The Adventures of Horace Tidwiddler by jlee smith (book suggestions txt) 📕

They blinked several times as if to say “What in the world are you staring at?” Horace could not stand up so he just sat in the grass and watched as a small cat of some type he had never seen before walked up and sniffed at his leg. It was black with a white stripe down its back with a large fluffy black and white tail. The cat made a small meowing sound, so Horace reached out and gave it a pat on the head. Cat had never been petted before, so not knowing what to do she gave a louder meowing sound and sat down. Horace saw there was a large bur caught in the creature’s tail so without thinking he reached over and removed it. This may not seem important, but Cat had been trying to remove that bur for weeks. It had bothered her when she walked or when she tried to sleep, it was awful. Cat was so grateful she gave old big hands a rub on the legs and a louder meow. Horace, with the help of a stick, stood up on shaky legs and started for home. Cat thought she would tag along, so she did. As Horace headed for home, with Cat in tow, he noticed something strange, he could not smell the wild flowers along the trail. For that matter, he could not smell anything. Horace thought he must have broken his smeller when he passed out.
As he walked toward the village with his new friend, Horace decided on a name for Cat. He would name her after his favorite Aunt, his Mother's baby sister, Mattilda. Horace turned to Cat and said, “Come on Aunt Matt, lets go home.”


