappearance.
"Well, whaddya know," Lana told the black computer screen. "I think I'm going for a walk."
The park was quiet at this time of day, with most people at work. Once again Lana was glad of her freelance job that allowed her to work on her own time, more or less.
She strolled casually along the paths, watching flabby ladies huff and puff along doing their exercises. Sleek, muscular joggers were passing them looking oddly smug. A few people were walking their dogs, and the odd child was tugging on the hand of a parent, eager to get to the children's zoo.
Lana did not really expect to find anything or anyone here; after all, that note was days old. But, it was the only clue she had.
After a while, she reached the entrance to the small enclosure that was the petting zoo, housing an assortment of sheep, goats, tame deer, and a handful of Galloway cattle. There was also Moses, a rather clever pig that somehow always managed to find a way to the other side of the fence, to the delight of the children, but the chagrin of Otis, the park's caretaker. The dark-skinned old man gave her a friendly nod as she passed him. She and Sina came here from time to time to exercise.
For a while, she stood, fists balled in the pockets of her jeans, looking over the fence at the mélange of muddy children and animals, grubby fingers reaching out more or less gently to pet a shaggy head or flank, a parent cautioning here or there. Closing her eyes, she allowed the morning sun to caress her face, and just let the soft laughter and the jumble of voices wash over her.
Another lunch break found Lana leaning back against her tree, voices from the playground drifting towards her. A soft breeze came to tickle her cheeks, carrying a smell of freshly cut grass. She loved that smell, and the tingling sensation on her skin, both of which was somehow much more intense when you closed your eyes. And so she did, letting the flickering shadows of moving leaves through the orange veil of her eyelids mesmerize her.
Her notepad lay beside her, crayons nicely pointed, untouched for days, yet she could not imagine not carrying it with her.
Sina had not come back since the picture incident, and Lana was surprised to find herself actually missing the strangely rebellious girl.
The noise close by startled her, but she had no chance to react before a quick hand had snatched up her precious sketchpad. The hand belonged to Daryl, school bully, who was now leafing through the pages with an ugly sneer on his face.
Lana was not one of his favorite targets, being well-liked enough by some, and not quite to be considered a nerd. But seeing her alone and inattentive was too much of an opportunity to pass up.
Behind him, Sarah and Dwayne, his two cronies, were wearing identical leers. "Awww look what we got 'ere," said Daryl.
"Hey, that's mine, gimme it!"
Grinning evilly, the tall boy lifted the notepad high above his head, and all three laughed at the much shorter girl jumping frantically trying to reach it.
"Hey, you're crumpling it," Lana was close to tears, "give it back!"
"Fat chance, twerp," said Sarah. "I think we'll hang it up way high on the wall, for all to see."
"No!"
Daryl cackled. "And who's going to stop u- OW!!" A flying white object connected solidly with the arm that held the notebook, knocking it out of the boys hand. It was a tennis shoe.
"That's my friend," came Sina's voice from several paces away. Menacingly, she was brandishing the missile shoe's mate.
Lana made a grab for her sketches and retreated a few steps.
"So what?"
"So, you're not going to mess with her, or else." Never in her life would Lana forget the expression in Sina's eyes at that moment. The boys must have noticed it, too, because suddenly, they seemed to decide that Lana was not so much fun to tease after all. Sarah, on the other hand, had started to edge around the tree to get at Sina from behind.
She did not get very far, though, for Lana quickly stuck out her foot and tripped her, earning a quick grin from the shoe wielding little Warrior Princess.
Sarah, using words that a girl her age really shouldn't know at all, got up, dusted herself off, and after shooting both Sina and Lana a dirty look, joined the two boys in their search for mischief elsewhere.
"Thanks," Lana said when they were out of earshot.
"'Sokay," Sina said gruffly, shuffling in the dust with a dirty shoe.
"They usually leave me alone. Must've been bored."
"They shouldn't pick on people like that. It's mean."
Lana had to agree. "Some kids are like that, though."
"I guess."
Sina looked at the notepad clutched in Lana's arms. By a freak chance, it had opened to the page that showed Hercules taking the evil warlord prisoner.
