by H. Duke
“We have to go back in,” April said. “We have to see if Rico is still there.”
Randall, Barty, and Dorian all looked between each other. Dorian spoke. “Perhaps Randall and I should go alone. You and Braddy stay here with Barty.”
“What?” April and Braddy said in unison.
“I’m not staying here!” the groundling exclaimed. “I’m going home.”
“I’m not staying here, either,” April said. “This is my fault. I’m going to be the one to fix this.”
Dorian crossed his arms. He ignored Braddy and focused on April. “You are too close to this problem,” he said. “You are emotionally invested in it in a very dangerous way.”
“Please.” She gripped his hands and stared into his eyes imploringly, and as she did, something in his gaze softened.
“What if Rico isn’t there, April? Will you be able to handle it?”
She nodded. “I was weak yesterday. I’ll keep it together.” Dorian didn’t look convinced, so she added, “I’m the Pagewalker. If I can’t do this, what am I?”
Dorian closed his eyes. “Fine. But you must listen to me, otherwise we’re taking you right back.” He glanced at Randall. “Right?”
Randall nodded. “Sacrificing yourself won’t help get him back, okay?” The hard look in his eyes reminded her of his story about losing his partner in Afghanistan. She got the feeling that in some way, he was trying to protect her from what had happened to him.
She nodded. “Okay.”
“What about me?” Braddy said, stretching up to be in their field of vision. “I want to go home!”
With a sigh, Dorian crouched down in front of the groundling. “Let me explain to you what this additional universe means to you. It means there’s quite possibly another Braddy in your bed, drinking your tea and eating your scones. There can’t be two of you.”
Braddy sputtered. “That Braddy needs to find his own house!”
“You’ll stay here with Barty,” Dorian said, a tone of finality in his voice. “We’ll assess things. If it’s safe, we’ll bring you back and you can to spend the rest of your days eating and sleeping to your heart’s content.”
“Well, not really,” Randall said. “I mean, in the book…”
Dorian shook his head. “He can deal with that later.” He glanced around at everyone. “We’re all in agreement, then?”
Except for Braddy, everyone nodded. Raoul spoke. “I must go. I have other matters to attend to. Let me know in the morning if you need my assistance.”
Dorian nodded. “I hope I won’t have cause to see you for many more years.”
“Me too,” Raoul said, but he glanced at April in a doubtful way that she tried not to take offense to.
After Raoul left, they readied to head back into The First Adventure of Braddy Evers. Braddy began to protest again, but Barty threatened to knock him out with another sleep spell.
“Because that worked so swimmingly last time,” Dorian muttered. Still, it was enough to make Braddy sit back down in the chair, his arms crossed and his legs sticking out like matchsticks.
After stepping through the gate, April began searching for signs that the world had reset itself. She moved to the edge of the wood. The dining area was empty and abandoned.
“There’s no party,” she said. “If the world reset, then the party would be happening again, right?”
“Not necessarily. The party wasn’t described in the book. It’s not necessary that everything about the world be the exact same, only that those things described in the book’s text are.”
“But it’s still possible for this to be the same world, right?”
“Yes. It’s definitely a good thing that the party isn’t happening.”
April nodded. He was right, but she didn’t let herself give up hope. It wasn’t proof that that the world was the same, but it wasn’t proof of the opposite, either.
“Come on. We need to get to Braddy’s house.”
They set off. The town looked different in full daylight. The mammoth trees over groundlings’ dwellings were covered in yellow-green moss, and many had multi-colored flowers growing all around them. If she had time to stop and appreciate the scenery she would have thought it was the perfect place for a picnic.
They passed groundlings gardening, or, more often, napping in the sunshine that filtered through the treetops. The ones who were awake waved to them.
“Weird,” April said. “They wanted to kill us yesterday.”
They walked in silence. Randall pointed to one of the tree dwellings. “That’s it.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. Everything looked so different in the daylight that it was hard to tell.
He pointed to a small wooden sign in the yard. The words Ever Home were carved into it. “In the book that was the name of Braddy’s house.”
“Oh.” She looked down at the ground. The path outside of Ever Home was marred with footprints, more than the rest of the path. They must have been left by the previous night’s mob. Or maybe that was just her being hopeful….
“Braddy said Rico ran into the woods out back,” Dorian said. “Let’s check there. If he’s smart, he’ll have stayed hidden.”
They walked around the house calling Rico’s name.
“It’s April,” she called. “If you can hear us, please come out.”
They searched the woods behind the house for hours. When her voice became hoarse, she checked her watch. It was nearly midnight in the library. Why did it seem like time was moving so fast?
“I’m going to check the house,” Randall said finally. He walked back through the woods towards the dwelling.
April sat down on a log. “We’re not going to find him,” she said.
Dorian came and sat next to her. “We still have time.” He didn’t sound convinced of his own words.
“You don’t think we’ll find him,” she said.
Dorian took a few seconds to answer. “Maybe not today. But I promise you, we won’t give up. Even if this isn’t the same world, we’ll find a way. Okay?”
She nodded.
“Guys!” Randall yelled. “Come here—quick!”
