The Turtle and the Bird

Chapter 7

The next morning, Turtle lifted his head from the block-shaped pillow and sleepily looked around, momentarily forgetting where he was. The sunlight reflected off of the silver Squinkie emblem on the back wall, making him squint.

Beside him, the purple dog shifted and sat up. "Good morning," he said.

"Good morning," Turtle replied. Looking around, he saw that the attic was about half as full as it had been the night before. Pine had left too, apparently.

"Let's go downstairs," the dog said, getting up.

They walked down to the dining room. As they got closer, Turtle heard Pine and Taylor talking. "I thought you were going to do the play about the cat sisters," Pine said.

"We were," Taylor replied, "but before the actors had memorized their lines, all of the scripts disappeared, and the file on our computer was deleted. We had to write a simple one that they could learn and perform in a shorter amount of time."

Turtle and the dog walked in, and Pine and Taylor looked up. "Hi, Turtle," Pine said. "How did you sleep?"

"Good," Turtle replied. "The pillows were comfortable. Is Bluebell up yet?"

Pine shook his head. "The girls don't get up for a while. Are you hungry?"

"A little bit," Turtle confessed.

Taylor brought out food, and Turtle and the dog served themselves and ate.

After Turtle and Pine had finished eating, they went out to the backyard. A few of the other boy animals were hanging out there. Turtle and Pine sat under an apple tree and talked about life back at the park.

A burst of giggling announced the arrival of the girls in the yard. Turtle turned to see the orange and the white cats escorting Bluebell through the door. She laughed and talked with the rest of them.

Bluebell and the orange cat walked up to Turtle and Pine. Pine introduced Turtle to the cat and said that her name was Isabella, and then the two of them went to go play tennis. Turtle and Bluebell greeted each other.

Linda walked up to them. "Barbie just called," she said. "Would you like to go with her to see her businesses?"

Bluebell looked at Turtle. "Want to go sight-seeing?"

Turtle grinned. "Sure."

Linda smiled. "I'll tell her you're in," she said, walking back to the house.

Turtle and Bluebell watched the tennis game. Isabella was better than Pine, but he played with as much enthusiasm. She won the game, and they shook wing and paw.

"Do you two want to play?" Pine offered.

"Could you teach us?" Bluebell asked.

"Sure thing," Isabella replied. "C'mon."

Turtle and Bluebell each picked up a racket, and Isabella showed them a few different ways to swing. They played against each other while Pine and Isabella gave them tips from the sidelines.

A few minutes later, Linda came out again. "Barbie's here," she told them.

Turtle and Bluebell said goodbye and walked through the house to the front yard. Barbie, Nikki, Teresa, a girl with carrot-red hair, and a blond boy were standing outside.

"Hi guys," Barbie said. "This is my friend Midge and my boyfriend Ken. Guys, this is Pine's sister Bluebell and his friend Turtle."

Barbie and her friends got into her minivan, and Turtle and Bluebell got into the Squinkie car, which the girls had lent them. Barbie pulled out onto the street, and Bluebell pulled up right behind her. They drove to the main street.

Barbie parked in a small parking lot behind a small pink building. The group walked in. "This is our design building," Barbie told them. "It's where we design all of our fashions."

She led them up through the main lobby to a private room on the second floor. There were three mirrors hinged together with a pedestal in front of it in the corner, two desks and two tables with sewing machines on them, a wooden changing screen, a shoe shelf, a circular clothes rack, and a shoe-shaped lounge chair.

"This is our design office," Barbie explained. "We design and make the clothes here. Teresa is the main designer, but I help out. Nikki, Midge, Ken, Sequin and I are the models."

"You know," Teresa said, eyeing Bluebell, "you would probably be just right for a new animal shirt I'm making. Would you mind trying something on?"

Bluebell shrugged. "Not at all."

Teresa gave her a pale indigo shirt, and she stepped behind the changing screen. When she came out, Turtle could see that the shirt was waist-length with ruffles sleeves. She stepped on the pedestal and looked at herself in the mirror. Turtle felt a warm rush in his face.

Teresa made a huge fuss over her, making her turn round and round while she made minor adjustments and smoothed the ruffles. Finally she stood back. "Perfect," she said, nodding. "Do you think you could model it in our fashion show?"

"When is it?" Bluebell asked.

"We don't know yet," Barbie said. "Probably next week. We'll let you know."

"I probably can," Bluebell replied.

"Do you want to go get something to eat?" Turtle asked her.

Bluebell nodded. "We'll meet up with you guys later."

"Okay," Barbie replied. "See you."

Turtle and Bluebell got into the car and drove down the street to the café. They bought sandwiches and bottled water and then sat down at a table with an umbrella. Before long, a blue mouse approached them. He was carrying a piece of cheese.

"Bonjour," He said, smiling. He had a French accent. "I am William Mousset."

Turtle smiled. "Hi."

William sat down. "I have not seen you before," he said. "Are you new?"

"We're visiting my brother," Bluebell told him.

"Ah," he said. "Where does he live?"

"In the Squinkie Mansion," Bluebell said.

"Oh, William said. He seemed very friendly, as far as Turtle could see.

Bluebell had finished her food. "We'd better be going now."

Turtle nodded and stood. "Okay."

William stood. "Of course. I would love to meet again."

"How about we meet here tomorrow?" Bluebell offered. "Say, noon?"

"Of course." William pulled out a white handkerchief, held it over his paw, and then dramatically pulled it up to reveal a bright pink camellia. He held it out to Bluebell. She turned bright red, smiled, and took it. Turtle pulled her toward the car.

Bluebell plopped down in the passenger seat, a dreamy look on her face. Turtle closed the door for her and walked around the car to the driver's seat. They drove back to the house.

Pine and Isabella were flying in a two-seated open plane. Turtle and Bluebell watched as it landed.

Pine got out and pulled his flight goggles back to the top of his head. "Hey guys," he said, grinning. "Did you have a nice trip?"

When she saw Bluebell's face, Isabella gave her a sideways stare. "Tell me what happened," she said dragging her over to one of the trees. She climbed up while Bluebell flew up to one of the branches.

Pine turned towards Turtle. "So....what happened?"

Turtle rolled his eyes. "Some French guy gave her a flower."

Pine raised his eyebrows. "It seems like you have a problem with that."

Turtle felt himself blushing. "It's not that I have a problem with it, it's just that I don't think she should be crushing on someone she just met."

"Sure," Pine said sarcastically, nodding.

Turtle playfully punched him in the wing. "Cut it out."

Pine laughed as they walked back to the house.