Episode 94

Chapter 2 of the Winter's Heart Saga

Part V

The walls and ceiling of the Winter's Heart's chamber buckled and rolled like ocean waves. Hydrogen Guy and the others had no chance of keeping their footing. Hydrogen Guy was thrown on his stomach, and was sliding around the ice like a rubber duck in the North Sea. He tried not to get seasick.

Hydrogen Guy
DB! Helium Girl!

Deuterium Boy
Plan #1?

Hydrogen Guy
Now!

Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy concentrated on the ice around them, spreading their concentration thin as they willed every hydrogen and deuterium atom around them to obey. The ice began to splinter and yield; islands of relative stability formed under the Covalent Crusaders, and they staggered to their feet. The waves of ice groaned as they tried to turn back against their summoner.

Ice Witch
Fools, you cannot defeat the Winter's Hear--

Helium Girl materialised directly in front of her and felled her with a round-house punch, which she could not help accompanying with a shrill "HEE-YAH!".

The ice around them ground mercifully to a halt. Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy slumped noticeably. Helium Girl stood over the Ice Witch and rubbed her fist, grinning.

Helium Girl
Heh. Immortal, all-powerful, freaks the mages out, but like, she's got more of a glass jaw than my last boyfriend.

Hydrogen Guy and Deuterium Boy stumbled up behind her, drained and still slightly seasick.

Hydrogen Guy
Grab the jewel, quick.

Too late. The Ice Witch's eyes snapped open.

Ice Witch
That... was unfathomably stupid...

The floor and walls erupted again, this time with a forest of titanium-sharp blades of ice coming from every direction. It took all of the Elemental's super-atomic speed to avoid impalement, and even then they were not so lucky. Deuterium Boy ducked and dodged a spear from the wall, only to scream as a rapier-like pole skewered his right thigh.

Helium Girl re-dissolved into helium gas to avoid the blades, but the Ice Witch was waiting for such a trick. A bolt of bright blue-white energy, like the column extending into the sky, shot from the Ice Witch's fingertips and struck the expanding cloud of helium gas. Liquid helium rained to the ground and reformed into Helium Girl; her outline flickered strangely as she sprawled on the floor and collapsed.

Hydrogen Guy avoided the spears with his body, one caught his cape and he was hauled into the air. He released the clasp to avoid being strangled and hung on.

Hydrogen Guy
SALLY! STOP THIS!

The Ice Witch stood over Helium Girl's body. Her head snapped up and she stared at Hydrogen Guy in surprise.

Ice Witch
What did you say?

The blades stopped growing. Deuterium Boy, his face grey from his wound, gave Hydrogen Guy an encouraging look.

Hydrogen Guy
I said, stop this, Sally.

Ice Witch
Why do you call me this?

Hydrogen Guy
That's your name, isn't it? Sally Kettle?

Ice Witch
She is dead.

Hydrogen Guy
We found you in the computer's database. You have a criminal record, cat-burglar, remember? But you're not violent. You've never hurt anyone.

Ice Witch
I have killed many, laid waste to many lands --

Hydrogen Guy
No, that's the Ice Witch. Or the Winter's Heart. But not Sally Kettle.

Ice Witch
She is DEAD.

Hydrogen Guy
No, you're still in there somewhere, aren't you? If you are, Sally, you have to try and stop this. Take control. Their power is only outside your head, in there you can be strong as they are --

Ice Witch
NO! The Winter's Heart is all! The Ice Witch is all! We are the one, and the only, we will freeze your blood and flesh, destroy --

Hydrogen Guy
Great Feynman's Ghost, Sally, listen to those two. Is that what you want people to hear when they look in your eyes?

She raised her hand, pointed it at Hydrogen Guy. It was trembling. Sally was there, somewhere, fighting. Hydrogen Guy had to keep building her up. The jewel on her breastbone flickered erratically.

Hydrogen Guy
You never meant for this to happen, did you, Sally? It was an accident. We don't blame you. Right, DB?

Deuterium Boy
Ow.

Hydrogen Guy
Help us fight off the intruders and you can go free. Take your life back, Sally.

