Me and Mr. Bell

by Philip Roy

  My father was shivering even more when I returned. His lips were blue. He looked sleepy, and his voice was very weak.

  “Dad! Dad!” I shoved his jacket in behind him as far as I could get it and pulled it around his shoulders and down over his head. He looked up at me almost as if he didn’t recognize me.

  “Eddie….”

  “I’m going to raise the tree, Dad, and pull you out. Just hold on, Dad. Just hold on.”

  I threw the chains around one end of the tree. Then I climbed up the strongest tree that was close to the fallen tree and tied two pulleys around it. I tied them about fifteen feet off the ground. Then I chose four more trees and tied a pulley around each, as fast as I could, so that each of the two ropes would run through three pulleys. The distance wasn’t as far as when we were pulling stones from the field, so I was able to use just two ropes. I climbed the tree again and fitted the ropes through the first two pulleys. Then I climbed down, tied the ropes to the chains and fitted the other ends through the rest of the pulleys. I unhooked the horses from the wood sled, brought them around and tied the ropes to their harnesses. We were ready. I checked on my father one last time. He was trying to tell me something, but was shivering so badly I couldn't make out what he was saying.

  “Eddie….”

  “I’m going to raise the tree now, Dad.”

  I ran around and made one last check before picking up the horses’ leads and pulling on them. The horses came forward, and the tree rose into the air like a toothpick. I quickly tied the leads together around a tree so the horses couldn’t back up and drop the fallen tree. Then I ran back to my father.

  The hardest thing was pulling him out and getting him onto the sled. He was so weak he couldn’t even stand. And he was so cold that he was confused, and I had to tell him what to do, which was the strangest feeling in the world. I had to tell him when to move his feet and where to put his arms. Once he was on the sled, I untied the horses’ leads and backed them up until the fallen tree was down again. Then I harnessed the horses to the sled and led them out of the woods. I left the pulleys and rope behind. We could get them later.

  My mother came running when she saw me pulling the horses across the field. When she saw my father lying on the sled and not moving, she screamed and started crying. That brought my sister and brother running. Together, the four of us helped my father into the house. Then my mother sent my sister and me for the doctor. It was long past dark when we finally returned, and my father was fast asleep. While the doctor examined him, my mother gave me some supper. I sat down at the table exhausted and hungry.

  “He’s going to be all right,” said my mother. “The doctor said so.”

  My brother and sister sat at the table, too, even though they had already eaten.

  “I’m sorry you didn’t get to see the Silver Dart fly,” said my brother.

  “Yeah, me too,” I said.

  “It was amazing. I’m going to be a pilot like Douglas McCurdy when I grow up.”

  “We met Mr. Bell,” said my sister. “He’s really nice, just like you said.”

  “I know.”

  “It’s too bad you didn’t get to see the Silver Dart fly,” said my brother again.

  “Well, you can’t have everything,” I said as I ate my supper. “Anyway, I’m celebrating my successes.”

  “What?” My brother looked confused.

  “Never mind,” I said. “I will explain it to you when you’re older.”

  Chapter 23

  My father suffered a broken arm, three broken ribs, a bruised stomach and badly bruised legs. Doctor Chisholm said that he would be fine after he rested for a couple of weeks, but he had to stay in bed and eat lots of chicken soup. It was lucky I had found him when I did, the doctor said, because my father was also suffering from hypothermia and would not have survived if he had been in the woods much longer. If I had gone down to the lake to watch the flight of the Silver Dart, my father would have died.

  My mother took good care of my father. She ran around the house finding things to make him more comfortable. And she said to me, “Thank the Lord above he gave you the brain that he did, or your father…” and then she almost started crying again.

  I sat with my father the next day. He smiled and said that he was feeling a lot warmer but was mighty sore. He said he should have listened to his own best judgement and not hurried when he was cutting such a large tree. He told me I had acted like a man. I had made wise decisions and acted with courage and intelligence. He said he was proud of me. That felt really good. He said he was sorry that we didn’t get to see the Silver Dart fly. Then he laughed and said that he couldn’t believe he missed yet another chance to meet Mr. Bell. I said I was sorry, too.

  A little while later we heard voices downstairs. My mother was greeting someone. Somebody had come to visit my father. From the sound of the voices, I was guessing it was Mr. McLeary. From the sound of the heavy feet on the stairs, I was certain it was Mr. McLeary. But when the door opened, there, standing tall and smiling like the friendliest person in the world, was Mr. Bell.

  “Eddie!” said Mr. Bell, and he stuck out his hand.

  I jumped up, crossed the room and shook his hand. “Hello, Mr. Bell.”

  Mr. Bell looked at my father on the bed, and his face grew grim. He came closer. “I heard there had been an accident. I hope everything is going to be all right.”

  My father tried to sit up on the bed, but it was too painful for him.

  “Please, please…” said Mr. Bell, and he came to the edge of the bed.

  “Mr. Bell,” I said, “This is my father.”

  My father raised his hand, and Mr. Bell gripped it and shook it. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. MacDonald. You’ve got a terrific son here. A brilliant young man. I wish I could hire him.” Mr. Bell looked at me and winked. My father smiled, and his eyes were shiny. “I’m pleased to meet you too, Sir. We are honoured to have you in our home.”

  This was the first and only time I ever heard my father call another man “Sir.”

  “Well, when I didn’t see Eddie down at the lake yesterday, I knew something was amiss. I had to come and see for myself that everything was okay.”

