The king’s eyebrows rose. “Is that so? Please, come sit with me, and tell me about it.” With a wave of a gloved hand, he indicated the grouping near the fireplace. “I’ve heard much about you boys. Lenore speaks highly of you.”
The guards took positions at the room’s exits.
The king sat in a high-back chair.
The boys sat side-by-side upon the couch across from him.
“It’s Pope Innocent,” Charlie said. “He’s trying to trap us here in your world.”
“Is there something about Avalon that you find distasteful?” asked the king.
“No,” said Charlie, Abe and Eddie, in a tumbling rhythm. Charlie looked at his friends, then continued, “No, Your Highness. It’s not that we dislike it. On the contrary, we’ve had a wonderful visit. However, as much as you love your home, we love ours. We wish to return to our families.”
When the king spoke, his voice had darkened, “Have you told Lenore of your suspicions?”
Charlie shook his head. “We haven’t had a chance.”
“That is fortunate, indeed.” The king folded his hands on his stomach and relaxed back in his chair.
“I don’t understand,” said Charlie.
The king took a deep breath. “You see, boys, my daughter is as headstrong as her mother, and she has developed a fascination with Reality. She believes, quite foolishly, that she can influence the advance of your civilization merely by introducing the occasional child to Avalon’s mysteries and technologies.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, there are many, including Pope Innocent, who believe this plan of hers will do only harm. They forewarn of repercussions, some ridiculous. They believe, for example, that if too many realists become aware of Avalon, it will backfire. Instead of Fantasy invading your world, Reality will invade ours. Trust me when I say that would be disastrous.”
Neither Charlie, Abe, nor Eddie spoke.
The king continued, “This has been, you see, an ongoing point of discussion in my court for some time now. Tempers have heated, and my darling daughter decided to prove her point with you three.”
He threw his hands into the air. “Surely you can see the difficult position in which I find myself.” He stood, rising large and ominous over the boys. “Even a king cannot change what is. You are welcome in my kingdom for as long as you live, but it is not my destiny to meddle in the education or evolution of Reality.” With a flare of coat-tails, he strode toward the French doors.
Charlie stood. “Your Highness? Does that mean we can go home?”
The king stopped. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Charlie replied. “I didn’t understand, exactly.”
The king laughed. He opened his mouth to reply, but before his words were out, the door opened.
“Get out of my way,” shrieked Lenore. She flowed into the room as the guards parted for her.
There was a moment during which everyone looked at everyone else, assessing.
“Sweetheart,” said the king.
“Hello, Daddy,” said Lenore. “I see you’ve met our guests. Aren’t they charming?”
“Yes, quite.” The king opened his arms to his daughter, and she crossed to give him a kiss on each cheek. One of her silver pincers reached out to pluck a bit of fuzz from the king’s coat. “Show your guests back to the nursery, my dear. I’m sure they would like to rest before they make the long journey home.”
Eddie and Abe exchanged disbelieving looks.
Lenore kissed her father. “Yes, Daddy.”
Charlie bowed to the king. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Your Highness.”
Eddie and Abe bowed as well, though less exuberantly.
∞
Leading the troupe down the hallway, Lenore said, “I’m sorry you have to go home. It’s been such fun having you here.”
Eddie said, “It’s been wonderful.”
Abe said, “I’ve had a whale of a time.”
Charlie said, “I haven’t had this much fun, ever.”
And they all meant it completely, for it had been a great adventure.
The nursery felt like home base to the boys, and they were glad to return to it.
“I have to say good-bye to you now,” Lenore told them. “But first, I have presents for each of you.” She smiled her happiness at them, then went to the sideboard and opened a drawer. She rummaged inside and pulled out a large box wrapped with the same ribbon she wore in her golden hair. She handed it to Abe. “Go ahead and open it,” she told him.
Abe grinned.
The boys tossed their hats aside and sat cross-legged upon the rug.
Abe opened his present. Inside, he found a handful of volumes bound in leather. On the covers, it said, “Plutarch’s Lives.”
The princess gently touched the cover of one. “These are the most important books any good man should read. I hope you will find them interesting.”
“I ain’t never read so many books by one person. Heck, I ain’t sure my head’s big enough to hold all this knowledge.”
“If your head were any bigger,” muttered Eddie, “the rest of us would have to sit in the hall.”
Charlie swatted Eddie’s thigh and laughed.
Abe was too busy smiling at Lenore to have heard.
Lenore drew a second box from the sideboard and handed it to Charlie.
Charlie opened his gift with more reserve than Abe had shown. He untied the bow and folded the ribbon before setting it aside. He lifted the box-lid to reveal a pair of binoculars nestled in straw next to a matching case. The light caught their brass surface and glinted. Charlie lifted them with both hands and looked them over. “Are these what I think they are?” he asked. His eyes glowed with excitement.
