Rainbow's End

What a day it was! A morning rain had provided Mack and Paddington with another opportunity to amble about together in the mist. Then the rising sun had brought forth a beautiful, bright and shiny rainbow, which arched up over the backyard and seemed to plant one end firmly down into the middle of the woods.

A riotously boisterous game of croquet ricocheted back-and-forth across the full expanse of the yard. The Teds had their own version of the game. Instead of playing in turns one after another, as many as possible whacked their wooden balls at each other’s balls and through the hoops all at the same time. Clambering clacks and whacks, shouts and laughter filled the air like sparkling pieces of sound confetti. Mack did his best to keep score while tabulating columns and columns of black marks for misbehavior, with a rare gold star awarded to a Ted who showed a modicum of civility.

Over at the edge of the woods, Itsy had gathered together her littlest brothers, Sparkie, and Waldo, and sister Lily-pop in order to train them to be “a army.” After a few minutes of marching them back-and-forth, she called a temporary halt to the training in order to gobble down root beer Popsicles that Letta and Shoshonna were handing out to everyone. As the two older Teds moved on, Letta turned around and asked, “Did you see our rainbow?”

Looking up at the shimmering, colorful arc for a few seconds, Itsy’s eyes followed the end of it as it lowered down into the middle of the woods. After gazing that way a moment, she suddenly let go of the string she used to lug her toy cannon around with her and turned to her army.

“Wanta go on a abenture?” she asked them.

“Sure!” said Lily-pop as she slurped contentedly at her Popsicle.

“Where to?” asked Sparkie.

“What’s a abenture?” queried Waldo.

“A abenture’s where you go somewhere new and find impordant stuff,” explained Itsy.

“Oh,” said Waldo, wide-eyed with wonder.

“But where should we go?” asked Sparkie again.

“To the end a that rainbow,” said Itsy, pointing up at the rainbow and then tracing its descent into the woods.

“What’s there?” Sparkie wanted to know.

“A great big pot a honey,” Itsy informed them. “That’s what’s at the end a rainbows. Biwi said.”

“Do we have to go into the woods to get it?” Waldo wanted to know. He didn’t look all that enthusiastic about the idea. “It’s dark in there.”

“Course we do!” Itsy asserted. “But don’t be scared. The woods isn’t that dark inside. It dus’ looks that way out here.”

“Really?” Waldo asked.

“Yetz,” Itsy assured him. “I been in there lots a times. ‘Sides, the rainbow will make it light when we follow it.”

Still, the three little ones continued to stare into the woods, mouths agape, eyes wide and uncertain.

“Come on,” Itsy encouraged them, “finish your Popsicles, so we can go get the pot a honey and be back for lunch.”

Despite her insistence, the three of them took much longer than Itsy did to finish their snacks. But the melting Popsicles would allow them to dawdle only so long. When each Popsicle had been properly devoured and each stick licked clean, Itsy lined the three of them up, took one last look at the rainbow, and headed them resolutely into the woods.

As they scrunched in under some low-lying ferns and through a couple of really big bushes, the whacking and clacking, shouting and laughing of the croquet game started to fade, becoming softer and softer until the only sounds left were those of the woods. The snap and crackle of their progress through the undergrowth was loudest to their ears. But the shushing sounds of squirrels bounding about nearby, the snicking of other squirrels scampering up and down tree trunks, the quieter clicking and whirring of bugs, the chirping of birds, and the occasional rat-a-tat-tat of a woodpecker high above them all combined to give the woods an eerie voice indeed.

The four little Teds clambered across the floor of the woods with nary a word for what seemed like a really long time. The eyes of the three younger ones opened wider and wider and flicked back and forth, up and down, and side-to-side as they tried to adjust to the shady light and see everything there was to see at the same time.

“Where’s the rainbow’s end?” asked Sparkie. “I can’t see it no more.”

“That’s okay,” Itsy assured him. “We’re marching right to it. Don’t worry.”

Just then a nearby bush rustled loudly, and everyone jumped as an owl rose up into the air. Flying up to a branch of a tree near them, it bent its head to one side and stared gravely at them as they passed.

“Hi, owl!” Itsy yelled in greeting.

“Who! Who!” it answered.

“You, silly owl,” returned Itsy. “You!”

It’s only response was to shake its wings, ruffle its feathers, and bend its head to the other side. Its big round eyes followed them as they slowly made their way deeper into the woods.

“He’s a boy owl, Lily-pop,” Itsy informed her little sister. “That’s why he’s so stupit.”

“Stupit boy owl,” Lily-pop agreed.

“Come on,” Itsy encouraged her army. “Ev’rybody hold paws and keep walking. I’ll hold Lily-pop’s. Lily-pop, you hold Waldo’s. And, Waldo, you hold Sparkie’s.”

“Okay,” they all agreed, grabbing each other’s paws. Then they turned and trekked on together farther into the heart of the woods.

Scattered rays of sunlight filtered through the tops of the trees above them as they trudged along, slipping on old leaves, tripping over twigs, hopping over fallen branches, and bending under and around big bushes.

Eventually, Waldo broke the silence, asking plaintively, “Are we there yet?”