Her arm's spasms grew more violent. Her face contorted in anger and exertion. The small corner of her brain where the Ice Witch and the Winter's Heart had pushed Sally, and tried to crush her, was no longer enough to contain her.

Hydrogen Guy
You can do it, Sally. You can beat them. You're strong enough. You have to be!

Ice Witch
Help... please...

Hydrogen Guy let go of his cape and floated to the ground. He weaved between the ice spears and stepped in front of the Ice Witch. Her gaze was fixed on him, flickering from hatred to imploring.

Ice Witch
... takeit...

Hydrogen Guy reached out and gently closed his hand around the Winter's Heart.

Rainbow Warrior
AAAUGH!!!

Gen X Man
Hang on, Gene! Just keep hanging on!

Rainbow Warrior
What in Mother Earth do you EXPECT me to do?! OF COURSE I'LL KEEP HANGING ON!!

The Rainbow Warrior clung on to the cable for dear life, as the enraged monster swung its head about, trying to fling him off. Gen X Man and SuperConductor were racing around the enchanted, ice-sculpted 20-foot tyrannosaurus rex (featuring many esthetic "improvements" from the Ice Witch, such as giant steer horns and tail spikes) looking for someplace to attack, narrowly avoiding being stomped on or crushed with its massive tail.

SuperConductor
Rainbow Warrior! Distract it so Gen X Man can get close enough to hit it!

Rainbow Warrior
GO F--

Gen X Man
Can't you hit it with a train?!

SuperConductor
The watch¹ isn't recharged yet!

Gen X Man
What good are you?!

SuperConductor
I'm an accountant!!

The ice monster crashed its tail down between them, knocking them aside. Rainbow Warrior yelped as he lost his grip on the cable looped around the tyrannosaur's jaw and went sailing across the hall. The cable snapped as it tore its jaws open.

SuperConductor and Gen X Man helped the dazed Rainbow Warrior to his feet.

Gen X Man
Now what?

Rainbow Warrior
I think I compressed a couple vertebrae...

Gen X Man
His, I hope?

Rainbow Warrior
No, mine.

SuperConductor
Brothers, I think a plan is in order...

Rainbow Warrior
All right.

He pulled a small wooden rod from his Useful Things belt. He gave it a quarter twist and it sprang open into a bow a half meter long. He stepped back behind SuperConductor's billowing cape as he quickly began to string it.

Gen X Man
Gene, I don't think arrows hurt it.

Rainbow Warrior
Believe it or not, Josh, I do know what I'm doing. You two keep it busy until I give the signal, then give it that Fist of Irony thing. Preferably in the tuckus.

Gen X Man
Your kink is okay, it's just not my kink.

Rainbow Warrior
Go!

Gen X Man
Right... Hey, Dean Martin!

He and SuperConductor resumed leaping and dodging around the beast's legs, Gen X Man occasionally shoving SuperConductor out of harm's way with a telekinetic leap. It had the desired effect of distracting the slow-witted ice monster from the Rainbow Warrior as he finished stringing the bow taut and selecting an arrow from the quiver on his back. It had a thick black canister just behind the head, making it slightly trickier to aim...

The Rainbow Warrior took aim and drew the shaft back. He shouted "Hey! Living Fossil!" and gave his best, loudest "Tarzan" yell.

The ice tyrannosaurus predictably swung around to see what was challenging it, and opened it's mouth with an answering roar. As soon as he glimpsed the parting of its jaws, Gene let fly.

The flare arrow struck squarely in the back of the creature's throat. Being dead, it didn't notice; but when the flare went off with the equivalent of a few dozen exploding camp stoves, it found it's icy "flesh" melting off to be a bit distracting. It gurgled in surprise.

Gene shielded his eyes from the glare.

Rainbow Warrior
Now, Josh!

Gen X Man
Oh YEAH! LIKE UNTO A THING OF IRONY, BABY!!

He swung and hit the struggling monster in its flank. The blow sent a visible shock-wave through its body, and then with a mighty splintering and crashing, the tyrannosaurus shattered in a shower of ice fragments and dinosaur bones.