CHAPTER THREE - HORACE LEARNS THE TRUTH


As Horace and his new friend walked down the trail leading to the village, he noticed something rather unusual, there was not a soul in sight. This was not the way it normally was and he could not understand where everyone had disappeared to. Horace was confused but then as usual he soon forgot what he was confused about, so it all worked out just fine. Aunt Matt was not as easy going as Horace and was very cautious as they walked through the tiny village. Small eyes peeked out at them from behind every door and window. Low mumbling voices could be heard as they passed. Aunt Matt was not at all happy with the situation and left small puffs of perfume with every footstep to show her uneasiness. They formed a strange parade of two as they marched through the village and down the trail toward Horace’s home.
As they approached the little house by the side of the road, Horace heard a small cry from inside the house. It was Horace’s Mother. Horace had never heard his Mother cry before and it scared him. As he rushed through the door, his Mother was wiping her eyes with her apron. Horace said “Mother, what has happened? Are you hurt?” She just looked at him and began to sob as big old tears rolled down her cheeks. Horace was mortified.
Momma Tidwiddler sat down at the kitchen table and looked at Horace with tired eyes that had been keeping a secret for far too long. She said, “I need to tell you something now that you are older, son. You have a brother.”
Horace did not know what to say. He just stared at his Mother for the longest time and then heard himself say, “Where is he?” She began to sob and cry all over again. A loud trembling voice from the other room said, “He is with the gypsies.” Papa Tidwiddler walked slowly into the kitchen and stood behind his wife. His eyes were also red and his voice trembled as he slowly sat down. In a small voice he said, “Before you were born, we were very poor and had no money. Then after you were born, there were four mouths to feed.” Horace stood very still for a moment and said, “what do you mean, THEN there were FOUR mouths to feed?” Papa Tidwiddler looked at Horace with a quizzical look and said, “Didn’t Momma tell you? Horace, you’re a twin, an identical twin.” At this point, Horace‘s mouth fell open and he could not contain himself. In a loud and rather rude voice he said, “What’s he doing with the gypsies?” Papa Tidwiddler looked at Horace and said, “Sit down Son and I will tell you the whole story from the beginning.”
Before you were born, I worked in a broom factory that was in the village. Your Mother and I were very poor but at least I made enough to buy food and clothing for both of us. I made two gold coins each week. This not only helped us but also the entire village. Let me explain how. The factory bought wheat straw to make the brooms. The factory paid the villagers for their work. They, in turn bought milk and cheese from the man who owned the cows. The man who owned the cows bought wheat grain to feed his cows. The baker bought milk from the cows owner and wheat from the farmer to make the bread. Villagers bought bread to feed their families. As you can see, we all
supported each other. Then one day, just before you were born, a terrible thing occurred. The broom factory closed. Sir Dalton said there was just not enough demand for wheat straw brooms like there once was, so he locked the factory doors and went home. Needless to say, this hurt the entire village. Everyone suffered.
The day after you and your brother were born, a band of traveling gypsies were passing through the village looking for work. They asked if they could park their wagons on our land and I agreed. There were very nice people, your Mother and I liked them very much, especially one couple. Ulee was the man’s name and Mardia was his wife. They stayed for about a week. During this time Mardia helped your Mother with the babies. It was also during this time that Mardia confessed that she could never have children. Your Mother felt very sad for them, as did I. On the day they were leaving, they both approached your Mother and I with a proposition. They wanted to adopt one of our babies as their own and for this they would send eight gold coins each month until the baby's eighteenth birthday. We loved you both but knew in our hearts this was our only option. It was this or starvation. We loved you both but knew this would be best for all. I am sorry we never told this story to you but as years passed, we felt it was never the right time. Horace sat at the table for a long time without saying a thing because he did not know what to say. He was dumb struck. He looked at his Father and Mother and in very quiet voice said, “and”? They both looked at the floor and Horace’s Mother said, “The money stopped coming several months ago. We think something may have happened to them.”
Horace knew he was not eighteen so that was not the problem. It was about this time that Aunt Matt decided to introduce herself to the rest of the family and entered the room. Well, Horace had never seen two large people both trying to go through a small door while jumping around and screaming at the same time. It scared him half to death. Aunt Matt looked at Horace, winked and said “happens every time I enter a room.” Horace could not believe what had just happened, he looked at Aunt Matt and said, “you can talk? I didn’t know you could talk.” Aunt Matt said “some of us can and some of us can’t. It just takes a special person to understand us.” While this conversation was going on, Mr. and Mrs. Tidwiddler were both having a separate conversation that involved lots of screaming and yelling “Stinky”, “Stinky”, at the top of their lungs. Horace and Aunt Matt thought it best if they both left the two of them alone for awhile. They both walked out the front door and down the path into the forest.
It was getting dark as they started down the path. Horace, lost in thought, did not notice as the first stars began to appear. After a while, Aunt Matt broke the silence and said, ”ahumm, ahumm.” Horace was startled and said, “What?” Aunt Matt asked, “are we going to just walk or are we going any where in particular?” Horace said, “I’m sorry, I just forgot that we could talk to each other.” They stopped and sat down by a big oak log. Aunt Matt asked , “do you know what the name Horace means?” Horace just shook his head and said, “No.” Aunt Matt said, “a long time ago, in Egypt, the name Horace meant The One From Above.” Horace knew he had never been above anything. Horace muttered, “Do you think they meant the stars?” Aunt Matt thought for a minute and then said, “Could be.” “I do know that light from stars can take over forty million years to get here. Also, the light we see could be from a star that died over forty million years ago and is not even there anymore.” Horace looked at Aunt Matt for a long time and then said, “Where do you get all that bull?” Aunt Matt said, “I read a lot.” Horace said, “Well, I have seen several books but I have never read one. Aunt Matt snickered and Horace just looked down at his feet. After a while, Horace said, “Do you mean that all the stars I see out there may be dead and not even there anymore?” “Yip, that's what I mean”, said Aunt Matt. “Well then”, replied Horace, “that means all the black space I see out there could be just plumb full of stars that have been born in the last forty million years and their light just hasn't gotten here yet.” “Yip,” said Aunt Matt again. Horace was silent for a few minutes then said, “You know, I like that thought.” The moon was just beginning to rise when they started back to the house and Horace was thinking , “’I’ve got to get me a book.”
Horace and Aunt Matt arrived back at the little house very late that night. To avoid trying to explain things to his Mother and Father, Horace decided they would just sleep in the barn. The next morning, Horace was awakened by people yelling and running toward the village from all directions. He knew something was up besides the
presence of his new friend. He asked Aunt Matt to stay out of sight while he found out what was going on.
When Horace arrived in the village, all the people were standing around just shaking their heads in disbelief,