Work in Progress: Study of a Mad Golfer's Daughter
Inspired by Andrea Churchill's Work In Progress: The Study of a Mad Golfer. Boththe idea AND the title character belong to her. Although I don't own Bessie, I love the character, and I'm honored to come up with this story for her. UGH! Do I HAVE to go up to 100? I'm not sure if I can or WILL do anything of the sort, I'll do my very best, and I promise that I will actually finish this, whether or not I write 100 "chapters."
Although Andrea gave hers the highest rating, I'm only giving mine a T rating, and I'll do my best to make sure that there's nothing "too mature" in here. If there is, PLEASE don't be afraid to tell me. And yes, I know this story takes place in Scotland, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna have ALL my Scottish characters speak with a Scottish dialect. Eh mean cuz writin' like tis is really annoyin' an' gets on meh nerves. Maybe eh'll write like tis fer eh few characters, bu' NAE fer everyone in te entire story! So PLEASE jus' use yer imaginations people!
And one more thing. I don't own Bessie Killigan, Charlie, or Seamus. They all belong to Andrea. The Kim Possible characters aren't mine either, they belong to Disney and blah blah blah… so the other characters added in here belong to me. So anyways, happy reading lads an' lassies!
Mothers
"What is a mother?" asked Miss Murgatroyd to a class of kindergartners. Tiny energetic hands immediately shot up in the air to answer.
"She makes the best haggis in the world!" one child shouted.
"She reads me bedtime stories every night!" another hollered.
More and more answers shot across the room as the entire class yelled out more answers-until finally Miss Murgatroyd allowed the youngsters to make cards for Mothering Sunday coming up this weekend. All the children rushed to the crafts table and made grabs for the construction paper and the good markers to make the perfect card for their mothers.
That is-all the children except for Bessie Killigan. She had been sitting quietly in her desk the entire time. She didn't raise her hand or yell out answers with her classmates, nor did she run to grab crafting utensils and make a card. Bessie simply sat there all by her lonesome. Miss Murgatroyd noticed the smallest, timid student sitting alone and couldn't help but sense that something was wrong. She wanted to comfort the poor lass, but what could she do? She was only the student teacher, a mere helper for the regular instructor Mrs. Lennox.
And what wouldshe say anyway? She's never said a word to the child before. She normally saw Bessie at recess, where children have bullied her countless times-even to the point where the child broke down in tears. Miss Murgatroyd was a kindhearted young lass, and she always yearned to run to Bessie's aid whenever she witnessed her being tortured, but Mrs. Lennox instructed her otherwise.
Pay no attention to the lassie! She's a Killigan! She deserves everything that comes to her. Don't you dare feel sorry for her, Murgatroyd!
Reluctantly, the student teacher kept her distance as she was told, but no order could possibly stop her from even keeping wee Bessie in her thoughts. Miss Murgatroyd wasn't a Scotland native, so she knew very little about Bessie or her family, but she'd heard everyone: neighbors, a few friends, even members of the faculty gossip and say nasty things about her father Duff Killigan, whom they called "the world's deadliest golfer." She didn't know what horrendous act a simple golfer could've done to earn such a reputation, but was it so bad that no one, not even the teachers had a heart for Bessie? She couldn't possibly have done anything wrong. She was only six years old!
But…Mrs. Lennox was absent for the day-which made Miss Murgatroyd the teacher-in charge of the class for the entire day. What Mrs. Lennox doesn't know surely won't kill her, and the children were happily busy making cards for their mothers, so no one would notice if she talked to Bessie. And that's just what she did. She made her way from the excited, rambunctious children all the way to Bessie at her isolated desk.
"Hello Bessie," she greeted with a smile. Her Yorkshire accent sounded gentle and welcoming.
But Bessie didn't even look at Miss Murgatroyd. "Hullo," she muttered.
The teacher's mind went blank at the child's response and found herself speechless. Clearly she hadn't given herself much time to come up with a good conversation.
"Why are you sitting here by yourself, lassie?" was all that passed Miss Murgatroyd's lips. "Don't you want to make a card to take home?"
Bessie didn't answer. She stayed silent-still refusing to face Miss Murgatroyd. But the young teacher decided to stay by her side and wait patiently for the child to answer. Miss Murgatroyd had never talked to Bessie before, but that didn't mean she wasn't like everyone else in the school: cruel and vicious, calling her mean names and making her cry. Why should Bessie say anything to her anyways?Did she come by to mock her like the children and Mrs. Lennox always have?
