Temptations of Pleasure Island (7 page)

“I don’t think so,” Josh said. “And I think he’s absolutely right. I think that woman is … evil. I think there is something badly wrong with Lady Maeve, and I think the king’s going to pay for it.”

O
h, come, Reb, you’ll enjoy it!” Cosima pleaded. Reb was at the stables, where he was brushing down Lightning. He intended to take him out for exercise. Cosima had just asked him to attend a concert with her that evening.

Reb kept on brushing the glossy hide of the stallion, who once again playfully tried to bite him. Reb lightly slapped him on the nose with the brush. “You missed me that time. He got me on the shoulder the other day, though. I’ve got black-and-blue marks.”

“But why do you even let him try to bite you? Can’t you whip him?”

“Whip him? No. He’s got spirit. I like that, princess. Wouldn’t have a horse without it.” He grinned widely. “There’s some people told me I have a little of that item myself.”

“Oh, you do, Reb! And that’s why I enjoy your company. I want you to come to the concert with me.”

“Aw, princess, there’s been a dozen concerts lately. You know I went to two or three of them, and they’re all just alike.”

“Not this one. This one will be different.”

Reb continued to brush the stallion, but at last, being a good-natured fellow, he agreed. “All right. I’ll go—but I’m not promising I’ll stay long.”

“Oh, you’ll like it, Reb, I’m sure! It starts at seven o’clock. I’ve got a new dress that you’ll just love.”

“Well, I don’t have a new outfit, but I’ll clean off my
Stetson pretty good.” Reb had continued to wear his high-crowned Stetson, which set him apart on the whole island. Besides, everyone knew him for his horse racing abilities. Whenever the Sleepers went down the street, he was greeted. “I’ll just clean off my hat,” he said.

Reb was getting ready to go off to the concert with Cosima when Josh came in.

“I see you’re all cleaned up and have your hair slicked back,” Josh said. “And is that a new shirt?”

“Oh, I guess so,” Reb said. “Thought I’d get one after all.”

“It looks good. If you drop dead, we won’t have to do much to you to get you ready for the burying.”

“Aw, come on, Josh! I’m going to a concert with Princess Cosima.”

“I thought you hated those things,” Josh said.

“To tell the truth, I don’t like ’em much. But she asked me, and it won’t hurt me to go one more time, I guess.”

Reb met the princess, and they made their way to the building where the concert was being held. When they stepped inside, Reb stopped in his tracks. “What’s going on here?” He had to yell to make himself heard. “It looks like a riot.”

“Everybody’s just having a good time, Reb.”

“Having a good time! They look like they’ve all gone nuts!”

Cosima laughed and acted very excited. She said, “We’ll go down close to the front where you can hear the music better.”

“I don’t need to hear it any better,” Reb protested. Nevertheless, he allowed her to lead him through the crowd.

Since Cosima was the princess, a way opened up before her. As a result, Reb soon found himself seated in front of the platform, where six young men were playing different instruments. Reb decided that all of them had wild looks in their eyes.

“Those fellows are high on something.” He shouted to be heard.

“But don’t you love the music?” she shouted back.

Reb listened for a time. “Can’t make anything out of it,” he yelled.

“They’re the very latest! Everybody’s crazy about them. Look, the lead’s going to sing!”

The lead indeed did sing, but Reb could not make out much tune.

“Back in Oldworld, he couldn’t get a job with a three-piece band in the middle of Oklahoma.” But he muttered that to himself.

He flat-out refused to dance with the princess, so she accepted other offers. He hung around the refreshment table and soon decided that there was a high alcoholic content in the punch.

Everybody here is going to be stoned but me
, he thought.
Don’t see why they call this fun
.

Since Reb was a celebrity, however, he found many girls trying to lure him onto the dance floor. He steadfastly refused and spent most of the evening talking with the young men who wanted to talk about sports.

After several hours of this, Reb was exhausted. He found Cosima. “Princess,” he said, “do you think you can get home by yourself?”

“Why, you’re not leaving!” Princess Cosima exclaimed. Her eyes were bright, and she seemed highly excited.

For a moment Reb wondered if the princess was on some kind of drug herself. Then he remembered what Prince Derek had told them. Cosima had agreed to take Soma, the same drug her father was on.

