Hello There, Do You Still Know Me?

by Arnold, Laurie B. ;

“’Bout twenty minutes ago, but I came the old fashioned way. On a plane and a taxi—not a crazy contraption like that. I’m glad Rosalie Claire put me in charge of keepin’ an eye on the TV while she checked on Florida. It was a heck of a thing watchin’ you pop outta there. Better than any show on TV.”

  Leroy nudged Grandpa until he reached down and scratched his fuzzy ears. Grandpa Jack said hello to Violet, who he’d met a year and a half ago at my mom’s funeral. He stared for a split second at Noah as if he knew him, and then he shrugged.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met, son.” He shook Noah’s hand.

  I wondered if there was ever a time that Grandpa Jack had remembered seeing us in his living room twenty years ago. If he had, it appeared that the memory had faded into thin air.

  Grandpa told us that Rosalie Claire had called him before we’d left for the Amazon when Florida had taken a turn for the worse. He’d flown here as quickly as he could.

  “It was bad enough she up and left Truth or Consequences without a word. I swear your grandmother is gonna be the death of me.” He sighed and shook his head.

  “Where is she?” I asked.

  “With Rosalie Claire, back in the little yellow house. That fine woman is a livin’, breathin’ saint. She’ll be pleased as a pumpkin to see you. Let’s hope that fanny pack is working. Otherwise, Rosalie Claire’s gettin’ ready to send your grandma to the hospital.”

  No way did I want Florida going to a hospital. The magic had to work.

  I grabbed the fanny pack from my backpack and we all hurried to the bungalow.

  My grandmother slept beneath a paper-thin sheet, sweaty with a burning fever. She flailed from side-to-side, probably thrashing away bad dreams.

  “Praise be, you’re back and not a moment too soon!” Rosalie Claire stood up on her crutches and gave me a bear-sized hug. I gave her the fanny pack and she clipped it around her waist, took a deep breath, and slid open the zipper.

  When she peered inside, a huge smile spread across her face.

  “Hallelujah!” she cried.

  The magic was back!

  She pulled out a half-dozen glass dropper bottles filled with herbal potions. Each had a tiny typed label with instructions. She uncapped one and sniffed. Her face screwed up in disgust.

  “I’m going to need a cup of warm water and lots of honey or I’ll never get Florida to drink this.”

  I raced to the kitchen and returned with the water, honey, and a spoon.

  Rosalie Claire added drops of the murky brown potions to the warm water, naming them one-by-one. Katuki, nibima, sweet wormwood, clove, and Ghana quinine. Then she poured in inky black goop from a sixth mysterious vial with no label. The only instruction was to use every single drop.

  The bitter smell of the dark liquids swirling together tingled my nostrils and I plugged my nose.

  Before stirring the tea, Rosalie Claire dumped in scads of honey. Then she woke up Florida, who was only half-conscious.

  “Poison. You’re poisoning me,” my grandmother moaned as Rosalie Claire forced her to sip the foul potion.

  “Drink it up, cupcake. It’ll make you feel better.” Grandpa Jack took Florida’s hand.

  Violet, Noah, and I watched my grandmother swallow the remedy until every last drop was gone.

  “Now what?” Noah asked.

  “Now we wait.” Rosalie Claire crossed her fingers.

  My friends and I looked at each other and we didn’t have to say a word. We all crossed our fingers, too.

  Grandpa Jack offered to sit by Florida’s side, and Rosalie Claire took him up on it.

  “Now that my pack is working again, it’s high time I go treat this swollen ankle of mine.”

  She hobbled out of the room on her bamboo crutches, followed by Violet and Noah, but I stayed behind with my grandparents.

  “Grandpa Jack, she’s going to be OK, right?”

  “I sure hope so, sweetie. You and I know better than anybody what a tough old bird your grandma can be. I’m thinkin’ maybe that toughness will work in her favor.”

  Even though I was twelve, I climbed into Grandpa’s lap and leaned my head against his whiskery cheek.

  “I love you, Grandpa.”

  “I love you too, Sunshine.”

