Todd the Spectacular Chp. Twenty-Three Wilding and Wondering

I would just like to announce that since this book is nearing the climax of the story, I will soon stop posting chapters. however, this book will be available soon if you wish to finish the story.

C h a p t e r  T w e n t y-Three

Wilding and Wondering

The sun shone hugely on us that afternoon and we had the best picnic of our lives.

We ate sandwiches and drank lemonade and everyone except I played ball out in the wild wind, as I was very tired and not in my complete health just yet. But every chance I got, I wrote another verse. This time, about Felix.

“Won’t you play ball with us, Annabelle?” Felix begged, his hair bleached in the sun. That was something I observed, and added to my little poem.

“She’s sick,” Claudia retorted. “She doesn’t need any panting children to—”

“I’m quite alright now, Claudia, but I do thank you for caring so much,” and I smiled gingerly up at her. “Maybe in a bit.”

I missed running about and playing with all of them, but lately I had felt so tired.

Artie sat down next to me. He breathed heavily and poured lemonade on his face.

“At least it’s going to good use,” I said.

He panted rapidly and laid down on the grass, his eyes closed and his mouth open like a dog. I laughed at him but he didn’t care. “You’re jealous of us,” he teased.

“No, I am not,” I replied, happily and honestly. “You simply look so wild-ed out.”

“Wild-ed out?” He opened his eyes and glanced up at me, still in the grass on his back.

“Elucidate, please?” Felix asked, approaching me.

“It’s a much better way of saying ‘worn out.’ You’ve been running and playing, splashing in rivers, walking in forests, and simply wilding yourself out.”

Artie shook his head like he thought it to be silly, but he was no more sane and serious than I was.

“I propose a toast,” I announced, taking up my cup in my hand. “To a great next summer of adventure and fun,” I said lightly and contently. 

Artie took up a cup too. “To stars and heroes and picnics. And wilding yourself out.” 

Henry and Felix clinked their cups together. “Hear, hear!”

“To Todd the Spectacular and all the other knights,” came Claudia’s small, humble voice. 

“And to our Queen Annie the Brave,” Charlie said, and I was so happy, because now I knew he was no longer angry at me.

He sat behind Claudia and twirled her curls around his finger.

All of us—it felt so natural and meant to be, that we should be the bestest of friends. 

We would one day pass on, but that friendship of ours—that was immortal.

I had at first invited Mrs. Eloise, but she gracefully declined with an odd look on her face. I understood her though, and did not judge a bit. When I was older I aspired to be like her in many ways, traveling and studying maps and writing nice things. 

We were quite loud and boisterous, and she was elegant and a bit reserved. I wanted Henry and Felix and Claudia to know her someday, as I thought they would certainly admire her. 

Afterward however, we did eventually pay her a visit, since she had insisted upon me bringing along my brothers and sister. Artie and Charlie came also.

They enjoyed themselves almost as much as I had when Artie first took me. Felix loved her maps and the pirate telescope she had discovered in Ireland. She had been on the Mediterranean and had collected whole basketfuls of colorful shells.

She had explored oceans and deserts and forests. She had done everything I ever wanted to do.

“Annabelle?” she called my name from her chair, where she sat with a map over her legs. She was pointing to her favorite islands and telling Felix about them all. But her eyes left her lap and fixed on mine.

“Yes?” I replied quietly. I stood by the piano, patiently.

“I asked you before if you’ve played. I believe you said, ‘not really.’”

“Well, it is true,” I spoke honestly. “I’ve no talent for it. But I know a piece or two.”

She smiled with dignity and sat back, giving the map to Felix. “I think you are more than capable of playing me a song. And singing, too.”

Color left my face and I stood straight and speechless. Henry looked up from his book and stared at me with curiousness and a bit of anxiousness, like he didn’t know what I would do.

Artie looked at me too. He smiled and I decided I couldn’t say no.

I hesitantly took a seat on the bench. I opened the lid of the piano. But something in me tensed. I felt I wasn’t meant to play this instrument. It wasn’t mine. It was someone else’s.

“Mrs. Rivet?” I asked, my eyes on the keys.

