Summer Island - A Prince in Peril

21 - The Bazaar

Normally it would have taken Zoë and Seymour three hours to hike back to Star Rock. Carrying the huge bookworm costume, for that's apparently what it was, increased their burden significantly. When Mrs. Eaton had handed it to him, Seymour tried his best not to look either horrified or surprised. He reminded himself this should have been something he already knew was going to happen.

"Just take turns in the costume," Mrs. Eaton encouraged. "That way it won't get too hot. No need to do anything fancy. Just sort of mingle with the crowd, take pictures with kids, that sort of thing. There'll be a literacy booth near the gazebo so you might want to focus around there. Whatever you like is fine."

"Of course," Seymour tried to smile casually.

"You children are such dears. I thought I wouldn't have any trouble finding somebody to wear this, but I guess not everyone can see how fun it will be."

"Yes, ma'am," Seymour said from behind the mass of beige padding. "I really should be on my way."

"Very well. We'll see you tomorrow around three o'clock or so?"

Seymour bade farewell to Reverend Eaton and headed out.

Zoë was just arriving. "Good Go-" She stopped as she saw Mrs. Eaton emerge from the door. "Hello," she greeted politely.

"Oh! Hello, Zoë. Glad you're here. Your cousin looks like he could use some help."

Zoë stifled a giggle and went to help Seymour.

"Never mind," came his voice from behind the foam. "Get the groceries. I've got this."

"You're not going to walk all the way back to the house, are you?" the minister's wife asked with concern.

"Oh, we'll be fine," Zoë assured.

"Really? It's no bother to run you up there. Ed?" Mrs. Eaton called.

"Really, Mrs. Eaton. We're fine. We need the exercise." Seymour tried to persuade her, but his confident expression was buried beneath the gargantuan costume.

She looked doubtful.

Acting on impulse, Zoë took the initiative and preempted the debate. "Okay then, bye, Mrs. Eaton!" she called cheerfully, walking off at a brisk pace.

"Uh, yeah, bye." Seymour ran after his cousin trying desperately to manage his unwieldy burden.

As they reached the edge of town, they decided to put their food inside the large foam worm and each carry one end. Although it somewhat improved the situation, it still dragged out their journey. As a result, they arrived at the camp much later than anticipated.

"Where were you?" shouted Dinora as she saw them approach. "I was so worr-what is that?" She completely forgot what she was going to say as she stared at the bizarre thing her friends were carrying. "It looks like a sleeping bag made out of Band-Aids."

"Long story," Seymour groaned as he dumped his end of the costume on the ground near the cave.

"Hey, be careful!" Zoë reprimanded. "The peaches are in there."

"Peaches?" Dinora asked excitedly.

Zoë unzipped the bookworm and proceeded to unpack the groceries, which were greeted with no small amount of delight. Mario had been about to make dinner but was waiting in case something was wrong and they had to leave in a hurry. This turned out to be quite fortunate as another bean soup would have paled in comparison to the dinner Seymour had selected. He pulled out tinfoil, onions, potatoes, green peppers and ground beef.