Mabel, Van, Ivy, and the four adults huddled farther back on the porch, and shielded their faces against the soil and foliage being thrown by the helicopter as it settled, noisily, onto an open space between the cottages and the garden plots.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat thing better not mess with my corn,\u201d muttered Jonah.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWHAT?\u201d asked Laura, trying to hear him above the din of the chopping blades.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cIT\u2019S BLOWING THE CORN,\u201d Jonah began, as the copter\u2019s blades slowed and became quieter. \u201cIt was blowing the corn around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBig day for visitors,\u201d said Colleen, squinting at the red helicopter. \u201cWhoever it is must\u2019ve seen your plane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMabel looked at the bushy black hair and sunglasses of the pilot. She did not recognize him. Then the side door of the craft opened and a small set of steps flipped outward.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAfter YOU, my GOOD Madam,\u201d said an all too familiar voice. But first, a tiny, wrinkled little woman stuck out a cane and hopped down the steps. Sparkle\u2019s tail began to whap the floor enthusiastically.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMiss Penny?\u201d said Mabel. \u201cYou followed us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHE says I oughta,\u201d replied Miss Penny, pointing a bony finger behind her, as Tim Tutter stepped out, gingerly patting his hair back into place.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYES, young lady, I DID,\u201d agreed Tutter. \u201cMiss Penny, that flyover should have given you a FEEL for the SCALE and ENORMITY of this VAST wasteland you inherited. Maybe this CLOSE-UP look will enable you to SHARE my point of view, that it COULD be put to much BETTER use.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMiss Penny,\u201d asked Van, \u201cyou own the forest?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOh yeah,\u201d said Miss Penny gazing about critically, \u201cmy old grandaddy, he left me all kinds of acreage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat is so,\u201d added Tutter. \u201cIn fact, MY research has pointed to your own MISS PENNY as the sole heir to the Logjam Millworks LEGACY. Which, as you can SEE, my good Miss Penny,\u201d continued Tutter, taking a swipe at a pear tree with his polished alligator loafer, \u201camounts to LITTLE more than MILES and MILES of USELESS TREES…YOWCH!\u201d Tutter bellowed as three pears pelted him on the head. He took a step backward, tripping over a protruding root, and landed squarely on his bottom.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOh, I\u2019m sorry,\u201d said Laura, helping Tutter to his feet, \u201cit\u2019s just that we generally treat the trees a bit more respectfully.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWHO CARES?\u201d sputtered Tutter, \u201cThey\u2019re just trees!\u201d He hastily composed himself, and patted his hair back into place as best he could. \u201cIMAGINE,\u201d said Tutter, making panoramic sweeps with his arms, \u201cACRE upon GROOMED ACRE of FUN and ENTERTAINMENT for people of ALL ages to escape to! CAN\u2019T you PICTURE it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAre you talking about that Billy Bee idea?\u201d asked Mabel incredulously. \u201cYou want to turn the Willibunk Forest into some kind of bee-themed amusement park?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBILLY BEE,\u201d said Tutter rapturously. \u201cI know children like YOU, all over the WORLD will come to QUIVER with EXCITEMENT at the thought of meeting BILLY BEE in PERSON, right here in TUTTERLAND!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tVan rolled his eyes. Ivy made a cuckoo gesture. Tutter didn\u2019t seem to notice.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMiss Penny,\u201d said Mabel, \u201cyou wouldn\u2019t sell the land to him, would you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMiss Penny was hobbling about picking up fallen leaves and stuffing them into her sweater pocket. Finally she threw her hands into the air. \u201cAll these darn leaves! Whoever thought I\u2019d want all these darn leaves anyway,\u201d she said with mild disgust.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThen you\u2019re WITH ME!\u201d said Tutter excitedly. \u201cWe can chop them down, level this whole place…well, except for a few…people like a few trees. PICTURE this IF you WILL…over there…Tutter\u2019s TIME WARP…over there something scary, like…TUTTER\u2019S TERROR TOWN…and, for the little one\u2019s…TUTTER\u2019S TUMBLING TOT TRAIL!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMiss Penny turned her sweater pockets inside out and shook vigorously, scattering leaves everywhere. \u201cWell…\u201d she said, watching them fly with a defeated fondness, \u201cguess they gotta fall somewhere…and better here than in my yard.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cMiss Penny,\u201d said Tutter, chuckling awkwardly, \u201cI don\u2019t believe I quite heard you correctly…you ARE with me, AREN\u2019T you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tMiss Penny looked squarely at Tutter. \u201cI ain\u2019t sellin\u2019,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d said Tutter, as if he hadn\u2019t quite heard, \u201cwhat was that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cShe ain\u2019t sellin\u2019!\u201d said Mabel, Van and Ivy in unison.<\/p>\n
