Finally, after the last of the shoppers shuffled slowly on their slippery slide home, and after quickly logging their receipts and handing over the day’s earnings to a courier for transport to the bank, it was time.
Mr. Oddley unlocked the door to the basement and said, “Come with me.” The kids followed in silence.
***
Everything looked as it had last Saturday, except now there were boxes of toys stacked by the work table. Apparently, tomorrow’s menu items: flying gyroscopes, footballs (Hey, winter is football season) and creepy looking Jack-in-the Box toys. And I do mean creepy.
“I have named them Incredimite Crystals.” said Mr. Oddley. “And only I work with the large pieces locked within this box. No one else. Is that clear?”
Everyone nodded and thought, Yes, indeedy, it was clear. Crystal clear! Incredimite, huh? Cool name!
“Good. Now, I’ve filed off tiny bits, no bigger than grains of sand, to be used with the toys. Yes, this stuff is that powerful. A little goes a long way. And a lot...” He tapped his cane on the ground, for emphasis, with his disfigured hand. “... as you can see, goes too far.”
Mr. Oddley’s voice faded to a murmur as Maggie’s attention turned to the room. She noticed that there were several ankle height, softball sized holes punched into the far wall. Curious, but she didn’t think too much of it as this was an unfinished basement and... and something was poking its head through one of the holes. Something with a pointy nose and two dark round beady eyes. A mouse, thought Maggie. Now we know the source of those droppings.
Then, as it poked its head through, Maggie gasped. Everyone turned toward her, and then to where she was looking. The creature now stood in full form by the wall. It was about the size of a large house cat. But it wasn’t a cat. It was a rat. A huge purple rat! It regarded them for a moment then waddled over to a dog dish placed on the floor in the corner and started eating what looked like some leftover pizza.
“What the heck is that?” exclaimed Molly, as she maneuvered herself behind her friends.
“W-w-why it’s j-just a...” began Tim, the animal expert, but his explanation faded to a shrug.
“That, believe it or not, is a mouse,” said Mr. Oddley. And with that remark, everyone turned to argue, spewing forth a flurry of rejections: “No way.” “It’s too big.” “It’s just a purple rat!”
Well, Just a purple rat was an absurd enough phrase to stop their argument.
“This mouse,” continued Mr. Oddley, “was here the day I had my accident. Some of the crystal dust settled on it and this is the result. It grew, large and strong and... turned a nice shade of purple.”
“Strong enough to punch holes in your wall?” asked Maggie.
“Yes,” sighed Mr. Oddley, as he pointed to a mangled cage. “And strong enough to break out of a live animal trap–which is just as well because what if I did catch it? It’s not exactly your average pet.”
“Can’t you call an exterminator?” blurted Molly, obviously a wee bit nervous and still hiding behind her friends.
Tim winced. He hated that word: exterminator.
“And tell them what exactly?” replied Mr. Oddley. “To come over and catch a twelve pound purple mouse?”
“I see your point,” mumbled Molly.
“But do you think it’s dangerous?” asked Maggie.
“I think it just wants to be left alone. All its life it’s been an ordinary little mouse hiding from predators and searching for food. In its mind, nothing has changed. It doesn’t know it’s grown into Mouse-zilla.
“But just to make sure it doesn’t wander off, I feed it regularly, so it has no reason to leave and end up on the evening news. I can practically hear the news flash in my head:
“MONSTROUS PURPLE RAT
terrorizes small town. Keep your children
and chihuahuas indoors. News at 6 and 11.”
“It’s safer here.”
Suddenly, the mouse stopped eating, a bit of pepperoni still dangling from its mouth, and leaped back into the wall with the sound of fur scraping plasterboard.
“He’s getting fat,” laughed Mr. Oddley. “He used to slide through that hole easily. Well, anyway, he’ll be back soon. The pizza’s salty and he’ll be wanting his water. Now, let’s get to work. But just for a little while. After we’re done, call home and tell your parents I’ll be driving you. It’s too cold and snowy an evening to walk.”
