Hidden in Improbability

Chapter One

Wendell saw her as he peered through the green fronds from his high perch above the beach. She was skipping along with a large dog, racing the incoming waves to keep her ankle-length skirt dry. Wendell followed her path along the beach and climbed down closer to her as she neared the end of the beach. The white sand sparkled in the day’s early light, and he could see fish swimming in the turquoise sea. The horizon held clouds on this brightening day, but the sky above him was so intensely blue, he was forced to squint and shield his eyes with a hand above them.

“Anna, I know it’s time for lunch, but I’m not ready to go back yet.” The large black dog grabbed the hem of her skirt and began tugging the girl, heading back in the direction from which she had begun her beach skipping. Wendell smiled; he liked the dog. “Anna, stop it! You are going to rip my skirt. Stop!” The dog held the skirt hem in its mouth and swung its head slowly side to side in an emphatic ‘no,’ while its front legs danced a high step. When the girl wouldn’t cooperate, Anna knelt, rear in the air, the playful pose that dogs do, growling deep in her throat.

Wendell watched, still hidden, as the large canine controlled the girl’s movements gently but firmly.

“Anna, I don’t want to go back!” She jerked and tried to pull away, but the dog held her in place. Low waves kissed the beach behind her, pink and golden shells washing ashore almost to her toes.

“Woof!” Anna replied, lifting one front paw, and turning her head to the left to show the direction they should go. “Woof, woof!”

“All right, you naughty girl. I will tell Mother to fire you. We will hire a Golden Retriever, yes, a red dog nursemaid would be better.”

The dog turned over to reveal her underside, a submissive ‘please don’t.’ Wendell grinned as he watched the girl sit down next to Anna, leaning in with a hug, whispering something against the large floppy ear that he couldn’t hear. He stepped out of the shrubbery and Anna leaped to her feet, instantly alert.

“Wha? Who are you?” the girl demanded, following Anna’s alarmed body language to spot the boy. He had on raggedy faded green shorts and a pale blue tee shirt. His hair was to his shoulders, a mass of uncombed curls, and he wore a silver cross around his neck. She looked him up and down, worriedly, noticing his feet were bare and thickly calloused, but it was the cross that kept her gaze. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. It seemed to be hammered metal and was wider than the crosses she had seen on her mother’s friends.

“Hello. I’m Wendell.”

“But…where do you live? Wendell.” She was shy now and looked down, waiting for his reply.

“I live here sometimes. Sometimes I live out there.” She quickly looked up and found him pointing skyward, over the sea.

“Where?” she replied, puzzled.

“On this island, I have a tree house. In Fortunate, there is a group of us.”

“You mean your family?” she asks.

“I have no family. I have friends and we live in Fortunate.”

“I don’t understand,” she replies.

“That’s okay; you didn’t tell me your name. Who are you, and who is that hairy creature?” He points at Anna.

“Oh, I am so sorry for being rude! I’m Petula, and this is my nursemaid, Anna.”

“Nursemaid?”

“Yes, she looks after me. She protects me, makes sure I take my medicine, and keeps me from getting lost. She can be very stubborn in her watch over me.”

“I noticed.”

“What do you mean, you noticed? You just got here,” the girl exclaims.

“Oh, no, I have been following you from up on the cliff. I saw you skipping on the beach and the big hairy animal with you. You seemed to be having so much fun, I just followed along, watching. I have never heard of a nursemaid. Does everyone have one?”

Petula observed Wendell silently for a few seconds, trying to see if he was joking; once realizing he was serious, her puzzlement of him deepened.

“Wendell, where is your family? How do you get from here to Fortunate, your other place?” She heard a buzzing near her head and waved a hand over her head to thwart any insect trying to land.

“Petula! Stop! You will hurt her.” His hand flicked over her head in a movement so fast, Petula barely caught it. She leaned in as he turned his hand toward her. Standing in his palm was an exquisite creature, tiny as a damselfly, but human-like.

“What is that?” she whispered.

