Chapter 140: Homecoming and Homegoing
Wendy stood outside Gwen's door. Evening had come, the guests had left, and her daughter's belongings were still in the hallway.
Peter's punishment had ended hours ago, but Gwen hadn't joined them for dinner. Even Michaleen couldn't persuade her to come out for a bedtime story.
Fist hovering indecisively over her chin, Wendy finally entered the bedroom.
"Gwen..." she whispered, gingerly cracking the door. "Darling?"
Gwen was in bed, oriented away from Wendy. She didn't speak, but her phone was lit, suggesting she was awake.
Wendy took a small step. Gwen visibly tensed; her fingers curled inward, as if withholding a scream.
Wendy eased back through the doorway. She could feel Gwen's fear.
"Nana." she called, voice hardly above a hush. Deftly, she pointed into the bedroom. "In here girl. Stay."
Dutifully, Nana padded to Gwen's bedside. Chin on the mattress, she gazed lovingly as moonlight pooled in her droopy eyes.
Gwen slid from bed. Wendy waited for her to burry into Nana's side. Then, shutting the door, she slipped downstairs and into the backyard.
It had been a contentious day. She needed a moment's peace.
The dwarves had strung pink and yellow fairy lights from Hangman's Tree. Ascending the ladder, Wendy took a moment to appreciate their aesthetic touches. She also wondered how they managed to grow an entire tree overnight; it certainly hadn't been there when she was a child. Oh well. Might as well ascribe it to 'workaholic - dwarf - magic.'
Once in the fort, Wendy leaned on a bough. It was a beautiful autumn night. She could just drink in all the stars.
Her gaze drifted to the Black Hole. Unsettled, she thought of Eris, Pitch Black, and the mysterious voice in her head.
Clunk.
"Hey homeowner, can you give me a hand with this?"
Smiling, Wendy turned. Jim returned her smile, one elbow around the ladder and the other cradling a cardboard box.
"What are you doing here?" Wendy asked in a tone that actually said I'm so glad you came. Joining him, she hefted the cardboard box. "I thought you left."
Jim hopped over the top rung. "I had dinner with the girls, then came back. Ariel and Melody are practicing for karaoke night."
"Ah yes. Jak mentioned he and Melody did that." Carefully, Wendy lowered the box. "So you and Ariel will be joining them at the Snuggly Duckling?"
"That's the plan. Ariel was supposed to talk to Jak about it today, after the Oogie Boogie meeting. I'm assuming he said yes."
"That's progress, Jim. Seems like you're slowly burying the hatchet."
"Yeah, I'm pretty pumped. Don't know what the Hell I'm going to sing, but it'll be worth it."
"Why don't you try rapping?" Wendy leaned against the bough. "We both know you can't sing."
"Wow. Savage." Jokingly, Jim referred to Peter's prior statement. "Ladies should be seen and not heard."
"Goodness." Wendy shook her head at Gwen's room. "What a disaster that was. I'm sorry about Gwendolyn's behavior earlier."
"Don't be. She's a lot like Peter – get's super mad, then has to stew."
"I can't fault her completely. She did have a valid point. I haven't given it much thought, but I think we're going to convert the tea room into a bedroom for Michaleen. I'd hoped to keep Shadow there, away from Gwen, but for now he'll just have to stay under our bed. It's small, but he'll make due."
"I thought you locked him in the sewing basket?"
"I did. But I'll need him for Shadows 101." Wendy angled a brow. "And he won't cooperate if he's been cooped up."
Jim snorted. "Not like he cooperates anyway, but okay. You're the shadow worker, I trust you. Nervous about the class tomorrow?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Please, Wendy Moria."
"Well yes," Wendy admitted. "A little. But I'm also hopeful. Hopeful that the students will accept shadow working. Hopeful I'll learn more along the way. Are you?"
"Nervous? Nope."
"Really?"
"Not at all."
"So you have a course curriculum?" Wendy counted on her fingers, running through her own list. "Lecture notes? Grading rubric? Worksheets?"
"Wow, you sound so lame."
"Oh stop it."
"Are you going to give out gold stars? Are the students going to bring you apples every morning? Did you buy a dunce cap off Amazon?"
"That reminds me, what size hat do you wear?"
"Nerd."
"I'm sorry Four Eyes, which one of us needs glasses?"
They laughed, and perhaps a little too loudly because Carl's second story window snapped shut.
"Oops." Wendy held a finger to her lips. "After all the commotion today we'd better be quiet."
Jim rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't worry too much. You're neighbor's a dream."
"I haven't met him yet."
"You may want to postpone the introductions. Old timer yelled at me this morning. Crusty SOB."
"Says the pot to the kettle."
"Funnnnny. But speaking of which, was his house always there before?"
"If you mean when I was growing up, no. A terrible lady used to live next door." Wendy grimaced. "Ms. Deville. Ugh. She hated children and dogs, and I don't believe my father liked her very much."
Wendy studied the pastel house. "Her home must have been destroyed during the Battle to Take Fantasia because I don't remember it being so colorful. This house must have been built recently."
"I dunno...." Jim scanned the exterior. "Looks pretty lived-in. Either way, the owner didn't seem thrilled you were a shadow worker. So heads up."
"Well with Gwendolyn next door...he'll be in good company." Wendy sighed. The autumn leaves around her seemed to brown. "I hope she attends my class tomorrow. I hope she learns."
