THE NOSE AND HIS PERFUME

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen: A New Year

They finished preparing only minutes before the store reopened. In addition to the mob, thousands more people had arrived; and not just from Grayton—people had come from all over. Carla had done an excellent job of locating all the children whose happiness had been extracted. Downstairs in the lobby, everything looked different. The Gingerbread Village was gone, and the first floor of the store looked enormous without it. Velvet ropes had been erected in preparation for the extraordinary lineup of donors.

As the doors opened, and people began filing into the store, the empty space was soon filled to capacity. J-F had installed displays throughout the first floor, which detailed what the extractor was. Due to the Varshavskys’ involvement, the displays were pretty heavy on the perilous dangers the extractor posed. At first, Bunny was afraid this might deter people from wanting to donate their happiness, but she soon saw this wasn’t the case. It seemed the more people understood, the more they wanted to help. Everyone was now wary of the Nose, so the Varshavskys operated the extractor. Carla’s crew filmed the event, while they transferred happiness from the people there to donate it to all the children that the Nose had extracted. Every single child who had been extracted was restored.

When at last they were done, the children and the Varshavskys said goodbye to J-F and Carla, and the Varshavskys closed up the store. They went home, where Basil and the Nose were waiting for them, but when they got there, the Nose was gone. Bunny asked Basil where he was, but Basil said he had no idea; he hadn’t even realized he left.

They settled down in the living room and told Basil all about how successful the day had been. Then they sat in silence for a few moments, exhausted. Penny glanced at all the presents under the tree.

“I guess we missed Christmas,” she said.

“Perhaps we should them,” Basil suggested.

Grinning, Penny hopped up and started passing out presents. Bunny looked down at the present that Penny had handed her. The card indicated that it was from Mrs. V. Judging by the sort of flat, rectangular box the present was wrapped in, Bunny guessed it was jewelry. 

“My mitten!” Bunny said, as she opened the box.

Bunny held up the very same mitt that she had sent up the pneumatic tube in the store’s old mailroom, when they first saw the shipping tunnel.

“It came to my office,” Mrs. V said.

“Look, this one is for all of us,” Penny said, holding up an envelope. “It’s from the Nose.”

“Open it,” Bunny said.

Penny opened the envelope, and took out a card. The twins looked over her shoulder, and Beau read the card out loud.

Dear Bunny, Beau, and Penny,

It looks like I am going to be arrested. I don’t want to go to jail, so by the time you read this I will be gone. I have a present for the three of you, but it won’t fit under the tree. I left it in the old laboratory. Whatever you do, DO NOT use it. My latest invention isn’t finished yet. There wasn’t time. I’m afraid you’ll have to figure it out for yourselves, but if you finish it, I think it will help.

Thank you for everything. Perhaps we will meet again some day.

Peter     

“Maybe we can still find him,” Penny said.

The Varshavskys exchanged a knowing look.

“He will be long gone by now,” Mr. V said.

“The last time he left, we thought he was gone forever. I have a feeling we may be seeing him again,” Basil said.

“What do you think he left us?” Bunny wondered aloud.

“Whatever it is, if he built it, it’s probably dangerous,” Beau said.

Basil beckoned Penny over and whispered something to her. She went and got two more presents out from under the tree and gave them to Beau and Bunny.

“I doubt it will top whatever the Nose gave you, but nonetheless,” Basil said.

The twins opened their presents. Basil had given Bunny their father’s sun and salt-stained wilderness survival guide; and Beau, their mother’s childhood science kit. As the twins looked doubtfully down at their presents, Basil cocked his head at them questioningly.

“I thought you wanted to be great adventurers and inventors, just like your parents,” he said.

“I know. It’s just…” Bunny started, but couldn’t think of how to put it.

“What’s the point of discovering or inventing anything if it’s going to turn out like the extractor did?” Beau said.

“That’s a slippery point of view,” Basil replied. “What’s the point of doing anything? The future is in your hands—don’t let our mistakes stop you from being great adventurers and inventors. Not all inventions are bad, you know. What about pudding? Candy? Ice cream?”

“Those are all foods,” Beau pointed out.

“I am hungry,” Basil confessed.

“We haven’t had dinner. After this, let’s eat,” Mrs. V said.

“Music,” Basil added, “electric light, those coloured markers you adored when you were small. The ones that smelled like fruits? You sniffed them so much, when you were children, you always had rainbow coloured nostrils.”

“Pillows,” Penny put in. “Swimming pools.”

“Mittens,” Bunny said.

“Books,” Beau smiled.

“Bicycles, shoes, toboggans, movies, toothpaste,” Penny grinned, and proceeded to rattle off as many things as she could think of, as she passed out more presents.

THE END