Disclaimer: This licence isn't mine. The opinions express by the characters are not mine. I do not support nor encourage the illegal or dangerous acts or words present here. I can make a distinction between fiction and reality and I trust in my readership's ability in doing the same.

Chapter 43: Paternal Love (Part 2)

In the train that was racing to the Berry Big City, Huckleberry Pie was more determined than ever. Thanks to Sister Pudding, he was a bit more presentable: he had been given the opportunity of taking a bath, to do his hair and to be freshly-shaven, while she was mending his rags. He hoped he would be allowed to meet the Princess Berrykin. She must lift his banishment. And if she refused to give him an audience… he would simply force her to hear him. He would force her to understand he wasn't the author of this high treason. Which kind of image was she going to give to his daughter? All his fear and determination had disappeared. Now, he was ready to fight for his daughter, their reputation, and justice.

Strawberryland was not well served by public transports; and any trains stopped there. Huckleberry had to get off in the Berry Big City, and then to rush, Tom Tom following him with difficulty, in order to catch one of the rare flying shuttles towed by giant butterflies to join Strawberryland. Due to this lively connection, Huckleberry Pie had messy hair again, he was sweating and he had been afraid of ending in the wrong place, something that had increased his bad mood.

In the station, no one was waiting for them. It was not surprising: Huckleberry Pie hadn't let anyone know about his return, due to his fear of facing a welcoming committee ready to force him to go back to where he was before, that was to say everywhere else outside Strawberryland, sent by the Princess. In top of that, it was still early. The only ones that would be awake were certainly the Berrykins. And, actually, it was for a Berrykin he had done this trip. Huckleberry Pie crossed briskly Strawberryland hoping he won't meet anyone-he simply had not the time to, and he was too irritated to have a berry sentimental reunion scene. It was dawn, and the village was still asleep. Huckleberry Pie tried to remember the places he used to visit… when everything was still fine for him. The Berry Bitty Café was still here-but Strawberry Shortcake had apparently changed its awning: Huckleberry was sure it used to be white and green, but now it had mauve strips. He simply could not understand why. Plum Pudding's house was still there, with its large mirror and its horizontal bar outdoor. Orange Blossom's Mart was bigger than what he remembered. On the contrary, Lemon Meringue, Raspberry Torte and, at his great regret, Blueberry Muffin's houses had disappeared. It was like they had never lived in Strawberryland. Forgotten, like insignificant people. It must mean that Blueberry Muffin had moved and no longer lived there. Another point he would have to question the Princess Berrykin about.

Huckleberry Pie carried on his walk. The buildings became rare, showing him he was moving away from the heart of the Berry Bitty City. The vegetation was becoming lusher and wilder, as if it was the only place where it could at least release freely its strength and all its potential. The road was whittling down. Then, Huckleberry almost trample on a tiny banner, not higher than his knee, and almost entirely hidden by the large leafs and savage stems. He had to squat and squint to decipher what was written on it: "Berrykin Kingdom and Village of Strawberryland".

Huckleberry Pie had arrived.

When he entered the Berrykin Village, he felt like he was in an amusement parc that would have recreated a whole doll-size universe. To get in, he had had to step over the front gate that was certainly so high for a Berrykins. Then, he understood he would have to be extremely caution in order to not stumble on a house, something that could inflict to it, and to its owner, great damages. With great regret, he had to ask his faithful Tom Tom to wait for him out of the village. On tip-toes, Huckleberry Pie carefully and slowly followed the Berrykin-sized streets and avenues, trying not to step on public fountain or flower-beds. The roads were remarkably well maintained, and plentifully bordered with flowerbeds, with street lights disposed at regular intervals, but their disposition was not really artistic: all the roads were straight and heading the same direction (but we'll talk about it later). His progression being rather slew down due to all his precautions, he decided to stave on boredom by trying to identify each building he would see. Berrykin Bloom's house was not hard to recognize: it was not bigger than the others, but it was a little bit away from the rest of the village, and the closest to the orchards. Its curtains were pulled, but no light was visible inside, despite the darkness from outside- it was already empty… Then, Huckleberry saw a large, colored, open building to which floor was covered with toys. He guessed it was the day-care for the baby Berrykins. The rest of the Berrykin village was not quite extraordinary: there were no stores, which were all to be found in the Berry Bitty City; and the village was mainly composed of tens of individual houses to which designs, without being strictly identical, were rather similar. However, Huckleberry noticed that a few buildings broke this monotony. The first one was a large, rectangular, sober building, two floors high. Huckleberry got nearer as far as possible to examine it. At one window, in the first floor, the shutters were not fully closed. He fought against his curiosity for a few minutes until, praying that no one would catch him, he leaned and glanced inside. He saw a large room, where tiny beds were lined up. In these beds, very young Berrykins, judging by their juvenile features, were calmly sleeping. Huckleberry Pie stood up straight: it was certainly a home for children Berrykins who were not old enough for having their own dwelling.