Dorian and April jump to their feet. They ran through the woods and into the house. April stopped as soon as she opened the door. The house was a complete mess.
“Oh, no,” she said, taking a step backwards. “The UNCs…?”
Randall shook his head and smiled. “No, it’s not like that. This is a good thing.”
“It is?”
“You see, one of the first scenes in The First Adventure of Braddy Evers is Labhras the magician inviting a bunch of Nisser to Braddy’s house. They cook and basically make a huge mess.”
April wasn’t sure what a Nisser was, but she didn’t want to take the time to ask. She examined the scene more closely. Dishes stacked in the sink, overturned wine barrels, smatterings of food remnants on the floor… Randall was right. It looked more like the aftermath of a party than a mob of zombified townsfolk tearing a house apart. Still, the vice grip on her heart didn’t loosen.
“But that’s not possible,” she said. “Braddy’s been with Raoul. There has to be another explanation.”
Dorian nodded. “You’re right. Something else must have happened.”
Randall grabbed something on the desk. Next to an open quill well was a piece of parchment. Written on the parchment in splotchy, inelegant print were the words:
April,
I’m going on an adventure.
-R
“R?” April said. “Rico? But how’s that possible?”
Dorian looked down at the note, his brow furrowed. “There’s ‘not possible,’ and then there’s ‘already happened.’”
“Wait,” Randall said. “What’s happened?”
Dorian chewed on the inside of his lip. “By all appearances, this story has moved on, but how’s that possible when the main character is sequestered in the library? Judging by this note, Rico has somehow overtaken Bradd
y’s role.”
“What does that mean?” She asked.
“I’m not sure. We need more information.”
She looked down at the note. At least they were in the right world, but was this really any better? It was dangerous. She didn’t know much about The First Adventure of Braddy Evers, but she knew there were evil creatures around, including dragons, pixies, and other terrifying creatures. How could Rico survive all that? And on top of that, if he slipped up, the UNCs would be after him.
“But you said that everything has to happen exactly as described in the book!” April said. “How’s that possible when it’s Rico and not Braddy?”
Dorian slammed his fist down on the table. “I don’t know! Maybe he’s Braddy’s twin. Maybe they’re two groundlings with the same name.” He paused. “I think the gate is doing what it can to protect itself.”
Everyone was quiet, thinking that over.
April broke the silence. “Can we find him?”
Dorian ran his fingers through his blond curls. “It’s possible. Though with how inconsistently time passes in the story worlds it will be difficult to locate him.”
“Guys,” Randall said from behind them. He held up Rico’s note. He pressed the pad of one finger to the ink. It came away smudged with black. “The ink’s still wet. He just wrote this.”
“Then they can’t have gone far,” Dorian said. “We could still catch up with them.”
“Let’s not waste any time,” April said. “Randall—are you familiar enough with the story to know where they went?”
Before he could answer, a small shriek ensued from outside. “Stop!” The voice yelled. “It’s me, Braddy Evers! This is my house!”
They jumped up and bounded outside. Braddy stood in the road, a mob of townsfolk standing in a circle around him.
“You shouldn’t be here,” one of the zombified voices said.
“Yeah. You’re an abomination.”
“I live here!” Braddy said, simultaneously indignant and terrified. “The Evers are the most respectable family in all of Groundsville! You always know what to expect from an Evers!”
The mob closed in on him.
Braddy appealed to one of the groundling women standing closest to him. “Willie, you come over for tea at least once a week!” When Willie didn’t acknowledge him, Braddy looked at them desperately. “Help!”
April looked down the road, the one Rico had just ridden down, according to Randall. For all they knew he might only be a ten-minute walk away. Some of the townsfolk who had crowded around Braddy were now shambling in that direction, forming a line across the road. There was still enough space for them to get through…
“Help!” Braddy cried.
She couldn’t just leave him. With a frustrated growl, April turned to help Braddy. Small hands grabbed her arms, but she easily knocked them away with a jerk of her wrists. She used enough force that the groundlings tumbled to the ground.
“Sorry,” she said to them, wincing. It was like pushing down kids. They rose without a word, their vacant eyes fixed in her direction.
Randall also approached Braddy. One by one, he grabbed the groundlings by the shirt collar and tossed them gently to the side of the road, which was cushioned by tall, lush grass. When he got to Braddy, he picked him up.
“It’s probably safest if I carry you,” Randall said. “You guys don’t seem to run that fast.”
“Fine,” Braddy said, terrified. “Just get me out of here. What’s wrong with them? These are my neighbors, my friends!”
“There’s more of them.” Dorian nodded to the road up ahead. More groundlings were coming from the opposite direction. Unlike the groundlings surrounding them now, these ones carried weapons and tools. One held a pitchfork, others kitchen knives of various sizes. One woman in a dirt-smeared apron gripped an oversized pair of garden shears in both hands.
“Something tells me they’re going to be harder to overpower,” Randall said. He pushed away the groundlings who had come back and were beating his hips with their tiny fists. The blows didn’t seem to do much damage to him, but Braddy scrambled up onto his shoulders with a yelp.
