A/N: hmmm, yeah, Charlie took a disliking to Morgan, but yeah,…. She's a bit bossy, that one. :: shrugs:: It'll even out eventually. Like me, you either love her or hate her when you meet her.
Maybe I REALLY shouldn't listen to Nightwish when I write something like this. O.o
Oh, Wonderland in the Caribbean is up now
Chapter Five
Charlie dreamed. He saw the camp fire in the middle of a forest and a solemn man sitting beside it, his skin the color of the earth and his clothes were brilliant red. Three animals came out at his call as he looked to Charlie with a joyful smile, the animals with spotted coats like gold, shimmering in the firelight.
Charlie suddenly woke up and groaned. It was like the time he returned Skarpo to his portrait. Charlie looked to the window and sighed, getting to his feet. He had to apologize to Morgan so he could go with her to—
He almost forgot again. He needed to visit the Pet's café to see Runner Bean. Charlie got dressed quickly and went down the stairs in time to see grandma Bone walking out of the kitchen. He grunted and gave her a glare.
She barely acknowledged him and walked around him onto the staircase as though nothing was different. He got into the kitchen and he saw his mother nursing a headache with a cup of tea. "Mum? Is something the matter?"
"Sorry, I woke up this morning with a dreadful headache. Like something was tied around my head and made to squeeze the life out of it." Mrs. Bone sighed as she rubbed her temples. "It seems to be going away for now. I need to be going, Charlie. Do be careful when you go over to your new friend's house. I helped mother make a couple of sandwiches for you both."
Then, Mrs. Bone got unsteadily to her feet and walked out of the kitchen. Charlie looked to a bag and picked it up. Inside was a couple of ham sandwiches wrapped up in plastic. Charlie sighed himself and ate some fruit for breakfast, since there was none prepared.
He looked to his watch just as he heard the doorbell ring. "If it's that wretched girl, get her away from here!" Grandma Bone's yelling came down the stairs and to the door with the potency of a nuclear bomb.
Charlie went to the door and saw Fidelio standing on the door step with a grin. "I thought we were going to go to The Pet's Café so I brought my cat."
Charlie blinked at his friend for a moment. "Er—okay."
Fidelio shrugged. "You had said you'd kept forgetting to visit Runner Bean, so I thought we might do that. Better tell Morgan that she needs a pet to come along, though."
Charlie blinked again and then nodded, closing the door behind him. He held the bag in his hand as they walked across the street to number Thirteen. Charlie knocked on the door and it opened, Mr. MacGregor clearly visible in front of them. He looked as though he could melt steel with his gaze alone.
Then, his expression softened. He grinned broadly at Charlie and moved out of the way. "Come in, come in! I thought you were one of those blasted women that keep coming around here to talk to m'daughter."
Charlie and Fidelio both looked up at Mr. MacGregor at that. "Women? What do they look like?"
"They all pretty much look the same to me, only two are younger than the first. And one wears red shoes. And they all say they're from the school wanting to make sure m'daughter is settling into the school all right. I tells them—I tells them that m'daughter is perfectly capable of makin' friends on her own and keeping up with her schoolwork, but they all want to come in and make sure, as though if they didn't come inside, the world would fall on their heads."
Mr. MacGregor sat at the kitchen table and started back on a drawing. Charlie gave Fidelio a worried look. There was a shuffling from the staircase and Morgan appeared on the steps, looking over the railing, messy blonde hair hanging around her head. "Dad! Was that those ladies again?"
"No, lass, it's your friends come to take you away from me!" Mr. MacGregor laughed heartily as he appeared from the kitchen.
Morgan went red and looked over to Fidelio and Charlie. "Oh! You have a cat!" Then, she stopped. "Er—wait—animals aren't allowed in the cinemas are they?"
A black cat appeared around the corner, tall and very thin, like he hadn't eaten properly in a very long time, but he purred as he padded over toward Charlie. Fidellio looked to Morgan. "We're going to The Pet's Café, Morgan. You have to have a pet to get inside."
"Oh! Then, I guess I'll take Gawain with me, then!" She jumped the rest of the way down and went to the kitchen. "Dad! I'll be going off then!"
Mr. MacGregor chuckled as Morgan snatched up Gawain and pulled the two boys out of the house.
"So where is this Pet's Café?" Morgan asked as they walked along the sidewalk. Gawain was purring away in her arms and gave Charlie a sort of cat-eyed glare.
"It's a little hard to find, and a little small, but not too far away. You can just walk there," Fidelio said as he petted his own cat, who was eyeing Gawain with an unsettled look to her.