  We snuggled for a long time until Grandpa insisted that I go hang out with my friends. Leroy followed me to the lobby where they were waiting with Rosalie Claire. As she pulled out healing salves from her fanny pack and rubbed them on her ankle, we took turns telling her everything that had happened in Truth or Consequences, twenty years in the past.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  Miracle Movers

  Rosalie Claire must have asked at least a million-and-one questions about Grandma Daisy, Mike, my mom, and my dad before Noah noticed the MegaPix was still on. Grandma Daisy’s tape had come to an end.

  “Might as well switch it off. I think we’re done with it for now,” I said.

  “We could decide to use the MegaPix to go somewhere else tomorrow.” Violet’s eyes fired up with mischief. “How about America’s Got Talent? We could use the remote control to perform a disappearing act.”

  We all cracked up. Then Noah reminded her that tomorrow he was going surfing, and that’s exactly what I wanted to do, too.

  I hit the off button on the VCR and the TV switched to a nature channel. I picked up the remote, but before I could turn off the MegaPix, lightning waves crackled across the screen.

  Leroy growled.

  Out of the MegaPix popped a sweaty guy in khaki pants, a muddy t-shirt, and a Yankees cap. He clutched a filthy remote control, caked in stinky brown goo.

  “Where in the blazes am I now? This isn’t my living room. Please tell me I’m not on another blasted TV show!”

  He turned around and looked at the MegaPix in horror. A lion snarled at the screen. The man pointed his remote at the TV and hit off.

  I heard the click of the side lobby door and shuffling footsteps. For the first time since he’d checked in at the hotel, I saw the wrinkly old man with thinning gray hair. The travel writer from Room Three.

  “No Donald, you’re not on another TV show,” he said. “Sorry, you got stuck. It was taking you so long that for the first time ever, I had to put your show on repeat so you could come back out. It must have played over and over for weeks. Finally, I just couldn’t wait. We had a state of emergency here and I needed to pick up the MegaPix.”

  Then the old man turned to me. “Hello, Squirt,” he said. And he winked.

  “Mike?!” I shot a look at Violet and Noah. They seemed as confused as me.

  “Well, of course it’s you, Mike,” said Rosalie Claire. “I should have known that.”

  “Wait, you’re not the guy who delivered my MegaPix.” The man took off his Yankees cap and scratched his balding head.

  “I am one and the same,” admitted Mike.

  How could he suddenly be so old? “Are you the same Mike we just saw in 1994 who worked at the Wildflower, or was that your dad?” I asked.

  “Definitely not my dad. That would have been me, Squirt.”

  “How is that even possible?” Noah asked.

  From under his shirt Mike pulled out a thick gold chain. Dangling on it was a lumpy silver coin, etched with ancient words in a foreign alphabet. “It’s a magic Celtic amulet I came across in an antique store in France. This little baby lets me shape shift from an old man to a young one and back again. Makes it a lot easier to lift heavy objects when you’re a young guy. Gives me a little more energy, too.”

  I asked him how old he really was, with no shape shifting involved.

  “Eighty,” he said. “Although I don’t think I look a day over seventy-nine.” Then he broke into a huge grin.

  “Holy guacamole.” Violet looked as if she might faint.

  “This is the most awesome thing yet,” Noah said. “So doing the math, it means in 1994 when you looked twenty, you were really sixty?”

  “What can I say? It’s a gift.�
� Mike shrugged. “And the truth is, no matter how old I look or how old I am, on the inside I still feel as young as a teenager.”

  When I really looked at eighty-year-old Mike, I could see he was exactly the same person, down to his wink and his smile. He was just a whole lot older.

  “Excuse me,” said Donald. “I hate to interrupt the party, but does anyone have any idea how I’m going to get back home to New York City?”

  “I can give you a lift,” Mike offered. “My rig’s parked a few blocks away. Hold your horses and I’ll be right back.”

  He tottered out the front door. It wasn’t long before we heard the Miracle Movers delivery truck pull up.

  Violet, Noah, and I rushed outside to watch the door swing open. The familiar version of Mike hopped out. He was young with a scruffy red beard.

  “Ta-da! Same old me. Or should I say ‘same young me?’ Kind of nice to have collected eighty years’ worth of wisdom and still have the muscle power to move a MegaPix.”

  A year ago, before I’d known anything about magic, none of this would have made any sense. But now, not much surprised me. Even the fact that Mike had switched from a young guy to an old one, and back again.

