by JH Terry
Pickles looked into her eyes and said truthfully, “You have done no error great Mary, it is I who have done the horrible error, but soon I will rectify it, do not worry.”
“I do not understand, Mr. Pickles?” asked Mary.
“Mary, let’s talk in the church,” said Mr. Pickles hurriedly as they walked to that area. The church was cold and drafty, in its front stood a picture of Jesus, the savior to those of Christian religions. “Mary,” said Mr. Pickles. “Of late I have acted very coldly to you, and I am sorry for this. There is a very big reason for this. I have found that I, a gentleman, have been very wrong, and would like you, a maid, to be my wife.”
“What!!!!!!” exclaimed Mary.
“Must you always say that?” asked Pickles.
“But, I am a maid.”
“I know, but I will ask van Soothsbay to grant me such a favor and you will be one hundred times richer than anyone on this island. Just say yes Mary, and it will all be yours.”
“But…”
“Why say but, Mary, we feel the same about each other, all we need to do now is make it formal.”
Mary smiled a broad smile and said, “Yes.”
“Good,” said Pickles. “I will talk to them about it this afternoon. Continue with your shopping, Mary dear.”
With that Pickles left Mary surprised, but she left happy. As she walked out of the church, though, she noticed on the street a little commotion with children around. Coming closer, she noticed it was Higgles! She was harming the boys of town, with kisses! The girls beside her all began to sing aloud:
Higgles Giggles, pudding and pie,
Kiss the boys and make them cry,
When the Girls come out to play,
Higgles Giggles shows them the way!
The poor boy, Walter, the son of Colonel von Struppel, was crying for help from anyone. Mary pushed the girls out of the way and looked to Higgles who was frightened for the first time in her life.
“Miss Higgles,” said Mary. “What are you doing?”
“Leave me alone you stupid maid,” said Higgles pushing Mary to the ground. Adelé, who was passing by, saw this and ran to the crowd. With all of her might, Adelé pushed Higgles down to the ground into the mud. “Ahhh!” screamed Higgles that her dress was all in mud.
“Thank you,” said Walter to Adelé.
“No problem,” said Adelé as her ear was grabbed a hold of by a pair of bony fingers. All the children ran away as Adelé looked to the person holding her ear, Mrs. Whippet, the most horrible woman in New Amsterdam, nay, the world! She was more like a witch-like skeleton, her body practically bones. She taught the local school, where the crowd had been at unfortunately, and particularly hated little girls.
“We like to push, do we not?” asked Mrs. Whippet. “Well then, little Adelé van Soothsbay, let me help you with your push home to be punished thoroughly by your parents young lady.”
“Mrs. Whippet,” said Mary after standing up. “This girl in the mud pushed me first, Adelé only pushed her back.”
“So what?” asked Mrs. Whippet. “You are a mere maid, for all I care it is your job to be pushed around in any case, so why should that be any different.” Looking to Adelé, she said, “Now, you spoiled little brat, it is time for you to suffer.”
Dragging Adelé by the ear, Mrs. Whippet took her to the van Soothsbay home, with Mary following behind, trying to stop Mrs. Whippet, who only pushed Mary onto the ground. Higgles followed behind ready to give her full story, and behind her the entire town.
The doorbell to the van Soothsbay home rang loudly, as the butler opened the door surprised at such a view. “How may I help you, Mrs. Whippet?” asked the butler.
“I have to talk to Mr. and Mrs. van Soothsbay about this disorderly child.”
“Indeed,” said the butler quite concerned. “Right now?”
“Of course, you fool, and I will wait if need be until I do see them.”
“Yes, madam,” said the butler. “Please enter.”
Mrs. Whippet rushed in through the door to see in the living room Pickles, and Mr. and Mrs. van Soothsbay talking together. Seeing Mary’s muddy face Pickles stood up alarmed as his teacup broke onto the ground.
“Mr. Pickles!” exclaimed Sarie at her broken china.
“What is wrong Mrs. Whippet?” asked Jan concerned.
“This child of yours, Mr. van Soothsbay, pushed her sister down to the ground in front of the school.”
Jan looked to Adelé angrily, especially by the crowd. “Mr. van Soothsbay,” said Mary.
“Not now Mary,” said Mr. van Soothsbay. “I am tired of you Adelé. I wanted to be nice to you, give you a chance, but you have failed me and my patience. Now, I am forced to send you to your Uncle Pieter to straighten you up. Mary shall go with you, or to go on to some other service. You, Mary, are no longer to be a paid servant of mine.”
“Do you mean that?” asked Pickles in such a happy manner that it seemed too happy to everyone there.
“Yes,” said Jan. “Why, do you want her?”
“Yes,” said Pickles. Walking over to Mary, he said to her, “Will you be my wife?”
To this half of the ladies in town fainted in the streets outside. “Yes,” said Mary happily. Onto her finger he slipped a ring, and looked into the surprised face of Mrs. Whippet. “Now, crone, look up to my future wife.” To Mr. and Mrs. van Soothsbay, he said, “That is all I came for today. Believe me when I say that never again will I want to be in this horrible house ever again.” To Mary he said, “Quickly put your things together and Adelé’s, we shall travel to see Pieter.”
