Many Paths To Wisdom.

Postcards from the Edge of the Hellmouth Part Five: Many Paths To Wisdom by Ligeia.

Chapter One: Peer Pressure.

It was raining outside and the school cafeteria was overcrowded and noisy. Students from the ‘Open Day’ committee made the most of the opportunity, handing out fliers for Friday’s community ‘meet and greet’, checking with kids who were organising displays and activities or running stalls at the fund-raising fete afterwards.

Buffy took a small carton of iced coffee, perched it precariously on top of her already heaped tray then looked around to see if there was a vacant seat anywhere. Frowning, she scanned the crowd until she caught sight of Willow and Xander waving at her from a small table near the door. The frown turned to a smile as she walked over to sit with them.

‘Sure you’ve got enough to eat there?’ Xander asked with a grin. ‘There’s a whole afternoon to get through, you know!’

‘I’m a growing girl; I need my sustenance!’ Buffy replied, the effect of her mock hauteur spoiled by the enthusiasm she showed in attacking her lunch. ‘Besides, I’ve got training again after class,’ she mumbled through a mouthful of chicken salad sandwich. ‘I need to keep my strength up.’

The noise level rose a few more decibels as Cordelia and several of her cronies, known around school as the Cordettes, arrived with a couple of the senior boys in tow. Cordy and her pals burst into the room, chattering and fluttering like a gaggle of noisy, flashy birds, talking too loudly and gesturing too much, pretending to ignore everyone while fully expecting to be the centre of attention.

‘Here comes Queen Cordy and her entourage!’ Xander grumbled. ‘Could there be a more pathetic display of public . . .’ he searched vainly for a suitably derogatory phrase, ‘patheticness!’

‘Yeah,’ Buffy replied quietly, sighing. ‘I mean, no!’ she added more convincingly. Buffy used to be one of those girls; a high school princess, cheer leader and arbiter of all things fashionable, a leader of the pack. Now she hung out with the socially challenged and, God help her, the school librarian!

Much to their surprise, Cordelia headed straight for Buffy and her friends. Xander leaped up out of his seat, hurriedly scooping up the remains of his own lunch.

‘We’ve finished here. We were just going!’

‘No, we’re not!’ Buffy managed to protest, grabbing a hold of her lunch tray before Xander whipped it out from under he
Co
Cordelia gave Xander a withering look but didn’t deign to speak to him. Instead, she turned her stunning smile on Buffy.

‘Do you want to come over to my place on Saturday night? My parents just put in a bigger pool and I’m having a summertime theme party to celebrate.’

‘To gloat you mean,’ Willow mumbled, then quickly turned back to her own home-made cheese sandwich, eyes downcast, her brief moment of rebellion wilting under the direct glare of Cordelia’s regal gaze.

‘Oh, we’d love to!’ Buffy answered, a little too quickly.

‘We? What we?’ Cordelia looked confused.

‘Fabulous! ’Xander chimed in. ‘I’ve got this great new Hawaiian shirt I’ve been just dying to wear!’

Willow giggled. She loved it when Xander hammed it up. He was so cool!

‘Oh, no!’ Cordelia looked genuinely shocked. ‘Not the geek squad!’ She turned to Buffy. ‘Just you! You still have some potential to be moulded back into social acceptability!’

‘Well, I . . .‘ Bufookeooked at Willow and Xander, seeing the opportunity to regain some of her former popularity slipping away.

‘It’s OK, Buffy,’ Willow offered gently, ‘you can still go. Don’t worry about us. We’re . . . busy that night anyway. Right, Xander?’ She looked to her friend for confirmation.

‘Yeah . . . right . . . we’re, ah . . . ‘ Xander looked expectantly back at Willow with eyebrows raised inquiringly, hoping for inspiration.

‘. . . reorganising . . . ?’ Willow added hopefully.

‘That’s it! We’re reorganising!’ Xander said confidently. He paused, stumped again, then whispered to Willow. ‘What are we reorganising?’

‘My . . . ah . . . ‘ Willow cast about for an appropriate response, then piped up brightly, ‘my Barbie collection!’

‘Perfect!’ Xander cringed. ‘Thanks, Will! Way to enhance my reputation as a man to be taken seriously!’