Reb said, “I’ve had about all I can take of this. Will you be all right? I’ll wait if you won’t.”

“No, I’ll be fine, Reb. But come outside with me before you go. I want to show you something.”

They wound their way across the crowded floor to the doorway, and when they stepped outside, Reb said, “Boy, this quiet sounds good.”

But right away Cosima said, “See what I have, Reb.”

Leaning forward, he saw that she held a tiny glass vial. “What’s that?” he asked.

“It’s Soma. I want you to take some of it.”

“Soma. That’s what you and your dad are taking.”

“Yes, and it makes you feel wonderful! Colors are brighter. Sounds are better. Everything tastes better. It just makes you feel like a new person.”

“To tell the truth, princess, I may not be much, but I kind of like the person I always was.”

“Oh, come on, Reb! If you’d try a little of it—just one drop, even—you’d enjoy life a lot more.”

But Reb shook his head. “Not me. I saw what drugs did to folks back in Oldworld a long time ago. Alcohol and drugs—they never brought anything but misery to people.”

Cosima listened impatiently. “This is
medication!”

“You can call a pig a dove, but he’s still a pig. And you can call Soma anything you want to, but it’s still dope to me.”

Cosima suddenly slapped Reb’s face. Her eyes were blazing. “Go on and do what you please! I don’t care!” She whirled and went back inside.

Reb stared after her sadly. “And if that’s what Soma does to folks, I sure don’t want any of it.”

He did not sleep well that night.

The next day Reb talked to Sarah about what had happened.

She stood holding her repaired bow. He knew she had agreed to compete in the archery contest, although not for money. She listened to his story and then said, “I’m glad you didn’t take any of that Soma, Reb. It sounds like bad stuff. It surely hasn’t done her father any good.”

“He’s not depressed anymore. That’s for sure.”

“No, but there are worse things than being depressed, and behaving the way he did with Mark is one of them.”

“And I feel sorry for Derek. He says his father will probably try to make him take that stuff.”

“He’s already tried,” Sarah said sadly. “And so far, both Derek and Mark have held out. I hope they keep on with it.”

Late one afternoon the council met. The king felt especially nervous, and he fidgeted while Lord Denning went over the affairs of state. Lady Maeve sat at the king’s left hand today. He supposed the other council members thought that was unusual. As a matter of fact, it was unusual for a new council member to ever sit that close to the king.

King Leo listened to Lord Denning go on and on. Denning was a wise man and had run the country, for all practical purposes, for several years. During the king’s times of depression, he had been the strong force that had kept things in the kingdom from falling to pieces. King Leo knew all that.

But the king was impatient with him today. “Get on with it, Denning! There’s a race in thirty minutes. I must be there.”

“But, Your Majesty!” Lord Denning looked shocked. “There are many items of kingdom business that we need to take care of!”

“What things?”

“There are many small items and one large one. Perhaps if we could handle that large one, the rest would take care of themselves.”

“Then, speak up! Speak up! Tell us what it is!” the king said impetuously.

Denning picked up a sheaf of papers. “You have in front of you the budget. If you will examine it, you will see that we are in terrible shape financially. If something isn’t done, we’re going to have to cut back.”

“Cut back on what?” the king demanded. He felt his face reddening.

A murmur went around the table.

Lord Denning said, “Sire, this was once a land where people worked hard and played on occasion. Now they play most of the time and work only when they have to. There is only one end to that.”

At once Lady Maeve spoke up. “I believe you are wrong, Lord Denning.”

A mutter ran around the table this time, for no one interrupted the Master of the Council.

Lady Maeve said, “I apologize for breaking in, but it’s been my experience that happy people make for a good country. The people on Pleasure Island are happy.”

“They’re
not
happy! They’re delirious with playing games!” Lord Denning exclaimed.

The meeting became quite heated then, and thirty minutes later the king rose and walked out.

Lady Maeve followed him.

“That old fool!” the king said. Instantly he knew that was something he never would have said before. He had always trusted and respected Lord Denning. But now he was angry to the bone.

“Well, he’s getting on in years, Your Majesty.”

“He is. He always was old-fashioned, and he’s getting worse. Imagine, too many games! There aren’t enough, I say.”

