Tales From a Second Hand Wand Shop- Book 1: They Were the Best of Gnomes. They Were the Worst of Gnomes.
Page 76
Chapter Forty-Two
Wherein The Gnomes, Nulu, Dummy, and Rat
Make Their Way to Big Julie
The clouds scudded across the sky as the motley group rolled along in silence. It had been an hour since any had turned to look back at the column of smoke rising from what had once been the bustling town of Aution. Anything that could have been said - accusatory or consolatory- had been said. An hour ago.
Drimblerod sat in the front of the wagon, marginally holding the reins. It was more for show since RatShambler knew where he was going and would take (as usual) offence to any offer of direction. Also, Drimblerod’s was fast asleep.
“Anyone want to hear a song?” Asked Grimbledung, “I just made one up.” He was hoping to break the silence because the clouds were moving too fast to actually form anything interesting for him to look at. ‘Streaks’ just didn’t cut it after an hour. “It’s about the town,” he added hopefully. Dummy turned to look at him and shook its head. Since they had left town, Dummy had switched with Door and was now on top of it. The risk of fire was gone so he no longer needed to cower under Door, and since Door didn’t seem to have any way to enjoy the scenery, they decided to swap places. Door was friendly that way. “You sure? It’s not very long and it rhymes and everything.” Dummy shook his head again.
Nulu, who had taken to walking beside the wagon (on the opposite side of Grimbledung) so as to not have to be close to Grimbledung, moved around to his side of the wagon. “Grim, I don’t see how a song is going to make anything better. We lost everything. I lost everything. Everything.” Looked into the wagon; none of its contents were hers. “Everything.” Her face scrunched up angrily, “Since my money was in the bank in town, it’s melted along with everything else. All I have is a Frost Wand to my name and the clothes on my back.”
“You have your looks,” suggested Grimbledung.
Dummy nodded and elbowed Nulu in the side for emphasis.
“That has to count for something, right?” He smiled hopefully.
“My good looks, a Frost Wand, and a head nod from Dummy is supposed to make me happy?” She clenched and unclenched her massive fists several times. Mercifully, she merely moved to the other side of the wagon without giving Grimbledung another look.
The group rode on without another word.
The silence was deafening.
As usual, it lasted for only a few minutes.