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Arborus and Cob came in from a long day out in the garden. Both were a little muddy. It had rained so hard earlier in the morning, it was hard to avoid getting muddy. Arborus stamped his boots off then spent a fair amount of time out in the shed picking mud out of Cob’s hooves. He was working on the last hoof when Shadow, one of his cats, slunk down out of the rafters and did a cat-stretched on top of a hay bale, first the front end, then the back. Then she was off like a shot in a little stiff-legged trot up the stone path, tail up and curled at the tip. She only did that for one reason.
“Hi Butterfly!” Arborus called out, even though he couldn’t see her yet. “We’re in the shed removing mud.”
He could hear Butterfly laughing not too far away. “Shadow gave me away again!” She stopped in the doorway. “Arborus! You’re a mess! And you aren’t going to argue with me this time. Those pants have had it. I don’t know what you did, but you can’t wear them any more. There’s nothing left there for me to patch!”
He looked down at his tattered trousers. His boots were caked in mud and there was quite a bit more dried mud on his hands and arms. He even had a smear of dried mud across his face. “Yeah," he said sheepishly. "It was either fall into that really thorny rose bush down by the pumpkin patch or go for a swim in the really deep mud puddle there.” He picked at a slash in the old trousers above his left knee. “I’ve had these for a good long time but…I guess they’re done.” He looked a little sad.
“Oh! I’m sorry Arborus.” She touched his shoulder. She knew that was the pair he was wearing when he had to leave his home and had probably been given to him by his Momma. “I’ll make you a new pair just like those, exactly the same, just newer.”
“You don’t have to do that." He smiled. "These were originally long pants. They just got shorter as I used the leg bottoms as patch for the top. Another pair will look just like this soon enough.” He laughed now.
Butterfly smiled but she could see he was just trying to convince himself. Hoping to cheer him up she reminded him, "It's movie night at the manor tonight. Do you think you can get ready in time?"
“Wouldn't miss it! Give me a few minutes,” He looked at his arms, “Several minutes…and I’ll get this cleaned up. You can feed the kitties while you wait. Food and bowls in the...well you know where they are.” He laughed again and went out behind the shed to clean off most of the mud with a brush he had out there, then went into the cabin to finish cleaning up and changing. When he came back out he was wearing jeans and his white pirate shirt that Butterfly had made for him. Butterfly noticed that he liked that shirt almost as much as his hoodie and made a mental note to look for something similar to make for him. But first a new pair of pants, definitely.
Arborus said, “It’s still at least an hour until we have to start walking up to the manor. Want to go for a walk the long way around? The garden crew has been cutting a walkway under the brambles and crazy overgrowth on the outside of the garden wall. Let’s go that way.” He held out his hand but Butterfly suddenly looked frightened. She didn’t take his hand. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“The Wall path? People are saying it’s haunted!” He was looking at her skeptically. She nodded. “More than one person has told me they’ve seen a shadowy figure down there. Sometimes moving in front of them. Sometimes following them.”
“I go out there all the time. Nothing to worry about. Come on." On seeing her hesitation he said, "Or we can just take the usual path up to the manor and get there early.”
“No, it’s okay. I don’t think I believe in ghosts. Not really anyway.” She laughed lightly and took his hand. They went out the yard gate and took a left into a leafy green tunnel. The path was fairly wide. Along the way, there were places where the path widened out and the undergrowth was cut back all the way to the wall. Benches had been set out so people could stop along the corridor of greenery in these little leafy rooms.
The garden had four walls. They were rounding the corner to follow the path along the third wall when they heard voices up ahead. Butterfly looked jittery.
“Don’t worry, that sounds like Rabbit. She comes down here occasionally and usually brings someone along. She sounds sad though…” They rounded a corner just in time to see a large dark shape disappearing off into the undergrowth, leaving Rabbit standing there alone. There were telltale oil tears on her cheeks. Arborus rushed to her side. “Are you okay, Rabbit?” He put a hand to her cheek.
Rabbit nodded and daubed at her eyes with her sleeve. “I-I-I’m fine. Just feeling a little blue is all.”
Butterfly asked, “Was that…was that the ghost?”
“Ghost?” Rabbit looked confused.
“People in the manor are saying this pathway is haunted,” Butterfly explained. “But I don't believe them.” Though she said it, she didn’t look too sure about it.
Rabbit smiled a weary smile. “That was Norman.”
Butterfly’s eyes grew wide. “The ghost’s name is Norman?”
