Title: Kit, the Magician
Authors: KitCloudkicker52885 and Kit_Lee
Disclaimer: We do not own Tale Spin, Disney does. But we do own Chris Cloudkicker, Jeffery and Melissa.
Chapter Four
Broken Wand, Skinny Cub
The next morning, Chris bounded down the stairs from his and Kit's bedroom for breakfast, still in his white night shirt. Kit followed shortly after, dragging his feet and looking as though he'd like nothing better than to go back to bed and sleep for a few more hours, even though he was usually an early riser.
Chris skidded into the kitchen, stopping in front of the small, icebox-size refrigerator. Opening the refrigerator door, he withdrew the milk bottle.
"G'morning, Daddy Bear!" Chris said brightly to Baloo, who was at the stove, cooking breakfast, the smell in the kitchen was wonderful. "What's for breakfast?"
"Wow, yer up bright 'n early, kiddo." Baloo chuckled, turning around and placing a tall tower of pancakes onto the table. "We're having pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and biscuit with white breakfast gravy. How do ya like yer eggs, Lil Buddy?"
Chris' mouth watered at Baloo's description of a delicious breakfast before he forced his drooling mouth shut.
"Um, scrambled," Chris replied as he sat down at the table and setting the milk bottle down in front of him. "Can I have glass, please Daddy Bear?" he asked, gesturing to the milk bottle.
"Sure, kid." Baloo said, handing him a clean glass before turning his attention onto Kit, who had just sat down at the table next to Chris. "'Morning Lil Britches, the usual?"
"Yeah, Papa Bear." Kit said groggily. "And some coffee, please."
Chris made a disgusted face. "You drink coffee? Yuck!"
Kit rolled his eyes at Chris. "I like it, Chris," he said, shrugging. "And just because you don't like it, doesn't mean I'll dislike it too."
"Okay…" Chris said, not wanting to argue with his brother. He then poured himself a glass of milk and took a sip.
Baloo chuckled as he poured Kit a cup of coffee; it was very interesting comparing the differences between the twins on not only their outward appearance, but also their likes and dislikes as well as their individual personalities.
"Thanks Papa Bear." Kit said, accepting the cup of coffee Baloo handed him.
"You're welcome, Lil Britches." Baloo said.
Just then, the front door opened and in came Rebecca.
"Good morning," she said brightly. "My, it smells wonderful in here. Baloo, I didn't know you cook."
"Of course he cooks, Mom," Kit said, grinning slyly. "He didn't just get so big by eating at Louie's alone, you know."
"Hey!" Baloo said indigently. "Is that the thanks I get for cookin' up a good breakfast?"
With breakfast all ready to eat, Baloo loaded Chris' plate with scrambled eggs, two buttered pancakes, two strip of bacon, one piece of sausage, a biscuit smothered in gravy and a piece of toast with strawberry jam.
Chris stared at his plate with wide eyes and his mouth was drooling again.
"Wow, this looks delicious!" Chris said, he picked up his fork, scooped up a little bit of scrambled egg and begin to eat. "Mmm-mmn! Boy, this is good! A lot better than the orphanage's food!"
Baloo chuckled as he handed Kit and Rebecca their plates. "Glad you like it, kiddo," he said, ruffling Chris' hair affectionately. Then he fixed himself a plate and sat down at the table, enjoying a nice big breakfast with his two sons and his boss for the first time.
As Rebecca finished eating, she wiped her mouth on a napkin before speaking.
"That was delicious, Baloo, I didn't know you had it in you to cook so well," she said, sounding pleasantly surprised. "Where did you learned to cook like that?"
"Well," said Baloo, blushing slightly at her compliment. "I was a pilot in the navy at one time—worst three years of my entire life, it was like my commanders didn't even know the meaning of relaxation! Anyway, I was put on cooking duty fer….slacking off, as Commander Hathi said."
Kit was gazing at Baloo with newfound admiration. "Wow, Baloo, you've never told us that! Is that's where you learned to fly like you do?"
"Partly, yeah," Baloo replied, finishing the last of his bacon. "I was naturally gifted at flying. In fact, my flying skills were the only thing that made ol' Commander Hathi happy. He assigned me to take advanced aviation classes and I passed with flying colors. So, from then on until I left the navy, Commander Hathi gave me flying assignments, as those were the only assignments I could do without messing up."
"That sounds like you alright." Rebecca said with a sly grin
"Wow, Daddy Bear, you must be the best pilot in the world." Chris exclaimed with the same level of admiration Kit was showing.
"Well that's true." Baloo said braggingly, holding himself up in a heroic pose.
"Alright, Chris, I got you a couple of things this morning before coming here." Rebecca began.
"How'd ya managed that?" Baloo interrupted her. "The shops don't open till seven-thirty, and it's only seven fifteen.
"There's a new store in town, called Khan-Mart and it's open twenty-four hours a day." Rebecca explained. "And thanks goodness for that, or poor Chris would've gone to school without a backpack, textbooks or supplies," she turned to Chris and handed him a navy blue backpack. "Everything you need is all in there."
"Wow, that's a neat backpack!" Chris exclaimed in delight, accepting his new backpack and swinging it onto his back. "I love it, thanks Mommy!" He rushed forward and hugged Rebecca tightly around the waist.
"You're welcome, sweetie." Rebecca said, kissing Chris on top of the head.
Later… in the schoolyard, Kit and Chris stood in front of the school building, their backpacks strapped to their backs and they were holding a brown paper bag containing their lunch in their hand.
Chris was gazing up at the school building with admiration. "Wow, this is a neat school, Kit, I like it."
Kit grinned. "Yeah, it is, but it does have its downsides sometimes."
They entered the school building and Kit led his brother down the hallway toward his locker. He opened the door of his locker after turning the combination dial left and right repeatedly and placed his backpack and lunch bag inside it.
"Kit?" Chris said, looking slightly confused. "Where's my locker?"
"You don't have one yet, you've only just enrolled today, remember?" Kit said, gently taking Chris' lunch bag from him and placing it next to his in the locker. "But we can share my locker between us until you decide to get your own." He then slid the straps of the backpack off of Chris' shoulders and placing it into his locker before shutting it and locking it.
"Oh, I don't want my own locker," Chris said, smiling. "Why would I when I can share one with the best big brother in the world?" And with that, he hugged Kit.
"Okay, we'll share lockers from now on." Kit smiled at his little brother as he hugged him back. Even though they were the same age, they still go by big brother-little brother terms with each other, despite Kit being just a couple of minutes older. "I'll teach you the combinations later so you can open it yourself. Right now, I gotta give you the grand tour."
They walked up and down the hallway, passing by other kids and teachers, with Kit pointing out different rooms to Chris, showing him where the library is, where all the different classrooms were and then the cafeteria, the school office, the nurse's office, the principal's office, the gym and finally, the janitor's closet.
"Wow, this place is neat!" Chris said, gazing around.
"And here are the bulletin boards." Kit said, pointing at three big bulletin boards on the wall. "They mostly have school notices pinned to them, but they also have a list of banned items, the lunch menu for this week and future or current school events, school activities—oh and there's a student notice, requesting the return of his lost gold watch."