  When Donald saw Mike he did a double take. “Now you look like the delivery guy. This switcho-chango business may even be stranger than teleporting into a TV.” He held up the smelly remote control. “Why don’t you take this thing before anything else happens?”

  He handed it to Mike who scrunched up his nose. Rosalie Claire propped herself up on her crutches, pulled a Ziploc bag from her fanny pack, and gave it to Mike. He dropped in the remote so the truck wouldn’t stink of lion poop. Then Violet, Noah, and I helped load the MegaPix into the truck.

  “Well, I suppose my Costa Rican vacation is officially over.” Mike looked a little sad when he said it.

  “I guess you weren’t writing a book on travel after all?” I asked.

  Mike grinned. “Sure I was, Squirt. Time travel.” And we all cracked up.

  There was one last thing that still gnawed at me. “Mike? How did you know to come here?”

  He shrugged. “Call it a hunch. I had a feeling you might be in need of a guardian angel. Someone to look after you, just in case. Of course it didn’t hurt that once I was here, I overheard you kids through the wall of my hotel room, talking about wanting the MegaPix back.” Then he winked.

  Now I knew I’d recognize that wink anywhere, anytime.

  After we said our goodbyes, Mike and Donald climbed into the Miracle Movers truck. We watched it rattle down the bumpy road. Even in the night’s darkness we could see it shimmer like heat waves bouncing off the pavement. Then it faded and disappeared, bound for New York City.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  The Miracles of Magic

  The next morning, I woke up early with the sun. I’m pretty sure I’d kept my fingers crossed the whole night, hoping the potion had worked its magic on Florida. Violet, Noah, and Leroy were still asleep. As I listened to the waves breaking on the shore, I tried my best to picture my kid-mom and my kid-dad. I dug under the bed for my sketchbook and pencils and drew the two of them holding hands in a field of sunflowers under a rainbow arching in the sky. It was exactly how I wanted to remember my parents.

  When Noah woke up, he had surfing on the brain.

  “Is it time to go to the beach? Last night Thomas promised he’d teach me to hang ten.” He dug a clean swimsuit out of his suitcase.

  Violet peeked out from under the covers. “Not until we eat something. The whole night I dreamed of chili dogs and cotton candy. Do you realize we were at a fair and didn’t eat a single bite of junk food? I feel deprived.”

  “Not me. I feel relieved,” said Noah. “That stuff is gross. Bad for your body. Scientific fact.”

  “This is no time to be a brainiac, Noah. I. Need. Food.”

  While Noah slipped into the bathroom to change into his swimsuit, Violet and I pulled on ours. Then we put on our t-shirts and flip-flops, and headed to breakfast at Thomas’s Café. My growly stomach told me I was just as hungry as Violet.

  “If it isn’t the return of the time-traveling heroes.” Thomas gave us a two-fingered salute.

  “Have you seen Florida this morning? Is she any better?” I hoped and prayed he’d say yes.

  “She slept quietly through the night for the first time since she’s been here, if that tells you anything. Still sawing logs, I think.”

  I took that as a good sign.

  We picked our favorite table under the shade of the palm grove, and Thomas handed out menus. “Eat up. We have a big day ahead of us. Breakfast is on the house.”

  “Thanks, Thomas! But breakfast is always on the house,” I reminded him.

  “So it is. Well then, you better order double.” That made Violet happy even though there wasn’t much in the way of junk food on the menu.

  Thomas disappeared into the kitchen to whip up our breakfast.

  We stuffed ourselves silly. Even Leroy got his own plate of bacon and eggs. Violet and Noah were anxious to hit the beach, but first I needed to stop by the bungalow.

  We pushed open the front door. The first thing we noticed? Grandma Daisy’s old trunk.

  “How cool is it that just yesterday we saw that thing twenty years ago? My mind is now officially bent.” Violet smacked her forehead, trying to make sense of the whole thing.

  Without warning, a familiar funny feeling swirled inside me. I kneeled down, unlatched the trunk, and pushed open the lid. For some reason, I wasn’t at all surprised that on top was something that hadn’t been there the last time we’d looked. A white envelope addressed to me. Underneath was a sandy brown fanny pack with a daisy stamped on it. The one that had belonged to Grandma Daisy.