“We have to get back to the gate,” Dorian said. As though he knew what she was thinking, he said to April, “We’ll open the book to the next scene. It’s Rico’s best chance.”
He was using Rico to manipulate her, but he was right. She nodded. They started running, but after a few hundred yards, she realized they weren’t being followed. She slowed.
“Why aren’t they coming after us?” she asked.
Dorian and Randall slowed and turned around to see the line of groundlings off in the distance.
“We can’t affect the plot from here,” Dorian said. “They only need to keep us from taking that stretch of road.”
“Maybe we can sneak around them by going through the woods,” she said.
The second the words came out of her mouth, the door to the nearest dwelling opened and two groundlings came out, a man and a woman. The man held an axe that looked like it was meant for chopping firewood. They stopped, obviously waiting for them to try to leave the path.
“They won’t let us,” Dorian said. “Our best bet is to skip to the next scene.” He said the last part in a whisper so that the UNCs couldn’t hear him.
April watched the man with the axe nervously as they hurried back to the gate. More groundlings came and lined the road as they walked past, guarding the edge of the path. They followed them into the woods and to the gate. Even after they stepped through the veil, the UNCs remained on the other side, watching, guarding.
Braddy stared at the faces of the nearest groundlings. He pointed to one of them. “Paid for his son’s schooling, I did. A fine way to repay me!”
“Don’t hold it against him,” April said. “He’s not really the same guy right now. The gate has sort of… taken over his body.” She turned around. “Where’s Barty?”
At that moment Barty walked up through the door. He held a paperback book in his hands. He looked surprised to see them. “Oh, you’re back already? Did you find the boy?” He started to look nervous as he noticed their angry glares.
“Where have you been?” Randall asked.
Barty rubbed his neck nervously. “Braddy didn’t believe that this book was really written about him. He said no respectable Evers would ever go questing. He wanted to read the book, but I told him it had to stay open so you guys could come back. I went downstairs and got a paperback copy.” He held up the book. “Why? Did something happen?”
“Yeah,” Dorian said. “Your charge snuck through the portal, alerting the UNCs to our presence. We missed a chance to reach Rico.” He raised his index finger in the air and waved it back and forth emphatically. “The next person who leaves someone unattended in this room…” he seemed to be searching for a suitable threat, but couldn’t, so he ended with an angry puff of air.
Randall rubbed his chin. “Would it have mattered? We’d need Braddy along to replace Rico anyway. If we had tried to just take him, the UNCs would still have come after us.”
Dorian nodded. “You’re right,” he sighed. “They might not be happy if we remove him—even to make the switch with the real Mr. Evers.”
“We have to try, though, right?” April said.
Dorian nodded. “We will try. I don’t know what it means that Rico was able to slip into a named role—the named role.”
“I’m less worried about that right now than I am about getting him back.”
“You’re right. Let’s leave the philosophy for later.” Dorian turned to Randall. “You read a lot. Do you know what happens next?”
Randall thought. “It’s been a while since I last read this book… I believe the first obstacle Braddy faces in the book is a baobhan sith that enters the adventure party’s camp.”
“Baobhan sith?” April asked.
“An Irish vampire.”
“Ah,” April said. “Why do they want Braddy to join their quest,
anyway?”
“They need a sneak-thief.”
She raised her eyebrow.
“Someone who loots treasure.”
Braddy spluttered. “I would do no such a thing! I wouldn’t sneak-thief in general, especially not a baobhan sith.”
“According to the book, you do,” Barty said. He was thumbing through the paperback.
“Nonsense! Give me that.” He snatched the paperback out of Barty’s hands and settled down into one of the armchairs. “And some tea and biscuits would be nice, if you’re set on holding me captive.” He began to read with a sour look on his face.
“There’s no time,” April said. “We need to go.” She grabbed the hardcover version of The First Adventure of Braddy Evers and flipped it open to the second chapter. The crack in the stained-glass window appeared with a pop. She flipped through the pages as it widened. With the turn of each page, the gate emitted a whomping sound and a series of vibrations ran beneath their feet.
“Can you not do that?” Barty asked. He glanced at the gate, the expression on his face suggesting he expected it to explode.
April ignored him. “I think it’s best to try to get to him before they encounter the vampire, don’t you agree? Then we can make the switch.”
Braddy’s face had gone white in the armchair. He was reading the book, his small eyes shocked. “They are riding through freezing wind and rain! They made me wear Nisser clothes… and… there’s water dripping in my eyes… and they’re drinking all my tea!” He crossed his arms. “I’m half a mind to stay here where it’s warm and safe.”
Dorian shot the groundling a look. “Five minutes ago all you could talk about was going back to your world. Here’s your chance. Don’t you want adventure?”
Braddy lifted his chin. “An Evers never seeks excitement,” he said. “An Evers prides himself in being predictable and never doing anything surprising.”
“Right,” Dorian said. “Maybe it’s best if we leave him here while we look around. Once we figure out where they are, we’ll sneak him through and make the switch before the UNCs realize what’s happening.” He paused. “The groundlings were relatively harmless, but the last thing we want to deal with are UNC pixies or wurms intent on killing us.”