***
He grinned as he peered through the basement window, watching and taking photos. What he had seen this night was priceless. No, actually it did have a price. After all, he was going to sell the information.
The he in question was Rob-noxious, hidden in the shadows, with girlfriend Daphne standing behind him, wearing high heels and shivering in the cold.
For a moment, Tim looked up. Had he heard something? Something like the sound of snapping chewing gum? No, it was most likely just the cracking of a tree branch as it broke under the weight of the piling snow.
He shrugged it off and went back to work.
Chapter 14
Sitting at a booth in the Continue-Um Diner, and now on her third cup of black coffee, Liza was getting edgy. Where is he? she fumed to herself. She had trudged through the snow, at night, for what? To sit here and drink herself into caffeine convulsions? Take a deep breath, she told herself. You initiated this venture, after all.
She had met him outside of Just Like Magic. He had been shouting obscenities at three kids who looked like they worked at the shop... so she’d struck up a conversation with him. And she was very up front. She would pay for information on how Oddley made his toys. Would pay for information on what made them so extraordinary. He was all ears, his 20/20 vision only slightly clouded by the dollar signs he saw dancing before him.
A blast of icy cold forced her eyes toward the door. Ah, finally, she snickered to herself. El jerko has arrived. It’s 20 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus 5, and this idiot walks in wearing an open denim jacket and sneakers. No matter, the stupider he is, the easier he will be to manipulate. At least his moronic girlfriend’s not here.
“Hey, you know, wow, I’m really sorry I’m late,” he lied.
“It’s fine. It’s fine. No problem Rob. I just got here myself,” she parried his pretense.
“Yeah, ‘cause I had to...” Rob was about to reboot his lie generator again, but Liza’s smirk and cold steely eyes angered him, so he stopped. And uncharacteristically, he opted for the truth. “I was hanging with my girl and lost track of time. Whatever. But I’m here now. OK?”
Liza nodded. She appreciated his bluntness and his arrogance. Rob smiled back, for he appreciated her composed demeanor and her impenetrable poker-face reactions. There they were, two venomous snakes admiring each other’s fangs.
The waiter came to the table with pad in hand, and super-cool Rob, his hands blue and on the brink of frostbite, ordered an iced tea. Liza ordered a fourth cup of coffee.
Liza flashed a $100 bill and held it just beyond Rob’s reach. Then they talked, or rather bargained, and soon two of these bills were passed across the table. Rob took them and smiled, and was about to stuff them into his pocket when Liza reached over and ripped them in half.
“Now, tell me everything,” she said. “You’re going to have to earn the rest of this money. And if you’re just trying to sell me a lot of baloney... then I guess we both lose. OK?”
Rob was stunned, but he managed to shake his head yes. He really needed, and had already spent, that money. So he sat up, leaned across the table, and told Liza all he had seen that night. She listened patiently.
***
Tuesday morning came and Maggie awoke. She had dreamt her Mom told her school was closed. But as she yawned and stretched and looked out her window, she realized it hadn’t been a dream. For as she squinted into the stark white landscape, it seemed all the color had been drained from the world. What had been a busy road, and a picturesque lake lined with trees, had been tra
nsformed into a puffy white meadow. Only Halfway Mountain, peeking through the clouds, stood as a misty reminder that the world she knew still existed.
And Maggie, lost in the rapture of this spiritual moment, felt her heart swell with wonder and amazement. One lone happy thought filled her entire being: Hey, there’s no school today, yippee!
She leaped out of bed and flew down the stairs. And she really did kind of fly, holding onto a large kite she had purchased at the toy shop as she jumped. Unfortunately, she misjudged her flight and crashed into the wall. A painting fell. Her cat, Miny Moe, ran and hid. And Mom came running, hot tea spattered on her blouse, and hobbling on one slipper.
“Maggie, are you OK?” she cried, as she stood there flapping her blouse to cool it down.
A slightly stunned Maggie looked up and grinned. “The kite’s a goner, but I’m fine Mom, and there’s no school today, so I’m extra fine!”
