The Princes of Tangleforest

by Vann, Dorlana

  The house seemed even creepier in the daytime, and he knew it wasn’t his imagination because Bonnie had eased close to him. He patted Bonnie on the shoulder to let her know that everything was all right.

  “I want to go home,” Bonnie whispered anyway.

  “It’s just a house,” he told her and himself. “A pretty girl lives here. Don’t you want to meet her?”

  Her face lit up. “And play with her?”

  “No.”

  Her face drooped again.

  “She’s not a little girl. She’s my age.”

  They stood at the door. Tanner tried to muster up the nerve to knock when he noticed Bonnie touching something… the doorbell! “Stop,” he said and moved her hand away. He had no idea how many times she had pushed it. And he had no way of knowing if it even worked. He guessed he would wait a couple of minutes, and if no one answered he would knock.

  They waited.

  “Can we go home?” Bonnie whined.

  He knocked.

  They waited.

  “I guess they’re not home,” he said, but then he heard rattling like locks being unlatched. Bonnie looked at him with her mouth opened into a huge excited smile. His heart pounded. What was he going to say?

  The door crept open. “Hello?” An eye stared at them for a second above a chain that showed through the crack in the door, before closing again. Bonnie’s eyebrows were drawn in and her lips puckered. Tanner shrugged his shoulders, ready to walk away when he heard the door opening again. This time it opened all the way.

  Even though Tanner didn’t really know what to expect, the words Julia had said came to mind: “She’s a witch,” because she did look like an actual Halloween witch, minus the hat and broom. The long, stringy, gray hair, the long nose, the wrinkled up, haggard skin, and the ratty old clothes all screamed witch. He wanted to grab Bonnie and run. Instead, he nudged her behind him. She didn’t resist.

  “May I help you?” the lady said in a witchy voice.

  “Um… yeah, I mean… I’m here to see Poppi?”

  The old woman’s mouth gaped open, and her tongue played with the inside of her bottom lip. She finally said, “How do you know my granddaughter?”

  His mind raced. Of course, how would he know her name? He didn’t want to get Poppi in trouble. He didn’t want the witch to nail her window shut or move her to a room with no window or, worse, one that didn’t face his. He had to think fast and talk fast…“A friend of mine from school said she lived here across the street from me; she said she knew her from school; she asked me to tell her ‘hi’ for her.”

  The ladies face seemed to soften. “I’ll tell her.”

  When she tried to shut the door, Tanner didn’t want to let it go so easily; he had to get something out of the visit, anything. “I… this friend wanted to know if she could keep in touch with her. Can I have her number or email address?”

  “We don’t have a computer.”

  “Phone?”

  “I’m really sorry young man. My granddaughter has way too much school work to be socializing. Tell your friend that Poppi is fine and says hello.” With that, she shut the door in their faces.

  They stood there for a moment.

  “She was nice,” Bonnie said. “Can we go home?”

  Tanner exhaled. “Yeah. I guess so.” Suddenly, he had another idea. “Come on,” he said and grabbed Bonnie by the wrist.

  “Ouch! You’re hurting me.”

  “Shhh. We’re going to play spy.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If you were my little brother instead of my little sister you’d know.”

  She frowned.

  “All right,” he said. “We’re going to play hide and go seek.”

  “Oh, I know that game. I wanna play. I wanna play…”

  “Bonnie,” he whispered sternly. “I said we’re playing.”

  She pulled her arm away from him and stood still in the yard, her hands on her hips. “No fair. I can’t count very high.”

  “You hide. I’ll count.” He put her behind the bushes on the side of the house. “Now stay here until I find you.”

  “Okay.”

  Tanner walked a couple of feet until he stood right underneath Poppi’s window. He whispered up, “Poppi… Poppi.”

  “Do I come out now?” Bonnie asked.

  “Not yet.” He waved her back.

  “Poppi,” he said a little louder.

  Still nothing.

  He found a couple of acorns on the ground and threw them at the window, followed by a couple of pinecones. They didn’t make much noise, but it seemed to have accomplished his goal because he watched the curtain move to the side a little.

