Happenstance Found (Books of Umber #1)

by Catanese, P. W

  Umber shook his head and mouthed, “No!” But Hap wiped his sweaty hands on his coat and stepped into the room.

  “Halt there,” Occo said. Hap froze.

  “If you vanish, I will kill him,” Occo said.

  “Vanish?” Hap said. “I don’t know how to do that.”

  “Good,” said Occo. The awful slurping came from inside the mask. “Take everything from your pockets. Now!” He wiggled the blade against Umber’s flesh.

  Hap’s shoulders slumped. He put a hand in the right pocket of his coat, and then the left, and took out the bottles that Balfour had given him. “That’s all I brought. These are medicine, if Lord Umber needs them,” he lied.

  “Throw them away.” Occo gestured to the window by Hap’s shoulder. Hap looked at the blade against Umber’s neck and tossed the bottles into the storm.

  “Now your coat,” said Occo. Hap took it off and pushed that out the window as well. The wind tore it away. Occo looked him up and down, satisfied that nothing else was hidden. He stepped away from Umber and circled toward Hap, striding like a bird on those long legs that bent backward at the knee. Waving his blade, he forced Hap to the far side of the room. There was a rusted iron grate leaning against the wall near the stairs. Occo lifted it with one hand and jammed it into the threshold, blocking the way out. So strong, thought Hap.

  “What’s happening? What’s going on?” asked Umber.

  “We’re trapped,” Hap replied. There was no other way out, except the windows or the gaping hole behind him.

  Occo shoved the saber into the sheath at his waist. He stared at Hap with his eager blue eye.

  “Let Lord Umber go,” Hap said. “That was your bargain.”

  “What bargain?” cried Umber. “Happenstance, you’ll do no such thing!”

  “I will let him go when I have what I want,” Occo said.

  “What do you want?” Hap said.

  “I want to see,” Occo said. He reached for the top of his head, pinched the gauzy material, and ripped the sack away from his face. Hap gasped. The face was smooth and pale, and studded with gray, wrinkled lumps. No, not lumps! Hap screamed inwardly. Eyelids! There were seven or eight at least, scattered in a senseless pattern across Occo’s cheeks, temples, and forehead. Only the blue eye was open, but the other lids began to twitch. A second eye high on the forehead revealed itself. It was utterly different from the first, yellow at the edges and brown in the center. An animal’s eye, Hap thought, pressing his palm against his mouth.

  The rest of the wrinkled lids flipped open, one after another, and a menagerie of eyes bulged from deep oozing sockets. The soulless black orb of a shark. A glittering bird’s eye. The silvery eye of a reptile, with a vertical slit for an iris. There was even a rodent’s red eye on Occo’s pointed chin. Each set of lids blinked to a different beat.

  “I want to see what you see,” Occo said, dropping the sack to the floor. Hap understood why the fisherman and his wife had died with terror frozen on their expressions. Occo’s entire face horrified, not just the eyes. His mouth was a cruel crescent, arcing down at the corners. His teeth were yellow needles, and his tongue was a wiggling wormy thing.

  Hap’s stomach was trying to turn inside out. A sickening truth dawned on him, and he forced it into words. “You … steal … eyes!”

  Occo’s long fingers traced the bulging orbs on his face. “I pluck what I need. A fish’s eye, to see under the water. A falcon’s eye, to see what is far. A cat’s eye, to see in the dark….”

  “Are you serious? This is fascinating!” Umber said, wiggling his bound feet.

  Hap’s voice was a strangled croak. “And now you want my eyes …”

  Occo edged toward him. Hap saw all the stolen eyes swivel and blink faster. For the first time he noticed the pink tendrils that were rooted in the sockets and gripped the orbs, holding them in place.

  “Yes. I want to see what your kind can see,” Occo said, still advancing. “For a lifetime, I’ve searched. I came close so many times …”

  “So many times? But I’ve only seen you once.”

  “Not you. I was after the other one when I learned of you.”

  “The other one?” Umber said. He was trying to use his shoulder to push the cloth away from his eyes, and not succeeding. “Do you mean WN? Do you know what that stands for, by any chance?”

  “His name doesn’t matter,” said Occo. “I have this one now. He is the same kind.”

