Higher Mythology (29 page)

“Well, yes,” Keith admitted.

“That’s all right. It worked out perfectly. You’ve got just one more dirty job to do.”

“What’s that?” Keith asked.

“You’ve got to tell all those kids out there to go home.”

***

C
HAPTER
N
INETEEN

When the hall was cleared out, Keith took Dola back to the conference room, where all of the allies, Big and Little, were waiting. Marcy and Diane set up a cheer as soon as Dola appeared.

As soon as she saw Tay, Dola ran across the room and jumped into her father’s arms to give him a big hug and kiss. She all but danced from person to person, giving them enthusiastic embraces. Even the Master unbent when she hopped up to kiss him on the cheek.

“I want a bath, and I want to eat something that tastes like food,” Dola said, reaching Keith and Holl at the end of the line, “and oh, how is Asrai?”

“She misses you,” Holl said gravely. “You’ll see her soon.”

“Thank you,” Dola said. “And thank you, Keith Doyle.” She tried to jump up into his arms. He caught her up and swung her in a circle. Diane spun Keith around and hugged Dola at the same time, making an affectionate sandwich out of the little girl.

“I’m
so
glad to see you safe,” Diane said fiercely. “Are you all right?”

“Oh, yes, I’m fine. Skinny was kind to me. I almost liked him, up until the time he shot the ghost—oh, Keith Doyle!” Dola cried. “I’ve remembered what I was going to tell you! When I was in the house in the woods, we were visited by a creature. I’ve never seen one like it. It looked like a ghost, and it made pictures in my head. It was friendly. I think it was looking for me. And then the skinny man shot it! There is another kind of being, not like us or like you, but intelligent! I grieved when it was killed, but I guessed that where one existed, there must be more. You must go looking for them, right away!”

Keith exchanged solemn glances with the Master and Holl. “I think I know who you’re talking about.”

“You know? You’ve seen it?”

“Yup.”

“Can that not wait?” the Master said. “Ve must leaf here before they close up the building.”

“Right. Sorry, Master,” Keith said. “Congrats, everyone. Are you all going home now?”

“Certainly not,” Catra said.

“No, indeed,” said her sister. “Lee has promised to take us to the amusement park. I think we well deserve the treat, and no old Conservatives to say no—uh, er, unless you disapprove, Master?” she amended humbly, noticing the village headman’s half-lidded gaze upon her and suddenly remembering they were not as devoid of authority figures as she thought.

The Master lifted the corner of his mouth, which for him was a mark of great good humor. “No, in fact I agree. You deserf a reward. It is Big Folk culture, but vun afternoon vill not spoil you. Go.”

Delighted and grateful, they started talking about the wonders they were going to see. “I hear there is also a shopping center nearby!” Candlepat exclaimed excitedly.

“Oh, yes,” Marcy said, drawn into the conversation. “Right across the street. It’s
enormous
.”

“Oh, no,” Lee said. “I’m not going to take a bunch of women all around no shopping mall.”

“Me, neither,” Dunn said, shaking his head. “The park. That’s it. Okay?”

The young women surrendered with disappointed nods. “All right. We agree,” Catra said, a little dejected. “The park it is.” The party, consisting of everyone but Holl, the Master, Tay, Dola, Diane and Keith, divided itself into carloads, and prepared to go.

Keith reached into a pocket. “Wait!” he called. “It’s on me.” He took money out of his pocket and handed it to Lee. “Have a good time.”

“We’ll see,” Lee said, with a wink and a grin. He shepherded the others out the door.

“Do you want me to take you home now?” Keith asked the Master. Tay and Dola, who had been talking together a mile a minute and heard nothing, glanced up at the mention of home. “Dola’s been away a long time. I know everyone will want to see she’s okay.”

“Not at all,” the Master said, wagging a finger at Keith. “A telephone call vill do for now. You haf promised me to take me to see Professor Parker and his display. I hold you to it. I vish to go. And also this brave child deserfs indulgence after her ordeal. You shall take her somewhere special aftervards.”

“With pleasure,” Keith said, bowing him out of the room. “I never mind spoiling Dola. Your chariot awaits. You old softy,” he muttered under his breath.

The Master glanced back at him, clearly having heard every syllable, a frosty look through the glasses, which quickly changed to an amused twinkle.

