by LL Helland
Trisha said softly, “I guess that was her way of getting the brooch off.”
After a moment, she picked up the brooch and put it in her pocket. Then she continued picking up maggots. When she had almost a dozen maggots in her hand, all squirming around, she sat down next to Bailey and said, “This is gross, but I learned it while writing a paper for school. The maggots will eat the dead skin that the burn has caused. When they have cleaned up Bailey’s wound, we will remove the maggots.”
Trisha put the maggots in the open wound in Bailey’s hand, then tore a piece of her nightgown and wrapped it around the girl’s hand. She wanted to get the wound wrapped before Godfrey came. With the large glass jar broken into hundreds of pieces on the floor, she would have to give Godfrey a good reason for such a mess.
Trisha was proud of herself for remembering about the maggots. Without her two genius siblings around, Trisha realized that some of her ideas were actually pretty inventive.
Everyone in the Hellandback family always thought of Trisha as petite, with a great figure at fourteen years old. She loved to dance and hang out with her friends, but she also needed to have her space. Trisha wasn’t even a good dancer, but that never stopped her from dancing. As a matter of fact, she was terrible. Not very coordinated, but she had a great time anyway.
Trisha had passable grades, and she liked going to school, mainly to see the boys. She had never really gone on an actual date yet, group dates, but not a one-on-one date. Trisha loved reading young romance books and would substitute the main female character’s name with hers. She had no idea that all boys weren’t created equal. She was so naïve about the opposite sex. This adventure was going to be a very hard learning lesson for Trisha Hellandback, but it would prevent her from making serious mistakes in her future.
CHAPTER 27
At the same time that Trisha returned to the tomb of dead and dying girls, she hoped her sister and brothers had gotten back to their destinations safely. She didn’t know if Jon was still imprisoned in Godfrey’s jail, but Chris had made it back to Bat Cave. Bats flew everywhere, but this time they could not attack Bihydrant. As he emerged from the cave, Chris saw Tompack resting in a hammock. Instead of being attached to trees, the hammock was supported by Quill and Kaver, each holding an end. With their arms raised high above their heads, they argued about whose turn it would be to rest in the hammock next. When Quill and Kaver saw Chris, they dropped the hammock, and Tompack landed with a thud.
Excited to see Chris, Quill and Kaver jumped all over him. It was not until Tompack reached them and said, “Let Chris have some room,” that they noticed Chris’s lacrosse bag moving.
Kaver picked up a stick and hit the bag.
Chris yelled, “Don’t! Bihydrant is in the bag.”
Chris unzipped the bag. When Bihydrant saw Kaver holding the stick, he tore off after him. Chris looked at Tompack. “You should probably stop them.”
“They’ll wear each other out soon enough. Now, tell me where you have been.”
Chris put his bag down, and as if from nowhere, Tommy appeared to search it for food. Bihydrant had smashed all the muffins that Chris had packed; all that was left were crumbs.
Chris saw the mess in his lacrosse bag and said to his rat friend, “Help yourself.”
A noise came from the cave, loud enough to make Kaver and Bihydrant stop fighting to see who or what it might be. Quill, closest to the mouth of the cave, saw a figure coming out. He got scared and ran. Bihydrant recognized Jon and ran toward the cave. It looked like Jon had been torn up by the bats. He was bleeding from many bites, and walking very slowly. Chris and Tompack reached the opening of the cave in no time.
Chris yelled, “Those bats got him!”
Tompack said, “No, it wasn’t the bats. They would never attack Jon.”
Chris argued, “They attacked me and Bihydrant.” They helped Jon sit down and relieved him of his briefcase and Chris’s extra lacrosse stick.
Tompack said, “Chris, the bats attacked you and Bihydrant because they hate Bundlebobs. Didn’t Bihydrant tell you that?”
Chris glared at Bihydrant. “No, he forgot to let me in on that little secret.”
Jon found his voice. “Chris, the bats didn’t bite me. It was rats.”
Tommy, stuffing his face with crumbs in Chris’s bag, peeked out and said nonchalantly, “Those are some of my relatives. Some say they are mad, but I think they are just diseased.”