‘Whatever.’ Cordelia was not really listening. ‘So, Buffy, are you gonna ditch these losers and make your first tentative steps towards establishing an actual social life here in Sunnydale?’

Buffy looked dejected and sighed again. ‘I’m not coming if Willow and Xander aren’t invited.’

‘Oh, well, your loss! There’s only so much I’m willing to do in the name of charity.’

Buffy blushed furiously as Cordelia flounced off, her retinue trailing along behind, giggling and looking back over their shoulders.

‘Buffy,’ Willow began, ‘I’m so sorry! You didn’t have to do that because of us. You work really hard to keep us all safe. You deserve to have better friends!’

‘Willow’s right,’ Xander added. ‘You have the whole rest of your high school life ahead of you. We’ll understand if you want to be friends with the popular kids. Just because we’re not part of the ‘in’ crowd, doesn’t mean you have to blow off the party.’

‘Yes,’ Buffy answered firmly, ‘it does.’

Even though she had known them only a short time, Xander and Willow had already proven themselves the truest friends she had ever had. None of her so-called best friends from Hemery High had bothered contacting her since she left Los Angeles. Not even a single phone call or email! One little vampire incident and they had dropped her like last year’s lip-gloss! She knew she was lucky to have found such courageous and supportive companions as these two.

Still, Buffy ate the rest of her lunch in silence.

*****

The school day was long over but Julia remained glued to the computer screen working on Buffy’s family history. She had chased down several promising leads, tracing every branch of the last few generations of the Nine Families from which all Vampire Slayers were born.

The Council of Watchers kept scrupulous records of all mother-daughter relationships within hundreds of family lines across six continents with written genealogies going back thousands of years in some cases. Girl-children with Slayer potential were closely monitored until they reached the age of majority; likewise any daughters they produced. Only when a family line ended without female issue was it released from constant observation.

Every possibility had ended in a blank wall. Even so, Julia Devereaux was not willing to concede that the new Chosen One had appeared spontaneously out of the ‘normal’ population. Buffy’s lineage must have diverged at some stage from one of the Nine. But when? And how? Maybe it was time to try approaching the problem from a different direction.

Giles had taken Buffy for weapons practice that evening. When they came out of the training room on a ten-minute break he looked flustered and she seemed disgruntled. Buffy had not been very enthusiastic about training lately and Giles became more frustrated with her lack of concentration as each day went by. He stalked upstairs to his office without a word while Buffy slumped down in a chair next to Julia.

‘Giles you you the ‘Chosen One’ talk again, I take it?’ Julia guessed.

‘Uh-hunh.’ Buffy sounded tired. Julia kept typing.

‘Okay,’ the teenager continued without prompting, ‘I know he’s right. But why does it all have to be so hard?’

‘I don’t know the answer to that one, sweetie. That’s the life of a Slayer I guess.’ Julia felt sorry for the young girl. To have such a huge responsibility at her age was unfair. Maybe it was better after all that Willow and Xander had become involved; Buffy could have the semblance of a normal life with kids her own age. Some of the time at least.

‘Whatcha workin’ on?’ Buffy leaned over to look at the document Julia had up on screen. It was a complex family tree but none of the names looked familiar.

‘I’m still trying to trace your family history. Your ancestry has to link up to one of the existing Slayer families somewhere along the line.’

‘Any luck so far?’

“No.’

‘Any possibility that you’ve got the wrong girl?’

Julia laughed. ‘I’m afraid not! There’s no way you could have the abilities you do without being the Chosen One of your generation.’

‘You’re starting to sound just like Giles!’

‘Well, I’m afraid he’s right, Buffy. Slaying is your destiny.’

Buffy grew quiet again. Sometimes she fantasised that it was all some kind of mistake and when they discovered the error she could go back to being a normal sixteen year old.

‘Where are Willow and Xander?’ Julia inquired. ‘Aren’t you meeting up with them after practice?’

Buffy shrugged. There was a trendy new café at the mall and her friends had gone out for coffee and a movie after school but Buffy had made an excuse not to join them. Willow, kind and gentle as always, had tried to make Buffy feel better after the incident in the cafeteria and Xander had tried to jolly her out of her depression, but they only reminded her of her fall from social grace. Now Buffy was feeling guilty about having such disloyal thoughts.

