[ussgeorgetown] "With a Great Big Hug..."
- From: N'Ellie Coyne <nelliecoyne@xxxxxxx>
- To: ussgeorgetown@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:22:03 -0400
"With a Great Big Hug..."
Tawa Pax, Josh Garrity, Kathrine and Stephanie Westmoorland, Joanna,
Frankie, Abbie Murgo, Prue Carmichael, and Barney
It was a fairly simple idea. Teach Emma Goodman that it's not nice to be
the bully by beating her at her own game. Problem was trying to figure
out how they'd get her into the holodeck. Stephanie chewed on her lip as
she walked down the hallway towards the transporter room. Just ask
someone, Frankie had said. It it's Nan he'll be happy to tell you how
they work, she'd went on. If it were so easy why wasn't Frankie doing
this? Stephanie was still new at this prank thing. Hell, she was still
getting use to being a real kid and not some boarding school refugee.
Stopping in front of the transporter room she sighed. "Maybe we could
figure something else out."
New lieutenant or not, there was no escaping patrol duty. Tawa could
have named any number of things he'd rather be doing rather than that
but it was part of the job. Whatever, he said to himself with a shrug.
He stepped around the corner and shook his head. What is it with kids
anyway?
Stephanie was just about to open the door when something out of the
corner of her eyes caught her attention. "Crap," she muttered.
"Now that's just plain wrong," Tawa snorted as he approached. He pointed
one well muscled arm up the corridor. "So's your direction. As in you
aren't authorized to be down here."
"Homework," she managed to get out before clearing her throat. She tried
to put on airs, but this guys freaked her out a little. "I needed to ask
someone about something."
"Funny thing about technology in this day age," Tawa mused, folding his
arms across his chest, "it's all over the place. They have these neat
devices called a comm."
Stephanie forced herself to take a more Westmoorland type stance, not
that she thought it would impress anyone. "Some of us prefer to do
things in person, makes the request more personal."
"Then sit up straight at the comm screen because, quite frankly,
Starfleet regs don't care about personal niceness," Tawa told her.
"Trust me, I'm proof."
"Then that would explain why people keep trying to fight Starfleet,"
Stephanie huffed. "There is always room for proper niceties."
Citrus scented amusement came from him. "No,they fight it because of
stupidity," he snorted. "not manners."
"Stupid people have no manners." She replied. "Or at least that's what
my grandmother says. Then again, she says a lot of stupid things herself."
"I was just going to say: I am neither stupid nor manner less," Tawa
told her. "I just don't give a damn what most people think, including her."
That made Stephanie laugh. "That makes two of us."
Tawa laughed out loud at that. "But I wouldn't try to pull rank on it."
"She wouldn't care about rank." Stephanie explained. "Grandmother isn't
impressed with Starfleet. She'd probably shoot you before you got past
the front gate."
"Look, kid, you can’t be here," Tawa insisted. "And my own grandmother
would shoot me if she wasn't Vulcan."
"Why can't I?" Stephanie asked. She really hated being told what to do,
especially by grunts, it was part of her upbringing and she couldn't
seem to shake it. "What if I needed to beam somewhere?"
"Then you go find the person responsible for you and have them contact
the appropriate officer," he said with a shrug. "Rules are rules even if
they are stupid."
Stephanie huffed. "She has better things to do then help me with my
project."
"Yeah and I am not getting demerits or worse for letting you where
you're not supposed to be," Tawa said with a semi-sympathetic shrug. "If
I were you, I'd find somebody who knew how to hack stuff."
"Hack stuff?" She asked with a light pink coloring her nose. "Why would
I want that? And you get demerits? What is this high school?"
"I wouldn't know since I never went to high school but ask any Fleet
officer. You rack up enough black marks, you got
trouble. I'm still a few too close for comfort," he explained.
Stephanie scrunched her nose. "Great, being an adult doesn't sound much
better then being a kid."
"Considering half the officers I know still call me 'kid', I wouldn't
know," Tawa told her.
"Why do they do that?" She asked.
"Ah because I only just turned twenty-one a short while ago?" he pointed
out.
She thought about it for a second and then asked, "So even though you're
in Starfleet they still treat you like a kid?"
Josh snorted slightly as he came up behind Tawa, having heard his
comment. Most people still called him "Kid", too. He raised a brow
curiously when he realized who he was talking too.
"Oh great." Stephanie sighed when she saw Josh. Somehow her reaction to
seeing him amused him. He'd already gathered from listening that Tawa
had caught her down there and tried to send her away, and she clearly
didn't want to go.
"You're late," he said softly, offering her an excuse for being there if
she wanted it, more because he was curious than anything else. Why was
she there?
She'd been around Danni long enough to know when to catch on quick. The
question was, why was this newly found step-cousin of hers willing to
help? "Not my fault. The jolly green security guard likes to talk and
keep people from getting where they need to go."
