Rosalina and the Way-Weird Beast

     The next four days‒surprisingly‒flew by quickly. Rather than sulking and waiting for each day of her imprisonment to end, Rosalina found herself having fun with Wilbur. The Werelupe was still her captor, and he kept insisting that his ‘guest’ remain with him until Luke and the infected staff members recovered from this illness. “They’ll wake up soon and be right as rain,” said Luke assuringly. “As long as we look over them, they’ll be just fine.”

     “Uh-huh. Why are we caring for the servants again?” asked Rosalina.

     “Because they’re the closest thing Luke and I have to a family.” Wilbur’s shoulders sagged when he said that. “Anywho, we can look after four maidservants and five maleservants. This epidemic will surely pass by quickly.”

     After all of the ill patients were tended‒Wilbur was especially worried over Luke, and mainly spent his time by his brother’s bedside‒Rosalina would accompany Wilbur to the game room. Sure enough, the green wallpapered room boasted a variety of different games, a pool table, and a wooden cabinet filled with a stunning selection of gold and silver trophies. Wilbur beamed proudly as he held out his first place Wingoball trophy to Rosalina. “Luke was so excited when we got this, he slept with it every night for two weeks,” he said fondly.

     Rosalina touched the little Chia gnome. “I’m so close….yet so far.”

     “With my tips, you’ll surely get your own trophy by next month,” said Wilbur.

     “You better not be fibbing,” Rosalina retorted. “I’ve read too many poorly written NT articles to know a terrible tipster when I see one!” Despite her hesitancy, Rosalina agreed to have Wilbur teach her a few things, and was surprised to see just how knowledgeable her hairy captor was in the subject of Wingoball. Not just that, but there were several other games Rosalina was amazed to see Wilbur excel at. With his book-smarts, I can win millions of trophies and, hopefully, I can be asked to host the Daily Dare for many years to come!

     After eight days of practising and lecturing, Rosalina was able to aim her balls at the right angles to avoid the pesky gnomes. She expected Wilbur to be impressed with the progress she made, maybe even gloat about what an exceptional tutor he was. Instead, he spent those days by Luke’s side. He spent so much time there each day that Rosalina began to forget he was ever around; only a short glimpse of him heading to Luke’s room reminded her she wasn't alone. One night Rosalina approached the bedroom with a sandwich on a plate and glass of milk. “How’s the little darling-boo?” she whispered.

     “He’s not eating.” Wilbur rubbed his eyes. “And he keeps fussing. He’s either too hot with the blankets, or too cold without them.”

     “I was actually talking about Beanie,” said Rosalina, watching the Meepit snoring beside Luke’s head, “but your updates are important, too.” She offered the food to Wilbur, who waved them away.

     Luke’s loud hack of a cough interrupted the silence. “You know, Wilbur,” said Rosalina, “my sister runs a very successful apothecary shop in our village. I’m sure we'll be able to find just the right medicine for lil’ Luke if we go pay her an impromptu visit.”

     Wilbur snorted. “I highly doubt your sister would ever bother to help us; if she wanted to, why not stay instead of leaving her incompetent sibling behind?”

     Understanding how distraught and frustrated Wilbur was feeling at the moment, Rosalina held back her tongue. “Yeah….uh anywho, I think we should go check the place out. I’m sure one of Margo’s fancy cures can help Luke feel better.”

     “There's no way I can leave Luke’s side,” said Wilbur gruffly. “He needs me right now.”

     “Then allow me, your most trusted captive, to run this very important errand for you!” Rosalina bowed, then stood back up to check up on Beanie, who was now awake. The Meepit yawned and blinked, squirming as Rosalina held him up for cuddling.

     Wilbur sighed. “If you are so sure of yourself, then I suppose I can allow you to do this one errand for me. But DO make certain that you return before the stroke of midnight.” He waved his hand towards the door. “The driver shall escort you there. Stay longer than you need to and he’ll leave you behind.”

     Rosalina nodded and hurried out of the room. She wanted to wear her hoodie‒her borrowed yellow and orange dress was much nicer than her old clothes‒to brave the cold chills of the day. Also, the hood would make a nifty pouch for Beanie!

     ***

     “Here we are, ya lot.” The driver growled as Rosalina stepped out of the carriage. He gave her a piercing glare with his black eyes. “Remember what the master said: either you come back tonight, or you don’t come back at all.”

