It was a fall day with the air filled with candy store sparkle, so clear, crisp, and perfectly cool it was as if the world was a picture, and every detail freshened with new color. Sun light sailed through the air, skated across store windows, tagged everyone with a happy sign, and then splashed into pools that swirled on the sidewalk, leaking into the shadows, and playfully flashing when it saw itself in a mirror. Main street thrummed from the sun's games on this dancing day.
In the autumn light, the glass in store windows thinned, nearly vanishing, seeming a soap film stretched over the passage way. Behind faintly puddled films were gifts from foreign worlds. Here is a treasury filled with glittering stones adored by trolls! Here are frozen forms wearing antique clothes! Here are a hundred and one tickling scents bundled in a basket to confound your nose! All these arranged like blocks along the main street to catch the eye of people passing by. The main street murmured with whispering trees who worried about losing their leaves, and the sun filled air resurrected the footsteps of women, children, dogs, and soldiers who long ago knew a day like this, too.
Fiona and Aerya swam with the schools of shoppers, the lovers strolling after lunch, and the sight seers who hoped for a peek at Barbara Fritchie’s defiant stand for unity. The girls looked at clothing, they looked at shoes, and they looked at the purses that postured in the windows. They stopped at the candy shop, and each of them got a truffle. Up one side of Market Street and down the other, the two girls wove their path in the tapestry of fall walkers in downtown Frederick.
Of course Dad didn’t want to let them walk by themselves, but after all, Fiona was 10 years old. When she promised that she and Aerya would stay close together, that they would come to the art store in 30 minutes, and if anyone tried to grab either girl, Fiona would shout at the top of her lungs, then Dad let them explore. Oh, and they could not, for any reason, visit any of the side streets.
“Stay on the sidewalks, unless you go into a store.”
“Okay, Dad.”
“Do not wander down the side streets.”
“Okay, Dad.”
“If you see a van parked with dark windows close to the street, you stay on the far side of the sidewalk, alright?”
“Okay, Dad.”
“You two always have to be together, and Fiona, listen to your inner voice. If someone makes you nervous, find another grown up and ask if they’ll help you find your Dad. Alright?”
“Okay, Dad.” Fiona smiled supportively.
“We’ll be fine on this market day, Mr. Dad!” said Aerya, who was tugging at the string of Dad’s concern like a puppy on a leash. Still, the fairy princess would respect the authority of Mr. Dad. Fiona never quite understood the way Aerya decided who she would listen to, and who she wouldn’t. It seemed that with Dad, Aerya obeyed because Fiona obeyed. Aerya’s actual tendency was to act like a princess in her kingdom, which made sense, because in the fairy world, Aerya was a princess. In this world, though, Fiona’s Dad, and Oprah, were the only people Aerya obeyed without question. Well, at least tried to to obey, and counted for something.
That was how Fiona and Aerya came to be walking together along main street while Dad was in the art store. According to the watch, they had 10 more minutes. Fiona enjoyed walking with the black haired Aerya. Aerya’s hair was a little past her shoulders, while Fiona’s strawberry blonde hair almost reached her waist. They each had a purse - Aerya’s was a Hello Kitty, of course - while Fiona’s was sewn (by her and Dad) from a fabric with shiny silver threads that glittered like Christmas tinsel in the clear sunshine. Two young ladies, out and about, taking in the whole, wide world presented on main street, glad to have this chance to shop.
Which is what Fiona thought they were doing, shopping. Shopping, as she understood it, was the process of looking at what was for sale, and then moving on. Neither she nor Aerya had a single cent after spending the two dollars Dad gave her for the candy store. Fiona knew about shopping from listening to women. There was grocery shopping (boring, necessary, and you actually bought things) then there was true shopping, where you took your friends, looked at all kinds of things, laughed, ate, and then went home. By that definition, this was a great shopping day for Fiona.
They were already walking toward the art store when Aerya grabbed Fiona’s hand, and said,
“We have got to go in here!”
Fiona paused, looking at the small store. She hadn’t noticed this one before. It was a pet store.
“Sure, let’s check it out.”
As they passed through the door, Fiona’s nose was tickled by the cedar shaving smell of the place, with another, clear odor. She wriggled her nose while trying to place the smell. Ah, thought Fiona, that’s pee. She looked around the pet shop, packed wall to wall with sounds of birds chirping, guinea pigs squeaking, mice chittering, snakes hissing, and frogs splashing. No dogs or cats, though everything else seemed to be present in the shop. Aerya was a blur, running from side to side and cage to cage, taking in all the animals. Fiona saw shelves at the back with small pet supplies, and in different spots on the wall, pegs held water bottles, leashes, toys, and other things that could be hung from a peg.
