The Dark Lord's Demise (17 page)

They were not alone. About a dozen children around Kurt and
Wes's ages were in the room. That played games at tables or talked
or slept or simply stared at the walls. All were unkempt and dirty.
Their clothing was torn and stained, and some wore clothes too
big or too small.

Silence fell as everyone stared at the two newcomers. Wes and
Kurt looked around for Lisa and Betty, but they were not there.
They were glad to see bread, cheese, fruit and nuts spread out on it
table. The food looked stale but edible.

"Where'd you come from?" a large girl demanded. She wore a
patched tunic, and her filthy feet were bare. Kurt and Wes sensed
each other's caution. They dared not say much yet. The girl
shrugged and said, "Never mind. Makes no difference anyhow."

Wes thought he should at least introduce himself and Kurt. Not
only was it polite, it might lead the others to reveal something of
who they were, what this place was and why they were all here. Wes
began, "Hi everybody. I'm Wesley Friesen, and this is my brother
Kurt."

A small boy spoke tip in a high thin voice. He was seated on the
floor with a web of string around his fingers. He looked to be the
youngest in the room. For an instant the Friesens thought his
hands were bound with weaver bee silk, but he only played a game
like cat's cradle with ordinary string. The small boy asked, "Are you
going with us tomorrow?"

Wes felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. Going with themwhere? To another prison? To a workhouse? To the hangman? As
casually as possible he asked, "Going where?"

The small boy's eyes went wide with amazement. "You don't
know?" He grinned at the chance to show off his knowledge.
"Tomorrow morning we're all going to the royal lodge!"

The Friesens could hardly believe the boy's words. The royal
lodge on Lake Nachash! They had been there! Kurt blurted out,
"We know that place! That's where King Kardia fought the dragon and got wounded and later he died and-" He was about to say
"and Wes here killed the dragon!" But Wes guessed what was coming. He nudged Kurt hard in the side and coughed. Kurt wanted to
bite his own tongue in two. How could he be so stupid? These people would think he was crazy. In Anthropos time the battle at the
lodge had happened years before they were born.

An older girl unwittingly covered for Kurt. She scolded him,
"Quit showing off. Who cares how much old history you know?"

A tall, muscular boy approached. He looked to be the oldest in
the room. His face bore several scars that could have been from
knife fights, and his nose was crooked as if it had been broken. His
greeting was also a challenge: "Don't stand there like a couple of
stone statues. Come on, want to play a game of Kill the Rat?"

The Friesens moved further into the room. Most of the children
lost interest and went back to their games or talk. A few closed in to
look at them more closely. "Where'd you get those fine fancy
clothes asked the girl who had warned Kurt not to show off.
Despite some stains and rips, the clothes Wes and Kurt wore were
much better than the tattered rags of these children.

"Stole them from a shop, didn't you!" said the tall boy. He
looked at the brothers with new admiration. Kurt changed the subject. "I don't know how to play Kill the Rat," he said. He didn't want
to learn, but the boy offered, "I'll teach you!" The scarred boy then
dragged two extra chairs to a table piled with small wood pieces.
"Come on, it's easy. Or are you scared you'll lose?"

"I've never lost a game of Kill the Rat yet," Kurt bragged-which
was true. He helped himself at the food table and then sat down to
play. Wes took food also but shook his head no at the game. He
wanted to do some quiet investigation.

The smallest boy still sat on the floor and frowned at the web of
string around his fingers. Wes sat next to him and asked, "Here,
can I try?" Perhaps if he demonstrated his skill at cat's cradle, the
boy would open up to him. Wes hadn't tried cat's cradle in years
and soon had the string in a hopeless tangle. The small boy took
back the string and quickly demonstrated several complex patterns.

"You know a lot for your age," Wes said. "I'll bet you know why we're being sent to the royal lodge."

"It's because we don't have homes, and we don't have anyplace
to go. I think some of us are sick too. But I'm not. Anyway, we don't
have mothers or fathers to take care of us, so they're going to take
care of us there."

Wes got a painful lump in his throat. These were unwanted children with no homes-perhaps orphaned, perhaps abandoned,
perhaps both. For the first time in his life he could sympathize with
children like these. He knew the hurt of a home that was about to
shatter-that already had shattered. The actual split between John
and Eleanor would be only a formality. He was embarrassed that
tears stung his eyes. He tried to concentrate on the small boy's
game.

A thin-faced girl with stringy hair joined the conversation uninvited. "Oh, they'll take care of us all right," she said. She gave it short
sharp laugh. The sarcasm in her voice made Wes look up and try to
catch his brother's eye. Kurt was busy learning Kill the Rat under
the loud and critical instruction of his tutor. Wes raised his voice in
Kurt's direction. "Who'll take care of us there? Take care of us how?"