“Exactly, sire. Perhaps soon it might be time to replace Lord Denning with a younger person.”

The king stared long at her. “You may be right at that,” he said.

Lady Maeve smiled as the king left her. She had been thinking a great deal, and now she had a scheme in her mind. She asked one of the guards, “Have you seen the Sleeper named Josh Adams?”

“He is in the library, Lady Maeve.”

Lady Maeve went to the king’s huge library. Few people were there, and at once she spotted Josh Adams in a corner chair, reading a thick book.

“Good afternoon, Josh.” Lady Maeve smiled. “Doing some study?”

The boy rose at once and closed the book. “Why, yes. Just a little, I guess. How are you, Lady Maeve?”

“Very well. Would you care to go for a walk with me? We’ve not yet had time to talk.”

Josh Adams seemed uncertain, but then he said, “Yes, of course. It would be my privilege.” He handed the book back to the librarian, and the two walked outside.

“A beautiful day,” Lady Maeve said.

“Indeed it is. I went fishing this morning. Caught a red snapper that weighed ten pounds.”

“I hope you’ll save a piece of it for me at dinner tonight.”

“That too would be my privilege. They are delicious eating.”

Lady Maeve and Josh walked in the palace grounds. She thought he seemed more relaxed with her than before. That pleased her.

Suddenly he asked—cautiously, perhaps—“Are you happy with the results of your treatment of King Leo, Lady Maeve?”

Lady Maeve said quickly. “Oh, yes, but there is much to do yet. Indeed, he is out of those dangerous depressions. I don’t think anyone knew how serious they were. I do think he would have taken his life if something hadn’t been done to help him.”

“Really?” Josh said, seeming shocked by the thought.

“Oh yes. He was getting worse all the time. His wife or his children can tell you that. His periods of depression were lasting longer.”

They continued walking. The boy did not speak for a time and then said, seemingly with effort, “Well, that’s serious news indeed.”

“Yes, of course. But Soma is a powerful—and helpful—medication. However, it does have to be balanced. Neither too much nor too little.” She looked at him thoughtfully. “I think it might be helpful if you tried Soma, Josh.”

“Me? But I’m not depressed.”

“Soma is not only for those who are depressed or who have mental illness,” she said. “People react differently to it. I think that, with your temperament,
Soma would give you the ability to see things much more clearly.”

“What do you mean, Lady Maeve?”

“I mean that with people like you, Josh, Soma clarifies the mind. You are the leader of the Sleepers, and I would suppose there have been times when you’ve had to agonize over what to do, what decision to make.”

“You’re right about that,” he said fervently.

“Exactly! Then, I would suggest that you take a very small amount of Soma and see what happens to the decision-making process.”

Josh was quiet again. Finally he turned to face her. He seemed nervous now. “I’ll think about it,” he said finally. “I’ve learned not to make any decisions too hastily.”

“A very wise move indeed. You think about it, Josh, and I believe you’ll see I’m right. Well, thank you for your time. It has been a pleasant walk.”

As Lady Maeve left Josh, her mind was working rapidly. “He has a strong will. It would be difficult to lure him on.” But then a smile turned up the corners of her lips, and she nurtured another thought as she walked on.

The girl, Abigail. Abbey they call her. She would be easy. And Dave Cooper. He’s rather self-centered, anyway. Those two are the weak links in the Sleepers, I believe. I could convince them, without much trouble, that a little Soma would make them to be better looking or wiser or able to have a great deal more fun
.

The thought pleased her, and she sang a little tune under her breath as she set out to find Abbey and Dave.

“You know what, Josh?”

“What is it, Wash?”

“It’s Dave and Abbey. You haven’t been around them much in the past few days, have you?”

“No, I haven’t. What are they doing?”

Wash scratched his head and then said slowly, “They’re acting funny, Josh.”

Instantly a thought leaped into Josh’s mind,
Lady Maeve has gotten to them. I’ll bet she’s got them on Soma
. Aloud he groaned and said, “Wash, if that woman tries to get you to take any drugs, don’t take anything.”

“She’s already tried,” Wash said. “But I just told her I wasn’t having any.” Wash’s face grew very serious. “You think that’s what’s wrong with Abbey and Dave? She’s gotten them on drugs?”