PART 1: A NEW BEGINNING

PHOEBE COMESHOME

PHOEBE COMESHOME

The Protectors of the Wood Series

PART 1: A NEW BEGINNING

February, 2012

All rights reserved

Printed in the U.S.A.

www.ProtectorsoftheWood.com

PHOEBE COMES HOME

Story and Text: John KixMiller

Illustrations: Gideon Chase and Carlos Uribe

Design: Geoffrey KixMiller

Editing and Production: Jim Paul

“Would it be okay,” asked Glenda, “to tell each other our dreams?”

Contents

A New Beginning

I. The Everything Dream

II. The Daughter of Robin Hood

III. A Walk Around The Town

IV. Captain Nemo

V. The Black Arrow

VI. A Secret Garden

VII.Nothing For Anyone To Do

VIII.An Unexpected Tea Party

8

21

32

49

61

76

92

99

IThe Everything Dream

9

Back home in Middletown, Phoebe couldn’t sleep. Her knee ached. She couldn’t get com-

fortable. It had been a hot night even for June, when suddenly the coolness of the forest

air began to drift in through the half opened window. The wind had changed. The odor of

the Forest Preserve, just beyond the field across the street, began to permeate everything,

smelling of leaves and pine needles and some flower Phoebe couldn’t name. The tension of

a coming storm filled the air. Excited and scared, she lay in the darkness, her energy rushing

and bubbling and frothing inside her like a river in flood.

Phoebe’s life had reached a turning point. She had been to college, suffered the

knee injury that ended her soccer career, lost interest in her academic work, dropped out of

college, and now was in her sister’s spare bedroom in the house on Main Street. Meanwhile

her father had sold the Toy Store – the family business – and her childhood home was gone

with it. Thoughts of the past year swarmed over her, and her confidence in the future spiraled

downward.

I’m completely lost, she found herself thinking. I don’t know where I’m going.

The thought of empty weeks stretching on ahead set her on the edge of panic. She

sat up and glanced at the vague gray shapes in the bleak and empty room. A bit of silvery

light filtered in through the window. Two bulging 30-gallon black garbage bags full of her

clothes and shoes, and her backpack full of books and small treasures, lay in the middle of

the floor where she had left them an hour before. She didn’t have the heart to unpack.

What is happening to me? Phoebe wondered. I’ve never felt this bad.

She tried to remember when this terrible sadness had overtaken her. Riding on the

bus had been okay. In fact she’d been glad to be coming home. But waiting in the bus station

to be picked up, with her garbage bags beside her, she’d noticed Ellie -- the younger sister

of her ex-boyfriend George – slowly pass by. Phoebe had remained frozen, staring off into

space, while Ellie scanned the waiting room for a few minutes before walking off with

a friend. Ellie hadn’t noticed Phoebe, though they’d known each other their whole lives.

Phoebe had long been aware that she had a kind of chameleon appearance that made it

hard for people to recognize her in an unfamiliar setting. But what was new and depressing

was that she didn’t want to be noticed. Her life embarrassed and humiliated her. When her

neighbor Glenda, with her three year-old daughter Tiny, arrived to pick her up, she’d been

almost too depressed to speak. Glenda and Tiny had seemed so warm and friendly – yet so

far, far, away.

Phoebe looked again at the vague shapes in the darkened room. The idea that she

could ever be happy here – that this room could ever rival her childhood home above the Toy

The Everything Dream

10

Phoebe Comes Home

Store – seemed completely hopeless. She’d already spent two weeks in this room over the

Christmas holiday, recuperating from her knee operation, and hadn’t felt at home then. And

now she felt a complete stranger. Why even try?

She longed to just go to sleep and forget about it, but fear and excitement seemed

to be racing through her veins. She lay there not knowing what to do next. A distant roll of

thunder sounded deep in the heart of the forest. The wind was rising, and the leaves trembled

in the breeze.

Phoebe fell into a daze, still aware of the cool wind on her bare feet, the rushing

noise outside the window, and the panic rising from deep inside. There was nothing to look

forward to. There were no choices to make. It was the end of the line.

Without warning she was stunned by a shattering crash, a vibration that seemed to

run right through her. She conceived the strange idea that something alive was smashing up

against the window. The crash came again, even louder. A flash of light glinted on a pair of

eyes pressed up against the windowpane.

“Wake up! Wake up!” came a voice out of the darkness.

Phoebe could feel her entire body shaking. She had the vivid sensation that she

was lying on the skin of the earth, feeling a colossal, unfathomable organism throb with life

under her body.

“It’s coming! Your time is coming. You must remember what I say.”

She tried to speak, but no sound came.

“This is for you. Look! Look at me.”

A body was there – dark green with a strange silvery shimmer as if the skin might

be made of scales like a fish. Yet there were leaves on the body. The head was pointed and

had no hair. The expression in the face seemed to say so much… the eyes seemed to drill into

her.

“This is for you!”

An enormous clap of thunder shook the earth. The dark being pushed against the

glass. Phoebe felt the strange eyes looking into hers, the piercing stare going much deeper

than the words. In the greenish glint of that look was something unspeakably sad, yet fierce,

and urgent. The eyes appealed to her, begged her to understand. Phoebe found that she could

speak:

“My life? My life is at stake?” she asked.

“Not just your life!” roared the voice. “Everything is at stake! Everything!”

The Everything Dream

11

Phoebe Comes Home

Thunder cracked again just outside the window. Phoebe sat up with a start. Her

legs were wet with the rain blowing through the screen. She sat blinking in the darkness,

fingering the good-luck charm on her necklace, and breathing in gasps. The voice rang in her

ears: Not just your life! Everything is at stake! Everything!

She closed the window to within an inch of the sill. A strong current of air still

carried the damp smell of the forest and the sound of the rain. Phoebe was afraid to look out

through the glass, terrified that she would see the eyes looking into her heart.

What could that have been?

She put her feet on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, her head in her hands.

She thought and thought, shaking her head and muttering, “My God, my God.” Thunder

burst again, but far away. With an intuition that seemed insane, Phoebe felt that something

had come in search of her, and it had surely found her. She would never forget those eyes,

like a hand grasping her insides. The Thunder Being, she called it, feeling that the name was

right.

“What can it mean?” she said aloud, torn between the fear that she was losing her

mind, and the fear that she was being warned of a catastrophe lying just ahead. “Heaven help

me… What am I supposed to do?”

No answer came to her. She sat there, thinking, and time went by. On a sudden

impulse she stood up and switched on the light. She stared blankly past her garbage bags and

backpack at a bare desk, a chest of drawers, and the door to a closet. A landscape painting

hung in the center of the far wall, the only trace reminding her that this had been her mother’s

room the previous autumn. Suddenly she emptied both garbage bags onto the floor, and her

shoes and dirty clothes lay in a heaping pile.

What does a person do when everything is at stake?

She unzipped her backpack and removed two small objects packed in crushed

newspaper and rubber bands, and then her books and laptop computer. Phoebe often reread

the same few books to comfort her troubled feelings. These were mostly books that used to

be for sale at the Toy Store in classic editions, but she occasionally added books discovered

on her own.

With a trembling hand she brought out The Wind in the Willows, a few volumes of

the Narnia series, The Dark Is Rising, The Black Arrow, Colette’s Claudine novels in one

volume, a Nancy Drew mystery, two Sara Paretsky mysteries, The Adventures of Robin

Hood, The Lord of the Rings… and then came the book she was looking for, Peter Pan and

Wendy. Phoebe had a thought, a memory that had been jolted awake by her dream.

The Everything Dream

12

Phoebe Comes Home

Didn’t Peter Pan, she wondered, somehow emerge from a dream? She thumbed

through the first few pages and there it was, the scene she was looking for: Mrs. Darling, the

mother of Wendy, John, and Michael, had fallen asleep over her sewing.

She dreamt that the Neverland had come too near and that a

strange boy had broken through from it… He was a lovely boy,

clad in skeleton leaves and the juices that ooze out of trees…

Yes, that’s it. The edge of the dreamworld is torn, and the Thunder Being has come

through the gap. But he’s not young and playful like Peter Pan. He’s desperate and warning

me about something with his very soul.

As Phoebe pored over these thoughts she paced around the room to let off the energy

that seemed to be steaming out of her. She glanced at the two small bundles of crushed up

newspaper, and unpacked them. Inside were two figures carved out of wood and painted.

One was an image of Santa Claus with his bulging bag of toys, and the other was an image

of the Good Fairy – with wings and dressed in white -- reaching out with a wand that had a

silver star at the end of it. She stood these figures on top of the chest of drawers and looked

them over carefully. They had survived the trip in perfect shape. She thought about her father

carving them, and the similar figures that had been for sale at the Toy Store all these years.

But they would be for sale no more. That was all over now.

If only it were not so! a voice shrieked inside her mind. If only it were not so! Tears

rolled down her cheeks. She sobbed, and put her face in her hands.

Finally she stood up, took a few deep breaths, and stretched. She looked back at the

figures, and the Santa Claus seemed to wink and open his bag. A stream of toys, a regular

cornucopia of delightful things, came pouring out over the room. Exotic stuffed animals,

paint brushes and chalk and crayons, illustrated books from tiny to giant, wooden blocks of

different shapes, gliders and kites, toy cars and trucks and trains, a doll’s house, sleds and

toboggans, balls and bikes and scooters and skates, and even things that Phoebe had never

seen, came dancing through the air. The vision lasted only an instant, and then all returned

to normal.

She quickly looked away, afraid that strange sights might burst out almost anywhere.

Something has broken through from the other world. But I don’t know why, or what to do

now.

Phoebe flicked off the light, and stood trembling in the darkness. Her eyes adjusted,

and she began to see the room in the glimmering moonlight. The world seemed to slow

13

Phoebe Comes Home

down. Everything became quiet. Things stayed where they were supposed to be. The storm

had blown off and the rain had stopped.

She knew something incredibly special had happened, but couldn’t understand any

of it. But maybe it wasn’t terrible. She opened the window wide and lay back down. Her

body felt oh so much calmer than before. She found herself thinking that at least there might

be something important coming up for her to do, if she didn’t go crazy first. Then she fell

into a deep sleep.

Phoebe awoke to a delicious warm breeze wafting in through the open window, and

sat up in the light of the morning. Her memories of the night before came back in a flood.

With fear in her heart she looked over at the figures of the Good Fairy and Santa Claus. They

stood there in an ordinary sort of way. She stared very closely, but the Santa Claus did not

wink. She sighed and felt reassured. Maybe I can handle this. There must be some clue here

for me.

She considered her dream; along with the fear of recalling it too vividly, she felt a

secret glow in her heart, as if someone loved her and had come to her in the night. I have a

guardian angel. Or a demon. He seemed to come from the forest. She looked out the window,

across the street and across the field, to where the vast woods and the Half Moon Cliffs

rose in the distance. This huge forest had been a looming presence in her life as long as she

could remember, always visible from her window in the loft over the store. She thought of

her parents, for the past few months living together in the greenhouse at the Middletown

Garden Center, only a few steps from the forest. She thought of their old friends Alison and

Chi Chi living close by. And with a wave of anxiety, Phoebe considered her parent’s strange

old friend Wendy, living hidden and alone, somewhere in that mysterious sea of green. They

were all connected somehow.

Her gaze shifted to the inside of the room and the chaotic pile of clothes and shoes

left from the night before. She began pulling out her shoes and arranging them according to

age against the far wall. Phoebe had a special ritual to begin each morning, of scanning her

shoes and deciding which pair best fit her hopes for the day. Soon a long row of thirty pairs

seemed to march across the floor like pieces of her life, moving from childhood to almost

eighteen years old --an age that seemed old to Phoebe, old and disillusioned and lonely.

She carefully examined the sequence of shoes, and dwelled on those from long

ago, some too small to wear. She zeroed in on a pair that she rarely wore now, a ‘good

luck’ pair of indoor soccer shoes. One day before a big tournament she hadn’t been able

to decide between her ‘red indoors’ and her ‘black indoors’, and finally chose to wear one

The Everything Dream

14

Phoebe Comes Home

shoe from each pair. That day she did not allow a goal in five 20-minute games in the huge

gym in Evansville High School. By the finals it seemed that the entire gym was screaming

for her, as her underdog Half Moon Ravens beat the home team Evansville Wildcats for the

championship. Phoebe chose these good luck shoes, ignoring the gray and black Nike high

tops that she had been wearing recently.

That decision made, she put on her dirty jeans from the day before. Out of habit she

felt her pockets for her wallet, key ring, and cell phone. The keys were now mostly useless,

and she removed all but the one for the house she was in, the one for the Toy Store gate, and

the one for the Toy Store front door. She just couldn’t let the store keys go. Then she checked

her phone and noted for the third time since arriving in Middletown that there was still no

service near the forest. She tossed the phone and the useless keys in the desk drawer, and

looked over at the pile of clothing that lay scattered in the middle of the room. Nothing was

clean; but she picked out a navy blue tee shirt with a yellow Half Moon Soccer Club logo and

put on her socks and the red and black shoes. Her knee brace peeked out from underneath

some shirts, but she ignored it, and walked to the bathroom, keeping her right knee stiff and

straight.

After rinsing her face, she caught her eyes in the mirror. I look okay. I don’t think

I’m crazy. I’m just sad. I have a lot to be sad about. She ran a brush through her short dark

brown hair, and looked into her brown eyes. I’m pretty, even if people forget who I am.

Maybe I forget who I am too, sometimes.

She took her good-luck charm on its silver chain out from under her tee shirt and

studied it in the mirror. It looked the same as ever, a small circle of milky blue dreamstone

with the initials ‘P. H.’ – standing for Phoebe Hood -- faintly etched on the surface.

Okay, it’s time to face the day.

Phoebe limped down the stairs and into the hot, fragrant atmosphere of the kitchen.

Even with the door open to the backyard, her sister Penny’s baking raised the temperature

of the kitchen by ten degrees. And so at this time of year Penny sat on the little porch just

outside the door. Phoebe joined her there at a small table half-covered by a breadboard and

a large brown loaf of bread still steaming from a fresh cut slice.

They had barely spoken the night before, even though they hadn’t seen each other

for months. Phoebe had arrived late and claimed exhaustion and a headache to excuse

herself. Yet now they tried to behave casually, as if their relationship had not been interrupted

by Phoebe’s year of college and the sale of the Toy Store.

15

Phoebe Comes Home

In fact they had not seen each other since Christmas vacation, and had spent very

little time together since Phoebe left home to join the Northern State University soccer

team for preseason practice the previous August. That departure had followed the angry

and painful week in which their parents announced that they planned to sell the Toy Store

to David Gilligan, the brother of Kathy Thompson, the owner with her husband Raymond

of the store next door. Phoebe had met this announcement with shocked silence and refused

to speak to her parents for three days. She’d poured out her bitterness to Penny in private,

accusing her parents of planning this move for months without discussing it, and accusing

her sister of knowing all about it in advance. Finally the day before leaving, when she was

packed and ready to go, Phoebe had shouted at her father and wept uncontrollably, telling

him not to bother attending her soccer games or visiting her at college. She even told him it

would be a relief to get away from his worrying about her all the time.

Her father dissolved in tears and said he would call off the sale; but he pointed out

that her mother had already purchased the house on Main Street, and Penny was planning to

join her there. His marriage was falling apart, and he would end up running the store alone.

Phoebe wept again and embraced him. She showered him with agonized apologies, and told

him to go ahead and sell the store. But the world had never returned to normal for the Hood

family, and never would.

Blinking in the bright sunshine, Phoebe slid into an open chair. The girls nodded at

each other. Penny broke off a small piece of bread and nibbled at it, frowning.

“How’s the new experiment?” asked Phoebe.

“I don’t know,” said Penny. “I’m not sure it’s what I’m looking for yet. But not bad.

What d’you think?” She cut a slice for Phoebe. “Don’t burn your mouth.”

Phoebe felt the hot, moist heaviness of the slice and looked at its rich texture. She

pulled off a corner, and watched the bread stretch and crumble. It’s almost like a cake, she

thought. Finally she took a bite. It was on the sweet side with the tang of fruit, and hardly

needed butter. “It’s way better than last year,” she said. “Maybe it’s hard for you to notice,

tasting it every day. And the apples from this town are just plain better than anywhere else.

What’s in it?”

“Amaranth flour... apples... crushed sunflower seeds...”

“Sunflower seeds! That makes a bit of crunchiness. Really good. All the work

you’ve put in is paying off. When did you first bake a loaf?”

“Ten years ago… and I’m still not sure I’ve got it right. There’s more to learn than I

The Everything Dream

16

Phoebe Comes Home

thought.” Penny frowned, and ran her hand nervously through her thick brown hair.

“So…” said Phoebe, “I notice almost none of Mom’s stuff’s left in the room. Does

she ever stay here anymore?”

“Hardly ever. She’s been back with Dad for months, ever since you came home for

Christmas. It feels like they never broke up. I think Mom just moved here to concentrate on

her painting. She couldn’t get anything done living at the store. But after Dad moved to the

greenhouse, she started spending time over there, and…”

“I know,” interrupted Phoebe, irritated that Penny seemed to blame her parents

problems on the Toy Store. “Dad tried to keep me up to date on the phone.”

“You could stay in touch yourself, you know,” returned Penny, her eyes flashing.

Phoebe had words on the tip of her tongue, but caught herself. I could say the same

to you, but it wouldn’t help anything.

Penny took a deep breath and said in a calmer tone, “Anyway, Mom and Dad are

getting along, and the room is yours.”

Phoebe was determined to avoid a quarrel and tried to relax. She looked around, and

breathed in the beautiful morning. Her glance fell on several enormous tomatoes lined up

to ripen on the wooden railing of the porch. At just that moment they were touched by light

as the sun rose above the trees. There was something strikingly attractive in their varying

colors and irregular shapes. The thin skins seemed to be bursting with juice.

“Whoa! I guess this gardening craze is really coming along. I’ve never seen tomatoes

like those. Look at that bright orange! And that multi-color, almost like an apple! And it’s

only… what, June 20th? Daddy’s growing those?” Phoebe turned to her sister, who would not

meet her eyes. What’s up with that?

“Well, I think so,” replied Penny hesitantly. “I traded a few loaves for some of the

vegetables Sammy sells at the coffee shop now, lettuce, arugula, basil, peas, these tomatoes…

Chi Chi brings them over from the Garden Center.”

“So Sammy’s selling your bread and Daddy’s vegetables? That’s great!”

“Yes… Well, I’m not sure about the vegetables. The last time I was at the Garden

Center, maybe a week ago, Mom and Dad weren’t there. Alison says they’re out camping.

I’d gone by a week before and they weren’t there then either.”

Phoebe stared aimlessly at the grass, the trees, the garage. I knew something odd

was happening. I knew I wasn’t getting the whole story! It must be Wendy’s doing. Camping!

Since when do Mom and Dad enjoy camping?

“I didn’t want to tell you,” Penny went on. “But why can’t they do what they want?

17

Phoebe Comes Home

Let them live their lives!” Penny glared at Phoebe, but then softened and said, “Anyway, of

course they’ll want to see you. The other day after you called I walked over and told Alison

you’re coming. She said Chi Chi would bring the message.”

“Well, that explains why they didn’t return my call. Alison just said they’re not

around… So… what do they do out there in the forest? You must have some idea.”

“Mom is painting all the time, mostly wilderness scenes for her show. You know her

gallery in Evansville is giving her a one-woman show in September.”

“Well that’s exciting! And what about Dad?”

“Alison says he practices archery. He was shooting every day with Chi Chi this past

year. Dad says he misses shooting with you.”

“I miss him too... and I’m glad to hear they’ve got their lives going. So when do we

see them? Are they back?”

Penny hesitated, frowning. “You know, the first time you called I didn’t realize you

were coming back so soon. When you called again yesterday I was lucky to get Glenda to

pick you up. I’m afraid Chi Chi probably told Mom and Dad you’ll be back in the middle

of the week.”

Phoebe’s face froze.

“Look, Phoebe, it’s not my fault. You don’t communicate so well. Don’t start getting

angry.”

“Yeah, like everyone else communicates in such a dandy fashion. Nobody told me

that Mom and Dad were off in the forest. Dad’s phone calls got scarce, and finally stopped

altogether. And frankly, I think I’m missing something here. There’s got to be more to this story.”

Penny’s eyebrows came down low over her eyes. “It’s complicated. And you are

such a hot head. I’m afraid if I say something wrong you’ll go into a fit and argue with Dad

again. I’d rather you just talk to Mom and Dad yourself.”

Phoebe glared at some vague spot in the distance, and suddenly shifted her gaze

back to Penny. “Come on! Fill me in. You know what Mom and Dad are doing.”

“It’s complicated, but I’m getting some idea.”

“Well? Let’s have it. Dad probably has some new plan to save the world.”

“Maybe he does. But you need to see things for yourself. And I’ve already told

you the main facts… But I should warn you: people don’t know that Chi Chi brings the

vegetables to Sammy. He wants to keep his source a secret.”

“Okay. Look, I’m sorry to press you and I haven’t even been here a day. I’m sorry.”

“Phoebe… Just take it slow, okay? You’re young. You should still be in high

The Everything Dream

18

Phoebe Comes Home

school… You know, the big world is far stranger than I thought.”

I’m the strange one. I’m outside of everything, and can’t get back in.

Phoebe’s eyes burned. Her feelings were raw from years of comments about being

too young for her grade. As a toddler she’d been too active and impatient to stay in the

Middletown Pre-school, and her parents found a way to get her into kindergarten a year

early. People had always told her to slow down, but she’d never actually done it.

“Well…” she finally replied, “I can’t help but take it slow. I’ve got nothing to do

anyway. I can’t stand Northern State without soccer; the courses just bore me. I didn’t even

take two exams, and I’m not going back.”

“What happened to environmental studies? I thought you were on a mission.”

“I wish I was.”

Penny looked down and shook her head.

“Maybe I’ll apply to art school now that I’m out of sports,” Phoebe continued. “I’ll

talk to Mom about painting.”

“You should. You used to be pretty good.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just find a job and earn a living for awhile.”

After a long silence, Penny looked up at Phoebe and said, “Let me give you a hint

about the way things are in this town. Don’t wear your charm outside where people can see

it. Tuck it under your shirt.”

Phoebe stared. “I usually do,” she replied, “but who cares?”

“A lot of people. Especially in Middletown. They’re looking everywhere for

dreamstone, and asking questions.”

“Where’s your charm?”

“Under my shirt.” Penny pulled her charm out, and then slid it back next to her

skin. All four members of the Hood family had identical charms, given by their parents at a

Christmas long ago. They all had the same initials, standing for Phoebe Hood, Penny Hood,

Patricia Hood, and Peter Hood; and their store had been called (and was still called) The

Potato Heads’ Toy Store. The P. H. initials were a family tradition.

“I know that dreamstone’s valuable now,” observed Phoebe, “but I never heard of

anyone getting bothered about it.”

“You’ve been away,” returned Penny. “You just don’t understand what’s going on.”

They heard footsteps crossing the gravel driveway from the house next door, and

in a moment a large older woman in a long navy blue skirt and pale blue shirt walked up to

the porch.

The Everything Dream

19

Phoebe Comes Home

Phoebe saw her first and called out, “Dr. Bear!” in surprise.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” came the polite reply.

“Not at all,” said Penny, glancing at Phoebe as a signal to end the previous

conversation. “It’s Saturday. You’re usually here by 8:30.”

“I know. I’m surprised I slept so late.” Dr. Bear gave each girl a kiss on the cheek,

and then looked closely at Phoebe. “It’s so nice to see you, dear. You look just fine, a little

older and more thoughtful.” She took a chair near Phoebe and went on: “Your sister and

I always have breakfast on Saturday mornings. It’s my favorite social engagement of the

week. And you can call me Geraldine. I’m your next door neighbor now.”

“It’s going to be hard for me to call you Geraldine. You’ve been Dr. Bear my whole

life!”

Phoebe’s mind filled with memories of being cared for by Dr. Bear following her

various childhood injuries. In a high school soccer game she’d made a desperate diving save

into a shooting opponent and caught a knee on her temple. Dr. Bear’s kind but penetrating

eyes had been so reassuring as she awoke groggy and sick from the blow to her head. Phoebe

often wished she’d had Dr. Bear attend to her knee; but the injury had needed surgery, and

she’d been referred to a specialist at the hospital near her college.

“Well…” the doctor’s soft and low voice broke in on Phoebe’s thoughts, “anytime

you’re at Middletown Hospital, or anytime you need me, I’ll be Dr. Bear. But call me

Geraldine when I’m just your friend.”

“Okay, Geraldine it is.”

“And let me say how happy I am to see you back in Middletown. I do hope you’re

going to stay awhile.”

“Oh! Well, thank you.” Phoebe turned away, her eyes filling with tears. Even a small

compliment could make her feel like crying. Feeling like a failure, she’d avoided coming

home until she was at her wit’s end, and expected no enthusiasm for her arrival.

“You know,” said Penny, “Geraldine and I were talking on Thursday night after you

called, and we had an idea…”

“Uh oh,” broke in Phoebe, “you’ve got me worried.”

