Radiant - By Christina Daley Page 0,84

would turn out." He stretched his arms. "Well, I think my work here is done. You might want to get going. It's late." He turned towards his cleaning cart.

"Master," the airy judge said. "What of the human girl?"

"What about her?" he asked.

"She knows too much."

He sighed. "Maybe I need to remind all of you why you're here. You're here to help humans, remember?"

"Yes, Master," she said.

"How would taking Mary's memories help her?" he asked. "She's a better person now because of what she's learned in this time. Aren't you?"

Mary stared at him and nodded.

"Why would I want to take that from you?" he asked. "Drew, however, might not do well with some of the things he's learned. That's why he needs to let go of some of his memories. It will be better for him." Josh looked at the airy radiant. "I'm not worried about Mary and her memories. In fact, I want her to keep them. She wouldn't remember me either, otherwise."

"And what of the boy and his body?" the airy radiant asked.

Josh put his hand to his chin. "Now that's a little more complicated. Hmm, let's see. What to do?" Suddenly, he started chuckling. "You know, of all the rules, the one that really irks me when people break it is not sticking to their word. Have you any idea how awesome this world would be if everyone just did what they said they would? Barring the nut jobs, of course."

"Master?" Phos asked. What are you saying?"

"I'm saying," Josh said slowly, "that Mary gave you her word that she would accompany you to the school prom. Correct?"

Phos looked at Mary. She looked back at him.

"Correct?" Josh asked again. "I need some participation here, or I'll think I'm talking to myself."

"That's correct," Mary said quickly. "I did say I would go with him."

"That's what I thought." Josh looked at Phos. "Now what kind of a gentleman would make it so that a lady couldn't keep her word? If you ask me, that's worse than terrible manners. Why, that's breaking the rules." He grinned.

Phos' face lit up. He looked at Mary, then at Josh, then at Mary again, then back at Josh. "Master, you mean—?"

"Now, don't get too excited and burn your shorts," Josh said. "You can stay until the close of the prom. Then poor Carter Maxwell really needs to have his body back."

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- 35 -

A Better Human

The next day, Mary called the university's Astronomy department and asked to talk to Drew. When she told him her name, he asked, "Mary who?" He didn't remember her.

"Sorry," she said. "I was trying to reach a different Drew." And she hung up.

Ben got back from Dubai a couple days later. He came to visit Mary and Mom.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "When Hannah told me what happened, I just felt sick. I almost didn't finish the installation so that I could come straight back."

"I glad you didn't," Mary said. "Things worked out, and it gave Mom and me some time to figure out how to tell you something important. About what happened to Anna."

He looked at them curiously. "What do you mean?"

For the next few hours, they told him about Mary's father and how he had robbed the bank the day Anna was killed. Mom cried a lot and Ben listened. He hardly said anything the whole time.

At last, he said, "Thank you. For telling me."

Mom wiped her eyes with tissue. "I'm so sorry."

Ben was quiet when he got up to leave. But at the door, he stopped. "I don't hold anything against you, though. Or him. Not anymore."

Mom nodded. "Thank you."

He looked at Mary. "All your stuff for your mobile is still at the shop. It's waiting for you to come finish it."

"I will," she said. "I may need some help. Maybe you can work on it with me if you're not busy?"

Ben smiled. "It will be my pleasure."

Not much time separated the Sci-Tech incident and the prom. In between school, physical therapy, visits to Ba, and another visit to Martin, Phos and Mary jammed in as much time together as they could. They didn't travel as much as they used to. Instead, they went to some of David's hockey games, and they even attended one of the choir concerts at the church near Mary's home. Father Cohen recognized Mary and asked them to sit with him near the front.

During one of the songs, the priest leaned over to Mary and whispered, "I'm pretty sure now