  “What do you mean the same kind?” Hap asked, backing away.

  “Don’t you know what you are?” Occo said, moving closer and raising his hands. Hap stared at the terrible nails on the ends of those fingers, shuddering to think of what they might do. “You’re a Meddler, child. You can see them.”

  “See what?” Hap croaked.

  Watery drool spilled from Occo’s mouth, and he slurped again. “The filaments! Fortune! Doom! Destiny! Fate!”

  “You mean—those threads of light? But I barely see them at all. I don’t know what they mean.”

  “They mean everything.” Occo feinted right and left to force Hap straight back toward the ragged gap that led to oblivion. Hap felt the wind tugging the back of his shirt. Hard rain lashed his neck.

  “What’s happening?” Umber cried. He rubbed the side of his face against the floor, determined to scrape the cloth from his eyes. “Hap, you can’t let him get you! Run, boy!”

  “You are freshly made, aren’t you?” Occo said. “The sight takes time. Your eyes will grow stronger. Before long they will see. But not for you. For me.” Occo spread his long arms wide. All Hap could do was move back until his heels were at the precipice. The sea pounded insanely on rocks hundreds of feet below.

  “I will need room for your eyes,” Occo said. Hap felt a lump rise in his throat as the Creep’s blue eye bulged out of its socket, pushed from behind by the quivering tendrils. With his forefinger and thumb, Occo plucked the eye from their grasp. He dropped the orb, and it plopped wetly on the floor. The tendrils opened wide and crooked like fingers, eager to hold a fresh eye.

  Hap screamed into his palm.

  “What was that? Hap, are you all right?” Umber shouted. He crawled toward them blindly, wriggling like a caterpillar.

  Occo laughed as a second eye quivered out of its socket. “And I won’t need this cat’s eye, either. Your eyes will see in the dark for me, won’t they, little Meddler?” He plucked out the eye and flicked it over Hap’s shoulder, into the storm.

  “I could use some help right now,” Hap muttered thickly.

  “You are beyond help,” Occo said. He crouched, ready to spring. And then all of his remaining eyes bulged at once. He lifted one foot off the ground and shrieked so loud that Hap clapped his hands over his ears.

  There was a tiny silver spear driven deep into Occo’s ankle. He pulled it out and flung it aside. Spittle flew from his mouth as he screamed with rage. He drew his saber and slashed at the air. His eyes swiveled in all directions, searching high and low to see who had given him such pain.

  “What’s happening? Hap, are you there?” Umber shouted.

  And then all of Occo’s eyes turned toward the tiny form of Thimble as the little hunter sprinted across the open floor.

  CHAPTER

  30

  When Sophie had called to Hap just before he left, she relayed remarkable news: Thimble had come to her and offered to help. He owed his freedom to Umber and his life to Hap, he’d said, and he hated the thought of being indebted to either of them. Besides, only he could go with Hap undetected and perhaps save them from the Creep.

  The others had caught only fleeting glimpses of the reclusive fellow over the years, and they were astonished by his offer. Still, they were skeptical of what effect Thimble’s weapons—a spear and dagger tipped with spider’s poison—might have against the mighty Occo.

  But the tiny wound in the Creep’s ankle was clearly causing agony. A pink sweat erupted across Occo’s exposed skin, and his limbs quaked. Rage drove hi
m to the brink of madness.

  Thimble looked like a frantic mouse as he ran for a crevice in the wall. Occo hobbled after him, shrieking so loud that he drowned out the storm. “What is this pain? What did you do to me?” He flung his saber at Thimble. Hap was sure that would be the end of the brave little fellow, but the blade struck the floor and bounced over Thimble’s head, clattering down on the other side.

  Umber had finally managed to push the blindfold away from one eye. “Thimble?” he cried. “Hap, you brought Thimble to help you? Brilliant!”

  Even hobbled by the poison, Occo bore down swiftly on Thimble. The tiny man slipped between two of the stones just as Occo reached to grab him. The Creep plunged his hand into the crevice. “I’ll crush you! I’ll mash you to a pulp!”

