by Eli Ingle
“Erm … we weren’t sent here,” said Laurie. The old man started to look scared. “We travelled here and arrived ourselves.” The light returned to his eyes.
“Ah! Independents! Heard about our town and decided to see it for yourselves, aye? Decided to finally settle down? A father and his children! How touching! Please come this way – I have all the plans in my office.”
“No, please,” begged the Captain. “I think you’ve misunderstood. We’ve not come to stay – we’re just travelling through.”
The old man stopped, looking them over. “But why on earth would you want to travel past here? There’s nothing but desert and wilderness. Or so I’ve heard.”
“No! We’ve come from that way – we’re making our way north towards the other towns.”
The man went pale. “You’ve been out in the desert?”
“Yes.”
“And survived?”
“Just about ….”
“There’s supposed to be all manner of ghouls and sprites wandering around out there. How did you ever manage to survive?”
“It’s a long story …. Please, can you tell us what’s going on here?”
“And shut that thing up!” snapped Rigel, pointing to the loudspeaker on the lamppost. It was still blaring out its hateful message. The old man looked up at it and, frowning, gave it a good kick. It went back to playing jazz music again.
“It’s always on the blink,” he commented. “I keep having to come and sort it out and even though I have discs to play those messages it goes wrong. We don’t even have anything that says ‘send the children to their graves’ …. Very odd. Anyway, would you like to follow me? Perhaps we could talk all this over with a drink?”
“Yes please!” said Laurie.
The old man turned around and led them down the street, through another archway and down a wider street. He turned to the children as he shuffled along.
“I never asked your names,” he said.
“I’m Rigel.”
“And I’m Rona.”
“Good to see you. I’m Ludo.”
“That’s funny,” said Laurie. “We met somebody else called Ludo.”
“Well it isn’t really a name,” explained the man. “It’s more of a title – it’s quite common.”
“What does it mean?”
“Mother’s brother.”
“Oh! Like an uncle?” asked Rigel.
“What’s an uncle?”
“Mother’s brother,” he explained.
“Oh. Uncle … Uncle …,” he rolled it around in his mouth, getting a feel for it. “Yes, I like that! Uncle … call me that if it means the same thing anyway. Nearly there now.”
Unlocking a wooden door that was set into the wall, he swung it open and led them inside. Steep stone steps led them up to a small cloakroom, where they removed their jackets and boots. Uncle put on a pair of carpet slippers and shuffled into the house.
“Honey, I’m home!” he said as he walked into the dining room.
A small table was set in the middle with wooden chairs around it. Rigel was expecting to see a woman but instead stopped and yelped as he saw, sitting at the table, a mannequin like the ones in shop windows. It was wearing a white curly wig and a flowery blouse. Makeup was painted on its face and its flat painted eyes stared dead ahead. Two small children mannequins were sitting on either side of the woman. Little clothes and moulded hair. Fixed smiles and eyes as flat as their mother’s, staring straight ahead.
“Dear God, that is creepy,” said Rigel, staying pressed against the wall. Rona and Laurie acted with similar revulsion as they spotted them. Uncle was just ruffling the children’s hair when he caught what Rigel said. He scowled at him.
“That is no way to talk to my family!” he cried, indignantly, puffing out his frail chest. “Apologise at once!”
“But … but they ….” Rigel was trying to say “they’re not real”. Laurie nudged him and shook his head imperceptibly. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.
“Thank you,” said Uncle. “What would you like to drink?”
“What have you got?”
“Water or tea. No milk.”
Rigel was disappointed. They had a better selection on the cart. “Water please.”
He heard a pump going in the kitchen as Uncle prepared them drinks. While Ludo was out of the room, Rigel looked around the room at the things. Some paintings dotted the walls, but the main focus was a large photo portrait in an ornate frame. In it, there was a picture of Uncle looking several years younger with his arm around a lady who appeared to be of a similar age. From the rings on their fingers, Rigel presumed they were married. On either side of them sat two children, beaming at the camera. In faded ink in the corner, Rigel saw a written message.
“In commemoration of Ludo on his going-out ceremony for building us a better tomorrow. The future starts with one man’s vision – and it is his. Best wishes in your endeavours, Bill Franklin, Jo-do Town Mayor,” he read out.
Laurie and Rona were staring at the portrait. Rigel looked at it, and then his head turned slowly towards the table with the mannequins, back to the photo and back to the table again. His skin ran cold as he realised what he was looking at.
“What do you think happened?” whispered Rona. The others shrugged.
“Creepy,” was all Laurie had to say on the subject.
Uncle shuffled back inside the room, carrying a tray of drinks.
“Ah, I see you’ve seen my photo portrait of our going-out ceremony from the Mayor,” he said as he handed out the drinks. “A good day.”
“You must be very proud,” smiled Laurie.
Uncle nodded as he sat down at the table and placed drinks in front of the mannequins. No-one said anything; they just watched as he took a sip of the drink and then raised the models’ glasses to their lips and tipped it up for them. It ran down the hard material and spattered onto the table. In the silence of the room, the pattering of the liquid onto the table and floor seemed to be especially pronounced.