“Look through them,” Lenore said.
Charlie put the strap around his neck and lifted the binoculars to his eyes. A silver pincer came into view, and Charlie could see the tiny screws that held it together. He turned, and Abe’s nose filled his vision. He could see every pore and mole on the other boy’s face. He looked beyond, out the window, and in the distance, as if he were right there, he saw a bird in mid-flight.
“It makes what’s far close and what’s close closer,” said Lenore. “You’ll find none in your Otherworld that see as clearly, and if you adjust the dials, you can freeze the image so you have time to examine it more closely.”
Charlie experimented with the dials while Lenore returned to the sideboard and retrieved the third box. She handed it to Eddie.
Eddie gave Lenore an adoring look. He lay the ribbon across his lap and set the lid aside. He lifted out a small three-volume set of books. The spines said, “Frankenstein.” They listed the author as Mary W. Shelley.
“I believe,” said Lenore, “that you will find this tale inspiring.” She folded her hands at her heart. “Mary is a friend of mine. She visits from time to time.”
Eddie stood and took Lenore’s hand. “Th-th-thank you,” he said. “I will read them with g-g-great interest.”
Lenore curtsied.
Charlie and Abe rose to give their thanks and to say their good-byes.
“I’ll never forget you,” said Eddie. The others felt the same.
“Rest now,” said Lenore, indicating three beds that had been set up for them, each covered with a down comforter. “Someone will come for you when it’s time to go.”
Lenore left through her secret passage. The last thing the boys saw of her was a pincer grabbing the trailing edge of her gown and pulling it in just before the door could shut upon it.
Eddie said, “Maybe we don’t have to leave.”
The other two looked at him. The same thought had crossed both their minds.
“What do I have to look forward to there?” Abe said. “Best I can hope for is to earn enough money to buy a farm, or maybe inherit the one my folks own when my father dies.”
Charlie shrugged. “I’m going to be a doctor. I suppose I’ll save some lives and birth some children
in the world. It’s what my father wants for me.”
“I’m destined to be a businessman, selling and trading goods.” Eddie sighed. “There’s plenty of money to be made.”
“On the other hand,” said Charlie, “maybe Lenore’s right.”
“What do you mean?” Abe asked.
Eddie snapped his fingers. “He means that maybe now that we’ve seen all this, maybe, just maybe, we can make a difference in the world.”
Charlie rubbed his chin as if he had a beard. “Maybe we can be catalysts.”
Abe’s eyes lit up. He licked his lips, mind zipping along possibilities.
They stood there for a long moment in silence, then Abe carried his books over to a bed. “Dang, I sure could use some shut-eye.”
“If that means ‘sleep,’ then I concur. It’s quite late.” Charlie went to another of the beds.
Eddie eyed them both. “One of us should stay awake and keep guard. We can take turns.”
“Thanks for volunteerin’.” Abe stretched out long on the bed, his feet hanging over the edge.
“Wake us if anything extraordinary happens.” Charlie curled onto his side and hugged his binocular case to him.
Eddie sat in a chair and opened the first volume of Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. He read the first sentence of the preface (The event on which this fiction is founded has been supposed, by Dr. Darwin, and some of the physiological writers of Germany, as not of impossible occurrence.), and he laughed to himself. He felt as if the author were speaking to him, not about the content of the book, but about his own visit to Avalon.
He read on, devouring page after page. The story unfolded—at first from the words and then from the dream into which he had slipped. He found himself rewriting Mrs. Shelley’s novel with his own freakish twists. In his version, he was standing by the rail of a ship, looking out at rolling, gray seas.
A fish leapt out of the water and latched onto his earlobe with its teeth. The fish began to swing there, delivering pain and grunting words. “Way keep, way cup, wake up.”
Eddie’s eyes flew open. He shook his head, and the pixie let go. It dropped down onto Eddie’s shoulder and whispered, “Look.”
The light in the room had dimmed as twilight settled down upon the palace, but Eddie saw a dark shape leaning over Abe’s bed. Abe was lying on his back with his mouth wide open. The intruder dangled and then dropped something in there.
“No!” cried Eddie. He leapt out of the chair, ran across Charlie’s bed, and fell on Abe. He grabbed Abe by the lapels. “Spit it out,” he commanded.
Abe was just coming awake. He chewed a little.
“Spit it out,” Eddie said again and tried to get his fingers in Abe’s mouth. Someone grabbed him from behind. Eddie held onto his friend.
“Mmmm,” Abe said.
“No, Abe. Don’t swallow it!” Eddie smacked Abe on the cheek and was wrenched back from the bed.
Abe came fully awake angry. He glared at Eddie and began to reach for him, but then realized something was wrong.
Eddie shouted, “Spit it out!”