It was a wistful statement, but Jim could hear the pessimism in her voice.
"Hey. Don't give up." He jounced her shoulder. "You've been nagging me for eighteen years not to swear; I think you can knock some sense into a fifteen year old."
Wendy shook her head humorously.
"Uphill battle, the both of you. But anyway...what's in the box?"
"Box? Oh!"
Jim clapped. Wendy smiled knowingly: this spike in energy meant he made whatever was in the box.
"Yeah, sorry – this is for you." Kneeling, he beckoned. "Housewarming gift."
Wendy cleared leaves from the treehouse floor. "You've already given us a housewarming gift."
"The gumball machine was for Peter. This is just for you – " Jim slid the box to her knees. "It's from me. I made it. It's...well...special and uh...."
Oddly, Jim lost his voice. He stared with baited breath, waiting for her reaction.
Wendy opened the lid.
She looked up. "It's my mother's tea set."
Jim held a teacup. It sat in his palm like a blue waterlily. The porcelain had clearly been broken, but the shards were bound by a lustrous, white resin.
"When you told me about the renovations, I asked Doc to look for these. I saw them in the Black Hole, when we were caught in your memory. Your mom took me to her tea room, and they were behind her on a small stand..."
Wendy's expression was barren, so Jim addressed the glaring flaw.
"Obviously they were cracked." He traced the shimmering resin. "Some pieces were completely shattered when Doc brought them to me. Like the sugar bowl, the tea pot, the cups and the saucers...okay so all of it was basically destroyed, probably during Captain Hook's invasion."
He rotated the cup. Wendy was being very quiet, so his confidence was dwindling.
"But I glued the edges with molten star dust. See that's why it's shiny. It won't leak, and it'll last forever. I know it's not a new set, and I know it's not perfect, but – "
Wendy hugged him with all her soul. She wouldn't release until he absolutely knew that no hug in all the world could ever express her love.
Jim was in good spirits when he returned to Pirate's Point. A harvest moon was shining like a pirate medallion, and Jim – thinking of Long John Silver –gave it a salute before going indoors.
"Hey." Ariel grinned from the kitchen table. Lightly, she knocked over the house of cards she'd been stacking. "How'd Wendy like the tea set?"
Jim pulled a chair. "Absolutely loved it."
"I'm sure she did, it was beautiful. You did a really nice job." She dealt five cards for Go Fish. "It feels weird without them, doesn't it?"
Jim wagged a hand. "Weird and awesome. I'm going to miss Wendy, but I can do without Peter eating breakfast in his underwear. Got any two's?"
"Go fish. Got any jacks?"
"Ha, yes, you are such a jerk. Speaking of jacks, when are we going to karaoke?"
Ariel paused.
"Well..." Remorsefully, she set aside his card. "I don't think we are. It didn't go well with Jak this morning."
Jim's mood capsized. "Why? He can't suck it up for an evening? Even for his sister? What did he say? Was he mean to you?"
"Not mean, just angry. He said..." Ariel toyed with her cards. She didn't want to hurt Jim, but it was better he hear it from her now, rather than Jak later. "He said he wouldn't go if you were there."
Jim was deathly silent. Ariel reached for his hand.
"Baby, it's alright, we just won't go. Jak isn't ready. But, I'm sure Melody will have great things to say about us, and you'll be interacting with him in Space 101, so maybe over time– "
Jim went to the kitchen window. Shoulders taught, he glared at the moon, still shining like a pirate medallion.
"You should go." he finally said.
Ariel ventured from the table "What do you mean?"
Jim's voice was brittle as broken glass. "You should go with Melody and Jak to karaoke."
"No Jim." She leaned into his view. "I'm not going without you."
"One of us is better than neither of us. At least – at least maybe with you he'll – "
Jim shook his head. High above, meteors dripped like tears as Ariel held him in her arms.
Gwen had a nightmare.
She dreamt she was in Fantasia School for the Magically Skewed, taking Shadows 101.
It was just her and her mother, and Gwen was chained to her desk.
But it wasn't a desk. It was the mainmast of a pirate ship; the pirate ship she'd been imprisoned as a child.
Her mother stood before her, one shadow in each hand. The shadows stretched into distorted faces, like human-head balloons. One was a male with grey skin, black hair, and silver-golden eyes. The other was female, with dark wispy hair and blood red eyes.
Both looked like they had slithered from under her bed.
Suddenly the shadows leapt at her. They bore into Gwen's eyes and twisted around her brain –
"Twinkle, twinkle little star..." her mother whispered. "How I wonder what you are....The workers pull as they mourn....So shadows two are one reborn...Twinkle twinkle little soul...Let son rise from Blackest Hole."
Gwen awoke to Nana's growling. They had fallen asleep on the floor, but Nana was crouching on her rear legs, ears back and hackles up.
Shadow was at the end of her nose. Having been released from Wendy's sewing basket, he had ventured to Gwen's room and found the dreamcatcher under her bed....and Nana at the foot of it.
Shadow jumped, as if he hadn't expected Gwen to wake up. Hands up, he pointed to the dreamcatcher.
Nana barked. Snapping his heels, she chased Shadow from the room. Once he was evicted, she gave a contemptuous snort, and returned to Gwen.
But Gwen had already gone. She'd grabbed her backpack and fled; a fugitive in her own home.