Well, clearly the right thing to do here is figure out a way to open that blocked-up door and see what -- alive, dead, or unkillable -- is behind it. It could be the chupacapra after all!
Open or shut
"I still don't want to open it," said Jimmy, and his voice sounded a little small, a touch uncertain. "There's no way of knowing if it's safe or not, unless your book tells you that too. Leave it shut." "I still have the other one to read," I said, looking at and feeling my heart sink in my chest. It wasn't that it wasn't interesting, it's just that reading isn't something I do a lot of, and when the writing is that hard to parse it's a job, not a joy. "We can certainly wait until I've done that, if we're still here by that point." Ben looked at the other book. "Let's see what there is in the rest of the city first," he said. "Like you said, Red, we can get the keys and go and find out what they open, and maybe that'll be plenty for us. The only thing we'll be missing is some bones to tell the good folks back in Elizabethtown that we caught their chupacabra and ate it." "Rabbits," said Jimmy, and we both looked at him. He shrugged. "There are plenty of rabbits around here, let's just get ten or twelve and stick the bones together a bit. That should do unless there's a keen ana-, ananatom-, anatanato-..." he trailed off, looking puzzled. "Anatomist," I said helpfully. "I like the idea, and if we can find a dead bear or fox then that will definitely help confuse any bone-prodders. Right, who's taking first watch?" The moon was past its peak when Ben woke me up and told me that the night was quiet. The fire was banked but giving out enough heat if I sat close to it, but I got up and went outside and up to the roof with the lantern instead. From there I could see and hear everything, and I started trying to read the first book we'd found again. It seemed to be a kind of history, but the strange spellings made every word a struggle and it was slow going. Then, maybe two hours later when I was cold enough, I went back down to the fire, putting the lantern out. A minute, perhaps two, later, I heard the hooting of the strange creatures start up and went out of the door to see what was happening. It took me a few moments to work out what was happening. There was the pounding of feet, oddly asynchronous, and the hooting got louder and stronger and it echoed between the higher buildings like a siren of some kind. They raced past our building without stopping, for which I was grateful, and carried on. After a moment I understood that they were heading for the dock again, and when I looked over in that direction I saw flickering lights there and realised that the boat must have returned. Without thinking about it I looked at the sky, wondering that anyone would be mad enough to try navigating that river in the dark, and realised that clouds were covering up the moon so quickly that there had to be a storm coming. "They're out again?" Ben was stood behind me, and my heart stopped in my chest for three seconds. "Don't do that," I hissed, punching his arm. "There's someone at the docks." Whatever Ben was going to say was drowned out by a scream, coming directly from the docks, and the flickering lights over there went out.
I'm curious why the boaters keep showing up in the dark. Or perhaps they just arrive whenever they arrive, with the river giving them little choice in travel time.
Either way... this arrival seems poorly timed.
Also: pretty sure Ben is going to give Red a heart attack before this is all over.
2 comments:
Well, clearly the right thing to do here is figure out a way to open that blocked-up door and see what -- alive, dead, or unkillable -- is behind it. It could be the chupacapra after all!
Open or shut
"I still don't want to open it," said Jimmy, and his voice sounded a little small, a touch uncertain. "There's no way of knowing if it's safe or not, unless your book tells you that too. Leave it shut."
"I still have the other one to read," I said, looking at and feeling my heart sink in my chest. It wasn't that it wasn't interesting, it's just that reading isn't something I do a lot of, and when the writing is that hard to parse it's a job, not a joy. "We can certainly wait until I've done that, if we're still here by that point."
Ben looked at the other book. "Let's see what there is in the rest of the city first," he said. "Like you said, Red, we can get the keys and go and find out what they open, and maybe that'll be plenty for us. The only thing we'll be missing is some bones to tell the good folks back in Elizabethtown that we caught their chupacabra and ate it."
"Rabbits," said Jimmy, and we both looked at him. He shrugged. "There are plenty of rabbits around here, let's just get ten or twelve and stick the bones together a bit. That should do unless there's a keen ana-, ananatom-, anatanato-..." he trailed off, looking puzzled.
"Anatomist," I said helpfully. "I like the idea, and if we can find a dead bear or fox then that will definitely help confuse any bone-prodders. Right, who's taking first watch?"
The moon was past its peak when Ben woke me up and told me that the night was quiet. The fire was banked but giving out enough heat if I sat close to it, but I got up and went outside and up to the roof with the lantern instead. From there I could see and hear everything, and I started trying to read the first book we'd found again. It seemed to be a kind of history, but the strange spellings made every word a struggle and it was slow going. Then, maybe two hours later when I was cold enough, I went back down to the fire, putting the lantern out. A minute, perhaps two, later, I heard the hooting of the strange creatures start up and went out of the door to see what was happening.
It took me a few moments to work out what was happening. There was the pounding of feet, oddly asynchronous, and the hooting got louder and stronger and it echoed between the higher buildings like a siren of some kind. They raced past our building without stopping, for which I was grateful, and carried on. After a moment I understood that they were heading for the dock again, and when I looked over in that direction I saw flickering lights there and realised that the boat must have returned. Without thinking about it I looked at the sky, wondering that anyone would be mad enough to try navigating that river in the dark, and realised that clouds were covering up the moon so quickly that there had to be a storm coming.
"They're out again?" Ben was stood behind me, and my heart stopped in my chest for three seconds.
"Don't do that," I hissed, punching his arm. "There's someone at the docks."
Whatever Ben was going to say was drowned out by a scream, coming directly from the docks, and the flickering lights over there went out.
[Turns out Jimmy is a wuss....]
Greg - uh, yeah. Clearly.
I'm curious why the boaters keep showing up in the dark. Or perhaps they just arrive whenever they arrive, with the river giving them little choice in travel time.
Either way... this arrival seems poorly timed.
Also: pretty sure Ben is going to give Red a heart attack before this is all over.
Post a Comment