Chapter 8

"Boober's parents," Lana began, "died in a fire."

"A f-fire?" said Wembley. "Didn't they have a volunteer fire department?"

Lana looked at the floor. "This is going to be hard to explain." said Lana.

"Perhaps I can help?" said a voice.

"CANTUS!"

All the young Fraggles except Boober jumped to their feet.

"Cantus, did you hear-"

"Poor Boober-"

"His parents-

"Cantus, what does it all mean-"

Cantus put his hand up, the strange mark that showed them he was a leader of minstrels clearly visible on his palm. Red remembered without fondness the day she'd borne that mark.

"Everything will be explained, and in it's own time," said Cantus. "But in order for those who must understand to understand, a strong foundation must be laid. Sing your song for them, Lana."

"Now?" said Lana uncertainly. "IN front of Boober? But he still-"

"One day," said Cantus, "your young Fraggle friend will realize that it does not matter who was ultimately responsible for the death of his parents. Now, sing."

Lana sighed, took a deep breath, and began.

"La de lah, lah de lah,

Lah, lah, la, la, la, la, la, la, la."

The Fraggles drew back, astounded. Lana's singing was exquisite; every syllable was timed right, every note in perfect tune. Only Cantus had such a masterful voice.

"Where Boober grew up, doing that would be forbidden, said Lana. "All music is forbidden."

Red gasped. "Music forbidden? But-"

"We had a leader, Lana interrupted, "Who forbade music, among many other things. She didn't want even seem to care whether we lived or died, so mostly we just fended for ourselves. As long as her rules were obeyed, she left us alone."

Mokey spoke, eyes still glued to Boober. "How could Boober's cave have caught fire? Rock isn't flammable."

"Oh, we didn't live in caves. We lived in the hollows of old trees. In a grove. We called our leader the Grove's Oldest Fraggle."

"What's the Oath of the Grove?" asked Gobo.

"Oh, that. The Oath is sort of a joke in the grove. No one ever kept it, but it was the only way Boober had of kicking me out."

"But why?" asked Mokey, tears beginning to flow. "Why would he push you away?"

Lana sighed. "There are two reasons for that. I'll tell you the really bad part first."

She paused. None of the other Fraggles moved.

"All right. Imagine this, if you will. You've heard music for the first time. You have no clue what it is, what it's for. What do you do?"

Wembley snapped a Doozer Stick off a giant Doozer tower being built in the corner of the room. The whole structure toppled, sending a horde of Doozers scurrying.

"I guess I'd ask someone what it was," he said.

"Right. And I had only one Fraggle to ask. Boober. See, the music I heard, nobody else could hear. It was my song."

The Fraggles nodded, and Lana continued, "So we – Boober and I – went to a secret place we had, just outside the grove. I sang my song. He had no idea what it was either, so we went home. Well, someone must have heard, because when we woke up the next morning, and Boober's dad was telling us to run. And the smoke..." Lana began to cry, putting her hands over her mouth to muffle her sobs.

When she finally got control of herself, she looked up. She couldn't see any anger in the Fraggles' eyes, so she said, "We don't know how the Grove's Oldest Fraggle knew, or if she knew. I'd like to think that she wasn't capable of such atrocities. But Boober always blamed me for his parents' deaths, because I sang."

The silence in the room was broken only by Lana's sniffles. Mokey looked away from Boober for the first time since that morning. "I don't blame you. You were young. How could you have known?"

"Tell that to Boober," choked Lana, a bite in her tone.

"Lana," asked Wembley, What was it you started to tell me in the Cave of

Shadows?" You once what?"

"That's the second reason he kicked me out. I dared him to jump in a mud puddle."

Gobo snorted.

"It's not funny. I was hearing all songs, all the time by then. By the time we got to Fraggle Rock. Ever try to listen to thousands of songs at once, twenty-four hours a day? It'll drive you nuts. Needless to say, I wasn't the most pleasant Fraggle to be around. I still cared about Boober though. He was so terrified after everything that had happened that for a good part of the month he was bedridden. Until he got the courage to leave his room, I did everything for him."

Gobo tried to imagine the scenario, and could almost see it in his mind. I have to be the strong one, he thought, wiping away his tears.

"And as if that weren't bad enough," said Lana, her voice flat as the rock under her feet, "When he finally was better, I had this idea that his fears would go away if he just confronted them-"

"Well, wouldn't they?" asked Red.

"You'd think so, but I guess I went the wrong way about it. I bullied him until he jumped in, then he panicked. I pulled him out as quick as I could, but he still made me swear I would never come back. I left. I met Cantus, and he taught me how to control my gift. Now the songs come to me only when I want them to, but my cousin is still alienated from me."

0o0

One week later Boober awoke, expecting to feel cold rock underneath him, or to hear more voices from the past. He dimly remembered himself relieving his parents' deaths, and someone trying to help him. He tried to remember whom, and felt dizzy.

Some time later he realized that he was no longer on the floor of the cave. He was in his own bed. But how? The persistent, dull ache in his muscles told him that his journey hadn't been a dream.

"I wonder what illness I caught while I was down there, he thought. I feel terrible. He felt himself getting tense, so he comforted himself by imagining Mokey's art. He visualized the first friend he ever made serenely dipping her tail into a jar of cool, green, paint. He imagined until he was too exhausted to imagine anymore. His calm gave way to discomfort. His throat felt like sandpaper and he was still freezing.

Wembley, who was sitting on Lana's stool in the corner after the others had decided to take a break, heard a hoarse voice from the bed.

"Wha- what happened?"

"Boober! You're awake! You're alive! You're gonna be OK!"

"So cold," said Boober, as Wembley jumped up and down. Wembley checked himself. It wouldn't do to explode now.

Wembley handed Boober a mug. Boober was too disoriented to notice what was in it. He gulped it down and felt a pleasant warmth spread through his body.

"Wait till I tell Red and Mokey and Gobo," Wembley was saying. "And Lan-"

He stopped, afraid that Boober had heard, but Boober was asleep again. Wembley sighed and sat back down on his stool again. It wouldn't hurt to wait until Boober could stay awake to tell the others.