Love is in the Air Read online

  “Hands up, pirates!” Harry cried, pointing his wooden sword at the invisible figures.

  The sky was black, and it was raining snakes. They poured down in buckets, drenching Harry and the pirates. Harry had hoped he would not have to experience the snake-rain today of all days.

  The pirates were nasty men, with full, black, scraggly beards and unshaven faces. Many sported a large gold earring on their right ear, the mark of a true pirate, and their fingers were covered in gold and rings from their previous plundering. It was Harry’s responsibility to stop them with his noble ship, Harmid, a combination of Harry and Midnight.

  Goldbeard sauntered towards him, his gangly arms swinging back and forth, his hands loosely holding a steel sword. His black beard was littered with golden hairs. When he spoke, his voice was rough from years of pirating on the open Sea of Grass “Ye think ye can beat us? Who do ya think ye are? I am the great Goldbeard!”

  Harry grinned. “You cannot defeat me, Goldbeard. You had best give up now, or I will rip your boat out of the sea!”

  Instead of cowering and begging Harry to spare him, however, Goldbeard chuckled. “Sometimes, you’ve got to be holding all the cards. Bring out the hostages!”

  He motioned to his cronies. Harry saw the pirates pull out two boys, about his age. “Jack! Junior! No!”

  Goldbeard laughed. “This is the end, Harry! Secede to my demands or you may never see your friends again!” He reached for his sword.

  “No! Wait!”

  “Will you tell us where the treasure is?”

  “I...I will tell you.”

  “Good boy.” Goldbeard retracted his hand from his sword. “Now…where is it?”

  “First…let my friends go.”

  Goldbeard chuckled. “As soon as you give us the coordinates, we’ll let you go.”

  Harry glared at Goldbeard. He was not stupid—he knew Goldbeard would go against his word as soon as he got what he wanted. “I will do one better. I will bring you there.” He grabbed the vines hanging from the tree house, swung down, and yelling in glee as he fell down to earth. He heard Goldbeard land beside him, with Jack and Junior close behind.

  “It is this way,” Harry said, pointing towards a large, wooden building in the distance. He hoped Goldbeard would fall for his trap.

  They continued on towards the buildings, Goldbeard literally giggling at the thought of the loot.

  Harry tore open the door, beckoning to the blackness within. “The treasure is in here, Goldbeard. Now…let my friends go.”

  Goldbeard grinned. “All in good time, my impatient friend.”

  There was a roar, and Goldbeard paled. “W-what was that?”

  Something big, black, and hairy stormed into Goldbeard, throwing him backward. He groaned, his eyes rolling and closing into unconsciousness. The other pirates yelled as the monster tore through their ranks, scattering.

  “I’ll get you next time, Harry Sebastian Bingley!” Goldbeard cried as he vanished.

  Harry rushed to his friends and untied them. Jack and Junior erupted into joy, hugging and thanking Harry. He reached over to pet his horse, Midnight. “Good job, Midnight. You saved the day.” The horse nickered in approval as Harry put him back in his stall with the other horses.

  There he found a princess, who had been kidnapped from her ship weeks before and was losing hope of ever being saved. She was delighted to be rescued. When Harry returned her to her father, he had been given a chest containing gold, silver, and rare jewels. A banquet was held in his honor, which included a lemon tart, a favorite of Harrys.

  Chapter Ten

  Soon Harry was not going to be alone. His mother’s Aunt and Uncle, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, were stopping at Bethany House on their way to Pemberly. Aunt Lizzy was going to be having her baby soon, and two of the Gardiner children were going to spend two weeks with their Bingley cousin. His cousins were named Amelia and Robert.

  They played all sorts of games that Harry created including a game called Stop. Stop was like the game of tig, but whenever people on the same team saw each other they would have to yell Stop and whoever said it last has to freeze in place. You win whenever all of the other players were frozen. Harry liked to invent games such as these so that whenever he got the chance to really play them with his friends or his cousins he could have the best time possible.

  The day before his cousins arrived Harry was relaxing in the little “den” that he created between two bushes that were set apart from each other, and within that area he laid down a blanket and pillow that he stowed in the treehouse. He sat there all afternoon reading and drawing, wasting the time away as he eagerly awaited the break of day the next morning when they would come rolling down the road in their carriage.

  He stored the blanket, pillow and books back in his treehouse and started to run across the open field back home. Bethany House was nearly half a mile away from the Butterfly Orchard, but Harry and Miss Paige were both very good walkers, and neither was ever out of breath on completion of the journey.

  Soon enough, his bath had been taken, dinner was over, and it was time for him and his father’s nightly ritual when his father would read to him. Tonight they would finish “Keeper’s Travels in Search of His Master.”

  “Goodnight, Harry,” his mother said as she hugged him tightly and kissed him on the forehead. “Sleep well.”

  JoJo, the night maid, brought the two gentlemen’s nightly warm milk into the library.

  After they had finished the book and walked upstairs toward their bedrooms, Charles gave his son a parting hug and said, “Goodnight, son. Dream big dreams!”

