Instead Mark Fletcher ducked under his grip and grabbed the wrist of the big man. With a quick twist he threw the champion over his head. Leander hit the ground flat on his back. He was such a large man that the blow made a distinct thud that was heard throughout the arena. A groan went up, for Leander had seldom been thrown.
The champion scrambled to his feet and stood glowering. The muscles on his body swelled, making his opponent look almost small.
“He’s a monster!” Josh whispered. “He can kill Mark if he gets angry.”
Indeed Leander seemed to have that in mind. He advanced with eyes blazing. Around and around, the two men circled. Leander seemed more cautious now, however, having seen the skill and the speed of the younger man.
“Look at Mark. He’s laughing. He’s enjoying this,” Sarah said.
“He won’t be wearing that smile long,” the king growled. His face was flushed. He was standing now, shouting encouragement to his favorite.
The match seemed to go on for a long, long time. Again and again, Leander sought a grip, but Mark Fletcher would usually evade his hands. If he did fall into the hands of the huge wrestler, he had skill enough to break free.
On the other hand, Mark was unable to throw the wrestler to the mat again.
“He’s got him now!” the king screamed. “He’s going to break his neck! I’ve seen him do it before.”
“Calm yourself, dear,” the queen begged. “To get so excited is not good for you.”
“The king’s lost his mind,” Jake murmured. “He’s not like himself at all.”
And then Josh saw that, down below in the arena, Leander finally had both hands on Mark. His head was now caught in the crook of Leander’s mighty forearm. Slowly Leander exerted his strength, and the boy seemed to be collapsing under the weight of the enormous wrestler. It became obvious that the champion was trying to snap his neck.
“Call off the match, Father!” Derek shouted. “He’ll kill the young fellow!”
“He knew the risk he was taking!” the king cried. His eyes were bright and wild as he cried encouragements to his champion.
“I can’t stand to watch this,” Sarah said, and she turned away.
But suddenly, by some maneuver too quick for the eye to see, Mark reached over Leander’s shoulder. He grabbed him under the chin and began forcing his head back. It was a struggle, but slowly Leander’s head went back … back … back.
“He’s got him!” Reb yelled. “He’s got him!”
Mark had broken Leander’s hold and now had his own hold on the wrestler’s arm. He bent it back, with the other hand pulling down, and soon Leander’s shoulders were flat on the ground.
“Mark wins!” a voice cried.
And although most people groaned—they had no doubt bet against the boy—Josh saw Jacob Fletcher standing by the edge of the field, cheering for his son.
In the royal box, the king muttered angrily at his favorite. “Calls himself a champion! Bah! Bring that young man over here!” he commanded.
The master of the arena must have called Mark, for he soon came to the royal box and bowed before the king. “My victory is dedicated to you, sire,” he cried happily.
“You did well. Unfortunately, you lost me a wag-onload of money,” the king said, “but you’ll be in my stable from now on.”
“But, sire, I’m not a professional. Nor do I wish to be.”
“But you will become one. Not many young men get a chance to become the king’s favorite.”
Mark looked very unhappy. He started to protest further, but the king said, “No more of it. Report to the trainer of the wrestlers.”
After Mark left, Josh managed to slip away from the others and went down to have a word with him. He saw the young man speaking with his father and went to him at once. “Congratulations, Mark.”
“Thank you, Josh, but what am I to do about the king? I don’t want to be a professional wrestler.”
“Surely the king will understand that,” Josh said.
“I don’t know. He seemed very set on it.” Mark was glum. “I wish I’d never wrestled.”
Looking over at Mark’s father, Josh said, “It’s too bad, isn’t it, that it can’t be just for sport?”
“It’s this betting. That’s what does it. Betting makes maniacs out of people,” Jacob Fletcher grunted. He too was unhappy, and he showed it. “No good will come of it,” he muttered. “No good at all. You’ll see.”
It was the day after Mark Fletcher defeated Leander that Lady Maeve approached the king with a new thought. They were talking in private, as was their custom, and once again she was burning incense.
“King Leo,” she said, “is it not unfair of you to withhold happiness from your family?”
“What? Who? I?” The king was truly surprised. “What are you talking about, Lady Maeve?”
“I mean that Soma has done so much for you, and it would do as much for the other members of your family.”
“But the other members of my family are not depressed, are they?”
“No, but they are unhappy in many other ways. You, perhaps, don’t see it, Your Majesty. You have been so busy with your kingly duties. But I think it’s my duty as a physician to urge you to see that your whole family is on this medication.”
“Medication,” the king muttered. He thought long about it. Lady Maeve spoke so persuasively that finally he said, “Indeed, I think you may have something. I’ll see to it immediately.”
Later that same day, when the royal family were having a private meal, King Leo said, “I have something good in mind for the entire family. You have noticed the improvement in me since Lady Maeve came and put me on medication.”
“Indeed, Father, you are so much more lively now,” Cosima agreed.
“Well, all the credit must go to the doctor and to the medication Soma.”
“The drug that she gives you.”
“It’s a medication, not a drug, Derek!” the king snapped. “In any case, I have decided that we shall take it as a family.”