After what seemed like hours, Bessie turned her head slightly to find Miss Murgatroyd still standing beside her. Miss Murgatroyd had not uttered a word, yet she seemed nothing like Mrs. Lennox. She didn't demand an answer from Bessie, neither did she give her a nasty glare like Mrs. Lennox normally would. Rather than nasty, her azure eyes were soft and warm-as though they were smiling. And just by looking in her eyes, Bessie knew that Miss Murgatroyd truly did care for her and decided to trust her after all.
She finally turned and completely faced her teacher-with tears dripping down her face."I-I don't have a ma," Bessie whimpered, her voice breaking and her lip gently quivering."I don't want to make a card for my ma if I don't have a ma to give it to." More tears fell from Bessie's eyes and she broke into a harder sob.
Miss Murgatroyd was slightly caught off guard at Bessie's weeping. She never expected her to suddenly burst out with emotion. Normally she was such a quiet and introverted child in the classroom. But still-she was the teacher, and it was her job to console and cheer up the students.
"And that is quite all right, Bessie," Miss Murgatroyd soothed. "You know…Mothering Sunday isn't a day just for mums. Do you have a…a grandma…or an aunt you admire?"
Bessie sadly shook her head, wiping a few tears with her palm. "No. There's only my Aunt Mary, but she doesn't like me much."
"And why not?" Miss Murgatroyd asked. "You seem like an awful nice girl."
Bessie simply shrugged. "She doesn't look at me. She never does."
Miss Murgatroyd sat quiet and pondered to herself for a while. What else could she do for Bessie? The lass had no mother, no grandmother, no decent aunt; not a motherly figure she could show her love or appreciation to, and at this time of year!
The teacher couldn't possibly imagine how terrible-not to mention how left out the child must feel. No wonder she didn't run with the other children to make a card. But just because Bessie didn't have a mother didn't mean she had to be shunned from the celebration, not even from making a simple card. Miss Murgatroyd took a quick look back to the crafts table, and-almost at an instant-an idea emerged inside her mind.
"Wait right here, Bessie," she gently ordered. "I'll be right back."
Bessie patiently waited as she was told while her teacher left for a few moments, only to find her returning with construction paper, markers, a glue stick, and safety scissors; everything needed to make a Mother's Day card! She knew exactly what was coming and didn't like it at all, but before Bessie could even open her mouth to protest, Miss Murgatroyd had piled everything onto her desk.
"What's this?" Bessie demanded. "I said I didn't want to make a card for Mothering Sunday!"
Miss Murgatroyd smiled at her lovingly. "You're not going to make a Mothering Sunday card."
Miss Murgatroyd's words befuddled Bessie, and she gave the teacher a clearly puzzled look. "I'm not?"
"Absolutely not," she responded, still smiling at the child. "You're going to make what I call…a Card of Your Choosing."
"A Card of Your Choosing?" Bessie repeated with slight curiosity and excitement in her voice. The name alone already caught her attention. "What's that?"
"Well…it…it's very simple," Miss Murgatroyd explained. "You make a card, and…you take whatever's in that little heart of yours onto the card. You can be as creative and wild as you want with it, which will make the Card of Your Choosing so special."
A Card of Your Choosing? Bessie loved the sound of that. Her face even lit up at the thought. But her face slowly grew dim and her smile faded. "I don't have to give my card away, do I?"
The teacher shook her head. "Not if you don't want to. See, the Card of Your Choosing will be yours. You can choose to keep it for yourself, or to save it and give it to someone. It's perfect for any occasion, or even no occasion at all. That's why it's called a Card of Your Choosing."
Miss Murgatroyd's words reassured Bessie, and her face lit up once more, this time with an even bigger smile. "Oh! That makes sense!"
She chuckled at the child's enthusiasm. Bessie had such a beautiful smile. It warmed her heart to finally see it.
"Why don't you get started on the card?" Miss Murgatroyd folded the red construction paper in half to help her get started, and all at once Bessie's excitement bounded off the walls at the sight of her soon to be Card of Your Choosing.
"Hey! Red's my favorite color!" she giggled, bouncing up and down in her seat.
"Is that so?" Miss Muragtroyd laughed with Bessie. "Well I'm very glad I picked it for you."
"Aye," Bessie agreed, still bouncing in her seat.
"Don't tire yourself lassie," the teacher cautioned, although still laughing a bit. She could tell that Bessie was now getting rowdy and lightly placed her hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Remember to save the rest for your card."
"OH yeah!" Bessie exclaimed. She grabbed the card from Miss Murgatroyd faster than either of them could think and got started right away.
Miss Murgatroyd smiled to herself as she witnessed Bessie-who was sad and lonely earlier, working her spirited and happy heart away on her Card of Your Choosing.
"I'll leave you alone to your work."
