Chapter Ten

Teachers Deliver Bad News, that isn’t Homework

Sara slept comfortably in her soft bed. She had no nightmares, only dreams of winning American’s Got Talent.

Knock. Knock.

She looked at her watch; it was only 4:45 in the morning. “Why is Mom waking me up so early?” She turned over to go back to sleep.

KNOCK. KNOCK.

“Okay, Mom. I’m awake,” she said, sitting up in bed. It wasn’t her bed, it wasn’t her room, and it wasn’t her mom knocking on the door. “Just a minute,” she said, grabbing a robe from the closet door; the robe had not been there when she went to bed. She opened the door.

Mr. Dalton and Ms. Graham were standing at the door. They had been crying. Ms. Graham had a breakfast tray in her hands.

“Mr. Thompson would like as soon as you have dressed and have eaten.” Ms. Graham placed the tray on the small desk.

“And we would like to say good-bye, Sara.”

“Are you leaving?”

“I believe you will be leaving very soon.”

“No, I’m not leaving until my mom gets here.”

“Just get dressed and eat your breakfast, then go to see Mr. Thompson,” sniffled Ms. Graham. She reached over and gave Sara a big hug.

“We will miss you, Sara. We have enjoyed watching over you the last few weeks,” said Mr. Dalton, and then he hugged her also.

The two of them walked away, holding hands. Sara shut the door behind them. “Ewww… I didn’t need to see old people holding hands. Ew, that’s so gross. I didn’t need to be hugged by teachers, Ew.”

She opened the closet door and pulled out the only outfit in there, her jeans and pink Minnie Mouse T-shirt, cleaned and neatly pressed.

Breakfast was delicious: corn flakes with elbow macaroni and anchovies with bacon on the side. Fantastic.

Dressed, fed, and ready to go, she stood up just as Bradford knocked on the door. “Are you ready Miss Sara?”

“Coming.” She opened the door.

“You are meeting Mr. Thompson in his study.”

“Which door is that?”

“The door at the end of the hall.”

“That door goes to the dining room; I mean the TV Room, oh and yes the study too. This is very confusing, Bradford.”

“You still haven’t guessed the secret of the door, Miss Sara?”

“I guess not. Maybe it is a bit indecisive.”

Bradford smiled. “No, Miss Sara, it knows what it is doing. It is a magic door. It will take you wherever you need to be.”

Bradford opened the door. It led her to the Dining Room where Mr. Thompson was finishing his breakfast. “Good morning Sara.”

Sara giggled and shut the door. Let me try it,” she said opening the door that opened into the study. “Wait, I thought it was supposed to take me to Mr. Thompson. He is in the dining room.”

“Ah, but Sara, I am right here at my desk. We were planning to meet right here.”

“But, Mr. Thompson, you were just in the dining room.”

“Yes, I was, but I am in here now. Come sit down.”

Bradford closed the door.

“I trust you slept well, and your breakfast was satisfactory?”

“Yes, it was unbelievable.”

Mr. Thompson picked up a piece of paper lying on his desk, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. He looked exhausted. Sara sat up straight in her chair, “Mr. Thompson, are you okay?”

“Yes, Sara. I am. It’s just that what I have to tell you is very disturbing. We have been at your house and have investigated the situation. Tenebrae has learned to send instant messages even without an internet connection- very surprising. They sent the instant messages, Sara. I’m thrilled you didn’t read them. They were very disturbing, very disturbing indeed. However, you will be delighted to hear. We don’t think there were any monsters in the house that night. Earlier in the day, there were some rats and toads. Sara, we believe they have kidnapped your mother.”

“What. You were supposed to protect her.”

“Yes, and I’m afraid we failed.”

“What will they do to her?”

“The sisters will find a way to eliminate her- permanently.”

Sara stared at Mr. Thompson; her eyes wide with disbelief. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she cried for a long time before she finally said, “You have to save her, Mr. Thompson.”

“Sara, you love your mother, I know that, but even more than that, she is crucial in our plan to put the white magic back in control of Tenebrae. She must be saved.”

“Then send someone to do it.”

“We can’t. The moment any of us step foot in Tenebrae, your aunts would know it, and we would be arrested. We need someone to save her that the Aunt’s don’t have a magic signature on.”

“Bradford, he’s a smart guy, he could do it.”

“Bradford would very gladly do that for you, but he can’t. He’s from Earth. Although we can go back and forth, if someone from Earth enters Tenebrae, they just sort of- well- blow up. It’s very messy.”

“Then who can save her?”

“You.”

“Me? I’m not old enough Mr. Thompson.”

 “I know. I know. Perhaps when you get there, you can find your father, and he can help you.”

“My dad is in Tenebrae?”

“Well, actually, he is in Libero Salus. He and his army are defending Libero Salus, but, I don’t know his whereabouts exactly.”

Sara looked lost. She finally said, “Okay. I’ll do it. You tell me what to do.”

“We were supposed to start training you in the use of your white magic today. Your mother was going to train you in black magic so you could fulfill your destiny. Your mother’s kidnapping has put a little hiccup in our plans.”

“My destiny?”

“Yes, but now, we must rescue your mother first so she can teach you the use of black magic. None of us here knows it, and it is very different than white magic. However, we do have some magical talisman’s that can help you in your journey; it’s not as useful as knowing magic, but better than nothing.”

“But, Mr. Thompson, even with the magic talismans, I just don’t see how I can help all by myself.”

“Sara, you must know a little of what I know. Number one, I know you are smart.” She shook her head no. “Now, hear me out. I know you are smart; you don’t try as hard as you could in school, but you are brilliant like your mother. Your aunt’s, well neither of them are very smart- they are very evil and are superb at being evil- but they aren’t very smart. Number two, you may not realize it, but you are very special. You have a lot of magical power, probably more than anyone in Tenebrae. I know you don’t know how to use it, but it just might help you anyway. I believe it will be there when you need it.”

“Okay, Mr. Thompson, if you say so.” She thought about her mother. “When do I leave?”