Another intriguing building looked like an imposing town house, something that surprised Huckleberry Pie, because, except the Princess herself, none of the Berrykins was distinguishable from the others due to his wealth or social status. Maybe it was the country house of another Berrykin sovereign? This town house didn't really look like a mansion, but one could not deny it was at least three time bigger than the other houses. His curiosity being piquing again, Huckleberry Pie had to make new acrobatics to get closer. This time, an opportune banner was there to inform his: Berrykin School for Strawberrylander subjects, it grandiloquently said. Huckleberry could hardly believe his eyes: Berrykins, going to school! To him, the only school they had ever known was the school of hard knocks.

The last architectural exception noticed by Huckleberry Pie was the Princess' castle in itself. It was proudly standing in the middle of the Berrykin village, at the junction of every roads that were all converging on it, and markedly higher than all the other buildings, thanks to its towers that rose in the air; and berry especially one, which was twice larger and much higher than the others. Huckleberry could recongnise it: it was the provisions silo, the one that was synonym of wealth and security in winter. The Berrykins house were sober as much as the castle was well-made, and similar to the illustration that could be observe in fairy tales. It was certainly a symbolic way to remind the Berrykins, days after days, the power of their sovereign. But Huckleberry Pie was not there to admire Berrykin architecture. On both side of the main entrance, two Berrykins were standing guard. Let's rather say they were dozing, leaning on their halberds.

-Excuse me sirs, Huckleberry Pie said with a strong voice and woke them up with a start at the same time, "But I call for an exceptional appointment with your Princess right now."

One of the guard rushed inside the castle, while the second one, who did not longer seem sleepy at all, stayed outside with Huckleberry Pie, looking at him with a suspicious air and was taking aim at him with his halberd.

-I don't want to abduct your Princess, the young man protested, but he was not sure his word would convince the guard. He certainly remembered that Huckleberry was originally banished and forbidden from approaching the Royal Family.

The Princess Berrykin immediately came to meet Huckleberry, in spite of her guard's advices. He was sure it was a trap, but the Princess was so impatient to correct her judicial error that she hardly listened to him.

-Your Majesty, he said, trotting behind her, "You should at least give the time to gather Your army for Your security…"

-I don't know why I would need my army during an amicable talk with one of my former subjects, the Princess replied.

When she saw Huckleberry Pie, standing on tip-toes, unstable, trying somehow to keep his balance and shooting his guard a dirty look, the Princess had to make a big effort in order to prevent herself from laughing.

-I think we should find a place where we would be more at ease, she said, sending her guards away.

With an extreme dignity, the Princess went up the main avenue, Huckleberry Pie slowly following her, trying to not crush any street light, public bench, or the Princess herself. They were both quiet. Huckleberry might have done a scandal in the middle of the kingdom, while all the Berrykins were still at home, getting ready for their working day and likely to hear them, but he didn't want to. It looked like too much to the old Huckleberry Pie.

The Princess Berrykin leaded Huckleberry Pie to a quiet little clearing, in the middle of the orchards; but no sooner had she open her mouth than Huckleberry Pie took the floor.

-Yes, I know what you are going to tell me, he said. "You will say that a pyromaniac and a danger to the public like me are excluded from entering your kingdom. But this is exactly what I want to talk with you about. Yes, I admit I am unable to tell you the exact reason of the beginning of fire; but what I can tell for sure is that it was not my fault. I repeat what I repeated during my trial: I am innocent! And I will repeat it until my death."

Huckleberry Pie was extremely worked up, and was determined to not let the Princess interrupt him. The old Huckleberry Pie would have trembled in front of her tiara. Not the new one. He exactly knew what he worth and he won't let anyone, even a member if the Royalty, steal his dignity.

