by Jamie Smart
Then Space Fleet were upon them, and together they rolled around in the lush, dewy grass, laughing and screeching and hiccupping with joy.
‘Not yet!’ A shape came bustling through Shady Acres. A short, wide shape, which clattered and jangled as it walked. A glowing banana bobbing out in front of it. ‘No celebrating yet. If that tree is to die, then it needs Jikanda.’
Ventillo stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Then she stared incredulously at the rest of the crowd.
‘What are you all waiting for?’ She clapped her hands, as if herding pigs. ‘Jikanda. JIKANDA!’
31
Jikanda
The crowd made their way towards the Eden Tree and all held hands around it. Dev, his mother and Boja squeezed in. Dev held one of Boja’s paws, Ventillo the other. Further along he saw Santoro, and then Arnold, Bastor and Rosa. Percy too, who glowered back and made a show of grabbing Mina’s hand. Then he paused, realised which hand he’d taken, and marvelled at how it had miraculously healed.
Only ex-Mayor Simpius Bumblebuss refused to join in. He sat to one side, helmet-less, leaning back on his ample bottom, arms folded across his chest.
‘You can’t do this,’ he huffed.
‘Join us. Please.’ Bastor beckoned.
‘You can’t just let that tree stay dead,’ Bumblebuss insisted. ‘Cut up the machine, take its flember out, put it back where it belongs. Be quick about it.’
Dev squeezed Boja’s paw a little tighter.
‘Flember flows between us all,’ Ventillo shouted back. ‘It gets shared. You know that as well as anyone, Bumblebuss. None of us wanted to lose the Eden Tree, but right now it’s the bear’s turn to hold its flember.’
The Mayor harrumphed loudly.
‘The best we can do is thank the tree for a life well lived.’ She smiled reassuringly towards Dev. ‘So that’s what we’re going to do.’
‘Right, well … let me try and remember how the prayer goes.’ Bastor tried to cough over his nerves.
‘Treacherous,’ Bumblebuss grumbled.
‘Villagers,’ Bastor shouted over him. ‘We’ve all had a difficult Flember Day.’
The crowd murmured.
‘In offering flember to one, we had to lose it from another.’ Bastor lowered his head in prayer. ‘And so, in thanks, we offer Jikanda to the Eden Tree. It gave us air to breathe, leaves for shade, it was home to our wildlife. What the Eden Tree did for our village cannot be overstated. It gave, so we could take.’
‘Jikanda jokay, jijin te sep,’ Ventillo shouted.
‘Jikanda jokay, jijin te sep,’ Bastor repeated.
Other voices joined in. Soon the whole crowd was saying it, randomly, out of time with each other. Dev too, and Boja, although he was mostly guessing at the words.
Agatha Bloom broke the circle. She scraped moss and flowers from her helmet and then walked towards the tree, muttering prayers under her breath, before gently placing her offering in a nook of the tree’s roots. Others followed, each taking the decoration from their helmet and presenting it to the tree. They tucked mushrooms inside its hollows. Smeared mud across its bark. Hung vines from its withered branches.
Whispering their own little prayers as they did.
‘I … I don’t have anything to offer,’ Dev whispered to his mother.
‘I think you do.’ Amy smiled, nodding towards Dev’s shoulder. For there sat Limpy the flemberbug, fluttering his wings and blinking in the daylight.
‘Limpy!’ Dev grinned. ‘You stayed with us!’
Limpy waddled out onto Dev’s hand, glowing gently with flember. He rubbed his good legs together – CLIK CLIK CLIK – before taking off, drifting wonkily past Dev and Boja, over the crowd and towards the remains of the Eden Tree. There he landed, in amongst the moss and the ferns, the flowers and the mud, busily nudging his surroundings into the shape of a nest.
‘A new colony, perhaps.’ Ventillo clasped her hands together in delight. ‘Right here in Eden! Oh wouldn’t that be something.’
Ex-Mayor Bumblebuss, who, aside from a few snorts and scoffs, had been quiet during the ceremony, allowed his loudest snort of all.
‘See? THIS is how flember works!’ Ventillo glared at Bumblebuss. ‘It finds new life.’
She smiled up at Boja.