A thought struck Keith as they were leaving PDQ.

“Holl,” he said, taking the elf aside, “you don’t have $20,000. Where did you get all those jewels you gave Mona Gilbreth?”

“We gave her what she expected to see,” Holl said, reaching into a pocket. He handed Keith a faceted ruby an inch across. Keith handled it with awe.

“My God, that’s beautiful! Did you find a mine or something?”

“Oh, no,” Holl said. “We found a box in the pantry.” He put one in his mouth and chewed it. It broke apart into fragments, then melted away. Keith watched, thunderstruck. “They’re made of Jell-O. Remember? We had some at our wedding. Maura reminded me.”

Leaving her assistants to deal with their peculiar and sudden ailments, Mona hurried to keep her appointment at the national party headquarters. Jack Harriman met her at the door.

“I’ve got something really special to show you,” she said, brandishing the bag. “Call everyone. They have to see, too.”

With such a tantalizing mystery at hand, all activity in the central office came to a swift halt. Telephones rang unattended, as Mona Gilbreth prepared to unveil her great secret. Even the state party chairman was present in the crowd around a table in the middle of the big office.

“Okay, lady,” Jack said, giving her a big smile. “We’re ready. Lay it on us!”

Quivering with anticipation, Mona held out the bag of jewels. It was worth far more than the twenty grand she had demanded from H. Doyle. With this treasure trove, she would reinstate herself as the Environmental Candidate. It would rocket her in popularity among the party. She could sponsor committees. People would look up to her. She could almost feel the chair in her Washington office under her tailbone.

“Here’s my donation to the Democratic Party for this election year!” With a flick of her wrist, she sent the jewels scattering across a tabletop.

There were gasps and cries of wonder. People picked up the gems and played with them, tried them on their fingers. In the strong lights overhead, the blues, greens, and reds glimmered like a fantastic stained glass window.

“It’s a fortune,” the state chairman said, seizing Mona’s hand and shaking it. “What a windfall! Thank you, Ms. Gilbreth—or should we say, Congresswoman?”

Mona beamed. “Just Mona, please,” she said.
Noblesse oblige
, she thought, enjoying the adulation.

“Hey, what’s the matter with this one?” one of the volunteers said. She held out an emerald. Something was wrong with one of the facets. It looked as if it was chipped, but when the young woman flicked it with her fingernail, it quivered.

All around her, the same thing was happening to all of the other gems. Gradually, they became sticky and started to melt. People drifted away from Mona’s side, leaving the lumps of colored goo on the table. After a short time, there was nothing left but brightly colored puddles. Mona looked up at Jack and the state chairman.

“I’m afraid,” Jack said with regret, “this isn’t going to earn you any election year goody accounts, lady.”

The chairman walked away from the table and stalked back to his office. “Tell her to get out of here, Jack,” he said. The door slammed behind him. Mona stood staring at the puddles of goop.

“If you’re smart,” Jack said, raising his shoulders apologetically, “you’ll give as the reason for your concession that you’re too busy keeping your business environmentally sound. People will buy that.” He patted her on the shoulder. “Good luck, lady.”

Mona tottered toward the door, wondering desperately if the first stone she had received would have turned to goo as well. If so, she was ruined, forever. She glanced back at party headquarters; already back to business as usual. No one paid attention to her. Unhappily, she slipped out of the door.

The guard at the Field Museum recognized Keith on sight. He was ready to pitch him out the door at once, until Professor Parker came barreling out of the office to meet his guests.

“Dr. Alfheim, how wonderful to see you!” The little professor’s kind face was beaming. “I am so delighted to see you all. And who is this delightful child?”

“My sister, Dola,” Holl said at once. “We’re in town to have a tour.”

“And this youngster?” Parker asked. “A friend of yours?”

Tay started forward to protest that he was not a child, and that Dola was his daughter. Keith waved madly behind Parker’s back to shut Tay up. Holl had to use a charm on him speedily that locked together his jaws so he couldn’t talk.

Through gritted teeth Tay grumbled. “You didn’t have to do that. I’ll play along. I thought he was one of us.”

“In the search for the truth, yes,” Holl whispered to him as they followed the small professor into the heart of the museum, “but there’s a divergence in our family trees a good deal farther back than between you and me.”

