Chapter 10: "Home Again"

 

Question to Madeleine: How do dragons get through to the other side and back to Brooklyn?

Answer: Through a cloud portal

Madebonne adjusted her goggles and got a good grip on the Dragon’s neck.  She loved flying.  The wind whistled past her ears and she could almost understand the secrets it seemed to be telling her.  She looked into her pocket where her mom swished her tail listlessly.  In twenty minutes Madebonne would finally be home.  She crossed her fingers that there wouldn’t be any more obstacles along the way.  If they didn’t get there quickly, her Fairy Godmother’s potion might not be strong enough to change her mom back into a mom.  And it just wasn’t any fun having a gold fish for a mother.  Gold fish didn’t give you hugs or help you pick out what clothes to wear in the morning.  And they sure didn’t help you calm down when you were worried.  And Madebonne was worried.  Her mom was acting fishier and fishier every minute.

The Dragon soared over the water.  Madebonne looked down below and saw water stretching in every direction below her.  She suddenly had a scary thought.  What if the Dragon planned to dive through the Porthole of Atlantis.  Could she hold her breath for that long?  Madebonne stretched her neck as high as she could and shouted into the Dragon’s ear, “How do we get through to the other side to Brooklyn?”

“Cloud portal,” said the Dragon.

“What’s that?” asked Madebonne.

“What’s what?” asked the Dragon looking around at the sky.

“What’s a cloud portal?” asked Madebonne.

“Oh, it’s how you get to Brooklyn,” said the Dragon.

“But what is it?  How does it work?” Madebonne persevered.

“You’ve never been through a cloud portal?  How did you get here?” asked the Dragon. 

“I came down a drain and then flew and hopped and rolled and swam through a rainbow.  After that I took a sled down a giant hill and then at the Penguin Express igloo I took the elevator to the castle.  Then I took a boat to the Island of boys and now I’m flying on a dragon.”

“Cloud portal is so much easier,” said the Dragon puffing up his chest proudly.  “Dragons are so smart.” 

Madebonne laughed.  “So how does it work already.  Geez.”

“It’s a dragon secret but I’ll tell you since you are part dragon,” said the Dragon.  “The cloud portal is made of dragon mist.  We conjure it up with a mixture of fire, cold air and green magic.  Once I get high enough in the sky the air gets much colder.  Then I breathe a small fire which creates a mist which we conjure into a portal to Brooklyn.  Simple.”  Madebonne was quite impressed. 

“Where exactly does it come out in Brooklyn?” she asked.

“In the sky near LaGuardia Airport.  The dragon mist is quite shimmery and makes us look like planes.  That’s why they say that LaGuardia is one of the busiest airports in the country.  Dragons love to visit New York City.”  Madebonne wondered how many times she had mistaken a dragon for a plane when she looked up in the sky.

“Is it dangerous to fly near all those planes?” asked Madebonne.

“It can be a bit tricky,” admitted the Dragon.  “The dragon mist disguises us but it also cuts down on visibility.  So keep your eyes peeled for planes.”  Madebonne held on tighter.  She wasn’t sure that she liked the sound of this.

“Don’t worry Madebonne.  You can usually hear the planes before you see them.  And I am an excellent flyer.”  The Dragon flew higher into the sky and Madebonne began to feel a chill.  But her adventuring outfit soon changed into a snuggly jacket.  Henry leaned up against her to keep warm.

“Here we go,” said the Dragon.  He took a deep breath of cold air and breathed out a low rumbling fire.  A shimmering mist streamed out behind them as they flew through the air.  The Dragon took another deep breath and the mist grew thicker and thicker. 

“How can you see where you are going?” asked Madebonne.

“I just have to fly straight until we are through the portal.  Then the mist will thin out a bit,” said the Dragon.  Madebonne glanced down into her pocket.

“Hang in there mom.  We’ll be home soon,” she said.  And soon enough, the mist began to thin and Madebonne heard the rumblings of New York City life.  They flew out of the portal and into LaGuardia airspace.  Madebonne was so excited to see the city that she wasn’t a bit scared to see airplanes taking off and landing around her. 

“Yay!” cheered Madebonne.  “We’re back in New York.  I can’t believe it.”  The Dragon turned and breathed some mist on Madebonne and Henry to make sure that they were properly disguised.

“We’ll head south towards the Empire State Building and then take a left over the Brooklyn Bridge,” he said.  “Boy this is a beautiful city.  You are so lucky to live here.”  Madebonne nodded.  She felt pretty lucky to be back. 

They soared over the city, past the Empire State Building, over the Brooklyn Bridge, around Prospect Park and finally right up Madebonne’s block. 

“Your street is too narrow for me to land in front of your building so I’m going to land on your roof,” said the Dragon as he circled above her building.  “Can you get down to your apartment from there?”

“It’s easy,” said Madebonne.  “There are stairs that go right up to the roof.  We go up there to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July.”  The Dragon made tighter and tighter circles as he flew around Madebonne’s roof until he made a very elegant landing right at the roof’s edge where he grabbed onto the wall with his toes, then hopped down onto the roof.  Madebonne and Henry climbed down off his back.

“Dragon, thank you so much for getting me home,” said Madebonne. 

“I’m glad that I could help,” said the Dragon.  “And I can stock up on dill pickles while I’m here.”

“Have a safe flight back,” said Madebonne. 

“Good luck changing your mom back,” said the Dragon as he spread his wings.  With a gentle flap he lifted off the roof and glided down the street.  Madebonne turned and ran towards the stairway with Henry at her heels.  She wrenched open the door and leapt down the stairs two at a time until she reached the twelth floor.  She opened the door and ran down the hallway to her apartment. 

“Fairy Godmother we’re back,” yelled Madebonne as she burst into the apartment.  “Fairy Godmother!  Where are you?”  Madebonne ran into the kitchen but her Fairy Godmother wasn’t there working on the spell.  She couldn’t believe it.  Where was her FairyGodmother?  Madebonne looked around and saw a note on the fridge.  It said

“Went to the laundry room.

Drink the tea on the counter.

It will make you feel better.”

The note was signed with a heart.  Madebonne wondered why her Fairy Godmother would be in the laundry room.  Maybe she spilled some of the potion on her clothes and wanted to wash it out.  She looked on the counter and saw a teapot.  Madebonne went over and lifted the lid.  A bitter smell wafted up in the steam.  Madebonne plugged her nose.  How was she going to get a fish to drink the potion?  She took her mom out of her pocket and put her into a glass, then got a spoon out of the drawer.  She poured some of the tea into the spoon and held it over the glass.  Her mom looked up at her through the water.

“Here goes,” she said then stopped dead in her tracks.  “I can’t change her back while she’s in a glass.  She needs to be in something much bigger.”  Madebonne took the glass with her mom and the pot of tea and headed into the bathroom.  She filled the tub with water and then dropped her mom in.

“Sorry Henry,” said Madebonne shooing Henry outside.  “I’m not taking any chances this time.  You have to wait outside.”  She shut the door behind him then poured some tea into the spoon and held it over the tub. 

“Come on mom.  You need to drink this,” she said.  Her mom swam around the tub but didn’t take much notice of Madebonne or the spoon full of tea.  Madebonne started to get frustrated. 

“Mom, you need to drink this.”  She put her hand into the tub and gently pushed her mom towards the corner then she scooped her mom to the top of the water and poured the tea into her mouth.  Madebonne took her hand away and waited.  Nothing happened. 

