Ghost Doll and Jasper: A Graphic Novel

by Fiona McDonald

  Ghost Doll crept out from under the bassinet and slipped into a recess behind the service counter. It was well hidden from customers and the staff wouldn't look there unless they'd dropped something. Except for Ghost Doll, it was empty.

  Chapter 10

  As evening approached, the last customer left and the staff rang rAup the day's profits on the cash register. The lights went out, and the toy floor was illuminated by only the streetlights outside. Ghost Doll came out and found the shop deserted, just as it had been the previous night when Jasper had brought her. She was desperate to see him. The toys were all on their shelves still, and Ghost Doll hoped they'd stay there all night. She wandered back to the window to watch the stars come out.

  “Well, how's it going?”

  Ghost Doll spun around and threw herself at Jasper. Her pale arms encircled his neck, and she kissed him all over the head.

  I'm so glad to see you,” she cried. “I have to go away. They don't want me to stay. They say I'm not a proper toy and that I should be in a junk store or the dump.” Her starlight tears streamed through Jasper's coarse fur like rain, evaporating before they hit the floor.

  “Hey, it's okay,” Jasper said, startled at the intensity of her greeting. “It will work out in the end. We'll find you a new home, not at a junk store and not at the dump. I'll think of somewhere.”

  Ghost Doll's tears finally stopped, and she sat on the floor next to her friend and poured out all her woes, including nearly being caught by the security guards.

  “They thought I was a rat,” she said miserably. “I must look very scary if they thought that.”

  “They weren't thinking at all,” said Jasper soothingly. “But I will have to get you to stay here another night or two. There is business I need to attend to. Something odd is happening in town, and I need to get to the bottom of it. I think it's very important.”

  “The toys said I had to go today,” gulped Ghost Doll, brushing another tear from her face. “They said I could wait for you, but then I had to go.”

  “Well, they'll have to put up with you for another night. It's not going to hurt them. What can they do to you anyway? You're more than a match for any of them. Lie low in a corner and mind your own business. I'll be back tomorrow night, and we'll get moving then.”

  Ghost Doll reluctantly nodded her head. Jasper stood up to leave.

  “I'll see you to the door,” said Ghost Doll.

  After Jasper had gone, Ghost Doll wandered around the store. She floated down to furniture and spent time pretending she was in a real home again. But without children it wasn't the same. In ladies’ wear she inspected the latest fashions. Those hoity-toity dolls upstairs should come and learn a thing or two, she thought, eyeing a full-skirted dress not at all dissimilar to the one she had once owned. She could sleep in one of the changing cubicles, she supposed, but that would only be until daylight. Surely there was somewhere in the huge building where people weren't during the day. What about the basement? There must be a basement in a place this size, she thought.

  Ghost Doll floated down through a fire exit, past several doors, behind the boiler room, and through the storerooms full of merchandise waiting to be unwrapped and taken to the floors upstairs. There, in a far corner, half hidden by empty boxes, Ghost Doll curled into a small ball and closed her eyes. She'd go back into that long sleep she'd had before the falling star had brought her back to life. She'd dream of Lucy and tea parties and bright, crisp new dresses.

  “What's this?” whispered a voice.

  “Don't know,” said another. “Give it a sniff, might be edible.” A long whiskered snout edged forward and quivered over the sleeping doll.

  “Smells odd,” said the first voice.

  “Like what?” asked the other.

  “You take a whiff for yourself.”

  “Hmmm, you know what that smells like, don't you,” said the second voice after it too had sniffed the doll all over. “That's what that black box the scientist had smells like. I think we may have hit the jackpot, my boy. Come on, let's go get our reward.”

  And the two of them scurried down the drain hole in the floor.

  Chapter 11

  Poor Ghost Doll, thought Jasper, as he left the department store. Those modern toys were really mean. He couldn't understand how having Ghost Doll among them was hurting them at all, as long as she kept a low profile and no humans saw her. He'd have to think of a new home for her. It was going to be difficult, but he'd do it somehow.