Mom walked off wobbling, grumbling, and wondering if her blouse was ruined. “Just my luck,” she mumbled. “I had to have cranberry tea today! Might as well call it Stain-Berry!”
Maggie picked up her broken kite and stuffed it into the closet. “Later for you,” she whispered aloud. “First, it’s breakfast and then out to play.” She soothed her frightened cat and picked up the phone.
***
When Maggie arrived at the park, she found her friends Molly and Tim busy at work building a snowman. So she joined in. Bernie was there too. He was snorting and plowing his snout through the snow like a bulldozer.
The kids were having a grand old time when Molly turned to admire their work, and suddenly, WHACK, came a snowball out of nowhere and hit her full in the face. It took her breath away. Then more snowballs rained down upon all of them. WHACK, WHACK, WHACK, WHACK, WHACK. They were under attack! But by who and for what? Blinded by the snow, they couldn’t even see who was assaulting them!
One well aimed shot knocked Tim’s glasses off. Half blinded by the snow and half blinded by the loss of his spectacles, he dropped to the ground, awkwardly feeling around for them. Maggie was being pummeled front and back. She had nowhere to turn. Even Bernie was under fire. He tried in futility to snap at the white missiles being thrown at them.
The kids helped each other up and were staggering about, and looking for a way out. And it was then that Molly noticed who their assailants were. “This doesn’t change anything,” she yelled defiantly. “You’re still Rob-nox...”
She didn’t get a chance to finish, as a dirty grey iceball hit her right in the mouth. She fell to the ground, gagging.
I can’t say what might have happened if the ABC kids: A.K.A. Adam, Brett, Chris, and their two sisters Deanna and Ellie had not happened by.
The five of them came to the rescue and started hurling snowballs in defense of their friends. Maggie and Tim soon recovered well enough to join in, and within a few minutes Rob and company were driven away. They ran whooping and hollering all the same, very proud of their sneak attack. “This is just the beginning Margaret,” laughed Rob. “Just wait. There’s more in store, or should I say in shop, for you. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!”
What the heck did he mean by that? wondered Maggie.
***
Liza looked like she was sucking on a lemon. Rob had jabbered on about a basement toy factory, some crystal thing, and a giant purple mouse. She had almost walked out at that point. Because he was obviously pulling her leg, wasn’t he? But then again, maybe he was telling the truth. He did have pictures. He certainly seemed sincere and she could read people very well. In her business one had to. Her gut told her to believe him, so she had to trust her instincts even if the story sounded too far fetched, too unbelievable.
She had given Rob the other half of the torn bills and left for home.
But, what was this Incredimite stuff anyway? And more importantly, how could she get her hands on some? Her client would be most grateful to her. She did the math. Grateful client = Lots of $.
The sweet thought of cash washed away her sour face and made her smile. Money, or even just the thought of money, does that to some people.
And now what? Well, somehow she would have to get into that basement. She wasn’t, however, too keen on the thought of breaking and entering. If she were arrested, she’d lose her license, and that certainly wouldn’t help her career any. There had to be another way.
Yes, maybe there was another way. Maybe she could somehow meet Mr. Oddley. Get to know him. Have him take her into his confidence. But how? How? She’d have to work that part out.
Her first report to Mr. Merless would be received very well. After all, she had found what he was looking for. She would even include a photo of that enormous purple mouse. And, of course, she’d enclose her first invoice.
She paused for a moment, as she sealed the envelope she was about to send, and considered. I hope he has an open mind.
***
Molly was feeling better. She sat on the ground with everyone circled around her. Bernie was pawing at her arm and making whimpering sounds that indicated he was worried about his master. She gently scratched his neck and ears then stood up.
“I’m OK,” she said to the ABC kids. “You guys got here just in time and saved us.” Maggie and Tim agreed.
“That guy’s a real dung head,” said Brett. “We were glad to help.”
“Now, let’s finish that snowman,” piped up little Ellie.
But Ellie, the youngest one of the group, didn’t do a bit of the physical work. She appointed herself supervisor and started barking orders at everyone. Adam looked at his new friends and shrugged. “She’s always like this,” he said. “Somewhere along the way she decided she was a Princess. We just ignore her.” That was all very well and good, but five-year-old Ellie was not about to be ignored. She was 40 inches and 40 pounds of mighty mouth.