Kit suddenly frowned. Someone lost a gold watch; I wonder if it belonged to Oscar?
Oscar Vandersnoot was a shy and wealthy bear cub with very low self-esteem, very small for his age, smaller than even Kit and Chris. Oscar was consciously picked on by other kids, until Kit stood up to for him. Bullies of this school had learned the hard way not to mess with Kit Cloudkicker, who was short but strong for his age. Kit was a very good friend to Oscar, always trying to help him out, even got him into the Jungle Aces' Secret Midnight Club.
"Hey Kit, there's Jeffery over there!" Chris said excitedly, snapping Kit out of his thoughts. Chris was obviously delighted to see his cousin. "Who are they, Kit? Are they his friends? I doubt it, they don't look too friendly," he observed
Kit looked over to see where Chris was pointing to and saw Jeffery surrounded in front of his locker by a group of mean-looking kids.
"Oh, no," Kit groaned, recognizing them as bullies. "No, you're right, Chris. They're not his friends." He opened a nearby classroom door and steered Chris inside. He couldn't have the bullies seeing Chris and then marking him as their next target. Chris really didn't need bullies onto him on his first day, or at all. Chris has had enough of that at the orphanage. "Stay in here, Chris and don't come out till I come back for you, okay?"
"Okay Kit." Chris said; he could tell by Kit's tone that he was serious.
Kit closed the door, leaving Chris alone in the classroom as he set out to confront the bullies.
Meanwhile, Jeffery was sitting on the floor with his back against the door of his locker. One of the big wolf kids, who seems to be a miniature Don Karnage, had taken his backpack and was going through it and tossing Jeffery's stuff to his fellows.
"Oh, look at this," said the wolf kid, pulling out a black stick. "It's a magic wand! What were you going to do with it, little Jeffery, hmm? Put a spell on us and turn us into frogs?"
"Give that back!" Jeffery cried in panic, making a grab for his wand but the wolf kid held it high out of his reach and his fellows grabbed Jeffery and pushed him back down in a sitting position on the floor again.
"Break it, Gorgon!" yelled a fellow bully, a rat kid.
"Yeah, break it!" chorused the others.
"NO! Give it back!" Jeffery yelled in even more panic than before, he started to rise from the floor but the bullies pushed him back down again.
"Stay put, stupid little Jeffery." They said, calling him 'little' to make him feel inferior.
"Give me back my wand, please." Jeffery cried, tears flowing from his hazel blue eyes. He never could handle bullies very well; it was Kit who was good with bullies, not him. He just wasn't tough and streetwise like his cousin.
"Oh look, he's crying, like a baby!" They laughed. "We should call him baby Jeffery now."
"Please, just give me back my wand." Jeffery pleaded desperately.
"Okay, baby Jeffery; you can have it back…" Gorgon held the wand out in front of him with both hands, brought his knee up and slammed the wand upon it. With a snap, the wand broke clean in two. "Oops, looks like I broke it," he said with mocked remorse, strongly reminding Jeffery of one of Kit's stories when Don Karnage broke his airfoil.
Jeffery froze, numbed with shock as Gorgon dropped the two pieces of the broken wand to the floor in front of him. He stared at it with emotions welling up inside him, tears now flowing freely from his eyes.
"N-no…My…my w-w-wand…" Jeffery said in a hushed voice, feeling as if his insides had vanished and his brain turning icy cold.
"Hey, leave him alone!" yelled an angry voice.
"Oh snap! It's Cloudkicker!" One of them shouted in panic. "Run for it!"
The group of bullies scattered in panic and ran away like scared little chickens
Jeffery continued to stare at his broken wand lying on the floor, and then he felt a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders. He glanced sideways to see Kit's face inches from his own. And then he begin to cry in earnest, sobbing into Kit's shoulder with Kit muttering soothing and comforting words to him as he rocked Jeffery back and forward.
"Shh, Jeff, it's alright now, you're gonna be okay." Kit was saying gently.
"No, it's not alright!" Jeffery shouted, while sobbing hysterically. "T-t-that was my favorite wand, g-g-given to me by my g-g-granddaddy before he—" Jeffery stopped, he couldn't bring himself to say it, but Kit understood.
This wand was the last thing Jeffery's grandfather gave him before his tragic death involving a car accident and Jeffery kept the wand to feel connected to him, to keep the memory of him alive and fresh When his grandfather was alive, he and Jeffery were really close, he was one of the few people Jeffery looked up to as a father figure since his real father abandoned him and his Mom when he was very young, too young to even remember him.
Jeffery continued to cry on Kit's shoulder for several long moments before he finally got a grip on himself and stood up but still looked upset.
"Jeff, it'll be okay, trust me." Kit said; his sweater now wet on the shoulder from Jeffery's tears. "Couldn't you just fix the wand?" he asked trying to comfort his cousin.
"S-sadly n-no." Jeffery whimpered. "I-it had s-s-special features in it that even if you c-c-could put it back together, it would n-n-never work r-r-right again." Jeffery continued to sob, but this time he sobbed into his own hands, rather than on Kit's shoulder. "I-it was m-mine! And t-t-they had no right to take it! That was the last thing I had to remember my g-g-granddaddy by! He, well you know," he stopped to take a deep breath in an attempt to stand the flow of his crying and wiped his eyes. "After my twelfth birthday, he told me that I should keep this wand safe for him, as if his spirit was within it… and they took it away f-f-from me!" Jeffery started crying again with renewed tears that were once again overflowing his hazel blue eyes.
"Jeffery, calm down," Kit said gently, wrapping his arms around Jeffery and hugging him again. "Don't be sad, I'm sure your granddad would understand. Like with me, all I know of my real father is that he left his airfoil to me, but as you remember, it's been broken twice itself, but it's just an item. The memory of your granddad is in your heart, Jeff." He took Jeffery by the hand and led him down the hall. "C'mon, I left Chris by himself in a classroom, he'll be wondering where we are."
Kit walked down toward the place where he left Chris, Jeffery gloomily followed behind him.
"Y-y-you mean it, Kit, do you really mean that?" Jeffery asked, still sniffing from crying so much.
Kit stopped and turned to look him straight in the eyes.
"Jeff, of course I do. Come on now, cheer up, you know your granddad's always with you. He's right here." Kit said, placing a hand on Jeffery's chest, over his heart.
"Yeah, you're right, Kit. Thanks!" Jeffery exclaimed, suddenly feeing better. "You're the best cousin in the world, Kit!" he said, hugging Kit tightly, while holding the broken wand in his right hand. "But they still had no right to break my wand! Ohh, I'll get them back for this one day, I swear!" he proclaimed.
"There's no need, Jeff." Kit said with a smile, pointing to some distance down the hall. "Look, they've been caught this time..."
Kit pointed out the principal, Mr. Pomeroy, who was holding the gang of bullies up from running completely away by standing in front of them, blocking their path.
"And where do you think you're going?" Mr. Pomeroy asked, glaring at them, as if daring them to lie to his face.
"Uh, to class?" Gorgon offered hopefully.
"Yeah, to class!" the others murmured in agreement. "Yep, that's where we're going."