“There are preparations we need to make. We need to familiarize you with the magical talismans. We need to program the teleporter. The programming takes about six hours, and if it isn’t done just right, well you could land just anywhere. So, you will probably leave early this afternoon. In the meantime, follow me. We will teach you as much as we can before you leave.” He walked over to the history books and pulled three of them out. Swoosh. A secret panel opened.

“Mr. Thompson, what happens if I fail?”

“Dear Sara, you won’t fail. If you failed, it would be a disaster. Tenebrae will take over Libero Salus, and then they will take over the defenseless Earth and enslave all the people.” He gently held her under her chin and looked into her eyes, “You won’t fail Sara. You are much stronger than you think.”

Chapter Nine

Magic 101

Sara stepped through the French doors into the study, though just a few minutes before; the French doors had led to the dining room.

Mr. Thompson was seated behind the desk waiting for her. “Welcome back, Sara, I trust your visit with Tiffani was enjoyable? Help yourself to some cookies and have a seat.”

She sat down in the comfortable chair and nibbled on her liverwurst cookie.

“Sara, what do you know about your life before you were born?” She looked up, puzzled. “Hmmm, you don’t remember anything at all?” She shook her head. “I see, and neither your father nor your mother has told you anything about their lives before or about magic, am I right?” She nodded. “It is as I feared. We have a long night ahead of us.” He pressed a button on the phone.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Bradford, would you please record America's Got Talent for me? I may be awhile.”

He leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his back, his eyes closed. “I need to decide where to begin. You now know about Tenebrae, correct?” She shook her head. “Let’s talk about magic, shall we?”

“Oh yes, please. You say I am magical? Can I fly? Can I make stuff disappear? Can I turn people into toads?”

“No- I don’t think so, yes and yes- but who would you want to turn into a toad?”

“No one- it would just be neat if I could.”

“The people of Tenebrae have had magic for thousands of years. Legend says it was given to a select few by a magician. Because we were human and fallible, the magician would not give any one person all the magic- it would make them too powerful. She split magic into two pieces, white and black. Some people and creatures were given white magic, and others were given black. The type of magic traveled down from generation to generation through the father. The strength of the magic traveled down through the mother. In time, many of those with the black side of magic became evil. It is believed the magic changed them somewhat. Fortunately, Queens with white magic ruled the Queendom. Two thousand years ago, the good Queen Amelia fell in love with the evil Count Doldunt. Since then, the black magic has traveled through the Queendom, with each successive queen becoming even eviler than the last. It was interesting that you mentioned turning people into toads. Hillary, the current queen, turns people into toads when she is angry with them. It is her favorite evil deed. You were followed by one today, Appleton. They have been hired to search for you.”

“Ew. But, Mr. Thompson, why did no one else notice a toad driving a car?”

“The toads have a magic spell on them. People without magic see them only as an ugly person.”

“Ah, that explains it.”

“Now, to your family. Queen Hillary is your grandmother. Your mother is the next heir to the throne.”

“Cool. I’m a princess. I always wanted to be a princess. Wait a minute, an evil princess? Mr. Thompson, no one calls my mother evil. There must be some mistake. I want to leave right now.”

“Sit down, Sara. Your mother is not evil. I said many of those with the black side of magic were not to be trusted, but not all of them are. Your mother never was bad, though she does have black magic. The magic itself is not dark or white. Black magic can be used for good and white magic can be used for evil.”

 “Okay.” She sat down. “So, once my mother gets the throne, Tenebrae will be good again, right?”

“If your mother goes back to Tenebrae, she will never make it to the throne. Her older sisters will have her killed long before she can take over the throne. They are the ones hiring the toads to find her.”

“Older sisters? So, wouldn’t they be the heirs instead of my mom?”

“Funny detail about magic, it is condensed in the seventh born daughter or son. Therefore, it was declared in Tenebrae a long time ago that any seventh daughter born would immediately become the heir. Queen Hillary was the seventh daughter, and your mother is her seventh daughter. Your mother has some powerful magic.”

“Awesome.”

“Your hot chocolate, Sir.” Bradford entered the door carrying a tray. “And some of those little donuts you like.”

“Thank you, Bradford. Sara, would you like to have some hot chocolate with me?”

“Oh, great, thanks.”

“Tiffani tells us you had an interesting night last night. Would you like to tell me what happened?” continued Mr. Thompson as Bradford stepped out the door.

“I came home from school and sat down at the table to do my homework like I always do. And then….”

“Sara,” interrupted Mr. Thompson, “I think it would be most helpful if you were entirely truthful.”

Sara turned red. “Okay, I didn’t do my homework. I sat down at the computer to check my email and talk to my friends online, but no one was online, so I started playing a game. I kept getting this IM- it said, Sara are you there? It scared me because it was a stranger, and it came back even after I ignored it. I forgot to turn the internet off right away, and the calamities must have gone into it. Even after I turned the internet off, the IM came back.”

“Calamities?”

“Yes. My mother always says if you leave the internet on all sorts of calamities can happen. I left it on, and I battled monsters in the house all night.”

“Where was your mother, Sara?”

“I thought she was in her room with another headache. When I came home from school today, she wasn’t there. Mr. Thompson, I don’t believe she was home at all yesterday.”

“Do you have any idea where she might have gone?”

“Well, there was a note saying she was helping Aunt Abigail, but I don’t have an Aunt Abigail.”

“You do have an Aunt Abigail. She lives in Boston.”

“I have an aunt in Boston? The note didn’t look like it came from my mother.”

“Are there any other reasons you think your mom was not there the day before?”

“Well, I left a note on my mom’s bed to say I loved her yesterday morning and it was still there this afternoon. She did not sleep in her bed. And, her purse, keys, cell phone, and sunglasses were on her dresser.”

“Bradford.” Mr. Thompson pressed the button on the phone.

“Yes, Sir.”

