Ivy's Tangle (Legend of the White Sword - Book 1)

Chapter 10 (Part 2) - New Beginnings

In the middle of a morning practice I remembered something Mr. Ryan had said during our first exploration of Gran's basement.

"Did you ever check out the pool again?" I asked.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. I spoke to your grandmother, and I spent one of the rainy afternoons last week messing around in there."

Mr. Ryan snapped a lightning-fast kick at my leg. I half blocked it, dancing back. He went easy on me, but it still stung, and there'd be a bruise later.

"What's the deal?" I asked.

"The good news is the motors and pumps and everything are still functional. I put in enough water to test them and looked over the wiring."

"Are you an electrician too?"

"No, but I understand basic electricity and wiring. I've had to learn about electronics for work over the years. A few gaskets were rotten and leaky, but there are stacks of spares on a shelf, brand-new in the packages, and I replaced them. The whole thing is old, but it still works."

"What did Gran say?"

"It's the same deal as the gym. She doesn't care one way or the other. The pool never got used (or by the looks of it) cleaned, and sometime forty years ago it was mothballed."

"So is it usable or not?"

Mr. Ryan stepped back and bowed. That meant we were taking a break. It was too early for us to be finished for the morning. I reflexively bowed back.

"It is, and it isn't," he said. "You could use it now, but I wouldn't. Easiest to show you."

Mr. Ryan led the way across the hallway and into the pool room. The first big changes were the lights. Before, only a couple of bulbs worked. Mr. Ryan had replaced the burnt-out bulbs, and the pool room shone almost as bright as the gymnasium. That additional illumination wasn't flattering. I read in a book that some women looked better by candlelight; Gran's pool room was like that. In the harsh glow of the incandescent bulbs the place looked disgusting. The little tiles were so filthy you couldn't tell what colour half of them were and mould (or something) grew everywhere. The pool was the worst part, with a few inches of water now sitting at the bottom, presumably left over from Mr. Ryan's testing of the system. I assumed it was water, but the liquid in the pool was black, and if Mr. Ryan had told me it was used motor oil—I'd have believed him. The scum growing in the pool didn't appear bothered by the dirty water, and a new ring of green/grey ran around the sides, just above the water line.

"I enjoy swimming," Mr. Ryan said, "and I've never been one to shy away from hard work, but I don't like to swim this much. Your grandmother said you'd have to clean it yourself if you want to use it. Apparently, Ms. Mopat won't even come in here... not that you can blame her."

I couldn't imagine how long cleaning that pool and the rest of the room would take, and although having a pool in your house is super cool, this was more akin to having a toxic waste dump in your house.

"I'm already pretty busy with our practices and Ivy and everything."

"Yeah, I figured." Mr. Ryan headed back into the hallway. "If you change your mind later, make sure you wear a mask and rubber gloves."

I closed the door behind me, unsure if I would ever open it again.

***

I asked Ivy to come watch a movie in my room after evening practice, and she accepted my invitation with none of the reluctance she'd shown before. Part of me wanted to believe she was coming to like and trust me, but most of me suspected she just wanted to see more movies. The end result was the same, so I didn't worry about which was true.

Gran's big black cat was curled up in my lap, purring and nuzzling me when Ivy arrived. Ivy stared at the cat, then up at my face, and then back down at the cat again.

"What do you think you're playing at?" Ivy asked.

She looked angry, and I had no idea what I'd done. I replayed the day in my mind, struggling to come up with an offence worthy of Ivy's anger as she stormed across the room. Only when she grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck—and yanked it out of my lap—did I realise she wasn't talking to me. Ivy held the cat up in front of her, and she was none too gentle with it.

"You don't belong in here," she said.

Ivy said it as though she thought the cat understood English. She carried it to the doorway, and then to my utter amazement, she flung the cat down the hallway. For the first time I heard Gran's silent cat make a sound—the sound of it hitting hardwood ten feet down the hall before tearing away.

Ivy turned back to me.

"You should be ashamed of yourself," she said. "Consorting with such a creature."

Consorting?

"With a cat?"

Sometimes, I forgot Ivy was nuts. Then she'd remind me again. I was more shocked than anything.

"A cat?" Ivy looked startled, followed by embarrassed, which was followed by... something else.

"You do know what cats are, don't you?" I asked. Maybe cats were like computers.

Ivy hesitated before answering, looking unusually unsure of herself.

"That is a... naughty cat," she finally said. "How long have you been doing... what you were doing with it?"

Did I now regret my movie invitation? Oh yeah.

"If you mean petting it," I said slowly. "Since I got here. That's what you do with pets."

"And that's all?"

This, from a girl who'd thrown a cat down the hall?

"Sometimes it sleeps with me." I shrugged.

Ivy's eyes went wide.

"You sleep with that thing?"

"It sleeps on my bed sometimes. What's the big deal? Have you got allergies or something?"

Ivy stared at me for a good minute—the same way I stared at jigsaw puzzles and complex models. Then I saw her anger slip away.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, Jack." She looked somewhat apologetic.

"What about for throwing Gran's cat?"

"That's between me and the cat."

She said it as though she planned to make the cat an offer it couldn't refuse—like a pint-sized feline godfather. Wow, she's crazy, I thought. And not for the first time. With Ivy I'd found it was best to ignore the crazy, and when possible, change the topic.

"So do you want to watch a movie?" I asked.

"Yes, please." Ivy sat and looked at the laptop expectantly.

The rest of the evening went smoothly, but Gran's cat never visited my room again.