CHAPTER 2
TWELVE YEARS LATER... ...
Timothy Michael, now older, scooped up another spoon of spaghetti into his mouth. He noticed his sister watching in disgust as he left a trail of spaghetti sauce across his chin. Quickly, he wiped it away before she made another comment. Too late.
" Mom? Why is Michael so messy?", Rachel asked.
Mom looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow. " I don't see anything wrong with Timothy", Mom said, scanning him up and down.
" You missed it", Rachel replied.
Timothy Michael glanced at his sister and said, " Why do you keep calling me Michael when everyone else calls me Timothy?"
Rachel paused, than smiled, saying, " That's because I want to call you Michael. What's wrong with that?"
Timothy frowned and laughed, " You're weird, Rachel"
His sister only merely shrugged her shoulders and nodded, " Yup, I may know something you don't, Michael. You'll never know".
" Oh man!", Timothy muttered, " I wish I knew your secret".
" What secret?", Mom asked, getting up from the table.
" I don't know", Timothy replied, scrapping his remainders from his plate. He saw that his sister was a little bit desperate to change the subject, so he quickly added, " Where is Dad?"
" Of all the things you worry about", Mom said, ruffling Timothy's hair.
" Why is a twelve-year-old like that?", Rachel asked. Timothy stuck out a tongue at her and she rolled her eyes but laughed.
" Don't forget that you were once a twelve-year-old yourself, Rachel", Mom said.
" Well, that year sure passed quite fast", Rachel replied.
" That", Mom started, " was your glory year, Rachel".
" Oh well", Rachel sighed and smiled as Mom kissed her head.
" I don't remember hearing about that", Timothy said, " And nor do I want to". Timothy grabbed his plate away and dumped it in the sink. " Bye, Mom, bye, Rachel! I'm going to the church", Timothy called out to them and ran out of the house. He pulled open the gate and hesitated by the street to make sure no cars were coming. Timothy raced across the street and nearly bumped into two women coming out of the church.
" Oh no…", Timothy murmured to himself, staring up at two stern faces.
" What are you doing here Timothy?", Mrs Scott-Richard asked, frowning down at him.
" Umm…", Timothy started.
" And why were you running across the road like that? Just wait till your father hears about it. I don't think he'll be too happy-", Mrs Pickles started.
" Not with you!", Timothy cried and ran up the pathway to St. Michael and All Angels Church, remembering what Rachel had told him about them. These women were gossipers, and terribly annoying.
" My word!", Timothy heard Mrs Scott-Richard exclaim.
" He's too much like his sister", Mrs Pickles added.
Timothy quickly ducked inside the church and closed the door. The church was quiet and there was no one in sight.
" Dad?", he called.
There was no answer.Timothy heard a scratching noise coming from the vestry room. He walked into the vestry, but found no one there. Strange, he thought. Then, he heard it again. A scratching noise, louder this time, coming from the boiler room.
" Dad?", Timothy repeated, opening the door to the boiler room. It was dark and musty inside.
" Its not Rachel, Candlemas! Get back inside!", he heard a soft whisper.
" What?", Timothy asked, " Dad? Is that you?". He descended down about five steps, than, he saw daylight coming through a window several feet above him. Timothy made his way towards the window, tripping as he went. He never made it though. Timothy felt something crawl over his leg. Without even thinking once, he let out
a loud scream. A boy should never be frightened, but since he was down in the dark, tripping, and hearing voices but seeing no one, he did what anyone would have done in his position.
" Timothy Michael! Shh!!!", a voice whispered close to his ear. Timothy opened his mouth to yell louder, but thought again and closed it.Terrified, he sat still on the floor, waiting for the person who had spoken to him to speak again.
" Fiddle! I've done it again! Septugesima will chew me for this, Candlemas!", the same voice whispered.
" Who are you?", Timothy finally asked, breaking the silence.
" Candlemas?", the voice whispered very softly again, but Timothy felt sure that it was close to his ear.
