*
Gertrude woke up early in the morning. He did not have time to notice his head banging like a drum. He had gulped down a couple mugs of blog and headed to the woodpile to fetch wood for his mother. He brought stores in from the outside larder and sat down at the table, holding his head in his hands, wishing the room would stop spinning. There had been far too much celebrating last night at the market house. The celebration followed him home, too. Well-wishers kept coming to the hovel and drinks kept getting poured. It was in the wee hours of the morning when the merriment had ended. Gertrude sat and pondered if he would survive the celebrating. He looked up when he heard shuffling feet. “Mother, aren’t you a vision of loveliness this morning…”
Winifred looked at her son and scowled. Her graying red hair was twisting in all different directions and had invited a few stray feathers from her down pillow. She was pasty-looking and the circles under her bloodshot eyes seemed to glow red. “You should talk, my son. You look as if you crawled out of death’s bed!” She tried to smile but it hurt too much. She poured herself some blog and sat quietly opposite Gertrude with her eyes closed. A knock at the door brought them both out of their stupor.
“Good…. Oh my! I guess it isn’t a very good morning for either of you…” Derry smiled as she went over and helped herself to some blog. “I’m going to whip up a tonic for the both of you that was handed down to me by my mother.” Derry quickly got busy and in no time at all she had brewed up a dark brown, thick, syrupy drink. “Here, drink this down once it cools a little and it will clear your minds.”
Winifred looked at her dear friend. “And what brings the sunshine and flowers into your day? You seem very happy about something.”
“True, Winifred. I just received an invitation to the princess’ ball. I’ve never been to a ball before. I came over so that maybe you could help me decide what to wear.”
Gertrude smirked. “Clothes would be a good idea…”
Derry picked up a pot and a wooden spoon and walked over towards Gertrude. ‘BANG!’ The wooden spoon hit the pot with a sound of a thousand knocks at the door.
Gertrude smiled and held his head. “I’ll be good. I promise!” His brew had cooled enough and he gulped it down.
Winifred followed suit. “Is the invitation the reason you came over to see us?”
“It is only one of the reasons. I ran into Toddy this morning. She told me that she saw Meade talking to a strange frog troll. She had never seen him before. So we assume he is from a neighboring kingdom.” Derry grabbed a cookie out of a small crock on a nearby shelf.
“Meade…what a sorry excuse for a frog troll! I usually try not to pass judgment on someone. He seems to be as contemptuous as Toggart.” Winifred scrunched up her face with a look of disgust
“Toddy saw the frog troll leave but, before he did, he handed something to Meade on the sly. It was small enough that Toddy could not see what the item was. Then Meade noticed Toddy and went into his hovel.” Derry shook her head. “We will have to keep a close eye on your two nephews. Why does your sister put up with them?”
“I have asked myself the same question a thousand times…” Winifred stood up and ambled over to the stove for another mug of blog. “You know, Derry, that brew seems to be working as I am feeling a lot better.”
Gertrude had remained quiet. He had not said a word to his mother about Zeon being captured by the King’s men. They only had to worry about Meade. “Mother, could you please pour me another cup of blog?”
Winifred brought the pot of the green liquid over to the table and poured the last of the blog into his mug. “Would the two of you care for anything to eat?”
“I could go for a couple of eggs, maybe. Oh, and some bacon sounds good, too, and how about some cockroach muffins with rose nectar sauce?” Gertrude licked his lips.
Winifred laughed. “Derry, I need a recipe for that brew you gave us. Gertrude is definitely feeling better.” They all laughed.
A knock at the door had Gertrude getting up from his seat to see who it was. “Hi, Grumps, come on in and join us for some breakfast. Sit down and have some blog. I am sure it is almost ready.”
“I went looking for the Grand Frog Troll this morning to ask him when we were going to get a new Grand Frog Troll. Couldn’t find the old wrinkled bug eater… He is never around when you want him. Where’s that cup of blog?” Grumps walked over to the stove to where Winifred was standing. “Got any of those wiggle worm cookies of yours?” Grumps took a second look at his daughter. “I seem to know you from somewhere.”