“No really,” insisted Penny. “But you won’t like it if it’s my idea. You explain it,

Geraldine.”

“Your sister and I think your homecoming calls for a celebration. We want to have

a party for you, right here in the backyard on a nice evening soon. I know your sister would

enjoy experimenting with the catering. We could invite some old friends. What do you say?”

“Oh, I don’t know. It’s really nice of you… but…” Phoebe felt her voice about to

The Everything Dream

20

Phoebe Comes Home

break. “Look, I’m not happy right now, okay? I don’t want to see people and pretend to have

fun. I’m just a college dropout with no job. People will feel sorry for me.”

Geraldine put her arm around Phoebe’s shoulders. “There are a lot of people here

who love you.” Phoebe leaned against the older woman, and buried her face in the soft

cotton of that blue shirt.

Geraldine kissed the top of her head. They remained silent for a long minute. Penny

slipped into the kitchen for a tray of coffee and returned.

Finally Geraldine asked, “Why didn’t you come back sooner?”

“I thought about it...” Phoebe’s voice was almost a whisper. “But I was ashamed.

Then my coach found me a job training a team for a youth club. I wanted to see the kids

through the spring season.”

“And I’m sure you did very well. But don’t worry about the party – we’ll just invite

a few close friends, or call it off altogether if you want. We’re just glad to see you.”

While they talked they ate bread with apple butter and drank coffee. Phoebe began

to feel a bit more optimistic about life.

“Okay,” she finally said, and managed a smile. “If you really want to. Just something

small.”

“We do really want to,” said Geraldine firmly.

“It’s true,” said Penny. “I was worried about you. I feel like you’re meant to be here.

And we’re already planning the party for next Saturday night.”

20

Phoebe Comes Home

IIThe Daughter of Robin Hood

22

Phoebe Comes Home

After many slices of bread and cups of coffee, Penny returned to her baking chores, Geraldine

went off to her Saturday appointments, and Phoebe said she wanted to unpack and organize

her room. But her heart wasn’t in it. She brought a load of laundry to the washing machine

in the basement, and on her way back wandered out the front door and sat on the steps. She

pondered her dream of the night before from every angle she could think of, but could make

nothing of it. Her thoughts reached a dead end. She found herself staring at the field and

the forest and the Half Moon Cliffs beyond, wondering about her future. It wasn’t just the

problem of whether to go back to school or find a job. Phoebe didn’t even know who to call

on the phone to say, ‘I’m back, let’s get together.’ Her more successful friends seemed to be

living in a different world.

School had been a disappointment. Her decision to play while injured, and play

again while recovering from surgery, had ruined her future in soccer, affecting even her

ability to walk. The store was gone, sold out of the family. There seemed nothing left to do

in Middletown. Her parents, who for twenty-five years (with the help of their daughters)

had turned the Potato Heads’ Toy Store into a virtual Santa Claus for the community with

carved figures and other original toys, games, art materials, classes, out-loud readings from

children’s books, even holiday feasts and fairs that closed the central block of Middletown…

her parents were now doing… what? Who knew? They used to be so available, so full of

good advice and things to do, and now they could not even be found.

It was all so hard to accept. Phoebe looked out at the forest and thought over her

suspicion that these changes, these many disasters, had something to do with the mysterious

Wendy. Phoebe had not even seen Wendy for over two years, but she knew from her sister

and parents that Wendy lived somewhere in the Forest Preserve and maintained friendships

with a few people. She felt sure that her parents’ move to the greenhouse was a part of some

hidden plan. At times Phoebe worried that she was becoming obsessive on the subject; but

she knew only too well that Wendy really was a strange and powerful character, recognized

by everyone who remembered her as a remarkable old woman. Wendy had been famous as

a gardener, as some sort of alternative healer with her medicines and herbal teas, and as a

powerful force in town politics once upon a time. Dark rumors persisted that she was a witch

who could jinx or sicken those who crossed her. People even blamed her for Middletown’s

famous lack of cell phone reception. Years ago people had gossiped that she could fly. Who

knows what she’s capable of? Who knows what she’s doing?

As Phoebe pored over these thoughts and stared aimlessly out at the landscape, her

23

Phoebe Comes Home

attention was suddenly caught by a road -- really just a dead-end lane -- that ran from Main

Street along the left side of the field and ended at the forest. She looked carefully through the

trees, trying to spot the cottage where Glenda Trimble and her daughter Tiny lived.

Glenda had been a grade ahead of Phoebe in high school, but interrupted her high

school career by giving birth to her daughter in April of her junior year. She took most of

the following year off from school, and came back to finish in Phoebe’s senior year, so they

graduated together. Glenda was well known in Middletown as a survivor of tragedy and

hardship. Four and a half years earlier her parents had driven their car out of a parking lot

onto Rt. 44 near Evansville at a difficult exit near a curve, and a speeding tractor-trailer hit

them broadside. Both parents died instantly. Her brother Jim, already twenty-four years old

and working in his father’s gas station on Main Street near Highway 71 just a mile down the

road from Penny’s house, had taken over both the family business and the parenting of his

smart, extroverted younger sister. Within a year she was pregnant and married to a man eight

years older. The parents-in-law set up the newlyweds in the attractive cottage near the forest;

but after another year had gone by her husband moved to Fellsburg to take a much better job.

Glenda and the baby stayed behind.

During this time Phoebe’s life revolved around the store and soccer. There were few

opportunities to develop a friendship. But now Phoebe was not busy at all, and Glenda and

her daughter had seemed very warm and welcoming the day before.

As she studied the landscape looking for Glenda’s house, Phoebe spotted someone

in black riding a bike up Main Street and turning left onto Glenda’s street, Oak Knoll Lane.

The figure reminded Phoebe of the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz. There was something

similar in the tall, thin body with long arms and legs, the long dark hair, the black clothing,

and the grim determination expressed by the face and the set of the shoulders. With a shock

Phoebe realized that she knew that strange bike rider. It was Abby, another fellow-graduate

from Half Moon High School.

Abby had been perhaps the least popular girl that Phoebe knew, a shy, sad, socially

awkward girl with a chip on her shoulder, too afraid to try to be pretty. Phoebe guessed that

Abby could be attractive. She had a nice, intelligent face, and a slim, boyish figure. But

she totally lacked a sense of style. Abby seemed to be interested in things that no one else

understood or cared about. She achieved some public notoriety by creating a small apple

orchard in the school courtyard – eight trees each producing a different kind of heirloom

apples. She planted the trees as a project for biology class her freshman year; by September

of senior year the results were quite startling. As the students returned to school the trees

were laden with ripening fruit. One day after lunch some students started a riot by picking

The Daughter of Robin Hood

24

Phoebe Comes Home

the apples and throwing them at each other across the courtyard. The game spread like

wildfire, creating a colossal mess. Out of nowhere Abby appeared, screaming and lunging at

the offending students. There were smashed apples everywhere.

Phoebe remembered seeing Abby sobbing in a corner alone after some teachers put

a stop to the incident. She had gone over to her and said, “The trees are still a good thing you

did, even if those kids are such jerks.” Abby had looked up with her eyes full of pain and

said, “I’m so tired of being angry. I’m so tired.” It seemed to Phoebe that this kind of thing

often happened to Abby. She tried hard but something always spoiled it.

One beautiful spring day before graduation when the trees were in full blossom,

Phoebe noticed Abby sitting in the courtyard reading a book. The benches were thronged

with their classmates sitting happily around the trees with the sweet smell carried on the

breeze. Phoebe walked up to Abby and said, “See, I told you it was a good thing.” Abby

smiled but never said a word.

Remembering Abby’s smile from a year ago, Phoebe stared at the thin dark figure

riding up Oak Knoll Lane. The sight set her heart beating faster. Where was Abby going?

There were only four or five houses on the block, and she must be headed for one of them,

or riding into the forest. She had probably made friends with Glenda, Phoebe decided. The

thought intrigued her and made her curious to find out more.

Phoebe began walking toward Oak Knoll Lane with the idea of thanking Glenda

for the ride and passing the time of day. She stopped suddenly and loped back to the house

in the off-balance run that she had perfected, swinging her right leg stiffly. She reappeared

immediately with one of Penny’s loaves of bread in a brown paper bag. Moving quickly

despite her limp, Phoebe cut across the corner of the field to the thin, barely paved street

under the high oaks. She passed a couple of small wooden houses and a trailer on a plot of

land. At the dead end, almost in the forest itself, a small fieldstone cottage sat back from

the street. The old blue pickup truck that had once belonged to Glenda’s father sat in the

driveway, and Abby’s bike leaned against the side of the house.

Phoebe knocked, heard Glenda’s voice, and opened the door to a living room

cluttered with blocks, books, and toys. The bright sunlight came through the side windows

at a steep angle, leaving most of the room in shadow. In the back the room seemed to extend

into a kitchen area. Glenda and Tiny were on the floor amid paper and crayons and magic

markers.

“Phoebe!” cried Glenda, jumping to her feet and stepping over things to give her a

hug.

25

Phoebe Comes Home

Phoebe was thrilled by such a warm reception. “I just wanted to thank you for

picking me up at the bus station yesterday,” she said, painfully aware that her tone of voice

was too flat and cold. “I brought you a loaf of Penny’s bread,” she added hopefully.

“How nice!” exclaimed Glenda. “Let’s eat some. Don’t be put off by all these

things…” She quickly cleared a place on the couch. “Just sit here and I’ll bring you some

tea… Abby!” she yelled. “Look who’s here!”

Phoebe sat down and waited. Abby appeared from a door on the left and came

forward into the light. Her dark eyes smoldered in her thin, pale face, framed by long black

hair. In black jeans and a black tee shirt, she looked even thinner than the year before.

They eyed each other awkwardly. Phoebe said hello.

“Glenda told me you’re back,” Abby said.

Phoebe nodded. “It looks like I’m going to stay awhile.”

Abby quietly pulled up a chair to sit near the couch. Phoebe noticed that Tiny, a

small girl with thick brown hair and wide brown eyes, was staring at her from her spot

among the papers and toys on the floor. Phoebe smiled and waved, and Tiny shyly waved

back. Glenda returned from the kitchen and cleared the coffee table of books and cups and

papers. A teapot began to whistle.

“How about black tea with honey?” asked Glenda as she ran for the stove. The girls

agreed, and Glenda returned again with a tray of steaming mugs, a knife, a dish of butter,

and a jar of honey. “Let’s try Penny’s latest,” she said, and cut a few slices of bread, but the

girls were more interested in each other.

“I don’t know if you’re ready to talk about your plans,” began Glenda. “You’ve

hardly been back a day. But I’m so curious. Here we are with our lives ahead of us.”

“No plans,” said Phoebe, shaking her head. “Except I was thinking of looking for a

job. But really, I have no idea what I’m going to do. How about you?” She looked at Glenda

and Abby.

“Oh, I’m taking care of Tiny,” replied Glenda. “But I wish I could do something

about a career.”

Phoebe turned to Abby, who froze in a long silence. She had not intended to put

Abby on the spot, but somehow it turned out that way. Finally Phoebe felt inspired to say,

“It’s okay. Maybe we don’t have careers, but we’ll find our way. We’ve got our dreams.”

“It’s true,” said Glenda. “I’ve always had a dream.”

“Me too,” said Abby in a soft voice.

Then they looked at each other, surprised by this sudden intimacy none had expected.

Tiny watched them with wide eyes.

The Daughter of Robin Hood

26

Phoebe Comes Home

“Would it be okay,” asked Glenda, “to tell each other our dreams?”

Phoebe didn’t know what to say. She had no intention of mentioning her dream of

the night before to anyone, and felt her heart pounding. Her cheeks and neck flushed with

embarrassment.

“I will,” returned Abby, in a voice that could barely be heard.

“You two go ahead,” said Phoebe. “I’m still thinking.”

Abby nodded to Glenda, who took a deep breath and began: “Well… I’m not sure

how to say this. I’ve always wanted to go to college, but it’s not just that. In my dream the

college is like an old medieval town. My friends go there too, not just for a few years, but

for our whole lives, and it’s actually like a kingdom, and we all have important things to

do. There’s a king and a queen, and they give us jobs, and we have adventures, and we all

belong to this place and to each other…” Glenda looked at them hopefully. “That’s all I can

think of now.”

“I like that,” responded Phoebe. “I want to live there too.”

“I think we live there already,” said Abby.

Phoebe was tempted to laugh, but Abby’s face was serious.

“You’ve inspired me to remember things,” said Phoebe with sudden enthusiasm.

“Can I go next?”

Abby nodded.

“I’ve got two dreams. The first might be a story my parents told me, or maybe it was

a dream I had when I was little; but it feels like something that actually happened. My sister

and I were a child’s toys in a town made of blocks, and so were my parents, and everyone

I knew. And the Good Fairy came and hovered over us, and saw something she wanted to

happen in the world; so she waved her wand that had a special glowing star at the end of

it, and the light of that star came down and we all became alive. The whole town became

alive and a part of the living world. And the Good Fairy said, ‘The entire universe is my

kingdom!’”

Phoebe stopped, worried that her story might seem absurd to them. “I never talk to

anyone about that,” she said. “Does it seem strange?”

“But what happens then?” asked Glenda. “What comes next?”

“I don’t know. It’s just a sense that the Good Fairy made us come alive for some

purpose.”

“There must be more to it,” pursued Glenda. “Some hint that could help us.”

But Phoebe could think of nothing to add. Abby was staring at her open mouthed in

amazement. Phoebe squirmed with anxiety, wondering if Abby could see something wrong

27

Phoebe Comes Home

with her, like a third eye…

“It’s okay,” said Abby, noticing Phoebe’s fears as if she had spoken. “I’m just so

interested. And there’s a second dream?”

“It’s not really a dream…” began Phoebe, organizing her thoughts. “I don’t know

what to call it. When I was maybe eight or nine years old, I had the idea that my father’s

ancestor was actually the original Robin Hood. You know, my father’s name is Peter Hood.

I believed that the identity of Robin Hood had somehow been passed down -- like an

inheritance -- all the way to me. So I have a secret identity. I’m the Daughter of Robin

Hood! And when I grow up I’ll form my band in the forest. I’ll find Little John and my other

friends, and we’ll begin to help people and fight the sheriff. I’ll take over from my father and

become famous… So now you know. That’s my secret identity.”

“Can I join?” asked Abby.

“I want you both to join, but I don’t know what we’re doing yet.”

“Let me know,” returned Abby, giving Phoebe a quick look in the eye. “I need to be

a part of something like that.”

She’s serious, thought Phoebe, looking at Abby with growing curiosity.

“I want to hear from you too,” Glenda said to Abby. “Maybe your dream will help

us.”

“I hope you’re not disappointed. My dream is so vague.” Abby paused and looked

at them with a strange half-smile. “I just want to do good… Since I was little I’ve dreamt

that I would do something good that everyone would notice, something really important.

Then people would care about me, and I would belong, be a part of something, and become

a regular person like everyone else. I would earn my right to be real….” Abby’s open hands

reached out and her voice rose as if she were pleading for understanding. “You see I’ve

always felt like I wasn’t quite a person yet. Sort of like being mostly invisible, like a ghost,

or an exile, or maybe a prisoner.” Her voice broke briefly, with a sound like a sob, and her

hands shook as she added, “Someday by doing good, I’ll become visible like you.”

Tears were flowing down her cheeks. Suddenly she jumped up and disappeared into

the back of the house.

“Oh…” Glenda muttered, and sucked her teeth, making a smacking noise. She rose

and went after her. Tiny calmly followed as well. Phoebe remained seated, and listened

carefully.

There was no sound, but then came Tiny’s voice: “I want Abby to come back.”

Soon they returned to their seats. Abby stared at the floor. Tiny joined Phoebe on

the couch with a crayon drawing in her hand. Phoebe gave the multi-color scrawl a quick

The Daughter of Robin Hood

28

Phoebe Comes Home

glance, and could make out four stick figures with their arms out-stretched. They might have

been dancing across the page.

Tiny handed the drawing to Abby, who took it and held it on her knees.

“Look! It’s us,” said Phoebe.

“Do you think so?” asked Abby.

“This might be you,” observed Phoebe, pointing to the tallest figure.

“Yes, I see all four,” said Glenda, studying the drawing over Abby’s shoulder. She

looked at her daughter. “Is that what you were drawing?”

Tiny nodded.

Abby stared at it for a while and then looked up. “Is it for me?” she asked.

Tiny nodded again.

Abby smiled at her and said, “I’ll keep it. This makes me very happy.”

After a long silence, Phoebe asked, “So what are you all doing today? Maybe we

could do something together.”

Glenda looked at her watch. “Oh! I’d almost forgotten. We’ve got to go to Ellen’s

house. Tiny’s late for her play date with Kayla.” Glenda looked at Abby and Phoebe. “But I

don’t want to cut things off... I’ll call and say we’ll be late.”

“No, that’s okay,” returned Abby, standing up. “I’m actually due… in town. I’m

trying to put together a job, sort of. A way to make some money.”

“Well, I hope I’ll see you soon,” said Phoebe, also standing up. “My sister and I are

having a little party in our backyard next Saturday evening, with dinner and everything. I

hope you’ll all come.”

“We’d love to,” said Glenda. She glanced at Abby nervously, and then gathered

some things for Tiny in a bag. Phoebe carried the tray of teacups to the kitchen sink. The

sun now shone brightly through one of the kitchen windows, and her glance was caught

for a moment by the fascinating colors and shapes of a few huge tomatoes ripening on the

windowsill.

“I’ll come too,” said Abby in her soft voice, so quiet that Phoebe could barely hear

her amidst the noise of the group preparing to depart.

Soon they were out the door. Everyone exchanged hugs. Abby was off on her bike.

Glenda offered Phoebe a ride in the old blue pick-up, but Phoebe said she didn’t have far to

go, and soon she found herself walking alone down Oak Knoll Lane. Her mind whirled with

so many questions that she hardly noticed her surroundings. When she reached her house she

sat on the front steps with her chin in her hands.

29

Phoebe Comes Home The Daughter of Robin Hood

My friends are losers… and I really like them! I’m a loser too. There’s a secret

world where the losers live that I never noticed before. She relived the long conversation

over and over in her mind.

At some point Phoebe noticed out of the corner of her eye the thin dark form of Abby

coming back up Main Street, turning her bike left on Oak Knoll Lane, and continuing on up

toward Glenda’s house. But to her surprise, near the end of the lane Abby bent her course

to the right and rode out over the field toward the giant oak tree standing like an enormous

guard over the path into the forest. Phoebe was reminded of her mother’s paintings, with

their titles like ‘The Great Oak Tree and the Forest’, or ‘The Great Oak Tree and the Sky’.

The tree seemed to be the guardian of a mystery. And there was Abby riding right for it.

Phoebe longed to follow, but felt frozen to the spot as if in a dream.

Near the end of the field Abby began to walk her bike through the leaves and brush.

She looked up and saw Phoebe sitting there across the field, and raised her hand in a brief

salute. Phoebe stood up and waved, and suddenly began an awkward run across the road

into the field, yelling, “Wait, wait!” Abby retreated into the shadow of the trees, but Phoebe

continued speed-limping through the tall grass and around laurel bushes and young pine and

birch trees. Soon she approached the great oak tree, but Abby was nowhere to be seen.

Phoebe slowed down at the beginning of the path, breathing heavily and looking

about, and came to a stop in the dense forest, scanning nervously through the trees. The

thick branches blotted out the sun and the sky, and a dim twilight with patches of darkness

covered the land.

I know she’s here. Phoebe kept still as her breathing returned to normal. The wind

rose and the leaves trembled in the breeze, moving the shadows in a dazzling pattern.

Suddenly the slim form of Abby emerged from the background and came up close.

“What are you doing here?” Abby’s voice was a low monotone.

“I – I wanted to see you,” Phoebe stammered, feeling like an intruder.

Abby’s dark eyes glittered in the scattered light. She moved even closer, less than

an arm’s length away. “No one should see me come into the forest. I was careless. You

shouldn’t draw attention.”

“I’m – I’m sorry,” responded Phoebe, feeling a mad desire to embrace her and weep

on her shoulder, begging forgiveness. But she stood still, braving the scrutiny of Abby’s dark

eyes.

“You didn’t know,” came Abby’s faint voice, almost a whisper. “It wasn’t your

fault.”

30

Phoebe Comes Home

Phoebe gathered her courage and asked, “What’s it all about?”

Abby moved even closer, her face only inches from Phoebe. “Can I trust you? I

mean, will you really be on my side?”

“I’ll be your friend. I need a friend so badly, and I choose you.”

Abby smiled and said, “Follow me.” She turned and slipped effortlessly through

the brush and trees to a small knoll, a little hillock of packed earth and small plants that rose

about four feet above the forest floor. The roots of a thick beech tree wove through one side

of the knoll, and its branches covered the whole area with a dense canopy of leaves that kept

everything in shadow. Abby sat comfortably on a root and patted a nearby spot for Phoebe.

“I come here sometimes,” said Abby. “Do you mind if I smoke?”

“Not at all. Go ahead.”

Abby took a small wooden pipe out of a pouch she wore on her belt, and filled it full

of dark tobacco. With the snap of a match she lit up and puffed out a cloud of smoke. Phoebe

breathed some in, and felt a soothing, peaceful feeling. They sat there in silence, feeling safe.

Yet Abby’s eyes occasionally darted around, responding to small sounds.

“People follow me sometimes,” said Abby suddenly.

“How come?”

“That’s the question,” Abby returned. “I’m trying some experiments to find out. It

could be very, very important for me to know.”

“What are the possibilities?”

“Don’t think I’m crazy. I really hope you don’t think I’m crazy. This is real.”

“Trust me,” replied Phoebe. “I’ll be your friend.”

“Okay…” Abby sighed and took a puff of smoke. She breathed deeply and

frowned. “Okay, I’ll try. I’ll give you a little bit today, and more later, and eventually you’ll

understand.”

“Why not all at once?”

“It’s a lot. You’ve got to bring something to this too. You’ve got to get up to speed,

show me what you’re made of.”

“I’m afraid about that. I’ve had a tough year, and don’t know what I’m doing.”

“That’s a good place to start. It means you’re not committed to anything else, and

you’ve got it all to give.”

“I do. I’ve got it all to give… Well, try me out. Give me a little bit.”

“Okay. Some people may be looking for me to find out where the vegetables come

from. Or they may want to find my Godmother in the forest. Or they may suspect a big

30 31

Phoebe Comes Home The Daughter of Robin Hood

secret, which I’m not going to tell you about today.”

Phoebe thought this over and nodded. “Okay. That’s a lot. You’ve given me a lot.”

“I sure have. More than I’ve given almost anyone.”

“I’ll get up to speed. You’ll see. This gives me something to do.”

“I think you’ve got something to do already.”

“Why do you say that?”

“The dreams you mentioned at Glenda’s, and the way you changed color when

Glenda asked us to tell our dreams. You kept something back.”

Phoebe could feel herself changing color again. “It’s true,” she said in a voice so

low it was almost a whisper. “I did.”

Abby smiled and laughed softly. “Don’t worry. I’m keeping lots of things back. Lots

and lots.”

The pipe had gone out. Abby knocked it against a stone, and the ashes fell into a

little dirt bowl formed by a root. Phoebe could see other ashes there, from other pipes on

other days.

“Well, there are things to do,” said Abby. She stood up, and Phoebe followed,

gathering her thoughts and her courage.

“I want to know more,” Phoebe blurted out. “I really need to. The thing I’m holding

back, you know, that we just mentioned? I think it has to do with all this.”

Abby nodded. “That’s good. It means you don’t have to worry. Just follow along

like you are, and what’s meant for you will come your way.”

“How do you know these things?”

“I can feel them for you -- but it doesn’t work so well for me. I’m always making

mistakes, getting into trouble, doing the wrong thing. It’s a relief to deal with your problems.”

“Maybe I can help you with yours.”

“I hope so. You’d better get up to speed quick. I need some serious help.”

“Count on me.”

“Okay. And the first thing I’ll ask is that you keep all this to yourself.”

“I will.”

“Okay, follow me.”

And Abby led Phoebe back to the path, kissed her suddenly on the cheek, and

disappeared into the shadows.

IIIA Walk Around The Town

WORLD TREE BREADS AND MUFFINS

33

On Sunday morning Penny and Geraldine invited Phoebe to join them at the 11AM service

at the grand old church on Bridge Avenue.

“You should come with us, dear,” said Geraldine. “Reverend Tuck’s finally going

to present the church’s commitment on climate change. There’s going to be controversy I’m

sure, and he needs our support. I’m worried that he’s going out on a limb on this one...”

Phoebe thought of him by his old nickname, Friar Tuck, and recalled an intense

man who had spent a good deal of time at the Toy Store in years gone by. Friar Tuck had

been a regular member of the Protectors of the Wood, the conservation group dedicated to

buying and preserving forest and farmland that had been a special hobby of Phoebe’s father

for more than twenty years. Phoebe was curious to see Friar Tuck again, but she had rarely

attended church services since childhood, and didn’t feel up to facing a crowd of people.

Besides, the church was just a long stone’s throw from the Potato Heads’ Toy Store, and

Phoebe wasn’t sure she was ready to see the store, even though she longed to. Her bitterness

was still too fresh.

