Sunday, April 22, 2007

Letter Four

My dear nervous Thomisina,

When I last wrote to you, Ludwig the Noble Bird and I had lost all our pennies to a naughty man, sold Gumberry Castle to Lady Limabeard and her Awful Parrot, and had set out to find our fortune.

So far we have not made much progress. I mean to say, my dear Thomisina, that we have not one penny except one Ludwig found on accident in the middle of a red apple yesterday at tea time.

Nobody seems to want to hire a dashing, handsome man like Chidester the Gumberry.

Then one night, after a terrible sleep (I dreamt of Limabeard wrecking Gumberry Castle and filling my noble boots with stinky lima beans!) I awakened to find Ludwig chirping loudly in my ear.

"Go away!" I shouted (I was still dreaming of Limabeard the Awful Parrot), whereupon Ludwig the Noble gave my earlobe a little bite.

"Ouch!" I yelled, jumping to my feet. Ludwig flapped her red wings quickly about my nose until I followed her down the path and around the corner.

Before us rose a very sad castle. Though the sun had been shining brightly when I awakened, suddenly the sky was very gloomy, as if a thunderstorm might break upon us at any moment. Standing there looking at that castle, I felt like bursting into tears.

But Ludwig did not seem to be sad, and she flew over to a sign and perched on it. "Boo Hoo Castle. Help wanted," the sign said.

"Oh, no, Ludwig," I said, "This isn't the place for us. I'll bet the people who live in this castle serve nasty, warm tea and hard biscuits. No, we'll look somewhere else."

But then I gazed more closely at the sign. Underneath the "Help Wanted," the sign said, "MUST BE NOBLE!"

Well!

Who is more noble than I, Chidester the Gumberry?

Ludwig and I hurried up the path to Boo Hoo Castle. What good could we possibly do in such a gloomy place?

I hate to leave you in suspense, Thomisina, wondering what might happen to us next, but I must.

I remain your rather sad but QUITE NOBLE,

Chidester the Gumberry

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