Mr. Pomeroy smiled in a way that told the bullies that they were in very deep trouble. "Ah, nice try, boys, but I saw what you were doing to young Cunningham over there. And as you know, we don't tolerate the destruction of a student's property. All of you will serve detention."
They all hung their heads and moved toward to the Detention classroom, but then Mr. Pomeroy grabbed Gorgon's shoulder.
"Not you, Cornmat, you come with me." Mr. Pomeroy told him, he led Gorgon Cornmat to the place where Jeffery and Kit stood. "Cunningham, would you like to press charges for your damaged property?"
"Yes," Jeffery said, looking a little angry. "This wand was worth twenty-five dollars, so I'll press a twenty-five dollar charge."
"Hear that, Cornmat? Either pay now or get the money from your parents." Mr. Pomeroy said. "Now let's head on down to my office. Oh, and Cunningham?" he added, turning to Jeffery. "In the future, retain from bringing sentimental items to school, that way, idiots like Cornmat here, can't break them," he said, giving Gorgon a look of deep disgust before the pair of them walked on, heading for Mr. Pomeroy's office.
"Hey, you know the old saying Jeff, about fair play?" Kit said; when Mr. Pomeroy and Gorgon were out of earshot. "You reap what you sow?"
"You're right Kit, thanks for standing up for me again." Jeffery said, trying to smile a bit.
"Any time, Jeff." Kit said with a smile.
"I wish I could turn bullies into frogs though, that's a funny idea." Jeffery said, suddenly smiling in amusement. "Or if they keep it up, I may bring my goons with me next time, that'll teach them!"
"Heh-heh, glad you're feeling better, Jeff." Kit said, chuckling. And then he froze as a realization hit him. "Hey!! I thought I was the one to protect you, you nutty bear!" he swung an arm around Jeffery's neck and gave him a light nuggie, and then he just hugged Jeffery's neck for a moment. "You are a nutty bear, Jeff, but I love you anyway." He laughed as he let Jeffery go.
Jeffery put the two halves of his wand back into his backpack and didn't worry about it anymore, he would continue keeping it as a reminder that his granddad was still in his heart, not in the wand.
As they neared the classroom where Chris was, the door to classroom opened and Chris peered out into the hallway. When he saw Kit and Jeffery coming his way, he stepped out of the classroom and greeted them.
"Hey Jeffery!" Chris said brightly, and then his face fell to a look of concern. "Are you okay, Jeffery?" he asked, noticing Jeffery's tear-stained face. "What's wrong?" He then gave Jeffery a comforting hug.
It was then that Jeffery noticed something about Chris as he was being hugged by the blue-eyes bear cub. Chris' body was a smaller build than Kit's, like his torso and stomach were thinner than Kit's. His sweater masked his smaller build fairly well; one couldn't tell that he was skinnier than Kit just by looking at him, unless they've been in physical contact with both twins and are able to tell the differences between their body builds.
Oh my gosh! He's so skinny! I can almost feel his ribs! Jeffery thought in shock. I wonder how light he is… He then wrapped his arms tightly around Chris' midsection and lifted him up a few inches above the ground. He held him up for a moment, testing to see how long he can hold him. Oh man, he's not very heavy either, since I'm able to lift him a foot off the ground and hold him in a hug! He could do with gaining a few pounds...
He glanced at Kit. Kit was still a little thin but fattening slightly due Baloo's insistence on beefing the boy up a bit, but Chris was skinnier than Kit and a lot lighter in weight. Jeffery made a mental note to put Chris on a weighing scale later. He gently put Chris down, who appeared not have noticed being picked up as he was enjoying the embrace with his cousin.
Jeffery smiled and wrapped an arm around Chris' shoulders while he wiped the remaining tears from his face
"Oh, I was upset because Gorgon Cornmat broke my wand." Jeffery told him as they broke apart. "But I'm okay now."
"That was mean!" Chris declared, looking angry for Jeffery's sake. "If I ever see him, I'll kick him in the shin, and trust me, I kick hard!"
Kit chuckled at his brother's statement. "I'm sure that'll teach him, Chris, but he's already been taken care of, he's in the principal's office right now."
"And I'm getting twenty-five bucks off of him for breaking my wand." Jeffery said, smirking in satisfaction.
As they were passing by the principal's office on the way to their homeroom, they stopped to listen when they heard a commotion going on inside.
"Please, Mr. Pomeroy!" said Gorgon Cornmat's voice, in a tone that suggests that he was begging for mercy. "Gimme another chance, please … I'll behave, honest!"
"No!" Mr. Pomeroy said very firmly. "You're expelled and that's final! Now go get your things, clear out your locker and get out of my sight!"
The door opened and Gorgon came out with a depressed and defeated expression. He walked down the hall, not even noticing the Cloudkicker twins and Jeffery as he passed them, looking so gloomy, it was as if a raincloud was hanging over his head.
Mr. Pomeroy stepped out of his office, and unlike Gorgon, he noticed the three of them standing there.
"Ah, you must be the new Cloudkicker boy," he said, smiling at Chris.
"Yes sir." Chris said shyly, he was rarely comfortable around people in authority but he still respects them. "Chris Cloudkicker," he said, holding out a hand to his new principal.
Mr. Pomeroy smiled and nodded in approval as he shook Chris' hand, he liked this boy already, and he could already tell that there would be no troubles from Chris.
"Nice to meet you, Chris." Mr. Pomeroy said. "Welcome to Cape Suzette Middle School. Just stay out of trouble, stay in school and we'll get along just fine."
"Yes sir." Chris said, more shyly still, and then he ducked behind Kit and Jeffery.
"He's a little shy, and it's his first time in a public school." Kit explained, for Mr. Pomeroy had raised an eyebrow questioningly at him.
"Right," Mr. Pomeroy cleared his throat. "I trust you'll be keeping an eye on him?"
"Of course!" Kit declared, wrapping an arm around Chris' shoulder. "I'm not letting him out of my sights."
Chris smiled at the protectiveness Kit was showing toward him; he only hopes Kit wouldn't be overprotective.
"Good." Mr. Pomeroy said in satisfaction. "Cloudkicker, since Cornmat has been expelled, we now have a spare locker, if your brother would be interested in having his own…"
"Thanks, but no thanks, Mr. Pomeroy." Kit said respectfully. "Chris and I already decided that we would share my locker."
"Hmm, very well." Mr. Pomeroy said dismissively, and the Cloudkicker brothers walked on in the direction of their homeroom. "Just a moment, Cunningham," he said, standing in front of Jeffery. "Cornmat was unable to pay his debt, so here," he handed Jeffery twenty-five dollars. "His parents would have to pay me back for this later, but at least you won't have to see them or Gorgon Cornmat again."
"Thank you, sir." Jeffery said respectfully, glad for a reason not to see Gorgon again. He accepted the money before following after his two cousins to their homeroom.
Later, during a five minute break between first and second period, Kit, Chris and Jeffery were out in the hall, showing Chris around a bit more.
"Hey guys, look!" Chris exclaimed, pointing at a notice on the bulletin board. "The school's having a talent show soon. Hey, maybe you and Jeffery should enter, big brother."
"I dunno, Chris—" Kit started to say, but he was cut off by Jeffery swinging an arm around his shoulders.