Winifred shook her head in disbelief. “Father, has Phoebe been over to see you? Is she bringing you your meals when you need them?”
“Don’t want to eat anything named ‘fried bees’. Unusual name, too. I’m hungry!” Grumps looked at the mug in his hands that Winifred has handed him. “Disgusting looking stuff! What kind of an inn are you running here? I hope you don’t think I’m going to pay for this!”
Gertrude could see the exasperation mounting in his mother. “Grumps, let’s go over and sit down for a while.” Gertrude turned his grandfather toward the table and steered him to one of the chairs. “Grumps, what did you do yesterday?”
“Watched my pet spider, Legs, spin this beautiful web. Had trouble feeding him, though. He wouldn’t eat the carrots I was throwing his way. He got mad at me and hid in the corner for the rest of the day.” Grumps watched as Winifred placed a large plate of bacon and eggs in front of him. “Thank you Winifred, you are a sweet daughter.”
“You are welcome, Father.” Tears ran down Winifred’s face. She valued the rare moments when she had her father back.
Soon everyone had a plate of food and a cup of blog. They watched Grumps scarf up the food in front of him. A second plate of food disappeared, too.
Grumps got up from the table. “I’m tired. If you will excuse me, I’m going to my room for a nap.” Before any of them could say a word, Grumps walked to Gertrude’s room and lay down on the bed. In an instant, he was snoring.
Winifred smiled at first, but the smile faded like a beautiful sunset. “We are going to have to make room for Grumps here with us. I do not want him living alone anymore. I do not think my sister is doing what she promised me she would do. Gertrude, do you think you can go and pack Grump’s clothes and bring them over? We can partition off part of this room to make a sleeping area for him.”
“I will let Grumps have my room, Mother. I can bring his bed over and use it for myself.” Gertrude looked at his mother as she smiled.
“You are a good, caring son. I don’t know what I did to deserve a son like you, but I thank Kern for the blessing every day.” Winifred walked over and gave him a kiss on his forehead.
“Winifred, have you figured out what you are going to wear to the ball?” Derry started clearing the dishes off of the table and taking them over to the sink to be washed.
“I have an old gown that was my mother’s that I thought that I could redo a little to update it. I always liked the fabric that it was made of, and it holds fond memories as I can remember my mother wearing it. What are you going to wear?” Winifred put the kettle on the stove to heat water to wash the dishes.
“I have been weaving some material for over a year now out of dyed caterpillar cocoons. I only need to weave another foot of material and then I’ll have enough for my gown.” Derry wiped off the table and walked over to the sink next to her friend. “Will you help me sew it, Winifred? You know that I am all ‘feet’ when it comes to sewing. Remember the apron I tried to sew?”
Winifred laughed. “How could I forget an apron that had four sleeves? Of course I’ll help you.”
Gertrude laughed along with the ladies. “I am going to go over and get Grumps’ stuff now.” He put on his coat and hat. “I shall go see if Waggs can help me with the bed and dresser.” Out the door he went, leaving the two women with their plans for the ball.
It was a beautiful winter’s day, the kind of day when
the snow crunches beneath your feet and the snow sparkles like a million diamonds. Gertrude drew in a deep breath. He walked a little ways when he heard what sounded like a kitten mewing.
‘That’s strange’ he thought. He walked towards the sound. Gertrude could hear the plaintive cry of the little creature but could not find him. He came across an old wood box that was sitting beside a shed. Lifting the cover up, his eyes fell upon a litter of kittens. All but one was frozen. He gently picked the poor thing up and stuck him inside his coat. Gertrude could feel the kitten shivering. Grumps’ clothing and furniture would have to wait ‘til later. Heading back home to get the kitten warm was his first priority. He stepped through the doorway to find his mother and Derry still chatting about the ball.
Winifred turned to see Gertrude enter the hovel and puzzled. “I thought that you were off to get Grumps’ clothing and furniture?”
Gertrude withdrew the half-frozen kitten from its hiding place. “I found an orphan that needs some care.”
“Oh, my!” Winifred rushed over and tenderly picked up the tiny creature. “Where did you find the poor thing? Was he the only one?”
