The women produced a brush and comb, and brushed the hair until it was straight and even. Kelsie felt a surge of gratitude. If she had not known that this was someone’s mother before, this would have proved it. The woman was treating her exactly as she would her own daughter, and that was very reassuring. When she had it right, she fastened it in place with combs, letting it flow in back. She must have had long experience with Mark’s sister.
She steered Kelsie to a mirror. Kelsie sucked in her breath. She hardly recognized herself. Now she looked just like a western girl, in the pretty dress, with her hair fluffed out and falling around her shoulders. Well, she was in their culture now.
Mark’s mother guided her to rejoin Mark, who did a double-take when he saw her. He said something, but of course she didn’t understand it. Except that he was smiling, so it was probably good. “Thank you,” she replied. He wouldn’t understand the words, but surely could guess their meaning.
The family had a large television receiver. Mark turned it on, and a news program appeared. Then his mother came and put the set into a special mode—and Chinese subtitles formed across the bottom of the screen. Kelsie could read them! There were many Chinese dialects, and it could be hard to understand Cantonese or others, but the written language was the same throughout. This was wonderful! It felt almost like home.
They sat on the couch and watched the news together. Then came an item that electrified her: news of a flash flood in the Beijing area, because of an unexpectedly heavy storm. “Mark!” she exclaimed. “That’s what caught me!”
He nodded and said something. He had seen it too.
The man reappeared. Mark introduced her to him, confirming that this was his father. There was a family resemblance. She smiled and bowed politely.
Then it was their dinner time. Kelsie was hungry, but was not accustomed to their forks or manners. She did not know what to do.
Then she saw the set of chopsticks. And the rice. They had made a meal she could handle. Mark must have told them, and his mother had done it. She was so grateful she was almost in tears.
In the evening they watched a motion picture on the television, again with subtitles. It was set in China, and she realized that Mark’s mother had arranged this too. They were being perfect hosts. She enjoyed the movie as much for their consideration as for its story.
But there were limits. When the time came for sleeping, Mark’s mother presented her with a key to lock her bedroom. She was pretty sure they did trust her, now, but they, too, needed to honor their society’s forms.
Impulsively she kissed the woman on the cheek. Then covered her face, embarrassed. She had surely violated proper manners.
But Mark’s mother merely smiled and departed. She clearly understood children. Kelsie was alone for the night.
It was hard for her to settle down in these strange surroundings, after such an adventurous day. But she was tired, and soon enough she slept.
In the morning she showered again, and discovered a new outfit set out for her. Mark’s mother must have another key. She donned clothing, fixed her hair, and unlocked the door. It was just dawn.
This was Sunday, widely honored as a day of rest. But there was a certain tension in the house. They might not have believed Mark’s explanation about the T-shirt and why she had borrowed it. They could hardly be faulted for that; how could anyone accept the idea of magic and frozen time in a mysterious park?
They had breakfast together. Then there was a family meeting. Kelsie was nervous; now it was coming. They had treated her with perfect respect and courtesy, considering how she had appeared among them, but there were things they needed to deal with.
Mark’s father produced the printout of an email. He brought a world globe. He touched the email to the globe, and said something.
“Beijing,” Kelsie agreed, seeing where he touched. “My home.” They must have received an answer from her family there. They might not have believed she was from the other side of the world, but the note confirmed it.
Still, they were troubled about something. Mark’s father talked to Mark, and Mark looked surprised and dismayed. Something was wrong, and Kelsie was sure it related to her.
Mark turned to her. “Pandora Park,” he said. The name was the same, because it was a western myth transplanted to her city. The parents must want to see it. Was that possible?
The four of them went there. They stood before the statue while Mark explained about the special path. Kelsie knew that was what he was doing; what else could it be?
Then Mark took her hand, making a show that they were doing this together. They stepped up to the statue, and touched the box together.
The magic path appeared. They turned back to wave to the parents, then set foot on it. They walked to the chocolate ball tree.
Now at last they could talk. “You’re pretty!” Mark exclaimed.
Kelsie was so surprised she forgot whatever she had been about to say. All this magic to explain, and he thought she looked nice in her western clothing?
But then he continued. “I explained about the park, but they didn’t believe. Then the answer came from your folks in Beijing. They are glad to know you found a safe place with a friend out of town, and will expect you back when the flood drains away.”
“Out of town?”
“They don’t seem to realize that you’re in America. My message just told them—”
“Yes, I understand. They would not believe. But your folks know?”
“I told them. They did not believe. They thought you must be from a Chinese section, an—” He faltered.
“An enclave. Where folk from a different land live together.”
“Yes. But now they know you’re not, and they’re starting to realize that I’m telling the truth. So they want to see the magic path.”
“We showed them that just now.”
“Yes. But there’s something else.”
“That made you surprised,” she agreed.
