“I won’t be at luge practice today,” were the first words Xerena blurted out when she and Tanna rose the next morning.
Still sleepy, Tanna scratched her head. “Let a girl grab a mug of fire-brigade coffee before you drop that bomb. Any reason why not?”
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
She quickly changed into a white blouse, tight black trousers, and tall boots. After putting on the cape, she fastened it closed and attached the X barrettes to the cape clasp. She then tied her mask around her head and tucked her uneven hair up into her plumed hat. As she slid her gloves on, she looked around her room for something to take with her.
I need some sort of token.
She opened the small dorm-room refrigerator to pull out the box of leftover cake from home and peer inside.
As I expected.
From the box, she extracted a handful of Hershey’s kisses. Her mother always sent her off with chocolate kisses as a symbol of affection. Xerena was just closing the door to leave when she caught sight of the red roses Finn had given her. She grinned and grabbed one.
Totally ready!
After peeking out the door to ensure no one would see her exit, she stole through the empty Familial Forum. For reasons of stealth, she opted to take the stairs down to the long corridor that led to the Brink. Few students ever used the stairs. As she’d hoped, The Hub was deserted—everyone was already in the Gnook.
She crept into the dining hall unobserved as students chatted mindlessly while waiting for their meals. She then took a breath, smoothed down her moustache, and without a word, strode up to Kadra.
The girl chortled at the sight of Xerena’s get-up. “What are you supposed to be, a musketeer? You look ridiculous!”
Xerena said nothing in return, fearing someone would recognize her voice.
“Do get rid of him, won’t you, Rocko?” Kadra said off-handedly to the brute sitting beside her.
“Gladly,” Rocko replied as he stood and cracked his knuckles.
As he rose, he kept getting taller and taller.
I swear he’s literally twice as big as I am!
“Hit the bricks, pal,” Rocko commanded, shoving Xerena hard.
After stumbling back, Xerena regained her footing and stood her ground, her fists on her hips and head held high.
“Maybe he’s deaf,” Kadra said. “We can already tell he’s dumb.”
Those in her group chuckled at her cruel pun.
Xerena merely touched the brim of her hat and gave a slight bow of her head.
“Oh you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’ now, buddy.” Rocko swung at Xerena who leaned out of the way. He was bigger, but she was faster—and scrappy.
He threw another punch which Xerena managed to redirect, throwing him off balance. Their scuffle lasted for all of a minute, ending up with the lug flat on his back on the ground.
The crowd gasped as Xerena unsheathed her rapier. With a couple of flicks, she carved an X on the front of the fellow’s shirt. She then stepped toward Kadra, who recoiled and whimpered, her raised hands trembling.
“Don’t hurt me.”
Xerena grabbed Kadra’s hand, slipped the rose stem and one of the candy kisses into Kadra’s palm, kissed the back of her hand, and with a flourish of her cape, sped from the room.
The Gnook was silent aside from the pounding of Xerena’s boots on the wooden floor.
Xerena ran as fast as she could down one of the escalators and ducked into a maintenance closet. She then pulled a large cloth drawstring bag from inside her blouse and took out of it an Ignis logo tee shirt. After cramming her costume accoutrements and sword into the bag, she hid it behind a mass of buckets, mops, and brooms.
She had just stepped out of the closet and closed the door when her nose began to tickle.
Flaming firebirds! I almost forgot my moustache.
Instead of risking notice by entering the closet again, she merely turned away, peeled of the fake whiskers, and tucked them into her pocket—then made her way to the library (just a few doors down) to check out a book. The book was intended to be part of her alibi should she need one.
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
“You’ll never believe what happened during Sups,” Delphine gushed when Xerena entered the Familial Forum.
Xerena replied casually, “Oh? Sorry I missed it. I was in the library.” Holding up her book as evidence, she plopped into a chair in the seating area where Frankie, Tanna, Delphine, and some others were jabbering about the big event in the Gnook. She listened especially intently as the group described the masked swordsman.
“So who is this guy?” she asked, then turned to Tanna and grinned. “Any ideas, Tanna?”
Delphine jumped right in. “A few kids were saying they think Kadra hired him as a publicity stunt.”
“And what do you all think?”
“Everyone has a theory,” Tanna said, “but no one has anything to offer of substance.”
“Although Delphine did find one of Pierina’s prognostications that looks to fit,” Frankie added.
“Is that so?” Xerena did her best not to show her over-the-top enthusiasm at the thought she might be immortalized in the writings of a woman who lived centuries ago and was regarded as the greatest predictor of future events in history.
“Go ahead and tell her, Del,” Frankie urged.