Julia continued. ‘You know, it would be a lot easier if you’d let me talk to your Mum about her family background.’

Buffy was instantly alarmed at the idea. She stood up too quickly, toppling the wooden chair over onto the floor with a bump.

‘There’s no way I’m involving Mom in any of this! She’s been through way too much already! I don’t care if we never find out!’

Julia stood up too, surprised to see Buffy’s eyes brimming with tears. The child was obviously much more stressed out than she had realised.

‘It’s OK, Buffy!’ Julia reached out to soothe away a stray tear from Buffy’s cheek. ‘I promise I won’t say anything to your Mum!’

Giles poked his head out of his office, concerned by the sound of raised voices.

‘Everything alright down there?’

Buffy turned her face so Giles couldn’t see her cry, quickly drying her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.

‘Everything’s fine, Giles.’ Julia turned back to Buffy. ‘Why don’t you take a break from training this evening? Go out and find your friends? Have some fun. I’ll square it with Giles, OK?’

Buffy nodded, still a little tearful, and went to get changed.

*****

Buffy found Willow and Xander finishing up coffee and cake at the Café Jardinière and the three of them headed off towards the cinema complex on the top level of the mall. On the way Buffy apologised for even considering Cordelia’s invitation.

‘I don’t know why I said yes in the first place. I don’t even like Cordelia!’ Buffy said. ‘Just a reflex reaction to the word ‘party’ I guess!’

‘We understand, Buff,’ Xander replied. ‘We’re not exactly in high demand on the party circuit of the soon-to-be rich and famous!’

‘Yeah,’ Willow said morosely, ‘we’ll be lucky to get invited to our own prom!’

Buffy and Xander both gave her a pained look.

‘See,’ she added brightly, ‘I can do sarcasm, too!’

‘Sure you can, Will,’ Xander said, throwing his arm around Willow’s shoulder. ‘You’re just not very good at it!’

As they rounded the corner to the entertainment complex they passed a small ‘theme’ café called The New Orleans Tea Room. It specialised in imported teas, coffees, Continental cakes and pastries but the main attraction was the two or three fortune-tellers on hand to read patrons’ tea-leaves or palms. An old black woman locked up the front door as they walked by.

‘Hello, Mrs Janvier!’ Willow called out as they approached.

‘Hello, Willow!’ The old lady hoisted up an armload of shopping bags and other packages and headed for the elevator, smiling broadly at the youngsters as she went by.

Just as she reached the elevator the doors opened and Cordelia’s gang piled out, bumping into the old woman and sending her parcels skidding along the floor. Instead of moving to help her retrieve the items, Cordelia stepped over them, saying snootily, ‘Why don’t you watch where you’re going! I could have tripped on that junk!’

Mitch, Cordelia’s current boyfriend and one of the more obnoxious of the football jocks, wasn’t content to leave it at that.

‘Yeah, you old witch!’ He kicked one of the fallen articles away from Mrs Janvier’s grasp as she bent over on hands and knees reaching for it. She looked up, a shocked expression on her face.

‘Hey,’ Mitch continued, looking around to ensure he was the centre of the group’s attention, ‘you seen any good zombies lately!’ He began stomping around with his arms outstretched, doing his best Frankenstein impression, egged on by the amused snickering of the Cordettes.

‘Hey, quit that!’ Buffy yelled. Momentarily stunned by the other teens’ behaviour, she now rushed forward with Willow and Xander to help Mrs Janvier but Mitch had already stopped playing the fool and offered a hand to help the old lady to her feet.

Meanwhile, the red headed girl, Aphrodisia, picked up one of the shopping bags and opened it, taking a smaller brown paper bag from inside.

‘Whatcha got in here anyway?’ she asked, putting the bag to her nose and sniffing. ‘Phew! What a stink!’

Another of the girls, Aura, snatched it away. ‘Probably dried up chicken guts! She uses all that voodoo stuff, don’t you, you old bat!’

Cordelia made no attempt to stop her friends but stood back with her arms folded, grinning, then whispered something to Harmony that made the other girl snigger nastily.

‘Careful, Aura,’ Harmony sneered, ‘Witchy-Woman might put a curse on you!’

Not to be outdone in macho display, the other boy in the group, Keith, moved forward, upending a large shopping bag and spilling the contents out onto the floor. More brown paper bags and plastic Baggies full of desiccated plant material were strewn everywhere.

