Chapter Thirteen

The Lab

The laboratory reminded Sara of something from Frankenstein’s Monster or Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Beakers and tubes surrounded her. Some of them were empty, a few bubbled over with strange red or yellow gooey concoctions, while others had blue smoke spiraling from out of the top. A workbench sat along one side of the room with several partially constructed contraptions. Sara noticed areas of the lab were dirty, untouched for years. Cobwebs hung from cobwebs. Cages lay strewn along the other side of the room, most were empty, but a few held weird-looking animals in them. A giant toad with bulging eyes stared at Sara from one of the cages. She gasped.

“Oh, he won’t bother you,” said Mr. Thompson, “That’s Benjamin. We’re working on figuring out how to undo the spell your grandmother put on him. He is somewhat of a relative of yours. He is your evil aunts’ father.

Sara looked at the toad; looked up very close to the glass and then backed away. Turning towards the middle of the room, she found a table with only one item on it- her backpack. She looked around the room quizzically, “Mr. Thompson, where are the wizards?”

Mr. Thompson looked at Sara. “Wizards are very secretive. And, they are very stubborn and untrusting. It took a lot of convincing for them to allow you into their lab. Now, they have disappeared. I will have to continue without their assistance.” Mr. Thompson placed a finger to his lips to tell Sara to be quiet and winked at her. “After all, wizards are of little use anyway. They very seldom get the calculations correct.”

A voice came from behind one of the cabinets, “This time you have gone too far Thomas. First, we don’t mind visitors; it is just this visitor we wish to avoid. Thomas, the creature you brought in with you is the grand-daughter of Queen Hillary. Evil is as evil does.” The voice went silent.

“Grady, I told you, Sara is nothing like the Queen. She is our salvation. Now quit acting like dwarfs and get out here this moment.”

Another voice came from behind another cabinet, “If she be not as the Queen, then why be she a black starred palmist?” Sara looked at her palm in horror and held it up in front of her and as far away from herself as possible.

“Mildred,” responded Mr. Thompson, “I explained the star to you in detail this morning. It changes from white to black. Now, will you assist me, or not?”

From behind the cabinet came yet another voice. “Black or white changes not a thing, Tyrone, she be who she be, we will not be changing our spots to help. We have made all the preparations. They be in yonder vessel as per your command. Be on with your matters; show the black palmist her weapons. We shall be distant till you be done. Close yonder door when you leave. Be fast, Tyrone, there be black things afoot.”

“Very well, Penny, I shall continue unassisted. Thank you again for all your help and calculations.” Mr. Thompson turned to Sara, shrugged his shoulders, then looked back at the cabinet, and smiled. “Did I mention that Wizards are stubborn?”

A hrmph sound that came from behind the cabinets.

“It looks as if I will do this solo.” He led Sara over to the backpack. “Sara, to expedite matters, I will remove items from your backpack, one at a time. Please hold any questions until the end.” Mr. Thompson did not wait for her answer; instead, he went over to the backpack and peered inside. He did not allow Sara to look into the backpack. Sara was craning her neck to peek in. “Patience, Sara.” Mr. Thompson placed his hands inside the backpack and brought his hands out holding a bunch of ordinary stones.

Sara knew she shouldn’t ask the question. She knew she should keep her mouth shut, but the words wouldn’t stay in her mouth. “Mr. Thompson, am I supposed to throw rocks at the evil people?”

Mr. Thompson raised an eyebrow, “Sara, I said no questions.” Sara stepped back and lowered her head. “Sara, these are special stones. They are Toliver stones, and they come only from Libero Salus. At one time they were highly sought after, but since electricity came to Tenebrae, the stones are easy to obtain. I bought these stones on eBay. Toliver stones have a particular property. As long as you keep one stone in the sun for a few hours each day, at night all the stones will become bright lights. Please, use these only when necessary because they are highly traceable.” Sara nodded. The next item was a small bottle of perfume. “The concoction in this vial came from the boiled feathers of a Canaboro bird. The process is fascinating. First, you,” Sara’s eyes began wandering around the room, Mr. Thompson realized, she didn’t need all of the details. “Maybe it is best if I just tell you what each item does.” Sara nodded. Next, Mr. Thompson pulled out a pair of sunglasses.

“Those are my mother’s,” exclaimed Sara.

“Yes, Sara, they are. We have altered them just a bit. Put the sunglasses on, and you can tell if the subject you are looking at is trustworthy- the ones you can trust will have a white mist around them. Those you can’t trust will have a black mist. Sara grabbed the sunglasses and lifted them to her face; Mr. Thompson grabbed her hand. “The glasses only have three uses, also. Save them for when you need them.” Sara put the glasses on the table and nodded her head again. Mr. Thompson pulled a bracelet out of the bag.

“That’s pretty.”

“It’s pretty and unique. Simply place it on your left wrist and twist the yellow and green beads and it’ll make you invisible for thirty minutes. The bracelet can be used only….”

“Three times,” finished Sara.

Mr. Thompson didn’t skip a beat. He pulled out a very small container of Doritos next. “The Doritos in the container is never-ending. Anytime you want a chip, open the lid, and take one. These are special Doritos, guaranteed to give you an extra burst of courage if you first tell them, I need courage.”

