Travel to Sockland

Chapter 29

The air was thick with the shock and surprise of the pens and pencils. Arnie looked around, scared. How had they known they were coming? The paintbrush who had spoken still wore that evil grin on his face.

"How can it be that you were expecting us?" The pencil leader broke the silence, his voice commanding and sure. There wasn't a shred of fear or apprehension in how he carried himself or spoke. The paintbrush replied, looking equally sure and unworried.

"Old one, hush your questions now. We won't be answering anything. You'll be moving straight along into the village now and no more talking." The pencil leader seemed to think it would be sensible to comply.

The gathered paintbrushes started to move towards them. Arnie felt the pens and pencils tense and he thought they might burst into fighting at any moment. He opened his mouth to try and hold them off. He knew that fighting at this moment, as they were, would be foolish. Before he got a word out, however, the pen leader opened his mouth and called out to the group.

"Do not fight brothers. Do not fear. We shall go where we are guided for now."

Arnie felt them relax. They were ready to fight he knew, but it seemed they hadn't really wanted to. They started shuffling towards the open gate, being herded on all sides by the paintbrushes like cattle taken to slaughter. They moved in silence until they arrived at the gate of the paintbrush village. That is when Arnie realised what he was looking at. The village wall, and in fact the whole village was made of stretched canvas. Painted canvas. Some of the paintings were splashes of various coloured paints, others were landscapes or realist shapes. There were portraits of paintbrushes, of pens and pencils and there were monochrome paintings of nothing in particular. In any other situation he would have admired the beauty.

When they were all inside the gate it was closed behind them. Arnie saw it being locked and chuckled to himself. Those gates and these walls wouldn't keep him in if he wanted to leave. He knew he could step over the walls due to his height and thought he could prbably knock them down pretty easily considering it was canvas. Now that he was in the village and taking some time to look around himself Arnie estimated that the village was probably twice the size of the lead pencil village. He wondered if there were other paintbrushes dwellings and made a mental note to ask when the opportunity presented itself.

They were herded further into the village, straight through to a clearing in the center. They were gathered like sheep into the clearing and surrounded on all sides by ready, determined looking paintbrushes. The apparent leader of this group of brushes - the one who had spoken outside - stepped forward and spoke to them again.

"You will wait here for further instructions. You can sit down and be comfortable. Do not make trouble, as it is plain for you to see, we outnumber you by many."

"What are we waiting for?" To Arnie's surprise it was Sophos who spoke. His voice also carried a note of authority despite the situation.

The paintbrush looked him over, appearing to weigh him up. After a short pause he answered.

"You are waiting to be told what will happen next. I must consult my leader now that we have you safely captured. Once he commands what is to be it shall be."

"It shall be!" Arnie jumped as all the paintbrushes chanted it in unison.

They sounded like the pens and pencils Arnie thought.

The pens and pencils mostly sat down upon the ground and tried to get comfortable. The lead paintbrush detached himself from the gathered guards and sped off down a path heading deeper into the village.