by LL Helland
One of the colored stones slipped from her hands as she tried to comfort the boy, rolling to one of the corners. She knew she needed to get it and get out of this place. As she bent down to pick up the brightly colored stone, she heard a familiar voice. It sounded like her brother, Chris.
The words came screaming out of her mouth. “Chris, is that you? Can you hear me?”
Before Chris could answer, Jon arrived in his cell with a thud, hitting his head on the dilapidated wooden bed. He said a few choice words while rubbing his head.
As Trisha slowly came out of her drug-induced stupor, Advarika pressed his face against the bars of their cell door. All four of the Hellandbacks began talking, three of them jumping up and down, screaming with joy. Their short-lived celebration came to an end when one of the huge doors that divided Trisha’s and Jon’s cells from Chris’s and Brittany’s cells opened. Mrs. Toddles came through the door.
Trisha gazed at her silently, wondering how much she trusted this woman, maybe not so much now.
“I know her from somewhere.” Chris sounded puzzled.
Trisha said, “All of you have seen her before. Don’t you remember the portrait in my bedroom at Granmama’s house?”
Brittany said, “You mean in the chapel?”
“Yes, the painting on the wall. She’s the woman I was staring at.”
Jon now looked like his ripe old age of fifteen. He did not have to be in the corporate world to help his sister. Jon looked at the woman and said, “Is there a reason that we’re incarcerated?”
The woman spoke softly; Jon had to strain to hear.
Chris said, “Speak up. I can’t hear you.”
Mrs. Toddles ignored Chris. Standing right next to his cell, she continued speaking quietly. “You all need to trust me. I will try to help all of you to escape, but you must not speak loudly.”
Chris said in a loud voice, “I heard from our great-grandfather that we need to help Trisha. I don’t know if he meant physically help her or emotionally. He’s kind of a nut ball.”
Jon said, “Chris, when did you talk with Great-Grandfather? And was he dragging something along with him?” He remembered when he thought he saw his great-grandfather: he was dragging a giant with a large knife in its back to the basement.
“Well, he was having a little problem with his dress, but I don’t know if he was dragging it.”
Just then the opposite door burst open. Jon was half expecting the giant and his great-grandfather, for he thought this had to be the basement. Revealing himself was Godfrey. Jon’s gift for seeing people as they really were seemed to have stayed with him; he saw the grim reaper come in.
Trisha almost fainted completely, but she held on to consciousness by a thread. Advarika fanned her with his hands. The brooch, still pinned to her nightgown, glowed brightly.
Although Brittany was only twelve, at times she seemed older than Trisha. She yelled, “Trisha, are you all right? Who is this man?”
Godfrey walked quickly to Trisha’s cell and unlocked the door. “Now, dear, I know you want to tell the story, but please, let me do it. I get such joy out of telling about your love for me.”
Advarika did his best to ease Trisha to the floor; she just could not stand any longer. Her legs felt like rubber bands. They were not working right.
Jon, the closet to Trisha, looked at her. She looked very pale and tired. He glared at Godfrey. “What have you done to my sister? If you’ve touched her, I will kill you!”
Godfrey spun around, furious. “That may work in the world you come from, but it won’t work here. You will never threaten me again, or I will have you shot before daylight.”
Jon knew he meant it. He was the grim reaper.
Godfrey turned his attention back to Trisha. “We are to be married soon. You will all attend the wedding. Jon, you can give Trisha away, since her father cannot be present. Trisha, dear, your little brother is obnoxious, but I will use him as my best man.”
Chris picked up his lacrosse ball and threw it as hard as he could at Godfrey. The ball stopped just before it hit Godfrey’s face, then sailed back toward Chris at a much greater speed. He ducked just in time, and the ball hit the back wall. It hit hard enough to dent the stone.
“Chris, I wouldn’t try my patience if I were you. You will come down with a bad case of death,” Godfrey said. “Now, where was I? I danced with your sister at several balls, swept her off her feet, and when I asked her to marry me, she couldn’t refuse.”
