One night Paladin and Faith were playing in the Rascal Roost tree house when they heard Mariner calling to them from the yard. Why couldn't that creepy kid just leave them alone!
Paladin: What d'ya want, Water Boy! Just go away and watch TV or something. This is our place!
Mariner: I want to talk to you, Rag Doll. You afraid to let me come up? 'Fraid of my ghost stories?
Paladin: As if! All right, I'll hear what you have to say, but you call me Rag Doll again and I'll punch you out!
Mariner had to choose his words carefully; he could see that. Faith wasn't so bad, but Paladin was just looking for a fight. He was tough. And jealous. He wanted Faith all to himself. Always playing catch with her and leaving Mariner out. Well, she was his sister, not Rag Doll's. Mariner had as much right to spend time with Faith as Paladin did!
And what he had to say was important. It was about Father. Faith and Father were what mattered most to Mariner. They were his family, and Paladin needed to remember that!
Paladin: So spit it out.
Mariner: Have you noticed how Father slips out at night? He's gone for hours.
Paladin: So? What's it to you?
Mariner: I'm going to follow him! Find out where he goes.
Paladin: No way! Poppa'd skin you alive if he caught you. ... Ha! That'd be fun to see.
Mariner: You're afraid! I knew you were a scaredy-cat! I dare you to come with me.
Paladin frowns and looks over at Mariner's sneer. He thought he was so smart!
Paladin: Ok, I'm in. No school tomorrow, so we can stay here and keep watch. Faith's gonna have a cow, though.
When the guys told Faith about their plans, she thought they were crazy! Didn't they know anything about Poppa? But when she tried to tell them about his Djinn side, they just laughed.
Mariner: What's he going to do, go clean people's houses at night--like an elf?
Paladin snickered. That was kinda funny. Mariner had a sense of humor after all.
Faith: What would you know, Mariner? Poppa doesn't show his Djinn self to just anyone.
Mariner: I'm his son! If Father has powers, I need to know what they are. I'm going to be his Heir!
Faith: Don't you start that again, you liar!
Mariner: Well, you can stay here and be a good little girly girl. I'm going to investigate!
Paladin: Yah, Faith. You don't have to go. But you gotta keep our secret. We're in Rascal Roost. What we say here stays here. That's the rule.
Faith: Pooh on that! ... Fine. But I'm going too. Someone needs to keep you two out of trouble!
_____
Emad was anxious to take off. He hadn't been to the Bridge in several nights and he was getting restless. All this domesticity was irritating! He couldn't even do a little harmless flirting without someone getting in an uproar about it. He might as well be stuck back in his lamp!
No. It wasn't as bad as the lamp. Emad still had his freedom. He just needed to arrange times to exercise it. There was a whole world out there, ripe for plundering.
Emad climbed into his speedboat, eager to be on the water again. To smell the salt in the air, to hear the roar of the boat engine and feel the splash of waves on his face.
He headed to the island just across the bay. Time to have some fun ... Djinn style!
Emad had found this abandoned house with the Bridge by chance one night as he'd swum in the ocean near home. He'd discovered an underwater structure and gone ashore to explore.
The house wasn't important. But the Bridge had become his home away from home.
These days, Emad never visited the old house. Someone else was in residence there. Someone he detested. How long had it been? A few years?
_____
Once Emad had realized no one ever visited the forgotten homestead, he'd decided it would be a perfect place to bury his past, his and Bebhinn's. Or maybe he should say, re-bury.
Antwon May, that upstart minion! That blackmailing, back-stabbing troublemaker! He'd been haunting the cemetery at City Hall where Bebhinn worked. Why couldn't the ghoul just stay in the ground!
So Emad had once again worked to protect his temperamental wife. He'd dug up the rotting May and brought him over to the abandoned house--stuck him back in the ground and did a banishing spell over his grave. But even then, the cur would not stay dead!
_____
While Emad was going about his private business and thinking his dark thoughts, the children had seen him leave in the speedboat and had rushed to the shore to watch where their father went.
Paladin: He's gone to that island across the bay.
Mariner: Then that's where we're going!
Faith: Poppa will hear our Aqua-Sleds!
Mariner: Not if we keep the throttle in low gear.
Paladin: Come on! Let's go.
Faith: Guys! I have a bad feeling about this!
Paladin: Hurry up, Faith! Stop worrying. I'll protect you.
Faith: I don't need your protection, you ... you boy!
As the sun continued to set and night closed over them, the kids followed their father's path to the island.
They found the speedboat, but there was no sign of their father. They didn't know whether to be relieved by his absence ... or scared.
Paladin: What now?
Mariner: Now we explore and keep very quiet!
Faith: And we need to stick together!
Paladin: What d'ya want, Water Boy! Just go away and watch TV or something. This is our place!
Mariner: I want to talk to you, Rag Doll. You afraid to let me come up? 'Fraid of my ghost stories?
Paladin: As if! All right, I'll hear what you have to say, but you call me Rag Doll again and I'll punch you out!
And what he had to say was important. It was about Father. Faith and Father were what mattered most to Mariner. They were his family, and Paladin needed to remember that!
Mariner: Have you noticed how Father slips out at night? He's gone for hours.
Paladin: So? What's it to you?
Mariner: I'm going to follow him! Find out where he goes.
Paladin: No way! Poppa'd skin you alive if he caught you. ... Ha! That'd be fun to see.
Mariner: You're afraid! I knew you were a scaredy-cat! I dare you to come with me.
Paladin frowns and looks over at Mariner's sneer. He thought he was so smart!
Paladin: Ok, I'm in. No school tomorrow, so we can stay here and keep watch. Faith's gonna have a cow, though.
Mariner: What's he going to do, go clean people's houses at night--like an elf?
Paladin snickered. That was kinda funny. Mariner had a sense of humor after all.
Faith: What would you know, Mariner? Poppa doesn't show his Djinn self to just anyone.
Mariner: I'm his son! If Father has powers, I need to know what they are. I'm going to be his Heir!
Faith: Don't you start that again, you liar!
Mariner: Well, you can stay here and be a good little girly girl. I'm going to investigate!
Paladin: Yah, Faith. You don't have to go. But you gotta keep our secret. We're in Rascal Roost. What we say here stays here. That's the rule.
Faith: Pooh on that! ... Fine. But I'm going too. Someone needs to keep you two out of trouble!
Emad was anxious to take off. He hadn't been to the Bridge in several nights and he was getting restless. All this domesticity was irritating! He couldn't even do a little harmless flirting without someone getting in an uproar about it. He might as well be stuck back in his lamp!
Once Emad had realized no one ever visited the forgotten homestead, he'd decided it would be a perfect place to bury his past, his and Bebhinn's. Or maybe he should say, re-bury.
While Emad was going about his private business and thinking his dark thoughts, the children had seen him leave in the speedboat and had rushed to the shore to watch where their father went.
Paladin: He's gone to that island across the bay.
Mariner: Then that's where we're going!
Mariner: Not if we keep the throttle in low gear.
Paladin: Come on! Let's go.
Faith: I don't need your protection, you ... you boy!
Paladin: What now?
Mariner: Now we explore and keep very quiet!
Faith: And we need to stick together!
