Day 9

Chapter 3

Chapter 3Willowcon 25 - Los Angeles, California - TodayThe audience at the panel discussion was huge—hundreds of Weeping Willows fans packed into a hotel ballroom. Everyone watched as five speakers at a table at the front of the room argued about which Willows characters had had s*x on the show.

It could only have happened at a Weeping Willows convention.

"Foster kid orgies!" said a chubby, middle-aged woman in a wild sarong at the end of the table. "Is that all you people can talk about?"

The big room erupted with a storm of babble and laughter. The four other panelists at the table fought to talk over each other. All three hundred or so audience members raised a commotion at once.

Except two. In the very last row of chairs at the back of the ballroom, Dunne and Hannahlee sat silently.

If the rest of the crowd had realized Hannahlee was among them, they would have gone even more berserk. They would have swarmed her, clutched her, carried her off like cartoon ants carrying off a picnic sandwich. But Hannahlee had changed so much, no one recognized her as Kitty Willow.

"Oh come on!" The woman who had started it all drowned out everyone else. Her sarong was blindingly bright yellow and pink. "Who doesn't think Leif was banging Kitty?"

"Now that," said a sequined man in a wheelchair at the far end of the panel, "is what I call getting some pussy."

The crowd roared with groans and laughter...but the reaction in the back row was different. Hannahlee turned to Dunne and caught his eye. Though her expression was unreadable, it wasn't a smile of any kind.

Suddenly, a fresh ruckus drew Dunne's attention back to the panelists. Sequin Man and Sarong Woman were having it out with a guy in the front row of the audience.

"I say the Willows are even better role models as brother-sister lovers," said Sarong Woman. "Their shared intimacies create a very functional family."

"Are you nuts?" said the guy in the front row. "There was no incest in Weeping Willows. It was a family show!"

"You're right." Sequin Man stroked his long, purple wig. "It ain't incest if the brothers and sisters aren't blood relations!"

That was when Dunne decided he'd had enough. Turning to Hannahlee, he realized that she was way ahead of him.

Because she was already gone.

When Dunne walked out of the ballroom, Hannahlee was waiting for him. She sat on a padded bench against the wall of the corridor, eyes trained on the ballroom doorway.

As he approached, she got up and straightened her beige pantsuit. "There wasn't any incest on the show. We played foster kids fighting crime in the town of Justice, Arizona. No orgies."

"I know," said Dunne. "People just like to stir up controversy."

"There sure are a lot of them." Hannahlee gazed into the crowded corridor, which was bustling with noise and activity. "All this for seventeen little shows."

Dunne started to correct her, to point out that the cast and crew had shot twenty-one episodes of Willows, with seventeen aired on network TV, three more released years later on video, and one mysteriously "lost." He decided not to open his mouth, though, because after all, Hannahlee had been there for the filming. If she wanted to say "seventeen," she could say "seventeen."

Better for him to focus on other numbers. "Willowcon draws thousands of people," he said, starting down the corridor. "There are other conventions, but none even comes close to this one."

Hannahlee walked alongside him. "When did it become more than just a cult thing?"

Dunne wondered why she was so out of touch with the arc of her own show's popularity. "The conventions started in the early 80s," he said. "But Willows fandom didn't really take off till the mid-90s, when the unaired episodes were released on video."

"We were cancelled so fast," said Hannahlee. "We never thought it would get this big."

Just then, a girl in braids and buckskin hurried past, and Hannahlee gaped at her. "Was that supposed to be me?"

"From the episode 'War's Path,' yeah." Dunne saw the girl zip through open double doors into a darkened room at the end of the corridor. "Come on."

A sign on an easel outside the double doors read "Masquerade." The auditorium beyond was enormous, packed with thousands of people, all watching a stage at the far end of the room.

The distant stage was full of colorful figures dancing under bright lights. The song "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge blasted over the auditorium's P.A. system.

As Dunne watched, the buckskinned Kitty Willow lookalike ran down the center aisle and leaped onto the stage. As she flung her arms in the air, the song changed to "What's New, Pussycat?" and the audience went crazy.

Hannahlee leaned over to speak in Dunne's ear. "They're supposed to be us? The Willows?"

Dunne nodded. "It's a costume contest. They dress up and act out skits to music."

"I see." Hannahlee's voice was flat.

Suddenly, the music changed again, this time to "War" by Edwin Starr. Someone dressed like Warren "War" Willow—in his trademark Army fatigues and Day-Glo yellow smiley face t-shirt—jumped to the front of the group and launched into a wild break-dance.

Dunne looked at Hannahlee. She watched the stage with no obvious reaction. Whatever was going through her mind, she wasn't letting him in on it.

Just then, without a word, she headed for the exit. Dunne got stuck in the crowd and fell behind. When he finally caught up outside the auditorium, Hannahlee was talking to someone.

The man was in his sixties, with a dark tan and gleaming white teeth. He wore a pale blue madras shirt, white chinos, and huarache sandals. He patted his shaggy mop of silver hair with one hand. His other hand rested lightly on Hannahlee's shoulder.

As Dunne drew up to the two of them, Hannahlee turned. "Dunne," she said. "I'd like you to meet an old friend."

"Still robbing the cradle, eh, Lianna?" The silver-haired man lunged forward and pumped Dunne's hand fiercely. "I should've known you hadn't lost your touch!"

Dunne was speechless. Hannahlee's "old friend" was someone he recognized...someone he'd watched countless times in reruns of Weeping Willows.

Hannahlee smiled. "Dunne is my coworker," she said. "Not my love interest."

"Not yet anyway." The man released Dunne's hand like he was snapping a football. "So what brings you to Willowcon, Dunne? You have a Willows connection?"

"He writes books," said Hannahlee. "He wrote Falling Leif."

"No kidding!" The man gave Dunne's shoulder a squeeze.

"Dunne, this is Scott Savage," said Hannahlee. "He played Leif Willow on the show."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Savage." Dunne couldn't help sounding excited. "I'm a big fan of your work."

"Wish I could say the same, son," said Scott, "but the truth is, I thought Falling Leif was a poor excuse for toilet paper."