"That's me, isn't it?" she asked quietly. "And not just a warlord."
Lana took a deep breath. "Yeah. Sina, the Warrior Princess." She grinned weakly. "I kind of thought you might have made a cool warlord."
She was utterly relieved when Sina returned the grin. "Yeah, I guess. Sina: Warrior Princess... Hey, not bad! Although... I dunno..."
"What?"
Sina shrugged. "Don't like my name much, I guess. Sounds a little rough."
Lana rubbed her nose. She always did that when she was thinking really hard. "Maybe pronounce it so it sounds softer... Zee-nah... Xena."
The other girl's face lit up. "Xena: Warrior Princess" There ya go, that's so cool! I'm Xena! Nothing can stop me!" And she drew her sword and whirled it over her head. "Ayiyiyiyiyiyi!"
"Ow! Not in my ear! Where'd that come from, anyway?"
"Sorry. That's the battle cry of the Warrior Princess." Sina giggled. It was a strange sound, stranger even than that awful cry, considering Lana had never heard the other girl giggle before.
But then, the dark-haired girl paused, stepping from one foot to the other.
"But, can't Xena be good? I don't want her to be bad."
Lana looked at the picture, rubbing her nose again. "I suppose Xena could be a bad one turned good."
"Do you think that can happen?"
"I guess you'd need a real good friend to help you with it," Lana mused. She grabbed her notebook, and, sticking out her tongue in concentration, opened the notebook to the very first picture of the story and picked up a golden crayon.
Sina looked doubtful. "I guess. Whatcha doing?"
"You'll see." Lana was carefully shielding the page from Sina's view as she added something. Crane her neck as she might, curious Sina could only catch quick glimpses that raised a lot more questions than they answered.
At last, Lana straightened, and let Sina see her work. A new figure had been added to the picture, smaller than the warrior, blonde, green-eyed, smiling.
Sina raised a questioning eyebrow.
"This is the friend," Lana clarified. "She travels at the Warrior Princess' side, and writes down stories of all the adventures they're having together."
"Cool. What's her name? Is it Lana?"
Lana grinned impishly. "She's Gabrielle, the Bard."
Lana chuckled softly. From that day on, to Sina she'd been Gabrielle, or Gabby for short, and they'd had plenty of wonderful adventures to write about since. She opened her eyes again reluctantly, slightly dazed; coming back to the present was a chore.
When she did, though, she had to squeeze them shut again and shake her head, for what she saw before her could only be a dream.
A few yards away from her stood a girl, perhaps seven or eight years old, with long, unruly jet black hair and a set of intense blue eyes that she had only ever seen in one person.
"S... Sina?" That was impossible, of course, but...
The girl, noticing Lana's sudden attention, stared at her wide-eyed for a split-second, then she took off across the lawn at a dead run.
"Hey, wait!"
Self-conscious, Lana desisted from sprinting after the strange girl. She doubted anyone here would understand the nuances of her action if she did, especially since the child quite obviously was a stranger to her. Instead, she just stood there for a few moments, shaken at the eerie resemblance.
Taking a few calming breaths, she started strolling leisurely to where she had seen the child disappear, her heart thudding so loudly she almost wondered why no-one else seemed to hear it. Had she still been dreaming? How likely was the appearance of someone who looked exactly like her friend had almost twenty years ago?
"Not likely, you idiot," she murmured to herself. "You've probably just been daydreaming, and scared that poor kid out of her mind by staring so hard."
Rounding a hedge, she found herself in another section of the park, where most of the space was overgrown with all types of large trees and dense bushes, a striking contrast to the flower beds and carefully groomed lawns she had just left behind. Incidentally, this was her and Sina's favorite part of the park; they both shared a deep love for rich forests. Sometimes, even now, just for a few moments, they pretended to be back in old Greece, traveling the dusty roads and fighting bad guys.
Lana grinned. Hopefully, nobody actually listened to their conversations at those times.
Apart from the magic of the rich vegetation, this place also provided ample cover for someone trying to hide, especially if that someone was less than full-grown. Extremely weary all of a sudden, Lana sank down on a nearby park bench. It looked like this was another dead end.