“Maybe that wasn’t enough of the potion,” she said to her mom.  “Come drink some more.”  And again, she scooped her mom to the corner of the tub and poured two spoons of tea into her mouth.  Madebonne sat back and waited.  Still nothing happened.  Tears started to stream down her face.  Maybe it was too late and her mom would always be a fish.  Madebonne had to do something drastic.  She knew that fish breathed through their mouths so she took the pot of tea and poured the whole thing into the tub.  That way she would be drinking the potion as she swam around the tub.  Her mom swam and swam around but didn’t look any different than she had ten minutes ago.  Madebonne didn’t know what to do any more.  She was out of magic potion, she couldn’t find her Fairy Godmother and her mom was still a fish.  She sat down on the floor beside the tub and burst into tears.  Then she started to cry, then she howled.  She felt like her heart would break. 

Madebonne sobbed and shouted at the tub, “Mom, I am not kidding around any more.  You need to change back into my mom.  It’s not fair.  I WANT MY MOM BACK!”  Henry howled on the other side of the door but Madebonne was too upset to get up and let him in.  She felt a soothing hand on her head.

“It’s alright darling.  There’s no need to cry.”  Madebonne whipped her head around and saw her mom, her REAL mom, leaning over the edge of the tub.

“Mom, you changed back,” said Madebonne as she leapt into her arms, fully clothed, right into the tub of water.

“Thank you for saving me,” her mom whispered into her ear.  Madebonne looked up at her with tears in her eyes. 

“What happened to you mom?  Why did you turn into a fish?”

“Well, as I was swimming my laps I kept thinking ‘swim like a fish, swim like a fish’ and the next thing I knew, I was a fish,” she explained.  “I was very happy being a fish.  It’s amazing to breathe under water.  But when I heard you yelling for me I realized that I wanted to be your mom more than I wanted to be a fish.  The next thing I knew I was your mom again.”  Madebonne could have sat in the tub with her mom until bedtime but Henry was yowling on the other side of the door so Madebonne hopped out of the tub.  She opened the door and Henry came bounding in.  He circled around their legs until he was satisfied that everything was back to normal.

“It’s nice to see you again Henry,” said Madebonne’s mom as she scratched him behind the ears.  Henry flopped on the floor and rolled onto his back.  Madebonne gave him a very gentle pat on the belly.

“Henry is the best cat ever,” said Madebonne.  She was so happy that he had come on the adventure with her.

“What do you say we get changed and go pick your dad up from work,” said Madebonne’s mom.   Madebonne looked down at her sunfish bikini.

“Once this dries I’ll be ready to go,” she said.  “That’s the great thing about an adventuring outfit.”

“I think we’ve had enough adventuring for the time being,” replied her mom.

“You’re probably right,” laughed Madebonne.  She walked out of the bathroom and headed to her room to change.  Henry followed her through the living room and down the hall.  She opened the door to her room and saw a little girl sitting in her bed reading a book.

“Who are you?” asked Madebonne with surprise.  The little girl jumped out of bed and gave her a gigantic hug.

“You’re back,” said the little girl.  “I missed you so much.”  Madebonne didn’t know what to say.  So she asked her again.

“Who are you?”  The little girl looked up at her with smiling eyes.

“I’m your sister Sacha, silly,” she said. 

“I don’t have a sister,” she said, confused. 

“Only for the past five years,” said Sacha.  “Before that you didn’t have a sister.  Do you want to take me to the park?” 

Madebonne looked at Sacha then looked around her room.  Something was definitely not right.  She took out her butterfly phone and dialed F-G-M.

“Hello, Operator.  What is the state of your emergency?”

“I need to talk to my Fairy Godmother right away.  I have an unexplained sister in my bedroom.”

“Please hold while I connect you,” said the Operator.  Madebonne held while Sacha bounced back into her bed.

“Mabebonne?  Where are you?” asked the Fairy Godmother.

“Fairy Godmother, we have a problem,” said Madebonne.

“I’ll be right there,” said her Fairy Godmother.  Madebonne hung up her butterfly phone and listened for the doorbell while Sacha bounced on the bed.

Chapter 9: "Magical Water"

 

Question to Madeleine:  What is oozing?

Answer:  Magical water

Madebonne stood in the sticky, oozy muck while Tilda strode off after her husband to find out what was seeping into the house.  She looked down at her feet and saw that her red rubber rain boots had changed into flippers.  That explained why it was getting so hard for her to walk.  The ooze was squelching up above Madebonne’s ankles and it was getting harder and harder for her to lift her feet.  She stood still and waited for rescue.  Sure enough, a few minutes later, Tomas appeared lugging a huge apparatus with lots of knobs and a giant hose like an elephant’s trunk.  The boys tumbled in behind him.

“Oh my,” said Tomas.  “Madebonne do you feel okay?”

“Well, I’m kind of stuck,” replied Madebonne.

“But how do you feel?” asked Tomas.  The boys looked at her with curious expressions, kind of like when you see a dog that looks like a person.

“I feel fine, why?” asked Madebonne.  They were beginning to make her feel self conscious.

“You look a bit green,” said Tomas.

“And you hair is turning orange,” said Bjorn.

“And you’re kind of scaly,” piped in Oskar.

“Look she has fins,” yelped Soren.  Madebonne looked down at her feet in alarm.  She lifted one of her feet out of the ooze and realized that Soren was right.  She wasn’t wearing flippers, her feet were turning into fins. 

“This must be magical water,” said Tomas while scratching his head.  “Valentin, run and get your grandmother.  Hopefully she’ll know what to do.” 

“I’m on it dad,” said Valentin and he dashed off to find Captain Fletcher.  The rest of the boys stayed and stared at Madebonne.  She tried to lift her foot again but lost her balance and landed with a splash onto the floor.  As soon as she hit the water her legs fused together.

“Look, Madebonne is turning into a mermaid,” said Rowan.

“You’re so pretty,” said Rurik shyly, and then blushed.

“I want to turn into a fish too,” shouted Gustav and he leapt into the ooze right next to Madebonne and started rolling around.  Before Tomas knew what was happening, the rest of the boys splashed into the ooze behind Gustav. 

“Get out of there,” hissed Tomas.  “Your mother will never forgive me if her sons turn into a school of fish.”  But the boys paid no attention and kept wriggling around in the oozy water.

“How do I look?” Per asked Madebonne sticking his foot up near her face.  “Do my toes looked webbed?  See any scales?  Am I green?”  Madebonne shook her head.  Per looked exactly the same.  But Madebonne looked more and more like a mermaid with each passing moment.  She took a look at her arm which was turning a beautiful shimmery green.  The magical water felt cool and soothing on her skin so she lay back and let it wash over her.  She swished her tail and shot across the room. 

“Whoa!  Look at Madebonne go,” said Rowan in awe as she glided past him. 

“This isn’t good,” said Tomas shaking his head.  At least the boys still seemed to have their arms and legs as they hopped around the deepening water after Madebonne.  There was quite a ruckus and a lot of splashing when Captain Fletcher came into the room with Valentin.  Madebonne swam past, her orange hair streaming behind her, followed by her whooping grandsons.

“No wonder Tilda didn’t want to come back in here,” laughed Captain Fletcher.  “Is this another one of your inventions Tomas?”

“I don’t know what this is,” said Tomas.  “It’s some kind of magical water that has turned Madebonne into a mermaid.  But it doesn’t seem to have any effect on the boys.  Very curious.”  Captain Fletcher agreed that it was quite curious.

“Let’s get Madebonne out of the water and try drying her off.  Maybe that will change her back.”

“It’s worth a shot, but she looks pretty slippery,” said Tomas as he watched the boys hop through the ooze after Madebonne.  Captain Fletcher grabbed some towels while Tomas and the boys pulled Madebonne out of the water.  It took all ten of them to get a good grip on her but they managed to place her on the pile of towels and Captain Fletcher dried her off.  Then they all stepped back and stared.

