The Verdant Stars

It all started down on the grounds behind the churchyard.

12-year-old David Summersley had slipped away from the church and walked out into the yard. The sky was an unnatural orange color and there appeared to be a huge planet-like shadow hovering just above him.

He was hoping that no one noticed him, as someone was always dispatched to find him and drag him back to the Groningen family, who would then whip him and lock him in his small room without any supper.

Such things like this happen every Sunday, and David was refusing to pray to a god who would take his parents away from him and place him with an abusive family. He needed to leave this town immediately or risk going completely insane.

But where would he go? He had no money or friends or relatives that he could stay with, and he certainly wasn't about to go seeking the orphanage that Cuthbert Groningen was always threatening to send him to. The orphanage, with its dreary atmosphere and the harsh headmistress who ran the place, would seem better than the life that he was living now.

Or he could head to the States and start his life all over there. There was no harm in that, and besides, weren't there people whose lives were going downhill at home leaving England to go live in the States? Of course Cuthbert and Nancy would not accept his decision to leave their "oh so loving home", but then again, when have they approved of any of David's decisions?

But there was only one other place where David was free to go to, a place whose occupants always made him feel welcome. That was the house of Vincent Delgutte, or more like the lab of Vincent Delgutte, since he was the local scientist in the village.

David sat on the ground and stared into the sky, trying not to notice the other planet that was there until he saw another shadow standing where he was not. It was Vincent, and he had been sent to find David. He said, “What are you looking at, Davey?”

David said, “Well, the sky is unusually orange and not blue as it should be, and there’s a huge round shape that’s close to it.”

Vincent said to him, “Well, unless one of the other planets decided to move next door, I believe that you are looking at an exoplanet, one that rarely comes unnoticed unless you are looking at it. And who knows? Maybe there is intelligent life in space after all."

“Maybe because they’re smart enough not to make contact with dumb humans like us,” David frowned.

“Or they don’t know that we exist just yet,” said Vincent. He then said, “I’ve been working on a way to try to find these so-called aliens so we can make contact with them.”

“Really?” said David. “But how?”

“By spaceship, of course!” Vincent said as he stood up and helped David to his feet. “We shall go by spaceship and see if we can find this exoplanet and if there’s life on it.”

“Really?” David said. “But you do know that I must be brought back to the church…”

“…where you’ll be whipped and sent to your room without supper,” said Vincent. David glared at him, but it was the truth. Many times, the boy had come to his lab with bleeding cuts and sores from the whippings and Vincent had dispatched his hunchback assistant, Leonard, to clean up David’s injuries. The huge man had frightened scores of children with his hunchback and deformed face, but he had a soft spot for David. Nancy did not like Vincent or Leonard and thought that they were a bad influence on David, and Cuthbert had tried to stop David from going to Vincent’s lab, but to no avail. Vincent was the son of a great scientist and if he spoke of David's whippings to the town, it would be his word against theirs.

Vincent frowned as he saw the people leaving the church. He said, “David, you must come with me now or never at all.” David swallowed and nodded, both of them making their way through the village, noting the people talking about the new queen who had just taken the throne. It was none other than Queen Victoria, who was not a grieving widow or an old lady (be that as most people had imagined her), but she was a beautiful young woman and the world was fair to her. Many of the villagers speculated that she would be ruling England for a long time. (And she did; in fact she ruled for over 63 years, which is longer than the monarchs before her, including the currently ruling queen)

David tried not to pay attention to the talk, but Vincent nodded and said, "Let us not be too isolated from this village; I’m certain that our queen would love to hear of what I’m proposing here.” He led David to the lab and said, “Behold the future: space travel!”

David walked into the lab and stared at the space ship that was in the middle of the lab. This moderate-sized ship is egg-shaped and is in average condition. The interior has a futuristic look and is done in colors that remind you of a cherry tree. It is very fast, is very sturdy, and is very fuel-efficient.

David said, “So, we’re really going into space in…that?”

“We are, as soon as we fix it up and equip it with food and supplies,” said Vincent. “Speaking of which, where is Leonard? He should be here with that box of tools. Leonard?”

At once, a huge man with dark brown hair and brown eyes walked into the room. He was wearing a futuristic plaid suit like those of the 17th century with light pink accents and a pair of boots. He was carrying a huge box of tools in one hand and a plate of sandwiches in another. Vincent said, “Thank you, Leonard. Now set the tools over there and bring me my space goggles.” Leonard left the room and David reached for the sandwiches, knowing that he was forced to eat the scraps that were collected from the table at the Groningen house. He said, “Vincent, doesn’t it bother you that people think that you’re…you know…weird?”