"Sorry about being so nosey or bossy, Charlie," said Morgan with a slight smile. "I didn't know it bothered you."
Charlie blinked at her. "Ah—sorry. I—I just have a bit on my mind."
Fidelio grinned. "Ah—good—so we're all friends then. So what is this about women calling on you?"
Morgan blushed slightly, Gawain's tail twitching as she wasn't petting him still. "Ah—they come and try to practically force their way in, saying they need to see me for one reason or another. The first time, m'dad asked if I'd done something bad at school, but of course I haven't! I've been very good—well—most of the time." She blushed a little more and her ears turned pink.
Fidelio grinned. "You mean you picking back at Asa for his saying your hair was a rat's nest?"
Morgan grunted and patted Gawain on the head. "He deserves everything he gets from me!" Then, she said something rude that included Asa doing things with a tree that Charlie didn't care to imagine or repeat.
They walked to the Pet's Café and Charlie smiled at Norton. Norton nodded to Charlie. "Your pet is inside, Mr. Omnimous has told me."
Charlie walked in and they all sat down amongst the other people and their pets. There were birds and mice, which Charlie caught Gawain eyeing rather hungrily.
Mr. Omnimous was behind the counter as they entered and grinned. "Ah! Charlie, glad you could come by! After you have a little something, why don't you take Runner bean for a walk? He's missed you terribly."
Charlie nodded and grinned as the big dog practically landed on top of Charlie, licking his face in greeting. Both Fidelio's cat and Gawain bristled at the dog.
"Ah—so that's your friend's dog? He looks sweet!" giggled Morgan as she put Gawain onto her shoulders and leaned down to pull the dog off of Charlie by the collar and patted him on the head.
Charlie grinned at Runner Bean and wiped his face with his sleeve. They got into their seats and Morgan gave Gawain a fish snack as Mr. Omnimous came over with a tray of drinks for them.
Suddenly a squawking came from one of the birds. At the door, or rather, at the window, Asa Pike was standing looking in with a wolfish glare.
Gawain yowled and jumped onto Morgan's shoulders, bristling at him as he stared directly at her. Charlie looked to Morgan as she looked to him. "What's he doing out there?" she asked.
"I don't know." Charlie looked to Asa again and glared back as well as he could. He knew what that boy could be like when the sun went down and the thought still sent shivers down his spine.
Norton pulled Asa away bodily, tossing him down the alley and yelling at him. "He'll be looking for us, don't doubt it." Fidelio was still looking to the window when he spoke.
"Why was he here in the first place?" Charlie looked to Morgan and Fidelio and then settled back on Morgan.
Morgan blushed and shrugged, hastily petting Gawain to settle him back down. "Why did you name him Gawain, anyway?" asked Charlie.
"I like Camelot stories," she grinned.
Fidelio chuckled and stood. They walked out with Runner Bean on a leash. In the park, walking around, they spotted someone following them with an obviously fake costume. Charlie handed Morgan her sandwich and handed Fidelio half of his.
"It's Asa, no doubt." Fidelio was looking to the obvious figure hiding behind the fountain.
Morgan looked to the fountain and the figure jumped; his mustache and hat falling off, revealing himself as Asa, though that wasn't a big surprise. "What are you doing here, Asa Pike!"
Asa grunted and ran off. Charlie looked to Morgan. "What happened?"
Morgan shrugged. "No clue. He just ran off."
Charlie looked doubtfully at Morgan and then tugged Runner Bean's leash. "We'd better get back before it gets too late."
"Time certainly flies when you're watching the school pet running around trying to disguise himself," Fidelio said with a smirk.
"Pet?" Morgan blinked at Fidelio.
Charlie looked to Morgan. "Asa turns into a beast at night. A real beast."
Morgan looked thoughtfully at Gawain and patted his head, scratching him under the chin as he purred. "A beast?"
"What's the matter?" asked Fidelio.
"When I went to get Corazon back, I had to fight off some strange beast. Hit him on the nose with my flashlight." She looked to where Asa had been behind the fountain.
"Yeah, I'd say that was him all right. He was the one that attacked Charlie during the Ruin game," said Fidelio.
Morgan looked to Fidelio with confusion. Charlie and Fidelio explained about the ruin game and Morgan ended it all with a loud grunt. "That's horrible! It's unfair and dishonorable as hell!"
"We never said the Bloors were fair," said Charlie.
Morgan fumed as they walked back to Pet's café, letting Runner Bean get back inside behind the counter then they walked off. They went back toward the neighborhood when Gawain jumped down and ran off. Morgan gasped. "GAWAIN!" Then, she ran off after the cat.
Charlie grunted at this, remembering what Uncle Paton had asked him to do. He ran off with Fidelio behind him. Gawain yowled and hissed at something just as Morgan stopped to wrestle him back into her arms.
Something jumped out and tackled Morgan. Gawain clawed at it to stay away from her and she lashed out with her own nails and caught skin. The figure yelped and ran off, Gawain beginning to settle down as Morgan picked him up again.
Charlie and Fidelio came over and stopped. They were in front of Morgan's house, beside the bushes, in fact. "Wha-what was that?"
Morgan was beside herself. "I haven't a clue." She got to her feet and Gawain purred as he nuzzled her chin.
"Whatever it was, it was waiting for you to get home," said Fidelio, pointing to the bushes. There was an area where someone had been waiting for a while.
Charlie looked worriedly to Morgan. "Why does everyone want you, Morgan?"
"I—don't know."
Mr. MacGregor came out of the house looking even angrier than he had before. "Morgan! Get inside the house!"
Morgan went white and bustled inside with Gawain in her arms. Charlie and Fidelio looked to Mr. MacGregor like he was going to eat them alive. However, Mr. MacGregor gave them a faint smile. "Thank you for lookin' after m'daughter, Mr. Bone and Mr. Gunn."
"Why—what happened that made you so angry, Mr. MacGregor?" asked Charlie, starting to calm down.
"One of those odd people stopped by; only this time I recognized him. He's that wolfish lad that prowls around with the pipsqueak Bloor boy. Manfred was his name. He came by with a stupid disguise and then disappeared. I'd thought he'd gone away by now."
Mr. MacGregor was a big man, and by the look of him when he was angry, he looked like someone was about to be his lunch. Like an angry bear. Charlie could see why Asa would be afraid him…or anyone else for that matter.
Mr. MacGregor smiled at the two boys broadly and patted Charlie on the back. "So, rescuin' m'daughter, lad! Planning on the wedding yet?"
Fidelio nearly fell over laughing at the look of horror on Charlie's face. Mr. MacGregor chuckled and went inside the house.
Fidelio got himself under control enough that he was able to wobble beside Charlie as Charlie shot him angry looks. A car was in front of number Nine and Charlie saw Fidelio's dad in it waving at them.
Fidelio patted Charlie on the shoulder and grinned. "I'll see you at school, Charlie! Make sure I get the invitation to the wedding!" Then, he had to run to get away from Charlie.
Maybe I REALLY shouldn't listen to Nightwish when I write something like this. O.o
Oh, Wonderland in the Caribbean is up now
Chapter Five
Charlie dreamed. He saw the camp fire in the middle of a forest and a solemn man sitting beside it, his skin the color of the earth and his clothes were brilliant red. Three animals came out at his call as he looked to Charlie with a joyful smile, the animals with spotted coats like gold, shimmering in the firelight.
Charlie suddenly woke up and groaned. It was like the time he returned Skarpo to his portrait. Charlie looked to the window and sighed, getting to his feet. He had to apologize to Morgan so he could go with her to—
He almost forgot again. He needed to visit the Pet's café to see Runner Bean. Charlie got dressed quickly and went down the stairs in time to see grandma Bone walking out of the kitchen. He grunted and gave her a glare.
She barely acknowledged him and walked around him onto the staircase as though nothing was different. He got into the kitchen and he saw his mother nursing a headache with a cup of tea. "Mum? Is something the matter?"
"Sorry, I woke up this morning with a dreadful headache. Like something was tied around my head and made to squeeze the life out of it." Mrs. Bone sighed as she rubbed her temples. "It seems to be going away for now. I need to be going, Charlie. Do be careful when you go over to your new friend's house. I helped mother make a couple of sandwiches for you both."
Then, Mrs. Bone got unsteadily to her feet and walked out of the kitchen. Charlie looked to a bag and picked it up. Inside was a couple of ham sandwiches wrapped up in plastic. Charlie sighed himself and ate some fruit for breakfast, since there was none prepared.
He looked to his watch just as he heard the doorbell ring. "If it's that wretched girl, get her away from here!" Grandma Bone's yelling came down the stairs and to the door with the potency of a nuclear bomb.
Charlie went to the door and saw Fidelio standing on the door step with a grin. "I thought we were going to go to The Pet's Café so I brought my cat."
Charlie blinked at his friend for a moment. "Er—okay."
Fidelio shrugged. "You had said you'd kept forgetting to visit Runner Bean, so I thought we might do that. Better tell Morgan that she needs a pet to come along, though."
