Into the Fairy Lands: Chapter 3

Into The Fairy Lands

By J. R. Bennett

<Chapter II ~*~ Chapter IV>

III

The Trip to Town

~*~

Zach woke from a difficult sleep, the kind of sleep where you hope the events from the day before were nothing but a terrible dream, when in truth they were very real. The futon mattress that he slumbered on was obviously not meant for sleeping.  As he pulled himself out of the makeshift bed, Zach studied the room.

            The walls were covered with shelves, each filled with books, scrolls, and boxes. In one corner of the room, Zach noticed a small desk with a stack of paper and large typewriter.  He studied it. The top slice read, “An insightful study of Grogs in the Dead Lands.”  Zach placed the slice of paper back on the stack.

            Nonsense, he thought, Grogs...what the hell is that!  The Dead Lands seemed to be some region that was lazily named.  All these things seemed to him to be nothing more than made up nonsense.

            Zach opened the bedroom door.  He heard the sound of laughter coming from downstairs.  As he walked down the hall and the stairs, Zach studied the paintings that decorated the walls. When he reached the kitchen, Zach saw everyone sitting around a table in the middle of breakfast.

            Ed sat in a chair facing Zach in a beige cardigan over some red-stripped pajamas with Travis and Alice on either side of him.  Next to Alice sat a young man with a sleepy look to him appearing to be in his twenties, dressed in a navy blue jacket and trousers and a white shirt with a black tie that was loosened for comfort.

            “...And so there I was running from a six-foot talking bee when- Oh Zach!” cried Ed as he tapped a boiled egg with a spoon. “This is Ryan, he's George's son.”

            Zach nodded hello and took a seat next to Travis.  The table was littered with toast, eggs and plates; Zach selected one of each and joined the others in their meal.

            “I've been telling one of my travel stories.” Ed explained.

            “I see,” Zach replied with a tone suggesting that he still was not quite comfortable with the situation.

            There soon came a moment of uncomfortable silence.

            “I was hoping,” added Ed uncomfortably, “that we could maybe make a trip to the older district of Newtown, if it is at all possible.”

             “Older district?” puzzled Travis.

            Before Ed could answer, the doorbell rang. “I'll get it!”  Ryan said as he got up from the table.

            “It's just the central area of town,” Ed explained.  “There are some lovely shops and I need to make some enquiries.”

            “Whatever happened to that little toy from last night?”  Alice asked. She had a point; Little Dill had disappeared after they arrived at George's house.

            “Here I ams!”  cried a familiar voice.

            Everyone looked. On the windowsill was Little Dill, dressed in his purple coattails.  Next to him was a doll, a little taller than Little Dill.  The other doll was dressed in flashy suit.

            “Hullo Gary, haven’t seen you in these parts for a while.”  greeted Ed.

            “I’ve been traveling around selling yards.”  the doll replied.

            “Yards?”  said Zach.

            “Yeah,” replied Ed, “Gary and Little Dill sell yards.”

            “Their three feet of fun!” cried Little Dill with excitement.

            There came a sigh in response to this poor pun.

            “Oh!” cried Ed. “Where have my manners gone again?  Everyone, this is Gary.”

            Gary gave a polite bow.

            Ryan soon returned with what looked like a box wrapped in brown paper.  “The starchier came by with your collars,” he said.

            Soon the ritual of breakfast was over and Ed changed into a grey suit with a black tie that had a ruby stud on it.  The others had to wait for their clothes, the only ones they had on their backs, to be washed and dried.  They didn’t leave until around eleven o’clock.  Ed led the group down the path to the sidewalk where they all climbed into Ed’s car.

The Older District was located not far from the downtown area.  A large red-bricked building marks where it is.  Large grey, stonewalls surround the section dating from days passed.  The roads in there were built in a time when it was uncommon for vehicles, whether it were from draft animal or motor, to enter the town limits, so many visitors would park their cars in a yard nearby and walk into the district.

            Upon arriving at the district, the group were lead to an old building with a sign reading: “Cheswick Tailor”.  Ed never did like leading.  He wasn’t fond of the thought of possibly making the wrong decision.

            Mr. Cheswick eyed Zach and Travis up and down.  “Kids to-day,” he muttered, “looking sloppier and sloppier every year.”

            The tailor looked among his many ready-made clothes for something that met their style while Mrs. Cheswick helped Alice find something appealing.  In the meantime, Ed had run across the street to send out some telegrams from the post office.  The parcels from the shop were loaded onto a handcart, which a porter was hired to pull.  As they walked, they came across a shop with a well-kept sign that read: “Jelly’s Fine Meats and Delicatessen”.

            It was not busy in the shop, at the front of the shop three men were arguing.  One of the men in front of the counter was George, from the night before, only dressed in a suit this time and the other was in a purple vest with a black top hat; while the man behind had was dressed in a shirt and tie with a crisp white smock.

