by Gemma Jace
EARLY’S ONE FLOOR CABIN was large and brightly lit on the inside. There were pictures on the walls of what looked to be his family, and a picture of Honey Pot when she was just a cub. All the furniture was some shade of green, from the couch and loveseat to the table and chairs, to the rug on the floor by the fireplace where Honey Pot laid down as soon as they entered. Atop the mantle stood wood-carved miniature statues of bears and birds. Plants in green pots hung from the ceiling in front of both bay windows beside the door, spilling their vines to the floor like lime colored waterfalls. Luna even noticed Early was wearing dark green overalls and even darker green knee-high rubber boots.
“Have a seat. I’ll fix ya some tea.” He pulled out a chair for Luna. She sat down, giving him a brief smile, noticing the small bouquet of yellow flowers in a mason jar at the center of the table. He washed his hands in the tiny sink next to the stove, then put water in a pastel green tea kettle and put it on the fire.
“Tell me, Mr. Early, why don’t you just breed the platypus? Wouldn’t that be more efficient and cost friendly?” Rusty asked, pushing up his glasses, looking super intelligent.
“I wish I could breed ‘em, but the little buggers won’t breed in captivity. So, when I get a request for one, I have no choice but to go huntin’ for ‘em.” Early opened the green painted cabinet under the counter next to the stove and took out a mason jar. “That reminds me. Here’s the stinger you were looking for.” He sat the half full jar of cone-shaped brown stingers down on the table. He took out a clean mason jar, shook some stingers in it, and screwed the lid on tight. “There ya go.”
“Thank you,” Luna said. She was grateful to him, but she also wondered why he kept the stingers. What use would he have for them if he was only in the business of selling the platypus without the stinger? “Why do you keep the stingers?”
“Miss Mary comes ‘round every few months and asks me for ‘em. She used to live in a cabin up the way some, but she moved to Coastal City with that devil Theo Hardwick.” Early put tea bags in three large green mugs along with three scoops of sugar in each.
“Why do you call him a devil?” River asked.
“He came here and stole Miss Mary right out from under me. I was working up the nerve to ask her to be my wife before he come with his fancy clothes and big diamond ring. She married him and left town only a few weeks after meeting him. But I still like seeing her, so I keep the stingers for her so she’ll have a reason to come ‘round and see me. I hope one day she’ll come home to stay.” The kettle whistled, and he poured the steaming water into the mugs as he dabbed at what looked like a tear from the corner of his eye. He sat the mugs down in front of each of them before pouring himself a cup and sitting down at the table.
“That sucks for you,” River said before taking a big gulp of the hot tea that he had to spit back out. Luna snickered, thinking he deserved to get his untamed tongue burned, although she was sure he wouldn’t learn his lesson.
“What does she use them for? Did she ever tell you?” Rusty asked.
“She uses the stingers, and some other ingredients that I never even heard of, to make medicine. She uses the medicine to help sick children. She’s a special lady. Only her medicine would help the sickest ones. A true angel, that one is.” His dim dark eyes sparkled when he spoke of her.
“I hope she’ll come back to you,” Rusty told him. He pushed up his glasses and raised his cup of tea to the man.
“Hear, hear,” Early exclaimed as he raised his cup.
Luna and River raised their mugs. “To Miss Mary’s return.”
They clinked their mugs together and drank to the toast. Luna hoped that his Miss Mary would return to him soon. She decided he was a good man and deserved to be happy with someone he loved. They stayed and talked with Early for another hour, listening to more of his hilarious stories about Honey Pot getting into trouble with the bees when she tried to steal honey from them while enjoying two more cups of tea.
“I think we should get back to the train, guys,” Luna told the boys.
“Yeah, so we won’t have to run like we did before,” Rusty said.
“Me and Honey Pot will walk you to the train to make sure you all stay safe.”
