The Book of Nonsense (17 page)

“But, if Dad retires—” Daphna asked, eyeing her brother surreptitiously. “I know we have some money from Mom—but won't he have to work a little?”

Latty didn't respond at first. She just looked concerned. “Oh, honey!” she said. “That's not something we should even think about right now. Everything is over. Let's bury the past first, then we'll worry about the future.” No one spoke for a moment, but then Latty smiled tenderly. “I'll be right there for both of you,” she said.

Dex braced himself to see his father bolted into some sort of hideous contraption. Daphna was prepared for a giant cast right up to his waist. But when they walked into the room, they both sighed. The only evidence of their father's injury and operation was a wheelchair sitting next to his bed. On the other hand, Milton looked like a shell of his former self.

“Dad?” Dex whispered, somehow fearing a loud voice would shatter his father to bits.

Milton didn't respond.

Daphna looked down sadly at this scarcely recognizable man on the bed. Was this broken figure really her father, the man she'd followed into a thousand mysterious and enchanting bookstores? The thought struck her that he was going to be out of commission for a long time. And this thought was followed by a piercing insight. Since Daphna was a little girl, she had always—somewhere in the back of her mind—worried it could come to this. Her mother vanished, and didn't that mean her father might very well vanish, too? And now, in a very real way, it seemed he had. Daphna understood that she'd spent most her life so far fashioning herself into someone who could fend for herself. Being the expert meant not depending on anyone. On impulse, Daphna rushed to her father, leaned over and hugged him hard, and she kept hugging him even though he made no effort to hug her back.

Dex watched his sister with her arms around their father and realized how much she needed him. And then all at once, he understood why he'd kept insisting his father didn't care about them. If his dad didn't care about him, he wouldn't have to care back. No, that wasn't quite it. He wouldn't have to care about
himself
. It was just the opposite of the way he'd made himself see Ruby. It suddenly struck him that if his life was a book, so far it probably made about as much sense as the Book of Nonsense.

When Daphna straightened up, he said, “How did you figure it out? I mean about Ruby and The Eight?”

“Oh, you haven't seen it!” Daphna fished the now badly crumpled note out of the breast pocket of her hospital pajamas.

“Here, read this,” she said, holding it out for Dex. He made no move to take the note. “Oh, right!” Daphna said, flushing. She read the note out loud.

“Dex,” Daphna said when she finished, “there's something I still don't understand. When Rash was using your eyes, when he saw the book we messed up—”

“Why did he still think it was his?”

“Yeah.”

“I was trying to tell you, in Dad's room, before Emmet barged in. When I look at words, they move. It's like they all flip around and drop off the end of lines. I was pretty sure, if it came to it, Rash would believe it. Since I remembered that nonsense line you read, I felt pretty safe about the whole thing.”

This struck brother and sister as funny. They both laughed.

Then Daphna said, “Dexter, I'm—I'm sorry.”

Dex looked at her blankly, as if waiting for something. Finally, he said, “But—?”

“What do you mean?” Daphna asked.

“Whenever you say you're sorry, you say ‘but,'” Dex explained, “as in ‘but it's really all your fault.'”

Daphna flushed again. “I'm sorry for that, too,” she said. It suddenly struck her that if life was a book, she'd understood it about as well as the Book of Nonsense. “But I'm really, really sorry for the way I've looked down on you,” she added. “And I also want to say thanks.”

“For—for what?” Dex asked.

“For what you did in Dad's room, for thinking so fast, for facing Emmet that way. I know he hurt you, Dex. You're a million times braver than I am. I actually threw up. All I do anymore is cry and puke and wet myself.”

Dexter, completely embarrassed but completely grateful, didn't know how to reply. Daphna, to her surprise, reached for her brother's hand. To her even greater surprise, he let her take it. And it was at that moment she realized something else: you didn't need to speak the First Tongue to utter magic words.

“Dex,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Emmet got the book. It's still out there.”

“Which means the Councilors died for nothing.”

“We need to get it back, Dex. We need to destroy it. Will you help?”

Dex looked at his sister. “I give you my word,” he said.

“What is it?” Daphna asked. “I mean, your ‘word,' what is it? I've never understood that expression.”

“Me neither,” Dex admitted, “but my word is ‘Quack.'”

Daphna grinned. “I'll take it,” she replied. “And I give you my word. It's ‘Galice!'”

“I'll take it,” Dex replied.

The twins nodded at one another. Still holding hands, they turned to look at their father again.

“What if he doesn't get better?” Dex worried.

“He will,” Daphna promised.

“I hope you're—” Dex started to say, but he stopped because Milton was stirring. Gingerly, he rolled over. Then he slowly opened his eyes.

When Milton Wax saw his children, he smiled. The twins smiled back.

No words were necessary.