“Do you feel any different?” asked Tomas.  Madebonne wiggled her fins.

“Just a bit itchy,” said Madebonne.  They waited a bit longer but there was no change.  Madebonne was beginning to worry.  Was her whole family turning into fish?  She took a look at her mermaid tail and burst into tears.

“I want my mom,” she sobbed and covered her face with her hands. 

“That’s not a bad idea,” said Captain Fletcher.  “One of you boys, run and get Madebonne’s mom.”  The boys clambered out of the room, each trying to be the most helpful.  Captain Fletcher dried Madebonne’s tears with one of the towels and then she and Tomas carefully lifted her back into the water.  Moments later the herd of boys was back with Gustav triumphantly carrying the goldfish bowl and Oskar and Rurik carrying a very confused Henry who was trying to wriggle away.

“What are you doing with poor Henry?” asked Captain Fletcher.

“We thought he would make Madebonne feel better,” said Oskar while Rurik looked at his feet shyly. 

“That was very thoughtful of you,” said Captain Fletcher.  Tomas took the fish bowl from Gustav and carefully poured Madebonne’s mom into the magical water.  Madebonne swam over and looked her square into her fish eyes but her mom just swam away, excited to be out of her goldfish bowl and able to stretch her fins.

“Mom, what’s happening to me?  I’m turning into a mermaid,” said Madebonne swimming after her mom in the magical water.  But her mom kept swimming around as if it were normal for her daughter to have a long fish tail instead of legs. 

“Mom,” said Madebonne swimming after her, trying to get her attention.  “Is our whole family turning into fish?  What’s happening?”  Try as she might, Madebonne couldn’t seem to get her mom to notice what was wrong.  She started to panic. Had her mom been a fish for too long? What if her Fairy Godmother couldn’t turn her back into a mom.  What would happen then?  Would her mom be a fish forever?  Madebonne stopped swimming.  She fingered the necklace around her neck. 

“Stupid necklace,” she said between gritted teeth.  “You were supposed to bring me luck.  How lucky is it to be a mermaid with a fish for a mother?”  She grabbed the necklace, wrenched it from her neck and threw it across the room.  Within seconds Madebonne sank to the bottom of the magical water, all arms and legs, no scales, no tail, no orange hair or green skin.  She was back to her old self in her sunfish bikini and had never liked the sight of her toes as much as she did right now.  Captain Fletcher scooped the necklace out of the water and held it up.

“Where did you get this beautiful necklace?” she asked Madebonne. 

“It’s the necklace that the Queen gave me for making peace with the dragons and saving the Princess’s wedding,” she replied.  “The shells are from the Caspian Sea and are on a string of…”

“…mermaid hair!” said Captain Fletcher.  “The mermaid hair from your necklace mixed with the magical water and turned you into a mermaid.  Mermaids are quite magical creatures.”

“I never would have figured that one out,” said Tomas.  He scooped Madebonne’s mom back into her goldfish bowl.  Madebonne stomped out of the magical water and glared at everyone.

“I’m sick of this adventure,” said Madebonne through slitted eyes.  Her stomach churned with worry.  “I don’t know how to get my mom home in time to turn her back into a mom.  I’m just a kid.  It’s not fair.”  She stomped out of the house and headed to the water where she could have a good grump in peace.  Henry followed behind at a safe distance.  Madebonne reached the beach and kicked the sand.  She stomped and whalloped and garumphed and snorked.  Then she took a huge, deep breath and let out a roar.  Her whole face turned red and she clawed at the air with her hands overhead.  All of the air whooshed out of her lungs.  She took another deep breath and roared another horrible roar.  That roar took it out of her.  She sat down with a thump and tears ran down her cheeks.

“I’m just a kid.  How am I supposed to know how to get my mom back to Brooklyn in time to turn her back into a mom?  It’s going to take hours to get there on Captain Fletcher’s sailboat and that could be too late.”  She looked at Henry who sauntered over and rubbed his cheek on her knee.  Madebonne sat, grabbing fistfuls of sand.  Then she flopped on her back, exhausted.  A cool breeze blew over her and Henry curled up beside her.  Madebonne stared up at the sky contemplating what she should do.  A cloud passed over the sun then swooped away then passed over the sun again.  She squinted, then sat up.  The swooping cloud got closer and closer until Madebonne could make out that it wasn’t a cloud at all.  It was the Dragon.  He circled lower and lower and landed on the beach at her feet.

“Hi Dragon.  What are you doing here?” asked Madebonne. 

“I heard your dragon roar so I flew right over.  Is everything alright?”  The Dragon looked at Madebonne with concern. 

“I don’t know what to do Dragon,” said Madebonne, kicking the sand.  “I’m afraid that I won’t get my mom back to Brooklyn in time to change her back into my mom.  Every time I think we are on our way home something happens.  And now she doesn’t seem to even care that I was changed into a mermaid.”

“You were a mermaid?  Were you all green and scaly?  I bet you were so pretty.  I was in love with a mermaid once,” said the Dragon letting out a sigh.  Madebonne started to huff again.

“I don’t want to be a mermaid!  I just want to get my mom home.  Doesn’t anyone understand me?”

“Hold on there little dragon,” said the Dragon sympathetically.  “Don’t get your fire all stoked up.  I’ll be happy to help you.”

“But how can you help?” asked Madebonne.

“I’ll fly you to Brooklyn,” said the Dragon matter of factly.  Madebonne couldn’t believe her ears.

“Really?  You can fly to Brooklyn?  Do you even know where Brooklyn is?”

“Of course I know where Brooklyn is,” said the Dragon with a snort.  “I go there all the time.  Where else am I going to get a perfect dill pickle?”

“But I’ve never seen a dragon in Brooklyn before.  And I’m sure I would have heard about it in the news,” said Madebonne.

“I have to use dragon mist to disguise myself,” said the Dragon.  “Otherwise everyone would want my autograph.”

“More like everyone would run screaming,” said Madebonne under her breath.  “How long will it take to fly there?”

“From here?  About twenty minutes.”

“Really?” shrieked Madebonne.  “That’s so fast.  It will take hours on Captain Fletcher’s sailboat.”

“Check out these wings,” said the Dragon stretching his wing span fifty feet across the beach.  “I can soar us there in no time.”  Madebonne was so excited that she leapt at the Dragon and hugged him.  If he hadn’t been a lovely deep shade of green, Madebonne could have seen him blush.

“Will you be able to fly with Henry and Linda as well?” asked Madebonne.

“Not a problem,” said the Dragon.  “I once flew to Brooklyn with my nephew’s entire kindergarten class on my back.  It was too far for their young wings to fly but I got there and back without a hitch.” 

“Wait until I tell Linda,” said Madebonne running up towards the house.  “I’ll be right back.  Don’t go anywhere without me.”  Madebonne raced up to the house with Henry at her heels. 

“Where’s my mom?  Where’s Linda?” she panted.  Before anyone could answer, Madebonne saw her mom swimming around in her goldfish bowl on the lunch table.  She carefully fished her out and placed her in her pocket and then poured in some water.  She was still trying to catch her breath when Linda waddled into the room.

“What’s going on?” she asked.  “Are you ready to sail?”

“No time,” gulped Madebonne.  She pointed towards the beach.  “Dragon.  Fly us.  Faster.”  And she grabbed Linda by the flipper and started to drag her towards the beach.

“Fly?  Oh no.  I won’t fly,” said Linda.  “Boats, trains, cars.  All fine.  But there is no way you will get me on a plane or a dragon.”  Madebonne looked at her in disbelief. 

“But we have to fly,” she pleaded.  “My mom is turning more and more into a fish every minute and I have to get her back as soon as possible.  The dragon said it would only take twenty minutes to get to Brooklyn and it will take hours on the My Boat.”  Linda rubbed her flipper against her forehead. 