-Believe me or not, he added, "But in the case you would stand your ground, I had something else to tell you. One year ago, I had an affair with Blueberry Muffin, and she gave life to our daughter. This baby, I learnt her existence by hazard, through a book she had published. Don't you think this is a scandalous way of treating a father? For how long did she want to hide me the existence of our baby? If you are a respectable Princess, you would not prevent a desperate father from seeing his daughter. You are a mother, too, so you must understand what it is to have someone in your life that worst more than your own life, someone you would sacrifice everything for. And now, imagine you can not even know how she looks like! Imagine how you would feel if your own daughters were held somewhere else, so far from you? Won't you be desperate? So, please, Your Majesty, even though you don't believe in my innocence, believe at least in my love for my daughter. If you chase me, you will show at the same time that you support the separation of children and their parents. I know that Berrykins are made for guiding Life and help it to blossom, right? So, why would you prevent me from doing the same thing with my own daughter? Do you still believe I would be a danger for her? I changed! I changed everything since the second I had learnt I had become a father! Maybe you will never let me be a Strawberrylander again; but at least let me be a father for my daughter, this is my only demand and I won't leave your kingdom until you fulfilled it."

The Princess, who had tried several times to interrupt him, took benefit of a pause in his speech to say:

-Mister Huckleberry, I know you were innocent.

All the great sentences Huckleberry had prepared in the train vanished in his throat. He wouldn't even had to fight with the Princess to be acquitted! He was almost disappointed. But anger quickly replaced his relief.

-So, why hadn't you told it to me? He asked scarcely.

-I had discovered that the fire had certainly been caused by a special power my daughters have, and which had stayed undiscovered until this day. I have tried to find you, to revise my sentence, but you had disappeared without leaving the least information about you, the Princess answered with a voice full of reproach. "Therefore, the decision I took about your banishment is hereby null and avoid; and you are allowed to stay in Strawberryland as long as you wish."

Huckleberry Pie let out a big cry of joy and, forgetting everything about etiquette, took the Princess is his arm to kiss her. It was over! Everything was over! But one last point was still to be cleared.

-Your Majesty, if I'm not mistaken, Blueberry Muffin had left Strawberryland for her studies. Would you know where I can find her?

-Miss Muffin? She went back in Strawberryland long months ago. She ended her pregnancy here.

-So, you mean she was here… the whole time? Even when I came back to…

-Borrow our community money you could not repay, uh? Yes, indeed. She was hiding. She did not want to see you. But now, I think it is no longer relevant to hide you the truth.

Huckleberry's joy had entirely disappeared, and was covered again by anger. No longer anger: fury was a more appropriate term.

-Where is she living, now? He asked, trying not to sound too rude to the Princess. Anyway, she was not involved.

-Since her bookstore had been demolished, she lived in a little cottage, in the Berry Bitty City. Maybe you saw it?

-Thank you, Your Majesty, Huckleberry whistled. "I'm sure I'll find my way."

Huckleberry nervously crossed the Berry Bitty City in the other way. His dog, Tom Tom, felt his master's anger and didn't dare to joyfully gambol around him, like he used to do. This time, Huckleberry Pie did not pay any attention to the buildings around him: Blueberry Muffin's house was his only goal, and nothing else could divert his attention.

The Princess was right: Blueberry Muffin really lived in a humble cottage, without the special ornaments that covered the Mart or the Café. Huckleberry Pie had hardly noticed it during his first passage: he had believed it was another storehouse for the Berrykins. Seeing the bareness in which his former girlfriend was living did not sooth his resentment, and he violently knocked at the door. Blueberry Muffin was not late in opening the door, and was so surprised of having a guest so early in the morning that she did not check who was it. But when she recognized Huckleberry's face, her perplexity vanished and she let out a cry of anger. Who had betrayed her secret?

-Blueberry Muffin, Huckleberry whistled, "How could you have done that to me?"

He entered the house without waiting for Blueberry's invitation.

-How could you have been sly enough for pretending you were far away when you-and our baby-were under my nose? He repeated.

-I did it for your sake, Blueberry retorted, stubborn.

-My sake? Huckleberry cried. "Do you really believed it would make me good to be deprived of my own family?"

Blueberry Pie, who was sleeping in her cradle, did not enjoy to be awaken this way. She started to cry, and her cries made Huckleberry's anger disappear into thin air. He carefully walked toward the tiny bed and nicely took the baby in his arm. Nothing could be wrong, now that he had found her. He rocked her, instinctively, without even knowing what to do, and Blueberry Pie's cries abated. Meanwhile, Blueberry Muffin was staring at them, without moving, without talking. Huckleberry Pie felt so calmed, with his daughter in his arm, that he could turn down toward Blueberry Muffin and asked her:

-Why did you hide me your pregnancy?

-Because you are not made for being a father, Blueberry answered with a frosty voice.

-I would have tried to! Huckleberry replied. "And you, how can you be sure you are made for being a mother?"