Rabbit laughed a tiny laugh. “No, Norman isn’t a ghost. He lives in the manor, though no one sees him much. He’s Wanda’s husband. They live over in the North Wing.” She looked around at the underbrush where the figure had vanished earlier. “Norman, come out and meet my friends.”
A voice came from the trees. It was hesitant and quiet. “Rabbit, I’d like to meet your friends. Would you introduce us? In the usual way?”
“Norman, you can just come on out.”
“No Rabbit. Tell them first.”
“Norman is just shy.” Then she explained, “He doesn’t look like what you’d expect. There was a...lab accident.” She looked away for a moment trying to shut out the memory of that night. “He’s just a little…different. And he’s a little shy about it.”
“Rabbit…. Tell them.”
“Norman, there isn’t much to tell. You just look different. Now come on out and say hello to Butterfly and Arborus. Or they’ll go back to the manor believing there really is a ghost out here.”
There was a heavy sigh. “Please, don’t be frightened.” A hand parted the vines growing up into the canopy and a figure stepped through. Butterfly took a step closer to Arborus and took his arm. The figure was tall, narrow-waisted and very broad shouldered, his torso heavily muscled. There were bony flesh-covered spines all down his back, as if his spinal column had grown horns under the skin. His face was horrifyingly misshapen, with sharp teeth and long protruding tongue, and his eyes…one nearly normal, the other large and tipped at a very strange angle. Those eyes alternately looked down at the ground in embarrassment and up at Rabbit for support as he shuffled out into the light. He was wearing a vest that was nothing except ill fitting and tight in all the wrong places and a pair of belted pants. He wore no shoes.
Arborus was smiling. “I’m pleased to meet you Norman. I’m Arborus. And this is Butterfly. You have to forgive her. She thought she saw a ghost earlier.”
“I’ve seen you in the garden Arborus. You work hard. And delighted to meet you Miss Butterfly. That’s a very pretty name.”
Butterfly smiled and would have blushed if robots could blush. “I’m pleased to meet you Norman. And I'm happy you are not a ghost!”
“Well so am I.” Norman chuckled. Then he turned to Rabbit and gave her a hug. “Are you okay now, dear Rabbit.”
Rabbit nodded and wiped a lingering tear from the corner of her eye. “Thanks Norman. Talking to you always makes me feel better.” She suddenly got a far away look in her eye. “Spine just pinged me on wifi. He's worried. I gotta go.” She gave Norman another tight hug then hurried off to the manor. They all watched after her.
“I don't think I've ever seen Rabbit sad,” Butterfly said with concern in her voice. “She always seems so funny and full of energy.”
Norman looked at her with his lopsided eyes. She began to grow self-conscious as she felt he was looking at her repairs. “Butterfly, you and I have something in common.”
“We do?”
“I’m pretty sure we do.” He took her hand. To her credit, she didn’t recoil. “You see,” he said, tracing a line of silver on the back of her hand. “You and I carry our scars outside for all to see. There is no hiding from them. But you and Rabbit also have something in common. Other scars. Scars that run deep and are well hidden. Yet, they are there. It isn’t for me to discuss, but I’m certain you and Rabbit have more in common than you know.”
Butterfly looked at him with surprise. Many, but not all of the people at the manor knew how she had been damaged, but she didn't expect someone she had never met to know. And he couldn't possibly know about her other, very tightly held secret. No, no one knew about that....
Arborus looked up the path Rabbit had taken. His processors made the intuitive leap that Rabbit must have suffered some hurt caused by her own creator, just as Butterfly had. But her Pappy? He found that hard to believe, as he knew how much she loved her Pappy. He kept his thoughts to himself as he simply said to Butterfly, “We should get on up to the manor if we want good seats for the movie.”
Butterfly was still looking at Norman's face, but there was no hope of reading his expression, other than the kindness hinted in his eyes.
Norman let loose her hand. “Go on up and have fun. Don’t listen to old Norman.”
“Come with us,” Butterfly said sincerely. “Movie nights are fun!”
“Ah, not tonight. There are too many new bots here for me to make an appearance without introduction. But I will try to get out more. No more "ghost sightings." He laughed. “Go on! Shoo!”
The two robots started up the path together. When they turned to wave goodbye, Norman was gone. They both looked at each other, wide-eyed, then turned back and set out, hurriedly, to get to the manor before dark, neither willing to say they were positive Norman wasn’t a ghost.