Always Be Appreciative of Opposable Thumbs

Chapter Three: Residual Magic

 Hugo woke up to someone shaking his shoulder.

"Cabbage Boy. Hey, Cabbage Boy. Wake up."

Grimacing at the sound of the supposed princess' voice, Hugo mumbled, "Go away."

"Hey, I think we have a situation here. With your girlfriend."

He groaned and sat up. "She's not my girlfriend."

Sera was wringing her hands anxiously. "I don't know if some drunk Fairy stumbled into her or if one of your cabbages was tainted, but . . ."

Panic seized his chest. He looked over at Willow and discovered a brown and white goose sleeping where she had been only last night.

He released a relieved sigh. "Oh. Is that all?"

"I swear, I didn't do a thing. I woke up and found you cuddling with this, this goose."

Hugo smirked as he watched Sera's eyes dart from him to the goose. It was quite satisfying to see her so out of sorts. Alas, Willow would want him to explain.

"It's fine," he said, turning to the goose. "Willow. Willow, wake up."

He gently shook the goose until her eyes opened. Stretching and yawning, she turned her attention to him. Realization dawned on her quickly, and she glanced at Sera.

Have you told her yet?

"No, not yet," Hugo said. "She woke up before I did."

Well, tell her before she gets frightened.

"I don't know that this is enough to frighten the likes of her."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa." Sera closed her eyes and shook her head before opening them again. "You can understand the goose?"

"Yes," Hugo confirmed. "And she's not a goose, she's Willow."

Her eyes widened. "This is your girlfriend?"

Not his girlfriend.

"Not my girlfriend," Hugo said.

Sera froze for a moment before chuckling to herself. "All right, so now I can see why you two aren't married."

"This has nothing to do—"

"I can roll with this. Yeah, I can totally roll with this. All right, so tell me how this happened. Or was she born like this? And how come you can understand her and I can't?"

"Willow is technically a goose. I met her when my cart was destroyed by a Giant's misplaced chamber pot."

"Chamber pot?"

"Yeah, our village is directly underneath the Giant's kingdom, and when they empty their chamber pots, our market is, well . . ."

"Oh man, gross. How do you live like that?"

"We just do, okay? Anyhow, Willow was helping me—"

"Wait, as a goose or a human?"

"As a human."

"How the heck does all that work?"

"If you'd shut up and listen, I could tell you."

"Right, right, sorry, go on."

"Anyhow, one thing led to another, and I discovered that the bonnet she always wore was magical and kept her in her human form."

"A magical bonnet?"

Hugo hesitated and glanced at Willow. How much did she want to share about her past?

Tell her however much you think is safe, she said. I trust you.

He smiled softly and turned back to Sera. "It was a gift from her . . . mother. But she lost it—"

"She lost a magical bonnet?"

"It was stolen."

"Who steals a bonnet?"

"It was magical. Can I just tell the story here?"

"Sorry, sorry, proceed."

"So the bonnet was stolen, and Willow turned back into her goose form. For whatever reason, we decided to stick together, and for the past two years, she and I have been working on my cabbage farm. It seems, though, that all that time she spent wearing the bonnet left some sort of residual effect on her. Every twelve weeks she turns into her human form for twelve days."

"Twelve? Why twelve?"

"I have no idea. I mean, she has twelve sisters, so maybe that has something to do with it?"

"Sisters? Are they geese, too?"

"Well, at least eleven of them are. They haven't exactly kept in touch."

"Ooh, some family drama, eh?"

"Kind of. They're off looking for a prince. Anyhow, as for why I can understand her, I really don't know. I guess because I've been around her for so long, it just came to me?"

Sera leaned forward. "Aw, well aren't you two adorable? Would have been nice of you to inform me of this earlier, though."

"Well, between my cabbage field and house burning to a crisp and us being forced to go on this ridiculous journey with you, it may have slipped my mind."

I'm so sorry, Princess Sera.

"What was that?" Sera asked. "Was she talking to me? All I hear is honking."

"She says she's sorry."

Sera grinned. "Oh, no worries. We all have our little secrets."

Hugo narrowed his eyes. "Yes, but Willow's secret isn't going to get us killed. Is yours?"

"Who said I have a secret?"

"Didn't you just?"

"I was speaking in generalities. Geez, stop taking things so literally." Sera shielded her eyes against the rising sun. "So, uh, maybe we should get going. Don't want to dally, now, do we?"

Though he was still suspicious of the princess, Hugo was keener on getting rid of her. So with a sigh, he jumped out of the cart and started pulling again. Willow stretched her neck out and leaned her head against his shoulder.

I'm sorry. I should have kept track of the days better.

"Not your fault."

But now I can't help as much on our journey.

"You're as helpful as a goose as you are as a human."

Oh. I'm sorry, she said sadly.

Hugo flushed. "No, that's not what I meant."

I'll try my best not to be too much of a burden.

"No, Willow, you're very helpful. As a human and a goose."

What help can I be as a goose?

"You ward off trespassers."

So I'm violent.

"Well, a little."

How charming.

Hugo grinned. "It has its charm. And besides, you're great at rounding up stray cabbages. Not to mention, you know," he cleared his throat and mumbled, "you're good company."

What was that?

"Company. You. You're . . . good."

He glanced back at her, and though it wasn't physically possible for her to smile with a beak, he knew her well enough to know she was grinning. She playfully tugged at his hair, and he gave a soft laugh before pushing her away.

"You two lovebirds are kinda making me sick," Sera called from the back of the cart.

"We are not lovebirds," Hugo said.

I'll go keep her company. Since I'm so good at it.

Willow drew her neck back into the cart, leaving Hugo alone with his thoughts and blushing cheeks and ears.