Hopeful Hearts
By: Sabella Sykes
Chapter 1
"Grammi," Cubbi padded lightly into the kitchen.
Grammi was cleaning a big black iron kettle. She was head first in the big pot, her feet off the ground balanced by a scrub brush in one hand and a rag in the other. She bounced out of the cookware at hearing Cubbi's voice. "Yes, Cubbi dear?" She smiled at him, but upon seeing his curious if not saddened face her smile faded. She moved closer to him.
Cubbi was holding his hat in his hand, and he was sheepishly looking at the floor. Methodically he shifted the blue hat in his hand, mindlessly rotating it in a circle. His eyes peered back up to Grammi, but his head remained pointed toward the ground. If Grammi didn't know better it would seem that the young gummi had just been scolded and was feeling quite sheepish over his actions.
"Cubbi darling, what's the matter?" Grammi knelt next to him placing a hand on either of his shoulders. Her ever present gentle concern was there but deep in her chest she held a serious amount of fear for the way the young bear was acting. It wasn't like Cubbi at all.
"Oh, it's nothing," he said quietly, moving the hat faster to keep himself distracted. "I was just wondering, if maybe…you could…never mind." Cubbi turned away and made to dart out of the kitchen.
"Wait Cubbi," Grammi called after him, true worry in her etched in her voice. "What's troubling you?"
Cubbi stopped dead in his tracks. It took him a moment to gather his strength and courage. After a moment of internal coaxing her turned back to Grammi, "I was just wondering…if…well…you could tell me about…"
"About what Cubbi?" Grammi asked.
"About my parents…"
Grammi's head began to spin, she knew this day would come; she just expected it first from Sunni, she was glad Tummi remembered his parents so she didn't have to go through it with him. She wondered absently if Sunni had somehow instigated this, either way she wasn't escaping it. Cubbi's round inquisitive eyes were too pleading for her to turn him away with a promise of explaining it when he was older; though that was the answer she desperately wanted to give him.
"Come here," Grammi said comfortingly. Cubbi did as he was told, and Grammi put her arm around his shoulder. She stroked his shoulder soothingly as she led him from the kitchen. She guided Cubbi into the living room by the fireplace where she pointed to the couch. Cubbi climbed up and got comfy by the warm fire that was blazing and crackling away dancing merrily behind the iron grate. Cubbi watched Grammi stare at the flames lick up the side of the chimney and she smiled, her eyes were telling. Cubbi recognized that happy twinkle in her seasoned eyes. She blinked and turned back to Cubbi.
"Well…"
A pair of Gummi feet beat heavily on the newly sprouted spring grass. Heavy breathing from the hurried run caused the bear to pause, but only for a moment. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure her pursuer wasn't near, her eyes scanned the woodland. She pulled her scarf up tight over her dark pink plait as there was still a chill on the breeze. There was a rosy pink in her cheeks as she felt confident that she was successful.
"Gotcha!"
She shrieked, as a second bear leapt from a nearby bush and tackled her. The two tumbled to the ground, rolling end over end down a small knoll. Their laughter the only thing following them.
"Ruffi!" She hollered in a playful squeal once they'd stopped moving.
"Tarri," he grinned triumphantly as he pinned her on the ground.
"Alright, you win," she beamed a grin at him, "Just let me up." In that instant the wind kicked up and Tarri's little pink body shivered against her will under Ruffi's grasp. She felt the edge of her scarf tug under her chin and in one quick gust it was whipped from her head and sucked off into the wind. She gasped as she forced Ruffi off and snapped to a sitting position just in time to see it gliding on the breeze where it was snagged on a large hanging oak tree.
"Oh no, I've made you loose your scarf," Ruffi said, hopping to his feet. His brown fir ruffled in the wind as his looked over the meadow behind them. Instantly his eye caught sight of the cream colored silk scarf hanging from the tree limb. "I'll get it," he said to Tarri and dashed toward the tree.
Tarri climbed to her feet as she watched Ruffi limberly scurry up the tree in an attempt retrieve her scarf. He had a dark brown patch of fur, that offset his softer brown coat, on his shoulder that she caught a glimpse of as he hung upside down trying to reach the scarf. She snickered, he tried so hard to hide the birth mark that she teased him about incessantly; it was only one of the things she adored about Ruffi.
"Yipes!" Ruffi howled as he fell from the limb, meanwhile catching the scarf and landing in a bush beneath the huge oak.
