Chapter Two
"Give him a chance.He'll come around,"Brittany said, lying back on the sofa in The Chipettes' dressing room and sipping a mineral water.
Eleanor stared forlornly at the large,lit mirror while she spoke,as though she were talking to her reflection.But she addressed her oldest sister,regardless."It's not chance,but choice.There's nothing really tying us together.We're not engaged or anything,we're not even going steady.I'm crazy about Theodore and I want this to work out for us,but..."
"But,what?"
"But...But I...I won't wait for him,not forever.I can't."
Eleanor knew she would stand by her decision,despite the wrenching in her heart at merely saying it.Leaving Theodore for someone else,even if it was because of his indecision,was,like killing someone,possible,but she didn't want to do it."He's got to show more initiative,"she went on."He's got to want to be closer,too,or else why are we together now?"She found herself overwrought and tried to calm herself down."Love really hurts,sometimes,"she sighed.
"Yeah,but you know how he is,"Brittany reminded.
"Yeah.Oooh,that Theodore!"Eleanor started again."One minute,I just want to hold him like he's my own personal Teddy Bear,and the next,I want to give him my own personal recipe for a knuckle sandwich.He drives me crazy,sometimes."
"I know he's a little clueless,"Jeanette advised from the other side of the room,listening to Simon and Alvin tuning their guitars through the closed door."But you can't say he doesn't have a good heart,Ellie.Deep down,he wants the same thing,too.He probably just doesn't want to hurt you.He's really thinking about you."
Eleanor thought about that.Jeanette's wisdom often eclipsed her intelligence,and as sisters,her council was rarely taken with a grain of salt by Eleanor.So she wondered if,indeed,she may have been too forceful with Theodore's feelings,too aggressive.
"Great,"she muttered."Now I feel like a First-class heel."
"No!"Jeanette tried to placate,not wanting anyone to feel guilty."Sorry,I just-"
"No,"the blonde said quietly,turning around to face them."That's alright,you guys.You're probably right.Maybe it's just not our time yet."Then she got up and went to the door."I'll see you later."
"Where are you going?"Jeanette asked from beside her.
"For a walk.To clear my head."
"Okay,"Brittany called out."But don't forget.Soundcheck."
"Yeah,okay,"Eleanor assured,not bothering to hide her depression.Then she departed.
Brittany and Jeanette just look uncomfortable and worryingly at each other.Boy trouble always seemed a dicey subject to tackle nowadays.Especially as they were getting older.Hormones,peer pressure and,in their case,some surfacing instincts,only promised more rocky roads and surprises to come.
The young Human woman in the pea-green dress strode with some uncertainty through one of the Gothic doorways that led to one of the rosebush-walled paths that ended in the palace's courtyard.
In the courtyard's distant center,was a tall marble fountain,flowing water up in prancing,high arcs,like joyous horses.And sitting along the edge,basking in the cool mist it gave,was Theodore.
He had his eyes closed and was tapping in a fast,complex rhythm with his drumsticks.He lost himself in the rapid-fire staccato he was no doubt practicing,but what marveled his audience of one was the practiced speed of the taps on the marble rim.Not the clumsy hammerings of an amateur,his precise control and timing allowed for him to virtually tattoo his beats with the tips of the sticks in an incredibly soft and impressively swift tippity-tap sound.
She decided to approach,but quietly,so as not to disturb him,watching the sticks blur to an arm strength that belied his build.
Sitting a few feet from him,she cleared her throat and spoke."I'm sorry to bother you."
The sound broke him from his rhythm trance and he swiveled his green eyes for the source as he became more aware.He saw her seconds later and apologized.
"I didn't meant to disturb you,"she went again."I'm part of the entertainment that's performing here.It's too late to call my agent now and I don't know where my room is.Since I've noticed you around here,I thought you could help me."
"Hmm?Oh,uh,you're probably staying with the others and me."Theodore said."That's here on this side of the palace.You don't have far to walk,ma'am."
