Life in Mellowdene : Avid Tourists

Arriving home from my morning constitutional I heard two things - the thunder of children's feet running upstairs and laughter from my living room.

Entering, all became clear. Cornelius and Letitia Dandelion were holding court and Eliza, Cecile and Merlin were still chuckling from whatever had been said.

Letitia was first to notice my presence.

"Jackson!" she said. "We've been waiting for you."

I wasn't surprised to learn Eliza's parents had just returned from their latest excursion, travelling Sylvania. By habit, the first thing they did after dropping off their belongings at their house and greeting their nephew Clive (who lived there and looked after the place in their absence) was to visit their son and daughter.

They had spent a couple of hours at Butterglove Lodge with Denzel's family and now it was Eliza's turn. Some small gifts for Orton, Brendan, Beverley and Russell were received gratefully but the presence of their surrogate grandparents meant more. Just! Our children had been chivvied upstairs to enjoy their gifts, giving the adults opportunity to talk without distractions, however pleasant. My entrance was timed to perfection.

"Well, hello you two," I said, a smile on my face. "Another tour over, I see. It's good to see you back. Although I can't help wondering how long before you tire of Mellowdene and are off again."

"Oof," said Cornelius, paw to his chest in mock pain. "Why do we return to be met with such cruel words?"

Everyone collapsed with laughter. Eliza was the first to regain her composure.

"My mother was just telling us that they planned to leave off going on boat trips for a while and think about touring some inland villages next time."

"We've got ourselves a car," said Cornelius. "Parked outside. What do you think of it?"

"Haven't seen it. But I didn't come in that way," I said. "I've been walking near the village green so took the woodland path back. Came in through the side door."

"Oh," said Cornelius, sounding a little disappointed. "Never mind. We can show you afterwards. Lovely little red number."

I had a thought. "I saw a red car on my way out. When I was passing the Lodge."

"That will have been us," said Letitia. "We'd been visiting Denzel, Sam and the children."

"So that was you. Nice looking car."

"We got it before we went on the boat trip," said Cornelius. "While we were away Clive took it to Truffle's Garage and had Murphy Van Dyke convert it to use a fireglass fuel system."

"They were just about to tell us of their trip," said Cecile, "but we were waiting for you."

"You sounded like you were having fun."

"Oh, that? Letitia was telling us of their hippie days."

"Hippie days?"

"I told you - we weren't hippies," laughed Letitia. "We were just a bit more free and easy. Like the young couple we met after we disembarked at Tinyport. Reminded us of how we used to be."

Tinyport was barely a port and it was not even a village. There were a few buildings set back from the Coast Road at a point where the sea was deep near the shore line. There were a couple of jetties that aided travellers leaving their ships, a chandler's shop, a small warehouse, two or three houses and an inn.

"We had telephoned Mellowdene switchboard from the inn and arranged for Clive to pick us up in the car. We met the young couple whilst we were waiting. They were passing on their way back to Sweet Berry Valley. Turns out they were a branch of the Babblebrook family. They were delightful."

"They were," agreed Cornelius. "It's been a few years since we stayed in Sweet Berry Valley. We need to revisit."

"We could visit Peter and Peace's beach bar," nodded Letitia.

I laughed this time. "You're only just back from gallivanting around Upper Tricadna and you're planning a future trip?"

"You talk like you've forgotten they're avid tourists, Jack," said Merlin. "I'm still expecting them to write a travel book for our library. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't more widely travelled than Ricardo Porcini."

"We're straying from the point," said Cecile. "There may not be a book but we have the travellers here with the latest news of their latest trip. We've been waiting for my hubby to return so that we can get the highlights."

"Fair point," I said. "Let's hear from - what did you call them, Merle? Avid tourists? I admit I'm curious where they went and what they saw."

o 0 O 0 o

Cornelius began by reminding us that they used to organise their own travel plans without any assistance until they became friends with Mellowdene's own travel agent, Jolyon Simon. Thiough his business - Primate Travel - this friendly monkey had contacts with his counterparts all over Sylvania.

The latest trip had been organised with the help of a small tourism business located between the towns of Porta del Sol and Zooville on the central isle of the three eastern islands.

"We used Critago to check for accommodation availability and suitable transport," he said. "Our original plan was to visit all the coastal drop-off points on the east coast of the Tricadnian upper island then use local transport to reach the nearby villages. We'd use sea taxis to take us from one to the other."

"By villages you mean Willowtree Gully, Wildemont Valley and so on?"

"Yes," said Letitia, "but when we got to Critago there was an opportunity we couldn't ignore. We agreed we could revisit our original plan at a later date. This time, there was a chance to join a cruise ship that toured the outer islands. The ones too small for Sylvanako's map."

Sylvanako's Map is the primary map of Sylvania and the one familiar to Mellowdenians and probably most critters in the land. You need specialist maps go beyond this, some reaching as far as the Ring of Sylvania - our nominal boundary.

"So where did you go?" asked Cecile.

"When we saw the itinerary Letitia remembered an article in the Mellowdene Examiner about the Billabongs," said Cornelius, "as she saw the cruise ship would call at the Isle of Koalaroo."

"There were four other islands too," said Letitia, "and we'd also pass in sight of the Perilon Archipelago..."

Eliza sat forward, earnestly addressing her mother. "Please tell me you didn't go anywhere near there," she said, "when you knew that was where Orton's parents were shipwrecked!"

"Of course not, dear. Don't fret. Neither of us are that careless, and the ship's captain wouldn't be foolish. It was a cruise - not an expedition."

"The sky was clear enough for us to see Needle Peak, though," said Cornelius. (See notes.)

"Do you ever hear anything from the Burroughs?" said Letitia. "I still cannot understand how they abandoned Orton..."

Eliza waved her paw. "Don't go there, mother."

Merlin intervened. "We get regular letters passed on to us. They mention their conservation work, continually thank us for caring for their boy, and there's no sign that our fostering of Orton will end in the foreseeable future."

"They're a potty couple," said Letitia.

"But good for Eliza, Merlin and the boy," said Cornelius.

There was a consensus of noises followed by a brief silence.

"Anyway," continued Letitia, "after that, we sailed westwards. We saw Fisherport and Mosswood Fells in the distance..."

"You weren't circumnavigating the upper isle?" I asked. "I thought you'd return to your starting point."

"Oh no," said Cornelius. "It was a long cruise that was due to continue down the straits, passing Arcfield and FoxFire Fells before circling Atlandia and heading back. It would have taken at least two more weeks and we hadn't planned to be absent that long. That's why we arranged to be dropped off at TinyPort."

"Still, you covered a fair distance," said Merlin.

"We did. We've got photos."

"You certainly are avid tourists," laughed Cecile.

"And lots of places yet to see," nodded Letitia. "I hear that they've got some aeroplanes in some parts of Sylvania. I don't know where they would go."

"Mother..." said Eliza.

"...and when I was talking to Denzel, he mentioned some wild tale that Rowan had told him a few years ago. Something about a 'Land of Men'. I believe you were part of that conversation, Jackson."

I could feel the stares from both Cecile and Eliza. Thoughts flashed through my head. Cornelius and Letitia meeting the Mist Cat Tribe. My attempts to explain the Routes of Sylvania... no.