So Penny and Geraldine drove off in Geraldine’s comfortable old sedan, and Phoebe

sat on the back porch alone. In a few minutes she was overcome with restlessness and moved

to the front stoop. There she found herself examining Oak Knoll Lane and searching for a

glimpse of Glenda’s house through the trees again. Phoebe considered walking over there,

hoping especially to see Abby, but she decided against the idea. Abby would probably not

respond well to a lot of pressure.

But Phoebe could not stay still, and finally drifted up Main Street. It was another

warm and beautiful day. Day lilies and black-eyed Susans were blossoming along the

roadside. The birds were singing. Phoebe glanced up Oak Knoll Lane, saw no one, and

continued on along Main Street all the way to Bridge Avenue. Unable to resist the impulse,

she turned left and walked up Bridge Avenue towards the Toy Store and the church. The

town was quiet. Phoebe saw a few strangers and some people she vaguely knew; but no one

seemed to recognize her, and she did not acknowledge anyone. She felt almost invisible, like

a ghost, and thought about Abby and her effort to do good and become real.

We’re all ghosts, trying to become real.

She stayed on the left hand side of the street in order to keep some distance between

herself and the Toy Store and the church, both on the right hand side. Since she could not

resist staring at the Toy Store in the distance she hardly noticed the changes in the storefronts

to her left until she was walking next to them. Large fancy new windows and signs, a whole

new façade, had been installed over a long area.

What’s this? It’s all Scutter’s store! It’s triple in size!

A Walk Around The Town

34

Phoebe Comes Home

It was true. Scutter’s new upscale gourmet food market had taken over Louie’s

Pizzeria and the Old Professor’s Used Books to become a giant attraction. It was already

open and doing business before noon on Sunday. Phoebe glanced in the windows, saw a

crowd of faces in the checkout lines, and quickly crossed the street.

I liked the bookstore and the pizzeria. They were fun, and now they’re gone.

She had almost reached the Toy Store and was thinking of turning back, when she

noticed Sammy through the glass door of his coffee shop. The door was locked; but she

knocked and he saw her, and opened the door with a big smile on his face.

“I’m actually closed,” he said, “but for you I’m always open.”

Sammy was an old man with thin white hair who wore an old-style white apron.

He had run his coffee shop since before Phoebe was born and long before that, as long as

anyone could remember. He had a counter, and tables, and booths, and an old jukebox, and

served eggs and pancakes and sandwiches and soup and sodas. He had all kinds of space,

but the place was usually more than half empty. Sammy didn’t seem to care. His store was

a throwback to an earlier age.

“So how are you?” He beamed with another wide smile as he served her a cup of

coffee.

“Oh, not so good,” returned Phoebe with a sad face. “I got injured twice. I’m out of

sports for a year, and looking for something to do.”

“With your energy? You’ll be busy in a week. Mark my words.”

“Oh, I don’t know. This is a big change for me. It might take a while…” Phoebe’s

eyes strayed to the shelves of candy to her left. Suddenly she reached over and grabbed a

large handful of bubblegum – maybe ten pieces – and shoved most of them into the pocket

of her jeans. She opened two of them and popped them into her mouth. Sammy smiled and

then began laughing. “I haven’t seen you do that in a long time… It does me good…”

Phoebe chewed for a minute and then asked, “So what happened to Louie and the

Old Professor? They were fine last summer.”

“Oh, they were getting old and needed the money. You know how it is…”

“What’s with Scutter’s? He just opened two years ago and suddenly his store looks

like Disneyland. Is he rich or something?”

“Oh ho! Something called investors! But don’t get me started on that -- I might say

more than I should. But one thing I’ll tell you confidentially…” Sammy leaned forward and

lowered his voice as if someone could overhear. “Last year I was thinking about retiring.

They heard about it somehow and wanted my store too! But I’ve decided to live another

twenty years and stay open every single one of them, just to put a spike in their wheel.”

35

Phoebe Comes Home

Phoebe’s eyes lit up. “I’m glad to hear that! But what’s going on? Is someone

trying to take over the town?”

“Well…” said Sammy slowly, “it does look that way…” His eyes strayed

involuntarily to the newspaper open on the counter nearby.

Phoebe reached out and pulled it close, glancing at the front page and saying, “So

what’s in the Middletown Standard these days?” She scanned the headline and the lead

article.

Good News for Middletown

By Jerome Peabody

With pride and a spirit of celebration we take this opportunity to be the first to announce that the Geddon Insurance Group will be moving its headquarters to Middletown over the coming year. Our sources assure us that a firm decision has been made, and a search committee already has its eye on potential properties. It goes without saying that a move of this sort will bring support for our local economy, and the kind of jobs and residents our citizens have been hoping for.

“What’s this?” asked Phoebe.

“It’s bad news for Middletown, that’s what. They’re after every property they can

find.”

He opened his mouth to say more, but looked at Phoebe and stopped. She was

suddenly silent, thinking about the Toy Store next door. Will investors come after that too?

Sammy read the look in her eye, and quickly backtracked. “Sorry. I don’t mean to bring all

that up.” He waited, but Phoebe just shook her head sadly.

“Now I can see you need some advice,” declared Sammy, standing up straight as if

getting ready for a speech. “Don’t get caught up in regrets. Don’t second-guess your parents.

They were smart to sell to Gilligan. They’ve taken advantage of no one over all these years.

Everything they’ve touched has had some real life behind it. Give this some time.”

But Phoebe’s sense of loss could not be shaken. With a sad, crooked smile she sat

sipping her coffee, feeling that she did not belong in this town anymore. Soon she began to

worry that the church service would be over and people would flood the street.

I don’t want to see anyone. Not anyone. But what else is there to do?

A Walk Around The Town

36

Phoebe Comes Home

Sammy waited patiently, studying her in silence. Her eyes strayed back to the

newspaper as she sought some distraction from the pain and confusion inside her heart. She

flipped a page open and glanced at some headlines with no particular aim in view. Her eyes

were caught by the words, a Black Arrow, above a small article at the bottom of the page,

and she quickly read:

A Second Report of a Black Arrow

By Jerome Peabody

A group of hikers reported last week being shot at by a black arrow deep in the forest preserve. Mitchell Connelly of the Half Moon Florist was guiding a group of eight hikers past the Half Moon Cliffs near the Hunter’s Trail when a black arrow flew past the group into a nearby tree. The group quickly retreated from the area. Some members returned days later with tree climbing equipment to retrieve the arrow, but it had disappeared. Any information on this or related incidents would be greatly appreciated by this newspaper.

Phoebe looked up, with some hope and excitement awakening inside. Now that’s

interesting... a black arrow...

“I’ll give it some time…” she said suddenly. “I’ll definitely give it some time.” She

put a dollar on the counter. As she spun on her stool to head for the door her glance fell on

the wide shelves of plywood and chicken wire covering the back wall of the store. Somehow

she hadn’t noticed them on her way in. “Now that’s new,” she said. “There’s a change!”

“That’s right,” returned Sammy, “and a good change all around. I get the satisfaction

of taking away some of Scutter’s business, make a little extra money, and help out my friends

at the same time. And wouldn’t Scutter like to know where I get this stuff!”

Phoebe walked up to the shelves. They were empty except for a few stray leaves of

lettuce and arugula and a couple of snap peas. Tacked to one shelf was a poster board sign

featuring an image printed in ink of a tree with spreading roots and branches. Immediately

below were the words,

WORLD TREE BREADS AND MUFFINS

Phoebe instantly recognized the tree as a larger version of the image her father

37

Phoebe Comes Home

stamped at the front of all the family books; but on his stamp the words read, EX LIBRIS,

and he usually wrote The Hood Family by hand just below. He had sometimes covered

up the words and used the image as a heading for Christmas cards or letters. The tree was

practically the family symbol, like a coat of arms. For a second Phoebe felt a surge of anger

that someone was stealing the image, but in a flash she realized that Penny was using it.

“Ah! My sister’s shelf!” She nodded with approval. “Very nice!”

“Everything sells out in a hurry, too,” commented Sammy. “I don’t even advertise.

Scutter wants to carry your sister’s line, but she’s not interested. I’ve got an exclusive in

Middletown.”

“Good for her!” cried Phoebe, smacking a fist into her open palm. “So…” She

hesitated. “I get the feeling I shouldn’t ask about the vegetables.”

Sammy nodded. “I knew you’d understand. The less said the better.”

“Thanks. Well, I just want to say you’ve cheered me up. We’re counting on those

twenty years you promised, every single one of them.” Phoebe headed for the door, but

turned at the last second and said, “Just one more question: what’s up at the church today?

Dr. Bear said there would be controversy.”

Sammy opened his sleepy eyes wide and stared at her. “I should be there myself!

My conscience is bothering me… but it’s just too painful to see Reverend Tuck trying to

reason with people who won’t listen.”

“This is all about climate change?”

Sammy gave Phoebe an odd, questioning look. “It’s a big subject,” he finally said.

“There’s a lot going on.”

Phoebe stared back, her hand on the door. “Like... what sort of thing do you mean?

“Oh… you can’t find out everything all at once. Look around a bit and come back.”

“I will. I certainly will.”

Phoebe stepped out the door, turned right, and walked up the sidewalk past the Toy

Store. She did not allow herself to stop, or even look through the windows or the gate. It

wasn’t time for that yet. The first faint beginning of a plan was taking shape in her mind, but

she wanted to understand things better, much better, before doing anything.

I wonder what that ‘everything’ is that I can’t find out about...

As she neared the intersection of Bridge Avenue and Old Stone Road, just across

the street from the church, she looked up at the corner store and saw the same old sign from

years past:

A Walk Around The Town

38

Phoebe Comes Home

MIRACLES GIFT SHOP

JEWELRY, ANTIQUES, AND UNUSUAL ITEMS

“At least it’s still here,” Phoebe muttered. The metal shutters were open. A hand-

written sign in the window caught her eye: Best Prices Offered for Dreamstone -- aka

Skyrock, Glowstone -- any quantity, jewelry or raw stone. Phoebe tried the front door but it

was locked. She knocked and looked into the store, hoping to see her ex-boyfriend George

or his younger sister Ellie, the children of the owners; but the lights were off, and nothing

moved inside.

She turned back toward the street and suddenly saw a stream of people spill out of

the church. Some crossed Bridge Avenue and crowded around the benches in front of the

Middletown Standard office, and some crossed Old Stone Road and passed just in front of

her. There were many loud voices, laughing and cursing. Men in business suits, men in work

clothes, a few well-dressed women – they all seemed to be angry and yet sharing some joke.

Phoebe caught a few words, and then the drift of a conversation.

“He’s a fool,” remarked a pudgy man in a dark suit. Phoebe recognized him as the

man who ran the securities and investment office across Bridge Avenue. No one looked

her way, even though she stood almost close enough to touch people as they passed by. “A

fool,” the man went on, “a jerk. How this town tolerates him is more than I can say. Here’s

what I think of his proposal.” He ripped a sheet of paper in half and let the pieces drift to the

sidewalk.

“But a dangerous fool,” added a tall, thin man in an elegantly tailored suit. “A

fanatic. He’ll never join us, him and a few others I could name. They must be defeated. Do

you hear me? Defeated! Nothing else will do.” Something about the tall man rang a bell in

Phoebe’s mind, but she couldn’t place him.

“Let the Reverend talk,” someone said as the crowd disappeared down the sidewalk.

“Who cares? No one believes this stuff.”

“I don’t know,” came another voice. “There’s got to be something in it, don’t you

think? I mean, a lot of people are worried about it.”

“Do you hear that? Do you see what I mean?” returned the tall man. “Even some of

us are persuaded. Tuck is dangerous, I’m telling you. Him and the rest of that group leave

us only one option… In fact, I’ve got an idea. Slow down a second.” The tall, thin man and

the pudgy man began walking close together, speaking softly and intensely. Phoebe watched

their backs – an odd couple, long and lean, short and fat. They conferred together, moving

slowly down the sidewalk, but she could hear nothing. The scene left a strong impression

A Walk Around The Town

39

Phoebe Comes Home

on her mind.

She stooped and picked up the torn sheet of paper, stuffed both halves in her pocket,

and quickly looked back toward the church. The sudden absence of people there seemed

odd. The church doors were closed and the steps and front sidewalk were empty. She knew

the group she’d seen couldn’t have been even a quarter of those who usually attended the

United Church of Middletown, easily the largest church in the area of Middletown and Half

Moon. With great curiosity she speed-limped across the street, up the steps of the church, and

slipped in through the huge old double doors.

She noticed the last pew was empty and quietly sat down. To one side a glowing

stained glass window showed an angel with enormous white wings closely following two

small children. The hands of the angel hovered protectively over each child’s head. The

chandelier high above gave out a faint radiance. The church remained crowded, and the

people were intent on hearing Friar Tuck preach. No one noticed Phoebe.

One of the many strange features of the Middletown church was its high pulpit,

fashionable well more than a century ago. Someone had built a thin circular staircase only

wide enough for one person, and enclosed it in a wooden shell with bark and the stumps

of branches to look like an ancient tree in winter, a tree that has lost its upper half, perhaps

blasted by lightning. And there at the top, at the spot where lightning had struck, was a place

for Friar Tuck to stand and preach his sermons.

At that moment he was preaching in a loud, clear voice: “Let me repeat one more

time the New Testament reading for today. We cannot repeat it too often.”

Phoebe was impressed by Tuck’s robust frame, his firm, reddish face. His voice

boomed out across the church: “‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that

whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent his son into

the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.’ This is

the good news! God loves the world! And we are all called upon to follow Jesus in helping

to save the world in all its glory, with all its wealth of life and strange beauty. Every kind of

life is precious, every species that grows or swims or flies or runs on the earth has a place in

God’s eyes.

“We – even you and I, those of us who stand here today – are called upon by God

to be the faithful stewards of life on earth, even as Noah was called upon to save every type

of living creature from the flood. Recall that God established his covenant with Noah, and

promised life not only to humans – the descendants of Noah and his wife – but also to the

descendents of every living thing. Yes, these living things are there for us, to nourish our

legitimate needs, but we are also there for them, to insure life for their descendents as long

A Walk Around The Town

40

Phoebe Comes Home

as time shall last.

“And it must be said that it is a sin to wipe out hundreds of species of plants and

animals every year the way we do. It is a sin for which we all bear responsibility. It is a

sin that is growing and growing, and in the end, if we do not change, the payment will be

ourselves and our children, and our children’s children. A terrible nightmare of loss will

become our future. I know that the things that God would have us do are hard for us to do,

but nonetheless… but nonetheless…” Tuck’s voice boomed out like an explosion: “WE

MUST CHANGE! WE MUST CHANGE! Look at the stakes! My dear brothers and sisters,

look at the stakes! God is raising them with every year that passes. Soon the stakes will

include everything! That’s right. Soon we will play this game for everything we know and

hold dear.”

Phoebe could hear her heart thumping loudly inside her.

Tuck’s voice became softer, and now he spoke in a low, pleading tone. “Remember:

God loves the world. Let us be his stewards on earth. Like Noah, let us establish our covenant

with God to protect the future of our wonderful and precious and glorious world.” Tuck

came to a stop and bowed his head.

“Let us pray… Heavenly father, give us the strength and understanding to change

our ways, and to do what is needed to nourish the wealth of life on earth, and to share our

resources with a spirit of sacrifice by those who have in abundance. One human alone does

not make a life. The entire community of humans, and of each species, and of all species,

make the life that God has made. Amen.”

Friar Tuck stayed silent with his head bowed. The church was perfectly still as the

moments crept by. Finally he raised his eyes and looked at the congregation, and announced

the final hymn. Phoebe slid quietly out of the pew and out the door into the glaring sunlight.

Whoa! That message struck deep. Was that in my dream?

She walked quickly to the corner, turned left and loped along, covering ground with

her speed-limp. Soon she was past the church and its outbuildings and into a countryside of

tree-lined fields. Phoebe needed a quiet place to think. She had always loved the deserted

street she now walked on, Old Stone Road. She liked the name, and the fields of Fred

Peterson’s farm, and the Winkle farm farther on, and the grove of trees at the intersection

of Cemetery Lane. She stood there for a minute in the shade and pulled the ripped sheet of

paper from her pocket. Putting the two pieces together, she read the following:

41

Phoebe Comes Home

The United Church of Middletown

Dear Members of the Congregation:

In response to the task requested by this congregation, and after much deliberation, our Vestry Committee presents this proposal for your approval. Please return it to the box at the church door or place it in the offering plate.

Many thanks to all for taking up this difficult and all-important issue. With love and gratitude,

Reverend David Tuck

We believe that human activity is changing the climate and environment of our earth and destroying countless species of plants and animals at an accelerating pace.

We believe that this destructive activity constitutes a sin in the sight of God, and that we are called upon to correct our course of action and to improve the health of our planet and its nourishment and support of the vast diversity of life.

We believe that this mission is a crucial calling of this congregation

at this time.

I approve______ disapprove______ am not sure______ of this

proposal.

Okay. This certainly draws a line in the sand. It doesn’t feel so abstract as it was in

school. But where’s it all going? What am I supposed to do?

Phoebe began walking again, turning right down Cemetery Lane. She always found

the old gravestones to be quiet and peaceful. The ancient and majestic maple trees cast

shadows over the scene. Soon she reached Cemetery Bridge over the Half Moon River, and

stood at the railing watching the dark water flow by.

A strange feeling was bothering her, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. She

stared deep into the water. These recent events had stirred up associations… That sign in

the window at Miracles Gift Shop had started a new train of thought. Something was awake

inside her, something about skyrock and raw stone… It was a memory, a memory of a raw

stone. And her dream of the Good Fairy was there… as if the dream were inside the stone…

A Walk Around The Town

42

Phoebe Comes Home

Yes, there it is! a voice cried inside her mind. That’s it!

Phoebe stood in amazement and recalled being in her parent’s bedroom as a small

child, and seeing a rough irregular stone at eye level nearby on a table. One smooth pale

blue side seemed to open into the gray stone, like a window into great depth. She had drawn

closer and closer, and gazing into it saw the Good Fairy hovering above her, reaching out

her wand with the silver star gleaming and radiating down. Looking around, she’d found

herself among a child’s toys on the floor, and realized that everything was moving, becoming

unfrozen, coming alive. And a clear, high voice proclaimed: “The entire universe is my

kingdom!”

In a flash Phoebe recalled being interrupted by her father, who’d quickly moved

the stone away. He’d looked into her eyes with concern and asked questions. Phoebe got the

impression that she’d done something wrong. She never saw the stone again. That had all

happened a long, long time ago, yet it seemed like yesterday.

Whoa… Some people know a lot more about dreamstone than I do, even in my own

family. And I wonder what George and Ellie know about this business.

Phoebe stood there watching the dark water flow by for some time, haunted by

memories. Her thoughts took a sorrowful turn as she tried to imagine seeing her friends

again. I have no life. What can I say to them? All of this is going on, and I have no part to

play. She imagined a scene in which George asked her what was up and she replied, ‘Oh…

nothing, nothing at all.’

He’ll just feel sorry for me. Without the Toy Store or soccer, I’m nobody.

Memories of George and Ellie Thompson awoke and poured into her mind,

memories of being thrown together as children working in their parents’ stores over many

years. Ellie, three years younger than Phoebe, had copied her expressions and her clothes.

George, a year older than Phoebe and in her class all the way through school, had nursed a

crush on her since the age of twelve. For years – to his parents’ dismay – he’d spent every

free moment at the Toy Store and even tried to work there.

Phoebe vividly remembered during her first month of high school arriving among

the throng of students early one morning to notice everyone pointing at her and laughing

and making remarks. A crowd had gathered by the big bare brick wall outside the gym; but

on that morning the wall was not bare. The name PHOEBE had been painted in huge white

block letters over twenty feet up the sheer face of the thirty-foot wall. Even now she felt

overwhelmed with embarrassment.

She hadn’t even been talking to George at that time. That bombshell message was

designed – like a colossal love note or bouquet of flowers -- to make her relent and restart

43

Phoebe Comes Home

their relationship. But Phoebe had been too confused about her own feelings for any normal

romance. As the only thirteen-year old ninth grader -- and as a certain kind of person – she’d

felt horribly awkward in the high school social world.

How had he even gotten up there, with a roller and a tray of white paint? Everyone

seemed to know that George had done it; yet when Phoebe asked him, he denied it, giving

her a hurt look. He seemed so sad that she never forgot the pain in his eyes. He must have

known that this heroic effort had failed on every level. Later the tag OUTSIDER – written

as two words, one above the other, inside a circle -- appeared all over the high school, Half

Moon, and Middletown. Her friends seemed to know that George was the writer, and finally

he was even suspended from school for graffiti; but he never admitted anything to Phoebe.

George had gone on to become popular and admired as a guitar player and singer

in a local band. Phoebe was able to shine in sports. She left her early years behind and got

along; but she knew it wasn’t over. She felt stuck in that world of long ago, and wondered

if George felt that way too.

There seemed to be no way to escape from the pain. I’ve taken a wrong turn

somewhere. And now I’m nobody… Nobody.

Phoebe noticed a crushed cardboard box by the roadside just past the bridge, and

angrily began to kick it down the street. I can’t even kick with my right leg, she remembered

miserably, feeling the pain of the kneecap grinding and the joint overextending. She caught

a glimpse of Main Street and the hospital not far ahead, and it occurred to her that she could

drop in on Alison at the Garden Center, and perhaps see Chi Chi as well.

Maybe they’ll know something about all these things, like where my parents are,

and what’s up with Sammy and Tuck, and the mystery about dreamstone… Maybe they’ll

talk to me and tell me what I should be doing with my life! That’s what I really need.

She passed more gravestones on her left, and soon reached the crossroads at Main

Street, where the heavy traffic passed between Highway 71 to the west and Half Moon and

far away River City to the east. Across Main Street, Cemetery Lane continued on to its

dead end at a small hill on the edge of the forest. To the right rose Middletown Hospital,

an extremely wide six-story building behind a parking lot and a huge bare lawn cut close

like a golf course. The whole set-up reminded Phoebe of a corporate office building, and

contrasted vividly with the old, strange, one-story structure – sporting a central bubble of

glass panels -- that appeared to the left of Cemetery Lane. There a faded sign read:

THE MIDDLETOWN GARDEN CENTER.

Phoebe loped across Main Street and slowed down as she reached the Garden

A Walk Around The Town

44

Phoebe Comes Home

Center’s gravel driveway. Finally she stopped and took a deep breath. Okay. Here we go.

She walked up to the screen door and looked at the small sign reading: Fortunes Told and

Herbs Sold -- Inquire Within.

I wonder what Alison would say about my fortune.

She tossed her gum into a green trash barrel, swung open the door, and stepped

inside a large room with bright sunlight glowing through a high curved dome of leaded glass.

A profusion of plants grew up toward the light, with some tall tropical trees stretching up to

touch the panes. Along the walls the shelves were lined with bags of topsoil and potting soil

and compost, pots and tools and trays of seeds, garden sculptures like elves and angels, and

a hundred other things. Across the room an imposing woman in her forties with brown skin

and black hair sat behind a long counter near the cash register. She was laying out a series of

cards and studying them with great concentration. Phoebe froze and waited in suspense for

her to finish. Finally the fortune teller looked up.

“Hi Alison,” said Phoebe.

“My little girl back in town!” Alison jumped up and came around the counter to hug

Phoebe. Alison was so tall that she had to stoop down to touch her cheek to Phoebe’s. “I’ve

been expecting you.”

Phoebe’s eyes were drawn to the large and colorful Tarot cards arranged on the

counter. Cards marking the corners of a diamond surrounded a central card showing a young

man or woman with flowing hair riding a horse and holding a red sword. A vertical line of

four cards lay to the left.

“I’m sorry. I’ve interrupted you…” stammered Phoebe, suddenly feeling very tense.

“Not at all, I was just thinking about you.”

“Oh!” cried Phoebe, startled. “Are the cards… about me?”

“It is a coincidence, isn’t it?” said Alison with a smile. “But the cards are not just

about you. They’re about all of us.” Her black hair was pulled back firmly, showing a high,

curved forehead that glowed in the sunlight.

Phoebe walked around the counter to see the cards right side up. The Knight of

Swords, read the title on the central card. She pointed to it and asked, “What’s this one

mean?”

“It’s a new character entering the scene. Prepare for action, conflict, change!”

“And this one?” Phoebe touched the first card in the vertical line, picturing a woman

in a long golden dress with golden wings, pouring a dark liquid from one red cup into

another.

Alison looked carefully at Phoebe. “A card for the new season,” she answered. “The

45

Phoebe Comes Home

water’s flowing back and forth between the worlds, and life is renewed. New life grows for

us all.”

“That seems good,” said Phoebe uncertainly.

“It is good,” said Alison firmly.

They were silent for a moment.

“That was quite a drama at the church today,” Phoebe blurted out.

“Tell me! I almost went, though I don’t normally. But I’ve been so curious.”

“I just ducked in for a few minutes. I’d been at Sammy’s and saw a crowd walk out

early, like some sort of protest. One of them ripped this in half and dropped it.”