Delphine lifted a worn book, sat up straighter, and cleared her throat. “Carta number eight-hundred-and-fifty-three, writ in fifteen-fifteen. Pierina says, ‘Shrouded in mystery, a dark figure shall turn the tide with marks made both by steel and grace.’ That’s got to be our guy.”
Frankie nodded fervently in concurrence. “Pretty fine sleuthing, eh? Ol’ Pierina’s never let us down yet!”
“So you really think that’s about the mystery man?” asked Xerena, endeavoring to continue the conversation.
“I don’t see why not,” Delphine said. “Either way, one thing’s for certain. He sure livened up this place. And you should have seen Kadra when the he left the Gnook.”
“Tell, tell!” Xerena entreated.
“She swooned! Kadra literally swooned.”
“I see!” Xerena put a hand over her mouth to hide the smile taking hold of her face.
Tanna slapped her thighs and stood. “I don’t know about you all, but I have to be up early.”
Xerena faked a yawn and stood. “Yeah, me too.”
As she and Tanna walked to their room, Xerena remarked, “You really don’t know who the masked figure is?”
“Haven’t a clue.”
Incredible.
Minutes later, she fell into her bed simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated. Eyes half-closed, she reached for her diary.
Dear Diary,
Absolute best extended birthday in history.
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
* * *
Xerena’s comment about needing to get up early was an excuse she fabricated to get out of the room at the beginning of the day to retrieve the bag of evidence she’d left in the closet near the library.
When walking down the hallway outside the library, she overheard some kids giving another child a hard time. The child (who was an excellent student) didn’t want to share his test answers with the kids pressing him. They made it clear they had no intention of studying, preferring to cheat their way into a good grade. To that end, they tossed out a number of dire warnings to try to pressure the good student into acquiescing.
Once she entered the closet, Xerena instinctively put on her disguise and tramped to the library to confront the bullies. Stating that their numbers assured them victory over her, they began shoving her and threatening her. She ended up getting them in arm locks, head locks, limb locks, and all sorts of other positions that rendered them incapacitated. And she did it all without hurting anyone.
Unsure what to do next, she handed the harried boy a Hershey’s kiss, then turned his hand over, kissed his knuckles, and bowed. The boy’s eyes looked up and widened. When Xerena turned around to see what he was looking at, she saw a huge book about to come down on her head. She jumped to the side, whipped out her sword, and slashed an X across the paperback cover.
Tax Code for Beginners … Yeh, I don’t think anyone’s going to mind that book getting X’d.
She then swiped her blade through the air, whispering swish as she did so, and slipped away. Noting no one followed her, she ducked back into the closet and changed into her school clothes. When she entered the dining hall for lunch, the place was a-buzz with the news that the masked hero had struck again.
She ate her food with relish, keeping her ears attuned to any conversation about the incident in the library or the identity of the mysterious figure.
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
Tanna was thrilled with Xerena’s performance during luge training that day, as she mentioned more than once when they walked back to their room after practice. “I don’t know where all this sudden energy came from, but I like it! Wanna have Sups together tonight? I don’t have much Archon business to tend to. This young man in the mask has pulled students’ minds off of petty grievances, so they’re not bombarding me with requests as much.”
“That would be great.”
“Terrific.”
“But I forgot some school stuff at home the other night and need to go get it. I’ll be back tonight before lights out.”
“Ah, okay. Another time.”
“Definitely!”
Xerena’s story about needing to go home was a fib. She just wanted to get into costume and make an appearance in the dining hall again.
Once Tanna left the room to go to the Gnook, Xerena donned a hooded sweatshirt, grabbed the two remaining roses given to her by Finn, and scooped up the rest of the Hershey’s kisses. The flowers and candies safely hidden in her pockets, she took a circuitous route to the maintenance closet. The area was deserted, as it normally was during mealtime.
When she entered the Gnook in full regalia, not a soul paid attention. Nearly everyone was occupied talking to their friends or looking at their food—or both. No one was keeping an eye on the entrance. Xerena quickly surveyed the room and noticed a student from Arbis berating a fellow Arbin because of alleged athletic inadequacy that cost the game for the team they were on together. The small child was weeping.
Xerena jumped in between them, wagging her finger and shaking her head at the boy who was yelling.
“What’s the big idea?” he carped. “Mind your own business, clown. Get lost!”
Xerena crossed her arms to indicate she wasn’t going anywhere. When the bully tried to pull her aside, she whipped his arm behind him, then pressed his face to the table. With her free hand, she slid a few of the kisses into the palm of the child, then gave the back of his little hand a light smooch.
The whole incident took place so quickly and quietly, only those sitting nearby saw it.
Across the room, the Kadra Cadre was busy harassing a reporter from the school newspaper who asked if she could interview Kadra.