"And I'm about as stupid as he is," Tawa said with a snort. "You're
still not authorized to be here unattended so can the attitude before I
really ask what's going on."
Stephanie batted her eyes and grinned. "But I'm not unattended. You've
kept me company until my cousin could arrive."
"Don't flatter yourself, chick," Tawa told her.
"I was doing my job. There's only three kids I keep company and you
aren't one of them."
"Your brother, sister, and the chemical bug." She replied.
"If you mean T'Pern then yeah. Heard about that little mishap you guys
had. I gotta say, I like the green bit," Tawa chuckled.
Stephanie beamed. "Don't know what she mixed together but it was great.
The color lasted for a week."
It was all Josh could do to suppress the smile. How many "mishaps" had
he already had to quickly clean up for the
"chemical bug"? If nothing else, she and the others kept things interesting.
"Look, the less I ask, the less I know. Bad enough she used our cabin
computer," Tawa muttered.
"Aunt Joanna has parental controls on hers." Stephanie explained.
"Yeah, well, who knew about that sorta thing?" Tawa wondered.
Stephanie titled her head, blue-green eyes sparkling as she looked at
this odd person. "Aunt Joanna."
"Look, I have one smart assed Vulcan kid with me. I don't need it from
you, too, chick. All I'm saying is your aunt is probably way older than
me and therefore had cause to know about those things," Tawa told her.
Josh punched up directions on one of the PADDs he carried and handed it
to Tawa, knowing that he'd still have to come over before long. It
wouldn't take long for T'Pern to work her way around those, but they
might stump her for a day or two. Maybe.
Tawa hmmphed at the PADD. "Guess what I found out, Josh. The kid's dad
is coming back."
Josh paled visibly, remembering T'Pern's father, the scientist who's
work had so very nearly been his complete undoing.
Tawa cocked one brow. "What's the matter, man?"
"History," Josh answered, shuddering at the memory of the JOLT and the
damage it had done. Nodding at the PADD in Stephanie's hand, Josh
indicated she should show him what she needed, hoping to change the
subject quickly and tactfully.
Stephanie looked at Josh, then at the padd, and then at Josh again. What
was the worst he could do? Tell her mother? That would require him to
actually talk to her, and she was pretty sure he was scared to death of
her. So after shrugging she handed him the padd.
Josh looked at the PADD, then back up at Stephanie, his bright blue eyes
glittering with amusement, though he kept his quiet voice completely
neutral as he nodded and said. "Alright, but next time you have a
project like this, be here on time."
He was going to help? A slow smile appeared on Stephanie's face. He
really was going to help. Ok, no matter what Frankie said about him, he
was cool. "Sorry. I will be. Mother says being late is rude."
"Rude? On this ship?” Tawa asked the ceiling. "Perish the thought. Now
that doc on Tempest...ah, look, I don't want to know what's going on, do I?"
"And lose all plausible deniability?," Josh answered, his expression
dead serious, though his eyes still twinkled merrily.
Stephanie laughed. "So it'd be fair to say that the supervising officer
for a school project is present so go on ad do what you do?"
Tawa asked, completely straight faced. "It would," Josh agreed, glancing
at Stephanie
and trying not to smile and her mirth. "Then I am so very sorry for
holding up the progress of education," Tawa said in that same tone but
then he leaned so that he and Stephanie were nose to nose. "Keep T'Pern
out of trouble when my back is turned."
He asks the impossible, Josh thought, as he led Stephanie to the
previously patrolled area, smiling slightly.
Stephanie huffed. "No one needs to help T'Pern find trouble she does
well enough on her own."
"Yeah, no kidding," Tawa snorted.
"Still, you known damned well what I mean so that's the deal...assuming
you don't want me asking questions."
"Common trait," Josh answered quietly, smiling gently. "who's codes were
you planning on using for this?"
Something in his tone made it clear he had a suggestion. Stephanie shook
her head at Tawa. "Not without a lawyer present." Then she looked at Josh.
"That's Frankie's assignment." His smile becoming uncharacteristically
mischievous, Josh said, "Tell her I've got this one."
She looked up at him for a moment, still wondering why he was helping,
then smiled as she reached for the badge on her shirt. "Westmoorland to
Murgo. One, we got help."
"Oh yeah?," Frankie's voice came back, sounding both skeptical and
curious. "Give a hint."
Meanwhile, Josh led Stephanie to an area where the programming could be
done without raising too many questions, his eyes twinkling. Silently,
his fingers began to fly, using an amalgam of codes that would
eventually lead back directly to Ms. Carmichael. Deftly, he programmed
the holodeck and prepared the transport code that would allow Ms.
Goodman's lesson's to begin. Adding a small amount of programming and
resetting a chip in Stephanie's PADD, he handed it back to her. "Push
here," he pointed to a key on the PADD, "Scan the room...then push here"
he indicated a different key.