Phoebe gave the paper to Alison, who read it carefully.

“These men were making some pretty nasty remarks on the sidewalk,” Phoebe

continued. “Something about Tuck and others being dangerous, and leaving them only one

option. The tall man was saying, ‘They must be defeated! Do you hear me? Defeated!’ It

sounded really bad, like a threat.”

Alison looked up from the torn paper and nodded at Phoebe. “So that’s what they

think… Tell me how they looked.”

“Two men were talking like this together. One was from that new securities office –

well it’s not so new at this point, I guess. The other was…”

“The tall man, right? Tall and thin and well-dressed?” Alison smiled bitterly.

“Exactly. Who’s he?”

“You’ve been gone for quite a while,” Alison mused. “Well, I guess it’s been less

than a year, but it seems like a lot longer. You don’t know Milton Morphy.”

“Ah!” replied Phoebe. “So that’s him. I’ve heard the name since I was a child, and

I saw him a few times long ago. He tried to buy Fred Peterson’s farm and some other land

around here at some point.”

Alison nodded. “I didn’t think you’d remember all that.”

“I listened in on some of those Protectors of the Wood meetings. People thought

Penny and I were asleep.”

Alison laughed. “We stopped him then. It’s good to remember. But now he’s back

with a vengeance, and more money than ever.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“Well… we’re not sure. Right now I’m trying to stay quiet and out of the way.

I don’t want any role in this… conflict. At least no visible role. Chi Chi and I don’t get

involved. And I’d advise you to do the same until you… know more about it.”

“I see. That’s part of my problem. I don’t know much about it.”

A Walk Around The Town

46

Phoebe Comes Home

Alison looked at Phoebe nervously, unable to reply.

“I was kind of hoping my parents might be here.”

“I don’t think they are. But they might have come in over the last hour or two. Let’s

take a look.”

Alison led the way out the door and around back to a very long greenhouse about

ten feet high at the peak of the roof. Phoebe looked beyond it to a field of evergreen trees

followed by the forest. To the right near the end of Cemetery Lane lay a low shed with a

slanted roof that Phoebe knew contained Chi Chi’s tombstone workshop. What with the

hospital and the cemetery, he always seemed to have work to do.

Alison knocked on the glass panes of the door of the greenhouse, and finally took

out a key and unlocked the door. “Peter!” she called. “Patti! Anybody home?”

There was no answer. She relocked the door and they walked back toward the store.

“They’re due any day,” said Alison. “Maybe this afternoon or tomorrow. You’re at

Penny’s? They’ll call you.”

Phoebe felt the familiar anger rise in her throat. She stopped on the deserted

driveway and clenched her fists. “Where are they?” she burst out. “Just what is going on?”

She knew her voice was too loud.

Alison stopped and looked at her. “Come on inside. You need a cup of lemon balm.”

“That’s okay, I really don’t want any…”

“Yes you do,” broke in Alison, guiding Phoebe forward with a hand on her back.

She closed the door and turned over the ‘open’ sign to read ‘closed’, and led Phoebe through

a locked door to her private office and a comfortable couch. “Now just relax for a minute

while I make some tea.”

The room was small and mostly devoted to Alison’s practice in medicinal herbs.

Phoebe knew this room of old. As a child she had been brought here dizzy with the flu or

bronchitis, and Alison -- or even on rare occasions, Wendy herself -- had examined her and

prescribed herbal medicines. Phoebe gazed at the bundles of drying plants hung from the

ceiling, and the shelves containing a chaos of bottles and jars storing different potions and

salves. One whole wall was covered with shelves of canning jars filled with dried roots,

leaves, and seeds. Phoebe spent an idle moment reading the handwritten labels, displaying

names like Angelica, Yarrow, Yerba Buena, Mugwort, and Yellow Dock, with a scribble of

dates and locations. Her distracted eyes shifted to an overstuffed bookcase holding books on

herbs and divination two rows deep with more books squeezed above each row.

On another day all this paraphernalia might have awakend her interest, but today

Phoebe felt her anger bubbling inside. So many books scare me. They make me feel guilty for

47

Phoebe Comes Home

not reading them. And I don’t want any tea to make me relax. I’m not interested in relaxing.

I’m not sick... I’m on a search... There’s something I must do.

Alison returned with a small tray containing two steaming cups. Phoebe noticed

again how tall and slim and elegant Alison looked in her black skirt and crisp white buttoned-

down shirt.

“Now just let this cool, and maybe we can talk this over. You want to know… about

your parents, where they are and what they’re doing. They must not have had an opportunity

to tell you about it.”

Alison searched Phoebe’s eyes for her feelings, and waited for any comments, but

Phoebe sat quietly.

“You’ve probably noticed that other people don’t know where your parents are or

what they’re doing either. In fact, almost no one knows. But I can assure you it’s something

good, something necessary. They need to be private about their lives at this point. You should

trust them.”

“You think I don’t trust them?” Phoebe replied, unable to conceal her annoyance.

“I’m not sure. Do you?”

“I’m not happy that they sold the store.”

“I understand. Many people feel that way. Probably most of the town. But be careful

whom you talk to... Don’t blab your dissatisfactions and concerns around the town. Other

people may be inquiring about your parents for… less innocent reasons.”

Phoebe stood up, feeling a hot flash of anger. “What makes you think I go around

blabbing my dissatisfactions? You should know I’ve spoken to no one about my parents

-- except my sister. I’d assumed it was okay to speak to you, but if that’s not the case I’ll be

going…”

Alison also rose, putting her hand on Phoebe’s arm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like

that. It’s just that we’re not close these days. If you knew all the facts, you would know that

a word of caution is not out of place. Please...”

They warily resumed their seats. “If someone would give me some facts,” Phoebe

replied, “I could make up my own mind. But you warn me while saying nothing.”

“You’ve got some fire, Phoebe, and that’s good. I like you. But this situation is more

complicated than you know. Wait just a bit and your parents will fill you in on things.”

“That’s what my sister says. But I think the problem is that you don’t trust me.”

Alison watched her stubborn, determined expression. Finally she said, “Come on

Phoebe, just tell me what you want me to do.”

“All right, I’ll give it a try. Miracles Gift Shop has a sign in the window, Best Prices

A Walk Around The Town

48

Phoebe Comes Home

Offered for Dreamstone. And Penny tells me not to wear my dreamstone charm out over my

shirt. What’s up with all that?”

“Hmm….” Alison hesitated. Her face had the look of panic. “Did you ask your

sister?”

“You don’t fool me,” replied Phoebe, no longer with anger, but with sadness. “Either

you don’t trust me, or you’re bound by promises. But I’ll find out my own way.” She sat

silently, not drinking her tea.

Alison stared, and took a deep breath. “Okay. You’ve got me. I’ll admit it. You’re a

hundred percent correct. This is about the most sensitive nerve you could possibly touch.”

She breathed deeply again, obviously trying to calm herself. To Phoebe’s astonishment,

Alison’s eyes teared up, and her hand gripped Phoebe’s knee.

“Let me beg you,” said Alison in a low, hoarse voice, “please, please, be careful.”

Phoebe wanted to look away, but Alison leaned forward and looked her in the eye. “Talk to

your Mom and Dad. The fate of many, you don’t know how many, hangs upon this.”

Phoebe was speechless. Oh my… the everything dream.

“You should know I think the world of you,” Alison was saying. “I’m on your side.”

“I didn’t mean to shock you, it’s just that I feel like such an outsider.”

“I understand. I wish I could tell you more, but be careful whom you trust. You’ll

know them by their fruits.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s a little saying we use from the Bible. It just means, you’ll know the good

people by the good they bring into the world.”

“I’m sorry I pressed you.”

“It’s okay. Give me a hug.”

They stood up. Phoebe rose on her toes and looked up at Alison’s face half a foot

above her. They embraced and touched cheeks. Phoebe could feel the wetness of Alison’s

tears.

“You’ve been nice to me. I’ll come back soon.”

“Don’t forget what I said. See you.”

Phoebe walked outside into the bright sunlight and headed home. She skipped in

delight on the gravel driveway. I’m not crazy! I’m not crazy! For certain that was a clue. Yes!

I have a life! She flung her hands in the air, and tears came to her eyes. There’s something

for me to do! Something really, really, important. I don’t know what it is, but I’ll find out…

But I should have been nicer to Alison. And I should have asked her more about the

Knight of Swords. That feels like me.

Phoebe Comes Home

IVCaptain Nemo

50

Phoebe Comes Home

On the following morning after breakfast, Phoebe once again sat on the front stoop looking

out over the field. A cool damp breeze had made her grab a hooded sweatshirt. Dark clouds

were massing over the Half Moon Cliffs. She popped a couple of pieces of gum in her mouth

and considered the recent changes. She hated not being sure what to do when she woke up

in the morning; but she could see that her situation was light-years better than two days ago.

Now she had expectations and hopes, paths that might lead to something. It was dawning

on her that the Thunder Being had given her a mission, a quest of some kind. And the more

people seemed to have something to hide, the more she believed that her quest was real.

Now what should my next step be?

Only Abby promised to share the big picture, and Phoebe yearned to speak to her

again. Where was she living, really? What kind of job was she trying to put together? How

did she spend her time? Where was she headed the other day, riding her bike into the forest?

Phoebe had no doubt that Abby’s major revelation – that people were following her to find

the source of the vegetables, or her godmother, or both – was absolutely true. And therefore

it seemed reasonable to suppose that the tomatoes on the windowsill in Glenda’s kitchen

had not come from Sammy’s Coffee Shop, but were a gift from Abby, acquired in the forest.

Phoebe wondered whether it made any sense to visit Glenda, and look for Abby,

and drop a comment about the tomatoes. She hesitated, afraid of scaring off both Abby and

Glenda, and finding herself with no friends at all. But the ache of Phoebe’s loneliness, and

the spur of her curiosity, soon propelled her off the front steps and across the field to Oak

Knoll Lane. She didn’t even construct a polite excuse for the visit.

When she knocked, Glenda opened the door immediately as if she’d been expecting

someone. “Oh!” Glenda cried, putting her hand to her mouth in embarrassment.

“Um… hi,” said Phoebe, afraid that she was unwelcome. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, not at all. It’s a really good time. I was just surprised, that’s all. Come in.”

As Phoebe sat on the couch, not sure what to say, Glenda began talking before she’d

even cleared the toys off her chair. Tiny was playing with blocks and figures on the floor.

“You’ll never guess what I was thinking when you knocked. You see, I’ve been

trying for the longest time to get myself to drive to Teachers’ College and enroll in some

courses for September, but I never do. I’m not sure why. But this morning I was thinking

about our talk the other day, and I decided to make a promise that if either you or Abby came

to visit I’d get up the nerve to ask you to go with me. Then I could do it, do you see? Just

go there and talk to the admissions office and get an application or something. And then

suddenly there was a knock and there you were!”

Glenda was wide-eyed with shock.

51

Phoebe Comes Home

“I’ll go with you,” Phoebe replied.

“Really? Today? Right now?”

“Definitely right now. I’ve got plenty of time. I’ll enjoy it.”

Glenda stood up and clapped her hands. “Oh, that’s so great. We can have a bite to

eat there. I’ll make sandwiches and get Tiny’s stuff and we’ll be off.” She walked over to

the kitchen, still talking. “It’s not that far, less than an hour. We could be back in two or three

hours.”

Phoebe followed her into the kitchen. She was happy to help Glenda, but wondered

how far she could push her own quest at the same time.

Glenda began to slice some of Penny’s bread. “How about cheddar cheese, tomatoes,

avocado, and lettuce?” she asked.

“Sounds wonderful,” Phoebe replied, amazed that the circumstances made her little

investigation feel so natural. “I can’t wait to taste one of those tomatoes. I noticed them the

other day… Where do you get them?”

“Oh… ah…” replied Glenda, obviously flustered. “Uh, Abby brought them.”

They stared at each other in confusion. Phoebe’s guess was confirmed. But now

what? How far could she go with this conversation without breaking her promise to Abby?

“You know… I’m sorry,” confessed Phoebe. “I shouldn’t have asked you. I thought

you might find it hard to answer.”

“Why… why did you think that?”

“Well, it seems like we’ve both got things we’re not supposed to talk about -- so

we’re in the same boat. I’ve been trying to understand what’s going on.”

There was a long silence.

Unable to resist the temptation, Phoebe continued gently: “I was hoping maybe we

could share some of this, just between ourselves.”

“I’m worried about Abby sometimes,” said Glenda in a low voice. “I’d like to talk

about it, but I’m afraid other people will find out, and think that Abby is weird. People

already think she’s weird, but I like her.”

“I’ve got the same problem, but with my parents. They have secrets about the forest,

and I don’t want anyone to know anything about it.”

“Abby’s secrets are about the forest too!” cried Glenda. She stopped suddenly and

looked across the room at Tiny, who was engaged in a conversation with two little wooden

figures in her hands. To her surprise, Phoebe recognized a figure of the Good Fairy that she

knew must have been carved by her father. Reassured that Tiny was not listening, Glenda

returned to her low voice, saying, “Maybe we can help each other. But we’ve got to be

Captain Nemo

52

Phoebe Comes Home

careful.”

“I know what you mean.”

“All right. Look, I met Abby again after we graduated because she comes by here on

her way into the forest. And she comes back sometimes with a sack of vegetables like these

tomatoes, big, beautiful vegetables, much better than what you get anywhere else. Here,

taste this.” Glenda forked over a slice of tomato. Phoebe grabbed it between her fingers and

stuffed it into her mouth. It was truly mouth-wateringly good. So juicy and sweet. “See what

I mean? So we hit it off and Tiny really likes Abby, and it turns out that she’s living in that

old abandoned house at the end of Bridge Avenue. You must have seen it sometime.”

“The haunted house?”

“Is that what you call it?”

“The one that’s back in the forest. The road is dirt when you get there.”

“Yeah, the dead end.”

“Penny and I used to call it the haunted house because nobody ever lives there, and

it has no light. We used to break in; but it’s creepy, and there’s almost nothing left but some

broken furniture.”

“Well, Abby lives there; but I invited her to stay here, and she does sometimes.”

“So where do these vegetables come from?”

“Abby has friends in the forest, but she won’t say who. A couple of times she

mentioned her godmother, but I don’t nag her about it. She says it’s a state park and people

aren’t supposed to live there, so she has to keep it a secret. She made me promise.”

“My parents say they’re living in the greenhouse behind the Garden Center, but

they’re in the forest most of the time. These same vegetables are brought from the Garden

Center to Sammy’s to be sold, but it’s a secret where they come from. Sammy won’t tell

anyone. People might think they’re grown at the Garden Center, but they’re not.”

“There’s definitely something about everything Abby brings,” said Glenda, with

growing enthusiasm. “And some are like nothing you ever saw before. You should see these

beans.” Glenda grabbed a bag from the refrigerator and took out a few green sticks shaped

like long, thick fingers. “Here, taste one.”

Phoebe took a bite. The green pod was sweet and juicy, but the bean – large like an

oversize lima bean – had the taste and consistency of a cashew nut.

“Abby carries these around for snacks,” Glenda said, “and I’ve started eating them

too.”

Phoebe took a few more bites. The beans were meaty, far more substantial than a

normal string bean.

53

Phoebe Comes Home

“Abby calls them finger beans,” Glenda went on. “And you won’t believe this.”

From the same bag she grabbed a long green vegetable like a zucchini or a cucumber. “Watch

this,” she said, and rolled the vegetable back and forth between her palms for half a minute.

Then she cut off the tip and handed it to Phoebe. “Squeeze it and drink through the top. Go

ahead, it’s good.”

Phoebe took it between her lips and drew out a sweet liquid with a smell like

cucumbers and a lemony flavor. It had the consistency of slush, like a snow cone, but without

the crunchiness of ice. By squeezing the vegetable her mouth was flooded with the drink.

“See what I mean? Tiny loves these. No need for box juices or that frozen sugar

water they sell in plastic. And there’s more, lots more. We’ll try these peaches for lunch.”

“I’m starting to understand. This is really something.” Phoebe took another swallow.

“What do you call these?”

“Lemon cukes.”

They sat in silence as Phoebe squeezed the skin dry.

“What could be back there?” asked Glenda, flicking her head at the forest while she

packed her sandwiches in wax paper and put them in a bag.

“I don’t know. But Abby, my parents, Penny, Alison, Sammy… it’s a long list. They

know something important, and they’re afraid. So we’ll keep this to ourselves.”

“Just us,” said Glenda, grabbing Phoebe’s offered hand. “Anyway, the forest gives

me the creeps sometimes. I live right next to it, and it’s scary. All you hear are comments

about the swamp getting bigger, the skunks everywhere, and the giant bats by night. People

talk about the pack of wild dogs – you can hear them sometimes -- and rattlesnakes coming

out in the dry spells. My brother saw a bear last year. I’m afraid for Tiny. I don’t know how

Abby does it.”

“Me either. I’ve never been in very far. But… I must say, it seems way more

intriguing now.” Phoebe waited for a moment to see if the conversation was over.

“Did you ever hear the Captain Nemo story?” asked Glenda, totally unexpectedly.

Her cheeks and neck were flushed. She glanced quickly at Phoebe to gauge her reaction.

Phoebe stayed very calm even though her heartbeat suddenly jumped, wild with

excitement. “I’m not sure,” she replied gently. “What’s that?”

“Oh, probably nothing, just a childhood memory. I thought there might be a chance

you’d of heard it…”

Phoebe waited quietly. After some thinking, Glenda continued.

“This story’s haunted me all these years, and I really don’t know why. I wish my

parents were still alive and I could talk to them. I’m sure they had these tomatoes and beans

Captain Nemo

54

Phoebe Comes Home

years ago, and sometimes Jim has them.”

Phoebe moved around the table and reached her long arm around Glenda and

hugged her. A few tears appeared on Glenda’s cheeks, but she went right on talking:

“You know who Captain Nemo is? From the story, Twenty Thousand Leagues

Under the Sea?”

“I remember some of it from an old Disney movie,” Phoebe replied. “And we used

to sell the big edition with Wyeth illustrations in the Toy Store.”

“That’s right. It’s about this genius whose family was killed and he’s mad at the

world. He invents a submarine called the Nautilus, and he and his men go around the world

under water, collecting treasures and defending poor people and nature, and fighting anyone

who tries to bother them. He has a white beard and looks very noble in an illustration in one

of my father’s books.”

“It’s coming back to me!” exclaimed Phoebe. “Everyone thinks his submarine is a

sea monster. Captain Nemo sinks a ship that comes after him, and this scientist ends up on

board the Nautilus and sees everything.”

“That’s it. Well, when I was little my father and my brother used to hike in the

forest, and I was never allowed to go. And sometimes when they talked about it they’d

mention Captain Nemo as if he were alive and lived somewhere in secret, deep in the forest.

I used to imagine that he lived in something like a submarine. And I have a memory that

my brother swore me to secrecy, and told me that it was all true, that Captain Nemo actually

lived underground in the forest. He’d lost his wife and was mad at the world, and would hurt

anyone who tried to bother him. Somehow he’d found great treasures, and was protected by

animals and strange powers.”

“Glenda! That’s fabulous! Did you ever ask Jim about it when you got older?”

“Yes, but he just gave me a look and shook his head like that had never happened. I

assumed I wasn’t supposed to talk about it.”

“I wonder how Abby fits into all this…” murmured Phoebe. She felt guilty for

prying into Abby’s business, but she just couldn’t resist.

“I’ve never tried to bring it up with her,” Glenda replied.

“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything.”

Glenda began putting things away.

“So where’s Abby now?” Phoebe asked. Shut up, just shut up! she told herself.

“Who knows?” returned Glenda. “She comes and goes, and doesn’t tell me what

she’s doing. I haven’t seen her since we were all together.”

55

Phoebe Comes Home

With one hand Glenda gathered up her pocketbook, the bag of sandwiches and

cartons of juice, and the bag of things for Tiny, and with the other hand reached for Tiny

herself; but Tiny was not in the mood to go off to some place of only adult interest.

“Do we have go?” whined Tiny. “Can’t we go to Kayla’s? I want to go to Kayla’s.”

“No, we’re all going to the college together…”

Tiny resisted, running to the other side of the coffee table.

“Let me help you,” offered Phoebe, taking the bags.

Glenda put her hands on her hips with fire in her eyes. “This is something we’re

going to do now, so help me God. Nothing will stop me.” She picked up Tiny, who saw that

resistance was useless, and off they went.

Tiny sat between them on the wide seat in the cab of the old truck. Glenda turned

left on Main Street and soon pulled into her brother’s gas station near the highway.

“We’ve got to get our gas here,” confided Glenda. “It’s free for me.”

“Jim! Jim!” shouted Tiny, scrambling to get out of the truck. She ran to a tall, lean

man wearing an old wide-brimmed straw hat, jeans, and a football jersey. He picked up Tiny

with his hands under her arms and held her high above his head, spun around a few times

while she shrieked with delight, and gently restored her to the ground.

“So where are you off to today?” he asked, strolling over to the truck with Tiny,

who climbed back into the front seat. Suddenly he noticed Phoebe and said, “There she is! I

heard you were back in town, Phoebe. Great to see you!” He leaned in at the open door and

gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi Jim, great to see you too.”

“So how are things?”

“Well, just getting started, staying with Penny, getting used to being back. By the

way, we’re having a little party in the backyard Saturday night. Dinner and everything. I

hope you can be there.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. But you know, I’m in on the planning. I’m one of

the staff.”

“One of the staff!” cried Phoebe in surprise. “I didn’t know we had that kind of

organization.”

“Yes indeed,” he called as he moved to fill the tank.

And who exactly are these staff? Clearly I’m not one of them.

Suddenly she saw someone looking at her from the garage door. He seemed like a

teenager with long legs, a large head, and goggly eyes. His gaze held Phoebe’s.

Captain Nemo

56

Phoebe Comes Home

After checking the oil and adding a quart, Jim came back to the truck window.

“Okay, that’ll be two hundred dollars,” he said, trying to keep a straight face. “Price of gas

has gone up for these babies… No, don’t worry, I’ll just put it on your tab.”

“Ha ha, Jim,” retorted Glenda. “It’s not funny. Just wait ‘till I’m making more than

you. We’re off to State Teachers’ College where I’m going to enroll. So there! You and

your tab.” She started the engine with a roar. “Say hi to that recluse Jeremy. I think he lives

underneath a car.”

“Hey, that’s wonderful about college!” exclaimed Jim. “I’m jealous. No kidding.”

“Wait!” yelled Phoebe suddenly. “I want to grab a soda.” She jumped out of the

truck, and Tiny yelled, “Me too! Me too!” and followed her to the pavement.

“No you don’t, Tiny!” called Glenda, but she was too late, and Tiny ran after Phoebe

to the gas station office. Phoebe slotted coins into the machine and two Seven-Ups clunked

down the hatch. She popped open the cans for her and Tiny, and stood there looking around.

Through the huge office window she could see Jim standing by the truck talking to Glenda.

She noticed the cluttered desk and the phone and the calendar on the wall. And there was a

ladder leading to a loft above.

That looks new. The loft covered half the office, and lowered the high ceiling to

about eight feet in the back, cutting off the high window. There’s a new room up there,

she decided. And there was a nice looking guitar leaning in the corner near the painfully

dilapidated old couch. That guitar… thought Phoebe, that loft… can mean only one thing…

Suddenly the boy with long legs and a large head appeared at the door to the garage.

He wore an odd little reddish jacket over what seemed to be a polka dotted tee shirt, with

jeans very tight at the ankle and low black sneakers. His hands were dark with automobile

grease.

“Jeremy!” screamed Tiny, and leaped into his arms.

“No!” yelled Jeremy in surprise, but he was too late. He had to grab her under

the arms. Tiny’s Seven-Up fell to the floor and began gurgling soda onto the linoleum.

Jeremy quickly set her down, but hand prints in dark grease remained on her pale tee shirt.

He grabbed the can, threw down some paper towels, and finally looked up at Phoebe in

embarrassment. His slightly protruding hazel eyes were very shy.

“I’m always making a mess of things,” he said, shaking his head, and looking down

again.

“I thought I was the one doing that,” she replied. “I’m Phoebe.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jeremy. Can’t shake hands.”

“That’s okay. Working with Jim?”

57

Phoebe Comes Home

“Yeah, I’m his cousin.”

Tiny, suddenly still, watched them with great interest.

“Here for a while?” asked Phoebe.

Jeremy looked up at her with hope in his eyes. “I’d like to stay. I really would.”

“Why don’t you then?”

Jim suddenly swung the door open and said, “Glenda says she’s in a hurry. Hey,

you’ve met my cousin Jeremy. And this is Phoebe, Penny’s sister. We’re going to her party

next week.”

Phoebe and Jeremy continued to look at each other with curiosity and embarrassment.

Finally Phoebe said, “Well, come on Tiny, we’ve got to run. Thanks, and see you soon!” She

swung open the heavy door, and they trotted back to the truck.

Glenda spun her wheels in the gravel driveway, and in seconds they were through

the green light and heading up the four-lane highway with little traffic. After getting over her

annoyance with the grease stains on Tiny’s shirt, Glenda chatted for a few minutes about her

hopes for school, but Phoebe was picturing the boy in the gas station office.

