Always October

by Bruce Coville

  “I never wanted a little brother, you know,” said Jacob gruffly.

  “Who does?” asked Iris, winking that single enormous eye. Though it was clearly meant to be a friendly gesture, it made me shiver.

  “Little brothers can be a terrible annoyance,” agreed Bloodbone, nodding his shaggy head.

  “True,” said Teelamun from beneath her hood. “But then, so can first children. And what would happen if parents never had them?”

  I heard Jacob draw a deep breath. “All right,” he said. “I’ll do it. Give me the bracelet.”

  I was so proud of him, I thought my heart was going to burst. To my surprise, for the third time an uncomfortable looked passed among the monsters.

  “We do not have the bracelet,” said Teelamun at last.

  “Well then where in tarnation is it?” asked my grandfather.

  “It rests in the care of Flenzbort,” said Bloodbone. “You will have to go to her home in Dark Valley to retrieve it.”

  He tipped back his head and unleashed a mournful howl.

  “This will not be an easy journey,” said Keegel Farzym. “However, Teelamun and I will accompany you.”

  Jacob’s reply was interrupted by a hideous squalling from the wall to the left of the tapestry. Turning toward the sound, I saw a small, furry creature emerging from a hole about four feet above the cavern floor. It hissed and snarled furiously, as if it were being born against its will.

  Once free of the opening, it floated across the room, twisting and writhing as it came.

  “Hold still or I’ll squeeze harder,” said the gloomy voice of Invisible Ed … which was when I realized he must have been the one who extracted the creature from the wall to begin with.

  A moment later he deposited the newcomer on the table in front of Keegel Farzym, who reached out and grabbed the creature with both hands. “Hold still!” thundered the High Poet.

  The furry thing ceased its struggles.

  “Well done, Ed,” said Keegel Farzym.

  “Half the credit goes to Lily,” replied Ed. “I noticed her catch sight of something behind me. That’s how I realized Squeak the Sneak was there.”

  “Spleeblebort!” spat the creature on the table.

  I had the feeling this was meant to be a great insult, though whether it was directed at Ed, me, or the room in general I couldn’t tell.

  Now that Keegel Farzym was firmly holding the creature, it was no longer a blur of thrashing, squirming limbs and fur and I was able to get a good look. A male, clearly. About a foot and a half tall. Dressed in a blue jacket and brown trousers. The parts not hidden by clothes were covered with orange fur. Though he stood like a tiny man, his face was surprisingly catlike.

  “What are you doing here, Squeak?” asked Keegel Farzym.

  “What I always do,” replied the catman with a hiss. He was busy straightening his clothes and barely glanced at the High Poet.

  “You mean spying?” asked Bloodbone sharply.

  “I was listening. I am curious. I like to know things.”

  “And what do you do with the things you know?” asked Teelamun. “Sell them to the enemy?”

  “Can’t a creature be curious for curiosity’s sake? I watch and I listen because things are there to see and hear.” Turning to Keegel Farzym, he added, “Will you please take your hands off me? You are offending my dignity.”

  “I will offend more than your dignity if you do not answer our questions,” said the High Poet gruffly. “However, I will let you go. I would make you promise not to flee, but I know what your promises are worth. Instead I will remind you of how fast Bloodbone can move, and how little you would like to be in his clutches instead of mine.”

  As if to reinforce the point, Bloodbone growled and showed his fangs.

  “I take your meaning,” said Squeak.

  Keegel Farzym opened his enormous blue hands.

  The little catman shook himself as if trying to remove the feeling of the High Poet’s grip. “I hate being grabbed,” he muttered.

  “And ve hate being ssssspied on,” hissed Syreena.

  “It’s too bad you’re all being so nasty,” said Squeak. “I came to bring you some information I got by looking and listening elsewhere.”

  The table grew quiet.

  “What is it?” asked Keegel Farzym at last.

  “I don’t think I should tell you,” said Squeak, running a hand—well, it was sort of half hand, half paw—over his head.

  Keegel Farzym’s fingers twitched, as if he were longing to squeeze the information out of the creature.