"Okay?" Stephanie looked at the padd and then up at Josh and nodded, a
huge smile on her face. "Thanks, Josh."
Josh nodded, smiling slightly as Frankie's voice sounded through the com
in disbelief, "Did you just say...whoa...no way....you got him in?"
"Reboot the PADD after you push the second button to wipe it all beyond
recovery." Josh said quietly.
Checking his chronometer, he nodded toward the exit. Time to get back to
work.
Meanwhile Frankie continued to sound off in disbelief. "Come
on...give....how? You gotta tell me how...."
Stephanie gave her cousin a warm smile, knowing he didn't like to be
touch. "Thanks, we'll let you know how it goes."
Josh nodded slightly, then, as an afterthought, gave her one of his
PADDs. "If they ask. You were researching field harmonics for extra
credit." That should give her ...what was it Tawa had thought to
maintain....'plausible deniability'? That done, he headed back to work.
With padd in hand Stephanie ran back to where her cousins were waiting
for her. She couldn't wait to see the look on Emma Goodman's face.
Frankie saw her approaching and ran to meet her with Abbie in tow.
"Okay, are
we ready? Did you do it? Did he help? How'd you get him to help?"
Frankie bombarded her in urgent whispers the moment they were all together.
"We're ready," She held out the padd. “Just have to press this key on
the padd, and he offered."
Abbie smiled. "See, he's ain't so bad."
"Offered," Frankie asked suspiciously. "As in spoke up and
just....offered?" she rolled her eyes and announced. "Okay...that's it.
There's a shapeshifter aboard and we're busted."
"Why is it so hard to believe he just wanted to help?" Stephanie asked.
"Um...it's Josh...he's Mister straightlace, no frills, no spills, just
the facts ma'am, JOSH..." Frankie answered. "Besides, in order to offer,
he'd have to talk and everyone knows he doesn't just do that."
Stephanie shrugged. "He talked to me."
"Exactly," Frankie agreed.
"I rest my case." Stephanie just shook her head. "You need to lay off,
he's a really cool guy. You're lucky to have him and Zack, Abbie and
Zoe, and even Dr. Coyne. Stop being so huffy."
"I'm not being huffy, I'm being straight with you." Frankie answered.
"And if you're so impressed with them all, by all means feel free to
take them...well, except N'Ellie...and Zoe...okay, and Abs, at least for
now...nevermind. You can share them though."
Frankie sulked a minute, hating the fact that Stephanie was right.
"Fine. Okay. He offered to help. What did he do? How much do we have
left to finish?"
"All we have to do is press the button." The older girl replied. "And
watch safely from the comfort of our cabins."
Frankie grinned. "Sounds good," she cooed happily. "Maybe Daniel the
Great isn't so bad after all. Let's do it."
"Who's cabin?" Abbie asked as she followed the others down the hall.
"Daddy's home in ours, and well, there's Aunt Kate..nuff said."
Stephanie laughed. "Mother had a meeting to work out a possible job
while we're here."
"A job? Aunt Kate? Are you kidding? I thought Daddy said Queen Bee's like
Aunt Kate don't work, they make work for others." Frankie blurted
without thinking.
"No, Mother works." Stephanie replied as she held back a giggle. "She
works with Grandfather plus there's all that society crap. Believe me,
putting up with the biddy committee is a lot of work."
"I thought she was part of the biddy committee." Frankie asked, fro
winging slightly. "Daddy always said she was, anyway."
"Mother's to young to be a biddy." Stephanie replied as they entered her
cabin and then headed for her room. "She's only a junior biddy,
Grandmother's a biddy, she's Queen biddy."
Frankie laughed. "at least Daddy got that part right."
Stephanie sighed as she turned on her computer and then laid Josh's padd
next to it. "Grandmother must be so angry right now."
Flopping on the bed and giggling, Frankie couldn't resist asking, "How
is that any different than usual?"
"Because it's not just me or Aunt Joanna who's defying her, it's Mother."
"Ok, good point." Frankie conceded. "So, are we gonna do this or what?"
Stephanie nodded as she turned on her computer. Then she pressed the
button as Josh had told her and watched. The holodeck grid slowly
changed into the set of an old Earth children's show, a school room of
some kind, and then a moment later Emma Goodman appeared. She looked
confused as she looked around, and then her eyes went wide. Through the
large double doors came bounding in a huge purple dinosaur. "What the
heck?"
Frankie asked, sitting up. "What is that supposed to be?"
The large purple dinosaur began to sign as he approached Goodman who
looked terrified. Stephanie laughed, "I don't know but this is great!"
"Tell me you're saving this to share with the class later," Frankie
demanded, watching with the same sick sort of fascination someone would
watch a shuttle crash. "This is scary." She began to giggle, reveling in
Goodman's horror.
"Of course I am!" Stephanie roared as the huge thing tried to hug the
screaming girl.
Abbie smirked. "I can do one better."