     Rosalina turned to the apothecary shop. The curtains were drawn, the front steps were covered with dust and leaves. Rolling her eyes at the nosy Werelupe watching her every move, she unlocked the door and cautiously stepped inside. All the lights were off, yet even in the darkness Rosalina could make out the evenly stocked shelves. “Margo couldn’t bother leaving the shop open, yet she kept all the shelves nicely stocked,” Rosalina told Beanie.

     Just as she was approaching the stairs, Rosalina whipped her head towards the front door. It was wide open, and standing in the doorway were two silhouettes that were quickly hurrying towards her. With a gasp, Wendy squeezed Rosalina with a hug reeking with lavender perfume. “Rosie, darling! So glad to see you’re all right!”

     A Christmas Bruce clapped. “Hoorah! This is the best non-Christmas Day ever!” cheered Lenny.

     “Yeah…..uh, thanks for the stalker-ish welcome.” Rosalina stepped back and retrieved Beanie from her hood. “Were you, like, following me or something?”

     Wendy shook her head. “We were just passing by when we saw you pull up in that pretty carriage. So we decided to say hi and see if you escaped from that uber creepy Werelupe yet.”

     “And to show off my new look, of course.” Lenny was pleased to model his red and white coat and hat. “Aren’t these Christmas Bruce items darling? The Lab Ray just knows what suits me best!”

     Rosalina hurried up the stairs. Inside the apartment, everything was dark and quiet‒except for the loud clomping of Wendy and Lenny as they ascended up the stairs. Before Rosalina could scold the dweebs for following her up here for no good reason, she heard a loud hacking cough. Armed with a rolling pin, she slowly crept towards Margo’s room and, after pausing for dramatic effect, swung the door wide open. Lying on the bed was a distraught Margo, tossing and turning as she kicked her blankets off.

     “Ooh, isn’t she your sister?” whispered Wendy.

     “Margo, don’t tell me you’re sick too!” Rosalina hurried to her sister’s side, staying a short distance away from Margo’s coughing.

     In the kitchen, Rosalina searched the cupboards for any medicines, but none were found. Panicking, she filled a bowl with cold water and grabbed the roll of paper towels. When Rosalina returned to Margo, she was surprised to see Wendy was tending her with water and a towel. Lenny was stirring honey into a cup of hot water. “Wendy says this will surely help with the coughing and the hacking,” he drawled.

     “Huh? Where’d you guys get all this stuff?” asked Rosalina.

     “While you were braving the bedroom, we prepared some bare necessities,” Wendy explained. “For now, let’s leave her to rest. She’ll be fine for now, and we can prepare a nourishing meal. Like soup.”

     In the kitchen, Wendy babbled on about working at the hospital as a nurse in a pretty white uniform. Rosalina didn’t pay much attention, but she did perk her ears when Wendy began talking about the ongoing epidemic. “Good news is there are fewer new cases to report nowadays,” said Wendy, sighing with relief.

     “Haven’t there been any new medical breakthroughs lately?” asked Rosalina.

     “No. But the decline of new cases is reassuring, at least.” Wendy wiped her forehead. “Many are saying the epidemic is finally passing Brightvale.”

     “All I know is that I need to rethink a new colour and species ASAP,” said Lenny. “This Christmas Bruce look doesn't seem to fit my wilder-than-life personality after all.”

     With Wendy’s help, Rosalina prepared some vegetable broth for Margo. Wendy made a pot of soup for themselves, while Lenny spent his time rearranging the living room furniture. “Since we’re having a slumber party, I call dibs on the couch!” Lenny laid down a Fyora sleeping bag to mark his territory.

     “Who said you were allowed to sleep over?” asked Rosalina. “And that’s my sleeping bag!”

     “Oooh, maybe we can construct some kind of tent for an indoor camping trip,” Wendy suggested.

     Rosalina ignored her ‘guests’ and left to tend to Margo. During the night, she stayed vigilantly by Margo’s side, watching her sleep and feeding her the occasional spoonful of cold broth whenever she awoke. Beanie stayed by her side, occasionally punching Margo’s pillow before succumbing to sleep. Over time Rosalina had to close her eyes, too. She fell into a deep sleep, completely ignoring all of the ear-splitting howling that was going on when the bedroom clock struck midnight.

     To be continued…