The Search for TK

by Bobbi JG Weiss

  Anya refused to fib anymore. She felt as though she’d said nothing but fibs all day. Josh had a tendency to warp reality like that. She clapped her hand over her mouth and shrugged.

  “Oh, you, too? Right. Well, if you see her, send her to the stables?” Will peeked into the toaster oven at the small bird. “Josh, are you going to serve one of those for each of us?” Will burst out laughing and left.

  Anya frowned after him. “Josh, I think it’s time to admit defeat and call the pizza man.”

  “A Luders never surrenders!”

  “Is that, like, your family motto?”

  Now Josh laughed. “It should be. We get into a lot of surrender-ish situations.”

  He got busy doing something important-looking with the onion while Anya picked up the huge wad of parsley and glared at it.

  Kit was so excited to be on her way to TK that she even felt cheery about Nav’s wonky bicycle riding. In truth, he improved with every mile. He kept up with her well enough, yelling, “Whoa!” or “Oh, no!” whenever the ground got bumpy, but he maintained control and fell off only once, when a loose rock made his wheel slip. Kit was afraid that he’d hurt himself, but Nav seemed to know how to fall safely almost as well as he knew how to ride (a horse, anyway).

  “Now look at you!” Kit encouraged him as they rolled along a grassy path. “You’re looking great! Almost ready for the Tour de France!”

  Nav laughed as they stopped, his bike jerking when he squeezed the brakes too hard. “Might need a few more tips,” he admitted.

  Kit scanned the terrain. “Are we close?”

  “Let me check my sat-nav.” When Kit looked at him funny, he said, “You would say PGS.”

  “GPS,” Kit corrected him. She watched him dig through the stuff in his backpack to find the device. When he pulled it out, it was dripping. “I would also say don’t give your GPS a bath.”

  Nav was not pleased. “Must have happened when I dropped my rucksack in the puddle.”

  Kit reached into her jeans pocket for her cell phone. Her hand felt only fabric. “Oh, man, I must have left my phone in the tack room! How are we ever going to get there?”

  “I think we might have a secondary disaster,” Nav said, and he lifted a formless wad of dripping ex-croissant from his bag. “A snack-based disaster?”

  “Okay, so now what?”

  “Well”— and Nav took his helmet off — “I refuse to give up. It’s simply not in my nature.”

  That made Kit smile. “And that is why we’re friends, Nav Andrada,” she said.

  Nav maintained his cool, studying the sun. “The stables are due north,” he said, “and that is north.” He pointed. “We’ll just have to take it as the crow flies.”

  “Take a lovely walk through the super-dense woods?” Kit said hesitantly, squinting at the line of trees that lay due north.

  “Call it a shortcut.”

  Kit shrugged and set her bicycle beside a tree. It would be far too difficult to attempt to steer their bikes through thick brambles and heavy leaf litter. They could come back for them later, after they’d found TK.

  Will walked briskly out of the main building, still chuckling over Josh and Anya’s cooking fiasco and curious about what would end up on Kit’s Thanksgiving table at seven o’clock that evening. If that chicken was anything to go by, Kit and the guests would be lucky to end up with a single mouthful of underdone meat and a carrot stick. Oh, and parsley. He’d seen lots and lots of fresh parsley on the makeshift prep station.

  He went to Rose Cottage, trotted up the stairs, and knocked on Kit’s door. Nothing. He knocked again.

  “She’s not in there.”

  Will turned to see Elaine. “Do you know where she’s gone?”

  “With Nav. I saw them leave the school together a couple of hours ago.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I saw them take off on bikes. Probably gone to London so we all have to panic for a couple of days. I thought I should tell Lady Covington.”

  “Why?” Will asked. “Why would you do that?”

  Elaine answered as if it were obvious. “Because rules are rules.” Which apparently meant to her that rules were to be obeyed and that she was allowed to snitch when they weren’t.

  Will didn’t understand that. In his experience, rules had very little meaning, except to make life more difficult than it already was. “Do you really love rules that much?” he asked, hoping for a serious answer. This wasn’t the first time Elaine had ruled her way into someone else’s business.