The woman brightened at that."Well,thank you very much,young man."Then she reached into and fumbled around in her purse for something."I was going to get in some practice later,but maybe now's as good a time as any,"she said jovially.
Theodore glanced over at her,his own desire to practice,gone.He was silently curious as to what kind of practice she would engage in.It also didn't occur to him until now to figure out who she might be.
She was a stranger,that much was obvious,but her presence and stately beauty didn't put him on alert.In fact,it was the opposite,so he felt oddly,if not pleasantly,at ease.
"I'm not dangerous,Theodore Seville,"she said,smiling.
"Oh,okay."
Then he froze."How do you know my name?"Caution kicked in his stomach,at last,and he started regretting talking to her,even if his upbringing and nature demanded he do so.Then an answer clicked and he relaxed inside.'Now I know how she knows me,'he thought,thankfully.'She's a-'
"Nope.I'm not a fan,"the woman admitted,still smiling.
Theodore looked stressed."Who are you?"he asked with as much iron as he could generate.
"Well,I'm a mentalist and a Tarot card reader by trade,"the woman said with a flourish of hair tossing."But even I get a little rusty,sometimes,so I keep in practice.Do you mind?"
"Uh,no,ma'am.Not at all.You can if you want to,"the Chipmunk nervously offered.Then he asked,"You can read minds,can't you?"
"Oh,a little,"she replied nonchalantly."Don't worry.I won't bite.By the way,when was the last time you've eaten.You look a little pale.Or does your fur always look that light?"
Theodore glanced away slightly,as if to ward off her probings."Just a lot on my mind,that's all."
"Yes,"she answered with a vacant,distant look in her eyes."I'm beginning to see."
Theodore decided it was enough.She was a nice enough person,but his thoughts were his own,no matter how troubled.He didn't feel like getting up and moving away,so he tried something else.
He filled his mind's eye with an image,a closed door.And when that didn't satisfy his desire for privacy,he gradually conjured up and iron one,laced with heavy chain.But the thoughts were beginning to waver when other thoughts began to enter his mind from the edges.
"How long have you-"the woman was about to ask,when a singular image,overwhelming and sudden,caught her attention."A door?A...gate?No,it's..."The ghostly visage of a blonde girl wavered in front of the mental barrier.Disappearing and then reappearing more clearly."Elise?"she vacantly pursued."Elaine...Ellen...Eleanore...Eleanor."
Theodore relaxed his body and released the barrier he hastily threw up,now that it failed to keep her out."Please,ma'am.Don't pry,"he said quietly."I don't want to sound mean,but you're being awfully rude."
The woman ignored him."You feel love for her.She's holding out her hand,reaching out for you,but she doesn't seem to be getting closer."She came out of her trance and regarded him."Your girlfriend?"
"Yeah,"he answered downcast and not understanding why he answered.
"Not sure?"she asked softly.
"Oh,I'm sure,"he said quickly,as the fear of him not being sure suddenly struck him fast."I just...don't know for how long."
"What do you mean?"
In the back of his mind,Theodore kept half-asking himself why he was telling her all of this.He had always been a bit shy,but also,he could be open when he acquired the trust of someone,sometimes.Right now,he felt a need to tell.He just didn't know whether it was because she was somehow making him or if he really wanted to get this of his chest.In the end,he decided it wouldn't hurt for her to know.Shutting her out seemed futile and energy wasting.
"Well,"he said."She...she wants our relationship to be a little more,but I'm-"
"Afraid?"
"Oh,no!Not of any commitment sorta thing,just,uh...just of..."
"Being closer."
"Yeah,"he admitted under his breath."Aside from the occasional peck on the cheek,it's never really been that heavy."
"Don't you want it to be?"she hazarded.
He turned away from her and cast his eyes down."My heart wants to,a whole lot,but,my head sorta keeps telling me that I am what I am.I've had girls kinda like me before,but with them or with Ellie,I know it probably wouldn't get far.That I'll mess it up,somehow.I don't know."
