by LL Helland
“So he was playing with me?”
“No, Chris, that was a warning. The next time he will kill you. Consider yourself lucky. They’re taking your brother to our village. He will get the care he needs. We can’t do anything for him out here. In our village, our chief or Professor Mend can heal him. Our chief is very small, only a few inches high, and Professor Mend is our scientist. Brilliant man.”
Chris looked puzzled rather than comforted, so Tompack explained further. “The larger we Bundlebobs grow, the more…intellectually challenged we are. Our small chief not only has much wisdom, but also the knowledge that comes to the Fish King.”
Chris nodded, not entirely convinced. “We need to get going. Why didn’t they take us with them?”
“They need time to work on Jon without anyone around.”
Chris knew what that meant. “You mean, without me around.”
“By the time we reach our town in less than a day, your brother will either be dead or he will be healed.”
Determined to get to Jon before anything changed, Chris decided he would walk without a break. If the Bundlebobs did not sleep, he would not, either. At that point, he thought he heard someone calling his name from behind him. He turned around, but saw no one. He focused on Tompack again.
“Chris, you need to put on any warm clothing you have in your bag. It will be getting colder, and soon we will run into snow.”
Brittany was still running fast after the rat, but she was beginning to slow.
She wanted to find her brothers, but the weight of Chad was slowing her down. Brittany didn’t really know if she could help Jon, but she would try.
The wind had picked up, and it had begun to snow. She said, “Rat, Tommy. I can’t go on in this weather, and I know Chad is cold.” She looked down at the boy, whose teeth were chattering. “We need to find some shelter and something to eat.”
“Follow me.” Tommy led them to a cave. Bats lived in the cave, but the rat assured Brittany that the bats would not bother them. “The bats hate Bundlebobs. I’m not sure why, but don’t ever go into a bat cave with one. You will be torn up.”
The rat quickly gathered some dry twigs from the entrance, struck sparks from two stones obviously left there for that purpose, and lit a fire. He used bat droppings to keep the fire going.
“It smells terrible, but it will keep you warm. I will go out and scavenge for a few items. I will be back soon.”
Before long, he came back. “Look what I found.” He held up the corner of a hammock that he had dragged into the cave. “You can use this as a blanket, and I found some bark and berries. I had to dig for the berries. They were buried deep under the snow.” Snow covered him from head to toe.
Grateful for the supplies, Brittany picked up some bark and bit apiece off. Immediately she knew she should not have done that. A splinter stuck into her gum. The rat climbed into Brittany’s lap and convinced her to open her mouth so he could remove the splinter. “You have to put the bark in the flame to soften it.”
“Won’t it catch fire and burn up?”
“Watch me.” Tom took a long piece of bark and rested it in the fire. Soon it looked more like jerky. He blew on the hot bark and took a big bite. “Not bad, though I’m sure my muffin crumbs would taste better.”
Chad did not like the bark much, but he loved the berries, so Tommy went out in the cold to get two more armfuls. Soon Brittany and the little boy were full enough to sleep. Tommy pulled the hammock up under their chins and then found a corner to curl up in.
Tommy saw this odd-looking man at the cave’s entrance. Alastair did not wish to wake Brittany or the little boy, so he quietly tiptoed past them. Tommy hopped up on a boulder waiting for the man to say something. His hat was pulled way down to protect him from the weather. He had gloves on, but it looked like they were sewn to his coat. Tommy thought, Idiot mittens.
Alastair said, “I won’t take up much of your time, but I seem to be lost. I was looking for Jon Hellandback.”
Tommy pointed to Brittany. “That’s his sister, Brittany Hellandback, but I’m afraid you’re too late for Jon.”
“He has passed away!”
Rat looked at Alastair. “No! He has been taken by the Bundlebobs to some professor or someone.”
“Ah, that would be Professor Mend. Good man. Perhaps I’ve not caused too big of a blunder. He can still bring the professor’s invention back to his corporate world. It will just take a little longer than I thought.”