\n\tTutter huffed, then he harumphed. His face took on an injured expression, and he slunk to the end of the porch and sat down. The helicopter pilot, who had exited the cockpit, approached Tutter and gestured at his watch. Tutter shook his head. \u201cLet\u2019s give her a while to get good and sick of these precious TREES,\u201d he said sarcastically. \u201cMaybe she\u2019ll start to see reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cReason, humph…\u201d muttered Miss Penny. \u201cHe may have looks, but he\u2019s got no brains if he thinks he can reason with an old lady. Hey! Who IS that awful man?\u201d she added in exclamation.<\/p>\n
\n\tMabel looked quickly toward the orchard. \u201cIt\u2019s Arbogast,\u201d she said. \u201cI guess he is okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tArbogast, looking even more scratched and dented from his trek through the woods than from the crash landing, staggered into the clearing.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNo, not him,\u201d insisted Miss Penny, \u201cthat other, awful looking man. Hey! Mister! Where\u2019s yer\u2019 friend?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cFriends, madam,\u201d replied Arbogast, \u201care a bother I generally prefer to do without.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tJonah, gazing intently at Arbogast, pushed as much white hair as he could out of his eyes. \u201cVerdon?\u201d he asked tentatively. \u201cIs that you Verdon?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tArbogast returned the gaze. His face registered first confusion, then surprise, and finally, it seemed to Mabel, annoyance.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou\u2019re old,\u201d said Arbogast. It was a statement tinged with disappointment.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYes,\u201d replied Jonah. \u201cAnd you\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOh, you have no idea, Jonah,\u201d said Arbogast, drawing nearer to the group, while examining the old faces. \u201cBut tell me this Jonah,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou\u2019re 105 years old. Why aren\u2019t you dead?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cOh, I\u2019ll die soon enough,\u201d replied Jonah with a chuckle. \u201cBut I\u2019ve stayed healthier than most.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou\u2019re going to die?\u201d asked Mabel. She was gripped by a sudden fear of losing these people whom she\u2019d barely met.<\/p>\n
\n\tLaura put an arm around Mabel. \u201cHoney, we\u2019re well over one-hundred years old. The spring has helped us, but we can\u2019t live forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHow long?\u201d asked Mabel. <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d answered Colleen. \u201cNo-one knows. No-one needs to know. You just live life one day at a time. But Verdon,\u201d she continued, turning to Arbogast, \u201cyou\u2019ve managed to remain remarkably…spry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYes,\u201d replied Arbogast. \u201cSo I have. But after following the Crockett\u2019s daughter all this way…well, I was not counting on finding them so…aged.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRecognition seemed to dawn on Jonah\u2019s face. \u201cVerdon,\u201d he said \u201cyou thought I was after immortality, didn\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tArbogast returned the questioning gaze.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat was just you Verdon,\u201d continued Jonah. \u201cAll I ever wanted was a healthy life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAnd it seems you\u2019ve achieved success on your own, Verdon,\u201d added Laura. \u201cBut I\u2019m curious…how did you know we had a daughter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cJenny told him,\u201d said Van, matter of factly.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cJenny…?\u201d said Colleen slowly, looking at Jonah and Laura. She turned back to Arbogast. \u201cYou\u2019re with Jenny?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI guess they do know her,\u201d said Mabel quietly to Van and Ivy. \u201cShe must get around.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tFrom beyond the spring the leaves began to rustle in the trees, with a bit more insistence. Mabel felt what she took to be a large raindrop splatter across her face.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cHow close are we to the river?\u201d said Arbogast, with sudden panic in his voice.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s a branch one-hundred yards through the trees, that way,\u201d replied Colleen, motioning toward the spring.<\/p>\n