  Occo threw his head back and howled again. He pulled his hand from the crack. A miniature knife—tainted, Hap knew, by the same venom—was driven to the hilt under one of the long fingernails. Occo shook the hand madly to dislodge the blade. Then he threw himself at the wall. He seized the edges of the block where Thimble had vanished. With awesome strength he shoved it from side to side, intending to crush Thimble inside the crevice.

  “Bad idea,” said Umber.

  The stones in the wall above began to shift. Occo was too wild with rage to notice. The block in his hands loosened more from his effort, and he rocked it with even greater fury. Hap hoped that Thimble had somehow managed to escape.

  At last there was a wrenching sound loud enough to capture Occo’s attention. He looked up at the unstable wall and finally perceived the danger. Before he could pull his hands away, the blocks shifted and Hap heard the crunch as Occo’s wrist was pinned inside. Occo shrieked again and writhed, trying to pull loose. Over his head the wall sagged inward and came apart. Occo gaped back at Umber and Hap as if looking for help.

  A stone that must have weighed three hundred pounds hit Occo’s shoulder, hammering him to the floor. Five more landed on his legs. Hap turned away, plunging his fingers into his ears to muffle the awful sounds. The rest of the wall tumbled onto Occo, stone after stone.

  When Hap dared to look again, he saw just a twisted foot sticking out from one end of the rubble.

  “Thimble!” Hap cried. He ran to the pile of rocks and called through cupped hands. “Are you there? Tell me you’re all right!”

  “I ain’t dead,” came the faint reply. Thimble stepped out from another crack farther down the wall. “I climbed along the outside and came back through here.” He pointed toward Hap’s leg with a tiny hand. “Watch behind you, though.”

  Hap looked down and froze. A shaking long-fingered hand inched toward his boot from the pile. But it couldn’t come any closer; the arm was trapped under enormous chunks of stone. Hap gasped, because he saw the Creep’s horribly damaged face staring up from between two blocks. The lids of the remaining eyes fluttered shut, one by one. All Occo could manage was a hoarse whisper. “Hate … your … kind …”

  “Why?” asked Hap. In spite of what Occo had done to the fisherman and his wife, in spite of what Occo wanted to do to him, Hap felt the hot sting of pity in his heart. The Creep was finished, his broken body beyond the help of any healing powers.

  “The sight you have … and you fritter it away … on foolishness …”

  “Me? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hap said.

  Umber had wriggled closer. “You there! You said Hap was made. What do you mean? Made how? Made by who?”

  Occo’s clutching fingers uncurled. The last eyelid closed. His only reply was a final hiss that faded into nothing.

  Hap bent low and rested with his hands on his thighs, feeling his whole body tremble.

  “Hap?” said Umber. “If you don’t mind, could you cut me loose? The Creep’s blade is over there. That would do the trick.”

  “Of course,” Hap said. Before he took a step, another rumble, ominously loud, shook the stones under his feet. Something cracked, loud as thunder, and the section where the Creep lay parted from the rest of the tower and fell into the night. Hap caught a glimpse of Occo’s broken body slipping away.

  A deep vibration rattled the tower. Hap heard Thimble’s tiny voice from below. “We need to go!”

  “The legs! Legs first!” Umber shouted, lying on his back with his feet in the air. Hap slipped the blade under the cords and sawed furiously. Umber kicked the cords away and rolled over, struggling awkwardly to his feet with his hands still bound to his sides. “Forget the rest,” Umber said as part of the roof caved in nearby. Blocks of stone tumbled like dice. One smashed into the grate that Occo had used to block the stairs, tilting it and leaving a narrow gap below.

  “There’s some luck!” Umber cried. “Can we squeeze through?”

  Hap scooped Thimble up, and at the top step, bent to pick up the box that he’d used to carry the little fellow. It was padded with cloth and straw to keep Thimble safe.

  * * *

  Hap thought the journey down the crumbling tower would never end. He and Umber pounded down the steps, hopping over rubble, leaping across widening gaps. The partial collapse at the top had unbalanced the tower even more. It rocked and shuddered so violently that it was hard to keep their balance as they ran. By the time they were halfway down, Umber was puffing for air. When they reached the last flight of steps, he was wheezing. Hap heard stones tumbling down behind them.

