Quantum (35 page)

“This is Gertrude’s niece,” Inez smiled. “She is a Wanderer and she has been assigned to Ella. I’m in no way saying that Gertrude leaving won’t break her heart, as it has yours, but this will help.”

David came up and gave me hug. “It’s going to be all right, Poppet.”

W
e were in a crazy hurry to get to the rink after our meeting with Inez. Thankfully Kellan swung by my house and picked up my hockey kit for me. I was emotionally drained; it was hard leaving Gertrude and the new puppy–who was fricking adorable–behind. Inez promised me that Gertrude would be waiting for me at my house after hockey. It was decided that Gertrude would leave tomorrow with David. There was no point in prolonging the pain of the upcoming separation. Thankfully, Gertrude would wander back and visit with us briefly in a couple of days. Inez did warn us that, although she was allowing this first visit, the visitations couldn’t be too frequent. It would apparently drain Gertrude both physically and emotionally. However, she would make it a point of visiting every couple of months.

When we asked Inez about where exactly Gertrude was going, she was annoyingly evasive. I tried to explain to her my dad’s dislike of animals and that Gertrude wouldn’t be happy there, but she told me not to worry. Apparently
everything had been taken care of to Gertrude’s satisfaction
. My satisfaction seemed to be irrelevant. Oh well.

 
I managed to draw on the annoyance of that thought, feeling myself grow more and more frustrated. By the time David dropped me off at the entrance to the rink, I was boiling over. Kellan was waiting for me with my kit. He came over to hug me, but must have felt my mood.

“Hey, what’s up? You look ready to kill,” he said bemusedly, which added to my irritation.

“Just a bit stressed. I have so much to tell you. Hang out after the game?”

He nodded, as I quickly kissed his cheek and went in through the metal doors.

What’s the best thing about playing for a girl’s team? Hanging out in the locker room with my team, instead of having to change by myself and being left out of all the locker room banter. The girls were super excited, as was I.

“Ready?” I shouted, struggling into my slightly-too-small black and yellow Mountain Cats jersey. They had gotten my measurements all wrong; I’d have to get a new one. I glanced over at the
C
on my shoulder. Captain. I smiled.

“Yeah, good to go,” shouted Tilda, our goalie. “Sure you can handle a bunch of girls?” she teased.

I chuckled and threw my lip gloss at her. Then I deposited my pink helmet securely on my head and led them out. This was a seriously awesome bunch of players. It was too bad none of them went to Mountain View High. They seemed to come from the private schools in the area. I had gotten to know them a bit during summer camp. They seemed pleased to have me on the team.

“Seriously, Arizona. You’ll need to get yourself a black helmet,” Coach Mims ordered, as we entered our box.

I smiled back–I had no intention of doing that. Coach delivered his pre-game talk. I listened more intently that usual. I was the captain, after all. Better take things a bit more seriously. The usual butt-ending and body checks were not going to cut it. In fact, body checking was against the rules! So, I really had to pull my socks up and play differently, relying on my speed and stick skills, which would be difficult playing defense. I glanced up at the stands–everyone was there: Mom, Rupert, Kellan, Ella, David, Ariele, Ali, Maria. And wow, even Justin and Simla. I smiled and waved at them.

It was awesome feeling the ice beneath me as we skated along during warm ups. When the whistle blew, I skated to the center for face off. We played well, but not well enough. We were young as a team and hadn’t had much experience playing together and it showed. I only spent two minutes in the penalty box for gently–yes gently, she didn’t even go down–body checking my opponent. The game ended in a draw, which was okay for the first game. I’d get this team into shape for the next one.

The post-game locker-room antics were hilarious. Tilda started us off by shaking a bottle of coke and announcing that it was
Champagne
before she sprayed it all over us. A riot ensued. Thank goodness there were showers we could use.

Kellan was waiting for me outside the changing room as I emerged with a crowd of noisy girls.

“Hey,” I said, and walked into his arms and kissed him.

“Is that the
boyfriend
?” Tilda snorted from behind me.

“Yup,” he said. “Nice to meet you, ladies. Well done on the ice today. You were awesome.”

“Oh, you’re hot!” Tilda retorted, looking him up and down. “What’s your name?”

I laughed, “Kellan, cute isn’t he?” I said, and pinched his cheek really hard.

“Shrimp!”

“Shrimp?” repeated the girls, rolling their eyes and laughing.

I shook my head. “Later, girls. See you guys at practice tomorrow,” I said, dragging Kellan toward the exit.

“Nice girls,” he said, as we walked over to my yellow Jeep. Kellan had driven my kit over in it. “We’re heading over to my house for dinner. Your family, David, Ali, Maria and Ariele are already there.”