Feeling the sudden urge to write, she pulled out the notepad she carried with her at all times - some things never changed - and wrote.
The soft scratching of her pen on paper and the peace of this place were balm for her frayed nerves. Reality receded.
"She said you'd show up here."
Lana gave a start. For a time, she'd managed to lose herself completely in her writing, so being caught this completely off guard was no big surprise. Staring into a set of curious blue eyes framed by long, tousled dark hair, however, was!
"Huh?" Lana said intelligently.
"She said you tell good stories. Do you?"
"Sina, is that you?"
"Geez, Lady, you can't be very bright," the girl said. "I can't be Sina, Sina's big."
Lana blinked, "But you..."
"I'm Melanie."
"Melanie." It was more surreal than a Dalí painting, this girl, the spitting image of a childhood memory standing there before her. The resemblance was uncanny, right down to that slightly rebellious, slightly aloof look and the faded black T-shirt, blue jeans and sneakers, that backpack with - Lana gasped.
The handle of a wooden toy sword. It was the same sword little Gabby had seen in use so many, many times, so long ago. The sword of the Warrior Princess, even though the wood had aged since Lana had last seen it, all those years ago. It even had that little notch on the pommel that it had received during one fateful bike ride through a giant-infested quarry. There could be no two like it.
"Like my sword?" Melanie said, noticing the woman's stare.
"Why, yes, it's... it's a nice sword. Where did you get it?"
"My real mom gave it to me," she said, and Lana experienced a strange sense of dejà vu, as Melanie pulled it out and hefted it thoughtfully.
Thoughts were spinning in Lana's head. "And where is your mom now?"
"She went away when I was very little. Dad says she wanted for me to have the sword, because she loved me so much." The sneer as she said the word 'loved' seemed completely out of place in a child her age.
Her mom? Her dad? But she'd mentioned Sina, and used her first name. So who...? And how...?
"I'm sure she did," said Lana.
"Oh yeah? Then why'd she go?"
Lana drew a breath. "I don't know. People do strange things sometimes."
"Sina says you never did bad things."
"So, you know Sina, do you?" Lana asked cautiously.
The girl nodded. "She's my friend."
Yeah, I'm sure, Lana thought wryly. Just a friend? Not bloody likely, kid. God, look at you! "Really?" she said out loud. "That's good, she's my friend, too."
Melanie looked at her as if she had just stated that water was wet. "I know that."
"Do you know where she is? Did she send you?"
Melanie kicked the dirt with a toe. "She said not to talk to you. But I did anyway," she mumbled.
"Oh? And why would she say that?"
"Not sure, but I think she thought you'd be upset or something." She looked at Lana. "Are you? I mean, I don't really know what she was talking about. She said you tell these good stories..."
"You did nothing wrong, Melanie," Lana assured her. Didn't want to upset her? A bit late for that, surely. "Now, will you take me to Sina? I haven't seen her for so long, I was getting worried about her."
Melanie bit her lip. Then, pretending not to hear the question, she said. "Will you tell me a story?"
Lana had to chuckle. "You are soo like her. She always had a way of ignoring what she doesn't want to deal with."
Melanie gave her a look, pointing the sword in her direction. "Will you? I'm a warrior, and I can beat you up if you don't."
"Well, if you do that, I won't be fit to tell stories, will I?"
"S'pose so." Putting the sword down, she tilted her head. "Pleeeze?"
Lana realized she had something to bargain with."Only if you take me to Sina."
Melanie looked cornered. She wanted that story! But... "I can't do that."
"Why not?"
"I promised. Warrior's word of honor."
This was getting more and more confusing and frustrating!
"Look... um... Melanie, I... this is really important, I have to know she's okay."
"Warrior's word of honor," Melanie's lower lip trembled.
Just as Lana opened her mouth to reply, she saw a familiar figure walk around a bush. Hands buried deeply in her denim pockets, leather jacket with the collar turned up, she stood, eyes hidden behind mirror sunglasses, her mouth a thin line. As usual, her black hair was pulled back into an untidy ponytail with several strands hanging loose around her chiseled face.
Lana stood petrified at the unexpected reunion. She raised a hand, and let it sink again.
