Spring Break

by Margaret Davis

Author's note: Nonie first appeared in a storyin Within the Crystal Rose I written by LindaMooney.

The park lay covered in pristine white, heapsand billows of snow covered everything. The wind howled and moaned,whistling around buildings and trees and driving the snow into everycrevice. The children of the city watched with noses pressed againstwindows. The sudden storm had driven them from their playgrounds andsidewalk games and held them prisoner. Later there would be sleddingand snow forts and piles of snow balls gathered to pelt the unwary,but for now they were prisoners... bored prisoners.

While the city Above quieted and ground slowlyto a halt under the onslaught of what would eventually be eighteeninches of snow, the city Below teemed with activity. In the Main PipeChamber, Pascal darted from one side to another in a blur of motion.He slid to a stop in front of a large black pipe and rapped out amessage.

Food pickup, Zeke's Deli, bring cart.When the acknowledgement sounded, he darted away to relay two moremessages of safe arrival from residents caught Above in the storm. Heknew Father was worried about several of the older children who hadgone to pick up a package from a Helper and had not yetreturned.

There had been several extra food pickupsrequested. Helpers in restaurants suddenly faced with few if anypatrons, knew where the leftovers could be used. Pascal rested aminute as the messages slowed. Later he would wonder if he would haveheard the signal at all if the pipes had not been silent for amoment.

S O S S O S, the faint tapping drew himquickly to a seldom-used pipe.

Who, he signaled and waited. Noresponse. He waited, bare forehead pressed against the pipe to catchthe tiniest of sounds.

S O S, the signal was faint andhesitant.

Where, he pounded out the word. When noanswer came, he tried again. W h e r e h e l p?

Lost, the reply was a series of softtaps.

W h o l o s t? The other traffic on thepipes halted as he rapped out an All Quiet.

Nonie. Her tapping was hesitant anduneven, but her name was clear.

Vincent raced through the tunnels in answer toPascal's message. Little Nonie had lost her way in the tunnels thatled from the park entrance. As he ran, Vincent could hear Pascal'scarefully slow messages designed to reassure the girl that help wason the way.

V i n c e n t c o m i n g. S t a y t h e re.

Vincent was close to the tunnel to which Pascalhad directed him when he was hit by a bolt of fear and heard thehigh-pitched scream of mortal fear from the lost child. He roundedthe corner, his cloak billowing behind him, to see Nonie bracedagainst the wall and staring in horror at the tunnel floor. Acentipede, unconcerned about his audience, crawled across the stone,his legs a blur of motion as he bustled along. Vincent reached downto pick up the child who burrowed her face into his neck andsobbed.

"You're safe, Nonie. It's all right, you'resafe now," he crooned and patted her back. She had been in thetunnels only a few weeks, since her grandmother died and left herwith no family. She had blossomed in the short time under Mary's careand William's cooking. Her cheeks had filled out and the dark shadowsunder her eyes had disappeared.

The child had an extraordinary empathicability. As yet untrained and untested, she nevertheless projectedstrong emotions, Lately Vincent had sensed a restlessness from her, alonging for green, growing things. Her feelings had prompted him tomention a long-planned project to Father, and the wheels had been setin motion.

Nonie's sobs faded into a series of hiccupingsniffles and finally she was silent.

"Are you all right?" Vincent inquired gently,even though he knew she had come to no harm.

"I called for so long, I thought you'd nevercome. Are you gonna whack me?" she asked in a pitifultone.

"Why would I do that?" he was mystified by herquestion.

"Gram used to whack me if I was bad, before shegot sick, I mean."

"And have you disobeyed?" heinquired.

"Mary and Father said I mustn't go 'sploringcause I might get lost. I just wanted to see the trees and the grass,Vincent. I followed Jamie and Mouse when they left and I closed thedoor real careful. It was windy and raining so I didn't leave thedrainage tunnel, but then I got lost trying to get back to ourchamber."

"You remembered to call for help, Nonie, andthat was a wise thing. What have you learned from this?" Vincentlooked into the tearstained face and tried not to smile.