“Not it, who! This is Luna. She is a fairy.”

“There are no such things as fairies, Wendell!” She stomped her foot in frustration. “Is it a damselfly? Is it a new type of bee?”

“This is Luna.” Luna took flight and whirled in front of Petula’s eyes, swirling around her head faster and faster, creating a breeze that lifted Petula’s bangs from her forehead. Petula ducked and skipped sideways.

“Make it stop! Make it stop!” she shouted at him, swatting at her head.

He stepped in and grabbed her wrists. “You stop,” he growled low at her. Anna was barking now, jumping back and forth in front of Wendell, warning him to let the girl go. Luna alighted on Anna’s large forehead and the dog shook her head furiously. A tinkling noise, like tiny windchimes, could be heard, as Luna laughed delightedly in her wild dog-shaking-head ride.

“Luna, get off the dog. Come back.” One instant later the ethereal winged being was back in his hand but her tinkling laughter continued.

“Petula, meet Luna. Luna, meet Petula.”

Petula heard some low tinkling as the creature whispered to Wendell. He hushed her angrily.

“What did it say?”

“I told you, not it, she!” he corrected Petula sharply. “It doesn’t matter what she said. You need to go home, don’t you?”

Petula observed him quietly. “You are angry with me, aren’t you? I’m sorry, I have never seen a creature like Luna. It seems she doesn’t like me, either. Am I right?”

“Sadly, that seems to be the case.”

Petula thought for a minute. “Luna, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” She backed up a step as Luna flew in front of her, then landed on her wrist. Petula brought her arm to a ninety-degree angle to closely observe the fairy. The palest shimmery leotard covered the fairy to mid-knee. She had sparkles in her hair below the headband of flowers and greenery, and enormous sapphire eyes that pierced Petula’s heart. As she stared into Luna’s eyes, she felt pure love emanating from her; Anna let out a low whine followed by a deep sigh. Luna dropped a kiss on Petula’s forehead right on the third eye spot between her eyebrows, then flitted to Wendell’s shoulder.

Petula collapsed gently on the sandy beach next to Anna, falling into a deep sleep.

Luna flitted to Anna’s head again and the dog flicked her droopy ears in acknowledgment. Luna dropped a kiss onto Petula’s earlobe, and the girl awakened.

“Petula, Luna and I must go home to Fortunate. People are waiting for me. Luna found what I had lost here on the island.”

“What had you lost, Wendell?”

He held out a locket of the same hammered silver as his cross. Petula opened it and discovered a crinkled photo of a woman and a man. She looked up at him questioningly.

“Those are my parents…were my parents, I mean. Charles and Barbara Barlowe. They died and then the fairies took me to Fortunate. I carry the locket with me and look at them when I’m sad, which is usually never!” She could tell he didn’t mean never; she could see the sadness in his eyes when he mentioned his parents.

“Wendell, you must come home with me!” Petula exclaims. Anna and Luna both arise, vigilant.

A large man emerged onto the beach from an overgrown walking path. “Petula! There you are! It is time to come back. Anna, bad dog! You should have brought her home an hour ago. Let’s go!” he commands. Petula turned to introduce Wendell, but he was gone.

“Father, there was a boy here, with a fairy! His name is Wendell, and the fairy is Luna.”

“Come along Petula, you are overdue for lunch and your medicine. You are imagining all of this because you now have low blood sugar. Come on, no time to waste, we have to get some food into your tummy!” Anna trots on ahead of the duo, knowing her charge is now safe with Father.

As Petula walks with Father, she remembers Wendell’s locket and opens her hand, showing her father. “Oh no! I didn’t mean to keep it,” she whispers aloud.

“What’s that?” Father replies.

“We’ve got to go back. This is his locket; I must give it back.”

“No time for that now, Dear. You must eat and take your medicine. We can give it back later.” He pulls her along in his strong grip; Petula relents and goes along without a struggle.