  Elaine seemed to consider the question, and her face softened. She looked down at her shoes. “No one asked me to the dinner. I mean, they did eventually, but only after Lady Covington made them.”

  Will nodded, grateful for her honesty. He decided to respond with equal honesty. “Well, sometimes you can be a little tough to approach.” He tried to make his voice convey sympathy, because he knew that Elaine wasn’t a mean person. She was just highly motivated, and sometimes she let it take her in the wrong direction.

  On this occasion, she surprised him. “But sometimes the person you don’t invite has gone to an accredited cooking school every half term,” she said. “And actually likes to help! Sometimes that person can make a beef Wellington and a lobster risotto and a chocolate chestnut roulade that would make you weep.”

  “I’d really like to try that one day.”

  Elaine seemed to be on a roll. “It’s so good,” she said, “that the tears you cry are real chocolate!”

  Will laughed. Elaine was so passionate about her feelings on this issue! He rarely saw her like this. He liked her this way. And the chocolate tears comment was funny!

  She shifted her stance from one foot to another, suddenly looking vulnerable. “I, um . . . I don’t mean to be tough to approach.”

  It was in that moment that Will felt only affection for Elaine. Yes, she usually drove him nuts, but maybe she had a good heart. And if her skills in a kitchen were really that good, Josh and Anya desperately needed her talents. “Why don’t we see if there’s anything we can do to help?” he suggested.

  Elaine smiled.

  Kit waited anxiously near the foot of a hill. Nav had insisted on going up to get a “layout of the land,” though Kit would have preferred if she had gone and he’d waited. This woodsy environment wasn’t really his thing. Still, he was doing his best to be helpful, and Kit considered him to be quite the gallant gentleman.

  He reappeared at the top of the hill and clambered down. His pants were soaking wet.

  “What happened?” Kit asked.

  “Well, I couldn’t see as far as I thought I might. Then I had a small disagreement with a river. But I did find these!” Nav held out a handkerchief full of fresh berries. He was obviously trying to make up for ruining the snacks she’d brought, as well as killing the GPS and getting them lost. Kit found his efforts endearing, but his almost desperate desire to please her also activated her Bridges prankster gene.

  “Oh, we can’t eat those,” Kit said after looking the berries over.

  “Not even the red ones?” Nav asked. “I could have sworn I’d had these before.”

  “Oooooh, no!” Kit said. “Not those, either.”

  “Forgive me,” he said as they resumed walking. “I’m not trying to poison you. I admit I’m a little bit out of my element here.”

  “There is nothing to forgive,” Kit said. “We just grew up doing different stuff. My family used to do survival weekends all the time back home. You have better talents. You found TK!”

  The kind words didn’t seem to make Nav feel any better. “For now, I’ve just found a way for us to be stranded and starving in the middle of the woods.”

  Okay, it’s time, Kit thought. Nav is at his lowest. She let her Bridges prankster gene take control. Acting like she was starved, she grabbed the handkerchief, took some of the berries, and gobbled them up. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually tried these guys before,” she commented, chewing. “Maybe
they’re fine.” Then she bent over, clutching her stomach and making the most disgusting choking sounds she could manage.

  Nav’s face paled. “Kit!” he yelled as she gagged. “Kit! Why did you —? What do I —?”

  Kit straightened back up and grinned at him. “They’re all just whortleberries, and they’re delicious.”

  “Not funny!”

  “Ah, c’mon.” Kit laughed. “It was a little funny.”

  They were interrupted by a horse’s whinny. A very familiar horse’s whinny.

  Kit jerked her head toward the sound. “Is that —?” She gasped and started running.

  Nav took off after her.

  They ran until they saw a sign: ARMSTRONG STABLES. The land beyond the sign was surrounded by a tall rock wall, but Kit knew — she knew — that TK was in there. They’d found him!

  They followed the wall for several minutes. It seemed to go on and on and on. “Oh, why does it have to be such a big wall?” Kit whined, desperate to see over it but unable to jump high enough.

  “There’s no gate,” Nav complained.