Melanie looked mortified at being caught where she was not supposed to be. "Hi, Sina," she said in a small voice.
"Hey, Mel," Sina said. Pushing her glasses up onto her forehead, she glanced at Lana. "Hey."
Lana found herself unable to speak, torn between profound relief at seeing her friend sound and safe, and pure, red-hot anger. Not to forget the million questions that the appearance of little Melanie had raised.
The girl, meanwhile, had skipped over to the tall woman, and seeing the two of there side by side, virtually identical in the was they carried themselves if you allowed for the difference in years, was almost more than Lana could take.
Sina smiled at her warmly, and patted her shoulder. "Hey, kiddo, why don't you run back over to the zoo for a bit? We'll be right over."
Melanie's face lit up. "Sure. Will you hold my sword for me?" She thrust the wooden weapon at Sina and took off, leaving the two women in awkward silence.
"What have you got there, Sina?"
Gabby watched as Sina latched a linen bag to Argo's handlebar, securing it with an old leather belt. Then she strapped on her backpack and adjusted the sword on her back. "A secret," she said impishly.
"A secret? What kind?"
"A secret secret."
"What about? Where are we going?"
"For a ride," said Sina, getting into the saddle and straightening the bike out.
Gabby grimaced. She hated that bike! "Do I have to?"
"Sissy."
"Oh, all right." She scrambled on behind her friend. "But no dirt roads this time, okay?"
Sina just grunted and started pedalling. Gabby flung her arms around the other girl's waist with an outraged squeal.
"Are we nearly there?" Gabby said a while later during a bumpy ride through what must have been the entire width of the forest twice over. Her rear hurt something awful from being tossed up and down on her uncushioned seat behind Argo's saddle.
"Getting close," Sina grunted, and barely righted the bicycle when it skidded over a patch of loose gravel. "Damn, that was close. Giddiyup, Argo! Ayiyiyiyiyi!"
Gabby groaned. She hated bikes!
But eventually, thankfully, the little Warrior Princess slowed down at a crossing of two forest paths, where a small trough was set up a way into the woods to provide food for the wildlife during hard winters.
After Gabby had gratefully put both her feet back on the ground, Sina dragged the bike through ferns and low bushes to lean it against that trough, and started unlashing the bag.
"Argo will be okay here, Gabrielle," she intoned in her Xena voice, patting the bike on its saddle. "Come on, we don't want to waste any time."
"Xena, would you mind telling me what we're doing here," Gabrielle the Bard - for that was what little Gabby the girl had suddenly become - said indignantly. "And why did you make me leave my scrolls behind?"
"This is not for the scrolls, Gabrielle," Xena said mysteriously. "It's for you, and for me. It's going to be our special secret."
"Well, right now, it's your stupid secret," a slightly pouty bard told her grumpily. But she scrambled after the warrior, who was fighting her way through dense vegetation, heading in a straight line for - well, that remained to be seen.
"Amazon ritual," was all her stolid friend would say, and Gabrielle was forced to subside until, winded, they had climbed up a short bit of rocky slope, and Xena came to a halt in a secluded grove surrounded by tall rocks and pine trees.
The smell of fallen needles, earth and wild herbs was strong here, but the only sounds to be heard were those of the forest - a rustle of leaves, scrabbling of little feet on the ground, the twitter of a birds. No sound of civilization marred the magic of this spot.
"It's beautiful," Gabrielle breathed, and watched a rare smile flash across her friend's features.
"It's a good place," Xena agreed quietly, while she started unpacking what she had brought. Two sandwiches, or rather, two choice pieces of roast boar, a can of soda pop, oops, a bottle of the best Greek wine, and a loaf of cheese, which was actually the remainder of a chocolate cake Sina's mother had baked the day before. And, last but not least, a candle as thick as the bard's arm and about a handspan tall, off the McRunnel's living room table, by the look of it.
"A sacred ritual to celebrate our friendship." Xena said in explanation. It will bind us by oath, for all times. We'll be Oath-Sisters."
Gabrielle's face lit up. "Xena! Why, I never thought you..."
"Never thought I'd think of doing that, did you?" Xena grinned and shrugged apologetically. "Well, what can I say, I have my moments."