“Please send someone over to Sara’s house. I want to know what messages have been on the computer and look for signs of monsters, toads, and rats at the house.”

“Yes, Sir, immediately Sir.”

She started to cry. “Mr. Thompson, I’m worried about my mother. I need my mother right now. Please find her for me.”

“Sara, we will find your mother, I promise. In the meantime, would you like to join me in watching American's Got Talent?” Mr. Thompson handed her a tissue.

They stepped out through the study room door and directly into the TV room.

Later that evening, as Sara left the TV room, the door led to the hallway again.

Chapter Eight

Wicked Sisters of the Traveling Plans

Thirty - six years before, in Tenebrae.

“Mr. High Rat. You are in charge of our security, correct?” asked Maggie.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“And you work for us, and must do anything we ask?”

“Not exactly, I work for your mother, th’ Queen.”

“Technicalities.” Nine-year-old Maggie weighed her options. “How much does my mother pay you?”

“Enough for a single rat with no responsibilities, why do y’all ask?”

“My sister Janet and I have more spending money each week than you make in a year, am I right?”

“That is correct. I still don’t know why y’all askin.”

“How would you like to make a little extra money on the side?”

“What would I need to do?”

“Just make sure my sister Barbara is standing precisely here at exactly 3:15 tomorrow afternoon.”

“Ah reckon I can do that.”

At 3:15 the next afternoon, a large piece of the castle wall smashed Princess Barbara. There were few witnesses. One reported seeing the High Rat escort the Princess a few minutes earlier. Another witness reported seeing Princess Maggie and Princess Janet on the castle turret above just moments before the horrendous accident occurred. All the witnesses disappeared as several empty cells in Doldunt Prison became suddenly occupied. The High Rat was seen walking to his office with a large attaché case.

                       

One year later.

“Mr. High Rat. I have another assignment for you,” ordered Janet.

“Ah reckon as long as it don’t include the injury of any of your sisters. That last accident was most unfortunate.”

“No, of course not, but it would be a financially wise decision. I am doing a report on the Terina bee, and I need to study one. Could you get one for me?”

“Them there Terina bees are very poisonous Princess Janet. It would be costly to acquire one of them on such short notice.”

“Oh, we are willing to pay well.”

“What would y’all like me to do with the bee once I find one?”

“You see that tower room over there, the one no one ever uses? Put it in there.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

                          

*

Three weeks later, a Terina bee stung Princess Briana while she played hide and seek with Janet and Maggie.

There were no witnesses. Nevertheless, anyone found in the vicinity had been executed. The High Rat in charge of Princess Security was seen leaving the castle with two large attaché cases. He was never seen or heard from again.

Queen Hillary was alarmed. Her two oldest daughters had been killed in only two years. Someone was threatening the royal family. She spent several weeks concocting a special protection spell for herself and her daughters. “Anyone causing harm to any of the royal family shall receive the same in return.”

One month later.

“Teresa, we know who’s been murdering our sisters,” whispered Maggie.

“Yes, and we are aware who’s next on her list,” added Janet.

“Who?”

“It’s Abigail, and you are next.”

“How do you know that?”

“We overheard her yesterday talking to her maidservant about how she was going to kill you.”

“Why?” asked Teresa.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“She’s removing all of her competition for the throne. You are next in line to the throne.”

“Oh, dear. I never thought about that.” Theresa walked away.

One week later, an attempt was made on Abigail’s life. A part of the castle wall fell right next to her, and a Terina bee landed on her but did not sting. Her sister Theresa was stung by the bee, and a falling part of the castle wall crushed her.

                          

*

Two months later, Queen Hillary gave birth to her seventh daughter, Elizabeth. The Queen announced her birth to the Queendom as follows: “I am pleased to present my seventh daughter, Elizabeth, as my chosen heir to the throne. In accordance with the rules of the Queendom, any seventh born daughter shall be the heir to the Queendom by virtue of the greater magical power inherent within her.”

Janet and Maggie were not pleased. For the first time in many years, they spent long hours studying the rules of the Queendom. They hired scribes to study more. The law was clear; Elizabeth was the heir.

Today in Tenebrae.

Janet and Maggie were in the middle of their weekly meeting. It was Janet’s turn to host the meeting in her sitting room with magenta curtains and magenta upholstery. A beautiful cherry curio cabinet with all of her evil talisman’s lined up in order from shortest to tallest stood by the door. Everything in the room was lined up from shortest to tallest. Janet even remodeled the doors and windows to match the slanting décor. Janet was pacing back and forth in front of the slanted windows.

“I can’t believe how long it is taking for dear Mummy to succumb to the poison.” Maggie stood in front of the curio cabinet and rearranging the talismans in tallest to shortest.

“Shh, dear Sister, the walls have ears,” cautioned Janet.

“That is very true, dearest Janet, but let’s not forget just who pays the wages of those ears; I believe that happens to be us,” cackled Maggie.

“Mother is being so stubborn, but stubbornness does run in the family. Remember when we tried to get our dearest sister to jump off a cliff and take the screaming brat Liz with her?”

“Yes, I remember. Her name was Abigail, wasn’t it?”

“It doesn’t matter what her name is or was, does it, Maggie?” Janet said while rearranging the talismans in order from shortest to tallest. She walked over to the window and stared out. “If the urchin had just done as we suggested, we would not be in this predicament.”

“I was sure it would work. Remember Theresa?”

Janet smiled. “Oh, poor sweet sister, dearest Theresa, she was so gullible.”

“Oh, yes, she just gobbled it all up. She wasn’t very creative though,” laughed Maggie, as she rearranged the talismans.

“That was so perfect. Dear Mother just took it all in. It convinced her that Theresa was the guilty party all along.” Both sisters laughed, tears streaming down their faces.

“Past victories aside, we still have the Elizabeth problem.”

“Maggie, you know how to spoil my fun. Have you thought of another way to kill her?” she said, rearranging the talismans in order of shortest to tallest.