  Kit wanted to pound the wall down with her bare hands. “How do we get in?”

  “We could try walking the perimeter of the property,” Nav suggested, “but it’s immense.”

  “How could we have come this far and gone through this much and still not get to see him?” Kit tried jumping up and down again, just to get a peek, but the wall was simply too high. She pressed her hands up against the cold rock barrier. “I’m here, TK. . . .”

  Nav found a low spot on the wall. “Kit, let me give you a boost. At least you’ll be able to see him.” He bent down and laced his fingers together.

  The ultimate gentleman! Kit thought gratefully. She put her foot in Nav’s makeshift stirrup and peeked over the wall. “I see him!” she cried.

  There he stood in the middle of an enormous green field, gazing over his domain, his tail arched and his long mane ruffling in the breeze. He’s so beautiful, Kit thought, hopeless with the longing to reunite with her friend. “TK!” Kit called, waving.

  The second TK heard her voice, his head swung around and his ears swiveled forward. He took a hesitant step, then broke into a full gallop, heading directly for her.

  With effort, Kit lunged upward and got most of her body up and over the wall. She dropped down the other side and started running full-tilt toward TK.

  Kit Bridges and her wild dancing horse met in the middle of the green field. TK pranced the last few paces and stopped, snorting a happy greeting, while Kit reached out to pet him —

  “What do you think you’re doing?” someone shouted furiously. “That horse is dangerous!”

  Kit had no choice but to run as the angry figure advanced. I didn’t even get a chance to touch him! she thought, taking one last loving look at TK before sprinting back to the wall.

  “Stop!” The stable hand ran after her while pulling out his mobile. “Stop or I’ll call the police!” He began punching numbers into his mobile phone as Kit practically threw herself back over the wall.

  “I’m not giving up on you, TK!” she cried as she and Nav made their escape.

  Anya inspected their little Cornish game hen. It was supposed to be roasted. It had been in the toaster oven for over an hour. Unfortunately, it did not look the least bit cooked. It did, however, appear slightly odd. “Did it shrink?” she asked Josh, mystified. “It looks like it came out of a dryer.” The minute she turned back to him, she added, “And you look like someone stabbed you!”

  Smears of cranberry sauce covered Josh’s apron. He didn’t seem to notice. He just eyed their shriveled Cornish game hen and said, “I have so much respect for my mom right now. Like, she could do this for thirty, no sweat!”

  “Can you get her here in an hour?” Anya asked sarcastically. “Lady C is coming to this party!”

  “I can help.” Elaine entered the classroom, followed by Will.

  Josh folded his arms and challenged Elaine with his eyes. “Why, dude? We’re killin’ it here.”

  “That’s not what I heard.”

  Anya was not in the mood for an ego showdown. She was fully aware that Josh and Elaine didn’t like each other. On the other hand, they’d never tried to work together, had they? And for as much as she liked Josh, his turducken plan had swirled down the drain. If they were going to succeed in making a decent dinner for Kit and all the other guests they’d invited, they needed help — even if it came in the shape of Elaine Whiltshire.

  “Is that what you’re serving?” Elaine asked, barely suppressing a laugh at the sight of their pathetic little hen.

  Anya was through protecting Josh’s ego. “He said he had turducken in his veins,” she said accusingly.

  When Elaine giggled, Josh defended himself: “I don’t think I actually said that!”

  Elaine waved for silence. Anya would have taken it as a typical Whiltshire order, but Elaine grinned as she did it. Behind her, Will was grinning, too. When the orders started coming, they were delivered in a softer tone than usual: “Josh, get me a frying pan. Anya, start dicing. Carrots, onion, whatever you have.”

  Josh was still in Challenge Mode. “What are we making?”

  “Would you ask that of Nigella Lawson?” Elaine demanded.

  Anya snickered. She didn’t mean to, but she knew who Nigella Lawson was — a famous British journalist, food reviewer, cook, critic, and TV star. Josh had to know who Nigella Lawson was. Everybody in Britain knew who she was!

  “Uhhhhhh . . .” said Josh.

  Anya sighed. Okay, maybe he didn’t.

