"Do you think it matters that he said the girl who disappeared was ginger? That means red haired, right?" Beatrice asked Wirt, sitting beside her. Their backs were against the cemetery wall as they watched the strange caretaker, waiting for him to leave before they made any attempt at climbing again. At that moment the inebriated man was still wandering among the graves in their line of sight.
"Yeah, it means hair like yours," Wirt pulled one of Beatrice's red curls away from the others and let it fall again, "but I don't think it matters. Why, do you?"
Beatrice shrugged. "I'm not sure to be honest, but I've been uneasy about that story since Sara told me. Seems like something that would have been known on my side too. Why wasn't I told about a girl wandering in from your world? My mother always said the wall was magic, but until I saw you and Greg come over, I never believed her. So … why did she tell me that, but never give me a reason why?"
"What are you getting at?"
"Nothing really, I suppose. Just the fact that this mystery girl had red hair. I have red hair. Is she connected to me somehow? It seems like a stretch, I know." Beatrice paused and then shook her head. "Never mind. I think I'm just being paranoid." She exhaled loudly, mentally deriding herself for thinking too deeply into things that probably weren't connected.
Picking up a handful of snow in his hand, Wirt threw it at one of the headstones, but missed. "Actually, I'm more concerned that it seems the story is true at all," Wirt admitted. "I mean, I thought it was probably true, but now …"
"Does that make you not want to come back with me … you know ... now that it's likely the story happened?" Beatrice asked, causing Wirt to arch an eyebrow, and give her a look like he thought she was crazy. The question was dumb, she knew that, but nevertheless couldn't contain her strong need for reassurance. Small pieces of panic were still waiting inside her, left over from the meltdown he had pulled her from, and she wanted to calm them. "Please, just tell me, even if you think I'm being stupid and insecure."
Wirt sighed. "Beatrice, I'm still going home with you. This changes nothing."
"Thank you," she said and leaned her head against his shoulder. Beatrice appreciated the effort he made for her, but also hated that she needed the reassurance in the first place. "Ah, cheese and crackers, look what you've turned me into. I thought love was supposed to make you stronger, not turn you into a puddle of mush," she grumbled as her boyfriend reached around to pull her in closer, but his hand stalled on her waist.
"Love?" Wirt said, a hint of surprise in his voice.
Beatrice didn't reply right away, not understanding the significance of the word she had used until it was already out of her mouth. Did she love him? Maybe. Probably. But she was only sixteen. Not even a week had passed since they admitted their feelings for each other and that was only after a friendship that had been enabled through hearing each other's voices on tapes. It didn't seem like enough to go on for her to be admitting love.
And yet … how she felt about Wirt, resembled what she thought love should be like, but how could she be sure? "Don't read too much into that," Beatrice finally said, deciding to brush off her trip up rather than deal with it.
"Okay," Wirt responded and even if she couldn't see his face, Beatrice could hear the smile in his voice. She wanted to groan loudly at the Pandora's Box her big mouth had opened. Beatrice wasn't ready to deal with the word love. Not when there was so much else going on.
A few minutes of silence passed between them as they watched Marty move about the cemetery, and Beatrice hoped that Wirt had made the choice to let her little flub go. "Beatrice?" he eventually interrupted their quiet moment with her name.
"Yeah?" She lifted her head off his shoulder to look at him and Wirt stared back, his brown eyes intent, but in an instant his expression softened, leaving Beatrice confused. "What is it?" she asked tentatively.
"Even if you're not ready, well … what I want to say is that, I, uh, I'm okay with that word. The one you said." By the way Wirt left his sentence hanging heavy in the air, it sounded like he wasn't finished, but after waiting for him to continue and getting nothing, Beatrice realized it was her turn. She wasn't sure what to say though and only sighed. Instead of reassuring Wirt by letting him know she thought she felt the same, the words stayed put in her heart.
"I thought we weren't going to give each other any last minute goodbyes, because life was ending," Beatrice repeated Wirt's words from earlier, trying to distract him.
"This isn't me giving you a last minute goodbye. It's just me telling you something a-and you don't have to say anything back. It's okay. But I wanted to let you know that, I'm fine with that word," he replied and then grew quiet again.
Beatrice looked for, but didn't see the usual creep of a blush filling in his cheeks. His nose was red, but she attributed that to the cold. Surprisingly, Wirt seemed completely in control of his emotions, but even after seeing that, she still couldn't say anything. Expressing her feelings had always been hard for Beatrice and that word … it wasn't something she felt capable of saying. At least not yet.
She could though show him and Beatrice surprised Wirt by wrapping her arms around his waist and moving in for a kiss. When their lips met, she felt the outside cold instantly dissipate as his warmth covered her, but Wirt pulled away too soon. "Wait. We can't do this out here. What if Marty sees? Do you really want his beady bloodshot eyes staring at us while we make out?"
