Chapter 10 In a Barrel and Over the Falls
Aunt Clara had spent a restless night, tossing and turning. Adam too, though unlike Aunt Clara, it was out of excitement and not dread. So it was no surprise that he was up at the crack of dawn, dressed, stole past the sleeping Lisa and Tabitha, and sneaked quietly into Aunt Clara's room to wake up his old aunt.
"It's morning!" announced Adam, abandoning all stealth. "Time to go over the Niagara Falls!"
"What? Oh, er, yes" said Aunt Clara, who had finally drifted into dream land and had been enjoying being guest of honour at a doorknob manufacturer's convention. "I suppose we'll have to" she said with a sigh.
"Yay" said Adam.
"After breakfast" said Aunt Clara. "Now, let's see. Oh, yes. I should dress."
This was a spell Aunt Clara had little trouble with. Her usual hat, fur, dress and purse replaced her nightgown.
"Now, er, what's next" said Aunt Clara, adjusting her hat.
"The falls!" said Adam.
"No" said Aunt Clara. "Er, there's breakfast!"
"But the restaurant's not open yet!" complained Adam.
"Then we'll make our own" said Aunt Clara. "Would you like to try?"
"Oh good!" said Adam.
Adam pointed up a humungous black forest cake.
"Oh, er, no!" said Aunt Clara wisely. "Sorry, Adam. Cake isn't breakfast for little boys, neither mortal and warlock. You would eat the whole cake if you could get away with it. Now let me see . . . . Cake, make haste, to eat this dessert at breakfast would be a dreadful fate."
The cake disappeared, to Aunt Clara's great pleasure and Adam's great disappointment.
"You're doing well, Clara" Aunt Clara complimented herself. "Now let's see, those Scots Samantha told me about have given me an idea. Double, double boil and trouble, cook me cauldron of porridge on the double!
A table appeared, with two bowls, a cauldron of porridge and a large ladle.
Adam made a face.
"And some fresh milk will finish our breakfast!" said Aunt Clara, deciding to wave her arms.
"Mooo" lowed the cow Aunt Clara had summoned by mistake.
"Er, oh, not that fresh" said Aunt Clara. "Looks like I've goofed again. Well, let's eat our porridge and then milk, er, the cow here."
Adam and Aunt Clara ate a quick breakfast, some much too fresh milk. With a little difficulty, Aunt Clara was able to send the cow back from whence she came.
"Now let's go!" urged Adam.
"Well, er, let's see" said Aunt Clara. "Well, Adam, can you take us to the falls?"
Adam thought for a minute.
"Here, there, everywhere, let's go back above the falls to where we were!"
In a puff of smoke, Adam and Aunt Clara arrived back on Gull Island, underneath a shady oak tree, only a few feet from the water rushing to its finally plunge over the precipice. Several nearby gulls, disturbed for the second time in less than twenty-four hours, angrily flew away.
"Very good Adam" said Aunt Clara, though she looked at the rushing water with some distaste.
"Let's get the barrel back!" said Adam.
"Well, er, how about you try Adam? As long as we're here, let's make a lesson of it" said Autn Clara.
Adam thought for a minute.
"Double, double, toil and trouble, send me a barrel on the double" tried Adam.
A large wooden barrel appeared.
"I was hoping for something, er, more comfortable" sighed Aunt Clara.
She opened the top of the barrel to look inside. It was filled with porridge.
Adam laughed.
"Oh, er, no" said Aunt Clara confusedly. "I wonder what went wrong. Oh, er, yes. You were thinking of the spell I used at breakfast?"
"Yes" said Adam sheepishly.
"You need to, er, try to remember what you're doing" said Aunt Clara. "I wish I always did. But it's a common mistake among children, if I remember right. Now what was it called again? Oh yes, spell distraction. Now let's see if you can get rid of the porridge. And maybe Adam . . . make the barrel a little more comfortable.
"Um" tried Adam. "Double, double, barrel and trouble, make this . . . a super deluxe model barrel on the double."
The barrel unaccountable tripled in size as if it had been inflated with air. It acquired golden handles, a door, a large window, and two plush velvet seats.
"Oh, very good Adam" said Aunt Clara proudly, after knocking on the barrel to check its seaworthiness. "Now, let's see" she said to herself. "We can't wear these things. Now, concentrate Clara."
In an instant, Aunt Clara and Adam were both wearing old fashioned, full length, blue and white striped bathing suits.
Adam laughed, but Aunt Clara was pleased.
