Chimera Book One

Chapter Ten

For a long time, neither Kyp nor Atticus spoke.

‘Say something, Kyp,’ said Atticus finally. ‘Please.’

But Kyp didn’t know what to say.

‘What are the ankle-snatchers going to do with us?’ he asked instead.

‘We’re of little interest to them now. They’re hoarders, nothing more. Look at the walls.  See how they’re ripped where others have tried to escape? Do you see what covers the floor? When a metamorph reaches the end of its life it becomes an object again, nothing more.’

‘A detritum,’ remembered Kyp.

‘We’re standing on the remains of lost properties who lived out their entire lives in this one cave.’ 

Atticus swiped at the floor with his tail, a furious gesture that sent dust high into the air. 

‘I’m so sorry, Kyp.  You don’t deserve this.’

‘You’re wrong,’ said Kyp quietly, turning from him.

‘What are you talking about? You’re only here because you were brave enough to rescue me from the ankle-snatchers, even after everything Madame Chartreuse told you about me.’

‘It’s complicated,’ said Kyp.

Atticus said, ‘It’s not like we’re going anywhere.’

Beyond the cave walls, ankle-snatchers scurried in the dark. 

Atticus waited.

After a deep breath, Kyp began at the beginning.

‘Beside mum and dad’s bed was a cabinet with a drawer.  The drawer was off-limits.  I was never to look in there.  It was “none of my business”. Captain Toothache was always curious.  He thought there was treasure inside it, rubies, doubloons, strings of pearls.  He was always egging me on to take a look, so was Sprat, but I never did, until the day Dad came home early from work.  Dad never came home early.  Most times he’d be home so late I’d already be in bed.   Anyway, this day Dad seemed weird.  His shirt was untucked and his tie was twisted.  His face was red and he kept dropping his keys.  I asked if him being home early meant we’d all be going to Fatty Barnstorms or to the Thrill-A-Minute fairground.  He laughed, like I’d made a joke.   Mum came running out of the kitchen.  She told me to go to my room.  I said I didn’t want to, but she said, “I won’t ask you again” and I said, “but Dad’s home early”, and she said, “Dad doesn’t want you around right now.” I knew it was wrong, sneaking into their room and opening the drawer. I was hoping they’d catch me.  They’d have to talk to me then.’

‘What did you find?’

‘Nothing much.  Loose change, tubes of face cream, a few photos of me when I was little, and a silver locket.  It looked really old and didn’t have a chain.  It didn’t look like anything much. I tried looking inside, but the hinges wouldn’t open.  I put it inside an old crisp packet and buried it in the garden.’

‘You buried it?’

‘It was treasure,’ said Kyp, feeling stupid. ‘I was going to return it, but then it rained and Sprat and me played pirates in my room instead, and then the day after that it was school.  Weeks later, when I remembered, I rushed out into the garden.  I looked everywhere.  I should have drawn a map, marked the spot with an x.’

‘What happened?’

Kyp remembered the silhouette of his mum in the doorway to his room, the noise of his dad’s shoes on the stairs, the sick feeling deep and sour in the pit of his stomach.