The Adventures of Darren Cassidy - Chapter Seven, Part Nine - Not so Great Expectations

‘If you get bored so easily, I could give you my homework in future to keep you occupied,’ Darren offered, grinning.

‘Thanks, but I’ll pass,’ Minerva replied, already having turned around and taking notes about the three other buildings beside them. ‘The Woods residence – home to Mr Woods the Haxorus and Mrs Woods the Sceptile, both of whom work at the post office, which is why they live beside it. Obviously, they are Tyler’s parents. The Earhart residence – while their neighbours need a large house because the father is a large Pokémon, they need a large home because they have a large family. It houses Mr Earhart the Dustox, his wife the Venomoth, his sister the Beautifly, his daughter the Venomoth, his son the Cascoon, and his niece the Silcoon. And then, of course, there’s Mr Van der Brunnen’s house.’

‘I’m so glad you’re the one who has to write all of that down,’ Aiden commented, picking up his notebook.

‘Pfft, I was done writing before I was done speaking. You two are simply slow.’

Darren made to retort, but Minerva had already begun jogging around the corner, beside the palisade that protected the eastern side of the village. She briefly stopped to mention the cemetery and how Mr Earhart was the caretaker, adding that his wife and sister were the priestesses, before continuing forwards. She then barely stopped at the Cowell and Wigglesworth residences (stating Mr Cowell was a priest Venusaur) before moving on the next street.

‘Remember the east gate, Aiden,’ she said, walking past the greenhouse. ‘And a compass, so whoever reads the map knows which way is north. Oh, and the Antoinettes’ greenhouse, obviously. In fact, you can also add Miss Antoinette’s Vileplume brother’s apothecary, and then their residence between it and my parents’ bakery. Then, from east to west, there’s the clothing store, which is run by Matthew the Pikachu’s parents Mr West the Raichu and Mrs West the Dedenne; their residence; the Shore residence; and then the butchery, which is owned and run by Mr Shore the Ursaring. To their south is the School, and to its west the arena. The palisade then turns west beneath it, goes on all the way to enclose the park, and then it turns back north, forming the western gate, which is visible from over here, since this streets connects the two gates.’

‘Whoa, slow down!’ Darren objected. ‘You know, we caught about half of that. And I bet your notes aren’t reader-friendly either.’

‘And keep the cartographer in mind,’ Aiden affirmed. ‘Have some pity, woman!’

‘I am showing pity. My notes could be considered mildly interesting at best, so the more concise it is, the more likely people are to read it.’

‘Well, can’t you do that at home? I know I’m only making rough sketches.’

‘That’s not the point. This is also starting to get boring – if this were a story, the readers would agree – so let’s finish the next block of buildings quickly, then we can discuss the last ones in more depth. Speaking of which, south of the general store is the smithy, then the Lucas residence, a street, and then the Williams residence. From top to bottom and right to left, the rest of the buildings are the carpenter’s workshop, the Clark residence, the book store, the mason’s workshop, the Adams residence, the Cohen residence, the Small residence, the Staggs residence, and finally, the Anderson residence. To the far west is the park.’

‘I think my brain just died, trying to remember all of that,’ Aiden said despondently.

Minerva ended up repeating it thrice more before he got all the names right, but she still refused to elaborate on the buildings themselves.

They continued onwards and stopped at the Power Station. Minerva just began explaining its significance, when the door opened and Miss Le Chatelier, accompanied by Audrey Cassidy, stepped outside. Upon seeing the trio, the two adults greeted each other, the Shiny Manectric going home and the Delphox gesturing for Darren to come closer.

‘Arceus’ timing is divine, le cher. I was just about to head home and make my offering. You will come along, I trust?’

‘Of course, miss. I’ll just say goodbye to my friends and then I’ll be right with you.’

‘You just want a convenient excuse to ditch us,’ Aiden teased.

‘That’s true,’ Darren agreed, earning a playful punch on the shoulder from Minerva, ‘but I also owe Reshiram an overdue offering.’

‘Well, then, off with you!’ the Vulpix said, making shooing motions with her right paw. ‘We’ll show you our end result tomorrow.’

‘Perfect. See you at school!’

Darren followed the soothsayer, who had already begun walking to the northern gate. He jogged a little to catch up before falling in step, but once there, he wasn’t sure what to say. He experienced it as awkward silence, but Miss Le Chatelier didn’t seem too bothered. In fact, her carefree yet elegant stride and the cheerful smile that played on her lips suggested she liked the silence. Or maybe she enjoyed what was known in literary circles as “companionable silence”? Whichever.

Her house was outside the village perimeters; too far away for it to be accurately documented on Aiden’s map, but not far enough for it to be considered remote. Its location had certain benefits, e.g. the fact that it was the only building beside the road (a small dirt path led to it, but it was still visible to any visitors) and therefore drew attention, despite being inconspicuous. Well, no, that wasn’t true. It would be overlooked in the village, but the scarlet shingling made it stand out among the green and brown of the environment.

Darren enjoyed spending time inside it, not only because of the permanently burning incense, but also because there was always something at which to look. That evening, however, he was instructed to wait outside. He politely acquiesced, but pouted when she turned her back and entered the cottage. He didn’t expect her to reappear outside with the offerings so quickly, though.

The Pinnacle Shrine was further down the road. Whereas Miss Le Chatelier’s cottage was to the west of it, the Shrine was on a hill to the east. It was strategically located in a spot where, if you approached from the road, the trees thinned out sufficiently for it to stand out. The path that led to it was also clearly visible, and it along that path that the two canines ascended the hill to the shrine.

The shrine was, as the name suggested, a white, obelisk-like spire. It had to be, since offerings to any of the Divinities had to be made there, and consequently, it couldn’t appear to favour one above the other.

Darren expected one of Miss Le Chatelier’s characteristically dramatic offerings, usually entailing an impressive offering coupled with a grand speech, but on that day, she must have felt humble, for she simply burnt some Full Incense and whispered a few soft words of prayer. She had brought along two urns, and when she lit the second one, she slowly waved him closer and whispered an altered version of the prayer. When she was done, Darren accompanied her back to her cottage and set off for home by himself.

The offering may not have been as theatrical as it often was, but he found he didn’t mind. If he were a Divinity – and he said that with the utmost respect, of course – he would nevertheless appreciate the quiet sanctity of the moment, grateful that such a hallowed moment was dedicated to him, and him alone.