She didn’t answer me.

“This isn’t mine.”

“You’re right.”

I glanced up, and Felix and Claudia both looked at me expectantly.

“That was Robbie’s,” the old lady explained, though distantly. I wanted to know more, and I had a feeling that someday, I would. Eloise’s voice was so sad and mysterious sometimes. I loved it, though. Her voice was how I imagined the voice of some of the characters in the books I read and wrote in my mind. 

The character who was dark and hidden in the start, but was soon learned to be a victim of a tragic fate long, long, ago.

But that didn’t quite fit her. I didn’t think she was some heartbroken victim, even if she did have a tragic fate. But that voice—

I’d like to call that a storybook voice.

Artie surprised me by standing up and sitting beside me on the bench. He was very solemn. I didn’t ask any questions. I played a chord. And then another. I thought I was just singing in my head, and I think I was, but when I glanced to my right I realized it was not just my voice but another’s alongside of me.

At first I hardly noticed Artie’s low, but perfectly beautiful singing voice over the sound of the piano melody I played. The strength of the keys grew and my shoulders relaxed. I felt more at home than I did a moment ago. 

Because I wasn’t alone.

I played and Artie sang.

How we got to such a state still surpasses me. I’d have never done that only a year ago, back in England. And I think Artie wouldn’t have either. I think that maybe, we both needed each other in some way, for some reason. Artie calmed me down sitting there beside me, singing that song. 

Artie sung, “Where Are You Calling Me,” a song about rivers and the way the wind blows, a song that was just a lullaby but had always been favored by myself, and my father and mother. It was one of the only tunes I knew how to play. I remember my father humming that song under his breath as he rocked Claudia to sleep over his shoulder. And when I saw Felix for the first time asleep in Mother’s arms, tucked under covers in bed, she was singing it.

It was fate that Artie knew that song. Fate, or should I say, something more.

Artie didn’t tell me where he had learned that song. But that was fine with me. In this world we do not need to know everything about others, even if sometimes it’s hard. But that’s why life is so exciting. So unpredictable and daring and suspenseful that we’re really never left bored of it. 

And because that’s one of the most grandest things you can do in your life.

Wonder.

Todd the Spectacular Chp. 22 Passionate One

C h a p t e r  T w e n t y-Two

Passionate One

I came out of the woods and my legs could hardly carry myself. I was weary and cold and muddy. And I felt a mild fever coming my way.

Charlie didn’t say anything. 

I was not myself. Not right now.

We came out towards the river. The sand here wasn’t as nice as our beach. It was browner, dirtier, and more like mud, which we were used to by now.

I sat down in the brown sand and sighed heavily, feeling a ponderous wear in my bones, something I’d never felt before. I was very tired and very worn.

I don’t remember falling asleep.

But I woke up to singing.

Claudia sat by my side and hummed a low tune, one that sounded like a sweet song our mother used to sing to us. The river lullaby. 

“Claudia?” I said hazily, not fully departed from dreamland yet. “What are you doing?” My eyes stayed closed and I yawned.

“Waiting for you to be better.”

That’s when my eyes opened. It took an extra moment for everything to come away from the blurs and into focus, but when they did I looked into Claudia’s eyes and didn’t say anything. I leaned against a tree. I tried to sit up more but I felt an ache in my back. “I feel remarkably ill,” I moaned. “Why do I ache so much?”

“You’ve a fever,” Claudia caressed my forehead lovingly with her finger. “We got a bit lost, Charlie and I. You wouldn’t wake up, so we decided to stay put until you got better.”

“Where’s Charlie now?”

“Fetching the boys.”

I sighed and regained enough strength to prop myself up higher. “Henry must be worried.”

Claudia shrugged. “Arther too.”

I laughed and then sputtered. “Oh, Claudia.”

She looked at me and smiled, and I could see the colorful reds and pinks in her face. She looked like a flower.

“I think Arther is a good name.”

“Yes. I’m glad he’s been such a good big brother for you.”

“I was actually considering him otherwise.”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows. “I suppose we do have a lot in common.”