He’s staying in that loft. And the guitar must be his. I bet he’s got a toothbrush in the

bathroom. She tried to shift her attention to Glenda’s discussion of college, but her feelings

were just not there.

Suddenly Tiny said, “I’m going to school too.”

“What was that?” asked Phoebe.

“Me! I’m going too.”

“That’s right,” said Glenda. “We’re both going to school in September. Our next

step will be to enroll Tiny. She’s already visited a class. Her friends from the church group

are all going.”

“Dawn wants to put Emily back in school,” announced Tiny, looking at her two

wooden figures. “For ages Emily didn’t go to school because for ages it was a weekend.

They forgot to go to school. That’s why Dawn needs to put Emily back where she’s supposed

to be. Know what they learned? The days of the week.”

“I think I get it…” said Phoebe, and glanced at Glenda over Tiny’s head for guidance.

“Dawn is the Good Fairy,” explained Glenda, “and Emily is her daughter.”

“They look like my father’s carvings,” Phoebe observed. Both figures had wings,

but one was twice as tall as the other. The taller figure wore a crown, and held a thick wand

alongside her body. Their dresses were painted pale blue.

Tiny thought for a second. “Dawn and Emily. Penny gave them to me.”

Captain Nemo

58

Phoebe Comes Home

“How nice of her,” replied Phoebe. “I’m glad.”

“Kayla’s going to the pre-school too,” Tiny went on. “Lucy’s already going. She

sees Rose and Rob every day.”

“Oh!” cried Phoebe in surprise. “Of course! I went there too! Yes… oh… fourteen

years ago. I know Rose and Robert. They’re very nice, though I’m afraid I was hard to

handle. And they brought classes to the Toy Store every year for arts and crafts. I’ve got to

get in touch with them again. You’re going to like it there.”

“I want to go to the Toy Store too,” said Tiny. “I want to do arts and crafts.”

“I’m so glad to hear it!” Phoebe exclaimed. “I do hope you get your chance!” She

could hear the emotion in her own voice, and took a deep breath. Both Glenda and Tiny

glanced at her with puzzled expressions. “It’s hard for me to talk about the Toy Store,”

Phoebe admitted. “It was such a big part of my life.”

“As if we didn’t know!” returned Glenda. “I’ve been wondering how you’d handle

it.”

“I’m so curious what it’s like around the Toy Store now…”

“Oh, nothing you’d want to talk about. No good news.”

“Please. I need to know something, however bad.”

“Well, there’s nothing really bad. It’s just that whenever I go in there’s hardly

anyone there, and I go pretty often for Tiny’s toys and books. All I see is Gilligan behind

the counter reading a book. Sometimes George Thompson works there, but I can’t even tell

what he does.”

Phoebe’s heart skipped a beat. My God! George? He’s taken my job? It’s not fair!

She took another deep breath and tried to calm herself. “I had no idea,” she said, trying to

sound casual. “How did he end up there?”

“I heard he argued with his parents and wanted to get out of their store.”

“Sounds familiar. That used to happen all the time.”

“And his uncle Gilligan helped him out. Plus, well… you know George always

wanted to work at the Toy Store.”

Glenda gave Phoebe a quick glance. George’s tragic crush on Phoebe was well

known, almost legendary, among the teenagers in Middletown and Half Moon. Phoebe

frowned and stared into the distance. Beyond the cedar trees by the side of the highway, mile

after mile of swamp grass and water rolled away under gloomy skies.

Glenda drove on and waited.

“Do you mean,” Phoebe suddenly burst out, “that George finally gets to work at the

store when there’s nothing left to do? That’s so sad.”

59

Phoebe Comes Home

“It’s true. The magic just kind of went away.”

“I wonder what could bring it back? George can do some wonderful things, but I’m

not sure working at the Toy Store is one of them.”

“You’re as mysterious as Abby. You both say you don’t have a plan but I think you

actually do. You’ve come back for a reason.”

“Well, I hope so,” replied Phoebe. “A lot of things seem to be going bad in this town,

and I wish there were some way I could help. But right now I’m just trying to understand

things – like that sign in George’s parents’ store about best prices for dreamstone, either

jewelry or raw stones. What are they thinking? That dreamstone rocks are just lying around

Middletown?”

The blood rose to Glenda’s cheeks.

I hit the target on that one.

“Funny you should mention that…” said Glenda and hesitated. “You know, I can’t

believe I’m talking about all these things today.”

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve been gone, and I can’t help but notice the changes.

Some of them are pretty striking.”

“The truth is, I’m glad to be talking about it. Sometimes these things make me feel

crazy, like I’m the only one who sees them. Now there’s you too.”

Phoebe bit her tongue to keep silent. Just wait! Just wait!

They both watched the road. The eerie view of stunted trees, reedy grasses, and

pools of water went on and on. Dark clouds promised rain. The moments dragged by. Tiny

relaxed onto the seat and then onto Phoebe’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“This is another secret,” Glenda said softly. “I don’t know why it should be,

but maybe you can figure it out and explain it to me… Somehow my parents had some

dreamstone -- just some small stones with pale blue chunks shining in them. When we were

little we used to put them out in the sun, and then bring them to a dark room to watch the

blue parts glow.”

“That’s how my charm works,” returned Phoebe, flicking the little disk on her

necklace out over her shirt. Glenda shot a glance at it. “It’s got my initials etched on it. You

can hardly see them, but if you leave the disk in the sun it glows a yellow-white in the dark,

and then the initials show up clearly in black. My parents and my sister each have one.”

“All dreamstone glows after it’s been in the sun,” Glenda explained. “That’s one

reason it’s gotten so expensive. They’re studying it for batteries, and they use it in these New

Age ceremonies to help people understand what choices to make.”

Glenda hesitated again, thinking, and then began her story: “Last winter I was low

Captain Nemo

60

Phoebe Comes Home

on money, and I’d noticed the sign in the Miracles window... but I was afraid to talk to Jim

or George and Ellie’s parents, or any adults, really. There’s something strange about all this.

The adults aren’t honest about it. You can’t tell what they’re thinking... Anyway, one day

I noticed Ellie alone behind the cash register, so I walked in and asked about the sign. Ellie

told me her parents know buyers who pay incredibly high prices, but they want to know

where each piece of dreamstone was originally found. I realized I hadn’t the faintest idea

where my parents got those stones.”

Phoebe wondered silently why someone would pay for this information. Don’t they

know where dreamstone comes from?

“I just thanked her and left and got up the nerve to ask Jim. He was so mad I thought

he would explode. It turned out he’d hidden our dreamstone somewhere and wouldn’t even

tell me where it is. He said not only can’t we sell it, we can’t even admit we have any! He

told me to forget I ever spoke to Ellie, and thank God I didn’t do anything stupid. I asked

why he’s so touchy and he said I don’t understand dreamstone, and someday he’ll explain

it to me when I’m ready. I said I’m ready now, and he said we’ll have to get a few hours of

private time, but of course we haven’t done that. In the meantime he swore me to secrecy…

I’ve broken all my vows today.”

“You know,” returned Phoebe, trying to share equally with Glenda, “just yesterday

I remembered finding a piece of dreamstone on my parent’s table when I was little. It was

like a pale blue window in a gray rock. My father took it away from me. It made him nervous

that I was looking at it.”

“See! There is something dangerous about this! I’d put my hand in the fire if

someone didn’t tell me not to.”

“Let’s help each other,” Phoebe said softly. “I know you’re right. Jim wouldn’t get

bent out of shape for no reason. I’ve always thought of him as the level-headed, responsible

type.”

“He is. I’m the flaky one of the family. But this is all too stressful for me. I want to

go back to school, become a teacher, and live a quiet life. I want Tiny to grow up safe and

stable. That’s all I want.”

“I understand. You can count on me.”

“I hope this trip today will be a good start,” said Glenda. “And try to keep these

strange mysteries out of my way.”

“Give the mysteries to me. I’m interested in that part of the deal.”

“Better watch out. You might get more than you bargained for.”

“It’s better than having nothing to do,” Phoebe replied.

Phoebe Comes Home

VThe Black Arrow

62

Phoebe Comes Home

The visit to Teachers’ College ended in the pouring rain, but nothing could dampen Glenda’s

determination or the good spirits of Tiny and Phoebe. After being dropped off on Main

Street, Phoebe stood in the rain and watched the blue truck heading up Oak Knoll Lane.

She considered what to do next. Deep inside she wanted to hike over to the haunted house –

even in the rain --to look for Abby; but she reluctantly dismissed the idea and walked up the

driveway to her sister’s house. She still thought of it as her sister’s, even though her parents

owned it.

“Phoebe! Mom called!” Penny yelled from the kitchen. Phoebe bounded across the

living room in her best speed-limp to hear the details. “We’re invited for dinner, or as soon

as we want to get over there. They’re at the greenhouse.”

It was the news they had been expecting, but it seemed to come as a surprise.

“Should I change my clothes?” asked Phoebe. She felt an urge to put on the kind of outfit

she wore for work in the old days, something that might have pleased her parents years ago.

“It doesn’t matter,” said Penny.

“Who will be there?”

“Just Mom and Dad.”

They were silent for a moment.

“Look Phoebe,” began Penny, “I haven’t mentioned this yet, but… Dad hasn’t been

himself since you left and they sold the store. He was obviously miserable about the whole

thing, and he’s just starting to act more like himself again, and… I’m sorry, but I’m worried

about something.”

Uh oh, thought Phoebe. She looked coldly at Penny, preparing to defend against the

pain she felt coming. “And?” she said. “Go on.”

Penny took a deep breath. “Well, it’s hard to say this, but you don’t bring it up, and

if it were just me I wouldn’t bring it up either, but Dad’s going to notice, and you know how

he gets about this stuff with you…”

Phoebe had no patience for Penny in this sort of mood, and refused to help her get

the words out, but just stared blankly at her.

“You know what I’m getting at!” Penny’s voice rose in frustration. “You act like

you don’t know, but you do! Your knee’s supposed to be better by now, but it isn’t. I can see

it isn’t. It’s almost six months since the operation, and you were supposed to be able to play

by now, but I’ve watched you, and you’re not better. You’ve injured yourself again! And you

didn’t tell anybody. Do you expect no one to see?” Penny’s eyes were hot and moist. “Dad’s

going to notice for sure, and get depressed. He’s scared for you all the time. He’s always

63

Phoebe Comes Home

asking, ‘Any word from Phoebe? How’s her knee? I hope she doesn’t have those headaches

from the concussion. How’s her grades? How’s her spirits? I bet she’s lonely.’ On and on.

And now you come back hobbling around, flunked out of college, obviously depressed, no

prospects at all, and you think he’s not going to notice?”

Penny seemed to become aware of what she had just said, and suddenly her face

crumpled. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” she wailed, and began to sob, putting her head in her

hands. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Yes you did,” retorted Phoebe, “and it’s mostly true. I did injure my knee again,

and I didn’t tell any of you for obvious reasons. I didn’t quite flunk out of college but I did

quit, and I am depressed sometimes, I’ve got no prospects, and Dad is going to be upset. And

I am worried about it, I’ve felt worried and guilty for weeks and months, and I don’t know

what to do.” She shook her head, and collapsed onto the couch.

Penny disappeared into the kitchen, came back with a paper towel to wipe her face,

and sat near by -- not right next to Phoebe, but not far away.

“Actually,” Phoebe went on, “it may not be as bad as all that. The doctor said my

knee may slowly heal without another operation if I’m really careful and don’t play any

sports for a year. It’ll never be perfect but it has been improving. Really. It’s getting a little

better. And I’m going to look for a job. I’m just taking time off from college to work. That

doesn’t sound so bad, does it? And I’ll be nice to Dad, and Mom too, even though she can be

as cold and distant as Dad is suffocating. I can handle it. And besides, I’m interested in all

these new developments in town…”

“Now go easy on that,” interrupted Penny. “That’s another delicate area – no, a

minefield is more like it. Mom and Dad aren’t going to be relaxed about that.”

“But I’m going to expect some answers. I really am. About the store, about the

vegetables, about dreamstone, about what they’re doing.”

“Phoebe! Go easy! There’s more to all that than you know. Please…” Penny was

begging.

“But that’s why I want some answers. I’m in this family, and I want to know

everything there is to know.”

“But it’s dangerous. You go for this stuff like a moth to light. You’re liable to get

burnt, and get us all burnt. There’s other people involved in this. You’ve got to be responsible.”

“You don’t think I’m responsible?”

“Honestly, I doubt it. Not enough for this kind of risk.”

“Just because you’re four years older…”

“So what? Do Mom and Dad worry all the time about you, or about me?”

The Black Arrow

64

Phoebe Comes Home

“So you’re saying no one trusts me.”

“Something like that. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll have to prove you wrong then.”

“I hope you can.”

They glared at each other in silence.

Phoebe turned away with bitterness in her heart. Am I really such a jerk? What am

I missing here? Something must be in front of my nose… They treat me like a child playing

with matches in a barn filled with straw. Glenda, Alison, Penny, Sammy, even Abby, they’re

all saying, ‘Hands off! Hands off!’ All right, I’ll back up and not say a word. But what’s it

all about? Living and growing vegetables in the Forest Preserve? Yes, that’s weird, illegal

even, and good reason to hide, but something here seems to… terrify people.

As Phoebe changed into dry clothes she thought about Abby’s idea of ‘trying some

experiments to find the right answers’. But whatever that might mean, Abby had expressed

no confidence in her own approach. Far from it. Abby seemed to think she was just getting

herself in trouble. And Alison had wanted no part of this mysterious conflict. Whatever it’s

all about, everyone’s intimidated. And it’s not going away. It’s getting bigger.

Penny stood in Phoebe’s way at the front door and gripped her arm as they made

ready to depart. “Phoebe! I’m sorry I had to say… what I did. I hope you’ll understand…

and forgive me.”

“I hope so too,” was all Phoebe could reply.

They stepped outside into the rain. Penny carried a large shopping bag packed with

eight loaves of bread in plastic bags. Phoebe walked along the edge of the road, close to the

passing cars, and held the umbrella over both of them. There was no sidewalk.

“Isn’t that a large dinner gift? Should I be bringing something?”

“Don’t worry. It’s more than enough for you to bring yourself. And this isn’t actually

a gift. I trade my baking for other food.”

They moved close together, elbow to elbow under the umbrella, each absorbed in

thought. Their misery hung low like the dark clouds. Cars and trucks shot by in the dim

light, spraying up water from shiny black puddles. Phoebe tried to picture her father in her

mind, and agonized over the thought that she’d wounded him. Her confidence in him to be a

few steps ahead of everyone -- always finding a way to make something good happen – was

getting shaken.

After a long and dismal walk along Main Street they turned right on Cemetery Lane

and stepped through streams of water coming down out of the forest. Then they turned left,

cutting across the muddy field to where bright lights glowed on that dark afternoon at the far

65

Phoebe Comes Home

end of the greenhouse. The damp wind carried the odor of wood smoke.

Instead of knocking, Penny just walked up to the door and opened it, calling “Mom!

Dad! We’re here!” as she entered. Phoebe followed. They wove their way along a small path

between plants and trees whose upper branches approached the glass panels forming the

slanted roof. Phoebe noticed fruits like mangoes and avocados ripening, and what looked

like some type of nut. Suddenly they arrived at a brightly lit open space where Patti and Peter

Hood stood waiting.

Phoebe immediately felt the commanding presence of her mother, who advanced to

give Penny a kiss on the cheek, and quickly moved on to embrace Phoebe. Patti Hood was a

small woman, barely over five feet; but her air of independence and superiority gave her an

aristocratic presence, as if she were somehow above the common run of problems.

Peter Hood lingered in the background, unable to hide the lines of worry on his huge

face. He’s a prisoner of his fears, thought Phoebe, taking in his expression with a fleeting

glance. She avoided any extended eye contact, afraid she’d burst into tears. A voice at the

back of her mind was asking, Have I been such a terrible daughter?

“We’ve missed you so much,” her mother said.

Peter waited as Phoebe and Penny took off their wet coats and shoes. Finally Phoebe

said, “Hi Dad.”

He opened his arms and she came forward for a hug that seemed to wash away some

of the pain of the last year. He held her at arms length and said, “You look wonderful.”

“So do you, Dad.”

He actually did look pretty good, she thought. He wore overalls and a light flannel

shirt, and a fisherman’s cap with a long black brim on his immense bald head. His stocky

body seemed thinner than the year before. His light brown skin was darker, and varied in

color. He looked stronger, more fit. But the worry and hesitation around his eyes remained.

The sisters followed their parents through the kitchen area and past a dining

room table to a couch and chairs surrounding an old oriental rug. A profusion of flowers

and hanging plants served to hide the greenhouse windows on both sides. Two enormous

paintings on stretched canvas stood in front of a curtain that formed a partition at the edge of

this living space, blocking off the rest of the greenhouse from view.

Phoebe spotted an old armchair from their rooms above the Toy Store, and headed

for it as a place of safety out of her childhood; but as she turned to sit down she felt the

awkwardness of bending on her stiff knee, and a flash of pain. Out of the corner of her eye

she saw her father wince.

He noticed. What a burden for me to carry! I might as well fling the whole package

The Black Arrow

66

Phoebe Comes Home

open and not sneak around!

Her father retreated back to a corner of the couch, where he picked up a small knife

and continued carving another figure with wings. Images of fairies or angels, and Santa

Claus with a bulging sack of toys – he carved them in every free moment like a strange

addiction.

Her mother handed out cups of steaming tea and stood nearby, glancing at the two

vast canvases. They were set up on milk crates to elevate them off the floor, and leaned

against a wooden railing. There were a few drawings on a table just to the side. A couple of

clamp lights shone over the area. A kind of dark netting shaded the room from the sunlight

that blazed through the upper glass panels on sunny days.

Phoebe was grateful to give the paintings her attention as she tried to calm herself.

One was tall and narrow and the other a wide rectangle. Both rose a couple of feet above

her mother as she stood next to them. The wide rectangle – at least nine feet across - - was

obviously a kind of map of Middletown and the forest, an aerial view as if painted from a

low-flying airplane. The lower part showed the dense green of the trees, and the dark grays

and browns and blues of the hills, the cliffs, the river, and the watery swamp. The upper

part showed more of the light gray of the roads and the gray or reddish roofs, and the colors

of buildings and cars and pale sidewalks. The density of the trees was broken in places to

afford space for the details of paths and hills and houses. The perspective was altered to

allow the viewer to see trees and houses partly from the side. Phoebe found herself looking

for familiar places like the store and Penny’s house and Glenda’s house.

The second painting was also an aerial view, but of a valley she had never seen, a

narrow valley stretching out like a green road surrounded by dark hills and ridges. The valley

had a strange radiance; its velvety green texture seemed to shimmer and glow in the sunlight.

A small stream appeared from the hillside below, twinkled like silver through the deep green

of trees and meadows, and then disappeared into the hills beyond. The rocky hills and ridges

formed a gray-brown border surrounding the lush meadowland like a slender eye-shaped

oval. The ridges rose to the tallest of the cliffs, called the Horn, like a tower at the top of the

painting. Phoebe was not surprised to see that the second painting was in fact a detail of the

first, a small part of the vast forest preserve.

“Whoa, Mom!” said Phoebe in an awed voice. “I’ve never seen anything like these

before! How could you know every house and tree for miles?” She looked at her mother,

who was smiling off to the side. “But you’ve done sketches for years. Really Mom, they look

great. I heard about your show coming up. These will knock people out.”

Phoebe’s mother looked younger and more attractive than a year ago, or even four

67

Phoebe Comes Home

months ago, when they last saw each other. Patti Hood’s skin looked brighter and tighter.

Her short hair was bleached by the sun; her eyes were alert and clear.

Patti smiled. “I was hoping to impress you – they took me most of the winter and

spring, and it’s true, I’ve been working up to them for years. And I’ve had a lot of help...

But I can’t show them. That’s the frustrating part of this strange life we’re leading. This

place,” she tapped the edge of the tall painting, “is a secret. And even some of this one too.

Be careful of it.”

“I’ve already had an earful from Alison.”

“She spoke to us early this morning,” returned Patti. “She feels badly about the way

that conversation went. She’ll join us later and explain…”

“It’s really okay,” Phoebe interrupted. “Everyone’s telling me the same thing, and

I’m trying to listen. Maybe I need the warning.”

There was a moment of silence.

“And just so no one thinks I’m hiding anything, let me say I’ve failed two courses,

quit college, injured my knee again, and don’t have a job.”

Phoebe looked around with a blank face. No one spoke.

Finally her father laid his knife and wooden figure down, and crossed his legs. “I

seem to remember,” he drawled as if thinking of the ancient past, “being in the same position

once myself, minus the knee injury. I never did finish college.”

“And I never even started college,” put in Penny. “But I’d like to someday. I want

to go to cooking school.”

“And as for the knee,” said Patti, “I’ve got an excellent referral to a specialist right

next door in Middletown Hospital. I’ve got the info right over here…”

“Mom! I’ve got Dr. Brenner and I’m keeping him. Even you think he’s terrific. He

says I’ll get better without an operation if I take care of myself. No sports at all. And I’m

following orders! My knee is improving, slowly, but that’s the best I can hope for. So just

relax.”

Her father broke into a big smile and his eyes brimmed over. He could hardly

contain himself with happiness, and finally stood up and clapped his hands. “Well, if that

isn’t the best news I’ve heard in a long time! So what’s your plan?”

“I thought I might find some sort of a job.”

“What kind?”

Phoebe intended to give an evasive answer, but her words seemed to get stuck in her

throat. Suddenly she was afraid she would burst into tears.

“We know you’re a great worker,” her father said softly, trying desperately to be

The Black Arrow

68

Phoebe Comes Home

helpful.

“I don’t know what to do…” Phoebe finally forced out the words.

The silence stretched on. Patti and Penny sat on the edge of their seats, watching the

drama unfold, unable to play a part.

“This is about the Toy Store, isn’t it?” Peter broke in. “Well, let me take this moment

to apologize for how I handled things last summer.”

“I’m sorry too, Dad. I said some things that were stupid and wrong. It was just that

I loved the store -- but I can see that none of us could’ve taken care of it. Losing it probably

hurt you more than me.”

“I’m not sure about that. I wish I could have kept it going, just for you.”

“It’s okay.” Phoebe felt her eyes tearing up, and looked away.

“I think I made a mistake,” he said. “A big mistake. It haunts me.” Peter Hood

frowned and looked at the ground.

Penny and Patti watched intently, unable to speak.

Phoebe turned to her father. “I wish I could do something!” she cried. “I can’t help

but think about… well…”

Peter looked up at her. “Go on.”

“I was talking to Sammy about that sudden expansion of Scutter’s Market, like

some sort of monster eating the pizzeria and the used-book store; and he said Scutter and his

investors had offered to buy him out too! But Sammy refused. He says he’ll stay open twenty

more years. Now what I want to know is…”

“I know, I know.” Her father held up his hand as a stop sign. “You can see the

heart of the matter... Yes, Scutter made us an offer. He even pressured me, organizing a big

meeting at the Hickory Securities office with a lot of talk from Bob Bentley about making

us rich. When I turned them down, they made veiled threats to drive us out. Scutter is just

a pawn in this game, a front man for Milton Morphy and the Geddon Insurance Group.

Geddon owns Hickory Securities.”

“I saw the article in the Standard…”

“Yes…”

“And heard them on the street…”

“Alison told us. Don’t let that worry you…”

“What worries me is the Toy Store. I can’t let them take that too! That would hurt

just too much!” Desperation poured out in these words.

“You’re right, you’re absolutely right!” cried her father. “I’ve been frantic, obsessed

with this very point. But let me tell you, we sold to Gilligan with an agreement that he cannot

69

Phoebe Comes Home

sell to either Scutter or his backer Milton Morphy, or to any concern in which they have an

interest.”

Phoebe listened carefully, and studied her father’s expression. “But you’re worried

anyway,” she probed him.

“I have to admit it. Every day I wonder if Gilligan, in all good faith, might sell the

store to someone who secretly knows this information -- who then would turn around and

sell to Scutter or any of their front organizations. I’ve heard rumors that Gilligan is under

financial pressure. He got divorced a few months ago; the store is not taking in the kind of

money he counted on.” Peter Hood frowned. Deep vertical lines ran down the middle of his

forehead. “Now I wish we’d just rented to him – although I’d be back running the place if

that were so.”

“I thought you were getting away from it all. You seem more involved than I

thought…” Inside her heart, Phoebe was celebrating. Her father was giving her a clue to her

future, a task allotted to her alone.

“You’re right,” Peter was saying. “We are involved, just in a different way. We’ve

only been pretending to be retired this past year… Oh, don’t act surprised.”

No one spoke. The rain murmured on the greenhouse roof. Something on the stove

was giving off steam, and the scent of cooking filled the warm air.

“Can I jump in here?” asked Patti. “I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to set up these

paintings, and it looks like I’ll have to take them down right away, so let me use them now

to help Phoebe understand what’s going on.”

“Why take them down?” asked Phoebe.

