When it quiets down again, Calixta taps her fingernails together and we turn toward her. “You know what else we need?”
“What?” I ask, nervous and excited about whatever she’s going to suggest next.
“A helter-skelter,” Calixta states. “No countryside festival is complete without one.”
In my mind, I see the red-and-white tower, the stairs leading inside and the spiraling slide going around its outside. They’re so much fun, and both kids and adults will love them.
“That would be the perfect addition. Do you know how I could get one onto the island? Are they for rent or should we buy one? And would they be strong enough to accommodate creatures of Bodin’s size?” I ask, going through the list of potential obstacles.
Out of the corner of my eye, Aurelius’s white wings flutter nervously. After an encouraging leg squeeze from Peregrine, he says, “I can build one. I mean, I have a hardware shop and all the equipment, plus it’s easy for me to get any other supplies I might need. And after the festival, we can always donate it to the school,” he adds.
Stunned silence reigns for all of a second before we compliment Aurelius for the good idea and the generous offer.
For the first time, this festival feels doable, like the pictures in my imagination have been extracted and refined, and finally I don’t feel so nervous about sharing my wildest idea yet.
“So, I don’t know if you guys are aware of Arran’s heritage and the clan he was a part of,” I start, letting a bit of the weight of the request shine through. “He was a laird of Clan Stewart and had to give up everything he knew and everyone he loved before founding Starry Hill. This community for all intents and purposes is his new clan, even if it doesn’t share the same name. My thought was that perhaps we could find a way to link the two, celebrating the new while honoring the old.”
Peregrine is the first to understand where I’m going with my idea. “I’ll order the tartan.”
The rest of the meeting passes by with more creative ideas, each creature taking responsibility for their tasks.
Watching my dream take shape, and so enthusiastically at that, is extremely rewarding and I’m bursting to tell Arran all about it tonight now that we have an actual plan and a tentative date.
Before everyone heads back to work, I ask the group, “Do any of you know of other creatures outside of Starry Hill we might want to invite? Creatures who used to live here and have moved away? Or any friends of Starry Hill who’d want to be part of the celebration?”
“Oh, yes,” Beryl answers. “There are a few in Willow Glen we should invite. I can write to Ronan and ask him to give me some names. Other than that, I’ll ask my mom. She’ll know better.”
I write down Willow Glen in my notes. “Thank you, Beryl. After I’ve confirmed the date with Arran, I’ll get the invitations ready and we can forward them to all of those guests.”
The festival planning committee says their goodbyes and starts filing out of The Singing Seahorse while I pack up my things.
One of the last to leave, Annamae passes a sleeping Rio back to Tilly who straps him into her carrier.
“Sorry I can’t help you on the way back,” I say to Tilly, my day filled with other appointments.
“That’s okay. Nori’s happy to help,” Tilly says, tilting her head toward the red-haired woman cooing at Lio. “Practicing for the future.”
Wide-eyed, Nori’s gaze snaps up. “How did you…?”
Tilly checks over her shoulder to make sure the others are gone, then whispers, “Congratulations, my friend. It was just a lucky guess with all the belly rubbing you’re doing and the broody faces when you hold one of the twins.”
Knowing Nori and Shinsu wanted to start their own family pretty much as soon as their relationship was confirmed, I feel positively ecstatic for my friend. “Congratulations. And way to stick it to your evil mom. A little baby Beck before Shinsu’s even put a ring on you.”
Nori bites her lip as her gaze jumps between me and Tilly. “About that… It’s just an idea, but with the whole festival, and since everyone will be there anyway… I still have to run this by Shinsu, and I don’t know if he’d feel comfortable with it, but what do you think if we made it official then?”
“Yes,” I answer, not needing an extra moment to consider it.
Nori continues her reasoning, “We’ve been planning for months and can’t settle on a date or a place. I can be so indecisive and it makes it pretty hard to get things done. But having all the flowers taken care of and the guests invited…”
“Yes,” I say again, a wide grin beaming from me. “We’ll schedule your wedding into the perfect spot between the other festivities. It’ll work beautifully, you’ll see. Have a think on whoyou want to perform the ceremony, and we can chat about the time and anything else you need to make it happen.”
Eyes filling with tears, Nori hugs Lio a little closer to her and whispers, “Thank you.”
Another idea pops into my mind and I take out my leather binder to sketch it out before I forget. “It would look so pretty if we have something similar to the ceremony arbor that Tilly had for their ceremony, and we’ll adjust the flowers to make it more personal, a little separate from the wildflowers from the rest of the festival.”
Tilly and Nori look at my drawing and add their own ideas on what additional materials we can add to make it special.
On our way out, the three of us wave goodbye to Marisol behind the counter and carefully make our way down the hill.
