HUDGEON TALES
By Eleanor Goodman

BOOK I 

CHAPTER 6

It didn’t take long for Lily Rose to reach the point where she really knew how to read without any help and started reading everything she could get her hands on.  But one day, Jimmy Jake found her crying tears of frustration.
“There is nothing in any of these books about hudgeons!  Pixies- yes, brownies, elves, fairies- yes… hundreds of creatures but NO hudgeons.  Maybe I’m the only one!”
“Maybe we should try the big library in the next town,” JJ suggested.  “There are lots and lots of books there.  Let’s ask Mr. Joe to take us.”

      Meanwhile, Mr. Joe’s usual good humor was dissolving.  A rumor that he was sheltering a mysterious monster had brought all the children in town to his workshop, poking around, asking questions and getting in his way.  Mr. Joe liked his solitude and he had his own work to do besides the added tasks of building a larger bed and making new clothes for the hudgeon.
      JJ’s uncle had written and said they would be gone longer than they had expected.  Would he mind keeping the boy a while longer? He’d told them he’d be glad to, which was true.  The boy had proven to be a good worker who never got in the way.

“Who knows what would happen if JJ wasn’t here to deal with the hudgeon?  I do believe I’d go out of my mind,” Mr. Joe muttered.  He was growing a bit weary of her demanding ways.
“Botheration!” he shouted as he shooed the last child out of the workshop and put a hand-lettered sign on the door.
“CLOSED.”

      When JJ told Mr. Joe why the hudgeon wanted to go to the library, he said he’d take them, but doubted if they would find anything there since he’d already checked.
“I don’t care.  Maybe you couldn’t find anything, but maybe I can.  I want to go to the library right now!”  She stamped her tiny foot.
“All right, all right.  We’ll go.”

      They all piled into Mr. Joe’s Model T Ford and drove to the next town, passing over streams and through the woods and meadows that Lily had never seen before.  She kept her face pressed against the window, noticing everything and asking over and over, “What’s that?”
Suddenly, she cried out, pointing into the forest, “Look, look!  Something’s moving in the trees, something green!”  The others looked but saw nothing.
“Probably an escaped pet parrot,” said Mr. Joe.
Jimmy Jake—more in tune with the hudgeon—remained silent, watching.
“There!” she shouted a few minutes later.  “There it is again!  I think it’s following us!”

Out of the corner of his eye, JJ caught a quick dart of green, but said nothing.  When they reached the library, he put Lily in his pocket and cautioned her to be silent and keep out of sight.
Subdued, deep in thought, the little one did as she was told, remaining hidden until they went into a small private room with the books that JJ and Mr. Joe had gathered.  JJ laid all the books out on the table, then, Lily Rose hopped from book to book, spending a few minutes on each one, muttering,
“Nope.  Not here.  Not this one either,” as she read.
“What in the world is she doing?” Mr. Joe wanted to know.
“Reading,” JJ answered, “hudgeon style.  You see, she has sort of x-ray vision, like superman does, and can read right through the books without turning pages.”
“I find that hard to believe.”

Just then Lilly grew restless, jumped down from the last book and announced, “Let’s go.  There’s nothing in any book that will tell me what I need to know.”
And that was that.  Mr. Joe returned the books to the librarian, thanked her, and headed out to the car with Jimmy Jake following, the hudgeon tucked safely in his pocket.

They rode quietly along past the meadow and the brook and into the deep forest.
“It’s getting rather stuffy in here, don’t you think?  Would somebody please open a window just a crack?”  requested Lily Rose.
Jimmy Jake complied, opening the window on his side.  The hudgeon thanked him politely and started humming to herself.
Suddenly, she yelled, pointing to the other side of the car, “Look!  Over there!  It’s a bear!”
JJ and Mr. Joe looked, but saw nothing.  When they turned back, Lily had vanished.  They heard a soft little purring sound outside the window.

“This open space just suits me fine.
Oh yes, I’ll like this life of mine,”

she sang as she flew away.  And that was that.

Mr. Joe and Jimmy Jake rode home without talking much, remembering how just a few days ago Lily had slammed her book shut and declared,
“I’m tired of books.  I’m bored and I’m lonely and I want to play, and I want someone to play with!”
“You’ve got us,” JJ had volunteered.
“You’re too big and too slow!   Here, try and catch me.”  And she had flitted away before JJ could even ask her what game they were playing.
“Well,” sighed Mr. Joe as he pulled up to the house, “it will be a whole lot quieter with her gone.”
“Yeah,” agreed JJ, with some ambivalence, ”it sure will.”

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HUDGEON TALES

BOOK 1
• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8

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