Chapter 4
Shelli looked at the letter she held in her hands. It was sealed with her father's seal. Carefully, she tucked it behind her belt. She was too nervous to read it just, yet, but it was nice to have something from her father so close. Instead, she pushed her feelings about the letter aside and smiled up at Gusto. "I've missed you."
"Missed me? I didn't go anywhere." He answered.
"No, but you did spend all your time with Josi," she replied. Quickly she added, "not that I blame you! But I did miss spending time with you."
"Really?" asked Gusto with a smile. "What did you miss?"
"Well certainly not being covered in paint, that's for sure! But I do miss watching the sunset with you."
Gusto laughed at the memory of the paint incident. "I hear there is a sunset this evening. We can catch that one."
"Great! It's a date. Don't you get caught up on some masterpiece and stand me up or else I'll force feed you Grammi's stinkweed stew."
Gusto was beginning to feel a bit nervous. From the way Shelli was talking it sounded like she wanted him to court her. He would love to but was afraid to scare her off. However, he didn't want Shelli to know any of this so used humor to cover his feelings. "Yuck! I'd rather eat my own cooking!"
Just then Marina and Tummi came walking down the hall. They stopped their conversation to listen to Shelli and Gusto's. Marina couldn't help but laugh out loud. "You'll be surprised, Gusto. My mom has been teaching Grammi some new recipes and we get to try them out for dinner.
"I already have been trying them," said Tummi. "They are delicious!"
"Yeah, so much so that Grammi had to make another batch of pumpkin fudge. Tummi ate most of it."
"You helped!" said Tummi in his own defense. "I'm not the only one around here that likes good food anymore."
"That's right," agreed Marina. "Having a cook for a mother has its perks. But at least I can make what I eat so I can replace the portions I eat. I'll tell you what, I'll put together a picnic dinner for you two tonight."
"That would be wonderful," exclaimed Shelli. "Can I help?"
"No, thank you. The only thing I need help with is learning my way around here." She smiled up at Tummi and patted his cheek. "Tummi here is helping me out in that department."
The praise made Tummi blush. He wasn't used to getting this kind of attention unless someone was trying to chase him out of the kitchen. Sure, Cubbi played with him, but Cubbi was so much younger. It was nice to have someone his own age to spend time with. Gusto tried, but he was usually painting or lately spending time with Shelli.
"Come on, Marina. I want to show you my bottled ship collection." Tummi said.
"That sounds wonderful," she replied. To Gusto and Shelli, "we'll see you two later."
~:~
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming along?!" demanded a miffed Arrow to Josi. She thought he was going to stay at Gummi Glen and spend time with his brother but instead he came with her to see the other Barbics.
"Josi!" squealed an excited Rusti when he and Arrow caught up to the rest of the group. The young cub ran up to him and jumped. He caught her in the air and swung her up to his shoulders.
"Hey Brat!" greeted Josi before turning back to Arrow. "I honestly didn't know I was going to come along. Talking with my brother helped a lot, though. He made me see that I couldn't leave my two favorite girls behind."
Although Arrow was pleased and flattered that Josi was coming along to stay with her she didn't like not being in control. "Well, now that you are with us you are going to have to learn a few things."
"Like what?"
"Like how to defend yourself. We can't spend all of our time looking out for you so you are going to have to learn to look out for yourself."
"You mean I can't hire you to be my personal body guard?" asked Josi with a hopeful look. Rusti giggled at his remark and he tickled her leg.
"I'm serious Josi!" Arrow was getting angry that he wasn't taking her seriously. "Sunni will have to learn, too. Sunni! Come on over here."
The yellow cub complied but came over cautiously. Arrow's tone of voice was rather short and she wasn't sure why. She hoped it didn't mean trouble. "What's up, Arrow?"
"I'm going to teach you and Josi how to defend yourselves," Arrow announced determanly. She was so caught up in the idea of teaching the non- Barbics how to defend themselves that Arrow didn't notice the look of relief on Sunni's face. Surprisingly, both Sunni and Josi turned out to be attentive students. The time seemed to fly by as she instructed her two new students on the theories, rights, and wrongs of defending oneself. By the time they made camp that night her students seemed ready to learn a few moves.
~:~
The activity of the gummi camp caught the attention of the furies as they flew by. The wind spirits swept low to watch the strange creatures on the ground. Two of the sisters quickly became bored and flew off, but one stayed behind. The remaining furie decided to stay with the traveling gummies and see what kind of trouble she could stir up.
The remaining four furies left their sister behind to find something more interesting. Music drifting up from a gypsy camp caught their attention. Here, one furie stayed while the other left to find some mischief of her own. Another was lured by the pull of magic coming from Lady Bane's castle. Another was interested with the brutish ogres led by a human. The last made it's way to Gummi Glen.