-I have a position of civil servant here, and some money aside. Unfortunately, we can't say the same thing for you…

Huckleberry Pie blushed. Blueberry Muffin had found his weak point: for the moment, he could only show willing, but the rest remained extremely virtual.

-Who told you I was here? Blueberry curtly asked.

-The Princess Berrykin.

-Huckleberry…

-It's true.

-She still talks to you? After what you've done to her?

-I managed to prove her I was innocent, Huckleberry said (he was losing his temper again, but he was trying to control his voice, in order to not scare his daughter). "Bit the thing that surprised me the most was to see you, too, believed I was guilty. All the other girls trusted me, except you. Why, Blueberry? Do you hate me, after all that we lived together?"

-Huckleberry Pie, I cannot deny you were a good playmate, when we were children. The problem is that you are still a child. And I need a real father for my daughter, not a brother.

This retort came as a knife blow for Huckleberry Pie. He forced himself to breath slowly, still holding his baby tight in his arm.

-Blueberry, I promise I can be a good father, he said with a hoarse voice.

-Well, prove it to me, she retorted. "Well… I think that, unfortunately, I won't have the time to see it. I did not plan to stay for so long at Strawberryland."

Huckleberry Pie staggered and he leaned on the wall to don't fall with the baby Blueberry. Blueberry Muffin was fleeing him again! And she would bring Blueberry Pie with her!

-Please, Blueberry, he begged, "Maybe you'll never let me take care of our daughter. But, please, I beg you, let me see her growing up. You don't even have to tell her the truth about me. Please, do not drive her far from me. I will change. I will never be dangerous for her. Even the Princess trusts me now. Please, believe me. I just want to see her…"

-I have some savings now, thanks to my royalties, Blueberry Muffin muttered, as if she had not listened to him. "I think I can go back to my studies in the Berry Big City. But I'm not sure they accept babies, at college."

Huckleberry Pie felt his heart jumping for joy. It was his chance!

-I am here! He said. "If you don't have the time to take care of our baby anymore, you can still entrust her to me! I'll do my best with her. Anyway, what are the other choices you've got? Sending her into an orphanage?"

Blueberry Muffin gave Huckleberry a dirty look.

-Huckleberry, do not imagine I'm going to marry you. Blueberry Pie, I'm sure I will manage to raise her up by myself. It's just a matter of time. When I'll be a qualified journalist, I'll come back for her. I'll make good money, and then I could be devoted to her. Meanwhile, there's a lot of other persons living in Strawberryland who are able to look after a baby, better than you can do with yourself.

Huckleberry Pie was near to desperation when he left Blueberry Muffin's house. He must admit she was right: he was not even sure he would be able to stick to his resolutions. Why was he like that? Why was it so hard for him to grew up? Why was everything so difficult to him, when his former playmates, Orange Blossom for example, were so well integrated into adulthood? Now, his former girlfriend liked better entrust their daughter to foreigners, rather than to him, her biological father!

He needed someone to talk about that. More precisely, he wanted to talk about that with another boy, who will have experience the same thing and be able to share with him another male point of view about maturity, family life and women. And, due to the great imbalance of gender ratio in Strawberryland, this person could only be Berrykin Bloom.

Strawberryland's orchards were so big, and the Berrykins were so tiny, that looking for a specific one in them was similar to look for a needle in a haystack. Huckleberry Pie tried to use Tom Tom's sense of smell to speed up his search, but, this time, his dog could not help him: Berrykins were beings whom origins were mostly vegetable, and, you could say that again, they were surrounded by vegetables which smell deceived the poor dog. So, they both had to use traditional method, that is to say they crossed the orchards from every conceivable angle to find Berrykin Bloom.

When Huckleberry and his dog finally came upon him, completely by hazard, he was extremely preoccupied by a disease he had discover on the community's apple trees, a fungal infection that provoked the fruits' rotting and had to be contain before seriously affecting their annual crop. The little princesses were next to him, examining an ill apple: Berrykin Bloom had given them for exercise to treat the apple thanks to their sparkles. When they failed in doing this and turned angry, and accidentally threw new fireballs as a result, he choked the budding fire by throwing some soil in it and gave the twins another rotten apple. His young apprentice, Daniel, and him were hurriedly cutting the infected branches and he was thinking about the kind of fungicide he would have to prepare when Huckleberry Pie's arrival interrupted them.

-The strange girl is back! The princesses cried, using the Berrykin language.

-Please, your little Majesties, I told you to not say out loud someone is strange. It might be hurtful, Berrykin Bloom said.