  “I always try to,” Harry said smiling.

  His father smiled back and then quietly shut the door to his son’s room, knowing Harry was not ready to go to bed.

  Harry went to his desk. If he did not read, he would usually take out ink and paper and draw. Tonight his head was full of the new, fantastical story they had finished which allowed them to get the dogs point of view! Harry had many ideas from the story he wanted to turn into comical drawings. He knew Midnight had thoughts like the dog in the story. He usually could tell what Midnight was thinking by the looks his horse would give him. They were usually the same as Harry’s.

  Harry had a desk next to the window looking over the back acres of field and forest. He would often gaze into the beauty of the bright night sky and wait for his next idea to strike him. But tonight the sky was dark and cloudy, and the estate was foggy. But Harry still stared into the void. The darkness did not scare him. Rather he felt it encouraged him to create even more ideas.

  About fifteen minutes before the big Grandfather clock in the hallway would be striking twelve, Harry was ready to give up his drawing and was soon going to retire to bed. He looked back out the window for a last droplet of inspiration, but something else caught his attention. He focused his eyes in the darkness and stared out. In the foggy fields, there seemed to be a lantern bobbing less than a mile away walking slowly across the horizon. It moved with intention though. The slow speed, Harry deciphered, must have meant that it was farther away than it appeared. But still the dim light shone through in such a black night. Soon enough the light vanished, and Harry could see no more.

  Harry sat there staring into the blackness for at least thirty more minutes waiting for the light to appear again, but it never did. Harry did not want to go back to sleep after what he had seen. Who was out there? Why were they out there? He tried lying in bed, but these questions kept nagging him and kept him awake. Who was out there at this time of night?

  But soon enough Harry slipped into a deep sleep, leaving him with dreams of riding a huge bird in search of its stolen eggs. But soon the morning would come.

  The next day Harry awoke a little later than usual because he had been awake thinking about the person with the lantern. But this morning he had mostly forgotten the event of the night before having lost it in his dreams. He got up quickly to see the sun shining through the window and the grass
outside looking greener than ever.

  He went quietly down the grand staircase to the sitting room where Miss Paige would be waiting for him. She was pouring their tea when he walked into the room.

  “I was beginning to wonder if you would be joining me this morning. Did you sleep well, dear?” she asked.

  Suddenly Harry remembered seeing the light of the lantern. “Miss Paige! You will not guess what I saw last night!” he said before he enthusiastically told her his story.

  Miss Paige set their tea down on the round table and took her usual seat, motioning for Harry to take his. “Let me see what Mrs. Wilson has for us this morning”, she said as she raised the lid of the serving dish. “Blueberry scones, how delightful!” She put one on a plate and handed it to her charge. “Are you sure you did not dream it, Harry? You know you usually have some very realistic dreams.”

  “No ma’am, I saw it while I was still drawing,” the boy answered very seriously.

  “Well, it was probably just a neighbor crossing the property but make sure you tell your Papa about it.”

  When his parents came down to breakfast, Harry told them what he had seen. Harry did have a wild imagination and would often push the limits of what he was allowed to do, but he was not a liar. “You are certain you saw a light?” his father asked. “I will have one of the stable hands keep an eye out for a few nights just to be on the safe side. But I agree with Miss Paige, it was probably someone passing through.”

  Jane said, “Your cousins! They are coming over today. Are you excited?”

  “Yes, I am. I want to try out Stop with them and see if it is as good as when I play it with Jack and Junior,” Harry said excitedly.

  “I am sure it will be even better,” his mother said smiling.

  Soon enough, they heard the approaching carriage. Harry jumped up and listened with a keen ear. He ran to greet his guests, with his parents following close behind.

  “Amelia! Robert! It is so good to see you!” Harry yelled embracing the two of them.

  “Get off!” Robert said as he pushed Harry off. Harry was obviously confused.

  “Is everything okay?” Harry asked.

  Amelia leaned over and whispered, “He is getting too big for his breeches. At least that is what father said.”

  “But he is only ten.”

  “Still,” she replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

  Robert had turned ten a week before, and Amelia was seven and a half.

  “Follow me!” Harry said and led the two of them up the great staircase. Harry ran upstairs with Robert and Amelia and showed them to the playroom. The three of them started having a good time. Robert even stopped acting so irritated with the other two, and they all had fun together. They spent the better part of the day playing inside, building large cities with the wooden blocks Harry was recently given by his new Uncle Ambrose.

  The following morning Harry taught the two of them how to play Stop. They played it for a while, and it was pretty fun until Robert started cheating and moving after someone said stop, so they had to, well, stop.

  Harry wanted to take his cousins to Butterfly Orchard, but Charles said not today. No one had seen anything else to raise suspicions, but he wanted the children to wait until he was able to go there with them. Instead, Charles and Uncle Gardiner let the children ride in the back of an open wagon filled with hay, as they drove to the stables. Midnight whinnied and shook his head when Robert tried to pet him. Robert had kept trying anyway and Midnight tried to take a nip at the boy’s finger, but he moved it away just in time. Harry looked sideways at Robert, then shook his head and said to the horse, “I know.”