“Do we have to go over right away? Can we talk first?”

“Well, they are waiting. Hold on, let me call Dad and check.”

As he called, I wondered how I’d fill him in on everything. In a way, I felt too drained to begin. It would have been handy, this one time, if he could
read
me.

~

Olivia looked around Larry’s living room, happy to have everyone here to celebrate Arizona’s game. She’d not had a chance to talk to Larry yet, after the revelation that his wife, Catherine, had been a Sigma-W. She looked around and spotted him walking over to her, talking into his cell.

“That was Kellan,” he said, putting the phone back into his pocket. “They are running a bit late and will be here in an hour or so. Kellan said we could go ahead and start without them, if we want. How is Ella holding up? Is she starving?”

Olivia looked over at her tiara-wearing daughter and smiled. She was busy chatting with her friend Jonas. “She seems to be fine. She had a play date with Sally earlier, which wiped her out. She napped on the way to the rink, so she should be fine. She had a snack about an hour ago, and she’s been helping herself to all the delicious crudités.”

“Good. How are you holding up? I heard about Gertrude. Inez told me.”

“I am conflicted. I’m going to miss her like crazy like I did before, which is why I brought her here. I can’t keep her here now that I know she wants to leave. Where will she go, though? Surely not back to Dillard? That frightens me more than anything.”

“I can’t imagine so,” Larry comforted her. “What does Dillard need a Wanderer for? No, there must be another plan for Gertrude. Whatever it is, she wants to partake in it. Inez would never force her.”

Olivia nodded. “I just wish I knew. It would make it easier for me. But this is not about me; it’s about doing what’s best for Gertrude. I understand that, and also have her best interests at heart. I hope that she knows that she is always welcome back with us, anytime.”

“I’m sure she knows that.”

“Larry, what about you? How are you coping? I haven’t talked to you since you found out about Catherine….”

“I’m okay, I guess. I’ve spent ages trying to figure it all out. How could I not have known this about my own wife? It was one thing you not knowing about Rupert, but I’ve known about Wanderers for a long time, yet I didn’t know my own wife was one! Was she a Wanderer
plant
? Did she even love me? Would we have met each other if the Wanderers hadn’t wanted me to work with you?”

“How did you and Catherine meet, Larry?” Olivia asked. She had wondered before, but Larry always avoided talking about his late wife. It
was too painful for him.

“We met at a conference in Bern. I first noticed her when she was presenting her paper. I was mesmerized by her voice, so soft, but captivating. Then at the conference dinner, she came up to me and introduced herself. She said that she really enjoyed my talk….” He stopped. “She came up to me.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that she was a plant,” Olivia protested. “Besides, no matter how or why you met, you both loved each other. You had a child together.”

Larry’s eyes welled up. Olivia put her arm around him and walked with Larry to the library for some privacy. Once he had worked through his emotions, he pointed to the painting on the easel. “That’s her.”

Olivia nodded. She’d seen the painting many times and suspected as much. “She was very beautiful.”

“Beautiful?” said a little voice from the doorway.

“Ella, yes.
You
are beautiful,” Olivia smiled. “What’s up? Where’s Jonas?”

“Right here,” Jonas said, peering around the doorframe.

“Dad sent us to look for you, though I think that was just an excuse to get rid of us. They all looked very secretive. They’re up to something,” Ella said, nodding her head and raising her brows.

“Oh, I can’t imagine what. Let’s go find out,” Olivia said, shooting Larry a quizzical glance. He just smiled mysteriously. On the way back to the living room he walked up close to her and whispered, “We were going to wait for Kellan and Arizona, but this can’t wait any longer.”

Everyone was huddled into a circle when Olivia, Larry, Jonas and Ella walked into the room.

“Ella, we have something for you,” Rupert said as he moved to let the new puppy scamper out.

“Awww, I
love
her,” Ella whispered gathering the puppy up in her lap.
 
“Can I keep her? Can I call her Tallulah? She is so cute! Look she’s wearing a matching tiara.”

~

We decided to drive over to my house. It was empty now that my family was over at Kellan’s. As soon as I opened the door, Gertrude sprang up on me and licked me half to death. My eyes filled and tears streamed down my face.

“Shrimp? Come over and sit down,” Kellan said, ushering me to the couch while I held onto Gertrude. “What’s going on?”

I told him the story, all of it, amid occasional sobs. Gertrude sat on me, licking off my tears.

“Geez. This is unbelievable. Will she do the paw thing now if we ask her some more questions?” Kellan asked.

“I don’t know. We could try.” I put Gertrude down beside me and looked her in the eye. “Gertrude, can I ask you another question?”