"...My parents ran away and joined the circus." Walter blushed a little bit as the words left her mouth.
Teddy and Harry were both somewhat confused. "So, you were born into the circus life, eh? Did they train you to be a contortionist, or-"
"No, no, not at all," Walter cut Harry off. "They were both accountants until after I was born. Then my mother, in a wave of post-birth hormones, decided she wanted to become a tightrope-walker. And my dad pulled his high school magic kit out of the attic, and they dropped me at my aunt and uncle's place, and they've been with Barnum & Bailey ever since."
"Oh." said Harry soberly.
"Iiiiii'm soooo sorryyyy!" Teddy sang.
"Really, mate," Harry slapped Teddy on the back of his head. "Now is not the time for sad country songs."
Teddy looked at Walter apologetically, his sad grey eyes speaking volumes which the pretty girl strangely understood. "I forgive you. I wouldn't want to be in your situation." She twisted her fingers in her lap nervously. "What happened to your parents?"
"I don't know which way I'm going, I don't know what I've become." Teddy replied.
"He was dumped on the orphanage doorsteps seventeen years ago." Harry translated.
"Oh! You poor thing!" Walter's eyes filled with pity.
"Yeah. Hard life this kid has had." Harry said. "All he wants is to be understood, and to find out who his parents are...or were..."
Walter sighed. "All I want is for my aunt to understand that I don't want to be a Novice. I want to be a singer. And I want to find my parents, too."
"My parents are dead," Harry said quietly. "My sisters and I were split up six years ago, when they died. All I want is to go to New York City and search for them."
The three unfortunate children sat on the steps of the Abbey, their heads in their hands, each overwhelmed by his or her own troubles.
Then Teddy suddenly shouted "I DREAMED A DREAM!"
Walter started. "What? Harry, can you translate?"
"He has an idea," Harry said slowly, "And if we're as good of mates as I think we are, I know exactly what he's thinking of."
"So?"
"So," Harry grinned from ear to ear, "We should all go to New York! I bet someone there can fix Teddy, and give us the whereabouts of all our parents, and I can find Jemma and Aimee!"
"That's fantastic!" Walter cried. She sobered very suddenly. "But...my aunt and uncle...and the nuns..."
"What about us?" Two indignant voices said from behind their backs. Teddy turned, and to his surprise, the Sassy Novice and Walter's Uncle Chris stood in the Abbey's doorway, their eyebrows raised.
"It's all over now," Teddy sang forlornly.
"H-how long were you listening in?" Harry asked.
"From 'I dreamed a dream' onward." Uncle Chris replied, in his angelic accent that could narrate your grocery list and still make bananas, milk, and coffee sound heavenly.
Walter looked at her feet. "You won't let us go, then."
"Hecks no," said the Sassy Novice. "Not without us, anyway."
"This is gonna be the best day of my liiiiife!" Teddy cried.
Uncle Chris smiled. "It shouldn't take us too long in the City. It's the getting there that should be tough."
"Oh nonononono!" The Sassy Novice said sassily. "Did I mention I'm a fairy?"
Uncle Chris was truly taken aback, half in shock and half in awe. "No, you did not," he whispered, looking at the Novice with both wonder and scrutiny. "I think that's magnificent."
Walter wrinkled her nose. "ANYWAY, how are we going to leave without aunt Becky saying no? You know she will."
"She won't say no if she doesn't know." Uncle Chris grinned mischievously, and looked at the Novice. "I can be erratic and daring sometimes, you know."
"Well isn't that nice for you!" Said the Novice sarcastically, with a sassy toss of her head. "Now, if you're done thinking with other body parts besides your brain, we should leave soon. Come around to the garage."
"Let's get down to business!" Teddy sang, and they all followed the Novice around the back of the Abbey, to an old, wooden garage that looked very out of place in the contemporary City. The Novice opened the doors of the garage, and inside was a very rusty and very old Jeep.
Teddy felt his adventurous spirit die a little bit. "This is crazy," He sang flatly.
The Novice gave the timid boy a wink. "You're crazy if you don't believe in the magic of the Jittermobile."
"Seriously?" Harry said. "The Jittermobile? It has a name?"
Harry learned not to question the Jittermobile, when sometime later he was piled in the back with Teddy and Walter, as the Novice guided the flying vehicle over the City with Uncle Chris in shotgun.
Sometime later--
 |
| Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of TO BE CONTINUED |
--Laura <3
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