🚀 go-pugleaf

                          Continued from Part 1


                                --<*>--

        Cory stepped from Dr. Richards' lab directly onto a snow-covered
bridge, overlooking an icy river.  Amanda was at his heels, her lab coat
replaced with a Victorian era nightgown.  She laid a hand on the young
man's shoulder.  Cory looked at her and took in his surroundings.  "You've
*got* to be kidding."
        "It was the first thing that came to mind," Amanda smiled
apologetically.  Cory leaned against the bridge railing and scowled into
the blackness of the night as snow showered down upon them.
        "You really don't let yourself dream often, do you?" the woman
asked kindly.
        "I gave that up as a child.  Dreams don't do you a lot of good when
you have a father like mine," Cory answered bitterly.
        "Well, I could debate that one with you." replied Amanda.  "I
understand, better than you can possibly know.  Two things can happen to
children who go through what you- what *we* did.  They can get pushed out
of the Dreaming, or shoved farther into it.  I'm not sure which is more
harmful, in the long run.  But the Dreaming can be your friend, Cory, if
you let the magic do its work."
        "I don't believe in magic.  I believe in myself, fate and maybe
even just plain dumb luck.  Not magic.  And not mothers."
        Amanda shook her head sadly.  "She can't make herself visible to
you, unless it's what you want.  I don't know what I can say to convince
you."
        "There's nothing you can say to convince me." Cory retorted flatly.
"So what now?  Don't tell me, you're going to show me what the world would
be like if I'd never been born?"
        Amanda consulted Margaret briefly.  "Well, I could," she said,
finally.  "I'm not sure what good it would do, though."
        "Why, what happens?"
        "Hmmm... maybe you should specify what you want to know."
        "OK, what does Grey Leopard do for a sidekick?"
        "He recruits a neighborhood child, whose Bobcat career parallels
yours almost exactly.  Except that he's never called 'Cubby'."
        "That figures." Cory's voice was heavy with scorn.  "What else?"
        "Well, your mom never marries your dad and instead goes on to a
long and satisfying career as a prima ballerina.  Your dad dies with no
heir, and your grandmother's vast fortune is given to charity, where it
does a great good for thousands of people.  Dr. Richards winds up with a
different lab assistant, who stumbles onto a major breakthrough in neural
regeneration, which eventually earns them both the Nobel prize and
indirectly leads to a treatment for Alzheimer's disease..."
        "Great.  Just great," Cory sighed and turned away, leaning back
over the bridge railing and burying his face in his hands.  "What are you
trying to do, convince me to jump?  Well, forget it!  Mary Agnes needs me,
and I don't walk out walk out on kids who need me, unlike *some* people I
could mention!"
        "Margaret, I don't think this is working out so well," said Amanda,
and paused to listen.  "She wants me to point out that in this altered
timeline, she never joins the carnival, which means Mary Agnes is never
born, either."
        Cory shrugged.  "So the lesson is...  all the great things in the
world aren't worth the life of one child.  Got it.  Can I please wake up
now?"
        "Two children, Cory.  You were just as precious to your mother as
Mary Agnes was.  That's why she took on the job of being your guardian
angel, as well as Mary Agnes's."
        "Guardian angel!  Figures she's the type I'd get stuck with!  I
don't need her, and neither does Mary Agnes, for that matter!  Where was
her guardian angel when she was in Madame Bianca's hands, huh?  No angel
saved her from that, it was me!  Me and Tony!"
        "You really believe that, don't you, Cory?  You really believe it
was just plain dumb luck!"
        Cory shot her an angry look.  "What are you talking about?"
        Amanda nodded.  "An excellent suggestion, Margaret.  I'll show him
now." Instantly the scene shifted, and Cory found himself sitting on a
four-poster bed, his red silk pajamas replaced by a blue striped nightshirt
and matching tasseled cap.  Amanda was now dressed in a long white robe.
"I am here to show you scenes of Christmas past.  Your past."
        Cory stared in disbelief.  "This is really getting ridiculous!" he
hissed through gritted teeth.
        "Take my robe," instructed Amanda, extending her sleeve to him.
Cory only folded his arm and glared.  "Take my robe or I'll turn the
dream into a showing of _Ishtar_." Cory rolled his eyes and begrudgingly
accepted the garment.
        "Lady, you do fight dirty!  All right, let's get this over with."