"And there I thought you were going to say you had many skills," Gabrielle quipped.
"That, too," Xena agreed. Then she was serious. "Well? Do you wanna do it?"
"Sure."
"Cool." She lit the candle - having borrowed her mother's lighter - and explained. "The food is to celebrate afterwards. The candle is the conduit. Its wax will mark us and tell the gods of our oath, so they know they need to watch us speak it. You know how gods are sometimes. Got to try and grab their interest when you need them to pay attention. Anyway, here goes, you'll have to speak after me..."
It was the longest speech Gabrielle had ever heard her taciturn friend make.
Soon two children's subdued voices sounded through the woods, intoning their oath to each other.
"Always..."
Just how long Sina and Lana had stood there unmoving and silent, neither of them was able to tell.
Finally, Lana spoke. "Where have you been? And what in heaven's name is that about?" She gestured in the general direction of the petting zoo. "You realize I was worried out of my mind, don't you?"
"But... I wrote an email so you wouldn't worry..."
"Yeah right, but ten bloody days! You've never been gone for that long!"
"Well, something came up. I'm sorry, Gabby."
"Something indeed! Why didn't you tell me?" Lana said quietly. She never had much to counter with when Sina started calling her Gabby.
"Sina drew a long breath. "Maybe I should have. But... dammit Gabby, it's not something I'm too proud of."
"So, what's with Melanie? If all you are to her is a 'friend', I'll eat my notepad."
"Shh, I don't want her to hear. Please? I'll tell you as much as I can. Walk with me?"
"Yeah, okay."
They strolled along the path that led away from the zoo, and Sina started talking, twirling the sword in her hands so she didn't have to look at Lana. Haltingly at first, because Lana's icy silence was somehow worse than angry words could have been.
"When I left the academy, things started out really well. I was a good cop. Somehow I seemed to have a knack for dealing with the toughest criminals. Well, you know that story." She grinned, but Lana remained silent.
Clearing her throat, Sina continued. "Well, turning in that two-timing asshole that was my own boss kind of put a dampener on my career at the time, and things went bad from there. I was hardly faultless, but I guess these things happen. I changed sides for a bit - told you most of that, too. Anyway, I kind of joined forces with this one guy, a Russian Mafioso who was pretty big at the time, by the name of Boris. What can I say, he had the influence, I had insider information only an ex-cop who still has ties to a few old colleagues can have; we made a good team. And I guess we were a little more than just business partners for a while. It was only a matter of time."
Sina drew a long, shuddering breath, and gave Lana a look that was desperately begging not to condemn her. "I got pregnant."
She struggled for a while. "I felt this little life grow inside me, and it was wonderful. I felt complete at last. It was magical. With all the trouble I was in, I was a happy woman."
Ignoring the tear that was snaking down her cheek, she continued. "But I knew that the life I was leading was no place for a little child. So, I had to give her away." She stopped in her tracks. To Lana, she had never looked so forlorn and helpless as in that moment. "I gave my baby away.
"All those years, I could never forget this little thing, how it moved and breathed in my arms, the moment I handed her over to Karl, an old friend who had promised to find her a good home. So, I gave her to him, and told him I'd like her to have my sword when she was old enough. I vowed to find her again one day."
Finally, Lana spoke. "All this time, all the searching, it wasn't your father you were after?"
"Oh, I am looking for him, too. But a while back, I started contacting people to find out about my baby. Karl was killed in a shooting a few years ago, so I had no way of finding out who had adopted her." She slapped the toy sword into the palm of her free hand.
"How did you find them, then? Is she in a good home?" Lana was struggling to digest this latest news.
"I got lucky. Got hold of a friend of Karl's who did a bit of research for me. Yeah, she's in a good home, they're good people. And hey, easy to see she's a good kid, huh?" Now there was a hint of pride in her tone.
Lana smiled. "She is."
"So, I got hold of her parents, talked to them for a bit. I never planned to actually see her, I figured it'd be too painful. Anyway, they were nice enough talking to, although I could tell they were a bit worried what I would do, and how Mel would take it. You see, the kid had been snooping, and she'd found a few papers to do with the adoption, so she knew. They tell me she won't part with the sword since they told her it was a gift from her mother."