‘It found Boja. And he deserves flember just as much as everyone else.’
‘Bojaaaaa!’ Mina yelled, breaking from the circle and piling into Boja’s legs.
Boja giggled, and then Space Fleet were upon him too. Clambering around him. Chanting his name. Other villagers edged forwards. They stared up in amazement. Poked Boja. Stroked him. And then, when they felt comfortable enough, absolutely buried him in questions.
‘Boja,’ Acting Mayor Bastor interrupted as he squeezed to the front of the crowd. ‘Look after your flember. You have a duty, now, to carry it well.’
Boja nodded, then suddenly looked very panicked. As a hush fell upon the crowd, a gentle gurgle rose up through his throat and, before he could catch it in his paws, a delicate burp had slipped out of his mouth.
The crowd OOH-ed with delight.
‘Welcome to Eden,’ Bastor laughed.
A riotous cheer went up. Helmets were flung into the air. Space Fleet went wild, running huge circles around the crowd, closely followed by a bewildered, bleating goat.
Dev felt his mum’s hand slip into his.
‘Boja’s your responsibility now.’ She smiled. ‘It’s about time you had some of that.’
32
The Fix
The crowd made its way down from Shady Acres, through the Old Woods. Everything was green again, everything alive. Birds sang. Leaves rustled in the breeze. Villagers plucked at the flowers as if they’d never seen such things before. This was quite a different procession from the one that had climbed up here this morning, but it was just as excited. A boy and his huge red bear, followed by a crowd of people. People who only wanted to touch Boja. To stare, wildly, at Boja. To marvel at how this creature could even exist at all.
‘There’s time for all that later,’ Acting Mayor Bastor huffed, swatting their poking fingers away from Boja’s belly. ‘The marketplace is a mess of smashed tents. There are huge rips across the street. A lot of things need rebuilding, not least Arnold’s Waffle Shop.’
Arnold’s face went very, very grey indeed. ‘What? What happened to my waffle shop?’
‘The point is, we’ve a village to fix. And Dev, if you made Boja for the reasons you said you did, we’d greatly benefit from his help.’
Boja raised his arms in the air, a great cheer across his face.
‘I think that means he’d love to,’ Dev laughed.
‘WAFFLES!’ Boja shouted over him. ‘WAFFLES, WAFFLES, WAFFLES!’
He turned, ploughed through the crowd and scooped Arnold up into a huge, crushing embrace. ‘WOH-FFLES,’ he boomed again, kissing the confused-looking waffle maker on the cheek.
‘W-what did you do to my shop?’ Arnold winced.
Boja pushed his way back to the front of the crowd, clutching Arnold like a grumpy dolly.
‘WAFFLES!’
The marketplace was a bigger mess than Dev had remembered. All the destroyed stalls. The torn flags. Zerigauld’s antique shop, still missing a big chunk of its wall. A line of shops Boja had bounced off or rolled through. All the buildings hit by his head, his belly, or his bottom. And all those gaping cracks in the ground, tearing up the street like huge claw marks.
There was a lot to do.
A lot to fix.
Dev smiled. Cleared his throat. Readjusted his helmet.
‘Right –’ he turned to Boja ‘– let’s get started.’
‘We’ll help!’ Sam and the rest of Space Fleet ran out around them. They each scooped up a small pile of debris – wood, soil, cold cuts of meat – and threw them into Boja’s arms. Soon, Boja was carrying huge mounds away from the marketplace, and coming back, arms empty, ready for the next. After four or five loads, however, Dev rea
lised he was just dumping it all around the back of Zerigauld’s shop, so it took a little more time to dispose of it properly. But he could see how much Boja was enjoying himself. This huge bear could lift whole trees. Lean buildings back into place. Fill the cracks in the street with rubble, before patting them down with wet mud. With Boja’s help, every job was getting done ten times faster.
The Guild got stuck in too. Using their skills, their trades, to patch and rebuild. Every villager helped where they could, from the youngest to the oldest – carrying, hoisting, hammering and planting, whatever they could do to repair the village. The only exception was Zerigauld, hiding in the gloom of his shop, sneering at anyone who passed by his window. And Simpius Bumblebuss, whose sulk was so deep and so damp he refused to even lift a finger.