"I can't never go to the Park again." she saidwith a sigh, the weight of the world on her shoulders.

"No, that's not true. But you must always gowith someone else until you're older. Do you understandwhy?"

"Yes. Don't put me down, that bug'll get me!"She had felt Vincent's move to set her on her feet.

"It's a centipede, Nonie. Centipede means ahundred feet. That's why he moves so fast. Wouldn't you move quicklyif you had a hundred legs?"

Vincent's questions had the desired affect ofarousing the child's curiosity and she peered down at the floor fromthe safely of her perch in his arms.

"Really? A hundred feet? Are you gonna step onit and squash it?"

"Why should I kill it? He's done me no harm,"Vincent said.

"Oooh, I hate bugs! I always step on 'em. 'Ceptroaches, sometimes they jump on your shoe and try to run up yoursocks!" She twitched at the thought, feeling hundreds of little bugfeet crawling on her.

Vincent smothered a laugh at the picture herwords conjured up. This child had been exposed to the harsh realitiesof life when her Grandmother had become ill. Her empathic nature haddrawn her to Vincent's mind long before he knew her physicallocation. In her dreams she reached out for comfort and, touching akindred soul, had been aware of his serene thoughts.

Months later, when death claimed her lastliving relative, her unhappiness had finally made her rescuepossible, as Vincent was drawn to her location by the touch of herthoughts.

He carried her into the main tunnel and thenset her down. "Come, take my hand, we'll go to your chambertogether." Hand in hand they paced the tunnels toward the livingquarters, each warmed by the touch of the other's heart.

It had been Eric and Geoffrey who broached theidea of Spring Break to Vincent and subsequently to Father. Ericseemed genuinely puzzled that the tunnel classes didn't have thepre-Easter vacation planned. His explanations to the other childrenhad them clamoring for the Tunnel version. Finally a plan had beenagreed upon. The children certain that they had won a major victory,gloated about the vacation time granted, unaware that Father andVincent had activities planned that were fun and a learningexperience.

In truth, the idea of a break was a welcomethought. The long winter months between Winterfest and spring passedslowly even in the tunnels. The children were restless and the adultsfound they shared the feeling. Spring break would bring them allrenewal.

Vincent, the pied piper of the tunnels, led thechildren toward the special chamber where the first of the specialevents would take place. The children plied him with questions andguesses about where they were headed and what they would do when theygot there.

"Patience is a virtue," he intoned in his bestFather imitation and was rewarded by a round of laughter from hisfollowers. As he led them downward and through several connectingtunnels, the air began to warm. Finally he stopped and turned to facethem.

"Wait here a moment, please." He ducked into aside tunnel. Down the passage the tunnel opened into a largecavern.

"Mouse?" he inquired in the direction of thefigure bent over along one wall.

"Vincent!" Mouse's head popped up from where hehad been counting the tools. "Start now?"

"The children are waiting outside, iseverything ready?" Vincent asked.

"Seeds, tools, water can, marking things,string," Mouse looked down at the supplies as he counted off theitems needed. "Ready."

"I'll get the children," Vincent said andstarted back out of the cavern.

"Okay good... okay fine!" The grin Mouse gaveVincent's retreating back was an indication of his excitement. He hadworked all week on rigging the lights and waited expectantly for theothers to see the results of his work.

The eager voices of the children preceded theminto the chamber. Geoffrey was the first one into the cavern and heexclaimed in wonder.

"Look, look--a garden. We're going to have ourgarden!" he shouted.

To laughter and squeals of delight, thechildren pulled off their outer layers of clothes made unnecessary bythe natural warmth of the cavern which was close to the steam pipesand the Mineral Springs. Each selected tools from the pile at Mouse'sfeet and waited for Vincent to direct them.

He laid aside his cloak and quilted vest andpicked up a hoe. "First we prepare the ground by raking it, pullingout any big rocks and then adding compost and working it into thesoil."

They moved apart to stake out their plotswithout quarreling. Kipper and Eric had to be persuaded that theirrakes were not swords and that gardening was the activity of the day.Then everyone settled down and worked diligently raking and smoothingthe soil.