  At that moment, however, there was more urgent business to attend to. He hadn't stuck around to see what became of the small rat behind Joe's Burgers, but he didn't think it would have been pretty. The rats were definitely up to no good. To openly taunt a cat was either extremely brave or foolish. And what was the name the rat had begun to say when the others attacked him? Dr. Bor-something. Perhaps he should find Queenie and ask her. She knew the names of lots of well known people around town.

  Generally, Queenie could be found outside the Sleeping Dragon Chinese Restaurant. There was a parking lot behind it that backed into an empty block where a house had burned down years before, leaving the garden to grow wild. Jasper thought it was quite likely she'd be hanging around there, waiting for the scraps left over from diners’ plates. Jasper's tummy growled as he thought about scrounging up a nice Chinese meal along the way.

  Jasper sauntered through the old garden. He guessed that it could one day be bulldozed to make way for more stores or another parking lot. The old fruit trees were covered with vines and the flowering shrubs had grown to the size of small trees. The long grass was brown now, and frost had killed any little flowers that dared to peek above the earth at this time of year. For cats, it was paradise—the perfect spot for singing love songs and wooing the girl of your dreams. Kittens ambled through it in the spring and birds made nests in the trees to bring up their babies. It was Queenie's favorite spot, and she always brought her own kittens to play there when they were young.

  Jasper stopped to sniff a chicken bone beside a luscious honeysuckle bush. Not worth stopping for really, he thought, as it was already picked clean. As he turned away he thought he heard a faint cry, like something in pain. He pricked up his ears. There it was again. It was coming from beside the remains of the old brick wall. He stalked over carefully in case it was a trap. It might be one of Queenie's boyfriends wanting to warn away rivals.

  Lying in the undergrowth, covered in bloody sores, was a young tomcat. It was Bernard, Queenie's only son from a litter two years before. The little cat, never going to be big and strong, was panting in pain. Jasper inspected him gently. The sores were beginning to become infected. And it looked as though he'd been bitten all over by long, pointed teeth.

  “Hey, Bernie,” said Jasper, licking the other's matted fur. “What happened to you?”

  “They got me,” whispered Bernard, his eyes closing at the warmth of Jasper's tongue.

  “Who? Was it Murdo Nally?”

  “Murdo? No, he'd never hurt me. I was wandering past the butcher's shop in Glenmore Lane. I wasn't doing anything but minding my own business.” He gasped as Jasper pulled a lump of matted fur from one of the bites.

  “Sorry,” said Jasper. “Got to get these bites cleaned.”

  “’S okay,” said Bernard, gritting his teeth. “Anyway, suddenly this swarm of rats came pouring out of a hole in the wall. They ran straight over me without even noticing, then one of them stopped and said, ’Hey, boys and girls, look what we have here! Let's give it the treatment.’ They just tore into me, biting and tearing with their claws. No fear at all. They were so quick and so vicious. It was all over in minutes. Thought they were going to kill me, but suddenly another rat came scampering down the lane. It said something about he'd found it and they'd better help him get it before it got away again. They just left me and took off after the other rat. It took all my strength just to crawl over here.”

  “There's something going on with these rats,” said Jasper. He'd m
anaged to clean half the bites. It looked as though they had been made by larger animals than rats, though. “I'm going to go and get your mother in a few minutes. I want you to stay as quiet as you can while I'm gone.”

  Jasper gave Bernard a last lick, then dashed over the wall and into the parking lot.

  Queenie's russet fur bristled when she heard what had happened to her boy. She called her maids and one or two of her suitors to go with her. “Thank you, Jasper,” she said before leaping into the garden. “We owe you.”

  Jasper was very puzzled. First, he'd witnessed a bunch of rats attacking one of their own, and now this. He knew Bernard was an easy target for cats and dogs, but rats? Bernie was small, but he wasn't a bad hunter. He had stealth and super-sharp hearing. It wasn't natural that he'd been caught unawares like that. These rats were certainly different. They had powers that normal rats didn't have, and they knew it and were using it. He decided to go check out the hole in Glenmore Lane.