  “I don’t like this game,” Bonnie said.

  “Shhh,” he said and waved his hand at her.

  He waited for a couple of minutes before the window opened. The curtains remained closed as a hand reached out beyond them holding a piece of paper. He watched the paper fly softly to the ground. When he looked back up, the window had been closed again.

  “What’s that?” Bonnie ran from her hiding spot and grabbed the paper.

  “Bonnie, no,” Tanner said. “Let me have it.”

  “What does it say?” Bonnie asked handing it to him.

  “Grandma sleeps at midnight.”

  Chapter 9

  Since Julia knew her dad would have said no to any suggestions, she made the plans for his birthday without telling him. Inviting both sides of the family over for a party would be interesting, to say the least. Aunt Mary and Uncle Howard, from her dad’s side, would probably be a tiny bit uneasy with all the ethnic music and decorations, but Julia could only think of her dad’s needs at the moment. Her ultimate goal was to help him feel closer to her mom and for him to be happy and to smile again. Therapy with Zachary’s dad’s had helped a lot by enabling her dad to function in day-to-day activities; however, she wanted to give him that little push to get back to actually living again.

  She planned to have him out of the house by 6:00 p.m. so her nana and aunts could decorate and prepare their dishes like frijoles refritos, tomatillo salsa, tamales, and chocolate cake. She was to have him back home by 8:00 p.m. to be greeted by a house full of caring friends, loving family members, and the familiar smells of her mom’s favorite dishes.

  “Dad?” Julia said after she found him in his chair watching TV… again. “I need to go shopping.”

  He put one finger up, watched the TV for about thirty seconds longer before turning it off. “What can I help you with?” he asked as he gave her his full attention.

  “Shopping. I need new clothes. All I have are these black ones.” She smiled.

  He put his hand up to his mouth. “How could I not know you needed clothes that bad?”

  “Joking. I mean, I do need them, but mine aren’t rotting or anything.” She thought she would use this as an opportunity to take a step herself. If she expected her dad to get on with his life, so should she. Even though she had worn black since her mom’s funeral, now she could see herself in different colors. She knew she wouldn’t go as far as pink, but perhaps, hunter green or brown.

  He nodded. “When do you want to go?”

  “Now?”

  ***

  The last guest didn’t leave until after midnight. Julia thought her father had seemed a little distant at first, and she had been afraid that she had upset him. Thankfully, as the night progressed, he had come out of his shell; he had laughed and socialized with his guests.

  It had been good for her, too. She spent as much time as possible in the kitchen. Her grandmother was more than happy to show her how to make the dough for the tortillas. Julia knew she had a long way to go, but felt in her heart that this would make her mom happy, and so it made her happy. She especially enjoyed spending time with her mom’s sister, Mia and her cousin Natasha. It gave her the chance to apologize about the way she had acted at the funeral. Her mother and Aunt Mia favored each other so much they could have been t
wins, and it had been too soon to look at her aunt.

  Even though Natasha acted young for her age, six months younger than Julia, the party had also given them a chance to talk girl-talk. Julia had almost forgotten what it was like to have a girlfriend. She had even raved a little about Tanner, stopping before she gushed too much.

  Julia had attempted to stay focused on her dad; however, she never completely stopped thinking about Tanner. She wanted to talk to him. She wanted to see him. She checked her phone every once in awhile to see if he had texted.

  After the party she lay on her bed staring up at the white ceiling. She smiled. Tanner was so cool and so cute; so different from Zachary. Even though Zachary had been her boyfriend since grade school, it felt more like they had been best friends, not boyfriend and girlfriend. He had been too shy to even kiss her. She wasn’t sure why she had even stayed with him so long.

  She hated that sixteen years had passed without her ever kissing a boy. Still, in a way she felt thankful that her first kiss hadn’t been with Zachary, who had turned out to be a psychopathic, power-hungry, devious nerd. She figured it would have been bland anyway. For sure. It would have been like, “Oh. That was a kiss?”