“Hi there, girls!” said a woman’s gentle voice to Fiona’s left. At the front of the store, near the door, was the cash register. A woman stood there with snow white hair. In the middle of her hair was a bird, almost as white as the woman’s hair.
“Hi,” replied Fiona, who was a little surprised to see anyone with a bird on their head, never mind a smiling lady with bright blue eyes. The smiling lady reached up, and put out a finger, which the bird stepped right onto.
“Are you going to say something to our guests, Merlin?” she cooed to the bird.
The bird shifted on the woman’s finger, and then spoke.
“Hi there!”
This was an even bigger surprise than the first one.
“Did the bird really say that?” asked Fiona, marveling.
“Yes, it did. Little Merlin knows about 40 phrases. He is a hand fed, Lutino cockatiel.”
“How old is he?”
“4 years old, and he’s my best friend.”
“Best friend,” echoed Merlin. For such a small creature, it had a loud voice. And why wasn’t Aerya more interested in the talking bird?
Fiona looked over her shoulder. Aerya was looking intently at one of the cages.
“It is very nice to meet you, Merlin. I’m going to look around a little, if that is okay.”
“Of course! Be sure to look at the chinchilla’s - they just had babies!”
Fiona nodded and went over to Aerya, her excitement beginning to bubble.
“Aeyra, that bird was talking to me! “ One glance at her friend, and the excitement was gone. “Aerya, what’s wrong?”
Aerya’s eyes were glistening as tears rolled slowly down her cheeks.
“Aerya, what happened?” Fiona stroked her friends arm gently as she spoke.
Aerya wiped her tears away, and pointed to the rat in the cage.
“He misses his family.”
“He’ll be alright. The lady here is very nice -”
“I talked to him.”
“You mean, you licked the rat?”
Aerya nodded, tears trickling from her left eye again. When they first met, Fiona discovered that if a fairy gets a taste of someone, they can speak to them in their language. It made introductions odd. The thought that her friend would lean in and lick a rat, that made Fiona’s stomach churn a little.
“Well, Aerya, I’m sure that he will be alright.”
“Rumple Dumple.”
“Yes, I’m sure he’ll be Rumple Dumple.”
“No!” Aerya was insistent through her tears.
“I don’t get what you’re saying.”
“That’s his name,” said Aerya resolutely.
“What?” asked Fiona.
“Rumple Dumple. That’s his name. Rumple Dumple.”
“Oh, well,” said Fiona, on her most soothing voice, “Rumple Dumple will be okay. This lady wouldn’t sell him to someone mean.”
“He can smell his family. They live close to here.”
“He - I mean, Rumple Dumple - told you he can smell his family?” Fiona was surprised, and yet a little suspicious. The subject, after all, was a rat.
“Yes. He has 37 brothers and 41 sisters. He got stolen when he was a baby. When he was old enough, he was sold to be a pet. Fiona, he’s so sad, we have to help him!”
Rumple Dumple looked at Fiona and twitched his nose. Fiona noticed that his ears drooped, and his whiskers sagged. Rumple Dumple looked like a sad rat.
“What do you mean, we have to help him?”
“Fiona,” said Aerya with a long sniffle, “we have to set him free.” She reached for the cage. Fiona grabbed her arm.
“Aerya, we can’t just let him go. That’s against the law.”
“Who would challenge me?” Aerya stood a little taller, and got a hard look on her face. Rumple Dumple squeaked, sitting up and taking an interest in the exchange.
“Aerya, this is Frederick. No one knows that you are a princess, and it wouldn’t matter anyway. You would get arrested, and Dad would be really angry.” Fiona let go of Aerya’s arm.
“So what do we do? We can’t leave Rumple Dumple here.”
Inside, Fiona sighed. This was what she got for letting Aerya choose this store. If they had gone into a shoe store, Aerya wouldn’t feel the need to free the shoes. Or if they were in the store with the fancy jewelry, or even the store with the plastic masks, Aerya would have shopped, and then they would be back on the sidewalk. Instead, Aerya found an animal that needed her help. Being Aerya, there was nothing that would stop her from helping, and that’s when Fiona’s life got complicated. A rat? What were they supposed to do with a rat?
At that moment, something went off in Fiona’s purse. Rumple Dumple rolled over, pawing at his ears. The other animals in the store, quiet as eavesdroppers, roared in a volcano of sound. Even the nice lady with the white hair eyed Fiona in alarm. Fiona smiled, her ears red.
Fiona opened her purse and took out the watch, which was screeching even louder outside the purse. The animals, worried they might not be heard, grew louder. The watch was announcing, with every bit of digital urgency available, that Fiona was supposed to be at the art store with Aerya. She tried to turn off the hounding watch. Whatever she did made it even louder.