“Oh, Janet, if you don’t stop second guessing every evil move I make, I’m not going to share my crown with you,” yelled Maggie.

“Share your crown with ME?” screamed Janet, “I might not share my crown with you.”

“Just one second there, dearest Janet, it is I who plan to share MY crown with you. After all, I was the firstborn,” jeered Maggie.

“Oh, no dear Sister, I was the firstborn. Mother was specific; she said the firstborn had a small pink mole next to her right eye. She saw it clearly when the nurse held me up to her after I was born. See, I have a pink mole next to the right eye.”

Maggie smiled, “Ahh, but dearest, dearest little Sister, when I was held up, the mole next to my left eye was on mother’s right side. Thus, she said, the oldest is the one with the mole on her right- HER right. Besides,” she turned away from Janet and rearranging the talismans again, “it is not important now, dearest. Another simple twist of fate puts Elizabeth’s claims on the crown above our own.”

“Oh, I don’t think we need to worry about our baby sister. I forgot to tell you, dear Sister. I had the foresight to place an operative at a popular theme park, and he spotted the whole family outside his station, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride last year. They were followed. Appleton is on his way right now to retrieve our dearest sister and her brat child.”

Maggie retorted, “Bringing Elizabeth here would not solve our problem. Mother still has that annoying protection spell in place. True, we can bend the spell’s protection against Mother, but we haven’t been able to budge the protection against Elizabeth.”

“I was saving that for last. Elizabeth has been protecting her child from us.”

“Of course, she has been protecting her from us. We want her dead.”

“Doesn’t that make Elizabeth a guardian? And hasn’t our mother made it against the law and subject to the penalty of death to be a guardian?”

“Yes, and the spell does not protect her daughter.”

“Exactly dear Sister.” Janet folded her hands across her chest.

“My dear Sister, I haven’t given you proper credit, you are much dastardlier than I thought. This might work.” Maggie was sweetly thinking, “I mustn’t let her get the upper hand on me again.”

Knock Knock.

“Enter.”

The servant girl, Alice, entered the room. “Pardon the interruption, your Evilness. You have a visitor. It is a devious looking toad. I believe it is Appleton.” Alice, the servant girl, went to her knees and bowed until her head touched the floor.

“Show Mr. Appleton into the study, and please tell him we will attend to him momentarily. Now, leave us, girl,” demanded Janet. As soon as the girl had left and shut the door behind her, Janet and Maggie both skipped around like school children. “It looks like our hard work has finally paid off.” The sisters left the sitting room arm-in-arm and headed to their reward, waiting in the study.

As they were leaving, Janet stopped suddenly and said, “Dear Sister, I think one of our dearly departed sisters’ ghosts may be haunting us. My evil talismans keep rearranging themselves.”

“My dear Sister,” Maggie said, “I believe you may be

right; they are doing the same to me.”

Chapter Seven

Old Friends, not from Facebook

Most people said Elizabeth was unduly cautious, but she knew that one slips up could mean disaster for herself or her young daughter. There was a time when the Roberts family could enjoy being a family, even go on a vacation every once in a while.

She remembered a wonderful family trip to Disneyland just last year. Sara had ridden on Space Mountain at least five times, and they had all enjoyed Splash Mountain immensely. Her husband, Jackson, had purchased the family picture. Even though this picture caught Elizabeth in the middle of a scream, her mouth wide open, and her eyes clamped shut. Sara, on the other hand, was smiling and had thrown her hands in the air. Sara had asked to go on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and they could not explain to her, a toad spy might be hiding in the animatronics. They settled on Peter Pan instead. As they left the park, Sara was allowed to pick any t-shirt she wanted. Wouldn’t you know it; she chose a pink Minnie Mouse t-shirt. Imagine, her daughter walking around with a rodent on her shirt.

Since that trip, they constantly moved, always staying one step ahead of the toads. Fortunately, she was very sensitive to the magic of the toads. It gave her migraine headaches, and this had helped her stay on the run.

She could sense something was wrong. She didn’t have a headache, but something just wasn’t right.

She knew it was time to tell her daughter about everything.

She was finishing the last batch of avocado muffins. The porridge and scrambled cottage cheese sat on a plate atop the kitchen table. “Tonight,” she whispered, “Tonight I will tell her.” She glanced down the hall and saw Sara coming out of the master bedroom. “Ok. What’s up Sara? You know you are not allowed in my room without permission.”

“Nothing,” said Sara, “Really, nothing at all.” She sat at the table with a Cheshire cat smile on her face. Elizabeth put her hands on her hips as Sara shoveled the food into her mouth- not missing a crumb-, grabbed her backpack, and sprinted out the door for school.

“Sara,” her mother called, “we need to talk after school. It is urgent”.

After she cleaned off the table and washed the dishes, she picked up the trash to take it out to the trashcans in the alley. As she was walking to the garbage cans, she saw the tracks. Dozens of toad tracks and rat tracks pressed into the damp earth. Dropping the trash, she ran back into the house, closing and locking the back door as she did so. “I have to inform Thomas; we have been discovered. They’ve never been this close before.” She ran to her room to get her cell phone.

Midway down the hall, she froze. It was too late. She had heard the toad before she saw him. She turned to face him and noticed he was not the lone toad in the room. “Hello Liz, you have been avoiding us. Now, that isn’t very nice, is it? After all, Liz, we go back a long way, don’t we?” croaked the toad.

“Leave us alone, Appleton, we aren’t bothering anybody,” pleaded Liz.

“You know we can’t do that Liz. The fact that you are still breathing makes my employers nervous but, they want to solve that problem- personally. I regret I didn’t get here soon enough to get that brat kid of yours before she got on that yellow bus. We almost had her,” sneered Appleton. Elizabeth turned to run as the toads unfurled their tongues and shot them at her.

She felt several stings as the poisonous tongues lanced her neck. “I must say, Appleton, you do look better as a toad.” She laughed at Appleton as her world went dark and she crumpled to the floor.