“Dad reminded me that Beijing is on the other side of the world from Albany. When it’s day here, it’s night there. Noon here would be close to midnight there.”
“Yes, of course.”
“So how could you enter the park in the middle of the day, just as I did, and we meet? We should be twelve hours apart.”
Her jaw dropped. “That’s right! But we’re not. Somehow we align. When one of us enters the park, so does the other. When I left via your entrance, I aligned with your realm. I did not even suffer jet lag.”
“Jet lag!” He laughed. “Sort of the way time freezes outside when we’re inside,” he agreed. “Only it must be more complicated. It seems impossible, but it happens.”
“We must return and tell them that,” she said. “Before they become alarmed by our absence.”
“Yes.” He hesitated. “Mom likes you. She says you kissed her.”
“I did. She treated me so well, considering I’m a stranger.”
“I think she misses my sister. I mean, having a girl in the house. You’re a girl.”
“I’m a girl,” she agreed, smiling.
“Come on.” He headed back down the path.
She followed, shaking her head. They really hadn’t discussed anything important, other than the new mystery of timing. But at least his family would understand about the path.
The parents were waiting there exactly as before. Mark and Kelsie stepped off the path and circled the statue to join them. He said something.
His father said something back. Mark looked confused. Then he took Kelsie by the hand again and led her back to the statue. The magic path had vanished, but reappeared when they touched the box. Why were they doing this again?
They reached the tree. “They weren’t watching,” he said. “They didn’t see us take the path.”
“But they were facing us. They had to have seen us go into the forest.”
“They didn’t. Dad said we never went anywhere.”
Then she realized what the prob
lem was. “Mark—we forgot! Time doesn’t change outside.”
“Sure. I know that. So what?”
“So we returned the same time we left. They never saw us go because we were back at exactly the same time.”
Now his realization came. “No time! We were just discussing it, and didn’t think how it worked. How can we ever show them, then?”
“It is a paradox. Something that seems to make no sense. We must be outside the park for time to pass, and inside it to show them. Unless they could enter it with us.”
“Somehow I don’t think that will work. It seems to be keyed to just us.”
“Yes. So we must enter without them.”
“I have an idea. Suppose we go across to your entrance, and step out there?”
“But it’s raining so hard we’ll be soaked.”
“That was yesterday. The rain must have stopped by now. We can wait for maybe ten minutes, then return.”
“And that ten minutes will have passed for them,” she agreed. “That’s it!” She stepped toward him.
“Don’t kiss me!” he said.
Indeed, she had been about to. “I apologize. I will try to restrain my impulses.”
They took the scooter and skates and moved rapidly across the park. Soon they were at her entrance. He was correct: the rain had stopped. The flood remained, however; it would be another day or two before it went down.
They stepped out and looked around. There was no local activity. It occurred to her that she might be able to wade through the flood and get home by foot. But there could still be lurking men, and in any event she had agreed to wait until the waters retreated, when her family might come to meet her. That would be best.
After a few minutes they returned to the park. They scooted and skated back through the maze of paths. She still did not know the way; she was glad that Mark had such a good sense of the route.
They reached his entrance and set aside their equipment. “We have been half an hour,” Mark said, glancing at his watch. “Maybe five minutes outside.”
“Now they will have to believe,” she said.
“They’ll have to,” he agreed. “If there’s another problem, we can come back here to talk.”
“That may be best,” she agreed. “I do not enjoy being so long silenced.”
He laughed. “Serves you right for being a girl.”
That annoyed her, but she merely smiled and started walking. He was a boy; he didn’t know any better. He paced her, and soon they were at the statue.
This time the parents were looking, and were not seeing them. Only when they stepped off the end of the path did the man and woman abruptly focus. Then the relief showed on their faces.
Mark’s father came to grab him by the shoulders, and Mark’s mother came to hug Kelsie. There was a babble of dialogue.
Mark turned to face Kelsie. He nodded. Now his folks believed.
Chapter 5:
Familiars
“So we just disappeared?” Mark asked. “And reappeared?”
“You did,” his father agreed. “We were afraid you’d never come back.”
“It was only five minutes,” Mark reminded him. “But half an hour by my watch.” He showed the watch, before he reset it to match the mall clock.
“Kelsie doesn’t wear a watch,” his mother said. “I think she needs one.”
“They’re not rich like a lot of Americans,” Mark said. “She doesn’t have things I do.” He felt guilty.
“I have an old watch I’ll give her,” his mother said.
“Her folks might think she stole it.”
She smiled grimly. “I will write them a note she can show them.”
“I think for the time being we shall have to believe in magic,” Mark’s father said as they reached the car. “But I also think we would be well advised to keep this matter between us.”
“Because others would not believe us,” Mark said. “They would think we’re crazy.”
“No. Because they might believe us, particularly if they witnessed that disappearing act of yours. Then they could become dangerous.”
“Dangerous, dad?”