“I was talking about myself,” she stated decorously. “There’s other fish in the sea but me and Arther are a smart match, if I do say so myself. He’s very clever, and I, very fetching.”

I didn’t know if I should laugh, for she did look dead-serious. Every other day, Claudia had a new future planned out. I could hardly be expected to keep up with her dreams, so I glanced off and let her stare away wistfully.

Another hour went by and I came to my feet effortfully. I felt a thick weight upon me and I knew I had to get home. It really was a nice sight when I saw those three boys in the distance. I could hear the crunching of their feet over leaves and dry grass.

“Henry!” I called out, but my voice was weak.

Claudia leapt up and yelled for the boys.

I sat back down and sighed with relief. 

It was dark now and the stars were out. Our summer days were long, back then. Sometimes, through our endless games and fun, we lost perception of time. 

We were halfway through July, nearing August.

I missed Father everyday and wondered about him so much it made my head split sometimes.

Where could he be, or what could he be doing?

Why wouldn’t he come back?

I felt a little better now that I was home and I had washed and ate and slept. Felix and Claudia waited on me as if I were a queen, and made sure I was rightly comfortable and felt pleasant.

Henry had been so worried for me and the others. I thought it was very kind of him to care so.

I came out of the Lovingale after searching for Henry upstairs. Everyone was asleep, except Henry and I.                     

I found him close by the gate to our house. He was simply on the other side, staring off down the road that led to the heart of Averdeene.

“Henry,” I said, and opened the gate to stand with him. “It’s dreadfully late.”

“Why does that make it dreadful?” he asked nonchalantly and without much emotion.

“I don’t know. That just sounds like something Mother would say.”

“Aye.” Henry’s shoulders dropped as he exhaled.

I stood beside him and looked where he looked, only our minds were both somewhere entirely different. Mine was back in England near my mother’s grave. I didn’t know where his was. Maybe it was across the sea with Father. Or maybe it was here in Averdeene.

“I got my name today.”

“Really?” I smiled and waited for more. “Won’t you tell me?”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t fit me.”

“Charlie must’ve picked it for a reason.”

“I suppose so.”

I chuckled lightly and kept my eyes on him. “Well, what is it? Please?”

“Passionate.”

I didn’t quite understand yet. “You mean…”

“Henry the Passionate.”

At first I couldn’t believe it.

But then I realized it was quite perfect. It made more sense than everything in the world. It did fit him. I believed so whole-heartedly.

And I think Henry did, too.

It wasn’t too much of a trial to take us six children to church, but we did have our own small tribulations. Artie was uncertain, insecure. Felix was fidgety. Charlie wouldn’t wear shoes and wanted to move every moment, and I—well, me and Henry and even Claudia were just solemn and quiet. 

I always liked church. And I usually liked people in general. But I couldn’t ignore the stares and whispers I felt and heard as we walked in and sat down.

Six children. No parents.

And Charlie. Dear Charlie. If only these people made the effort to know you, rather than stare and frown.

There were a good handful of children. 

Claudia attempted to speak to them, but I could tell she was a little afraid. They all went to school together.

Claudia learned alongside with us, out in the meadow or on a sandy beach.

Felix and Charlie started up a game of tag amongst themselves, and Henry and Artie stood in some corner, observing everyone else.

I was fine with just us six for company, if I had to say. I didn’t mind us just staying the way we were. I glanced at each of them. Those five were my best friends. And I wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. 

So I stood by myself and watched, and when the children were done playing, we went back home to the Lovingale for a picnic.

Todd the Spectacular Chp. Twenty-One Small Hand in Mine

C h a p t e r  T w e n t y-One

Small Hand in Mine

The days following that promise I made to Artie, I embarked on my next adventure. This adventure was a strange one. I hadn’t expected it. We were gone only a short while, but it felt like we had walked into the depths of the earth.

It felt like we were gone for an eternity.

“Todd the Spectacular has received a message from the Great Spectacular One.” 

A very long sentence for Charlie, but I felt he was doing better everyday, and I listened intently.

Charlie Ferguson crossed his arms behind his back and held his chin high like I imagined a true hero would. But then his hands left his back and he appeared pestered for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, carefully.