The woman just looked at him,deep in thought.She didn't need to use her gifts to feel his angst,and it felt deep and conflicting.She reached into her purse and took out a deck of ornately colored cards.
"Would you like me to show you your fortune,Theodore?"she asked as she turned the deck facedown and spread it out in an orderly,overlapping curve between the two of them on the fountain's rim."Who knows?Maybe your heart will finally do the driving for awhile."
"I guess,"Theodore said as he turned to face her and the prone cards.
"I know this isn't how I normally read the cards,but I want you to pick two cards from the deck,"the woman told him."Don't show me or tell me what they are."
Theodore reached over and began to make a decision to pick based on whatever reasons felt good to him at the moment,but the woman spoke up,saying,"Don't choose.Don't think.Just pick them."
He did as he was asked and looked at them,puzzled by whatever cryptic message was hidden in the Tarot's art and title.
"I don't understand what they mean,"he said.But as he looked up to see her,she was gone.He looked around and found her already halfway across the path back to the palace.He repeated more loudly to her.
From the distance,she stopped,and with a slight smile,turned in his direction."When you see them,ask Simon and Jeanette about their meaning.They'll tell you!"she called out.Then she departed without another word.
Theodore knew enough about fortune tellers from late night television to know that whatever she was telling him,or wanted to tell him,would or should be heeded very closely.He gathered his drumsticks but still sat on the rim,filling his mind with the sound of the water as he meditated absently on what kind of fate was written on the two cards he held in his sixteen year old hands.
The grass-carpeted ridge that overlooked the vast,beautiful vista of Bulgravia's Crown Valley made its reputation as a scenic wonder more credible by the moment.
Alvin stood about a few feet from the grassy edge,taking full view of the valley.Stretched out in the vista,he could see the ridge on the far side,verdant and heavy with woods,leading towards the small,distant chain of peaks that faded in and out of sight from the bluish,foggy mists that shrouded them.
Below spanned the green and rocky valley walls that almost gave him vertigo from their natural steepness and the river,twisting and moving forward like a cerulean serpent,carrying life along in its swells and slowly turning rocks into smooth pebbles.
Behind him,his and The Chipettes' families lounged on the soft turf,dining on the generous picnic spread before them.
"Not too shabby,Miss Miller,"Brittany commended while she nibbled at her leisure."A little picnic to celebrate our last night on tour was a pretty good idea."
"Oh,it was nothing at all,dear,"Miss Miller dismissed easily."You girls and the boys deserve it after all the hard work you all done."
David stretched his full length on the grass,his hands behind his head,and relaxed more deeply."I don't know about any of you,"he said with a sigh."But I'm going to sleep here until King Rudi has an heir."
"If they do have any heir,"Brittany said with some measure of sly flirtation."I hope the king and queen will impress on the young prince the benefits of an-"she paused for effect."Older woman."
"They might,Brittany,"Alvin called from where he was by the edge of the ridge."But I don't think Miss Miller's his type."He turned to look at his view,then he felt a light tap on his back as a grape thrown by Brittany connected.
When the grape hit him,he turned to her with a wry smile in time to see her give him a raspberry.Had he continued to look along the valley's basin,he might have seen a glimpse of something altogether intriguing.But he soon headed back towards the others,oblivious.
Theodore ignored such preceedings as he settled in to eat.He knew it was no accident that he was situated to be near Eleanor.Her sisters obviously conspired to arrange themselves to be near their respective boyfriends so there was no random pocket of space for him to dine in alone.
So he remained and robotically tried to enjoy his repast.He glanced to Eleanor,who also tried to be somewhere else while she was there,and he felt a pang of remorse hit him deep in the gut.
He knew that he was getting older and knew from personal sources in the family that that would reflect in how he saw Eleanor or any other girl,Chipmunk or Human.But despite the opening door that was leading him to the next vista in his life,he was having a good deal of nervousness trying to cross its threshold.