Mr. Thompson smiled, “But Sara, like the rest, the Doritos will only give you courage three times. You must get used to using your courage as well.” Mr. Thompson pulled out Sara’s hairbrush.

She grabbed the hairbrush. “That’s the hairbrush my dad gave me,” and then she lifted the hairbrush to her hair. Gasps were heard coming from behind the cabinets and one very shrill scream as Mr. Thompson grabbed Sara’s hand.

“Please, Sara, do not brush your hair with this hairbrush. This is a unique hairbrush. It's a very powerful laser. It had run out of power and needed recharging, which I did. Lucky for you there was no power in this brush all the times you have used it. I shudder to think the mayhem you could have created.”

A disembodied voice floated out of the cabinets. “I do be shuddering right now.”

Mr. Thompson smiled. “There is still another hairbrush in the backpack for actually brushing your hair as well as a copy of Huckleberry Finn which I have loaned you. You should find it to be a pleasant company on lonely nights. There are maps in the backpack as well. That about does it; I think you are well armed now.”

Sara glanced through the items in the backpack. “Mr. Thompson, what will I wear? I can’t wear this same outfit every single day.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, Sara.” Mr. Thompson pulled a small, Barbie size wardrobe out of the backpack and opened it. “Here are your clothes.”

“Mr. Thompson, those clothes won’t fit me, although,” and Sara craned her neck to look very carefully, “they do look like my clothes.”

“Of course, they will tell the article you wish to wear to resize, and it will enlarge to fit you. Twenty-six hours later it will go back to its Barbie doll size. It conserves space this way. Well, Sara, it looks like my work here is done. We should be able to get you back into your room and off to Tenebrae.”

A throat clearing came from behind the cabinets. “Something be forgotten, Thomas.”

“Of course, Sara, I forgot to tell you about the food packets. The instructions are very easy to follow, and the contents of each food package are labeled on the front.” Mr. Thompson faced the cabinets, “Okay, Grady, are we done yet?”

Another voice from the cabinets said, “Thomas, you do not be finished. Look in the side flap.”

Mr. Thompson fished through the front flap and pulled out a necklace, a very unattractive necklace. “Okay. What is this? I don’t remember ordering a necklace.”

A female voice answered from behind the cabinet. “Thomas Tyrone, now don’t be getting too excited, be remembering the blood pressure. We do be thinking we need one more safeguard. This be an anti-truth talisman. If this creature do be our salvation, Tenebrae will not be stopping at nothing to stop her. The necklace do be useful if they capture the creature. She be not able to tell anything about the defenders when she do be wearing this necklace. We do be thinking of her protection too. Tenebrae cannot be torturing the creature when she be wearing this necklace either. We be admitting, we be worrying for she be a black palmist and we do be wanting to protect The Manor, Tyrone. And, Tyrone, we be wanting that she put the necklace on now. She not be able to take it off again.”

Mr. Thompson thought about the necklace, “Thank you, Penny that was very thoughtful of you.” Mr. Thompson put the necklace around Sara’s neck as the phone rang. “Thompson here.” There was a pause, and then Mr. Thompson continued, “Are you sure?” another pause, “Yes, that does change matters. Yes.” Mr. Thompson turned to Sara, and she saw the heads of three small people peek out from behind the cabinets. “Sara, there has been a slight change of plans. We must leave from here. I was hoping to send you off from the teleport in your room. The calculations are more exact from that location, but we have run out of time.” The wizard’s eyes widened as they whispered to each other. Mr. Thompson continued, “You must leave from this location, right now, and we don’t have time to recalculate. We will try to get you as close to your destination as possible, but it will be up to you to get to your final destination. Our last information is that she was taken to the castle in Tenebrae City. You are to go there to free your mother and then return here to The Manor. It is as simple as that. And Sara, use your senses. You can trust few in Tenebrae or Libero Salus to help you. Oh, and Sara, a lot of people in Tenebrae do not like wizards, white or black so keep your star a secret. Good luck Sara. Be safe.” Mr. Thompson pointed to the door they had entered when they came into the lab. “Sara, that’s your entrance to your destiny. It is time to go.”

Sara stared at the door, closed her eyes, and walked towards it. Music piped through the loudspeakers.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain. Ford every stream. Follow every rainbow. Till you find your dream.

“Okay, that’s enough,” yelled Mr. Thompson, “it’s way too corny and not helping.”

Sara turned to Mr. Thompson, That’s okay. I kinda like it, and it might help.” Standing in front of the mysterious door; Sara said “Open.” She walked through the door and vanished.

“I do be worried Tyrone. She be not trained as a wizard. It takes years and years of training to become a wizard; you do be knowing this. She be no use to us unless she be trained in the arts. It is not like ye be born knowing it or that it just come to ye.”

“I would not be concerned; she is very special. More special maybe than even I know.”

“And one more thing need be said, Thomas.”

“Yes.”

“It be about the invisibility bracelet.”

“What about the invisibility bracelet?”

“We be trying hard to make the bracelet. We be all working together with Thomas. We do not sleep at night Thomas. You know Thomas; invisibility has never been done before. Now, remember your blood pressure, Thomas.”

“What about the invisibility bracelet?”

“There might be a small flaw that might alter its effect.”

“Out with it Grady, what’s wrong with the invisibility bracelet?” ordered Thomas, running out of patience.

“It not be working, Thomas.”