He just kept poking at his nose, touching the same spot, over and over again. Then he shook his head and shivered. Not from the cold, I supposed. 

I didn’t understand all of the things Charlie did. The expressions he made, the movements with his fingers, how he sometimes acted repetitiously.

But I chose to push those differences aside. Because if everyone was the same…well, I think you would tire of talking to yourself.

“Are you alright?” I asked. Then I stayed quiet and waited patiently. 

He grinned pleasingly and I knew he was content and ready to go on an adventure. I knew I had him back.

“Todd the Spectacular wants Annie the Brave to go on a mission.”

I stepped closer. “A mission?” I realized he was playing a game, and today I wanted to play along with him.

He chuckled cleverly and nodded his head. “We have to find the others. They may be in s-some sort of danger.”

I nodded firmly. “Who’s missing?”

“All of ‘em,” he replied blandly. “Do you want to come?”

“On the adventure?”

“Yeah,” he said, excitedly.

I smiled. “I will come.” 

I glanced around myself and did agree that the place looked rather empty. The town, I mean. Maybe they were sleeping the Sunday away.

But my siblings and a certain Artie Ferguson were nowhere to be found.

“What are you whispering about?”

I jumped when Claudia cut in between us. “Oh, you scared me.”

Charlie put a finger to his lips. “We have to go on a mission. The others might be in danger.”

“Danger?” Claudia scoffed. “I hardly think this village is capable of—”

“Shh!” I shushed her. “Lead the way.”

“What are we doing?” Claudia persisted.

“I want to play,” Charlie complained. “Stop talking about it. You’re messing it up.”

Claudia frowned at me and then the two of us followed the boy, unsure of where we would go.

Todd the Spectacular led us, Claudia the Divine and Annie the Brave, through familiar woods and beaches I had memorized. I wasn’t sure how long Charlie wanted to play this game. I thought they must be at our field but he never said a thing. 

“Where is he taking us?” Claudia whispered, as the land grew denser and swamp-ish. The trees were thicker and I heard sounds all around me. Birds calling to one another. Toads croaking a song. And other creatures I didn’t know about.

“Where are you taking us?” I spoke up, afraid we’d end up lost.

He looked back at me with a quick scowl and said just what I feared. “We’re lost.”

“What?”

“Todd the Spectacular was leading you to the other knights but you’ve a’scared him off.”

“Charlie, you have to be cooperative,” I said pressingly. “If Todd the Spectacular led us all this way, then he can help us back out! Have you ever been this deep in before?” I stared at him but he hardly said a word. He seemed to be regretting it.

“You’ve led us into a swamp, Charlie!” Claudia cried.

Charlie scowled at her and turned away.

“We can still play along, but we can’t go any farther,” I decided.

“He’s gone,” he said mournfully. “He doesn’t like mean people. People like Cl-Claudia. And you,” he added with a sniffle.

That was the third time Charlie had called me mean. It hurt more than if Felix or Henry had said it.

I guess because Charlie acted like I meant the world to him sometimes. And I didn’t want to disappoint him. I wanted to be brave, like he thought I was.

“Charlie, please help us find our way home.”

“I said, we’re lost!” He yelled and pushed me into a puddle of cold, thick mud.

“Charlie!” I cried. I stood up. “How could you do that?”

“You pushed her,” Claudia said alarmingly. “How could you? She’ll catch a cold!”

His arms came towards me and with all my might I kept him from pushing me again. I grabbed his arm and held it firmly. “Stop it,” I said sternly. “You’re acting like a little child, Charlie, not the older boy that you are.”

“I am a little child,” he said.

“Yes, but…” my shoulders dropped and I pushed a clump of mud from off my arm. “Yes, but you’re fourteen,” I mumbled, quietly enough so that no one would hear.

He groaned furiously. He didn’t say any words but I could feel the heat and frustration from the sounds he made. I felt agony for him, but I knew I had to be stern or he would live his life always getting his way and doing what he wanted. And I couldn’t let that happen, not while he was in my care.

“Stop it.”