He was sure it was nervousness,not trepidation.He would never fear to love anyone.He found himself still looking at Eleanor eating and thought,'No.Not even for Eleanor.Especially Ellie.'
But his heart,at the moment,never felt so conflicted between his nature and his burgeoning desire.A desire that wanted to assert itself by holding Eleanor's plump,soft hand every time she went for a napkin or a potato chip,and he soon found himself longing for an involuntary cuddle.
Any purpose that existed to hold him back,and in doing so,confuse him further,was dying fast every time his eyes would watch her small,Cupie-doll lips kiss the edge of her glass to drink and leave them moist and sweet with juice that sometimes ran a little down her chin.
"Thank you,"Eleanor said self-consciously and it took Theodore a second to realize that he had given her a napkin,but the space of time between his last thought and the present action was a black wad of amnesia.He wanted to give her a napkin,that's all he remembered.
He knew he'd understand what had happened once his heart stopped hammering and his cheek pouched moistened again.
But,with some new sense of regret,he realized that his new found power of spontaneity was fading with the presence of just thinking about it,and he soon began to shrink a little inside again.
To any who watched them,they may have physically ate together,but their stiff body language would have been more than apparent in expressing their sheer uncomfortabilty.When they ate on their own,they were animated.There was a happy sensuality to the feedings which only became more noticeable when they fed together.At the moment,no one could distinguish their eating from a cow vacantly chewing cud.
From his vantage point,Alvin saw the little drama from a discrete distance and sighed inwardly.Brittany had told him about Eleanor's worries and his brother's apparent confusion or indifference,though he would put cash money down on it being confusion,simply because it was so difficult for Theodore to come to anything even approximating indifference.Indifference was,he knew,an alien concept to Theodore.
So,he promised to take Theodore aside later and guide him through this bad patch with his unique knowledge and experience with matters of the heart as he had done before when his youngest sibling ran into such troubles.But for now,he was hungry.Hungry and curious as to what would happen next between the two of them.
It came in the form of Theodore anxiously looking towards Simon and Jeanette and fishing in his pockets for something.Eleanor took notice of this,too,but said nothing about it,although it seemed she might have if others weren't around.As it stood,she simply watched him stand out of the corner of her eye and walk to his brother and girlfriend and pull out two folded cards.Then he sat beside Jeanette as she and Simon studied the cards at length.
"Who gave these to you?"she asked him.
"A woman who said she was here to entertain the king and queen,"Theodore replied."She was lost,and while I gave her directions,we talked,and she then she told me to pick two cards from this deck she had.I picked these two and she told me to ask you two what they mean."
Simon absently adjusted his glasses and said,"We'll,there's no doubt.These are Tarot."He held up the card face-up to Theodore."This is The Fool."
The card's face showed the fanciful image of a young man walking towards the edge of a cliff with complete obliviousness.Below was written clearly the words,The Fool.
"He is kinda foolish walking off a cliff,"Theodore commented.
Simon adjusted his glasses again and Jeanette could just hear the light clearing of his throat,her signal that he was in Lecture Mode.No matter,she realized.She'd begin her lecture of sorts with the second card soon enough.
"Well,yes.He is acting is a foolish manner,"Simon said."However,his actions also illustrate the universal actions of all Humanity and Chipmunks in general."
One look into his younger brother's slight expression told him he was losing him fast.'More explaination,less pontification,'he thought to himself."What I mean is that The Fool represents beginnings.He's only called a fool because he's about to take on Life's challenges with all its peril and pain.
"Then why do it?"Theodore asked,though to Simon,it sounded more like he had asked himself that very question.
"Because he has the innocent faith to try anyway,Theodore.All of us have,in one time or another,been in The Fool's shoes.Trying something out for the first time,not knowing what would come from it."
"Yeah,"Theodore conceded slowly,"but he looks like he wants to walk of a cliff.Nothing I'd want to try out."
