Page 7 of Love, Magic and Misfortune
A rustling immediately to her right made her jump in surprise. When she looked down, a black cat with white paws came hobbling out of the bushes underneath the window.
“Hey kitty.” She looked closer, finding that one of its front paws was wrapped in a bandage. The cat meowed in response, but then walked away, turning a corner and disappearing around the side of the house.
Violet waited. No sound. No movement. She stepped back from the porch, glancing around at the five rectangular windows: three on the second floor, two on either side of the door on the first. No lights were on despite the dark, overcast gloom of the weather.
Stepping forward, she tried again. Knocked. Waited. Nothing.
“Is he here?” Truthfully, she wanted to see him. Perhaps deep down, and in a place she’d never speak of (especiallynot to her bossy sister), she desperately wanted to see him. A small part of her ached with it. She wasn’t proud. Surely, she should have moved on by now. Should be the uncaring, flippant and mature woman she presented to everyone. The one that said, “Jasper? Who? Oh, the eccentric boy from my childhood? I never think of him.”
It would be a lie. She thought of him often. For five years of her life, he’d been a staple—an integral part of her existence, not unlike water or sunlight. After her mother had died, Violet, her father and Rose had moved here to live with Gram. She’d been five years old then, and in complete misery. It had been so empty and lonely: the world suddenly a scary, sinister place that had snatched someone precious away from her.
But then Jasper was there. Her very first friend in this new, terrifying world. A kind and gentle guide in an unfamiliar landscape.
After a third knock with no response, Violet set the grocery bag down, tucking it as closely to the pale, paint-chipped door as possible. She walked back down the lane, looking over her shoulder once. Then a second time. As she walked back through the gate and toward her car, she repeated to herself the second instruction of her Gram’s note. The quick but elegant handwriting practically floated to the forefront of her mind.
Be patient with him.
4
Then
“Iguess the colors are pretty…” Violet tilted her head, examining the bug. She frowned, then shifted her head the other way for a different perspective.Still creepy.
Jasper moved in closer. Uncomfortably so. No person’s face should ever be that close to such a large insect. He placed his palm against the dark tree trunk, careful to avoid the creeping beetle. “This one is a Rosalia longicorn. It’s my favorite because of all the little designs on its back and antennae. Can you see?”
“Yeah, I can see.”
Violet watched him shift along the tree trunk, squatting down in a kind of duckwalk as he moved.
“Bugs and animals… They have their own completely separate world from ours. I think it’s amazing. We act so important, but they don’t mind us at all. We just get in their way.”
“Well…” Violet considered. “This one is definitely better than that other one you showed me before. That yellow ‘musky’ one.”
Jasper laughed. “The Capricorne musqué. Yeah, that one’s a stinker.” Jasper adjusted his hands to carefully scoop the slow insect into his palms. When he stood straight, he turned to Violet. “Do you want to try?”
“Hm, okay.” Violet held her palms flat as Jasper stepped in front of her. His fingers brushed her palms, delicate in placing the large, colorful insect against her skin. Violet bristled but stood her ground. The bug sat still in her hands. “It’s so light.” She squinted, examining the detailed markings on its back and legs. “It’s like he has art all over his body.”
“She, maybe?” Jasper smiled. “It’s cool, huh? It hangs out here because of all the flowers. This species likes pollen.” Jasper placed his palms underneath hers, cupping her hands. “I’ll put it back. You can open your palms.”
Violet did as instructed and Jasper placed the artsy bug back against the tree. While he did so, Violet turned away, the spring breeze flittering her sundress as she hopped, then hopped again like a bunny toward the open field. The grass swayed all around her, the birdsong especially noisy, as if they were having a concert just for the two of them. She spun around.
“Jas?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to study bugs and animals when you grow up?”
“Maybe. There are so many different kinds. It would be fun to see them in different places.”
“Oh, in other countries?”
“Sure.” Jasper stood, wiping his palms against his pleated trousers. “Forests, jungles, deserts… A traveling bug scientist of some sort. What about you?”
Violet paused. He was staring at her with those great big eyes and her heart was beating way too fast. She flipped around, looking toward the field. “I don’t know. I haven’t got a clue.”
He moved toward her, his feet shuffling through the grass. “Well, you can decide any time. Don’t worry about it.”
Glancing from the corners of her eyes, she spotted him standing beside her. “Let’s try lots of different things together. Maybe we’ll find something you really like?”