            “I am telling you it’s your turn to pay for pints,” snapped George.

            “And I’m telling you, it’s yours,” replied the man from behind the counter.

            “I paid for them last week,” put in the man in the purple vest.  “It’s always your turn after me so stop being miser Jelly and pay up.”

            “George paid last time.” the smocked man replied.  “I remember because Lordham went purple when he saw you pulling out your cheque book.  ‘No merchant likes it when you use cheques,’ my dad always said, ‘it them that your skinked.’”

            “Oh, bolt your da’ and his quips.” George replied.  “That was just to guarantee to Lordham that he got his copper.”

            “What’s all this?”  inquired Ed.

            “Jelly here is refusing to pay for pints tonight,” explained George, pointing at the man in the smock with his thumb.

            “It happens every week it’s his turn,” added the man in the vest with a sigh.

            Ed turned to his friends.  “Everyone,” he said, “this” – pointing to the man in the vest – “is Jackson Oakwood, and” – pointing to the man in the smock – “this is Theodore Jelly, everyone calls him Teddy.”

            “You can call me Pumpkin Stone,” added the man in the vest, which we shall refer to as Pumpkin Stone for the remainder of the story.

            “There is always a more appropriate way of solving this,” added Ed.

            “And what would that be,” snapped Jelly.

            “A game of Pumpernickel obviously.”

            “Excellent plan,” added George, “but I can’t play ‘cause of my leg,” and pointed to the one in question.

            “Then we’ll have Alice, Zach, and Travis join in and you can observe from the side.”

            Alice, Zach, and Travis just watched.  The name of the game was queer enough, and they were actually going to play it.

            On the drive to the field, Ed tried his best to explain the game.

            “It’s really easy.  All we need are a few bats, two poles, and a ball.  The whole point of the game is to try and get the ball to hit your opponent’s pole and get the most points, or a “tri” as it’s called in the game.”

            The car turned onto an embankment of a steep hill and charged upward until it reached the top.  At the top sat a jungle gym on one end and a flat pasture with two poles on the other.    George and Pumpkin Stone walked up the hill with a trunk held between them.

            Up the embankment came an old lorry driven by Teddy pulled up.  He had abandoned his smock for a checked coat and a cloth cap.  “Right,” he said.  “Who’s all playing?”

            “Since George is useless without his cane,” said Pumpkin Stone, “he’s going to keep score and I’ll play in his place.”

            Teddy gestured Ed over to himself and Pumpkin Stone. “Do your friends know how to play?” he said in low whisper, sounding as if it would be scandalous.

            “Oh of course,” Ed replied, speaking in a normal tone.  “I even explained the whole thing to them to be safe.”

            Teddy did not seem satisfied, but whether he liked it or not, Alice, Zach and Travis were the only players they had.  He knew this game would be his only way to weasel out of paying for drinks.  With an annoyed sigh, Teddy replied, “Let’s play.”  Teddy then turned to Travis and called: “You’re wit’ me.”

            “I’ll go on Pumpkin Stone’s team,” called Ed.

            Zach was shunted to Teddy’s team and Alice to Pumpkin Stone.  George threw an old ball of rubber bands into the air and then walked over to sit on the trunk, where he lit his pipe and watched the game.  George cried: “First team to thirty wins.”

            Ed struck the ball.  It flew in the air and was struck by Pumpkin Stone and it bounced off the pole on one end.

            “Three points!” called George and wrote it onto a scrap of paper.

            The ball was now in the air; Alice caught it and began to run.

            “Foul!” yelled George and scratched the three points out.

            “You can’t grab the ball and run,” explained Ed.  “You can catch it and throw it.”

            “I wish you’d have told me that sooner,” Alice grumbled.

            The game went uneventful for the rest of the time.  At least that was the case until Travis ruined Teddy’s chance of evading his role as payer.  Teddy was close to winning the game.  They had twenty-seven points to Pumpkin Stone’s eighteen.  One more tri and Teddy would win.

            The ball flew into the air toward Travis.  He didn’t know what to do.  He closed his eyes tightly and swatted his bat.  The ball flew toward the right and kept going.  Then “Crash!” right into a window of a house at the far end.

            “Not again,” sighed Pumpkin Stone and buried his face in his hands.

            The group quickly tossed what remained of the equipment into the trunk, tossed it into the back of Teddy’s lorry, and drove off as fast as possible.

The Boar’s Head was a large pub.  One side held the bar, kitchen entrance, and a few dartboards; while the other where tables and chairs.  The lot walked in and were greeted by a burly man with thick sideburns.  “Goo’ eve’in’,” he called from behind the bar in deep bold voice.

            “Hulloa Lordham,” cried Ed as he and the company took a few tables.