“Greed does not stop itself, son. Look at the presidents and top executives of large companies. So many of them receive bonuses worth millions of dollars, yet the people who have to buy their products are going broke. What would a person like that do if he thought he could control magic?”
Mark considered that. “Mum’s the word, dad.”
“We like your friend, Mark. She’s polite, and from what you say, smart. We’re glad to have her as a guest in our house.”
“Thanks. She was worried about that.”
“But we are concerned. We would like to know who set up that park, and why. I’m sure it seems perfectly safe, but it could be an ugly trap.”
“A trap, dad?”
“For children. Maybe you’re supposed to get to like it really well, then come out and tell other children about it, so they’ll come there in droves. Then when they have hundreds of children, the gates will close and none of you will get out. Pied Piper. That gives us nightmares.”
“We’re worried too,” Mark said. “We talked about it some. But there’s no sign of anything really bad.” Still, there had been that scaled pig, and the roller coaster that tried to trap them on it. But things like that wouldn’t lure children in, so it couldn’t be that kind of trap.
“There wouldn’t be. We would really prefer that you stay out of that park, Mark. But we know you won’t. So we’re not forbidding you anything, just expressing our concern. If you get any slightest suspicion, get the hooha out of there.”
“We will, dad.”
Kelsie’s visit continued for two more days. Then she and Mark returned to Pandora Park. It was time for her to go home.
But first Mark’s mother gave her the watch and note. Kelsie was confused, but when she understood, she hugged the woman and kissed her on the cheek. All Mark could think of was what would have happened had she done that inside the park. He had a mental picture of his mother floating away, blessed with super strength. He stifled his smirk.
This time they tried an experiment: Kelsie took the path and did not return. Ten minutes later Mark took it.
She was waiting by the chocolate ball tree. “You were supposed to wait ten minutes,” she told him.
“I did,” he retorted. “See—my watch shows it.”
She looked, then showed him her watch. It showed less than one minute: the time it had taken him to walk the path from the statue to the tree.
No time had passed for her, until he touched the box. They had indeed entered the park together, though at different times outside. “That explains how we could each enter at noon, local time, or even morning and evening, yet be together here,” he said. “It puts us together.”
“I followed the path immediately and got lost,” she agreed. “You must have waited, so caught up to me later.”
“I was experimenting with the scooter,” he agreed. “But the second time I made it all the way over to your entrance before you come in.”
“I was standing there soaking wet, trying to decide whether to go on in.”
“Outside the park?”
“Yes.” She considered. “So you spent time inside it, waiting for me, before I entered. It was not no time.”
“Not no time,” he agreed. “We don’t yet know all the ways of it. Still, we’re always together before long. One of us never comes in without the other being there too, soon. That must mean something.”
“Yes. But what?”
“My folks fear it’s a trap for children. Maybe to let word get around, so more children come, then catch them all.”
“Like a honey trap for ants,” she agreed. “It waits until there are a lot of them, then strikes.”
“But it seems pretty fancy for that. Why not just have a huge pile of candy in the center, that would attract hundreds of children right away? Why bother with magic, and time alignments,
and many paths?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s set up for a special kind of child, and we’re that kind. It wants more like us, rather than just any kids who come by.” She swallowed nervously. “I think we should both leave, and never return.”
“Are you going to do that?”
“No.”
“Because you can’t stay away from the magic.”
She considered. “That, too.”
He was surprised. “There is something else?”
She fidgeted a moment, then answered. “I don’t want to lose your friendship, Mark.”
He stared at her. “But we hardly know each other!”
“You were nice to me. You understand, and not just about the magic. And your family—I like them too.”
Mark thought about that. “Are you saying you want to be my—my girlfriend?”
“No! Just your friend.”
“Oh. Okay. Just friends.” But seeing her as she stood there, with her hair nicely done, and in the pretty dress his mother had provided, he realized that he wouldn’t mind having her as a girlfriend. When they were old enough.
“I have to get home,” she said. “But I will come here again. If you don’t want to meet me, all you have to do is stay out of the park.”
“I’ll meet you,” he said. “I’ll shake on that.” He put out his hand.
“But that will make you tell the truth!”
“I know.”
They shook hands. “I’ll meet you,” he repeated.
She looked as if she wanted to hug him or kiss him, but she refrained. “Thank you.” There was a tear in her eye.
They crossed to her entrance. He walked out with her. The floodwaters had receded, and the streets were almost dry again.
Two people stood by the statue. “We’d better wait until they’re gone,” Mark said. “It would attract attention if you just appeared from nowhere.”
“Those are my parents!” she exclaimed, delighted. “They came!”
He had forgotten about that. Dad had said he would send another email to tell them when Kelsie would return. “Good enough. I’ll go back now.”
“No, you must meet them,” she insisted, taking his hand. And he discovered that when she did that, he had to do what she wanted.
Pandora Park Page 5