Beatrice glanced back to where she had last seen Marty and noticed he was gone. "Weird cemetery man isn't around anymore," she grinned and moved in to press her mouth against his again.
"Beatrice, if he's not watching then we should climb the wall, don't you think?" Wirt said, moving his body away from hers. She whined playfully, pushing her hand against his chest in mild irritation, a reaction that caused a grin to spread over his lips. "Well, if I had a choice I'd rather be doing what we were doing, but," he paused and motioned towards the wall, "It's what we came here for. It's what we've been waiting to do since your wrist and ankle healed."
He was right. She knew it and with an exaggerated sigh Beatrice stood, offering her hand to him. Wirt took it and once he was at her height, Beatrice stunned him by pushing his body up against the wall with her own. Then she gave him a quick kiss. One that made up for its briefness with its intensity. "I had to get a last one in," Beatrice said when Wirt sent her a questioning look after she had moved her body away from his.
Her eyes caught sight of a crooked smile passing over his lips, before Wirt bent down to pick up the blanket they had been sitting on and placed it back into his backpack. "Always the instigator," he quipped, reaching out to tug on a lock of her hair, but she batted his hand away. Then with a quick glance behind him, Wirt said, "Let's go, before Marty decides to grace us with his presence again."
The climb over the wall was easier than she thought it would be. There was no tumbling down to the ground in order to be in her world again, which had been the case with Wirt's side. Home had simply been there waiting once Beatrice reached the top. "Wirt, what do you see?" she asked anxiously, as they peered over together.
"The Unknown," he replied.
"The Unknown?" she repeated, not sure what he meant.
"It's what I called your world at first, because I had no name for it," Wirt answered with chagrin.
"Not very creative," she snorted, hoisting herself up to sit on the ledge and dangle her legs over the other side. Her side.
Wirt joined Beatrice and sat down beside her. "Well, I hope it won't be unknown for much longer. If this works, then I'm assuming I'll be spending more time over on your side with you."
Beatrice didn't say anything in response. Apprehension was twisting in her gut and keeping her silent. She hoped he was right, but mentioning that out loud felt almost like a form of bad luck. Instead, Beatrice carefully maneuvered her body to begin the slow descent back home, with Wirt following her down. The bricks were just like she remembered, uneven and jagged, but Wirt had lent her some gloves, so this time she avoided any ripped fingernails.
When the ground was at last reached, Beatrice kicked her boots in the mud that greeted her feet. The pools of dirt were the result of an early thaw. Most of the snow was gone, unlike Wirt's side, where winter was still in full force. But other than that, everything seemed the same and the wall was still the wall she had come to nearly every day in search of Wirt's tapes.
She felt slightly unnerved at how easy coming back had been and turned to Wirt, who had finally joined her at the wall's bottom. "Why do you suppose it was so simple this time for me to cross over? Before, I had walked all along the wall, hoping to see where you lived, but it had taken a fall for me to actually be there."
He was quiet for a minute, his expression thoughtful and then grasping Beatrice hand, Wirt replied, "If I had to guess, I'd say it's rooted in emotion. I was trying to get away from the embarrassment of Sara finding my tape and showing it to Funderberker when I first wandered into your world. I was so upset that I climbed the wall and didn't even notice that I wasn't in the same place anymore. And when I came back, I was determined to get Greg home, because I cared about keeping him safe. So … maybe love? Your love for your family? Your love for Henry?"
"Your love for Sara?" And my love for you, Beatrice mused.
"What? I didn't love Sara," Wirt contested.
"But you thought you did. Maybe that's all it takes. You love strongly and it pushes the wall to give you what it thinks you want." It was an idea that seemed plausible. The wall had delivered Wirt's tape and Greg's drawing to her, resulting in the start of their relationship. Maybe it had been a friendly love between her and Wirt at first, but it was still love, and when she crossed over into his world, Beatrice didn't realize her love had transformed into something stronger. That must have been the reason why it had taken a violent fall to push her past the barrier. She needed that shock to discover the truth. "That was some very impressive brain work," Beatrice complimented. "I never would have come to the conclusion that it was love."
"Thanks," he replied, smiling.
"Well, I shouldn't have expected anything less from a nerd," Beatrice couldn't help, but tease, and Wirt returned her insult with a morose expression. "Come on, my house isn't too far a walk from here," she said, ignoring the look he gave her and tugging on his hand for him to follow. Wirt fell into step with Beatrice and before long they were standing outside her house. But as they approached, she didn't hear the usual hustle and bustle that was typical when you lived with five brothers and two sisters. "It's so quiet," Beatrice commented, but just as she finished speaking, the sound of a low bark came from somewhere behind them. "George?" she called, whirling about.
"George?" Wirt asked.
"My dog. Well, the family dog. I've told you about him before, Wirt," Beatrice replied, glancing around anxiously.
"Maybe I blocked it out. I hate dogs," he groaned.
Beatrice looked at him askance. "You don't like dogs? What kind of monster are you?"