“No,” he dragged out the word and kept trying to break free from my grasp.

“Yes.”

“No!”

“It’s getting dark,” Claudia said feebly. 

“I know,” I sighed. “We’re walking into a marsh.”

“I don’t want to go,” Charlie said stoutly.

“Charlie, listen to me. Soon it is going to be very dark. The ground will be mud and we will walk into a swamp. We must go home. We must, Charlie, or we will be truly and completely lost.”

He shook his head and breathed heavily and I was afraid that he wouldn’t move. That I would have to drag him home. I saw angry, but confused tears well up in his eyes.

“You can’t do everything you want,” my voice caught in my throat. I had to be harsh. If I never did then he would accidentally hurt himself one day, leaving me feeling responsible for such a thing.

And I would lose a part of me.

“I want to go,” he said pleadingly. “I don’t want to go back. I want to go more. Farther,” he moaned. “It’s not done yet. Come on,” he went to latch onto my arm but I stepped back. 

“Do you mean the game isn’t done yet?” Claudia asked.

“It’s not a game!” he cried alarmingly. 

I looked at Claudia with a warning look that signaled not to say anymore about the “game.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, and touched his arm, but he pushed away from me coldly.

“Charlie,” I said, feeling hurt. “Don’t act like this. I tell you things and I do certain things because I care about you. I look out for you.”

He looked away rebelliously.

“Remember that day by the river and Artie—” I hesitated, because I didn’t want to cause Charlie to collapse into a stubborn fit that was hard to shake him out of. “Artie had hit you.”

Charlie’s face softened a little and he shook his head again. He kept running his one finger over the side of his face repeatedly.

“He did that because you scared him that day.”

“Because he hates me.”

“No, he knew you could’ve drowned. He was scared because he loves you.”

“Artie don’t care,” he muttered. “He hates me and he don’t care about nothin’.”

“He does too. You can’t be selfish, Charlie. If something ever happened to you I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. Artie wouldn’t either. Neither of us would ever forgive ourselves. Everything I say, I say because I care and I’m looking out for you. You have to trust me and you have to listen to me.” 

“You’re not Ma!” he yelled, and tears ran down his face. “You can’t be everyone’s Ma,” he said, sitting down and laying his head on his arms. “People are always telling me what to do,” he whimpered. “Always stopping me from doing what I want.” 

“You can’t always be alone, Charlie,” I replied gently.

He sniffled and wiped his eyes.

“Let me look out for you,” I whispered. “And let’s begin again.”

“Look out for me?” he mumbled.

“Yes. And I will.”

“Promise?”

I was surprised at his question. “I promise.” I looked at Claudia. “Forever and forever.”

A hint of a smile tugged at his mouth but he pushed it away. “Forever and forever,” he mumbled again and, after a few minutes of quiet, Charlie stood up and trudged past me in the direction of home.

Claudia and I exchanged glances. I didn’t know my eyes glistened with tears until she told me.

It was dark enough that we could barely see what was in front of us.

Claudia handed me a handkerchief. 

“Thank you,” I said quietly and wiped my eyes, walking at a steady pace so I didn’t get too far behind.

We followed Charlie and we walked back into the light, the trees at our backs.

I felt lost inside of myself. But I think Claudia understood that.

It was a feverish day. Everything grew noiseless and loud at the same time. There were sounds all around me but I couldn’t distinguish them. The sky was a strange yellowish blend. But I didn’t much think about the sky right then.

Claudia slipped her cold hand into mine.

“I’m just worried about things,” I whispered.

“Me too,” her voice quivered. She was scared. Scared and tired and muddy, just like me. “Will Father come back?”

I realized that Claudia did not worry or feel pain any less just because she was small. I realized maybe I had judged her too harshly in the past. Overall, I mean. I had always thought of her as a simple little girl who wanted to be big and share her opinion on everything. But she was more than that.

She was my sister. She understood too. She had lost her mother, same as I. She had now lost her father, the same as I, too. She shared my pain, and now it felt lighter. 

“I wish I knew.” I gave her a tender smile. “Thank you, Claudia.” 

And I held her hand tight.