\u201cMaybe it\u2019s not the same Verdon Arbogast,\u201d suggested Mabel, as she, Van, and Ivy collected their backpacks. \u201cMaybe the guy in the yearbook is his father, or grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWell,\u201d said Ivy, pondering the possibilities, \u201cif he was 18 when the yearbook was published, then he would now be…106.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMaybe,\u201d added Van, kicking the floor, \u201cArbogast is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMabel held open the library door. \u201cCould be,\u201d she said, \u201cbut that doesn\u2019t explain what he\u2019s doing in a yearbook from 1913.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tIvy exited first. \u201cHey Mabel, there are your folks,\u201d she said, looking across the street.<\/p>\n
\n\tClara and Peter Crockett waved from the porch of the Reminis\u2019 house, and motioned for the kids to join them on the other side of the street. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cDo you guys feel like eating?\u201d asked Mrs. Crockett, after they had safely crossed.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWhen does Van not feel like eating?\u201d asked Mabel.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cToo true,\u201d responded Van.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe walked down here for some of Paulo\u2019s end-of-season tomatoes,\u201d said Mr. Crockett, holding up a paper bag, \u201cand now we\u2019re meeting the Peales at Mona Lisa\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIvy,\u201d said Mrs. Crockett, \u201cwhy don\u2019t you phone your parents from the co-op and see if you can stay. We\u2019ll give you a ride home after dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tNoah and Sonja Peale joined the Crocketts, Van, and Ivy at a spacious corner table in Mona Lisa\u2019s dining room. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFranz said he\u2019d handle the kitchen for now,\u201d said Mrs. Peale as she sat down, \u201cbut I owe him one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cTonight,\u201d added Mr. Peale selecting the largest chair at the table, \u201cdinner is on us. Peter, you and Clara did a fantastic job on that magazine piece.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t Mabel was in the mood for something substantial and chose salmon for dinner. Van selected a pasta dish, and Ivy requested organic vegetables served with rice pilaf. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI can\u2019t wait to try the kumbana in a recipe,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mrs. Peale delivered the food orders to the kitchen after everyone had made a selection, and returned to the table with a tray of soup cups. \n\t\u201cOh, Sonja,\u201d said Mrs. Crockett, after she\u2019d savored her first spoonful, \u201cthis is wonderful, but you should call it Peale Chowder. It\u2019s your creative genius.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo, Clara,\u201d argued Mrs. Peale, \u201cyou aren\u2019t going to find Noah or me flying to South America in that bucket of bolts. The cook must give credit where credit is due.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAs I understand it,\u201d began Mr. Crockett, \u201cthis little herb stubbornly refused to thrive when the Halfslips first got it. In fact, Porter says they would have lost the sample entirely without Ivy\u2019s help.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhat did you do, Ivy?\u201d asked Mabel.<\/p>\n \n\tIvy shrugged as if it were no big deal. \u201cI just talked to it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIvy,\u201d said Mr. Peale, \u201cmaybe after dinner you can talk to the begonias in my window boxes.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tA lanky man with carrot-red hair combed into a pompadour stopped by the corner table on his way out of the restaurant. It was Carmine Shirtle from the dress shop next door. \n\tMabel and Van had decided it was best not to mention Verdon Arbogast\u2019s increasingly strange behavior, or the yearbook photograph to their parents for now. \n\tFirst they followed Ivy to the potting shed where Sparkle\u2019s nest had been enhanced with blankets, and nearby food and water. Sparkle was sitting up, as if she expected company, and her wiry fur was clean and groomed. She nudged the pup with her nose. He stretched, yawned and began to sniff around at her feet.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHe\u2019s getting some fluff,\u201d said Mabel reaching out to gently scratch his tiny ears. <\/p>\n \n\tThe puppy was mostly white, like his mother, but in addition to his ears and the tip of his tail which were black, he was marked with a large, irregularly shaped brown spot on his back, solid except for a tiny, black starburst shape near his neck, and a narrow stripe of white running in a zigzag from the starburst to the lower edge of the brown patch. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHis name is Sig,\u201d said Sparkle. She began to lick the puppy vigorously, while he braced himself and closed his eyes more tightly than before. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou named him Sig?\u201d Mabel asked Ivy.<\/p>\n \n\tIvy looked at Mabel peculiarly. \u201cNo, actually we haven\u2019t named him. You think we should call him what…Sig?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYeah,\u201d said Mabel, nodding.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHow about Socrates, or Plato,\u201d suggested Van.<\/p>\n \n\tIvy looked from Sparkle to Mabel, then to the pup. \u201cNo,\u201d she said, \u201cI think Sig suits him.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n \t\u201cIt\u2019s late, Pop-pop,\u201d Porter Halfslip said to Norton, as Mabel, Van, and Ivy entered Greenhouse 3. Norton Halfslip, pulling a watering hose behind him, was slowly shuffling from fern to fern so each could have a drink. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cLook at Buster,\u201d said Van, pointing toward the oldest Mr. Halfslip. The dark elf, now a flannel-red color, appeared rooted to Norton\u2019s shoulder as he pointed his slender, fuzzy arm toward plants which were most in need of a soaking. There was little daylight left, and the indoor hanging lights, set to dim on a timer, were beginning to fade. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBuster\u2019s nesting in the baobab tree,\u201d explained Ivy, as Buster, recognizing that the day\u2019s work was ending, hopped off of Norton\u2019s shoulder onto the thick trunk of a tree which bore several unripe gourd-shaped fruits.<\/p>\n \n\tNorton acknowledged the kids with a broad smile which made his face crinkle up like a peach pit. Then he carefully closed the valve handle at the end of the hose and took Porter\u2019s arm. Mabel, Van and Ivy stepped aside as the two Mr. Halfslips eased their way along the narrow greenhouse walkway, but as he passed Mabel, Norton paused and squeezed her hand before continuing on to the house with Porter.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDad has always had a special thing for Mabel, hasn\u2019t he?\u201d said Parker Halfslip, as he and Mr. Crockett entered the greenhouse to find the children.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYes,\u201d acknowledged Mabel\u2019s father, \u201che was extremely supportive of us throughout Clara\u2019s pregnancy, which was a difficult one. When you were born,\u201d he continued, addressing Mabel, \u201che sent us the biggest basket of Halfslip fruits you\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMr. Halfslip,\u201d Mabel said to Parker, \u201cwhen did your father stop talking?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tParker sat down on the edge of a flower bed. \u201cAbout eight years ago, when my mother died,\u201d replied Parker. \u201cHe had a stroke. For a while he didn\u2019t seem interested in recovering at all, but he never lost interest in the plants, and that, I think, is what keeps him going.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMy great-grandmother was a teenage wing-walker when they met,\u201d said Ivy.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSounds like a mutant insect,\u201d said Van.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo, goofball,\u201d said Mabel, \u201cI\u2019ve heard this story before. She was a stunt person who walked on the airplane\u2019s wings in a show, and Mr. Halfslip flew the airplane.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d continued Ivy, \u201cPop-pop was a stunt flyer, and the show hired Granny as a walker. That\u2019s how they met.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cHmm,\u201d mused Van, \u201cstunt flyer to horticulturalist. That\u2019s an interesting career shift.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt was my fault, really,\u201d explained Parker. \u201cThey traveled with the air show for a good many years until my mother became pregnant, and that changed everything for her. She couldn\u2019t wing-walk anymore, and wanted Dad in a safe profession, too. So plants, which had been his second love, moved into first place.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAfter Granny, of course,\u201d corrected Ivy.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s neat,\u201d said Mabel.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThat\u2019s wild,\u201d added Van.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMr. Halfslip,\u201d began Mabel, perching herself on a planter wall near Parker, \u201cyour father has lived in Logjam longer than anyone else I know. Did he ever talk about anyone named Crockett who died in the 1915 fire?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe saw someone in an old yearbook named Jonah Crockett,\u201d added Ivy.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYes,\u201d continued Mabel, \u201cand people at the time thought he was a drunk.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tParker chuckled, and gazed at the ceiling as if recalling information. \u201cYes,\u201d he said, \u201cDad had a friend named Jonah Crockett. In fact, I think this goes back to when Dad first became interested in plants and their uses. He used to tell me stories, so I know at least part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIs the drunk part true, Grandpa?\u201d asked Ivy.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOkay,\u201d said Parker, \u201clet me get to that. Jonah Crockett had a wife named Laura, and they lived with a teacher whose name was…\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cColleen Wickers,\u201d said Mabel and Van together.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRight,\u201d said Parker, pleased to have an attentive audience. \u201cNow, Norton was just a kid at the time, and he lived down the street from Miss Wickers who, of course, was his science teacher because it was a very small school and she taught all the science.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAnyway, she and the Crocketts, who by this time were out of school and married, had a pretty fantastic herb garden in their yard which Miss Wickers used for her other profession, which was herbal medicine. The Crocketts were helping her and learning the craft, sort of like apprentices.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cBut Jonah got a little too carried away with the dandelion wine, huh?\u201d asked Van.<\/p>\n \n\tMabel snarled and pushed him off the wall.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cNo violence, please,\u201d said Parker, continuing. \u201cMiss Wickers hired Norton to help out in the garden. This was where he began learning about weeding, growing seedlings, using different plant parts, etc. And, he came to really look up to and admire Jonah, who was sort of like a big brother to him.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWow,\u201d said Mabel, \u201che must have been crushed when they died.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWell, that\u2019s an interesting thing,\u201d replied Parker. \u201cIf the deaths were brought up in conversation, Dad usually just changed the subject. I guess it was his way of coping with it, but he continued to speak of those people as if they\u2019d just moved away, not like there\u2019d been a tragedy. One thing he was very outspoken about though, was this rumor that Jonah had a drinking problem. Dad was adamant that it was not true, that the symptoms had some other cause.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhy did people say that about Jonah, then?\u201d asked Mabel.