"Of course we'll enter, cuz!" Jeffery declared to Chris. "But we won't do it unless you do it with us."
"Okay! I'll join too!" said Chris excitedly, delighted to be included in something with his brother and cousin.
"But, Jeff, I don't know what I should do for a talent show and I doubt they'll allow cloudsurfing." Kit said.
"Kit, you've got more talents than just cloudsurfing." Jeffery told him firmly. "Remember, you'll be learning magic from me and my Mom, and maybe you'll be ready to do a few tricks before the talent show starts. You can be the magician with Chris and me as your assistants."
"I dunno, Jeff, magic is more of your thing…" Kit said doubtfully.
"Oh come on, Kit! I know you have what it takes, trust me on this one, cuz." Jeffery said, looking hopeful.
"Yeah Kit, our cousin is right, you've already shown me you had the talent to be a wonderful magician!" Chris said, smiling encouragingly at his brother. "Remember the coin trick you taught me? And the key trick?"
"Chris is right, cuz, you do have many more talents than just cloudsurfing. Look at how well you acted out the sawing in half trick last night." Jeffery said, smiling slyly.
"Acted? ... ACTED?" Kit exclaimed in exasperation and indignation. "I wasn't acting! I really was scared for my life! I thought I was goner there!" he glared indignantly at Jeffery for a moment and then said: "Jeff, Chris, I'm not sure, I just really don't know yet…" Kit added, scratching his head in confusion, unsure of what he wanted to do.
"PLEEEEEEEEEASE!!" Chris and Jeffery begged in unison with the puppy dog look.
Kit couldn't stand it; they've struck gold with their puppy-dog faces. Blue and hazel blue eyes in a puppy-dog pout wins just about every time!
"Aww, okay, okay! Stop it you two, before you embarrass us." Kit said as a girl he knew and has a crush on walk by. He watched her go with a dreamy expression.
She walked past them without even looking at them,
"Hey Kit, earth to Kit! Hello, are you in there?" Jeffery and Chris yelled in unison, waving a hand in Kit's face, each trying to get his attention.
Kit shook his head, snapping out of his trance.
"Huh? Oh sorry guys… Okay, I'll do it, but you two have to be willing to do any trick I want." Kit said.
"Deal!" Jeffery and Chris said together. "We would both be happy to, Kit."
"We should call you the Amazing Cloudkicker, or Kit the Great." Chris said excitedly. "Oh! Oh! I got it!—the Great, Amazing and Wonderful Kit Cloudkicker, the Magician!!"
"That one's too long, cuz," Jeffery said to Chris, shaking his head. "Kit, the Magician sounds good though."
"Besides, I'm not exactly amazing, great or wonderful," Kit said. "Not yet anyway, I'm only a beginner magician."
"Kit, the Magician…" Chris repeated, trying the name out for size and ignoring Kit. "I like it, it's got a nice sound to it."
"I knew you'd agree with me, cuz!" Jeffery shouted joyfully.
Chris and Jeffery then started bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Heh, heh, you two… what am I going to do with you?" Kit said, laughing and placing a hand to his face, smiling but thinking: I really hope Aunt Melissa can teach me what to do; I'd hate to let my brother and cousin down.
"Yay!!!" Jeffery and Chris shouted joyfully as the bell ringed, singling the start of second period,
"We'll talk more during lunch." Jeffery said, "Oh and Kit…" he said, leaning close to Kit so to whisper in his ear, so that Chris wouldn't hear. "Don't worry, you're not on cafeteria duty today, it's me and Oscar."
"Okay, sounds good," Kit whispered back. "Just tell the lunch lady who hired us that I'll be back later, after I help Chris feel more comfortable around this school and get more adjusted." Kit then spoke in his normal voice. "Oh and Jeff? Ask Oscar if he lost a gold watch for me, it's here on the board that someone lost one and I think he's the one who lost it, so if you don't mind to ask, that would be a good help."
"Sure Kit, anything for my cousin." Jeffery said. "We better head to class or our history teacher will be madder than a hornet at us and neither one of us needs a tardy on us."
"Agreed," Kit and Chris nodded in unison as the headed to second period history class.
After a long morning, it was finally lunchtime and the hungry Cloudkicker brothers made their way into the cafeteria with Chris staring around in awe.
Then as he and Kit sat down with their lunch bags on the table in front of them, he asked: "Where's Jeffery?" Chris has just now noticed the absence of Jeffery and was looking around for him.
"He'll turn up," Kit assured his brother as he took out his sandwich from the paper bag. "Don't worry, Chris, he'll be here soon, but for now, let's eat." And with that, he took a big bite out of his sandwich.
"Hey, there you two are!" Jeffery shouted out, walking over toward his cousin. "Sorry I'm late, we had a major backup of trays in the dishwashing room today, so I was kinda stuck." He said in explanation of his tardiness. "Took forever to wash most of 'em, and then Oscar—poor thing—lost his balance on his stool again and broke a few trays."
"No problem Jeff, we're just glad you got a break so you can come eat with us." Kit replied. "Is Oscar alright?"
"Yeah, he's fine." Jeffery assured him. "He cried over breaking those trays, but I managed to calm him down and comfort him. But anyway, I thought I was never gonna get outta' there, the way all the trays kept piling up!" Jeffery laughed as he sat down next to Kit and taking his peanut butter and honey sandwich and milk out of his lunch bag and begin to eat. "Man, I'm starving! And I kinda figured out what Uncle Baloo meant about re-lax-station." He added, trying to keep his cafeteria apron out of the way of his eating. "Not that I'm allergic to work or anything, but it's good to get a little R and R every once in a while."
"R and R?" asked Chris, looking puzzled.
"Rest and relaxation." Kit explained.
"Oh…" then Chris raised his head up enough to notice his cousin was dressed slightly different. "Hey Jeffery?" he asked, looking puzzled. "What's up with your outfit, Jeffery, are you the chef or something? And I thought you were wearing your sweater earlier…"
"What, this old thing?" Jeffery said, smiling and tugging at the front of his uniform, "Nah, I'm not a chef, Chris, though I do help with the cooking sometimes. No Chris, I'm a cafeteria volunteer helper, hired by the school lunch staff. Kit and I both do it as part of our extra curricular school activities, though he got off the hook toady." Jeffery laughed.
"Hey!" Kit said indignantly. "I had to show Chris around and all! It couldn't be helped, Jeff." He slightly laughed, happy to see his cousin back to normal after the incident with Gorgon Cornmat earlier that day and Kit was happy he could stick up for his cousin and he always would.
"Wow! That's neat, Jeffery, so what all do you do as a volunteer cafeteria helper?" Chris asked excitedly. "Is it fun?"
"Oh yes, it is," Jeffery replied "but it can get tedious at times, especially like today, the dishwasher broke down and me and Oscar had to wash trays by hand. So that was pretty tedious." Jeffery sighed, looking tired.
"What's 'tedious'?" Chris asked, puzzled.
"It means boring, Chris." Kit answered gently so not to make his brother feel stupid. "And it does get pretty boring sometimes."