Chris yelled again, “Diseased? What kind of disease? Do they have rabies? Jon, did you see them foaming at the mouth? I looked up rabies because our neighbor’s crazy dog used to try to make me his next meal every day, and it makes them foam at the mouth.”
Jon, in pain, still had to laugh a little at his younger brother.
Chris continued. “No, one has ever lived after a rabid animal bite, at least not without the shots.”
Tompack said, “I’m sure it’s not rabies, but we need to get your brother to a safe place where we can care for him. Kaver, Bihydrant, go get some branches and make a stretcher. Quill, get some fresh water from the Rogot tree.”
Quill knew this must be serious. Tompack never used the water from that particular tree unless he feared for someone’s life. He did not even use it when Chris had fallen into the water and nearly frozen to death. Quill came back with the water as fast as he could. Bihydrant and Kaver worked steadily on a simple stretcher. Tompack instructed Chris and Quill to clean Jon’s wounds with the water.
After a bit, Tompack seemed grim. “Let Jon drink some of the water.” Quill just looked at Tompack. No one ever drank the water from the Rogot tree because nobody had ever been as sick as Jon.
Tompack busily tapped out a message in the air. He did not notice Quill’s stare or Jon watching him.
Jon felt terrible, but memorizing Tompack’s motions distracted him from his misery. Bihydrant brought over their stick contraption, and Jon lay down on it gratefully. Quill covered him with the hammock. One minute Jon had the chills, the next he was boiling. When the first black spot appeared on Jon’s arm, he had no idea what it was.
The rat, now finally finished eating half the muffin crumbs, said, “I see my dirty relatives have given you the black plague.”
Tompack confirmed softly, “Bubonic plague.”
Chris wanted to get a hold of Brittany since she was the only other smart one. He fiddled with the knobs on his watch. Nothing happened, so he tapped the glass and said, “Great-Granddad, are you there? Over.”
Nothing happened with the watch. “Cheap watch.” Chris yelled, “Mayday! Mayday! SOS! Come in, over.”
The watch was making a scratchy buzzing sound. “This is Alastair. Over.”
“Do you know anything about bubonic plague?”
“Chris, I believe your best bet would be to ask Jon or Brittany. Over.”
Chris was getting upset. “Great-Granddad, Brittany is not here, and Jon is the one who has it.”
Alastair said, “Chris, you forgot to say ‘over.’”
Chris was pulling his hair. “Ahhhggg. Over.”
“Chris, since the knobs aren’t working for you, I guess one of us was asleep at the wheel when the instructions were being read. Anyway, just tell the watch you want to see Brittany, and it will show you. Over.”
“Thanks, Great-Granddad, now clear the airways. This is an emergency. Over.” Chris said, “I need to see my sister Brittany.” The watch quickly showed Chris Brittany, but that was all it did. He could not communicate with her.
“This is so wicked. Great-Granddad has got to get some updated equipment.”
Jon started coughing and reached into his pocket for his handkerchief. He felt something strange in his pocket and pulled out Chad Carrington’s colored stones and top. It was the little boy who had transported Brittany, not the stones. Jon’s voice was withered. “How can I get a message to Brittany?”
Tommy licked his paws. “You know, I can get a message through my relatives to your sister, but I wil
l need some type of payment.”
Chris protested. “Type of payment? You just ate half of the muffins.”
“Correction, my dear boy, half of the crumbs.”
Chris got close to the rat and said, “I took good care of you—plenty of rat treats, a cozy bed, and a wheel.”
“Yes, it was so nice that I ran away and hid under the kitchen stove for over a year. Why do you think your dog used to sit for hours looking under the stove? He was after me.”
Chris was gritting his teeth, but he calmly said, “What is it that you want?”
The rat scratched his chin. “How about muffins for a year?”
Chris scooped the rat up with his lacrosse stick. “You can finish the rest of the crumbs in my bag. That’s my last offer.”
Obviously terrified by his new position, the rat said, “It’s a deal, but it’s going to take me a while to eat all this.”
Chris growled, “You go right now. You have no time to eat. If my brother gets worse because you messed around, I will come after you.”
