Hello everybody!
I deeply apologise for the delay of this chapter. My beta has been away, but now they are back, so I can get back to my regular schedule. Hopefully, you'll be able to forgive me.
This chapter, is the first of Act 2, and comes with a few new problems, senarios and some new characters. To warn you in advance, there is going to be a lot of new things in these next couple of chapters, so be careful and alert. Also, there is a musical number 'Egg, Nest and Tree', which I have remodified to be sutible for this story. And it also includes a dream, which is extremely important and includes some new information and mysteries.
I would really love to thank WyldClaw and Hanbaba, your reviews keep my writing. I'm so glad you like the chapter, I was quite worried that people would really hate it. And to those who didn't review (and I know there are many) please do! I don't bite, I'm very friendly and I take anything you day to me on board.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Seussical the Musical, Seuss or any of its belongs to Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty and Dr Seuss Enterprise. I only own Kirsty, her items, her bissare 'real' dreams, her clumsy accidents and Basil, an OC that may turn up in a future chapter...
Love you all!
Sophie xoxo
Chapter 18: Troubles In NYC
Horton slowly began to regain consciousness, the tranquiliser starting to wear off. Raising himself up, he hit his head on something hard. Gazing to the sky, he realised he was in some sort of cage. Before he could wonder why, he was knocked to the other side, a collection of water drifting in. Everywhere he looked, all he could see was strange box shaped, grey objects, which scared him even more. Where was he?
Sitting back down on his nest, he saw something on the other side of the cage, looking beaten up and dripping wet. At first he didn't know what it was, but then he remembered. How could he could be so forgetful, that 'something' was his best friend! Stretching his trunk out to her, Horton checked her pulse. She was alive, but only just.
He lightly nudged her, trying to wake her up, whispering softly to her. "Kirsty, wake up…please…" When she didn't respond, Horton sighed, knowing his friend couldn't hear him, and went back to observing his surroundings. They looked like to be in the middle of a sea, one he didn't recognise. The time, he couldn't be sure, since the moon was hidden well behind the clouds, but it seemed to be late evening.
"Horton…"
At the sound of his name, he whipped his head to Kirsty, who eyes were beginning to open. "Oh, thank goodness you're all right!" he exclaimed, a smile appearing on his face. "How are you feeling?"
"A little drowsy, mainly because of the tranquilisers," Kirsty told him, managing to sit up. "I don't know why they shot me though; I am their species, after all."
Horton began to grow confused. "What exactly were those creature that shot us? And what are tranquillosers?
His friend shook her head, laughing slightly. "Tranquilisers, silly. They are like drugs, used to calm animals for transportation. And the people who shot them, they were humans, hunters. I don't know how they got into Nool, though." She looked around herself, noticing the strange surroundings. "From my knowledge, we're on a cargo ship, guessing from the various shipping containers and such. They must have dug the tree up and drag us off while we were sleeping. "
As the ship rocked to the other side, making both of them hit their heads on the low cage roof, Horton noticed that the clouds had opened up, rain starting to pour down on them, which made his mood even more miserable. "Kirsty, I need to get something off my chest. It's driving me crazy and I need to ask someone if I'm not kidding myself."
"What is it, Hort?" she asked him, while trying to find a way to keep both of them dry. "You can tell me. I'm sure I can help you out."
"I'm in love with Gertrude McFuzz."
Just as he said that, the ship tilted. Surprised by Horton's confession, Kirsty slipped in a small puddle of water and banged the back of her head on one of the metal cage bars. "Gertrude?" she echoed, rubbing her head in pain.
"Yeah, I have always cared about her, but a few months ago, about when you showed up, I realised that I loved her. Every time I see her, I've wanted to tell her, but I've been too scared to tell her my real feelings for her. I'm scared that she'll say no, laugh at me, walk away, or worse." He looked down at the ground, feeling completely foolish. "Do you think I'm an idiot, for even thinking I could have a chance with her?"
Kirsty let out a sigh. Why couldn't he realise that Gertrude was as crazy about him as he was for her? She wanted to tell Horton about Gertrude, but she had promised Gertrude she wouldn't. Why did she have to do everything people asked of her? "Don't even think that. You are an incredible person, Horton; all you need is a boost of confidence. When we get back to Nool, you should tell her how you feel. Maybe she might feel the same way about you! Just go for it, you have nothing to lose," she told him. She felt terrible not telling him how Gertrude felt the same for him, but maybe it was better for him to figure it out on his own.
