The Book of Nonsense

by David Michael Slater

  “They were so good to me, so kind and caring,” she whimpered. “They’re dead, Dex. Dead. Even if they were ready to go, they’re dead.”

  “That thing,” Dex said. “It was—”

  “Emmet. He finally got his wish.”

  “But that fire—how could he have survived?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Is Dad here?”

  “Yeah,” Daphna said. “He got hurt, Dex—really bad. Emmet did it! Dad fractured his hip and had to have surgery. And he got a concussion, too. I think he’s been acting weird, mumbling strange stuff or something. I’m not sure ‘cause they went in the hall to talk about him. He’s in a room somewhere with Latty now I guess. And Dex, it was Latty who found us. She put Dad in an ambulance and went looking for us. She chased me all over the neighborhood!

  “She found Evelyn at the R & R and they drove to the park. Dex, she saved our lives. Emmet was going to kill us for sure. Dex,” Daphna added, “I was so scared, I peed in my pants.”

  Dexter nodded, but did not comment. “What about all that money?” he whispered.

  Daphna shrugged. “I’m sure there’s a—” she started to say, but just then, Latty came in.

  At the sight of the twins awake, she broke into tears and rushed at them. But she stopped short of taking them into her arms. She backed up, weeping with relief. “Dex, Daphna!” she cried, “I’m—I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” Dex said, but with no irritation. “We’re okay.”

  “And you were right,” Daphna admitted. “You were right to be worried. You were right about Rash. In fact, you have no idea how right you were. I’d understand if you never let us out of the house again.”

  “No,” Latty said, surprising the twins, “I’ve been wrong, absolutely wrong. Hearing that horrid name again sent me into an awful state thinking about your mother. But, kids, I should never have told you my promise to her. I shouldn’t have burdened you with it. It was selfish and weak of me to try to manage you with guilt. I’ve been a smothering presence in your lives for far too long.”

  The twins looked at each other.

  “But,” said Dex, “if you weren’t chasing after us, we’d be—”

  “If I wasn’t so controlling, you might not have felt the need to defy me.”

  “It’s okay, Latty,” Daphna said. “You’re not that controlling. Okay, you are, but we know you love us—like we were your own kids.”

  That Latty was touched deeply by this was obvious. Her very person seemed to light up.

  “From now on things will be different,” she promised. “I give you my word on it. Deal?” she asked.

  “Deal.”

  Latty couldn’t help herself. She swooped upon the beds and swept both twins into a wrenching hug. The twins gave one back.

  When Latty finally let them go, they said, simultaneously, “Can we go see, Dad?”

  “Of course!” Latty said. “But let me get the doctor first, and the police want to talk to you, too.”

  Fortunately, everyone believed the twins had passed out after the first gunshot, and that they had no idea what was going on, that they’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time when an old woman went off her rocker. And no one had gotten a close look at the figure who’d fled the scene. An investigation was underway.

  Without arousing suspicion, Daphna managed to ask if there was any connection between what happened to them and the fire at the bookstore, and even slipped in a question about whether any books had been found in the Clearing. In both cases, the answer was no.

  On the walk over to Milton’s room, Latty explained that Evelyn Idun was arranging to have him transferred to the Home for rehabilitation. Neither Dex nor Daphna listened closely to the details. They stopped at a door.

  “Can we—” Daphna started to say. “I mean, would you mind if we see Dad alone?”

  “Of course not!” Latty said. “But wait—” The twins paused and looked at her expectantly.

  “Your father will be asleep,” she said, “but he told me something in the car on the way over to that store. He’s realized some things himself.”

  “What?” the twins asked.

  “He thinks he’s botching his role as a father.”

  The twins flashed each other a look. There was no animosity, only relief.

  “He realized he’s investing too much of himself in books and too little in you,” Latty explained. “He admitted to me that it’s been his way of keeping your mother with him all these years. But after seeing how distant you two have grown during this last trip, he decided it’s just not worth the price. He said he didn’t even know why he felt compelled to stay away this summer—though he suspects it had something to do with not wanting your birthday to come, not wanting you to become young adults when he’d so long looked forward to celebrating the day with your mother here, too. That’s why he didn’t get any gifts, kids.”

  “But, if Dad retires—” Daphna asked, eyeing her brother surreptitiously. “I know we have some money from Mom—but won’t he have to work a little?”

  Latty didn’t respond at first. She just looked concerned. “Oh, honey!” she said. “That’s not something we should even think about right now. Everything is over. Let’s bury the past first, then we’ll worry about the future.” No one spoke for a moment, but then Latty smiled tenderly. “I’ll be right there for both of you,” she said.