Gen X Man
WOOO-HOOO! Who's the man?!

Rainbow Warrior
And that flare? 100% organic.

The instant he touched the stone, Hydrogen Guy felt a wave of cold, merciless power wash over him. Feynman's Ghost, he thought, it's trying to take me over. It's abandoning her and trying to take me -- His ears were pounding. He could vaguely hear Deuterium Boy shouting something behind him, and he could feel actual heat from the Ruler's normally heatless glow.

He tried to drop the Winter's Heart, but his fingers wouldn't respond. They felt numb from extreme cold, like he had stuck his hand in a flask of liquid nitrogen. He felt his mental barriers, which Doug had taught him to erect through meditation, being torn to shreds by claws of impossibly cold diamond.

He felt Evil pouring into him. My God, he thought, his will fading, Sally Kettle actually fought this?

Suddenly his hand was enveloped in a grip like molten steel. The jewel was wrenched out of his hand, and the Evil out of his mind. The sudden emptiness was unbearable, and he blacked out...

He didn't know how long he was out. He opened his eyes, expecting to see the Ice Witch sneering victoriously at him, but instead saw a stranger looking down at him in concern. He was old, and seemed thin, and his hair was disarrayed like his electrodynamics professor's was, and he was wearing one of Mark Twain's suits.

Hydrogen Guy
... uh?

Corvath
Ah! He seems to be awake.

Deuterium Boy appeared next to him. Hydrogen Guy managed to focus on a blurry smudge of blue, red and green in front of him. He blinked.

Hydrogen Guy
That's my cape... you're using my cape as a bandage?

Deuterium Boy
I was bleeding to death and you didn't need it.

Arms grabbed each of his shoulders and he was helped into a sitting position. The strange old man felt surprisingly strong.

Corvath
That was incredibly foolish, my dear boy. Incredibly foolish. No mere mortal can ever resist a construct like that, especially when it's been steadily building up power the way it has. I dare say if I hadn't shown up when I did, we all would have been in a great deal of trouble.

Hydrogen Guy
Helium Girl...

Deuterium Boy
She's okay for now. She's awake. I think she's going into shock.

Hydrogen Guy looked past him to where Helium Girl was huddled together with Sally Kettle - all icy special effects gone from her dress, and looking very small and frightened. Helium Girl didn't look much better, but she seemed to be doing her best to play mother hen.

Hydrogen Guy noticed Deuterium Boy was shivering.

Hydrogen Guy
DB, I think you are too.

Corvath
The sooner we get all of you out of here, the better.

Finally Hydrogen Guy turned his attention to the strange, strong, out-of-place old man.

Hydrogen Guy
Who are you? Where's the jewel?

Corvath
Ah.

He stepped back and reached into the pocket of his waistcoat. He displayed the flawless Winter's Heart.

Corvath
The artefact is here. My name is Corvath. Who I am... is difficult to explain.

Hydrogen Guy
Corvath...

Hydrogen Guy shook off Deuterium Boy's hands and got to his feet, drawing the Ruler of Elendil. It was still glowing. The sudden movement made him extremely dizzy, and he felt like he might pass out again, but he gritted his teeth and tried to will it away.

Hydrogen Guy
N... called you the Vallene. Hans-Raoul's uncle...

Corvath
N? I don't believe I know him. He's correct though... now, how would someone here know about that? Very strange...

He furrowed his brow and seemed to forget about the others. Hydrogen Guy made a grab for his lapels, and Corvath jerked back to reality.

Corvath
Oh! Here now...

Hydrogen Guy
I CANNOT let you have it...

Deuterium Boy
HG, steady...

Corvath
My dear, ah, HG, believe me when I say I am the only being in this Universe who can handle the Winter's Heart now. If you take it from me, it will try and take possession of you again. I am far too powerful for it to try such a trick with me.

Deuterium Boy
Remember, HG, N said that Corvath was the only one left who could unmake it.

Hydrogen Guy
DB, he's like Hans-Raoul... we can't give it to him...

Corvath
What a peculiar society this is. Are you all known simply by letters of the alphabet?

