She saw the water-flower bloom,
She saw the helmet and the plume,
She looked down to Camelot.”
When he reached the tree, he slowly, gently reached for the pencil, hoping he wouldn’t scare the spider back down into the caddy. It watched his fingers but thankfully stayed put as Ben pulled the pencil out like a magic wand and lifted the eraser end toward the lowest branch.
The spider leaped from the pencil to the branch and turned around to stare at Ben at eye level. Ben chuckled, then softly sang:
“Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror cracked from side to side;
‘The curse is come upon me!’ cried
The Lady of Shalott.”
“Whatcha singing?” Shane asked behind him. Dammit, the man was silent when he wanted to be. Then again, talking to Charlie often had the effect of sending Ben into a daze.
“N-nothing,” Ben said.
One of Shane’s eyebrows rose—he wasn’t fooling his friend one bit. Shane had known Ben since they were in grade school, knew that one of the techniques Ben had used when his stutter stopped him mid-sentence was to sing something quickly underhis breath then continue where he’d left off talking. It usually worked—but also made the other kids think he wasn’t all there, and so they teased him mercilessly, calling him ‘dumb as a moose.’ Ben’s friends took on animal names of their own in response to the teasing, turning ‘Moose’ into a true nickname instead of a taunt. Ben would be forever grateful for the kindness of his friends—his brothers.
But right now, he would’ve given anything not to have Shane standing right there looking at him, knowing his secret. Shane’s gaze went from Ben’s face to the caddy clutched in his hands.
“That looks familiar,” Shane said. He tapped his chin, pretending to ponder. “Now…where have I seen it before…”
“Just stop,” Ben grumbled.
Shane’s expression broke into a wide grin. “King Charlemagne doesn’t let that thing out of her sight, man. She’s damn near feral about anyone trying to steal one of her pens. And here you are with the whole enchilada. If you’re trying to play a practical joke on her, I’d advise against it.”
“I-I’dneverdo that,” Ben said, defending himself. He turned and strode toward the door to go back inside and clean off every single pen, marker, and pencil and the caddy itself, as promised.
“Hey, wait up, Moose. Seriously, how’d you get ahold of that?”
“None of your business.”
“Wait…did you actually ask her out?”
No, I made a complete fool of myself.
“I said, none of your business.”
“Come on, don’t be like that.”
Ben paused as he opened the door. “I mean it, Elk. It’s none of your damn business.”
“Whoa, okay, man.” Shane put his palms out facing Ben.
“P-please, just drop it, okay? I have to bring this back. I’ll meet you after that for lunch.”
“She didn’t turn you down, did she?” Shane asked quietly, all seriousness as he closed the door behind them.
Ben sighed as he headed for the restroom. “I’d have to ask her out for her to turn me down.”
“Well, swiping her pen caddy isn’t going to endear you. Unless you’re planning on holding it ransom?”
“Nope.” Ben reached the restroom, checked the knob, and was relieved to find it unlocked. “Now if you’ll excuse me.”
