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maniac19 — ReaderxCanada--The Borrowers Chapter 4
Published: 2013-03-16 05:22:39 +0000 UTC; Views: 1242; Favourites: 17; Downloads: 3
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Father dragged you by the wrist all the way back to the house. When he pulled you into the kitchen, mother was sitting on a die waiting for you. She stood up and ran over to you.“_______ there you are! What were you doing out of bed?!” she asked “You had us worried sick!”
“Your daughter” father said “was UPSTAIRS talking to the new bean!”
“Upstairs?! _______, how could you!”
“It’s alright” you pleaded “It really is! Look!” you pulled the letter from your borrowing bag.
“What’s that?!” Father demanded.
“It’s a letter” you explained “I wrote it to Uncle Hendrery Harpsichord; the bean delivered it for me!”
“Human beans delivering letters?!” mother screeched in disbelief “Whatever next?! Oh _______, how could you do this to us?! How could you go and talk to him?!”
“I didn’t go and talk to him” you protested “I was seen by him, I couldn’t help it. I know I should have told you and I honest and truly did want to, but I didn’t want you to get all upset about it.” You paused a moment and turned to your father “Anyways, he’s seen you too, hasn’t he? And you didn’t tell me about it! The only reason I hired his assistance was for the sake of our race!”
“Race?” questioned your mother “What race? Who’s running? You’re not playing games with that bean now, are you?”
“No, mum”, you sighed, remembering you were the only literate Borrower in the house “Not a foot race; OUR race: the Borrowers! He said we were dying out and that the three of us were the only ones left! So, when he offered to deliver a letter for me, I just had to see if Uncle Hendrery and Aunt Lupy and the cousins were still alive.” Your frown turned into a smile “And they are! They’re all alive and well! He wrote back! Just look!” You unfolded the letter and showed your parents.
“That’s Hendrery alright” mother said “I have no idea what the words say, but I recognize the handwriting.”
“What’s it say, _______?”
“’We are well. Hope to see you soon. Good luck borrowing! Yours fatefully, U.H.’”
“FAITHfully” corrected your mother “You mean yours FAITHfully.”
“Oh” you looked at the paper again, examining the end. “Well, he doesn’t know how to spell.”
“That’s not the point” father said, sitting on a die.
“I’m trying to save us” you said, sitting on another die.
“That’s not how I see it” father scolded “It seems to me you’re trying to finish us off!”
“Don’t you see? I got in touch with the Harpsichords so we could all stay together!”
“And what are they supposed to do? Come back here?!” father scowled.
“Or would you rather we go live with them?” mother continued “Out in the open with no running water?!”
“But—“ you pleaded.
“WAIT!” Father interrupted “We can’t forget the fact that you told a human bean where we live!”
“You did what?!” cried mother.
“But I haven’t! I wouldn’t!” you cried, tears forming from the corners of your eyes.
“Oh but you did!” Father exclaimed “I heard you!” He turned to your mother. “She said about Kirkland’s cooking, about how the smell drifting down through the floorboards put off her appetite!” He turned back to you. “The young beans are the cleverest! That’s why they’re so dangerous!” he shouted “He’s only got to put two and two together at this point, hasn’t he?!”
“Oh _______!” cried your mother, hiding her face in her hands and sobbing wildly.
“_______ Clock, what you’ve done tonight is something no other Borrower has done before!” father scolded “Never in all our long history! Borrowers have been seen. Borrowers might even been caught. But never has a Borrower ever told a bean where they live.”
“I didn’t mean to!” you croaked out through your tears.
“I know you didn’t mean to.” Father said “But if you hadn’t talked to him, and you didn’t have to, we wouldn’t be in the terrible danger we’re in right now.”
“Oh Pod, stop” mother said, her tears finally slowing “Don’t frighten her.”
“It’s the truth, Homily, and she’s old enough for that. Besides it’s not just us; she told him where the Harpsichords are and all it takes is a trained dog and they’re done for!”
“Oh _______, how could you?” mother sobbed, her tears finding new strength.
“He’s just a boy!” you cried, your cheeks soaked with salty tears.
“He’s a human bean!” father exclaimed.
“He hasn’t done anything to us! He helped you, remember?! The cup?!” you screeched.
“He didn’t know where we are! But now he does!”
“Well I don’t think human beans are as bad as you make them out to be!”
“There are goodins and there are baddins. You just don’t know and you can NEVER trust them!” He continued to scold you as your tears flowed like twin waterfalls “And I’m telling you, my girl; from now on, you steer clear of them! Not just this one; ALL of them!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Later that same evening, after you had been sent to your room, mother and father lay awake in bed dressed in their night gowns and filled with dread and worry.
“What are we going to do?” Mrs. Clock said, finally breaking the silence.
“Don’t know” father replied “Probably have to leave.”
Meanwhile, you had lit a candle and took out your diary.
XX/XX/XXXX
I accidentally told the boy where we live. Mother and father are frightened. Really frightened, even father. Why?
Suddenly there came a massive creaking noise and you heard your mother screaming from their bedroom. You dropped your pencil and bolted out of your room so fast the light on the candle blew out when you ran past. You sprinted in your night gown to your parents room and saw your mother cowering under her sheets and screaming at the top of her lungs, father armed with his half-scissor for defense, and a large piece of metal being shoved down between the floorboards from above.
“What is it?” you asked.
“It’s a screwdriver!” father said, helping your mother out of bed “Keep away from it, Homily!” The screwdriver kept working at the board until all the nails had been pulled out. The plank was removed and the darken room was filled with the light of a flashlight. “_______” your father called “Over here!”