Appleton handed a note to one of the other toads with instructions to place it on the bed. “Don’t disturb anything in the room, am I clear Walter?”

         

*

Tiffani and Sara walked arm in arm to the French doors leading to the garden. Once outside, Sara stopped.

“What’s wrong, Sara?”

“It’s those statues. They are creepy. How about we stay right here?” The statues were turned and staring straight at Sara.

“Oh, they aren’t creepy. They are part of the protection system for The Manor. Come on.”

They strolled through the garden, Sara keeping her eye on those statues. As they walked, the statues followed her. She shivered.

“So, Sara, has your mother told you anything?”

“We talk all the time.”

“I mean about Tenebrae.”

“No, not about that. I don’t understand what’s going on Tiffani. I’m confused.”

“You were taken from our world by your mother and father when you were a baby. At around the same time, the Queen allowed people to leave our world if they first had their magic signatures taken. Tenebrae looks for these signatures, and if we return, we will be killed or imprisoned. We can never go back. Even here many of us are hunted and are either killed or conveniently disappear. The word from back in Tenebrae is a lot of them ended up in Doldunt Prison.”

“Tiffani, that is terrible. Why doesn’t the United States Government do something about it?”

“Earth can never know about us; they wouldn’t understand. Some of us have volunteered as guardians. We protect the others. You were my most recent job.”

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Only about three years- since I was fifteen.”

Sara counted on her fingers, “That makes you eighteen years old.”

 “Yes, there are times we need to, umm…change our age slightly to protect our assignments.”

“Where is Tenebrae?”

“See the North Star?” Tiffani pointed to the North Star. “Count up seven stars and seven stars to the right.”

“Really? That’s Tenebrae?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Why are you protecting me?”

“I don’t know. Mr. Thompson hasn’t told me why you are so special but, no one has had three guardians at the same time before, so you must be pretty special. I have heard him mention your destiny.”

“My destiny?”

“Yes. Listen, Sara. I like you. I want you to be careful.”

Sara looked up. The statues had turned away and were looking towards the gate. Tiffani followed Sara’s eyes to the statues.

“That’s odd.”

“What is it, Tiffani?”

“I don’t know. It’s time for you to get back in the house now; Mr. Thompson does not like to be kept waiting, and you wouldn’t want to be around him if you make him to miss American’s Got Talent.” Tiffani smiled.

“Aren’t you going too?”

“No, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Sara watched as Tiffani walked towards the gate, her ponytail held in place by a blue ribbon. Sara turned around and went into the house.

Chapter Six

Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner

Bradford opened the door and led Sara into the hallway. “That is your room at the end of the hall.”

“Why do I have to change my shirt? This is my favorite shirt. My father bought it for me at Disneyland.”

“It would be too complicated to explain now. I can only say the other guests at The Manor are not fond of rodents or amphibians, famous or infamous. I’m sure Mr. Thompson will explain later.” He opened the door at the end of the hall. “Dinner is in twenty-three minutes. There are clean clothes in the closet.”

“Thanks.”

Bradford closed the door. Sara looked around. The centerpiece of the room was a large four poster bed with an ornate canopy from which hung beautiful bed curtains. On top of the bed was a beautiful handmade down quilted comforter with a tiny star-shaped design. Massive down pillows lay on top of the quilt. She made a swan dive into the bed.

“Ah, this is fantastic. This is the most comfortable bed in the world. It’s a princess bed.” She rolled around on the soft covers.

Reluctantly, she got up, went to the closet, and pulled out the first item she touched a green dress embossed with a white star on the collar. Looking through the closet, it was full of clothes, all her size, but none of them any more exciting than the dress she pulled out. [RO1] 

After changing, she lay down on the bed and waited for Bradford. The softness of the bed was lulling her to sleep when Bradford knocked at the door.

He led her to the door at the end of the hall.

“This is the door to the study, Bradford.”

“Perhaps, or maybe not,” he said as he opened the door and revealed a long dining room. The dining room table was intricately carved with stars, and the dishes were also predominantly designed with stars.

“This Mr. Thompson dude must like stars,” she thought.

Bradford pulled out a chair. “Have a seat, Miss Sara; the others will be entering shortly.”

Other members of the household began to come into the room and sit down. All of them were staring at Sara, and they all looked familiar to her. There were former teachers, neighbors, and babysitters, all sitting around the table staring at Sara. Five seats remained unfilled. Mr. Thompson and Bradford came in, taking two of the seats. Lastly, Mr. Dalton, Ms. Graham, and Tiffani walked in and sat at the table. Tiffani winked at her.

“Tiffani.”

“Surprise.”

“What are you doing here?”

“It will all be explained in time, Sara,” Mr. Thompson said. “It is time for our first course of dinner.” He jingled a small bell, and several servants came in carrying trays of food: peanut butter and pickle soup.

After finishing his soup, Mr. Dalton explained to Sara, “You see, Sara. We are all guardians; we have sworn to protect others. All of us have been assigned, at some point in your life, to keep you safe.”

“Protect me from what?”

Mr. Thompson jingled the bell, and the main course was delivered: roast beef marinated in vinegar and mayonnaise, peas and pears in tomato sauce, and mashed potatoes with plum and cornflakes gravy.

“We are all from another world, Sara.”

“You are aliens from outer space? Have I been abducted by aliens?”

“You have not been abducted; you are one of us.” Everyone at the table nodded.

“Get out of here.”

“Bradford is the only one here that is actually from Earth. We are from a place far away called Tenebrae. Two thousand years ago it was taken over by evil; causing a small portion of the country adhering to the old ways to split off and become Libero Salus,”

“You guys are crazy, right?” Sara sat up from the table.

“I wish we were, Sara. Sit down, please. I can prove what I say. Our world is a place of deep magic. Magical persons from Tenebrae have a symbol of their magic on the palm of their hand. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you Sara?”

Everyone at the table, except Bradford, raised their right palms to reveal tiny white stars. Sara raised her hand. In the center was a tiny black star. Everyone around the table gasped. Her ex-babysitter, an old woman of about 40, swooned. Bradford jumped up to help her.