  They emerged from the tower moments before tons of rubble choked the stairwell, pushing a billowing cloud of dust ahead of it. There was a roar and splash outside—it could only be an immense part of the tower toppling into the sea.

  When the world stopped shaking, Umber dropped to his knees inside the safety of the domed keep and gasped for air. Hap cut the cords that bound Umber’s arms to his side. “Well—hah! That’s one for my books,” Umber said, laughing as he rubbed one arm with the other hand. The familiar twinkle had returned to his eyes. “Oh—there’s the Creep’s ship! Clever of him to hide it here in the storm. And look who else is with us.”

  Hap turned and saw Occo’s horse in the water, watching them.

  “I wonder if it can understand me?” Umber said. “I think it might.” He stood and tugged the hem of his shirt. “Your master Occo has been destroyed,” Umber called out. The horse tossed its head and chuffed. Hap wondered if that meant I know. “You are free to go,” Umber said. “Or you can stay here and join our company, if it pleases you. I won’t blame you for his wicked deeds.”

  The horse stared for another moment. Then it turned and swam out of the dome and vanished under the waves.

  Umber shrugged. “That’s that, I suppose. Now we just have to—”

  “They’re dead, Lord Umber,” Hap blurted.

  “They?” The skin between Umber’s eyebrows wrinkled. “Who?”

  Hap pointed. “The fisherman and his wife. Occo killed them.”

  Umber walked slowly to the spot where the bodies lay. “Ah. Poor folk. I had no idea.” He stared down for a while with his head bowed. “Whoever they were, we’ll give them a decent burial, Hap. A mausoleum right here would be proper, I think.”

  “They’re dead because of me,” Hap said, blinking fast and looking away.

  Umber came back to grip Hap’s shoulders. “Don’t you dare, Happenstance. Not for a moment can you blame yourself for the things the wicked do. Yes, Occo was after you. But it was just poor fortune that put those two in his path.”

  Hap bit his bottom lip. But was it really poor fortune? he wondered. Or is this what happens to some who cross paths with a Meddler?

  “Come on,” Umber said. “Let’s wave to the others and let them know I’m alive.”

  “Wait,” said Hap. There were things he needed to say before he dared return to the Aerie and face Lady Truden again. “Before I came here … after you disappeared … I saw it, Lord Umber.”

  Umber narrowed an eye. “Saw what, Hap?”

  “The thing I wasn’t supposed to see. When Occo came for you … I thought you were in dang
er, in your tower. I ran in to help. And I saw it.” Hap remembered Thimble, still inside the box in his pocket, and he lowered his voice to the faintest whisper: “The silver case. With that word on top.”

  Umber tilted his head to one side, waiting.

  Hap winced. “You know. REBOOT.”

  Umber didn’t bother to whisper in reply. “That’s all you saw? The case, and that word?”

  “Yes.”

  Umber took a deep breath and held it. He put his hands on his waist and let the breath whistle slowly out his nose. “First of all, there’s no need to whisper. I’m certain Thimble saw it long ago; that little sneak pokes his nose into everything.”

  A tiny indignant voice, muffled by cloth and the wooden box, cried out from Hap’s pocket. “You don’t know that—you never caught me!”

  Umber rolled his eyes. “Do you know what reboot means, Hap?”

  Hap shook his head. “It doesn’t mean to get a new boot, does it?”

  “It means start over. Does anyone else know you saw it?”

  “Sophie.” Hap’s head shrank toward his shoulders. “Lady Truden.”

  Umber wrinkled his nose. “Ooh. I imagine Tru’s head nearly exploded.”

  Hap dropped his gaze. “She wants me to leave.”

  Umber waved off the notion. “Well, I assure you that isn’t going to happen. You’re part of our company now, Hap. I am deeply grateful for what you and Thimble have done. But I suppose Thimble owed me that much.”

  Thimble called out again. “I saved you. You saved me. Now we owe each other nothin’!”

  Umber grinned. “Only thanks, my brave friend. As for you, Hap, you had no debt to me, but you risked your life, anyway.”

  If there was ever a time to ask forgiveness, Hap knew it had arrived. “There’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

  Umber arched an eyebrow. “There’s more?”

  Hap cleared his throat. “Remember the note from WN? I … read part of it.”