Trisha could not say anything. Godfrey walked toward her. “Isn’t that right, my love?” He picked up Trisha’s hand to kiss it, but Advarika grabbed her hand away. Godfrey gave Advarika a half smile.
“You will be gone soon enough. Trisha, my dear, I think for our wedding dinner we will have baked raccoon.” He started laughing and did not stop until he had locked Trisha’s cell and left the dungeon.
The woman reappeared from the shadows. She looked at Chris and said, “And now you know why I was speaking softly.” Her face softened and seemed kinder. “None of us can do a thing about your escape this evening, so tell me what you would like to eat, and I will bring it to you.”
Trisha spoke first. “I can’t eat anything. I don’t feel well.”
Mrs. Toddles responded, “Now, Trisha, you of all of us need to eat. How are you going to outwit Godfrey if you are weak and sick?”
Chris said, “Hey, look, lady, why can’t you just pop us out of here? You seemed to make yourself scarce when the leading man came into the room.”
“Chris, I can’t go against Godfrey’s wishes. I don’t have that kind of power. But, I can make you as comfortable as I can and help you along the way. Some things you need to discover for yourself.”
Chris said sarcastically, “Yeah, like who to believe and who not to believe.”
Bihydrant decided he had been quiet long enough. He was starving. He had already checked his ears and found no jam, and his toenails had not grown. Bundlebobs were like their own parasites, and he could not survive in this place by feeding on himself. “I’ll have some ear jam and at least a dozen toenails.”
Jon said, “Hey Chris, where did you get that canine?”
“Jon, he’s not a dog. He’s a Bundlebob, and he doesn’t eat meat.” Chris knew Bihydrant must be hungry. The most he had ever seen the Bundlebob eat was three or four nails.
The woman looked at Bihydrant. “I will do my best.”
They all knew they had to keep their strength up.
Jon said, “I’ll have a cheeseburger.” He hadn’t had a cheeseburger in so long he almost forgot what they tasted like.
Chris said, “I’ll have two bean tacos, a couple of flour tortillas, and a large soft drink.” His mother never let him have soda, something about making him hyper. Now, he figured he needed the extra energy.
Brittany said, “A deep-dish pizza, which I can tear into little pieces to share with my little friend.” The boy was still sitting on Brittany’s lap.
Trisha said with a soft voice, “A bowl of Mexican rice and one cheese enchilada.”
Advarika was the last to order. “I’ll have a large plate of cat food with a side bowl of water.”
As Mrs. Toddles left to fix their food, they all started examining their cells.
There had to be a way out. Chris pointed to the door in Jon’s cell. “Jon, try that door at the back.”
Jon tried pushing, pulling, pounding, and pressing on the wall around the door. He shoved against the door with his shoulder until he had a bruise the size of a football. Any more effort and he would dislocate it. Worn out, he had to sit down and rest.
Then Brittany told them about the glowing stones. She held them out through the bars for her siblings to see.
Trisha said, “Brittany, those are beautiful. They look like the ones you received from the hospital nurse in that little bag at home.”
Brittany said, “Exactly, Trisha. I really don’t know how the stones and top work.” She pointed to the littl
e boy. “We are just transported to different places, like here.”
Jon said, “So what do you do with these marbles?”
“I put them on the ground, then spin the top, and away we go. I never know where we will land. But I know I can’t leave this place without all of you, so let me throw each of you two stones.” She kept two stones for herself and carefully tossed each of the stones.
“Now, put them on the ground, and I will spin the top. You may want to grab hold of Advarika and Bihydrant.” When they did, she gave the top a spin. Nothing happened, no room spinning, no darkness. They all remained in the dungeon.
“I don’t know why it won’t work. I’ve done this a half dozen times, and it always works.”
Chris said, “I think you need to put all the rocks together, like you did before.” They all gently tossed their rocks back to Brittany. All except Chris, that is. He threw his a little too hard, and one of the stones bounced into a crack in the wall by Trisha.