“Now, Chris, I was once your childhood pet.”
Chris sat the rat on the ground and said, “I obviously liked you better than you liked me.”
Thomas took off running. “What did you expect? I’m a rat.”
Watching the rat go, Tompack noticed some signs that other Bundlebobs had been in the area—footprints and the remainders of a meal: bits of leftover toenails and ear jelly.
Tompack said, “We need to keep moving. Your brother isn’t going to get any better if we stay here.”
Chris protested. “The rat will never find us if we leave this spot.”
Tompack said in a soothing voice, “Chris, that old friend of yours can find you anywhere. Trust me when I say that he is more loyal than most rats. He must truly care about you.”
“He has some way of showing his affection—blackmail, holding food over Jon’s life…”
CHAPTER 28
Brittany and Chad emerged from Godfrey’s prison, back to the filthy, disease-filled hospital of London. Brittany was only two years younger than her sister, Trisha, but she had no interest in boys. She would tease her older sister about the romance books she read. Now she wished she hadn’t done that. Trisha was so caught up with someone liking her she had lost all common sense. Trisha wasn’t the brainiest of the Hellandbacks, but she was certainly no fool. Brittany was glad that she did not let her emotions or hormones control the outcome of her life.
Abigail, the nun who was also a nurse, snapped Brittany out of her thoughts. She said in a very weak voice, “There you are. I need your help clearing a few rooms out.”
“I will be right there. Let me put Chad down first.” Before she went back to work, Brittany gave Chad a hug. She reached for the colored stones and top to give to him, but remembered that they had been forgotten on the floor of her cell.
She put him to bed and kissed his forehead. “I will be back to check on you later.” Chad fell asleep before Brittany made it to the door. She felt exhaustion creeping up on her, but she needed to check on the sick patients. Brittany knew her great-grandmother had sent her to this place for a reason. She went in search of Abigail and found her trying to clear a room of dead patients so new ones could come in. Abigail struggled to move the last patient, a very large man. Brittany ran to her side to help her. Abigail’s right sleeve pulled up slightly when she lifted the man. Brittany saw the black spots on Abigail’s skin. She reached over and felt her forehead. Abigail was burning up; she had the black plague. Brittany grabbed Abigail’s hands and looked into her eyes.
“Abigail, you need to go lie down. I will get you something to eat.”
Abigail waved her hand. In a very weak voice, she said, “I can’t eat anything.”
Brittany watched Abigail get weaker by the minute. She did not even have enough energy to argue with Brittany. Brittany took her up to the third floor and put her in a room. Chad woke up and saw Brittany across the hall, struggling to get Abigail into bed. Though only five and small for his age, he helped Brittany get Abigail into bed.
Brittany said, “Chad, you shouldn’t touch her. I don’t want you exposed to this horrible disease.”
“I’m okay. I can’t get sick.” Chad shrugged.
“Chad, you are too young to understand, but all of us can get sick and die from this disease.” Brittany picked up Chad and carried him back to his bedroom. Brittany found the strip of material that she had torn off her clothing earlier and put it around her nose and mouth.
When she had worked for hours and needed a nap, she went to Chad’s room. He was not there. She went to Abigail’s room, where Chad lay next to Abigail, both sleeping. Brittany knew that Chad had been exposed to the plague many times. If he were going to get the disease, he would have already had it. Brittany’s body was sore. Her muscles ached. She stretched out on the other side of the room and quickly fell fast asleep.
She did not know how long she slept, but when she woke, something was pulling at her arm. She tried to focus, but could only see black fur. A rat was pulling at her arm! She flung the rat across the room in one violent wave of her arm. The rat hit the wall and slid down to the floor.
Brittany heard what sounded like the rat talking. She made out the words “Your brother Jon is sick and needs your help.” She shook her head to clear it. I must be dreaming, she thought. As the rat came closer, she recognized him. He had to be her brother’s pet rat from years ago—Thomas.
She sat up and focused on what the rat told her. “Your brother Jon has the black plague. Chris said you had written a paper on the subject just recently. He needs your help.” The rat held something in his paw. “Here is proof that I’ve just come from seeing him.”
