Penny Wise and the League of St. Claire

Chapter 11

Jordan’s mother smiled at him as he sat eating a breakfast of milk on Wheaties. She had a disarming smile and her eyes were still bright despite being surrounded by age lines. “You seem listless of late, Jordan. Are you ill?”

“No, mother. I’m bored.”

“You’ve never been bored before.” She tilted her head. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve made some friends, mother, kids I’ve met at the playground. We discussed the idea of going on a camping trip in the mountains.”

His mother smirked. “I’m sure your father would have insisted on adult supervision.”

Jordan agreed with that statement, but his father was no longer with him. He had been killed in an industrial accident. “I was thinking that Grandfather George would be willing to chaperone us.”

“Yes, that would be a good choice. I’m sure he’ll agree. He’s always enjoyed the out-of-doors life.”

Bingo!

Jordan didn’t waste any time getting back to Penny. He went to her house and knocked on the door. Her mother answered.

“So nice to see you, Jordan,” she said in a gravely voice. “Come in.”

Jordan stepped in the door but stood near the entrance.

Penny’s mother smiled. “Penny is taking a bath. You may go visit her.”

Jordan’s eyes flickered wide for a brief moment before returning to normal. “Ah . . . I’m sure that she would rather . . . “

“She won’t mind, Jordan.” She gestured to a stairway. “Go on up. The bathroom is at the top of the stairs.”

Jordan climbed the stairs and went to the bathroom door. He hesitated before gently knocking.

“Come in, Jordan.” Penny sounded as if she were pleased that he was requesting admittance.

Jordan cautiously opened the door and peeked in. Penny was immersed in a perfumed bubble bath but was showing no signs of protecting her modesty; although, there wasn’t much that visible to protect.

“Come in, Jordan,” Penny said, grinning. “I won’t bite you.”

Penny pointed to a clothes hamper. “Sit down, Jordan. I like to soak in my bubble bath. It’s so relaxing.

He did as she suggested. “I have George all set to go with us on a camping trip.”

“That’s wonderful,” she said, smiling. Her expression became more playful when she held out a sponge. “Would you please wash my back?”

Jordan mulled that idea over for a few moments before replying. “As you wish, my lady, but I should take my leave. I have no business being in here.”

Just then a bird song erupted from outside the window.

“Wilt thou be gone? It is not yet near day: It was the nightingale, and not the lark, that pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear; Nightly she sings on your pomegranate-tree: Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.”

Jordan smiled. “It was the lark, the herald of the morn, no nightingale: look love, what envious streaks do lace the severing clouds in yonder east; night’s candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. I must be gone and liver; or stay and die.”

“Yon light is not day-light, I know it. It is some meteor that the sun exhales, to be to thee this night a torch-bearer, and light thee on they way to Mantua: Therefore stay yet, thou need’st not be gone.”

Jordan accepted the sponge engorged with soapy water. “Okay.”

She giggled, but her face enveloped with pure pleasure as she felt the sponge run down her spine and tingling run up. She turned to award Jordan with a smiling stare that gave him goose bumps. He lifted her arm and applied the sponge to her armpit and then sponged around her back to her other arm. She turned so that he could repeat the action on her right armpit.

Penny’s face moved closer to his as he continued caressing her back with the sponge. She thrust her lips into his and Jordan responded by prolonging the kiss for several seconds before pulling away.

She took the sponge. “Thank you, Jordan.”

He was kneeling and stood up.

“No,” she reacted. “Stay near.”

He got back down. “Yes, ma’am.”

“We must plan our camping trip. I haven’t told my mother yet. I was awaiting the report of your attempt to secure a chaperone.”

“We’ll need tents and sleeping bags and . . . “

“I can provide all that we need,” she said as she lifted her left leg and handed him the sponge. “Please wash my leg.”

He complied. “Are you sure your mother would approve of me doing this?”

“My mother trusts me, Jordan. She’s not concerned about my behavior.”

“My mother dotes on me,” he said. “She wants to know about everything I do. I had to lie to her about why we want to go camping.”

“I understand how you feel, but our mission is to save the world from abject evil. A white lie is nothing compared to what might happen if we don’t succeed.”

“I am fully aware of that,” he said as he bathed her other leg.

Then, he did something unexpected. He kissed her feet. Penny smiled at him. “That’s so sweet, Jordan.”

“You are the handmaiden of the Lord. I place my life in your hands.”

“I am pleased with you, Jordan. You will prevent the third prophesy of Fatima and stop the forces of evil from eliminating the Pope.”

“That has already occurred in the future.”

“Yes, but you will be instrumental in stopping it.”

Jordan didn’t know how to take that wild idea, but he was just glad that Penny liked him well enough to invite him into her inner sanctum.

“Please get my towel, Jordan,” she said, pointing to a rack.

Jordan retrieved the towel and stood with it fully extended. He watched her stand up in the tub and then smile at him before taking the towel and wrapping it around her body. “Thank you.”

“You are most welcome, ma’am.”

She stepped out of the tub and kissed him. Their lips merged again, and Jordan wrapped his arms around her for a more prolonged kiss.

He bowed. “I will take my leave now, my lady.”

“I will see you tomorrow, Jordan,” she replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Jordan left and went back home. He was confused by what had happened. Did this mean that she was interested in him as a suitor, or was this simply a ploy to keep him in line?