                                 --<*>--

        Cory and Amanda rematerialized outside the wrought-iron gates of
Stately Statewood Estates.  "You know this place," intoned Amanda.  "You
were a boy here..."
        "Yeah, and it's also where I live now, thank you very much!  So
what?  You better not tell me we've come here to see that pivotal Christmas
when my father threw my favorite toy in the fire!"
        "No, that was last year's Christmas Special!  We're here to see
something entirely different!  Behold!"
        Cory looked through the gates to see his younger self at the other
end of the north lawn, scrambling to gather together as many snowballs as
possible and stow them away behind the snow fort he had constructed earlier
that day.
        "What year is this?  What am I here, 10?"
        "Eleven." answered Amanda.  Cory, fascinated by the scene in spite
of himself, continued to watch.  Soon Tony appeared, in his familiar red
parka, and began stockpiling his own frozen arsenal.  There came the cry of
"ready, set, go!" and soon the snowballs were flying fast and furious, and
the frigid air warmed by a young boy's gleeful shouts.
        The hooded figures were too caught up in their game to notice the
green station wagon that pulled up.  As soon as it stopped, a woman jumped
out and ran to the gate, peering eagerly through the bars.  Her coat was
worn, and too light for the wintery weather, and she had only a simple
scarf to cover her honey-colored hair.  The car's driver quickly joined
her, removing his own coat and slipping it around her shoulders.
        "Look, there he is, Johann!" gushed the woman, her eyes teary.  "I
can't believe how big he's gotten!"
        "I see him.  He looks like a fine boy, Margarite," answered the
man, "A fine boy."
        "He's beautiful," said the woman, as silent tears ran down her face
and she reached through the iron bars, her fingers aching as much as her
heart as she watched Tony and Cory at play.
        The adult Cory stared at the female beside him in disbelief.  "That
that's her?" Amanda nodded silently.  Cory regarded his mother pensively,
as his boy-self's merry laughter echoed through his head.
        Margaret started as the red-jacketed man noticed their presence and
called a cease-fire.  She slipped her hand out from the gate,  slid her
sunglasses over her face and swiftly turned away.
        "Quickly, Johann!" she whispered.  "Let's go!"
        "But Margarite," the man protested.  "We can..."
        "No, we can't!" she answered, fumbling for the car door handle.
"As long as I know Cory's all right...  Hurry!  I don't want Prescott to
recognize me!" Johann gave a reluctant nod and slid into the drivers seat,
and the car roared off well before Tony reached the gate.
        The lad trotted up behind him, puffing from the exertion of
trudging through the deep snow.  "Who-who was that, Tony?" he panted.
        "I don't know, mate, " Tony replied, slipping his arm around the
boy's shoulder and pulling him to his side as he gazed in the direction the
car had departed. "I don't know."

                                 --<*>--

        "She thought Tony was my dad?" Cory asked incredulously.
        "She had to see for herself that you were all right," Amanda
explained.  "In that distance, with a hooded jacket on, she couldn't tell
the difference.  She had every reason to think you were well and happy,
with your father."
        Cory pressed his lips together and shook his head.  "I never thought..."
        "I need to show you one more thing." Amanda again offered her
sleeve, and this time Cory took it without being prodded.

                                 --<*>--

        This time they appeared in an unfamiliar location, on the balcony
of a budget motel in downtown AlgernontopoliS.  Night had fallen, and
Cory's mother stood alone, staring into the night sky.  The sliding glass
door opened and her husband joined her.
        "Margarite, come inside," he said in his softly accented voice.
"It's freezing out here and you need your rest."
        "In a minute, darling," she answered, her face still wet with
tears.  Johann laid his hands on her shoulders and massaged them gently.
        "I meant what I said in the car," he said.  "We can get a lawyer.
You didn't know what you were doing when you signed those papers..."
        "No, Johann.  He's happy, and father's taking good care of him, I'm
sure of that now."
        "He took advantage of you!  You were no more than a child yourself!"
        "I know, but I have to think of what's best for Cory.  The last
thing he needs is a mother he doesn't even know barging into his life.
It's too late... for me."  She began to sob quietly, and Johann slipped his
arms around her waist to pat the small bulge on her abdomen.  She turned to
bury her face in his chest, and the two stood in silence for several
minutes, as the woman wept in her husband's arms.
        Finally, Margarite raised her head to gaze at the lone star that
shone through the clouds.  "I only have one wish, that one day our baby can
know her big brother." Johann squeezed her tightly. The starlight seemed to
flicker slightly, then resumed its steady shine.

