It was covered completely with waterproof tiles, and decorated with patterns of sea creatures. The flag even had an anchor attached to the end of it. It had to be a message from his mother.
Rich nearly slipped again in his attempt to get up so quickly. He flung open the box and pulled out a letter that had a waterproof plastic sheet over it to protect the message inside.
Dear Rich,
How do you like my new and improved messaging system? I succeeded in finding a master in the Bishops’ Guild who was able to show me some new ways to use my power. Did you know I’m a bishop? Your father is a rook. They often put a bishop together with a rook because their powers complement each other so well.
Anyway, I’ve learned more about sending messages and creating a mailbox that will adapt to the conditions of wherever the recipient is. My powers told me you were somewhere hot and humid, and so I sent a waterproof message. Pretty great, huh?
You’ve probably been told that every knight has a strength and a weakness. Well, my unique strength is that I can sense when someone I love is in danger. No matter how far away you or your father are, I can always tell when you're safe and when you're not. I sensed just now that you are in danger, and my instincts also tell me if there's something I can do about it. In this case, it was to send you a note. I just wanted to remind you how much I believe in you and how much I love you, Rich. I’ve always been proud of you, but never more so than now. I've always hoped you would become a knight, and already, you're a much better knight than I've ever been. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
I also have to confess the weakness that's unique to me. I can be paralyzed by fear—literally. When I’m afraid for the safety of someone I love, sometimes it causes me to lose the ability to move. For many years since your father’s been missing, for some reason, I haven't felt that he's in danger. Things have changed now. He’s in trouble, and I know there's nothing I can do about it. That’s part of why I must remain in hiding. My weaknesses could prove fatal if I’m fighting actively, so until he’s located, I must remain underground.
You can see that strengths and weakness are really two sides of the same coin, connected. My knowledge can be used to help, but it can also make me personally vulnerable. I take great comfort, however, that you’re going to become a rook yourself and help your father. I know that even if he's in danger, once the two of you are reunited, there's nothing you won’t be able to take on.
Thinking of you from far away,
Mom
P.S.
Word of advice about your quest and all. You’ll find it easiest to fulfill when you look for the people whose needs other people miss. Maybe they're ignored, or just don't speak up when they need help, or they’re too scared to talk about their problems. Find those people and help them, and you will be the kind of knight for which this order was founded.
Rich read the letter over a second time, already feeling better. The steam had cleared now because of the cold water, so Rich switched it off, then picked up his towel and fresh clothes. He dressed quickly, thinking mostly about his mother's final words. Who around him wasn't having their needs met? Who had a hidden problem?
It didn't take long for him to fix on the answer. If there was anyone who had a problem she couldn’t really express, it was Bianca.
Rich finished getting ready and poked his head back out, looking around to see if he could find Nadia or Bianca. When he didn’t see anyone, he entered the hallway and tried a few rooms. In one, he found a group of young children with Nadia, and a couple of other volunteers helping.
Nadia glanced his way and raised an eyebrow. "Well, you clean up pretty good," she said. She had obviously changed her clothes as well, but she must not have taken a shower because her hair was still dry. "You need something?"
Rich took a few more steps into the room, hoping she’d stop talking about the obstacle course. “Just wanted to say hi to Bianca. Is she here?"
Bianca heard him talking, turned, and ran to him, smiling. She still didn’t say anything, but she grinned as though she had just walked into her birthday party to see a mountain of presents. Rich held up a hand for a high five, and she slapped it eagerly. He took the opportunity to meet her eyes again, and when he did, yet another image flew back at him before he found himself pushed back.
This time, instead of a goldfish, he saw a large calico cat, old and a bit flabby. With it, he felt distinct feelings of dislike and sorrow. Bianca went up for another high five, but then dropped her hand to her side. Her smile vanished, and she ran back to Nadia.
Rich waved at Nadia. “Uh, see ya,” he said before turning to go.
“Hey, Rich,” Nadia said just as he reached the door. “You got a second?”
Confused, Rich faced Nadia and tried a grin. “Yeah, I think I’ve got a few. As long as Angela doesn’t catch me. What’s up?”
She handed Bianca off to one of the other volunteers and strode over to Rich, getting close so only he could hear her. “Well, this might come as a shock to you, but I do have a conscience. I feel bad about showing you up out there. I guess ever since…” She swallowed hard before continuing. “Ever since the lemonade incident, I guess I’ve been tempted to prove that I’m better than you. I won the spelling bee, you won the tournament, and I wanted a tiebreaker. But that wasn’t really a fair fight.”
Rich chuckled nervously. “Well, I did suggest chess.” He cleared his throat. “I mean, it’s okay. I get why you did it. Honestly, you were pretty awesome out there.”
She took a step back and smirked. “Yeah? Well, thanks.” She looked to either side, as though trying to see if someone was watching. “Um, do you want to come to dinner a week from Saturday? At my place, I mean. My parents always do these big dinners on Saturday nights, and they’re always bugging me to invite my ‘friends.’” She straightened and crossed her arms over her chest. “So, what do you think?”