Unexpectedly, Horton picked his friend up with his trunk, bringing her up to his level. "That's what I like best about you, you're so good at giving advice." He slowly let her down, placing her gently in the corner opposite to him.
Watching the rain drip from her hair and the waves flooding the deck, Kirsty also felt like she had to tell him something. "You know that Jojo and I might be fighting in the war?"
"What?!" Horton exclaimed, his mouth open wide. "That's absurd! You're just kids! What do your parents think about this? They would have to get you and Jojo out, for sure!"
His friend shook her head, wishing what he had said was true. "They don't know that we are. Neither do any of the other parents. Jojo and I found out when we were looking for General Schmitz, after a group of first year cadets bashed me up and left me for dead. That's why I came back so terrible, along with the intense training drills. I was going to tell Helen, that's Mrs Mayor's actual name, but I wanted to be sure, so Jojo and I decided that we would keep investigating until we got some proof. Of course, he'll be looking alone, now I'm here."
They looked at each other, on both their faces a look of despair, guilt and utter defeat. "Well, let's just hope that wherever we are going, we go together," he told her, beginning to get tired.
"Until the end," Kirsty agreed, closing her eyes, the beating of the rain soothing her to sleep.
The sun was disappearing in the distance, signalling nightfall, but Kirsty and Horton weren't sleeping, and weren't going to for a few hours.
"Be strong, Horton!"
Kirsty turned to her friend, his face turning a light shade of green. The rough seas were finally getting to him.
As she tried to find a bucket of sorts for him, before he got sick, she spotted a man, about 20 or so, cleaning the deck. He must have been on nightshift, though she hadn't seen him the day before, when they first arrived. He was about medium in everything and quite plain and dull looking, except for his hair, which was bright orange and tied up in a small ponytail.
"Excuse me, sir? Hello? Could you help me please?" she called out to the man. When he saw her, he dropped his mop, completely dumbfounded.
It took a few moments before he was able to respond. "Did you just speak? But how?" He slowly moved to her, incredibly wary of this strange English speaking creature.
Kirsty rolled her eyes. "I can explain, but do you have a bucket? My friend can't hold it in much longer."
"Sure." he murmured, still completely astounded, but understanding what she meant. He rushed over to a small storeroom, where he came out with a large bucket, which he quickly put near the elephant.
Kirsty looked away, not wanting to be sick herself. As her friend stopped, she rubbed him on the back. "It's alright…it's okay…"
"You need one?" the man asked her, holding a spare bucket up.
She shook her head. "I'll be fine, but thank you for asking." The two didn't say anything for a few minutes, not knowing what to say next.
The man was the first to break the silence. "How can I understand you, when you're not human?"
"This may sound quite ridiculous but I am actually a human."
You could hear a pin drop, the man completely speechless. "No, that's impossible. I must have been hearing things," he said to himself, after a few seconds, laughing nervously. "You can't be a human! It's crazy, it's impossible!"
"Only if you believe it is," Kirsty told him, looking him in the eye, her own sparkling with wisdom. After giving him a few moments to take it in, she smiled at him, another question coming to her mind. "What's your name?"
The man put his hand out. "Basil's the name. Well, that's what most folks around here call me."
"Kirsty," she said, shaking Basil's hand through the metal bars. Next, she pointed to Horton, who was reeling from his second case of seasickness. "And that's Horton, a very good friend of mine."
Basil raised an eyebrow. "Horton, hu? Interesting name." Moving his gaze back to Kirsty, he began to study her. "All right, I have a few questions for you. One, how did you end up with an elephant? Two, how did you end up with that thing?" He gestured to the egg, nest and tree as he said that. "Three, what's with the army uniform? And four, how can you be a human when you don't look anything like one?"
"Well, to answer your first question, it's a long story," she explained, smirking, memories coming back to her. "Secondly, that is not a thing; it is an egg, nest and tree to be precise. And how we ended up with it, you don't want to know. Thirdly, I got this uniform from attending a military school, which I don't want to talk about. And lastly, what made you think that I don't look like a human?"
