MERRY CHOTTER AND THE DRUM MAJOR'S STONE
By Cassie the Crazy Band Child (sorry for calling myself Callie in the last chapter… don't know where that came from!)
Rating: PG
Chapter Three
Summary: Things only get weirder for Merry and the Ürsleys.
Disclaimer: Same as usual. If I owned Harry Potter and crew, I'd be doing better things with my life than writing second-rate fan fiction.
Chapter Three
After Merry and the Ürsleys rushed out of the zoo and had a "word" with the head of security there, they went to the mall to buy Adley's team new uniforms, just as Aunt Melunia had promised. Shortly afterwards, they arrived back at 24 Rivet Place, the Ürsley's home. As Uncle Harnon read the sports section of the paper, Aunt Melunia watched the most recent cheerleading competition on TV, and Adley studied her basketball playbook for her next game, Merry went out to collect the mail.
Just as Merry approached the mailbox used by the Ürsleys and seven of their neighbours, the Polades Post Office mail truck pulled up. The mail carrier, having seen Merry before and heard nasty rumours about her from the people of Polades, knew that she had come for the Ürsley's mail. He silently handed her a bundle of sports magazines for Uncle Harnon, the field hockey field mum snack schedule for Aunt Melunia, and a new mouthguard for Adley.
Among the mail, however, was something new, Merry noticed as she pried open the Ürsley's door with her foot. The address read, in elegant calligraphy much like that used in the 18th century:
Merry Chotter
The Drippy Cupboard Beneath the Sink
24 Rivet Drive
Polades, Maryland 21014 (A/N: I know that's the ZIP for Bel Air, MD, but it's close enough!)
USA
Merry tossed the rest of the mail down on Harnon, Melunia, and Adley's TV dinner trays as she slid her finger under the flap of the letter to open it.
Adley jumped up, snatching it from her hand. "Daddy! Daddy! Merry's got a letter!"
Uncle Harnon looked up in shock. "The little~" he started.
Merry jumped to her own defense. It was becoming increasingly obvious that no one else was going to. "It's mine! It has my name on it!"
"YOU TWIT!" Uncle Harnon screamed. "Give me that letter! NOW!" Before waiting for her permission, Merry's uncle grabbed the piece of mail out of her hands.
Merry shrieked softly, then ran for the kitchen to curl up in her cabinet. Just as she was about to climb in, twenty or thirty letters, identical to the one Uncle Harnon was throwing in the fire, flew in the back door that Adley had opened to go practice juggling a soccer ball. Almost immediately, Uncle Harnon was behind his slight niece. Merry heard the loud SLAM! of her cupboard door almost at the exact same time she felt her uncle grab the collar of her hand-me-down shirt.
"So!" he began, venting his anger quite openly. "They think they can find you in your cabinet, eh? We can stop that, you know." He paused for a moment to think, something the Ürsley family was not very practiced at doing.
"Congratulations, Merry!" Aunt Melunia cried out spontaneously. "However, you'd better get moving your things if you're going to get to sleep tonight."
"Me? Move? Where?" Merry was drowning in happiness at the thought of finally leaving the hellhole she could never call home.
"Didn't we tell you?" Aunt Melunia asked, about to crush all of Merry's hopes and dreams. "You're moving up to Adley's second-backup team dressing room in the back attic. We decided you'd outgrown that," she paused to find the "right" word, "homey cupboard beneath the sink. Start packing your bags, niece!"
*Like I've got much to pack* Merry muttered to herself as she grabbed the ragtag pillow and her mother's locket, the entire contents of her hole-in- the-wall "bedroom." In her peripheral vision, she caught Uncle Harnon giving his wife a questioning look. She flashed him another Look and some sort of hand signal in reply.
"Oh, go right ahead upstairs, dear!" Aunt Melunia said sillily as she noticed Merry watching the odd exchange between herself and her husband.
So Merry did. The second flight of stairs, a splintery wooden ladder that reached up into the Ürsley's back attic, was rather shaky, but Merry still made it up to her new residence rather safely.
~*the next day*~
The first thing that Merry Chotter saw when she opened her eyes was something wispy and white hanging over her head. At first, she thought she had finally died and gone to heaven, but she was soon to be corrected. In fact, the white "cloud" was only a soccer-sock from Adley's days in the pee- wee soccer league.