  At that point Luna leaped onto the table and stood next to Squeak. Whisking her enormous plume of a tail, she said coyly, “Not even for me, big boy?”

  Squeak blinked and looked flustered.

  “I’d consider it a personal favor,” said Luna, coiling around him.

  “R-r-r-really?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “All right. I wanted to tell you anyway,” he said, looking at Keegel Farzym.

  “Why?” asked the High Poet.

  “Because I’m scared.”

  “And what could possibly scare the fearless Squeak?” asked Teelamun.

  “The end of the world,” he said, his voice soft.

  “What do you mean?” asked Keegel Farzym.

  “I know what the Unravelers plan to do. I’ve seen their machine.”

  Jacob, Grampa, Mrs. McSweeney, and I all stepped closer.

  “Their machine?” Jacob asked.

  Squeak nodded. “They call it the Silver Slicer. They plan to use it to sunder the Great Tapestry so that Humana and Always October will be forever divided. Poets, I fear as you do that this would mean the end of us all. That is why I came to tell you of it … and would have done so sooner had I not been treated so rudely!”

  “Thank you,” said Keegel Farzym gravely. “I regret your rough reception. Had you revealed yourself at once, rather than spying while we spoke, your greeting would have been somewhat more gentle.”

  “I am what I am,” said Squeak, scratching behind his somewhat pointy ear with his right paw-hand. “Now listen, there is more you must know. The reason the Unravelers are so anxious to get Dum Pling is not simply because his presence in Humana will help bind the worlds.”

  “What other reason could there be?” asked Teelamun.

  Squeak looked uncomfortable. Taking a deep breath, he said, “They plan to use him to help power their machine.”

  A gasp rose from the Poets. I heard Jacob cry out beside me.

  “So it is even more urgent than you thought that Dum Pling be returned to Humana,” continued Squeak. “And it must be done quickly. They plan to act at the dark of the moon and will do everything they can to obtain the baby before that time.”

  “But that is only two nights away!” gasped Iris.

  “Why do you think I risked my life to come tell you?”

  Keegel Farzym nodded. “You have our thanks, Squeak.” Turning to us, he said, “We must move quickly. The baby is in even greater danger than we imagined. Therefore, I now ask: Jacob Doolittle, will you accept this burden, to obtain the bracelet and shield the child?”

  Jacob looked at Keegel Farzym, then at each of the other monsters (except Invisible Ed, of course).

  They stared back at him with intent, worried eyes.

  He looked down at Little Dumpling. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but at last he looked up and said, “I accept it willingly.”

  I felt a little thrill of pride in my friend.

  The monsters stood, placed their hands on their foreheads, and bent forward. “The Council of Poets salutes you!” they said in unison.

  They resumed their seats, save Keegel Farzym, who said solemnly, “This burden will be heavy for Jacob to bear. Therefore we now ask of you, his traveling companions: Will you help this boy as he guards the Woven Worlds? Will you vow to care for and protect this baby and to find ways for Jacob, his Prime Protector, to remain safe on the nights of
transformation?”

  “Now just a ding-danged minute!” said Grampa. “Why don’t you tell us what the boy is gonna turn into first?”

  “Alas, Mr. Carker, that is a mystery that will only be resolved on the night of his first transformation,” said Keegel Farzym.

  “Each man has an inner monster all his own,” burbled Bu-Blasian.

  “Each voman, too, you silly, soggy sexist,” hissed Syreena.

  “Sounds like buyin’ a pig in a poke to me,” muttered Gramps.

  It sounded to me as if Jacob would be far from the first human to turn into a monster, which was interesting. As I was thinking about this, Teelamun rose from her seat and said, “Abraham, I ask you personally: Will you help? This is a matter of great urgency.”

  My grandfather glared at the hooded monster. “How do you know my name?”

  “You know the answer to that,” she replied gently. “I’ve been watching your face. You’ve known since you entered this chamber.”

  Grampa blanched and his lips trembled.

  With a sigh, Teelamun raised her long, slender hands—so pale they were almost bone white—and lifted her hood.

  22

  (Jacob)

  THE BATTLE FOR THE BABY

  As Teelamun revealed her face, Lily’s grandfather made a noise that sounded a little like a sigh, a little like a whimper.