The man shrugged. "Well, for starters, you have a tail. Also, you just look so innocent, like you've just stepped right out of a book or something." Hearing the girl laugh, he grew confused. "What's so funny?"
Managing to stop laughing, she answered him. "Just about how I look like I've stepped out of a book. It's truer than you think."
Before Basil had time to question her, a much older man looked his way, signalling him to come to him. "I have to go, but hopefully, I will be able to talk to you again," Basil said, standing up. Kirsty smiled, giving him a small wave. When he was out of sight, she sat herself back down again, pulling her legs in.
"I see you've got yourself a new friend," Horton told her, his face looking much pinker than it had been.
Kirsty put her hands in her pockets. "I wouldn't say that," she informed him. "More like an acquaintance. He was just curious, that's all." As her friend started to become tired, she decided to have another look at the box she had found a few months ago, after Jojo and herself had thought up McElligot's Pool. Opening it, she found a flyer, this time with a circus on the front of it and the title 'The Circus McGurkus! The world's greatest show on the face of the earth or wherever you go!'
"What does a circus have to do with us?" she wondered, putting the flyer in her bag for safe keeping. She remembered the first time she had found something in the box, which was a brochure for the General's military Academy. Somehow or other, that brochure was linked to events which were going to happen. Confused and worried, Kirsty curled up in a ball and closed her eyes, hoping that the days ahead wouldn't get any worse. What if this flyer meant something bad?
"SHE DID WHAT?"
Kirsty woke up with a start, to find herself no longer in the cage, but in an office, quite similar to Mr Mayor's, back in Whoville. Also, she wasn't in her military uniform anymore, but instead, flowing white clothes, which made it clear that she was in a dream. Though, something about the whole situation seemed too real, like it was actually happening.
The voice, which she immediately identified as the same person from the council's secret meeting about her, was coming from a speakerphone, which was surrounded by three people. One of them was the council chairman, which Kirsty easily recognised and the other was General Schmitz, who she hadn't expected to see there. The third person, at first, Kirsty didn't know, but then a memory came back to her. He was the Major at the Academy, who she had seen on a few occasions.
"Yes, sir," General Schmitz told him. "Both her and her friend came into my office at about 11pm on Friday last week. They saw the placement plans, but they didn't see anything else."
The gruff voice growled, sending a chill down Kirsty's spine. She now knew they were talking about her and Jojo again. "How can one child be so difficult? I thought you said the Academy would straighten her out, put her out of our picture?"
As she moved forward an inch, the council chairman stepped forward. "I may have underestimated her, but I can assure you, she is definitely out of the picture and will be, as long as she is in the Academy."
"Still, I feel like she's hiding something!" his boss yelled. "She and that other Thinker must be part of the Creator's plan, his rebellion, to try and stop me. Him and that Guardian, they think they're so great, with their old fashioned techniques and overrated clichés, but really, they are nothing compared to me." Kirsty backed up a little. Who were these Creator and Guardian people and how was she involved with them? "About a year ago, I found out that the Creator had a secret weapon, something that posed a massive threat to my operation. Then, a few months ago, I discovered that the item, called the Source, was in Seuss. I could easily see it was there, as everything we had begun to enforce had started to spiral back to the way it used to be. We are almost ready to put our full plan into force, but we still have a lot to do, and with that girl in the way and the source existent, time is running out for us." He sighed. "Have you had any news from Martin?"
"No news as yet. In fact, he says that it's been so quiet, he has had to rely on loans just to keep himself afloat, let alone his business," the Major answered him, grumbling. "To be honest with you, I don't see why he's still there; we could really use him here."
Suddenly, the chairman rammed him to the wall, near where Kirsty was observing, making her quickly move to the other side. "How dare you question our great leader?!" he roared at him, looking like he was about to punch him. "You may be a relation to our boss, Sylvester, but that doesn't give you the right to doubt him."
General Schmitz rushed to pull the two away from each other. "Jack, calm down. It's not his fault he wasn't there when it happened. However, he doesn't have the right to mistrust our leader."