For everyone else in Eden, however, this was an event to enjoy.
It was evening by the time a small crowd had amassed outside Arnold’s Waffle Shop. And yet, despite Boja’s chants of, ‘WAFFLES, WAFFLES, WAFFLES,’ there were no waffles here. Nor was there a roof, or all that many walls. Just Arnold, sitting on a big pile of rubble.
‘It’s all gone,’ he sobbed. ‘My machinery’s broken. My home is in pieces.’
‘Dev can fix it,’ someone in the crowd shouted.
‘Yeah, go on, Dev. Come up with something!’
As more and more villagers cheered him on, Dev felt a swell in his chest, a burst of pride through his veins, and an excitable grin spreading across his face.
‘Right!’ He clonked the side of his helmet. ‘Let’s get thinki—’
His helmet ground and clanked, but no thinking bulb came out. He tugged on the straps, but no arms appeared, no lenses, no clamps. Just metal stubs and a shower of sparks.
‘Oh, yeah,’ Dev grumbled. ‘No matter, I’ll work without it!’
He paced back and forth, staring furiously at the ground. Occasionally he would stop and exclaim ‘A-HA!’ before dismissing the idea with a waft of the hand. Then he’d do another lap in front of the rubble, mumbling to himself.
Finally, to the great relief of his audience, he came upon a solution.
While Dev set to work building his device, Boja, Space Fleet and the rest of the crowd were all tasked with clearing the rubble. Needless to say, Boja did most of the heavy lifting, but, under Percy’s watchful eye, Mina turned out to be quite an impressive site manager. She sat with Fervus tucked under one arm, her own Boja Bear tucked under the other, and her legs dangling over the edge of next door’s balcony, as she barked instructions to every Space Fleet cadet, Guild member and villager regardless. With everyone working together, they managed to not only rebuild Arnold’s Waffle Shop, but improve it.
Sort of.
Still it had no roof, and the walls were just piles of broken stone. Call it … rustic. Smaller rocks and debris were stacked into piles to serve as chairs or tables or, where they didn’t look anything like chairs or tables, they could be sculptures. That was up to the customer. Not only that, but the shop now had a water feature in the middle. All agreed that it was a great talking point, and any mention of it being a burst water pipe would be unfair to an otherwise happy accident.
‘It looks lovely.’ Percy sat beside Mina, tenderly holding her hand. ‘My little girl did well.’
‘Done!’ Dev triumphantly cried, standing back to admire his Waffle Transportation Network. It stood tall amongst the wreckage, a fairground ride of poles, gears and conveyer belts, all perched atop a wobbly mess of scaffolding.
‘It’s beautiful!’ Arnold cheered. ‘Does it work?’
‘There’s only one way to find out!’ Dev turned the largest handle. ‘Start making waffles!’
Arnold mixed up a large bowl of sugary batter, clambered to the top of the contraption, and dropped a great dollop into the batter reservoir. ‘Boja, would you be my first customer?’ he asked, and within what seemed like a fraction of a second Boja was sitting at the other end of it all. His drooling mouth open wide below the conveyor belt.
The waffles were toasted, slathered with cream, and decorated with toppings, all while sl-o-w-ly trundling towards Boja. The first one plopped onto his tongue. He shrieked with glee, chewing it over and over, savouring it with each and every taste bud. Then the next one came. And the next. And soon a steady line of hot, sugary waffles were tumbling down into Boja’s mouth.
Boja was enraptured. Ecstatic. His eyes closed and he chomped. And chomped. Then he flung out his arms and hugged Dev so tightly it felt like one of them might burst. When he finally pulled away, they were both crying. Dev, because he hadn’t been able to breathe, and Boja because he was just so flipping happy about waffles.
33
An Everdew Family Meal
News of Arnold’s new waffle shop spread fast, and soon a larger crowd huddled in the streets around it. They basked in the shop’s sweet, sugary warmth and chomped down on every new waffley combination Arnold could come up with. His wife, Nomilie, let their children join in the feast, while she affectionately wrapped her arms around Arnold’s neck.
‘Nice to have you back,’ she hummed in his ear.
