Unknown - Driving Daisy Crazy

"I know, teacher, I know," Nancy says, raising her hand and bouncing on the couch.

"Nancy?"

"You have lunch!"

"Exactly."

"Ya lost me," Vanessa says.

"I've come to a decision," Cynthia says.

"I'm going to pick the time for Buck and company to make their move on the girl."

"By having lunch?" Vanessa asks, her tone incredulous.

"I don't see how-"

"Just watch and listen."

Cynthia buzzes the intercom.

"Yes?"

"Get me Randy Buck, please, will you, Sandra? I believe he's at his downtown office."

And they wait until the intercom speaks.

"Mister Buck on line one, Baroness."

"Randy, darling!"

"Cynthia dearest!

"To what do I owe the honor of this call?"

"I was thinking, if you're in town all week and so am I, we could have lunch together, say… Friday?"

"Let me see now… Yes, the calendar is certainly in favor of that.

"Only-and I hope you won't think this terribly, shall we say, suspicious of me-but, well.., why?

"Surely not in order that you can gloat over past triumphs."

"Yours or mine, Randy?

"Randy, I don't know what you think or what you think that I think about our various, shall we say, shared adventures and misadventures, but your fortune, your health and your reputation, however undeservedly, remain very much intact."

"You've cost me several small fortunes, my dear."

"Poor baby!

"Now you've only got more money than you can ever spend in ten lifetimes instead often and a half!

"But then, that isn't what's really bothering you about our common past, is it?

"It isn't the money, it's the little worlds, the petite, private hells over which you once reigned supreme and which are no more that gripe you, correct?"

"Something like that," he admits.

"And you feel that causing their nonexistence affords me satisfaction, when in fact we came out even."

"How so?"

"Because, my dear, the destruction of your plots and arrangements was a side-effect of I and my companions barely escaping with our lives.

"As did you."

"As did I," he agrees.

"Never thought of it that way, but you do have a point. Interesting.

"Okay, so you promise not to gloat."

"Having nothing in particular to gloat about where you are concerned, that would seem an easy promise to keep."

"So then, back to the question before the house: Why?"

"If I said I missed you-"

"You'd be lying," he completes.

"So why don't you just level with me?"

"I wanted to discuss your… current activities."

"I'll send you my annual report."

"No, no. I mean your private activities.

"You know-hobbies, pastimes, like that."

"What do you, uh…"

"There, you see? Not something for over the phone, right?"

Big sigh at the other end.

Then, "Right."

Because he must pump her.

He must wheedle from her the sum and substance of what she knows and what she suspects.

Unlikely that she really knows anything, but then he has underestimated her before.

Face to face, he can use his powers of observation and judgment to gauge the extent of her knowledge, as opposed to attempts to probe, to see what she can discover from him.

No harm in a lunch, certainly.

So "Friday it is, then?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, why not?

"Shall we say Maison des Fleurs at one?"

"Looking forward to it."

"Me too."

"Ciao, then."

And she hangs up.

"Just what did that accomplish?" Vanessa asks.

"Two things.

"It slows him down enough that he won't try anything serious with the girl until after he has this chance to find out what I know, and, more importantly, it gives me the chance to push him over the edge, make him act precipitously after we have our little get-together.

"All I have to do is make him nervous enough and angry enough and he'll act to defy me, to score a point he thinks I can't prevent his getting."

"Which puts that girl in even more danger," Nancy observes.

"Very probably."

And Nancy looks away from Cynthia's level gaze. As she thinks, how very like our enemies we become.

She doubts that the girl's health and safety is the real issue here.

This is simply a dangerous game Cynthia is playing with her arch-enemy, Randy Buck.

If a pawn must be sacrificed to win, so be it. And here is Nancy herself, for the first time actively wishing to snuff Buck and thus put an end to this perpetually recurring phenomenon of the deadly encounter.

So that she too is being drawn into the madness for her own reasons.

To end Buck is, perhaps, to end Cynthia's incipient madness.

And Nancy no longer is thinking in terms of self defense.

Not this time.

This time, if she gets the opportunity-any opening at all-she will kill the monster and put an end to all this costumed craziness.

The plan within the plan, she tells herself.

And one she will keep strictly to herself.

And now, she finds herself looking forward to the inevitable confrontation with a steely determination which exceeds her terror.

"All right, you two, I think we can resume the normal curse of business.

"It's only Wednesday and nothing will happen with our favorite maniac before Friday."

But she is wrong.

Buck tries to go about his business.

No good.

He cannot concentrate.

The images of past encounters with the Baroness swim before his eyes, making him clench his jaw and grind his teeth.

Face it, he tells himself, she whipped your ass- every time.

Useless to tell himself that he will not stand for it; he has.

Ah, but not this time, she won't win.

Already, she is losing.

Because he has made inroads into the girl's mind.

He has caused her to doubt her own sense of reality.

And tonight, he will add to that doubt. Perhaps he will not destroy her, in the end. Perhaps he will turn her loose, hopelessly insane. He wants everything perfect for tonight. He buzzes his intercom.

"Yes sir?"

"Have Eric bring the limo around. I'm leaving for the day."

Daisy is glad Randy is taking such an interest in the garden.

She was beginning to think he didn't care.

But of course, that's ridiculous.

Why would he engage a full-time gardener, if he didn't want a garden?

This other thing, after all, was her idea. And now, she is reviewing with him the plot plan to which he appeared so indifferent previously.

As Eric, inside her room, is resetting the timer, checking the level of gas in the cylinder, checking the valve before putting it back in the air conditioning duct and replacing the grating.

Buck surreptitiously glances at his watch. Eric should have had sufficient time by now.

"Yes, well, you certainly seem to have everything under control."

And he hugs her to himself and kisses her on the cheek.

The promise of things to come? she wonders. But now- "See you for supper then, my dear.

"I've quite a bit of work to do between now and then."

And he is gone, back inside the mansion, leaving her to tend the garden.

After supper, they sit in the living room, watching the tube.

Finally, Daisy excuses herself.

She has put in a hard day, raking, hoeing, watering, and feels the urge to sleep.

She passes Eric on the stairs and feels an involuntary shudder.

She almost wishes that she had a lock on her bedroom door.

She can't help it; he gives her the creeps.

"Everything all set, Eric?"

"Midnight," he confirms.

"Excellent! As they said in ancient Rome, ‘Let the games begin!'"

And the men go to their respective rooms to change into their robes.

I don't believe this!