Sneak Preview: Duckton Abbey, The New Season
The new season of Duckton Abbey is rapidly approaching: new adventures, new scandals, perhaps a tryst or three, mannerly speaking, from the rarefied realm of the duck pond in our town plaza.
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In the last episode, the free spirited Trevor, the Dabbling Duck, won the hand of the tender-breasted Lady Rosalinda of the Reeds after he saved Duckton Abbey by tearing off the inflator-valve of a giant, fearsome inflated swan, which had been maliciously planted by The Duck al Orange, who was, like his predecessors, captured and roasted in his own fat with shallots and oranges.
Nigel, the majordomo of Duckton Abbey, is planning for the big fall wedding of Trevor and Lady Rosalinda, managing a staff of Skullery Ducks: polishing the reeds and lily pads and scouring the pond scum.
The Dowager Duck, fresh from her beak sharpening procedure, is holding court with her cackling gaggle of older hens, shouting “This marriage will not last!,” citing the incident where the much younger Trevor made a pass at her; unsuccessful despite, she confessed, that he possessed a “splendid tallywacker.”
The Old Bald Coots continue to soil the golf course as they gather with their leader Mulligan in a water trap they have nicknamed the Nineteenth Slough.
The tedious old drake Sir Francis is again on migration, this time to Mallorca, to stock up on stories with which to bore the rest of the flock upon his return.
New offspring — five little ducks going “quack, quack, quack” — parade in a row behind their mom. Turtles stack up on top of one another to compete for rays and to prove who is boss. Old Hardback, 100 years this year, has relinquished his top position and has resigned himself to gathering moss on the bottom.
On one occasion, a bully named Donald, masquerading as an Emperor Goose, honking “Make Duckton Ducky Again,” attacked some migrating mallards from Mexico, but was exposed as a Bufflehead by the goose patrol, Duckton’s Finest, and pecked off to the golf course, much to the chagrin of the Old Coots hanging out at the Nineteenth Slough.
But this is summer, a time for leisure. A few have waddled away from The Abbey to the fountain in front of City Hall, while others settled in the bushes next to the amphitheater for weekly concerts including those of a Bluesy Winged Teal riffing on solos, and a Tufted Mandarin conducting Swan Lake.
But what will the new season bring? Will Trevor be true to Lady Rosalinda, or live up to his reputation as a dabbling duck and again be banished to The Slough? As the Fall season coincides with duck hunting season, will everybody make it to the wedding? There are rumors of deadly duck hunter prowling the reeds named Fudd. But the denisons of Duckton Abbey are filled with anticipation of a new season filled with joy…but hopefully not butts full of buckshot.