For most, that’s how Flember Day ended – with a profound sense of thankfulness. The village had its flember back. And a new villager too. A huge, furry, miraculous villager. One who was currently handing out hot waffles, proudly yelling, ‘I’M SHARING!’ at everybody who took one.
As the pink skies of evening became the twinkling blacks of night, the crowd slowly filtered away. Space Fleet’s numbers dwindled as their parents carried them home (after they had each hugged Boja goodbye). Mina gave Boja the biggest hug of all, then one for Dev too. Finally, amongst cheers from the stragglers, Acting Mayor Bastor arrived. He was wearing his new mayoral robes over his Guild uniform and, to be honest, they didn’t fit so well. A little tight around the shoulders. Enough to make him look uncomfortable, as he tugged at the fluffy trim and tried to keep the hem off the ground.
‘Goodnight, everyone.’ He nodded, scooping a sleeping Fervus up in his arms. ‘Maybe tomorrow will be quieter, eh?’
The few remaining villagers waved him goodbye, and then they too wandered away, leaving only Arnold, his family and Dev. And, of course, Boja, who was leaning against the houses opposite, his body half-asleep but his mind, now filled with waffle sugar, apparently racing. He giggled. He twitched. He kept trying to catch the fireflies buzzing around his head. Eventually, it all became too much, and with one large belch he rolled forwards onto his face. And there he lay, gently snoring into the cobblestones.
‘Time to take him home.’ Santoro stepped out from one of the alleys. He had changed from his torn, dirty Guild uniform, and was now wearing just a smock, trousers and no helmet at all.
Dev was struck by how relaxed he looked.
‘Thank you,’ Dev said, as they grabbed a large red arm each, and started dragging the relentlessly heavy bear back home. ‘For what you did up in Shady Acres. For helping to save Boja.’
‘I thought he’d be more use to the village than a big old tree,’ Santoro admitted. ‘Aaaand it was sort of my fault you got in this mess in the first place.’
‘You mean the heart?’
‘I shouldn’t have done that.’
They pulled Boja on in silence. Down the dusty little path. Over the crumbling stone bridge. Up towards the front of the house.
‘I’m glad you did,’ Dev finally said, catching sight of a smile as it glimmered across Santoro’s face.
The front door flew open, and their mother leapt out to meet them. ‘You’re back!’ she exclaimed, helping the brothers to squash Boja in through the front door. Once inside, he crushed an armchair, fell over another, put his foot through a sofa and clonked his head against everything he could conceivably clonk his head against.
But Amy wasn’t upset. Quite the contrary. She stared at Boja with amazement in her eyes. ‘I still can’t believe you … built him,’ she gasped, while Santoro helped her hang the door back on its hinges.
; Dev stood for a moment, soaking in the atmosphere. The house was warm. Lanterns flickered on the walls. The pipes above them gently DINK-DINK-DINKED with the sound of bees. Boja, fascinated, and a little more awake, started DINK-DINK-DINKING back.
‘What we all need is a family dinner.’ Ventillo barged the front door back open with a large wooden crate. ‘Fire up the stove! I brought my best parsnips.’
‘It’s already going.’ Amy gestured to a large pan of bubbling water. Speckled green eggs bobbed up and down in it. ‘Mum, you brought apples.’
‘Parsnips,’ Ventillo replied, peering closely at her crate full of bright green apples. ‘Oh, bother. Well it’s not my fault, my banana’s running out. I can’t see properly.’
She pulled the banana from her helmet and handed it to Dev. Then she pulled a potato out from her pocket and slapped her hand against it. The banana flickered a couple of times, before its light faded out completely.
‘Looks like I’m staying here tonight,’ she said, grabbing plates from the cupboard. ‘Duck eggs and apples for dinner. It’ll be fine. Long as we’re all here, we’ll see Flember Day out, as a family.’
‘FAM-LEE!’ Boja cheered, quick to claim his place at the table.
And so, for the first time in a long time, all the Everdews ate together. Boja watched them using knives and forks, but couldn’t do it himself without flinging slices of apple at Santoro, so he gave up and ate with his paws instead. Ventillo remarked what an excellent idea that was, and started using her hands too. Soon they were all gleefully shovelling duck eggs, buttered wildercakes and the occasional bit of apple into their mouths, before washing it all down with hot tea.