Chapter Twelve

(Hey, y'all!

No shout-outs…sorry.

I do have another interesting fact:

In one of my previous chapters of this story, it was mentioned that Greasy and the other weasels were walking down 'Elias' street. 'Elias' was the middle name of Walt Disney.

Anyway, here is the twelfth chapter of the story!

Enjoy the story and life as it goes!

-imaginarytoon1)

Beatrice:

Cressida, Penelope, and I were two minutes away from my grandpa's house. Right now, VJ, a very good friend that I mentioned earlier, is driving us to our destination and Cressida, Penelope, and I are hiding under a blanket so that Mr. D wouldn't find us in a van full of junk.

"I don't think your grandpa is going to like it when we come to his house around ten o'clock at night." Cressida said. "Believe me, I know some people who go to sleep around eight or nine at night and they get really testy."

"That won't be a problem." I replied. "My grandpa always stays up until midnight."

"What does he do until it's midnight?" Penelope asked.

"Since he's the preacher of a nearby church, my grandpa practices his sermon for an hour and forty-five minutes. Then, he drinks a giant glass of milk, plays the piano, prays in the hayloft of his farm for a few minutes, and paints pictures. After all of that, my grandpa gets ready for bed."

"That's really cool." Cressida said.

Then, the van slowly comes to a stop.

"All right, Beatrice. We're here." VJ said.

"Thanks for the lift, VJ. You're a good friend." I said as Cressida, Penelope, and I got out from underneath the blanket.

"Anytime, kiddo."

I looked out the window to make sure that VJ took us to the right destination. There was a farm house right next to an old country house with chipping white paint on the sides. Yep, that's right (To get to my grandpa's house, you have to drive through a trail with a lot of trees in the area and after a few minutes, you'll be driving on a road in a long grass field.).

After Cressida, Penelope, and I got out of the van, I walked up to the driver's window and VJ rolled it down.

"VJ, the next time you see my parents or my brother, Tommy, don't tell them that I'm here." I said. "I'm going to call them tomorrow morning and I won't mention that you gave me a ride. I promise that I'm not going to get you in trouble, too. I would rather take all of the trouble…if you know what I mean."

Underneath VJ's bushy brown beard, there's a hidden smile of understanding.

"It's all right, Beatrice. I know what you mean." He said.

"Again, thanks for the ride."

"Any time. Have a nice night and don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you're here."

Then, VJ rolls up his window and drives away.

Oh, VJ. I thought. You're such a good friend.

"All right, Cressida and Penelope, follow me." I said as I walked towards them.

"I really like the idea of living in an area like this. How did your grandpa get ahold of this piece of property?" Cressida asked.

As we walked to the house, I heard the piano playing.

"To be honest, I don't know how my grandpa got ahold of this place but what I do know is that he hates busy places and like me, he's always thinking about things."

"So your grandpa bought this place because he needed some place to think?"

"Yes, exactly." I said as we approached the front door.

I knocked on the door and almost immediately, the piano music ceased.

Then, I heard heavy footsteps walking to the front door. Ten seconds later, a man (in his late sixties) with a neatly combed white mustache and hair came to the door with a small smile.

"Good evening, Grandpappy." I said (That's what I call him whenever I'm talking to him.).

Then, he opens the door.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Beatrice Elaine Birchwood." Grandpappy said with a smile. "My, oh, my, you've grown up so fast."

Then, he gave me a great big hug.

"What brings you and your friends here, Beatrice?" Grandpappy asked.

I'm glad that he noticed my new friends.

"We came to stay with you for a few days…if we're not interrupting you or anything." I said.

"Oh, you're welcome to stay with me for a few days." Grandpappy said. "You and your friends are good to stay and you're not interrupting anything."

"Thank you very much."

Cressida, Penelope, and I walked in the house. Before Grandpappy led us to the second floor, where most of the bedrooms are, the three of us took off our shoes and placed them underneath one of his paintings (that was on the right side of the front door).

"And who are your friends?" Grandpappy asked.

"I'm Cressida Gruwell," Cressida said and held out her hand, "and this is my little sister, Penelope. You can call her 'Penny' if you want."

Grandpappy shook his hand with Cressida and Penelope and told them that it was a pleasure meeting them. Then, he began to talk to us in a voice with a hint of seriousness.

"Now, Cressida and Penny," Grandpappy said, "Beatrice and I will show you your bedrooms and the bathroom. In the morning, I'll be attending a few church meetings and I won't be back here until later in the afternoon. You're free to walk around but I want you to stay on the property."

"We'll keep that in mind, sir." Cressida said.

"All right. Now, get ready for bed. You all had a long walk or drive here and it's going to be a beautiful day tomorrow."

Then, Grandpappy led us to the second floor and down the hall to our left; there was a bedroom that was suitable for three to four people (The room had a closet, a bunk bed, a regular bed, a small dresser, and a bed stand.).

"Is this room okay for you?" He asked.

"It's a perfect room." I replied.

"All right, then. Beatrice, I'm going to finish up on my piano playing and paint for about another hour and get ready for bed. I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

"All right, Grandpappy."

After Grandpappy and I said our good-nights, I opened one of the dresser drawers in the room and pulled out three nightgowns for myself, Cressida, and Penelope. As Cressida was changing into her nightgown in the closet, I asked Cressida,

"Do you want the the regular bed or the bunk?"

