The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

3

SHE IS CALLED THE QUEEN MARY,” said Abilene’s father, “and you and your mama and I shall sail on her all the way to London.”

“What about Pellegrina?” said Abilene.

“I will not go,” said Pellegrina. “I will stay.”

Edward, of course, was not listening. He found the talk around the dinner table excruciatingly dull; in fact, he made a point of not listening if he could help it. But then Abilene did something unusual, something that forced him to pay attention. As the talk about the ship continued, Abilene reached for Edward and took him from his chair and stood him in her lap.

“And what about Edward?” she said, her voice high and uncertain.

“What about him, darling?” said her mother.

“Will Edward be sailing on the Queen Mary with us?”

“Well, of course, if you wish, although you are getting a little old for such things as china rabbits.”

“Nonsense,” said Abilene’s father jovially. “Who would protect Abilene if Edward was not there?”

From the vantage point of Abilene’s lap, Edward could see the whole table spread out before him in a way that he never could when he was seated in his own chair. He looked upon the glittering array of silverware and glasses and plates. He saw the amused and condescending looks of Abilene’s parents. And then his eyes met Pellegrina’s.

She was looking at him in the way a hawk hanging lazily in the air might study a mouse on the ground. Perhaps the rabbit fur on Edward’s ears and tail, and the whiskers on his nose had some dim memory of being hunted, for a shiver went through him.

“Yes,” said Pellegrina without taking her eyes off Edward, “who would watch over Abilene if the rabbit were not there?”

That night, when Abilene asked, as she did every night, if there would be a story, Pellegrina said, “Tonight, lady, there will be a story.”

Abilene sat up in bed. “I think that Edward needs to sit here with me,” she said, “so that he can hear the story, too.”

“I think that is best,” said Pellegrina. “Yes, I think that the rabbit must hear the story.”

Abilene picked Edward up, sat him next to her in bed, and arranged the covers around him; then she said to Pellegrina, “We are ready now.”

“So,” said Pellegrina. She coughed. “And so. The story begins with a princess.”

“A beautiful princess?” Abilene asked.

“A very beautiful princess.”

“How beautiful?”

“You must listen,” said Pellegrina. “It is all in the story.”