While she was looking up and down the street, searching for the friendliest home to approach, Tabitha noticed a familiar sign a few doors down. A bus stop. The routes listed on the sign were the 81 and the 60.
“Hey,” Tabitha thought. “I take the 60 to get home from school. I can wait for the bus here. But how long will I have to wait? If I have to wait too long it could be too late.”
But no sooner did Tabitha finish that thought than a bus turned the corner further down the street and headed straight for her. Thank goodness. It was a 60.
The bus stopped in front of Tabitha and the doors opened.
“Excuse me,” Tabitha began, “but you go down Chatham Street, don’t you?”
“You bet.” answered the driver, a smiley, tall man with white hair.
Tabitha then remembered she didn’t have her bus pass or any money for bus fare at all. She hoped the driver would still let her on the bus. She clasped her hands together, almost like she was praying, and braced herself for disappointment.
“Now, I do have a bus pass but it’s not with me right now. I went for a walk and got lost and I have to get back home. Is that okay?”
The driver rubbed his chin, squinted his eyes and stared at Tabitha for a moment.
“Well, I don’t know.” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “They don’t like me letting people on the bus when they haven’t paid.”
“Oh, okay. I understand.” Tabitha thought the driver meant what he had said and she could feel tears coming but she managed to hold them back.
She turned and was about to step off the bus when the driver tapped her on the shoulder. “But in this case I am willing to make an exception.”
And when Tabitha turned around, he gave her a big smile. She was so glad he was just joking because she really didn’t want to have to go into a stranger’s house. She took a seat and kept her eye on the street so she would know when to get off.
When she arrived home, Tabitha dashed into the house, hoping no one would see her. But as she started up the stairs to her room, her sister, Caitlyn, came out of the kitchen with a piece of licorice sticking out of her mouth and screamed.
“Tabby! You’re back!”
Caitlyn skipped over to Tabitha to give her a hug but Tabitha put a finger to her lips. “Shhh! Don’t let Mommy and Daddy know I’m here. I just have to get something from my room and then I’m leaving again for a while.”
Tabitha and Caitlyn’s mother came out of the kitchen holding a cup of coffee. The cup shook a little when she saw Tabitha but she didn’t want to let Tabitha know she had been worried.
“Ah, you’re back.” she said calmly. “Did you have a nice walk?”
“Can’t talk about it now.” replied Tabitha as she ran up the stairs. “I have to get something from my room and go back.”
“Go back where? It’s going to be dark soon.”
“Mom, I can’t take the time to explain. The Grenigots will kidnap me if I’m not back in their village soon.” Tabitha opened her drawer to the little table by her bed and took out the recorder and an extra set of batteries.
“Grenigots? Kidnapping?” her mother asked. “What are you talking about?”
Tabitha started back down the stairs with her mother close behind.
“Not now, Mom. Please. I have to go.”
“Well, I should come with you. I don’t want you out there alone in the dark.” Tabitha’s mother started to put on her shoes. Tabitha looked down at her mother’s feet, which were a surprisingly large size 11 considering she was rather petite, and shook her head.
“No, you can’t. Your feet are too big. You could wipe out an entire family with one step.”
And with that, Tabitha shot out the door. Her mother stood in the doorway, trying not to cry though her chin did quiver a little. She was very sensitive about the size of her feet and didn’t like the idea that they could cause harm to someone, let alone an entire family of someones, whoever they were. Then, it occurred to her that Tabitha must just be joking. She was probably over at her friend Nadia’s house playing a game where they were creating an imaginary world full of fun and adventure. “What imaginations these children have.” she thought, and she laughed to herself.
The light was beginning to fade as Tabitha rushed through the woods and the trees were casting eerie shadows on the ground. She was afraid to think of how dark it would be on the journey home but she hadn’t had time to find a flashlight to guide her way.
When she finally arrived back at the clearing, the whole village of Grenotia was waiting there for her.
“Well, it’s about time.” Marticus hissed, his hands on his hips. “What took you so long?”
“I’m sorry everyone. I got lost on my way back to the house. Then, my mother saw me going up the stairs to my room and tried to stop me from leaving. But I got the voice recorder.” She held up the recorder in her hand. The villagers marvelled at the sight and wondered how it worked.
“Is your singing on it?” asked Bornoden.
“Not yet,” replied Tabitha. “but I’ll do it right now.”
She hit the record button and sang Happy Birthday three times into the recorder because it was a rather short song.
Tabitha could hear the villagers commenting as she sang. “Oh, she has a lovely voice!” “I wish I could sing like that.” “It truly is magical, isn’t it?” She was very pleased.
When she was done, Tabitha brought the recorder down to Marticus and started to explain what they had to do.
“Now see, you press this button here to rewind to the beginning.” She pointed out the reverse arrow. Marticus had to press hard with his whole body to push the button in. The machine whirled and then stopped with a click, which scared some of the villagers a little. “Then, you press the play button here with the big triangle to make it start.”