            Lordham then walked over to them, pointing at each of the familiars there and naming what they’d want:  George – “Local Ale,” Pumpkin Stone – “Local Ale,” Teddy – “Soda and Gin,” and Ed – “Milk Stout.”  Lordham then turned to the Alice, Zach and Travis and asked for their orders.

            “I don’t drink,” said Zach politely.

            “Doesn’t mattah teh me lad,” was the reply.  “Ah can get you a Gordon’s Cola instead.”

            Alice and Travis made their orders as well.  Lordham even brought a plate of complementary meat pies when he brought the drinks.

            There they were, George, Pumpkin Stone, Teddy, Ed, Alice, Zach and Travis, sitting comfortably, each sipping their drinks away.  It was peaceful, very peaceful for Ed.  His eyes began silently tearing up as he drank his milk stout.  It occurred to him then that they would go home soon.  Back to their daily lives, Ed would be left to fret away on another journey of his own.  They may never meet again; the whole lot spreading out to the point Ed would never find them again.

            Ed’s train of thought was broke by Travis.  “What up bro,” he said.

            “Nothing,” Ed replied, “just thinking.”

            “Don’t do too much of that, you’ll hurt yourself.”

            Ed smirked.  “I was only thinking, what’ll happen once this is over.  You guys will be off and living your lives again.  I’ll just sit here and try to make the most of my new life.”

            “We know your alive now.” Travis assured his friend.  “I mean, there should be a way for us to visit you.”

            “Maybe…  Bug-a-boo mentioned to me once that there is more than one way to travel among worlds, in fact this one is of but a few that I am aware of.”

            Ed was about to say more but he was interrupted with a sudden brawl in the pub.

            “What going on?” asked Alice.

            “Nothing dear” – George replied – “Just a normal pub fight on a Saturday” – and smashed a bottle on a nearby table over a man’s head without looking.

            Near the kitchen entrance, Lordham seemed to be signaling them.

            “Now’s our cue to leave lads,” called Pumpkin Stone as he tucked a few meat pies in his coat pocket.

            The group followed Lordham through the kitchen to the lounge room in the back.

            “We’ve ‘ad fight’s in ‘ere before” – said Lordham as he poured some coffee into a mug – “but this ‘un ‘as teh beat the incident at the Imperial Inn.”

            George started laughing.  “I though’ mah da’ was going to kill me when he picked us up from the station.”  he said.

            While the old men talked of their youthful escapades, Ed explained the situation.  Whenever a fight would break out on a Saturday evening Lordham and the others would hide out in the back room until it ended or the cops finally showed up to break it up.

            It wasn’t long from when they left the fight that things died down.  Ed took Alice, Zach and Travis back to his house.  When they arrived, Ryan was just leaving for his shift at work.  Before leaving, Ryan told Ed that a letter had arrived for him in the evening mail.  Ed glanced at the address and placed it with the other envelopes.

            “I’ll be back.”  Ed said bluntly.  He hurried up the stairs and shut his office door behind him.

            With Ed gone, Zach spoke.

            “Something isn’t right,” he said.  “Am I the only one who thinks… well, you know.”

            “What?”  Alice asked.

            “Ed, he seems different.”

            “You sound surprised,” said a voice from nowhere.

            The three looked over to black void of the living room.  With the strike of a match and the hazy smoke from a pipe, Bug-a-boo appeared in one of the leather chairs.

            “How’d you get in here?”  Travis inquired.

            “It is well within my abilities to be anywhere at once,” the wizard explained.  “Did it ever occur to you why he wanted to have you lot here?”

            No one said a word.

            “His reasons were quite hidden from me as well.  I had to figure it out on my own.  He’s trying to say good-bye.”

            “But Ed told me there was more than one way to come here,” Travis projected.

            “As true as it maybe, giving someone the power to cross worlds is very dangerous.”  Bug-a-boo argued.  “That’s why I opened the portal myself.  I can’t just trust anyone else with it; they may use it for corrupt reasons.  When I had let Ed cross between worlds, I realized he would eventually have to choose where he would want to dwell.  That is why I brought him here when he was ill, it would give him a new start once he was better.  Ed doesn’t even understand the gravity of this.  I was just able to make him agree to only have you lot come once, then, when you three are sent back, I will close the portal for good.”

            “That’s why he made the list.”

            “Indeed.”

            “If Ed is saying good-bye why does he seem to be so happy about it?”  Travis snapped.

            “Just because a man acts happy here doesn’t mean he really is nor does it mean he’s not trying to say good-bye.”

            At that moment Ed came down the stairs.  “Bug-a-boo,” he said.  “What’s up?”

            “Nothing, I only came to pass a message on to you.”  The wizard relied wearily.  “Kina wants you to stop by his house in the morning.  He sent some particulars for you to look at when you get the chance.”

            With a few puffs of his pipe, Bug-a-boo faded from his audience.