Reaching over she tapped at the controls and then laughed. "There, now
it's broadcasting on the school network."
"How'd you do that, Abs? It isn't going to lead back to us, is it?"
Frankie asked, knowing better, but wanting to hear her say it just in case.
Abbie started in on a long winded expiation of what she did which all
boiled down to. "It was on Josh's padd, he looped it so many times it
can't be traced to us."
"All hail Daniel the Great," Frankie breathed in a moment of genuine
admiration, eyes still transfixed upon the nightmare on the screen. “So,
how do we get rid of the PADD so we don't get bombed with it?"
"We just touch the padd screen again." Stephanie replied as she watched
two smaller foam rubber dinosaurs enter the scene. They were smaller
then the first, one yellow and one green with a baby blanket. The joined
hands with the larger one and were now playing, what looked like, ring
around the rosie with Goodman in the middle.
Frankie's laughs were almost as deafening as Goodman's bloodcurdling
screams. Frankie couldn't help but think it served the twit right. After
all, she'd started this little war, right?
"I would safely say that we Westmoorland girls have won this one."
Stephanie said between bursts of laughs. "No way she's out doing this one."
Frankie'd just opened her mouth to respond when they were interrupted by
a sharp knock on the door.
"Ladies," Called both Katherine and Joanna in unison.
"I think we need to talk." Joanna continued.
"You think?" Katherine asked, her voice clearly dripping with sarcasm.
Turning back to the door, she asserted. "I'm sure we need to talk. Now."
With a quick jerk of her hand Stephanie reached out and touched the the
button on the padd that Josh said would wipe everything clear. "Coming
Mother!" She called out as Abbie shut down her computer, then in a
whisper she added, "Ok, them in unison, a lot scarier then that purple
thing."
Abbie snickered but nodded.
Going over to the door Stephanie opened it. "Yes Mother?"
"The young woman you were complaining of at dinner night before last,
Ms. Goodman, I believe? What do you know of her current whereabouts?"
Katherine asked plainly.
"According to what we just saw, she's on a holodeck." Stephanie answered
honestly. "Whatever she's doing it's been broadcast on the school network."
"You, however, had nothing to do with that. Right?" Katherine prompted.
Joanna gave her girls a look that made it clear the question was for
them as well.
"Of course not Mother." Stephanie replied, hoping to hell her mother
couldn't read her as well as she knew her aunt could read her girls. "I
don't even know what that purpley thing was other then nightmarish.
Honestly, what was that things purpose? Some people have very wrapped
imaginations."
"It was so sickly sweet it made me want to gag," Frankie agreed,
deciding to stick with just the facts, hoping that if she remained
carefully honest her mother wouldn't catch on.
"Uh, huh," Joanna snapped, eyeing both suspiciously. "Let's hear it. All
of it, beginning with why you would risk getting the entire family in so
deep so soon after your last escapade, and finishing with who else is
involved."
"You heard her," Katherine agreed in her sternly demanding tone.
Stephanie really hated that tone of voice and she had to fight to keep
herself from crumbling under it so soon.
"Oh wow," Abbie said from the computer terminal. "I thought cruel and
unusual punishment was against the law." She added without looking up
from the screen. She'd easily gotten into the holodeck files thanks to
Zack's lessons and was accessing the program data on the program Josh
had used. "That thing was Carmichael's. Man she's twisted."
"Carmackle.." Stephanie flinched, "Um, Carmichael came up with that?"
"Man," Frankie huffed, suppressing a snicker. "Someone really should
refer her to the giant smurf or something. Seriously. You'd have to be
pretty sick to do that to a kid, right?"
Katherine looked at Joanna, trying hard not to laugh. Her child sounded
so much like she had once upon a time.
Joanna blushed, fighting back a grin, knowing exactly what her sister
was thinking. "You're sure none of you had anything to do with this?"
Joanna asked, looking at her girls dubiously.
"We can honestly say that we had nothing to do with using that program."
Stephanie admitted. And it was true, Josh had picked the program.
"Yeah," Abbie added in, "We wouldn't have come up with something that
good. We were just gonna beam her into a vat of snot."
Joanna looked ready to throw up.
"Now, you will tell me who helped you come up with the alternate plan.
Who decided to use that particular program?"
Stephanie glared at her cousin as her mind tried to come up with
something to say.
"Nobody." Abbie gulped.
"Alright," Katherine demanded, giving them all 'the look'. "Which of you
did this. One or all, you decide. Either I know who's responsible, or I
hold all of you equally so."
"That would be me," Josh answered. "I meant to delete it after Ms.
Carmichael left it running the last time. I guess I forgot to."
"It's alright, Joshua," Katherine answered, her tone suddenly
surprisingly gentle. "You're not responsible for someone
else's...wait...this really is Ms. Carmichael's program."
Josh nodded. "she had a small group of very young children trapped in
their last time." he told her honestly. She'd been leaving preschoolers
in their off and on all week.
