Bumblestook: Book 1, The Accidental Wizard (5 page)

As if worrying about Farley’s physical well-being wasn’t enough, his mother soon had cause for concern over his mental state. Gradually, she became aware of her son’s strange habit of carrying on conversations with every rock, stone and pebble in his path.

Farley’s father, Harvey, thought it was harmless; merely the influence of kiddy T.V. shows, which regularly featured talking animals and animated objects. Myrtle thought otherwise, as Farley really didn’t pay much attention to the television (which was mounted high up on a wall in the family room, well out of harm’s way). For months, she read every parenting article and book she could get her hands on, but (as none of them provided a reasonable explanation for her son’s behavior) one by one they landed in the recycling bin.

In time, Myrtle came to believe her husband had been right all along; it was just something Farley would eventually out-grow, like thumb-sucking and pacifiers. Besides, it wasn’t all
that
strange when you really thought about it. Many people, herself included, felt that plants responded positively to music and voices. In fact, whenever the potted houseplants started drooping, she not only sang and talked to them, she took them out for walks; firmly believing even plants could use a change of scenery now and then. She was aware that
some
people might consider
that
a bit strange!

And so, Myrtle Bumblestook resolved to be less judgmental about her son’s special relationship with rocks. After all, what was the harm?

******************************

When Fiona was a baby she also had her share of admirers.

“What a perfectly beautiful baby!” absolute strangers would stop to exclaim.

Indeed, she was lovely. Every feature of her face was balanced in perfect symmetry. Beneath long dark lashes and delicately arched brows, deep, ultramarine-blue eyes regarded friends and strangers alike with a steady gaze. Her lips, a perfectly shaped little cupid’s bow, were a dark rose-pink. A light blush of the same hue graced her cheeks. White-blonde hair lay in little silken curls all about her head.

She was a somewhat solemn child, not given to extremes or sudden outbursts of emotion. Her smiles were serene, her movements controlled and graceful. Sudden noises didn’t surprise her. She merely subjected the source of the disturbance to her calm, unblinking gaze.

When accompanying her mother to the mall, she was content to sit in her stroller, observing the shoppers flowing by; like a small, still rock in the middle of a babbling stream. She
never
caused a commotion by escaping from
her
stroller. Later, when her mother allowed her to walk hand-in-hand, it was not with the cute, clumsy, wobbly steps of most toddlers. Her steps were steady and sure. There was, however, that
one
incident at the mall, when she became separated from her mother…

Fiona had been standing quietly by Olivia’s side, watching the shoppers go by, while her mother made a purchase at the counter. Suddenly, something sparkly caught her eye from a Christmas display in the next aisle. Mesmerized, she took first one step and then another.

Her mother was startled when she reached down to take Fiona’s hand and found her missing!

Most
mothers would have panicked, searching high and low, franticly calling out their child’s
name. But, Olivia Faire was
not
most mothers. She stood, eyes closed, as still as a statue. Her lids fluttered briefly, then opened as she turned to face the display in the next aisle.

She found herself looking at a Christmas tree, its boughs filled with a variety of colorful ornaments. Her eyes traveled up, up, up to the top of the tree. To the very tip-top where a multi-faceted, crystal star sparkled and shimmered with rainbow colors under the store’s fluorescent lights. She immediately looked to the right of the tree, to a display of gaily-wrapped gift boxes, stacked in a pyramid nearly as tall as the tree itself. And there, balanced on her tiptoes on the topmost box, reaching up for the crystal star, was her missing daughter!

“Fiona!” she whispered intensely.

And, although she was fully an aisle away, Fiona heard her quite clearly. She looked straight at her mother and promptly sat down on the box.

By this time, several other people had spotted the child on top of the display, and had begun shouting for help. A store clerk quickly arrived with a ladder. Within moments, he scaled it and scooped up the little girl. The crowd below held their collective breath as he descended slowly with the child in his arms.

Olivia was there to grab Fiona when the man stepped off the ladder. Everyone clapped and cheered, as she hugged her daughter tightly. The store manager hovered over them, anxious to see that the child was unharmed. Other people, curious and concerned, pressed in, drawn by Fiona’s beauty and her mysterious appearance at the top of the Christmas display.

Olivia, ignoring their exclamations and questions, held her daughter close as she pushed her way through the crowd and headed out of the store.

“Miss! Miss! You forgot your shopping bag!” the store manager called out.

But Olivia and Fiona had already disappeared into the crowded mall.

******************************

Besides their ability to enchant complete strangers, Farley Bumblestook and Fiona Faire had other things in common. They just happened to have been born on the very same day and just happened to live next door to each other. So, it was perfectly natural that the two children would play together and become close friends. They also seemed to have some sort of unspoken bond between them. Even as babies, they were aware of each other’s feelings. When Farley had the measles, Fiona was irritable. When Fiona was teething, Farley fussed.

On the children’s fifth birthday, Olivia and Myrtle stood together at the window, in the Faire’s cheery kitchen; watching their children play on the newly-installed, backyard swing set. Myrtle watched in awe, as the five-year-old Fiona performed a daring, acrobatic stunt on the swing. As it swung forward, she stood up and flipped backwards into the air; landing on her feet in the seat, just as it swung back!

“Holy-guacamole, that’s amazing!” Myrtle gushed. “She could win an Olympic Gold Medal already!”

“It’s true, she
does
have Extraordinary Balance and Grace,” Olivia replied.

“Farley’s just the opposite,” Myrtle sighed, watching him swing awkwardly. “He’s so terribly clumsy. It’s almost like he’s
cursed
.”

At that very moment, as Farley swung forward, he slipped right out and flew into the air! Myrtle and Olivia shrieked and dashed out to the back yard.