She looked wistful. "Even though her mother dumped her as a baby, she cherishes that thing more than anything else."
"You haven't told her, then?"
"I think it's better this way. She's a happy kid. What do you think would happen? No, let her think I'm a good friend for now. I'm sure some day she'll know the truth, but I don't think she's ready."
"I guess."
They lapsed into silence once again. Presently they arrived back where they'd first met, and Lana stopped to face her friend.
"Why didn't you tell me, Sina? All those years. What did you think I'd do?"
"I don't know. They weren't good times, Gabby. I just wanted to forget. I... I didn't want you to think bad of me for abandoning my child. But the thought of her growing up with a mother and father like we were... I had a hell of a time getting away from Boris. He came after me more than once after I left his gang. I.. I'm sorry. I should have told you."
"You should have. I was sick with worry. You were gone for so long..."
"I rented a room in the neighborhood. I figured you'd know something was up if I did come home. I... aw hell, I was scared of what you'd think." She buried her face in her hands.
"Well, it's quite a bit of news, Sina." It's going to take some getting used to."
"You're mad at me."
"Yes."
Sina sighed. "Well, there's nothing I can do now, except tell you I'm sorry."
Lana did not reply.
Sina was saved by Melanie, who had seen them approach and was running towards them and skipping excitedly. She carried a bundle in her arms "Look, Sina, she was running around all alone," she panted when she reached the two women. A dark, blue-gray kitten was snuggled in her arms, purring loudly. "And I caught her all by myself and got her to let me pick her up. Otis says I should be a animal trainer when I grow up. I just talked to her real quiet, and she followed me!"
"That's impressive, Mel," Sina told her with a rare, warm smile. "You certainly have a way with animals."
"Sina? D'you think they'll let me keep her?" She was pensive. "Flora don't like cats much. Her nose gets all runny when she goes near'em."
"Tell you what, kiddo, if Flora says no, she can stay with us, if it's okay with Lana."
Lana, however, had already dropped to her knees and was stroking the kitten's soft fur. Large, amber eyes peeked out of the dark face; a handsome animal. "Sure," she said. "And you could come visit her -" she looked at the kitten again, "visit him, whenever you like. It's a little boy."
"Thank you, thank you," Mel said happily. She looked at Sina. "So, you going back home now? With Lana?"
Sina looked at Lana uncertainly. "If she lets me," she half-joked.
Melanie giggled, unaware of the tension between the two women.
Lana got to her feet, and shook her head in mock exasperation. Sina grinned disarmingly.
"What should I call him?" Melanie asked, holding the kitten at arm's length.
"I don't know, said Sina, "why don't you ask Lana? She's good with these things."
"Call him Moses," Lana offered.
Melanie squealed in outrage. "That's the name of a pig!"
Lana refrained from giving the child a lecture on biblical incidents, instead she rubbed her nose. "Hmm, with that color... how about Onyx? An onyx is a beautiful, precious stone. What do you think?"
"Onyx... I like it."
"That's settled, then," said Sina crisply. Then she handed Melanie back her sword. "But now, I think it's time for you to go home, young warrior. I'm sure Flora's got lunch ready for you."
"Yeah, okay," Melanie said lightly. "But you'll still come and see me? After you've gone back home? Promise?"
"You betcha, kiddo," said Sina.
After a long good-bye from Melanie and promises to meet again as soon as possible, Sina and Lana were on their way to where Sina had parked her motorbike, Argo II. She handed Lana the helmet, but the young woman declined.
"Thanks, but no thanks," she said wryly. "You know me and bikes. Besides, what about him?" She held up a wicker basket, where Onyx was glaring out at them reproachfully. Melanie's adoptive mother, Flora, had indeed thrown a bit of a fit at the sight of the kitten, and so his new home had been decided on rather quickly.
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Sina threw her leg over the machine, and sat, turning over the helmet in her hands. "So, we're still friends?"
Lana pulled out her lighter, lit it and held it up between them. "Remember this?"
With only a slight hesitation, Sina put her own, trembling fingers around the hand holding up the flame.
"Always, Gabrielle."