"You're really on a roll today, Clara" she said. "Now let's get into the barrel Adam."
The two opened the hatch and climbed into the barrel. Aunt Clara made sure they sat in the chairs and used the attached seatbelts.
"This might be fun after all" said Aunt Clara. "Now, I see, we'd better, er, uh, cast off."
"I know how!" Adam exclaimed.
Unfortunately, he did it the mortal way. Adam rammed the barrel's side and it overturned, rolled and fell into the raging Upper Rapids.
"Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to have the porridge" said Aunt Clara.
The barrel soon regained its bearings as it rushed along. However, the two travellers could see little but water and foam as they rushed along at a breakneck speed toward the precipice of the Canadian Falls. And then came the moment of truth. The barrel reached the point where the deep green waters of the river fell over the white cascade. Down, down, down the barrel went . . . in the manner that makes feel that your stomach has leapt into your mouth. All the time the pounding water rushed along
They hit the lower river with a splash that was completely drowned out by deafening falls. The barrel ended up under the falling water and was forced downward. The barrel sank rapidly, over a hundred feet towards the bottom of the plunge pool under the falls. Pushed back beyond the tide of water, the barrel's natural buoyancy kicked in. It rose slowly to the surface, but merely ended up spinning in the churning water in the dark cave behind the falls.
"Yay!" said Adam. "Let's do that again."
"Certainly not" snapped Aunt Clara. She was uncharacteristically cross. It was only with great difficulty she had kept down her breakfast. "Once is more than enough."
"Let's get out and see where we are?"
"The cave behind the falls . . . at least, er, that's where I think we are . . . is no place for a warlock your age."
"Okay" sulked Adam.
"Now stay here and enjoy the, er, view, er, what we can see of it anyway" said Aunt Clara.
Fortunately, the magic barrel was ably constructed, if that's the word for it. It remained sturdy although it rattled against a few rocks. Just when Aunt Clara was beginning to consider trying a spell to get them out of their predicament, the barrel again drifted under the awesome cataract. The barrel was again pushed downward, but it floated up again to the north of the falls, drifting downstream along the portion of the river where the Maid of the Mist would carry her tourists later in the day.
The barrel floated downriver with considerable ease.
"We, er, had better try to move the barrel to shore" said Aunt Clara.
"Let's wait until after the barrel goes into the whirlpool" suggested Adam.
"I think we've spun around enough, Adam" Aunt Clara replied.
As it happened, they didn't have to do a thing. Just as the barrel was floating past the still empty Canadian Maid of the Mist dock, it made a sharp left turn and zoomed to the dock as if powered by an outboard motor. The barrel magically bounced up on shore in front of a furious Samantha.
Samantha has waken up in a good mood, eager to finish the job of the night before. She had looked out the window to see a strange object floating down the river. With a pair of binoculars she had twitched up, Samantha spotted the barrel, the window, and Adam and Aunt Clara in their striped bathing suits. She had wasted no time in sending herself to the Maid of the Mist docks, and forcing the barrel to shore.
Aunt Clara and Adam sheepishly left the barrel.
Samantha dismissed the unusual craft with a wave of her hand.
"Aunt Clara!" blurted Samantha. "How could you?"
"I, er, well, er, dear, I, well, I promised" said Aunt Clara in a low voice. "I, er, said I'd take Adam wherever he liked. And, dear, I, er, always try to keep my promises. Especially to children . . . as long as they're safe."
"As long as they're safe!" exclaimed Samantha in disbelief.
"I'm a warlock" said Adam. "Grandpapa says I'm practically in. . . in . . .
"Indestructible" sighed Samantha. "Well, that's daddy for you! (1) Well, young warlock, you'll find out how indestructible you are when your father arrives this morning!"
"Oh" said Adam, anxiously. "Don't tell him!"
"Well, maybe I won't" said Samantha, who had no intention of upsetting Darren with the news his young son had gone over the falls. "But no more tricks."
"I won't" promised Adam.
"And you're confined to normal mortal tourism" said Samantha.
"Huh?" Adam asked.
"No more magic on this vacation" said Samantha.
"Aw" Adam replied.
"Well, maybe one more spell" Samantha smiled. "And I'm going to need your help. And you two, Aunt Clara!"
"Well, er, what would you like Samantha?" asked Aunt Clara. "But let's not travel over the falls again, dear."
"Nothing like that" laughed Samantha. "I'll tell you all about it"
With that, Samantha twitched her nose, and all three disappeared.
Notes
(1) Maurice.