  Elaine pointed to the ingredients as she mentioned them. “We’re going to make potato and parsley soup, and a little Cornish game hen fricassee.” Giving Josh a reassuring smile, she added, “It’s going to be delicious.”

  Anya wanted that to be true. Oh, if only it would be true! Could Elaine actually pull it off? “Are you sure?” she asked hesitantly.

  Elaine was in Get-to-Work Mode. “Don’t just stand there,” she barked. “Chop! Dice!”

  “What shall I do?” asked Will.

  “Wheedle a dessert from somewhere. You need to know which battles to choose.” Over her shoulder, Elaine added, “A lesson for you, Joshua.”

  As Will left in search of dessert, Anya noticed that Josh didn’t move. Clearly he did not want to accept orders from Elaine. But then Elaine clapped her hands and cried, “Move!”

  “Okay, okay!” Josh said, and jumped into action.

  Anya felt hopeful for the first time in hours.

  The walk back through the woods was a pain for both Nav and Kit, but the bicycle proved too much for Nav. He finally gave up on his two-wheeled horse when they were still a mile from Covington, and they walked the bikes the rest of the way.

  Kit didn’t really care one way or another. She felt ripped in two. One half of her danced with elation because she’d seen TK, while the other half of her struggled with anger and despair at having to leave him again. “We were so close this whole time!” she complained as they made it back to the school.

  “Well, now that you know Lady Covington wasn’t being honest, there’s something we can do.”

  “None of this would have happened without you,” Kit said. “Thank you so much.”

  “For what?” Nav replied. “For getting us lost and leaving you more frustrated than ever?”

  Kit stopped walking and faced him. “No,” she said. “For giving me hope again. Now that I know where TK is, I can start working on a plan to bring him back home.” Kit paused. Was that a little red blotch on Nav’s cheeks? Was Nav Andrada blushing?

  “It was really nothing,” Nav muttered.

  Kit grinned. Yup, Nav was blushing! And she wouldn’t let him get away with such modesty. Didn’t he understand how amazing he was and how much he had helped her today? “It was one of the nicest things anyone’s ever done for me,” she told him. She pulled him into a big hug, after which she said, “You’re so awesome!” just to see him
blush again.

  Nav was such a cutie when he blushed.

  Will spent an hour asking around the dorms to see if anybody was baking or had sweets on hand. Luckily, Nellie Chatfield’s mother had sent her an entire home-baked Irish coffee cake, which Nellie was kind enough to part with in exchange for Will’s cleaning her tack for the next week. To Will, it was just one more thing on a long list of tasks he already had to do, so he agreed.

  He was on his way back to the makeshift kitchen when he spotted Kit with Nav. They both had bicycles and helmets. Since when did they go on bike rides together? Then, as he watched, Kit gave Nav a hug and beamed happily into his eyes. Will could see Nav’s cheeks blush from where he stood!

  Will tamped down his emotions and continued on his way.

  Anya was shocked. Elaine had transformed the dining hall into a lovely dinner party environment!

  First Elaine had determined that their guests would fit at one long table. That meant that all the student tables except one were pushed to the side. Elaine had then instructed Josh and Anya to gather all the candles they could find. They were also to “borrow” all the flower arrangements in the building.

  When that was done, Elaine had lit the candles and arranged them throughout the room on tables, shelves, and ledges. The same went for the flower arrangements. After she’d added a couple of well-placed lamps from her own dorm room, the dining hall glowed, sufficiently lit for practicality yet dim enough to create a relaxed dining atmosphere.

  But Elaine didn’t stop there. She also persuaded the cook to lend her some school china — some official school china! — plus silverware. “How did she do that?” Josh asked Anya in disbelief. “The cook thinks we’re going to burn the kitchen down, but he gives her china!”

  “She’s Elaine Whiltshire,” Anya replied.

  “Yeah, okay,” Josh agreed.

  Elaine told Anya to run to Rose Cottage and fetch some black linen napkins from a cabinet that Anya hadn’t even noticed before. Where did Elaine learn about this stuff? Had she gone through every room with a magnifying glass on her first day at Covington?