If Rich had been confused before, he now felt like his head was on backwards. He’d never thought he’d get an invite like this in a million years. But though the idea was weird, it wasn’t all bad. He needed all the friends he could get these days, even if they did occasionally show him up and embarrass him on purpose.
“Sure,” he found himself saying. “What time?”
“Like six,” Nadia said. “Come hungry.” She waved and turned back to her work.
Rich walked out to the park, trying to find Angela, and his gaze wandered toward the obstacle course. Although Nadia had apologized, there was still something about the course that called to him. His first mistake had been agreeing to the competition without trying the course first. What if he got some practice? He didn’t think he’d ever beat Nadia’s record, but he at least wanted to finish. In any case, there wasn’t anywhere to go but up.
Now that there was no one around, he thought it might be good practice to have a go at it without all that pressure. He sighed as he walked up to the finish line, hoping that this next attempt wouldn’t require a shower.
Chapter 9: Breaking the Silence
Rich’s first week of work passed, and he started the second. He rode out early every day, trying his hand at the obstacle course before most people got there. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep everyone from seeing him, but the fewer people, the better.
It took a few days before he could even finish the course, and that wasn’t even taking into account the snipers with paintball guns. He realized he was used to taking his bike everywhere, so he did have pretty strong legs, but his upper body and arm strength just weren’t up to the challenge. He always counted to ten on the monkey bars, and for the life of him, he couldn't cross them in under ten seconds. One shot to the arm, and everything was over.
He came home every night feelin
g completely exhausted, but something drove him on. For some reason, he really needed to do this, and it wasn't only to prove something to Nadia, though that wouldn't hurt.
Every day, he also went out of his way to say hi to Bianca and to try to read something from her. Now she smiled every time, and had given him more pictures of the fish and the cat. Once, Rich thought he saw a man who might have been about the age of her father or uncle or something, but it was a really short glimpse.
Thursday rolled around again, and he stood in front of the obstacle course. It would be easy to use his paladin powers to deflect paintballs, but that would be cheating. If he was going to do this, it would be all by himself.
He’d developed the habit of always looking over his shoulder. At times, he thought he saw someone standing a little ways behind him, just in the corner of his eye, but when he turned, the figure vanished. He didn’t want any more incidents like what had happened in the shower, but the fact that things were quiet made him even more nervous.
This morning as he approached the obstacle course, it looked like somebody was already there.
Great, Rich thought. Someone to watch and make fun of me.
As he moved closer, he noticed something strange—the outline of the person was a bit fuzzy, like an out-of-focus picture. The girl had blonde shoulder-length hair pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore an employee polo shirt and jeans. Rich reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen he kept there at all times that he could convert into his sword. "Hey, are you gonna do the course?"
The girl didn’t turn, and Rich approached a little more quickly. "Hey, are you all right? I can get the nurse…"
The girl turned slowly. Her hair looked different, but it was Mallory's face that stared back at him. "Oh, that won’t be necessary, Rich. My people are taking care of me just fine, though I don't think I'll ever enjoy a glass of lemonade again. Got you to thank for that."
Rich summoned his sword, realizing he could see right through her. "What do you want? Would it kill you to let me enjoy my summer?"
Mallory shook her head and pouted. "Poor Richie wants to enjoy his summer. Are you just trying to forget how you failed in the Corridor? I hear you didn’t even get past the first room. Pretty. Never going to find your father that way, now are you?"
Rich raised his sword in front of him, using his power to turn his polo into a shirt of mail. "You didn't answer my question. Tell me what you want, or get out of here and leave me alone. No matter what you say, I'm not worthless, and I'll return to the Corridor. I will bring back my father, and when I do, your kind won't stand a chance."
Mallory didn't seem to care. She pushed a strand of her newly blonde hair out of her face. "We’ll see about that. As much as I would like to duel again, Heinrich, I'm not really all myself yet. It takes a lot of effort to appear solid, so I thought we might have a different little contest to keep things fresh." She gestured to the obstacle course. "Would you like to race? I'll even throw in a wager. If you can beat me, I’ll leave you alone for an entire week. I can’t stay solid for long right now, but then again, I won’t have to. How does that sound?"
“You want to challenge me on the obstacle course?" Rich asked. "How do I know you won’t use your powers to cheat?"
Mallory shrugged. "Can't use my powers right now, after what you've done to me. Though I do get help from my friends."
She walked over to the starting line and cocked her head to one side. "To show I’m a good sport, I’ll give you a ten-second head start."
Rich walked over, still gripping his sword. It would be nice to have an entire week nemesis free, but he still doubted she wasn’t going to cheat. Didn't hurt to try.
Turing his sword back into a pen and his mail back into a shirt, he joined Mallory at the starting line. She raised her arm and counted down from three, then yelled “Go!” Rich jumped onto the monkey bars, counting down from ten in his mind, as he was used to doing. At least this time, he wouldn’t be shot with paintballs. Then again, he would be pursued by his nemesis. Not really a great trade.