At the noon hour Mary and Rebecca appeared withpicnic baskets of sandwiches, carrot sticks, oatmeal cookies andjuice. A cheer went up from the workers who made quick work ofwashing hands and faces in the basin Mary filled from the nearbyspring. Then they gathered around a blanket that Mary pulled from onebasket each vying to tell the results of the morning'sefforts.

After lunch Mouse tested his work and thechamber was flooded with the lavender light of the ultraviolet bulbsCatherine had donated. The exclamations of wonder thrilled Mouse andhe capered about in a happy dance.

"Knew it worked... make garden grow big! Look,Vincent... brought water. Need it." Mouse led the way to a shadowycorner of the cavern where a pipe protruded from the wall and endedin an ordinary faucet. He turned it on and water gushed forth fromthe opening and all around the joints and fittings. He shut it offquickly, "Needs new washers."

Shallow irrigation channels etched in the soilwould bring life-giving water to the seeds. A large rock under theoutlet would prevent undue erosion. As Vincent explained these plans,they carried them out and water soon gurgled down the man-made streambeds.

Each child selected a packet of seeds to plantin the rows they had marked. Peter Alcott had donated a package oftongue depressors for marking sticks. Father had sputtered aboutusing brand new ones in a garden until Peter presented him with asecond new box for the hospital chamber.

Nonie sifted the through the packages. Each hada colorful picture of the mature product and she found it hard tochoose. Finally, the big bumpy seeds in the green bean packet seemedto have more appeal than anything else, and she lifted it from thebox.

Vincent showed each one how to plant the seedsthey had chosen. The cucumbers and squash had to have hills of soilwhere fifteen seeds were planted together. Nonie's green beans wereplaced at intervals in the row and then the soil was firmed afterthey covered the seeds by walking sideways on top of therow.

Each new seed brought a different adventure butby late afternoon everything had been planted even the potatoes.William had given them all the potatoes that had started to growroots. The children so carefully taught conservation measures, weresurprised these perfectly good potatoes were to be cut up andplanted. It gave Vincent the perfect opportunity to explain aboutgermination and the need for something for the new plants to feedupon until its root system was established.

As he spoke, Vincent heard Catherine's name onthe pipes. He knew she planned to meet him here after work. Herhappiness at seeing him soon, wrapped around his heart, and there wasanother feeling as well--she was excited. Vincent could almost feelthe racing of her pulse as she hurried through thetunnels.

The source of her excitement was evident whenshe entered the cavern carrying a small tree. As the childrengathered around her each trying to be the first to tell her of theday's adventures, she looked over their heads and into Vincent's eyesand smiled.

"I brought this for your garden," she said tothe group. "It's a fig tree."

"Look, Nonie, a tree! You wanted to see treesand now you can have one right here in the tunnels!" Geoffrey's kindheart made the connection instantly. He remembered when he first cameto the tunnels and how he had longed for trees as Nonie didnow.

Shovels were brought and a hole quickly dug forthe tree. Carefully they removed it from the pot and placed it intoits new home. The hole was filled in and then they watered it. Nonietugged on Catherine's hand and when Catherine bent down to her, Noniewrapped her arms around her.

"Thank you for the tree," she said.

"Look, Vincent!" Zack held up his creation forhis mentor's approval.

"Excellent work, Zack," Vincent praised, "allyou need now is the tail."

They had worked on building kites for two days.They had read the principles of aerodynamics and designed kites toillustrate what they had learned. Constance had provided the stripsof cloth to make the tails and rolls of string had been found in adrawer in Father's desk.

Vincent assembled another kite with help fromthe younger children; it reminded him of his youth when Devin wasstill in the tunnels. One day Devin had seen children Above flyingkites and had returned full of ideas for Vincent. They hadconstructed their kite and taken it to the Chamber of the Winds. Thestring had not been long enough and the kite had been snatched awayby the wind and dashed against the roof of the chamber. But for a fewglorious moments, it had dipped and swayed and flown high abovethem.

