Moonflower - Chapter 7

I should have known, and I'm sure you already know, that negotiating is not really my forte. So it wasn't really surprising that my attempt to get access to the old playground turned into a shouting match.

Lupa flatly refused to give in to my demands, and I was feeling confident enough now in my spell casting to follow through with my threat to cast a curse on her.

But as soon as I completed the spell, I felt... could it be? .. a small twinge of regret. Lupa looked so disoriented and weak. Wasn't this what I wanted? I wasn't so sure any more. I shook my head quickly from side to side a few times, trying to shake this new emotion, but still it persisted.

Confused and I must admit, a little upset, I left her standing there and raced for home as fast as my legs could carry me.

It was dark when I reached the safety of our cottage. Oak immediately sensed my discomfort, and pulled my close.
"What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I.. I think I did something wrong, I half-sobbed in his ear. "I went to talk to Lupa, and instead we got into a huge argument, and... and then I cast a curse on her... I only wanted to make her give up the playground. She doesn't even use it..."

"Aw, Don't cry, Sweetheart." Oak took my face in his hands and gazed into my eyes.
"But... but I ruined everything, I sniffled. "We'll never get the use the playground now. I'm sorry."
"Do you want me to try to talk to her? I have an idea. I'm not sure it will work, but if you want me to, I'll try."
He smiled at me so endearingly, I could only nod in agreement. I didn't know what he had in mind, but it had to be better than the way things were.

The next morning as I bent down to begin running the water for a long pleasant soak in the tub, I was shocked to see my nemesis standing right outside my bathroom window. My heart in my throat, I quickly stepped closer to see what could have possessed her to venture so close after what had happened the day before.

Much to my dismay, I could see immediately what, or more accurately, who had brought her to my stretch of beach. As surreptitiously as I could, I put my ear to the window to try and listen in.
"So, you're saying that if we give you access to the island interior, you'll give us access to the beaches? Like... sharing the whole island? What an original concept!"
Did I detect a sarcastic tone there? I almost jumped out the window right then and there to put a stop to this 'deal'. How dare he give away my beaches! But I had promised Oak he could make the arrangements, so I bit my tongue and pressed my ear harder up against the glass.
"That's what I said. And Moonflower promises to never put a curse on you ever again. And tell you what, I'll even teach you how to fish, if you want."
"Bah, it wasn't a real curse, I barely felt it. I think she couldn't cast a real curse even if she tried. But I'll take you up on the fishing lesson."

"Like this, see? I'd recommend starting with tomatoes or apples. You'll only catch minnows at first, but then you can... Lupa? I thought you wanted to learn to fish?"
"But.. it's raining."
"Yep, that's the best time for fishing. Come here and try it!"
"Uh... no thanks. The rest of the deal stands, but I think I'll just go hide till the rain stops and then help myself to some of those magic meat steaks in your garden.

I heard Oakheart laugh out loud as Lupa turned and ran for cover. For he had figured something out that had never occurred to me. And that thing was, that Lupa and Ulric weren't really that interested in the beaches. They much preferred their woods and caves, where they could take cover from a sudden downpour almost instantly. My beaches would not be overrun with wolves, and now we had access to the playground, and even more exciting, the old library!

We began our new project almost immediately. There was a lot of brush to clear, and it was slow going.

Manny had grown into a child, and he and Val tried to help as best they could. Manny even found an old wooden knife half buried and hidden beneath the brambles. He stuck it in his belt and I rarely saw him without it after that.

Aster also grew up while we worked on the playground. She came with us every day and babbled and cooed encouragement. Well, actually she played in the dirt and talked to her doll, and got filthy dirty.

It was a lot of work, but in the end it was worth it. It was nice to have a new place to hang out with Summerwind and Fawn, although the kids complained that we monopolized the swings.

There was plenty to do there though, so we payed them no attention. Swings, slide, playhouse, seesaw - it was just how I remember it from when I was a little girl.

Shortly after we finished, it was time for Val's birthday. We invited everyone to the new playground. Oak made some of his famous fruit parfait. and everyone showed up to eat and celebrate.

Suddenly I noticed the wolf boy sitting quietly up in the playhouse, just watching the proceedings. He looked so... lonely. I almost felt sorry for him. It must be hard, growing up with a mother like Lupa, and no friends at all. Argh! What was I thinking? He was a wolf! But still... he looked so very lonely.

I didn't even mind too much when Oak called out to him.
"Hey, Andrae! Come down and join the fun!"
At first he didn't move, but with more encouragement from Oak, he slowly slid down the pole.

Still, he stood shyly off to the side as Oak passed out the party noise makers he had concocted out of who knows what magic. Oak said it's a tradition in the old Viewing River place that he came from - the more noise you made, the better the party.