They made it to the train just as the ten-minute warning toot sounded. Early gave each one of them a big hug and thanked them for visiting him as if they had come calling on purpose.
“Thank you for helping us and being such a gracious host,” Luna said.
“I hope the medicine you’re making heals whatever you need it to. Come ‘round and see me if you all come back to Bainbridge. Good luck to ya.” With that being said, Early and Honey Pot turned and walked off into the night.
THE NEXT TOWN THE TRAIN stopped in was a small seaside town as the train made its way up the coast. Rusty informed them they could collect three more of the ingredients there, or they could wait until they got to Coastal City to get them. Luna wanted to get all the things they needed as soon as possible. She wanted the cure before then. They would get the cockle shells, seaweed, and seawater from Willow Bay. It was dawn, so it wouldn’t take long to find what they were looking for.
“We have an hour to get what we need,” Rusty told them.
The train stopped at a tiny station that was just a wooden platform and a small wooden building surrounded by a field of purple flowers overlooking a hill of white sand dunes leading to the beach. Luna was the first to bolt off the train, across the flowered field, and down the sand dunes to the beach. She had never seen the ocean and couldn’t wait to touch it. River and Rusty ran close behind, sliding their way down the dunes. She reached the bottom and kicked her shoes off, running full speed to the shore. She stopped right at the edge of the ocean and let the waves wash over her bare feet. The water was surprisingly warm. The sound of the waves washed over her, giving her a sense of delight and freedom. She kicked her feet at the lapping waves and giggled with glee.
River and Rusty waded barefoot in the shallows, all the while fishing out shells the ocean briefly gifted on the wet sand before attempting to pull them back out along with its foam. Rusty put the shells into his satchel and pulled out a vile, bent down, and allowed it to fill up with the salty water. He then took out a tin and fished out a leaf of seaweed and put it in the tin before stuffing it back into the satchel.
They frolicked, splashed, and played on the beach until they heard the whistle of the train. She wished they could stay all day, but they had to continue on their quest to the next town to find the remaining things they needed. Her heart leaped with anticipation. She scurried to put on her shoes, trying to brush the sand off her toes, but miserably failing. They climbed back over the sand dunes and back onto the train. Their next stop would be Pine Ridge where they would find the final two ingredients and prepare the potions. The horn blew two more times and the train left the station, chugging its way to its next destination.
CHAPTER 6
THINGS WERE GOING GREAT. They had been able to collect most of the ingredients without too much of a hassle. Maybe Luna’s luck was finally beginning to change. She couldn’t wait to get to Pine Ridge and take the cure. Rusty seemed just as excited as she was to make it to their next destination. All he could talk about was how red his curly hair was before it fell out and how he would finally be able to attract the pretty girls. Luna didn’t understand why he wasn’t already attracting pretty girls, considering how handsome he already was.
“There’s only one pretty girl I want to attract,” River said under his breath, but he was loud enough for them to hear what he said.
“What’s her name?” Rusty leaned in to hear the answer. River looked surprised that they had heard him and blushed a little.
“Just a girl from home,” River looked out the window.
“I think I know who she is. A girl named Susie. She was always staring at him when he wasn’t looking.” Luna was sure she was right. Everyone in school knew Susie had a major crush on River. Now she knew he realized it to
o. “I bet she cried her eyes out when she found out you had left Green Brook for good. You should write to her.” Luna took out a notepad and an ink pen from her bookbag and gave them to him.
“Good idea. You can mail it when we get to Pine Ridge.” Rusty’s eyes gleamed. “I can help you write it if you want. I’m pretty good with words.”
River shook his head. “No thanks. I think I know exactly what I want to say. Although, the letter won’t be for Susie.” He then put pen to paper and began to write. He wrote for a long time, filling up at least three pages. When done, he folded the paper and slid it into his front jean pocket, refusing to tell them anything he had written or to whom. It was strange that River would be so secretive, considering he was always the person who refused to keep anything in. Luna wanted to pepper his tongue on many occasions for saying way too much with absolutely no filter.