"As far as my duties…" Jeffery said, as though there has been no interruption. "I wash trays and help hand out food to all the students and such. They gave me this uniform to show that I work here." He stood up to display his white chef's apron over the black and orange colored t-shirt with a picture of the school mascot, Growly the Tiger on it.
"That's neat, Jeffery!" Chris exclaimed "I wonder if I could help out?"
"Sure, I can talk to the lunch ladies, and then me and Kit can get you on with us," replied Jeffery, smiling and throwing an arm around Chris to hug him. "You're just like me and your brother, Chris. You always want to help out others as well. I like that about you, cuz!"
"Aww, thanks cousin!" Chris replied shyly, blushing slightly to Jeffery's compliment. "There's one problem though, sadly I can't cook, not yet any way." Chris hung head, looking a bit ashamed.
"Oh, don't worry about that, little brother." Kit said, comforting Chris. "They won't let you help with the cooking until they show you what to do first."
Chris' head shot back up in excitement. "Hey!" he exclaimed, his blue eyes ablaze with eagerness. "Maybe Daddy Bear can teach me, he made us a real good breakfast this morning!"
Jeffery suddenly spat out a mouthful of chocolate milk he has been drinking, accidentally spraying Kit in the face.
Chris burst out laughing at the expression on Kit's face as he got a blasted in the face with chocolate milk
"Sorry—Uncle Baloo cooked breakfast?" Jeffery asked, shocked. "Are we talking about the same Uncle Baloo, whose idea of cooking pizzas was to fly through a volcano? The same Uncle Baloo who sliced bread, meat and cheese for a sandwich with the Sea Duck's propeller?"
"He did WHAT?" Chris exclaimed in surprise.
"Heh, yeah," Kit chuckled, wiping his furry face clean with a napkin. "Papa Bear and I did some pretty crazy stuff, and we'll probably do some more later on. Heh, with Papa Bear, I don't doubt that one bit." He then turned to Jeffery. "Yeah, Papa Bear surprised us all, even Mom, with a big delicious country-style breakfast, he said he learned it from the navy."
"Wow…" Jeffery said in awe.
"Anyway, Chris, there's no reason to worry, we'll work on getting you on the cafeteria helping team later on." Kit promised, smiling and hugging his brother with one arm.
"Thanks you two, you both are the best." Chris said as the three of them hugged.
"Okay, before they call me back to work and before I have to run again."Jeffery said. "We need to get our act sorted out. Kit, do you have any ideas of what tricks you want to do yet?" he asked, looking hopeful
"I'm still not sure, Jeff, this seems all sudden for me." Kit said with an expression that suggests that he was thinking and rapping his brain. "I think I would like to do at least five tricks, it's a thirty-minute performance, according to the flyer on the bulletin board, so we could do a few small ones but with a big finish, like the wand trick your Mom did last night, that was pretty awesome."
"Sure, that would be great, Kit." Jeffery said. "So here's what I was thinking now that you have a few things in mind. Me, you and Chris walk out onstage and introduce ourselves and then proceed to do a few small tricks, you can do so many in a small amount of time if you're really good, like one after the other."
"Onstage?" Chris gulped, feeling his stomach do a back flip at the thought of being up onstage in front of the whole school. "Is it too late to back out?" he asked nervously.
"Yes, it is," Jeffery said firmly but slyly at the same time. "Don't worry, cuz, we'll be there with you to help you out, and I think you did great at the show last night."
"Really?" Chris asked, giving Jeffery a hopeful look. "You really think I can do this?"
"No, I don't think, cuz…" Jeffery said, giving Chris another hug. "I know you can do this."
"But Jeff," Kit interrupted them. "I'm not good at this yet, there's no way I can do it that fast. Maybe with a months' practice but a week? You've got to be kidding me!"
"No worries, Kit, Mom and me will have you sawing me and Chris in half and doing any other tricks you have in mind in no time." Jeffery assured him with a smile.
"Now let's not get carried the way…" Chris muttered, looking slightly nervous at the idea of being sawed in half by his own brother.
"Just trust me like I trust in your talents and see it in your heart, cuz. I know you can do it. We're cousin, buddies, pals and a great magic team!" Jeffery added, placing his hand in the center of the table, followed by Chris
"We'll be the best there is and you will make a wonderful magician, big brother!" Chris said comfortingly
"Heh Heh…yeah…thanks Jeff, Chris." Kit laughed lightly, placing his hand on his brothers and cousin's. Kit's laugh was much like the one he did after Baloo said: 'We're buddies, pals, a team.'
"Jeffery Lee Cunningham, there you are! Your break is over, sweetie." the Cafeteria manager called out to Jeffery, who wanted nothing more than to stay with his cousins. But duties calls, of course.
"I'm sorry, cousins, I have to get back to work." Jeffery said, placing his blue dishwashing gloves back on his hands. "I'll talk to you more during our thirty-minute free period after sixth period before we head home for practice." Jeffery added before departing from the table. "Kit, Chris, you keep out of trouble and just to let you know, I'm not done with surprises yet but I'll wait to tell you about them on the way home for practice today." Jeffery smiled
"We will!!" Kit and Chris exclaimed in unison. "And you as well," they added
"I will guys, thanks." Jeffery said as he ran around the corner back to the dishwashing room, where he immediately got sprayed with water by Oscar as a joke. He may be a shy kid, but he will prank his friends when he gets the chance. "Oscar!" Jeffery laughed "I'm soaked, thanks a lot." Jeffery stuck out his tongue mischievously.
"Sorry Jeffery!" Oscar said, looking a bit ashamed, but he was joking to cheer Jeffery up after he had heard about what happened earlier as the two cubs went back to the work.
Kit and Chris finished their lunch as the bell rang, signaling the start fifth period, ending the lunch break.
Later that period Kit and Chris met back up with Jeffery for free period to discuss the magic show plans a bit more as Jeffery told them a bit more of his extra curricular activities he mentioned. He was also Growly, the school mascot and in the school band as the lead drummer when he's not playing Growly.
As school ended in the mid afternoon, they headed to Jeffery's home for their first magician training session, but Jeffery stopped by the local magic shop on the way home and bought a new wand.
"Well," said Jeffery, looking slightly disappointed as he came out of the shop, holding a new wand. "It's not like the one Granddaddy gave me, but it'll have to do. Alright, let's go to my house, cousins."
"Okay, Jeff, lead the way." Kit said, grinning.
They walked a few blocks down the street and then Jeffery turned right and walked up to his house. Chris stared up at Jeffery's house for the first time.
Jeffery's house was really a rundown boarding house building between the flower shop and the bakery. Though the building has recently been painted and the windows looked brand new.
"He lives in this old building?" Chris whispered to Kit.
"You should've seen it when they first moved in." Kit said. "Since then, they repainted it—I helped—and replaced the broken windows with new ones. And then Wildcat mowed the lawn—Aunt Melissa wasn't too happy about her flower bed being destroyed by his crazy mower."
Chris laughed as they followed Jeffery into the house where the delicious smell of freshly baked cookies reached their nasals.
"Mom! We're home!" Jeffery shouted, throwing his backpack into an armchair.
"Oh good, did you get that special order I asked you to pick up after school?" Melissa asked, coming out of the kitchen with a tray of cookies.