  “No way! Awesome!” Violet’s mouth gaped open wide.

  “So awesome!” Noah agreed.

  I tore open the envelope and read the note inside.

  Dear Madison:

  I hope my fanny pack finds its way to you because I know you’ll use it wisely. Taking on someone else’s pack can be tricky. I’m sure eventually you’ll teach it to behave!

  Love, Grandma Daisy

  “OK, that is so freaky,” said Violet.

  “Grandma Daisy is the coolest.” I clipped my new fanny pack around my waist. It fit perfectly. When I pulled open the zipper and peered inside, I could barely breathe. Glowing like golden honey was the magical nugget of frog amber. I couldn’t wait to tell Rosalie Claire.

  Just as I was about to close the trunk, I noticed something else I hadn’t seen before. A newspaper clipping, yellowed with age. I pulled it out and read.

  “Oh my goodness!” gasped Violet, who peered over my shoulder.

  It was a wedding announcement from 1996. Walter and Betty had gotten married in Philadelphia, where they’d opened a tire shop. In the photo they glowed with happiness.

  “He cleaned himself up, just like I told him,” said Violet.

  Walter was smiling wide, looking handsome in a suit and tie. Peeking out from his jacket was his fanny pack. I slid the article back into the trunk.

  “So with Walter getting married, we might have changed the future a little bit after all,” Noah said.

  “But in the best way,” I pointed out, and we all high-fived.

  “What’s all the ruckus?” Grandpa Jack poked his head out of the bedroom. “Don’t be strangers, come on in.”

  Florida was still sound asleep. Rosalie Claire sat by her bedside.

  “Well look what you have on,” she said when she noticed my new fanny pack. “I’ve always wondered what Grandma Daisy did with that. It must have been waiting for the right time to show up for just the right person.” She beamed ear-to-ear.

  My grin matched hers, times ten.

  “How’s Florida?” I asked.

  “I think she’s finally on the road to recovery.” Rosalie Claire exhaled a giant sigh of relief. “I stayed up all night, keeping an eye on her. I don’t think we need to worry about c
alling the hospital in San José.”

  Suddenly, I felt the weight of all my hospital fears flying fast and far away.

  Florida stirred and peeked open an eye. “Oh my word, I had the most alarming dreams. Giant tarantulas, dinosaurs, little blue aliens.”

  “Are you feeling better?” I asked. “I’ve been worried about you.”

  “Thanks, honey. I do believe I’m on the mend. Although I’m sure I must look like an utter train wreck.”

  “I might have something to help with that.” My fingers trembled as I unzipped my new fanny pack and hoped to discover exactly what Florida needed. A hairbrush, lipstick, maybe a little blush? I peered inside and found … a rubber band ball.

  I shrugged. “I guess my new fanny pack and I have a little work to do.”

  My friends cracked up.

  “It always takes some time and training for them to get used to a new owner,” Rosalie Claire said.

  “If anyone can do it, it’s you, Madison,” Violet said. “After all, you trained Leroy, right?”

  “Yep, I sure did,” I said. And someday soon I’d train this magic pouch too.

  I think the best thing of all was that Florida didn’t seem to mind a bit that I hadn’t found her any beauty products.

  “Don’t you worry. When I get back my old get-up-and-go, I’m sure I’ll be ready for some all-important beautification. By the way, where did you get that charming little bracelet? I seem to recall your mother had one just like it.”

  I ran my finger along the moonstones surrounding my wrist. “She did,” I said. “It’s one of my favorite things.”

  “It’s divine. It looks lovely on you.” Florida closed her eyes and drifted off to a peaceful sleep. A slight smile curved up the corners of her mouth. Right then and there I knew that when my vacation was over, going home to Truth or Consequences with Florida and Grandpa Jack suited me just fine.

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Surf’s Up!

  “Ready to learn how to hang ten?” Thomas asked.

  “Yes!” Noah raised his fist, eager to take on the challenge.

  “Since Jack’s with Florida, and my ankle is feeling much better, I’m tagging along,” Rosalie Claire said. “Besides, someone needs to watch Leroy so he doesn’t go plunging into the water after Madison.”