Mary left upstairs, as Jan asked of Pickles, “I do not understand Pickles?”
“Mary and I will take Adelé to Pieter, you do not need to worry about that cost. Just remember this, enjoy the future you are making for yourselves.” To the people outside he said, “Goodbye good people of New Amsterdam, go about to your work and do not stay for the show any more for it is over.”
The people left with many females disappointed at losing the Pickles fortune, even Pickles’s maid. Soon they were ready to leave as Jan and Sarie sat still surprised, Higgles trying to get their attention but they were insensible to her. Mrs. Whippet still held Adelé’s ear in her hand. “Is she not getting a more severe reprimand?” asked Mrs. Whippet.
“Uncle Pieter’s place is severe enough, Mrs. Whippet, in the Catskill Mountains. So be happy that yet again you have made an innocent’s life miserable.”
Pickles picked up Adelé’s trunks, as Mrs. Whippet let go of her grip and Mary took Adelé’s hand. “Goodbye,” said Adelé to her parents and Higgles, and yet she felt no real loss as she left the house, for she felt her affections were at most for Mary, the only one who ever truly cared for her.
Pickles, Mary, and Adelé left the house of the van Soothsbays for the time being, but when they would return many years would have passed by, along with many outstanding changes.
XII: Uncle Pieter Fritter
For what seemed like days they rode from New Amsterdam to the Catskill Mountains, the place of Uncle Pieter Fritter. Adelé was astonished by all that was around her - forest, upon forest, upon forest. In this forest there lurked Indians, some rumored to be friend, other foe, other respectable, but most savages and cannibals. Adelé had never met an Indian before, but just the word Indian put fear into her heart to say it, as brave as she might be.
Adelé wondered who Uncle Pieter might be. She had heard that they were relations, but she did not know much about him, just that he was supposed to be cruel and mean. Across from Adelé sat Mr. and Mrs. Pickles. Before they had left on the trip Mary and Pickles had been married, despite the social waiting of the time, but that had not mattered to them since marrying a maid was not a good thing socially either. They seemed happily consumed in themselves, but that did not mean that Mary was not worried about what would happen to Adelé. Ma
ry looked to her from time to time and could see that she was worried.
“Who is Uncle Pieter?” asked Adelé.
“He is your father’s, father’s half brother,” said Mary truthfully.
“Why does he live all the way up here?”
“He trades with the Indians furs, beads, and other items. They say he makes a good living.”
“Indians?” asked Adelé surprised and scared.
“Yes,” said Mary. “He is friends with the Iroquois, who form the Five Nations, a council with the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca. He does not like your father nor others from New Amsterdam much. The last time I saw him was before Higgles was born, and your parents made a trip to see him. Drunk, and angry, he yelled and screamed at them such horrible names they decided to never come back, and he never wanted them to come back. You see, your father’s father and Pieter were always at odds with each other and never got along. Pieter felt the same about your father and his kind ways. He is known to be miserly, so just be careful Adelé about what you say or do around him.”
With this the conversation ended, but Adelé wondered why Uncle Pieter hated his brother and her father so much enough to cast them away from him. She thought Uncle Pieter must be a horrible beast with red eyes, green teeth, white hair in odd places, and shriveled skin with veins and arteries to be seen on his face, hands, and neck. She felt a cold shiver go down her spine in the thought of him and had a sudden urge to return home and not be there at all. However, Adelé understood that was her fate and nothing could change that.
Adelé wondered how long she would be there- a day, a month, six months, or a year? What if her family forgot about her all together, her slaving away with Uncle Pieter to bring home the skins, to shoot Indians who wanted to hurt them, since it was documented in stories in the newspaper that these people were capable of such things.
What if the Indians captured her? Would she be forced into their way of life, or even to be the wife of the chief? Adelé began to feel sick at such a notion. She was only eight years old, she was too young to have such a horrible fate as to be married. Adelé had never thought much about marriage before, but now she put an end to those thoughts and decided she would rather die in a blaze of glory killing as many assaulters as possible than to live her life in such a fate with no one caring what happened to her at all.
The sky became darker and the air thicker with fog. Adelé could only see the shadows of trees and the shadows made by the mind when scared. She could not even trust her reality since she was now in a place where that was no longer the same.
Suddenly a shot rang out in the air and the carriage passed along violently. Adelé looked outside to see that the driver had fallen onto the ground and the carriage was moving along with no one to control it!
“What is happening?” asked Mary frightened.
“The driver fell to the ground,” said Adelé.
“Let me grab a hold of the carriage,” said Pickles.
“No!” exclaimed Mary.
“Do not worry, Mary,” said Pickles calmly. “If we are to live, I must take the reigns.”
Mary nodded her head in agreement as Pickles opened the door, but unfortunately, as he did, the carriage hit a bump in the road, causing Pickles to fall onto the ground as well.