Bessie didn't notice that the teacher had left her alone. She was far too busy working on her card. She snipped and colored and glued all over her card, making absolute certain that it'd turn out as perfect as can be. Never did she have so much fun working on a craft before, and in school of all places! This was her first time actually enjoying herself in school, thanks to Miss Murgatroyd.
She in fact was having so much fun that she almost didn't hear the school bell go off. Bessie carefully placed her Card of Your Choosing inside her backpack and lined up with the rest of her classmates, walking in a straight line until they reached the gate, where all the children ran to meet with their parents who had been waiting to take them home.
Bessie didn't have anyone waiting to take her home, not at the school entrance anyway. She had a special way of getting home. She was heading her way to be picked up when she felt a hard shove on the back and fell straight to the ground. She quickly looked up to see who had pushed her, and sure enough-it was Roy Lennox-Mrs. Lennox's curly red-headed little boy.
"Watch where yer goin', ye diddy!" he sneered, flashing a mocking smile in her face. Bessie picked herself up from the ground and brushed herself off, walking away in silence as Roy's cackling was heard behind her.
Out of all the kids in school who ever picked on and bullied Bessie Killigan, Roy Lennox picked on her the most. He was the meanest, rudest, most obnoxious lad in the entire world. His curly red hair alone brought bad news to Bessie, as it had all year long. He cut off one of her pigtails on the first day of school; and while she sat in her desk crying her eyes out, his mother-the teacher-praised him, instead of punishing him for his childish prank.
Roy never said he was sorry to Bessie. He never said sorry for every mean thing he's done to her: from calling her names to pushing and tripping her all over the schoolyard. He was the one who got all the children to start bullying and picking on her at recess. What'd she ever do to him anyway? Why did he have to be so mean to her?
Bessie continued walking, putting the "Roy" situation aside, until she finally made it to the beach. She carefully looked around, making sure no one was watching. When the coast was clear, she stepped onto the beach and sat near the ocean, patiently waiting for her ride. She waited and waited, playing with the sand and shells around her until she saw an enormous sea monster-like creature rise out of the water.
"Hullo Charlie!" Bessie greeted the giant beast.
Charlie lowered his head and she carefully climbed on. Once she had settled herself onto his scaly head, Charlie turned towards the ocean and gradually sailed across the water, careful not to drop his tiny mistress.
Charlie belonged to Bessie's father, and Charlie was one of her very few, but very dear, friends. Bessie was overjoyed when she first met him because she thought he was the Loch Ness monster, which Duff had to remind her over a million times that he wasn't Nessie, just a gift from his friend DNAmy. Since she rode Charlie to school every day, Duff warned his daughter not to tell about, or show Charlie to anyone outside the Killigan castle in risk of losing him, so she was extra careful to keep him out of sight. It was just too bad Charlie wasn't the Loch Ness monster. If he was, she'd definitely show him off to all of Scotland, including her classmates. Just imagine: wee Bessie is friends wit' ol' Nessie! Everyone would want to be her friend then.
Riding on top of Charlie's head all the way home was Bessie's favorite part of the day, especially after a hard day at school. She loved how the ocean breeze lightly whipped at her face, and the smell-not once had the captivating smell of the salty waters failed to help her forget her troubles. She was the queen of the ocean, and Charlie's head was her throne.
But Bessie's reign shortly came to an end once Charlie reached the Killigan castle. Bessie was sad-she didn't want her peaceful sailing to end so soon-but then again she also couldn't wait to go home and see her dad. Aside from sailing on top of Charlie's head, having her dad welcome her home from school was her ultimate favorite part of the day. From the moment she'd burst through the castle doors, Duff would lift her up from the ground and spin her round and attack her face with kisses. And if he was in a really good mood, he'd fix her a batch of delicious haggis with a bowl waiting just for her.
Charlie lowered his neck for Bessie, just low enough for his head to touch Duff's mossy golf course. She jumped off Charlie's head and landed safely on the ground, and without giving a second thought she started to run. She ran nonstop as fast as her wee legs could carry her-careful of course to avoid the booby traps-until she reached the castle doors. With all her strength, she pulled one of the giant doors open and bolted inside.
"Daddy!" she called-but much to her dismay-no one answered. Her echo was all that was heard inside the castle. She look around, but her father was nowhere in sight. Where was he? Was he not home? Bessie shook her head at the thought. No. He just had to be home.
Perhaps he was in the kitchen making haggis. Aye, that's where he is, she reassured herself. She ran to the kitchen hoping to find her dad, but to her dismay yet again, he was not there either. Not even a bowl of haggis was waiting for her.