Deuterium Boy
Corvath... can you destroy the Winter's Heart?

Corvath
Oh, certainly. Your Mages were very good, as far as mortals go -- that's why my nephew is so afraid of them, you see -- but compared to the Vallene, well...

Deuterium Boy
Monkeys and rats?

Corvath
Ah... well, yes, I suppose.

With his free hand, he withdrew a small hand-mirror with an ornate brass frame. Corvath gazed into it for several seconds; an indigo mist began to swirl around his reflection, ultimately enveloping it completely. Then, like a practised stage magician, he took the Winter's Heart and seemed to insert it into the mirror. Blue-white sparks flew off the surface of the glass, and there was a thunderous boom from somewhere in the Museum. Blue and white sparkles swirled in the indigo mists in the glass, then slowly faded away. Then the mist itself seemed to retreat deeper into the background, and he was looking into a plain hand-mirror once again.

Corvath
It's done. The Winter's Heart is no more.

Hydrogen Guy
That's it?

Corvath
What were you expecting, more special effects?

Hydrogen Guy
How can we trust you? How do we know it wasn't just some slight of hand, and that you've got it up your sleeve or something?

Corvath smiled patiently.

Corvath
You don't know that, obviously. What I did is throw the evil thing into the Mists beyond all reality, where it dissolved into nothingness. That's as well as I can explain it. But your column of energy has vanished, as has the influence over the young girl. The Winter's Heart is no longer in this Universe, or any other for that matter. And...

He pointed behind them.

Corvath
I believe another member of your alphabet is now unthawed.

They turned to see Adrian Room breaking his way out of the flimsy, melting box of ice he had been imprisoned in. He was soaking wet, his wizard's hat looking very bedraggled indeed, and he appeared to be looking for something.

Room
*cough* What *cough* what on Earth happened? Sally! Was I successful? Where did all this ice come from...

Hydrogen Guy
You.

Room
Ah... oh. H-hello. Hydrogen Guy?

Hydrogen Guy
You are so under arrest.

Room
Y-yes sir.

Hydrogen Guy
Stay there. I'll deal with you in a minute.

He turned back to Corvath.

Hydrogen Guy
All right. I'll assume for the time being that you are what I'm told you are, and that you've done what you've said you did.

Corvath
Very generous of you.

Hydrogen Guy
Now. I want you out of this -- Universe, reality, whatever you call it -- right now, and if you wouldn't mind, take your damn nephew with you.

Corvath chuckled.

Corvath
All right. As you wish. I wouldn't worry about Hans-Raoul too much. He's an arrogant little prick, certainly, but he inevitably does the right thing. And complains about it loudly.

Hydrogen Guy
Does the -- do you have ANY IDEA --

Deuterium Boy put a restraining hand on his arm, as Hydrogen Guy very nearly had a relapse from apoplexy.

Deuterium Boy
Corvath, I think you'd better go.

Corvath
As you wish. Good-bye, then.

He produced the mirror again, and after a short period of concentration -- simply wasn't there anymore.

Room
My gods! What -- how --

Hydrogen Guy
You. Shut up. Still under arrest.

Room
Sorry.

Gen X Man
Hey!

Gen X Man, the Rainbow Warrior and SuperConductor walked in. Gen X Man was looking smug.

Gen X Man
Wow, would you look at this place.

Rainbow Warrior
Josh, the ice is pretty, now let's move on.

SuperConductor
Is everyone all right?

Helium Girl
Um, hi? No. Can we get out of here now, please?

Hydrogen Guy
Oh, I wish. Guys, take Harry Potter here into custody will you? Helium Girl...

He walked over to where she sat, next to a hunched over Sally. Deuterium Boy limped along behind him. Sally appeared catatonic.

Hydrogen Guy
How is she?

Helium Girl
I don't know. She, like, isn't responding.

Hydrogen Guy gingerly knelt down and looked at her. He placed a hand on her arm. Warm. Good, that's an improvement, anyway.

Hydrogen Guy
Sally? Can you hear me?

No response.

Hydrogen Guy
Are you in there? You did it, Sally. You won. The Winter's Heart is gone...