The next day was Saturday and the childrenclamored around Vincent after morning meal to ask when they would flytheir kites.

"Let's go meet Catherine and then we'll start,"he suggested.

When Catherine descended the ladder from thesub-basement into the tunnels, she found a tribe of willing escortsand Vincent waiting for her. She had a backpack slung over oneshoulder and carried a plastic sack over one wrist.

"Well," she asked as she looked into the eagerfaces, "are you ready to fly kites?" There was a chorus ofaffirmatives from the group.

"Me, too! I have another box to bring down, itwill just take me a minute," she said and dumped the backpack andsack on the tunnel floor. She went up the ladder and carefully lookedaround before walking to the parking garage and her car. From thetrunk she lifted a box a foot square; the lettering on the side read"15 Dozen".

Catherine handed the box down to Vincent thenfollowed down the ladder. She picked up her things as she turned tothe group, "Okay, I'm ready."

The children outpaced Vincent and Catherine whowalked side by side carrying the box and the backpack.

"Fifteen dozen?" Vincent questionedsoftly.

"Well, I wasn't sure how many we needed,"Catherine replied. "And I thought one box is easier to carry than allthose long cartons, and it's a tradition Above, that you eat lots ofeggs after Easter! Egg salad, deviled eggs, plain eggs... " shestopped as the giggles got the best of her.

"And who are we to stand in the way oftradition?" Vincent asked, the amusement plain in histone.

"Right! I brought all kinds of decorating kitsand food coloring to dye them with, I can hardly wait!"

"Kites, first," Vincent remindedher.

They left the box with William in the kitchenand Catherine's backpack in Vincent's chamber. After all the kiteshad been duly admired by Catherine, the group carried their creationsdown toward the Chamber of the Winds. Cloaks and sweaters were leftin the outer corridor and final preparations for flightbegan.

From the plastic sack, Catherine pulled a greenChinese kite with a long tail and a ball of string. She attached thestring as the package directions indicated and then waited with theeager children for time to begin.

There was no need to run to make the kitesairborne. All that was required was a friend to stand on the stairsand hold it up while the owner walked forward. Instantly the windsnatched it away and threw the kite up toward the high chamberceiling. Then a cross current caught it and it veered away to theside. There was joyous laughter as the creations took on a life oftheir own and danced above them tethered only by the slender strandsheld by each child.

"Watch it, watch it!" Kipper shouted as hiskite dipped toward Geoffrey's. For a moment it looked like they couldavoid a collision, then the two kites tangled together and swoopeddownward to crash against one of the pillars near theentrance.

One of the struts on Kipper's was broken andthe tail had been ripped loose from Geoffrey's. Gently they untangledthe pieces and bent over them in serious consultation.

"We can fix them," Kipper declared. "Come on,let's do it now and then we can come back. Okay, Vincent?"

"We'll await your return. Just remember to addequal weight to the other side so it will fly straight," hecautioned.

"Okay, we'll be back soon." They dashed out ofthe chamber intent on making fast repairs and returning to thefun.

"Are you going to fly your kite, Vincent?" Zackshouted to be heard above the winds.

Vincent glanced at Catherine as he picked uphis kite. "Are you ready to fly yours, too?" he asked.

"I'm having fun watching. I'll wait for awhile. Do you want me to hold the kite while you get started?" sheasked.

"Please."

Catherine stood on the stair with her back tothe chamber. She could feel the wind tugging at the kite, ready topull it away from her. When Vincent said "Ready", she held it aboveher head and released it. Instantly it soared above her, dancing fromside to side. Her hair whipped around her face as she descended andmoved back to the place by the wall where the winds were lessfierce.

Nonie waited for Catherine to sit down againand curled up next to her. She felt the warmth of Catherine's armaround her and was comforted. This place was scary and she didn'tlike it much; but she was unwilling to be parted from Vincent and theother children under any circumstances.