"But you're looking at it too literally.If you'll notice,he isn't really looking at the cliff,just the sky above it.The cliff represents the hazards and hardships of Life in general.He's just not aware of them yet,hence his oblivious walk."
Theodore digested this and his ultimate choosing of the cards in the first place."It was meant for me,then,Simon,"he said with a measure of finality that stirred in him.Simon paused a moment to think about that and then shrugged it off as logical.
"Apparently.Whoever this lady was,she wanted you to get whatever personal information or understanding you could get from all of this.I can't say that I subscribe to this,personally,but there may be some insight in this that you can get from them.I can only tell you what they are."
Theodore nodded as Jeanette raised the second card to him,face-up.On it was printed a man suspended upside-down.
"The Hanged Man,"she explained."It symbolizes a sacrifice or a letting go.Maybe you'll have to give up something.Like a habit."
"Better something,than someone,"he muttered uneasily as he glanced back at Eleanor while she stretched out on the grass after she eating.
"I know it's probably not my place to say,Theodore,but maybe you should talk to Ellie again,"she offered diplomatically.
"I don't know,Jeanette.I want to,but I don't know what to say to her right now,"he sighed."Probably hurt her feelings enough,already."
"All the more reason to talk to her.You can both get it all of your chests and clear the air.Otherwise,you'll never get this resolved well."
Theodore opened his mouth to say something that,from his expression,was certainly pessimistic,when he suddenly stopped and seemed to think the better of it.It showed in his face the jumble of thoughts that sprang to life,so he came to a decision.
"I'm going for a walk,guys."
The rented SUV was parked a distance from the clearing the two families were picnicking in,on a path that skirted near the edge of the ridge.A tree line that connected its foliage with the surrounding forests,formed a sparse partition between them.Theodore barely noticed.
He measured every step on the twig-covered floor,marking time with every sullen,worry-tinged thought that popped up in his mind concerning Eleanor and himself.
He caught himself clenching his jaws in anxiety and tried to calm himself in the echoing cries of birds,the rustle of the wind through the tree boughs and the sound of smaller animals in the underbrush,but the closer he came to the van,the more his stomach flipped.
Theodore looked back to the lightly treed clearing and the dim,green tunnel of woods he passed through,wondering if he were leaving them all,just as figuratively,in his life.He missed the comfort of his younger days.Uncomplicated and unencumbered with thoughts of future loves and their obligations he didn't feel ready for.
But he had to admit,if the next level of his relationship with Eleanor was so terrifying,then why was he almost towards the van,feeling both nervous,yet hopeful?
By the time he reached the SUV,his anxiety and wishful thinking didn't abate,but he began to feel it less.He opened the back door and immediately began rooting under the front passenger seat for a second or two,hoping no one found what he sought.
As soon as his fingers found it,he took it out for inspection,very relieved.In his hand was a small,grey box jewerly.He opened reverently and breathed easier when he saw his possession still where he left it.
It was a sterling silver charm bracelet and under closer observation,the name,Eleanor,was etched in cursive,catching in its flowing grooves,with the rest of the bracelet,the green tint of the woods in daytime.
With a sigh,he climbed out of the back seat and leaned against the rear tire on the same side he came out of.Then he took the bracelet out of the box and held it up to the light to look at,chiding himself for his cowardice and surprising himself for his boldness and secrecy in taking a portion of his savings and purchasing the gift in Madrid before they left for the next tour stop.He planned to give it to her on the last night of the tour.That was until his courage failed him.Again.
With the tour winding down in mere hours and the days not so hectic,Theodore had hoped he could give it to her,in private,in a better situation than the one they now faced,but indecision plagued him and he now found himself doubting his rather strong feelings and the soundness those feelings inspired.
And just as easily and just as quickly,he contemplated a different future with Eleanor.A more intimate one,as those his brothers and her sisters enjoyed.That excited him,even if he couldn't readily admit it to himself just yet.Under the thrall of seeming self-hypnosis,he stared at the glittering bracelet,his symbol for his hopes of better days with Eleanor,throwing reflected light into his mind and freeing it of its inhibitions.
