beatrix bobbit and the aftermath

Beatrix Bobbit rubbed her eyes, after another sleepless night. Still, every day, she was surprised not to see the flooded forest stretching into her yard.

"Beatrix, dear, muffin?" Mrs. Bobbit asked, coming to stand at her side. "You've been here for an awfully long time. Is everything alright?"

Beatrix nodded and took the muffin. It had been like this for weeks now. The forest flooded each night and Gemma called them out to play. But, in the morning, it was gone. Beatrix often wondered if she was dreaming. Except that Sybil remembered it, too.

"Why don't you use a sick day, too, Beatrix, dear. You and Sybil both have two left for the year," Mrs. Bobbit said while consulting her Home School Rules notebook.

Beatrix stumbled over to the lumpy yellow arm chair, and let Mrs. Bobbit cover her in a blanket. When Mrs. Bobbit was satisfied that Beatrix was quite well tucked, she shuffled over to her piano and began to play a soft tune.

And, Beatrix drifted off to sleep at last.

"ACHOO!" Beatrix shot up, only to come face to face with Mr. Bobbit's mustache.

"Dad?" Beatrix asked in a daze. Then, she saw his hand clutched around the fluffy green blanket. Penny's favorite blanket.

"Uh, Beatrix! Good, you're up, I was just making sure you were warm. Allergies..." he mumbled.

"So you weren't trying to steal the blanket for Penny?" At the mention of her name, Penny's nose twitched. Mr. Bobbit was holding her in the crook of his elbow.

His face turned very red, and he shuffled off to the kitchen muttering quietly to Penny about blanket thieves.

Beatrix stood and stretched her arms overhead. Just then, Sybil came prancing downstairs.

"Did mom make you use a sick day too? Guess we won't be able to start summer early..." Sybil giggled. The dark circles under her eyes had lessened some after a day in bed.

"Are you off to dance?" Beatrix squinted outside. According to their old brass bird clock, it was almost six-thirty.

"No dance on sick days," Sybil shrugged and bounded to the door. Then, turned and lowered her voice. "How much longer do you think Gemma will do this?"

"I'm close on the banishing spell, but maybe not close enough. I can't take this much longer," Beatrix admitted.

"Beatrix, dear, I invited Callum for dinner before you took a sick day. Ordinarily, the rules strictly say no friends on sick days. But it would be quite rude of me to cancel now," Mrs. Bobbit was standing in the kitchen doorway with a floral apron and chocolate smeared on her upper lip.

"Yay! A friend!" Sybil beamed.

Beatrix rolled her eyes, but secretly she was glad, too. Callum had been joining them on their nightly escapades through the flooded forest with Gemma. She wanted to see if his research had turned up anything that might help.

"But Judy! We only have enough food for five!" Mr. Bobbit grunted, holding a carrot for Penny to nibble on.

"That's right, you, me, the girls and Callum, Jack, dear," Mrs. Bobbit dusted her hands on her apron and returned to the kitchen.

"But--"

"Penny does not count. For the thousandth time, Jack, dear," Mrs. Bobbit sighed.

Mr. Bobbit's mustache twitched. He covered both of Penny's floppy back ears and shuffled away from the kitchen. Just then, there was a knock at the door.

When Beatrix opened the door, she had to stifle a grin at Callum dressed in a jacket that didn't cover his wrists and pants that did not cover his ankles.

"I'm trying to learn how to do laundry," Callum said. He handed Beatrix and black and red checkered tin that smelled strongly of smoke. "And bake. I'm not so good at either of them yet."

"WHO BURNT THE COOKIES?" Mr. Bobbit came darting out of the bedroom with a twitching mustache. Only when he saw Callum's tin did he visibly relax. Still, he muttered a greeting then darted to the kitchen.

"Jack, dear, the cookies are perfectly fine," Mrs. Bobbit said. "No, you cannot test them yet!"

Beatrix looked back at the kitchen where Mr. Bobbit continued trying to sneak a cookie from Mrs. Bobbit. While they were distracted, she opened the front door and motioned for Callum and Sybil to join her outside.

They walked around the house to the garden before they spoke.

"Why are you still holding that burnt cookie tin?" Sybil asked.

"I didn't want Mr. Bobbit to keep smelling it," Callum admitted.

"We can go over your baking and laundry mishaps later. Right now, we've got a serious problem. And I think I know how to make it leave," Beatrix allowed herself a small smile.

Gemma had not been the only cause of the sleeplessness. No, Beatrix had been using any precious time she could find to practice a spell to banish her from their forest and back to her cove. But, she would need Sybil and Callum to help her if they wanted it to succeed.

"Is Gemma a problem or is she awesome in a terrifying kind of way?" Callum asked.

"I'm with Callum. I don't really want Gemma to leave," Sybil responded, leaping to high five Callum.

"Don't you want to know why she's flooding the forest? And what she wants with us? Don't you want to sleep again without her whistling until we come out to play with her?"

Sybil shrugged as Callum said, "She makes life more interesting."

"Callum! You almost drowned fetching one of her pearls from inside a tree trunk!" Beatrix couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Callum smiled and looked at his wrist, where he wore a thin braided green bracelet. "I got this though."

"It doesn't even have the pearl!" Beatrix glued her arms to her sides after she caught herself raising them in a very Mrs. Bobbit-like fashion.

"You can't get rid of me, yet, witch," Gemma's voice whispered in her ear thanks to the small silver earring she'd jabbed through Beatrix's un-pierced ear. "Not until you tell them the truth."

And, just like that, Beatrix's anger turned into dread.

She couldn't tell them the truth.

Because, the truth was, that Beatrix liked being with Gemma, too. She liked the way she had upended her life, even if she was tired all of the time.

She didn't know what would happen if she let her stay there forever, having adventures each night. But, Gemma was up to something. She had a plan that went beyond playing with them. She was distracting them.

For what?

Beatrix didn't know, and she was sure she couldn't let Sybil and Callum ever find out.

Suddenly, the back door flung open and Mr. Bobbit stormed outside. "Dinner's ready, hurry up."

"Our dinner's ready or Penny's?" Beatrix tilted her head and smirked, pulling Callum and Sybil with her.

When Callum and Sybil walked inside, Beatrix was about to follow until she noticed Mr. Bobbit staring out into the forest.

"What is it, dad?"

Beatrix felt her heart flutter faster. Sure that Gemma must be nearby.

Mr. Bobbit blinked and turned to her, glancing wild-eyed around. "Do you know where your mother hid the cookies?"

"Oh dad," Beatrix threw her arm around Mr. Bobbit. "You have so much to learn."