“I see what you mean,” said Linda.  “You should fly home on the Dragon.  I’ll head back to the castle with Captain Fletcher on the My Boat and then catch the next Penguin Express.”  Madebonne heaved a sigh of relief. 

“Now let’s go talk to the Dragon.  I want to make sure that he knows how to get you to Brooklyn.  After all, I promised your Fairy Godmother that I would bring you home safely.”

“He said that he goes there all the time to get pickles,” said Madebonne leading the way to the beach.  The Dragon was waiting patiently for Madebonne right where she had left him.

Linda gave the Dragon Madebonne’s address in Brooklyn and checked his flight plan.  She even made him do a test flight over the water so that she could be sure that he was a safe flyer.  When she was satisfied that Madebonne would be brought home safely they called the Fairy Godmother to let her know the change in plans. 

“We’ll be there in twenty minutes,” said Madebonne into her butterfly phone.  “Make it a strong spell, my mom is acting very fishy.”

“Will do,” said the Fairy Godmother.  “I’ll just pop out for some extra weaselberries which should do the trick.”

Madebonne was itching to leave so she bade a hasty good-bye to her new friends.  She gave Tilda an extra long hug.

“Thank you for my Adventuring outfit,” said Madebonne.  “It’s perfect.”

“You must come back to visit,” said Tilda as she placed something in Madebonne’s hand.  “I found this while we were cleaning up.  It might still bring you luck.”

Madebonne opened her hand and saw her shell necklace from the Queen sparkling in her palm.  She smiled and slipped it into her pocket.

“Thank you,” she said then looked around and realized that Tor was nowhere to be seen.  “Where’s Tor?”

“He’s a bit upset that he won’t be able to sail home with you through the Porthole of Atlantis,” explained Tomas.  “So he wouldn’t come down to say good-bye.”  Madebonne was terribly upset that she couldn’t say good-bye to Tor but she had no time to lose.  She climbed up the Dragon’s wing and sat between his shoulders where she could hold on to his neck.  Henry leapt up behind her.  Madebonne reached into one of her Adventuring pockets and pulled out a pair of goggles.

“Ready,” she said to the Dragon.  Everyone stepped back as the Dragon spread his wings.  With a powerful flap they lifted off the ground and soared over the water.  Madebonne waved and waved good-bye until Linda and her friends were just a speck below her.

Question to Madeleine:  How do dragons get through to the other side and back to Brooklyn?

Chapter 8: "The Parrot Ships"

 

Question to Madeleine:  Who is Lady Bird Feathering?

Answer:  Captain of the Ship

Madebonne and Henry walked down the path towards shore, passing under the trees blooming with clothes.  They were on their way to meet Lady Bird Feathering whose fleet had just sailed in to shore on the Island of Boys.  She looked up at the tree branches that still sagged with the boys’ shirts and ties swinging in the breeze.  Then she swished her arms against her own beautiful dress that Tilda had made for her.  There was no way she would take it off and hang it on a tree.  Those boys were crazy. 

The trees parted and Madebonne stepped onto the sandy shore.  She stared in amazement.  Fifteen sailing ships with parrot green sails were dropping anchor in the bay.  As the ships landed the sails seemed to come alive as flocks of parrots lifted away from the sails and flew off over the island.  She hadn’t seen anything that beautiful since she had bounced on top of the Princess’s wedding cake.  Madebonne ran over to where Tomas stood wrangling the boys who hopped up and down with excitement at the edge of the water.  They waved at a tall lady wearing a long green dress who appeared at the bow of the ship closest to land.  A small boat rowed up alongside the ship and she stepped down into it and was brought to shore.

“Lady Bird Feathering,” said Tomas with a bow.  “Lovely to see you as always.”  She bowed her head in return and her shiny black hair sparkled in the sunshine.  Her dress was made of tiny green feathers that ruffled in the wind.

“Hello Tomas,” she said then turned to the boys.  “My, haven’t you turned into handsome young men.”  The boys suddenly turned shy and goofy as she looked at each one of them in turn.  “And who is this lovely young lady?” She asked as her gaze landed on Madebonne.  Her skin was the palest green but her eyes were her most striking feature, purple eyes the color of juicy grapes or wild violets that grow in the woods.  Madebonne had always wished for purple eyes.

“This is Madebonne and her cat Henry.”  Madebonne bowed and Lady Bird Feathering reached out and touched her gently on the head.

“You are on a great adventure aren’t you my dear?” she said as Madebonne stood back up.  Madebonne looked into Lady Bird Feathering’s purple eyes and nodded.  “There are more obstacles in your path but if you stay true to your course and act with your heart you will succeed.”  Before Macebonne could ask her what she meant, Captain Fletcher strode over with Linda the Penguin and Tilda. 

“What brings you to this neck of the woods Lady Bird?” asked Captain Fletcher taking her hands.  They hugged.  Captain Fletcher turned to Madebonne.  “I learned to captain from Lady Bird’s grandfather.  She has since taken over his fleet and is now the Captain of the Parrot Ships.  We have sailed all over the world together.”

“Oh, take us somewhere please!” said Soren excitedly.

“Yes, please” said Valentin.  “Our Grandmother taught us how to sail.”

“Could we go to Africa?” piped in Oskar.

“Boys!” said Tilda.  “Where are your manners?  We haven’t even offered Lady Bird Feathering something to drink and you’re already asking her to take you to the other side of the drain.”  Lady Bird Feathering smiled kindly.

“I’d love to take you with me but it looks like I am stranded here until my parrots come back.  We were on our way to Antoola when they suddenly flapped their wings and created such a strong westerly wind that we sailed directly into your port.  I can’t imagine what possessed them.”

“Remember how we got stuck in the middle of the Atlantis Ocean?” asked Captain Fletcher.  “Well, Lady Bird Feathering crosses oceans all the time with her fleet.  So when there is no wind the parrots fly around the sails and create wind so that they don’t get stuck.”  Madebonne nodded.  Pretty clever.

“We were just finishing up lunch” said Tomas.  “Would you like something to eat?  Then the boys and I can head a search party across the island to find your parrots.”

“That sounds lovely,” said Lady Bird Feathering.

“We even have singing sucker balls for dessert,” said Per.  “See?” and he took his out of his pocket and popped it in his mouth.  He opened it again and a lovely chirping song came out.  Suddenly there was a flash of green and the parrots swooped back through the trees and swarmed around Per.  Before he knew what was happening or could even close his mouth, the parrots landed on his head and arms and his body and his toes until he was covered in a blanket of green feathers.  They nuzzled and cooed around him.  The more he laughed from the tickling of their feathers, the more the chirping of the sucker ball sang out of his mouth.  The parrots chirped in return and flapped their wings excitedly.

“So this is what they’ve been chasing after,” said Lady Bird Feathering.  “Per’s singing sucker ball sounds just like the parrots from the jungles where they were born.” 

The birds continued to flap their wings in excitement.  Captain Fletcher and Tomas tried to pull the birds off Per but they just flew back as soon as they were let go.

“Tomas, we need to get the sucker ball out of his mouth” said Tilda.  Tomas turned towards his wife.

“I can’t tell where his mouth is” he said looking at his son who was a cloud of feathers.

“I’ll go back to my ship and get the parrot wrangler,” said Lady Bird Feathering.  “He’ll know what to do.”  She stepped back into her rowboat and started back towards her ship.  She hadn’t gotten more than twenty feet from shore when Gustav yelped.

“Look, Per’s flying away.”  Sure enough, Per floated off down the beach while his brothers ran after him in hot pursuit. 

