The Winter of Mr Petherby

How the children lost their magic

The Winter of Mr. Petherby

Unfortunately summer holidays must come to an end. Worse still they are replaced by schooldays, which someone once said in a moment of goodwill, are the best days of our lives. In Jim’s case this was not quite true.

His school days, or at least his early school days, were dominated by Mr. Petherby, a giant of a teacher who wore the dark robes and small square hat of his craft like some towering black wizard. Worse still he had hands of solid rock and an eye of ice that held them cruelly in their chairs, keeping the questions they most wanted to ask hidden deep inside.

It was Mr. Petherby’s task to teach them all they needed to know. It was his task to take small undisciplined children and mould them into row upon row of ordered adults. He did it awfully well.

He told the class that the world was full of facts to be learned, that everything had one name and one name only, that science could answer anything. He said the world was an equation - put the right facts together and you’ll always come up with the right answer. He even  informed them that there was no such thing as magic, that everything could be explained.

“Magic is lies and you must look to the truth. Those who lie hurt everyone around them and they will soon find that the world has no place for them,” he growled.

Being a teacher, the children believed Mr. Petherby, so that quite soon they no longer believed The Fool’s tales.

That first evening after class, Jim went home to his mother and asked. “Mum is their really such a thing as magic?” for after meeting The Fool he wanted very much to believe that there was.

“No son, there isn’t,” she replied.

“Why not?” he asked.

“I don’t know why not, Jim, but when I was young Mr. Petherby showed me the world isn't made that way. he said everything could be explained  and he is a teacher, so I think that he should know.”

Jim nodded quietly. Disappointed he went up to his bedroom to think about the summer holiday tales.

Soon he found himself staring up at the sky, where the moon floated high above the clouds. Though only three quarters full, it cast a light that made the whole world silver, lighting it up almost as clear as day.

While Jim was watching the moon, his attention was drawn to a cat slipping quietly across his backyard. As Jim watched it climbed out of the shadows and up on to the edge of a fence.

There it stood, head raised, staring intently at the moon, just as Jim had done. With a miaow, that could almost have been mistaken for words, the cat started to sing.

Jim could only see the cat’s silhouette but when it leapt high into the air that was enough. Instead of falling back to earth as expected, it kept lifting up and up, much further than should have been possible, floating gently through the air to a roof, two whole houses distant. For a moment Jim even imagined that the cat was surrounded by moonbeams, but then he remembered that Mr. Petherby had told them that there was no such thing as magic. There must be a proper explanation he thought.

Next morning in class Jim asked his teacher how it was that cats could fly. Everyone laughed including Mr. Petherby, who said, “Don’t be so stupid boy. Cats can’t fly they don’t have wings.”

He made Jim feel foolish for asking and for the rest of the day Jim felt embarrassed and uncomfortable.

When he left class that afternoon, Jim saw The Fool standing at the school gate.

The other children were ignoring him, some even made faces at The Fool and ran away, after all he had told them lies about the existence of magic. But Jim, curious as to what The Fool might think about the flying cat, went right up to him.

“I’ll know you’ll probably laugh,” Jim confided. “But last night I saw a cat fly from our back fence to a roof two whole yards away. I don’t think it was my imagination, but when I asked Mr. Petherby, everyone laughed at me. Please Mr. Fool, can you tell me if cats can fly?”

“Of course cats can fly,” The Fool replied with a broad smile.

“They fly on moonbeams. It’s part of their magic. They sing a few special cat words, then raise their paws so that the moonlight can collect there to pick them up and transport them lightly across the sky to wherever they want to go. That’s how they get to the court of the King of Cats.”

The Fool’s eyes began to shine as he talked of the court.

“On the three full moon nights in each month,” he continued. “When the magic is especially powerful, it is possible to catch a moonbeam all the way to the dark side of the moon and there meet the king. That is why cats so often sing on a full moon night; they are preparing for that great journey through space.”

“But Mr. Petherby says there is no such thing as magic?”

The Fool looked stunned at this news. “No such thing as magic? How do you think you are alive if not for magic. Magic is life, it glitters in everything around you. Magic is everywhere, in everything you do.”

“Oh sure,” said a dark-haired boy who had overheard everything The Fool had said. “You’re just making it all up. Mr. Petherby said so and he’s a teacher, he should know.”

“Yeah!” agreed all the other children and jeered at The Fool.

So shocked was the colorful Fool a this that he took a step back his eyes wide.

“You children don’t believe in magic?’ he asked.

“No,” they replied. “Of course not, it’s all make believe.”

The Fool couldn’t comprehend what had happened. As the children continued their calls, he sadly turned away, shaking his head. Jim followed him, after all unlike the others, he had seen a cat fly.

“How can they not believe?” The Fool said to softly himself. “Without belief there is no magic, no dreams, no smiles, no lightness of heart. Without these things how can you live?”

The Fool was deeply hurt. Slowly he wandered back to the park to sat beneath the old tree where the children had gathered around many weeks before.

“What has this teacher, this Mr. Petherby done?’ he asked Jim. “He’s making them old before their time.”

”Prove to them there is magic then,” Jim urged. “Go and speak to the King of Cats.”

“I should, shouldn’t I,” The Fool agreed.

“In fact young lad, I believe I will.”

With that The Fool smiled again. “First though I had better compose a new tune for the court. It would be terrible to visit The King of Cats without a new tune.”

Thus it was, on that afternoon, The Fool and Jim sat as twilight came on and invented a new tune for the King of Cats. When dusk was well upon them, The Fool walked Jim home, but just as he was about to depart The Fool stopped and turned to him.

“Don’t ever forget there is magic in the world,” he said

“I won’t,” promised Jim.

“While I’m away, I’ll have the cats watch over you, because when I go to the dark side of the moon, I won’t be back for a month.”

But you will come back won’t you?” Jim asked

“Of course, but I must spend time with the King of Cats if he is to help us.”

“I understand.”

“I’ll see you soon Jim.”

“In one month.”

“Yes in one month, I promise. Farewell.”

So for a number of weeks after the bright full moon, The Fool could no longer be found and Mr. Petherby with his facts and figures ruled Jim’s life.

Author's Note

Comment and crit. i'll be editing this as we go.