“Please relax everyone. I suspected Sara’s star might be black. It probably changes from black to white and back again, does it not Sara?”

“Yes, it does.”

“That is what makes you unique among us, Sara.” He jingled the bell again, and dessert was served: asparagus and onion parfait. “After dessert, Tiffani, you and Sara may take a walk in the garden if you would like and have some time together. At precisely eight oh four, I need to talk to Sara for a while and then we don’t want to miss the audition rounds of Americas Got Talent tonight.” Mr. Thompson started eating his parfait.

          

Sub Commander Jackson Roberts sat at his desk in the dark, damp cave the Senate had chosen for the base of operations for the entire army of Libero Salus forces. His troops were under-armed, underpaid, under-trained, and under-budgeted.

The High Commander repeatedly explained to him, “Libero Salus has a long-standing treaty with Tenebrae, and any show of force would only convince Queen Hillary to break the treaty. Her large, well maintained, superbly trained offensive forces could then invade the last vestiges of Libero Salus.”

He had pleaded to the High Commander for more men, more money, and a chance to make his forces as good as or even better than the Queen’s but with no success. Jackson reviewed his options. The only possibility to fight Tenebrae was covert. He had once belonged to an organization that was doing just that- The Defenders of the White Star. Queen Hillary had caught the leaders and executed or imprisoned them. The organization disbanded. Afterward, the Queen declared a departure amnesty to Earth for all the remaining members and potential members. Only he and his inept army remained to fight.

Jackson, his wife, and newborn daughter had escaped at that time with the help of forged papers from the Guardians. The three of them had been running ever. Queen Hillary wanted Elizabeth back. After all, she was the heir to the Queendom.

Maggie and Janet, Elizabeth’s older sisters, wanted her dead, ensuring the throne for themselves. They had already mysteriously disposed of three older sisters before Elizabeth was even born. They were gradually poisoning their mother to death. Once she succumbed, only Elizabeth would stand in the way. The sisters hired toads and rats to hunt down the Jackson family. The family had been running ever since. Jackson’s only hope was that Thomas, the leader of the Guardians, would keep them safe while he was stuck here in this dead-end army.

If only he had cell phone reception or internet, he could check on them and make sure they were all okay. He had promised to email them daily. Looking down at the picture of the three of them at Splash Mountain, he smiled, remembering the look on his wife’s face when Sara picked out a Minnie Mouse t-shirt. “They need me at home. They need me to protect them from Queen Hillary and her daughters.” He closed his eyes and imagined his daughter screaming with delight as the roller coaster twisted and turned. Then the screams of joy turned into screams of terror as he imagined her captured by the toads.

---

 [RO1]

Chapter Five

Mind Your Manors

Sara removed her cell phone from her front pocket and called her mother.

When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are…. She heard her mother’s ringtone.

She followed the sound of the singing phone to her mother’s room. Lying on the dresser was her mother’s cell phone, purse with keys inside, and sunglasses.

“Maybe Mom would leave her phone behind, perhaps her sunglasses, but purse and keys?”

She looked around the room, her eyes settled on the note lying on her mother’s pillow.

Yesterday morning, while her mother was making a special breakfast, Sara had slipped into her mother’s bedroom and placed a note on her pillow, a little reminder to say she loved her. After that, she returned to the kitchen and enjoyed a delicious scrambled cottage cheese with peas, porridge, and an avocado muffin. Now, a day later, the note still lay on the pillow undisturbed.

Her mother had not been home at all yesterday.

Someone had been in her house today to leave the other note and open the bedroom door.

Knock Knock.

Sara jumped.

“Thomas T. Thompson. Is he the villain? Or is he the good guy?”

She looked at her mother’s cell phone. There were four missed calls. One was from her. The other three were from TTT.

Sara put her mother’s cell phone, sunglasses, purse, and the note from the pillow in her backpack. She turned from her mother’s room, trembling and wiping a tear from her eye, and went to the front door.

She remembered her mother’s concerns for safety. “Do you have some ID?”

The chauffeur showed her a blue card with a large white star on it, Thomas T. Thompson Enterprises.

 Shutting the door behind her, she followed the man in the white suit. She had never noticed the small toad tracks outside her mother’s room. She never saw the instant message on her computer- “WE HAVE YOUR MOTHER. YOU ARE NEXT. THERE IS NO PLACE YOU CAN HIDE.”

Arriving in the limo, she glanced back at her house before she tumbled inside the door.

She played with the gadgets in the limo, momentarily forgetting all her problems. She did not notice the car parked behind them- the car with the toad in an ugly green suit.

“Better hang on, Miss Roberts.”

She put on her seat belt and held on for dear life as the car careened out of the parking spot and turned right, left and right again, throughout the neighborhood. The limo pulled onto the freeway.

“Miss Roberts, we should have a smooth ride from here on. It will be lengthy, however. There are some refreshments in the refrigerator, sodas and some homemade liverwurst cookies; try one, they are delicious.”

Opening the refrigerator, she pulled out a Mountain Dew and a cookie.

“MMM…This is great, even better than my mom’s.” She licked the crumbs from her finger.

“I am glad you like them.”

Her eyes began to get heavy. She was tired. It had been a long day. She was exhausted. She drank more Mountain Dew; it always kept her awake. It wasn’t keeping her awake today. It wasn’t wise to fall asleep in the limo with a stranger. She fought a valiant battle to remain awake.

She lost.

“I’m so sorry Miss Roberts. Precautions need to be taken. The location of The Manor must be kept secret.”

The limo drove several miles, took an exit off the freeway, turned down a quiet, deserted country road, and vanished.

Teleportation is still not an exact science. The landings can be unpredictable, especially if the calculations are not configured correctly. Landings are often bumpy. The science has improved over the years, however. In the first experiment, an unsuspecting volunteer in a light blue carriage was to be transported twenty miles. The rear of the carriage arrived unscathed, but the front of the carriage and the driver disappeared.