There were other places down here that made herafraid. The North Well, with its endless circling stairs wassomething to be avoided no matter who escorted her. It was there shehad heard a shriek in her mind, a sound of pain and fear. She felt apresence there, something that wanted to hurt and to kill. Shedreamed of it, sometimes, a darkness and a voice--soft and deadly.When she screamed at the voice, she had awakened in Vincent'sembrace.

"What is it, Nonie?"

"Don't let it get me, please! Don't let it hurtme, Vincent!"

She remembered his comforting words that toldher she was safe now and nothing would harm her. That was why shedidn't want to be away from Vincent. He would protect her from thebad in this place.

"Look, Nonie," Catherine said.

She looked up and watched in awe as the threekites held by Vincent, Zack and Patrick flew high above them. Shelaughed as the kites dipped and swayed, and all thoughts of darknessand fear were pushed aside for the moment.

Lunchtime arrived all too soon. The childrenwere reminded of the afternoon activities as they packed up the kitesand dashed off to see if William had really boiled 15 dozeneggs.

"You didn't fly your kite, Catherine,"Vincent's head tilted to one side. "Why?"

"I just enjoyed watching so much, that therenever was a good time to start," she replied as she gazed up into hisface and those piercing blue eyes.

"Perhaps now is a good time?" heasked.

"Sure, why not."

Vincent stood on the fourth step and waited forher nod. When she gave it, he released her kite and it jumped up intothe air. The pull on the string was incredible and Catherine tried tolet it out slowly.

She was so intent on watching the kite andsteering it away from the walls, that she didn't notice where Vincentwas until he came up behind her. He reached around on either side andplaced his hands over hers on the string. Catherine leaned backagainst his chest and relished the warmth and sense ofsafety.

Who would have thought flying kites could beso romantic, she thought and tried to smother it before Vincentsensed her feelings in their bond. She glanced at him out of thecorner of her eye and realized from the penetrating gaze that he waswell aware of her feelings. All thoughts of kites and winds wereforgotten as she lost herself in those azure depths.

Her face was so expressive, he doubted she knewhow much of her thoughts were so clearly seen. Her eyes seemed tochange color with her emotions from the jade of this moment tosometimes a silvery grey when she was deeply troubled. And alwaysin my heart, the gentle touch of her love.

The wind whipped his golden mane around herface to mingle with the honey brown of her hair. Time seemed to standstill as the two each gazed at the beloved face of the other. Heswayed toward her and her lips parted in anticipation of that forwhich she longed.

"Vincent? Catherine?" the voice seemed to echoand reverberate all through the chamber.

Vincent stepped away from Catherine as Mousebounded into the chamber.

"What is it, Mouse?"

"Father said late for lunch, forgot the time.Mouse came to find. Ooh, neat kite! Mouse try it?" he inquired as hebounced from one foot to the other.

"Sure, Mouse," Catherine's voice had a tone ofamusement as she handed over the string. One of these days therewon't be any interruptions, Vincent, she glanced at him and fromthe slight crinkling at the corners of his eyes, she knew he heardthe message.

"All right, who can tell me how many eggs arein fifteen dozen?" Father asked. Never one to let an opportunity toteach the children pass him by, he used the eggs as an opportunity toask math questions. How many half dozens in the entire box, how manykettles needed if thirty eggs would be boiled at one time?

The most important question came from thechildren's perspective: how many eggs would each one get to decorate?In the kitchen William wondered how many egg salad sandwiches wouldbe tolerated and who was going to peel all those eggs, as he liftedyet another batch from the boiling water.

Catherine looked around the dining chamber atthe groups of children decorating their eggs. Her loving glancetouched each one and finally stopped on Vincent. He was listening toPatrick explain why purple eggs were prettier than green ones. Shesaw Nonie's lower lip protruding and realized she was the one who haddyed all her eggs green.

"Kings wear purple robes so that makes it thebest, huh, Vincent," Patrick nodded disdainfully toward the othereggs laid out to dry.

"All colors are precious, Patrick, and theymean different things to different people. Purple can also be thecolor of grapes, of a sky before it storms and bruises."

"Oh, yeah, like my eye when that Topsider hitme!" Patrick held one of his purple creations over his eye. "See,like this!" he said to Nonie.