‘Let’s see what else you have in here!’ He started opening up bags at random, tipping the dried plant fragments onto the tiles.

‘That’s enough!’ Xander stepped up and pushed Keith away from the mess, surprising both of them with his vehemence. Mitch stepped away from Mrs Janvier and moved towards Xander, grabbing him by the back of the neck and pulling him back from Keith. Xander’s bravado died away as he found himself facing two of the school’s most notorious bullies. He swallowed hard.

Buffy had seen and heard enough. She handed Willow the things she hadherehered up off the floor and pushed herself between Xander and the two troublemakers.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Now that you’ve impressed us all with your wit and bravery in the face of the obvious threat posed by this one little old lady, perhaps you’d like to find some one else to harass! Say, someone more your own size maybe?’ Buffy stood so close to Mitch that she had to crane her neck to look up at him. ‘Or at least your own age?’

Mitch looked at Keith and laughed, incredulous, then turned back to Buffy.

‘You’re not suggesting you can take me on, are you, little girl?’ He looked around at the others, still smiling. ‘I mean, I know you got some kind of rep for fighting, but come on, get real!’ Mitch reached out and grabbed Buffy by the arm, much harder than necessary. She stepped quickly towards him, grasping his shirtfront and pulling him forward. Suddenly off-balance, he felt his feet kicked out from under him, landing him on the floor with all of Buffy’s weight on her knee in the middle of his back. She twisted his arm up, hard, behind his back.

‘Real enough for ya?’

Cordelia wasn’t smiling any more. ‘OK, kiddies, that’s enough playtime for now,’ she said scornfully. ‘Let’s go guys. I’m already late for my hair appointment, and you know how Antonio hates to be kept waiting!’ Buffy stepped back and let Mitch up.

As Cordy and the others walked off she could not resist a parting shot. Being sure to speak loudly enough for all to hear, Cordelia remarked, ‘This mall should have some kind of entry criteria. They seem to let just anyone in!’

Buffy and Xander finished retrieving the rest of the scattered articles while Willow stood with her arm around Mrs Janvier.

‘We’re really sorry!’ Willow was telling her. ‘They’re not usually like that!’

‘Oh, come on, Will!’ Xander interrupted angrily. ‘You know they are!’ Xander was not only still fuming over the other teenagers’ behaviour, he was also embarrassed that Buffy had had to save him, yet again. That he’d had to back down from two of the school’s toughest athletes, he could handle, but being rescued by a girl half his size! OK, she was the Slayer. But who knew? He had come off looking like a wuss, as usual! That he’d been secretly relieved when Buffy had stepped in only made him feel worse.

‘Are you OK, Mrs Janvier?’ Buffy asked.

‘I’m fine, child. Don’t any of you fret!’ The old lady’s broad smile had returned. ‘And do please call me Mama Lucette! All of my friends do.’ She had taken the packages back but now turned and placed them on a bench seat by the elevators. ‘You are all so kind and good to help an old woman like me. You must let me thank you somehow!’

‘Don’t be silly!’ Buffy said. ‘I’m glad we were here to help.’

Willow was unsuccessfully trying to scoop up bits of the spilled herbs from the floor.

‘What should I do with this?’ she asked, holding out a handful of something unidentifiable. ‘Is it ruined?’

‘Don’t concern yourself, little sister Willow. Just throw it away. My daughter will replace it all from the Botanica.’

Buffy threw Willow a confused look.

‘Mrs Janvier’s . . . I mean, Mama Lucette’s …’ Willow grinned self-consciously, ‘daughter owns the herbalist store downtown.’

‘Oh . . . that’s what all that stuff is!’ Xander heaved a sigh of relief, then realised what he had done. Embarrassed again, he started to bluster, ‘Not that I thought it was . . . I mean, I didn’t believe what they . . ! Oh, boy . . .’ he trailed off. ‘I’m just shoving that foot deeper in every time I open my mouth so I’m gonna shut up now!’

But Mama Lucette was laughing kindly. Reaching into one of the bags, she withdrew three handmade beaded bracelets, handing one each to Willow, Xander and Buffy.

‘Bracelets like these are made in my hometown in Haiti. They bring good luck. I made these ones myself.’