"D'oh!" Jeffery exclaimed, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I'm sorry, Mom, I forgot when I went to the magic shop to buy a new wand."
Melissa set the tray down on the carpet table and looked up, frowning in puzzlement.
"Why would you need to buy a new wand, Jeffery dear?" she asked curiously.
Kit and Chris noticed that Jeffery looked suddenly nervous and sweaty as he pulled his broken wand out of his pocket and showed it to his Mom.
Melissa gasped; her mouth fell open and her eyes were wide with shock.
"Oh, Jeffery…" she groaned despairingly, taking the two halves of what used to be one whole wand from him and examining it, "What happened? It looks like someone clipped it in half with a tree limb clipper."
"I-I'm sorry, Mom," Jeffery whimpered, feeling the sudden urge to cry because of her reaction. He hated to disappoint his Mom in any way, shape or form. "I took Granddaddy's wand to school with me…" he sniffed and tears started leaking out his eyes. "And some kid took from me and broke it!"
"Oh, Jeffery," Melissa said sympathetically, striding over and giving him a comforting embrace. "It's okay, baby, I know you didn't mean to get your Grandfather's wand broken. But honey, you really shouldn't have taken it to school with you in the first place."
"I-I know Mommy." Jeffery whimpered, hugging his Mom tightly. He doesn't mind her calling him 'baby', only she is allowed to do so, anyone else calling him that can feel his wrath! (Mostly a murderous glare.) And when he's upset, he reverses back to calling her 'Mommy'. "I-I just wanted to show it to Kit and Chris, but Gorgon—he's a bully—and his buddies broke it before I had a chance to fight back. M-m-Mommy, I'm so sorry. I just wanted to do something nice for my cousins," he added, still sniffling.
"Ohh… It's okay, baby. Shh…" Melissa cooed, hugging Jeffery even tighter, trying to console him. "Calm down, sweetie, I know your Granddaddy would understand. It's okay, I'm not mad at you. I love you too much for that. Here," she said, handing Jeffery a handkerchief to blow his stuffy noses.
"T-t-thanks, Mommy." Jeffery said softly, still crying a little as he blew his nose.
Kit and Chris couldn't help but hug their cousin too, so that three people were hugging Jeffery at once.
"So what happened to Gorgon?" Melissa asked curiously.
Kit spoke up for Jeffery, who was feeling more than comfortable in the embrace of his loved ones.
"He was expelled and had to pay Jeffery back for the wand he broke." Kit explained, still hugging Jeffery.
"But he was unable to pay," Chris chimed in. "So Mr. Pomeroy paid Jeffery. He said he'll have Gorgon's parents pay him back."
Melissa frowned in confusion. "He was expelled just for breaking a wand?"
"No, he had done more than that in the past." Kit said. "He's been through detentions, suspensions and all other forms of punishments, but nothing seemed to be working, he kept on bullying people. Breaking Jeffery's wand was just one crime too many, as far as Mr. Pomeroy was concerned."
"Good!" Melissa said, looking coldly satisfied. "If this Gorgon kid had remained in that school for much longer, I would have filed an official complaint and Mr. Pomeroy would've had to face a mother's stormy wrath!"
Kit and Chris mentally shuddered at the thought of an angry, protective mother bear form of Melissa loose on them and decided that they'd never want to get on the wrong side of their aunt.
"Jeffery, honey, you are blessed to have a family like this," Melissa said in a comforting tone, smiling pleasantly. "We're all here for you and this Gorgon kid…" she scowled at the mention of the bully. "Well, he got what he had coming to him, just like God said, sweetie."
There was a pause, in which all four of them looked at each other and said together: "You reap what you sow!"
They all begin to laugh as Melissa handed them star shaped cookies with red, white and blue sprinkles and a glass of milk.
"Jeffery, honey," Melissa said, smiling warmly at her son. "Since you forgot to pick up my special order, I'll go pick it up myself, you can show your cousins around the house till I get back, only don't show them the laundry room or my bedroom."
"Okay, Mom." Jeffery said, stuffing a cookie into his mouth, earning himself a laugh from his Mom.
"You don't have to cram the whole thing in you mouth," she told him. "I wouldn't want you to choke on my cookies."
"I know Mom, it's just your cookies are so good, I just can't resist." Jeffery said, taking a swig of white milk and giving himself a milky white mustache on his furry upper lip in the progress.
Kit and Chris chuckled at Jeffery as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
"Jeffery, how many times do I have to tell you to use a napkin, not your sleeves?" Melissa said, sounding stern but smiling with her eyes twinkling.
Jeffery grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Mom."
"Well, I got to go, I'll be right back, boys. Be good while I'm away." Melissa said, putting on her car coat, kissing Jeffery, Kit and Chris on their foreheads and walking out the door.
"Hey guys, let's go up to my room." Jeffery said. "Wait till you see it, it's the best bedroom in the world!"
Even Kit, who has been here a few times before, hasn't seen Jeffery's room and was looking forward to seeing it.
"Okay, Jeff, lead the way." Kit said.
"I bet it's an awesome room." Chris said as they follow Jeffery up to the first floor. "I can't wait to see it."
"Either can I," Kit said, smiling gently.
It wasn't until they reached the fourth and top floor did Jeffery called the halt. They had reached the very end of fourth floor hallway, where there was nothing in front of them but a blank wooden wall. They appeared to have encountered a dead end.
"Err… Jeffery?" Chris said, looking around. "Did you forget where your own room is?"
Jeffery turned to look slyly at Chris. "No, this is it," he said. "Stand back and watch this."
Kit and Chris stood back a little as Jeffery reached up and grasped a rope protruding from the ceiling and pulled. A trapdoor in the ceiling was lowered down to reveal a flight of wooden steps, leading up to a seemingly normal bedroom door with a golden star-shape plat hanging on it with the words 'Jeffery's Room' on in the center of the plat.
"Come on, it's up here." Jeffery said, climbing the steps toward his bedroom and beckoning his cousins to follow.
Kit and Chris followed Jeffery up the steps to his bedroom as Jeffery opened the door.
The bedroom was rather nice, contrast to Kit's idea of an attic bedroom.
The carpeted floor was navy blue; the wallpapers were light blue with dark blue airplane shapes all over them. There was a desk on one side of the room and a triple decker bunk bed on the other side.
The dresser drawers were next to the desk, while the closet was near the beds. And in the center of the room was a tall shelf bearing all the collections of a typical twelve-year-old.
There were different things on each line of shelf. The top shelf displayed a collection of airplane models; the model of the Sea Duck was at the very center of the collection and stood out against all the other planes, having been raised up slightly higher than the others. The second line of shelf contains action figures of fighter pilots and army guys. All the other lines of shelves contain books of all different kinds, mostly exciting and spellbinding fictional stories.
The room was brightly lit, despite the fact that no one turned on any lights. Looking up, Kit and Chris saw the reason for that. There was a skylight window in the ceiling above the bunk beds.
"Yeah," Jeffery said, noticing his cousins looking up at his skylight window. "That's the reason I picked this room, I like looking up at sky at nights and at the moon. Sadly there's too much light in this city to see any stars, so I had to stick some glow-in-the-dark stars to the glass so that I could see stars when I look up at the night's sky, even if they're not real."