"I'll sleep on the top bunk." She replied.

"All right. What about you, Penny? Bunk bed or regular?"

"The bunk." Penny replied.

"Okay."

After a few minutes passed, Cressida, Penny, and I were dressed in our nightgowns and the lights were turned off as soon as Penny and Cressida were on the bunk bed.

"Hey, Beatrice?" Cressida asked in the darkness of the room.

"Yes?" I asked back.

"Back in Mr. D's van, you said that you and your brother can see, hear, and talk to Toons, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I was wondering why your brother didn't come along with us, even he can see, hear, and talk to Toons."

"My mom likes to spoil my brother a lot. Thankfully, he doesn't give in to anything that my mom gives him."

"Oh, okay. I just wanted to ask you that before I go to sleep right now."

"You're cool, Cressida. It's all right to ask me questions."

"Well…good night, Beatrice and Penny."

"Good night, Cressida." Penny and I said in unison.

When things began to get really quiet, I stared out in to space and formulated a plan that I'm going to put in to action tomorrow morning after I wake up and eat breakfast.

…..

Tommy:

When I woke up this morning, I expected piano music to be playing. I thought that Beatrice getting sent to the Houston Juvenile Institute was a really bad dream but after not hearing piano getting played and checking in Beatrice's room, I realized that I was wrong.

Right now, I'm sadly walking to the stove (while wearing a tank top, red and white pajama pants, dark blue slippers, and light brown robe as my sleepwear) and getting ready to eat a piece of one of Beatrice's favorite breakfast dishes, French toast casserole with a little bit of maple syrup and a lot of chopped green apples. Four pieces of the casserole were already eaten by Mom and Dad, who are now out doing some things that'll probably take all day.

"Breakfast won't taste very good without Beatrice." I mumbled and got myself a glass of orange juice.

As soon as I was about to walk back to the table and slowly drink my glass of pulp-free orange juice, I heard someone knock on the front door.

"Coming." I said in a sad and not-so-loud voice.

I walked to the door and opened it.

It was the Toon Patrol.

"Hey, Thomas."Greasy said to me with a small smile on his face.

"What's up, Greasy?" I asked.

"We just came by to see you and the muchacha." Then, he noticed my sad and tired look. "Is everything all right?"

"No." I said.

"What's the matter?" Sleazy asked.

"I know that Greasy wouldn't like to hear this but…Beatrice is no longer here. She's at the asylum."

The Toon Patrol gave me looks of horror.

"Did they really?" Slimy asked.

"Poor Pretty Girly!" Psycho exclaimed.

"Thomas, did your sister really did go to that asylum?" Greasy asked.

I was interrupted by the house phone ringing.

"Hold that thought." I said and ran to the living room so that I can answer the phone.

After the third ring, I picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello, you've reached the Birchwood household. This is Thomas speaking. Who's calling?" I asked.

"This is Katy Weathers." A voice on the other line answered.

KATY WEATHERS?! I exclaimed in my head. That's Beatrice's alias name!

"Beatrice, is that you?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's me, Tommy." Beatrice replied. "Is Mom and or Dad in the house?"

"No, they're out."

"All right, Tommy. I want you to listen to me. I'm not at the Houston Juvenile Institute. I'm at Grandpa Fauntleroy's place."

"Really? How did you-?"

"I escaped but that's not important."

Then, I heard the front door close and the Toon Patrol walked in to living room.

"Anyway, Tommy, I wanted to tell you that as my only and favorite brother in the whole wide world, you DO NOT tell Dad where I am right now. Because if you tell Dad, then Mom will try to extract all of the information out of him and I'll be sent to the Houston Juvenile Institute." Beatrice said.

"I know what you're saying but what's the address to Grandpa Fauntleroy's place?" I asked.

"Five, six, three, Norwood Forest, Houston, Tx."

"Okay."

Greasy tugged at my robe and asked me who it was and after I told him that it was Beatrice who was calling, he started to dance around the living room in joy.

"All right, Beatrice. I got the address." I said on the phone. "I won't tell Mom and Dad where you are now. While I try to keep in mind of that, I want you to be careful. You never know when the HJI's staff will begin looking for you."

"May I talk to her?" Greasy asked me.

"Yeah, sure, hold on. Beatrice, someone wants to talk to you."

"Who is it? Mom?"

I handed Greasy the phone and he began to talk to Beatrice. While he talked and the other weasels were watching, I walked to my bed room and changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. As I got dressed, I heard Greasy talk to Beatrice and I can that the call was going to take a while.

When I came back to the living room, Greasy was saying 'good-bye' to Beatrice and he hung up.

…

Beatrice:

Greasy had a lot to say and he was very excited to hear me talk to him. After we hung up, I walked back up to my room and grabbed Dad's journal.

The journal talks about you and Tommy and you'll find more information about yourselves as soon as you read it. Dad's voice echoed in my head. I should've explained something to you and Tommy a long time ago…Keep this close, Beatrice. It's your only hope of knowing your destiny and Tommy's destiny, as well. This book will reveal some of your future.

Well, Dad, if you really want me to know what my destiny is, I'll read through your journal. I thought.

I took a deep breath and opened the journal.