When Marticus pressed the button the villagers oohed and awed. As “Happy Birthday” played they would look at the recorder, then at Tabitha, then back at the recorder, amazed that they were hearing Tabitha’s voice when her mouth was closed.
“Gosh and golly! This is wonderful!” Bornoden exclaimed, slapping his leg with his hand. “You have saved us!”
The villagers cheered. Tabitha clasped her hands together.
“Oh, I am so happy I could help!” She looked into the forest and remembered the long walk home, “But now I have to go back. My mother will be worried.”
“Thank you so much for all you have done for us.” Marticus stretched out his hand and Tabitha bent down to shake it. “You know, I never did get your name.”
Tabitha smiled a big smile. She was flattered that Marticus was now asking her name, when he didn’t care who she was before.
“It’s Tabitha.” she answered.
“Well, thank you, Miss Tabitha. We right appreciate it.”
“My pleasure.”
The twilight was descending on the forest and Tabitha could see the blue twilight taking over the clearing.
“Well, I should get home before it gets completely dark.” she said. “It has been delightful meeting you all and I wish you the best of luck with the nados. And have fun at the Fronkernic Festival.” She looked down at Kishinae. “I’m sure you’ll be great in the play.”
Tabitha waved at the villagers as she walked into the trees and they waved back and blew her kisses of gratitude.
As she walked through the woods, Tabitha was beside herself with wonder. She had no idea that her singing had any worth at all, let alone that it could save an entire village. Did that mean she should start singing again? Were there other villages she could save from the nados? Did she have any other powers she didn’t know about? 6
By the time Tabitha reached the edge of the wood, big dark clouds were taking over the sky. The wind, which was barely noticeable before, was becoming quite strong, blowing the skirt of her green dress in all directions. It certainly looked like a storm was approaching.
As Tabitha came closer to her house, she could see her father watching through the screen door with a concerned look on his face. When he saw her in the distance, he sighed with relief.
“Tabitha!” he called out, “Get inside the house! The storm is coming!”
Tabitha ran through the yard straight into her father’s arms. He gave her a big hug, covering her in his bright red jacket.
“I’m so glad you’re okay. Your mother thought you had gone to Nadia’s but we called and you weren’t there so we didn’t know where to look for you.”
Tabitha went over the conversation with her mother in her mind and didn’t recall mentioning anything about Nadia.
“But I never said I was at Nadia’s.” she explained. “I was in Grenotia saving the Grenigots from the nados.”
Tabitha’s father didn’t understand a word of what his daughter had just said. “Well, you can tell us all about it but we have to go down to the basement.”
Tabitha and her father went into the basement where her mother and sister were waiting.
“Tabitha! You’re safe!” cried her mother as she saw Tabitha come down the stairs. She grabbed her in her arms and hugged her so tightly she could hardly breathe. “Don’t you ever take off like that again, okay?” she whispered in her ear with a tear coming down her cheek. “Don’t you ever do that again.”
“I’m sorry, Mom.” said Tabitha.
In a corner of the basement, Caitlyn was playing with the big purple teddy bear she had received as a birthday present from her Aunt Tracy. She was mad at Tabitha for leaving and didn’t want her to know how much she had missed her and how scared she had been.
Tabitha walked over to her and kneeled down on the carpet, picking up one of Caitlyn’s dolls and began stroking its long black hair.
“So, did you have fun at your birthday party?”
Caitlyn didn’t look up at her sister. “Yeah.”
“I’m sorry for leaving like that.”
Caitlyn was quiet for a moment. Then her eyes met Tabitha’s with a most serious gaze. “You didn’t sing for me, Tabby. Then you made me get scared when you ran away.”
“I know I did, Caty. Do you forgive me?”
“No. Not yet.”
“What do I have to do to get you to forgive me?” asked Tabitha.
Caitlyn raised an eyebrow. “You know what.”
Just then, the wind started to howl and the rain started to pour, making a terrible racket. Just as quickly, the sound of rain became even louder and heavier. They could see the trees swaying and bending through the tiny basement window as hail the size of grapes, then plums began to hit the ground. A crack of lightning, followed immediately by a deafening rumble of thunder made Caityln jump. She started to cry.
“I’m scared, Tabby.” She confessed as she grabbed Tabitha’s hand.
“That doesn’t sound good.” Tabitha’s father whispered in her mother’s ear.
Then, Tabitha picked up Caitlyn and sat her on her lap. She wrapped her arms around her little sister and began singing the song Caitlyn had been waiting for all day. She started off softly at first but her voice got stronger as she continued. And when she finished the ‘How old are you now?’ part of “Happy Birthday”, she didn’t stop.
As the wind howled and the hail fell on the roof, she kept on singing almost every song she knew, from lullabies to Christmas carols to songs she had heard on the radio. Caitlyn would join in when she knew the words and they laughed and clapped and had a wonderful time.
Tabitha’s mother and father looked on, very pleased, wondering what had happened to make Tabitha want to sing again but afraid to ask in case she would stop. She seemed so happy and it was so lovely to hear her.
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