Gertrude took off his hat and coat. “I found the litter in an old wood box. This one was the only one still alive. The mother must have gotten killed or abandoned the babies due to the cold.”
Derry had put a couple of flat stones in the oven to heat and then wrapped them in some heavy cloth. “Do you have any goat’s milk, Winnie?”
“Yes, at the back of the first shelf in the back closet where it will stay cold. We have to name the poor thing, or it will not survive.” Winifred paused for a moment. “I have the perfect name for it. We will call it ‘Surprise’. It was a surprise to find it and another surprise that the poor thing survived.”
Gertrude smiled. ”A fitting name it is…”
Winifred laid Surprise on the stones and opened its tiny mouth to force some nutrition into it, then looked up at Gertrude and Derry. “We will have to take turns trying to feed the poor thing through the night. Derry, you don’t mind staying to help, do you?”
“It’s been a long time since I had to stay up to feed a wee one, but I’ll be glad to help.”
Even though the sun had been shining and he had dressed warmly, Gertrude still felt chilled, so he poured himself some blog. “Mother while I was out, I wondered what I might be wearing to the ball. What would you suggest?”
Winifred stopped trying to get more milk into the kitten. She walked over to an oversized old trunk in one corner of the room and removed the accumulation from its lid. The lid opened with a long, low creaking sound. She started to take things out, piling them haphazardly on the floor around her. Soon she pulled out a fine leather satchel with the name ‘Sebastian of Tinker Hollow’ inscribed on a small gold plate. “Your father wore this once to a party we were invited to up to the castle many years ago. He looked so handsome in it…” Winifred pulled out a pair of britches made of the finest leather, with a matching coat. Then she pulled out a white blouse with lace cuffs and collar. “Go into my room and try it on so you don’t wake Grumps.”
Gertrude got up from his chair, took the clothes from his mother and disappeared into her bedchamber. Within a couple of minutes, he reappeared. Winifred turned around when he entered the room and dropped what she was holding. Tears fell silently from her huge brown eyes. She shook her head as in if she were trying to clear her brain. Was she hallucinating? With a few steps, she was at Gertrude’s side, fussing over the collar laying properly and pulling the cuffs of the blouse out of their hiding place in the sleeves of the coat. “You look so handsome, my son.” Winifred choked back a sob. “You do so look like your father in this outfit...”
“What is all this noise out here? Who invited all of you pe…….?” Grumps spotted Gertrude. “Sebastian, it has been a long time since I have seen your scrawny hide. How are you doing?” Grumps grabbed Gertrude’s hand in both of his and smiled broadly. “Did you finally come to ask this young doe of a daughter of mine to share your bed?”
Gertrude played along with Grump’s confused mind. “Yes, sir, that is why I am here today, to ask your permission to marry your beautiful, talented daughter, Winifred.” Gertrude grabbed his mother by the waist and whisked her around the floor in a dance.
Grumps looked at Gertrude as if something in his brain was connecting. “Why are you dressed in those clothes, Gertrude?”
“I am trying them on to see how well they fit. I have been invited up to the castle for the princess’ birthday ball.”
“Have you seen, Legs, my pet spider? I thought for sure he had spun a web out here in the kitchen.” He started to walk over to the door and Winifred stopped him. “Oh, are you going someplace, Winifred?”
“No, and neither are you. This is your home. You are going to live here with us.” Winifred turned her father around and led him over to where Surprise was lying on the towel. “Look what Gertrude found in a wood box… a kitten.”
Grumps large hands reached for the kitten before anyone could stop him. He tenderly picked up Surprise. He shuffled over to a chair and sat down. “Where have you been, Agabus? I haven’t seen you in a long time. You sure haven’t grown much.” The other three watched quietly, wondering.
Winifred remembered their old cat, Agabus, when they were growing up. If her recollection was correct, her father adored the cat. She shrugged her shoulders. “I guess ‘Agabus’ is the name of our new family member.” Winifred busied herself with her baking. Grumps seemed content holding the kitten and sat quietly in the chair. Derry excused herself and went home to take care of a few things that she needed to attend to.