“I’d rather not, Father, if you don’t mind,” the prince said.
“I would rather not either, Leo,” the queen said.
A family argument began, and in the end only Princess Cosima agreed to take Lady Maeve’s medication.
The king was highly displeased with his wife and son. “You’ll come around to my way of thinking sooner or later. See if you don’t.”
For some reason, things did not seem right in the royal household. Reb noticed a troubling change in the prince, and one day he asked him, “What’s the problem, Derek? I can tell that something’s wrong.”
“It’s my father,” the prince said. “He’s changed completely.”
“He sure seems lively enough now.”
“Lively! He is betting money as if it were water. He wants my mother and Cosima and myself to go under the care of that doctor, too. I wish the woman had never come here! And now, as of this morning, Father has gone half crazy.”
“What’s he done?”
“You haven’t heard?” Derek exclaimed bitterly. “He’s put that woman on the king’s council.”
“On the council! What does she know about running a kingdom?”
“Not one thing!” Derek muttered. “But she’s got my father so tied up that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. Reb, I don’t know what to do. He wants all of us to take that Soma. So far my mother and I have refused, but—”
“Good for you. What about the princess?”
“Oh, she was happy enough to agree to it. She spent some time with Lady Maeve, and now she’s happy as a clam.”
Two days later, as Josh and the other Sleepers were going by the council room, the prince came striding angrily out. He looked very upset.
“What’s the matter, Derek?” Josh asked.
“Do you know what he’s done now? Do you know what he’s done?”
“What who’s done?”
“My father.” Derek looked at the Sleepers
and rubbed his forehead in frustration. “He’s commanded all the council to begin taking Soma.”
“What did they say?”
“What do you think they would say? All except Lord Denning agreed at once.”
“The Master of the Council. What did Lord Denning say?” Sarah asked.
“He advised against it. But everyone else all fell into place. I think they’re all afraid of Lady Maeve.”
“Now, I think Lady Maeve is all right, Derek,” Abbey declared. “After all, see how she has helped your father.”
“No, I don’t think she’s helped,” the prince said. “I think there’s something wrong with that woman. Oh, she smiles, and my father’s not depressed anymore. But he gambles more than ever. And he does irresponsible things like this.” He looked down at his feet and then said quietly, “I don’t mind telling you that I’m worried sick.”
He turned abruptly and walked off.
As the Sleepers looked after him, Abbey said, “He’ll come around. He just hates change. That’s all.”
“I don’t think so,” Josh said. “And I think he’s absolutely right. I think that woman is … evil. I think there is something badly wrong with Lady Maeve, and I think the king’s going to pay for it.”
6
Lady Maeve’s Plan
Oh, come, Reb, you’ll enjoy it!” Cosima pleaded. Reb was at the stables, where he was brushing down Lightning. He intended to take him out for exercise. Cosima had just asked him to attend a concert with her that evening.
Reb kept on brushing the glossy hide of the stallion, who once again playfully tried to bite him. Reb lightly slapped him on the nose with the brush. “You missed me that time. He got me on the shoulder the other day, though. I’ve got black-and-blue marks.”
“But why do you even let him try to bite you? Can’t you whip him?”
“Whip him? No. He’s got spirit. I like that, princess. Wouldn’t have a horse without it.” He grinned widely. “There’s some people told me I have a little of that item myself.”
“Oh, you do, Reb! And that’s why I enjoy your company. I want you to come to the concert with me.”
“Aw, princess, there’s been a dozen concerts lately. You know I went to two or three of them, and they’re all just alike.”
“Not this one. This one will be different.”
Reb continued to brush the stallion, but at last, being a good-natured fellow, he agreed. “All right. I’ll go—but I’m not promising I’ll stay long.”
“Oh, you’ll like it, Reb, I’m sure! It starts at seven o’clock. I’ve got a new dress that you’ll just love.”
“Well, I don’t have a new outfit, but I’ll clean off my Stetson pretty good.” Reb had continued to wear his high-crowned Stetson, which set him apart on the whole island. Besides, everyone knew him for his horse racing abilities. Whenever the Sleepers went down the street, he was greeted. “I’ll just clean off my hat,” he said.
Reb was getting ready to go off to the concert with Cosima when Josh came in.
“I see you’re all cleaned up and have your hair slicked back,” Josh said. “And is that a new shirt?”
“Oh, I guess so,” Reb said. “Thought I’d get one after all.”
“It looks good. If you drop dead, we won’t have to do much to you to get you ready for the burying.”
“Aw, come on, Josh! I’m going to a concert with Princess Cosima.”
“I thought you hated those things,” Josh said.
“To tell the truth, I don’t like ’em much. But she asked me, and it won’t hurt me to go one more time, I guess.”
Reb met the princess, and they made their way to the building where the concert was being held. When they stepped inside, Reb stopped in his tracks. “What’s going on here?” He had to yell to make himself heard. “It looks like a riot.”
“Everybody’s just having a good time, Reb.”
“Having a good time! They look like they’ve all gone nuts!”
Cosima laughed and acted very excited. She said, “We’ll go down close to the front where you can hear the music better.”