\n\tArbogast looked at Jonah appraisingly, and shuddered. It seemed, Mabel discerned, that white hair and wrinkled skin did not appeal to him.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cExcuse me,\u201d <\/em>said a tiny voice which seemed to be right by Mabel\u2019s ear.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s those tree voices again,\u201d said Van.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIt\u2019s Lida,\u201d said Colleen. \u201cMabel, come with me. I\u2019d like you to meet her.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tTaking Mabel and Ivy by the hands, Colleen turned toward the orchard. Just as in the orange garden at Cochiti Spring, Mabel had the peculiar sensation that she wasn\u2019t certain whether she was looking at a person or a tree. But after a few seconds of focusing she realized that the individual next to the pear tree looked remarkably similar to Dun, but with more closely-cropped hair, and tinier features. Her dress was leafy and flowing, and her large light brown eyes took in Mabel with twinkling pleasure.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDun did speak to you,\u201d said Lida, smiling at Mabel.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYes,\u201d replied Mabel.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWe are all feeling much happier for our friends,\u201d said Lida. \u201cBut you must take care. Gennawoc is angry. We will be your only safe place.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThank you Lida,\u201d said Colleen.<\/p>\n \n\tLida smiled as broadly as her tiny mouth would allow, and then Mabel was looking only at a pear tree.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cPoor old Verdon,\u201d said Colleen, with a wry laugh. \u201cBut he brought it on himself. Nothing we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe wind was gradually growing stiffer, harsher, and colder. For a few minutes Mabel huddled with the others, while Colleen spoke with the group. Bits of mud began to soar through the treetops, as if catapulted, and a misty, splashy rain was swirling in the air.<\/p>\n \n\tArbogast glanced about agitatedly as if considering which direction to run in, then he looked at Jonah, Laura, Colleen, and Miss Penny critically, and shook his head.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYou can\u2019t do it by yourself, can you Verdon?\u201d said Jonah. \u201cWe\u2019re all old.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tArbogast snarled slightly, and looked, as did everyone else, in the direction of the river. A funnel of water spun toward them through the trees, slapping leaves in its wake, and spritzing everyone and everything with twigs and wetness. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cJenny,\u201d shouted Arbogast, over the wind, \u201cI DO NOT need you! Did you hear me? I NO LONGER require your SERVICES!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe spiraling funnel of water began to spin faster and faster until it seemed to Mabel that it was not a funnel at all, but rather a person…a woman…an exquisite woman, the color of everything. All the hues of the forest sparkled off her hair and skin like the glittering of the sun on rippled water. She smiled entrancingly, and glided out of the trees and into the clearing. \tIt was almost impossible not to look at her, but in Mabel\u2019s peripheral vision she could see Van raising his glasses and blinking, then replacing them. <\/p>\n \n\tThe glittering woman stopped, struck a rather teacherly pose, and looked, with exaggerated disappointment, right at Verdon Arbogast.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cOh, Arby,\u201d she said in a voice mellow, bubbly, and delicious. \u201cYou know I hate it when you let yourself go.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMabel sneaked a glance at Arbogast, and cold shock gripped her chest. Where Arbogast had been standing was the decrepit, bony horror from Franklin\u2019s Guest House, so deteriorated he might have been dug from a crypt.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cThere\u2019s that awful looking man!\u201d piped up Miss Penny. \u201cDidn\u2019t I tell ya\u2019 I saw \u2018im?\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDon\u2019t say such things about my Arby,\u201d said the water-woman, moving, dance-like, in a circle around Arbogast. \u201cHe can be so cute if he tries.\u201d As she circled, rain, from nowhere in particular, sprinkled the horribly decaying creature, and he became, with instantaneous smoothness, the younger Arbogast. He seemed to be swaying slightly, and looked at Gennawoc with an equal mix of fear and infatuation. Just as instantaneously he shook it off, as if trying to clear his head.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWhat a show, Jenny,\u201d said Arbogast curtly. \u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019ve impressed one and all.\u201d He took a step away from her and pulled himself up straight. \u201cWhat you\u2019ve failed to realize…darling<\/em>…is that sixty years with you has taught me some handy tricks of my own. I\u2019m now quite adept at pulling that off on my own power.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tGennawoc smiled demurely, and looked directly at Mabel with the condescending and conspiratorial sort of smile one might use when sharing gossip. Alone, it was a harmless gesture, but Mabel saw something flash in Gennawoc\u2019s liquid eyes that told her to brace herself.