Willow stared at hers then slipped it on. ‘It’s so beautiful!’ she said.

Each bracelet had several rows of tiny beads. Some were made of polished seeds or stones, others were coloured glass or natural clay; several had been carved or painted with designs so intricate it was impossible to believe they had been done by hand.

‘You really don’t need to give us anything,’ Buffy said, but she was already wearing hers too.

Even Xander seemed pleased with his. ‘So, you’re not really from New Orleans, then, huh?’ he observed.

‘Xander!’ Buffy snapped, giving him a withering glance.

‘Oh, that’s alright, child.’ Mama Lucette gave another deep chuckle. ‘The boy is only curious.’ She patted Buffy on the hand, leaving it there a moment as though something had caught her attention, then continued. ‘I left Haiti when I was about your age. My father moved us to New Orleans. And now I have moved here to Sunnydale to live closer to my own daughter.’

‘Really, we didn’t mean to pry,’ Buffy offered.

Willow, who had not taken her eyes from her bracelet since she had put it on her wrist, spoke up.

‘Mama Lucette,’ she said, lifting her gaze to the older woman, ‘do you have any more of these?’

‘Why, yes, little sister. I have dozens of them. I was planning on selling them through my daughter’s shop. Why?’

‘I think the kids at school would like them as much as we do. We’re having a fete on Friday. You could set up a stall and sell them there!’

‘Why, what a wonderful idea!’ The old lady seemed very pleased.

Buffy lifted Mama Lucette’s packages from the seat, handing a couple each to Xander and Willow.

‘Come on. We’ll walk you down to the car park.’

*****

Julia was eating lunch in front of the computer when Willow walked into the library he dhe day of the school fete.

‘Ah, just the girl I wanted to see!’ The English woman patted the seat beside her. ‘Come over here and help me with this. I have another of those pesky problems with the hard drive.’

‘Oh, OK.‘ Willow sat down in front of the laptop that Julia had brought from home. It was connected to the internet and seemed fine. ‘There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it,’ she began. Julia lifted her eyes towards the library’s upper level, indicating that Giles was upstairs in his office. His door was open.

‘Oh . . . ,‘ Willow nodded, ‘that hard drive problem!’ Willow had helped Julia access records not generally available to the public on several previous occasions, a practise of which Giles did not wholly approve. Unless, of course, it was a matter of life and death . . . which this wasn’t. They had agreed on a code phrase to use if Giles was nearby; anything remotely computer-related was suitable. Giles was almost entirely computer illiterate, his only concession being the use of email which he only condoned, as he put it, ‘on grounds of expediency’.

Julia got up to give Willow more room, moving her half-finished sandwich out of the way, then stood looking over her shoulder as the young girl worked her keyboard magic.

‘So, what are we accessing today?’ Willow asked, anticipating the challenge. ‘City plans? DMV records? Secret government files? The nefarious plans of a multi-national corporation using its power for evil?’

Julia slipped a piece of paper onto the table where Willow could read it.

‘The Mercy Hospice at Santa Clarita?’ Willow looked up, confused. ‘What’s that? Some kind of old folks’ home?’

‘Something like that.’

‘Oh . . . ‘ Willow seemed disappointed. ‘Is there at least some kind of Hellmouthy activity going on there?’

‘No. At least none that I know of. I need to see the personal records of one of the long-term residents.’

‘One of the patients?’

‘Yes. I’m hoping to trace a woman who may be able to fill in some of the blanks in Buffy’s family tree.’

A few minutes later Giles came hurrying downstairs in more than his usual fluster. He turned to Julia just as he was about to rush out into the hallway.

‘Aren’t you coming?’ he asked.

Julia was puzzled. ‘Coming where, Giles?’

‘Don’t we have a staff meeting in five minutes?’

‘No, Rupert. We don’t.’

‘Then what am I supposed to be doing at 1.00 P.M.?’

Julia took a deep breath. ‘The school Open Day.’

‘What about it?’

‘It’s today.’ The penny still hadn’t dropped. She tried again. ‘You’re giving a talk to parents and teachers on the importance of allocating sufficient school funds for the maintenance of proper library facilities.’

‘I am?’

‘Not if you keep standing there asking me questions!’

‘Oh . . . of course.’ Giles started to leave again then stopped.

‘I have just one more question.’