-May I talk to you? Huckleberry asked him.

-Of course, Berrykin Bloom said, still handling his clippers.

Huckleberry Pie waited for a few seconds, then, seeing that the old Berrykin was still carrying his work, and was not decided to go down his stepladder, he added:

-I'd like to talk to you in private, please.

-I'm sorry, sir, but we're extremely busy.

-What I've got to tell you is extremely important, too.

Berrykin Bloom shared a look with Berrykin Daniel, who suddenly seemed extremely excited. Berrykin Bloom used to disseminate his knowledge little by little, and the occasions he let him of working by himself, in autonomy, were rather rare. This time, maybe he would be given the chance to show his master what he was able to do?

-I can carry on alone, he said, with a lot of hope in his voice.

Berrykin Bloom looked at him, then to Huckleberry Pie's worried face, then to the line of apple trees they still had to prune, then to the princesses who had totally forgot their apple, then to Huckleberry Pie's puppy eyes again, then he slowly said, obviously reluctantly:

- We won't be long. Your little Majesties, be quiet and carry on practicing your sparkles throw. Daniel, keep an eye of our heiress. Try to work fast, but be careful to not sever one of your fingers.

And he moved away with Huckleberry Pie and Tom Tom.

-Man-to-man, Huckleberry hurled, "What do you advise me to do to show Blueberry Muffin I can be a good father for our daughter?"

Berrykin Bloom stayed speechless: he was thinking. Indeed, Huckleberry Pie was in a tricky situation. According to what he had understood, he was in charge of a baby girl he had not planned, he had nor money nor house to receive her, but he wanted nevertheless being her legal tutor, more than anything else in the world. Well, he had personally never faced a such unfavorable combination of elements. But Huckleberry Pie had chosen to question him, so he had to give him an answer. Should he tell him he couldn't do anything, this time? All things considered, not really. There were the little princesses he was in charge of. They were around a hundred subject in the kingdom, but the Princess Berrykin had elected him to be their tutor. Why had she done that? Maybe she trusted him because he had served her mother, and the Queen of Berryvania, before her. Moreover, and he had to set apart his modesty, since she had acceded to the throne, she had witnessed he had always been irreproachable. To the young Berrykins working with him, he had never been a cruel or despotic leader. Since he was the keeper of the provision silo's keys, he had never dared misappropriate if only a single carrot. He had always been ready to sacrifice his own benefits when his community needed it. And, why did he do all that? The answer was simple: he loved his job, his position, and he would not have change them for anything at all. As a gardener in chief, he was at his right place. To him, all the behavior listed above were not chores nor duty; they were simply unpredictable factors linked to his functions, factors he grinned and bore. Knowing he was assuming his post to perfection made him… blooming (without indulging in wordplay), and everything else blooming at his contact.

However, Huckleberry Pie was mistaken about the reasons of his prolonged silence, and believed the old gardener was wondering how to tell him, in a diplomatic way, that he thought he would never be able to take care of something as frail and complex as a baby. He shyly added:

-I'm ready to say yes to any job, even to be a cashier at Orange Blossom's Mart, if it can help me to feed my daughter.

Berrykin Bloom left his introspection. He rose his head and stared at Huckleberry Pie with a lot of affection, sympathy and softness in his look, toward this clumsy young boy so desirous to do the right thing, and who reminded him so much the kind of young boy he was, hundreds of years ago.

-Please, he said with a very tender voice, "Don't do that. The last thing your daughter needs is to feel she is like a burden to you, but she will feel this way if she understands you had been forced to agree to a job to pay the bills, just for her. Trust me. The only thing you want is to make both of you happy. And your daughter will be happy if she feels that you are happy, yourself. Do you still love animals? Try to find a job related with them, in which you will blossom. Being happy with yourself is the first step toward being able to share your life with someone else. If you try to cut corners, the only thing you will get would be to lose your mental balance, and to make everybody around you suffer… because they would feel your distress."

-That's well, but who will take care of my daughter while I'll be looking for this opening out job?

-Us, of course. Taking care of this poor little girl will be a sacred duty for our community. I'm sure your new job won't be time-consuming enough for preventing new from catching up on her news, during the first time. When you'll have some savings, and a house of your own, you will take her with you, definitively.

In the train that was racing to Green Meadow Village, Huckleberry Pie no longer felt anger nor rebellion. He was in peace with himself. He had to, if he wanted to reach his goal: building a stable home.

And he would never manage to if he was himself unstable.

To be continued…