The Gallant Return of Kathryn and Tobin: Part Five

      By the time we had completed the glass-bottom boat tour, it was only one o'clock, so I had two hours to kill before Daisy came over. Tobin asked if I wanted to explore the woods for snorkles that liked to root around in the undergrowth and leaf litter for truffles, but I was too mad at him.

      I stormed out of the house and slammed the door behind me, picking up stones I found in the sand and hurling them as hard as I could across the water. My eyes burned with unexpected tears of fury. Why did my brother have to embarrass me everywhere we went? There wasn't a single place he could go or person he could talk to without saying or doing something stupid or humiliating or inappropriate, and now it was even jeopardizing my chance at making friends! It wasn't fair, I never asked for a brother like him, and right now I'd do anything in the world to be rid of him.

      As I lobbed rock after rock into the cold water, I spitefully hoped I was hitting those stupid catamaras in the head. I was so sick of my stupid brother and his stupid petpets!

      In between splashes, I heard someone approaching me from behind, but I didn't turn around. “Go away Tobin!” I shouted angrily, “Leave me alone!” But the footsteps didn't let up. “I said leave me alone you little freak!” I whipped round, a rock poised in my hand as I prepared to throw it. I froze when I saw Mom standing behind me.

      “I heard you leave,” she said quietly, “You seemed pretty upset, you want to tell me why?”

      I lowered my hand and let the rock slip from my fingers, watching as it landed with a soft thump in the sand. I took a deep breath and sighed. “I'm so sick of Tobin,” I said bitterly, feeling tremendous relief and guilt simultaneously for saying it.

      “What about him?” Mom asked, sitting down in the sand and beckoning me to join her.

      I flopped down beside her and rested my elbows on my knees, pressing the heels of my palms into my forehead as I stared at the ground. “All of him,” I admitted, “I'm so tired of him embarrassing me all the time, no matter where we go, it's constant, and I'm so tired of him having those stupid freakouts over nothing, and never ever shutting up about those stupid petpets, and always getting his own way because he'll tantrum if he doesn't and it's easier for us to give in. It's hard living in the shadows of a kid that weird, and now I'm afraid Daisy won't want to play with me because my brother's such a freak.” The tears burned my eyes, threatening to spill over. I'd never told her any of this before.

      I felt Mom's arm slide around my shoulders as she pulled me close and murmured, “Is that really what you think? That you're living in Tobin's shadow?” She sighed, “I'm so sorry Kathryn, I never knew. I wish you'd told me sooner. I know living with your brother is hard, and I know we sometimes give in to what he wants too easily, I know it's hard, being on edge waiting for him to say something embarrassing, I know that, and I know how hard you try to be a good sister even in spite of all those things. You're so much stronger than I ever was at your age sweetheart, and I'm so proud of you, and I'm sorry I don't say it enough.”

      “Really?” I asked, glancing at her; those were the words I'd been waiting my whole life to hear. I couldn't help it, my eyes swam as the tears coursed down my cheeks, leaving wet tracks on my fur.

      “Come here,” Mom pulled me closer as I buried my face in her shirt and cried. “I'll talk to Tobin tonight and make sure he leaves you and Daisy alone, you won't have to worry about him.”

      “Thanks,” I sniffled, not looking up as I continued to choke on my sobs.

      By the time three o'clock came around, I still wasn't speaking to my brother, but had pulled myself together enough that it didn't look as if anything had gone wrong by the time Daisy arrived on my doorstep with her pink backpack in tow.

      I smiled and let her in, leading her to my room.

      “This place looks just like ours,” Daisy said, observing the woodsy decour, “I guess you're lucky you got this cabin, your brother would probably flip if he saw the raindorf antlers on the wall at our place.”

      Daisy was probably right; I said a silent prayer of thanks that we didn't end up having to deal with a pair of raindorf antlers on top of everything else. I shook my head; this was my night, I wasn't about to let my brother spoil it, in my imagination or otherwise. “You won't have to worry about him,” I told her as I pushed open the door to my room, “My mom told him he has to leave us alone, so you don't have to listen to him talk about petpets all night long.”

      Daisy smiled as if what I'd said relieved her.

      I sat on my bed and looked around the empty room, “So, what do you want to do? I didn't really bring many games with me.”

      “That's okay, I brought some stuff for us to do,” Daisy unzipped her backpack and tipped out its contents. Several usukis, a plastic bag full of hair clips and some fashion magazines fell out. “We could do each other's hair,” she said, holding up the hair clips.

      I smiled; it had been a long time since I did anything like that, and for the first time I started wishing I'd had a sister instead of a brother.

      We spent an hour combing out each other's fur and putting in the little pink and purple clips until we both looked like fashion models, then strutted up and down the hall showing off our new looks as if we were famous and basking in the glow of dozens of spotlights.