“Well of course. I’m delighted to discuss my modeling.”
“Umm, I meant interview you about the masked hero.”
Several people chuckled to see Kadra taken down a few pegs by the reporter who was more interested in the mysterious phantom than Kadra the popular.
Fuming at the slight, Kadra immediately laid into the girl, insulting her appearance, making fun of her clothes, and telling her she had no prospects in life. The girl looked around the room, both the pencil in her hand and her lower lip beginning to tremble.
“You journalists are so keen on getting the truth, well that’s the truth,” Kadra said. “Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”
Xerena took a running leap then slid across a dining table to land in front of Kadra. She handed the reporter one of the roses and a candy kiss, then kissed the back of the girl’s pencil-holding hand.
Turning her attention to Kadra, she pulled her into an embrace and whispered in her ear. “You’re better than this.”
Kadra pulled away. “Excuse me?!”
They locked eyes for a moment, Xerena handed Kadra a rose and a chocolate, kissed Kadra’s hand, and in a blink, carved an X into the top of Kadra’s not-yet-touched crème brûlée. She then turned, swiped her blade threw the air with a whispered swish and hastened to the closet to change.
By the time she was back in her regular clothes, she was starved and had energy to spare.
Shoot, I told Tanna I was going home. I can’t just show up for dinner in the Gnook like I didn’t go anywhere or that could look fishy. Welp, don’t want to make a liar out of myself …
As she waltzed toward the portal that served her dimension, she did some quick calculating.
Okay, so based on the day it would be at home, that makes it … Yes! It’s chicken pot pie night. Yahoo!
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
* * *
As promised, she made it back before lights out. She even brought leftovers for Tanna, partly out of thoughtfulness, partly as an alibi. She also brought a full bag of Hershey’s kisses from home and at least a dozen roses from the arbor at the portal house.
Dear Diary,
The school’s bullies should prepare to be killed with kindness. Well, maybe not killed. More like kissed with kindness.
Either way, vanquished for sure!
Throughout the next day, all anyone could talk about was the Besos Bandit, as Xerena had been labeled in the Omni Cynosurae school newspaper. The article the young reporter wrote praised the masked do-gooder and made mention of the roses and kisses. The “stolen kisses” had led to the moniker, Besos Bandit—besos being the Spanish word for kisses.
During lunch, Kadra stood up and began shouting at one of her minions, calling the girl names and saying she was going to make the girl’s life a living hell—all because the girl had accidentally knocked over her drink which spilled on Kadra’s shirt. “What, no masked bandit to save you?” Kadra sneered.
Xerena tightened her grip on her fork in anger. Without her costume handy, she could do nothing but empathize with the girl being castigated.
As Xerena walked out of the Gnook to go to her next class, she heard Finn’s voice. “Someone’s been busy.”
Putting on a fake smile, she edged over to him. “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.”
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.
In mock surprise, she said, “Why, Finn, are you saying you are the Besos Bandit?”
He chuckled and nudged her with his elbow. “I’m proud of you, Xerena.”
“Proud of me? Whatever for?”
A chime sounded, alerting students afternoon class would start in two minutes.
“Let’s just say I recognize fine craftsmanship when I see it … such as the hilt on the bandit’s blade.” He gave her a wink, then strode away.
Her stomach felt warm and gooey.
I wonder if that’s what it’s like for people when the Besos Bandit kisses their hand.
She had a hard time concentrating in her remaining classes that day; she was too amped up about the newspaper article. Luge practice whizzed by in a blur, as did dinner, and she couldn’t wait to go to bed so she could daydream about her escapades.
Dear Diary,
I’ve become a bandit.
How cool is that?!
~ space inserted here to give young readers a break ~
* * *
The weeks that followed were jam-packed with Besos Bandit incidents, and Xerena began to suspect people were faking altercations just to get a visit from the bandit. Small wonder, given that she’d added home-baked peanut butter cookies topped by Hershey’s kisses, beaded friendship bracelets, and cute little trinkets to her gift repertoire.
For Kadra’s part, her demeanor had changed completely. She smiled more, yelled less, and her rough edges looked to be smoothing out.
Xerena had never been happier. She felt that she had found her purpose—showing people a kinder way to treat each other.
Dear Diary,
Swish.
One afternoon, as she opened the door to her Clark Closet (her term for the place where her costume was stashed), someone pushed her in and closed the door. She sensed the person had entered the cramped space with her.
Fumbling in the dark to locate the chain hanging from the closet’s lone lightbulb, Xerena finally turned on the light. She gasped upon seeing Kadra standing just inches away.
“I know it’s you, Xaena.”
(The end of chapter 9)
