“But you did,” said Archer. “And didn’t you miss seeing them?”
“Well, you’ve actually spent more time in Helmsley House than I ever did. I was only here—and only saw them—on summer breaks and holidays. They sent me to boarding school.”
“They wouldn’t do that,” said Archer.
“They did,” his father replied. “They were traveling much more back then and I was too young. They thought I would be better off at boarding school. And it was for the best.”
“How could it have been?” said Archer. “What about all your museum stories? You never did what you wanted to do.”
“That’s not true,” his father replied. “I loved hearing about my parents’ adventures, but going on one myself? That’s never been my interest. The museum was your grandfather’s idea. After he met you, he made me promise to start taking you to the museum and tell you stories, which I was glad to do. But the stories I told were never my own. And they were never any good, were they?”
“They weren’t terrible,” said Archer.
Mr. Helmsley grinned and pointed a finger in the air.
“‘World’s greatest explorer!’ That’s pretty terrible. Your grandfather must have known they would be pathetic at best. I assume that’s why they started sending you those boxes, but he must have forgotten to mention he’d be doing that. I take great pride in being their son, Archer, but I also take great pride in being the only boy in the history of the world who disappointed his parents by becoming a lawyer. I’m certain that’s another reason your grandfather wanted you in Helmsley House. Just think how embarrassing it would be if both his son and grandson became lawyers?”
Archer’s smile quickly faded. “And now I have to leave?” he said.
“I’m afraid so,” his father replied. “But try not to look so miserable about it. A little country air can do wonders. You’ve been cooped up in this house for far too long. And besides, despite my best arguments in your favor, the Willow Academy hasn’t decided whether to allow you back just yet.”
Mr. Helmsley stood up, trying not to laugh.
“I can’t quite figure it out,” he said. “But something about this whole tiger incident isn’t sitting well with them. . . . And while it never should have happened in the first place, between you and me, I thought you handled that very well.”
“Thanks,” said Archer.
His father was about to leave the room, but Archer had one final question.
“Do you think they’re still alive?”
Mr. Helmsley was silent a few moments, and when he spoke, he kept his back turned. “They had a good sense of humor about such things and so must we. But what I think doesn’t matter, Archer. If you believe they are, it’s important you go on believing so.”
♦ A LITTLE PEACE ♦
Archer, Oliver, and Adélaïde spent their remaining days together on the rooftop. Across the gardens, the Murkley house was emptied and put up for sale.
“I still can’t believe it was another polar bear,” said Oliver. “Maybe you’ll find out what happened at Raven Wood.”
“Write to us if you do,” said Adélaïde. “Well, write to us regardless.”
Oliver leaned back on the roof. “I wish we had made it to the port,” he said.
Both Archer and Adélaïde turned to him in surprise.
“It’s not that I wanted to go,” he clarified. “But I guess a part of me was looking forward to something new.”
“A big part?” asked Adélaïde.
“No,” said Oliver. “A very small part.”
“Maybe it was just something you ate?” said Archer.
Adélaïde started giggling and she couldn’t stop.
“It wasn’t that funny,” said Oliver.
“No, it’s not that,” she giggled. “I just keep wondering what those tigers must have thought when they spotted you in that gazelle mask.”
When Adélaïde stopped giggling, she turned to Archer and said, “Miss Whitewood came to check on me yesterday. She wanted to come and see you, too, but wasn’t sure if she should. She asked me to tell you she’s sorry you’re leaving and hopes she’ll see you soon.”
The Glubs were equally sorry to see Archer leave. Mrs. Glub gave him a tin of pastries for the train. And Mr. Glub reminded him to, “Keep bouncing along—bouncing merrily along.”
Archer hadn’t spent much time thinking about Raven Wood, but on the morning of his departure, it was all he could do. It was an unusual situation. He had always wanted to venture far away from Helmsley House. And now that he was, he didn’t want to.
He rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. Afterward, he went downstairs, hoping the newspaper would have another story about the museum fiasco. That would keep his mind busy. They weren’t fully aware of it, but Archer, Oliver, and Adélaïde were quite famous due to the many stories written about them.
Archer opened the front door and bent down to pick up the paper, but quickly dropped it and turned his head. He blinked twice and then once more. He wasn’t seeing things.
It’s Adélaïde and Oliver’s doing, he thought.
