The Nemesis

The Odyssey Town Council is in the middle of a heated argument, and the question on the table is whether to hand a business license to a newcomer named Dr. Regis Blackgaard. He wants to open something he calls an amusement house for children, Blackgaard's Castle, and Councilman Philip Glossman is eager to push the vote through. Councilman Tom Riley is not. He wants to know exactly what kind of amusements are planned, exactly what food will be served, and exactly what the place is for. Blackgaard answers in smooth, polite circles that never quite say anything. Glossman insists the new castle sounds just like Whit's End and points out that Blackgaard holds a Ph.D. with an emphasis in child psychology, which ought to settle the matter.

Tom asks John Avery Whittaker to come up and read the goals he had written down before he ever opened Whit's End. Whit explains that many of them were his wife's last wishes: a place of discovery and adventure, filled with books and activities, arts and crafts, and uplifting conversation, but most of all a place where kids of all ages can just be kids. When Tom asks whether Blackgaard can promise the same, Blackgaard bristles and reminds the councilman to use his title. Then Whit does something surprising. He suggests the council delay the vote one week so that Blackgaard has time to explain his plans properly. The motion is postponed, the meeting is adjourned, and Blackgaard thanks Whit for the kindness.

The kindness does not go far. Once Whit and Tom have stepped away, Blackgaard turns on Glossman and complains that he did practically nothing to help. If Riley and Whittaker make the vote so hard to win, Blackgaard says, then they will simply have to make sure those two are not there when the vote is taken. Glossman protests that he wants no part of any sinister plot. Blackgaard assures him there is no plot at all. He only wants to know everything Glossman can tell him about Tom Riley - and then, one thing at a time, about Whittaker.

Across town, Connie Kendall is picking at breakfast and sighing over her juice. Her mother, June, has watched her brood and mope ever since she came home from Camp What-A-Nut, and she finally coaxes the trouble out of her. Connie cannot decide whether to go see Whit. She knows she was wrong, she wants to tell him she does not blame him for anything, but he fired her, and the memory stings. June reminds her that Whit likes her a great deal and would never have fired her out of spite or without a good reason. Then June says the choice belongs to Connie's own heart: go and talk it out, or stay away if talking would only make things worse. She also mentions, gently, that Whit's End is not the only place in town to work. Connie decides she will wander over to Whit's End, just to look around, that is all.

At Whit's End, Eugene Meltsner is running the counter when Lucy Cunningham-Schultz tells him a very nice-looking man is asking for whoever fixes the machines. The visitor is Richard Maxwell, who once worked with Eugene at the Campbell County Community College computer department, and who greets him with easy jokes and nicknames. Eugene is not charmed. He has seen the effect Richard can have on people younger and weaker than himself, and he says so plainly. Richard shrugs it off, says he has already paid his debt to society, and begins asking questions that are just a little too interested: what exactly was that computer program Eugene got fired over, and why are there no computers anywhere in this building? Eugene answers that there is more to the place than meets the eye, and nothing more. When the phone rings, Richard cheerfully offers to clear the tables so Eugene can answer it, and the moment Eugene is gone, Richard slips behind the counter to see what is back there.

That is where Connie finds him. The kids in the shop swarm her, glad to see her and asking when she is coming back to work, and she has no answer for them. Then she discovers something that stings worse than any of it: Whit rehired Eugene two weeks ago, while she was away at camp. Eugene tries to explain that there is a logical reason behind it, but Connie cuts him off and says stiffly that Whit can hire whoever he wants.

Lucy is upset too. She was sent home early from camp, her parents grounded her for the week, and she blames Connie for not giving her a second chance. Connie says that breaking the rules means facing the consequences, and that is exactly why she and Eugene were fired. Lucy fires back with the hardest question of the day: then why is Eugene working here again? Because "Mr. Whittaker knows what compassion means". She storms off before Connie can answer.

Richard, who has watched the whole thing, starts quietly pouring poison into the wound. "Out of the mouths of babes", he says. Maybe Whit is playing favorites. Both of them were fired, and Whit hired Eugene back while Connie was conveniently out of town. Does that not sound strange? Connie tells him he does not know what he is talking about, but the words have already landed.

Whit and Tom arrive, glad to see her, and Tom tells her the place has been mighty empty without her. Connie holds herself carefully apart, says she learned a lot at camp and a lot more since coming back, and leaves without ever asking for her job. Tom is baffled and a little angry. Why not just give the girl her job back? Whit answers with a question of his own: why did Tom refuse to vote for Blackgaard's license? Because he needed more information. Whit needs more information too. He could rehire Eugene because Eugene understood why he had been fired and had learned from it. Whit cannot yet say the same about Connie. When she is ready, he will be there for her, and until then all he can do is wait and pray.

Richard is waiting outside. He already knows the answer before he asks whether Whittaker offered her the job back, and he repeats his helpful little refrain: Whit's End is not the only place in town to work. He could introduce her to his boss. Worn down and hurt, Connie says all right, and follows him.

He leads her to an empty building that his boss has just had built, telling her she is getting in on the ground floor of a brand new operation. Connie stands alone in the echoing space, uneasy, while Richard goes to fetch him. Then footsteps return, and Richard introduces her. The man is polished, courteous, and entirely pleased to meet her. "My name is Blackgaard", he says. "Dr. Regis Blackgaard".