As soon as I stepped off the elevator, I could hear wild goings-on inside the apartment. Oh, Lord, I thought, they’re playing Floyd Collins again! I opened the apartment door. Thatch, wearing his miner’s cap, lay stretched out in front of my computer while Annabelle, accompanied by Stella beating a tambourine, sang “How Glory Goes” at the top of her lungs. I was amazed. Stella, who had shown no interest in Annabelle’s musical theatre career, could play a tambourine?
Hello, babies! I said.
Annabelle stopped singing. Stella continued to beat the tambourine.
You can stop now, Stella, Annabelle advised her.
Thatch sat up. She’s giving me a headache, he said.
Stella put the tambourine down, crouched on the computer table, and jumped onto my shoulder, from which point she walked back and forth around my shoulders as she avoided all of my attempts to catch her and set her on something more solid.
Stella! I said, I had no idea you might be a musician.
She isn’t, Annabelle muttered under her breath. I gave her a look.
As soon as Thatch removed his miner’s cap, Stella jumped back onto the table to play with it. No, you don’t! Thatch ordered. This is mine! He grabbed the cap and ran to the bathroom to hang it up, and Stella chased after him.
Annabelle watched them in silence, then she turned to me. She’s got no couth, none at all, you know.
But, Annabelle, you’ve actually got her interested in musical theatre! I am floored.
It wasn’t easy, but sometimes something we do appeals to her, like climbing the Alps and singing “The Lonely Goatherd,” and she really enjoys herself. I’m still trying to make her understand the two essentials.
Which are? I asked.
Musical Theatre is my life and I am The Star.
Speaking of stars, have you heard from RU Fémos? I asked.
We talked, but he’s out of town waiting for the plague to end.
Well, when he gets back, I’m sure he’ll have work for you.
Perhaps.
She played a bit with a paper clip on the computer table. So . . . you’re home from seeing your surgeon?
One of them. The one who removed the tumor.
And? What did he say? Will you live? Are you dying?
He said the tumor was cancerous as he expected, but the surgery removed all of it. As far as he’s concerned, the rest of my life will be six-month checkups and CT-scans. I’m very relieved.
She burst into tears and jumped into my lap, where she paced in circles three times, saying oh! oh! oh!, before she settled and wept. I was so worried! I didn’t know what would happen.
Well, Annabelle, I was scared. I wasn’t ready to leave you – any of you.
Thatch and I were so worried, we went down to the Lower East Side to see Madame Esmé while you were in hospital . . .
You did? Who? Madame Esmé?
This really old cat. She’s a famous witch. They say she will never die. She’s the oldest living cat in Manhattan, and the fattest, and she knows everything. She lives in this battered sofa in an alley behind a Chinese restaurant, and she’s very, very choosey about who she advises.
I’ve never taken you to the Lower East Side. That’s a dangerous trip. How did you get down there?
It took us all day. We went with a couple of pigeons, Pebble and Oyster. They knew how to get there and back. Thatch had decided to go on a quest to save your life, and Madame Esmé said she could tell him what he had to do when he got to the Land of the Dead.
The Land of the Dead? Are you serious?
Yes. It’s very far away, and I’m so happy he doesn’t have to do it. I was afraid he would never come back alive. Madame Esmé had warned him he might not survive.
Scaredy-cat Thatch? I don’t believe it.
He was terrified, really terrified, but he was determined to save you, and Pebble and Oyster promised to go with him. They’re such good friends. I’m so relieved he doesn’t have to go. Madame Esmé told him that if he came back for her help that she was taking his right eye.
What?
She makes terrible demands, and she told Thatch that she wanted his right eye before she would tell him what to do. He was sick when we left there.
Why his eye?
She demands shiny things for payments. We brought a bag of possible booty – his collar, some paper clips, a few of our toys, and she turned it down, all of it! Then she looked at Thatch for a bit till the baby started squirming, and she said, I’ll tell you what’s the brightest thing I see: your right eye. That’s what I want!
Oh, my God!
He passed out and wet himself!
Poor Thatch!
Madame Esmé laughed and rolled about till he came to, and then she said, You wanna save your Daddy? That’s what you’ll pay me. He looked her straight in the eye and said, All right. I promise. Luckily, I don’t think we’ll need to go back to see the old witch.
Oh, my poor baby!
That’s how much he loves you. Don’t you ever tell him you know about this.
All right, I won’t. I promise.
There was an avalanche of sound as Thatch, pursued by Stella, ran through the apartment and leaped onto the windowsill. Annabelle climbed off my lap and leaped to the floor.
I’m really happy you’re okay, Daddy.
Thank you, Missy. I love you.
I watched her ruin to the window to join them. I turned to the computer. How many emails since I’ve been out, I wondered? And how many are junk?
It turned out most were disposable, and I quickly dumped them. A few minutes later, another avalanche of cats ran past me on the way to the bathroom. After several moments of quiet, Stella and Annabelle appeared in their drndls and mountain climbing equipment. They made it to the Alps – er, bookcase behind my bed – and set up camp. Thatch, in his Tyrolean cap and lederhosen, jumped onto the computer table.
Daddy? Are you going to sing “The Lonely Goatherd” with us?
Yes, but we need to have all of your equipment. I see the ropes and backpacks. Do you have your lunches?
Too late for lunch, but we have our snacks.
Good, I said. I guess you can get started. And, Thatch . . .
Yes, Daddy?
I love you.
I know. I love you, too.
Annabelle yodeled. He yodeled back. He leaped from the table to my shoulder. He then jumped onto my bed and joined his sisters.
Sing! Annabelle ordered, and I began: High on a hill was a lonely goatherd . . .
©2020, Larry Moore
Annabelle & Thatch 