You ran over to your parents and your mother draped your arms around you and held you close. The screw driver began working at another board that came out much easier than the first. You now smiled because you could see Matthew’s pale face and gentle, violet eyes looking down at you and your family from above. Your mother meanwhile, since this was her first time seeing a bean up close, gave a final scream of terror.
“Why’d you do that?” Matthew asked innocently.
“A giant boy just shoved a screwdriver through our roof” you replied “Why do you think?”
“Oh” his cheeks developed a light pink dust “Sorry. That one there” he continued pointing at your mother “Is that your mother?”
“Yes.” You answered.
“It’s the new boy.” Father said to mother. He then looked up at Matthew “Can we have our roof back, please?”
“And that’s your dad” Matthew continued “Isn’t it?”
“He” you crossed your arms “We’re not ‘its’.”
“Put it back at once!” mother demanded.
“I’ve brought you something” Matthew said, ignoring her. He lowered a chest of drawers down into the bedroom. “The drawers really open. All of them do; I checked.”
Mother reached out and quickly opened and closed the top left drawer then withdrew her hand as though she had touched a flame. “I see that.” She said plainly. “Thank you. Now can we have our roof back?”
“Don’t you want it?” Matthew asked, cocking his head slightly.
“Of course you do, mum! Don’t you?” you answered for her “You always have!”
Your father piped in. “I’ve seen that before upstairs in the dollhouse.”
Mother sighed “Okay, yes it’s very nice thank you. Now about our roof—“
“How about this?” Matthew now lowered down a cozy looking green chair. It was nicely padded and looked nice and soft. “Go ahead; try it!” The bean smiled.
“Go on, daddy!” you cheered. Father went over and lowered himself into the chair. When he was settled he chuckled a bit and began rubbing the chair’s arms, feeling the fabric in his hands. “It could have been made for me!” he laughed. “That would look lovely by the fire, dad!” you said.
“Let’s see” Matthew said, picking up the chair again (and nearly taking your father with it). Matthew removed one more board so he could reach the kitchen area, where he then set the chair down by your fireplace.
“I have another one here just like it, only it’s red.” Matthew said lowering the second chair down next to the first. Mother quickly went over and took up the new chair, sighing with bliss from the cozy feel of a real chair.
“Oh, Pod, I’ve dreamed of chairs like this.” She sighed happily. “If only we had chairs like this to sit on when we eat.”
“Are those your books?” Matthew asked regarding the small pile you kept in the corner.
“Yes, father got them for me” you smiled, trotting over to the stack “A dictionary, Plays of Shakespeare, the History of Tom Thumb, and my diary’s in my room.”
“Will you still come up and visit me sometimes?” the boy asked.
You smiled “Of course I will.”
“Did you hear that?!” mother whispered to father “Did you hear what your daughter just said?!”
“Yes I did” was all he said in return.
“I’m glad.” Matthew continued “I don’t have any other friends here. You and Alfred are the only other people here around my age, and Alfred wants nothing to do with me. Sometimes he even forgets I’m here.”
“Yes, yes, fine!” father interrupted “Now if you would be a good bean and kindly return our roof, please! We’re getting cold down here; there’s a draft running through!”
“Do you want me to nail it down?” Matthew asked.
“If you would be so kind.”
“Because I have some other things upstairs.”
“Well, bean, that’s very kind of you but—“
“Things?” mother piped in “What sorts of things?”
Father glared at her a moment. “What sorts of things?” he asked.
“All kinds of stuff.” Matthew smiled.
“Ask him what sort of stuff.”
“What kinds of stuff?”
“There’s carpet, some rugs, and some pots and pans.” Matthew said.
“Carpet!” mother whispered excitedly “Real carpet!”
“The cooking pans are made of real metal, too, so I figured you could use them for actual cooking.”
“Cooking pans, Pod!” she was nearly bursting with excitement “Real, high quality cooking pans! Ask him how much he’s got!”
Mr. Clock was about to answer but stopped himself “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” he whispered to his wife.
“And a bird in a cage” Matthew continued “Not a real one of course, a few end tables, a dining table and five good chairs.”
“Did you hear that?!” mother squealed “A dining set! We can get rid of that ruddy building block and those blasted dice!”
“A sideboard, a potted palm tree—again not a real one, it’s decoration” the boy listed as your parents jaws dropped “A little bathtub, two master suite beds, an ottoman, a coat rack, all sorts of stuff!”
“Just think of it, Pod; cooking pans, chairs and a table, a sideboard, a dining room suite!” mother exclaimed, far too excited to whisper any longer. “Yes, well” father finally said “Perhaps we could find a use for some of your things.”
“I’ll bring them by tomorrow night” Matthew smiled.
“Right, err, perhaps you could nail us down lightly, then?” father said “If you catch my drift; just a tap here and there. We wouldn’t want your uncle finding us now, would we?”
“Right” Matthew then looked at you “Could you come up and visit tomorrow?”
“Of course” you replied, not even bothering with your parents opinions “Bring a book!”
“What kind?”
“Anything!”
Matthew nodded. “Bon nuit.”
“What?!” all three of you asked at once.
“Sorry” Matthew giggled “That means ‘Good night’ in my country.” Matthew proceeded to replace the three boards he pulled up and you all waited until you heard each one nailed back into place before you even moved.
The three of you slowly walked over to your new chairs in front of the darkened fireplace. Mother and father each sat in a chair and you knelt down between them.
“Who’d have thought it” mother said, breaking the silence “Saucepans.”
“A potted palm!” you exclaimed.
“A sideboard.” Mother sighed.
“A bath tub!” you cheered.
“A bird in a cage.” Father said “Where are we going to put all this stuff?”
“In the drawing room.” Mother answered plainly.
“…We haven’t got a drawing room.” Father cocked an eyebrow.
“No; no we haven’t” mother smiled “Not yet.”