“Where are they taking my son?” yelled Tilda as Per soared higher into the air and over the water.  Madebonne ran after the boys with Henry right on her heels.  Captain Fletcher ran into the water and jumped into the row boat with Lady Bird Feathering.  They turned the boat towards Per but the birds were taking him farther and farther away.  Madebonne grabbed Tor by the hand.

“We need Glen,” she said. 

“You’re right Madebonne.  Good thinking.”  She and Tor ran towards the swimming hole.

“Glen!  Glen!!” they shouted until they saw the familiar fin slice through the water.  Madebonne flung her dress on a nearby tree and she and Tor dove into the water.  They hopped on Glen’s back and steered towards the ocean.  As they passed through the mouth of  the swimming hole, Henry stood on shore meowing.

“Come on Henry, leap!” shouted Madebonne.  Henry hesitated for a second then jumped onto Glen’s back. 

“Hold on,” said Tor as they headed off after Per.  He was still visible in the distance where he looked like a green cloud floating on the horizon.  Tor stood on Glen in the front and steered with his feet.  Madebonne sat behind him with her legs dangling in the water.  She put Henry on her shoulders so that he wouldn’t get splashed by the waves but he still wasn’t very happy about being out on the ocean.  Luckily, the water wasn’t too rough and they were soon able to gain on Per and the parrots.   

“What is our plan once we catch them?” asked Tor.  Madebonne wasn’t sure but they would have to think fast.  They were closing in on Per but he also seemed to be floating up higher and higher.  They crested a bigger wave and spray misted over them.  Henry let out a meow and held on tighter to Madebonne. 

“Quickly,” shouted Madebonne.  “They are taking him higher into the air.”  Tor steered harder and they flew over another wave.  This time, Henry’s whole tail got wet.  He sure wasn’t happy about getting wet and let Madebonne know with another meow.  But Madebonne was distracted.  She was keeping an eye on Per.

“We’re almost below him” shouted Madebonne excitedly.  Tor dug his feet into Glen to make him go as fast as he could and the water sprayed all around them as they shot through the water.  Henry stood on his tip toes and meowed and meowed.  Madebonne noticed that the birds were beginning to fly off a few at a time.  Henry shook himself and licked one of his paws to dry off.  The birds flew back to the flock.  Suddenly another wave splashed them and Henry meowed again.  More birds flew away and hovered nearby.  The cloud of birds dropped a little lower.  Madebonne had an idea.  She turned to Henry and gave him a pat.

“I’m sorry to do this to you Henry,” said Madebonne and she gave Glen a squeeze with her legs.  Glen sped through the water and the spray shot up like a fountain around them.  Henry meowed and meowed as the water fell around him getting him more and more drenched.  With each meow, the parrots flew away in alarm back towards the safety of their ship.

“The birds are afraid of Henry.  Spray more water” shouted Madebonne to Tor.  They were now able to see all of Per’s legs and the tips of his fingers.  Henry let out a low growl when the next wave hit and more parrots flew away.

“It’s working” said Tor as he continued to chase after his brother.  They could now see most of Per’s head.

“Spit out the singing sucker ball” shouted Madebonne.  Per’s ears were still covered with birds so he couldn’t hear her but he was floating down towards them as more and more parrots flew back towards the fleet.  Suddenly a huge wave came towards them.

“Hold on” shouted Tor as Glen dove and they went right through the wave.  When they came out on the other side, Henry had finally had enough.  He meowed and growled and snarled.  The parrots feared for their lives and dropped Per right there in the middle of the ocean.  He plopped into the water with a splash and sank and sank towards the bottom.  Tor leapt off of Glen and dove in after his brother while Madebonne tried to calm Henry down.  Glen circled around the spot where the brothers had both gone in.  Madebonne held her breath.  She hoped they would come up soon because she was starting to turn blue.  Just when she couldn’t hold her breath a moment longer, Tor and Per popped up out of the water like a couple of corks.  Per spat out the singing sucker ball into his hand.

“That was awesome,” said Per with a huge grin.  Madebonne helped them back up onto Glen and they headed back towards shore.  The rowboat with Captain Fletcher and Lady Bird Feathering met them half way.

“Is everyone alright?” asked Captain Fletcher. 

“Grandma did you see me?  It was so cool,” said Per.  “I flew.  I flew across the ocean and then was dropped down into a huge school of fish.  I want to do it again!”

“I think you’ve had enough excitement for one afternoon” said Captain Fletcher.  “Besides, I am sure that Lady Bird Feathering is happy to have her birds back so she can get on her way.”

“Thank you for rescuing Per,” said Lady Bird Feathering.  “I am so grateful to you both.”

“It was Madebonne’s idea to find Glen so that we could go after Per.  And then she figured out that when Henry got wet, he would meow and scare the birds away,” said Tor.  “I didn’t know girls could be so cool.”  Madebonne blushed.

“It wasn’t such a big deal,” said Madebonne shyly.  “I remembered that Henry scared the birds when we were in Section Blue of the rainbow” Lady Bird Feathering gave her an appraising look while Henry sat in the corner of the rowboat and grumpily groomed his fur.  “Tor is the one who dove into the water and rescued Per from the school of fish,” Now it was Tor’s turn to blush.  They both sat awkwardly in front of Lady Bird Feathering.

“You are both very brave and think well on your feet.  What would you like as a reward?” asked Lady Bird Feathering.  Tor leapt up with excitement and the boat rocked violently.

“Could I go with you to Antoola?”

“We’ll have to ask your mother, but I don’t see why not.  How about you Madebonne?” asked Lady Bird.

“Can you change my mom from a goldfish back into my mom?” asked Madebonne.

“I’m afraid that I don’t have magical powers but I can certainly help you get back home,” she replied.  “I’ll lend you a flock of my parrots so that you won’t get stuck on your way to the Porthole of Atlantis.”  Just then they reached shore and Tor ran to tell his brothers all about the rescue.  Tilda splashed through the water and grabbed Per and hugged him.

“Are you alright my darling?” she asked while squeezing him tight. 

“Mom, I’m fine,” said Per as he wriggled out of her arms.  “When can I do that again?”

“Not until you are thirty seven” said Tilda.  “Now give me that singing sucker ball.”  She held out her hand.  Per reluctantly fished the singing sucker ball out of his pocket and handed it to his mother.  She then turned to her other sons.  “All of you.  Hand them over or next thing you know a hoard of elephants with parade through and carry you all off to the circus.”  Tilda collected the singing sucker balls and gave Tomas a sharp look.

“I’ll hold onto these” she said as she put them in her pocket.  Tomas looked a bit sheepish but this wasn’t the first time that he had gotten in trouble for one of his inventions and it probably wouldn’t be the last. 

“Let’s head back up to the house and get Lady Bird Feathering something to eat before she has to head back out onto the high seas” said Tomas, deftly changing the subject.  The boys chattered noisily with Per all the way up to the house, wanting to hear what it had been like to fly.  Madebonne followed behind with Linda the Penguin.  When they got back up to the house Madebonne put a large glass of water on the floor for Henry who was parched from all the saltwater he had licked off his fur. 

“We should be going” said Captain Fletcher.  “It’s still a long journey to the Porthole of Atlantis.”  The boys all piled on top of Captain Fletcher and begged her to take them along.  Tor pulled on his mother’s sleeve.

“Mom, Lady Bird Feathering said that I could go with her to Antoola as a reward for rescuing Per.  Can I go mom?  Can I?” he hopped excitedly on his right foot.

“It’s quite a long way to Antoola isn’t it Lady Bird?” asked Tilda.  Lady Bird Feathering nodded slightly.

“It is a six week sail from here,” she said.  “But if the winds are to our advantage it could only take four weeks to get back.”  Tilda put her arm around Tor.

