Mazes and Monsters (32 page)

Robbie’s mother came to the door to greet them. She looked much more rested now, and her skin had the flush of a summer tan. She smiled and drew them into her house.

“I’m so glad to see you,” she said. “Robbie will be happy too. It’s sad—his friends don’t come around anymore. People can be selfish sometimes, can’t they? Would you like some coffee? Are you hungry?”

“Coffee would be fine,” Kate said. “We just finished breakfast. Where’s Robbie?”

“He’s up on the hill behind the house,” his mother said. “It’s his favorite place. The view there is the best one we have, I think.” She poured coffee for all of them and handed them a tray with a pitcher of milk and a sugar bowl on it. They were in the kitchen now; she had herded them all in as if they were her Kindergarten class. Kate had the feeling she was going to make them finish their milk and cookies before they went out to play. I must remember that, she thought. Nice line.

“How’s Robbie doing?” Daniel asked.

“He’s gained back all the weight he lost,” his mother said. “I must say it’s a relief to look at the Robbie I remember.” She smiled. “I drink a lot of coffee. I’m a recovered alcoholic—that’s what they call it. Or ‘recover
ing
.’ Depends on whom you talk to. Anyway, I do drink a lot of coffee. One vice for another, you might say.” She laughed. “But I feel wonderful. I don’t know why I have this compulsion to tell you this. I’ve noticed quite a few of my friends who’ve licked the alcohol problem tend to announce it to everybody within earshot. I suppose we’re proud of it. Maybe it’s part of the process. Mea culpa … I guess you want to see Robbie.”

“We can finish our coffee,” Kate said. She didn’t understand why she felt so sorry for this woman. Robbie was back home safe and sound, his mother was sober, and yet there was a kind of pathetic, nervous loneliness about Mrs. Wheeling … The kitchen was so quiet Kate could hear the clock ticking.

“I know you’re the ones who played the game with him,” his mother said. Her tone was tense but kind. “I’m his mother, and I can guess these things. But I wanted to tell you that what happened to him wasn’t your fault. Robbie was fragile … damaged … and the game fit his needs. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Thank you,” Daniel said quietly. “I … my mother is a psychologist and she uses that word sometimes: ‘fragile.’ She says some people are more fragile than others. You shouldn’t blame yourself either.”

She smiled. “Mothers always do. But all right, I won’t. I’ll just blame the world. Sooner or later that’s a good place for the buck to stop, isn’t it? Out there in the cosmos?”

I can’t stand this conversation, Kate thought. All those undercurrents. I think I’m going to scream. “Why don’t we go see Robbie now?” she said cheerily.

“Of course,” his mother said.

They ran out of the house and around to the back where there was an arrangement of white metal chairs and a round table with a flowered umbrella in the middle of it, set out near a huge old tree on top of the hill. It was, as Mrs. Wheeling had told them, the most beautiful view on the property. And best of all, there was Robbie, sitting quietly in one of the chairs, wearing white tennis shorts and a white T-shirt, his face held up to the sun.

“Robbie!” they all yelled joyfully, running. “Hi!”

He turned, and when he saw them his face lit up. He looked wonderful, just like the same old Robbie, and his new sexy beard was neatly trimmed. “My friends!” Robbie said happily. He jumped up and ran to greet them.

“You look terrific,” Kate said.

“You certainly do,” Jay Jay said.

“Freelik!” Robbie cried. “I thought you were dead. Did you not die when you leaped into the pit? Ah, I know—you are Freelik’s son!”

“Cut the crap, Robbie,” Jay Jay said pleasantly.

“But no,” Robbie went on, as if he hadn’t even heard him. “It could not have been so long ago that we had our adventure. You must be Freelik himself. Did someone raise you from the dead? He must have been a great Holy Man, as great as myself. And here is Glacia, and Nimble too! I have been so restless here, planning my next quest, hoping to find companions to venture forth with me.”