Rat yawned. “And the point is?”
“Jon was not supposed to go through Bat Cave and get attacked by rats. He ended up in the wrong place.” Alastair started drawing imaginary lines in the air. “You see, he was supposed to go here, not over there.”
Rat said, “Hey Professor, I’m no rocket scientist or anything, but your dress is on fire.”
Alastair pulled his cloak out of the small fire and stamped on it several times with his elf-like shoes. “I’m not a professor. I’m a mystical, magical sorcerer.”
Rat went back to his resting place. “Well if that’s the case, you should have seen that fire thing coming. Night, Professor.”
Rat stretched and closed his eyes. “I’m starting to sound like Chris. I guess the time I spent with him has rubbed off on me.”
CHAPTER 29
Bailey, the pretty red-haired girl who had burned her hand severely while holding her brooch, was trying to rest. Although the maggots would keep out the infection, the pain was overwhelming.
Trisha searched the tomb, calling the rat that had made the ointment for her hand. “Please come out, rat! I will not hurt you. I’m not mad at you. I want you to make the same ointment for Bailey—just leave out the hallucinating part.” Trisha meant it about no hallucinations. She still did not know if she really had spent time with her siblings.
Finally, she spotted the rat. He scurried over to Bailey, keeping one eye on Trisha, and made some ointment. Trisha thought Mrs. Toddles must have something to do with this helpful rat. The only things they usually cared about were themselves. He used his teeth to snip off the bandage around Bailey’s hand, then gently applied the salve. Bailey quickly went to sleep, just as the noise in the corridor grew louder and the brooches glowed red. The huge, thick door slid sideways, and Godfrey walked into the room. He saw the large glass jar on the floor and frowned. Dirt, worms, flies, maggots, and the deteriorating remains of a girl lay scattered on the floor.
Trisha said, “It was an accident.”
Godfrey sat down on a boulder and replied, “You girls are not going to get me in a bad mood today. Clean this mess up. I have great news. I have found a bride. We are to be married tomorrow. Trisha, since you refused me once again, as well as all the other girls here, I had to find someone new.”
As he spoke, the girls watched their tormentor from the corners of their eyes. Godfrey seemed to have a hard time catching his breath. The girls knew that Trisha’s plan must be working—but if he got married tomorrow, that would give him new energy.
Godfrey slowly walked over to Trisha. “You see, my dear, I don’t need you anymore. I was going about it all wrong. I tried to marry girls with loving families, strong-willed girls. I thought they would give me the most energy, but instead, managing them has become a constant battle. This time, I found my bride-to-be on the seedy side of town. I offered her family just a small amount of money and promised the girl a roof over her head, food, and a caring husband. She will be dead soon, and no one will come looking for her. I will bring my wife by tomorrow after the ceremony.”
He looked suspiciously at Bailey. “What happened to her?”
Trisha said, “The large glass jar almost fell on her; I guess the ground shifted. A piece of glass cut her hand. She lost a lot of blood, so she is resting now.”
Godfrey got a half grin on his face “I’m so sorry I missed the festivities. Girls, you all may want to catch a nap. Tomorrow night is the yearly bonfire, and you have a lot of work to do before then.”
Trisha could hear lighter footsteps coming down the corridor. A petite little woman entered. She wore the exact same brooch as the rest of them.
Godfrey snapped at the girl. “I told you to wait up above. Now go.”
The tears welled up in the girl’s eyes as she looked around the room. In a small voice, she asked, “Is this my fate?”
Godfrey turned on her. “No, my dear, yours will be much worse.”
The new girl buried her face in her hands. Her brooch glowed, and she cried hysterically. Godfrey gripped her arm firmly and walked her out of the room. After the door slid shut, they heard the girl crying for a just a moment before all got quiet.
Trisha took a deep breath. She asked her fellow prisoners, “What is the big bonfire?”
