“Leave that for Jimbo,” Max said, waiving to a man who was running towards the big horse with a carrot in both hands. “We have more details to discuss.” Sam nodded and passed the horse off to the professional trainer, then followed behind Max.
Chapter 2
Marabeth stayed low for several days. After two embarrassing interludes with Sam, and some very curious feelings she didn’t want to explore too deeply, Marabeth was grateful for the busy routine that kept her rushing from one appointment to another as she made personal appearances.
“Stacy, are we ready for the party?” Marabeth asked, talking to the director of the palace day care. It was a relatively small area within the palace where the staff members could bring their children during the day and be assured of quality care. Marabeth stopped by the center at least once a week to read stories with the children or to fill in for a teacher during an emergency. Marabeth loved this area of the palace. It grounded her in a way that nothing else could. The children here were all too small to understand titles or politics or obligations. They wanted hugs and kisses and funny stories or someone to play with. Occasionally, they needed a kiss on a scratch or a bruise and didn’t care who gave it to them, as long as their arms were gentle around them.
Marabeth organized parties for the children on special occasions. Right now, it was Valentine’s day and there were already decorations up around the room with hearts and dangling cupids hanging from the ceiling. There was pink lemonade and a large cake in the shape of a heart. Marabeth had arranged to have a clown suit delivered and one of the teachers was going to dress up as the clown and deliver heart shaped-helium balloons. The kids were all very excited and the feeling was contagious.
“Oh, your highness. Thank goodness you’re here,” Stacy said, carrying a small infant in one hand while she held the baby bottle in the other.
“What’s wrong? Did the cake not come?”
“No, it is already here and it is lovely. The chef did a wonderful job. Thank you for that,” she said, referring to the palace chef who loved creating sweet treats for the kids just as much as she loved preparing elaborate feasts for foreign heads of state. She was a master at her craft.
“I see the pink lemonade, what else is missing?”
“The clown,” Stacy said gravely.
“Oh, no! Where’s Ella?”
“Out with the flu. She started to get a headache this morning and I sent her home immediately before she touched any of the kids. The flu set in a few hours ago,” Stacy explained.
“Well, that doesn’t sound so awful,” Marabeth said optimistically. “Well, I’m sure it is terrible for Ella, but at least none of the children were infected, hopefully.” “Yes, but who will step into the clown suit? We don’t have any extras now, with Clara and Tiffany gone as well.”
Marabeth picked up the clown suit that was hanging on the back of the door. She held it up to herself. “What do you think? Will it fit?” she asked, smiling at the possibility.
Stacy was horrified. “No, your highness. You can’t dress up as a clown!”
“Why not? The kids have been told to expect a clown, there’s no one else, so I’ll fill in.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“Why not?”
“What would the Queen say? Not to mention your father?”
Marabeth bit her lip. Her mother and father would be horrified to know that she dressed up in a clown suit with white makeup and hearts on her cheeks. “We won’t tell them, will we?” Marabeth said, smiling at the idea of being in disguise, if only for a few minutes.
“No,” Stacy said and shook her head. “We’ll just tell the kids that the clown got sick and will visit another day. They’ll still be excited about the cake and lemonade,” she said and started walking back to the nursery with her little bundle still happily drinking from the bottle.
Marabeth ignored Stacy’s tone of doom. She took the clown suit and heart shaped, giant shoes from the back of the door and headed into the small bathroom. Marabeth quickly changed into the suit, having to take off all her clothes underneath to get the suit to fit properly. The wig was a slight issue since she had to pack all her hair underneath. It was a stretch, but eventually, she was able to hide all evidence of her naturally red locks underneath the bright red wig. The white makeup quickly and effectively covered all her face and she made credible hearts on each cheek with the red. She then drew a big happy smile on her lips and highlighted her eyes with blue circles. Stepping back to survey her image in the small mirror, she felt a giggle well up within her. She felt like a clown, she realized. It was a wonderful feeling.
Marabeth pulled on the shoes and awkwardly stepped around the tiny bathroom. It was doable, if she was careful. She heard the kids’ excitement as they saw the gorgeous party room decorated with red and white. Some were exclaiming over the cake and asking if everyone was going to get a piece.
Marabeth stepped out of the bathroom and quickly grabbed the bundle of balloons. The first child to see her almost screamed but then the excitement bubbled up and everyone laughed and circled Marabeth who silently waived, shook hands and delivered a heart shaped balloon to each child. They excitedly took their balloon back to their chair and the teachers helped tie the balloon around their wrists or belt loops so it didn’t float away.
Stacy walked into the room and gasped, then closed her mouth with Marabeth’s waive. Stacy didn’t say a word, but simply shook her head and helped the loud, giggling group of children get their slice of cake and cup of lemonade.
They all sat and sang songs, played the hokey pokey in a circle and giggled as Marabeth in the clown suit was the silliest, putting the wrong foot into the circle, or her elbow in when it was supposed to be her head. The party was a wonderful success and the parents stayed on the sidelines watching until the end of the party.
Marabeth didn’t pay much attention to the parents who were waiting to pick up their kids at the end of the work day. She was too busy having a good time and making the kids giggle as much as possible. Marabeth was having a hard time not laughing out loud herself as she poked and stuck out the wrong thing with the paddy wack game or Simon Says. Finally, Stacy called a halt to the party and the children rushed to give the clown a hug, or, for the shy ones, just a handshake or pat on the head.
All the children were slowly filing out of the room when Marabeth looked up and almost tripped over her heart shaped feet. Standing on the sidelines was her brother and right next to him was the man she had been trying to avoid for the past several days.