Tarri laughed again and made to cross the road, but the sound of approaching horses stopped her. The sound of their hooves beating on the ground carried through the forest. She knew they had managed getting dangerously close to Dunwyn castle. She dove into the nearest bush, scurrying out of sight. The hooves clopping on the ground started to slow.
"There's the castle, your majesty," A gruff voice said.
"'Tis good," A charming voice echoed in response. "Stop the carriage, I want to see my home from here."
Tarri peeked through the bushes just as a beautiful woman was being helped from the horse drawn carriage. She was slim and tall, with long blonde hair tied back in a perfect braid. Her lips shined pink and her blue eyes danced merrily. On her head she wore a crown. She reached in the carriage and helped a little girl from the red velvet seat.
"Look, Calla darling," the woman pointed to the castle in the distance. The small human girl was perhaps three or four with platinum blonde ringlets that were tied up in two symmetrical pigtails. "We are almost home to your father. This is your kingdom," she whispered to the little girl. "One day you will be a fair and just ruler, just as your father is."
The little girl's face lit with glee every time the woman mentioned her father. The queen reached over and hugged her daughter. "Come along Princess Calla, I don't think I wait another minute before I see his majesty. I've missed him nearly as much as you have." And with that she scooped the little girl back up and put her in the carriage. Gracefully the woman climbed back into the carriage.
"Drive on," she commanded.
Tarri watched them pull away and once they were well on their way she emerged from the bushes, as did Ruffi. "Here," he reached out to her, scarf in hand; but Tarri didn't notice as she was staring at the horses pulling the queen away.
"She's such a fair ruler, as is King Gregor…I think it's time we invite the Great Gummies back. I'll mention it to Savvi tonight at dinner." She said dreamily.
"You will do no such thing," Ruffi barked.
"But Ruffi-"
"Tarri," Ruffi lowed his tone to concern as he took her by her shoulders. "Queen Anna and King Gregor are kind and just rulers, but their subjects have something to be desired."
Tarri turned two sad eyes on Ruffi, "But-"
"Shhhhhh," Ruffi put a finger to her lips. At his warning Tarri fell silent just as both Gummies heard another two sets of horse hooves.
"HIDE!" They told one another together. Both dove into different bushes on either side of the road.
"Come now Sigmund, you will serve King Gregor from this day forth."
"But father-"
"I will hear no more of it, and should you disgrace the Igthorn family any further you shall pay dearly. Is that quite understood?" A proud looking man trotted his horse along the dirt path. He was wearing a set of shiny silver armor and a sash that indicated he was royalty; a duke. Both Ruffi and Tarri watched them pass, sunken deep in the shrubs. The second in line, was dressed in matching armor with a family seal across the chest and no royalty crest. However his head was hanging low and his eyes were down cast.
"Do not turn up in Drekmor should the King turn you away Sigmund," the proud, haughty man dressed in lavish garb told his son, who followed behind. Sigmund's whole body was drooping, right down to his black mustache. "If you do not serve the King kindly, you will have to find your own home; you will be unwelcome in the family abode. Is that quite understood?"
"Entirely, sire." Sigmund answered.
"Should you have behaved like your brother Victor you would be the future Duke of Drekmor, like you've always wanted Sir Sigmund Igthorn; now you'll have to prove your worth."
"Yes, father." The young knight's shoulders slumped in defeat, the task ahead seemingly weighing heavy on his shoulders.
"What?" Cubbi exclaimed in surprise. "The Igthorns were once respectable?"
"Oh yes," Grammi nodded whole heartedly. "But one bad egg can spoil the whole bunch."
"Grammi what are you doing?" Sunni appeared in the doorway after hearing Grammi's voice carry through the Glen. Her soft curiosity brought her to move closer to the older bear.
"I was just telling Cubbi a story, Sunni dear," Grammi said as she pulled up her knitting needles and scooped up a half finished pair of woolen socks.
"Oh, I want to hear," Sunni said excitedly, crawling up on the couch next to Cubbi; across from Grammi who had taken a seat in the comfy chair typically reserved for Zummi.
"Yeah!" Cubbi cooed excitedly as he leaned in. "Did you know the Igthorns used to be good?" He asked Sunni who was looking him over in shock and shaking her yet. "Yep, they were! Hey Grammi," he turned his undivided attention back to her. "How old were they?"
"Oh a little older than Tummi," Grammi smiled contently. "And they loved each other very much. Where was I?" Grammi thought aloud, "Oh yes…"
Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think