Kirsty's head spun, her head overflowing with millions of thoughts, speculations and presumptions. She moved backwards, not wanting to hear anymore, in fear of more secrets and betrayal. Unfortunately, she tripped on an object behind her, which made her fall into oblivion. At that moment, her vision deteriorated, sending her back to reality.
When the two friends woke up, a massive amount of voices swamped their eardrums. They looked to each other, noticing both of them were much cleaner than they were before.
Even though her head was dizzy and all her joints felt heavy, she moved her head against the cage, which had be covered by a silk cloth to try and hear something, anything that might explain where they had been taken.
"Settle down, everyone. One at a time!"
She moved back to the nest and Horton, who looked quite ill. She felt his head, which was unusually cold. Putting her arm around him, she seemed to calm him down. At that moment, the voices began to die down.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to tonight's New York City Annual Christmas Eve Auction," a male voice announced. "Our last item up for bid this evening is lot 39, which is quite a unique and rare entry. I guarantee that no one here tonight has ever seen something like this before."
Suddenly, someone lifted the cloth off, revealing a massive crowd, which made Kirsty and Horton speechless. The crowd gasped in amazement.
Don't worry, Kirsty. This must be one of your crazy dreams. We can't be in the human world, that's absurd! It's…It's-
Her thought was interrupted, as the man tapped his microphone, silencing the crowd. "A pendulous pachyderm and a strange unidentified creature on egg, nest and tree. The bidding will begin at ten thousand dollars. Do I hear ten, ten thousand?" The crowd became boisterous, the auctioneer failing to keep the organised manner.
Shocked beyond belief, the last thing Kirsty wanted to do was sing, but, as usual, the world decided that now was the perfect time. She got out of the tree, her feet placed firmly on the ground. Taking a breath in, she did a small vocal scat, which moved everyone's attention to her.
"Up out of the jungle, up into the sky, up over the mountains…Ten thousand feet high," she sang, belting out the words, which made the crowd completely silent, amazed by this a cappella performance. "Then down from the mountains and down to the sea…" She looked to Horton, putting her hand out to him, as an upbeat rhythm began. "Went Horton the elephant, Egg, nest and tree."
As Kirsty hanged onto the last note, doing some improvising, the crowd seemed to join in with her, thinking that this was all part of the auction. "Egg, nest and tree!" half the people in the room echoed.
"Egg, nest and tree!" sang the other half.
Even though she was slightly surprised by the sudden involvement, she went along with it, trying to keep the audience on her side. "They loaded the wagon right onto a ship. Out over the ocean and ooh, what a trip!" she continued, going over to the other side of the stage. "Rolling and tossing and sick as could be! Just a seasick elephant, egg, nest and tree."
"Egg, nest and tree..." the crowd sang, as Kirsty made her way from Horton to the other side of the room.
"After bobbing around for two weeks like a cork," she narrated.
"Egg, nest and tree!"
"We landed at last in the town of New York."
"Egg, nest and tree!"
"We were wet, we were tired, and hungry and cold,"
"Egg, nest and tree!"
"Then, Horton was taken to auction..." she went back to the tree and sat down next to Horton. As she did, the music paused and she looked to the auctioneer, who was completely flabbergasted.
In a matter of seconds, the massive crowd began raising their signs, racing for a bid, desperately wanting this magnificent item. "Ah! Going once, going twice..." The young man banged his gavel after a few minutes of fast paced auctioning. When he did, a strange feeling went through Kirsty, as if time had stopped. Luckily for her, the man's voice broke her shock. "Sold...for five hundred thousand dollars…to the man with the sideburns and the greasy black moustache." He squinted his eyes and adjusted the glasses he was wearing, looking at the person he was pointing to. "Oh, excuse me, Madame! Sold...to the man from the circus!"
"Sold ... sold ... sold ...egg, nest and tree," Kirsty sang sadly, as they were taken away again. They were no closer to finding Who, even further than they had been before, and she didn't even know if she and Horton would make it back to Nool, in the same state as they had come out. And another question had formed itself in her mind, one which concerned her even more.
What had happened to her when that gavel was hit?
So, did you enjoy that? Did that dream pull you in?
One more thing before I leave you alone, I have a poll on my page, if you could please answer it, I would be ever so grateful. That way, I might be able to give you something more to read.
Please R&R!