How To Find Your Way in Minced Forest

Write Preface in the search space below right to get to the Preface.To go to the table of contents, write table of contents in the search space below right. To read a chapter, write the number of the chapter in the search space. To read the tales in Fay Spanish, go to cuentosdelbosquetriturado.blogspot.com. Thank you.

Saturday, 4 April 2020

82. The Bodyguardess

When Alpin, Miss Aislene and I emerged from under the snow that had kept us buried for more weeks than there are in a month, we crawled to Finbar O’Toora’s workshop. Though it was right in front of us, it was not easy to get there because our limbs still had to thaw out. 
               

We rang the bell and Finbar himself opened the door. He stared at us wide-eyed, not understanding what he was seeing. Granted that we all looked a little younger for all we could do below the snow was sleep, but where we were not frozen we were soggy and where we were not blue we were red.

While we were telling Finbar why we looked like we did, his phone rang. It was his wife Lira, wanting to know who he was with.

“How awful, Lira! They’ve been buried right in front of my workshop since February and I had no idea.They didn’t even have coats on because they thought they would only be here for a few minutes and it’s burning hot in my workshop. People always say it’s like being in a furnace in here, but I always feel cold. I’m so like a lizard.”

When he hang up, Finbar told us Lira would be there in a minute. It was less than that. When anyone female ventures into Finbar’s workshop, the jealous merrow is there on the dot.  

“So, Lira, we have hibernated on a bed of ice under blankets of snow for months without being missed by anyone,” said Mrs. Dullahan. “This is very, very sad. I don’t blame your husband, because he didn’t know we were coming. But if I didn’t know how absentminded my husband is, I would divorce him for this. And since all this happened because Alpin screamed, you should understand why I need what I asked you for, sweet Finbar, darling, favorite nephew of mine.” 

                               
“Don’t go too far telling my husband how much you appreciate him,” said Lira, “because it makes me very anxious to hear you say that when at the same time you threaten to divorce Uncle Ernest. By the way, it´s not true nobody noticed you were missing. My fortunetellers saw you stuck in the snow in their crystal balls. I was going to arrange for you to be rescued, but they said they would take care of that. If I had known you were right in front of Finbar’s workshop, do not doubt that I would have come for you myself, Aislene.” 

“You consult fortunetellers?” Finbar asked his wife.

“So I will know beforehand if you mean to cheat on me,” she replied.

“I should have guessed that!You’re wasting time and money.”

“So I’m told. But...all the dolls in this workshop get on my nerves! I hate April and May! They’re the months you manufacture dolls.”

“Change of subject!” cried Finbar. “What should the nanny be like?”

 When Alpin heard the word “nanny” his ears immediately perked up.

              
“The what? The what did you say? The what? 


Aislene winked an eye at Finbar. 

“What I want for Alpin is a...a...a bodyguardess. She must be quick and strong and a spectacular beauty.”                    

Finbar took a top hat from a cabinet behind him, pulled out a plump bunny, fed it a carrot and put it in the hat again.
              

He stirred his left hand inside the hat. Then he waved both hands over the hat and said “As I speak, I create! Aberah Ke Dabar!

A pink cloud of star and fairy dust shot out of the hat. And out of the cloud shot the fittest woman ever. Six feet tall, long and strong limbed, with curly blonde hair that fell to her wide shoulders and huge dark eyes. She was dressed from head to toe in something that looked like the uniform of a musketeer. She pulled her black, pink-feathered hat off and bowed before us.

                           
Bonjour,” she said in a deep, throaty voice. “Je m’appelle Gregoria Tenoria.”  

“Get this person out of here now!” screamed Lira.

“Give me a second,” laughed Finbar. “I have something for Arley.”

He stuck his hand inside the top hat again and pulled out something round and grey and furry. It was not the rabbit. It was a three-footed cat.

“Don’t go looking for trouble,” he said to me when he gave me the cat. 

No comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

My blogs are Michael Toora's Blog (dedicated to my pupils and anyone who wants to learn English and some Spanish), The Rosy Tree Blog (dedicated to RosE), Tales of a Minced Forest (dedicated to fairies and parafairies), Cuentos del Bosque Triturado (same as the former but in Fay Spanish), The Birthdaymython/El Cumplemitón (for the enjoyment of my great nieces and great nephews and of anyone who has a birthday) and Booknosey/Fisgalibros (for and with my once pupils).