“Way to go, Chris,” Jon said dolefully. But Advarika was already putting his arms through the bars and using his skinny fingers to dig it out of the crack. He got it and gently rolled it over to Brittany’s cell. Again Brittany spun the top. After twenty or thirty times, noting happened.
Taking a new approach, Jon asked, “Chris, how did you get here?”
Chris said, “I was attacked by thousands of bats and ended up here.”
Since Chris always kidded if it was at all possible, no one believed him.
Brittany rolled her eyes. “Chris, do you always have to be so dramatic?”
Bihydrant turned around to show them where his fur had been pulled out by the bats, as well as the scratches all over his body. “If it weren’t for Chris, those bats would have killed me.”
“I’m sorry. I thought he was kidding,” Brittany said simply.
Trisha spoke up. “I don’t think we can get out of here the way Advarika and I did. I think a rodent drugged us. I don’t remember much.”
Jon asked Trisha, “While we’re on the subject, why does Godfrey want a wife?”
Trisha started crying. “I didn’t want to marry him. He tricked me, and now he has some type of control over me with this.” She pointed to the brooch. “Whenever it glows red, it means that Godfrey is close or that I’m in some kind of danger.”
Chris yelled at his sister, “Why not just take it off!”
“Chris, I have tried. If I was standing here naked, it would just reattach itself to my skin.”
Chris said, “Well, let’s not go that far. I don’t want to go blind.”
Brittany struggled to her feet with the little boy still in her arms. “Trisha, I certainly don’t want to sound like the old soul you think I am, but you are only fourteen years old. What state are we in?”
“Please, Brittany, don’t give me a lecture, at least not now. I’ll just tell you the place is England, and the time line is when it was almost acceptable to marry at such a young age. Godfrey seemed so handsome and charming at the time.”
Before Trisha could say anything else, Mrs. Toddles came back with their food.
Chris said, “I hope there isn’t any cheese on those bean tacos. I forgot to say that I’m lactose intolerant.”
Mrs. Toddles gave Chris a look. “I made each of your meals with the utmost care, and there isn’t one shred of cheese on your bean tacos.”
As she brought the food to their doors, they all realized how hungry they were. The food tasted better than anything they had ever eaten.
Bihydrant seemed a little disappointed that he did not get ear jam and toenails. Chris looked at his food and even tasted the gold substance; it was honey with a side of tortilla chips. Chris had to laugh when he saw that the chips were in the shape of long toenail. The woman had done the best she could with the odd food order from Bihydrant.
There was a light coming from Chris’s watch. He saw his great-grandfather on the crystal talking to him. “Speak up, Great-Granddad. I can’t lip-read.”
Alastair yelled, “Wind the black knob!”
Chris twisted the knob until he could hear his great-grandfather. “What do you want? So far this doesn’t seem like any video game I would want to be the main character in.”
“Chris, do you know what a life lesson is?”
“Sure, Great-Granddad, what do you think, I’m stupid or something? I have ADHD. I’m not lacking any brain cells.”
Alastair mumbled, “Good Lord, how does your mum do it?”
“Do what?”
“Chris, anyway, you all must continue on your journeys. It will seem hard at times, but all of you will learn a life-changing lesson when you’re here in Scotland. Godfrey wants you all here to participate in his wedding to your sister, but you need to ruin his plans and find a way out of this prison.”
“Yeah, okay, Great-Granddad, whatever. Over and out.”
Mrs. Toddles looked into each cell purposefully. “Now you all must get some sleep.”
Bihydrant said, “I don’t sleep.”
Mrs. Toddles said, “Well, maybe you can just close your eyes and let Chris sleep.”
“How can we fall asleep on these old boards that are supposed to be beds?” As Chris turned around to complain some more, he saw an overstuffed white feather mattress, two fluffy pillows, and a thick comforter on his bed. There was even a dog bed for Bihydrant. “Wow! This is so much better than a steel surgical table.”
Brittany now had two beds in her cell, one decorated for a small boy and the other looking fit for queen. There were at least six overstuffed pillows on her bed and everything matched: the bed skirt, sheets, and pillowcases. Brittany put the small boy into his bed, gave him a hug and kiss, and lay down on her bed. The small boy immediately climbed into her bed and curled up next to Brittany.