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere was something wrong with him,\u201d continued Parker, \u201cno doubt about it. It started out slowly and got worse over the several years that Dad knew him. He tripped a lot. He\u2019d fall down in public, drop things. Sometimes his hand would shake and he\u2019d spill a drink or not be able to write. His speech began to slur, to the point where only his wife, Miss Wickers, and Norton could understand him. Sometimes people saw him laughing uncontrollably, sometimes crying as if he couldn\u2019t stop.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDid he see the doctor?\u201d asked Mabel.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMiss Wickers told Norton that there was no doctor who could help him,\u201d responded Parker.<\/p>\n \n\tVan\u2019s attention to the conversation had gone from casual to intense, as Parker described Jonah\u2019s symptoms. \u201cNo,\u201d said Van slowly, \u201cthere was no doctor who could help him.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tEveryone looked at Van.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEven nowadays,\u201d continued Van, \u201cthere isn\u2019t much anyone can do for ALS.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cLou Gehrig\u2019s?\u201d asked Parker.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhat?\u201d asked Mabel, \u201care you talking in secret code?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cAmyotrophic lateral sclerosis,\u201d began Van, explaining his theory, \u201cis a progressive disease that attacks nerve cells and connections to the brain and spinal cord. Motor neurons die, and the brain can no longer control the muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThen what happens?\u201d asked Mabel.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cEventually,\u201d said Van, \u201cusually within a few years, the person will die when muscles that control stuff like breathing don\u2019t work anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMr. Crockett added, \u201cThere was a famous baseball player who had the disease, so it\u2019s often known by his name, Lou Gehrig\u2019s disease.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cSo,\u201d said Ivy, \u201cJonah would have died anyway. That\u2019s sad.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWell,\u201d said her grandfather, \u201cVan\u2019s just taking a guess, but it was most likely something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOkay, guys,\u201d said Mr. Crockett, \u201cwe\u2019d better go grab Mom off the front porch and get Van home. The Peales are going to think we fell in a hole.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cTime to close up here anyway,\u201d added Parker.<\/p>\n \n\tMabel looked up into the baobab tree where a small hammock, made out of a bandanna had been strung between two branches. \u201cGoodnight Buster,\u201d she called. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYiroo,\u201d responded a tiny voice.<\/p>\n \n\tThe five exited the greenhouse into the botanical center\u2019s parking area. A pair of college-age interns who worked part time waved as they pulled out of the lot. Ivy\u2019s parents got up from cozy front porch rockers, along with Mrs. Crockett. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cRemember Mary,\u201d said Mrs. Crockett to Mrs. Halfslip, \u201cyou must go and get some soup from Sonja tomorrow, now that we\u2019ve all had a hand in its creation.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tBefore Mrs. Halfslip could respond, everyone\u2019s attention was diverted by a set of headlights just reaching the crest of the hill. A black sedan pulled purposefully into the botanical center parking lot. <\/p>\n \n\tMabel had seen the car before, outside of Bumper\u2019s Stuff Shop. That\u2019s the one,<\/em> she thought, as out stepped the tall and handsome man to whom she had given directions, and whose striking looks had rendered Coco Alda speechless.<\/p>\n \n\tThe man straightened his coat, brushed his hair off his face and approached the group. \u201cI\u2019m looking for Porter or Parker Halfslip,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI\u2019m Porter,\u201d said Porter, \u201cand that\u2019s Parker right over there.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe stranger turned to Porter and held open his wallet which contained some sort of identification. \u201cReynolds Manderley, Department of Illegal Substances. I\u2019m investigating a report of illegal plants being grown on these premises. It will be in everyone\u2019s best interest to cooperate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cMaybe it\u2019s not the same Verdon Arbogast,\u201d suggested Mabel, as she, Van, and Ivy collected their backpacks. \u201cMaybe the guy in the yearbook is his father, or grandfather.\u201d \u201cWell,\u201d said Ivy, pondering the possibilities, \u201cif he was 18 when the yearbook was published, then he would now be…106.\u201d \u201cMaybe,\u201d added Van, kicking the floor, \u201cArbogast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":274,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions\/274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\t\u201cAs an appetizer,\u201d said Mrs. Peale, ceremoniously handing out the soup, \u201ceveryone must try something new. This soup is made from the greens of amazonias claracrockett.<\/em> The plant was named, as you may have guessed, after Clara Crockett who received it as a gift from natives of the Amazon basin, then introduced it to me. The Halfslips, meanwhile, have successfully propagated this delectable plant, and as a result, we\u2019re witnessing the creation of a Logjam original. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Crockett Chowder!\u201d <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe Crockett soup,\u201d he said, forming an \u201cok\u201d sign with his thumb and index finger, \u201chave it every night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIf they know what a kook he is,\u201d Van had suggested, \u201cthey might worry too much.\u201d
\n\tBut by the time the Crockett\u2019s old Jeep climbed the hill to Halfslips\u2019 to drop off Ivy, they were not thinking of Arbogast at all, and scrambled out to see Buster and the dogs.<\/p>\n