“I’m okay, Mom!” they heard Farley call out. “I landed on the cat.”

Sure enough, the Faire’s oversized cat, Tom, lay stretched out on the grass, the breath thoroughly knocked out of him. Farley sat beside him, dizzy but otherwise fine. His mother, checking him over to be sure, found nothing wrong, not even a scratch.

Myrtle turned to Olivia in despair. “You see what I mean?”

“Well, accidents
do
happen,” Olivia tried to reassure her. “Let’s just be thankful he’s not hurt.”

“Accidents happen to him all the time,” said Myrtle, looking utterly befuddled. “But
somehow
, he never gets hurt. Oh, he’ll get a scratch or a small bruise now and then, but nothing
serious
. And those fade away almost as quick as he gets them. I just don’t get it. It’s like he’s blessed and cursed at the same time.”

Olivia had to admit that
was
a bit odd. But, she pointed out, Farley was unharmed so there was no use worrying about it. She sent the children to play in the sandbox and coaxed Mrs. Bumblestook back into the kitchen for a cup of soothing, herbal tea.

They had much to discuss. A new challenge lay just ahead. As five year-olds, their children were expected to start kindergarten in the Fall. Both mothers had ample reason for dreading the start of school.

Miss Magooly was understandably nervous. After all, her kindergarten class was about to put on their first performance, in front of the parents and the rest of the school. As she stood behind the stage curtain, she looked anxiously at her pupils, all dressed up in their Halloween best.

That
was the problem. She couldn’t tell who was who. And
that
was a problem because she
had learned, early-on in the school year, that some of those students required considerably more supervision than others.

In fact, it had been the very first day of school when she first got an inkling that two of her new students were a bit out of the ordinary. She had been standing at the door of her classroom, sporting a new hairdo, new dress and a shiny, French manicure; feeling poised, polished and professional. Her classroom had a fresh coat of paint, a new Storytime Carpet and brightly colored bulletin boards decorated for Fall. Her smile had been warm and welcoming, as she greeted the incoming children and their parents. She was brimming with confidence and optimism for the new school year.

Suddenly, she heard a loud
crash
behind her! Whirling about, she saw the Playtime Puppet Theatre lying on the floor. A child sat in the middle, covered by the theatre’s gaily-colored curtains. As she rushed over, his head popped out of the drapery. She gasped when she saw that wild shock of dark hair and those oversized ears, but then the boy smiled (an innocent, loving, beam of a smile) and her heart went out to him. She felt her mouth stretch into a wide, silly grin and her feeling of anxiety simply disappeared.

“I’m okay,” the boy called out.

Indeed, he was! Miraculously, when the theatre fell he had been right in the middle of the open stage. She became aware of a nervous-looking woman standing close-by.

“I’m so sorry,” the woman said, wringing her hands. “Farley tends to be a little clumsy. I’m sure he didn’t mean to knock it over.”

“Of course he didn’t, the little angel,” Miss Magooly replied, ruffling the little boy’s unruly hair affectionately. “I’m sure it just wasn’t set up properly. Thank goodness he wasn’t hurt!”

Just then, she heard a loud chorus of oohs and ahs, coming from a group of parents on the other side of the room. As she hurried over, the small crowd parted politely. She caught a glimpse of the Kindergarten Balance Beam; a board 10 inches wide and 8 feet long, sitting 2 inches off the floor.

Then, she saw the little girl.

Miss Magooly stared open-mouthed, as the child performed multiple cartwheels and flips on the beam, with Olympic style and grace. Gradually, she became aware that a woman had quietly joined her at the front of the crowd; a tall, slim woman with the same white-blonde hair as the child on the beam.

The woman cleared her throat. “I must apologize for causing such a stir. As you can see, my daughter has a talent for gymnastics.”

“I’ll say!” Miss Magooly exclaimed, watching in awe as the little girl performed a double back flip with precision.

Suddenly, there was another crash, this time from the Kitchen Play Center. As she rushed to the other side of the room, she saw Farley’s mother turning towards her, apologetically…

By the end of the morning, she began to feel a bit like a yo-yo, going back and forth between Farley’s “accidents” and Fiona’s gymnastic stunts. It was a pattern that was to repeat itself often in the following weeks.

Now, it was almost time for the curtains to open and she still hadn’t located either child. Her eyes flashed franticly from student to student. She tried to remember what costumes Farley and Fiona had been wearing. Were they homemade or the commercial superhero costumes from the local department stores?

Curtain time! Miss Magooly heard the applause from the audience; the principal was announcing her kindergarten class as the opening act. With a final nervous wave to her students, she stepped back into the wings as the curtains parted.

The Bumblestooks and the Faires sat together in the front row. Harvey Bumblestook would have preferred to sit somewhere in the back. His brown eyes drooped behind their thick lenses, the corners of his bushy mustache turned down and his thick, dark hair (streaked with premature strands of white) stood up in clumps. He had come directly from Gaffington’s Novelty Factory, where he worked as an inventor of magic tricks and gag gifts. He’d been hard at work all day (trying to make sense of the “The Incredible Shrinking Dollar”) and was hoping to catch a snooze. But, his wife had insisted they sit front and center. She’d had a premonition, she’d said, that her little boy might need her. Harvey had sighed and given in. He had to admit she was often spot-on with her predictions, at least where Farley was concerned.

All about them, the audience murmured with appreciation as the set was revealed. The 6th grade class and parent volunteers had done an excellent job of transforming the bare stage into a pumpkin patch. Giant, papier-mâché pumpkins (the largest nearly six feet tall) loomed in the background. Thick, twisting, leafy vines sprouted from their tops; cascading down and trailing across the back of the stage.