  There it was, a drainpipe at the bottom of an old brick wall.

  It must have been put there before proper modern plumbing. Jasper sniffed around the entrance, recoiling at the overbearing stink of rat. It must be one of their main doorways, he thought. He was too big to go down it himself, but someone Bernie's size could probably squeeze through. Not that that was going to happen. Thinking there was bound to be other openings further along the street, Jasper walked slowly down, nose to the ground.

  “Ahhh, don't eat me!” Jasper nearly jumped out of his skin. Underneath his paw was the long, slimy tail of a terrified rat. It was small and covered in dried blood.

  “No, you'd poison me,” said Jasper, keeping his paw firmly on the tail to prevent its escape. “I thought all you rats were growing too big for your boots. I thought you guys had become supervillains. Unconquerable. Going to overrun the world.”

  The rat quivered pathetically on the ground. It looked ill.

  “I've seen you before,” continued Jasper, “in the alleyway behind Joe's Burgers. You were boasting about having help from a human, a scientist called Doctor Boring or something.”

  “I was punished for that,” said the rat. “Should've kept my mouth shut. That's why they did this to me.”

  “I guess I'd be doing everyone a favor if I killed you now. Got any reason why I shouldn't?” asked Jasper.

  The rat quivered, bracing himself for the fatal blow. “I can give you information,” it said. “I can tell you where the doctor lives.”

  Jasper watched the rat squirm, waiting to see if his offer would save his life.

  “Show me where he lives and I won't kill you,” said Jasper at last.

  “I can't. They'll kill me if they see me.”

  “Suit yourself,” said Jasper. “Either they kill you later or I kill you now.” He lifted his paw, claws outstretched.

  “Stop!” cried the rat. “I'll take you.”

  “Here you go, darling. Would you like sugar in your tea?” Lucy was handing Ghost Doll a delicate china cup. There was a picnic blanket under the cherry tree. Every now and then white petals drifted down and fell onto the sandwiches and little cakes. Old Ted was there and Ginger the rag doll, Clown and Humpty―all the gang. At last, thought Ghost Doll, I'm home.

  She was taking a sip of her pretend tea when she heard the sniffing noise. What was that? She looked around her. Where were her friends? They were there a second ago. In their place was the face of a large rat. Its whiskers curved upwards, and it small eyes glowed a sickly yellow.

  “Help!” cried Ghost Doll, but no sound came. She tried to run but something held her down. Fingers were poking her, pinching her, and scraping at her. Ghost Doll's eyes flew open. Rats!

  Real, live rats were crawling over her, trying to get hold of her, to pull her along. She stared into the same yellow eyes of her dream and let out a very real, terrified scream.

  “None of that, girly,” said the rat with yellow eyes. “Come quietly and you won't get hurt.” His taloned paw tried to grip her around the wrist, but it was like trying to hold onto sand.

  “Not sure you'll be able to do that,” said Ghost Doll when she realized they couldn't grab her. “It's a bit hard to hold onto a ghost.”

  She soared up from her hiding place and zoomed above their heads. There were an awful lot of them, she thought, and shuddered at the image of them crawling over her while she'd been sleeping. Thank goodness she was no longer made of plastic; they might have gnawed her to bits.

  “So long,” she called, and flew up the fire stairs back to the toy floor.

  Chapter 12

  Jasper was afraid the rat was going to die before they reached the doctor's house. The rodent was wheezing and gasping, holding a wound on his side. If it hadn't been a rat, Jasper might have felt sorry for it.

  “Almost there,” said the rat. He had a greenish tinge to him and one of his wounds was oozing fresh blood.

  “You should get that looked at,” said Jasper.

  “Do you want to find this doctor or not?” said the rat, obviously in great pain, his energy draining fast. “I'm almost at the point that I'd like you to put an end to my suffering.”