"We'll get all kinds of good food," ventured the small boy. "We'll
play games and swim in the lake every day." Wes wondered if it was
true. He thought he would enjoy that. It sounded like summer
camp. He'd like to go to a place like that forever. The boy continued, "We'll have lots of fun and get fresh air and sunshine and-"

Across the room, for no apparent reason, a boy about Kurt's age
began to wail and cry. The littlest boy was startled into silence. The
girl with stringy hair said, "Oh, don't mind him. He does that all
the time."

Now Kurt looked at Wes with a question in his eyes. Everyone
else ignored the distressed boy, who continued to howl. Wes stood
and walked over to him. Kurt got up and followed. His opponent in
Kill the Rat sneered, "Where are you going? What's the matter? You
a sore loser?"

Gently Wes asked the crying boy, "What's wrong?" He sniffled
and wailed even louder. Wes sat next to him and put an arm
around his shoulders while Kurt sat on the other side. Kurt had
caught it little of Wes's conversation with the boy who played cat's cradle. Like Wes, he felt sharp sympathy with these children. He
knew a little of how they felt. If only there was a place like that
camp where they could go forever and escape all family problems.

The crying boy moaned, "I'm scared. I don't want to go to that
place." As if the boy's fear broke a dam, a jumble of voices from
around the room joined the conversation. "You want to miss out on
all that food and fresh air and sunshine?" "I heard after we get
well, we'll live in beautiful homes with rich families. We'll never
have to live on the streets of Nephesh again." "You're right about
one thing-we'll never live on the streets again!" "I hope they
don't feed us figs. I don't like figs." "No fear of that! There's no figs
where you're going."

The strange words bounced around the room while the boy
between Kurt and Wes howled more loudly. Above the din, the
large girl in the ragged tunic declared, "They can't scare me! I'm
not scared of anything!" She swaggered around the room in a display of bravado. Over and over she insisted, "They can't scare me!"

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Wes assured the boy. He wondered why he said it. He was a little afraid now. Meanwhile, the big
girl kept up her unconvincing performance. She paced back and
forth bragging, "They can't scare me! I'm not scared of anything!"

Then the blue light came.

The room with high windows faded away in a swirl of intense
blue brightness. Far away, as from inside a well, the girl still
boasted, "I'm not scared!" Wes and Kurt couldn't see her. They
couldn't see anyone except each other. The others in the room
had disappeared and only the Friesens remained.

No. There was someone else. Someone approached. He walked
toward them with powerful strides as though he moved across a
prairie or a snowfield. At the same time, he was already in the
room. With every step lie carne closer, not across-the-room closer
but closer in some other, more important way. It was Gaal himself,
Gaa1 the Shepherd, the Lord of All Worlds!

Gaal's long tunic glowed with intense blue light. His hair and
beard were white, but he walked with the vigor of youth. His powerful arms swung freely, and his posture was straight and proud.
He was ageless-one who was ancient yet ever young. His face
bore lines of deep suffering and sorrow; yet through them shone a
brighter joy. But what captured and held the children's attention
were his wonderful eyes. They sparkled and shone with glad welcome.

Wes and Kurt rushed forward-into another part of the room?
into an open field? They could not tell, nor did they care. They ran
into Gaal's embrace. He smelled as good as ever, a clean cedary
scent of wood and outdoors and freedom. After a long moment
they backed away and gazed up into his face. Gently he smiled
down at them. He asked, "Are you surprised to see me? Did you not
expect I would meet you here in Anthropos?"

Wes floundered for an answer. "Of course we expected to see
you, Gaal, but I guess we're kind of distracted right now. All kinds of strange stuff is going on in Anthropos. And we don't know
what's happened to Lisa."

Kurt's face brightened. "You know where she is, don't you, Gaal?
She's all right, isn't she?"

Gaal did not answer directly. "I know all about the events of the
past days. I know that the two of you and your sister have acted
bravely, though not always with the greatest wisdom. Wesley, you
did good work on the lakeshore when the bee swarm attacked. You
used the Sword of Geburah with great skill."

Wes looked down, embarrassed. "I thought so at first. Then I
realized I didn't do anything. You're the one who saved us."

"True, I did save you. I love you, and I have work for you to do
here in Anthropos. All the same, you did what was right. You called
on me in your heart. You picked up the sword. You used your skill
not only for yourself but for your brother and sister-arid for your
friend Betty Riggs."

The mention of Betty's name startled Wes. He remembered
something he had not thought of since the Matmon showed up on
their raft. "Hey, I was about to explain all about you to Betty when
she started yelling about how she made the bee stings go away!"

"I know. You had no time to finish what you wanted to tell her. I
will make another opportunity. She must learn about me if Anthropos is to be rescued from great error." Kurt and Wes puzzled over
what Gaal meant. What did Betty have to do with any of this?

Gaal's expression turned somber. "It is always in the darkest
hour of Anthropos that I visit this land. Wesley and Kurt, you must
stay on your guard. A strong delusion grips Anthropos. It is the
most dangerous kind of delusion, for it contains pieces of truth.
Your friend Betty shares in it. You must rescue both her and
Anthropos from the lie. You must listen, listen, listen!"