Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Bridge to Terabithia. Katherine Paterson created the Story, and owns the rights. Although I don't own BtT, many of the characters in my story, The Greatest Gift, specifically Jamie, Taylor, Thomas, and Andrea are mine. Whatever that means. Anyway, I hope you will take some time to read and review my story.
Chapter 11
Leslie Burke
Sunday morning Jamie woke with the sun shining brightly in his room, his head ached and he was still groggy with sleep. His thoughts were a jumble of confusing images of the past twenty-four hours: he tried to make sense of it all but it only made his head hurt worse.
He looked casually over at his clock and read 9:00. Then rolling onto his back he gazed up at the ceiling, still feeling so deeply troubled and worried about Taylor. Then, suddenly, like the jolt you get when the teacher calls on you when you're not paying attention, dragging you out of a daydream stupor, something registered in his brain and he sat bolt upright.
"The
horses!" He cried out loud.Jumping up out of bed he pulled his sneakers on. He was still wearing the clothes he had worn yesterday, never having changed last night. He flew down the stairs to the kitchen where his mother and Hannah were cleaning up from breakfast. He ran past them and went to the coat rack, grabbing his jacket.
"Jamie," his mother said, stopping him. "Would you like some breakfast? "
"The horses!" He said, frantically, and headed toward the back door. Pulling it open he was just about to run out when his mother said.
"Your father and Andrea tended to the horses already..."
"I helped too," Hannah interjected, looking wounded.
"Yes, and Hannah helped too," his mother said soothing Hannah's hurt feelings. "So Jamie you just sit yourself down and have some breakfast... You must be hungry," she was preparing a plate for him.
Jamie stopped and turned to face his mother, he was confused and a bit fearful. His father and his sisters took care of the horses? That was usually his and Taylor's job. He hoped his dad and Andrea weren't angry with him for neglecting the horses, he knew Hannah wouldn't be, but with everything that had happened his mind was somewhere else. Reluctantly he sat down at the table, his gut churning from hunger as well as from his nerves.
His mother said, as she put down a plate of pancakes and sausages in front of him. "I was thinking we should go to church this morning and pray for Taylor." Jamie just stared down at the plate, Pancakes! How could she he thought, but then she couldn't have known. He can't eat these; it gave him a chill. Pancakes were what Jesse ate the morning after Leslie's death. No way could he bring himself to eat them, he may never eat pancakes again. This was too much like the book he thought, and he didn't want to jinks Taylor by eating them. So he just ate the sausages, and picked at the pancakes. He mooshed them around on his plate trying to make it look like he had eaten them so he wouldn't hurt his mother's feelings. Hannah watched him as he mooshed his pancakes, he shot her a glance that said don't say anything, she kept quiet.
"I'm going to get ready for church now Jamie," she said as she pulled off the apron she was wearing. "Is there anything else I can get for you?" She looked so sad and worried but forced a smile for him.
"No, I'm all set," he lied, "thanks."
"Ok then," she said, " when you finish your breakfast get cleaned up and changed, I'd like to leave soon."
"Yeah, sure, Ok mom," he said feeling down, he just couldn't stop thinking about Taylor, nor did he want to.
"Come on Hannah I'll help you get ready," his mother said as she and his sister left the kitchen.
He heard his dad as he passed his mother and Hannah in the hallway. Jamie was tense as he came into the kitchen. He tried to read his father as he followed him with his eyes, watching him as he poured a cup of coffee and slide onto the bench opposite him. Cream and sugar were on the table, and Jamie watched as his dad fixed his coffee. He didn't seem to be angry with him.
"Dexter looks sad this morning," his father said, with sadness in his own eyes, "I think he misses Taylor."
"Yeah," Jamie said, realizing his father wasn't angry with him, good he thought, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
His father took a sip of his coffee and said, "Andrea and I were reminiscing about Thomas this morning while we tended to the horses. She told me she had quite a vivid dream about him last night." He drew a deep sigh and continued. "You know I've been thinking a lot about Thomas since Taylor's accident." Jamie looked up and watched his dad's face as he spoke. "Anyway," his father said, "I thought it was silly at the time but Andrea's story reminded me. Do you remember the trip your mother and I took up here to Boston for the reading of the will?" Jamie said, "yeah," with a nod.
"Well," his father said leaning forward resting his arms on the table, cradling his coffee cup in his hands. "I had a similar experience." Then taking a deep breath said, "Thomas came to me in a dream." Jamie thought he would fall off the bench. This was quite a revelation for his father to share. Even His father seemed shocked by his admission. Jamie looked down at his plate of mooshed pancakes; he picked at them with his fork then looked back at his father as he continued his story. "It was so real Jamie, like he was right there in the room with me. Matter of fact when I woke up I found myself sitting up in bed as if I had been sitting right there all along talking to him." Jamie watched his father, studying his face, looking into his eyes intently interested. He liked to hear about his brother, even if it was a dream; no one really talked about him much and he wanted to learn as much as possible about Thomas.