"Yeah, but the real stars are beautiful though." Kit said; who had seen a lot of stars from the darkest allies during his street days. "You have an awesome room, Jeff, I'm slightly jealous. Maybe me and Chris should move in with you."
"It would be great if you did," Jeffery said, looking very excited at the idea of his cousins living with him. "Mom got me this triple bunks because she thought you two might like to spend the night a lot during the summer."
"Really?" Chris exclaimed delightedly. "Oh, we'll definitely spend the night with you! I get the bottom bunk!" He ran over to the beds and dived onto the bottom bunk. "Wow, this is so comfy," he said, rolling to his side with his head on the pillow, closing his eyes lazily. "I think I'll take a little cat nap."
And within minutes, he was asleep with a cute peaceful look on his face.
"Let him sleep," Kit advised Jeffery, who showed signs of wanting to wake him up. "He had a long and exciting first day, you remember how tiring your first day was, don't you?"
"Yeah, but he wasn't bullied on the first day, was he?" Jeffery muttered as Kit went and pulled the covers over Chris.
"No," Kit admitted. "No, he wasn't, but that was only because he was with me the whole day. But the first day is still tiring, even without the bullies picking on him."
"Wish I had you to protect me on my first day," Jeffery said. "Where were you back then anyway?"
"I, um…" Kit said hesitantly. "I was with the Air Pirates, I think, during the time Karnage was making his way over here with the Lightning Gun, I guess."
"Oh Kit," Jeffery said, hugging Kit. "It's okay, cuz, I'm glad your here with me now though. Thanks goodness Uncle Baloo saved your from that fall. How did that happened anyway? Did you slip?" he asked, looking confused.
"Jeffery, I thought I told you that story." Kit said uncertainly, as though unsure if Jeffery seem like the forgetful type. "Heh, your memories' must be getting as bad as your Mom's." He said teasingly, to which Jeffery frowned indignantly. "After Karnage broke my airfoil, I threw it at him and he ordered Dumptruck to drop me off the Iron Vulture."
"Heh, heh, yeah…sorry Kit, I apologize." Jeffery said sheepishly, holding a hand behind his head "And hey, I'm not that forgetful! I did however remember some of it. And yeah, heh-heh, Mom's getting bad at times, huh?" he laughed. "Don't tell her I said that."
"My lips are sealed." Kit said, waving a hand over his mouth and making a zipping motion over his lips with his hand.
Jeffery chuckles a little bit before putting up a serious face.
"Kit, have you noticed that Chris is a bit…skinny?" he asked, watching Kit's expression. "It's like he weighs a lot less than we do."
"Yeah, I've noticed that he's a bit bony and skinny, but I haven't tested his weight yet." Kit said, frowning. "I don't think he was actually starved at his orphanage, but he obviously didn't get enough to eat either."
"Yeah, that's pretty obvious." Jeffery said in agreement, glancing at the bed where Chris was sleeping peacefully. "I mean, I could barely lift you, but I can lift Chris up about a foot off the ground just fine. That sweater of his hides how skinny he is really well. How much do you weigh?"
"About seventy-two pounds, thanks to Baloo trying to beef me up, before then, I was fifty-four pounds."
"That sounds about right, you weigh about the same as me." Jeffery said, smiling. "But Uncle Baloo should focus more on getting Chris beefed up right now."
About an hour later, Kit had decided that Chris had slept long enough and went over to the bed and gently shook him awake.
"W-what is it?" Chris asked groggily, letting out a huge yawn and rubbing his eyes.
"Time to get up, Chris." Kit said, "you've slept for an hour."
Jeffery came over to Chris, wearing a blue nurse's uniform and he was looking him up and down, as though trying to determine whither Chris was the right size or not.
"Chris, I need to check you over, you don't mind, do you?" Jeffery asked.
"No…" Chris said uncertainly as he got up out of bed and stood up. "Are we playing doctors?" he asked, gesturing to Jeffery's nurse's outfit
"Uh, yeah that's it," Jeffery said with a sideways glance at Kit. "And you're the patience."
"Okay." Chris said, looking between Kit and Jeffery as though trying to see where this was going.
"Okay, Chris, I need you to take off your sweater." Jeffery said.
Chris hesitated before doing as he was told. He took off his blue sweater and laid it on the bed. He stood there, wearing only his white turtleneck undershirt. Chris's body appeared strangely small without his sweater, he looked very skinny indeed; his build didn't quite match his height.
"Good gracious, Chris," Jeffery yelped in stunned surprise, while Kit looks a little shocked. "What had they been feeding you, a slice of bread a day?"
"No…" Chris replied in a low voice, looking down at his feet. "We get by with three bowls of soup a day and one roll."
"Well evidentially those soups weren't very filling at all," Jeffery said indignantly. He then stood directly in front of Chris, slid his hands under Chris' armpits and lifted him up so that Chris' feet dangled a foot and a half from the floor. "See Chris? You're not very heavy." He put Chris back down, took hold of his hand and pulled him toward the bedroom door. "C'mon, Chris, Mom's got a height and weight scale in her nurse's office."
The three of them went down from Jeffery's attic bedroom and down a few floors before Jeffery led them into a room that appeared to be the nurse's office.
"This is the nurse's office, for once we get other people living here." Jeffery explained. "My Mom used to be a nurse, you know."
And speaking of Jeffery's Mom, Melissa chose that moment to walk in on them.
"Jeffery dear, what are you three doing in here?" she asked, looking suspiciously at her son.
"Chris needs a checkup, Nurse Mom, could you give him one?"
"I don't see why not…" Melissa said, grabbing her white lab coat from the coat rack and putting it on. "Chris, hop onto the bed, please."
Chris went and climbed up onto the bed and sat down upon it.
"What happened to your sweater, sweetie?" she asked as she checked his blood pressure, she, like Jeffery, had noticed how skinny Chris appeared and was a bit concerned about it too.
"He must've left it in Jeffery's room," Kit said, standing next to Chris and looking a little worried for his brother. "Jeffery told him to take it off."
"Well, blood pressure's normal, now let's check your reflexes." Melissa said, and she took a very small rubber hammer and tapped Chris' kneecap with it, which reacted instantly, causing Chris to kick out his foot under a nearby tray and sent it flying up to the ceiling.
"Whoa," Jeffery exclaimed in shock as the tray came back down to the floor with a loud clatter! "You weren't kidding about your kicks."
"Hmm, reflexes are very sensitive and very reactive…" Melissa said, marking something on her clipboard. She did a number of other checkups on her nephew, including checking his pulse and listening to his heartbeats with a stethoscope before saying: "Okay, all perfectly normal. Now to check your height and weight."
She lifted Chris from the bed and carried him over to the height and weight scale. She was surprise at how little Chris seem to weigh, it was like carrying a sack of potatoes, really. She set Chris down upon the scale and told him to stand straight and still.
"Yes, Aunt Melissa." Chris said, and he stood up straight and still.
Melissa adjusted the scale until it was well balanced, she frowned at the results.
"No way…" she muttered. She then measured him before letting him off the scale. "I can't believe it, he's underweight…" she muttered, scribbling on her clipboard.