“Peter!” exclaimed Mary, which was Mr. Pickles’s first name.
Again the carriage hit a bump in the rode, however this time it caused the carriage to turn over and Mary to bump her head unconscious. Adelé, who had been holding onto her carriage door, was lucky since the carriage had fallen on the side opposite to where she was sitting. She was hanging in the air as her little arms tried to support her weight.
“Mary?” asked Adelé, but Mary was still unconscious.
Seeing that there was a need to get help, Adelé climbed out through the carriage door window onto the carriage itself into the dark, misty air. Adelé walked off the carriage onto the ground calling out for help, but only hearing her voice in return. No one was near, and Adelé felt all alone once again in her life. Behind her to the forest she heard a howling noise – it was a wolf. Adelé became scared and tried to get on again on the carriage, but it was hard to do so. However, as she tried she did not notice that on the road behind her a figure moved closer and closer to her, a knife in his left hand and a musket in his right.
XIII: Prince Issac Raspereski
Eight years had passed since Adelé had left the home of the van Soothsbay’s to go to the Catskill Mountains to live with Uncle Fritter. No one knew exactly what had happened to Adelé, Mary, Mr. Pickles, nor of their carriage driver, and yet no one really cared, especially not Mr. Jan van Soothsbay. When asked by curious others in the district about his daughter or the others, Jan simply replied coldly, “Who cares?” Whereas, when Mrs. van Soothsbay was asked, the answer of, “What about Higgles? Is she not the most adorable woman in the world?” would be given, and the thought was gone.
After a time everyone began to forget about the four, but rumors soon spread as with anything that is not known nor understood. They would say that Jan had paid a group of Indians to massacre the lot as revenge on his reputation lost by three of the four, with the carriage driver a sad but needed victim in Jan’s need. Others said that Adelé had killed the others, fled to a forest and lived with a witch there playing piano to her, a talent that they said was too good to have been natural but given to her by the devil. Others said that Sarie, in a need to get rid of the more intellectual and brilliant Adelé in order for Higgles to have a chance, paid off Uncle Pieter to have them all killed. However, none of the reasons were found out to be true or false, so they could only speculate about such things.
However, everyone was involved with Higgles. She was nineteen now, beautiful, youthful, spirited, and, of course, still as horrible and rotten as before. She teased the boys with kisses now rather than forcing them onto the boys. She used her beauty to further her status with those around her, getting them all to be her dice and she the one who rolled them. Everyone seemed to like her, and yet they never knew why they did. Perhaps it was because she looked so much like an angel that they thought that she could not possibly ever be anything not like that in her mind. However, with that they were very wrong.
Higgles had spent already two years trying to find herself a husband, for that is what respectable women at her age did, but she was having many problems. For Higgles the right man had to be rich, energetic, witty, rich, rich, and rich. She did not mind having someone who was ordinary, or boring, but he had to be someone whom she could rule over and always have her way with. Rich old men were easy for a young beauty like Higgles to handle, but she thought that would be too boring. She wanted a man who was exciting, that man was Prince Isaac Raspereski.
It was an ordinary party at the governor’s mansion that evening as Higgles, as always, was the head of the ball with her card full on names as familiar as being alive. However, that fateful evening in the year of 1658 a new person had come to town just the day before to no one’s knowledge. Higgles, like everyone, was amazed by the looks of Prince Raspereski, for he had jet black hair which clung neatly to his forehead, handsome dark brown eyes, and stood at a tall height for the times and by his looks was physically fit. As he walked through the room rumors of him spread so fast that everything was known about him as he passed from person to person. He was a Polish prince, he was wealthy, and had come to the New World for a wife and adventure. The women and girls in the room giggled and readied themselves for his presence, while the men and boys were either jealous, not caring, or sensed that it was the perfect time for a drink or two as their wives would not be boring them constantly with their constant nagging.
Soon, Isaac reached Higgles, who gave her best smile for the man, but it was not contrived. She actually felt for this adventurer a want to travel to unknown destinations, that her pampered life with her parents was boring enough and that getting her way
with the same people was at it limit.
Isaac gently kissed her hand and said, “Dear Higgles von Soothsbay, I presume?”
“Why yes,” said Higgles in her feminine charm, “and you are?”
Isaac smiled as he said, “Why, Prince Isaac Raspereski, of Polish descent, at your service.”
“Well,” said Higgles looking to her dancing card. “It is only sad that I have no room to dance with you tonight.”
With a step closer to Higgles, beyond the convention at the time, Isaac whispered in her ear, “Who needs cards when I see in your eyes you are mine?”
Higgles blushed, but who blushed more was Sarie, and even more than her Jan. Jan rushed over to Higgles and said to the Prince, “Good evening Prince Raspereski, we have all heard of your titles.”
“I see,” said the Prince stepping back away from Higgles, but the damage had been done and Higgles was smitten. “I have heard of them a well, is that not a coincidence.”
“It is only too bad that Higgles’s card is full this evening,” said Jan happily without showing it. “I suppose that you will dance with the other ladies.”