  “Sorry,” said Jasper and followed the rat in silence. They stopped at a grate in the outside wall of a warehouse.

  “We get in through there,” said the rat. “It leads to the cellar. From there we go straight up the stairs to the second floor. That's where the laboratory is.”

  “I can't squeeze through those bars,” said Jasper.

  “Tough,” answered the rat. “Kill me now, please, before the others find me here and pull me apart.”

  “Too bad,” said Jasper. “Tell you what, though. You scamper off now and I won't tell them who led me here.” The rat stared into Jasper's eyes to see if he was telling the truth. Jasper's gaze was steady and cold. The rat turned and hobbled away as fast as he could.

  It didn't take long to find the small first-floor window left ajar for fresh air. It led into a bathroom. Jasper landed neatly on the sill and slipped in without a sound. Second floor, the rat had said. He crept up the stairs, one light footfall at a time. A door was open enough for Jasper to slink through. He hid behind what seemed to be a fish tank. A man stood at a workbench. He had extra thick glasses on, and he was wearing a white lab coat.

  On the bench in front of him was a line of rats. Jasper watched in fascination as each rat stood before the man and received a jab from a large needle. As soon as they had been injected, they jumped from the bench and took their place in a row on the floor. Jasper saw it was not just one row but several, and the rats were lined up like soldiers. It was the beginning of an army. An army of super rats.

  A small, feeble rat hobbled up to the scientist. He whispered something inaudible up at the man, who nodded while he injected the rat. As soon as the rat leapt to the floor, Jasper saw it was the one who had shown him the way to the doctor's. He should have killed the little snitch when he'd had the chance because, Jasper realized, as the man turned his head towards the fish tank, the little rat had double-crossed him. Jasper didn't wait a second longer but fled down the stairs and out the window as fast as he could.

  “We thought you'd gone,” said the teddy bear. “We saw the cat and then you disappeared. Why are you still here?”

  Ghost Doll stood her ground before the gathered toys. “I can't leave yet. There is unfinished business,” she said. “And I feel that I need to warn you of an imminent threat to all of you here on the toy floor.”

  The toys’ mouths fell open. This was not the timid doll they'd made fun of the other night.

  “In the basement,” she continued, “there is a mass of rats.” Ghost Doll watched as a shudder went through the toys. Rats were notorious destroyers of cloth, plastic, cardboard, and many other materials.

  Ghost Doll did genuinely want to warn the toys about the threat, but she also felt a small sense of satisfaction at their fear. Serves them right, she thought.

  “How many did you say?” asked a fashio
n doll.

  “A mass, bird brain,” said a robot. He reminded Ghost Doll of Lucy's brother's robot, although there was less metal and more plastic on this one—more vulnerable to breakage and rat teeth.

  “And how many is that?” asked the doll.

  “Too many to count,” said the teddy bear. “We must prepare ourselves for an attack.”

  “How do we know they'll come after us?” asked a monkey. “They're in the basement and we're several stories up.”

  “Where there are rats, there's destruction,” said the bear. “They'll find us out soon enough. Rats are always hungry. You can't rely on humans to deal with them. It'll be too late. They wouldn't notice until we'd all been chewed to bits. Rats will eat everything in their path. We must get ready.”

  The fashion dolls whispered nervously and rocked on their high heels. Ghost Doll felt a wave of sympathy for them. They were utterly useless and would be sitting targets for prowling rats. What she didn't tell the toys, and she did feel a little bit guilty about, was that the rats only appeared to be after her. If she left the toy floor, the rats may not attack the toys. Jasper would be here soon, though, and he was going to take her away. Then the toys would most likely be safe.

  “Perhaps we should build a fort,” Ghost Doll suggested, “out of building blocks and boxes. It will give us something to hide behind, and the rats won't know how many we are or what kind of ammunition we have.”

  “Amuwhat?”

  Ghost Doll enjoyed the puzzled look on the other dolls’ faces. She was glad that Lucy's brother had sometimes included her in his war games, as it was proving helpful.