Always October (19 page)

“Each voman, too, you silly, soggy sexist,” hissed Syreena.

“Sounds like buyin' a pig in a poke to me,” muttered Gramps.

It sounded to me as if Jacob would be far from the first human to turn into a monster, which was interesting. As I was thinking about this, Teelamun rose from her seat and said, “Abraham, I ask you personally: Will you help? This is a matter of great urgency.”

My grandfather glared at the hooded monster. “How do you know my name?”

“You know the answer to that,” she replied gently. “I've been watching your face. You've known since you entered this chamber.”

Grampa blanched and his lips trembled.

With a sigh, Teelamun raised her long, slender hands—so pale they were almost bone white—and lifted her hood.

A
s Teelamun revealed her face, Lily's grandfather made a noise that sounded a little like a sigh, a little like a whimper.

As for me, I gasped so loudly it made LD flinch. But how else should I have reacted to seeing Tia LaMontagne, my grandfather's first wife … the oddly beautiful woman whose portrait hung in my upstairs hallway?

Despite the years that had passed since she'd painted that self-portrait, Tia had aged but little. The main change was a pair of Bride-of-Frankenstein white streaks that shot through her flame-red hair.

“Is it really you?” whispered Gnarly. His voice held so much pain, I actually felt sorry for him, something I would not have thought possible.

“Yes, Abraham,” she said softly, “it's me.”

“But what … how …” His voice caught.

Lily moved to his side to take his hand.

“This is not the time,” said Teelamun. “If we survive what is to come, I will explain everything when we have some privacy. For now, for the sake of old friendship and more, I ask your help in caring for Dum Pling.” She lifted her head for a moment, then said softly, “He is my grandchild, Abraham.”

Gnarly closed his eyes and swallowed hard. I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a tear trickle from beneath one of those closed lids. He started to ask a question, then stopped himself. After a long moment he said gruffly, “I'll help.”

“I now ask this pledge of all of you,” said Keegel Farzym. “Do you swear to help Jacob guard and guide the baby, help him protect the bracelet, and help him remain safe and undetected on the nights of his transformation?”

Though I was terrified by what I had committed myself to, when Gnarly, Lily, Mrs. McSweeney, and even Luna said in unison, “We do!” I felt a surge of warmth and of being not alone in a way I had not experienced since my father's disappearance.

Again, the other monsters rose. (I couldn't see Invisible Ed, but I assume he stood, too.) Making that same gesture of hands to foreheads, they bowed and said, “Humans, we salute you!”

When they had resumed their seats, Keegel Farzym said, “We must return you to Humana as quickly as possible. Alas, the only way to return now is through the Library of Nightmares.”

“Poet!” cried Squeak. “You can't do that! The path is far too dangerous!”

“Can you suggest another route once they leave Dark Valley?” asked Syreena sharply.

The little catman thought for a moment, then shook his head.

“Then the route is clear,” said Invisible Ed, his voice even gloomier than usual. “They must take the tunnel behind the tapestry to depart our chamber. Doing so will bring them to the surface a mile or so from the Black Bridge of Doom.”

“Black Bridge of Doom?” I asked. My voice quavered and my fingers tapped against my thumb so fast, they were almost a blur.

“Doom is the name of the river it crosses,” said Syreena, waving a careless hand. “It's poetic, really. Hardly anyvun dies there these days.”

“On the far side of the River Doom you must pass through the Forest of the Lost,” said Bloodbone.

“Another poetic name, I assume?” said Luna, who had leaped down from the table and was now twining around my feet.

“Very witty, kitty,” said Iris. “However, I regret to tell you that this is a place where people really do get lost.
Seriously
lost. Most never come out,” she added, a huge tear rolling out of her enormous eye.

“We will need to be particularly careful there,” said Keegel Farzym, looking directly at me. “I presume I do not need to mention that you must never leave the path?”

I blushed and nodded earnestly.

“After that you will make your way to Teardrop Hill,” said Bu-Blasian.

“Which I suppose is shaped like a Teardrop?” asked Gnarly.

“Actually, it is,” replied Syreena, fluttering her ghostly wings just a bit. “However, you will not be able to climb it. To reach the other side, you must instead go under, via the Tunnel of Tears. Doing so vill bring you to the Veil of Tears, vhich is in the exact center of the tunnel.”

“I thought a vale was a valley,” said Lily. “How can there be a valley in a tunnel?”

“You are thinking of another vord, though it is pronounced in the same way.
This
veil is the kind that obscures, as a veil vorn over the face. You vill understand vhen you come to it. Vithin, you vill meet the King or Queen of Sorrows. You must listen to that monster's story before you vill be allowed to pass.”

“Assuming you make it through the tunnel, you will have reached Dark Valley, where Flenzbort lives,” said Iris.

“Who, or what, is Flenzbort?” I asked.

“Flenzbort is a trickster,” said Teelamun. “She will not—cannot, actually—grant the bracelet until we pass a test. In many ways this will be our greatest challenge. Luckily, Keegel Farzym and I will be with you.”

The High Poet nodded. “Once we have obtained the bracelet, our journey will be nearly over. On the far side of the valley is the path that leads up the back side of Nightmare Hill. At its top stands Cliff House, home to the Library of Nightmares. As I'm sure you will recall, we saw it in the distance on the way here.”