His father looked deep into Jamie's eyes, Jamie was uneasy but his father held him spellbound, drawing him in as he spoke.
"It was weird Jamie. Tom told me it wasn't my fault, he said he loved me and I should stop blaming myself. It was like this great weight was lifted off my shoulders." He sighed, "you might have noticed when I came home after that trip I was a lot happier," he let out a little chuckle, " well it wasn't all because of the inheritance. Talking to Tom, dream or not, changed me; it opened up my eyes. It was Tom and that dream that made my decision to move here. To start a new life for all of us" His dad was tearing up and trying his hardest not to. He cleared his throat and smiled at Jamie and said, " you better hurry and get ready, your mother wants to go to church this morning."
"Yeah I know... I'm going now." Jamie said, and slid off the bench from out behind the table. He smiled down at his father and said, "thanks dad."
He ran upstairs to change and passed Andrea in the hallway. He wondered was last night real or was he just dreaming too. Looking side eyed at his sister he was not sure how to react to her, he watched her apprehensively as he tried to hide behind his eyes. "G'morning Jamie," she said smiling at him and gave him a quick one arm hug. Jamie's face lit up with such a smile his face hurt, he hugged her back and said, "G'morning sis." It's true, he thought, it's true.
After church Jamie went to moping around in his room. He tried to distract himself from thoughts of Taylor, but he was unsuccessful. No matter how hard he tried Taylor kept barging in on his thoughts.
It was one o-clock when his mother called him to Sunday dinner which she typically served early afternoon on Sundays. Jamie didn't have much of an appetite though. He wished he could run off to find Taylor and go horseback riding through the forest in their Terabithia. God did he miss her.
The talk at the table was stiff and awkwardly muted. Nobody felt like saying much. Everyone seemed to be thinking about Taylor though, since whenever there was conversation it was about her or something to do with her. It only made Jamie's heart ache that much more.
After dinner Jamie's dad had some errands to run but told Jamie he would take him to see Taylor later on. Jamie wasn't so sure he wanted to visit Taylor. Seeing her all busted up like she was was too painful for him. She probably wouldn't even know he was there anyway. Besides, she wouldn't want to see him since it was his fault she was hurt.
Later on, Andrea went looking for Jamie, she found him sitting alone in the tree house; She came up under him as he dangled his legs from the deck where he sat.
"May I come up?" She asked him, "I've got your book." She held it up to show him. Jamie could see his sister was sniffling and she looked like she had been crying.
"I just finished reading it, it's so sad, I think now I know how you feel."
"Yeah, come on up," he said. She came up and sat next to him in Taylor's place. Before they made up last night Jamie would have killed her for sitting in Taylor's spot, but now he was ok with it.
"Hi," she said as she was sitting down.
"Hi," he said, and smiled at her. He was feeling particularly close to Andrea today. Thomas had been right: he did need her.
"So," she said, "I know you like to run and you have a weird friend and you are a dumb dodo, no offence," she laughed, "but I didn't know you liked to draw."
"Yeah, I do, more then just about anything."
"How come no one knew?"
"I thought it was weird and silly so I kept it a secret, Taylor is the only one who knows, well... and now you."
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Jamie stared off into the forest finding serenity there; it had a calming effect on him. He thought of it as Terabithian magic. Andrea watched her troubled brother and wished she could do more to help him.
"So Jamie," she said breaking the silence, "I found an interesting thing in that book that has me wondering."
"Yeah, What's that?"
"Do you remember that riddle I told you last night?"
"Yeah, the one from Thomas?"
"Yeah, that's the one, do you remember it?"
"Yeah, I've been thinking about what it might mean."
"How does it go?" She asked.
"It goes like this," he said, and then recited the riddle.
"The wise old friend is who to see
When seeking one with no TV
Call its name n touch a tree
Then bow down to royalty.
""Well," Andrea said holding out the book for emphasis, " there's a part in the book about the girl, you know, Leslie. Well there's this part about her not having a TV, and everyone laughed at her. Do you think that has anything to do with Thomas' riddle, or is it a coincidence?"
He looked at Andrea, his face had a blank expression that turned to a look of concentration and then to a look of recognition.
"That's it Andrea, it's a message about Taylor, I just know it, I'm sure of it. Taylor and I were riding in Terabith...I mean the woods when Taylor was hurt, and then Les..."
"Then Les what? What are you talking about?"
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking of something that...Never mind."
He didn't want to tell Andrea of his meeting with Leslie in the woods, at least not yet. She might think he's lost his mind and not help him.