“I don’t need to hear it any better,” Reb protested. Nevertheless, he allowed her to lead him through the crowd.
Since Cosima was the princess, a way opened up before her. As a result, Reb soon found himself seated in front of the platform, where six young men were playing different instruments. Reb decided that all of them had wild looks in their eyes.
“Those fellows are high on something.” He shouted to be heard.
“But don’t you love the music?” she shouted back.
Reb listened for a time. “Can’t make anything out of it,” he yelled.
“They’re the very latest! Everybody’s crazy about them. Look, the lead’s going to sing!”
The lead indeed did sing, but Reb could not make out much tune.
“Back in Oldworld, he couldn’t get a job with a three-piece band in the middle of Oklahoma.” But he muttered that to himself.
He flat-out refused to dance with the princess, so she accepted other offers. He hung around the refreshment table and soon decided that there was a high alcoholic content in the punch.
Everybody here is going to be stoned but me, he thought. Don’t see why they call this fun.
Since Reb was a celebrity, however, he found many girls trying to lure him onto the dance floor. He steadfastly refused and spent most of the evening talking with the young men who wanted to talk about sports.
After several hours of this, Reb was exhausted. He found Cosima. “Princess,” he said, “do you think you can get home by yourself?”
“Why, you’re not leaving!” Princess Cosima exclaimed. Her eyes were bright, and she seemed highly excited.
For a moment Reb wondered if the princess was on some kind of drug herself. Then he remembered what Prince Derek had told them. Cosima had agreed to take Soma, the same drug her father was on.
Reb said, “I’ve had about all I can take of this. Will you be all right? I’ll wait if you won’t.”
“No, I’ll be fine, Reb. But come outside with me before you go. I want to show you something.”
They wound their way across the crowded floor to the doorway, and when they stepped outside, Reb said, “Boy, this quiet sounds good.”
But right away Cosima said, “See what I have, Reb.”
Leaning forward, he saw that she held a tiny glass vial. “What’s that?” he asked.
“It’s Soma. I want you to take some of it.”
“Soma. That’s what you and your dad are taking.”
“Yes, and it makes you feel wonderful! Colors are brighter. Sounds are better. Everything tastes better. It just makes you feel like a new person.”
“To tell the truth, princess, I may not be much, but I kind of like the person I always was.”
“Oh, come on, Reb! If you’d try a little of it—just one drop, even—you’d enjoy life a lot more.”
But Reb shook his head. “Not me. I saw what drugs did to folks back in Oldworld a long time ago. Alcohol and drugs—they never brought anything but misery to people.”
Cosima listened impatiently. “This is medication!”
“You can call a pig a dove, but he’s still a pig. And you can call Soma anything you want to, but it’s still dope to me.”
Cosima suddenly slapped Reb’s face. Her eyes were blazing. “Go on and do what you please! I don’t care!” She whirled and went back inside.
Reb stared after her sadly. “And if that’s what Soma does to folks, I sure don’t want any of it.”
He did not sleep well that night.
The next day Reb talked to Sarah about what had happened.
She stood holding her repaired bow. He knew she had agreed to compete in the archery contest, although not for money. She listened to his story and then said, “I’m glad you didn’t take any of that Soma, Reb. It sounds like bad stuff. It surely hasn’t done her father any good.”
“He’s not depres
sed anymore. That’s for sure.”
“No, but there are worse things than being depressed, and behaving the way he did with Mark is one of them.”
“And I feel sorry for Derek. He says his father will probably try to make him take that stuff.”
“He’s already tried,” Sarah said sadly. “And so far, both Derek and Mark have held out. I hope they keep on with it.”
Late one afternoon the council met. The king felt especially nervous, and he fidgeted while Lord Denning went over the affairs of state. Lady Maeve sat at the king’s left hand today. He supposed the other council members thought that was unusual. As a matter of fact, it was unusual for a new council member to ever sit that close to the king.
King Leo listened to Lord Denning go on and on. Denning was a wise man and had run the country, for all practical purposes, for several years. During the king’s times of depression, he had been the strong force that had kept things in the kingdom from falling to pieces. King Leo knew all that.
But the king was impatient with him today. “Get on with it, Denning! There’s a race in thirty minutes. I must be there.”
“But, Your Majesty!” Lord Denning looked shocked. “There are many items of kingdom business that we need to take care of!”
“What things?”
“There are many small items and one large one. Perhaps if we could handle that large one, the rest would take care of themselves.”
“Then, speak up! Speak up! Tell us what it is!” the king said impetuously.
Denning picked up a sheaf of papers. “You have in front of you the budget. If you will examine it, you will see that we are in terrible shape financially. If something isn’t done, we’re going to have to cut back.”
“Cut back on what?” the king demanded. He felt his face reddening.
A murmur went around the table.
Lord Denning said, “Sire, this was once a land where people worked hard and played on occasion. Now they play most of the time and work only when they have to. There is only one end to that.”
At once Lady Maeve spoke up. “I believe you are wrong, Lord Denning.”
A mutter ran around the table this time, for no one interrupted the Master of the Council.
Temptations of Pleasure Island Page 5