Chapter 4 - Confusion

“What! Not that I don’t believe you, but how? And how come I’ve never heard you say anything to midnight to calm her when she is afraid?”
“The reason you’ve never heard me is because I don’t talk out loud, I use my mind.”
“Oh,” said Georgiana, confused, yet trying to act like she understood, “but how?”
“I first realized it when one time Midnight was getting really scared because of this loud noise she heard, and I was hoping that she would realize that it was just a twig falling, and thinking in my mind that she should relax. Then, she just stopped, right before I was about to get tossed off. I was wondering why she stopped, and was just questioning in my mind when I heard someone say an answer, only no one was there. I desperately searched for someone, but, there was silence, not even the sound of the wind. So, I realized, though with much contemplation and thought, that it was midnight.”
“How come you never told me this story?”
“Because I couldn’t lie to you about how I stopped midnight.”
“Well, I still don’t get why you said to listen to what you told me to do.”
“Because, there is one more thing that I didn’t tell you.”
“What, tell me!” Pleaded Georgiana, dying to know.
“I think that anyone can talk to the animals, as long as you believe that you can, and as long as you spend enough time at Pemberley.”
“What do you mean?”
“Pemberley has this sort of magic about it, so, if you spend enough time here, the magic sort of follows you around.”
Georgiana obviously confused sat there with a look very rarely she had, a look that showed she did not understand.
“What I am trying to say is that when you come into Pemberley, you can talk to animals, and when you leave, you can’t. If you come here enough, then you can talk to animals anywhere. But you have to come here at least three times a month. If you don’t, then the range in which you can talk to animals away from Pemberley slowing reduces, until you can’t talk to animals unless you are in Pemberley.”
“Now I get why you always spend so much time at Pemberly!” Said Georgiana. “So, when are you going to help me start to talk to animals, today?”
“Aren’t you angry that I didn’t tell you?” Said Arial, shocked by how calm her friend was acting.
“No, I understand why you didn’t tell anyone.” Said Georgiana, although she was a little upset.
“Not today, because we aren’t in Pemberley, and you have to be there, or else it won’t work. You also have to fully believe.”
“I do, but, can you just talk to an animal first so I can see?”
“Yeah, let me talk to that little bird outside. We will have to go on the porch.”
The girls silently opened the sliding door leading outside of Arial’s room. Arial’s parents were asleep, and they didn’t want to wake the up. Georgiana watched intently as Arial closed her eyes. Then the bird slowly came towards her, obviously getting coaxed by Arial. It landed on her finger, and Arial opened her eyes.
“Do you have to close your eyes?”
“Well, with animals that I have never talked to before, I do, because it helps me concentrate, but with Midnight and some other animal friends that I have made, I can do it while talking to someone else.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you communicate with animals that aren’t near you, like can you talk to Midnight?”
“I am not sure, even though I have been able to do this for a long time now, I have never known if I could, so, I can’t try, because I don’t fully believe that I can.”
“Oh. So, can I try talking to that bird?”
“Not this bird, because I am still a stranger to him, and like I said, you have to be at Pemberley.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot.” Said Georgiana disappointed that she had to try. So, should I try on Midnight tomorrow?”
“Yes, or you could try on Peppermint, because she trusts you and she thinks that you are nice.”
“You asked her?”
“Yeah.”
“What else has she said about me?”
“Just some comments on how you ride sometimes, and other things.”
“Now I know why you are always staring into the distance, and why I have to call your name twice before you look at me.”
The girls stayed up for hours talking about talking to animals, and other secrets they had. Arial was relieved that she finally had someone to talk to with her secret. Georgiana was enthralled with her friend’s ability, and excited that with practice she could do it herself.
“So, why did you tell me this now?”
“Because I think that the people who are destroying Pemberley know that something is up with the place, and I don’t want them to figure it out, because it could get out of hand and dangerous if people found out.”
“Now I see why you don’t want to tell your parents, you don’t want them to find out about it, or think that you are crazy.”
“I don’t think that they would assume that I was crazy, they would just think that I was joking with them.”
“I am not tired at all! Since it is five, and we obviously aren’t going to go to sleep, let’s get dressed, because then we can get to Pemberley early.” Said Georgiana.
“Ok, I hope my parents won’t mind us leaving so early. As long as we tell them we’re going, I am sure they won’t care.”
“I just can’t wait to try to talk to Peppermint!”
“I know, it must be exciting for you, I can still remember the first time when I tried to start a conversation with midnight after I realized I could talk to her.” Said Arial, reflecting back to that day.
“It must have been hard for you to keep this a secret.”
“I realized that it was best not to tell anyone, and I was always looking for times to try and tell you, and sometimes I almost would. I just waited until the right moment.”
“Well, I understand why you didn’t want to tell me until the right moment.”
“You have no idea how glad I am that you actually believe me, so many times I thought that you would think I was crazy, and that is part of the reason why I waited this long.”
“I came up with an idea!” Said Georgiana, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“What?”
“Well, maybe, sometime, we could spend the night at Pemberley.”
“And what, we are just going to tell my parents about how we have a secret place?”
“Of course not, we are going to tell them that we want to go camping in the woods.”
“And your parents will let you?”
“Maybe. You’ve done it before with Rose.”
Rose was Arial’s older sister, who did not know about Pemberley, or the secret of talking to animals.
“That’s true. But not at Pemberley.”
“Well it still technically is camping.”
“When should we do this?”
“Friday?”
“Sure.”

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