“Come on,” Daniel said. “That’s enough. We came all the way from New York to visit you.” He sounded nervous, and glanced at Kate.

“You must be tired,” Robbie said. “Please sit here and rest.”

The three of them sat gingerly on the white metal chairs and Robbie sat down too. “We’re going to Europe tomorrow,” Jay Jay said.

“Is that very far from here?” Robbie asked.

“Robbie …” Kate said, and then she knew. She felt as if something inside her had died.

Robbie wasn’t just fooling around, trying to make a joke of the past. He was back in the game.

“I am Pardieu,” Robbie said, bewildered. “Don’t you remember me? Has someone put a spell of forgetfulness on you, Glacia?”

Kate turned her head away and held back the tears. Oh, Robbie …

“I have had so many strange encounters since we last met,” Robbie went on. “I saw the greatest dragon that ever existed, and I was almost raped by a succubus. I met the Princess of the Sprites. Ah, Freelik, she was so kind to me. And I met the King of France, who was very hospitable. You must tell me of your adventures too. Did you meet the innkeeper and his wife? It is a good place to stay—very clean, and the food is plentiful.”

Oh, Robbie … Kate thought.

“I have the Eternally Renewing Coin,” Robbie said conspiratorially. “Every night after supper I give it to the innkeeper’s wife to pay for my day’s lodging, and every morning when I awake it is under my pillow.” He reached into the pocket of his tennis shorts and pulled out a coin, and held it up. It was an ordinary quarter.

That’s why his mother told us it wasn’t our fault, Kate thought. She was preparing us.

“But I need an adventure,” Robbie said. “Now that you are here, my loyal friends, let us go forth together.” He stood up. “Beyond that stand of trees is an enchanted lake. And beyond that is the great forest. The innkeeper and his wife are afraid of it. They have warned me to stay away. I feel there must be some evil thing within, and if we could rid the forest of it then the innkeeper and his wife could be safe and happy. I would like to do a service for them.”

Oh, Pardieu … Kate thought.

The four of them walked down the hill toward the lake where white ducks swam. They stopped under the shade of the weeping willow trees, a cave of green lace. Kate looked at Daniel. His eyes were very sad. Then he nodded. “I am the Maze Controller,” Daniel said. “This is the …” His voice broke.

“The kingdom of the evil Voracians,” Jay Jay said. “Ruled by the wicked Ak-Oga. I am Freelik the Frenetic of Glossamir.” Jay Jay looked at Daniel, handing him the power.

“There are great dangers within,” Daniel said. “But there is also a wondrous treasure. Shall you enter?”

“Yes,” they said.

And so they played the game again, for one last time. It did not matter that there were no maps or dice, no rule books, or even that there were no monsters. All of the evil that had ever existed was real again in Robbie’s mind, and so when Daniel said there were Gorvils to enchant or kill, Pardieu saw them. The others did not see them. They saw nothing but the death of a hope and the loss of their friend, and they played the game until the sun began to set and long shadows stretched across the lawn. They found the monster in the enchanted forest, and they killed him. The village would be saved, the innkeeper and his wife would be able to live in peace. Pardieu’s eyes shone.

“We must go back now and tell them,” he said. “But wait—what of the treasure? Would it not be fine to have the treasure, since we have come so far and fought so hard?”

Jay Jay slipped the dull-black steel Porsche watch off his wrist. He held it out to show Robbie, and then he put it around Robbie’s wrist. “This is the treasure, Pardieu,” he said.

“Ah,” Pardieu said in wonder. “Is it magic?”

“Yes,” Jay Jay said. “It will always keep you safe.” He put his arm around Robbie and kissed him on the cheek.

Then they all linked arms and walked slowly up to the house.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Lines from “To the Wife of a Sick Friend” by Edna St. Vincent Millay: From COLLECTED POEMS, Harper & Row. Copyright 1928, 1955 by Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis.

Copyright © 1981 by Rona Jaffe

ISBN: 978-1-5040-0844-0

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