      Mom appeared from the living room and laughed when she saw us, “Well, you two were certainly busy,” she said, “Getting ready for the ball are we?”

      “Of course,” I said, striking my best super model pose, “Come on Daisy, our carriage is waiting.” I turned around and saw Tobin emerge from his room. I wasn't as cross with him as I'd been that morning, especially considering none of the things he did that made my life so hard were deliberate. I decided it wouldn't be fair to keep holding a grudge when he didn't understand what he'd done wrong, and thought it wouldn't be so bad if I started talking to him again. “What do you think Tobe?” I asked, flipping my hair the way I'd seen models do on TV, “How do I look?”

      Tobin just stared at me for a moment, then turned around and went back into his room.

      I glanced at Mom, “He's not mad at me for leaving him out of the sleepover is he?” I asked, finding that scenario highly unlikely.

      Mom shook her head and sighed, “No, you know Tobin, I'm afraid he took what I said a little too literally. When I explained that you and Daisy wanted to be left alone for the evening, he took it to mean that he wasn't to speak to you or be seen at all. Dinner is going to be interesting.”

      I sighed, “C'mon Daisy, I'd better go clear this up, it won't take a minute.” I headed off toward Tobin's room, but Daisy stayed where she was.

      “But your mom's right,” she said, “We don't want him bothering us with his weird behaviour, I'm sure he'll be fine, let's just go back to your room.”

      I felt that same twinge of protectiveness that I'd done on the boat when Daisy made fun of Tobin's rain hat. “I know he can be a little strange,” I said, “But he can't help it, he's not like other kids, and besides, he's still my brother, even if he drives me crazy. C'mon, let's go make this right, then we can play with your usukis.” I walked off without giving Daisy time to protest.

      I knocked on the door to Tobin's room and pushed it open slowly. I found him lying on his bed with Gil tucked under one arm as he flipped through his Guide to Petpets of Kiko Lake. He looked up when he saw me and his eyes widened in mild alarm, as if he were afraid of getting in trouble for being in the same room as me.

      I smiled and sat on the end of his bed, “Relax Tobe, Mom knows I'm here, I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.”

      Tobin nodded uncertainly as Daisy stood at the end of the bed. “Is that another petpet book you're reading?” she asked, “Don't you ever do anything else? Y'know, anything fun?”

      Tobin's ears drooped a little, and his face took on an expression of hurt, but still he didn't speak.

      After the way Tobin had made me feel that morning, I should have been glad to see that look on his face, but it was so innocent, and so disappointed that I felt sorry for him; he looked like a puppyblew that had been kicked for sniffing around somebody's shoes. “Don't talk to him like that,” I said to Daisy, “He doesn't think petpets are boring, he likes them, and he knows more about them than anyone I've ever met, and that makes him cool in his own way.” As I said it, I realised it was true; the depth of my brother's knowledge was extremely impressive, even if the subject of that knowledge was rather strange.

      Daisy fell silent, and Tobin's expression lifted; he looked at me gratefully.

      “Look Tobe,” I said, returning to the subject I had come to see him about, “I know Mom told you not to bother us, and I'm grateful that you're trying, but not bothering us just means not coming into my room while we're playing so you can talk about stuff we're not interested in, and it means not going rule crazy and insisting we do stuff the way you and I would normally do them when it's just the two of us, it doesn't mean you have to disappear and not speak to us at all.”

      Tobin looked at me searchingly, “Really?” he asked quietly after a moment.

      I nodded and smiled, and my brother slowly returned it.

      “Okay,” he said softly before returning to his book.

      I fought the urge to ruffle his mane affectionately as I rose from the bed and beckoned Daisy out behind me.

      In spite of our late night, Daisy and I awoke early the next morning, eager to get the day started. I disappeared into the bathroom to brush my teeth as Daisy emerged from her cocoon of blankets on the floor and stretched, licking her spiked fur smooth. She dragged a comb through her thick green tail and fluffed it up, examining it for knots. Satisfied, she led the way down the hall into the kitchen where David, for the third day running, stood over the stove. This morning he was making French toast and waffles.

      “Morning girls,” David smiled, adding another steaming waffle to his growing stack, “Sleep well?”

      Daisy and I both nodded and made our way to the table where Tobin was already sitting, munching his toast with grape jelly.

      “What's wrong?” Daisy asked, “Don't you like waffles and French toast?”

      Tobin looked at her, dusting the crumbs from his paws, “I always have toast with grape jelly for breakfast,” he said simply.

      “Really? Always?” Daisy asked, sounding surprised, “So what happens if you run out of grape jelly? Do you like, freak out, like you did yesterday?”

      Tobin dipped his head, looking embarrassed. He didn't enjoy his meltdowns any more than we did, but he couldn't help it. Smart as he was, he still had decidedly weak control over his emotions.