  Robert tried to blame the horse but both of the other children took Midnight’s side on the matter, and the boy received a stern warning from his father.

  Two days after Mr. and Mrs. Gardener had left for Pemberley, Charles and Jane took the children to Butterfly Orchard. The night stable hand had kept a close eye on the property and had not seen anything out of the ordinary. Charles too had looked out his bedroom window periodically for the past few nights, and he too had seen nothing. The children had all played together well. Harry had everything set up in such a way, that his London cousins were highly entertained and remained occupied until it was time to return for dinner. Even Robert’s breeches started to fit better again.

  Chapter Eleven

  It rained for the next two days, and the children were nearly finished with their block building project. When they woke up the next day, the sun was shining. The children tried their best to rush through their math lessons as fast as they could, but it was early afternoon before Miss Paige took them and the packed picnic basket to Butterfly Orchard.

  But once inside the little hollow, Harry noticed something odd. He knew every inch of the place blindfolded, having often been just that, and something was not right. His stash of items that he had hidden in the treehouse was not as he had left it.

  Harry remembered the lantern and immediately knew it must have been related somehow.

  He proceeded to tell Robert and Amelia exactly what he had seen the night before they arrived in full detail. The story was not long, but the two of them looked at the items in the treehouse a little more seriously once he had told them.

  “It must have been whoever was out there that did that, right?” Amelia said.

  “Or it could have been something a little less threatening,” Robert said obviously a little nervous about the whole thing.

  “I think it was whoever was out there,” Harry told them quietly so that Miss Paige would not overhear them. “And I would like to find out who it was, and why he was searching through my things.”

  “What if they want to hurt us?” Robert said.

  “Do not be ridiculous,” Amelia answered. “If they were going to hurt Harry, they would have done it already. I mean, he is tiny.”

  “I am serious,” Harry said firmly, “I want to come back here tonight and see if we can find the lantern guy again. Maybe then we can get some answers.”

  “That does seem kind of risky though,” Robert said now visibly shaken by the whole thing.

  “I say we go for it,” Amelia said obviously excited for such an adventurous mystery.

  After dinner when Harry’s parents went to bed, the three children waited up in their rooms. At about eleven o clock, that night they all quietly crept outside onto the lawn behind the house. Soon they were running towards the Butterfly Orchard, lantern in hand.

  “Are you sure we should be doing this?” Robert asked nervously.

  “Robert, I thought you were the tough one that was above everybody. What happened?” asked Harry.

  “You happened, Harry. And I thought city kids were tough, but you have nerves, kid,” he said with a smirk.

  “Come on guys.”

  They kept walking towards the hollow. That was when the fog rolled in as it had done the night before. Except tonight, it was a little more creepy and ominous. They found themselves in the Butterfly Orchard. They waited at least thirty minutes sitting and shivering in one of the nooks between the wisteria trees and the gazebo that was large enough for the three of them.

  “What are we still doing here?” Robert asked angrily.

  “Yeah, Harry. It is getting cold.” Amelia added.

  “Shh!” Harry shushed them, and his ears perked up.

  In the distance, they could hear footsteps of leaves being crushed under feet as they walked down Wisteria Lane into Butterfly Orchard. It seemed to be the voice of a boy. And off between the trees, they all saw a glowing lantern. The three of them looked at each other with wide eyes and leaned a little closer in order to get a better look at the intruders. They peeked through the bushes and saw a boy a little older than Robert holding the hand of a little girl around the same age as Amelia. The boy looked around cautiously before bending down to put the lantern he was carrying, and the pail the girl carried on the ground. The girl climbed onto the boy’s back, and he slowly made his wa
y up to the tree house. After he had put the girl inside, he climbed back down to retrieve the lantern and pail.

  “Levi, what is taking you so long?” asked a small girl’s voice.

  “Quiet Lilly,” the boy answered with a firm but calm voice.

  He took both items and carefully went back up to the tree. The three children who were hiding and watching in the bushes could hear the contents of the pail being poured out onto the floor of the treehouse. The boy then came back down with the pail and went to the stream to fill it with water, before going back up the tree.

  There was mostly silence in the treehouse as the lantern was turned down very low, and the children began to eat the berries that had previously been in the pail and to drink the water. After a while, the boy arranged the pillow for them to lie on and covered up with the blanket before reaching over to turn off the lantern.

  Harry leaned close to the others and whispered very quietly, “We should wait until they are asleep before we leave, or they will hear us.” His cousins nodded in return. They waited there in the quiet and dark night for what seemed like hours. Amelia fell asleep first before Harry’s eye grew heavy, and he joined her. Robert was nodding off but when his head jerked he realized they had better try to leave now and whispered to the others that it was time. Both Harry and Amelia were deep in slumber, and he could not wake them quietly. He sat there trying to figure out what to do, but soon his lids grew heavy again, and he leaned his head on his sister’s shoulder and quickly fell asleep.