“Almos’,” Itsy assured him. “We’ll get to the end a the rainbow any minute now.”

A great big butterfly floated by them, flitting from one shaft of sunlight to another, then disappeared off into the far reaches of the woods.

“I’m hungry,” Waldo complained.

“Me, too,” squeaked Sparkie.

“Me, too,” piped up Lily-pop.

“We can eat some a the honey at the end a the rainbow when we get there,” Itsy reassured them.

“But we’re hungry now,” Sparkie wailed.

Just then they stepped between two huge ferns and came upon a stand of bushes filled to overflowing with bunches of black berries and red berries. Two little sparrows and a wren were hopping from bush to bush, pecking at the berries and devouring them greedily.

“Okay,” Itsy said, walking over to the nearest bush and reaching up to pluck a big, juicy black berry, “we can eat somefing now, if you want.” Handing the berry to Lily-pop, she said, “Ev’rybody can take some of these berries and eat them.” Picking off another black one, she plopped it into her mouth. “Ummm, them’s good!”

“How do you know they aren’t poison?” asked Sparkie, eyeing the bushes suspiciously.

“‘Cause the birds are eatin’ them, and they don’t get sick,” explained Itsy, reaching up for red berry, which she handed to Lily-pop.

“Oh,” said Sparkie, sidling up to a bush and taking a berry for himself. Waldo joined him and began eating the berries, too.

While they were eating, they heard some rustling in the leaves nearby. All of them stopped in the middle of munching on berries and stood very still. Out from under the ferns and on across the floor of the woods slithered a long green snake. No one moved, but the snake paid them no heed, just slithered on along its way until it disappeared off into the underbrush. It took a few minutes before everyone started eating their berries again, eyeing the bushes and the earth around them very, very carefully all the while.

Once they had eaten their fill, Itsy made everyone wipe his or her paws on some leaves. Then they took each other’s paws and started off through the woods again.

After walking a bit more, Waldo suddenly put his paws to his neck and exclaimed, “Hey, I lost my ribbon!”

“Yeah, it’s gone,” Sparkie agreed after making a close inspection of Waldo’s neck. “Where did you lose it?”

“I don’t know,” Waldo replied, close to tears. After considering it for a while, he decided, “Back at the berry bushes, I think. I remember something pulled at it when we ducked under one of the bushes when we left.”

“Don’t worry, Waldo,” Itsy reassured him, bending down to look him in the eyes while rubbing his back sympathetically. “We’ll find it when we go back later.”

“Yeah, we’ll get it back,” said Lily-pop quietly, standing on the other side of him, rubbing his shoulder.

“Yeah, we’ll have to go back that way anyway,” agreed Sparkie, confidently.

“Okay,” said Waldo. Snuffling a little, he wiped his eyes on the back of his paws, then stood up straight and said, “I guess we better get going then. So we can come back pretty soon.”

“Yeah,” agreed Itsy, Lily-pop, and Sparkie. “Let’s get going, then,” said Itsy. “Ev’rybody hold paws! Now sing after me,” and off they marched again, singing resolutely and bravely, “If you go down to the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise….”

A little while later, a crow perched on a branch overhead called after them as they walked along, and Itsy shouted, “Hi, black bird!” To which greeting the crow cocked its head first one way then the other, then flapped its shimmering, blue-black wings and flew off into the higher reaches of the trees.

Somewhere near them, a wood thrush’s sweet, clear voice began to pipe vespers. The light from above shone down softer than it had before.

“Is it getting to be night?” Sparkie asked.

“Not yet,” said Itsy. “We’ll get back before night, don’t worry.”

Just then, as they walked around a great big tree stump that swarmed with ants and other bugs, they came upon another stand of bushes filled to bursting with red berries and black berries.

Lily-pop looked up at her big sister, Itsy, and asked quietly, “Can we eat some more?”

“Sure,” said Itsy.

Suddenly Waldo pointed and cried out, “Look! There’s my ribbon!”

Sure enough, hanging from a lower branch of one of the bushes was Waldo’s bright pink ribbon. He and Sparkie rushed over to it and carefully pulled it down off the branch. Itsy came over and helped wrap it back around his neck, then tied it in a knot as best she could.

Once Waldo has his ribbon back safely on his neck, Sparkie asked, “How come we’re back at these bushes again? I thought we was only going to go by them on the way back!”

“Maybe we have to go by them again before we get to the end a the rainbow,” Itsy suggested.

“Caw! Caw!” came the cry of a crow as it flew in to settle down on the branch of a tree not far from them. Quickly grasping the branch with its claws, it bent its head down directly at the four of them, and called out, “Caw! Caw!” once again.

“Hi, black bird!” Itsy called back.

Suddenly there was a crunching and rustling of leaves and undergrowth behind them, and, with memories of the snake from earlier, everyone froze in place and scanned the bushes and ferns around them, wide-eyed and fearful. Then, out of the bushes emerged a big black-and-white head.

“Birnie!” shouted Itsy. “Hi! Did you come to see the end a the rainbow, too?”

“Hi, Birnie!” shouted Lily-pop and Waldo and Sparkie.