"Ok," Andrea said, she looked at him with a raised eyebrow; she was a bit confused but let it go by without comment.
There was a pause, then Jamie decided to tell Andrea about how he and Taylor had made their own "Terabithia" right here; right where they were sitting now, and in the woods all around them on this side of the brook.
"Wow, that's pretty cool." she said, "You two must really love this book." Andrea emphasized her comment by fanning the pages of the book.
"Yeah we do, it saved our friendship" Jamie drew a deep sad sigh, then said, "anyway, let's get back to the riddle."
Andrea looked over at Jamie and said, "ok, now if Leslie's the one with no TV then what could the rest of the riddle mean? Like who is the wise old friend?"
Andrea continued watching Jamie as he went back to his staring contest with the forest. Then, suddenly after a few moments, he snapped his head back to face Andrea and practically shouting said, "Elmonzo!"
"Who?" Andrea asked, looking puzzled and feeling like she should know the name.
"Elmonzo, the wise old friend, that must be Elmonzo." He said it out loud, more to himself then to Andrea.
"Who's Elmonzo, and where can we find him?"
Jamie wasn't quite sure how to explain Elmonzo. He imagined that Andrea would think he had completely lost his mind and probably abandon him.
"Come on, I'll take you to meet him." Jamie said standing up; he extended his hand to his sister and helped her up.
On the way to meet Elmonzo Jamie told Andrea the story Taylor had told him. It was the one about the magic garden where all the flowers and trees talked, and you could talk to them. He thought about Taylor and how she told stories. How her face would be so expressive and how she would vary her voice making it deep and low or high pitched and shrill. He tried to emulate her. He was no where near as good as Taylor but he thought he was doing ok. Judging from the look on Andrea's face he was doing pretty good, he knew that look, he had seen it on peoples faces when Taylor told stories. Taylor would be proud of me, he thought.
Jamie had timed it perfectly; he finished the story just as they came up to Elmonzo at the corner of their street. Jamie stopped and Andrea stopped beside him. Jamie turned to Andrea and said, "the end," ending his story.
"That was a good story. You're a good story teller," she said.
"It's a true story," he told her, "I learned it from Taylor. You should hear her tell a story. I saw her bring an entire fifth grade class to tears once, even the tough guys. Now who do you know that can do that?"
"Wow, no one" she said, "Taylor's that good huh?"
"Yeah, she's awesome, she's the best," Jamie choked out the words as tears invaded his eyes, he wiped them away.
Then Andrea, trying to get back on track asked, "so where do we find Elmonzo?"
"He's right here," Jamie said, patting the tree.
"Where?" Andrea asked looking around but not seeing anyone, "what are you talking about?"
Then Andrea looked on in bewilderment as Jamie gazed up into the limbs and branches of the giant elm tree and said, "Elmonzo I'd like you to meet my sister Andrea, Andrea this is Elmonzo." Andrea gaped at him, her eyes glazed as she looked from Jamie to the tree then back to Jamie again.
"Are you felling ok Jamie?" She asked, she was genuinely concerned, she was thinking that the stress of having his friend hurt and in the hospital was getting to him.
"I'm feeling ok," he said, "I didn't think you'd understand, I didn't either when Taylor introduced me to Elmonzo."
Jamie went on to explain about the spirits in nature and how he felt in the forest that first day. And if you listen you can hear the trees talk to you. But it's not like voices, he told her, it's not like talking with people, you have to feel it. You have to keep your mind open.
He had her touch Elmonzo and listen to him as he had done for Taylor. Then he recited the words that Taylor had spoken to him.
"Everything isn't black and white Andrea, sometimes there are shades of gray, and sometimes if you look hard enough, and you believe in magic; you can see all the colors of the rainbow."
He threw his arms wide as Taylor had done and looked up into Elmonzo's limbs and branches. Andrea stood in wonderment, she was moved by her brother's story and his proclamation about Elmonzo; She was no longer doubting him, she vowed to keep an open mind.
"Ok," Andrea began, "we have the wise old friend and Leslie's the girl with no TV, now who's name do we call?"
"Not who," Jamie said, "'it's' name, the riddle said call 'it's' name."
"That's right, "Andrea agreed, "so who is 'it'?"
"Remember that first day when I met Taylor?" Jamie asked Andrea.
"Yes and you thought she was a boy," she said, and laughed, remembering that day.
"Yeah, very funny." he said with a sneer.
"I'm sorry," Andrea said, and tried to stifle her laughter.
"Anyway, "Jamie continued, "for the next few days or so I thought of her as 'It', so maybe it's Taylor's name we call."
Andrea thought for a moment, then her face lit up with an idea.