"Oh, dear," Joanna gasped, looking horrified. "Really?" She turned to
Katherine a moment, then glanced back at her children before storming
out. There was simply no way she could allow such cruelty to continue.
Katherine hesitated only a fraction of a second before hurrying after
her. Better she should handle this. Joanna would only endanger her
position, and might not be firm enough. This was definitely a moment for
her to take the lead.
Josh waited until they were gone before turning back to the girls. "
Whoa, that was too close," Frankie sighed, eyeing her brother with
newfound admiration.
"You saved our bacon that time."
Stephanie let out a slow breath. "I thought we were so dead."
Abbie bit her lip. "Sorry?"
"No big," Frankie shrugged. "As long as we're off the hook. We are off
the hook, aren't we?"
Josh shrugged back. He had no idea.
"I wouldn't count on it." Stephanie said. "Mother doesn't forget "bad
behavior" easily."
"Yeah, well, she can't very well blame us as long as we all," Frankie
turned to Abbie for emphasis," are careful. Right?"
Josh stood there listening a moment, then sighed. Reaching across
Stephanie, he punched in a sequence on the PADD. Emma was abruptly
beamed out of the holodeck as the program shut itself down and deleted
itself, again, apparently, on Carmichael's command. He showed the girls,
then erased all traces of the entire adventure from the PADD before
hooking it back to his belt. They didn't do anything. He'd sort of made
sure of that. He'd programmed it. He'd given them the PADD without
telling them what would happen if they pushed the button. Then he'd
cleaned up the mess. It should go back to the woman who'd been so ugly
to Joanna in her own home the previous night, but if not...well, he'd
done it. Not them. He turned then and went back to the replicator,
finishing the work he'd come there to do.
"Ok," Abbie said as she watched Josh closely. "He's cool."
Darcy sat at the desk outside Mrs. Carmichael's office working on
paperwork. She'd sudden been flooded with calls from parents regarding
what was happening on the school's at home channel.
Joanna stormed in, Katherine hot on her heels. "Where is Mrs. Carmichael? I
need to see her now."
The young woman blinked. "Mrs. Murgo," She looked at the woman, she
really like her she was kind and enjoyed her work like no one Darcy had
ever met before. "She's in her office."
"Thank you, Darcy," Joanna said as she hurried toward the office, with
Katherine right
behind her. "What in the world is that thing, and how can you subject
students to it?"
Without looking up from the work she was focusing on Prudence replied,
"A preschool program I've been working on."
"Preschoolers? You can't be serious. You can't really intend to send
helpless little children in with that...that...thing! Did you miss the
vid? Did you not hear that poor child screaming?" Joanna demanded,
wide-eyed.
"Clearly, you can't possibly expect us to place our children in your
care after that spectacle." Katherine added.
"They will remain home under our own tutelage until further notice."
"The program is harmless." The older woman said, finally looking up at
her guests. "The dinosaur merely sings, tells stories, and teaching the
children basic preschool objectives such as sharing and such. Miss.
Goodman reacted the way she did because she has a fear of costumed
characters."
"And the purpose to sending her in there was...?" Joanna prompted.
"Clearly cruel and unusual punishment," Katherine finished for her
before Mrs. Carmichael could answer. "feeding on the fears of her
students. I simply won't stand for any such treatment of our children,
Joanna. I can't believe Captain Hale would tolerate such things."
Prudence actually blinked. "You believe I sent the child into the
program?" She didn't know if she were wounded by the idea or angry. "I
would never do such a thing. The girl was clearly a victim in the prank
wars that have hit the upper and middle levels. I was attempting to find
out how Miss. Goodman ended up on that holodeck when you walked in."
"We've followed the tracer the entire way here. It was fairly
convoluted, I'll give you that, but in the end it did lead to you,
Prudence. I'm sorry if it offends you. Perhaps you understand more
clearly how I felt when you came to my door. However, all that
notwithstanding, the fact is it was your program that terrorized that
poor child."
Joanna attempted to explain as diplomatically as possible. "And she's
not the only one. A vast majority of the people who saw the 'cast were
horrified by it."
"How can you possibly justify subjecting students to that?" Katherine
demanded, making none of the attempts at diplomacy that her sister was
so hampered by.
"Small children find the program rather entering. Perhaps even Stephanie
would have liked it as a small child. Maybe we could call her nanny and
found out? I'm sure she knew the child rather well and was on a very
close, personal level." She replied as she glared up at the two women.
"If the trace lead back to be then clearly someone knows enough about
the systems to make it appear as if I were the one responsible. Perhaps if
you were to ask your step-son. Joanna, he seemed rather knowledgeable."
"You can't possibly be suggesting that Joshua had anything..." Katherine
sputtered angrily as Joanna considered Prudence's suggestion. Deciding
Prudence might be
right, though not in the way she implied, Joanna cut in, "Of course not,
Katherine. I'm sure Joshua would be more than happy to help us trace the
source. If it was someone else, I'm sure he'd be able to help us find
out who."
