Chapter Three

Father didn't let me get off easily for breaking down the treehouse and injuring Brom and Derek. We spent many hours together talking about my wrong actions and eventually I became truly repentant. 

I wrote Derek a very long letter, asking for his forgiveness and thanking him for carrying me back to the castle after I had been the one to make the treehouse come crashing down on us. I also told him I wished that his shoulder would heal quickly so that he could compete in the upcoming tournament he had his heart set on. Unfortunately for him, that wish was not granted. He was forced to sit the tournament out and watch his rival, Sir Trisham, win for the third year in a row. 

Another letter of apology was sent to Bromley and I was given a little more peace of mind for the next week while I was laid up in bed. 

At the end of the week, when I was just beginning to detest not being able to get out of bed and play, I had a visitor. 

Derek was shown into the room by my father and he looked more nervous than I had ever seen him. He had received my letter and had written a short reply to accept my apology the day before. Apparently he was now coming to take me up on the offer of renewed friendship I had put at the end of my letter. 

"Hi, squirt," he said with a crinkly smile after father had pulled up a chair for him by the side of my bed and then taken himself to the other side of the room to be out of the way while we talked. Derek sat on the chair and I tried not to stare at the sling that held his left arm up to his chest. 

"Hi," I replied shyly.

"How's the leg?" he asked after a moment of silence. 

"Still there," I answered with a shaky laugh. "The doctor says I'm not to walk on it for another week at least."

"That's awful," Derek empathized. 

"I know." I wrinkled up my nose. "I'm already bored stiff." 

"Ah," he said, with a genuine smile now, "that's why I'm here." He reached into the pouch on his belt and pulled out a deck of cards. "Shall we?"

"Yes please!" I squealed in delight. 

After setting up a small lap table on my bed, we began on a game of cards, and then another after that. All in all we played for nearly two hours before father mentioned that Queen Augusta might be expecting Derek for dinner. 

"Oh, nuts," Derek moaned. "I'd best be off then." He stood up and stuffed the cards back into his belt. "Bye, Squirt." He patted my head good-naturedly and let himself out of the room. 

I sighed happily and soon fell into a happy sleep. But not before noticing father's own wide smile from across the room. I wasn't the only happy one. 

The next week wasn't as miserable as it could have been. Derek came often to play cards with me, sometimes bringing Brom, and always careful to let me know if he couldn't come the next day. He never brought any other girls with him. 

In a way, it was just like the summer before. We weren't as rambunctious, as I was still in bed, but we laughed and teased each other just as mercilessly as we had during our time in the treehouse. When not playing cards or chess, I would tell stories while Brom and Derek acted them out beside the bed where I could see. I would laugh so hard that my stomach would hurt and often Derek and Brom would end up in tears as they tried without success to act out a fight with a dragon while laughing. We were all very happy. 

But the week quickly came to an end and I was able to move about with crutches and not in as much need of entertainment. Thus, the boys stopped coming to my room and I was bored again. 

I tried to interact with some of the female company the castle provided, but it was dull after my week with Derek and Brom. We sewed and chatted and did everything useless and talked about everything irrelevant. 

It was about a month and a half into our summer visit that Derek came to visit again, this time with a friend. 

I was walking on the far side of the garden, just having come from inspecting the empty area that had once housed our treehouse. I was no longer on crutches, though walking was difficult and slow. I had just made it to a bench in the garden so I could sit and rest for a while before trekking back to the castle when I heard someone calling my name from the area of the garden nearest the castle. I was too tired to get up so I just called out that I was "over here!" 

Derek came into view a few moments later and then hurried over to my side when he caught sight of me. He was carrying something in his arms but it was covered with his cloak so that all I could see was that it was bulky and rounded on top. 

"Hey, squirt," he said fondly. "Did you see the non-existent treehouse?" I laughed and nodded in the affirmative. "Strange, isn't it?" Again I nodded but before I could get into apologizing again, which I'm sure he guessed I would do, he changed the subject. 

"I brought you a gift." 

"Really?" I questioned doubtfully. "Should I be scared?"

"Deathly," he said, in a tone that conveyed the exact opposite would be my reaction. He pulled back his cloak from the object it had been covering and I found myself staring wide-eyed at a very large turtle. 

"A turtle?" I said dubiously. He knew I was fond of animals, but I couldn't recall ever telling him that I had a particular affinity to turtles. Because I didn't. 

"A wounded turtle." He gently lifted the front right leg of the turtle so I could better see that it had a deep gash across the top. I let out an involuntary "oh" of empathy and he chuckled. "I knew that would get you. Here, hold him." 

I reached out my arms and he set the turtle across them. I sighed over and petted the poor thing for a few minutes while Derek looked on with a small smile upon his face. 

"Where did you find him?" I finally asked, breaking away from my sympathetic murmurings for long enough to look up at the benefactor of my newest patient. 