"Underweight?" Jeffery asked, looking nervous.
"Yes, Jeffery dear," Melissa said, frowning at her clipboard. "Chris is three foot, eight inches and weighs forty-five pounds. That's way below average; he weighs less than a cub his size is supposed to weigh."
"What?!" Kit exclaimed. "That's about ten pounds less than what I weighed before Baloo started beefing me up!"
"Is that bad?" Jeffery asked, looking downright alarmed by this time, for he knew that he and Kit were three foot, nine inches and weighed seventy-two pounds. Chris's weight compared to that was very worrying.
"It is very unhealthy but not life-threatening yet, as long as he gets plenty to eat." Melissa replied "And we won't have to worry about that, your Uncle Baloo and Aunt Rebecca will make sure he gets plenty to eat." and then she turned to Chris. "Did you get plenty to eat at the orphanage?" she asked him.
"Um…well…no…" Chris admitted, "I used to get through three bowls of soup a day…"
"What kind of soup? Did it have beef and vegetables in it?" she asked, dreading the answer.
"No, it tasted like Thembrian gruel, but on some days we'd have a slice of bread to go with it," said Chris, now wondering where all these questions were leading to.
EWWWWWW, Thembrian gruel? That's nasty! Jeffery thought with a disgusted look on his face.
"Oh dear… Man does not live on bread alone…or gruel for that matter." Melissa muttered. "Chris, the reason you're so skinny and a bit underweight is because your body wasn't getting enough portions from all the food groups …or even the right amount of it. You'll need to start eating more, with a little snack between meals. Make sure one of those snacks is a big red, juicy apple."
"Okay Aunt Melissa, I will." Chris promised. "Can I have one now, please?"
Melissa smile gently as she nodded. "Of course, dear." Then she looked over at Jeffery. "Jeffery, show Chris to the kitchen, please."
"Okay, Mom. Come on, Chris." Jeffery said, and he grabbed Chris's hand and led him to the kitchen, very keen to get some food in Chris' belly.
Kit however, remained behind with his aunt.
"How bad off is he?" Kit asked her, feeling very concerned for his little brother.
"Oh, not bad," Melissa said reassuringly, putting a hand on Kit's furry cheek and giving it a gentle massage, as though trying to ease his troubled mind. "The weight is his only flaw in the health department, but other than that, he's quite healthy. He just needs to put on a bit of weight and then he'll be perfectly healthy. Now, don't force him to eat more when he says he's full, his stomach is smaller than average right now, he won't be able to eat as much as you and Jeffery do, and it won't do to overfeed him. It will make him sick."
"Well, he did fairly well with breakfast this morning, so I'm not worried." Kit said, he turned and was about to leave the room to join his brother with his snack.
"Oh, and Kit?" Melissa called after him. "Tell the boys to meet me in the rehearsal studio in ten minutes. Today I'm just going to see how many tricks you already know and can do before I teach you anything new, okay?"
"Okay, Aunt Melissa." Kit strode back to his aunt and gave her a hug. "Thank you for teaching me, I really appreciate it."
"Oh, you're welcome, sweetie!" Melissa exclaimed happily and she kissed Kit on top of the head before he took off to find his brother and cousin.
Kit went downstairs to the living area and walked into the kitchen and saw Jeffery, who was now out of his nurse's outfit and was wearing his chef's outfit, cooking a pizza for Chris. He was setting a pizza into the oven while Chris sat at the bar, munching happily on an apple. Jeffery, knowing how well Kit likes pizza, started fixing another one for them to share in case there weren't any leftovers from the other pizza he was cooking for Chris.
Melissa walked in on them, (this is becoming a bad habit of hers…) took one look and a sniff around the kitchen and then she started telling Jeffery off.
"Jeffery Lee Cunningham, how many times have I told you not to cook in my kitchen without me! I want some of the fun too, you know!"
"Oops, sorry." Jeffery said sheepishly. "I didn't mean to leave you out on the fun, Mom; you know I love cooking, right?" he gave his Mom a wink.
"Sorry son, but you're not winking your way out of this one," Melissa said, sounding stern. "You're doing the dishes tonight, Mr. Chef."
"Oh no…" Jeffery groaned. "Not that, anything but that…"
"Okay then, you can massage my feet tonight." Melissa said, smiling slyly at her son.
"Eww! No thank you!" exclaimed Jeffery, looking revolted. "I'd rather do the dishes!"
"Oh, come now, Jeffery, my feet are not that bad...."
"Speak for yourself," Jeffery muttered. "You have this crooked toe that creeps me out!" He gave a shudder at the very thought of his Mom's creepy toe .
"Jeffery," Chris said, interrupting them. "I really don't need that picture in my head while I'm eating!"
"Oh, sorry Chris," Jeffery said, wishing he hasn't said anything about his Mom's creepy toe.
"Aunt Melissa, do you still want me to deliver your message?" Kit asked from the bar, sitting next to Chris. "Or are you gonna tell them, since you're already here."
"Oh, I supposed I can tell them myself, Kit dear." Melissa said kindly. "Meet me in the rehearsal studio in…" she consulted her watch. "five minutes for magic practice."
"But Mom," Jeffery protested. "My pizza's not going to be ready in five minutes, the timer's on twelve minutes right now and then we'll need time to eat it."
"Oh, alright," Melissa sighed but smiling at the same time, she knew that feeding an underweight Chris was more important right now. "Meet me for practice after you've finished eating." And with that, she turned her heels and walked out of the kitchen, calling to Jeffery from the hallway. "And save a slice for me!"
Jeffery grinned slyly as he called back. "Okay Mom, we'll try, but I make no promises, we're all growing boys, you know."
They heard Melissa laughing from the hallway, but more distance this time.
"Alright, I'll remember that when I'm fixing your favorite for dinner tonight, we're having lasagna." She called back.
That wiped the sly smile off of Jeffery's face, and when the pizza was ready twelve minutes later, the first thing he did was cut out a slice and shoved it in the refrigerator.'
"What?" he said defensively as he turned to see his cousins watching him. "I want that lasagna."
Kit and Chris smirked but said nothing as they started eating their pizza.
Jeffery took off his chef outfit and they ate quickly, wanting to get to Melissa's magic lessons as soon as possible. And then when they were finished and the pizza was gone, they walked upstairs to the rehearsal studio, where Melissa was waiting….
Authors' Note:
We hope you have enjoyed this chapter and don't worry, we already have plans for chapter five.
Rest the sure that Simba, who is in charge of the orphanage, had no idea what the children were eating and if he did….well we'd have a very angry lion, so no flames on Simba and hands/paws off the lion!
Anyway, special thanks to all our fans and readers for reading this story and for believing in us. Keep an eye out for the next chapter, till next time!
PS:
Melissa's character is based on Aggie Cromwell from Halloween Town with a little bit of Rebecca in the mix. She appeared to be the twin sister of Rebeca with her hair already graying (that's Jeffery's fault, you know.) And her voice is exactly the same as Aggie Cromwell, so Aggie's actress, Debbie Reynolds would be the perfect voice for Melissa if this story ever becomes part of the Tale Spin series.