Merry glanced outside and judged from the sun that it was already six thirty in the morning. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP…" she muttered as she ran down the two flights of stairs to the kitchen. When she got there and saw Uncle Harnon and Aunt Melunia sitting at the table with no food, a sinking feeling crept into her gut.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry…" she apologized quickly and semi-earnestly. "I'll tend to breakfast right away…"
Aunt Melunia had a look of shock similar to that a first-year actor might wear in an attempt to look scared. "Child! What are you talking about? It's ADLEY'S morning to make the breakfast!"
Merry glanced over into the kitchen. Sure enough, her slightly-older cousin was busy at the stovetop, cooking up some sort of lovely petit dejeuner. When Adley heard her mother's comment, she shot daggers at Merry with her eyes. The look turned quickly to one of spun sugar when Aunt Melunia noticed, however.
The bacon, eggs, and pancakes had barely been set down on the kitchen table when the front door flew open. Uncle Harnon began to stand up to go shut it, but he was almost immediately forced back into his seat by a strong gust of wind. A baffled look dashed across his face as hundreds of letters flew in the door. A similar flock of mail coming from the fireplace met them.
Merry managed to catch one just long enough to read the address on the front. It now read:
Merry Chotter
The Backup Dressing Room in the Back Attic
24 Rivet Drive
Polades, Maryland 21014
USA
Just as it had been with the first letter, Uncle Harnon tore the post out of Merry's hand as she attempted to make a dash for her attic. Instead of sticking around to compost the mail, Uncle Harnon threw Merry under one sweaty armpit and Adley under the other. Without so much as a grunt, he carried them out to the car, Aunt Melunia following close behind.
"Well," Uncle Harnon announced decisively, "I always knew that time-share in Green Bay would come in handy one day."
If only getting away from the letters and the institution behind them was that simple.
A/N: Okay that's it for Chapter Three. Hopefully I'll have Four done soon, where I'll get Merry off to the Band School place. (Music and magic… what a dangerous combination!) Please review; I'll love you forever! Thanks to those who reviewed Chapter Two:
Rosaline:Thanks! Sorry I didn't post sooner...
Michelle: Is that your real e-mail address? Just wondering...
Crimson Angel: You're back! Yay! Glad you like it!
Kanoi: Next chapter. I promise, next chapter!
Mae-Lynn Moodle: You're back too! Yay! A clarinut? You wish!
Rannchan: Woohoo, someone's having fun laughing!
Melissa: Yay! You read something of mine besides TI! *doesn't want to come to attention*
By Cassie the Crazy Band Child (sorry for calling myself Callie in the last chapter… don't know where that came from!)
Rating: PG
Chapter Three
Summary: Things only get weirder for Merry and the Ürsleys.
Disclaimer: Same as usual. If I owned Harry Potter and crew, I'd be doing better things with my life than writing second-rate fan fiction.
Chapter Three
After Merry and the Ürsleys rushed out of the zoo and had a "word" with the head of security there, they went to the mall to buy Adley's team new uniforms, just as Aunt Melunia had promised. Shortly afterwards, they arrived back at 24 Rivet Place, the Ürsley's home. As Uncle Harnon read the sports section of the paper, Aunt Melunia watched the most recent cheerleading competition on TV, and Adley studied her basketball playbook for her next game, Merry went out to collect the mail.
Just as Merry approached the mailbox used by the Ürsleys and seven of their neighbours, the Polades Post Office mail truck pulled up. The mail carrier, having seen Merry before and heard nasty rumours about her from the people of Polades, knew that she had come for the Ürsley's mail. He silently handed her a bundle of sports magazines for Uncle Harnon, the field hockey field mum snack schedule for Aunt Melunia, and a new mouthguard for Adley.
Among the mail, however, was something new, Merry noticed as she pried open the Ürsley's door with her foot. The address read, in elegant calligraphy much like that used in the 18th century:
Merry Chotter
The Drippy Cupboard Beneath the Sink
24 Rivet Drive
Polades, Maryland 21014 (A/N: I know that's the ZIP for Bel Air, MD, but it's close enough!)
USA
Merry tossed the rest of the mail down on Harnon, Melunia, and Adley's TV dinner trays as she slid her finger under the flap of the letter to open it.
Adley jumped up, snatching it from her hand. "Daddy! Daddy! Merry's got a letter!"
Uncle Harnon looked up in shock. "The little~" he started.
Merry jumped to her own defense. It was becoming increasingly obvious that no one else was going to. "It's mine! It has my name on it!"
"YOU TWIT!" Uncle Harnon screamed. "Give me that letter! NOW!" Before waiting for her permission, Merry's uncle grabbed the piece of mail out of her hands.