“Young lady, make it stop! You are upsetting the animals.”
Rumple Dumple was on his wheel, running madly to escape the sound. Other animals flapped or thumped or ran to relieve the pressure of the sound bomb in Fiona’s hand. Fiona smiled weakly, and pressed the buttons again.
“I’m trying - I’m so sorry.”
The watch went silent. The animals stopped their mad chorus, and then the watch went off again. This time, instead of just one alarm, it broadcast two. The sound was so nerve shredding, Fiona cringed.
“Aerya,” she called above the riot, “we have to go!”
Fiona had the watch squeezed between both of her hands, and she had her hands pushed down into her purse. This changed the noise from wildly maddening to tolerably annoying. The animals shouted their disapproval. Luckily, Aerya actually paid attention to Fiona, and the two of them left the store. As the door closed shut behind them, the watch went silent.
“That was the most embarrassing moment of my life!” Fiona was breathing hard, and her hands hurt from squeezing on the watch so hard. It was as if she was trying to suffocate this mechanical monster with her bare hands, yet everything she did just made the beast stronger. She leaned against the brick wall, letting the jungle sounds fade in her ears.
“What are we going to do about Rumple Dumple?” asked Aerya, peeking through the window of the pet store.
“We’ll think of something, I promise.” Fiona’s heart had stopped pounding, and her breathing was back to normal. She stood up and tucked her hair behind her ear. At that moment, the alarm on the watch went off again.
“Oh, snap! We’re late!”
Fiona grabbed Aerya’s hand, and the two of them ran, laughing, down the sidewalk, their hair streaming behind, full of life and the sparkling day spilling all around them.
They were two minutes late, and Dad was on the sidewalk looking for them. He heard Fiona; rather, he heard the watch alarm, and hugged both of them when they rushed up and squealed to a halt.
“Hi, girls! Did you have fun?”
“Oh yes, Mr. Dad. We had chocolate, and there were some fabulous purses!”
Before she could say anything about the rat, Fiona cut off Aerya by handing the wailing watch to her dad. He touched a button, and there was silence. The world around breathed a sigh of relief, and the normal sounds of main street settled like a clean blanket around them.
“Well, I’m glad you two had fun. I’m pleased that the two of you came back, mostly on time. Let’s get to the Master Disaster, and go home. It’s almost time for me to start supper.”
They walked together, arriving at the minivan with the off yellow paint that looked like rotten mustard thrown up by a dragon, and drove home. Fiona and Aerya helped Dad get a few bags inside the house, and then the girls went to Fiona’s room.
“Fiona, we have to get Rumple Dumple out of there.” Aerya sat down on the bed, hugging Madigan Marbles as if the stuffed horse could offer some ideas on how to free the rat. Fiona set her purse on the bureau, and put her hair back into a pony tail.
“I think I know how to do it, Aerya. The thing is, you have to let me do the talking, alright?”
Aerya wanted to ask a question, but she didn’t. Instead, she sat there on the bed, and nodded silently, putting all of her faith in Fiona.
“Tonight at supper, I’ll tell Dad that I want to get a pet. I’ll tell him that a pet would be really nice, it would be good company, and that you will help me take care of it.”
“Fiona, we aren’t going to take care of Rumple Dumple. We are going to free him.”
“I know. But Dad doesn’t know that. Aerya, we have to get Rumple Dumple first, and then we’ll figure out how to free him. This is not easy - will you promise to help me?”
“I promise.”
“Best promise,” said Fiona, holding up her hand.
Aerya held up her hand, and the two girls folded their fingers over, locking their hands together.
They said, in unison, “I give my best promise to help with the plan.” They unlocked their hands, and Fiona continued to explain the supper plan.
“I think that we have to convince Dad that a pet is a good idea. Once he agrees, then we can tell him that I want a rat. Otherwise, he might not agree.”
“Why does it matter what kind of pet you have?”
“Grown ups are a little funny about rats. They are funny about snakes and spiders, too. In fact, they are funny about a lot of stuff”
“Oh, I get it,” said Aerya.
“They think rats are kind of gross. Grown ups think of dogs, cats, and fish as pets.”
“Fish? How do you pet them?” Aerya cocked her head, puzzled at the idea of a pet who only lived in water.
“I don’t know. Probably with the net. Everyone I ever knew who had fish had a net. Anyway, let me handle this, okay?”
Aerya nodded. Fiona smiled, and picked up the Huckleberry Baby. The two girls played and talked until Dad announced that it was time for supper.
“Aerya, would you please get out silverware for us? Fiona, would you please pour the drinks?” asked Dad.
They were halfway through the meal when Fiona said, in her sweetest voice,
“Dad, what do you think about me getting a pet?”
“Some kind of animal?” Dad paused with a piece of meatloaf on his fork.
