by Paul Vayro
Chapter Sixteen
The town of Puddleton was a confused and suspicious entity. It looked up at Noel hill with an air of mistrust. Something was going on and it felt convinced the pile of grass had something to do with it. There had barely been a sound all day. Initial panic had Puddleton believing it had gone deaf in the night, but it had heard the mumblings of several beings walking up the hill. It had never trusted the smug mound of earth, always looking down on the town with such a superior sheen to its grass. So this is what the hill had been planning for all those years; to steal all the sound. As the town watched the only other creatures that had moved all day, Brick and Spiritwind, heading towards Noel Hill, its pleasure at its suspicions being confirmed drifted towards panic at what would happen next.
As the volume of noise trickling down from the hill increased so did Puddleton’s paranoia. It suspected an attack was imminent. It considered preparing its defences before realising it had none. Instead it grew in defiance. It was tired of bowing down to the hill, cowering in its wake. ‘Well bring it on.’ The town thought to itself. ‘Only don’t bring it too hard or noisily. I’m quite enjoying the peace.’ The town had no way of knowing that the raise in noise was merely Fate gathering together the chosen concepts to reveal why they were there.
“If I could have your attention.” Fate tried again to bring everyone within earshot. Everyone had separated to form smaller groups. Karma and Irony stood together discussing a shoe Karma had seen in a window, Fut rested beneath a tree, and Coincidence chatted to They about whale’s and the scuba gear they keep hidden in the depths of the ocean, hence their ability to stay underwater for such extreme periods of time. Motivation was busy doing laps of the hill from the base upwards and wasn’t deemed essential to the meeting. “If everyone would like to gather round I’ll explain why we’re here.” Fate remained convinced he’d forgotten something crucial.
The concepts formed a vague semi circle around Fate, only Irony grumbled about it. “Firstly I’d like to thank you for showing up. The next few days will change the future of everything and everyone involved with the Earth.” Interest amongst the group grew. “You may have noticed that time has stopped for the natives of the planet.”
“Is this the obvious news headlines?” Irony couldn’t resist the dig.
“If you’re going to heckle its essential what you say is funny.” Fate nipped any rebellion in the bud with a self satisfying retort. “The natives have been frozen in time by a race of aliens who intend to take over the Earth.”
A number of exclamations and one word queries found their way back to Fate.
“It’s okay. I’ve followed the procedure and activated the Earth’s inbuilt defence system. The two heroes should arrive on top of this hill very soon. That’s why I arranged to meet here.” Fate’s last sentence was aimed at Irony who had been complaining about the climb. “By my calculations our two warriors, Brick and Spiritwind, will be here any moment.”
The mention of Brick and Spiritwind’s name provoked a reaction from Coincidence’s memory. Dwelling on what he remembered a look of sheepish concern took over his face.
“Once they arrive it will be up to us to assist the duo in any way we can, bar completing the mission for them.” Fate continued.
“If they’re the inbuilt defence system why do they need our help?” Karma would have preferred the time off.
“They may not. We’re strictly back up. Though I’ve spent some time observing the pair and they may need a little guidance.”
“I thought the inbuilt defence pairing were masters of all combat, weapons and vehicles. Trained since birth they’re ready for action the moment any form of disaster strikes.” Irony increased the pressure.
“Yes. I’d heard that too; however it seems Brick and Spiritwind have taken a more unorthodox approach to heroics.” Fate didn’t have the words to explain.
“That still doesn’t tell us why they may need our help. Why do we even have to save their planet?” Karma included a disgruntled tone with her question.
“If the aliens succeed who is to say they will have any need for concepts. They may have their own methods of guiding conscious life through the trickier twists and turns of existence and I for one do not wish to return to Grinflint. I like it here.” Fate awaited any further group questions. All conversation had become murmurings between each other as they allowed the news to settle. “Well if there’s nothing further I shall leave you to digest the news.” Everybody presumed he already had left them to it. Coincidence approached his brother for a quiet word.
“Are you sure about those names, Brick and Spiritwind?” Coincidence kept his voice low.
“Positive. Why?”
“And you’re positive they’re the names you were given?”
“Yes. Well.”
“Well. What does well mean?” Coincidence had a suspicion he feared was about to be confirmed.
“There was a slight issue with the fax machine when I got the message.” Fate looked apologetic without knowing why. It was his default setting after being with Karma for so long.
“Issue?”
“It was low on ink so some of the letters were missing.”
“And you didn’t think to take the cartridge out and give it a shake?” Coincidence raised a pensive finger to his equally pensive lips.
“No. They had such unusual names I thought, what are the odds of two different pairs of lads with similar sounding but highly obscure names living on the same street within doors of each other?”
“It would be an incredible coincidence wouldn’t it.” Coincidence bit his lip as the penny dropped on Fate's toe.
“What have you done?” Fate realised why Brick and Spiritwind didn’t seem suited to the job.
“My job. Like you said, what are the odds of a Brick and Spiritwind living next door to a Rick and Biritvind? I practically had no choice in the matter.”
“Rick and Biritvind?” Fate took a piece of paper out of his back pocket and ran his finger along the writing. “Oh ‘eck.” Rick and Biritvind fit the gaps far better than Brick and Spiritwind.
Fate had been to Brick and Spiritwind’s street for preliminary research. With uncertainty over the final digit of the address he’d been debating between two houses when Brick and Spiritwind stumbled home. Overhearing the duo using each others names Fate had presumed they were the heroic pair, although he had wondered why they found opening a door so difficult, and why two bastions of physical good would be so drunk at such an hour and have an intimidating stack of takeaway food. He looked towards his brother with a sense of resignation. “Well I can’t do anything to change it now. We’ll just have to work with Brick and Spiritwind. Maybe we’ll have to help them a little more than I’d planned.”
Coincidence offered an apologetic grimace whilst trying to stifle a laugh. “Maybe they’ll turn out to be even better heroes.”
“Maybe has two directions.” Fate lost the confidence he’d started the day with.
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