"You may also what to discourage your daughters from further involvement
in this silly little war." Prudence offered. "The children seem to be
trying to out do each other and I really don't wish to know what the
other side will come up with to counter this one."
"I assure you we have already addressed the matter with our children and
found them to be as surprised and completely horrified by the entire
spectacle as we were," Katherine assured her.
Prudence laughed, "You really don't know children very well, Ms.
Westmoorland."
"I know mine, Mrs. Carmichael." Katherine hissed, her voice dripping
with venom.
"I do know children well, as I'm sure you're aware, and I'm convinced
our girls
weren't involved. I will, however, talk to them about this entire
incident again, if only to ward off the trauma they seemed to experience
witnessing it," Joanna concurred, unable to believe Prudence would dare
say such a thing to a parent, and deciding she only said it because
Katherine was her sister. How dare she!? "I'm quite surprised you
haven't had to field the question of more concerned parents than just
the two of us, given what we just witnessed."
"Perhaps, Ms. Westmoorland, you believe you do, but didn't your daughter
come to
this ship as a runaway?" Prudence replied before looking at Joanna. "We
have been fielding calls since it began to air. We are making it clear
that we are looking into the matter."
"She did, and I called here immediately, knowing exactly where to look
for her, and I strongly suggest you watch your tone. You are mistaken if
you think you have the authority to speak to me or any other parent in
this manner, regardless of whether my
sister works for you or not. You are an employee only so long as we feel
we dare entrust our children's growing and expanding minds to the likes
of you. You may find that some of us not only question your authority
and ability, but your capacity for rational decisions where our
children’s wellbeing is concerned, given that this was your program. I
am wholly unconvinced this wasn't your idea of appropriate discipline,
given your views on this 'little war' as you put it, and will not, for
one, have you anywhere near my child. My own education more than
qualifies me to head up her education on my own, but even if it didn't,
I would still be far more assured of my own competence with students
than you have proven to be. Good day, Mrs. Carmichael." Without waiting
for any further reply, Katherine turned and stormed out.
Joanna hesitated only a moment before sighing and adding, "You really
did far overstep your bounds, Prudence. You were way out of line and
until you apologize to her, I'm afraid I have to agree with her. I can't
allow my girls to be subjected to that sort of obvious bias. I'm sorry,
but they won't be attending either. Honestly, I expected far more from
you. I'd have thought all the time dealing with parents would have
taught you some semblance of just basic decency, but that....that was
way over the line." She was so angry, she couldn't see straight. "I....I
just...I quit..."She hurried after her sister then, knowing how deeply
hurt she would be, no matter how well she hid it behind that pompousness
her mother had so carefully taught them both. How dare Prudence
Carmichael! Honestly!
"Well," Prudence said with a sigh as Darcy came into the office. "That
was an awfully
long winded way of saying go to hell."
"You know she's going to get us back." Stephanie said from her dangling
position on
the edge of the couch. She had her feet pressed against the window, her
hair pooling on the floor, and her cousins were upside down as she
looked at them. "We have to be ready for the next attack."
"That....that woman...to even think she could..." Katherine sputtered as
she stormed in.
"I agree," Joanna consoled her, entering right behind her. "And I assure
you I told her so."
"I know, Joanna, thank you," Katherine said, only slightly mollified.
She looked around at the girls. "I do hope I haven't made a mistake."
"You haven't. For her to think even for a moment she had a right to
speak to you or anyone else that way," Joanna began.
"Horrid old bitty," Katherine agreed, flopping into the chair nearest
her daughter. "Do get me some wine, won't you?"
"Of course, dear," Joanna agreed, moving to the nearest replicator.
"No, no, real wine. I have some in my closet, on the rack." Katherine
corrected.
"Oh, of course, of course. I'll be right back." Joanna moved quickly to
do as she was asked.
"Can you believe," Katherine huffed to the girls, "That cow had the
nerve to suggest Joshua might be involved in that whole mess?"
Stephanie looked as of she were watching an upside down tennis match as
she head turned side to side, her hair dancing on the carpet in a
comical way as she did so. Then she looked up, at an odd angle, at her
mother. Stephanie had seen her mother angry on many many occasions, but
there was something different this time, something she wasn't sure to
seeing in her mother's eyes. The woman actually looked hurt.
"Why would he do that?" Abbie asked after glancing at her sister and her
cousin. "He
doesn't even know Emma Goodman. She'd scare him, She's weird and evil."
"Everyone scares him, remember. No way he'd survive Goodman." Frankie
concurred, deciding that if he would go to such lengths for them, they
owed it to him to protect him. "Besides, he's too busy working to do
anything else, right? He doesn't even come to our apartments unless he's
got to fix something or is dragged there, and he never talks to
anyone. How's he going to have time to pull something like that?"