“Well, you’re probably all wondering what’s going on here then, aren’t you, if you’re not from around these parts?”
“It did cross our minds,” answered Laurie, as he tried not to stare at the damp mannequins.
“Thing is, this world, Endirin, is strange and we don’t really know how it got here or when we did. Many of us were transported through unknowingly and were trapped and we had to stay here and make a home for ourselves. Then more and more people have been coming through and, of course, the ones who were here originally have started breeding and that has caused us to expand even more. You see, people don’t like to feel they’re out of place or that they’re alone in the world. So we started to build more towns and some people would move to them and populate those. Then it was someone’s clever idea to start building towns that weren’t even populated. They got scared of looking out into the nothingness or something or other. Anyway, so they went and built towns and filled them with fake flowers, mannequins, shops with boxes empty of food … you get the idea. Anyway, they reckoned it would get to the point where people would want to populate these and they would be ready built. Also, they needed someone to take care of them, so they hired people like me to help maintain them and here we are ….”
Laurie was having some difficulty accepting this. “I don’t understand, though, why people would build these towns and fill them with stuff like that. Why not just have them empty or not build them at all?”
“People like to feel as if there is something there, even if there isn’t,” said Uncle.
“Isn’t it just like pretending, though?”
“All we do is pretend. Pretending we’re okay, that everything’s going to be alright, that we know what we’re doing and that we know what we want out of life. Pretending we’re happy and pretending we know why we’re here. What really is this except an extension of that?”
Laurie tried to answer but
when he realised no words would suffice for it, he closed his mouth again.
“Exactly,” said Uncle.
Rigel’s eyes strayed to the mannequins sitting at the table as he thought over what Ludo had just said, but he remained quiet, not wanting to upset the old man.
“So where are you headed after this stop?” Uncle asked them.
“We’re not really sure,” admitted Laurie. “We stopped here because we thought it might be inhabited and we could pick up some supplies but I guess we’ll just have to move on to the next place and try our luck there.”
“Then again, Uncle,” said Rona, “how are you eating? You must be getting food from somewhere or you’d starve.”
“Supply run,” he explained. “It comes every month and drops supplies down onto the main street for me and usually a good stack of newspapers as well.”
“What is it?”
“An airship.”
“Now we’re talking!” exclaimed Laurie as his eyes lit up.
“I’m sorry?”
“Where we’re from, there are a lot of airships,” he explained. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen one … I miss them. I used to pilot one.”
“What day is it now?” asked Rigel.
“Tuesday.”
“When is the next supply drop?”
“About a week away.”
“Do you think if we stayed and waited for the airship it might give us a lift?”
“I don’t think so,” said Uncle, looking uncomfortable. “They’re quite strict on rules back in Jo-do town.”
“What if we asked them nicely?”
“They’re only giving me supplies because it was part of the contracted deal I signed before I left,” he explained.
“I thought you sounded happy about them – as though they looked after you.”
“I did, but there’s a difference. They’re bringing me supplies and there’s a big difference between that and picking up hitchhikers.”
“Who are you calling hitchhikers?” asked Laurie, sounding nettled.
“Look. Don’t take it personally, but Jo-do town is one of the final places on the Fringe in Everwere. No-one really goes there out of choice and the Mayor can be quite difficult to deal with. I don’t want you getting over your head, especially if you’ll have to be visiting there anyway.”
“Okay,” said Laurie, obviously deciding to drop the subject. “It’s just frustrating – if that wasn’t the situation we could quite easily save a lot of time by being picked up rather than having to travel there ourselves.”
“I understand where you’re coming from,” said Uncle. From experience, Rigel had learnt this translated to “I hear what you’re saying but I don’t agree”.
“How long would you estimate the journey to be on land?” asked Laurie.
“A few days? It would depend on how fast you were travelling. At walking speed, it would take three weeks. Any faster than that and obviously you would get there a lot sooner.”
“Okay, well, we’ll bear it in mind.”
“How’s your water?”
“It’s fine, thanks ….”
“Good.”
The clock on the mantelpiece struck seven and Uncle jumped to his feet as though shot by lightning.
“You alright?” asked Rigel.
“Yes, yes, fine. I, er, just didn’t see what time it had gotten to. You’ll have to excuse me but I must perform my nightly tasks. You’re very welcome to stay the night but I must warn you that if you want to collect any of your possessions now is the time because you mustn’t go out into the streets after dark.”
“Why not?” asked Rona. “There isn’t anyone here.”
“Well, of course, there isn’t in the daytime,” said Ludo, as though this made perfect sense. Maybe it did to him.
“We have some friends walking around in the town,” remembered Laurie. “Would it be alright for them to stay as well if it’s not safe?”
“How many?”
“Just two.”