Leaning against the corner of the stoop was a green package tied with yellow string. And if it wasn’t from Adélaïde and Oliver, the deliveryman was likely in a rush and had dropped it in a puddle because the box was soaked through. He inspected the soggy parcel. There was an address on it, but the ink had gone runny with the water. Still, he could just make out the name Archer B. Helmsley. He shut the door and returned to his room with the box.
Next door, Oliver went barreling up the stairs with a copy of The Doldrums Press dangling from his fingers. Adélaïde was right behind him. At the same moment, reporters were once again swooping in from all directions to that tall, skinny house on crooked, narrow Willow Street. They held cameras and notepads and shouted questions at Mr. and Mrs. Helmsley, who were now standing in the doorway.
Oliver and Adélaïde nearly fell on their faces as they stumbled through Archer’s balcony door.
“You saw it, didn’t you!” cried Oliver, regaining his balance and holding up the newspaper. “The headline!”
THE DOLDRUMS PRESS
EXPLORERS DISCOVERED
“You should go look over the roof,” said Adélaïde. “It’s crazy down there. Oliver saw a reporter fall out of a tree!”
“He landed on three more when he fell!” said Oliver. “This means you won’t have to go to Raven Wood!”
Archer knew this wouldn’t change that. If anything, it would give his mother more of a reason to ship him off. But he was smiling from ear to ear. Oliver and Adélaïde sat down next to him on the bed. Oliver paled when he saw a chunk of ice in Archer’s hands.
“We’re not doing that again, are we?” he asked.
Archer handed him the note. Adélaïde read over Oliver’s shoulder.
OCTOBER 19TH
ARCHER B. HELMSLEY
375 WILLOW ST.
ARCHER,
SORRY FOR THE SHORT MESSAGE. WE DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME. AND IT’S A LONG STORY. BUT WE KEPT A LITTLE PIECE OF THE ICEBERG. HOPE IT FINDS YOU BEFORE IT MELTS. SHOULD BE HOME BY CHRISTMAS. HAVE LOTS OF CATCHING UP TO DO.
YOURS TRULY,
Ralph and Rachel Helmsley
P.S. WE’VE BEEN OVERHEARING ODD REPORTS ABOUT A TIGER CHASE SOMEWHERE IN ROSEWOOD. THREE CHILDREN WERE INVOLVED. LUCKY TO BE ALIVE. WE’RE AMAZED. DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?
Archer, Oliver, and Adélaïde sat quietly staring at one another.
“Do you think they dug?” Oliver asked.
Archer didn’t know. He lifted the ice. “It’s an iceberg,” he said, and then lowered it a little. “Or at least, it’s a piece of one.”
“That’s impossible,” said Oliver.
“It should have melted by now,” agreed Adélaïde.
They were both right. The ice should have melted long before it reached Archer. But it didn’t. And what should have been didn’t change the fact th
at Archer was now sitting on his bed, sharing a laugh with Oliver and Adélaïde while holding a piece of the iceberg. Or as Oliver put it, holding a piece of the impossible.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NICHOLAS GANNON studied art and design and held a number of odd jobs before becoming a full-time author. He has lived in Tennessee, Minnesota, and New York, including a brief residence at a tall, narrow brownstone in New York City that was the inspiration for 375 Willow Street. He now resides in Brooklyn. This is his first book.
www.nicholasjgannon.com
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CREDITS
Cover art © 2015 by Nicholas Gannon
Hand lettering by Erin Fitzsimmons
Cover design by Paul Zakris
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used to advance the fictional narrative. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
THE DOLDRUMS. Text and illustrations copyright © 2015 by Nicholas Gannon. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gannon, Nicholas.
The Doldrums / written and illustrated by Nicholas Gannon.
pages cm
“Greenwillow Books.”
Summary: An eccentric like all Helmsleys, eleven-year-old Archer escapes his overprotective mother and recruits two friends, Oliver and Adélaïde, to help him plan a rescue of his long-lost grandparents, world-famous explorers who disappeared atop an iceberg in the Antarctic.
ISBN 978-0-06-232094-0 (hardback)
EPub Edition © September 2015 9780062320964
[1. Eccentrics and eccentricities—Fiction. 2. Family life—Fiction. 3. Friendship—Fiction. 4. Explorers—Fiction. 5. Museums—Fiction. 6. Humorous stories.] I. Title.
PZ7.1.G36Dol 2015
[Fic]—dc23 2014045372
15 16 17 18 19 SCP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
Greenwillow Books
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