  She sat up and wrapped her arms around her pillow and smiled as she thought how a kiss from Tanner would be. Closing her eyes, she puckered slightly and imagined his lips on hers. It actually made her giggle to think how great it would be. A guy like Tanner had never even glanced her way. “Maybe Zachary did me a favor.”

  When she realized what she was doing, she threw her pillow to the side and placed her face in her hands. “Why can’t I get him out of my mind?” However, the next thought was, perhaps she could invite him to over for lunch… no! She couldn’t do that. But it wouldn’t mean anything. Not really. She fell back on her bed. There were a lot of leftovers from the party. Her and her dad could never eat that much. It would be such a shame for it all to go to waste… And maybe, for one cool afternoon, they could forget about the Princes and school and just hang out. And… maybe, just maybe, they would enjoy each other’s company so much, the day would turn into the day she got her first kiss from the guy of her dreams.

  Chapter 10

  Tanner didn’t really consider what he did as sneaking out. His mom had gone to bed, and he simply didn’t want to wake her. He locked the front door behind him and crossed the street. After dark, the entire neighborhood shut down. Far scattered dim streetlights and the lack of cars seemed to make the sound of the frogs and crickets louder, creepier.

  As he stood under Poppi’s window, he began to doubt what she had meant by the note. Grandma sleeps at midnight. Surely it had meant for him to come back at midnight. He looked down at his phone. 12:05. A bit ambitious? A tiny bit too enthusiastic? He stood there, feeling like a fool, wondering what he should do, where he should stand, and if he should throw acorns and pinecones at her window like he did before, when he heard her.

  “Boy? Are you there?”

  He stepped out of the shadows. “Tanner,” he whispered up. “My name is Tanner.”

  She smiled. “Tanner. I’m glad you came back. I don’t get to talk to anyone except for grandma.”

  “Really?” The rumor that she was held prisoner by her grandmother once again entered his mind. “Why not?”

  “Shhh,” she said. “You’ll wake her.”

  “Can you come down here so we can talk?” he whispered.

  She shook her, looking away from his stare.

  He thought for a moment before saying, “Can I come up there?”

  “No!” she said quickly. “I don’t know.” She tilted her head to the side. “How?”

  “Can you unlock the front door?”

  She shook her head. “I can’t.”

  An oak tree stood tall beside him. The obvious choice, but he wasn’t much of a climber. He jumped several times before he reached the shortest branch. Putting his feet on the trunk of the tree, he walked up the side until he could maneuver his ankles around the branch he held onto. He hung there, knowing he needed to be on top of the branch. He felt nervous. Mostly because she was watching him, probably ready to shut the window by now.

  He walked his feet a little past the branch, pulling, grunting, and twisting until he was on top of it and faced Poppi. She had her hand over her mouth, and her eyes were wide. “Hi,” he said and sat up. He scooted backwards until his back hit the trunk of the tree. Sliding up the tree with his hands over his head, he grabbed the branch above him and walked to Poppi’s window.

  He held his breath as he let go of the branch and balanced the two steps to the side of the house. With one foot on the branch and the other on the gutter, his hands and face were plastered against the top part of the window. Poppi backed slowly away, but at least she wasn’t rolling on the floor laughing. He walked his hands down until he could safely squat. He tumbled in the window, landing inside Poppi’s room.

  He leaned over with his hands on his knees and inhaled and exhaled and then stood straight in the window-shaped moonlight. The room was gloomy dark, only flickers of light from different corners. Candles? He tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling the room caused: the shadow of the canopy bed loomed up and crawled halfway across the ceiling. A large doll house sat in the middle of the floor, and clusters of stuffed animals seemed to glare at him from every direction. “Poppi? Where are you?” he whispered.

  “I’m here,” she said softly.

  He turned toward her voice. She stepped into the soft light wearing a white gown that went down to her knees and covered her arms to the wrists. Her blonde hair flowed over her shoulders and down the front of her gown all the way to the hem.