      I wasn't about to admit that that was probably precisely what my brother would do, and I wasn't sure I liked the way Daisy kept picking on him. “Come on,” I said, trying to change the subject, “Let's eat before the food goes cold.”

      It wasn't long before Mom joined us. “Good morning girls,” she said, helping herself to some of David's French toast, “Do you two have any plans for the day?”

      “Well,” I said, “I thought we might go explore the forest out back, maybe we can find some buried treasure.”

      “Just be careful,” Tobin interjected, “When I was out there looking for snorkles yesterday, I saw some buzzer hives hanging in the trees, they're vicious if you disturb them, and the only way to keep from getting stung by them is – ”

      “Uh huh, sure,” Daisy interrupted, jumping from her chair and carrying her plate to the sink, “No offence Tobin, but we don't really care about petpets. C'mon Kathryn, let's go find that buried treasure.”

      I fought the urge to tell Daisy off for being rude to my brother; I didn't like the way she talked to him, but I didn't want to lose her as a friend either. I picked up my plate and dropped it in the sink before following her out the front door.

      We pushed our way through the dense foliage, swatting away moquots that buzzed in thick clouds around our heads as we headed deep into the forest.

      “Yuck,” Daisy said, stepping in a large mud puddle, “I'm glad I'm not a real treasure hunter, I'd hate getting so dirty all the time!”

      I was about to reply when suddenly we heard a rustling behind us. We looked around uneasily, “Hello?” I called. No one answered.

      “Come on,” Daisy said, shaking off her paws, “It was probably just an urchull. Let's see where this leads.”

      I followed her down a fork in the trail we were on, fighting the urge to tell her that urchulls didn't live in grassy areas but in lakes and ponds. I shook the thought quickly from my mind; I'd been listening to Tobin for far too long.

      It wasn't long before Daisy stopped again, this time at the foot of a large tree. “Look at that,” she said, pointing upward.

      I looked up into the tree and saw a large round yellow thing hanging from one of the branches. It looked to be made of some sort of bark or paper material. “What do you think it is?” I asked.

      Daisy shrugged, “Let's find out,” she said, rearing up on her hind legs as she pressed her forepaws to the tree. “Maybe it's the treasure!” she said excitedly, pressing her weight into the trunk to make the tree sway.

      I watched as the yellow thing swung dangerously to and fro. “I don't think that's a good idea,” I said anxiously.

      “Oh don't worry, I'm sure it's just a giant fruit or something!” Daisy said, brushing me off.

      At that moment, there was a crack from high above us and the football-shaped object plummeted to the ground and split open. Instantly there was an angry buzzing sound, and before either of us could react, a swarm of furious buzzers exploded into the air.

      Daisy and I both screamed, swatting at them. “It's a buzzer hive!” I cried, flailing to keep the insects at bay.

      “Run!” I heard a voice behind me. I looked up for an instant; it was Tobin! It must have been him we heard rustling in the grass earlier!

      We did as we were told and raced through the forest. As soon as we reached the mud puddle we had crossed earlier, Tobin shoved us both headfirst into it, diving in behind us and rolling in the thick mud.

      Daisy shrieked, “What are you doing?! You're getting my coat filthy!”

      “It's the only way to protect yourself from the buzzers!” Tobin said, scooping up pawfuls of mud and dumping them over our heads, “They hate mud and they'll leave you alone if you're covered in it!”

      I took his word for it and coated myself in the thick slimy muck from head to toe until I was completely brown, just as he was. Only Daisy refused to comply, so Tobin forced her. He lathered her with layer after layer of heavy brown mud until she was as covered in it as we were.

      Eventually the buzzers flew off into the forest, looking for a new place to live.

      Seeing that we were no longer in danger, Daisy jumped up. “Look what you did to my beautiful coat you crazy petpet-loving little freak!” she cried, looking at the mud dripping in clumps from her fur, “Your sister was wrong about you, you're not just weird, you're totally nuts! It'll take me weeks to wash this off!”

      “Hey!” I cried, heaving myself out of the mud, “My brother just saved your life! And it was all your fault the buzzers were chasing us in the first place! I told you not to knock down that hive, but you wouldn't listen, if it hadn't been for Tobin, we could have been stung to death!”

      Daisy just glared at me, “I should have known, you're just as crazy as your brother! You two hang out here with all your stupid little petpet friends, I'm going home to wash off!” She stomped off through the trees, leaving a trail of drying mud behind her.

      I looked at Tobin, who had pulled off his rain hat and was trying to scrape the mud off it. “I'm sorry,” I sighed, “I know I'm not always very patient, and I know we don't often understand each other, but I'm glad you're my brother. Thanks for saving me.”

      Tobin did something totally unexpected then. He looked at me and smiled, cracking the drying mud on his face as he did so. “I love you too Kathryn,” he said.

      The End