The Badlings

Chapter 6. The Red Menace

Books die every day, just like people do, together with the characters that live inside them. It can be a slow demise, with page after page falling out from the sorrow of not being read anymore. Or it can be a brutal execution via ripping.

Terrible, wouldn't you say? I agree. Let us shelve this depressing subject for a while and focus on three dots rushing through the air. As you know, these would be Bells, Peacock, and Grand. Hollering in fright, they landed at a somber wall that girded an abbey of many turrets and towers gripped by dead vines. A couple of naked trees flanked an iron gate beyond which a path led to a pillared porch. The last ray of sun colored everything ruddy, and the narrow windows seemed to scrutinize the intruders with many dead eyes.

Bells shivered and glanced at the boys. Her dread reflected in their faces. Not only had they lost Rusty, they appeared to have landed in an obviously spooky story. On top of it, they were hungry, thirsty, and sore.

"Where did it send us now?" asked Peacock, picking bits of gravel out of his scraped hands.

Grand sighed. The impact didn't have as devastating an effect on him as it did on his friend. "Um," he said, rubbing his forehead, "I don't know, but it doesn't look friendly."

Peacock kicked a stone. "This is dumb. I don't like it. What did that donkey mean by not being a donkey? And how are we supposed to destroy this thing? Mad Tome or whatever?"

Grand shrugged.

"I might have an idea," voiced Bells brightly, dusting herself off and redoing her ponytail.

Peacock cocked an eyebrow. "Care to share?"

"I'll have to think about it first," she stated, "see if it makes sense."

"Well, hurry up then," he snapped.

Bells propped her hands on her hips and said heatedly, "Look, Peacock. Forgive me for being blunt, but can you be any more selfish? First we need to find out where Mad Tome has sent Rusty and get him back. Don't you think?"

Peacock glared at her. "Leave it to a girl to slobber guilt all over you to make you feel even worse."

"Oh, we're talking about girls all of a sudden, are we?" hissed Bells. "Okay, let me tell you something." She advanced on him. "For a boy you're sometimes too much of a blubbering sissy. I thought boys were supposed to be braver than girls, you know, valiant knights that brandish swords around and protect us feeble maidens with fierce cries of war."

Peacock stared. "What?"

Sensing her victory, Bells continued. "I'm not saying you will stay a coward your whole life. There is hope for you yet. I'm just worried about Rusty, okay? It's not like he will drop on our heads. We need to actively look for him. What if he is being devoured alive by some monster right now? Did you think about that?"

A faint smile played on Grand's lips. "I thought I was the only one thinking about morbid things."

Bells hastily cleared her throat. "I do too, sometimes. For the purpose of examining facts."

"Don't tell me you're not scared," said Peacock, motioning to the abbey. "This place gives me the creeps. Look at it!"

"Scared?" asked Bells with forced bravado. "Pfft. Not at all."

"You're not scared of dying?" said Peacock, amazed.

"Nope," Bells lied. "When Death shows up, I will punch him in the face and tell him he can beat it."

Peacock snorted. "Spoken by a true scientist."

Bells opened her mouth to retort and closed it. "It is beneath me to descend to your level of petty bickering." She turned on her heel and decidedly stalked to the gate. Unlocked, it swung open on the first try with a grating noise that sent goosebumps along her arms. She raised her head and stalked inside, turning and looking at the boys.