Jon turned around to see a massive sleigh bed decorated with a black-and-beige comforter. The bed almost filled the entire room, except the area by the huge door in the back of his cell. He had slept on a narrow couch in his office for so long that he did not even know if he could fall asleep on a large, comfortable bed. Yet Jon was soon fast asleep.
Trisha fell asleep last. She had eaten very little of her food, and she wondered if the food had been laced with some type of medication to make them sleep. How else could her sister and brothers fall asleep so quickly in such a strange situation? Even Bihydrant, who said he never slept, was fast asleep. Finally, Brittany’s familiar, rhythmic snore put Trisha to sleep.
Jon woke up periodically throughout the night because he heard a thumping or knocking noise. He thought it was his brother Chris bouncing his lacrosse ball against his wall. He yelled, “Chris, go back to sleep!”
When morning came, the smell of bacon and eggs filled the room. Mrs. Toddles presided over a buffet table in front of their cells. As each of them got out of bed to look, their beds turned back into the old beds with wooden slats.
Still half asleep, Chris said, “I don’t like bacon and eggs.” Just as he said that, he saw the variety of food on the table.
Mrs. Toddles said, “Chris, what would you like? You can have anything.”
Trisha looked at her suspiciously. “Does the food have anything in it? Will it make us fall asleep?”
The woman walked over to Trisha’s cell. “I thought it would help you if you all had a good night’s sleep. I didn’t mean any harm. And I assure you that this food is drug free.”
Trisha did not know why, but she believed her sometime guide. She ate two platefuls of food. Bihydrant turned out to like toast with strawberry jelly. As soon as they finished eating, small doors appeared in their rooms. Each door led to a very small bathroom.
Mrs. Toddles said, “You can all get cleaned up. There is fresh clothing in the bathrooms for each of you.”
Jon could not remember the last time that his assistant Linda had not picked out his clothes. He was used to showering and dressing fast, so he finished first. Chris was the last one dressed.
When they return
ed from changing, Mrs. Toddles and the food had vanished. Godfrey stood in the open space between the prison cells. Trisha’s brooch glowed red-hot, and she did not care to touch it.
Bihydrant had been brushing out his green fur with a brush he found in the bathroom, and when he went to put the brush back, the door to the bath had disappeared.
Godfrey yelled, “Enough pampering! We have things to do. Trisha and I will be practicing our wedding vows today.”
Jon glowered at him. “You will not be practicing anything with our sister.”
Godfrey said, “We will see about that. Chris, why don’t you look out your window?”
Chris could not reach the window. “I can’t see out.” Bihydrant came over and boosted Chris up. When Chris got a clear view, he almost fell. He could not speak.
Brittany finally had to ask. “What do you see?”
“I see four hangmen’s nooses.”
Brittany said, “Trisha, you look out. Can Advarika lift you up?” Trisha was very petite, but strong for her size. Advarika laced his fingers together for a step, and Trisha hoisted herself up on the sill. She was grossed out by the dirt and dust that covered the windowsill, but she held on.
Trisha said, so quietly that they barely heard her, “Yes. It looks like they are finishing up the gallows now.”
Jon said, “That explains the noises I heard last night.”
Godfrey said, “If, for any reason, Trisha doesn’t go through with this marriage, that will be your fate, all of you.” He pointed his long, skinny finger toward the window. “You see, without a young bride, I will turn old and deteriorate back into a slimy corpse.”
Trisha now understood the image of herself as an old woman in the metal mirror in the corridor. She looked so much older than Godfrey because he planned to steal her youth. He must take the life from each of his brides. Once he had taken each girl’s last breath, he moved on to another victim.
Trisha felt behind her for her bed and sat down. As she took a deep breath, she saw something white out of the corner of her eye. The white wedding dress from the chapel danced beside her, its lace arms moving as if a person wore it. In the safety of her great-grandmother’s house, Trisha had thought the dress beautiful. Now the dress looked evil, dancing all by itself.