                                 --<*>--

        "So you see, Cory, the wish your mother made on that Christmas star
came true nine years later, when you and Mary Agnes needed each other most.
Mary Agnes got her powers from her father; you learned your skills from
Tony, but it was the strength of your mother's love that brought you
together.  You must believe that."
        By this time, Cory's own face was damp with tears.  "I-I'd like to
see her now, if it's not too late..." he stammered.
        Amanda nodded.  "I can serve as a conduit.  If you touch me, you
can see and hear what I do." She held out her hand, and after a second's
hesitation, Cory clasped it.
        "Cory!" was his mother's delighted cry as she materialized in front
of him.
        Cory swallowed hard and shifted his feet uncomfortably.  "Hello,"
he said with some awkwardness.
        "Do you remember me, at all?" his mother asked, reaching out to
stroke his face, but dropping her hand before she made contact.
        "A song...you used to sing to me...  'Bye-o, baby, bye-o baby bum...'?"
        "That's right!"  Tears of joy filled Margarite's eyes. "Cory, I'm
so proud of you!  I wish I had had just half of your strength when I was
your age... maybe I could have found some way to protect you..."
        "Mother, don't!  I understand now, and despite everything...  I
guess I really have had a wonderful life!"
        "And now so does Mary Agnes.  Thanks to you."
        "Thanks to you, too.  I see that now."
        "You'll take care of her?"
        "Of course, Mama.  Always."
        "And can you ever forgive me?"
        Cory tried to answer, but the words stalled in his throat.
Instead, he grabbed his mother and hugged her hard, burying his face in the
crook of her neck.  Margarite locked her arms around his waist, and mother
and son clung to each other in one first, and final, forgiving embrace.
        Seeing that she could do no more here, Amanda silently slipped away.

                                 --<*>--

        Back in Cory's bedroom, Amanda's eyes fluttered open.  "Quick, Ray,
let's get out of here!" she whispered, struggling to discreetly disentangle
herself from Cory's clasp.
        "My sentiments exactly!" hissed Ray, in whom the green-eyed monster
was rapidly rearing his head.  "You are spending the rest of Christmas Eve
in bed with _me_, dear wife!"
        "You'll have to hold off a short time longer, love," said Amanda as
they made their way back to their room.  "Our job here is finished, and
it's time to move on.  Get your coat."
        "You mean we're going to just slip out in the middle of the night?
Without telling our hosts?"
        "We'll leave them a note," Amanda informed him, gathering up her
wraps as she spoke.  "I have this funny feeling our car will start now, and
that a room at the Last Resort Inn has just opened up..."

                                 --<*>--
                                 --<*>--

        Cory awoke to find his arms wrapped around his pillow, his face
buried in its softness.  For a brief instant, he could recall every detail
of his bizarre dream.  Sunshine spilled across his bed, and out in the
hallway he could hear voices chattering and a small dog yapping.  Mary
Agnes's squeals stood out above the others, confirming that dear old St.
Nick had made his scheduled visit.
        As Cory got up and pulled on his bathrobe, he expected the details
of his dream to fade from his mind, as always.  Yet, somehow they lingered.
        "It couldn't be, could it?" he asked himself as he headed out into
the hallway.  Downstairs, "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was blaring from
the stereo, and Mary Anges was calling for him.  The sounds and smells of
Christmas morning beckoned to him, but there was a nagging remnant of the
dream he just couldn't shake. Curiosity got the better of him, and he
approached the visitors' bedroom door, hesitated a moment, then knocked.
        The door swung open at his touch, revealing the empty room.  The
only sign that Ray and Amanda had ever been there was a small hardback book
resting on the bed.  Cory opened it to reveal an inscription on the inside
front cover.
        "To Cory-" it read.  "Yes, it was all a dream.  Which, for some of
us, is it what makes it real.  Merry Christmas!  Love, Amanda.  P.S.
Thanks for the wings!"


                                 --<*>--
                                 --<*>--

Annoucing the READERS ONLY Synapse and the Guardians of Rectitude Find-the
Holiday-Special Allusion Contest!  This episode contains references to a
number of popular Christmas stories, movies and TV shows, some blantent,
some more subtle.  Identify as many as you can and send your entry to
Louise Freeman, at lfreeman@virginia.edu.  The Reader who indentifies the
most will win a cameo appearence in an upcoming episode of Synapse and the
Guardians of Rectitude.  Authors may enter the contest if they just want to
reassure me they read this stuff, but are ineligible to win.  Anyone who
posts an answer to the list will be automatically disqualified and will
probably get coal in their stocking besides.  Entries will be accepted
until Jan. 31st, 1997.  Happy Holidays!

                                 --<*>--
                                 --<*>--

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