The rat showed her two of the colored stones that Brittany had left behind in her cell.
“How am I to get to him? I don’t have anything here that will help me. Don’t they have doctors where Jon is?”
The rat came closer and sat on the bed. “I don’t know that. Your brother Chris just wanted me to get you. He said you would know what to do.”
Brittany said, “Jon is with Chris?”
The rat put his paw on Brittany’s hand. “We must go. You are very large.”
Brittany snatched her hand away from the rat, offended. “I’m not large. What are you talking about?”
The rat rubbed his chin. “Well, you are too large to go back the way I came. I could barely fit through some of the passages myself.”
Chad, awake now, said in a very quiet voice, “I can take you, Brittany.”
Brittany felt a surge of hope, but then she looked over at Abigail. “I can’t leave her. She may die if no one takes care of her.”
Chad put his small hand on Abigail’s forehead, and she went into some type of trance. “She will be fine until we get back.”
Shocked, fearing the worst, Brittany scrambled over to her friend’s bed. Abigail breathed steadily, and she looked at peace. She no longer felt feverish, and the black spots seemed to be fading from her skin. Brittany looked at Chad in awe. Who was he?
Brittany did not ponder long—they were wasting time. She picked up Chad, while the rat hung on to Brittany’s smock for dear life. They passed through the dark for just a second. When they stopped, Chris and Jon were nowhere around.
“Where are my brothers? Is this a trick? Has Godfrey put you up to this?”
The rat said, “Calm down. They have moved on. I can find your brother Chris anywhere, especially since he owes me a feast of muffin crumbs.” The rat picked up Chris’s scent and took off. Brittany kept hold of Chad and ran after the rat.
Jon looked worse. He had many more black spots, and he was growing weak. Even the water from the Rogot tree could not help. The Bundlebobs needed to get Jon to their healer. He would know what to do for such a mysterious illness. Finally, they saw a Bundlebob coming toward them in the distance. As the Bundlebob drew closer, Chris could see that he was much larger than Tompack and the others.
Chris asked, “Message asking for what?”
Tompack continued, “We can’t make much progress going at this speed; we need to go faster. I feared no one had picked up my signal, but here he comes.”
“Here who comes?” Chris thought he might have to scream in frustration.
Tompack pointed to the giant Bundlebob coming toward them. In a few short steps, he stopped right in front of them. This Bundlebob looked identical to the ones Chris knew, except that he stood over twenty feet tall. His smallest toenail looked as big as Chris’s legs—what a Bundlebob meal that would be. The giant Bundlebob did not speak; he only grunted and made crude words. He mostly communicated by hand movements.
A large drop of liquid splashed on the ground next to Chris. “What is that?”
Tompack answered calmly. “This particular giant drools, so don’t stand too close.”
The giant Bundlebob reached down and picked up Jon, sending the twigs that he rested on flying. The hammock that covered him slid to the ground.
Chris protested, “Hey, be careful!”
The giant ignored Chris. He turned and started back the way he had come, carrying Jon in his hand.
“Tompack, do something!” Frantic, Chris picked up his lacrosse stick and fired a lacrosse ball at the giant’s head. It hit his right ear, and he gave out a yell that shook the trees. The giant grabbed his ear and turned to stare at Chris.
Tompack knew this must have hurt, because ears were a Bundlebob’s most sensitive body part.
Chris still held his lacrosse stick as he watched the giant suspiciously. The Bundlebob bent down and picked up the ball. He held it between his thumb and forefinger, where it looked like a pea. He fired the ball back at Chris. It slammed into Chris’s lacrosse stick, dragging him backward twenty or so feet.
“A few more inches, and he would have killed me! Lucky I’m a good catch.”
Good catch or not, Chris looked pale.
Tompack sighed, then explained. “Chris, it has nothing to do with your ability to catch a ball. The giant Bundlebobs do two things very well; they transport things, and they protect the village from harm. They have very good aim. If he can throw a rock at a predator a quarter of a mile away and kill it, then he can easily throw a ball into your net.”