Ch. 14: A Day at the Castle
Duke awoke, nestled in Jennifer's arms, who was sleeping soundly. He discreetly slipped out, then yawned and stretched. He carefully dropped to the floor and left Jennifer sleeping. Jennifer's room looked somewhat different since the last time he was here, but it was mostly because as an otter, his perspective had changed. Duke decided to wander around her room until Jennifer woke up. He soon found his way onto the balcony and admired the view. As an otter had he had never been this far off the ground.
"Duke!" Claire called out, flapping above him. She quickly landed in front of the otter. "There you are! Where have you been? We've been worried sick! Why are you still here? Don't tell me to lower my voice!"
"Who's here?" Jennifer asked, as she walked out onto the balcony, rubbing her eyes and then saw Duke and Claire. Duke gave her an apologetic look, while Claire looked embarrassed.
"Claire, I'm fine," Duke said, then added, "as you can see."
"Of . . . course . . ."
"You can tell Dwight and Tommy I'm okay; I'll be back later tonight," Duke said. "In fact, we may have found a way to defeat Arla."
"Really? How?" Claire asked, excitingly.
"I'll explain everything tonight," Duke said and smiled a little. "You know I don't like repeating myself."
"You can tell me and I'll let Tommy and Dwight know," Claire said, trying to get an answer.
"And have you spoil my surprise? No way!" Duke said with a slight tease.
"Okay, we'll do it your way," Claire responded, and swished her tail impatiently.
Duke and Claire then said their good-byes, and the duck soon flew off. Duke turned around to see that Jennifer had been watching them, looking a little glum.
"I wish I knew what you two were talking about," Jennifer said and stroked Duke a couple of times. "But I know you'll tell me later."
Duke nodded and then there was a knock at the door.
"Jennifer? I hope you're awake," Audrey's voice said from the other side. "It's almost noon! I brought you some food."
Jennifer smiled and headed for the door; Duke followed her. Audrey walked in as Jennifer opened the door, carrying a tray with food and tea on it. Before Jennifer closed the door, Audrey tossed her head, trying to motion to Nathan to follow her, carrying a tray with a lid on.
"I can't believe I'm doing this," Nathan grumbled, as Jennifer closed the door and Audrey put her tray down on a nearby table.
"I told you to put it in your pocket if you really didn't want to be seen with it," Audrey teased with a slight smile.
"First, my clothes would stink. Second, who does that anymore?" Nathan retorted, placing his tray on the floor in front of Duke, who sniffed it and smiled.
Before Jennifer could ask, Nathan removed the lid to reveal a fresh fish. Duke looked up at Nathan and chuckled before he ate the fish.
"He says 'Thank you,'" Jennifer said. Audrey and Nathan looked at her a little surprised. "Um, I recognized the sound . . . is that too weird? . . . Thanks for the food!"
Audrey laughed as Jennifer sat down and began eating. "No, it just means you've grown close to Duke and recognize his speech."
Nathan rolled his eyes.
"Do you know how Vince and Dave are going to explain why an otter is following me around?" Jennifer asked in-between bites.
Nathan nodded and smirked. "You're not going to believe this . . ."
"So let me see if I heard you correctly," Sir Howard said. He, King Garland, Nathan, Audrey, and the Teague brothers stood on top of the stairs that lead into the back gardens. They were watching Jennifer walking alongside of one of the pools, where Duke swam, keeping up with her. "You believe Jennifer could be a descendant of the maidens who tame feral beasts?"
The Teague brothers quickly nodded.
"It would explain the otter that was seen a few weeks ago," Vince said.
"You know some members of the Mason family had magical gifts in the past. Plus, look how happy this otter looks!" Dave added, indicating Jennifer and Duke.
"I agree," Audrey commented.
"Do you have any thoughts on this, Nathan?" King Garland asked, lighting a cigarette.
"It does seem plausible," Nathan said, trying to not look that disgusted with his father's habit.
Sir Howard looked at Jennifer and Duke again before he turned to King Garland. "Do you find this a little too coincidental that this happened a few days before we return to our homes?"
"Stranger things have happened," King Garland said, after he took a drag from his cigarette, as he watched Jennifer and Duke.
Sir Howard looked somewhat annoyed and walked back inside. King Garland walked down the stairs and stopped next to Jennifer, who was watching Duke doing tricks in the water.
"Great job, Princess," King Garland said, as he exhaled smoke through his nose, and patted her back. "By the way, what's his name?"
"His . . . name?" Jennifer said, being put on the spot, not having thought of this situation arising. "Uh . . . uh . . . Orion! That's his name! Orion!"
"You named him after the Hunter constellation?" King Garland said and took another pull from his cigarette. "I like it; very insightful."
Jennifer let out a sigh of relief as Duke swam up to her and King Garland, and raised his head to get better look at them. King Garland leaned a little to get a closer look at the otter as Duke twitched his whiskers. Garland let out a puff of smoke from his mouth into Duke's face. Duke sneezed and submerged the lower half of his face in the water. He then blew bubbles at Garland, who jerked away.
"Strange," Garland said, with his cigarette between his teeth. "In some odd way, he reminds me of one of Simon Crocker's children."
Duke poked his head out further, while Jennifer attempted to look more surprised than shocked.
"Oh, really?" Jennifer said, trying to sound curious. "How . . . interesting."
King Garland looked over the otter once more and Duke snorted.
"Very strange," Garland commented as smoke drifted out of his mouth. He then walked off.
When Garland was out of their sight, Duke and Jennifer looked at each other and smiled.
