Holy crap, this story lives! Sorry it took me so long, I'm still a bit stuck on moving the plot back to where it belongs, but here's progress, at least.
See Bartal here? I'll give more details on im later. Keep an eye on him, he's cool.
Happy reading!
Chapter 11: Retired Memories
"Gonna go get some breakfast," Lulu said quietly, the "detective" puppet sticking out of her briefcase, as she walked towards the front door. "I'll come back in a little bit."
"Be careful," Bartal responded, glancing back at Lulu, who smiled at him before she walked out. As soon as the door shut behind her, he returned his attention to the massive pile of papers laid out on the table. "Alright, then…" he tossed a sheet he'd just finished reading over his shoulder, "where are ya, Tri?"
How long had it been since he'd last seen the puppets? Old Andre Toulon… after hearing about him shooting himself in Germany, Bartal had given up on seeing any more of their family, much less Andre's cousin Tristella. And then Lulu had run in with those puppets… Andre's puppets, the ones he could have sworn watched him with their painted eyes.
"No…" he tossed another sheet over his shoulder. His mind drifted back to the first time he'd met Toulon as he sorted through documents and old notifications, letters of soldiers being MIA or having gone AWOL. It had been summer, years before the war…
She had been standing alone in the elaborate garden maze, shuffling a deck of cards by herself. She looked about thirteen or fourteen – his age. Bartal hesitated before walking over, and she looked up. She wasn't pretty, but she was interesting.
"Well, say something." She said.
That had pretty much summed up most of it – her always one step ahead of him, one witty line above him, and he always tried and failed to get the upper hand. They'd been best friends until the war, when he'd ended up captured and declared MIA. When he'd finally gotten back, Toulon was dead and Tri had disappeared – apparently she'd gotten married and left the country. Bartal sighed, and kept looking through papers.
Tri, you never gave up. Where are you?