“I think that eventually we’ll know the answer to both those questions,” said Robbie.
Ava put one arm around her sister, and one arm around her brother, and together they watched city after city go by in a blur through the train window, and soon the cities turned into towns, and then the towns turned into rolling hills peppered by farmland and the occasional farmhouse, and before they knew it, the train was climbing higher into the Rocky Mountains.
And somewhere in Ontario, deep in the Enchanted Forest, Miss Potter and Mr. Smith also looked out a window, but all they saw were shadows and thorns.
Chapter Eight
A
va was trying to give her younger siblings a lesson in geography, using the map of Canada that she’d taken back from Uncle Tempo, but she was distracted from time to time by the uneven scratching of Charlotte’s pencil on her paper and the slightly distressed sound of Uncle Tempo repetitively clearing his throat, which, Robbie whispered to the girls, he suspected was meant to get Charlotte’s attention.
But Charlotte ignored Tempo, and went on scratching away at her book, and Tempo, having failed in his subtle attempts to gain her notice finally just said aloud,
“Charlotte, please join me for tea in the dining car.”
Charlotte didn’t look up, but began to write even more furiously, and the sound of the pencil on the paper became so intense that the children all turned from the window to observe this strange behaviour being acted out by grownups, who, as I’m sure you know, often behave in strange ways.
“Please,” he said again, only this time his voice was pained. Tempo had risen and stood now in the aisle, his head almost touching the glass-topped roof of the observation car. “I’d like to speak to you, away from young ears.”
Charlotte put down her paper and stuck the pencil back into her hair. She looked at Tempo for a few minutes without saying anything, her sharp eyes watching him as he stood before her.
Finally, she took a deep breath and, seeming to have come to a decision, said,
“I bet you do have a few things to say. I don’t normally drink the tea they serve here in this world – it’s nasty, ridiculous stuff – and I don’t believe in keeping secrets from children.” She looked at the Smith children as she spoke, and Ava thought she saw a laugh in the corner of Charlotte’s eye.
“But,” she continued, “it is tea time, and I do like it up here, because we can see where we’re going and where we’ve been all at once. So sit back down, and let’s have tea here.”
Without waiting for Tempo to respond, Charlotte reached into her bag and pulled out a tea kettle, and then, to Ava’s great surprise, five tea cups and matching saucers. Tempo groaned.
“Hush,” said Charlotte to Tempo while she arranged the cups on the seat. Then she turned to the children and smiled. “My mother always said there was no situation a nice cup of tea couldn’t fix. Of course, she lived in the magical world, and there the tea makes itself. Here, you have to do every single thing.”
Charlotte sighed, a sigh which said the good old days are gone, and then she pulled another pencil from her hair. She held the pencil by the end with three dainty fingers and moved it in circles and swirls over the tea kettle, and within seconds the teacup was whistling and steam shot up from the spout.
“See,” she said, shaking her head sadly, “so much work.”
“Won’t you get into trouble for doing magic? I don’t think tea is worth getting into more trouble, seeing as how you’ve already been banished,” said Ava, who was beginning to piece together all that she had learned.
“Don’t discourage her, Ava!” said Anja, whose blue eyes were wide with delight, “Let her make the tea! What if she can bake treats, too?” she said in a loud whisper, which Charlotte heard.
“I can do a great many things,” Charlotte said, laughing, “not the least of which is baking treats.” Then she lowered her voice and said thoughtfully:
“Trouble is an interesting word. You can cause trouble, of course, by being sneaky and wreaking havoc. Some people delight in causing misery and upsetting others. Those people should be avoided. But…”
Charlotte paused to pour the tea into the cups at her side, and then continued.
“…there is another way to cause trouble. You can cause trouble by disrupting things a little bit. Sometimes, in order to do what’s right, we have to be fearless and brave. And sometimes, the bravest thing we can do is be ourselves.
And sometimes being brave enough to be ourselves gets us into trouble. If I’m magical, and I am, then I have to do a little magic here and there. It’s who I am. For many years, I’ve been out here in the Logical world all alone. I’ve lost my home and my people. Should I lose myself, too?”
Charlotte passed the tea to the children with a very kind smile. Then she leaned across the aisle and handed Tempo his tea, which he took rather stiffly.
“But the world runs on rules and order, it’s what keeps everyone safe,” Tempo said, taking a sip of tea to be polite. Then he, too, smiled, and sighed a happy sigh.
“This reminds me of home,” he said dreamily. “Just wait until you see it, my dears. There are fields and forests full of flowers like you’ve never seen before. This tea is made from a very rare flower, one which blooms only once a year. It’s the flower your mother is named after, the Nisara.” Tempo said, his voice trailing.
“Are we going to the magical world after we rescue father?” asked Ava, sipping her tea from the cup Charlotte had passed to her.
“I think it’s time I asked,” Charlotte said before Tempo could answer her, “what happened to your father?”
The children told her, with low voices and fresh tears. Charlotte listened very quietly, nodding her head during some parts and reaching out to hold the children’s hands at the particularly sad and scary parts.
“And now, we’re going to go get father back from Wraithlana, who is meeting us at the door in the Enchanted Forest,” finished Robbie.