What everyone didn't expect was how much attention Duke got from the children living at True Heart Castle. It all started when Cookie caught Duke's scent and decided to play 'chase' with the otter. Duke avoided being caught by jumping into one of the pools. While Liam was busy apologizing to Jennifer, and trying to discipline his dog at the same time, Duke stuck his head out of the water as Cookie barked at him. Duke then chuckled back and the dog stopped barking. Jennifer and Liam watched as Duke and Cookie had a conversation composed of otter chuckling and soft dog barking. When the conversation was over, Cookie sat down. While Duke got out of the pool, Cookie returned to Liam. Liam then commented to Jennifer that Duke was "totally cool," and began asking her questions about him, as he her joined her and Duke strolling through the back gardens.
They soon encountered Ginger Danvers, whose mother passed away last month and became withdrawn. Jennifer informed Duke about this as Liam tried to talk to Ginger. Duke then walked up to Ginger and chirped, getting the girl's attention. Duke stood up on his hind legs and made a cute laughing grunt sound. He then rolled over twice before coming closer to Ginger and touched her fingers with his whiskers, causing her to laugh. Jennifer and Liam began talking to her and Ginger opened up, also asking questions about Duke, along with Liam.
"Where did you find him?"
"If he doesn't live here, where does he stay?"
"May I hold him?"
"May I pet him?"
"Well . . . you see . . ." Jennifer said then noticed Duke discreetly nodding to her. ". . . Um . . . yes; just be gentle."
Liam and Ginger gently stroked Duke who loved the attention.
"Look! He likes it when you scratch him under the chin!" Ginger said while she did it, seeing Duke's happy face.
"Yes . . . I didn't know . . ." Jennifer said, slightly perturbed that she wasn't aware of that, and Duke didn't tell her. She stared at Duke, who gave her an innocent look.
"He makes funny faces!" Liam said, causing Duke to look indignant. "He's making a funny face right now!"
"Yeah . . . he does make funny faces," Jennifer agreed, laughing along with Liam.
"He's so soft!" Ginger said as she and Liam finished petting Duke. "Can he do any tricks?"
"I don't . . ." Jennifer saw Duke discreetly nodding to her again. "I guess . . . he doesn't mind preforming tricks . . . but you should see him in the water! He's very acrobatic!"
Duke didn't mind Jennifer's improvisation, and happily went into a nearby pool to show off. The children were absolutely delighted watching Duke perform: he did flips in the air, rolled over, he did fancy jumps in the air, swirled and twisted in the water, and did swimming stunts. Jennifer was also charmed watching Duke.
When Liam suggested that they should teach Duke to jump through a hoop, Jennifer said Duke needed a rest, who looked relieved. Ginger and Liam accepted that and decided to play with Cookie. As the children ran off, Jennifer picked up Duke and decided to take a nap with him.
Jennifer managed to sneak out with Duke just before sunset. After he changed back to his human self, they walked through the forest, which lead to the river. As they walked, Jennifer noticed Duke looking back at True Heart Castle longingly.
"What is it?" Jennifer asked.
"I just realized how much I miss living at Silver Eyes Estate," Duke said, looking at her. Jennifer gave him a sympathetic look, which he noticed. "But it was great spending the day with you."
He leaned over and kissed Jennifer on her neck and cheek, causing her to gently laugh.
"I'm glad you had fun; so did I," Jennifer said after the kisses. "You were wonderful with the children, especially with Ginger! I bet you would be an excellent father."
"Yeah," he answered, in an unconvinced voice. "I just don't want to turn out to be my Dad."
"No, Duke," Jennifer said, stopping him, holding his hand. Even she had heard the harshness of Simon Crocker. "You're not like him. How could you even think that? You're kind, thoughtful, and caring. You have a good heart. This is why Charlotte trusted you with her secrets, and why I fell in love with you."
Duke felt better and found himself grinning. He held her close and began to kiss her . . .
"Cookie, stay! Come back!" Liam called out.
Jennifer and Duke turned to see Cookie running out of the bushes. Once the dog was near Duke, he stopped and stood up, leaning his front paws on him, wagging his tail, looking happy. Liam soon appeared.
"Sorry, Miss. Jennifer; Cookie ran off before I could put on his leash," Liam apologized and noticed Cookie with Duke. "Wow! Cookie is never this friendly with strangers! He must really like you, sir!"
Cookie began whining as Liam attached the leash to his collar, causing Duke to smirk.
"Where's your otter? Orion?" Liam asked, looking around, once he got Cookie off of Duke. Duke and Jennifer attempted to hide their smiles.
"Oh, Orion . . . he went back home," Jennifer said.
"Will he return? He's awesome!"
"Hopefully, someday," Jennifer said, giving Duke a loving look.
"Cool! I'll let Ginger know!"
With that, Liam said good-bye and attempted to go back to the castle, but Cookie refused to move, and kept looking between Liam and Duke, whining. Finally, Cookie gave up and followed Liam back.
"By the way, I wanted to ask," Jennifer said after Liam and Cookie were gone. "What did you say to Cookie to make him behave?"
"Oh, that," Duke said with a big grin. "Cookie wanted to play with me, treating me as a dog, but I said I didn't play that way and told him to back off. He then said he only obeys humans and other dogs, and was little surprised when I told him I am one. After he sniffed me, he said I did smell a little like a human, which according to him is very unusual, and decided to respect me." Duke then laughed. "Cookie recognized my scent, which is why he was so friendly. He refused to leave because he was trying to tell Liam that I was the otter!"
Jennifer laughed and they finished their kiss. With a reluctant look in his eyes, Duke left. Jennifer then returned to True Heart Castle, but in her case, she was happy. When she saw the Teague brothers, she walked up to them with a big smile.
"Vince, Dave," she said. "How would you like to help break Duke's curses?"