Leaning close to me, Lily whispered, “We're like the Fellowship of the Ring!”

“More like the Fellowship of the Dumpling,” I muttered back.

LD reached up and bopped me with his rattle.

“We will send a message ahead for the librarian to prepare a portal to take you back to Humana,” said Keegel Farzym. “With luck, we will—”

His next words were interrupted by a terrible roar. Spinning around, I saw Mazrak burst into the underground chamber. He wasn't alone. Behind him surged a dozen of the most terrifying creatures I had ever seen—except I
had
seen some of them before, on the covers of magazines featuring stories by my grandfather.

LD buried his face against my neck, whimpering in terror.

Without a word Lily moved in front of me, as if to say the monsters would have to get through her before they could touch the baby.

Gnarly and Mrs. McSweeney flanked me. Gnarly held his pickax at the ready. Mrs. McSweeney reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out a knitting needle. At least, it looked like a knitting needle. But it was glowing, which I had never seen a knitting needle do before. Luna stood in front of her, back arched, tail abristle, hissing at the invaders.

Mazrak chuckled. “Your bravery is touching, humans, if somewhat foolish. But our fight is not with you. It is with those who stand behind you.” Looking above our heads, he said fiercely, “This has gone on long enough, Keegel Farzym. You have no right to keep that baby. Give him to us or we will take him. Either way, it is time for this to end.”

Though Mazrak spoke to Keegel Farzym, it was Teelamun who answered. “That baby had
two
parents. The other was my daughter, who risked all to take the child
away
from those who, through insane pride, would destroy Always October.”

“You speak with a petty fear that ill becomes a monster,” sneered Mazrak.

“And you act with a recklessness that does not become anyone who is more than beast!” snapped Teelamun. “Meer Askanza's fate is still unknown, but we will not dishonor her sacrifice with surrender.”

“Enough!” roared Mazrak. “I'll have the child.”

LD screamed and buried his face against me again, clutching my shoulders with his furry little arms. I turned toward the Poets. Clutching LD, I dropped to the floor, then used my elbows to hold myself up so I wouldn't squash him while I rolled under the table.

I was relieved to discover that Lily was right beside me.

As we went down, the Council of Poets rose.

“You dare, Mazrak?” Syreena cried. “You dare come
here
, to invade this place so long forbidden you?”

Suddenly she was in front of the table instead of behind it. Her ghostly wings were still beating when she landed. To my astonishment she shot a gout of flame toward the invading monsters.

“Wow,” whispered Lily. “I wish I could do that! I wonder if it came out of her mouth or her eyes.”

The battle erupted. Howling like a wolf, Bloodbone leaped over the table. Snapping and snarling, the furry creature shot past Gnarly and Mrs. McSweeney and launched himself at Mazrak's throat. The enormous orange monster swatted him away, but almost immediately Bloodbone was on his feet again, sinking his fangs into the thigh of one of the monsters just behind Mazrak. That monster—purple, half naked, and somewhat trollish looking—screamed and began to beat at its attacker.

Scooting around Mrs. McSweeney, Bu-Blasian held out his hands. Somehow he made a slick of water on the floor in front of Mazrak and his fellow attackers, causing them to slip and grab at each other for support.

Even Squeak joined the battle, leaping atop a monster's head and hissing as he clawed at the creature's face.

Lily and I inched back until we were on the far side of the table, then raised our heads just enough to watch what was happening. Iris now stood on the table directly in front of us. As we watched, she plucked that huge eye from the center of her brow and lifted it above her head. Aiming it at the invading monsters, she cried, “I spy … good-bye!”

She squeezed, and a beam of blue light shot out of the eye. It sizzled through the air and struck one of the attackers. The creature screamed and fell to the floor, writhing inside a bloodred force field.

Iris jammed her eye back into her forehead, leaped from the table, and charged into the battle.

Gnarly swung his pickax left and right, holding back a tall green monster whose long arms could not reach him past the arc of the makeshift weapon. Even more startling, with a shake of her knitting needle Mrs. McSweeney blasted out a bolt of energy that sent one of the attacking monsters smashing far against the wall.

“Take that, ya big gobdaw!” she cried triumphantly.

Suddenly, and for no seeming reason, the monster battling Gnarly fell over backward. Gnarly looked startled, then even
more
startled, then nodded and turned and sped back toward the table. Almost instantly Mrs. McSweeney joined him. Soon the two of them were under the table with Lily and me.

“What knocked that monster over, Grampa?” Lily asked.

“That Invisible Ed guy did it. Then he told us to git back here and he'd help us escape.”

“Shouldn't we help the Poets?” she asked.

Mrs. McSweeney shook her head. “Right now the most important thing is getting Little Dumpling out of here.”

I listened to all this as I continued to watch the battle. Keegel Farzym grappled hand to hand with a monster who matched him in height. However, the creature had four arms, and thus four hands, which put the High Poet at a definite disadvantage. Turning his head toward us, Keegel Farzym bellowed, “Jacob! Get the baby out
now
!”

“How?” I cried.

The answer came not from Keegel Farzym but from a whisper beside my ear: “Follow me!”

It took me longer than it should have to realize it was Invisible Ed speaking.

“How?” I whispered back. “I can't see you!”