Bonus Story: Playing A New Game
Winter of 2000 - 5 Years Before Kathrin’s Story Begins

“You did what?” Kathrin Rudo asked with a mixture of amusement and concern as a group of her friends herded her down to the far end of their junior high. A few more feet and they’d be in high school territory.
“Yeah, we’ve got about fifty dollars bet on you and I’m hoping to get a little more once the game starts.” Her always reckless friend Tammy said jovially.
“Who are you betting against?” Kathrin asked.
Tammy smiled and said: “Ninth and tenth graders mostly, though there were a couple of traders from our class. I banished them already.”
“But I’ve never even played chess.” Kathrin complained.
“Shoot. There goes my money.” One male student murmured.
“Are you kidding? I’ve never seen Kathrin fail at anything. She’ll wipe the floor with them!” another one disagreed.
“Don’t worry. They promised me they’d tell you the rules before you start.” Tammy whispered into Kathrin’s ear. She turned to the small crowd that had formed in front the door to the chess club and said, “All right everybody, it’s me and Kathrin only from this point on. The rest of you stay quiet. If there’s any distractions the game is off.”
“I’ll go get my drums.” The same skeptical male student replied.
“Someone hit Jack if he causes trouble.” Tammy ordered the crowd before knocking on the locked door behind her.
“Who wishes to enter?” a boy with a somewhat nerdy high pitched voice demanded.
“Tamara Meyers and Kathrin Rudo.” Tammy answered, sounding all official.
“Enter and bar the door behind you.” The chess club member instructed them, unintentionally sounding more comical than authoritative.
Kathrin let her friend push her into the dimly lit room. All the lights were off and the unshaded windows provided little additional light thanks to the heavy snowfall outside. There were only three other people in the room. Two tall lanky high school boys both of whom were wearing glasses and pocket protectors and an older man in his late 50’s who sat behind a wood desk on the far side of the room.
“Welcome to our little home. You must be Tammy Meyers and Kathrin Rudo.” He greeted them, using a deep almost haunting voice.
“We are, and she’s here to beat your best student at his own game.” Tammy boasted.
“That won’t be possible.” the man said sharply. The room darkened further as he stood from his desk and moved closer too them blocking one of the windows in the process. “Our star player, Chad, is sick today so your friend will have to play me: Grandmaster Victor Embry: Sponsor of the Chess Club, and teacher of high school physics and drama.”
Kathrin glared at her friend then asked the man: “What about those two? Can I play one of them?”
“No.” The high school teacher said dramatically as if he were a sorcerer in a stage play. “The deal was you would play the Chess Club’s best player, which is me in light of Chad’s unexcused absence. Win and you and your friend will get free snacks and drinks at all of our home games for the rest of the year. But lose and one of you must play the part of our school’s mascot: The Timid Beaver.” He told them. “Assuming parental approval of course.” He added quickly.
Kathrin snickered then leaned over to her friend and said, “I’ll try my best but I will not be the one wearing the dumb beaver outfit if I lose.”
“Have you ever played chess before Kathrin?” Grandmaster Embry asked as he walked towards a large darkened chess table in the center of the room.
“No. I was never interested in it.” Kathrin admitted.
“You have seen it played before?” the teacher asked.
“Well duh, I am fourteen.” Kathrin responded.
“But have you seen it played with a set as magnificent as this?” Victor asked as he switched on a bright light located directly above the chess table.
Kathrin and Tammy approached the set with their mouths hanging wide open. The board consisted of sixty-four individual pieces of marble inlaid into the table’s surface. Each marble square was sectioned off from the others by thin strips of gold that ran the length and width of the board. Then there were the pieces. Each one was about the size of a coke can and each was amazingly detailed. It was as if two armies, one of angelic light and one of demonic darkness, faced each other on a battle field. Small nimble soldiers with rusty swords and shields made up each army’s front line. Behind them sat tall stone towers, majestic stallions, and short robed priest wearing large hats, all guarding an ornate king and queen. The pieces were made of a heavy steel or iron Kathrin found as she examined each one in turn. The castle towers and priests on her end of the board impressed her the most. The castle or Rook as was indicated near the bottom in large ornate letters, seemed to be built from hundreds of small white stones. Each stone had tiny hand painted details such as weathering or moss and vines where appropriate. The priest shared the same level of detail. The Bibles they held open in outstretched hands had such good painting that they looked as if they were made of real leather and paper. The set as a whole was exquisite and colorful unlike most of the dull plastic sets Kathrin had always seen people using. It must have cost a fortune. No wonder they kept the door locked.
The head of the chess club took his seat and motioned for Kathrin to do the same. He briefly explained the rules of the game and the way each piece could move before they began. The game started quickly and soon Kathrin had lost a number of her pieces but then she slowly started to strike back, or at least thats how it looked from Tammy’s perspective.
“Yeah, she was almost clueless at first but you could watch her learn almost on a move to move basis. I’ve never seen anything like it.” One of the chess club members whispered to her when she asked for his opinion. “I’m Chad by the way.”
“The same Chad who is supposedly sick and absent?” A confused Tammy asked.
“Uh huh.” The older boy responded in a whisper. “For some reason Mr. Embry wanted to play her. He wouldn’t tell us why though… Said it was confidential. Oh and Mr. Embry isn’t a Grandmaster either, none of us are even close. You see it’s a technical term that…” Chad started to explain by Tammy whacked his arm and motioned for him to shut up. The geekiness level in the room was high enough without him explaining some inane chess term to her.
“Checkmate!” Kathrin said proudly a second later causing both Chad and Tammy to turn their attention back to the board.
“Very good.” Not Grandmaster Embry told Kathrin using his normal voice this time. “You really are gifted.” He said.
“Thank you.” Kathrin responded as she stood up from the table. “Sorry to run out on you but lunch ended ten minutes ago. I’ll play you some other time Chad.” She said on her way toward the door.
“How did she know?” The high schooler asked Tammy as she stood to leave.
“Don’t know. She does that from time to time…” Tammy said shrugging in reply as she followed her friend out. The hallway was clear of everyone but Jack when Kathrin and Tammy emerged.
“So who won?” he asked as someone locked the door behind them.
“We did of course! By a mile!” Tammy answered.
“Ha! I knew she would all along!” Jack exclaimed before hurrying off to whatever class he was late for.
Kathrin and Tammy laughed as an angry teacher pulled him into her class. Tammy walked with Kathrin back down the hallway before splitting off to her own class. Now all alone Kathrin wished the school allowed junior high students to have cell phones on campus so she could call her brother and tell him how good she had done. As it were all she could do was grab her lunch from her locker and return to class.