Poor Bessie couldn't help but feel disappointed. She'd wanted to see him so badly. She could feel tears swelling up in her eyes, but quickly held them back as much as she could. She knew better than to cry about something so silly. Duff Killigan was a professional golfer after all, so it wasn't like she didn't know where he was. If he wasn't home, he had to be off at a golf tournament or something. Duff would be gone for hours, sometimes even days at a time golfing off the island, but that never stopped his young daughter from waiting-eagerly even-for him to return. Bessie wasn't afraid to stay inside the castle by herself for so long; Duff has always left her home alone, but still-school for her was such a lonely place, and coming back to an empty castle didn't exactly set her spirits high.
"DADDY!" Bessie called out again, still hoping that her father was somewhere within the castle. She received an answer that time-but not from Duff.
"Woof woof!" Just then a black Scottie ran down the castle stairs at full speed to greet his small owner. His wee tail wagged furiously with excitement the whole way.
Bessie's spirits were immediately raised, and a smile spread across her face as the wee doggie scurried towards her. "Hi Seamus!" She bent down to scratch his furry head, and when she did, he immediately jumped at her and licked her entire face, thus tickling her and sending her rolling about on the floor, laughing like crazy. Bessie was glad that she could always count on Seamus to welcome her home, especially when Duff couldn't. At least he'd never leave the island for days to golf somewhere far, and he attacks her with more kisses than her father ever does.
After those long moments of rolling around, Bessie finally shoved the dog off and stood up to catch her breath and brush herself off. She was tired from goofing around so much, but she could definitely tell that Seamus still wanted to play. He kept jumping up and down at her legs and his wee tail was still wagging furiously.
"Hey, you wanna play golf with me, Seamus?" Bessie asked her doggie. His pointy ears immediately perked up at the word "golf" and he got even more jumpy and excited.
She could not help but giggle at her silly Scottie jumping around and about. "I knew you would, sweet boy." She ran up the castle stairs to her room-with Seamus following behind-to snatch the plastic balls and clubs placed beside her bed, and raced Seamus all the way down and outside to Duff's golf course.
Bessie picked up one of her plastic balls and gently placed it onto the grassy field. Carefully eyeing the first hole straight ahead, she picked up her club and raised it high in the air, hollering "FOOOOOOORE!" at the top of her lungs-just as she'd seen her father do many times-and took a hard, powerful swing. But despite her effort, the ball only made a few small bounces and didn't even come close to the first hole. All it did was catch Seamus's attention, who took off barking and chasing after it like always.
Okay, so Bessie wasn't the best golfer compared to Duff, but that didn't mean she still couldn't enjoy the game. Besides, there was something about golf that made her so…so…happy: picking up a club and swinging at the ball, watching it fly high in the sky, or simply rolling down the field. It didn't even matter to her whether or not the ball made it into the hole. But Bessie knew that someday-yes, someday-she will be a golfing champion-just like Duff. Who knows? Maybe even better than Duff. Once she's a golf champion, instead of rolling and bouncing down the field, her balls will actually soar high-so high in fact that they will all land straight into the hole without a single miss. And she won't use plastic clubs and toy balls either. No, she will use real golf clubs to hit real golfballs with. But for now, she was just happy playing the sport with Seamus on the island, even if all he did was bark and chase after her toy balls.
Bessie played golf for the rest of the day until she saw that it was getting dark out. She then decided to go back inside with Seamus and put her clubs and balls back up in her room to where they belonged, but Seamus didn't follow behind her. Instead he laid by the fireplace to rest. He was no longer excited and jumpy, he was now tuckered out and out of breath from all the running. Bessie also felt tired and sore from playing all day. She collapsed onto her bed the moment she threw her golfing equipment aside and immediately drifted off to sleep.
She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until she heard Seamus barking downstairs. She got out of bed to see exactly what he was barking at, only to find Duff walking inside. Wait, Duff? In the castle? Earlier than usual? Bessie could hardly believe her eyes. Was this a dream? She pinched herself on the arm just to be sure. Nope. She was fully awake, and her father's home early. But he did not come home alone. Bessie saw a tall and highly beautiful woman walk in from behind. Seamus barked and growled at her the moment she stepped through the castle doors. He was not at all happy with the arrival of this strange woman.
