Story: Billbuck and the Folks
Joey’s parents always wanted a house by the country side where they could do all the things that they saw on TV. Like go fishing in the neighbour-hood lake, raise some cattle, have a big garden maybe a field with a 9-hole golf course, a big house, a lawn with big trees and maybe a little tree house on top of it for little Joey, and loads of other things.
Joey was an 11yr old boy studying in the city primary school, he was in class 6. Joey’s dad, Mr. Curtis, was a business man and he had a leather factory in the city. Mrs. Curtis, Joey’s mother, was a country woman, who never wanted to leave the countryside, but could not help but move into the city after getting married.
Joey had two magnificent dogs as pets, Joseph (Joe) and Stanley (Stan). Joe was a German Shepard, big and strong, he was very brave and playful, and Stan was a golden retriever and was rather the observant one, he would always stay by Joey’s side and never leave him for one moment, he knew Joey was a little boy and took good care of him.
Megan was a country girl, only 9 yrs old, but she was rather smart for her age; as the saying goes: girls mature faster than guys! She was an orphan living with her grandparents. Her parents died when she was only 2yrs old in a terrible road accident in the city. Megan stopped going to school after class 4, as it became extremely difficult for her grandparents to pay her school fees. She helped her grandparents with the chores and also earned some money by doing small works in the neighbour-hood. Even she had a pet dog named Mia. Mia was a very big shepherd dog and was even bigger than Joe and Stan. She had these fox like ears and a pointed snout and brown eyes; she was a very active dog and loved Megan more than her life!
Mr. and Mrs. Baggins, Megan’s maternal grandparents were much respected people in the community. They used to be quite rich and well off before their land got illegally taken away from them by the local party. But they never held any grudge against them for the whole thing, as they themselves didn’t have a proper idea about what actually had happened with the land.
The neighbour-hood lake, which was the biggest one in all of the countryside, was very close to Megan’s house, which just overlooked the hills. Megan used to go for a swim in the afternoon with Mia on most days during summer and after that she would climb up the hill and pray in the small church that was there.
Joey was not good in studies but he was an excellent musician, he played Spanish guitar and the piano at home. He was also very fond of football and also represented his school junior team on many counts. He however, was a very quiet and reserved boy and never disobeyed his parents. He never actually liked the idea of being taken away from the luxurious city life and to live in the countryside, but he never made his feelings public. He also hoped that what his parents had told him abut the country life was true after all. Last year his mother Shelly said, “Joey, life is never constant, we all have to move and adapt ourselves to the different phases of life. And this is one such phase in your life where you will have to move out of the city.”
“But mom, I love to live in the city!” he replied.
“Son, even I love the city but I loved the country more…my growing up over there was so special and different…and I believe you will find joy there too.”
It had been a very cold winter and all the lakes and water bodies in Billbuck Hills, Megan’s village, had frozen into ice and the lush green of the village turned snowy white. It seldom snowed so heavily during winters at Billbuck Hills, but the last winter was rather very cold. Many of the neighbour-hood folks would gather near the hill, quite near to Megan’s house, and light up a bonfire and sing and dance the whole night away. The villagers were a bunch of very jovial people who just needed any excuse to start celebrating together. Last year, the long and cold winter gave them enough reasons to do just that.
Megan and Mia would be loved by all and sundry and since it was a very small town everyone knew everyone else. So Megan never felt like an orphan when around the village folks. More than that, her grandparents were very loving and caring and never let her feel lonely.
This summer there was news that some big-shot business-man would be coming at Billbuck Hills. He was rumoured to be a very hostile man, with lots of stories and gossips about him, and he also happened to be the legal owner of the Baggins’ land, which was taken away from them illegally!
But on the contrary Mr. Curtis was a very virtuous man, he never had the idea about the land being illegally possessed and sold to him. And he was also not hostile, or had a bad name in the city; it was just under some circumstances that he earned a ‘hostile’ title when he fought away some people who wanted to make him do illegal business. But people hardly knew the truth of the matter and labeled him to be a prick! He was a very strict man of discipline. And why wouldn’t he be, his father had been in the army and fought in the 2 world wars. But the rumours, doing the rounds in the village about him being very rich, was in fact true to the core!
So, when the family arrived in the village, people had mixed reactions. They could never trust anyone so rich and famous. But most of them didn’t form any opinion abut them that soon, because they believed they shouldn’t buy what's merely floating in the air, but see the truth for themselves.
Megan was very sad that some other family was going to live on the land where once her ancestors lived. But she understood that nothing could be done about that and she should stop blaming anyone for anything. She also took a glimpse of Mr. Curtis’ big shiny car parked near the gate of the huge mansion. She always hated cars since her parents had to meet with a premature death as they were run over by some drunk driver in the city.
“Excuse me, miss!” someone called after Megan. Joey was desperately gasping for some air and was panting with his hands firmly rested on his knees. He looked up from his bent posture to find the little girl looking at him from a distance.
She walked towards him and with a sense of apathy and answered, “Yes, may I help you there, boy?”
“Yes miss, I think I am lost…I am kind of new to this place, can you please help me out miss.”
“Oh, I see. Sure I can. What is your name, boy?”
“My name is Joey Curtis, miss…I just arrived today.” he said taking his eyes off her and standing straight.
He was pretty much stung by this little girl’s beauty, as such sights were rare in the city. Megan was dressed prettily in a pink frilly dress with tiny navy-blue polka dots, and from beneath her woolen hat, her golden curls were peeping out which was neatly tied up in pigtails. She had big olive green eyes and pink lips and a really kind face. She was carrying a bucket in one hand and a couple of books in the other.
She quietly said to him “huh, so you are new to this place, so I have heard”
“Yeah,” Joey replied. “What is your name, miss?”
“My name is Megan and this is Mia, my dog” she pointed a big brown furry animal sniffing furiously at him.”
“Here boy, good doggie, sit…sit!” he playfully directed Mia.
“She is not a boy, she is a female dog and I think she hates you!”
“Well…” he looked towards the hills and asked “you live down here?”
“Yes, my house is just a little while away from here. I know where your family is moving though!”
He acted surprised, “Oh, cool…so can you help me find my house?”
“Why did you people suddenly decide to come and stay here?” she asked him causally breaking a leaf from the tree her dog was playfully circling around.
“My father wants to move his business here, and he also wanted to live in the countryside for so long, and my mother is also from this town.”
“I see, what is your mother’s name?”
“Shelly, Shelly Curtis.” He replied
“No, I never heard of her…she said after rolling her eyes a couple of times…
“What breed is Mia?”
“She is a good shepherd dog; my uncle got her from Sicily when I was only 2 after my parents died”
“Oh, I am sorry about your parents, what happened to them?”
“Well they died in an accident in the city, I don’t want to talk about it now…well we have reached your house, see?”
There was this huge mansion with a lush green lawn with many trees and flowers in their full bloom. The setting sun cast the last of its deep red rays through the trees and it looked nothing less than paradise. And from there a big brownish-black dog leaped on Joey like a crazy animal and started licking him all over his face, not realizing that there were a couple of visitors with his master, looking at them in disgust.”
“Stop it Joe, stop it…okay now let me go…enough now…Joe!”