"Exactly," Joanna agreed, returning with Katherine's wine. "Here you
are, dear."
Taking the wine from her sister, Katherine took several sips before
responding. "Well, we should figure out where we're holding our classes,
given the number of parents who seemed to agree with us on the way back.
It would appear that we'll have a rather large 'homeschool' venture on
our hands." Looking at her sister proudly, she added, "It appears that a
rather large number of parents have confidence in your teaching methods.
You've a following, dear."
Joanna just nodded, looking down in disbelief at the rather large stack
of comm codes in her hand.
"Home school?" Stephanie asked in shock before very ungracefully falling
off the couch in her attempt to sit op. "Owww."
"Yes, dear, homeschool. You're all to be homeschooled, along with a
rather large number of your peers, until further notice," Katherine
answered.
Stephanie rubbed her head as she looked at her mother, then her aunt,
before asking, "Why?"
"Prudence Carmichael far overreached all bounds of decency in dealing
with your mother, that's why," Joanna answered, sitting gracefully upon
the couch near her sister.
Suddenly Stephanie didn't feel so good. She looked over at her mother
again, there was still a lingering hint of hurt in her eyes. "What did
she say Mother?"
"She insisted that you were all responsible for this outrage, and when I
challenged that
assumption, she said..." Katherine's eyes looked even more hurt as she
recounted it. "She said that I obviously didn't know you and threw the
fact that you ran away in my face as if that proved it. She even went so
far as to suggest I call your nanny to find out more about you."
"She was cruel and ugly and had no right to go anywhere near where she
saw fit to go," Joanna stated angrily.
"Which nanny?" Stephanie teased weakly as she ran her hand through hair.
"I went through several. "She added before pulling her knees to her
chest. This had gotten so far out of hand. If her mother hadn't been
trying to defend them then Mrs. Carmichael wouldn't have said those
things. "I don't think Ms. Kelley's hair ever grew back."
"I'm still getting the wig bills," Katherine agreed, smiling weakly.
"She acted as if telling me that you weren't an angel was new
information. Of course I am fully aware of your
mischievous side. Why do you think we came here first? Whether you'd
been responsible or not is completely irrelevant, however. For that
woman to think she has the right to speak to any parent in the manner
she just did only proves her complete unfitness to hold the position she
does, and you will not be returning to school so long as she's even
remotely involved."
"Nor will the rest of us," Joanna agreed, though she suddenly appeared
slightly green. "That's why I not only pulled my girls out, but quit my
post as well. I will not work for anyone who treats others as she just
treated you."
"Wait...you quit your job?" Frankie asked, looking at the other girls in
disbelief. "I did." Joanna answered back, drawing herself to her full
height before making a mad dash for the bathroom, her stomach finally
hitting rock bottom.
Abbie looked scared and about as pale as her mother had been a moment
before. “Mommy?"
That did it. Huge hot tears welled in Stephanie's eyes as she watched
her aunt run from the room.
"Don't worry, girls, she's fine," Katherine assured them, rising from
the chair and going to her sister's aid. "Her reaction is perfectly
normal given the circumstances."
"Throwing up is normal when you quit your job?" Abbie asked, adding yet
another reason to her list for grown ups being weird and never wanting
to become one.
Once her mother was out of ear shot Stephanie looked at her cousins. "We
have to tell them the truth."
"No," Frankie hissed, not out of worry for them, but for someone else
she never thought she'd care about. "After Josh went to all that
trouble? What will happen to him if we come clean, do you suppose? He
put himself way out there on the line for us, remember?"
"You have to tell them," Katherine told Joanna, holding her hair back
for her and patting her back gently.
Drawing a ragged breath and dabbing at her face with toilet paper,
Joanna sat back on her haunches, leaning her head against her sister's
shoulder. "I need to talk to Darius first." she told her with a sigh.
“You don't suppose they really had anything to do with all of this, do
you?"
"Of course they did," Katherine answered, smiling slightly. "And you
know the answer to that as well as I do. Whatsmore, Joshua helped them,
just as Carmichael suggested, but I'll be damned if I'll give her the
satisfaction of ever knowing it given how she dared
speak to us. She has neither proof nor authority to speak as she did. As
far as I'm concerned it no longer matters to me whether they were
involved or not. That she could so blithely dismiss us as she did, she
was rude and condescending and we were not raised to tolerate that."
"We were raised to be that," Joanna reminded her, rising a bit shakily
from the floor.
"Indeed we were." Katherine agreed. "I mastered the art, and you...well,
you rose
above it. For her to treat either of us as if we were so very far
beneath her is simply not acceptable at all. If her demeanor to us is
thus, how much worse must it be for our children?" she demanded
escorting her back to the girls again. "No wonder they act out
as they do!"
"Frankie!" Stephanie hissed, sounding very much like her mother. "Your
mother quit her job because we put her and my mother in a position to
get slammed! How can we not tell them? My god we made Aunt Joanna throw
up!"
