The Dark Lord's Demise Read Free Page A

Olympics they get married. For some reason they don't make the team
four years later. Before long they find out that being Olympic athletes was all they had in common. They can't handle ordinary life
together. They've got their gold medals on the wall, but those medals only remind them of how great life used to be."
    All three Friesens gazed at the gleaming Sword of Geburah.
    Kurt asked, "What will happen to the sword? I mean if-if they
do split up?" He nearly choked on the words.
    "Never mind the sword," Lisa replied. "What will happen to us?"
    Wes smiled slightly. "I'd like to know both those things. But you
know what I was just wondering? What will happen to the old TV
sets in the attic?"
    Kurt's eyes got big. Mention of the TV sets got him back on the
subject he preferred to talk about. "Maybe they've come to life
again. Let's go up and see."
    "I guarantee you they haven't!" Lisa snapped. She strode back
into the kitchen.
    "You went up there to check, didn't you?" Kurt demanded as he
and Wes followed her into the kitchen. "You came out of the attic
right in the middle of our sword fight!"
    "I went up there to look for some fancy old china that I heard
Aunt Eleanor mention last night. She said it was stored up there in
a box."
    "First I've heard of it," Kurt mumbled.

    "She didn't tell me about it directly. I overheard her. She was ...
she told Uncle John that it was hers and he shouldn't think he
could keep it if ... Well, I couldn't listen anymore after that. Anyway, today I wanted them to come home to a really nice dinner. I
thought it would help. What's wrong with that?"
    "So that's what you heard that bothered you so much," Wes said.
"And that's why you were so upset about the roast. Why didn't you
explain?"
    Lisa shrugged. "I found the china, but it looks so breakable; I'm
scared to use it. Of course I noticed the old TV sets while I was up
there. I could hardly miss the five of them, could I? They're enormous." She opened a cabinet and got out a stack of five everyday
plates. "Number Four. Set table," she quoted. She put clown the
plates with a clank that made Kurt say, "Watch it! Or we will have to
use that old china."
    Lisa took a deep breath, held it and let it out slowly while Wes
got out silverware and Kurt arranged the plates on the table. After
a moment she said, "Kurt, I shouldn't be mad at you because you
want to go back to Anthropos. I wish the "hV sets would come to life.
I want to go back and see Gaal again. He's the most wonderful person I ever met, and I really miss him."
    "Me too!" said Kurt and Wes together.
    "No matter how had things are between Uncle John and Aunt
Eleanor, Gaal could put it right, couldn't he? Of course he could!"
    "Yeah, but he's in Anthropos," Kurt reminded her. "And even if
he was here, they'd have to accept his help. Like I did."
    "Like all of us did," Wes added. "Gaal won't force anybody to do
what he wants. Hey, I just thought of something! Maybe this time
he won't use the TV sets to summon us. He could do it some other
way. He can do anything he wants to. He could even summon us
by ..."
    A bell sounded. This time it wasn't the smoke alarm. It was the
front doorbell. All three children looked toward the front door and
froze.

     

    "Maybe it's Gaal!" Kurt whispered. The others gave short nervous
laughs. What if it was Gaal at their front door? They'd be thrilled,
excited, scared, awestruck, happy, humbled-
    "I'm going to tell him we need help!" Lisa declared. However,
her feet stayed planted to the kitchen floor.
    The bell sounded again.
    Wesley unfroze first. "We're being ridiculous!" he scolded all of
them, especially himself. "It's probably nobody. I mean, it's somebody, but not somebody from Anthropos." He strode out into the
hall, past the door to the parlor where the Sword of Geburah
shone from the coffee table. His hand grabbed the cold brass knob
of the front door. What if... In his mind he saw Gaal on the other
side of the