After lunch, she calls Anna over quietly. “Anna, you must get this back to him, okay? Will you do it, Girl?” The dog nursemaid nods her head. Petula puts a piece of ribbon through the locket’s bale and ties the ribbon around Anna’s neck. “Off you go, Anna. Find Wendell and Luna; keep the locket safe for him!” She pats Anna on the head, gives her a quick kiss, and sends her out the door.

An hour later, Anna comes back with the locket. “Oh no, no, no! Why do you still have it? Anna, you couldn’t find them?” The big dog shakes her head no and plops dejectedly onto the floor.

Chapter Two

“Come on, Petula, it’s time to go. We’re headed back to the island!” Petula’s mother calls out to her. Father is waiting in the vehicle to drive them to the departure point. During the year that has passed Petula has reached puberty and is wearing the lovely bra her mother helped her select under her light sweater. She has on her usual long skirt and packed her new two-piece swimsuit, a red and orange poppy print. It’s exciting to think of walking the beach in the suit and finding new shells for her window collection.

Upon arrival at the beach, the family unpacks for a week-long vacation and Mother begins a light supper for the three of them. Anna is a little grayer in her face now (you know how dogs age faster than humans) and limps slightly in her back right leg. Petula is taller, giving her legs the look of a colt as she runs down the beach. Anna walks behind her, looking right and left.

Luna flits to Wendell, zipping back and forth in front of his eyes, chattering excitedly. “Luna, stop! I can’t see. You are going to get hurt doing that, stop it!” Then he hears what she has said. “Really? Where did you see her?” Luna flies off toward the beach, so he runs after her.

Wendell sees Petula running on the beach, but she looks so different he isn’t sure it is her. He watches silently, just as he did last year when he had first seen her. Following along from the cliff, just like last year, he sees Anna, but she also has a different appearance. She walks slowly, limps, and has gray around her mouth.

“Is that Anna, the nursemaid dog?” he asks Luna. The fairy nods her head vigorously and pulls him by the hair, flying in front of him. They watch until the sun sets and Petula has gone back to her island vacation home.

Late the next afternoon, Petula walks the beach in her poppy swimsuit, a coral sheer wrap around her legs, a warm breeze fluttering her hair and wrap. The sun reflecting off the white sand and the flat blue sea is so overwhelming, she must cup her hands and shade her eyes. Throwing down a large green blanket, she sits, Anna resting beside her.

Wendell tires of following from afar and finally comes out of the coconut grove and makes his way toward her. She is looking out to sea and talking aloud.

“Wendell, where are you? I didn’t mean to take it. I sent Anna back to you but you were gone. I have the locket, I’m so sorry. Are you in Fortunate? Wendell, where are you?”

“I’m here, Petula.”

She spins around and there he is, his mass of messy curls blowing in the sea breeze, rough hands tossing a coconut back and forth.

“Wendell! You startled me.

“I’m sorry, Petula. I didn’t mean to. It’s been a year and you are so…beautiful!”

“Oh, Wendell. I didn’t mean to keep it, I felt horrible. I sent Anna to find you..”

“I heard what you said, Petula,” he interrupted. “It’s all right. Give it to me, please.” She holds out her hand gingerly, afraid he is angry. “It’s okay. I’m not angry, I know you didn’t mean to take it.”

“We arrived today, Wendell. We'll be here for a week.”

“I don’t know what a ‘week’ is.”

She looked at him in astonishment. “A week is seven days.”

“What is a day?”

“A day is from sunup to sundown. Well, it is technically twenty-four hours.”

“You mean it is from sunup to sunup?”

“Yes.” She stares at him. “Wendell. How do you get here?”

“Here? You mean from Fortunate?”

“Yes. And why do you come here?”

“I came here because I was born here. Then my parents died, and the fairies took me. I come back now and then to look at families on the island, but mostly I stay in Fortunate. I like to see happy families and found your family so fun to watch - your mother bakes cookies and your father fishes and sleeps in the hammock…and Anna is always near you. The year before last, I lost my locket while playing on the island. When I returned to find the locket, I saw you on the beach.”