Vincent stared at him very hard, as if he was trying to understand what the boy was saying. “Weird?” he cried out. “Weird? Who told you something like that?”

David said, “Well, the people think that because you don’t work, you have no wife or children, and you don’t live in a decent house, they think you’re weird.”

Vincent laughed at him. David stared at him in confusion. “Weird?” he said again. “How can they say that? I am a scientist; I can’t be bogged down by the mundane way of life.” He grabbed a sandwich and tore into it. “I can’t be bothered with a house, for this place has been in my family for generations. And besides, having a wife and a family will just distract me from my experiments. Let them have their families and lives, I say! They’ll be eating their words the moment I launch this thing into space!”

David nodded, not knowing what to say. He caught his reflection in the ship’s exterior: he saw a scrawny young boy with a mop of long brown hair and bright baby-blue eyes staring back at him. The boy was wearing a worn-out sweater, ragged pants, and a pair of boots that had seen better days. David tugged at the red scarf that had adorned his neck; it was a Christmas gift from Leonard the year before.

He was vaguely aware of a very tall man with cobalt-blue eyes and thick, curly, milky-white hair standing beside him. Vincent said to him, “What do you see, David?”

David frowned. “I see a skinny little orphan with no life…and possibly no future.” He turned away from the ship.

Vincent was undaunted. He said, “What I see is a young boy who has braved every storm that was tossed at him. A young boy like that deserves a family that cares about him, not those brutes and monsters that he lives with now.” He sighed and said, “When people look at me, they see a crazy old man who has no intentions of settling down. But that they don’t know is that one day, man will go into space. They will blast off into rockets that are so powerful that they will break the things that bind them to this earth and go shooting towards the stars. It will be a proud day when man will one day see the face of God.”

David said, “Then if that day comes…do you think they’ll remember us?”

Vincent said, “Of course they will! We are to be the first space travelers, are we not? Space travel HAS to start somewhere, right?”

David frowned. “The prophet Elijah had been the first to travel in a fiery chariot,” he recited, knowing that that was what the pastor had spoken about earlier that morning.

Vincent said to him, “I believe you may be right, Davey. For after all, what is space travel but simply a ride upon a fiery chariot?”

That night, David sat in his tiny room listening to everyone laughing and mocking his very words. Nancy said, “That boy is as cracked as that old coot.”

“Indeed he is,” said Cuthbert. “How long before they actually embark on that crazy journey of theirs?”

“It’s a possibility,” said Mr. O'Toole, who was the baker. “Vincent did say that he would be leaving in the middle of March. It’s still early February.”

“He’s gone insane,” said Mrs. Conway, the wife of the village blacksmith. “He’s now got poor Davey thinking his crazy thoughts. Maybe we should apprentice him to my husband; that’ll take away any idea of him wanting to leave.”

“He does not leave our house at all,” Nancy glared daggers at Conway. “David is ours and no one is to apprentice him to anyone.”

“That’s the problem,” said O’Toole. “Davey is never allowed to leave your house, but to become a poor humble little servant. He has no friends his own age, nor has he seen the inside of a classroom. He would benefit greatly if we sent him to that boarding school in Edinburgh.”

Cuthbert growled, “David does NOT leave our house! He does not go to school or speak to any other children! He is a worthless little orphan and it’s time that you knew that!”

O’Toole and Conway were firmly escorted from the house. Conway said, “I wonder if a judge would be interested in this story. That poor boy hasn’t been the same since he was 3 years old and forced to live with those terrible people.”

“Better Vincent than them,” said O’Toole. “Mark my words, Thelma; no good is going to come from that boy living with them at all!”

David sat by the door overhearing everything that was happening. He knew that Cuthbert and Nancy would never let him leave before, and now, he was doomed to spend the rest of his life trapped with that evil couple. Suddenly, Vincent’s plan to go to outer space didn’t seem so bad after all. He could get away from Cuthbert and Nancy and never have to worry about any further abuse from them.

David prayed for March to come quickly so that he could get away. He needed to leave the village and save himself. And not just save himself, but save Vincent and possibly Leonard as well. He looked up at the sky and saw that the sky, far from being dark, was still red and the exoplanet was still there. The stars were out, too, but they were not the stars he had known. They were verdant, filled with light and song. They seemed to sing to him, calling him.

But would David Summersley be willing to answer that call?