  Dex braced himself to see his father bolted into some sort of hideous contraption. Daphna was prepared for a giant cast right up to his waist. But when they walked into the room, they both sighed. The only evidence of their father’s injury and operation was a wheelchair sitting next to his bed. On the other hand, Milton looked like a shell of his former self.

  “Dad?” Dex whispered, somehow fearing a loud voice would shatter his father to bits.

  Milton didn’t respond.

  Daphna looked down sadly at this scarcely recognizable man on the bed. Was this broken figure really her father, the man she’d followed into a thousand mysterious and enchanting bookstores? The thought struck her that he was going to be out of commission for a long time. And this thought was followed by a piercing insight. Since Daphna was a little girl, she had always—somewhere in the back of her mind—worried it could come to this. Her mother vanished, and didn’t that mean her father might very well vanish, too? And now, in a very real way, it seemed he had. Daphna understood that she’d spent most her life so far fashioning herself into someone who could fend for herself. Being the expert meant not depending on anyone. On impulse, Daphna rushed to her father, leaned over and hugged him hard, and she kept hugging him even though he made no effort to hug her back.

  Dex watched his sister with her arms around their father and realized how much she needed him. And then all at once, he understood why he’d kept insisting his father didn’t care about them. If his dad didn’t care about him, he wouldn’t have to care back. No, that wasn’t quite it. He wouldn’t have to care about himself. It was just the opposite of the way he’d made himself see Ruby. It suddenly struck him that if his life was a book, so far it probably made about as much sense as the Book of Nonsense.

  When Daphna straightened up, he said, “How did you figure it out? I mean about Ruby and The Eight?”

  “Oh, you haven’t seen it!” Daphna fished the now badly crumpled note out of the breast pocket of her hospital pajamas.

  “Here, read this,” she said, holding it out for Dex. He made no move to take the note. “Oh, right!” Daphna said, flushing. She read the note out loud.

  “Dex,” Daphna said when she finished, “there’s something I still don’t understand. When Rash was using your eyes, when he saw the book we messed up—”

  “Why did he still think it was his?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I was trying to tell you, in Dad’s room, before Emmet barged in. When I look at words, they move. It’s like they all flip around and drop off the end of lines. I was pretty sure, if it came to
it, Rash would believe it. Since I remembered that nonsense line you read, I felt pretty safe about the whole thing.”

  This struck brother and sister as funny. They both laughed.

  Then Daphna said, “Dexter, I’m—I’m sorry.”

  Dex looked at her blankly, as if waiting for something. Finally, he said, “But—?”

  “What do you mean?” Daphna asked.

  “Whenever you say you’re sorry, you say ‘but,’” Dex explained, “as in ‘but it’s really all your fault.’”

  Daphna flushed again. “I’m sorry for that, too,” she said. It suddenly struck her that if life was a book, she’d understood it about as well as the Book of Nonsense. “But I’m really, really sorry for the way I’ve looked down on you,” she added. “And I also want to say thanks.”

  “For—for what?” Dex asked.

  “For what you did in Dad’s room, for thinking so fast, for facing Emmet that way. I know he hurt you, Dex. You’re a million times braver than I am. I actually threw up. All I do anymore is cry and puke and wet myself.”

  Dexter, completely embarrassed but completely grateful, didn’t know how to reply. Daphna, to her surprise, reached for her brother’s hand. To her even greater surprise, he let her take it. And it was at that moment she realized something else: you didn’t need to speak the First Tongue to utter magic words.

  “Dex,” she said.

  “Yeah?”

  “Emmet got the book. It’s still out there.”

  “Which means the Councilors died for nothing.”

  “We need to get it back, Dex. We need to destroy it. Will you help?”

  Dex looked at his sister. “I give you my word,” he said.

  “What is it?” Daphna asked. “I mean, your ‘word,’ what is it? I’ve never understood that expression.”

  “Me neither,” Dex admitted, “but my word is ‘Quack.’”

  Daphna grinned. “I’ll take it,” she replied. “And I give you my word. It’s ‘Galice!’”

  “I’ll take it,” Dex replied.

  The twins nodded at one another. Still holding hands, they turned to look at their father again.

  “What if he doesn’t get better?” Dex worried.

  “He will,” Daphna promised.

  “I hope you’re—” Dex started to say, but he stopped because Milton was stirring. Gingerly, he rolled over. Then he slowly opened his eyes.

  When Milton Wax saw his children, he smiled. The twins smiled back.

  No words were necessary.