Arthur’s Wonderful Winding Parade

Arthur checked his shining helmet in a puddle and practiced, “One, two, one, two!” He marched across the castle courtyard, heel to toe, heel to toe. His red cape swished behind him.

Just then, a duck waddled right across his marching line.

“Excuse me,” said Arthur. “The parade goes straight.”

The duck quacked and kept waddling. Her name was Dabble, and she was following a crumb trail left by the kitchen. Behind her came two more ducks, Quill and Button, stepping in a cheerful zigzag.

Arthur pointed to the wide stone path beneath the castle banners. “We’ll march in one splendid line. Ducks in front, goats behind, ponies at the end. I’ll lead at a brisk pace!”

“Brisk?” asked Mallow the goat, nibbling a leaf. “I like a thoughtful pace.”

His friend Clover gave a small hop. “I like a hop-and-stop pace.”

The ponies, Tansy and Bramble, stood side by side. Tansy’s little hooves tapped quickly. Bramble preferred to sniff each flowerpot along the way.

Arthur looked up at the bright banners fluttering above the courtyard. The castle children were waiting on the steps. The musicians held their little drums ready. Arthur wanted the parade to look neat and grand, like a picture in a storybook.

“Let’s try just once,” he said. “Everybody behind me. One, two, one, two!”

He started down the stone path. The ducks waddled after him, but Quill stopped to look at a beetle. Button turned around to see what Quill had found. Dabble hurried back to join them, and the three ducks became a bumpy little bunch.

Mallow and Clover followed, but Mallow paused at the edge of the path to sniff a patch of clover. Clover hopped around him. Tansy trotted two steps, while Bramble stayed by a flowerpot.

Arthur reached the courtyard gate and turned. His splendid straight line had become a duck knot, a goat pause, and two ponies going in different directions.

The drums went quiet. Arthur’s cheeks warmed beneath his helmet.

“Maybe we need another try,” he said, though he wasn’t quite sure what to change.

Arthur marched back to the animals. He made his voice cheerful, even though his plan had gone wobbly.

“Perhaps we were too slow,” he said. “Or maybe too fast. Let’s try faster!”

He set off at a quick clip. The ducks hurried to catch up, their feet pattering over the stones. Mallow took two careful steps, then stopped. Clover hopped beside him, then hopped back. Tansy trotted eagerly, but Bramble turned toward a trough to take a drink.

Arthur stopped so quickly that his cape swung around and brushed his knees.

“Wait, everyone!” he called. “I’m making this harder.”

A little gust lifted the corner of the parade map tucked in his belt. It slipped free and skated across the stones. Arthur chased it, then caught it near the courtyard fountain.

As he turned back, he noticed the animals moving without his instructions. The ducks followed the curved edge of the fountain, waddling one behind another. Mallow and Clover came around the other side, Mallow sniffing as he went. Tansy and Bramble strolled along the broad, curving path that circled the flowerpots.

No one was rushing. No one was bumping. Somehow, they were all moving together.

Arthur watched their feet trace a wide loop around the courtyard. Then he smiled.

“That’s it!” he said. “The parade doesn’t need to be a straight line. It can follow a big, easy curve.”

He knelt beside the map and drew a loop with his pencil. He made it wide enough for Bramble to sniff the flowers and for Clover to hop beside Mallow. The ducks could waddle at the front, or wherever they liked. No one had to hurry.

Arthur showed the animals the new route. “We’ll go around the fountain, past the flowerpots, and beneath the banners. I’ll walk slowly, and everyone can move their own way.”

Dabble quacked. Mallow chewed his leaf. Tansy tapped one hoof.

“Ready?” Arthur asked.

Arthur set off without counting aloud, taking slow steps around the curve as the ducks padded after him. The goats followed, stopping once to taste a fallen leaf. The ponies came last, side by side.

Arthur kept to the outside of the loop, leaving plenty of room. As the animals passed beneath the banners, the children began to clap. The little drums joined in, playing a tune that seemed to fit every step, hop, and waddle.

The parade curved around the fountain once, then again, with plenty of room for every animal. Dabble led for a while, until a crumb near the flowerpots caught her eye. Quill and Button waddled after her. Mallow and Clover followed at their own pace, and Tansy and Bramble came along together.

Arthur walked beside them, no longer trying to make everyone move alike. When Clover hopped, Arthur took a little hop, too. When Mallow paused, Arthur paused with him. The children clapped along to the drums, and their smiles followed the parade all the way around the courtyard.

At last, the animals passed beneath the banners again. The parade was not a straight line. It was a wide, cheerful loop, with ducks here, goats there, and two ponies strolling together. The banners fluttered overhead as if they were waving hello.

Arthur bowed to the animals. His helmet slipped down over his eyebrows.

“Thank you, brave parade friends,” he said, peering out from beneath its rim.

Quill gave a proud quack. Clover gave one last hop. Bramble sniffed Arthur’s cape, and Tansy tapped the stone with a hoof.

The children gave a final round of applause. Then the drums rested on the steps, and the courtyard grew quieter. The animals had done plenty of walking. Their hay waited in a sheltered stall beside the courtyard, piled high and dry.

Dabble waddled into the stall and settled into the hay, her feet disappearing into the soft straw. Quill and Button settled close beside her. Mallow and Clover folded themselves into the hay, and the ponies lowered their heads for a comfortable rest.

Arthur hung his helmet on a wooden peg by the stall door. Beside it hung the parade banner, which the children had decorated with colorful curves and little pictures of ducks, goats, and ponies. Its lower edge was crooked, but Arthur liked it that way.

He perched on the nearby step as the stall filled with little settling sounds: hay whispering, an animal sighing, and a final drowsy quack.

Under the banners, the winding parade path lay empty and ready for another day. Arthur’s cape rested over his shoulders as he watched his friends settle down, and the castle courtyard grew still around them.