One of the girls explained, “It is when all the girls who have died over the past year are cremated.” She pointed to the remains spilled from the broken jar. “We put all the boxes in the burn pile, and Godfrey lights it. He calls it a party. He looks forward to it every year.”
Trisha asked, “How many caskets are there?”
“With the one on the floor, that makes twenty-one.”
The other girls fell asleep, but Trisha could not stop thinking. She had to stop Godfrey’s madness.
The next day Godfrey introduced the girls to his new wife. She entered the room, and the girls let out a gasp. Already looking ill, she had aged tremendously in the few short hours she had been married to Godfrey. She was skin and bones, with sunken eyes and cracked and bleeding lips.
Godfrey looked at his wife and said, “I don’t think she will be dead by tonight, but we can store her for next year’s festivities. You should have seen her at the ceremony—she was breathtaking, but now I have taken her breath away.” He started laughing. “It is good to be young again. Come, dear, you may need a wheelchair for tonight’s party.”
When he left, Trisha sat down next to Bailey, who seemed to be waking up. Bailey looked much better, which was a relief. Now Trisha had to think of a way to save Godfrey’s new wife.
Mrs. Toddles appeared and said, “Trisha, you will think of something. Have you checked your pockets lately?”
Trisha gave the woman a puzzled look, but she checked her pocket anyway. She found the brooch she had taken from the girl’s skeleton. She held it in her hand. It did not glow and did not have any powers to it.
“What good is this brooch?”
The woman replied, “Trisha, the brooch can’t tell if you are a man or a woman. So, if it’s pinned on to someone, such as a particular man, the brooch will do what it always does. The power works on either sex.”
Trisha realized that she had to get close enough to Godfrey at the bonfire to pin the brooch on him. She turned to ask the woman if it mattered where she pinned it. “Can I pin the brooch anywhere?”
The woman had vanished again.
It was time to start the long, tedious process of loading up the wagon with the caskets. Trisha looked at the girls. They worked at this task as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. She did not know how long these girls had been imprisoned, but they had lost all emotional attachment to other human beings. Disturbed, Trisha walked over to the skeleton in the dirt. Several girls shuffled over to help her pick up the glass.
Trisha said very softly, “I will take care of this girl, and the broken glass.”
The other girls barely heard her, but Trisha waved her hand in the air as if she was waving away a bunch of birds. The girls busied themselves with the caskets, which had to be loaded just right. Godfrey wanted the first to die to be loaded onto the wagon first so that when it came time to unload the caskets tomorrow, the most recently dead would go into the fire first. Godfrey wanted to hear their bones pop and snap. He took great satisfaction listening to their corpses sizzle and burn. The ones who had been dead for a long time did not make as many sounds when they burned.
Trisha bent over the unidentified girl and brushed back what little hair she had left. It was a gruesome sight, but somehow Trisha’s motivation to give this girl a funeral won out over her horror. After she had cleaned up the dirt, maggots, and worms, she asked the girls to bring over a casket. They tried to find the best box, one with smooth wood, not warped or splintered. It was big enough to put her whole body in without taking her lower limbs off. Trisha and several of the girls picked her up gently. She was very light, literally nothing but bones.
One of the girls said, “Where is her pin? Does she need to be buried with it?”
Trisha pulled the brooch out of her pocket and said, “I have a better use for her brooch.”
Each girl said some nice things about the deceased. Trisha was the only one who had never known her. From what the girls said, she had been a kind, hardworking person. She had always thought she would get out of this alive, until she got sick and never recovered. Trisha cried. She did not know this girl, but that was no way to die. They put the lid on and put her wood box on the very top. She would be the first one on the bonfire the next day.
Godfrey would not allow any other jewelry. The girls wore only their brooches, but one girl had managed to keep her wristwatch hidden, so they knew when it was five o’clock, almost time for the bonfire. Godfrey would be coming soon. When Trisha heard Godfrey’s footsteps coming down the corridor, she put her hand in her pocket to make sure the brooch was still there. All the brooches started glowing with heat, including the one in Trisha’s pocket. As Godfrey entered, each girl gripped her glowing brooch tightly, hiding their action from Godfrey. Trisha held on to two brooches.
