by Paul Kater
wall a door opened. A man in a suit walked into the large hall through it. He seemed to be familiar with the strange constructions as he did not even deem them worthy a look.
Lily tensed as the man came closer, but he entirely ignored her. Instead, he handed a sheet of paper to Doctor Calgori. "I think this requires your attention, sir."
"Ah, yes," the Doctor agreed as he skimmed over the note. "Oh, this is Miss Masked Woman. Miss Masked Woman, this man is Harving."
The man in the suit politely nodded. "So you do exist. A pleasure to meet you, I am sure." He then turned and walked off, leaving the Masked Woman flabbergasted. She had never encountered such a reaction. So you do exist.
Doctor Calgori folded up the paper. "I must ask you to leave now, Miss Masked Woman. There are certain things of importance that I have to see to. I am delighted to have made your acquaintance, though. I would appreciate another visit from you."
This was even more surprise for Lily. "Yes, that would be fine with me," she uttered with some difficulty.
"Very good. Malcolm will show you to the window upstairs. But, before you leave... how did you get up on the roof? I asked this before."
Lily told him a little about her jet pack. Everyone who knew about the Masked Woman knew about the jet pack as well, so that was not giving away a secret.
"Fascinating. I would like to see that item someday. Thank you for... dropping on our roof, Miss Masked Woman." The Doctor chuckled at his little joke. He treated Lily to an amazingly bright look from his dark eyes and then, using some small control, he made his wheelchair roll off, towards the door that Harving had disappeared behind. A few feet away he stopped and turned.
"If you hear something about a stolen mechapede, would you please let me know?"
"Mechapede?" Lily frowned behind her mask. "Oh, that is what was stolen from you."
"Indeed. It looks a bit like an ant, but it is larger. Much larger, I might say. I'd be grateful for your assistance. Good night, Miss Masked Woman." The doctor smiled once more, turned his chair and rolled off.
Malcolm rose to his formidable size and held out a hand towards the stairs he had been sitting on. "Miss Masked Woman? Please follow me."
As a plenitude of emotions raced through the Masked Woman, with confusion reigning, she followed the man up the stairs and to the window she had entered through. Malcolm opened the window and offered her a hand to get out. Lily ignored that and jumped out, onto the flat roof.
"Have a nice evening," Malcolm said and then closed the window. He locked it.
Lily waited until the light behind the window was extinguished and then picked up her backpack. She walked to the side of the roof and, with the light-enhancing glass in place, judged the height. "Not too bad." Then she jumped and smashed into the cobblestone street.
Quickly she was on her feet again, strapped the jet pack to her back, and on extended legs she set off for home. As she went along, questions begged for attention. One was about the strange man in the wheelchair. He hadn't asked why she had broken into his building! And how had people managed to steal an enormous metal ant from a building like that, without being noticed? And to what purpose?
-=-=-
"Lily, my dear, you seem very distraught today. What is the matter with you? Are you having any problems we can help you with?"
Agatha Henley, the lady who felt in charge of the ladies' choir, touched Lily's shoulder for a moment.
Lily startled as she was thus torn away from the combination of questions in her head and fatigue in her whole body. After she had gotten home from the strange visit to the warehouse annex inventor's workshop, she had not slept a wink. This had taken its toll on her, despite her extraordinary powers. "Uh, what?"
Mrs. Henley shook her head. "You are not with us, are you? Maybe you are in need of some strong tea, or some fresh air. We've been singing all our songs without you."
Lily felt blood rush up to her neck and cheeks. Fabulous , she had finally found a group of people she dared to mingle with socially, and now she was already making an utter dullard of herself. "I am so sorry. I had a rather unruly night."
The subdued laughter and smirks that her words triggered made her blushing even worse.
"Ladies. Please. We all know that our Lily is not that kind of woman," Isabella Jenkins spoke out, to smother the sounds. "We all have our ups and downs once in a while, and today it's dear Lily's misfortune." Isabella walked over to the tea table, poured a cup and came to hand it to Lily. "Here. Drink up, child."