Fortunately for Sara, the transport to and from Earth and The Manor had been perfected and stored in the Limo’s computer. Bumpy landings, however, were still a problem.

Sara was suddenly awakened by a sharp jerk and a thud.

“Ah, Miss Roberts, you are awake. Did you enjoy your nap? We have arrived.”

She sat up, looking around her and rubbing her eyes. She was greeted by a security camera. On either side of the limo was a long white brick wall extending as far as she could see. In front of the limo was a very impressive wrought iron gate with an enormous white star in the center.

She looked at her palm; the star was white.

The chauffeur punched eight digits into the security system. The numbers were her birthday. The gate disappeared and reappeared once they passed.

The limo continued up a long, straight driveway towards a beautiful white mansion. Along one side of the driveway was a topiary garden of trees and bushes shaped to look like the strangest animals she had ever seen. One was a winged horse, and another looked like a lion’s body but with the head of an eagle. On the other side of the driveway were large statues of men and women. As the limo passed each statue, it turned and stared at the limo. They were frightening; she had scarystatueaphobia. She closed her eyes and did not open them again until the limo stopped in front of the mansion.

The chauffeur led her to the walkway. “They are expecting you, Miss Roberts.” He nodded towards the ornate, white front door carved with stars.

Hesitating, she wished for some courage building Doritos as she pushed the bell. The door opened.

A very tall man was analyzing her. “Mr. Thompson wishes to extend his deepest regrets for the clandestine manner in which this meeting has been arranged.” He spoke in an adamant British accent.

The tall man led her down a long hallway and, pushing open one door of a set of double doors. “This is the study, Miss Sara; the Master will join you shortly.”

She walked around the study. Books covered the walls. One set of books was out of alphabetical order. She wanted to correct them but restrained herself. In the center of the study sat a large desk. On it, she found a lamp, a large jar full of cell phone batteries, and a weird looking phone. No papers. No files. She found nothing telling her who Thomas T. Thompson was.

The door opened, and the oldest man Sara had ever seen in her life shuffled into the room. His wrinkles had wrinkles. He extended his bony, wrinkled, and brown spotted hand to Sara.

“Sara Roberts, it is indeed an honor to meet you. I have known your family for a long time,” the old man said. He kept his hand out. Despite a severe case of bonyhandaphobia, she reached out and touched his hand, afraid of breaking it, and shook it very lightly. Showing surprising strength, the old man grabbed her hand and shook it vigorously.

Mr. Thompson’s eyes settled on the backpack Sara had dropped in the middle of the floor, and his demeanor changed very quickly. “Pardon my impertinence, but it is imperative I see your backpack immediately.”

“Sure,” she said, placing the backpack on the desk and emptying the contents. The tall man walked in and stood by the desk.

“Scan the contents carefully, Bradford.” The old man as he handed the purse to the tall man.”

“That’s my mother’s purse, Mr. Thompson; she left it at home. Can you help me find my mother?”

“We’ll discuss that later, Sara,” Mr. Thompson as he rummaged through the remaining contents. His eyes landed on the cell phone, and the look on his face switched from mild curiosity to intense concern. He removed the battery from the cell phone and put it in the jar of cell phone batteries. “I’m sorry, Sara, but I forgot to tell you the rules concerning cell phones at The Manor. They are expressly forbidden.”

“My mother’s cell phone is in her purse.” Bradford pulled it out and took off the battery.

“I hope we were in time, Sir.”

“I’m sure we will be just fine, Bradford.” He turned to Sara, “You see, Sara, cell phones have GPS transmitters in them, and with the right equipment, you can be found just by honing in on that GPS in your cell phone. The GPS does not work when the batteries are taken off, therefore; we always remove the cell phone batteries before we come to The Manor. I’m sure there wasn’t enough time to trace you.”

She thought about the toad. Maybe he didn’t even need to see the name on the side of the bus.

Mr. Thompson picked up the hairbrush her father had given her. “Have you been instructed on how to use this?”

“Of course.” Sara grabbed the brush from Mr. Thompson and brushed her hair. Mr. Thompson’s eyes widened, a bead of sweat appearing on his brow, as he carefully removed it from her hands. Bradford took a step back.

“I will just hang onto this for the time being, just for your safety, mind you.”

Mr. Thompson picked up the copy of Huckleberry Finn, leafed through the pages, and began to mumble on about how he had known Mr. Twain personally and had spent time with him in San Francisco. The old man set the book down. Sara picked it up and looked at the inside page; Mark Twain had written the book in 1884.

“Bradford, please take Sara to her room to rest before dinner. I suggest a change in clothes would be appropriate; I don’t understand how your parents could allow you to have a shirt with a rodent on it.” He looked at her Minnie Mouse T-shirt. “Dinner is precisely at 6:46; arrive on time please.”

Chapter  Four

Toads on the road

“Bradford, I phoned Elizabeth twice yesterday and once today, and she has not answered.”

“I was leaving to drop off the invitation. Would you like me to have a look around?”

“Yes, please. If there are any signs of trouble, we must make sure Sara is picked up immediately. She must be protected at all costs.”

“I will take care of it, Sir.”

Sara was horrified. The other students had seen her enter the bus with Bride of Frankenstein's hair. Thankfully, no one noticed. Perhaps they were too busy watching the toad following the bus. Maybe they were too involved in their selves to see the newbie in the back of the bus brushing her hair and glaring out the back window.

Finally, at the fourth stop on the way to school, the toad passed up the bus, waved to her, and sped on its way, but only after reading the sign on the side of the bus- WASHINGTON IRVING MIDDLE SCHOOL.

The bus chugged into the school parking lot. She inspected the area for a toad in an ugly green suit. She knew he was here, but she couldn’t find him. Everyone had already left the bus, and the driver was closing the doors when he saw Sara.