“We’re on a abenture!” Waldo explained, running excitedly over to his big brother as Birnie emerged more fully from the bushes. Right on his heels came Biwi, too, smirking and chuckling.

“I’d say we found the end of the rainbow,” said Biwi, picking Waldo up and twirling him around in the air, making him gasp and laugh at the same time.

“You did?” asked Sparkie. “Where is it?”

“Right here, little one,” Birnie said, picking his little brother up and giving him a hug.

“No it isn’t,” argued Itsy, paws on her waist. “This is dus’ some berry bushes.”

“Hi, Shoshonna!” squealed Lily-pop, as her great big sister stepped out of the bushes behind Birnie and Biwi and bent down to pick up the baby girl of the family.

“Hi, sweetie,” Shoshonna answered, kissing and hugging Lily-pop, making her giggle and squeak with laughter.

Biwi pulled Waldo in and hugged him up against his chest, then turned to Itsy and said, with a great big grin on his face, “Well, these may look like only berry bushes to you, but they look like the end of the rainbow to me.”

With a free paw, Shoshonna reached down and rearranged Itsy’s bonnet, which had fallen to one side of her head. Then the bushes rustled once more, and out of them stepped a bear with a scowl on his brown-and-yellow face.

“Hi, Benjamin!” Itsy greeted her older brother brightly. “What are you doing here? Did you come to find the end a the rainbow, too?”

“I guess you could say that, in a way,” Benjamin answered in his growly way, but somehow he didn’t sound as gruff as he usually did when speaking to Itsy. Itsy cocked her head like the crow and studied Benjamin closely, but for once she didn’t say anything.

“We started looking for you,” Benjamin informed her, “as soon as we found out you were lost.”

“We didn’t get lost,” Itsy insisted indignantly. “We knowed where we was all the time.”

“Yeah, well, we didn’t,” Benjamin frowned down at her. “Mommola got worried when she started making dinner and you weren’t there to help.”

“Oh, we better get back then,” said Itsy. “Mommola needs my help. We can find the pot a honey at the end a the rainbow another time.”

“No need to seek any further,” Birnie assured her with a smile. “You’ve found it,” he said, sweeping one paw out to indicate the berry bushes, while holding Sparkie tight in his other arm.

“Them’s just berry bushes,” Itsy objected, “not pots a honey.”

“Oh, but they will be,” Birnie said, “once we spritz them with Mommola’s honeybee attractor juice next spring. Our honeybees will swarm out here and slurp up all the nectar from the berry flowers, and by next summer we’ll have pots and pots of black-and-red berry honey. Ummm, umm. That’s one of the finest kinds of honey you can make.”

“It is?” asked Itsy eagerly.

“It sure is,” said Biwi. “Simply delicious. A real treasure indeed.”

“Thanks to the four of you,” said Shoshonna. “You found all these berry bushes all on your own.”

“Yeah, we did,” said Itsy, suddenly very proud. “See, Lily-pop and Waldo and Sparkie, I tolded you we’d find the end a the rainbow.”

“Yeth,” said Lily-pop sleepily as she leaned up against Shoshonna chest. “We finded it.”

“Yeah, we had a abenture,” Sparkie told Birnie.

“I’m hungry,” Waldo informed them.

“Well, let’s get back then,” said Biwi. “Mommola’s holding dinner for us.”

Then Benjamin did something most unexpected. He stooped down, with his back to Itsy, then looked over his shoulder and said to her, “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”

“I can walk,” insisted Itsy.

“Yeah, but we’ll get there faster if I give you a ride,” he said. “We don’t want to keep Mommola waiting do we?”

“No, I guess not,” she said reluctantly. Then she went over and climbed up on his back and wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders as he reached back and gave her a seat on his paws and stood up, ready to go.

“Caw!” called out the crow. “Caw!”

Itsy looked up and waved to him. “Bye, black bird!” she called.

“That’s Sydney the crow,” Benjamin told her. “She showed us where you were.”

“She did?” asked Itsy, surprised. Then, as they started off through the bushes, she yelled up back at him, “Fank you, Sydney Crow! Fank you!”

“Caw!” came the response, and Sydney the crow flew up into the treetops.

Itsy turned her head back to Benjamin, thought a moment, then said loudly into his ears, “Fank you, too, Benjamin.”

“Well, you’re very welcome, little sister,” Benjamin responded.

“You’re being a good boy today!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake,” groused Benjamin. Then, under his breath, he murmured, “I should have known it couldn’t last.”

Suddenly Itsy took to hopping up and down on his back and started shouting, “Giddyup, horsie! Giddyup!”

“OoOh!” Benjamin exclaimed. Then, as Itsy continued to urge him on to a faster gait, he quieted some and mused philosophically, “Oh, well. You’ve got to take the bitter with the sweet, I guess.”

“Or, in this case,” observed Biwi, who was walking next to the two of them, with Waldo wrapped in his arms, “the Itsy with the honey.”

“Yetz!” agreed Itsy enthusiastically.

With that thought, they all picked up their pace, hurrying back to where Mommola and Dad and the rest of the Teds waited with a nice, warm dinner to welcome them home.

This one's for Uncle John and Aunt Karen, with love from Itsy.