Charlie blinked again and then nodded, closing the door behind him. He held the bag in his hand as they walked across the street to number Thirteen. Charlie knocked on the door and it opened, Mr. MacGregor clearly visible in front of them. He looked as though he could melt steel with his gaze alone.
Then, his expression softened. He grinned broadly at Charlie and moved out of the way. "Come in, come in! I thought you were one of those blasted women that keep coming around here to talk to m'daughter."
Charlie and Fidelio both looked up at Mr. MacGregor at that. "Women? What do they look like?"
"They all pretty much look the same to me, only two are younger than the first. And one wears red shoes. And they all say they're from the school wanting to make sure m'daughter is settling into the school all right. I tells them—I tells them that m'daughter is perfectly capable of makin' friends on her own and keeping up with her schoolwork, but they all want to come in and make sure, as though if they didn't come inside, the world would fall on their heads."
Mr. MacGregor sat at the kitchen table and started back on a drawing. Charlie gave Fidelio a worried look. There was a shuffling from the staircase and Morgan appeared on the steps, looking over the railing, messy blonde hair hanging around her head. "Dad! Was that those ladies again?"
"No, lass, it's your friends come to take you away from me!" Mr. MacGregor laughed heartily as he appeared from the kitchen.
Morgan went red and looked over to Fidelio and Charlie. "Oh! You have a cat!" Then, she stopped. "Er—wait—animals aren't allowed in the cinemas are they?"
A black cat appeared around the corner, tall and very thin, like he hadn't eaten properly in a very long time, but he purred as he padded over toward Charlie. Fidellio looked to Morgan. "We're going to The Pet's Café, Morgan. You have to have a pet to get inside."
"Oh! Then, I guess I'll take Gawain with me, then!" She jumped the rest of the way down and went to the kitchen. "Dad! I'll be going off then!"
Mr. MacGregor chuckled as Morgan snatched up Gawain and pulled the two boys out of the house.
"So where is this Pet's Café?" Morgan asked as they walked along the sidewalk. Gawain was purring away in her arms and gave Charlie a sort of cat-eyed glare.
"It's a little hard to find, and a little small, but not too far away. You can just walk there," Fidelio said as he petted his own cat, who was eyeing Gawain with an unsettled look to her.
"Sorry about being so nosey or bossy, Charlie," said Morgan with a slight smile. "I didn't know it bothered you."
Charlie blinked at her. "Ah—sorry. I—I just have a bit on my mind."
Fidelio grinned. "Ah—good—so we're all friends then. So what is this about women calling on you?"
Morgan blushed slightly, Gawain's tail twitching as she wasn't petting him still. "Ah—they come and try to practically force their way in, saying they need to see me for one reason or another. The first time, m'dad asked if I'd done something bad at school, but of course I haven't! I've been very good—well—most of the time." She blushed a little more and her ears turned pink.
Fidelio grinned. "You mean you picking back at Asa for his saying your hair was a rat's nest?"
Morgan grunted and patted Gawain on the head. "He deserves everything he gets from me!" Then, she said something rude that included Asa doing things with a tree that Charlie didn't care to imagine or repeat.
They walked to the Pet's Café and Charlie smiled at Norton. Norton nodded to Charlie. "Your pet is inside, Mr. Omnimous has told me."
Charlie walked in and they all sat down amongst the other people and their pets. There were birds and mice, which Charlie caught Gawain eyeing rather hungrily.
Mr. Omnimous was behind the counter as they entered and grinned. "Ah! Charlie, glad you could come by! After you have a little something, why don't you take Runner bean for a walk? He's missed you terribly."
Charlie nodded and grinned as the big dog practically landed on top of Charlie, licking his face in greeting. Both Fidelio's cat and Gawain bristled at the dog.
"Ah—so that's your friend's dog? He looks sweet!" giggled Morgan as she put Gawain onto her shoulders and leaned down to pull the dog off of Charlie by the collar and patted him on the head.
Charlie grinned at Runner Bean and wiped his face with his sleeve. They got into their seats and Morgan gave Gawain a fish snack as Mr. Omnimous came over with a tray of drinks for them.
Suddenly a squawking came from one of the birds. At the door, or rather, at the window, Asa Pike was standing looking in with a wolfish glare.
Gawain yowled and jumped onto Morgan's shoulders, bristling at him as he stared directly at her. Charlie looked to Morgan as she looked to him. "What's he doing out there?" she asked.
"I don't know." Charlie looked to Asa again and glared back as well as he could. He knew what that boy could be like when the sun went down and the thought still sent shivers down his spine.
Norton pulled Asa away bodily, tossing him down the alley and yelling at him. "He'll be looking for us, don't doubt it." Fidelio was still looking to the window when he spoke.