“Two and a half months is much too long a time for me not to see your face,” she said.  “Besides, you start singing camp and fencing lessons next week.”  Lady Bird Feathering could see the disappointment on Tor’s face.

“My offer is always good,” she said.  “You can come sail with me anytime.  I would be honored to have such a heroic young man aboard my ship.”  Tears sprung to Tor’s eyes.  He couldn’t help but be disappointed.  It’s not every day that you are so brave that you are invited to sail to Antoola on a Parrot Ship.  Tilda kissed her son’s head.  Captain Fletcher strode over.

“I could use some help on the My Boat.  Maybe Tor could join us on the trip to the Porthole of Atlantis.  Once we drop Madebonne off in New York City I can swing by here with Tor before I head back to The Castle.”  Tor held his breath while Tilda considered her answer.

“He needs to be back by dinnertime” said Tilda. 

“I’ll feed him on the boat Tilda,” said Captain Fletcher.  “He’ll be back by bedtime.”  Tilda looked at her mother-in-law sternly.

“It needs to be a real meal.  Not just chocolate mousse,” she said.  Captain Fletcher threw her arms up in disgust.

“What has happened to everyone lately?  Chocolate mousse is a perfectly fine meal.” 

Tilda turned her attention to Madebonne.  “Now, let’s go quickly try on your adventuring outfit.”  Tilda lead Madebonne back to her sewing room where she pulled out the adventuring outfit with a flourish.  She was so excited to see how it looked that Tilda practically dragged Madebonne behind the changing screen.  Madebonne pulled on a pair of pale yellow pants and a light blue jacket.  She stepped out to show Tilda who clapped her hands with excitement.

“Perfect,” she said.  “Everything is made with a special material that stretches so you can climb trees, do cartwheels or slide down drains.  Go ahead, give it a try.”  Madebonne did an couple of squats and a cartwheel.  The outfit was really comfortable and didn’t feel at all bunchy or bothery.

“Now watch this,” said Tilda and she stood Madebonne in front of a fan and turned it on.  As the breeze began to cool her off, the clothes began to change color and thickness.  She looked down and saw that she was wearing orange corduroy pants, and a forest green jacket.  Tilda then walked her over to the air conditioner and turned it down low to freezing.  Madebonne’s jacket puffed into a lavender down jacket with a fuzzy hood and black fleece pants.  Finally, Tilda put Madebonne in front of a space heater and turned it on.  Suddenly Madebonne was standing in a pair of spring green shorts and a pink floaty top.  She looked just like a tulip.

“All weather clothes!” said Tilda triumphantly as she turned off the heater.  “I won’t throw a bucket of water on you but they’re waterproof too.”  Madebonne was very impressed. 

“Thank you so much Tilda,” said Madebonne  “You’ve made me such beautiful clothes.  But I left the dress you made me on the beach when we went to rescue Per.”

Tilda laughed.  “Clothes tend to get abandoned on this island.  Don’t worry, they eventually end up back in the sewing room and I make them into other things.”

“But I loved that dress,” said Madebonne.  “I would have worn it every day it was so beautiful.”

“There’s one very similar to it in your pocket,” said Tilda.  Madebonne was confused.  How could a dress fit in her pocket?

“Go ahead, take a look,” said Tilda.  Madebonne looked down and saw that she was back in her jacket and pants.  She put her hand in the right pocket..  It was empty but nice and smooth and cool.

“Not that pocket,” said Tilda.  “That’s the goldfish pocket.  It doesn’t leak when you fill it with water.  Try the other side.”  Madebonne put her hand in the left pocket and pulled out a handful of tiny plastic squares, the size of sugar packets.  Each one had a tiny label on it.  She saw ‘party dress’, ‘bathing suit’. ‘ball gown’, ‘scuba gear’, ‘ski suit’, ‘soccer uniform’, ‘chef whites’, and even ‘pajamas’.

“I don’t understand” said Madebonne looking at the pile of packets in her hand.

“Well, you always need to be prepared when you’re out adventuring.  So I made you a few extra outfits just in case.  That way, you don’t ever have to worry about packing a suitcase.  You just open the packet and shake out the clothes.  They air fluff and grow to normal size.  Shoes are in the pocket above the clothes,” Tilda added.  She then plucked the anti-shark protector out of Madebonne’s belly button.  “You can put this in here for safe keeping” and she slipped the shiny jewel into a small zipper pocket on the arm of the jacket.

“This is the best outfit I’ve ever had,” said Madebonne and she gave Tilda a huge hug.  Tilda squeezed her tightly.

“As sad as I am to see you go, I think that we need to get back to the others so that you can get on your way to the Port of Atlantis before dark,” said Tilda.  Madebonne nodded.  She was having a great time on the Island of Boys but the fact was, she needed to get back to Brooklyn to change her mom back into a mom.  Madebonne slipped into the flip flops that matched her outfit and she and Tilda headed back to the veranda.  As they walked along Madebonne heard a squelching sound.  She looked down to see that her flip flops had changed into red rubber rain boots and they were wading through a sticky muck.  It was a clear colored ooze, kind of slippery, kind of squishy.   
“What now!” said Tilda with a sigh.  “Tommmaassss.”  She lost a shoe in the ooze as she strode off towards her husband.  Madebonne tried to follow behind but the ooze was sucking at her boots and she was finding it harder and harder to move.

 

 Question to Madeleine:  What is oozing?

Chapter 7: "The Island of Boys"

 

Question to Madeleine:  "What is the loud crash?"

Answer: "The mast broke from the lightening."

Madebonne stood just below deck on the steps, clutching her mom the goldfish in the lemonade pitcher.  Linda the penguin stood at the bottom of the steps and Henry growled somewhere nearby.  Their wind dance had created a raging storm outside and Captain Fletcher had sent them down to safety while he sailed through the storm towards Brooklyn.  But Madebonne was worried.  She had just heard a huge crash up on deck.  Very carefully she lifted the hatch an inch and peered outside.  To her horror she saw the mast lying across the deck of the ship.  Madebonne turned to Linda in alarm.

“The mast fell down.  It must have been struck by the lightening.”  Linda looked worried.  She hopped back up the stairs.

“Go find Henry and try to get him to stop growling.  The lightening must think that Henry is the thunder and keeps flashing in response to him.  I’ll go up top to see if I can help Captain Fletcher.”  Linda hopped out the hatch door and Madebonne closed it tightly after her.  She climbed down the stairs and looked for Henry.  She found him cowering in the hallway near the kitchen.

“Come on Henry,” said Madebonne.  “Let’s find someplace safe for you.”  Henry followed Madebonne with his belly low to the ground.  Henry growled and the boat rocked wildly.

“You have to stop growling Henry or the lightening won’t go away.”  Henry looked at her with wild eyes and slunk down the hallway after Madebonne.  She led them to the Princess suite and tied her mom to the nightstand.  Then she grabbed some pillows off the couch and crawled under the bed with Henry.  She made them a cozy fort and then talked to him in her calm voice and rubbed his belly.  The boat eventually stopped its wild rocking and sailed along more calmly.  A few minutes later Madebonne heard the bedroom door open.  She saw Captain Fletcher’s feet and Linda’s flippers came into the room.  Madebonne stuck her hand out from under the bed and waved at them.  They bent down and peered under the bed and then lay down on their bellies.

“We have to make a pit stop,” said Captain Fletcher.  “We’ll never be able to make it to Brooklyn with the main mast broken.  I am going to sail us over to the Island of Boys where I can make my repairs.”

“What’s the Island of Boys?” asked Madebonne.  She’d never heard of such a place.

