by Dave Corrick
Chapter 27
A Footnote and Goodbye for now.
It is late autumn now. The new council administration has been running successfully and thriving with a new core of vitality.
Mr McFarland with his little bit of extra remuneration as mayor, had put it to good use and painted the shed where of course Louie and Lulu’s Factory is. Some of the timber that was rotting had been replaced and the shed had a new roof. Very smart indeed! The future of Louie and Lulu’s Factory was secure for sometime to come.
The reserve land, on which the Reserve Bank was situated, remained natural and undisturbed. The store of dollops and scents was safe.
Pearl had been overseeing the council for some time, but now her job was done. She picked up her phone to call Louie and Lulu.
‘Hi Louie, Pearl here’.
‘Hi Pearl’, replied Louie. ‘Good to hear from you’.
‘Louie you may remember’, Pearl went on to say, ‘some months back I said when our project was over we should all go and celebrate, well let’s go and do it!’
‘Oh yes please Pearl’, said Louie.
Louie whispered to Lulu who was beside him, ‘It’s Pearl, we are finally going out to celebrate the end of the project!’ Lulu screwed up her toes and hugged Louie.
‘Nothing particularly special in mind’, said Pearl. ‘What I suggest is an evening at the Nest Café. It has got a lot of memories for us all, particularly with what has happened over the past year’.
‘Oh definitely Pearl’, said Louie. ‘I couldn’t agree with you more, I know Lulu will be very happy too. We both have some very very happy memories there’.
‘Let’s make it Saturday evening, say at seven’, said Pearl, ‘and bring Tiger and Lily with you. I know Bluie Armstrong and his band are playing. That will bring back some memories for you two as well!’
‘Fantastic’, said Louie, ‘We will see you there at seven Pearl’.
‘What’s happening?’ said Lulu bouncing up and down with excitement.
Louie explained and mentioned that Pearl had asked Tiger and Lily to come as well.
It should be explained here that Tiger and Lily were now capable of flying with their parents without any assistance. Yes the little bees were growing up. Their vocabulary had expanded considerably over the past five months as well.
At that moment Tiger and Lily rushed over to their parents having detected that there was possibly something to be excited about.
‘Wa’s up daddy wa’s up mummy’ two little voices exclaimed in unison.
Louie and Lulu explained to Tiger and Lily what the ‘wa’s up’ was!
The two little creatures danced around shouting. ‘Yea! see Arny Bell, Yea! see Arny Bell’.
Louie and Lulu watched them and hugged each other. Yes they were all safe now thanks to the wonderful Pearl Baker-Moth and her clever thinking.
Saturday night came around soon enough. Lulu put on her little green mini skirt outfit, and around her head she had Louie’s favourite pink ribbon. Louie naturally had on his spider silk shorts, neatly pressed by Lulu, and the green tie to match Lulu’s outfit. To cap it all off Lulu had painstakingly made similar outfits for Tiger and Lily. Yes they looked just as cool as their parents!
It was hard to stop the little bees getting their nice clean outfits dirty before departing. The pair were up to all sorts of mischief, they were so excited to be going out with their parents.
It was a coolish evening. At a quarter to seven the four bees moved out on the deck ready to fly to the Nest Café.
‘Right’, said Louie. ‘I want you Lulu to fly in front with Lily, Tiger and I will follow’.
‘Yes my master’, said Lulu remembering fondly the earlier times of falling in love with Louie.
There was a bit of moonlight, certainly enough to be able to see while flying along the stream. Lulu and Lily took off first and headed down to stream level. Louie and Tiger followed. What a proud moment, the bee family off out on their first official engagement. A special evening with their Queen and friend, Pearl Baker-Moth.
After flying a short distance along the stream, Louie and Lulu could see Pearl ahead of them. The four bees speeded up to catch her so they could arrive together.
On arrival at the Nest Café Pearl entered first followed by Lulu, Lily then Louie and Tiger. Basil and Sybil rushed over to greet them. Bluie Armstrong and his band were playing. Bluie on seeing Pearl arrive quickly changed the tune and played God Save the Queen, a special jazzed up version! Everybody in the Café clapped and cheered, Pearl curtsied and thanked them all.
When Bluie spotted Louie and Lulu with Tiger and Lily he changed the tune to “For they are jolly good fellows” and the whole café sang along. Yes Louie and Lulu together with Tiger and Lily had become much loved bees in the community. Lulu couldn’t help it; she had tears streaming down her stripes, overwhelmed with the emotion of the occasion.
Basil showed the five to their table, yes table twenty seven by the window, Louie’s favourite. Lulu held Louie close, and whispered in his ear, ‘Oh thank you, thank you, my bee. I love you so much’.
Louie looked at Lulu and responded. ‘You look so beautiful Lulu, dance with me please Lulu, I love you too’.