"Why was he here in the first place?" Charlie looked to Morgan and Fidelio and then settled back on Morgan.
Morgan blushed and shrugged, hastily petting Gawain to settle him back down. "Why did you name him Gawain, anyway?" asked Charlie.
"I like Camelot stories," she grinned.
Fidelio chuckled and stood. They walked out with Runner Bean on a leash. In the park, walking around, they spotted someone following them with an obviously fake costume. Charlie handed Morgan her sandwich and handed Fidelio half of his.
"It's Asa, no doubt." Fidelio was looking to the obvious figure hiding behind the fountain.
Morgan looked to the fountain and the figure jumped; his mustache and hat falling off, revealing himself as Asa, though that wasn't a big surprise. "What are you doing here, Asa Pike!"
Asa grunted and ran off. Charlie looked to Morgan. "What happened?"
Morgan shrugged. "No clue. He just ran off."
Charlie looked doubtfully at Morgan and then tugged Runner Bean's leash. "We'd better get back before it gets too late."
"Time certainly flies when you're watching the school pet running around trying to disguise himself," Fidelio said with a smirk.
"Pet?" Morgan blinked at Fidelio.
Charlie looked to Morgan. "Asa turns into a beast at night. A real beast."
Morgan looked thoughtfully at Gawain and patted his head, scratching him under the chin as he purred. "A beast?"
"What's the matter?" asked Fidelio.
"When I went to get Corazon back, I had to fight off some strange beast. Hit him on the nose with my flashlight." She looked to where Asa had been behind the fountain.
"Yeah, I'd say that was him all right. He was the one that attacked Charlie during the Ruin game," said Fidelio.
Morgan looked to Fidelio with confusion. Charlie and Fidelio explained about the ruin game and Morgan ended it all with a loud grunt. "That's horrible! It's unfair and dishonorable as hell!"
"We never said the Bloors were fair," said Charlie.
Morgan fumed as they walked back to Pet's café, letting Runner Bean get back inside behind the counter then they walked off. They went back toward the neighborhood when Gawain jumped down and ran off. Morgan gasped. "GAWAIN!" Then, she ran off after the cat.
Charlie grunted at this, remembering what Uncle Paton had asked him to do. He ran off with Fidelio behind him. Gawain yowled and hissed at something just as Morgan stopped to wrestle him back into her arms.
Something jumped out and tackled Morgan. Gawain clawed at it to stay away from her and she lashed out with her own nails and caught skin. The figure yelped and ran off, Gawain beginning to settle down as Morgan picked him up again.
Charlie and Fidelio came over and stopped. They were in front of Morgan's house, beside the bushes, in fact. "Wha-what was that?"
Morgan was beside herself. "I haven't a clue." She got to her feet and Gawain purred as he nuzzled her chin.
"Whatever it was, it was waiting for you to get home," said Fidelio, pointing to the bushes. There was an area where someone had been waiting for a while.
Charlie looked worriedly to Morgan. "Why does everyone want you, Morgan?"
"I—don't know."
Mr. MacGregor came out of the house looking even angrier than he had before. "Morgan! Get inside the house!"
Morgan went white and bustled inside with Gawain in her arms. Charlie and Fidelio looked to Mr. MacGregor like he was going to eat them alive. However, Mr. MacGregor gave them a faint smile. "Thank you for lookin' after m'daughter, Mr. Bone and Mr. Gunn."
"Why—what happened that made you so angry, Mr. MacGregor?" asked Charlie, starting to calm down.
"One of those odd people stopped by; only this time I recognized him. He's that wolfish lad that prowls around with the pipsqueak Bloor boy. Manfred was his name. He came by with a stupid disguise and then disappeared. I'd thought he'd gone away by now."
Mr. MacGregor was a big man, and by the look of him when he was angry, he looked like someone was about to be his lunch. Like an angry bear. Charlie could see why Asa would be afraid him…or anyone else for that matter.
Mr. MacGregor smiled at the two boys broadly and patted Charlie on the back. "So, rescuin' m'daughter, lad! Planning on the wedding yet?"
Fidelio nearly fell over laughing at the look of horror on Charlie's face. Mr. MacGregor chuckled and went inside the house.
Fidelio got himself under control enough that he was able to wobble beside Charlie as Charlie shot him angry looks. A car was in front of number Nine and Charlie saw Fidelio's dad in it waving at them.
Fidelio patted Charlie on the shoulder and grinned. "I'll see you at school, Charlie! Make sure I get the invitation to the wedding!" Then, he had to run to get away from Charlie.