“Uh huh,” said Fiona, chewing a piece of meatloaf with a tough outer edge.
“You know that a pet is a responsibility. You have to feed it, care for it, and clean up after it.”
“I know,” said Fiona, swallowing a forkful of mashed potatoes. “My teacher last year had a hamster, and we learned about being responsible, doing all that other stuff.”
“Sometimes, you won’t feel like you want to feed it or clean up. But the pet still needs you; it can’t take care of itself. Did you realize that?” Dad raised his eyebrows, adding emphasis to the responsibility discussion.
“Yes.” Fiona spoke between gulps of water.
“And knowing that, you are still interested in a pet?”
“Yes, I am, Daddy.” She looked at her father across the glass, and smiled her nicest smile.
Dad smiled back.
“I thought you might be reaching that age where you wanted a pet. I think it is a wonderful idea, Fiona! That’s just what we need around here, something fun and lively to shake things up a little! It’ll be a good dad and daughter project, too! What were you thinking about getting? A kitten, or a puppy? Or maybe even fish! We could go out to a pet store tonight and learn about aquariums! You could even use this for the science fair. Hmmmm.” Dad’s mind drifted as he imagined Fiona winning a ribbon at the science fair with some interesting experiment. If it was fish, what would be surprising? That fish react to music? They’d have to get some kind of waterproof speaker. Maybe that could be the project! A waterproof speaker invented by his 10 year old daughter. He was still smiling when Aerya spoke.
“She wants a rat,” said Aerya, interrupting Dad’s imaginary science project with Fiona.
Dad’s smile froze, and he looked at Aerya, then back at Fiona. Then he smiled again.
“A cat? You know, that would be fun, and they love to curl up in your lap. I think a cat would be a good choice.”
“Um, no, Dad, I was thinking about -” started Fiona.
Again Aerya interrupted.
“ - a rat, Mr. Dad. That’s what Fiona wants.”
“A, a -”, Dad stumbled over the word, “a rat? Like a - a rat, a real rat?”
Fiona nodded, thinking it was best to let Dad process the idea of rat without any distractions.
“Long, hairless tail, and beady eyes, with whiskers? Sharp yellow teeth?”
Fiona nodded silently.
“Oh, you must mean a mouse!”
Fiona shook her head no.
“Maybe a chinchilla? They are really cute!”
“A rat, Mr. Dad,” spoke Aerya, her voice steady and even.
Fiona shot a look at Aerya. Clearly she did not understand the importance of letting Dad find his own way to get a grip on the idea of this pet. No, Aerya just kept pounding away, pushing the word rat over and over. Fiona looked back at her Dad and smiled.
“We’ve learned about them in science, Daddy. They are really smart, and you can train them to do things like run in a maze. Lots of people have rats as pets.”
“Really?”
Aerya chimed in again.
“Oh yes, Mr. Dad, lots and lots of people!” The tip of her nose turned a bright red, but Dad didn’t notice.
“Well, Fiona, I want to try and support your decision. I guess a rat, while being an unusual pet, is a pet. Are you sure that is what you want to get?”
“Yes,” said Fiona in her warmest voice.
“She just can’t stop talking about it, Mr. Dad. She loves the idea!” Wisely, Aerya had her hand over her face to hide the redness of her nose. Dad looked at Aerya, then back at Fiona.
“Honey, I’m glad you told me about this. I had no idea you were so interested in a rat as a pet. I wish you had told me - you know, you can talk to me about anything.”
“I know, Daddy. I wasn’t keeping it a secret, I just wanted to think about it more, and make a good decision.” Fiona’s heart sank as she lied to her father, however, she said to herself, it was for a good cause.
“She already has a name for the rat, Mr. Dad.”
“Really? What will you choose for a name?”
“Rumple Dumple,” said Fiona, smiling. “Doesn’t that just sound like fun?”
Rumple - Dumple? thought Dad to himself. Where does she come up with these names?
“Can we get him tonight?” Aerya’s voice was bright with excitement.
“What?” asked Dad, turning to look at Aerya.
“Can we get him tonight? We already found him.” Aerya’s eyes were wide and shining with excitement.
“You did?” Dad looked at Fiona.
“Uh, yes, we did. In that pet store down town.”
“Well, I’m not sure they are still open.” Dad stood up, and stacked the plates together.
“Their sign stated they were open for business until 9 p.m.,” said Aerya, picking up the silverware.
“And it is only 6:30 right now,” added Fiona, picking up the glasses.
“Can we go tonight - please?” said the girls together. Dad laughed, set down the plates, and said,
“Alright - of course we can.” He patted Fiona’s head, then gave her a hug.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you too, punkin.”
-- End Pt. 1 --
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