But what about the Ice Witch, he thought.

Room
Sally?

Adrian Room stepped out of the square of his melted imprisonment towards them. Gen X Man reached out to stop him, but SuperConductor waved him away.

Room
What's wrong with her? What happened? Sally?

She lifted her gaze to wards his voice.

Room
Sally?

Sally
Adrian, you twit... this is all your fault...

Room
What is? I don't understand...

Hydrogen Guy
Sally... hi. I hate to interrupt but... are you...

Sally
Yes. I'm... alone, in here. I don't know what happened to... the Ice Witch. When I was fighting her... the Winter's Heart pushed her aside, somehow, or rolled over her, to get to me... then when you, and then later that man, took the jewel, she somehow... I don't know, part of her was swept away with the stone, and part of her just seemed... to vanish.

She hugged her knees closer. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Sally
She... she wasn't really a person, anymore. I had glimpses of her, when she was... but they were just memories. She'd been obsessed with hate, and trapped inside that jewel so long, I think it was the only thing holding her together. When the Winter's Heart rejected her... I think she died.

She began sobbing. Adrian Room rushed forwards and embraced her.

Sally
Oh, Adrian... it was so terrible all these things in my head... it's not pleasant when someone dies inside you, even if they're evil and for all intents and purposes already dead...

Room
Shh, Sally, it's all right. It's all over now. I have no idea what you're talking about, but it's over.

Sally
... your fault... twit... *sniff*

Hydrogen Guy sighed and got to his feet. Helium Girl staggered up beside him.

Hydrogen Guy
You okay?

Helium Girl
I just want to go home and go to bed... all I wanted to do today was go shopping, y'know?

Hydrogen Guy
DB?

Deuterium Boy
I don't want to go shopping. I wanna go to the hospital.

Helium Girl
Maybe you could just, like, put some ice on it.

Chuck opened up with the anti-spacecraft pulse cannons and hoped that there weren't any stray airliners around. He wasn't sure if any of his shots actually hit the demon, but she kept coming.

She wasn't slowing down.

Chuck War
Code 2519 evasive!

The War Rig's computers registered the command and took over. The computer slammed it into reverse and accelerated.

The bright red streak slammed into the ice-covered pavement the War Rig had just vacated. Chuck called a halt to the Rig's reverse and didn't wait for whatever it was to emerge from the crater. He opened fire with the forward plasma cannons, hoping they would be more effective against the demon than they had against the Ice Witch's front door.

Chuck couldn't see the demon itself for the glare of the plasma fire. Arcs of red lightning shot out from the crater ahead and enveloped the War Rig. The lights dimmed and Chuck felt his hair rising, but the shielding seemed to be holding. Well, I guess that answers my question about whether it's rated for supernatural attacks...

Just then a new alarm went off. This time it was the cannons. Dammit, she's targeting the cannons! He tried to ease up on the raw power and focus them, but to no avail; they shut down with a disconcerting noise. He went back to the turret controls, and swung the guns around to face forward.

The demon stood ten feet from its talons to its crown of flowing hair. Its wingspan cleared fifteen feet. Its entire body was a mass of crackling red energy, but it had a distinctly female outline. Chuck opened fire; this time the creature reached up and seemed to absorb the blasts in the palms of its hands. Great. Guess the pinpoint laser's out, too. He briefly considered ramming it, then dismissed it as suicidal. Proton missiles it is, then...

Suddenly, there was a rumbling from the Museum itself. Chuck was almost too scared to look. He expected some new horror to burst out of the building, but what he saw instead was the column of energy, reaching from the centre of the Museum to the sky, start to flicker, dwindle, and then simply disappear with a final roll of thunder.

Chuck War
Well... I hope that's a good sign...

The demon had also turned to look at the column's demise. It turned again to look at the War Rig. The arcs of electricity suddenly ceased, and Chuck and the demon were left staring at each other.

Azoni
My service... is ended.

And it took off, blasting into the sky at the same speed it had arrived. Chuck watched it disappear into the storm clouds overhead. Chuck shrugged.