“Fine. It might be a bit cramped but we’ll make do. You come out with me and fetch them then, but remember, once I get inside I lock the doors and won’t open them for anyone. So make sure you get back on time or I’ll leave you out there, and believe me when I say there are no exceptions!”
“Okay …,” said Laurie, who seemed to be put off by the outburst.
“Follow me then. Will you two be alright here?” he asked the children.
They nodded their heads.
“Okay, be good and don’t touch anything.”
They nodded again and waited for them to leave.
“Strange man,” commented Rigel as he heard the door shut. Rona smiled slightly as she nodded her head.
“We always seem to meet the crazy ones,” she agreed.
“At least this one seems to have a good heart.”
“This is true.”
Rigel stood up and looked around at the room. A photograph album was lying on a cabinet at the side of the room. He flicked it open at a random page and began looking at the photos posted there. Several that were meaningless to Rigel – a family picnic, Ludo in construction gear standing in front of a half-finished building – but the ones nearer the end were more interesting. There were other photos from the day of Ludo’s going-out ceremony. One caught Rigel’s eye; a picture of Ludo standing next to the Mayor. The town leader was huge – there was no other way to describe him. He had the appearance of several bodybuilders pressed into one, and he was at least seven feet tall. His flowing robes and ornate sword were in sharp contrast to Ludo’s faded and moth-eaten suit. Both looked happy, however, as they shook each other’s hand.
Rigel flicked to the next page, which showed photos of Ludo, his family, the Mayor and many well-wishers travelling out of the city and into the wilderness. Rona stepped up behind him and looked over his shoulder. The last few showed them waving off their companions as they entered the town and the others leaving to return home. Right at the back was a photo of Ludo and his family smiling at the camera, but something was wrong. Looking closer, Rigel could see how pale they were, with dark rings around their eyes. They looked incredibly ill. He put the album down, feeling glum. What had happened to them? Rona was still looking at the album and picked at the back page until Rigel realised it was not a back page but a few loose sheets of paper that came away. She unfolded then and looked down, sighing heavily as she read them. Rigel held out his hand and she passed them over. They were death certificates with the names of people who he presumed were Ludo’s family.
Irene Charlston. F. 52. Misadventure.
Mary Charlston. F. 15. Misadventure.
Louise Charlston. F. 9. Misadvanture.
Handwritten and signed in Ludo’s own hand, Rigel realised that the man must have had to be in charge of the whole set of affairs without help. He swallowed hard.
Voices outside the door made them jump. They had been so involved with what they were doing that they had not paid any attention to the time. Scrabbling to shut the book, they dropped it and watched in horror as the photos slid out across the floor. Stuffing them back in without ceremony, they jammed the book back onto the shelf just as Ludo arrived over the threshold.
“Alright?” he croaked. They nodded, trying to appear casual and failing miserably. His eyes narrowed. “You sure?” They nodded again with more determination. He nodded back at them before looking around. “Is your friend not back yet?” he asked, looking at his watch.
“Not yet, but I’m sure he’ll be back soon,” said Rona.
“Well, I hope so, because in ten minutes I lock the door and then that’s that ....”
The children looked uncomfortably at each other.
After a minute of silence, Rona picked up the courage to ask: “What’s so bad? Out there, I mean, that makes you lock the door?”
Uncle froze and stared straight ahead as if seeing something they could not.
&nbs
p; “Are you alright?” asked Rigel, unsure what to do.
“There are things out there,” he said, seemingly oblivious to the two of them in the room. “Things out there that move in the Dark ....”
“What kinds of things?” asked Rona.
“Things that shouldn’t be. Things that are wrong and have no place in this world or any other. They belong somewhere else but they got through … and they’re hungry.”
The children stared at him and jumped as the door banged open. Rona screamed.
“Who’s hungry?” asked Laurie, cheerfully.
“I am,” said Jhoan as he stepped inside, taking his coat and boots off. “Thanks for letting us stay,” he addressed Ludo.
“Fine, fine. No trouble,” said the old man, looking distracted, his trance broken.
Erdiz followed the others and said hello. “Funny place,” she commented. “The town, not your house …. Creepy, as you kids might call it. Got mannequins everywhere, spoiling the atmosphere.” She stopped, staring at the group gathered around the dinner table. “Well, that’s not okay.” She pointed at the models sitting around the table. Laurie was trying to give her a ‘please stop talking’ look, but it was not working. The wise-woman looked around at them, uncomprehending. “Am I missing something?” she asked. Laurie had given up and was rolling his eyes.
“Can I help you with anything?” he asked Uncle.
“I’m just about to start dinner, if you want to help,” the old man replied as he shuffled to the kitchen.
“Sure.”
The others sat in awkward silence until they were sure Ludo and Laurie were out of earshot. Jhoan gave the children a significant look at which they widened their eyes and shook their heads slightly.
“Were the mannequins here when you arrived?” Erdiz asked, as she moved over to examine the models grouped around the table.
“Yes,” said Rigel. “When he got into the house Ludo started acting all crazy, referring to them as if they were real.”