“Yes, my tenure here has been very interesting,” Parker said, talking rapidly to the Master, “very interesting indeed. A pity you didn’t see my lecture, but I’ll be happy to lend you the notes.”

“I vould be fery grateful to haf them,” the Master replied.

“What did you do to that guard?” Diane asked Keith as they trailed behind the Master and his friend. She noticed that the uniformed man was still behind them at a distance.

“Nothing,” Keith said. His face was red to the ears.

As they made their way down through the main floor, the elves began to twitch uncomfortably because of the many magical presences in the museum, but were visibly discomfited when they got to the basement. Dola stuck her fingers in her ears and kept them there. Parker escorted them to his little cubbyhole and excused himself.

“I think my notes are in the secretary’s desk. I will be right back.”

“It’s the charm on the left,” Keith said unnecessarily, as the Master and the other Little Folk crowded around the glass case to see. “What is it?”

“Most interesting,” the Master said. “It is a charm for finding—a location beacon. It is designed as a toy for children, as you see. It may be sewn to the clothes, or carried in the hand like a doll. This one might haf been used as either, as you may see by the loop. It sends out a compelling signal to let you know where the child is, especially if the child is lost or too small to call out for help by itself. After many centuries, the signal has simply become louder and louder when no one answered.”

“Oh,” Keith said, and paused thoughtfully. “That would have shortened up our hunt for Dola by a whole lot. How come your kids don’t have them?”

“Vhy?” the Master asked rhetorically. “They haf not been able to go out of eye’s distance in decades. This is the first time ve haf had room to range, when any could get lost.”

“I’m making one for Asrai the moment we get home,” Holl vowed. He noted the design, began to figure out the mechanics of the spell that made it work.

“And I one for Dola,” Tay said. He smiled down at Dola.

“Interesting,” the Master said, turning away from the case.

“Well, don’t you want to get it out of there?” Keith asked in an undertone, worried. “Anyone who can hear it,
you
know … I’m sure I’m not the only one.”

“No. You are surely not the only one. But all you haf to do is turn it off.” The Master laid a hand over the top of the case, closed his eyes, concentrated. Gradually, the low, blood-chilling wail for attention died away and stopped. Keith could feel his ears uncurling. Holl and Tay similarly relaxed, and Dola took her fingers out of her ears.

“That’s only the worst of the unheard noises,” Holl said epigrammatically. “We must get out of here.”

“I do agree,” the Master said. “The ambience of this place is becoming most painful. But I do not vish to cut short my fisit vith my friend.”

Parker returned at that moment with a bundle of papers, which he handed to the Master. “Wonderful thing, the high-speed photocopy machine,” he said, smiling. “Americans have so many marvelous machines. Here are copies of all my data from the dig. I’d appreciate your feedback, having seen the site. For example, read this.…”

“Yes, indeed,” the Master said hastily. “Perhaps not now.”

“Professor Parker,” Keith interrupted. “You’re a stranger in these parts, too. I’m taking Dr. Alfheim around on a tour of the city. You want to come along?”

“Well, bless me, I think I’m free this afternoon. Why not? I’d be delighted. I’d love to get out of here for a while.”

“Moved and seconded,” Holl said with relief.

“Oh, Keith Doyle,” Dola asked in a hushed whisper as they left the museum. He had to lean close to hear her, and she pulled his ear down to her mouth. “You promised to show me—you know—how to find the ghostly beings.”

Keith exchanged glances with Diane and Holl. “Okay. I think I know just exactly where to look.”

“You do?” Diane asked skeptically.

“Sure I do,” Keith said cheerfully. “Come on.” He gave one hand to Dola, and the other to Diane. The two of them skipped alongside him down the steps.

“… So the man goes all over Europe with his camera,” Keith said, pantomiming taking pictures in every direction, “shooting hundreds of rolls of film.” He stood in the corner of the observation deck on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center, telling jokes out loud and translating them simultaneously into mental images for both halves of his appreciative audience. Inside were Holl, Tay, Diane, and Dola, watching with fascination as the other half of his listeners gathered outside the window. Dola pressed herself against the glass, exchanging winks and blinks with the friendly ‘ghosts’, no longer distorted by the pressures of heavy atmosphere. More and more of them gathered as his story progressed.

The Master, together with Professor Parker, sat talking together on chairs against inner building walls, discussing archaeology, and paying no attention to the entertainment.