  As for me, I gasped so loudly it made LD flinch. But how else should I have reacted to seeing Tia LaMontagne, my grandfather’s first wife … the oddly beautiful woman whose portrait hung in my upstairs hallway?

  Despite the years that had passed since she’d painted that self-portrait, Tia had aged but little. The main change was a pair of Bride-of-Frankenstein white streaks that shot through her flame-red hair.

  “Is it really you?” whispered Gnarly. His voice held so much pain, I actually felt sorry for him, something I would not have thought possible.

  “Yes, Abraham,” she said softly, “it’s me.”

  “But what … how …” His voice caught.

  Lily moved to his side to take his hand.

  “This is not the time,” said Teelamun. “If we survive what is to come, I will explain everything when we have some privacy. For now, for the sake of old friendship and more, I ask your help in caring for Dum Pling.” She lifted her head for a moment, then said softly, “He is my grandchild, Abraham.”

  Gnarly closed his eyes and swallowed hard. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I saw a tear trickle from beneath one of those closed lids. He started to ask a question, then stopped himself. After a long moment he said gruffly, “I’ll help.”

  “I now ask this pledge of all of you,” said Keegel Farzym. “Do you swear to help Jacob guard and guide the baby, help him protect the bracelet, and help him remain safe and undetected on the nights of his transformation?”

  Though I was terrified by what I had committed myself to, when Gnarly, Lily, Mrs. McSweeney, and even Luna said in unison, “We do!” I felt a surge of warmth and of being not alone in a way I had not experienced since my father’s disappearance.

  Again, the other monsters rose. (I couldn’t see Invisible Ed, but I assume he stood, too.) Making that same gesture of hands to foreheads, they bowed and said, “Humans, we salute you!”

  When they had resumed their seats, Keegel Farzym said, “We must return you to Humana as quickly as possible. Alas, the only way to return now is through the Library of Nightmares.”

  “Poet!” cried Squeak. “You can’t do that! The path is far too dangerous!”

  “Can you suggest another route once they leave Dark Valley?” asked Syreena sharply.

  The little catman thought for a moment, then shook his head.

  “Then the route is clear,” said Invisible Ed, his voice even gloomier than usual. “They must take the tunnel behind the tapestry to depart our chamber. Doing so will bring them to the surface a mile or so from the Black Bridge of Doom.”

  “Black Bridge of Doom?” I asked. My voice quavered and my fingers tapped against my thumb so fast, they were almost a blur.

  “Doom is the name of the river it crosses,” said Syreena, waving a careless hand. “It’s poetic, really. Hardly anyvun dies there these days.”

  “On the far side of the River Doom you must pass through the Forest of the Lost,” said Bloodbone.

  “Another poetic name, I assume?” said Luna, who had leaped down from the table and was now twining around my feet.

  “Very witty, kitty,” said Iris. “However, I regret to tell you that this is a place where people really do get lost. Seriously lost. Most never come out,” she added, a huge tear rolling out of her enormous eye.

  “We will need to be particularly careful there,” said Keegel Farzym, looking directly at me. “I presume I do not need to mention that you must never leave the path?”

  I blushed and nodded earnestly.

  “After that you will make your way to Teardrop Hill,” said Bu-Blasian.

  “Which I suppose is shaped like a Teardrop?” asked Gnarly.

  “Actually, it is,” replied Syreena, fluttering her ghostly wings just a bit. “However, you will not be able to climb it. To reach the other side, you must instead go under, via the Tunnel of Tears. Doing so vill bring you to the Veil of Tears, vhich is in the exact center of the tunnel.”

  “I thought a vale was a valley,” said Lily. “How can there be a valley in a tunnel?”

  “You are thinking of another vord, though it is pronounced in the same way. This veil is the kind that obscures, as a veil vorn over the face. You vill understand vhen you come to it. Vithin, you vill meet the King or Queen of Sorrows. You must listen to that monster’s story before you vill be allowed to pass.”

  “Assuming you make it through the tunnel, you will have reached Dark Valley, where Flenzbort lives,” said Iris.

  “Who, or what, is Flenzbort?” I asked.