“Hey kid, it’s time to leave. Pick up your stuff and get out. I’m on a schedule here.” He pointed to his watch. Sara trudged down the aisle of the bus, looking out of all the windows while the bus driver glared at her and tapped his feet on the floor. As she was scrambling down the steps, she saw Tiffani sitting on the bench. She ran over and sat with her.

The toad forgotten, she started to tell Tiffani about her adventures from the day before.

Tiffani believed her. “Sara, I think we need to talk. There is something you need to know.”

“Okay,” she said as the bell rang. “We’ll talk in English, okay? That’s the late bell. I’m late again. My mom will be so mad.” Sara ran off to class. Tiffani walked to the other side of the campus, glancing about for any wayward toads.

From the shadows, a pair of large toad eyes had seen all that had happened but was not close enough to hear what the girls were talking about. The toad was jotting down notes in a small green notebook which he slipped into his breast pocket. It was now time for him to make his move. He lurched forward out of the shadows to grab his prey as she passed. At that moment a large man in a suit walked up to the girl and escorted her to class. The toad had missed his chance to meet his objective, again.

As Mr. Dalton dropped Sara off at her first-period math class, “Sara, this is your third tardy. You need to work harder at getting into school on time. If you promise to do better, we won’t add this tardy on the books, okay?”

“Sure, I promise Mr. Dalton.” She decided he would never believe the story of the computer calamities or the toad. Mr. Trottier was talking about square roots, but Sara was having a difficult time concentrating today.

School has always been an effort for her because her family moved so often. She is always catching up. But today, the events of the last several hours and a miserable night’s sleep were making concentration on the subject impossible. Her mind was wandering from computer calamities to migraines to toads as she watched the minute hand on the clock move closer and closer to the end of class. Mr. Trottier walked up to her and stood over her. She felt his eyes on the back of her head.

“Well, Sara. I asked you a question. What is the square root of 81?”

Sara had no idea. She had no idea what a square root was, much less what the square root of 81 was. She glanced at the clock; the minute hand had reached the 12. She exclaimed, “It’s nine.”

“Excellent.” Mr. Trottier looked surprised. “I didn’t think you were paying attention.” The bell rang, and she sprinted to her next class, US History.

History class was a repeat of math class. Her thoughts centered on the events of the past few hours and none of her classes. The only thing she learned all day was that the British were coming to the party, the party she was supposed to learn about online last night. She thought, “Now, why would we care if the British came to the tea party?”

Sara was excited about English class; she would get a chance to talk to Tiffani. She raced to class.

“Well Sara, you must be anxious for a lesson in the history surrounding William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar.”

“Uh, sure,” replied Sara, watching down the corridor for Tiffani. The bell rang, Tiffani never came, and she slumped down in her seat.

Now she had, even more, to worry about, toads, instant messages, calamities, migraines and missing BFF’s. She did hear some of the lessons, but none of it made sense. She heard Ms. Graham say “The Eyes of March.” She was also talking about Marc Antony. Sara read all of the tabloid front pages when she and her mom were shopping for groceries. Everyone knows Marc Antony was once married to Jennifer Lopez. This has nothing to do with the Julius Caesar.

“Sara Roberts,” Ms. Graham put her hand on Sara’s shoulder, “We haven’t heard from you all day. Can you tell me anything you have learned in class today?”

She thought for an instant. Could this be a trick question? Every eye in the class was looking at her. “Uh- yes- Ma’am. March has eyes.”

The entire class broke out in laughter. Sara was the high point of this boring class. She shrank down into her seat.

The bell rang. “Before you leave, class, you must study for the test on the play Julius Caesar for tomorrow. We are reading Huckleberry Finn next, and I want three chapters read by Monday. If you do not intend to read all weekend, I would suggest you get started on that. Sara, did you get a chance to start reading the book last night?”

“No, Ms. Graham.” Sara thought maybe she should explain to Ms. Graham all the events of the evening before but decided, unlike Tiffani, Ms. Graham would not believe her.

“Class Dismissed.”

PE Class was uneventful.

At lunch, Sara waited for her at Tiffani’s table. Tiffani never came. Sara ate her Oreo cookies alone, worrying about her BFF.

Finding a secluded part of the school next to the library, she opened her phone and called Tiffani. Again, there was no answer. The phone didn’t even ring.

Sara plodded through the rest of her day. She seriously considered leaving class early and walking home. She knew that would not only be breaking a strict home rule but, it would also be breaking a strict school rule. It would go on her permanent record. Not that she knew what a permanent record was, but it was probably the reason the commercials on TV talked about people with bad credit. All of them probably left school early, and it got on their permanent record.

The end of the day finally came, and she rode home on the bus, hoping she would find her mother in the kitchen making onion, bologna, and macadamia nut cookies. The bus pulled up to her house. She stepped off and marched up to the house, ready to force the calamities from her home. As she approached the front door, her pulse quickened, and her steps slowed. Looking down the street for any signs of toads and finding none, she marched up to the front door, slammed it open with a major attitude, and shouted, “I’m gonna kick some major monster booty- you just better get out of my way.”

There were no monster booty’s to kick. The house was in perfect condition and as she left it except one thing. Her mother’s door was standing open. She ran into the room, but it was empty. The bed was made. It was neat and tidy, and there was a note lying on her mother’s bed. “Sara, I half left to help your Ant Abigail. She had an acident and had nowere else to turn. Love, Mom.”

Oddly, the handwriting or the spelling on the note did not look like her mothers and Sara had never heard of an Aunt Abigail. As far as she knew, she didn’t have any aunts, uncles, or grandparents. She had just stepped back into the living room when she noticed the note under the door, written in very impressive calligraphy.

Miss Sara Roberts

The Distinguished Mr. Thomas T. Thompson requests the presence of your company today at precisely 4:43 PM. Be Prompt. I have taken the liberty of sending transportation. This is of utmost importance.

Sincerely,

Thomas T. Thompson, ESQ.

A white stretch limo pulled up in front of her house. She was relieved to see that the chauffeur was not a toad.