" Jesus, I knew this place was scary. I heard some stories about this place", Timothy talked to himself, " And I better get out of here before they, whoever they are, catch me". And as he said that, he got up and rushed for the stairs. But suddenly, he felt something tugging onhis shirt. He whirled around to face it. He saw nothing. But now, as he looked at the boiler room again, it was much brighter than before. Timothy looked down at his shirt, and instead of seeing someone there, he saw two mice pulling hard on him. His eyes widened, amazed at how strong they were.
" Sit back down", one of the mice spoke.
" A mouse!", Timothy exclaimed, totally delighted.
" A St. Michael mouse to be exact", one of them replied, letting go of Timothy's shirt when he finally sat down. Timothy just stared at the two mice in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes.
" Are you real?", Timothy asked, " I've always wanted an animal to actually talk!"
" You always blow it, Timothy and Titus", Candlemas said angrily.
" But they always turn out for the better. Like Nicky, and Finny, and Rach-, well, the other one", Timothy and Titus replied.
" Timothy and Titus?", Timothy asked, " Is that your name? How can you have two names like that? Its got to be either Timothy or Titus. And did you know that my name is Timothy too? I'm Timothy Michael Dunwoodie! Son of the vicar of this church. And what did you say about Nicky and Finny and who? Rachel? That's my sister. Well, the only Rachel from these parts".
" Oh! Hang it all that I can even talk!" Timothy and Titus said, " I'll answer all your questions if you promise us one thing".
Timothy's eyes widened and asked, " What is it?"
" Now", Timothy and Titus started, hopping onto Timothy's arm, " You will promise to both me and Candlemas and also to Septugesima, even though she's not here, that you will not tell a single soul about us, talking mice!"
" Tell someone?", Timothy repeated, that thought had never even come to his mind, " Of course not! I will never tell anyone about your. They'll take you away and show you at fairs where people will poke and torture you! No! I'll never tell anyone at all about it! I promise!"
Timothy and Titus paused, then nodded and said, " Very well, than. Now, my name is Timothy and Titus. I don't go only by Timothy or Titus, but by Timothy and Titus. You got that? From now on, you will call me Timothy and Titus"
Timothy nodded, " That's fine with me. But won't we get mixed up? You are called Timothy and Titus, and I am called Timothy. Everyone calls me that except my sister, Rachel. She calls me Michael. Don't you find that strange?"
Candlemas shook her head and replied, " I don't find it strange. In fact, I'm going to call you Michael from now on"
" Why?"
" And", Timothy and Titus added, " So will I"
Timothy sighed but said, " Right. I don't really mind. I'm used to people calling me Michael at times. When they are really angry, they call me Timothy Michael. I guess it comes naturally"
" Well, let me continue. Nicky, Anna, and Finny are children from long ago. We'll tell you the stories of them later on", Timothy and Titus replied.
" But what about Rachel?", Timothy pressed.
" I never did say anything about a Rachel", Timothy and Titus said.
" You did, Timothy and Titus", Candlemas replied softly, " It is hardto deny that fact. But Michael doesn't need to know about it".
" One day, soon, he'll find out", Timothy and Titus sighed, wiping his whiskers sadly.
" What's wrong?", Timothy asked.
" Nothing"
" Well? Do you really know my sister? Everyone talks about something which she did when she was 12 years of age. No one tells me about it, though. Do your know about it?", Timothy asked," She's already twenty four".
" Another time", Candlemas replied, " Come down here anytime you want to talk to us. If we're not here, go to the radiator under the stained glass windows of Jesus and Jarius's daughter. Do you know where that is?"
" Yup. I've seen my sister there sometimes"
" Good", Candlemas continued, " if you're looking for us there, you must call out one of our names. But make sure no one is there while you are doing that. From this boiler room, we can hear anything which is going on in the church, but no one can hear us unless we're really loud"Timothy nodded and stood to leave.
" Now, go!" Timothy and Titus whispered.
Timothy raced up the steps and left the boiler room and vestry.