"You should see her when Zoe picks her nose." Abbie said with a giggle.
"She goes all green."
"You're antics might have put us in the position, but she chose to take
full advantage of it," Katherine said, thus informing the girls' they'd
been overheard. "And kindly desist any discussion of such things,
Abigail. The last thing we want is to make your mother
more...green...though I assure you that nothing any of you did caused
that."
"A bell," Stephanie mumbled to herself. "Gotta get her a bell." Taking a
deep breath the girl looked up at her mother, tears now making they're
way down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Mother, this got way out of hand. We
never thought it would get so twisted. We really didn't mean for you and
Aunt Joanna to get caught in the cross hairs."
"Are you joking?" Katherine asked seriously. "After what that Goodman
girl did to you I'd have helped you myself if you'd just asked, though I
appreciate you're honestly, slightly belated though it might be."
"Exactly," Joanna agreed, drawing her girls to her.
"Besides, it's quite unlikely you're father will want me to continue
working once we've spoken, anyway." Seeing the questioning looks on
their faces she held up a finger and shook her head. "Not yet. Let me
talk to him first, alright?" Dumbfounded and concerned, Frankie merely
nodded.
"Tonight?" Joanna looked at her oldest daughter a moment then nodded back.
"Tonight." Stephanie looked at her mother in utter shock. There was no
yelling, no long winded ramblings about proper this and that, no high
brow fuming. The girl was completely dumbfounded.
Abbie laughed. "I think Stevie just broke or something."
"So it would appear," Katherine agreed, laughing as well. "Come now,
darling, surely you don't think your Aunt Joanna and I were completely
innocent of pranks in our day, do you?"
"Well, maybe Aunt Joanna." The girl replied when she remembered how
talking worked.
Both Katherine and Joanna laughed. "Actually, your mother was just
better at not getting
caught than I was," Joanna told them, wiping her eyes. "We were both
rather good at trouble."
"Yes, well, we had the sterling example of father to guide us,
remember?" Katherine agreed, laughing so hard she thought her sides
might burst.
That she could believe. Her grandfather had a wicked sense of humor. But
her mother? "What about all that proper Westmoorland behavior stuff? You
always seemed so.. so
perfect.."
That only seemed to make both women laugh harder. "Oh ...yes....an
.absolutely... perfect... blowhard! " Joanna sputtered, the expression
on her face somewhere between amusement and disbelief.
Katherine stuck her tongue out at her sister, then swatted her with a
pillow, laughing too hard to respond. Joanna picked up the couch pillow
behind her and swatter her back. Katherine picked up Abbie and held her
in front of her like a shield, laughing too hard to even swing the
pillow again.
"Hey," Frankie protested. "Put her down! I'm the only one who gets to do
that!" She then picked up her own pillow and dived into the fray,
helping her mother swat her aunt, laughing as well.
Abbie giggles and laughed as she tried to tickle her way free of her
aunt. She was now convinced without a shadow of doubt that her daddy had
been talking about someone else. She clearly had another Aunt Katherine
out there, because her Aunt Kate was cool.
Stephanie blinked as she watched it all unfold. Her mother, Katherine
Westmoorland ice queen, was in the middle of a pillow fight. "I've
fallen into the mirror universe."
"Lighten up, " Her mother told her, still laughing as she swatted her
with a pillow just before dropping it under the barrage of tickles from
her neice. In less than a breath, Frankie and Abbie, as well as Joanna
were all ganged up on her, tickling her mercilessly.
"Stephanie...help..." she gasped through her helpless laughter.
"Lighten up?" The girl asked, blinking again. Her mother had been taken
over by body snatchers or something how was she meant to lighten up?
Could her grandmother have been so smothering that Stephanie had never
truly seen the real person her mother
was? This is a dream, she thought to herself, and when I want up
Mother's going to be furious over something or another. A moment later
Stephanie shrugged, if she was dreaming she might as well have some fun.
With an evil smirk she replied, "Ok, I'll help." Then quickly joined in
by tickling her mother.
"Ahh..." her mother squealed, still laughing. "Insolent..." Without
another word, she dragged Stephanie to her, tickling her child as the
others continued to tickle her.
Blue-green eyes went wide as Stephanie squealed. She wiggled and laughed
out very girly squeaks as she gasped for air. "M-oth-er!" She giggled as
she tried to bat her mother's hands away. "Mother!" She squeaked. "Mommy!"
Katherine just held her close as the others turned on each other. "I
love you," she whispered, barely audible above the din.
It had taken a second for what she'd said to sink in. When was the last
time she'd called her mommy? Had she ever? She was half expecting some
kind of rebuke for it, but when her mother's voice reached her ears,
tears once again welled in her eyes. "I love you too." She replied as
she hugged her mother tightly, resting her head on her shoulder.
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