Lily gratefully accepted the cup, ignoring the 'child', even when Isabella only had a few years on her. "I am very sorry," she apologised again.
This was really the worst time to be so absent minded. The choir was practising for a recital at the town hall which was going to take place in only four days, and this was meant to be the final big rehearsal. So far, Lily was not making a big impression.
The other ladies sat down with tea and cookies and started chatting. A small break from singing was always welcome.
Corynthia Winterbottom, of all the ladies, captured the chair next to Lily's. Lily groaned silently. Corynthia was a nice person, but ever so curious.
"Was it William Masterson?" was the first thing the chubby, brown haired woman said after making two cookies disappear at an alarming speed. Subtlety was not a word she had encountered recently. If ever.
Lily held back a sigh as she looked at Corynthia. "No." That answer would have to do, but it didn't.
"Is there someone else?" was the inevitable next question. It was louder than Lily liked. It raised eyebrows and attracted glances.
"Corynthia, please..." Lily hoped she did not sound too begging. "I don't feel like being questioned today."
"You never feel like that," the woman next to her said, "it is as if you are hiding something, Lily."
For a moment Lily lost her grip on herself. "Oh, but I do. I am the Masked Woman."
There was a short silence. The words she had spoken clearly made quite an impression. Then one of the ladies started giggling. The giggle quickly made the rounds, and soon all the ladies, including Lily, were laughing.
Fiona Basset got up and stood before Lily. "Lily, amuse me and stand up please."
Lily stood.
"So you are the Masked Woman," Fiona said, attempting not to laugh. "I have seen the Masked Woman, Lily, and let me tell you... you are definitely not big enough, nor strong enough to be her."
Lily's stomach wanted to tie itself in a knot at that first revelation, but the other words Fiona spoke prevented that at the last moment. They actually confused Lily. "Are you certain?" She hoped there was not too much surprise in her voice.
"Oh yes. The Masked Woman is tall. Very tall. And her hair is different too," Fiona was convinced. "It's always fumbled away in a big hat. And when she walks it is with enormous steps. Not like you. You walk like a proper lady."
Relieved Lily sat down.
"When did you see the Masked Woman?" Mrs. Henley asked. "She is such an illusive person. So many things are attributed to her, and nobody knows if she is real."
Lily felt as if her skin was crawling around on her, she itched all over. She wanted to hear all about this. At the same time she wanted the women to stop, as she feared that she would blurt out something that would attract attention to her own person.
Fiona was eager to share her personal interpretation of events though, relishing being the centre of attention. "Do you remember this affair with that Avenging Angel? The man with the metal wings and the touch of death?"
Heads nodded, Lily's too.
"Well, this man and the Masked Woman were standing there, and then the man flew up. And this Masked Woman almost grabbed his legs, she just missed him, and then she flew up as well!"
Fiona added a few more non-existing details to her story. It was clear to Lily that Fiona had indeed seen her there, as the woman knew details that had never been in the newspapers. It was also clear that the identity of the Masked Woman was safe for now.
After tea, Lily shoved the affair with Doctor Calgori to the background and focussed on the singing. And that went a lot better then.
-=-=-
The paper next morning conveyed something that made Lily almost jump up from her chair. She limited her reaction to knocking over and breaking her teacup, which luckily was empty.
The news was that a large strange mechanical contraption had been found, half under water, in one of the wider brooks just outside the town. It was apparent that someone had made the thing go there, although the way how it had been done was still shrouded in mystery and therefore a matter for the constabulary.
"Footprints of at least one individual have been found at the scene, suggesting that the contraption had been guided from the inside," Lily read out loud. It was evident to her that Doctor Calgori's mechapede had been found. For a moment she looked at the ray-gun. A thought crossed her mind. But she shook her head in silence. There was a recital to prepare for now. She wanted that to go perfectly. Anything related to a doctor in a wheelchair would have to wait.