“But how do you get here?”

“I fly here; Luna and I fly.”

“People don’t fly, Wendell.”

“Petula, if you believe, you can fly. Come on, I will show you. You MUST believe!” He led her to a cliff above them. “Come Petula, I will hold your hand.” Anna was rocking on her forepaws and yipping; she didn’t like this.

“We will be killed, Wendell, this is crazy!”

“You MUST believe!” He took her hand and led her to the edge, their toes hanging over. She gave her wrap to Anna to guard. “Hold my hand, Petula.” She was pulling back; Luna fluttered in front of her, those blazing sapphire eyes locked on hers, mesmerizing. As Wendell stepped off, she lifted into the air with him, dipping crazily at first and then steadying out. Luna flew to her right, Wendell on her left, holding her hand still. He banked them to the right and she could just make out her parents’ vacation site, but he was careful not to fly close enough to be seen by them. The stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky as the sun began to dip closer to the horizon, and she was breathless as he guided her to a soft landing.

“My goodness, that was amazing!”

“You believed, Petula, that is what counts. You flew because you believed.”

Chapter Three

“Grandma, there really are fairies?”

“Yes, Love, there are. Your great granny visited Wendell many times, but when she turned eighteen, he suddenly wasn’t there.”

“Where was he?”

“Sadly, he drowned, and Luna with him. There was a terrible typhoon, and it was battering little Luna so badly, he tried to save her. The storm grabbed them both and swirled them into the sea. The waves were so large they couldn’t escape.”

“How do you know?”

“Peter told her, and she passed the story to me.”

“Who is Peter?”

“Why, Peter Pan of Neverland! He found the locket when it floated ashore and went to Fortunate to find the child whose name was etched inside it. The fairies told him Wendell was at the island, but as Peter arrived, the storm hit, and he watched the typhoon take them. There was nothing he could do to save them, and he vowed never to go anywhere near the island again. That was the beginning of Peter’s visits to my mother’s house.” She looked toward the window, deep in her memories.

“Where is Peter now?”

“I imagine he is back in Neverland. My mother, your great-granny Petula, named me after Wendell, choosing the name Wendolynne. Our small family spent long months, autumn through spring staying on that same island, strolling the sandy beaches. Since Peter had vowed never to come to that island, I never met him. Mama told me wonderful stories of her flights and adventures with him. She even visited Neverland a few times, but she didn’t like being so far from home. She grew up, went to college to study anthropology, then traveled, studying the cultures and lifestyles of people worldwide. When you were born, she named you after me. Nana is descended from Anna, my mother’s nursemaid dog.”

She pulled a silver object from her pocket and winked at the child.

“This is the locket.”

The child took the locket in her hand, examined it closely, and then opened it. There were no photos, but she could see etching inside.

“But if Peter never visited the island, how did you get the locket?”

“He came back once, very quickly, on a clear night. He put the locket on Mama’s pillow and went back to Neverland. When Mama saw the locket, she said she cried; she thinks she saw a fairy outside her window; she couldn’t be sure with eyes full of tears, but there was a glimmer and whispery tinkles.

The child smiled up at her grandmother from under the cozy bed quilts. She watched as her grandmother switched off the lamp, the nightlight casting a tiny shadow from its place under the tall window. She could hear her father putting Nana in the courtyard for the night.

“Good night, Wendy. I’ll try to convince your father to let Nana sleep in here with you, but no promises.

Epilogue

As Wendy slept, Peter glanced through the bedroom window on the second floor of the stately manor house, seeing a girl deep asleep. The nightlight beneath the window gleamed upward, illuminating his chin, and creating reflections in his eyes.

“Tink, I have to find my shadow.” He ran up the slanted roof and sat on the highest point of the mansion, pondering. Tinkerbelle’s light twinkled outside Wendy’s window as she peered through the window. She whisked up to Peter’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. Nana stirred in the courtyard, restless. Peter flew back to Wendy’s window, lifting it, and silently entered her bedroom.