Chuck War
That's the thing about demons. No work ethic.

Kate woke slightly at the sound of a door softly closing and someone moving around in the apartment, just enough for her to realise she was no longer asleep. It dawned on her where she was and who was coming in, and the sense of relief that washed from her head down to her knotted-up stomach brought her further along towards consciousness. She decided to lay and wait.

He seemed to take a long while, standing quietly somewhere, the window maybe, then at last she heard him move into the bedroom. She felt him slip into bed behind her and wrap his arms around her. His skin felt like ice, but very nice nonetheless.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi."

"You came back."

"I'll always come back to you." He kissed the back of her neck and held her tighter.

"I was a bit worried."

"Sorry."

"Are you okay?"

"Reasonably."

"Is Dave and everyone all right?"

"Yeah. More or less..."

She twisted around and pulled him closer. Pressing her nose against his, she felt his cheek was wet.

"I'm sorry."

"It happens."

They were silent a long time. He thought she'd gone back to sleep, when she asked, "Is it still snowing?"

"Yeah. But it's supposed to clear up by morning."

"Oh. But there's still all that snow."

"More than anyone's ever seen. Here, anyway."

"We may not be able to make it to work tomorrow."

"A lot of folks probably won't. I can dial in, though."

"I'll take a sick day. Can I stay with you?"

"Of course."

He stroked her back and shoulders, feeling the fabric of her t-shirt.

"Isn't that my CUPC² shirt?"

"Mm-hm. I hope you don't mind. I got tired about one and decided to go to bed. I needed something to sleep in."

"As a matter of fact, I do mind," he said. And corrected the situation.

Hans-Raoul stared blankly at the memo he was writing. He didn't feel like working on it. He didn't feel much like working, actually. The concerns of the province's largest criminal empire / car insurance provider were woefully far from his mind.

He was worried about his uncle, whom he hadn't heard from since he'd left the office last night. Well, the Ice Witch business was obviously over - it was sunny and +5 C today, the streets were a mess - so possibly Corvath had stopped her himself after all. But if so, why had Hans-Raoul heard nothing? It was unlike Corvath to accomplish something his nephew had declined to help with, without a full report and accompanying lecture. And if something had happened to him, no other members of the family would notice for months, maybe years, back on the Column. They would assume Corvath was simply off on another one of his sabbaticals.

So it was up to Hans-Raoul to find out what happened. It was the frustration that his family had yet again pulled him into something he could have done without that bothered him the most. Much more, he told himself, than any concern over his uncle's welfare.

And then there was Robyn. Cheung, he mentally appended. His (now ex) secretary, whom he had sent to Phillips's lab with an armed escort and had never arrived. Who was now, presumably, running loose with a patchy memory and an undefined set of demonic powers. And now the Corporation was asking questions, demanding to know what had happened.

And what's worse, he had to break in a new secretary.

Hans-Raoul sighed, not realising that he'd done so. The worst, the very worst, was that he had actually come to like Robyn. There weren't many people he liked, especially mortals. And almost none that he liked, and could have very enjoyable sexual relations with. It was his own fault, of course, he should never allowed himself to -- well, still, he would miss it.

Enough procrastinating. Finish the memo, recommend what action the Corporation should take over Robyn, and requisition a new admin assistant. Try calling Corvath on the mirror again, and if that failed, hell, he'd swallow his pride and call his father and brothers and tell them to go find him. He was too busy to deal with it, and wouldn't let his father guilt trip him into doing so.

There was a small, nagging voice in the back of his head, one which he'd become very good at ignoring ever since he'd left the Column of Val and come to this realm. But the voice was becoming increasingly annoying. It was telling him to find Corvath and Robyn. It was claiming he did care about his uncle, and what it was saying about Robyn -- it had never said that before. About anyone. Especially a mortal.

He found his fingers sitting on the keyboard, but the only thing he had typed in the last five minutes was Robyn's name.

He hammered the backspace key viciously.

Sally Kettle poured out six cups of tea and picked up her tray. She carried it out into the sitting room. The elderly residents brightened immediately at her arrival with the steaming tray.