"No, wait, look here," she said excitedly. She opened the book that she was still carrying ('Bridge to Terabithia') to chapter two titled 'Leslie Burke' and flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.
"Here it is," she said, "see here, Jesse didn't know if Leslie was a boy or girl either and look it says, and I quote
' "I thought we might as well be friends," ' it said.'
So you see Jamie, Jesse thought of Leslie as 'It' too."
Then Jamie added, "and touch a tree must be Elmonzo again..."
And then Andrea continued that thought with, "and Leslie and Jesse were king and queen of Terabithia, and that's royalty, so bow down to royalty must be Leslie again." Then they both looked at one and other and each drew a deep sigh; they were silent for a moment as they stood there beneath Elmonzo's sheltering branches, not sure what they should do next.
Andrea spoke up saying, "well maybe we should try it and see what happens."
"Ok," Jamie said, "who should do it, you or me?"
"It has to be you," she said poking a finger at his chest, "Thomas sent the riddle to you, so you need to do it."
"Ok, I guess that makes sense," Jamie said, then he turned to face Elmonzo. Stepping in close he placed his hands on the trunk feeling the roughness of the bark beneath them. He paused then turned his head to face Andrea and asked, "eyes open or closed?"
"I don't think it matters, Thomas never mentions it one way or the other," she said with a shrug.
"Ok," Jamie said turning to face Elmonzo again, "I'll close 'em." He closed his eyes and called out Leslie's name.
"Leslie," he called, and opened his eyes and looked around, nothing happened. He tried again with the same result.
"Maybe you need to call her full name," Andrea said, she had her doubts about this whole thing. She wasn't really expecting anyone to actually appear. She was doing this for Jamie, she felt bad for him since his girlfriend was in the hospital and in a coma. But that dream she had was so real it confounded her. So she was trying to keep an open mind.
"Ok, I'll try calling her full name," he said closing his eyes again, "here goes." Then he called out her name.
"Leslie Burke." There was a pause of a few seconds. It was deathly silent. Then a cheerful, friendly voice from behind Andrea said, "hey."
Jamie turned around and saw Andrea as she spun around and confronted the girl that stood behind her. Andrea's face went white and her eyes rolled back in her head. Jamie had turned around just in time to catch her as she fell back into his arms. He eased Andrea to the ground as he continued to stare at the girl that stood before him. She was so beautiful, possibly the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, aside from Taylor of course. There was a strange resemblance to Taylor in this girl. She had short blonde hair that fell just below her ears; her eyes sparkled, just like Taylor's, her smile showed off her straight white teeth that looked like pearls.
He thought about Taylor, she was kind of goofy and awkward looking, she still needed to grow into herself. Jamie suspected she would look very much like this girl in a few years. Taylor wasn't homely, she was cute, but she probably wouldn't be considered beautiful, not yet, although to Jamie she already was, and he missed her something awful.
The girl had a glow about her, he thought she must be an angel or something. How could she be real, this was so weird, but there she stood.
"Is she ok?" The girl asked.
"Leslie, Leslie Burke?" he asked, he felt dumb. There he was kneeling on the ground with Andrea passed out in his lap, still holding her and staring up at the girl with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bugging out. He had that stunned deer in the headlight look.
"Yes, I'm Leslie Burke," she said as she knelt down next to Andrea. "You must be Jamie," she said, then she asked again," is she ok?" Andrea started coming around.
"Yeah," he said, "I think she just fainted."
Andrea sat up and stared at Leslie, she looked to Jamie and then back at Leslie, she was thoroughly amazed.
"This is my sister Andrea," he said to Leslie, and to Andrea he said, "this is Leslie Burke."
"Hi Andrea and Jamie." Leslie said smiling a great wide smile at them.
"Ah... huh..." Andrea tried to speak but was having difficulty finding her voice, then finally she managed to say in a soft, shaky, weak little voice, "hi Leslie."
"Can you stand up?" Leslie asked.
"I think so," Andrea said, her voice still soft and timid. She attempted to stand but she was a bit wobbly; Jamie and Leslie helped her to her feet. Andrea continued to stare at Leslie with an awestruck expression plastered on her face. The three of them stood there beneath Elmonzo, Jamie and Andrea looking unbelievingly at Leslie, and Leslie smiling a sweet smile at them that conveyed the message: friend.
Then Jamie shaking himself back to his senses exclaimed, "OH!" Then nudging Andrea with his elbow said, "bow!" Leslie laughed at them as they bowed before her.
"You don't have to bow," she said, as she continued laughing.
"But...the riddle... it said bow down to royalty," Jamie said as he was straightening up.
"You don't really have to bow down, that's just silly," she said, she was still laughing, it was infectious because soon Jamie was laughing too, Andrea just stood there gawking in amazement, she was still stunned.