“It’s a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantis Ocean.  Only boys have ever been born there so it’s called the Island of Boys.”  Madebonne gave Captain Fletcher a good long stare to see if he was joking.  That was the craziest thing she had ever heard.

“There have to be some girls there,” said Madebonne.  “Every boy has a mom and moms are girls.”

“Or fish,” said Linda which made them all laugh.

“It’s true that there is a mom there but she wasn’t born on the island.  Tomas fell in love with her on the main land and after they were married he brought her back to the island.”

“Who’s Tomas?” asked Madebonne.

“He’s my son,” said Captain Fletcher.  “But enough with these questions.  You’ll meet him soon enough and I have to set our course so that I can make these repairs and get you back to Brooklyn.”

Madebonne and Henry crawled out from under the bed.  Madebonne put her mom back in her pajama pocket and they headed up on deck.  The sun was back out and there was enough of a breeze blowing for Captain Fletcher to navigate home.  Madebonne took off her slicker and her goggles and tucked the scarves back into the pockets.  Soon enough the Island of Boys came into view.  The water surrounding the island was a beautiful turquoise blue and palm trees swayed on land.  They glided to shore and a passel of boys ran into view.  They jumped up and down excitedly and pointed and shouted.

“Grandma!  Grandma’s back!!!”  Captain Fletcher stood at the edge of the sail boat and waved to the boys with his hat.  Madebonne, Linda and Henry peered around curiously.  Captain Fletcher grabbed the rope and threw it to shore.  The boys deftly grabbed it and tied the boat off to a palm tree.  Captain Fletcher lowered the gang plank and they hopped off the boat.  The boys all rushed over and hugged Captain Fletcher.

“Grandma!” they clamored.  “We didn’t expect you back so soon.”  They hopped around happily and stuck their hands in Captain Fletcher’s pockets looking for treats from far off lands.  Madebonne was really confused.

“Why are they calling you Grandma?” she finally asked. 

“These are my grandsons,” said Captain Fletcher.  “Let me introduce you.  This is Tor, Valentin, Gustav, Per, Oskar, Rowan, Bjorn, Soren and Rurik”  The boys lined up and each one bowed as he was introduced.

“Pleased to meet you,” said Madebonne and she bowed in return.  She turned to Captain Fletcher and whispered in his ear.  “I don’t understand why they are calling you Grandma.”

“Because I’m their grandmother,” replied Captain Fletcher.

“But aren’t you their grandfather?  Your name is Walter,” said Madebonne.

“Walter Fletcher is my sailing name,” explained Captain Fletcher with a wink.  “My real name is Joan.” 

“Hmmm.  Makes sense,” said Madebonne who knew all about having an adventuring name.  Captain Fletcher turned to her grandsons.

“Where’s your mother?” she asked.

“Where do you think?” said Gustav.

“In the sewing room of course,” said Tor waving towards the house. 

“She’s making us all new dinner jackets,” said Rowan making a face.

“Yick!” said Bjorn.  Captain Fletcher laughed and lead them up the path towards the house.  There were piles of clothes strewn everywhere along the way.  Jackets hung from trees, ties were wrapped around branches, shirts and shorts were shoved under bushes, socks of every color waved from flower stalks.  It was like a giant outdoor closet.

“We hate wearing clothes,” explained Valentin who took off his shirt and hung it on a tree branch as they walked by.  Madebonne noticed that all the boys were shedding their clothes until they had stripped down to their swim trunks.  Madebonne looked down into her pocket where her mom was swishing her tail disapprovingly.  Madebonne snickered and followed the boys and Captain Fletcher up the path.  Linda and Henry brought up the rear.

The trees finally parted and a beautiful house stood in the clearing.  They went inside and directly into the sewing room where the boys’ mom sat hunched over a sewing machine.  She turned around excitedly when she heard the boys enter. 

“Just in time.  I can start fitting you for your jackets,” she said to her sons who groaned.

“Grandma’s back,” yelped Tor before his mom could wrestle him into his jacket.

“Hello Tilda” said Captain Fletcher.  “I had to stop by to make a quick repair before I head back out on my trip.  I’d like you to meet Madebonne, Linda, Henry and Madebonne’s mom, the goldfish.” 

“A girl!” squeaked Tilda.  “Oh my gosh, a girl.  I can make dresses and blouses and skirts.”  Tilda grabbed a measuring tape and immediately started measuring Madebonne.

“How about a bathing suit” suggested Captain Fletcher.  “Madebonne can go swimming with the boys while I repair the mast on the sail boat.”

“Good idea.  Then I’ll make her a few outfits just in case.  What in the world are you wearing?” asked Tilda taking a look at Madebonne’s pajamas.  “She might need a whole new wardrobe Joan.”

“This is my adventuring outfit” said Madebonne.

“No, no, no,” said Tilda.  “I can whip up a much better adventuring outfit.”  She clapped her hands excitedly and gave Madebonne a hug.

“Mom, she needs a bathing suit first,” said Rurik.

“Alright, alright.  I’ll go express,” said Tilda and got to work whipping up a bathing suit while the boys plopped themselves on the floor to wait.  Captain Fletcher put Madebonne’s mom into a glass of water.

“I’ll take care of your mom while you go have a swim with the boys,” said Captain Fletcher.    
“Will the repairs take that long?” asked Madebonne.  This adventure was taking a lot longer than she had expected and after last night’s chocolate mousse incident she wanted to have her mom back to normal.

“The sooner I get started, the sooner we’ll be on our way,” said Captain Fletcher.  Madebonne smiled meekly as she watched Linda follow Captain Fletcher out the door to find Tomas. 

In a matter of minutes Tilda ushered Madebonne behind a screen and handed her a bathing suit.  It had orange and green swirls and sparkled in the light.  Madebonne pulled the suit on and stepped out from behind the screen. 

“It fits you perfectly,” said Tilda excitedly.  “You look just like a sun fish.”

“That’s great Mom,” said Per grabbing Madebonne by the hand and leading her out the door.  “Let’s hope the sharks don’t try to eat her.”

“Very funny Per,” said Tilda.  She turned to Mabebonne.  “Maybe you should wear one of these just in case.”  She opened a drawer and pulled out a shiny jewel and popped it into Madebonne’s belly button.

“What’s that for?” asked Mabebonne wiggling her belly.

“It’s an anti-shark protector,” said Tor.  He and his brothers rushed Madebonne out the door before their mom could measure them for any more outfits. 

“Anti-shark protector?” asked Madebonne with a quiver in her voice.  Henry trotted at her heels as the boys led Madebonne towards the swimming hole.  “Are there really sharks in the water?”

“Of course, silly” said Bjorn. “Where else would they live?”  Madebonne started to slow down but Per had a firm hold on her hand and pulled her along.  They came to the crest of a hill and stopped.  The hill dropped off directly below into an inlet with sandy dunes on each side.  One by one the boys began to jump off the edge of the hill into the water below.  Madebonne stood and watched while the boys swam around like fish, whooping and hollering, dipping and somersaulting.  Oskar and Soren jumped out of the water and ran up the sand dunes back to the crest of the hill. 
“Come on Madebonne,” said Oskar.  “The water is amazing.”  Madebonne peered down into the water.  It was crystal clear and she could see all the way to the bottom.  She didn’t see any sharks and decided that the boys must be teasing her.  Madebonne patted the jewel in her belly button just in case. 

           “Okay, I’m ready,” said Madebonne.  Oskar and Soren each took one of her hands and they jumped into the water with a gigantic splash.  Henry ran down the side of the sand dune and stood at the edge of the swimming hole.  The water was lovely and Madebonne swam around with the boys.  There were all kinds of beautiful objects in the water.  They dove for sea shells, swam with a school of fish, stood on their heads underwater, and had races from one side to the other.  Henry found a spot in the sun and sat down but he kept a watchful eye on Madebonne.  Henry still didn’t like being around water and his growl was ready to rumble at any time.  Madebonne hopped out of the swimming hole and ran up to the crest of the hill. 