  “Your… uhh… grandma,” he stammered. “You’re sure she’s asleep?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  As she took tiny steps toward him, the first thing he noticed were her pale blue eyes dotted with large black pupils that demanded attention against her fairness. Her face had a clean shine, perfect skin, and sharp features. When she smiled, Tanner found himself absorbed in the peaks of her lips, until he realized she stood mere inches away.

  Poppi examined Tanner’s forehead to his nose to his chin. Her blonde eyelashes fluttered as she giggled. Poppi’s breath smelled of sweet peppermints and her hair tickled Tanner’s face. His already excited heart sped so fast it seemed to be flipping around in his chest. She kissed him on the lips, staying long enough for him to start to pucker, and then it was over.

  “I’m so happy you’re here,” she said, twirling slowing around, swaying her arms out to her side, dancing them through the air.

  He watched her for a moment, his heart making an effort to calm down. He had never had a girl kiss him so fast. Except for the one time when Stacy Miller laid one on him at Chris’s party, but she had been dared. “How long have you lived here?”

  She came to an abrupt halt. “I don’t know.”

  “You’re homeschooled, right?”

  “Do you go to a real school?” She began to make her way back toward him.

  His heart remembered the kiss and began to loudly pump. “Yeah. Tangleforest. It’s a real trip. You’re better off not going.” He nodded more than he wanted to. “There has to be a way we can talk during the day or before midnight. You don’t have a computer? A phone?”

  “Not in my room,” she said.

  “I guess I’ll just have to come here after midnight.”

  “I’m your girlfriend, right?”

  He stepped back. “Girlfriend?”

  “I had a boyfriend before. His name was Marky. Do you know him?”

  “No, I’m kinda new here at the—”

  “So now you’re my new boyfriend.”

  “I… uh…”

  “Boyfriends and girlfriends kiss, right?”

  “Yes they do!” he said with a little more enthusiasm than he had planned.

  When she kissed him again, he kissed her back, thinking that if he didn’t force himself to stand with firm legs, he would melt onto th
e floor.

  She pulled away, her energized expression from before completely transformed into worry. “You better go. Will you come again?”

  He nodded. Even though in the back of his mind he knew she wasn’t like the other girls, really strange and immature, she was intriguing. A beautiful mystery. He definitely didn’t want to ruin his chances of getting to come back. “Yeah. Of course. All right. You want me to leave?” He walked the short distance to her bedroom door, figuring he could quietly sneak out the front. But when he put his hand on the knob, Poppi yelled, “Wait!”

  He had already begun to try and turn the knob. It didn’t move, and there wasn’t a visible lock. “She locks you in from the outside? Are you kidding me right now?”

  She put her finger up to her mouth. “Shhh.”

  “Poppi, this isn’t right. She can’t lock you in here. There are laws.”

  She started shaking her head. “Shhh,” she said again, clearly frightened.

  “All right, all right. I’ll go out the window, this time. We’ll talk about this… next time.”

  She smiled at him. “Tomorrow, right? My grandma will be asleep at midnight.”

  “I know, and I’ll be here,” Tanner said. He sat down on the window sill, letting his feet dangle. “It’s not that far.” He gave Poppi a final glance before turning and shifting his body down the side of the house until he dangled by his elbows. He dropped to the ground, grateful that skateboarding had given him such strong ankles and legs. He looked up at her, and she looked down at him, smiling.

  “Tomorrow,” she said and closed the window.

  After he ran home and climbed into bed, he stared at his window. He tried not to think about the locked door. He wondered why her grandmother would lock her in her room. And if he should tell someone. No, not yet. If he told his mom, that would be the end of him sneaking into Poppi’s room. Might even be the end of him ever seeing her again. He didn’t want to think about all that; all he wanted to think about the way her kiss made him feel. My girlfriend? He had to admit that the entire visit had been odd—the darkness, the candles, that she did kiss him, and the locked room—but her unspoiled natural beauty, the secrecy, and the excitement of having her all to himself easily controlled his mind… and his judgment.