Bluebonnets under the old oak tree

To read the previous Twirl, go here.

For my new Invisible Friends, Twirl is the story of a star-crossed ballerina named Vivi and her handsome cowboy named Wade, who have stumbled into a international ballet scandal and a old Texas legend that might possibly lead to riches! To catch up in the archives, go here and here. Or e-mail me and I'll send you the word document of what I've posted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Vivi thought the woman's appearance was bad, her house was worse.

Chipped and broken furniture was covered in boxes of books, papers and thick folders with documents written in strange languages pouring out of them. The walls were empty of pictures or color. Instead, crooked bookshelves that looked as though a blind man had installed them dangled from the walls, stuffed with faded books that suffered from cracked bindings and loose, yellowed pages.

Wade lead Vivi to the only clear space in the room, a sticky leather arm chair. Vivi looked at the seat and bit her lip.

"I'll stand, thanks," she said, smiling brightly at the woman. "I've been sitting for awhile and my muscles are stiff."

The woman's hard black eyes narrowed, her nose crinkled as if she could smell the lie on Vivi's breath.

"Vivi, Wade, this here is Margaret," the sheriff stuttered, standing as far away from the woman as was polite. "She was a professor of languages"--

"I'm a linguistic expert and highly regarded in my field," the woman interrupted, her black eyes glittering. "I've taught at Oxford, Harvard and done work for the Smithsonian. However, considering these two barely speak proper English, I doubt my background is of any interest of them. Shall we get to the point?" She held out a withered hand.

"There better be something damn good in that letter," Vivi muttered, glaring at the older woman. Wade's lips twitched and he squeezed her hand.

Wiping his brow, the sheriff mutely handed the envelope to the woman. Without another word, she scurried over to her desk. Wiggling her fingers so her rings clinked together in a trilling melody, she jammed some reading glasses on her nose and stared down at the fragile paper. Her lips moved as she whispered to herself. Vivi leaned forward, straining to hear. The woman raised her eyes and snarled.

"Do you mind?" she bellowed, her wrinkled face draped in sinister shadows. The silver chain swung around her neck, trembling as she flung her arms in the air. "I'm working here!"

"Sorry," Vivi muttered, her cheeks turning red. "I just wanted to know what you are muttering."

"If you wish to know what is on this page, you will cease disturbing me immediately!" the woman shouted, her black eyes bugging out and spittle flying from her pale wrinkled lips.

When Vivi stared at her sullenly, she huffed and dropped her greasy silver head back to the page. Her lips moved faster as her eyes skimmed across the page, her fingers wiggling in excitement. The cadence of the rings ringing together as her fingers fluttered in the air grew faster and louder as her whispers slid into a single hiss.

"AMAZING!" she bellowed, slamming her fist on the desk. A rotten apple core bounced into the air, knocking over a lamp. The sheriff's face blanched and he jumped toward the letter.

"Oh relax!" Margaret shrieked, waving the yellowed paper in the air. It crinkled like tissue paper, the spidery lines of age dancing across it's surface. "The letter is fine!"

"What did it say?" Wade asked. Even though his voice sounded causal, Vivi could see his eyes glittering with excitement.

Margaret flung the long silver braid over her shoulder. "First of all, it's not German."

"It's not?" The sheriff sounded disappointed. "What is it?"

"It's a code." Margaret smirked. "A complicated mix of German, Spanish and English. Lucky for you, I figured it out in only a few moments. You see, my studies of Latin, Russian, Arabic, tribal languages in the Southwest and Australia"--

"What does it say?" Vivi interrupted. "Could you read it to us?"

The woman pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. "I suppose so," she growled. With a glum expression, she peered at the paper.

"My love," she read in her bitter, ancient voice. "Forgive me for my sins. If I had known my past would effect our future, I would have lived a clean life." Margaret snorted. "Not likely, considering the historical records of Bullet Bill, historians agree that"--

"Please keep reading, ma'am," the sheriff begged in a hoarse tone. "We're all anxious to hear what's in this letter."

Margaret clenched her rotten teeth together and continued to read. "If you'll still have me, Addy, I'll marry you. A proper marriage in a proper church. I don't know if you'll want to have this old outlaw for a husband, but I'd be honored to have you for my wife."

Margaret paused, her eyes glittering. Before she could comment, Vivi asked, "Was that it?"

"No." Margaret sighed, her face tight with irritation. She took a breath and continued reading. "For many years, I stole and robbed from good, honest people. I've killed, destroyed families and taken food from babe's mouths. But that's all over with.

"I made a fortune doing bad, and now I am to do good. I'm a rich man, Addy. And I'm man enough to admit I'm going to keep being a rich man. But I know a way to do it that'll make you proud. In the next letter, I'll tell you all about it."

Margaret peered at the paper. "This doesn't make any sense. The words are so strange."

"What's it say?" The sheriff's eyes were wide. He was hanging on to every word.

"Starlight under the Oak Moon. Blue ribbons. Bluebonnet."


Vivi blinked. "That doesn't sound like a song or a poem."


Wade frowned. "It's not the name of a dancehall or town either."


The sheriff wrinkled his forehead. "Well, I reckon there's only one thing we can do now..."


To be continued...

Stay tuned, Invisible Friends! Tomorrow, we have a tasty new recipe! Friday, we have the Babies' birthday and this weekend, the Rubber Chicken sets off to help the Fuzzy Duck in her quest to rescue her mother. Stay tuned for more whimsical fun!