“Misfortune, what misfortune?” Wellington could not think of anything bad happening to him.
“Actually the misfortune of Georg, the most famous magic bear in bear circles of the north, better known there as Wise Bear of the Deep Taiga.” At this comment from Velveteen, Georg looked down in embarrassment.
Wellington and Bethleann looked hard at Georg. “Georg, what have you been keeping secret from us?”
“Not much,” Georg mumbled in confusion. He was trying very hard to reason out what misfortune the rabbit was referring to. He did not want to embarrass Velveteen and Golden by calling them daft but darned if he could figure out what they were talking about. When he retired from the taiga to live in the warren only returning upon rare occasions to visit his mentor Sir Boris, he put all of his early years behind him.
“You’re holding out on us, Georg,” suggested Wellington. Of course both Bethleann and Wellington knew that Georg was a very good magician but truth be told they knew very little of how highly he had been revered in the taiga for his entertaining magic shows.
“Wise Bear of the Taiga?” Bethleann tugged on Georg’s arm.
“It drew a good crowd,” Georg confessed.
“You entertained with magic?”
“It was just that, entertainment only,” Georg squirmed uncomfortably.
“He was very responsible, I assure you,” interjected Velveteen. “And the youngsters loved it. They all vowed to take their magics when they were old enough.”
“Sir Boris was overwhelmed by the number of applicants at times,” admitted Georg. Taking magics meant entering into the Bear Academy for Magic. Sir Boris was headmaster. He had Georg in mind to replace him as he was more than ready for retirement but then Georg ended up with Wellington and the fit seemed destined to be. This made Sir Boris happy and he gladly wished his star pupil well.
“You scoundrel, you,” Bethleann hugged Georg. “I knew there was more to you than you were telling.”
“Well played Georg, well played,” Wellington smiled.
“Sir Boris was extremely happy when things worked out well here. He is much in favor of our mission.”
“But I do not recall any of that causing a misadventure.” Georg was still puzzled by Velveteen’s comment about his misfortune. He looked at Velveteen.
“My good bear,” Velveteen exclaimed. “Has it been that long, you have forgotten your great loss?”
Golden gently touched her friend on the arm. “Perhaps, Vel, it is not such a great loss?”
“Well, I must admit that I would hardly miss the thing myself,” laughed Velveteen. “I have a few to spare.”
Golden smiled at his comment. “Quite true enough.”
“Can you please tell me what you are talking about,” begged Bethleann. “Georg is clueless and Wellington and I are dying to know the answer.”
“We are great finders of lost things,” Velveteen began.
“We thought that we would help Georg,” continued Golden. Suddenly there was a tremendous crash from the kitchen!
Wellington Rabbit is a sixteen (soon to be seventeen) book series about the adventures of a gentle rabbit and his friends. Each book is ten chapters long, separated into three parts and published here Monday, Wednesday, Friday.