Godfrey said, “Well, ladies, I think it’s time for the party. Is everything ready?”
Trisha did not know it, but Godfrey had noticed the slight glow in her pocket. He knew she had an extra brooch.
Wheels squeaked in the corridor. Godfrey’s new wife was coming in a wheelchair. Godfrey pushed a button in the outer corridor. A huge door opened. And since Godfrey could control the girls by fear—and the brooches—he needed very few employees. He took advantage of that.
“Now, ladies, push the wagon out to the bonfire.” He laughed hysterically.
CHAPTER 30
Jon had been taken to Professor Mend, while Chris and the Bundlebobs set off by foot. They wanted to get to Jon as quickly as they could. Chris didn’t have a good feeling about his brother’s health. He didn’t look well, and Chris was not used to seeing his fifteen-year-old brother sick.
Great-Grandfather showed up as the Bundlebobs and Chris were making good time.
Tompack got startled when Alastair walked out behind a tree. Being only about two feet tall, the Bundlebobs weren’t into violence.
Chris said, “Hey Great-Granddad, good to see you. You got any type of transportation for us? I need to get to Jon and supervise this great healer.”
“I guess I could help you since I’m here.”
“What are you doing here if you didn’t come here to help?”
Alastair looked around. “I got a little confused, but I think I know where I am. Chris, what can I do for you?”
Chris knew his great-grandfather was inept, but he was basically harmless, just floating around in a netherworld and then popping up every so often. “I don’t want to put you out, but what do you have for quick transportation?” Alastair slipped off his elf-looking shoes and handed them to him. “Chris, just wear these.”
“Okay, that’s not going to happen, Great-Granddad. What else you got?”
“I don’t have anything else, but you do. Look at your watch.”
“I can never get this thing to work.”
Tompack said, “Chris, we need to get going.”
Alastair put his hand up. “Chris, have you ever heard of time travel?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“Just set your watch hours ahead, and you will arrive in just a few minutes instead of hours. The whole lot of you can go at once. After you set the time, just hit the silver-and-black button.”
“It beats wea
ring those stupid-looking shoes.”
“Oh, Chris, just one more thing, when you get there, you may be a little cloudy-headed for several hours.”
“Can’t be any worse than my mind is already. Let’s get going.”
Chris and Tompack fiddled with the watch until they had just the exact time they wanted. Chris pushed the button, and they were swept through a black hole.
They all landed hard on the ground in front of Professor Mend’s laboratory. The door read:
PROFESSOR MEND LAB
KEEP OUT
Chris said, “Is my brother in there?”
Just then the professor stepped outside. “What’s the commotion out here?”
“Is my brother in there?”
“You must be Chris. I was warned about you.”
“By who? And warned you about what?”
“You may not be able to communicate with the giant Bundlebobs with the exception of hitting them with a lacrosse ball, but I can. Sign language, you know, comes in very handy. You should learn it.”
Chris yelled, “Where’s my brother?” He was afraid the professor was going to say his brother Jon had passed away.
“Your brother is at rest. If you will let me finish what I started, he will recover a lot faster. I will let you see him as soon as I’m finished. In the meantime, do you know how to read?”
“Yes, I know how to read. I’m eleven, not three.”
“Well, what does the sign on my door say?”
Chris yelled, “It says to keep out. Don’t worry, I have ADHD, but I’m not inept like my great-granddad.”
Professor Mend shrugged his shoulders as he walked back into his lab. He mumbled, “Could have fooled me.”
Professor Mend came back to the doorway and stuck his head out. “Chris, perhaps you could go on the search party for your sister Brittany? You will just be in the way here.”
Chris said, “Not getting rid of me that easily, Professor. I’m staying right outside this door, and no funny stuff.”