Merry shrieked softly, then ran for the kitchen to curl up in her cabinet. Just as she was about to climb in, twenty or thirty letters, identical to the one Uncle Harnon was throwing in the fire, flew in the back door that Adley had opened to go practice juggling a soccer ball. Almost immediately, Uncle Harnon was behind his slight niece. Merry heard the loud SLAM! of her cupboard door almost at the exact same time she felt her uncle grab the collar of her hand-me-down shirt.
"So!" he began, venting his anger quite openly. "They think they can find you in your cabinet, eh? We can stop that, you know." He paused for a moment to think, something the Ürsley family was not very practiced at doing.
"Congratulations, Merry!" Aunt Melunia cried out spontaneously. "However, you'd better get moving your things if you're going to get to sleep tonight."
"Me? Move? Where?" Merry was drowning in happiness at the thought of finally leaving the hellhole she could never call home.
"Didn't we tell you?" Aunt Melunia asked, about to crush all of Merry's hopes and dreams. "You're moving up to Adley's second-backup team dressing room in the back attic. We decided you'd outgrown that," she paused to find the "right" word, "homey cupboard beneath the sink. Start packing your bags, niece!"
*Like I've got much to pack* Merry muttered to herself as she grabbed the ragtag pillow and her mother's locket, the entire contents of her hole-in- the-wall "bedroom." In her peripheral vision, she caught Uncle Harnon giving his wife a questioning look. She flashed him another Look and some sort of hand signal in reply.
"Oh, go right ahead upstairs, dear!" Aunt Melunia said sillily as she noticed Merry watching the odd exchange between herself and her husband.
So Merry did. The second flight of stairs, a splintery wooden ladder that reached up into the Ürsley's back attic, was rather shaky, but Merry still made it up to her new residence rather safely.
~*the next day*~
The first thing that Merry Chotter saw when she opened her eyes was something wispy and white hanging over her head. At first, she thought she had finally died and gone to heaven, but she was soon to be corrected. In fact, the white "cloud" was only a soccer-sock from Adley's days in the pee- wee soccer league.
Merry glanced outside and judged from the sun that it was already six thirty in the morning. "Crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP…" she muttered as she ran down the two flights of stairs to the kitchen. When she got there and saw Uncle Harnon and Aunt Melunia sitting at the table with no food, a sinking feeling crept into her gut.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry…" she apologized quickly and semi-earnestly. "I'll tend to breakfast right away…"
Aunt Melunia had a look of shock similar to that a first-year actor might wear in an attempt to look scared. "Child! What are you talking about? It's ADLEY'S morning to make the breakfast!"
Merry glanced over into the kitchen. Sure enough, her slightly-older cousin was busy at the stovetop, cooking up some sort of lovely petit dejeuner. When Adley heard her mother's comment, she shot daggers at Merry with her eyes. The look turned quickly to one of spun sugar when Aunt Melunia noticed, however.
The bacon, eggs, and pancakes had barely been set down on the kitchen table when the front door flew open. Uncle Harnon began to stand up to go shut it, but he was almost immediately forced back into his seat by a strong gust of wind. A baffled look dashed across his face as hundreds of letters flew in the door. A similar flock of mail coming from the fireplace met them.
Merry managed to catch one just long enough to read the address on the front. It now read:
Merry Chotter
The Backup Dressing Room in the Back Attic
24 Rivet Drive
Polades, Maryland 21014
USA
Just as it had been with the first letter, Uncle Harnon tore the post out of Merry's hand as she attempted to make a dash for her attic. Instead of sticking around to compost the mail, Uncle Harnon threw Merry under one sweaty armpit and Adley under the other. Without so much as a grunt, he carried them out to the car, Aunt Melunia following close behind.
"Well," Uncle Harnon announced decisively, "I always knew that time-share in Green Bay would come in handy one day."
If only getting away from the letters and the institution behind them was that simple.
A/N: Okay that's it for Chapter Three. Hopefully I'll have Four done soon, where I'll get Merry off to the Band School place. (Music and magic… what a dangerous combination!) Please review; I'll love you forever! Thanks to those who reviewed Chapter Two:
Rosaline:Thanks! Sorry I didn't post sooner...
Michelle: Is that your real e-mail address? Just wondering...
Crimson Angel: You're back! Yay! Glad you like it!
Kanoi: Next chapter. I promise, next chapter!
Mae-Lynn Moodle: You're back too! Yay! A clarinut? You wish!
Rannchan: Woohoo, someone's having fun laughing!
Melissa: Yay! You read something of mine besides TI! *doesn't want to come to attention*