‘Room 12 in the Home Ec wing.’

‘That’s not my question . . . ‘ Giles blinked owlishly, ‘but thanks anyway.’

‘Then what is your question, Giles?’

‘Why do you someone’s private medical and personal records on your computer screen?’

Bloody hell! Julia thought, looking at Willow, both of them incredulous. The man has eyes like a hawk behind those horn-rims!

‘You’re not . . . ah . . . chopping, again, are you?’

‘That’s ‘hacking’, Giles. And I would suggest,’ Julia offered, ‘that if you don’t want to be late for your talk you’d better go and leave us to it.’

Giles seemed to be searching for an appropriate response, thought better of it and left, grumbling something about not being kept fully informed about what was going on in his own library.

*****

The Open Day went well and the fete afterwards saw the school grounds packed with students, parents and the general public from all over Sunnydale. Kids from the local college had started arriving mid-afternoon and were finding themselves places on the grass in the centre of the athletics oval ready for the bands who would be performing on the temporary stage there later that evening.

Lucette Janvier’s stall was doing a great trade in ethnic Haitian merchandise – home-made hot sauces and mango pies, naïf-style paintings by Mama Lucette’s talented daughter Hannah, pretty scarves printed from natural dyes – all were popular with the fete-goers. But the real hit of the day were the charmingly exotic bracelets. Before the fete was over almost half the student population, boys and girls, along with many of the adults could be seen wearing them.

Cordelia’s group were conspicuous in their avoidance of that particular stall. Which was not to say that Cordy didn’t want one of the lovely bracelets as much as any of the other girls. Mitch noticed his girlfriend becoming more and more irritable each time she saw someone else admiring the jewellery.

He decided to do something about it.

While Cordy and the others went to watch a band from the Bronze set up for the night’s entertainment, Mitch wandered over to Mrs Janvier’s stall. When he got there Mama Lucette was talking with Buffy’s mother, showing her a handful of the bracelets. Noticing the boy picking through a basket of the few remaining pieces of jewellery, Mama Lucette excused herself and asked the boy if she could help him with anything.

Seeming a little uncomfortable, Mitch said, ‘Look, I’m really sorry about the other day at the mall. No hard feelings, huh?’

‘Of course not,’ Lucette agreed, smiling thinly. ’Consider it forgotten. Do you see anything you like?’

The woven basket contained several pretty pieces but none of the bracelets remained.

‘Well, I wanted to buy some of those bead bracelets but I can’t see any here.’

‘They have all been sold,’ Mama Lucette said. ‘Perhaps in a few days you can check at my daughter’s store. I will have made some more by then.’ She went to turn away.

‘What about those? The ones you just showed Mrs Summers?’

‘Oh, these?’ Mama Lucette still had them in her hand. ‘I am afraid these are not for sale. I have made them especially for a friend. I was showing them to Mrs Summers because she is thinking of selling some in her gallery.’

‘I’ll pay you twice what you’ve been charging!’ Mitch suddenly felt a deep sense of disappointment. He wanted to surprise Cordy; show her that he cared! He needed to have those bracelets!

‘I am sorry. They are promised elsewhere.’ Mama Lucette dropped the bracelets into a small wooden box under the cloth-covered table and turned back to her conversation with Joyce.

Anger overtook disappointment. How dare she refuse to sell him the bracelets! Mitch knew the old lady only wanted to punish him for what had happened at the mall. Forgotten was it? Then he’d give her something else to think about! Mitch leaned across the stall and reached under the tabletop, grabbing the box full of bracelets.

Mama Lucette turned to watch Mitch as he walked off to join Cordy and the others, a wider smile lighting her face this time.

*****

Once into the patient records Willow left Julia to it and went to join her friends at the fete.

Julia read through the financial records of an elderly patient who had lived in the residential wing of the hospice for the past fourteen years. While the majority of her care was paid for out of a small pension, details of another source of income had caught Julia’s attention. The cost of private accommodations was made possible by moderate but regular cheque payments from an organisation listed as the Janus Club of St James Park in London.

This, Julia knew, was a private club for members only. She had been there often while living in England over a decade ago. It was the covert headquarters of the Council of Watchers in London.

Leaving a quick note for Giles, Julia grabbed her coat from the rack and headed for the car park.

*****