“We’ll be arriving at Pine Ridge soon,” River changed the subject. He remained determined not to answer any of the questions they were asking about his letter. “So make a plan already and leave me alone.” He handed the notepad and pen back to Luna, and the conversation changed to planning out what they would do once they got to the next town.
The train finally pulled into Pine Ridge station, which was the biggest station they had arrived at thus far. There were several shops side by side attached to the platform, all painted a deep red with white shutters on large windows full of cakes, candies, and souvenirs. The conductor informed the passengers the train would be laid over for emergency service on the engine. The other few passengers who were in the same car as them proclaimed a few declarations of dissatisfaction when they heard that it would be eight hours before the train would be ready to travel again; but Luna, River, and Rusty were excited because that meant that they had more time to get the last two ingredients and take the cure before they reached Coastal City.
They stopped in one of the red-painted stores and bought bubblegum and chocolate bars before heading through town, taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Cobblestone streets and black-painted lanterns that lined the rows of connecting townhouses and shops seemed to make the streets go on forever. They made their way from shop to shop, buying knickknacks as they went along, each boy trying to outdo the other with the small gifts they gave to Luna. She loved the gifts they gave her, and she loved the attention even more, although she knew they were only being nice because they knew she had no money to buy things for herself.
They made their way to the town’s edge where the pine forest sprawled out in front of them. The scent of pine and honeysuckle was like the perfume Grandma Tilly’s friend, Mrs. Ann, wore Sunday mornings to church. It was a delightful smell that reminded her of home—the home she would never go back to. She took a deep breath to steady her emotions. The last thing she wanted to do was start balling in front of the boys. What would her mother be doing now? Did she even miss her? Even after all the terrible things her mother had done to her, she still loved her and wished things could be different between them. The sorrow went a little deeper in her spirit, and she could feel the tears well in her eyes.
“Hey, are you ok?” River asked her. He was always so attuned to how she was feeling. She always tried her best to keep her emotions in check around everyone, and it worked, mostly, but it never worked with River. He had known her for too long. She couldn’t get anything past him.
“I ate a piece of cinnamon candy. The spice always gets me.” She never told the truth about her sadness. It shamed her to feel that way.
“Cinnamon candy is too hot for me, too. One must have accidentally got mixed in with the cherry gumdrops. I hate when that happens,” Rusty said.
River patted her on the shoulder. He knew better than to believe her story. He knew what her sadness looked like. His comforting touch made her feel better, and the threatening tears retreated back into the depth of her damaged heart. She would keep them there for as long as she could. She would keep them there forever if she could.
Frolicking through the pine forest were baby red foxes chasing little gray bunnies around in circles. It was the cutest thing Luna had ever seen. Each step they took into the forest was silently muffled by the fallen pine needles underfoot. Rusty promptly stopped Luna from collecting the needles from the ground, stating that they needed fresh green needles right from the tree. So, she began collecting them from the few low branches she could find from the sky-high pines.
“How much should we collect?” Luna asked.
“Well, the ingredients state a hand full of pine needles, so I suppose we would need two big handfuls to have enough for two batches of potion.” Rusty pushed up his glasses and took a plastic bag out of his satchel. “Put them in here.”
“How do you fit all of that stuff in that satchel?” River asked. “Next you’re going to pull out a giant jar of pickles or something.”
Rusty giggled and took out a small plastic bag with a dill pickle inside. “Want some?” They burst into laughter so loud that it flushed out several spotted owls from the tree they were standing under.
“Look, spotted owls.” Luna pointed toward the sky.
“This is one of their nesting trees. What good luck we found it without even looking for it,” Rusty said with a smile on his face.
“How are we supposed to catch wild owls?” River asked.
“We don’t, we get the feathers from their nests. They shed feathers profusely, so their nests are usually full of them,” Rusty answered.