“Oh, some news from Alison,” replied her mother. “Jerome Peabody from the

Standard keeps trying to interview us, and that conversation you overheard on the street

is disturbing. We can’t afford to let anyone see these paintings. I knew that anyway, but I

thought I could leave them up for a few days at least.”

Her face seemed to cloud over. She struggled to find the words.

“I think I can start it for you, Mom,” Phoebe offered. “Wendy must live somewhere

among the hills in this tall painting, and you and Dad have been staying out there for some

reason. In fact you’ve been going out there on and off for a few years, right? Do you take

care of Wendy? Is she sick? I’ve often wondered how she’s survives out there alone. And I

don’t see why it’s all such a secret.”

“You’re coming close... Wendy does live somewhere in this tall painting, but she’s

not out there alone. Long ago this land -- called Hidden Valley -- was a part of Wendy’s

The Black Arrow

70

Phoebe Comes Home

grandfather’s estate. And her father, John Chapman, is still alive and living there. Wendy

has lived there her whole life, except for the time she’s spent here at the Garden Center.

In fact, the land in this painting is still their property, if they could only prove it. That’s a

long story for another night. But right now you should know they’ve found ways to remain

hidden all these years, growing their own food and living surprisingly well. But recently,

just a few months ago, Wendy’s brother died, and her father is ninety-three years old. She’s

been confiding in us for a long time, and needed help. Soon we could see that they couldn’t

manage without us.”

“Doesn’t Wendy have a sister too?” asked Phoebe. “A tiny old woman who used to

come to the store for meetings?”

Patti and Peter exchanged glances. “My, your memory is good,” Patti said.

Maybe you’d be happier if my memory were not so good.

“You couldn’t have been four years old at that time,” Patti was saying. “She visited

later on as well, but only at night, and I thought you two were asleep.” Patti glanced over at

Penny as if seeking some sign or gesture, and returned to addressing Phoebe.

“That tiny woman is named Teresa, and she’s actually Wendy’s aunt. She’s been

living up in the North Ridge Mountains since long before you were born, and she’s in her

late eighties. And you’re right about our taking care of someone, but that person is Wendy’s

father. Wendy is still more than capable of taking care of herself.”

Peter and Patti exchanged glances again, and a smile, as if this were a private joke.

“And the land,” Peter added suddenly. “The land, the gardens, the animals, the trees,

it all needs work. And you should know that over these many years Wendy has developed

her own varieties of vegetables, and fruits, and herbs. Some of them are quite remarkable.

The big news is that we’re starting a new enterprise based on them. Sammy’s selling them

already, and we’re helping Fred Peterson and Tom Winkle to grow them, and soon we’ll

have a legitimate business going; but right now it’s all a secret.”

Peter shot a quick look at his wife as if he feared her disapproval. Phoebe guessed

that he had promised to avoid talking too much.

“But I’m not sure I get it,” returned Phoebe. “What does Morphy care? He’s got

millions. These are just a few vegetables.”

Her father opened his mouth as if to speak but made no sound. He looked from

Phoebe to his wife and back again.

“There’s lots of reasons why Morphy cares,” Peter finally said. “And some of them

I’m not going to talk about today. But the main thing you should know is that he’s ambitious

beyond belief, and wants to own as much of this town and the land around it as he can get

71

Phoebe Comes Home

his hands on. He’s got a whole organization he wants move in here, and a lot of his people

are here already or never left. Half Moon is Morphy’s hometown. He employs many of

his friends from high school. They all want to drive Sammy and Gilligan and a number of

other people out of business. They want to put up a new office park and build mansions and

condominiums and a hundred other things. However small our effort may seem, they know

we’ve stopped them before, back when you were a child. Through our foundation we own a

lot of land that he tried to buy long ago, and we’re still bidding for any open land that comes

on the market.”

Phoebe felt she could choke on all the questions she wanted to ask, but the voice in

her mind kept saying, just listen, just listen.

Finally her mother met her eyes with a sharp, serious look. “They’ve got one of the

Connelly brothers spying on us,” she announced in a raised voice. “We’re afraid to travel

into the forest and back except at night. We’ve had to figure out ways to smuggle our produce

into Sammy’s Coffee Shop, so no one knows where it’s from. They suspect the existence

of our gardens and homes in the forest, and must never find them. Morphy hates Wendy

from old grudges deep in the past. He hates us for buying up the open land and leaving it as

farms and forest. He hates the Toy Store on principal. So all these warnings are real. Be very

careful of Hidden Valley. Never mention it, or where we are, unless you’re talking to one of

our own people like Chi Chi or Alison. Someday we’d love you to visit, but not now. It’s a

long way, and who knows, people might follow even you eventually.”

As his wife paused Peter jumped back in. “Phoebe, we’re all surprised by the way

this conflict has been heating up. We didn’t expect it, and we don’t fully understand it. But

all we care about right now is for you to know that we love you, we think of you all the time,

and we want to do anything we can to help you.”

“And I’m happy to be here,” Phoebe replied, “more than you know. But there’s no

need for concern about me. I’m not supposed to do things right now like hike into the forest

and over cliffs, and I’m much more interested in the town. But I must tell you, all this is so

fascinating. These paintings are beautiful. I had no idea the forest was… so full of intrigue.

And I want to help! But I’ll be super-careful, and I’ll find something good to do.”

“Phoebe!” cried her mother. “You make me so happy! But I’ll confess I’m a little

suspicious. When were you ever so cooperative?”

And I feel the same about you, Phoebe was thinking. But she just laughed and said,

“Maybe I’ve learned my lesson. Even Penny and Alison would tell me nothing.”

“That’s not true!” protested Penny.

“Alison feels terrible about it,” said Peter. “She’ll be here soon, and be nice to

The Black Arrow

72

Phoebe Comes Home

her. Chi Chi’s coming too. We’re going to give them a good dinner before they hike out to

Hidden Valley.”

“On a night like this?” Phoebe couldn’t understand it.

“I know it seems strange,” answered Peter, “but there are things to do out there now

that we’re in town. We’ll be staying here almost a week, and hope to see a lot of both of you.

And we’ll be here to help with the party.”

Phoebe’s face froze. “I’m glad you brought that up,” she said. “This party idea is

making me nervous. Look, why does it have to be a party for me? Let’s just have a party for

everyone.”

“But we want to celebrate your return!” exclaimed her mother. “And so do lots of

other people. It’s a good reason for us all to get together. Don’t you think so?”

But Phoebe could only shrug her shoulders and give a half-smile. “I don’t know,”

she said.

“Oh, come on,” her mother pleaded. “Just go along with it. Let us have our fun.

You’ll like it in the end.”

“I’ll try,” was all Phoebe could say.

But that was enough for Patti, who announced that the chicken would be ready

soon and everyone must be starving. “We’ve got the world’s best greens,” she said, “and

early tomatoes from the forest. We carried these raspberries like they were made of gold!”

She put a large wooden salad bowl filled to the brim with luscious red raspberries

onto the coffee table in front of the couch. They all began grabbing handfuls and eating them

greedily.

“They are like gold,” said Penny. “I’m going to put them in bread and muffins to

please Sammy.”

“I like the way they’re warm and melt in your mouth,” said Phoebe, dropping them

into her mouth like peanuts. She stood there taking handful after handful.

Her father approached her from the side and said, “Hey, let’s shoot a few arrows

before dinner.”

“Okay! I’d love to.”

They made their escape from the dinner preparations and walked around the side of

Patti’s two paintings and past a curtain into a darkened section the greenhouse. Peter flipped

a switch, and hanging florescent lights came alive and shone over long rows of shelving on

either side of an aisle, all cluttered with empty plastic trays and small containers for growing

seedlings. Almost nothing green was left in the maybe thirty-yard stretch of greenhouse. At

73

Phoebe Comes Home

the end of the aisle was an archery target stuck to a wall of hay bales.

Phoebe stared at the seemingly endless litter of tiny containers in trays piled up in

disorder. “What’s all this for?” she asked.

“Oh what a mess,” her father sighed. “I’ve got to wash everything and store it for

next year. I just can’t get to this job yet.”

“There’s such a lot of it.”

“It’s our new project. Thousands of plants, all from Wendy’s seeds. It’s a daring

move on our part. Several acres of planting that’ll be ready for market soon. Tomorrow or

the next day I’ll show you something that’ll give you a better idea.”

As he was talking Peter led the way down the aisle past the hay bales, and there

at the end of the greenhouse a few bows and quivers full of target arrows hung from hooks

near the door.

“Your old bow is still ready to go,” her father said, and handed her a long recurve

bow a little less than her own height. “I’ve been shooting it every few weeks to keep it

ready.” He grabbed his own bow and arrows and a couple of gloves and led the way back

to a small open space and hung the quiver on an old high-backed wooden chair. “Go ahead,

take a shot,” he said.

‘Penny tells me you’ve been practicing,” returned Phoebe. “And I haven’t drawn a

bow all year.”

“We’re not keeping score. Just enjoy it.”

She pulled an arrow from the full quiver and put it on the bow, knocking the back

end onto the string. Her chest heaved with a deep sigh. She stood sideways to the target and

slowly drew the bow, three fingers gripping the string, staring down the arrow to the bull’s

eye. Gently she released her fingers and the arrow buzzed down the long greenhouse into the

third circle from the center.

“All right!” cried Peter. “Not bad for your first shot in a year. Now this is the kind

of thing I’ve been missing.”

He moved into position, knocked an arrow, and let it fly all in a few seconds. It

buzzed effortlessly into the center of the target.

“May I join this illustrious group?” came a voice nearby.

“Chi Chi!” exclaimed Phoebe. “You always appear suddenly like this! How do you

do it?”

Behind them stood an unusually tiny man holding a bow and a quiver of arrows.

His pointed ears and chin were unusual, even remarkable. His short hair was gray, but his

face was smooth and almost free of wrinkles. His expressions and movements were quick,

The Black Arrow

74

Phoebe Comes Home

but graceful, with a kind of old world formality. He reminded Phoebe of some sort of elf or

leprechaun.

Chi Chi inclined his head and shoulders to Phoebe as a mark of respect, and then

said, “So good to see you back among us. Yes, yes, we haven’t had this pleasure in ages.”

He hung his quiver next to Peter’s, smiled, and rubbed his hands together, his bow under his

arm.

Suddenly he pulled an arrow from the quiver and shot with no hesitation at all,

seemingly without aiming. The arrow hit the center of the target apparently touching Peter’s

arrow.

“Ah ha!” said Chi Chi. “Someone has to give you some competition.”

Phoebe whistled. “That’s really something. I’m afraid you’re both out of my league.”

“Nonsense,” returned Chi Chi. “We’ve just been waiting for you to join us. Your

place is assured.”

She looked at him, unsure of his meaning.

“Go ahead, try a shot,” he said.

She pulled another arrow and set it on the bow, noticing with surprise that the arrow

was black. The wood seemed to be stained with some dark substance, and the feathers were

a dull black, the color of a crow.

Now that’s interesting... that newspaper article... “A black arrow!” she cried. “I

never saw one of these before.”

Looking over at the chair, she noticed other black arrows in Chi Chi’s quiver.

“Only Chi Chi makes them,” said Peter with a worried frown. “It’s a warning

signal... keep quiet about it.”

“It’s our sign,” explained Chi Chi. “The sign of our little project.”

Phoebe could not take her eyes off the arrow. “It’s from the book,” she said slowly.

“It’s the sign of the men in the forest, like Robin Hood’s band.”

“We also are a band in the forest,” returned Chi Chi. “Go ahead, see how you like

it.”

She knocked the arrow on the string, and felt a strange thrill as she drew the bow.

The arrow was a bit short, with the point just over her left hand holding the bow. She released

the string without thinking, and the arrow thumped into the target about an inch from the

center. The men clapped.

“Dinner!” Penny yelled through the curtain.

75

Phoebe Comes Home

Later that night, after the abundant dinner had long been eaten, after a game of

scrabble was over (Alison won), and after all the goodbyes had been said, Alison and Chi Chi

put on thin, dark, hooded jackets and prepared for their hike into the forest. Penny delayed

their departure to negotiate a trade with Chi Chi: her bread in exchange for vegetables and

other delicacies from the forest. Chi Chi promised a large delivery of ‘the best of everything’

to Sammy’s Coffee Shop by Friday morning, with items especially reserved for Penny; and

he carried off – as a down payment -- six loaves of bread, leaving two loaves for Peter and

Patti.

“You may love being up all night, but I on the other hand, need sleep,” complained

Alison, growing impatient with Chi Chi.

“Yes, let’s be off,” he agreed. “Our backpacks are ready in the shed. It’s time.”

“Slipping out the back?” asked Peter.

“Of course,” Chi Chi replied, and they disappeared among the plants on their way

to the greenhouse door, Chi Chi carrying his bow and arrows as if they went with him

everywhere. Peter hinted that Phoebe and Penny should wait a while before leaving, giving

Alison and Chi Chi time to make their exit quietly.

It was well after midnight by the time the sisters walked home together along Main

Street. There was little traffic. The rain had blown off, and the nearly full moon glowed

through the thin clouds, high in the sky. They walked awhile in silence, and finally Phoebe

asked, “What does Daddy mean by ‘slipping out the back’”?

“I’m not sure…” Penny said. “But I think there’s a way to sneak out of Chi Chi’s

shed from the back. Just a crawl space covered by wood or something.”

“Oh,” Phoebe replied.

Penny turned to look at her sister in the glare of a streetlight. “You’re probably

wondering if all this is really necessary. I told you it’s a lot of responsibility.”

“That’s okay,” replied Phoebe in a calm, conciliatory tone. “It’s fine with me.”

On reaching their front steps Penny stretched her arms up to the sky, yawned, and

said, “Well, I hope that clears up a lot of things for you.”

“It certainly does,” returned Phoebe, who was doing her absolute best to be

agreeable. But in her heart, she was thinking of all the things that were not cleared up.

The Black Arrow

VIA Secret Garden

77

Two mornings later, as she walked along Main Street toward the Garden Center, Phoebe felt

excitement and expectation bubbling inside her heart. There was something about the feeling

of the moment, as if she were on the verge of a great discovery. Wispy white clouds raced

across the sky. A steady wind, cool for the season, blew in her face. The air seemed crystal

clear and sparkling. Her knee felt strong, her muscles had spring. On her right hand, past the

houses and the forest, the Half Moon Cliffs rose up like a wall on the horizon. She felt that

she could reach out and touch them, even jump over them, to some hidden world beyond.

It was her first chance over the last two days to be alone, and she set her mind to the

task of poring over recent events, adding up their significance in her mind.

The previous morning early her mother had appeared at the house on Main Street

with her traveling easel on her back. She’d made breakfast, helped Phoebe organize her

room, and then led both her daughters out to the yard and into the field to pick flowers.

They’d all found ways to express their satisfaction with the previous evening’s reunion,

and carefully avoided any controversial subjects. After putting vases of fresh flowers about

the house they sat in the living room talking over news of old acquaintances. Soon the

conversation shifted to arrangements for Saturday’s party. As her mother and sister gleefully

expanded a seemingly endless guest list and planned more phone calls, Phoebe became more

anxious. From her point of view the whole event was getting out of hand, growing beyond

anything she had imagined. Her mother noticed Phoebe’s resistance, and postponed the party

planning until the next day -- when Phoebe could spend time with her father, and she and

Penny could move ahead without Phoebe’s objections. After lunch she insisted on taking

Phoebe into the field for a session of landscape painting that went on until dusk.

Her mother approached landscape painting with a kind of religious devotion.

During the past ten years she’d increasingly built her life around it. As a child Phoebe had

painted with her mother, and although she’d lost the habit during her teen years, she fell

back into it with relief. She enjoyed reacting to the physical immediacy of the scene in front

of her, pushing her thoughts aside and choosing colors with a quick intuitive response. For

subject matter they chose the Great Oak Tree, so magnificent and charismatic, and so close

at hand. Phoebe focused on the path that Abby had traveled just two days before. The scene

came alive for her on the small canvas, with the Great Oak standing in front of the small

path framed by slim birch trees with their white bark glowing in the shadows. Beyond, the

winding way slowly disappeared into a mysterious darkness.

Her mother was more than enthusiastic about Phoebe’s efforts. “Wonderful!

A Secret Garden

78

Phoebe Comes Home

Wonderful!” she kept repeating. “We must do this again. You’ve got it! You’ve got it!” Like

devotees of an ancient religion they’d performed their rituals at the local shrine until it was

too dark to see, and then returned to the house with a sense of fulfillment. Patti moved aside a

vase of flowers in the living room and set the two paintings on the mantle piece to be viewed.

“I told you,” Penny said. “You should go to art school.” Phoebe had only smiled,

and kept her thoughts to herself.

Peter arrived after dusk for a late dinner. He appeared suddenly and silently out of

the darkness as they sat on the back porch. Phoebe noticed him standing quietly near Dr.

Bear’s driveway, looking back for a minute as if he were afraid of being followed. This

aspect of her father was new and painful to Phoebe. Throughout her childhood he had been

so available to people, dedicated to the community like a cross between a minister and a

politician. Yet now he seemed so afraid… but of what? Phoebe could not understand it.

Something still unknown had to explain this strange behavior, something more threatening

than the facts she already knew.

During dinner Peter was unusually cheerful, and made a great show of thanking

his family for listening to each other the night before. He even offered a toast to their

spending more time together in the future; but he made no move to reopen any discussion

of Middletown and its conflicts. Later on he invited Phoebe to join him for archery the

following day.

During Phoebe’s pre-teen years her father had developed the habit of getting away

from the store to practice archery with Chi Chi, and soon began to bring Phoebe along.

Behind the Garden Center was a field of evergreen trees in rows, grown to sell as Christmas

trees. Chi Chi had set up a target on hay bales placed in between the long rows, and practiced

during the off-season for his bow-hunting excursions after turkey and deer. Peter began to

join him as a kind of initiation into the life of the forest. During one snowy winter they set

up a target in the long greenhouse to practice indoors and at night. And so Peter took the

first steps that led him to moving into the greenhouse as his home. Yet Phoebe could see that

he had never moved in altogether, just as her mother never fully moved into the house on

Main Street. These locations were temporary steps on their way into the forest, like staging

grounds for their big jump into the darkness. At least it seemed like darkness to Phoebe,

though she had to admit that light was beginning to appear.

Walking rapidly along Main Street (with only a mild limp, a stiffness in the right

knee that required her to pull the right leg forward from the hip) she crossed Bridge Avenue,

and admired the cottonwood and willow trees lining the Half Moon River on her right. Soon

79

Phoebe Comes Home

she arrived at the Main Street Bridge. Below her the dark water flowed by. The sun sparkled

on the ripples and bubbles as the water descended into the rocky channel to churn its way

under the bridge. Phoebe stood and watched it, letting her mind bubble and churn like the

water… And in her mind, things were floating to the surface. Her recent experiences and her

childhood memories somehow fit together, and her life seemed to have more significance.

For example, her father’s foundation, the Protectors of the Wood… well, that

philanthropic organization with a respectable twenty-year history of conservation had clearly

taken on some strange responsibilities and shadowy activities. Perhaps the Protectors of the

Wood was always more than it seemed, and became the Fellowship of the Black Arrow long

ago.

Phoebe had read The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson many times, and

knew exactly what the symbol meant. It referred to the efforts of oppressed men to claim

their heritage, and their revenge against the greed of their oppressors. Phoebe could see parts

of herself in both the hero and the heroine of the story, and their long struggle to find each

other. But she knew that the book appealed to her father in a different way. To him it was

more about the struggle for power, the means people will use to get it, and the opportunities

for the powerless to bounce back and have an impact.

Why didn’t I see all this before?

Another picture bubbling to the surface had to do with dreamstone. Phoebe noticed

that her parents had not mentioned it even once. Yet Alison and Penny – and Glenda as

well – had warned her about it with great anxiety. Phoebe assumed that a decision had been

made to protect her from some danger that lay exactly there. She resented being treated like

a wayward child. It was obvious that her parents, Penny, Jim, Alison, Chi Chi, and probably

a number of others including Sammy all shared some special knowledge, and protected it

fiercely; but Phoebe was sure she’d find out anyway. Her father would probably tell her at

least something about it that very day, and the rest would be only a matter of time. She was

already hatching plans to make her own discoveries and share them with her own group of

confidants.

At the center of all these concerns lay the open question of the Toy Store. Her

father’s fears for its future were probably even greater than his words had implied. His

anxiety and distress had seemed to ripple out into the conversation in the greenhouse like a

black tide. Phoebe felt sure that she’d heard a message in that dialogue: her father was giving

her, like a legacy, the important job of saving the Toy Store, and restoring it to its former

glory.

And with her whole soul, Phoebe wanted to do just that. She realized that she’d

A Secret Garden

80

Phoebe Comes Home

returned home with that hope burning deep inside, and slowly was finding the courage to

admit that no other plan would do. She simply had to find a way to work at the Toy Store,

and not just as an errand girl. In her heart, she wanted to run the place. Clearly that was a

long shot, a very long shot, but she would have to try.

Peter Hood was waiting for her outside the door to the greenhouse, sitting on an old

wooden chair in the sun. A wide-brimmed straw hat cast his face into shadow. Hanging from

his belt was a quiver filled with about a dozen target arrows. Across his knee were armguards

and shooting gloves. Two bows hung from the stump of a broken off branch on an ancient

nearby apple tree.

“Just like the old days,” said Peter. “Ready to shoot?”

“Yup.”

They walked the short distance along the dirt path to the beginning of the wide field

of evergreen trees. The first eight or ten rows were all of young trees less than three feet

in height. Later on came row after row of larger trees, some five feet, and then seven feet

high, ready to be cut and sold before Christmas. As of old, Peter and Chi Chi had stretched

caution tape around the field and tacked up a few prominent signs reading, ‘Caution: Archery

Practice Range’.

Looking down the rows Phoebe could see the many hay bales piled up among the

larger trees toward the middle of the field. A paper archery target pinned to a couple of bales

stood in front of a whole wall of bales over seven feet high, a wall designed to catch stray

arrows. The target looked far off, maybe a hundred feet away among the branches of the fir

trees. Phoebe knew that as they walked around the field other targets would appear in the

central area. It was all part of a game – a kind of archery style follow-the- leader -- that Peter

and Chi Chi had invented years ago.

The leader would walk around the field shooting arrows at any target from any

position. The other players would imitate the leader as exactly as possible. Shots could be

relatively easy -- straight down a row of trees to the target -- or extremely difficult, where the

arrow had to slip between branches on a particular arc. Shots could be taken with the bow

held sideways only a foot from the ground among the trees, or from great distances. If the

lead shooter missed the target, or the follower’s arrow came closer to the bull’s eye for two

shots in a row, then the follower took over.

After about twenty warm-up shots, Phoebe and her father played the game for

almost two hours. They stalked about the field, finding obscure seams in the thicket of trees

clear enough to allow an arrow to slip through to the target. Peter, of course, was in much

81

Phoebe Comes Home

better practice. He could judge the arc of an arrow for a given distance almost perfectly, even

in the gusty wind. He avoided shots that would force Phoebe to bend her knee in awkward

positions. She had been a good shot once upon a time and was improving fast after the first

hour or so of play. It was an engrossing game, but at some point Phoebe’s attention was

distracted by the strange new design in the set-up of the hay bales. In the old days the walls

behind the targets had been in the shape of an uneven cross, but now they seemed to have

become an extended rectangle. Phoebe could not see over the hay bales, and the seven-foot

trees obscured the line of sight; but after a while she was sure that a significant space was

hidden in the center of the target area.

Finally Phoebe lost her concentration and her shooting fell off. They sat on a log in

silence for a few minutes. The breeze had tapered off, and the day was growing hot. Peter

said, “So I’m sure you’ve noticed. Why don’t you ask me about it?”

“So there is something in there! You’re hiding something.”

“It’s part of the experiment we started last year. Want to see it?”

“Of course! I can’t even guess.”

“It’s just a little garden started with Wendy’s seeds. Chi Chi and I are seeing how

they grow under different conditions. It’s a question, you know. Can anyone grow these

great vegetables with her seeds? Or do you have to grow them a certain way, in a certain

environment. You know, soil, timing and temperature, exact location, amount of sunlight,

cultivation, space, water. There are so many factors.”

Peter led the way through the fir trees to a wall of hay bales. He pulled a ground-

level bale back by the corner and a section of the wall slid open a foot or so. They squeezed

through.

Phoebe found herself in a secret garden, maybe twenty-five by thirty feet in size.

Eight slightly raised beds overflowed with growing plants. Narrow paths ran in between. She

could see peas and beans and cucumbers growing up the sides of the hay bales. Fat red and

orange tomatoes were bursting from tall vines climbing wooden stakes. Carrots and turnips

were peeping out of the ground. Baby pumpkins, still green, and long yellow, green, and

pale brown squashes glowed amid a profusion of leaves. There were all sorts of growing

things that Phoebe couldn’t recognize. A regular riot of vegetables filled the small space. She

reached over, picked a finger bean, and began chewing on it.

“You’re already acquainted with those, I see,” said her father. “Not bad, right?”

“I’ll say!” exclaimed Phoebe. “I think the seeds work! Is that what you wanted to

know?”