"Near the dock. I was out swimming this morning and saw him up on a rock. I think he probably got caught in the storm last night and it threw him against something sharp. That cut isn't older than a day." He reached over and rubbed a strong hand across the top of the turtle. "I did what I could to clean it, but I think it'll be a while before he's well enough to be out on his own." 

"So you brought him to me," I stated without accusation. 

"I know of no one better to nurse an aching wound," he said, catching my eye and holding it for long enough for me to realize that he meant it. 

"Thank you." I blushed and looked back down to the turtle to hide the light film of water that had begun to cover my eyes. This moment with Derek was something I had wanted for as long as I had known father wanted us to be friends; sitting together in mutual friendship with an understanding of who the other person was and what meant the most to them. This was finally beginning to feel like that. 

"What are you going to name him?" Derek said, breaking the silence and bringing me gratefully out of my sentimental thoughts. 

"Mm.." I mused, holding the two-foot turtle up to eye level and staring him down. He looked back at me blankly and I giggled. "I shall name him Speed." 

Derek looked taken aback for a moment and then laughed aloud. 

"Very fitting." He laughed again and then placed his hand on my shoulder as I looked up at him. His smile was broad and I thought the crinkles in his face had never looked more becoming than when he had a genuine smile on his face, as he did now. "And I'm sure that, with your tender care and nursing, he'll soon live up to his name and be speeding around the castle under every servants foot." He rubbed my head affectionately and stood up. "I'll be back soon to see how the two of you are getting on." He winked and then left. 

I stayed very busy looking after Speed. And it was just the right medicine for my aching leg and bout of boredom. I felt useful and worthwhile when I was looking after something other than myself and it wasn't long before a crippled bird and a friendly frog had joined my band of misfits and I was forced to set up a temporary shelter for them in the spot where our treehouse had once stood. Queen Augusta gave permission for the miniature house to be built and even set some of her own servants to help with the building. Within a short time there was a cute little structure on the far side of the garden that had been nicknamed "The Cottage" and I was receiving visitors daily, both human and otherwise. 

Derek checked up on us every so often, though not as often as I would have liked. I had set up a small sitting area in "The Cottage" and we would sit and chat while I regaled him with stories of my most recent adventures. He especially liked Speed, and he became fond of the puffin, creatively named Puffin, after a few visits but he took an instant disliking to the frog, JeanBob. I thought it comical but to him it was very serious. JeanBob peed on him the first time they met and attempted to do so every time after. And to add to that, Derek claimed he was always giving him the eye. It was soon decided upon, by Derek, that JeanBob was jealous of any male who spent time with me. Which wasn't completely impossible, as he did tend to only pee on the male visitors and none of my girl friends had ever thought he was giving them the evil eye. 

But regardless of JeanBob and his evil eye, Derek continued to visit and our friendship grew. He listened to my stories of The Cottage and I was endlessly entertained by his stories of the hunts he went on and the goings on of the training ground that sat on the far south side of the castle. Brom came with him most of the time but he generally kept out of the conversation and tried to teach Speed some tricks, which he rarely picked up on. 

And so the summer passed and for once it went too quickly for me. Derek's birthday came and went and then came the day of my departure back to my own kingdom and a cold winter without the friendship of Derek and Brom. 

Father and I had all of our things packed up and loaded onto the ship and Queen Augusta and Derek were waiting in the courtyard to bid us goodbye. I took my time in leaving our rooms and finally father grew impatient. 

"We'll be back next year, darling," he said kindly, though his firm grip on my arm as he pulled me out the door gave away his impatience. 

"I know," I sighed. "But it won't be the same." Father closed the door behind us and we started towards the courtyard. 

"Nothing ever is," he replied softly. "But that does not necessarily mean it will not be just as good. Only different." 

"I know," I said again. I faked a smile and took my father's hand. "Thank you, father."

"For what?"

"Everything. For bringing me here. For being patient with me. For being the best father I could ever hope for." 

He smiled softly and squeezed my hand and though he did not reply I knew all the things he would say if he had. That was just the way father was. He did not feel the need for words. And, knowing that, I did not need to hear them from him. I knew. 

 

Queen Augusta and father walked a few steps away from Derek and I to have some private words so we were left to say our goodbyes without them looking over our shoulders. 

"Well, squirt," Derek began with half a smile, "I'll see you next summer." I nodded in reply and tried to smile. He reached a hand out and bumped my chin up so I would look at him. "Don't be so mopey, Megs," he chuckled. "I promise to keep a good watch over Speed and Puffin and even that nasty little frog. We'll all be here to see you next summer."

That got me to smile and I was so bold as to stand on my toes and give him a quick kiss on the cheek. 

"Don't do anything too stupid while I'm away," I said with a smile. "And try not to strangle JeanBob. Even if he does pee on you." 

We both laughed and then father came and took me away. Thus ended my last full summer in Chambry.