After a few dozen practice runs, he was definitely getting better at this first part, though he wasn’t great. By the time the ten seconds were up, he was still on the last rung.
"Ready or not, here I come!” she called from behind him.
The sound sent a rush of adrenaline through him, and he leaped from the bars and made his way to the climbing wall faster than he ever had before. Maybe that's the trick, he thought. I should always do this course imagining my nemesis is chasing me.
He reached for the zip line, but another arm shot out in front of him and grasped it first. Mallory zipped down the line, turning her head to yell, "Ladies first!"
Too stunned to say something witty, Rich turned and realized his problem right away. There was only one set of handles for the zip line. Not seeing anything else to do, Rich summoned Zahn and looped him over the rope, turning him into an emergency handle. Grasping the handle and the flat part of the blade, he zoomed down the line, making it down in seconds.
His nemesis had already reached the tires, and Rich watched her approaching the finish line. Undaunted, Rich slogged through with his mud-caked feet, but they slowed him down too much. Mallory crossed the finish line and started what Rich thought must be the nemesis version of a victory dance.
With a groan, Rich stumbled over the finish line, trailing mud and glaring at Mallory. "That wasn't cool," he said.
Mallory grinned innocently, twirling a piece of her blonde hair. "Oh, I don't see that any rules were broken, do you? It's your fault you weren't fast enough to grab the zip line before I got there. Now you've ruined your clothes again. It’s too bad, really. I was sort of looking forward to my week off, but now…” She shrugged. "Oh, well. Such is life." She gave a little wave and a wink before disappearing. "Bye, Richie."
Rich had made sure to keep an extra set of clothes or two in a locker here at the community center for just this sort of thing. He showered and changed his clothes, making to keep the steam to a minimum. He had just gotten out when he saw a child on a bench in the hallway, head in her hands. As he got closer, he realized it was Bianca. He’d know those pigtails anywhere.
"Hey, sweetie. What's the matter?" Rich said in a soft voice. He didn't expect her to respond this time, but he wanted her to know he cared. As he took a seat on the bench next to her, he could hear her quietly sobbing. He put his arm around her shoulder and gave her a quick hug. "Hey, it's okay. What’s the matter? Are you hurt?”
She shook her head and rolled up her sleeve, revealing arms covered with purple bruises. An uneasy feeling settled over him. Something was wrong, and he wished she would just tell him about it.
Now more than ever, he needed to figure out what was going on in her mind, so he resolved to try his hardest this time when he looked in her eyes. “Bianca, can you look at me for a second?"
She looked over at him with reddened eyes, and Rich put all his concentration into using his power. Before when he tried, it was though he was chipping away at the surface of a frozen lake, only able to make a small opening through which to see what lay beneath. Now it was as if though he’d busted through and fallen in, completely submerged in the icy water.
All sorts of images flooded his mind, accompanied by feelings of confusion, fear, and hurt. He saw a living room as if through a much shorter person's eyes. On a table next to a couch sat a fishbowl with a single goldfish swimming around in circles. As he watched, the large cat he’d also seen jumped up on the table and knocked the bowl on the ground, spilling the fish and water all over the carpet.
Just then, a man came in the room, yelling. Rich was certain it was the one he’d caught a quick glimpse of a few days ago. The man motioned wildly to the mess, but it was hard
to make out exactly what he was saying. He reached out to grab Bianca by her arms and flung her to the floor. Intense pain shot through Rich’s body, and he heard the final yelled command, "You’d better clean this mess up now!"
Rich snapped back into reality, feeling sick to his stomach. "That happened to you? The cat knocked over the fishbowl, and you got blamed for it? And he … hurt you? Does he do that a lot?" The little girl nodded over and over, the sobs coming again. Shock gave way to anger. How could anyone hurt someone so innocent and vulnerable? This needed to stop—today.
"Bianca, I'm really sorry that happened to you. I'm gonna try to make sure it doesn't happen again. How does that sound?"
She turned and threw her arms around Rich’s waist. “Thank you, Rich," she said as Rich returned her hug, feeling especially good to hear her voice at last. Perhaps this was keeping her silent.
Rich stood and nodded. "You stay right there, Bianca. I'm gonna find Nadia."
It turned out she’d only been in the restroom, so he cornered her as soon as she came out. “Nadia, we need to talk."
Nadia shook her wet hands off a couple of times and arched her eyebrow. "Oh, really? What—is something on fire?"
"I'm serious.”
Nadia narrowed her eyes. "Is everything all right?
Rich shook his head, feeling a lump forming in his throat. "Well, yes and no. Bianca . . . she…she started talking to me, and I think there's something wrong.”
He told Nadia about the bruises he’d seen on the girl’s arm and about the incident with the cat and goldfish, though he didn’t mention how he really knew this—only that Bianca was now speaking.
Nadia’s face grew angrier and angrier as he explained, and Rich could see both her hands balling into fists. She obviously had mama bear feelings about Bianca, and Rich was glad he wasn’t the target.
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