“Oh, we knew they would work. But how well? As well as they do for her? No,

A Secret Garden

82

Phoebe Comes Home

they don’t…. Not really. I mean, this stuff is good, but it doesn’t reach Wendy’s level of

fabulousness. Here, try this tomato. Just eat it like an apple. What do you think?”

Peter led the way to a couple of hay bales in the path next to some herbs the size of

small bushes. They both took a seat. She took a few juicy bites of her tomato, fatter than a

large apple and fully ripe. The warm juice ran down her hand.

“I don’t know, it seems pretty fabulous to me.”

“But my stuff is later, smaller, and not quite as tasty.”

“Maybe a garden aficionado like you would notice, but surely this is way better than

average! Why doesn’t Fred Peterson grow these?”

“He’s got an experiment going over there, but much, much bigger than this, using

our seedlings. So does Tom Winkle. We’re going to bring their first harvest to market in

two or three weeks, and that should cause quite a stir. Tom persuaded his son to put a few

whole fields into production. We’re making good progress, but it will take years to really

get where we want to go. There’s a lot more to this project than just one harvest. We want to

model Wendy’s art of gardening on a reasonable scale over time. It’s a yearly cycle. You’ve

got to work up to it gradually, saving your seeds and trying out soils and the timing of when

to plant. Wendy’s been building her soil for over sixty years! Actually, I took the trouble

to move a few sacks here just to get the feel of it, and let her worms and bugs loose in this

garden to go with our compost…”

“I never thought of all that,” said Phoebe.

“And saving seeds is an art,” her father went on. “Plants breed and create new

varieties every year. Most people buy their seeds, because the offspring of their own will

be different. What are you saving? For us the question is, how can we maintain Wendy’s

varieties, or improve them under new conditions? We’ve got a lot to learn, and it’s a lot of

work, but I think people will see some pretty amazing results. This could change our lives

in important ways.”

“I see. But is this supposed to be a secret, or not?”

“The vegetables themselves are no secret. Anyone can buy them, and save the seeds,

and plant them just as we’re doing. But we don’t think the Morphy organization is interested

in that except in passing. They want the really big money, some great discovery that could

spawn a new industry. They’d like to give a few plants to a corporation, and study them in

a university, and then patent the seeds and market them. That would be more their style. So

we don’t want them stealing our plants, and the less they know the better.”

“But they can just give some vegetables to a lab, and grow the seeds, and make their

own plants.”

83

Phoebe Comes Home

“That’s true. We can’t stop them. We’re just not cooperating with them.”

“That includes scaring them off with black arrows?”

“Ah, you know about that...”

“Just the article in the Standard.”

“Yes... that was foolish, I told Chi Chi to be more careful. But you’ve got to

understand, hiding our project is a difficult and complicated business, and we cannot afford

to fail.”

“But why exactly? There’s something here I don’t understand.”

“That’s right, there are layers to this, and some things are best left alone. At least

for now, it’s enough for you to know that Wendy’s garden in the forest is very well hidden

-- maybe half a dozen people alive have ever seen it. There are people who would steal

everything in it if they could find it, partly in an effort to make her medicines. Not that it

would do them much good, but that’s something they can’t understand. And our dwellings

in the forest? No one can find them. Until we can prove that it’s Wendy’s property, we’re not

supposed to live there, or garden there.”

The conversation paused, and Phoebe used the opportunity to summon her courage.

She looked at her father. She could tell that this line of enquiry had come to an end. He would

tell her no more from this direction, even though he seemed to be very happy, in the best of

moods. The sun shone bright on the yellow straw of his hat, and shadow covered his huge

face. His brown eyes glowed and sparkled. Phoebe decided on a new approach.

“Dad,” she said, “I’ve got an important question, and I need a real answer.”

“Uh oh,” returned her father, but he was smiling. “You’re making me nervous.”

“Don’t pass this off with a joke. I want the truth.”

“I’ll do my best. That’s all I can say.”

“My question has to do with a memory that came back to me just a few days ago.

It’s from when I was little, and saw a stone on the table in your room. I looked at the smooth

blue side…” Phoebe hesitated, looking at her father.

His eyes focused sharply on hers. “And?” he asked. “What did you see? I’ve often

wondered.” He took off his hat and leaned forward.

“The good fairy shone her star on us, and we came alive.”

“Ah! Ah!” Peter nodded, his face glowing. “That is so comforting. Something to

treasure on dark nights.”

“But you took the stone away, and I never saw it again. You were afraid.”

“Yes. I certainly was. We knew very little about dreamstone then, and nothing about

its effect on children. I’d been careless to leave that stone in the open. Very foolish. I never

A Secret Garden

84

Phoebe Comes Home

made that mistake again. The effects of the large stones are a closely guarded secret. I knew

I’d have to discuss this with you someday… Perhaps this is a good time. I know you’ve been

asking.”

“Alison told me to speak to you.”

“It’s a difficult subject.”

“Why can’t I see something in my charm? It’s made of dreamstone.”

“As far as we can tell, only the larger stones produce visions, and not for everyone.

The effects vary. Some people are more sensitive than others. And people see very different

kinds of things, though some themes do stand out. Our group has been studying this problem

for years now, but we have to keep it a tight secret. Many people are looking – hunting -- for

the large stones. They are very rare, and valuable beyond comprehension. Even one would

be worth… well, it’s frightening even to consider.”

“How is it that you have one?”

Her father gave her a strange look that she could not interpret. “That stone you saw

is not even so large, barely medium size... You have the talent, but a lot to learn. This subject

needs great care,” he said in a low voice. “You’ll see why at some point. I won’t have to tell

you.”

“Penny knows, doesn’t she?”

“Yes, but she’ll never discuss it.”

Phoebe waited, but Peter could not seem to begin. He pinched a couple of tiny

leaves off of a nearby rosemary bush, and smelled them.

Finally Phoebe said, “I think this has something to do with Wendy and her aunt, that

little old woman we talked about in the greenhouse.”

Her father nodded. “Yes. You must have overheard Wendy and Teresa speaking

long ago.”

“I can’t remember exactly, but last night I could tell. Dreamstone has something to

do with the Protectors of the Wood. And isn’t there another, larger group that’s famous now,

the Protectors of the Earth?”

“Yes. Teresa moved to the North Ridge Mountains way before you were born, and

started the Protectors of the Earth, which -- amazingly enough --has become the world’s

largest conservation organization. This incredible effort was possible because her property

possesses the world’s only known mine producing dreamstone. The Protectors of the

Earth is in many ways like our little foundation, but it’s so much larger, at least a thousand

times larger. They operate on a global scale. We are really just a tiny part of Teresa’s huge

enterprise. Years ago all the money for purchasing and preserving land came through the

85

Phoebe Comes Home

sale of dreamstone, mostly in the form of small pieces of jewelry such as our charms. Over

time Teresa found many ways to raise money, but selling large stones has never been one of

them, at least not that we know of. No one is sure how many large stones are actually above

ground. Maybe ten or fifteen at most.”

Phoebe took a deep breath. “Why doesn’t anyone ever mention this?”

“Believe it or not, most of what I’m saying is public knowledge. But the large stones

are so rare, so unavailable, that their very existence is just a rumor. And dreamstone is an

especially touchy subject around here. Listen to me, and leave it alone.”

“All that money…” Phoebe continued, thinking aloud. “No wonder Morphy’s so

interested.”

“Yes, and there are other reasons as well. I hope you can understand me.”

Phoebe went on thinking. “Dreamstone has powers. Morphy wants those powers.”

Her father nodded, a look of despair on his face.

“And what are those powers?”

“There’s no simple answer. The large stones give some people the ability to see

things of importance… things that may be in the future… warnings of dangers ahead

especially. We believe that dreamstone helps us receive guidance. We have a little group --

we call it the Ambassadors of Good – to study what is known and use this knowledge to help

bring good into the world.” Peter’s eyes met Phoebe’s in a piercing glance, drawing all her

attention. “We have reason to think that dreamstone somehow helps us communicate with

the central good in the universe, some level of life and intelligence that cares about us. But

we don’t know what a person like Morphy could do with it.”

There was a silence in the garden, protected as it was from the noise and the breeze.

Phoebe heard the buzzing of bees, and watched them crawl into the enormous yellow

squash blossoms. Suddenly she heard the rough cawing of a crow nearby, and another crow

answered.

“Dad,” she asked, “have you ever looked into dreamstone? I mean into a big chunk

of it, like you were describing.”

“I was wondering if you would ask that. Yes, I have.”

“And what happened? Did you see anything?”

“Yes, a couple of times. But these things are often very private. You may understand

this from your own experience. Some dreams are not for sharing, or only for sharing at

certain times.”

Phoebe nodded. “I do understand. You don’t have to say anything.”

The warm sun felt delicious on her back and arms. The aromas of the garden seemed

A Secret Garden

86

Phoebe Comes Home

to create a protected and peaceful world.

“You know,” her father began, “I think I will mention one experience I had with

dreamstone. It might help you understand this whole project in a new way. Almost a year

ago I’d reached a point where I knew I was lost. I felt that I was going to have to give up

the store and change my life. You were leaving soon for college. The tasks in the forest that

needed me didn’t seem to compensate for all I would be losing: my children, my community,

the work I understood. Patti was moving to 12 Main Street and we were not together. I felt

I was being drawn away from all I’d ever loved, and would never be able to return, at least

not in the full and happy way that I had known.”

Her father hesitated, thinking.

“Please go on!” exclaimed Phoebe. “This is just what I want to understand!”

“Well, first I should mention a few things or you won’t really get it. You’ve seen me

countless times carving Santa Claus figures, and the sleigh and the reindeer and the presents.

It’s true that they sell very well. They never go out of style. But I’ve carved them since I

was little, and the reason is that I always, as long as I can remember, wanted to be Santa

Claus. That’s my dream job, you could say. So the Toy Store was really the best I could do.

Bringing presents to the children of the town, the parents -- really to everyone -- was all I

ever wanted.”

Phoebe thought she could see her father’s eyes brimming over in her peripheral

vision, but she didn’t move a muscle.

“So here I was in the forest contemplating a strange future, an effort to keep the

hopes of the Chapman family alive. It’s true, I’d realized that these hopes could end up

contributing to the future of everyone, but that idea was too abstract to grasp with the

feelings. I longed for my own children, and the families back in Middletown, with a longing

that pierced my soul.”

Phoebe found herself staring at a yellow flower with points like a star, growing on

a vine up the hay bales. She had trouble concentrating on her father’s words, yet seemed

to enter into the story, as if some spell had settled over the garden. He was saying that in

humility and despair he had gazed into the blue depths of a very large stone, and felt lost as

if in an ocean. It had turned very dark, and suddenly he saw what looked like snowflakes.

There in front of him was Bridge Avenue in a blizzard at night. The streetlights were out, and

faint and flickering lights glowed from a few windows. The snow thinned out a bit, and he

could see someone trudging up past the Toy Store, pulling a wagon by a piece of rope across

his chest, pulling a heavy wagon like a horse or a mule would do. In the wagon were bags

of food and toys, big burlap bags piled high. The man wore an old overcoat and a wool hat

87

Phoebe Comes Home

pulled down to his eyes, and he struggled with the heavy load. Peter hoped the man would

stop at the Toy Store, but no, even though the store was somehow lit up, with just the things

in the windows that Peter wanted to see, the man went on through the darkness, and finally

pulled his wagon into the church, where he was greeted by a joyful crowd of hungry people,

men, women and children, apparently staying there in the blizzard.

“And I saw that the man was me,” her father said. “I was pulling that load…. Then

the vision faded out, and I came back to myself.”

In the silence that followed the crows were cawing again. They seemed to have

come up close, like spectators to the conversation.

“Do you get it?” Peter asked, giving her a worried look.

She felt ready, and answered, “I think so. The vision helped you somehow? It gave

you a perspective, a way to face your problems?”

“That’s right. I could see it in two ways. Either it was a prediction of something I

would do in the future, or an interpretation of what I’m doing now, and either way it gave

me the strength to go on, a feeling that this is really me, the me I want to be. Whenever I feel

bad I think of that dream.”

“Sometimes I think I’ve got something like that too. It’s one of those things I don’t

talk about.”

Peter smiled at her, wiped his eyes, and shifted his weight on the hay bale. “But can

I ask you a question now?”

“Of course!”

“You want your own role in this… this project, this big game we’re in?”

“That’s right. I do.”

“So you’re going to ask Gilligan for a job?”

“Did I make it so obvious? I want to, but I’m still not sure…”

“Not sure?”

“I think I can do it -- save the store, I mean. Really, I can feel it. All I need is a

chance. But I hear that George Thompson already works there. And Gilligan is hard for me

to talk to. I hate to say it, but I never liked him. He just doesn’t see things my way. But I’m

going to try…”

Peter studied Phoebe’s face. “I agree. You should try. He has no idea what’s going

on, but he’s not a bad person, far from it, and he may surprise you. He could make an

ideal boss, or partner, in some ways. He’ll provide you with some cover in the eyes of our

enemies, and some level of safety.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t see what you’re so afraid of. You act like someone’s going

A Secret Garden

88

Phoebe Comes Home

to start shooting people.”

“You don’t know, Phoebe. There are organizations out there destroying the world to

make money, and they have no intention of stopping. In their eyes there’s an inconceivably

large fortune right here for the taking, and they think making money justifies anything they

might do. If Morphy ever thought you had the information he wanted… well, I don’t know

how far he or his people would go.” Peter gripped her shoulder and looked her in the eye.

“Phoebe, think about the things that go on in the world. Think what some people will do for

money! They’ll do anything… anything...”

Father and daughter were facing each other, sitting on the hay bales on the narrow

path in between small bushes of sage and rosemary on one side, and the tomato vines on the

other. After a piercing moment of eye contact they both looked away. Phoebe’s health and

safety were subjects too painful to discuss for any length of time. She was looking for a way

to change the subject, when with a shock she found herself thinking about Abby: it was not

too much of a stretch to guess that Abby knew more about dreamstone than was good for her.

She looked at her father again, and thought he could tolerate one more difficult

question. She knew it was a touchy issue, and her heart beat faster at the thought of it.

“So I want to mention one more thing.”

Peter nodded.

“Well, a few days ago I spent some time with two girls. One is Glenda Trimble,

Jim’s sister. And at her house I met Abby, a tall thin girl who was in my class at Half Moon.

She seems to spend some time in the forest.”

Phoebe glanced at Peter and knew she’d hit the target. His eyes widened and he sat

up straight, taking a deep breath.

“How do you know she spends time in the forest?”

“She brought a few of these tomatoes to Glenda. But I promised Glenda not to say

anything, so don’t get Abby in some sort of trouble. I just want to know more about her.”

“And you should. You certainly should. It gives me a feeling of confidence that

you’re asking. This girl is shy and sort of hunches her shoulders? She’s got black hair, wears

black jeans? Her parents live over in Woodridge on the other side of the forest?”

“I’m not sure about her parents, but I know they don’t live around here. The rest is

all her.”

“Then you’re talking about Abby Chapman, definitely a major player in this game,

a sort of wild card.” Peter gathered his thoughts. “Goodness, Phoebe, you’re here a couple

of days, and you’re into everything. But that’s good! You’ve got a knack for it. Once I heard

you were coming back I knew this would happen…”

89

Phoebe Comes Home

Phoebe waited quietly, knowing her father would plunge ahead with a torrent of

words.

“All right, you’ve hit a spot where we need help. Abby’s a Chapman, a sort of niece

of Wendy’s. She’s Wendy’s father’s brother’s son’s daughter. I know that’s a mouthful.

More to the point, you should know that Abby’s grandfather helped work the apple farm in

Hidden Valley long, long ago, and was with the family when a mob burned their house and

they all went into hiding.”

“What? I can’t believe I never heard of this!”

“It’s not so surprising. It happened over seventy years ago, and there are many

reasons for people in this town to keep it quiet. Respectable folks usually hide major crimes

in their family history, and they don’t like to be associated with the victims either. The

effects of these crimes are far from over.”

Ah! I see. Her skin shivered as she listened.

“But I’m not going to tell that story now. I just want you to understand Abby’s

importance. She’s Wendy’s favorite, but she’s not part of the inner circle. Wendy’s father

and brother don’t trust her, and won’t share with her, or associate with her. Your mother and

I actually live very near Wendy’s father, and we almost never see Abby. But we know she

spends time with Wendy in the forest, sometimes for weeks on end.” Peter’s eyebrows made

a thick wall over his troubled eyes. Vertical lines ran down the middle of his forehead.

Phoebe bit her tongue to remain silent. Just listen! Just listen! He’s telling you what

you need to know.

“We’re also aware,” he said, frowning off into space, “that Abby had, or maybe still

has, a boyfriend from a family involved in the Morphy clan, a family whose grandfather

helped burn that house in Hidden Valley so many years ago. That family almost certainly

has preserved a memory of this history… Are you getting some idea what you’ve stumbled

into? Do you see?”

His gaze moved swiftly back to Phoebe, but she looked away.

“No wonder John Chapman encouraged us to open up to you and Penny!” her father

exclaimed, leaning closer. “He must have an intuition about you young people.”

Phoebe listened to the crows making a racket near by. They seemed to be practically

in the garden itself. Her mind couldn’t seem to grasp Peter’s meaning. Did he say Wendy’s

brother? I thought he died. She was growing hot in the small garden under the bright sunlight.

The air was still. A trickle of sweat ran down her temple.

Her father shook his head and sighed. “I hate to be putting a burden on your shoulders,

but I just can’t help it. Anything you can do to help Abby understand these dangers, anything

A Secret Garden

90

Phoebe Comes Home

you can do that would protect her from those who would exploit her…”

“But why would you depend on me for something like this? And I don’t quite

understand what they’re after. Surely you or Wendy or Abby’s parents could do a better job!”

Peter wore his most severe face, eyebrows brought so low his eyes were mere slits.

Finally he asked, “What would you suggest?”

“I don’t know!” she cried frustration. “You’re supposed to know!”

“I wish I did! But it’s not a problem I know how to solve. We’ve tried. Abby’s parents

are off in another town and don’t associate with us. They pretend they’re not involved in all

this. Long ago they quarreled with Wendy and will not speak to her. And her parents seem to

have no control over Abby whatever. Wendy has far more influence than they do. But why

would a young girl consent to live with her ancient aunt far from friends and community?

Even an aunt as interesting as Wendy? Maybe for a short time, but… you can see how it

is. Abby’s a free agent. What should we do? If persuasion hasn’t worked, should we try to

intimidate her, or use force? Hmm? Those are the tactics of the people we despise.”

Phoebe had enough sense not to reply. Her father reached over to the bush of

rosemary and pinched off the end of a branch, full of the dark green pointed leaves that

looked almost like pine needles. He nibbled on the end of it, chewing slowly to calm himself

down. The sharp yet soothing scent wafted over Phoebe.

“And Wendy is a wild card too,” Peter went on more softly. “I’ll speak to her again

when I get the chance, but I can’t tell you how fiercely stubborn and independent she is,

insisting on doing things her own strange way. She’s given Abby a lot of freedom, and shares

more with her than any of us think is wise… But ultimately someone’s got to help Abby in

town where her friends are. I think she’s a lonely and confused girl, and she’s found a lonely

and confused boy. Someone’s got to get to know her, and influence her with friendship...”

“But what if I mess up? What if this whole house of cards comes down because I do

something stupid, or Abby does?”

“Ah! Those are the big questions. Why do the good thing, only to be destroyed?

Why even try, when we’ll be destroyed anyway? Why risk making a mistake, when we could

do nothing and deny all responsibility?”

Phoebe sighed. “All right, I get it. When you put it that way…”

“I don’t mean to belittle what you’re asking. These are questions for all of us. They

come up all the time, for the oldest or the youngest.”

“But I get it. There are things only I can do.”

“I think you’re fabulous.”

Phoebe laughed. “That’s enough, Dad.”

91

Phoebe Comes Home

They sat in silence, feeling happy that they’d reestablished some kind of partnership

in this strange world. They drew the moment out, extending the time they could sit

comfortably together.

“Just one more thing,” said Peter. “I want you to know that you can come to Hidden

Valley. You’re invited. Oh, it’s clear you don’t want to visit right now. You’ve got other

things on your mind, and it’s a hard journey, too much for your knee at this point. But

someday you’ll want to come. Just let us know. Chi Chi visits every couple of days. He’ll

guide you to us.”

Phoebe nodded. Once again the crows were kicking up a racket.

Peter stood up, and then stepped up on the hay bale, looking toward the forest. “I’ve

been wondering where those crows are. I think they’re our forest crows, King and his band.

Normally we don’t see them over here.”

“Those crows have names?”

“Yes, indeed. They’re Wendy’s favorites, her personal assistants, you could say…

Yes! My goodness! Right there! On the long branch. Look! They’re rising up.”

Raucous voices filled the air. Phoebe stood and saw at least half a dozen crows

flapping their wings, rising off a long horizontal oak branch extending over the field of

Christmas trees. One huge black crow spread his enormous wing feathers out against the sky

and swooped directly overhead. The others followed in a wide arc, and finally rose over the

taller oaks and disappeared back into the forest.

“Well!” said Peter with a smile. “I’ve never had a visit like that before.”

They stood still, enjoying the peace of this moment as long as they could. Finally

Peter put on his hat, and began to browse over the garden, picking a few gray-brown squashes

and some finger beans.

“Now,” he said, “aren’t you hungry? Let’s cook up something delicious. Take a

couple of those tomatoes, and pinch off the tops of these basil plants. And you’ve got to try

some of this new summer squash. We call it supersquash, or potato squash. You’ve never

tasted anything like it. Sliced and grilled, it’s even good in sandwiches.”

“Not for me, Dad.”

“Oh, you wait and see.”

They squeezed outside the wall with their arms full of vegetables, their bows

hanging from their shoulders. Peter slid the hay bales back into place with his foot, and they

headed back to the greenhouse.

A Secret Garden

VIINothing For Anyone To Do

93

When Phoebe awoke the next morning she sensed the open day ahead with excitement, like

an animal sniffing a fresh breeze. She dressed in a few seconds and entered the kitchen for

coffee.

“What’s up?” asked Penny, spreading flour on a large board on the kitchen table.

“Something. I don’t know yet. I need a job.”

“Good luck,” yelled Penny as Phoebe made for the front door.

She drank her coffee and chewed gum on the front steps, left the empty mug sitting

there, and headed off down Main Street towards Jim Trimble’s gas station. As she walked

along she enjoyed the breeze and the blue sky and the big, fluffy clouds. Her knee felt a little

stronger, a little more flexible. Her step had more spring.

I’m on the right path. Soon she swung open the office door of the service station,

and there was Jim Trimble sitting at his desk reading a newspaper.

“Phoebe Hood!” he cried. “Now isn’t this a pleasure. I was just feeling a little bored.

Nobody’s coming in, I’m not pumping any gas, a nice summer’s day is coming on… With

Jeremy here working on the cars I’ve got some time on my hands. He works non-stop; I can’t

get him to socialize.”

As if on cue the young man in the thin, stained, faded red jacket and tight jeans

appeared at the inside door to the garage. The quiet stare of his slightly protruding eyes

already seemed familiar to Phoebe.

“Here he is,” said Jim. “Join us for a minute, Jeremy. I was just telling Phoebe

you’re an artist at fixing car engines. But I can’t get you out to meet anyone.”

Jeremy looked down and seemed embarrassed by the attention. He was clearly too

shy to start a conversation.

“So…” said Jim, rising and putting some coins in the soda machine. “Seven-up?

Orange? Coke? I already know Jeremy will take a coke.” He pressed a button and a can came

sliding down the slot. Jim tossed it to Jeremy, who was lounging in an old chair opposite the

desk.

“Seven-up,” said Phoebe, and they drank sodas together. She ostentatiously popped

her gum and blew a bubble to make Jim laugh.

“What’s new?” he asked. “How do you like Middletown?”

“I like it a lot, but I think I’d like it more if I had a job.”

“Giving up school already?”

“Well, maybe later on I’ll go back to school. I just want something I can do for a

while.”

Nothing For Anyone To Do

94

Phoebe Comes Home

“But… you’re not interested in cars…”

“Well… No,” she admitted. “You know me, Jim. I never could understand motors.

I’m not sure what I can do.”

“Oh, come on, Phoebe. We all know what you can do. And in fact,” Jim suddenly

had a strange glint in his eye, “you might be in just the right place at the right time. Why

don’t you go into town and talk to Gilligan? He’s had that store from your parents for almost

a year now, and he could use some help. That place used to be jammed…”

“But that’s just the trouble,” interrupted Phoebe, beginning to get excited. “There’s

probably nothing to do, and no money either.”

“Oh, please,” returned Jim, “that’s why he needs you. He used to have George

Thompson working there, and they both sat around doing nothing.”

“What happened to George?” asked Phoebe, her heart thumping loudly in her chest.

“Gilligan let him go. George would bother him with big plans, but Gilligan would

never follow through. They started arguing and getting on each other’s nerves. In the end

Gilligan couldn’t make any work for him to do… I’m telling you, Gilligan hasn’t the faintest

idea how to run that place. He’s more like an accountant. Unless he hires you he hasn’t a

chance.”