"My eggs are the color of the trees and thegrass in the Park," she retorted in a defensive tone. "They remind meof spring."

Catherine smiled at the exchange. When she waslittle there had been no one to argue with over whose eggs were thebest.

"Why such a sad face, Catherine?" Vincent stoodat her side and looked at the pensive expression.

"I was just thinking about when I was little.After my mother died, Dad always made sure we dyed eggs, but itreminded us both so much of her that it wasn't a lot of fun. And... Inever had anyone to tell me that purple eggs were the color ofbruises," she teased.

Vincent said nothing as he reached out and drewher close for a hug.

"All right, let's get these eggs back in thetrays. They need to be in cold storage," William stood with his handson his hips until he was sure everyone was complying with hisinstructions.

The eggs were loaded back into the trays fromthe box and carried off. The children assigned to kitchen detailwiped off the tables, removed the bowls of dye and began to set upfor evening meal. Dishes, glasses, cups and eating utensils were setout on the long sideboard along with a stack of clothnapkins.

"Will you stay for evening meal, Catherine?"Vincent asked.

"What's for dinner?" she replied.

"Egg salad sandwiches, perhaps?"

"I think I have to go home now," she laughedbefore she could get all the words out and was rewarded by his deep,raspy chuckle. She had smelled the wonderful aroma all afternoon andknew it was William's special Italian vegetable soup that simmered inthe great kettle.

"Vincent, have you seen Nonie?" Mary asked asshe stepped through the portal into his chamber. "She asked to beexcused earlier at evening meal. I thought she would be back, but noone has seen her and she's not in the girls' chamber.

"I've not seen her since before evening meal,Mary. Did you check Father's chamber? She likes to visit withhim."

"I checked there first, he hasn't seen hereither."

Vincent grabbed his cloak in one hand andCatherine's hand in the other. "We'll look for her, perhaps she's atthe garden. Ask Pascal to put a message on the pipes, please,Mary."

Catherine was silent as they walked toward thegarden chamber. She knew that Vincent was casting his thoughts aheadtrying to find the touch of Nonie's mind and dared not interrupt hisconcentration. His feet took him automatically through the righttunnels to reach the garden and he kept her hand firmly inhis.

The garden chamber was just ahead when Vincentslowed his pace. Catherine gave him a quizzical look and he pointedinto the chamber.

"She's in there," he murmured.

Catherine followed Vincent through the entranceand immediately spotted the missing child. She was crouched down inthe middle of the garden plot talking to something on theground.

"Hello, bean. I see your head poking up.There's bunches of other beans here, you'll like it."

As Catherine drew near she saw the sproutinggreen beans had broken through the ground and had begun to push thesoil aside. Nonie looked up when she heard their footsteps andsmiled.

"See my beans, Vincent! They're growing justlike you said," she beamed at him and launched herself towardhim.

Vincent caught the little body and hugged her.He hoped the success of her garden experience would help Noniecomplete her final adjustments to life Below.

"Mary was worried about you," hesaid.

"I had to come and visit the garden. There arehappy voices here, Vincent."

"Not like the voices in the Chamber of theWinds?" he inquired.

"Did you hear them, too?" her eyes were roundwith wonder.

"The voices are always there, Nonie. But youmust not let them frighten you. Do you remember what Narcissa toldyou?" he asked.

"Yes, she said the voices are from before andnow and beyond; but, Vincent, they scare me sometimes." She hung herhead certain that she had failed.

"You must tell us when you are frightened. Weunderstand, it is your gift."

"The other kids don't hear 'em," she declared."Why me, Vincent?"

In her question Vincent heard echoes of hischildhood questions to Father, why am I different, Father. "No oneknows why we are given these gifts, Nonie; but know in your heartthat there is always a purpose, even if we don't understand itnow."

With a mercurial change of mood, the kind knownonly to the very young, Nonie turned toward Vincent and Catherinewith a smile. "We need to go home now. The beans aretired."

Hand in hand the three left the chamber so thebeans could sleep in peace.