“Luna, this is your expertise,” River said.
“How am I an expert on spotted owls?”
“Not the owls. Climbing, dum-dum.”
“Shut up!” She took her bag off and tossed it to River. “Ok, I’m going up.” She climbed, hand over hand, as agile as any tree animal could.
She climbed high into the tree to the first nest which had a bed of spotted owl feathers with three tiny brown speckled eggs on top of them. Luna carefully pulled as many feathers from under the eggs as she could without interrupting the eggs too much. She climbed higher to the next nest. This time she found not only eggs, but two hatched chicks inside, blind and screaming for their mother. Luna gathered the feathers from underneath the chicks and eggs, accidentally toppling over one of the squawking chicks, which caused it to scream even louder. The mother owl must have heard its chick and came to its rescue. It swooped down with its talons kicked out and did a flyby, taking a few strands of Luna’s hair with it. Luna screamed out as the owl came back around for another attack. It came close to her head, but missed. She flailed one arm while holding on tight with the other. She figured she’d better climb to the next nest before the owl took out even more of her hair. But the owl cried out a warning call to the other owls that lived in the tree and they all came and circled the tree, every now and then making a swipe toward Luna. She screamed, but was determined to get the feathers she needed. If that meant that she would have to suffer a bald spot on the top of her head to do so, so be it. She had come too far to let anything stop her now. She climbed to two more nests, grabbing the feathers, not caring if she toppled chicks or moved eggs around anymore, all the while getting assaulted by ever increasing aerial attacks.
“Luna, look out. Come down.” She could hear River and Rusty yelling at her, but she ignored their pleas. Just a few more feathers and it would be enough for the two batches of potions for her and Rusty.
She shoved the rest of the feathers in her pocket and began the climb down, all the while being bombarded by more and more owls. The only thing that protected her in the slightest were the branches in which she was half hidden, but once she reached the ground, there was no protection at all and the owls descended on both her and her companions. Rusty and River cried out as they dashed away from the tree with arms waving over their heads. Luna ran close behind them screaming. The owls chased them clear to the edge of the woods before retreating to their tree.
“Holy owl, that was intense,” River said, panting to catch his breath once they st
opped running.
“I had no idea they attacked in swarms that way. It’s kind of fascinating,” Rusty said, adjusting his hat and glasses.
“We almost die by owl and you’re fascinated? Give me a break.” Luna smoothed down the top of her plucked-up hair. She hoped the potion would cure her tattered hair too. First her mom, then the owls. What did everyone have against her hair?
Rusty looked at her and shrugged. “Now we have to go get something to cook the potion in. We passed a hardware store just on the edge of town. They should have a pale and some matches there we can buy.”
“We have to cook the potion?” Luna asked.
“Yes. How else will the ingredients meld together?”
“I should have enough money to buy it,” River said.
“Don’t worry about it, I have plenty of money. I’ll get everything we need,” Rusty countered.
At the hardware store, they quickly got two metal pails, a box of matches, a wooden ladle, and some firewood. They took what they had bought and went back into the woods and created two fire pits surrounded by large stones and started a fire in each using the firewood and matches. They split the ingredients into two batches and put them into the two pails, setting them into the fires to boil. Luna worried that they didn’t have enough water for everything to come together and that they would just burn, but they boiled together with no problem. Rusty explained it was due to the salt in the seawater that broke everything down, that’s why it was ok that they didn’t have a lot of water. Luna was becoming increasingly impressed at how intelligent Rusty was. He really seemed like a guy they could count on in any situation, and he was very appealing to her. She stared at him, watching the curve of his full lips and his green sparkling eyes. He was quite handsome, even with a bald head. She was sure he would have no problem getting the girl he wanted, even if the cure didn’t work for him. But she was another story entirely. There was no hope of her getting the potential guy she would fall in love with, not with a white mask covering her face. It was appalling to her, and she knew it was to others as well.