“I’m afraid he won’t see it that way.”

“Have you asked him yet?” came Jeremy’s voice all of a sudden. Phoebe turned and

stared. There was something soft but penetrating about that voice that took over the room.

“The reason I bring it up,” Jeremy went on, “is just that I was thinking of myself. I’m about

your age and setting out in life, and I’m even afraid to ask Jim here for a job.”

“What are you talking about?” returned Jim with a surprised look on his face.

“You’re already working.”

“Yeah, but I realize I want to stick around after the summer. I’m tired of college and

my hometown.”

“Well…” Jim struggled to reply. “I don’t know if I’ve got enough work, month in

and month out. We’d have to drum up some business.”

“You see,” said Jeremy to Phoebe, “that’s my point. You’ve got to drum up some

business.”

“Just give me a chance!” cried Phoebe. “What I wouldn’t give for a chance!”

“You see!” said Jeremy to Jim. “That’s how I feel too. Just watch what I can do.”

“You know, I was already thinking of talking to Gilligan,” Phoebe admitted. “I just

needed a push, a little confidence. I’m going to do it. And you too,” she reached over and

95

Phoebe Comes Home

touched Jeremy’s hand. “Do it.”

Jim stared at the two of them, surprised by the changes taking place right before his

eyes.

“Don’t forget my party Saturday night,” she said, moving toward the door. “You

come too, Jeremy.”

Jeremy smiled and waved, and Phoebe was out the door.

“Good luck,” called Jim.

Phoebe hurried along Main Street as if she were late for a wedding, swinging her

right leg awkwardly and bouncing along. She crossed to the other side and continued on with

the apple orchard on the slope to her left. At High Street she turned left, and climbed the

hill on the empty street lined with apple trees to Hobart Avenue and then turned right. She

noticed that she’d started to sweat on a very warm day, and considered that she would not be

going home to shower and change her clothes before meeting Gilligan. So she slowed down

in the shade of the sycamore trees lining a long cornfield, and began to cool off.

Phoebe knew her hurry was a bit ridiculous. Nothing prevented her from speaking

to Gilligan at any other time, on any other day. In fact it was just half past 10 in the morning,

and Gilligan would probably not even be open yet. The situation reminded her of Glenda

finally visiting Teacher’s College earlier in the week. Both she and Glenda depended on that

extra push from fate.

We’re both terrified. We’ve got no plan B. It’s lost or found, all or nothing.

Soon she could see the church steeple in the distance. Hobart Avenue hit Bridge

Avenue right at the church, and the view of the steeple became a part of the solemn feeling

that came over Phoebe as she walked along. She reached the avenue, turned right, and sat

for a minute on a bench in front of the offices of the Middletown Standard, the venerable

and very conservative local newspaper. The near-by sidewalks were deserted. It felt like the

moment of fate was coming. She could almost touch it, the magic of the crossroads. No one

can know that moment in advance. It must be lived.

Suddenly she heard the roar of a huge eighteen-wheeler coming up Hobart Avenue

behind her. It turned right on Bridge Avenue and passed directly in front of her. She wondered

if the colossal truck could make the turn on the narrow street. The cab bounced one wheel

up over the curb in front of the church, and straightened out to finally roll to a stop in front

of Scutter’s Market, taking up a whole lane of Bridge Avenue. She read the letters on the

enormous container as it went by: ARMA AGRICORP. The truck seemed out of scale with

Nothing For Anyone To Do

96

Phoebe Comes Home

the town, like Scutter’s Market itself, and made her all the more anxious to work at the Toy

Store, just across the street from this bully.

Phoebe took a few deep breaths, summoning her nerve for the last lap. She flicked

her gum into the nearby trashcan and pushed herself across the street and up the sidewalk.

Her agony of suspense was increasing with every step she took.

The famous Toy Store occupied a building that had been a stable long ago. It was

built around a small courtyard with two narrow wings reaching the sidewalk with display

windows. The front door was in the main section of the building, set back from the street by

a courtyard paved with flagstones. Phoebe quickly walked past the first display window and

looked in through the open gate. She fully intended to go right in, but after seeing the large

‘Open’ sign on the front door she walked right on by in a panic, and entered Sammy’s coffee

shop instead. A few customers were seated at the counter, and Phoebe joined them.

“Just a coffee,” she said to Sammy with a don’t-bother-me frown on her face. He

eyed her, noticing the warning signs to remain silent.

This is ridiculous. I’ve got to calm down. But what will I do if Gilligan doesn’t want

me? Well, I won’t have a job then, just like I don’t have one now. I’ve got nothing to lose.

But she found this argument completely unconvincing. Deep in the marrow of her bones

she knew she had all her hopes at stake. The thought of not working at the store was simply

unendurable.

The sheer agony of it pushed her into motion. She set down her cup with a bang and

limped out the door, turned right, and found herself looking at the display in the first window

of the Toy Store.

Hmm… This window looks different than it used to. I’ve never heard of these books.

Where is the illustrated copy of Robin Hood? Daddy refused to move it for years. And there

aren’t any art materials, no signs announcing events and classes, no activities for kids! She

moved past the gate to the second window. My God, Gilligan has gone electronic in a big

way! What does he think this is, a video game outlet?

Phoebe marched through the courtyard and into the store. Gilligan was sitting behind

the counter reading a book. His navy blue pants and red and black striped shirt looked a bit

rumpled and his goatee a bit scraggly to the critical eyes of Phoebe. The store was empty of

customers. Uh oh… It’s hopeless. There’s nothing for anyone to do.

“Uh… hello,” said Phoebe.

Gilligan’s eyes opened wide. “Phoebe Hood!” he exclaimed, and stood up.

96 97

Phoebe Comes Home

“Welcome to the store!”

“Great to be here,” she replied, feeling stiff, almost numb.

“I’ll bet it’s changed a lot since you used to be around here so much,” he said with

a smile. “How do you like it?”

“Well… basically, of course, I like it very much… but…” She stood there helplessly.

Gilligan stared at her with his mild, watery blue eyes, and became aware that

unpredictable changes were brewing all around him.

“Yes…” he said hesitantly.

“Well, I… would like to work here.”

“I see,” said Gilligan. “I see. And… what would you like to do?”

“Well, I could do anything. Anything at all. I could fix your display windows and

rearrange them, and I could put toys around and move things up from the basement, and I

could clean the store and sell things and wait on customers, and, why, we could even do

things like we used to do like have classes and a summer festival or a winter carnival or a

Halloween Fair and bring the children in, and… things like that.”

They stared at each other. He seemed rooted to his spot behind the counter.

“That’s… very nice,” said Gilligan. “You know, business is a little slow, but let me

see…” He stroked the thin beard on his chin uncertainly. “Why don’t you let me give this

some thought?”

Phoebe realized that she was supposed to reply, and managed to murmur, “Okay…”

“We’ll talk about it some other time then…” said Gilligan. “Some time soon.” He

resumed his seat near the cash register.

Phoebe stood there without moving.

“Tomorrow or the next day,” he suggested. After an awkward moment his eyes

returned to his book.

Phoebe wanted to say something, to argue some point, to at least walk further into

the store; but she realized she had been dismissed. Feeling almost paralyzed, she made a

tremendous effort and said, “There’s lots of things I can do…”

He glanced up, a look of irritation obvious on his face. “I’m sure there are...”

“I’ve got a lot of experience,” pleaded Phoebe. Here, in this very room where she

had been a queen, she was now a beggar.

“Yes, yes,” said Gilligan impatiently, “but I don’t think…” He paused, looking for

the right words.

Suddenly the door opened with a jingle of bells, and Gilligan greeted the arriving

Nothing For Anyone To Do

98

Phoebe Comes Home

customer with relief: “Can I help you? Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

Phoebe stepped aside and waited, completely ignored. She wanted to shout, or

scream, or strangle him with her bare hands. Finally in a rage she turned and limped out

the door, cursing both Gilligan and herself. He’s so thick he’s hardly real! A talking puppet!

Ooohh... ooohh! She felt a deep pain and gripped her stomach, afraid she might throw up.

And how could I have been so stupid? Why didn’t I ask to take a look around, talk

to him some more, invite him for lunch, get to know him a little bit? I didn’t even offer to

advertise and bring in customers. He didn’t even invite me in!

Phoebe walked blindly down the sidewalk, hardly aware of her surroundings. At

Main Street, instead of turning right to head home, she crossed and continued down Bridge

Avenue towards the forest. Maybe it would be dark and secluded there. She didn’t want to

go home. She didn’t want to see Penny. She didn’t want to see anyone.

98

Phoebe Comes Home

VIIIAn Unexpected Tea Party

100

Phoebe Comes Home

At the Half Moon Bridge -- an old two-lane bridge with continuous sidewalks and thick

wooden railings -- Phoebe stopped her angry flight. Gilligan’s not going to help me, she told

herself. He’s too stupid, just too stupid. I’m sick of this. I can’t do anything right. My life isn’t

going anywhere.

She walked out on the bridge and leaned on the upper railing, looking down into the

black water gliding by. The Half Moon River was up near its high water mark, tearing along

at the roots of the trees growing out of the steep bank. It seemed pleasant to fall into that dark

water and never come back. Anything to relieve this ripping agony, feeling her life’s purpose

torn away. It now seemed so absurdly clear that she’d always wanted to work in the Toy

Store. She longed to show what she could do, to run it, to test herself. Even soccer couldn’t

compete with this relentless passion, her ambition since childhood. What could she possibly

do now? What else was worth doing?

She thought of Abby, and turned and looked further down the road, past the bridge

toward the forest. Like iron filings to a magnet, her feelings all clustered around this new

thought. Could Abby actually live in that abandoned house? Could she possibly be there,

even right now? Abby seemed like a kindred spirit, another lost soul, who might know how

to survive in this nether world.

So Phoebe limped on down the road, past a few houses and trailers that appeared

to be in progressively poorer repair, to the point where the paved portion of Bridge Avenue

came to an end. The country looked wilder as she approached the forest. The streetlights had

long been left behind. A sign emerged that said, ‘Dead End’, followed by a dirt road. The

area was deserted.

But Phoebe limped onward. The road was barely wide enough to admit a car, and

was completely in the shadow of thick and dark pine trees on either side. After what seemed

like a long way, the road curved and came to a rusted metal gate. Looking up to the right, she

saw the old two story wooden house sitting on rising ground behind a group of sumac trees

and a huge ancient maple, a house that had last received paint a couple of generations ago.

The windows were all broken. The wooden porch had caved in. The tallest of the Half Moon

Cliffs, called the Horn, rose like a tower in the background.

She stood still and stared about. Nothing moved. Looking down to the right of the

closed gate there was a small footpath running toward the house. She noticed the treads

of bicycle wheels there in the dirt. It seemed that Abby had been there since the last rain.

Phoebe limped up the path, and stepped gingerly over the broken porch to the front door. The

knob had long since disappeared. She knocked several times, and finally pushed the door. It

100 101

An Unexpected Tea Party

swung open a couple of feet and stuck against the floor. Phoebe sniffed the air and looked

into the darkness. The breath of old, moldy, deserted places blew in her face.

“Abby,” she called, as loud as she dared. She was afraid to yell. Who knew what one

could awaken? “Abby, it’s me, Phoebe. Are you there? I want to talk to you.” There was no

reply, except a squirrel scolding her from a second story window ledge.

Phoebe pulled the door closed and stepped back off the porch onto what had once

been a lawn, and now was littered with broken branches, years of leaves, and young sumac

trees like sticks rising from the ground. The thought of Abby held her like a magnet. Any

sign of Abby would be welcome. Phoebe walked back to look for the bicycle tire tracks in

the mud. There they were, running through the dirt amid clumps of grass where the water

drained off the rising ground. She followed the tread marks back up toward the house. Soon

they veered off to the right, and traces of them were visible heading around the house to the

back. Excited, Phoebe walked on, staring at the ground. She lost the tracks amid the leaves

and fallen branches, but picked them up again in the dirt. Suddenly, as if a presence appeared

in her mind, she looked up, and there was Abby standing about thirty yards away down a

slope toward the edge of the forest. Their eyes met. Phoebe came forward, stepping around

the brush and young trees.

“I was looking for you,” she said. There was silence. Abby did not move, and stared

without expression. It took all Phoebe’s courage to walk up close to Abby and say, “I was

feeling kind of lost, and need someone to talk to.”

Abby nodded, and led the way down the slope through some undergrowth to a small

clearing near a grove of birch trees at the edge of the thick shadows of the forest. A stream

murmured a few yards away. A tiny fire gave off a wisp of smoke. A weathered old coffee

table and a stool, and a hammock strung between two trees a short distance away, completed

the homey scene.

“I can make you some tea,” Abby said.

“That would be nice.” Phoebe glanced about her, uncertain where to sit.

“Go ahead and take the stool. My tea parties are usually just for me, so we’re short

on chairs.” Abby built up the fire with a few broken branches, and set a pot half-full of water

on a hot stone in the midst of the flames. She poured some dark powder from a small bag

into a cup so large it looked like a bowl with a handle.

“I’ve had some already,” said Abby. “You take this. You’ll like it.” Soon she poured

the scalding water into the cup and stirred, making a thick brown liquid. Abby handed it to

Phoebe and sat close to her on the ground.

“I just went into the Toy Store for the first time since I’ve been back.”

102

Phoebe Comes Home

The stream murmured. The pattern of sunlight and shadow shifted.

“I asked Gilligan for a job.”

“How’d it go?”

“No luck. He said he’d talk to me tomorrow, but he didn’t even invite me in. He

wasn’t friendly. I feel kind of lost.”

“Join the club. It’s normal.”

“I used to feel like I knew what I was doing. Now I feel like I’ve lost part of myself,

and I can’t find it.”

Abby looked up into Phoebe’s face without saying anything. Phoebe blew on her

tea. Some birds chattered near by.

“How d’you like it here?” Abby asked.

“Nice. Really nice.”

“Keep it a secret, okay? Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want to be bothered.”

“Sure.”

Abby looked up into Phoebe’s eyes. “But you can come here any time you want.”

“Thanks. I’m really glad to be here.”

“I can tell.”

Phoebe sipped her tea. “This is better than coffee,” she said. They sat quietly. The

stream and the birds made a kind of music.

“I think you should try Gilligan again,” said Abby suddenly in her soft voice.

“Try him?”

“Go back tomorrow. Don’t be afraid to crawl a bit. Offer to work for free.”

“I thought of that. It’s hard. I couldn’t get the words out.”

“Try it.”

“Thanks. I think I will.” Phoebe continued to sip her tea. Finally she said, “What

are you up to these days?”

“Oh – making a mess of things as usual.”

“Really?”

“I know how to garden – and I do a good job – but I want to make a little money

too, just like you. But things never work out. I can’t understand why no one ever likes me.”

“I like you.”

“You’re just sad today.”

“No, I really like you. I knew at Glenda’s, and when I saw you ride into the forest.

I think about our talk all the time.”

Abby smiled but looked down shyly. To relieve their embarrassment, Phoebe said,

102 103

Phoebe Comes Home An Unexpected Tea Party

“Besides, Glenda and Tiny like you.”

“That’s true.”

“I’ll be more hopeful and try Gilligan again – and maybe you’ll be more hopeful

too.”

“I always try again, but it never works.”

Phoebe waited until Abby looked up, and then said, “Call on me. I’ll help you.”

“Maybe I will.”

“I’ll come back and see you here.”

“Okay.”

Phoebe set her half-finished cup of tea on the tiny table, next to the small pipe and

pouch, and a dog-eared old paperback book lying open to a certain page. “What are you

reading?”

“Oh…” Abby hesitated, unable to reply.

Phoebe picked up the book and looked at the cover. “The New Testament,” she read

out-loud. Abby looked away in embarrassment. “I’m sorry,” Phoebe said. “Maybe that’s

private for you. It’s okay. I’m fine with it.”

Abby paused, thinking, and then asked, “Do you believe in guardian angels? I mean,

do you think they exist?”

“I see what you mean,” said Phoebe. “That is sort of a private question. Most people

won’t be honest about what they say. If they do believe in a guardian angel they probably

won’t admit it. It almost feels like it would jinx the situation, or make you feel stupid, or

make the angel disappear, to talk about such a thing.”

“You know!” cried Abby in a high little yelp. She clapped her hands. “I knew it

when we talked about our dreams. When you were afraid to speak, and kept something back.

But your Good Fairy dream and being the daughter of Robin Hood were good enough for

me. I knew you were special.”

Phoebe was speechless with happiness. She no longer felt alone.

“So you understand,” Abby continued.

“I do. I really do.”

“So I’ll show you what I’m reading.”

“I’m so interested I can’t tell you.”

“You are! I can see you are… Okay, I’m making a little study of angels. I’m curious

what the Bible says they can do. What do you think angels can do? As far as we’re concerned

I mean. Am I sounding stupid? It’s hard for me to know.”

“Not at all,” Phoebe answered. “Honestly, I’ve asked myself the same question, but

104

Phoebe Comes Home

I would never dare bring it up with anybody. But it’s such a relief to talk to you about it.”

“So what do you think?”

“Well, if it’s really an angel, it tells us things we need to know, and guides us and

protects us.”

“Yes. The Bible says, ‘For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all

your ways.’ We each have a guardian angel, if we’ll listen.”

“You’d think it might be easier to discover that. Why is it so confusing?”

“It is strange,” Abby agreed. “It’s so hard to figure out the basic things about life.”

“I know...”

“But now, my question is, can angels do things? I mean, like make things happen?

Can angels do physical things, like people do?”

“I never heard about that,” replied Phoebe. “I’m not sure. But if they can talk, maybe

they can do other things. But maybe they only exist in dreams, or in thoughts.”

“It’s an important point. That’s what I’ve been studying today.”

“What have you found out?”

“Do you know who Peter is?”

“One of Jesus’ disciples?”

“That’s right. He’s my favorite because he makes terrible mistakes, but he’s still

good. Anyway, Peter is in prison, sleeping between two guards and tied with chains, and

suddenly an angel is standing there shining a light. And the angel wakes him up, and the

chains fall off his hands, and Peter follows the angel. And while this is happening, he thinks

it’s all a dream. Now listen to exactly what it says.”

Abby opened the book and read out loud: “‘Peter followed him out of the prison, not

knowing, however, if what the angel was doing was real; he thought he was seeing a vision.

They passed by the first guard station and the second, and came at last to the iron gate that

opens into the city. The gate opened for them by itself, and they went out. They walked down

a street, and suddenly the angel left Peter. Then Peter realized what had happened to him, and

said, ‘Now I know that it is really true!’”

Abby stopped reading and looked at Phoebe. “Do you see? Do you see?”

“You mean it’s about what we were just talking about?”

“That’s right,” returned Abby, glancing nervously at Phoebe.

“So according to this, it’s not just a vision. The angel actually opens doors and

unlocks chains.”

Abby nodded. They both remained silent. Abby began to fidget with the fire,

pushing the coals together. Phoebe looked at her thoughtfully, wondering about her sudden

104 105

Phoebe Comes Home An Unexpected Tea Party

distraction.

“You feel like you’re in prison,” observed Phoebe suddenly. “You need help getting

out.”

Abby turned with a jerk and stared. “I think I’ve said too much. I don’t want to talk

about it.”

“It’s okay,” said Phoebe gently. “I won’t intrude. I’ve got weird things going on too,

that I won’t let anybody see. I’m going to be a real friend to you.”

“That would help. I’m having a really hard time.”

“You’ve helped me a lot already.” Phoebe stood up and stretched. “I feel much

better. Much, much better.”

“That’s good.”

“Remember, anything I can do, call on me, or I might come running even if you

don’t.”

Abby laughed, and seemed to loosen up a bit.

“Can I try the hammock?” asked Phoebe.

“Of course.”

Phoebe lay down, and pushing off the ground with one foot, swayed back and forth.

“This is wonderful. Do you sleep here?”

“No. The mosquitoes get too bad. I sleep inside.”

“My sister and I used to go in there years ago. It was a wreck.”

“That’s why no one comes in and bothers me.”

“Can I see? Have you fixed it up?”

“A little bit. But you probably wouldn’t like it.”

“Why not?”

“Oh… you don’t want to know. But I’ll show you someday.”

“I bet I like it. You’ll see.” Phoebe continued to swing back and forth.

“Want part of a fish?” Abby asked. “I’m going to have some lunch. We’ll split a

fish.”

“Sure. If you have enough.”

Abby rose and went down to the stream, and returned with a brown trout about ten

inches long on a string hooked through the gill. She set it on the table, and from under the

table pulled out a tupperware container. It contained a knife, half a loaf of bread, a few small

jars, and some utensils. She cleaned the fish, poured a little oil in the pan, and fried it up

with a handful of chopped herbs and a few finger beans. Soon Abby handed Phoebe a slice

106

Phoebe Comes Home

of bread folded around a steaming fish fillet.

“That smells so good!” cried Phoebe. She began to nibble at the edges. “Penny’s

bread. I find it everywhere.”

They ate hungrily, and in silence, both taking swallows from the wide cup until the

tea was finished. They picked the finger beans from the frying pan and ate them for dessert.

Then they walked down to the stream and washed the utensils and the tabletop and their own

hands and faces. As they returned to the fire Abby said, “I think I’ll have a pipe before we

go.”

“Okay…”

They sat together on the ground, and Abby filled the pipe and lit up. She blew out

smoke, a contemplative look on her face.

“I want things to be peaceful,” she said, “but they just aren’t most of the time. You

have to go through the conflict.”

Phoebe wasn’t sure what to say. The warm odor felt comforting. Finally she asked,

“What’s in that stuff?”

“It’s my Godmother’s mixture, her own tobacco and some herbs. Nothing bad --

except tobacco, but I like it sometimes. Here, have a few puffs.” Abby handed her the pipe.

Phoebe drew a little smoke into her mouth. She felt the wetness of Abby’s lips on

the stem, and felt almost merged with Abby, as if they occupied the same body for a time.

It wasn’t necessary to say anything. Phoebe suddenly felt dizzy, and handed the pipe back.

Abby looked at her and laughed.

“You’re not used to it,” she said. “The feeling will pass.”

Abby smoked in silence, staring in the distance. Quiet moments went by. Then she

knocked the contents of the pipe out on a stone, and pocketed the pipe and the pouch. She

stowed the table and stool under some thick raspberry bushes, and untied the hammock and

put it under the table. The fire still glowed with a few remaining coals. Abby covered them

with a flat rock, and banked some dirt around the edges.

“It’ll burn out with no smoke,” she said.

Phoebe was afraid to stand up, thinking the dizziness would return, but finally she

rose and took a deep breath. She felt light-headed. The world looked somehow different, but

it seemed okay.

“I’m lucky I found you,” she said.

“By their fruits you’ll know them,” Abby replied.

“It’s true. I know what that means.”

107

An Unexpected Tea Party

They looked at each other.

“I guess I’ll be heading back towards town,” Phoebe added hesitantly, as if she

didn’t want to go.

“I’ll be walking through the forest,” said Abby. “Come back soon.”

Abby’s shy smile and slim body seemed infinitely appealing. Phoebe longed to

collapse in her arms.

They gave each other a kiss on the cheek, and Phoebe moved up the slope toward

the front yard and the road. Looking back she could see Abby, carrying the container and

the book, walking to some unknown entrance behind the house. I can’t believe she said that,

Phoebe was thinking.

She walked home slowly, in no hurry at all. Her heart was surprisingly happy, but

her thoughts had trouble making sense. She felt that she had received a gift, but one so new,

so rare, that she couldn’t understand its value. But it helped to feel the spirit of Abby walking

with her, a fellow ghost on a gloomy path. If Abby could survive a series of miserable

defeats, then she, Phoebe, could too.

She opened the front door virtually in silence, and tiptoed up the stairs to her room.

Her cheerful optimism starting the day now seemed to have occurred years ago, in a different

world. She lay on the bed and put her wrist over her eyes. Images flashed by in the darkness,

of Abby frying a fish in the shade of the leaves, and the shadowy dirt road in the forest.

109

An Unexpected Tea Party

COMING SOON:

Phoebe Comes Home Part II

The Secret of Dreamstone

PHOEBE COMES HOME

The Protectors of the Wood Series follows the adventures of a group of

young people trying to develop their lives and protect their hometown and

the world from injustice, exploitation, and environmental destruction. The

series poses a very real question--how can we pass through our own histori-

cal crisis and win a sustainable future?

In Phoebe Comes Home, the first book of the Protectors of the Wood

series, our hero Phoebe Hood returns to her hometown from college in

a crisis. A star soccer player, she has sustained what seems to be a career-

ending injury that has abruptly changed her plans. Worse yet, she finds her

hometown in the throes of sinister changes.

The family business, a toy and game store where she worked for years, has

changed hands, and her parents seem to have abandoned both the town

and their daughter, moving into the forest preserve in the highlands that

tower above Middletown.

On her first night home she has a powerful and disturbing dream...

PHOEBE COMES HOMEPart I: A New Beginning

Part II: The Secret of DreamstonePart III: Building Robin Hood’s Band

Part IV: The Big GameAnd coming next year... ABBY AND WENDY

www.ProtectorsoftheWood.com

The Protectors of the Wood Series