  “I’m sorry we missed the flight of your flying machine,” said my father.

  “Me too,” I said.

  “Ah, it was a great flight,” said Mr. Bell. “The Silver Dart flew just like an eagle over the lake. But don’t you worry in the least; she’s flying again this afternoon, and tomorrow, and a good number of times after that if Douglas has his way, which I have no doubt he will. And that reminds me, I’d better get myself back down to the lake or he’ll fly it without me.”

  “Will you go up in the aeroplane, Mr. Bell?” I asked.

  Mr. Bell turned toward me with a look of horror. Then he burst out laughing. “What? Me? Hah, hah, hah! Heavens, no! The machine would never get off the ground with me on board!” Then he slapped his belly. I couldn’t help smiling. Mr. Bell was so funny when he wanted to be. Then he leaned closer to my father and grew serious again. “Rest well, my dear man.”

  My father nodded his head and smiled back. “I will do that, Sir. And thank you for doing us the honour of visiting us in our home.”

  “No trouble at all,” said Mr. Bell. He pulled out his watch, squinted at it and said that he had to go. He raised his hand and waved as if we were standing across a field. Then he went out the door. I followed him down the stairs. My mother was standing in the kitchen with a warm smile on her face. “Can I offer you a cup of tea, Mr. Bell?”

  “I would love a cup of tea, indeed, Mrs. MacDonald, but I’m afraid I’ve got to get myself down to the lake or I’ll miss the second flight of the Silver Dart, and I wouldn’t want to do that.”

  “No, Sir,” said my mother. “It was kind of you to visit.”

  “A pleasure,” said Mr. Bell, and he t
ipped his head to my mother, picked up his coat and cap and went out the door. I followed him.

  There was a man waiting with a team of horses and a sleigh. Mr. Bell slapped my shoulder and climbed onto the sleigh. “You did a great job reading the book, my boy.”

  I took a deep breath. “I wasn’t really reading it. I just memorized it. I still can’t read much yet.”

  Mr. Bell took out his pipe and lit it. I could tell that he was thinking. After he took the first puff, he squinted at me through the smoke. “You and I are a pair, Eddie. Reading and inventing. When the world tells us we can’t do something, it only makes us work harder! Success might come slowly, and it might feel at times as though it will never come. But sure as day follows night, it will. And that’s because we never give up. You wrote me a darn good letter. And you made a terrific presentation to your class. Don’t forget to celebrate those successes.”

  The sleigh started to pull away. Mr. Bell waved. “Celebrate your successes, my boy!”

  “I will! Goodbye, Mr. Bell!”

  Epilogue

  The Silver Dart roared on the ice like a monster from another world. I had no idea it would be so loud. I couldn’t hear anything but its roar. It sounded like it was announcing to the whole world that everything really was about to change. Seeing it and hearing it made me believe that.

  Douglas McCurdy sat inside the aeroplane. I saw the concentrated look on his face, and I bet he didn’t even notice the cold. Mr. Bell sat in his sleigh with Mrs. Bell, wrapped in furs. He wore his most serious expression. He waved his arm, and Mr. McCurdy waved back. Some men who were holding the aeroplane down, as if it were a wild horse, let it go, and the machine started to roll. It rolled quickly around, straightened itself out as if it had a mind of its own and started down the ice. For a little while, I had the feeling it was just going to ride all the way across the lake, and that would have been interesting to watch, too. But the aeroplane suddenly jumped into the air. It lifted off the ground as if it didn’t weigh anything at all. Then it went higher and faster. Everyone on the ice cheered. The aeroplane went down toward Beinn Bhreagh, turned around in the air and came back. It was unbelievable. As it passed over our heads, Mr. McCurdy stuck out his hand and waved. I waved back. Then he kept going until he was out of sight. I stared at the sky and watched him disappear. I couldn’t take my eyes away. I couldn’t even blink. It was hard to believe he could travel so far away so quickly.

  A little while later, he came back. You could hear the aeroplane coming from far away. It sounded like a mosquito at first. But it got louder and louder until you couldn’t even hear yourself cheering. It was so exciting. I was thrilled. It was the greatest thing I would ever see in my whole life.

  That night, before I went to bed, I sat at my desk with my father’s dictionary and a pencil and paper. Slowly and carefully, I wrote out these words:

  Dear Miss Keller,

  Today, I watched the Silver Dart fly. It was the most amazing thing I ever saw. I am going to try to tell you what it looked like….

  The End

  Philip Roy keeps residence in two places these days, running back and forth between his hometown, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, and his adopted town, St. Marys, Ontario. Continuing to write adventurous and historical young adult novels focusing on social, environmental, and global concerns, he is also excited to be presenting his first picture book: Mouse Tales, the first volume in the Happy the Pocket Mouse series (Ronsdale Press), coming out in the new year.

  In 2012, Philip published the historical novel Blood Brothers in Louisbourg (CBU Press). In 2013, along with Me & Mr. Bell, Philip will be bringing out the sixth volume in the Submarine Outlaw series, Seas of South Africa (Ronsdale Press).

  Besides writing, travelling and running in the woods and countryside of Nova Scotia and Ontario, Philip spends his time composing music. His first score, for the Nova Scotia-based film The Seer, by Gary Blackwood (FLAWed Productions), will be produced in 2013. Philip is also collaborating with Gary Blackwood on an opera, The Mad Doctor.

  Philip's website is philiproy.ca.