Charlotte looked sharply at Tempo. “Are you,” she said, but it wasn’t a question. She was looking at Tempo, and Tempo was looking into his empty teacup.
“Aren’t we?” asked all the children, and finally Tempo looked up at them.
“Of course,” he said, handing his teacup back to Charlotte, who took it from him slowly and placed it back into her purse, where she also placed the other empty teacups which were handed back to her. She checked the kettle to make sure the tea was finished, and then placed the kettle back into her purse, too.
“Wash up before you put yourselves away,” Charlotte said to her dishes, and then closed her purse and turned to stare at Tempo.
“You’re bringing three children and a cat into the forest, to meet the most evil witch of our time?” asked Charlotte, pronouncing each word very carefully.
“The Professor!” said Tempo, sitting up straighter as if he’d suddenly remembered something that would distract them from the present topic. “I quite forgot – I must tell you children some classified information! He told me not to tell you, but it seems like we are now a group that keeps no secrets, so you ought to know…today is the Professor’s birthday!”
This news caused a fair amount of excitement, for the children and for Charlotte. Ava laughed, and Robbie cheered, and Anja clasped her hands together under her chin, and the room shone and she said,
“Ohhh! I’ve never been to a cat birthday before, but I suppose he wants a cake! He’s been very good to us, after all, and we do love him. I only wish we’d gotten him a present!” and Ava and Robbie agreed.
“I love birthdays,” said Charlotte, as the children hopped up and down, “let’s plan a party!”
Tempo put both his hands out to quiet them. “Your dear Professor is on his ninth life,” he said, trying to talk over the commotion, “and I believe he’d like a quiet evening more than anything!”
But the children didn’t hear Tempo, because they had all crowded around Charlotte, who was telling them wonderful stori
es about magical birthday parties she’d had growing up.
“I’m going to be in trouble,” Tempo muttered, to himself.
As the train left the valley behind and climbed far into the mountains, the children didn’t notice the waterfalls or the mountain goats or the evergreen trees. They were busy planning their very first cat birthday party, with the help of Charlotte, whose own professor had been a hare, and was, Charlotte explained, fond of cakes for every occasion.
While the children talked to Charlotte, Tempo tried to sneak down the stairs and to the cabin, to warn the Professor of his impending party. But Robbie saw him, and said,
“Don’t do it, Uncle Tempo.”
Tempo turned around and looked at his wise young nephew. He had to be honest with himself, he was glad not to be talking about Wraithlana or the fate of Mr. Smith, who he suspected to be dead.
He also thought it was wonderful that the children had something fun to focus on, instead of their poor father. He supposed that Professor Ronald would just have to endure the party, since it obviously brought the children so much joy. So he stopped and said to Robbie,
“My dear nephew, I’m going downstairs to see if the dining car is free. If we’re going to have a cake, the party had better happen there, don’t you agree?” Tempo smiled widely and held out his hand, which Robbie took .
“I do agree,” said the little boy, and together they went down the stairs.
Ava watched them leave, and said aloud, “I wish we had a gift. Professor Ronald said just this morning that he wished he had a bowtie. If only I had my sewing kit and some nice fabric, I’d make him one right now!”
Charlotte laughed. “Girls, I have just the thing! Your Professor will have the fanciest bowtie ever made, just leave it to me and a bit of magic.”
Anja looked around, to see if other people had come up to the observation deck. “Aren’t you worried people might see you?” she asked.
“People rarely see what they’re not looking for,” replied Charlotte, bending over her purse. She stuck her head in part ways and said to her bag, “Come along! There’s work to be done!” and then she placed the open purse on the chair.
“How do you use magic to sew?” asked Ava, “Oh wait – let me guess! Magical birds and mice?”
Charlotte gave her a questioning look. “Ava, where did you get that idea?”
“A movie I saw once,” Ava replied, looking at Anja, who just shrugged her shoulders and gave her sister a look that said I don’t know what’s going on, either.
Charlotte laughed, and presently a pair of scissors hopped out of her purse, followed by a needle, a long red thread, and a neatly folded piece of red silk fabric.
The girls watched Charlotte, who, with a graceful hand, glided her pencil wand through the air and gave some simple instructions to the sewing tools.
Snip, snip, snip went the scissors, cutting the fabric while Charlotte hummed to herself. Next, the sewing needle threaded itself and began to fly through the red fabric, and soon a neat silk bowtie, just the right size for the Professor, sat on the seat beside Charlotte.
“Now, back into your case!” called Charlotte to the scissors, sewing needle, and thread, and the items obeyed and made their way back into her purse.
Ava looked at the little red bowtie and smiled. Then she looked at Charlotte, who was gathering her things, and for the first time since her father had been kidnapped, she felt happy
“Let’s go see how the boys are making out, shall we?” said Anja, who looked like a ray of sunshine peeking through dark grey clouds.
The girls, along with Charlotte, descended the stairs and found themselves once again in the room with the couches. At one end was the door that lead back to their cabin, and at the far end was a door that lead to the dining car.
All three of them thought they should go to the dining car, but when they poked their heads in they found it empty. The sounds of a lively and heated discussion were coming from behind the closed kitchen doors, however, so the girls turned around and went back in the direction they had come.