We all tried our best, and I think we made enough noise to wake the dead, figuratively speaking, of course. And Val grew up right in front of my eyes. His eyes were on the Djin girl, Meaghan, but she seemed to be ignoring him completely. Her attention was all directed at the wolf boy.

I hoped that with his new maturity, Va'l's full moon antics would cease to be a problem, but alas, my hopes were dashed almost immediately.

It all started when Andrae the wolf boy, with more encouragement from Oak, tried to start up a conversation with Eagle. Eagle refused to even acknowledge his presence, and after a few mumbled words Andrae turned to walk away, shoulders slumped in defeat.

Suddenly the full moon completed its rise over the horizon, and cast its eerie light over the our gathering. At the light hit the wolf boy, he began to transform. I sucked in my breath in dismay. What kind of havoc would he cause now? But he didn't seem interested in any of us. Instead, he turned to run off into the woods.

I hoped that would be the end of it, and we could continue our little celebration. But I wasn't counting on Val, who intercepted him before he could escape.
"Who do you think you are, ruining my party like this? Bad wolf! Bad! And stay away from Meaghan, do you hear?"
And Val struck him on the nose with a crumpled up party horn, while Meaghan just ignored the whole affair, sitting quietly playing with her doll. I took a step toward the pair, thinking to break up the altercation. After all, you don't just attack a wolf, even a young one, without expecting a reprisal of some sort - especially if you see the wolf's mother walking up the path toward the scene.

Oak held me back, though.
"Val's a big boy now. He needs to learn. Let them work it out themselves. If it gets out of hand, we can step in."
Suddenly it appeared as though Andrae had had enough, and reared back with a roar. My heart was in my throat, but it seemed all the wolf wanted was to be left alone. As soon as Val backed off, a shocked expression on his face, Andrae loped off into the woods. And Lupa ignored the whole affair, walking on by without acknowledging a thing.

Val had not learned his lesson even then. I shook my head in dismay when I saw him whispering to Eagle about he had 'owned that wolf.'

The next thing I knew, the pair had disappeared into the darkness, intent on no good, I was sure. I thought sure they were out there looking for trouble with the wolves, but I was wrong.

For the next day, Zephyr showed up at our door, and he was not happy.
"Moon, you have to do something about your son. Last night he pelted our house with rotten eggs!"
Zephyr and Summerwind? Why in the world would Val do such a thing? It was time to have it out with him.

'Listen here, young man! What do you think you were doing last night? First attacking that poor wolf boy, and then the rotten eggs! Tell my why I shouldn't ground you forever!"

"First of all, that wolf ruined my party. I think he scared poor Meaghan out of her wits. Second of all, Meaghan was being a little bitch. She wouldn't talk to me the whole evening. I wanted to get back at her, that's all. They both deserved it!"
I was shocked at his reasoning, and even more shocked at his language.
"VAL! What did you just say? How dare you use such words to describe that sweet little girl! Where did you even learn that?"

"Geez, mom. Calm down, will ya? You call Lupa that all the time. What wrong with it?"
I swallowed hard. It was true. I had often referred to Lupa by that not-so-nice term.
"That's because.. Okay Val. I'll admit to that. But it was wrong of me. I don't want to ever hear you talk that way about Meaghan ever again, do you hear me? And you are grounded. You will stay in sight of me or your dad at all times for the next month, do you understand?"

Now that the playground was complete, it was time to turn our attention to the old library. Val was still grounded, so we made him accompany us. He retaliated by doing his best to be annoying.  I was horrified at the almost complete destruction we encountered. There was nothing left of the ground floor at all, except for the two giant fireplaces.
"There used to be a second floor, I'm sure of it. The library wasn't my most favorite place when I was little, but I do remember that. There were two staircases, but they're all gone now."

Oak was the perennial optimist, though.
"I can see some railings up there. I can't see what's behind them though. We need a ladder or something."
Just then Val decided to attempt to redeem himself with a suggestion.
"Give me a boost up there. I'll let you know if there's anything to see."
At first Oak shook his head in refusal.
"No, son, too dangerous. Those railings could fall at any time."
"Come on, dad. It's not that high up. The worst that could happen is I fall a few feet."
After much convincing, Oak finally agreed, against my better judgement.

In the end, even after climbing on his dad's shoulders, the upstairs railing was still barely out of reach.. So without warning, Val launched himself from Oak's shoulders and just managed to grab onto the edge of the balcony. Suddenly the edge of the balcony gave way, and Val tumbled into the drifted sand below. He quickly sprang up with a grin and dusted himself off.
"Mom! Dad! You won't believe what's up there!"