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cYOU HAVE NO POWER!\u201d shrieked Gennawoc suddenly in a voice that thundered like the crashing of gale-force waves. Van fell down, Norton gripped a tree for support, Ivy covered her ears. Only Jonah, Laura, and Colleen seemed to have been ready for the storm that had brewed in seconds. From the direction of the river came a churning and sucking of horribly disturbed water. The wind kicked up, and seemed to swallow all other sound. <\/p>\n \n\tStrong hands gripped Mabel\u2019s head. It was Colleen, yelling directly into her ear. \u201cYOU MUST GRAB AND HOLD A TREE NOW! DO NOT LET GO UNTIL I TELL YOU!\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMabel nodded dumbly, and took hold of a nearby walnut tree. She watched as Colleen, Jonah, and Laura gave the same message to each person in turn before finding trees of their own. The bushy-haired pilot looked terribly confused and frightened as Jonah hollered in his ear, but he made his was to a gum tree and gripped it uncertainly. Only Tutter seemed unconvinced, and he rolled his eyes as Laura delivered the warning, but he casually put a hand on a dogwood as the wind began to shriek.<\/p>\n \n\tA stinging, pelting, cold rain stabbed Mabel in the face, but she forced herself to look toward the trees where Gennawoc had stood. There was Arbogast, waving his arms and yelling protests which the searing wind made inaudible, but she could not distinguish the form of the water-woman. What she saw instead nearly made her heart stop. Rolling through the forest, from the direction of the river was a wave. <\/p>\n \n\tCombing through the trees, glowing green where the sun penetrated the translucent water…she was looking at a wave larger than any she\u2019d ever seen in the ocean, and it was heading right for them. Mabel took a quick scan of the others. All were gripping trees, even Sparkle and Sig who had taken refuge in the exposed roots of a tulip poplar…all but Tim Tutter. <\/p>\n \n\tTutter stood, momentarily gaping at the sight of the tremendous wave bearing down on him. Then he turned, and ran full tilt toward the helicopter. Mabel could see Colleen attempting to call him back, but her words were lost in the howling wind. <\/p>\n \n\tTutter entered the copter\u2019s cabin in a single leap and slammed the door shut behind him.<\/p>\n \n\tMabel had no time to think about him. In the second it took her to turn her head around, she realized she was inside the curl of the breaking wave. She would be crushed, pulverized…she would drown as the horrible sensation of inhaled river-water suffocated her…she would…she would…calmly watch the water pass gently over her head, from the safety and muffled silence of a tree-sized bubble. <\/p>\n \n\tIt felt like slow motion, then slow-motion played in reverse, as the wave, which Mabel assumed would crash and dissipate through the trees, merely crashed. But she could barely hear it. Her protective bubble was eerily silent. The only noise she could identify sounded like a man\u2019s voice calling out \u201cJenny! Wait!\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tThe wave crashed. Then it uncrashed. It rolled backward as if all the water had been recalled by the river. Mabel watched the white foam retreat over her head, then her bubble dissolved, and sound returned. The water rolled back through the trees to the river. Verdon Arbogast was gone.<\/p>\n \n\tSlowly, everyone began to look around. The ground was drenched, the trees dry. Mabel, Van and Ivy looked at each other and began to laugh with relief at having witnessed and survived such a deluge. <\/p>\n \n\t\u201cWell, well,\u201d Miss Penny cackled. \u201cI guess all those trees are good for somethin\u2019. Guess that Tutter feller\u2019ll be changin\u2019 his tune now.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tMabel froze. Then she looked at Colleen, whose face registered sudden horror. Colleen sprinted twenty yards to the helicopter with Mabel on her heels. The red helicopter stood as shiny as ever, while a steady stream of water seeped through the cracks around the doorway. Mabel and Colleen stepped aside as the bushy-haired pilot fiddled with the door handle until it opened and he was knocked off his feet by the torrent of water escaping from the copter\u2019s cabin. <\/p>\n \n\tAs the flow subsided to a stream, Colleen climbed inside. She emerged seconds later and shook her head. \u201cIt\u2019s too late,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mabel, Van, Ivy, and the four adults huddled farther back on the porch, and shielded their faces against the soil and foliage being thrown by the helicopter as it settled, noisily, onto an open space between the cottages and the garden plots. \u201cThat thing better not mess with my corn,\u201d muttered Jonah. \u201cWHAT?\u201d asked Laura, […]<\/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\/298"}],"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=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions\/299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.emilygillespieclement.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}