“Let’s go see the Professor,” said Ava.
They returned to their train cabin and found the Professor napping on Ava’s bottom bunk bed.
“Professor Ronald, wake up!” said Ava gently as she sat down beside him, stroking the fur on his head.
The Professor opened one eye and looked up at Ava.
“Have we arrived? Is this horrific journey over?” he asked meekly.
“Oh, Professor,” replied Anja, sitting down on the other side of him. “We’ve only been on this train for a few hours!”
“How terrible,” said Professor Ronald. Like all cats, he detested travelling.
“What’s terrible is that this room has no style,” said Charlotte, looking around and clicking her tongue. “I have it in my mind to sew some proper bed covers and a nice pair of matching curtains.”
She reached up to take a pencil from her hair but Ava said,
“But, the birthday party! Let’s not get distracted!”
And the Professor opened his eyes wide at once.
“WHAT birthday party?!” he said, struggling to sit upright. He huffed and puffed and sorted himself out.
“WHOSE birthday party?!” the Professor demanded.
Anja laughed and wrapped her arms around the Professor to give him a hug. “Yours!” she said, very pleased.
Professor Ronald was not pleased.
“No. Surely not,” he began, but then the door swung open and there stood Tempo, beaming down at them and holding Robbie in his arms, and Robbie, the Professor noted with dismay, was wearing a polka-dotted party hat with silver tinsel coming out from both the bottom and the top.
“This is a nightmare,” he said, looking around at all the happy faces.
“I know what will cheer you up!” said Ava, and she took the hat off Robbie’s head and put it on the Professor’s.
“Now you look very festive!” she said, overjoyed.
“Sir, your table awaits!” boomed Uncle Tempo, placing Robbie back on his own feet and motioning for all to join him in the dining car. “I’ve had some trouble making it happen, so don’t delay or the serving team may change their minds!”
Professor Ronald insisted that he must remain in the cabin, but nobody listened. He tried to explain that only humans were allowed in the dining car, but Ava just scooped him up as if he were a family pet and carried him down the corridor, past the couches and into the dining car, where she plunked him down at a table laden with various cakes and tall glasses of gingerale.
Professor Ronald tried to convince the children that he wasn’t hungry, and when that didn’t work, he tried to convince the adults, but Charlotte and Tempo ignored him and, to his horror, instead of taking away the cake they placed a candle in the largest cake, which was closest to him. Then, as if he hadn’t enough to deal with, they all began to sing Happy Birthday to him!
Finally, Ava noticed his aggravation, and said, “The Professor isn’t happy…let’s sing it again!”
Professor Ronald listened to the merry group sing and clap and, because he was a dignified cat, regardless of circumstance, he forced a small smile and blew out the candle. Ava leaned down and fastened something to his neck, and gave him a kiss.
And Professor Ronald looked down and saw that he was wearing a very fine and very fancy red bowtie, and he couldn’t help but think that this terrible birthday party had turned out extremely well after all.
Chapter Nine
W
hen the party was over, Professor Ronald returned to Ava’s bed to recover from the experience, and he spent the afternoon napping, dreaming of a time when he was not on the train, which seemed so long ago, although it was only yesterday. Robbie stayed in the dining car with Uncle Tempo, and the two of them drank the rest of the gingerale, ate the rest of the cake, and pestered the kitchen staff for after-dinner mints.
Charlotte thanked everyone for inviting her to the party, even though
nobody had – although, it should be said that nobody minded her being there, either – and then she went back up to the observation deck with its glass roof and comfortable chairs to write.
Anja and Ava decided that they would go exploring. There’s only so much room to explore on a moving train, but if you are lucky you can find yourself in a restricted area full of interesting things, and on this afternoon, while the train dashed through the curved mountain tunnels, the girls got lucky.
They were walking the length of the train, away from the sleeper cars and towards the passenger cars at the front.
They walked past passengers dozing in their seats, down narrow corridors that rumbled as the train sped along the tracks, and through rows of hideous benches covered in blue flecked fabric.
They walked until they reached a strange metal door with a round port window, and when the girls stood on their toes and looked through the window, they saw the passing blur of the tracks underneath a metal grate, which connected the car they were in to the car just in front of them. The girls had come to the baggage car.
“We’d better turn around,” Ava said, “I don’t think we’re allowed to open the door.”
But before they could turn around to go back there was an odd clicking sound and the metal door swung open with a hiss, clanging against the wall beside the girls.
Ava jumped back in surprise, right into Anja, who held tight to her sister. The wind whipped their faces, and they both struggled to reach the door. They grabbed hold of it and tried to shut it again, but the wind was too strong and the door was too heavy, and it kept swinging back against them.
Ava was about to shout to her sister that they should get help, when she realized that nobody was in that car at the moment, and they were all alone. There was nobody there to help them.
The girls were discussing the best course of action when the door to the baggage car, which was also a metal door with a round port window, also popped open, and before the girls even knew what to do there came a terrible shriek from inside the baggage car.
The Adventures of Ava Smith: The Secret of the Enchanted Forest Page 6