Sky Pirates

Chapter 12

Cole stood silently at the garden gate. He admired how much work Mildred and the stable boy had already accomplished. Nearly twenty feet of the main, central path had been revealed. The center path, made up of large, smooth, flat pavers, was about four feet across. Each side edged with chiseled stone borders more than a foot tall holding back overgrown flowerbeds. To the right, those beds contained old, gnarled rose bushes nearly six feet high. Many of the stems and stalks were as thick around as a man's arm. A smell caught up in his nose and he remembered his mother hugging him tight, her skirts dirty, her hands gloved, and that smell fo earth and roses and something else, something he smelled now but couldn't identify. He willed the rising tears away from his eyes. The two rose bushes nearest the entrance had unopened buds the size of a fist. The things were massive. Around, following the garden wall, Perry was working a scythe, mowing down bushels of grasses taller than him.

From Cole's position, he could only see his sister's feet and ankles. The remainder of her was hidden by the weeds and plants that surrounded her. He debated his options. He wanted her help with the clock. He hated to admit that, but he knew his sister would be able to clearly direct him about what gears and cogs went where. And, if he took her advice, he also knew that the clock would work when he was finished, and furthermore, that she'd allow him all the credit and glory for the accomplishment. Cole resented Mildred, just a bit, for having better skills and abilities than he did, especially when it came to mechanical things. Although, everyone would admit that her skills were better in all things than were his.

Despite wanting her assistance, he also didn't want to bother her. She was obviously taking this new gardening vocation seriously. She seemed to take everything quite seriously. So, for a long while, he simply remained at the gate and watched the bees and butterflies drift over, around, and through the tangle of greenery that once was and soon again would be his mother's garden.

It was impossible to be there and not think of her. He was only three when she died, but Cole had clear memories of her. One of those memories involved this garden. He sat with her on one of the yet to be exposed benches along the wall. They were in the shade, eating a picnic lunch out of a wicker basket so big he could have fit inside. They didn't use utensils to consume their food, but instead ate everything, even the peach jam, with their fingers. And, as they got stickier and stickier, and laughed more and more, dozens of bees arrived, drawn by the sticky sweetness. Cole remembered being startled and afraid when a bee lighted on his mother, but she laughed and said she was the queen of the bees. As she laughed more and more bees arrived and settled on her arms, skirts, and even her head and face. Still she laughed and smiled.

Cole shook the odd memory from his head, thinking, as he had over the years, that it must be a dream, or something he'd made up.

"Brother!" exclaimed Mildred as she rushed toward him, brushing her hair back with a dirty, gloved hand. "Let me show you my garden."

"Your garden?" Mildred smelled just as his mother had sixteen years ago. "This was then, is now, and always will be Mother's garden."

"Oh, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or Mother's memory." She placed her arm through the crook of Cole's stiff arm. "Really." She laid her head on her brother's strong chest. "I guess I am taking ownership as I work here. I hope you can find a way to be okay with that."

He knew he should say something, but he couldn't bring himself to speak.

They walked together along the so-far-exposed path. The paving stones held a green, mossy patina that was a bit slick. She showed him the roses and their massive buds. She offered conjecture about their color, but then laughed at herself as she admitted she didn't really know what colors would emerge. Cole was patient and allowed his sister to show off all she'd discovered and found.

"Now, dear brother, shall we begin work on your clock?" Mildred stripped off her gardening gloves. "Isn't it delightful that we both claimed projects to work on that would improve the house and grounds before Uncle returns from his trip?"

A bee gently buzzed and lighted on Mildred's arm. She took no notice of it.

"Okay. Okay. Let go of my arm," Cole snapped. He immediately regretted his tone, but at the same time, all he could think of at that moment was getting out of the garden and back into the full sunlight and fresh air outside the high gated walls.

The siblings walked together out of the garden. They didn't touch and were silent as they traversed the path toward the little door at the corner of the house that would lead them up to the clockworks.

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