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a new classic by Edward Summer |
he
front door of the house was huge. It had borders carved into the
shapes of animals and vines. Dark and light grained wood was inlaid around
a wonderful oval window. The glass had been etched and polished into hundreds
of little prisms that reflected and refracted the rainbow images of the
three small children standing and staring up at it. Behind the window was
a hand-woven lace curtain gathered at the center with folds radiating like
sunbeams out to the edges. A warm glow shone through the lace from somewhere
inside the house.
Below the window was a brass door knocker in the shape of a gargoyle. The creature was in a carved framework in the center of the door. It was polished to a rich, brassy glow.
Tony was astounded at how heavy the door knocker was. He pulled it back first with one hand, then two. It was pretty creepy looking, so he kept his fingers away from the mouth and only pulled on the gargoyle's curving horns.
When he let it go, the gargoyle swung back to the door, and its chin made a loud thump. To the children standing on the porch it made a sound like the bang of firecracker. Inside the house, it echoed like the last hollow note of a huge drum.
Tony was afraid to knock again. He was hoping that nobody would be home.
He stared at the lace curtain in the door-window. The glow in the center softened into a definite shadow that was soon joined by the softest footsteps.
Then the door knob turned and the heavy wooden door began to open.
Tony felt his throat dry up. He tried to swallow, but couldn't get his mouth wet.
Ginger had visions of a huge man with hairy arms, a stubbly face and a bottle of beer coming out and grabbing them before they could run away. She wanted to run away, but her feet were frozen.
Fred was hiding directly behind Ginger. Teddy was squished flat between Fred's chest and Ginger's back and couldn't see what was going on at all.
Slowly, a tiny, age-spotted hand reached around the edge of the door and pulled it open. The slender hand, with its delicately manicured nails, belonged to an agelessly old woman. She was barely taller than the children and had the kindest, wisest face that Ginger had ever seen. Though the woman's face was old and softened by deep folds and wrinkles, her eyes shone happily like those of a child who was discovering sunlight for the first time. She looked gently at Tony and Ginger.
"Yes, children?" she asked in a lilting honey and cinnamon voice. She pulled her shawl of bone-white, crocheted lace around her shoulder.
Tony tried to speak, but all that came out of his mouth was a hesitant squeak. "Uh. Excuse me, but my frisbee flew in your window."
"Frizz-bee?" said the old woman after a long pause. She spoke the two syllables as though they had some taste that was utterly new and strange to her.
"It, uh, looks like an orange pie plate." Ginger said. Fred peeked out from behind.
"Well, accidents have a way of happening, don't they?" The woman stepped back from the door. "Shall we look?" She gestured the children inside.
Ginger had never seen a real person dressed like this. The woman wore a long, full dress that must have had several petticoats underneath. She had on high leather shoes with millions of rows of tiny hook-and-eye buttons. The long sleeves and high neck of her dress were ruffled with lace that seemed to tickle her wrists and cushion her neck. Her hair was a rich red-gray. It was braided and wrapped around her head like a magnificent Celtic puzzle knot.
Tony, then Ginger, then Fred stepped into the hallway. They all knew at once that they had entered a different world. And somehow, they felt safe.
"My name is Mrs. Seel," the woman said as she led the children down the hallway. "What are your names?
The hallway was paneled in mahogany that was polished to a perfect shine. The children walked slowly, staring at the flowered wallpaper and mysterious portraits of what looked like ancient kings and queens and all sorts of wonderful people each framed in the most incredible gold-leaf frames.
But
strangest of all was the light. The walls were lit with real gas mantles,
each with a tiny, bright, flat flame flickering inside frosted crystal
bowls. Bits of rainbow sunlight streamed in from tiny prism-etched windows
high up near the ceiling. The hallway smelled warm and moist like a greenhouse.
"My name is Tony Calder." It had taken him some time and energy to stop looking at the hallway and answer the question. "This is Ginger Stephens. And Fred."
"I'm pleased to meet you." Mrs. Seel stopped in front of a doorway. She pulled aside a maroon, velvet curtain and ushered them into the parlor.
The children had never seen anything like this room. Above the oak baseboards, the walls were covered with rich felt wallpaper embossed with the soft shapes of flowers and trees. Tony looked closely as he passed and could see nearly invisible gold threads. The furniture was all old and soft and overstuffed with gold-stitched seams and braided tassels. Though the furniture was just sofas, chairs, tables, they had a regal presence, as if royal people might meet here. It felt, in a way, like a throne room.
Here, too, gas lamps flickered on the walls. They cast the same lustrous
warm light over the room, but somehow, in the parlor the shadows were deeper.
Long velvet curtains softened the light coming through the room's only
window. The flicker of the gas lights made it hard to see where the shadows
ended and curtains began. The window was stained glass depicting scenes
of a castle, indescribably happy lords and ladies with flowers, wondrous
trees, and strange animals. Above the central castle tower were a sun and
moon encircled by a crest of stars. Through the stained glass sun, a single
honey sweet beam of real sunlight poured into the flower-soft shadows of
the room. 
Where the throne would have stood in this extraordinary parlor was a simple wooden rocking chair. Draped across the chair was the corner of a large quilt with a needlepoint hoop pressed into place and threads of many colors hanging off it. Each thread had a shiny silver needle dangling from the end.