Abe spat it onto the floor.
An angry, Prussian voice spoke next to Eddie’s ear, “I see that we are going to have a difficult time getting along. I suggest you work harder to make this easy on yourselves. So far, your efforts are making matters worse.” He locked Eddie in a choking hold that caused the boy to gasp for breath and claw at the man’s arm. “Eat your cake, Mr. Abraham Lincoln, or I will kill your friend.”
Abe stared at the White Pope’s face, its contours shadowed by a black hood and etched with evil determination. He had no doubt the man would follow through on his threat.
Charlie hadn’t moved, but Abe heard his breath quicken.
“Eat,” said the White Pope. He tightened his hold on Eddie’s throat and lifted the boy off his feet.
Eddie stopped gasping. He swung his bulging eyes from Abe to Charlie, then he brought his heel down hard against the pope’s shin.
The White Pope yowled, but didn’t let go.
Eddie squirmed and kicked. He clawed at the White Pope’s face and dropped his elbows into the pope’s ribs.
Both Abe and Charlie leapt from their beds and attacked. They bit and scratched, kicked and punched. Charlie jumped on the pope’s back and pounded the man’s skull.
Rufus joined the fray, defending his father. He grabbed Charlie’s leg and tried to pull him down.
The White Pope back-handed Abe across the face. The blow sent Abe to the floor, but he got right back up.
Eddie managed to squirm free. With his feet back on the floor, he turned in place and kneed the White Pope in his holy trinity. Pope Innocent the Fourteenth, also known as the White Pope, the Pope of the New World, the Papal Gunslinger, and the savior of humanity, went down like Goliath.
Abe ran to his bed. “Let’s vamoose!”
The boys grabbed their presents and sprinted out of the room, into Lenore’s secret passage back through her bedroom to the main hallway. They met no one along the way—no slaves and no guards. The palace had grown quiet, although the sun hadn’t fully set.
They burst into the blood parlor and paused. The lawn outside the French doors was still swarming with minglers. Some carried glasses or plates of food.
“I say we make a break for it,” Abe said. “Run straight through. They’ll never know what hit ‘em.”
Charlie’s jaw was set.
Eddie hugged his books even tighter. “Does this mean we’re not staying?”
Charlie and Abe stared at him. Abe asked, “Do you wanna stay?”
“No. Those people back home, they’re missing so much. I want to wake them up a little. You know what I mean?”
“I know exactly what you mean,” said Charlie. “We’ve eaten from the tree of knowledge.”
Abe ran his hand back through his hair, messing it up even more. “I ain’t as smart as you fellas, but one thing I know. It’d be mighty selfish to keep this all to ourselves.”
Eddie eased up to the French doors, paused a moment, then threw them wide. “Let’s go.”
The boys ran straight through the crowd, and it wasn’t a smooth passage. They couldn’t avoid bumping into people, stepping on toes, and causing food and drink spills. A general commotion followed in their wake.
When they reached the bridge, they tore across it and climbed the hill. At the top, Abe paused to look back. The other boys followed his lead and stopped there.
No one was chasing them, though they’d left chaos in their wake. They heard voices raised in anguish and laughter. The palace glowed. The sunset reflected off the windows and painted the white stone in tangerine. It was a view none of the boys would ever forget, ever.
“C’mon,” said Abe. He ran over the hill. The airship was right where it had landed, and the rope ladder still hung over the rail. Abe reached the ladder first and began to climb. Eddie arrived at the bottom and anchored the ladder to make it easier for Abe. He also let Charlie go ahead of him.
Charlie didn’t hesitate this time. Abe waited at the top for him and helped him over the lip. Then Eddie climbed up. They ran up to the foredeck and stopped at the helm.
“This cain’t be all that different from riding a horse, right?” Abe said, studying the configuration of levers.
Charlie looked at him like he was nuts.
“I mean,” said Abe, “that you tug on the right side to make it go right and the left side to make it go left. These three handles in the middle probably make it go up or down.”
Charlie shrugged. “You may be right. If that’s the case, then this one should fire up the hot air.” He pushed the middle lever upward.
The burner on the center balloon kicked up a column of flame and began to burn with a great whoosh of heat.
The boys cheered and patted each other on the back.
Before long, they had all three balloons heating up. The airship shifted.
“I think we might be off the ground,” said Abe.<
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The boys jumped up and down together. They laughed and cheered.
“You are off your senses, if you think you can take my airship,” said an angry, Prussian voice. The White Pope stood on the ship’s deck, aiming his ivory-handled pistol at them. Rufus was hiding behind his legs. “Get away from the controls.”
The boys put up their hands and stepped back from the helm.
“Now come down here,” the White Pope said.
Charlie Darwin, or The Trine of 1809 (Stories in the Ether) Page 5