Hmm, 40 x 40... sounds rather cube-like! Anyway, it might have been easy for her siblings to disregard her, but Maggie, Molly, and Tim were unreasonably intimidated by this little dictator and jumped at her every command.
“Building a snowman was more f-f-fun last year,” complained Tim.
“I have an idea,” said Maggie. “How about we let her ride Bernie? We can wrap my scarf around him like a saddle and...”
“And nothing,” Molly fumed. “First you two almost break my dog’s tail, and now you want to break his back? No way! Keep building.”
“Less talk, more work,” snapped squeaky little Ellie, and everyone shut up.
***
It wasn’t unusual to find an adult waiting in line at Oddley’s, basically because it was usually the adults who paid for the toys, but it was unusual to see one who looked like a movie star. And that’s what Liza looked like; from the highlights in her long dark hair to her calf high boots, and everything in between, she was the personification of a cinematic queen.
Smoke and mirrors, she called it. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and maybe not so much of something else, and voilà, a star is born. Or in this case, assembled.
Liza chatted with the people around her, hoping to uncover any information that would help her get Mr. Oddley’s attention. But no one knew anything about him. Aside from his presence at the toy shop, no one could ever recall seeing him out and about town; not at the supermarket, not at the barber shop, not... anywhere.
But that kind of non-information was actually very good information, for Liza realized it meant he probably had very few friends, kept to himself, and was most likely lonely. She could exploit that possibility.
Her mind raced. I’ll get him to notice me, and then? And then, we’ll see.
Finally, it was her turn. She and nine others were ushered into the shop. She looked around and saw the three kids Rob had told her about. And then she saw Mr. Oddley. He was shuffling about on his cane and wearing a particularly tall top-hat that made him look at once both comical and note worthy. Not exactly the mad scientist type, she thought, yet not exactly your average Joe Blow. She knew she had only
a few minutes to get him to notice her, and needed to make her move. So she daintily waved a glove at him and smiled sweetly.
“Oh Mr. Oddley,” she exhaled. “Would you be a dear and please help me pick out a toy for my nephew?”
Mr. Oddley looked up. Liza blinked once or twice and pursed her lips. That’s all it took. Zing! An arrow right to the heart. And I must tell you, he never saw it coming. But it struck and he fell... fell in love deeply and fully. Cupid’s arrow had found its mark once again. Mr. Oddley hobbled over with a most peculiar look on his face. Perhaps it was a smile?
***
On the way home the kids talked about what had happened at work. It seemed unreal. Oddley and that woman had chatted through two sets of new customers... that was half an hour! Unheard of. Nobody got more than their allotted 15 minutes, until now.
“And did you see that g-goofy look on his face?” asked Tim.
“Sure did. And who was that woman anyway?” said Molly. “I don’t remember seeing her before.”
Maggie paused. “You know something? I have a really bad feeling about all of this. That woman, Liza he called her, had him wrapped around her little finger.”
“Yeah, and she was gorgeous,” sighed Tim.
“Yes, she was,” shrugged Maggie.
“Really, really g-gorgeous,” drooled Tim.
“I suppose so,” flapped Maggie.
“I mean she was incredibly... Ow!” yelled Tim, as Molly’s foot found his shin.
“One more word and I’ll punch your lights out,” fumed Molly.
Tim’s hand made a zipping motion across his lips.
“Come on guys, be serious,” said Maggie. “Mr. Oddley is our friend and I’m worried about him. This woman looks half his age, which puts her in her early twenties. I know, I know, I’m just guessing, but hear me out. I heard her say she wanted to buy a birthday gift for her younger sister’s son, who just turned 12.”
“So?” answered Molly.
“So... when did her younger sister have this kid? When she was 10? And then there’s, sorry Molly, but to Tim’s point; this woman is gorgeous and sounds so sophisticated. Why would she be interested in a shy geeky guy who’s twice her age?”