The room was filled with otherworldly stillness. The children stood awestruck just inside the parlor door.
"Now where could your fizzy be?" Mrs. Seel looked around the room with great deliberation. She walked toward her rocking chair. "You may come in and look, children." She did not turn around.
On tiptoes, Tony and Ginger took several tentative steps on the thick Persian carpet. They glanced excitedly at the delicate porcelains on the mantelpiece, at the huge, gilt-edged, leather-bound books upon shelves, at the sculptures in niches, and the cameos on the walls.
Fred searched the floor looking for the Frisbee. "There!" He spotted the orange disk just beside Mrs. Seel's rocking chair.
As Mrs. Seel began to bend over to pick it up, Ginger noticed the sudden sparkle of a golden locket on a chain hanging around the old woman's neck. It was also clear that Mrs. Seel could not bend over easily.
"I'll get it," Tony volunteered. He danced quietly around the carpet and scooped up the Frisbee.
"Thank you." Mrs. Seel straightened, then sat down in her chair, moving the quilt out of her way and over the arm rest.
Ginger was still staring at the locket as she walked slowly over to Tony.
"Thanks for letting us look," Tony said shyly.
The locket was a perfect circle about an inch across. The base of yellow gold. On the front were two crescent-shaped inlays that dovetailed perfectly into a single circle. They remind Ginger of two fish chasing each other's tails. One inlay was of black ebony or obsidian, the other was white, the color of pearl or moonstone. On the dark half was a tiny radiant sun of white flecked gold. On the light half was a half moon surrounded by black shadow with one gleaming star at the blackest point. Each half was outlined in gold and the whole fused seamlessly. Ginger thought she had never seen anything so perfect.
"It's an amulet," Mrs. Seel said as if to read Ginger's mind.
"Oh! It's beautiful!" Ginger continued to stare admiringly.
"Thank you. It's very old. It symbolizes a simple truth. After the darkest hour, the sun will always follow."
Fred and Teddy had been creeping closer to the conversation next to the rocking chair. Fred peered past Ginger to get a good look at the locket. Finally he held Teddy up to see.
"An amulet…." Ginger said, rolling the strange but delicious word on her tongue.
It is quite beautiful, Teddy thought. He found himself staring at the amulet with his mouth slightly open.
"What a lovely bear!" Mrs. Seel said suddenly.
Despite himself, Teddy looked up at her and blinked in surprise.
Mrs. Seel saw the blink and smiled. Teddy froze. "Does he have a name?" she asked Fred.
"Theadore Rosebear," Fred said, "but mostly I call him Teddy.
"How do you do, Teddy?" Mrs. Seel reached out with her hand and lightly touched the tip of Teddy's paw. He felt a tingling sensation deep inside his cotton stuffing.
"Say hello, Teddy," Fred said proudly holding out his bear. Oh, no, Teddy thought, not now! This is not the proper time. He hung limply in Fred's hand, wondering who this old woman was.
"Well," Mrs. Seel said with a deep breath. "I must go back to work now. There are things to do. Always things to do. It is important to finish projects that you have begun. Don't you agree?"
The children nodded silently.
Mrs. Seel started to rise.
"Oh, we'll let ourselves out," Ginger said. "It's okay."
"Thank you, Ginger," Mrs. Seel said settling back down in the rocking chair.
She reached out and shook each child's hand carefully. "Make sure you pull the door closed." Then she shook Teddy's hand, too.
The children backed away slowly. They tiptoed quickly down the long hallway.
At the door, Fred turned back. "Bye!" he called.
"Shhhhh!" Ginger cautioned.
"Goodbye!" Mrs. Seel answered from the parlor.
Tony pulled the door carefully closed until he heard the latch click. Then all three children ran down the front walk, past the gate and out onto the street toward home.
In the parlor, Mrs. Seel settled herself into the rocking chair. She spread the quilt across her lap and adjusted the needlepoint hoop. All at once, she shivered.
"Chilly," she said absently, "a bit chilly." She gathered the lace shawl around her shoulders and pulled the quilt completely over her thin legs.
She reached over to a small table and picked up a piece of green cloth
and a scissors. In half a dozen deft snips, she fashioned a small, precise
green shape. She lay the scissors back down on her work table and put the
piece of cloth down up on the quilt.
Moving it back and forth over the heavily designed surface, Mrs. Seel finally found the perfect place for the shape. Then she selected a needle with bright green thread that perfectly matched the color of the cloth.
With tiny, even stitches she sewed the cloth piece into place. Then she stitched a small white oval near one corner of the green, and inside the white, a small black dot.
Mrs. Seel looked down at the finished work. It was a small, bright green frog. She smiled and began to work on the brown stem of a needlepoint lily pad.
CHAPTER NINE -- Hide
and Seek
(c) 1981, 1996. 1997, 1998, 1999 Edward Summer, All Rights Reserved under the Berne Convention
Mrs. Seel, Theadore Rosebear, Tony Calder, Ginger Stephens, Fred Stephens, Teefr, Reon are all (TM) (R)
(c)1980,1997 Edward
Summer, All Rights Reserved, All Characters TM, R
created 2/97
revised 10/20/97, 4/1/99,
1021/99