  “Flenzbort is a trickster,” said Teelamun. “She will not—cannot, actually—grant the bracelet until we pass a test. In many ways this will be our greatest challenge. Luckily, Keegel Farzym and I will be with you.”

  The High Poet nodded. “Once we have obtained the bracelet, our journey will be nearly over. On the far side of the valley is the path that leads up the back side of Nightmare Hill. At its top stands Cliff House, home to the Library of Nightmares. As I’m sure you will recall, we saw it in the distance on the way here.”

  Leaning close to me, Lily whispered, “We’re like the Fellowship of the Ring!”

  “More like the Fellowship of the Dumpling,” I muttered back.

  LD reached up and bopped me with his rattle.

  “We will send a message ahead for the librarian to prepare a portal to take you back to Humana,” said Keegel Farzym. “With luck, we will—”

  His next words were interrupted by a terrible roar. Spinning around, I saw Mazrak burst into the underground chamber. He wasn’t alone. Behind him surged a dozen of the most terrifying creatures I had ever seen—except I had seen some of them before, on the covers of magazines featuring stories by my grandfather.

  LD buried his face against my neck, whimpering in terror.

  Without a word Lily moved in front of me, as if to say the monsters would have to get through her before they could touch the baby.

  Gnarly and Mrs. McSweeney flanked me. Gnarly held his pickax at the ready. Mrs. McSweeney reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a knitting needle. At least, it looked like a knitting needle. But it was glowing, which I had never seen a knitting needle do before. Luna stood in front of her, back arched, tail abristle, hissing at the invaders.

  Mazrak chuckled. “Your bravery is touching, humans, if somewhat foolish. But our fight is not with you. It is with those who stand behind you.” Looking above our heads, he said fiercely, “This has gone on long enough, Keegel Farzym. You have no right to keep that baby. Give him to us or we will take him. Either way, it is time for this to end.”

  Though Mazrak spoke to Keegel Farzym, it
was Teelamun who answered. “That baby had two parents. The other was my daughter, who risked all to take the child away from those who, through insane pride, would destroy Always October.”

  “You speak with a petty fear that ill becomes a monster,” sneered Mazrak.

  “And you act with a recklessness that does not become anyone who is more than beast!” snapped Teelamun. “Meer Askanza’s fate is still unknown, but we will not dishonor her sacrifice with surrender.”

  “Enough!” roared Mazrak. “I’ll have the child.”

  LD screamed and buried his face against me again, clutching my shoulders with his furry little arms. I turned toward the Poets. Clutching LD, I dropped to the floor, then used my elbows to hold myself up so I wouldn’t squash him while I rolled under the table.

  I was relieved to discover that Lily was right beside me.

  As we went down, the Council of Poets rose.

  “You dare, Mazrak?” Syreena cried. “You dare come here, to invade this place so long forbidden you?”

  Suddenly she was in front of the table instead of behind it. Her ghostly wings were still beating when she landed. To my astonishment she shot a gout of flame toward the invading monsters.

  “Wow,” whispered Lily. “I wish I could do that! I wonder if it came out of her mouth or her eyes.”

  The battle erupted. Howling like a wolf, Bloodbone leaped over the table. Snapping and snarling, the furry creature shot past Gnarly and Mrs. McSweeney and launched himself at Mazrak’s throat. The enormous orange monster swatted him away, but almost immediately Bloodbone was on his feet again, sinking his fangs into the thigh of one of the monsters just behind Mazrak. That monster—purple, half naked, and somewhat trollish looking—screamed and began to beat at its attacker.

  Scooting around Mrs. McSweeney, Bu-Blasian held out his hands. Somehow he made a slick of water on the floor in front of Mazrak and his fellow attackers, causing them to slip and grab at each other for support.

  Even Squeak joined the battle, leaping atop a monster’s head and hissing as he clawed at the creature’s face.

  Lily and I inched back until we were on the far side of the table, then raised our heads just enough to watch what was happening. Iris now stood on the table directly in front of us. As we watched, she plucked that huge eye from the center of her brow and lifted it above her head. Aiming it at the invading monsters, she cried, “I spy … good-bye!”