Yes,he could take her aside,with gentle purpose,and while her beautiful face would show a mixture of concern and some curiosity,he'd open the case in front of her.Her soft brown eyes would grow even softer in the light of the silver band.He would carefully,lovingly,clasp it around her wrist and after she hugged him in the most sincerest of gratitude,he would look at her with a look that could only be give once in every lifetime,the look of first love.And then he would give her the kiss...
He smiled vacantly.It would have to be the perfect kiss.A kiss that would turn her spine into water.A kiss that would leave her wondering what month it was.A kiss that would be remembered when their fur turned gray and two generations proceeded them.
"Yeah...aggh!"Theodore was beginning to say until the sudden weight of something ran across his feet forcibly and crashed along the dead leaves,twigs,and grasses,freezing his heart.
Knowing there was no one around to possibly step on his feet,he came to the frightening conclusion that an animal,thinking or doing who knew what,ran up to him,and in his fright,he jerked his hands up reflexibly,causing his treasure to sail up and through the tree line that barricaded the far slope of the valley beyond.
Looking down in alert,he saw the reddish eyes of a rabbit staring out of the shelter of a mass of nearby tree roots.His culprit."Not nice,"he gasped to himself and to the rabbit while trying to calm his nerves and bring his adrenaline back down to nominal levels.Bad form for a fellow rodent to scare the living daylights out of another,he figured.
After several minutes of gathering his wits,Theodore resignedly summoned his courage to track down his present and carefully began stepping through and maneuvering into the treeline,and after a tense moment of vertigo on seeing the vast space of the valley stretched out before him,and an even more tense moment of clumsiness after spotting his bracelet shining on the vegetation up ahead,he gingerly began a sideways-creeping descent down the slope,closing in.
But as he reached the item,he began to worry.He risked a glance back to see that the distance from the anchoring trees he crossed had turned into a couple of uncomfortable yards,and the slope's surface of leaves,dead branches and mulch were already giving way under his weight and direction like sand on a dune.
The thought of sliding to certain injury or worse never left him,despite an equal determination to get back his gift for Eleanor.
A few more inches...
"Theodore."
Eleanor padded quietly towards the van that David was loaned for the day.According to Jeanette,he went for a walk somewhere nearby,but Eleanor felt he was away too long,so she entered the woods.
"Theodore,"she called out quietly,feeling the weight of the silent power of the forest around her,humbling her as she checked around the car when she reached it a few minutes later.
She saw no one inside from the window she peered into and was debating worryingly about searching further up the path and into the deeper wood.Eventually,she came to the decision that she would continue to search for him,if just to talk to him again.'Maybe I was too pushy,'she thought with a sigh.'Am I that selfish?'
Vacantly,she looked down at the sound of her feet crunching the branches and leaves as she went towards the back of the van.Then she saw something,out of place,on the ground.
She was about to chalk it up to an incredibly rare case of littering,in this of all places,when she remembered that she hadn't seen any other refuse anywhere she walked.Only here.
Eleanor reached down to pick it up and then put it out of her mind when a sound noticed by her, and, she would have surmised, by everyone else nearby, came into being. A low,mechanized rumble that gradually rose and reverberated from the depths of the picturesque valley.
Amidst the bass-like cadence of the far-off sound,Eleanor's concern spiked up another notch upon remembering Theodore.Out of blind curiosity and some spirit of optimism,she stepped her way through the treeline.Beyond that was the woodland slope that led to the bottom of the valley,the view beyond it,and the persistent noise from below.Nothing else.Then she returned to the van.
While her mind did battle with the ghosts of her pessimism,Eleanor tried to let her intuition flow,hoping for something,wondering where on Earth was Theodore now.And wondering who'd leave a jewelry case here in the woods,as she thoughtfully played the object between her fingers.