"One that's allergic to dogs. I'm never around them, because of my allergy, so I don't know how to deal with them," he replied and then took off his backpack to fish something out. Beatrice looked at the small device he held in his hand. It looked unfamiliar. "It's an inhaler. It'll make my time with George bearable," he answered her unasked question.
Then as if hearing Wirt say his name, George came running out of the forest, his eyes locking with Beatrice's. He pounced and forced her to the ground with a thud. "Ouch, you dumb dog," she complained as his large tongue began lapping her face. "You're so gross."
As he had mentioned, Wirt wasn't familiar with dogs and even if Beatrice was well aware that George was only playing, her boyfriend didn't. "Bad dog, George. Bad dog! Get off of, um … her …" She heard him say, but then Wirt gulped loudly as George left Beatrice to attend to the new stranger in his presence. "Uh, Beatrice, uh … a little … a little help … help me!" Wirt panicked.
She pulled herself off the ground and scolded George, who had taken to staring the unfamiliar human down, baring his teeth, and growling. "Stay away from him. Stop it. No!" She stepped in front of Wirt to protect him, but suddenly there wasn't any need for her defense, because George's attention shifted away to something else. Beatrice turned her head to look in the direction the dog was staring and gasped when she saw Henry. Her youngest brother was standing near one of the trees, obviously having followed a runaway George.
"Beatrice?" he said in soft surprise, but his voice instantly grew louder as he shouted, "She's here! Beatrice is here!" Then Henry escaped the distance between them by running into an embrace with her. "You didn't come back. You said you'd be right back."
Beatrice fell on her knees to be at Henry's level and pulled him in tighter. "I'm sorry. Things got complicated, but I'm back now. I'm back," she said, while holding onto her little brother. Then Beatrice heard her name being spoken again, and looking over Henry's shoulder, she saw all of her siblings stepping out of the woods.
Were they searching for me?
"Hi," she replied, not sure who the male voice belonged to. All her brothers sounded alike.
"Where have you been? And who is he?" Her brother Andrew was only a year younger than her, but somehow he managed to look much older and was now pointing at Wirt accusingly. "Are you the one that took my sister?"
"Don't be ridiculous," Beatrice snorted. "Wirt is my-"
"So, you took Beatrice, Wirt? Is that your name?" Andrew rudely spoke over her.
"Yes, I uh …" Wirt stumbled through his words as her brother came up and using his large fists, grasped Wirt's collar to jerk him closer.
"Yes, you took my sister?" Andrew's voice was dangerously dark.
"No, no, I'm not, I mean, yes, I'm Wirt. No, Beatrice is-" Wirt's voice cracked in fear.
"Cut it out, Andrew. Let him go," Beatrice growled, pushing on his shoulder, but it was like she wasn't even there. He didn't feel threatened by her in the least and Beatrice knew she would have to get his attention another way. Removing her glove, she balled her hand and knocked her knuckles hard into Andrew's nose. Her brother instantly dropped Wirt, no longer using his hands to intimidate, but to protect his face from his sister.
"Ahhh, Beatrice. What's wrong with you? I'm just trying to protect you," Andrew replied angrily, his voice muffled through his fingers.
"Protect me from Wirt?" Beatrice asked, coming back to her boyfriend and helping him stand by placing an arm around his back. The green color of his face made her afraid he might faint. "Look at him you idiot. He isn't capable of kidnapping me and even if he had, why would he bring me back here. Think you meathead."
"Well, then who is he? And why have you been gone for a week if it wasn't because of him?"
Beatrice sighed. This wasn't exactly the scene she had envisioned happening upon returning. She thought there might be trouble for her, but Wirt was never supposed to be in the line of fire. "Well, it's partly, because of him, but not in the way you're thinking. Wirt is, well, it's hard to explain, but the short story is, he didn't take me. I went to see him. You see, we're courting and also … I love him."
Wirt glanced at her, the use of the word love not going unnoticed by him, and the color of his face appeared to return to normal. Her siblings on the other hand made various noises, some of confusion and others of disgust - which were mostly from her younger brothers. But then one sound rose above all the others. It was her mother, walking out of the trees with Beatrice's father at her side. "Beatrice?" she spoke as if she didn't believe she was actually there.
"Hello," she said softly, not knowing what would happen now that they had arrived. Worry filled Beatrice that this would be the beginning of the end. She would have to say goodbye to Wirt. But all her trepidation was put to rest in an instant when neither scolded her, but instead rushed to pull their daughter into an embrace. It was an action that unfortunately shoved Wirt aside, and caused him to fall to the ground.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Beatrice's mother apologized, pulling away from Beatrice to help Wirt back up.
"N-no problem," he replied, brushing his pants off.
Beatrice went to stand by Wirt's side again and placed an arm around waist and he did likewise. "Mother, Father, I want you to meet Wirt. We're courting and also … he lives on the other side of the garden wall."