~:~
"So what are you going to do now?" asked Zummi to Captain Chummi.
"Well, I've told many bears about you Glens here. They know it can be dangerous but many are willing to start a colony right here and rebuild Gummi Glen. I was told to make sure it was alright with you first since you are the caretakers."
"Just how many bears are we talking about here?" Gruffi wanted to know.
"That all depends. A few families at first. If things go well more will come. If it is too dangerous then we can at least set up the next generation of Glen caretakers. You bears here are doing a fantastic job but we need to think of the future here."
Grammi sighed. She hated any reminder that she was getting older but it couldn't be stopped. "You're right. Besides, it would be nice to see some more fresh faces around here."
Both Zummi and Gruffi agreed with Grammi.
"Great! It's settled! We'll head out tomorrow. Now that we aren't searching for lost bears the trip will be much faster. We can be back here with the colonists in six weeks." Chummi was excited. It had been years since the glens helped him repair his airship when it crashed near their home. Ever since then he had wanted to do something to repay them. He felt bringing them some company just might do the trick.
~:~
Marina sought out Tummi right before dinner. It wasn't all that difficult since he had been hanging out near the kitchen. "Have you heard?" she asked him.
"Heard what? My stomach growling?"
Marina shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Don't you think about anything besides food?"
"Not much," replied Tummi sheepishly," except for maybe sailing."
That brought Marina back to the reason she was looking for him in the first place. "We are leaving in the morning Tummi. We are going to bring colonists to the Glen."
"That's great! Gummi Glen's halls feel rather lonely sometimes with only the few of us here. It needs more gummies." Tummi's jolly attitude sobered up quickly, however. "I just wish I could go with you."
"I know. That is why I was looking for you. The airship isn't the kind of sailing you are interested in but my uncle is a captain of a real ship. I know that with as much knowledge as you have in sailing that he would be happy to make you part of his crew."
"A real ship?" Tummi asked in disbelief. Marina smiled and nodded. "But that would mean leaving Gummi Glen." Tummi went quiet and a thoughtful look overcame him. "I'll have to think about it."
Marina understood what he was going through. She, too, had to make the same decision before boarding the airship. She had friends and more family back home but she wanted to see the world. "Just remember that we leave in the morning and if you decide to go you can always come back to visit."
Tummi nodded but didn't say anything. Instead he went to his room to decide if tonight was going to be his last night at the Glen.
Shelli looked at the letter she held in her hands. It was sealed with her father's seal. Carefully, she tucked it behind her belt. She was too nervous to read it just, yet, but it was nice to have something from her father so close. Instead, she pushed her feelings about the letter aside and smiled up at Gusto. "I've missed you."
"Missed me? I didn't go anywhere." He answered.
"No, but you did spend all your time with Josi," she replied. Quickly she added, "not that I blame you! But I did miss spending time with you."
"Really?" asked Gusto with a smile. "What did you miss?"
"Well certainly not being covered in paint, that's for sure! But I do miss watching the sunset with you."
Gusto laughed at the memory of the paint incident. "I hear there is a sunset this evening. We can catch that one."
"Great! It's a date. Don't you get caught up on some masterpiece and stand me up or else I'll force feed you Grammi's stinkweed stew."
Gusto was beginning to feel a bit nervous. From the way Shelli was talking it sounded like she wanted him to court her. He would love to but was afraid to scare her off. However, he didn't want Shelli to know any of this so used humor to cover his feelings. "Yuck! I'd rather eat my own cooking!"
Just then Marina and Tummi came walking down the hall. They stopped their conversation to listen to Shelli and Gusto's. Marina couldn't help but laugh out loud. "You'll be surprised, Gusto. My mom has been teaching Grammi some new recipes and we get to try them out for dinner.
"I already have been trying them," said Tummi. "They are delicious!"
"Yeah, so much so that Grammi had to make another batch of pumpkin fudge. Tummi ate most of it."
"You helped!" said Tummi in his own defense. "I'm not the only one around here that likes good food anymore."
"That's right," agreed Marina. "Having a cook for a mother has its perks. But at least I can make what I eat so I can replace the portions I eat. I'll tell you what, I'll put together a picnic dinner for you two tonight."
"That would be wonderful," exclaimed Shelli. "Can I help?"
"No, thank you. The only thing I need help with is learning my way around here." She smiled up at Tummi and patted his cheek. "Tummi here is helping me out in that department."
The praise made Tummi blush. He wasn't used to getting this kind of attention unless someone was trying to chase him out of the kitchen. Sure, Cubbi played with him, but Cubbi was so much younger. It was nice to have someone his own age to spend time with. Gusto tried, but he was usually painting or lately spending time with Shelli.
"Come on, Marina. I want to show you my bottled ship collection." Tummi said.
"That sounds wonderful," she replied. To Gusto and Shelli, "we'll see you two later."
~:~
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming along?!" demanded a miffed Arrow to Josi. She thought he was going to stay at Gummi Glen and spend time with his brother but instead he came with her to see the other Barbics.
"Josi!" squealed an excited Rusti when he and Arrow caught up to the rest of the group. The young cub ran up to him and jumped. He caught her in the air and swung her up to his shoulders.
"Hey Brat!" greeted Josi before turning back to Arrow. "I honestly didn't know I was going to come along. Talking with my brother helped a lot, though. He made me see that I couldn't leave my two favorite girls behind."
Although Arrow was pleased and flattered that Josi was coming along to stay with her she didn't like not being in control. "Well, now that you are with us you are going to have to learn a few things."
"Like what?"
"Like how to defend yourself. We can't spend all of our time looking out for you so you are going to have to learn to look out for yourself."
"You mean I can't hire you to be my personal body guard?" asked Josi with a hopeful look. Rusti giggled at his remark and he tickled her leg.
"I'm serious Josi!" Arrow was getting angry that he wasn't taking her seriously. "Sunni will have to learn, too. Sunni! Come on over here."
The yellow cub complied but came over cautiously. Arrow's tone of voice was rather short and she wasn't sure why. She hoped it didn't mean trouble. "What's up, Arrow?"
"I'm going to teach you and Josi how to defend yourselves," Arrow announced determanly. She was so caught up in the idea of teaching the non- Barbics how to defend themselves that Arrow didn't notice the look of relief on Sunni's face. Surprisingly, both Sunni and Josi turned out to be attentive students. The time seemed to fly by as she instructed her two new students on the theories, rights, and wrongs of defending oneself. By the time they made camp that night her students seemed ready to learn a few moves.
~:~
The activity of the gummi camp caught the attention of the furies as they flew by. The wind spirits swept low to watch the strange creatures on the ground. Two of the sisters quickly became bored and flew off, but one stayed behind. The remaining furie decided to stay with the traveling gummies and see what kind of trouble she could stir up.
The remaining four furies left their sister behind to find something more interesting. Music drifting up from a gypsy camp caught their attention. Here, one furie stayed while the other left to find some mischief of her own. Another was lured by the pull of magic coming from Lady Bane's castle. Another was interested with the brutish ogres led by a human. The last made it's way to Gummi Glen.
~:~
"So what are you going to do now?" asked Zummi to Captain Chummi.
"Well, I've told many bears about you Glens here. They know it can be dangerous but many are willing to start a colony right here and rebuild Gummi Glen. I was told to make sure it was alright with you first since you are the caretakers."
"Just how many bears are we talking about here?" Gruffi wanted to know.
"That all depends. A few families at first. If things go well more will come. If it is too dangerous then we can at least set up the next generation of Glen caretakers. You bears here are doing a fantastic job but we need to think of the future here."
Grammi sighed. She hated any reminder that she was getting older but it couldn't be stopped. "You're right. Besides, it would be nice to see some more fresh faces around here."
Both Zummi and Gruffi agreed with Grammi.
"Great! It's settled! We'll head out tomorrow. Now that we aren't searching for lost bears the trip will be much faster. We can be back here with the colonists in six weeks." Chummi was excited. It had been years since the glens helped him repair his airship when it crashed near their home. Ever since then he had wanted to do something to repay them. He felt bringing them some company just might do the trick.
~:~
Marina sought out Tummi right before dinner. It wasn't all that difficult since he had been hanging out near the kitchen. "Have you heard?" she asked him.
"Heard what? My stomach growling?"
Marina shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Don't you think about anything besides food?"
"Not much," replied Tummi sheepishly," except for maybe sailing."
That brought Marina back to the reason she was looking for him in the first place. "We are leaving in the morning Tummi. We are going to bring colonists to the Glen."
"That's great! Gummi Glen's halls feel rather lonely sometimes with only the few of us here. It needs more gummies." Tummi's jolly attitude sobered up quickly, however. "I just wish I could go with you."
"I know. That is why I was looking for you. The airship isn't the kind of sailing you are interested in but my uncle is a captain of a real ship. I know that with as much knowledge as you have in sailing that he would be happy to make you part of his crew."
"A real ship?" Tummi asked in disbelief. Marina smiled and nodded. "But that would mean leaving Gummi Glen." Tummi went quiet and a thoughtful look overcame him. "I'll have to think about it."
Marina understood what he was going through. She, too, had to make the same decision before boarding the airship. She had friends and more family back home but she wanted to see the world. "Just remember that we leave in the morning and if you decide to go you can always come back to visit."
Tummi nodded but didn't say anything. Instead he went to his room to decide if tonight was going to be his last night at the Glen.