“Watch this Henry,” she shouted and then jumped off the edge holding her knees.  She sank into the water and a huge fountain sprayed up behind her and splashed all the boys.  They whooped and yelled with delight.  Madebonne’s feet touched the bottom of the pool and she opened her eyes.  Thousands of bubbles floated around her.  As they cleared she saw a big toothy grin smiling at her and then a shiny gray snout nudged her shoulder.  Madebonne pushed her feet into the bottom of the pool and shot to the surface screaming “SHARK!!!”

“Where?  Where?” shouted the boys and they all dove underwater.  Madebonne scrambled out of the swimming hole as fast as she could and ran over to Henry.  A moment later the shark broke the surface of the water with Tor holding onto his fin and Bjorn and Gustav latched on to his tail.  Tor jumped to his feet and rode the shark like a surf board.

“Look at me,” he shouted to Madebonne as they sped around the swimming hole. 

“My turn, my turn,” shouted the other boys.  The shark sailed by and Tor leapt off his back onto shore.  He walked over to Madebonne who looked at him with wide eyes.

“Did you see that?  Pretty cool, huh!” said Tor.  “Gustav can ride him almost as well as I can but I can stay up the longest.”

“That’s a shark,” said Mabebonne.  “It could eat you!”  Tor laughed.

“Not Glen.  He says boys taste terrible.  Want to give it a try?”  Madebonne looked at Tor like he had lost his mind.  The other boys hopped out of the water while Gustav rode around the swimming hole on Glen.

“Don’t worry.  You’re wearing your anti-shark protector,” said Rowan. “Come on.  It’s fun.”

“But you’re not wearing anti-shark protectors,” said Madebonne.  “How come Glen doesn’t want to eat you?”

“Our mom sews anti-shark protectors into our swim trunks,” explained Rurik.  Madebonne looked down at her jeweled belly button.

“These things really work?” she asked.

“Only one way to find out,” said Rowan and all the boys jumped back into the water.  Madebonne went to the edge and stuck her foot in.  Glen swam by and didn’t even give her big toe a lick.  So Madebonne jumped back into the water and took a few turns riding the shark.  At first she just held on to his tail but as she got bolder Madebonne sat on top of Glen and even tried standing up a couple of times. 

A bell clanged nearby and the boys jumped out of the water.

“Lunch!” they shouted and scrambled back up the dune.  “Come on Madebonne.  Aren’t you starving?”  Madebonne’s stomach rumbled and she realized that she was hungry.  She had only eaten chocolate mousse since her lunch as a Royal Taster.

“Pretty good for your first time shark surfing,” said Gustav to Madebonne as they headed back to the house.

“Thanks,” said Madebonne and smiled proudly.  She couldn’t wait to tell her dad all about it.  When they got back to the house Captain Fletcher, Linda, Tomas, Tilda and Madebonne’s mom were already at the lunch table on the veranda.  Tilda clapped excitedly when she saw Madebonne and slipped a dress over Madebonne’s head.

“Tomas can you believe it?  Joan brought us a girl,” said Tilda.

“Tilda,” said Tomas sternly, “Madebonne is only here until we fix the mast on the sail boat.  She will be heading back to Brooklyn after lunch.”

“After lunch!” said Tilda with alarm.  “I’m not finished with Madebonne’s adventuring outfit.  I have to go express.” Tilda leapt up from the table and flew out of the room.  The boys were clearly used to this because they didn’t even look up from their food.  

Bjorn turned to Madebonne.  “She rushes around making clothes all the time.  You’ll probably have a whole new wardrobe by the end of lunch.”  Madebonne didn’t mind at all.  She twirled in her dress and then sat down at the table.  Shark surfing and no breakfast had given her a real hunger.

“What does your dad do?” Madebonne asked Bjorn.

“He’s an inventor.  He makes lots of cool stuff like the anti-shark protectors.  One time he invented pop corn that pops in the sun.  We put it all over the lawn one day when it was really hot and the whole back yard started popping.  The lizards went crazy.”

“That was hilarious,” said Valentin.  “Remember when dad invented the anti-gravity toe rings and we got footprints all over the ceiling?  Boy was mom mad about that one.”

“And the glow in the dark tooth paste,” chirped in Oskar.  “Our teeth glowed all night long and it was so bright that we couldn’t sleep.”

“Hey dad,” said Soren.  “Did you invent anything today that we can show Madebonne?”  Tomas looked up from his meal.

“Well, I’ve been working on singing sucker balls but I haven’t had a chance to perfect them yet,” said Tomas.

“Please dad!  Please let us try them,” pleaded Tor.  Tomas reached into his pocket and pulled out a dozen colorful round candies.

“You can try them, but I’m warning you, they’re still a bit rough.”  The boys crowded around Tomas and each picked a candy.  Valentin was the first to pop one in his mouth.  He rolled it around on his tongue and then opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a deep sound like a fog horn.  The other boys hooted with laughter.  They popped the sucker balls into their mouths and a symphony of sounds sang around the table.  Chirping, cooing, elephant trumpeting, horn honking, whistling, purring, and bell clanging filled the air.

“Would you like to try one Madebonne?” asked Tomas.  Madebonne nodded and picked a candy out of Tomas’ hand.  She popped it in her mouth.  It was smooth and round and tasted a little spicy.  As Madebonne rolled the candy around on her tongue it got hotter and hotter until it felt like her teeth would pop right out.  Madebonne opened her mouth and sang “LLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”.  One by one the glasses on the table shattered.  But Madebonne couldn’t stop.  Her tongue got hotter and hotter and she kept singing and the glasses kept shattering and the boys cheered and Henry meowed.  Madebonne pointed frantically at the table as she continued her operatic song.  Captain Fletcher grabbed the glass with Madebonne’s mom and ran inside as Tomas plucked the candy out of Madebonne’s mouth. 

“Looks like this one could use a little work” said Tomas.  The boys whooped and cheered and laughed so hard that they fell on the floor.  Madebonne plopped into her chair and Tomas handed her a glass of mango juice to cool her mouth.  Henry kept meowing.

“That was so cool Madebonne,” said Tor.  “I’ve got to try that.  Dad do you have any more of those?”  Before Tomas could answer Tilda flew back into the room.

“Tomas, there are fifteen ships pulling in to shore,” she said clutching Madebonne’s brand new adventuring outfit in her hand.  Tomas reached into his pocket and pulled out a telescope.  He gazed towards the water.

“It’s the parrot ships,” he said after a good long look.

“Pirate ships!  Cool.”  The boys jumped up and down with excitement.  Madebonne looked at Linda nervously.

“Not pirate ships you nincompoops,” said Tomas.  “Parrot ships.  Let’s go down to shore to greet Lady Bird Feathering.”  The boys leapt up from the table and raced down the path.  Linda patted Madebonne on the knee.

“Can you talk again?”  Madebonne opened her mouth gingerly but no operatic sounds came out.

“Back to normal,” she answered.

“Why don’t you head down to shore with the boys while Captain Fletcher and I finish fixing the mast on the Maxum III.”  Madebonne hopped up from the table then turned to Linda.

“I’m worried Linda,” said Madebonne.  “My mom wouldn’t eat any of my food at lunch.  Do you think it’s too late to change her back?” 
“I sure hope not,” said Linda.  “But we should be ready to leave in the next hour.”  Madebonne tried to stay hopeful as she and Henry followed Tomas and the boys down to shore. 

Question to Madeleine:  "Who is Lady Bird Feathering?"