Secrets of the Platypus – Part 4
"So let me see if I get this straight. Your actual name is Pericles Bartholomew Flynn?"
"Is this blackmail?" Perry asked in the tone of someone who received blackmail calls on a daily basis.
"I just see why you never use it."
"Look, my first father was a bit of a geek and had a thing for Ancient Greece. I suppose it could be worse, some parents name their kids after movie stars or their favorite car brand."
Vanessa glanced around to make sure no one was listening, and then asked, "So how did it go?"
"Pretty fine I guess, just rescued some rich brat."
"Let me guess, bounty hunters."
Perry whistled. "Well someone's done their homework."
Vanessa took a seat on the couch, "Nah, just a really common movie trope."
"Hey kid, don't touch that!" Vanessa heard Perry release a heavy sigh and lower his voice, "I was worried he'd need therapy, but he's honestly such a pain in the neck the captors practically begged me to take him."
Vanessa gave a short laugh before a loud beep and what sounded like a hover car losing altitude made her pull her phone away from her ear.
"I'll have to call you back," said Perry, this time without even trying to hide his exasperation. "Now what did I just say?!"
Vanessa put her phone down on the coffee table just a moment before Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher poked her head into the living room. "Vanessa dear, pie's ready."
"Uh, be there in a minute, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher, thank you."
Phineas and Ferb were already sitting at the table talking about small planets and miniature volcanoes, "Ferb I know what we're doing tomorrow!"
"Finally," Candace said, pulling up a chair. "So you've decided to do something else besides homework."
"Oh, but we weren't doing our homework. We were just reading from the book Perry recommended. It's called The Little Prince. It's really fun!"
"Fun?" Candace snorted. "I think I saw Perry tear up at least twice reading it."
"All men have stars. But they are not the same things for different people."
"Oh, well said Ferb!" Phineas said and began flipping through a tiny book with yellowed edges, looking for the passage in question.
"Boys, you know the rules, no books at the table," said Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher, snatching it from his hand, "Oh, I remember this! Perry liked it so much when he was little that the orphanage let him keep it. That and because he colored over the pictures," she chuckled, resting her hand on her cheek. She placed the book carefully on top of one of the cupboards and sat down next to Candace. "Oh, he always liked reading. That's why he chose literature as his major when he went to college."
"I still think that's lame."
"Candace, don't talk with your mouth full."
Candace swallowed and wiped the blueberry from her cheek. "I want to go to Law School. That's how you actually get things done and they even let you put people in jail!"
Vanessa grinned as she chewed on her pie, thinking about the irony of that statement.
"But I thought a lawyer's job was to make sure people didn't go to jail," Phineas said.
"Only your clients, the real culprits still gonna get it!"
"Maybe you should focus on finishing high school first, hon."
"I'm working on it, Mom!"
"Mm, I thought it smelled good in here," said Mr. Fletcher as he stepped through the doorway with a rolled-up newspaper in his hand.
"Dad, it always smells like pie in here," Candace said.
"You say it like it's a bad thing," said Mr. Fletcher, taking a plate from the cupboard and patting Phineas on the head before taking the seat next to him.
Despite what Candace had told her, at that moment Vanessa wasn't feeling too lucky for being an only child. She often wondered what it was like to be part of a big family. It was usually just her and her mother at the table, but even so, she felt quite guilty knowing that she had taken the seat where Perry most likely usually sat.
"Literature major, seriously?" Vanessa murmured.
"Yeah, I figured it would be easier to sell. Sometimes I drop in a random quote just to get the point across. It can get annoying pretty fast, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," Perry said.
"Was that in a book?"
"No, more like: I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship."
"Was that Little Women?" Vanessa asked and almost dropped her phone at the sound of thunder roaring in the distance. "Wait, you're not actually on a ship, are you?"
"Yeah, turns out these things are harder to sail than I initially thought," Perry said over the yelling and cursing of panicked sailors. "I have to go, I think I just hit a rock."
Vanessa stared at the phone screen until it went back to black. There was no need to worry. Perry probably had things under control, and she had her own job to do.
She turned to the patio door. Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher hummed as she trimmed the roses by the fence. She definitely knew him even better than Candace, and surely she wouldn't have suspected anything if she'd asked her a few questions.
"I was happy to hear you wanted to join Stiegemore. Your mother didn't tell me anything."
"Yeah, I haven't told her yet," said Vanessa, holding the bag in which Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher was throwing the cut stems and buds.
"Well, if that's what you really want, I'm sure she'll support you. Perry was assigned at his biological parents' request, but has always been happy with the conditions they offered."
Vanessa hesitated. "Um, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly happened to his parents?"
"Oh, well, I don't know if I'm the right person to tell you that, although Perry likes to talk about his mother. He admired her very much. She was a ranger, you see, and he always loved animals."
As if on cue, Vanessa received a selfie of Perry holding several lion cubs in his arms and one of them on his head. Guess where I am now, the text said. Vanessa couldn't help but grin.
"Did something happen?" asked Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher.
"One of my friends just texted me," said Vanessa, sliding her phone in her back pocket.
"Ah, look, speaking of which," Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher chuckled after finding a tiny snail among the leaves. "How about you take this little guy somewhere safe and I finish here?"
Vanessa picked up the snail and laid it at the root of the tree, then hid behind the trunk and began to type, "How did you get to Africa so fast? And please tell me you're not going to keep them."
His message quickly came back, "Nah, I just need to locate their parents. I never liked poachers. They gave my mother a lot of trouble."
"Just try to get home in one piece," typed Vanessa, who still hadn't found out what had actually happened to his mother.
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
Vanessa knew she would probably have to settle for that answer and wiped her feet before heading back into the house.
She joined Candace who was watching a fashion show, but Vanessa was more focused on her notebook.
"You know, I really don't get why you care so much about my brother," Candace said during the commercial break.
"Well, I like to get to know the people I'm dealing with first. I just want to know more about Perry."
"But there's really not that much to know," said Candace, reaching for the Popcorn bowl. "Trust me Vanessa; he's so sappy and boring he makes Cinderella look like a mafia boss."
"He's so cool and brooding he makes Batman look like an old school mascot," Harry the Hyena told her half an hour later when she returned to OWCA headquarters.
"Well, something doesn't add up," Vanessa muttered to herself, flipping through the already-filled pages.