Pearl sat down with Tiger and Lily, Tiger on her left and Lily on her right. She held them tightly and they watched Louie and Lulu dance together.
Pearl ordered some drinks, red wine for herself, fermented honey nectar for Louie and Lulu, and just straight nectar for Tiger and Lily. Some chocolate cake and pollen nibbles were also ordered.
Louie and Lulu sat down again. The party reminisced about what had happened over the past few years. Louie and Lulu proposed a toast to Pearl for what she had done.
It was a wonderful scene. The Café was buzzing, the band was playing and the beeswax candles around the walls and on the tables produced a magic flickering light.
Lulu noticed it first. Doctor Sum Ting Wong and his wife were sitting at a table not far from them. It was Sum that had looked after Tiger and Lily before they came to the home of Louie and Lulu.
‘Louie, Pearl’, said Lulu pointing discretely. ‘Doctor Wong is sitting over there. Let’s take Tiger and Lily over to see him’.
Pearl looked around to where Lulu was pointing as did Louie. ‘Yes, yes said Pearl, let’s all go and see him’.
It was a special reunion. All the wonderful feelings that were there on Christmas day, many months earlier, came flooding back. Doctor Wong was most impressed with how Tiger and Lily looked now. Somehow Tiger and Lily knew that Doctor Wong had a part in their lives and gave him a huge hug as small bees can be inclined to do at times! (Ever seen a slightly red Asian Paper Wasp?).
Another patron at the Café was Arnold and his wife from the Reserve Bank. It was so good to see these insects that had been close to Louie, Lulu and Pearl in the past few years.
Back at their table again Lulu said that she might have something a little special. Lulu went over to the band and whispered something to Bluie Armstrong. Louie and Pearl were watching. What was Lulu up to?
Lulu walked back to the table and said to Tiger and Lily, ‘Are you ready?’
Tiger and Lily nodded and giggled then walked out onto the dance floor. Two beautifully dressed cute little bees.
Lulu gave a signal to Bluie; the band played a fast Beetrot (similar to a Foxtrot). Our two little bees put together a wonderful little dance routine that Lulu had been secretly teaching them for the past few days. Even Louie didn’t know! The dance wasn’t perfect but the cuteness of the two little bees just about brought the house down! Louie and Lulu were just so proud of them. Tiger and Lily did the cutest little bow at the end and ran to their parents shouting, ‘Wos that awight? Wos that awight?’ Oh yes that wos awight!
The evening moved on. Pearl made many of the patrons happy by asking them to dance with her. Little did they know though what their Queen had done for them. Lulu and Louie danced together many times as did our two little bees who ha
d gained an enormous amount of confidence after their star performance.
Towards the end of the evening the two little bees fell asleep at the table. How Louie, Lulu and Pearl loved those little creatures. This was the world the four bees and Pearl wanted to preserve forever.
When it was time to go, Louie and Lulu lifted the two tired wee bees up onto their backs, held them tightly and headed off into the night and on home. Pearl accompanied them part of the way before turning away to the west and up to her apartment. Oh they had had such a good time.
Before we go we will leave you with a little scene at the bee household. It is a week after the celebration at the Nest Café. The time is early evening just after the evening meal.
Winter is not far away now. The trees have lost their leaves and look stark on often cloudy cool days when showery squalls would interfere with the insects flying.
The Factory is only working one or two days a week, the demand for services has dropped off again as winter approaches once more. Louie and Lulu have been able to spend more time at home with Tiger and Lily.
Louie has now built another room on their house so that Tiger and Lily have their own rooms.
Tonight outside there is a full moon. It is a clear frosty night. The stream below the house glistens in the moonlight. The water is pristine clear and unpolluted. The dollops and scents stored in Louie’s Reserve Bank are safe. The future of the insect community along the stream is assured for now.
Inside the little house by the stream the stove is burning brightly, casting flickering lights and shadows about the room. Louie and Lulu are sitting beside the stove holding each other close in the warmth. Tiger and Lily are playing on the floor in front of them, and there is a faint warm smell of wood smoke from the stove.
Louie the bee is safe with his beloved Lulu. Living beside the stream is indeed a good place to be.
As an afterthought, if you ever feel so inclined, a spot of chocolate cake and red wine is really rather delicious!
The End.
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Thank you for reading Louie the Bee. I hope you enjoyed it.
This is not the end of the story about Louie. No there is much more to be learnt about the life of Louie and Lulu in the second book "The World Belongs To The Insects".
In the second book Louie and his friends discover an unbelievably wonderful place to live. Find out how the insects relate to the ancient Egyptians. It is a truly amazing. See the second book at Louie the Bee: The World Belongs To The Insects
Take care and help look after Louie's world!
Dave.