Jesse Jury - Olivia the Brave and Autumn the Fierce

Olivia the Brave
and Autumn the Fierce

By Jesse Jury

Olivia the Brave and Autumn the Fierce.

By Jesse Jury.

First Edition.

Cover illustration by Collette Gott.

Cover b ackground image by Miriam Espacio.

All content copyright 202 by Bravehouse Books .

Follow Olivia on all her adventures at oliviathebrave.com .

I would like to thank, first and foremost, my wife, Amy, without whose encouragement this project would have never been finished. I thank my friend, also named Amy, for helping with the first (very rough) draft of this story; my mom, Linda, for helping with the final draft; and my mother in law, Collette, for providing the cover illustration. Many thanks also to Patty, Cher, Larry, and Justus, who read the story before its publication, and gave such valuable feedback .

Much appreciation also goes out to my fellow writers at the Pond and Parchment Writers Guild, past and present, who listened to me present parts of the story, b i ts and pieces at a time: Patty, Cher, Ron and Linda, Olivia, RJ, Tom and Trinity, Kirk, Jenny, and Becky .

Dedicated to the real li v e Olivia and Autumn (Hannah) .

All things are possible for those who believe.

Chapter One: The Birthday Party

It was a special day for a young girl named Olivia L. C. Hesselgrovefor it was her tenth birthday. She lived in a big blue house on Continental Avenue in a city called Midtown in Washington State. It was a quaint little town just north of Seattle, with historic ties to the end of the pioneer days. In fact, one of Olivias great, great, great grandfathers had been the first mayor of Midtownbut that is a story for another time.

Now Olivia was no ordinary girl, and this was no ordinary house, as she would soon find out.

The house had been passed on from generation to generation, going back to her great, great, great grandfather, James Bercie, who had built it in 1905. He had moved to Washington from a town called Tragedy, New Mexico, just a few years prior, and had met a beautiful young lady named Lillian Willows. Within just a few months of having met and courtedas was the custom in those daysthe two were married, and shortly thereafter they had their first child, whom they named Agatha. With a little wood, and some nails and plaster, James had built for his new little family the big blue house on Continental Avenue.

One hundred years later, after six generations, Olivia Hesselgrove was born. The house was now in the hands of her parents, Harold and Hannah Hesselgrove, who had been married for eight years, with Olivia as their only child. Someday, Olivia, her father would say, Well pass this house on to you.

But Olivia didnt want to inherit the house. Certainly, it was still in pristine condition for a house of its age; and certainly, it had come to be treasured as some sort of family heirloom; but there was one huge problem that Olivia simply could not overlook: the spiders. They were rather large in the eyes of a young girl, and because Olivia was a fearful child, living in such an old house with its fair share of dark little corners in which spiders could hide was simply out of the question for her. But the spiders werent the only things Olivia was afraid of. There was also a little family of raccoons that occasionally made their way into her back yard, and she was terrified every time she saw them, with their beady eyes and pointy teeth, and plump bellies, being well fed off the neighborhood garbage.

But the raccoons werent the only other thing that caused terror to well up within her; there was the rickety ceiling fan in the hallway that spun just a bit too fast, and moss-covered stairs in the backyard that were a tad too slippery. Worse yet were the spots where the hardwood floor creaked when walked upon. Then there was the height of the stairs, the fear of drowning in the deep bathtub, andon occasionhaving to speak to her parents friends who came over for dinner. But perhaps worst of all was the teasing that came from other children for being afraidbecause she was even afraid of that also.

I always feel like this old house is watching me, Olivia thought to herself.

But it was now time to put all her fears aside, for it was time for a birthday party; for it was on this day, this very special day, that she would be turning ten years old. Her mother had spent the previous day preparing an elaborate triple-layer cake with alternating layers of yellow cake with strawberry filling, the top of which was decorated with ten candles, spaced evenly around her name, which was written in large, swirly letters,

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

All of her cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and friends came to her party, from both sides of her family. Before it was time for the birthday festivities of cake and presents, the children had gathered together in the back yard to play some outside games; and certainly, none of them could resist climbing up into the tree housenot even Olivia, even though she was dreadfully afraid of heights. One-by-one, her friends and cousins climbed into the tree house; but as soon as they heard Olivias mother call from the back door that she would be cutting the cake, they scurried down the rope ladder and into the house to get cleaned up. Olivia, however, being too afraid to climb down the rope, and terrified to jump, found herself stuck in the tree house.

Olivias father, Harold, saw her from the window of the house. He quietly sneaked outside to help her without attracting attention from the other children. Are you stuck? he asked, approaching the tree house.

Olivia burst into tears. I cant jump down, and IIIm too scared to climb!

Harold sighed with a smile. Olivia, sometimes in life, you have to learn how to be brave. It takes putting one foot in front of the other, and before you know it, your nickname will be Olivia the Brave!

But dad, I cant be brave when Im this afraid! she said, sobbing miserably. If my friends saw me now, they would call me Olivia the Scaredy-Cat!

Oh, dear Well, then here you go, Harold replied, reaching up his arms to an opening on the platform above. You just have to jump, and Ill catch you.

After a good several minutes of coaxing, Olivia finally jumpedmore like fellinto her fathers arms. He gave his daughter a firm hug and whispered in her ear, Ill always think of you as brave, even when youre scared.

Once she made her way inside the house, Olivia was able to dry her tears, and she saw, sitting before her, a familiar face that was able to distract her from everything she had been crying about. It was her grandfather, Stanley, who had come to her party; and Olivia was glad, because Stanley was old, and was not prone to leaving his house, if he could help it. Grandpa Stan, as he was called by his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, was certainly one of her best friends in the entire world; and even in his old age he was full of fun and excitement. After eating cake, all the children gathered near to hear a story from Stanleythe kind that only one with his wisdom and life could tell. Olivia, her cousins, and a few of her aunts and uncles sat around the aged Stanley as he began to tell them fantastic tales from the days he had spent living in other countries.

After amusing his audience with a few short stories, Stanley declared, Well, thats all the stories I have for now, kids.

Grandpa, pleaseone more? the children called out. Just one more story? Please, oh please?

Well, I suppose theres time for one more Stanley mumbled to himself. Very well Heres one last story about a mysterious land, far away at the North Pole, full of strange creatures.

Oh, this story, Olivias fifteen year old aunt, Autumn, mumbled. Weve heard it a thousand times.

Autumn, shh! Its one of my favorites! Olivia said, hushing her aunt.

Grandpa Stan, meanwhile, cleared his throat, and began to retell his over-told story. Their story goes something like this, he said, as he recited a few short little rhymes as follows: