Abdication of the Fourth

Chapter Two

Moving out.  As in not living in their house any longer.  Living in a tiny apartment, probably near the area of town where the liquor stores were filled with drunk men at noon, with that very odd Kevin boy.

No, it simply would not do.  It was inconceivable.  He certainly hadn’t conceived of it.  And none of the others had either, because no one had seen fit to warn him that this was a possibility.  In the past by twenty-five there was marriage, but not often.  It was not difficult to arrange extended bachelorhood or even create spinsterhood to prevent such complications, however it was a question of the ones who would run off without a word, without knowing anything about the world.  Those were the ones who were dangerous.  To themselves and to others.

He couldn’t let that happen with Thana.  It just simply wouldn’t do.  But Tim knew he had to tread carefully.  If he denied too strictly, played the game the wrong way, she’d be out the door and into the world without him knowing until it was too late.  Maybe she wouldn’t be eloping, but the consequences would be the same.

He had to get control of the situation.  He needed a plan of action.  For that, he needed advice.  He had no choice; he had to contact the others.  He kept in fairly regular contact regardless.  Once a year, like clockwork, on November 2nd he made the call and told them of Thana’s progress.  It was usually an incredibly short conversation.  Was she healthy in her soul? Was she healthy in body?  Had she any suspicions?  Time and again he was told to ensure that she knew nothing.  The time was not right, they would say.  It did not need to be said that he would be notified when that time came, and not one second before.

So for the past quarter century it had basically been a waiting game.  Even keeping Thana in the dark had been ridiculously easy.  It’s not difficult to keep a secret from someone when it’s something they would never think it could possibly happen.  Especially when that someone was a child.

No, keeping the secret from Thana had been easy.  Keeping the secret from finding her was another thing entirely.  And if she left this house, left his care, she would be vulnerable.  If she found out anything at all before the time was precisely correct, it could bring everything tumbling down around them.  The damage would be irreparable.  Just thinking about it made Tim break out into a cold sweat.

All that to say, Tim was on the receiving end of the calls with the others.  They made contact with him, not the other way around.  He had been given instructions for emergencies at the beginning of this whole project, but he had never had occasion to use them.  He was not pleased that he had to now.  This would damage his reputation, but nothing could be done about it.  He might as well get it over with.

He waited until well past midnight of the day Thana had made her ‘announcement’ of moving out.  It almost killed him.  Perhaps that was slightly hyperbolic.  Or ironic.  Regardless, waiting until his charge was sure to be sound asleep in order to undertake the ritual required had tested the man’s patience, something that had never happened to him before.  Tim considered himself to have infinite patience.  Apparently he had been wrong about that.  He did not want to consider what other things he may have been wrong about as well.  That way lay madness.

The instructions were helpfully easy to read, and the ingredients were not too archaic, although he was rather thankful he happened to have a chicken heart on hand.  One could never have too many of those.  They came in handy for things spells, rituals and soup stock.  Tim was pretty sure that the local butcher thought he had frightening mental problems.  It slightly offended him, really.  Maybe he just really liked to cook.

As it were, chicken heart was the oddest ingredient on the list, and with a little work he was able to connect to the ones he so dearly needed to talk to.