Sally
All right, who wants tea? Mrs. Zimmerman?

The elderly resident left off her argument with Mrs. Cottleston about Eric Satie's influence on goa and ambient music.

Mrs. Zimmerman
Oh, thank you, dear. You're so good to us, we'll hate to lose you.

Mrs. Cottleston
Oh? Are you going away, Sally?

Sally
Well, yes, Mrs. Cottleston, I'm afraid so. My community service is over next week, so I won't be helping out every day any more. But I like it here so much, I will come back and visit, I promise.

Mrs. Cottleston
Community service? Oh my, dear, what did you do?

Mrs. Zimmerman
Agnes, really, we've talked about this before. Sally was an involuntary supervillainess.

Mrs. Cottleston
I'm sorry, dear, I forgot. I don't mean to be rude.

Sally
It's quite all right, Mrs. Cottleston. It doesn't bother me. I'm just glad it's done. Is Adrian still out in the garden with Mr. Jeffries?

Mrs. Zimmerman
I saw Jeffries come in a moment ago, but I believe your young man is still out with Berg.

Sally smiled patiently. She had long since given up trying to get the ladies to stop calling Adrian Room her "young man". She passed out the rest of the tea to those in the sitting room, and went out with two cups to the garden.

It was coming along nicely. Since March, Adrian and volunteer Barney Berg (known to some as The Codger) had helped some of the residents turn several large mounds of dirt into rows of beautiful flowers - the tulips were the current stars - and a plot of vegetables, still very early in their development. But the strawberries were growing better than anyone had anticipated.

She found them fertilising some of the young roses. Adrian was on his hands and knees, happily clawing fertilisers around the crowns, while Barney leaned on the red-handled hoe he carried everywhere when he was in the garden.

Sally
How would you two dirt-grubbers like some tea?

Berg
Ah ha, thanks, Sally. Adrian! Tea break! Wipe your hands off, there's a lady present.

Room fumbled with the claw a bit and then sprang up, wiping his hands on his grubby work jacket.

Room
Sorry, Sally. I get so involved. I've got to get as much in as I can before next week.

Sally
You can always come back, you know, Adrian. Or start your own garden.

Room
You know, I was thinking about that. Honestly, I feel like a new man since we started here. All this fresh air and soil, oxygen-giving plants all around... when I go home at night, now, all those old books are positively depressing...

Berg
I've always said, books were bad for a man. Gives'em ideas.

Room
I know you're joking, Barney, but you're right, you know. If it hadn't been for all that damned antiquarian nonsense, I would never have got Sally involved with the -- well, you know.

Sally
Adrian, for the millionth time, don't worry about it. It was my fault as much as yours. But it's all behind us. I'm fine now, honest. Now take your tea, it's awkward to stand here holding this tray like one of those wooden butlers.

Room
Oh, sorry. Thanks.

Berg
So, now that your parole is up, you'll be giving up the amateur wizardry, eh Room?

Room
Gods, yes. Never again. I mean it this time.

Berg
And we all breathe easier.

He took a sip of his tea, made a face, and then lowered his cup.

Berg
Sally, is this supposed to be iced tea?

Sally
Sorry?

Berg
This tea. It's like it just came out of the fridge.

Room
Mm, yes. Mine's cold too.

Sally
But I just poured it...

She seemed to go pale.

Sally
I'm sorry, it must have cooled while I was talking to the ladies inside. I'll go pour you some more.

Berg
It's all right, we'll come inside.

Room
Yes, of course.

Sally
I'm very sorry, I...

Berg
Stop fussing, girl.

He bent down and dumped his the cold tea into the garden.

Berg
Things cool off. Just relax, or you'll give yourself a complex.

Sally sighed.

Sally
You're right. Let's go in.

Barney took her arm and they headed back towards the sitting room. Adrian Room bent down to empty his tea as Barney had, and paused as he noticed the layer of ice crystals on the little puddle. He glanced at the April sun shining above. It was easily fifteen degrees out.

He poured out his cup, broke the ice with the garden claw, and hurried to catch up to Sally and Barney.

[fade to black; roll credits]