"Back off, ye ratwag!" Duff scolded at the dog, kicking him to the side while escorting the young lass inside. Who was she anyway, and why did she follow Duff home? Perhaps this was her mother-coming back after so long-and just in time for Mothering Sunday? Bessie's hopes immediately skyrocketed at the thought. Then she remembered the Card of Your Choosing she made in class and ran back to her room to get it out of her backpack. Good thing it wasn't a Mothering Sunday card, otherwise she'd have to wait two WHOLE days to give it to her "ma". Bessie ran with the card in hand to give it away, but Duff had already led the woman into his bedroom and closed the door before she even had the chance to. Oh well. Bessie didn't mind waiting til morning to give her the card. Besides, she knew better than to just barge into her father's room, and if she did he'd tell her to go to bed anyway. So she walked back to her room and put the card under her pillow, then gently fell back asleep.
When Bessie woke up early the next morning, she quickly pulled the card out from underneath her pillow, jumped right out of bed, and zipped on to her father's room. Never before had she felt so excited in all her life. Just wait til Ma sees her card! she thought. She's gonna be so happy, and she'll love me forever and ever!
She soon approached her father's room, with the door still closed. Suppose he and Ma were still asleep? She raised a fist to knock softly, but she heard smashing and her father screaming inside. Uh oh. He sounded mad in there, and Bessie knew better than to even go near Duff whenever he's furious about something. But...her ma was inside with him...and she still had the card to give away...Bessie slowly reached her hand out to the door handle. Do I dare? She pulled the door open-slowly still. If she went in reeaallyquick, she could give her ma the card and still be able to avoid her father's rantings. But before she even stepped inside, a round, white object whipped across the room and slammed into her eye.
"OWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
Realizing what had happened, Duff heard his daughter shriek after and ran quickly to her aid. "Bessie! Are ye okay, pumpkin? Whut happened?"
Bessie placed a hand over her injured eye. "I-I don't know. Something hit my eye and-and it really hurts!" she explained as much as she could with tears dripping down her face.
"Shh shh tis okay Bessie," Duff soothed. "Here, come wit' meh. Ehm gonna take ye te the lab an' get eh good look a' yer eye." As well as being an all-time golfing champion, Duff also studied medical, which came in handy in situations like this. He carried his daughter up the stairs to his lab to examine her eye. He then gently set her down on his examining table and took his daughter's hand off her eye to take a look at it. It didn't look too bad. Her eye was only bruised, but Bessie still looked quite scared.
"Tis okay Bessie," Duff reassured her, rubbing his finger against her cheek. "Yer eye's jus' bruised, tha's all. Ye jus' need an ice pack te make it better." He wrapped a pack of ice in a paper towel and carefully placed it over her eye. "There now, is tha' better sweetheart?"
Bessie nodded. "Uh huh."
"Good." Her father set her down from the examining table and kissed her cheek. "Now, eh've got eh tournament te go te today, so yer gonna be home by yerself fer eh while."
Bessie only nodded once more. She was used to her father coming home and leaving so quickly. She didn't like it, but she was used to it. "Okay Daddy."
It wasn't long until Duff got himself dressed, grabbed his clubs and balls, and headed out the castle doors. Once he had left, Bessie went to her father's room. She found the Card of Your Choosing on the floor and picked it up. She must've dropped it when her eye was hit. Since her father wasn't inside, she walked into his room-this time with confidence.
"Hullo?" she called. "Ma? Are you in here?" No one answered. She looked everywhere in Duff's room to find the beautiful woman she saw last night, but she couldn't find her anywhere.
"HULLLLOOOOOO! MA, WHERE ARE YOU?" So she searched the entire castle looking for her, but sadly, with no luck at all. Bessie was all alone-with her father off at another golf tournament-and now without a mother once again.
Bessie looked down at the card in her hand, and her eyes leaked yet again with bitter tears. Suppose the woman Duff was with last night wasn't her mother after all. She should've known it was too good to be true. Of course she wasn't her mother, because Bessie never had a mother to begin with. Now she had no one to give the card to, and she won't becelebrating Mothering Sunday like the other children will be with their mothers.
Seamus slowly walked up to Bessie and nosed at her leg, his tail happily wagging as always. "Not now, Seamus," she sniffed, pushing him to the side. "I don't wanna play now." The Scottie sensed the sadness inside his wee mistress and didn't beg anymore. Instead, he laid beside her with his head on her leg for her comfort.
Bessie smiled at her doggie and stroked his head. At least he'd never abandon her.
"Think I'll have a ma of my own someday, Seamus?" The wee Scottie looked up at his wee mistress and wagged his tail in response.
Bessie sighed. "I hope so too. I'd trade in my golf clubs just to have a ma inside the castle with me. I can give her the card, and she'll love me forever and ever. Then me and you won't be lonely so much Seamus."
Sorry if this was so long and so boring. Don't worry, this is only the first chapter I promise this story will be MUCH more interesting in the future. Leave a comment, favorite it, whatever else it is you "fanfiction" people do. ;)
