Emerald Scales

Chapter Three - Run Away No Name

Chapter Three - Run Away No Name

Softly sinking into the disintegrating armchair, ladened with its own insides, bellowing out from where the fractured springs penetrated the deep, blood red velvet skin.

    She loved this armchair, she would sit here for hours, with a tattered old book in her hands. The books were new, but for the disastrous fire that happened in the other side of this house, the library and all of its positions disintegrated, what was left, which compared to what the library possessed months before, was next to none.

    Some of the books however, were left in a big, silver, metallic box, a foot taller than Seraphine, so the smooth, cream pages were saved by the absence of the disruptive flame.

The book that she now held in her hands belonged to the saviour box in question, was called Skulduggery Pleasant ;Mortal Coil, by Derek Landy.

She had read the books before, however, to say you rarely saw her with a book in her hands, you could easily class her as a slow reader.

At page 104, she heard a sharp rap on the front wooden door, a similar tune echoed gently in the room, she already recognised who was at the door asking for an entrance.  Seraphine carefully placed the hard back book on the nearest coffee table and rose, walking to the front door and to her expected guest.

With a steadied creek, the heavy door unwillingly swung its sorry soul ninety degrees inwards toward the front cracked window.

“Ello’ darlin’, have I got a treat for you love!”

Benjamin Merula, kind, caring and gentle, words that are rare to be used to describe a butchers personality, however he made an exceeding habit of it.

Mr Merula was always jolly when he was in the presents of Seraphine Hughes. He had known her for as long as she could remember. He did private deliveries to the Hughes Manor as a butcher, however, he wasn’t always following the script of a regular butcher.

Mr Merula, or Dr Merula, was known in the late sixty’s for being a well paid surgeon, or he had been in his day, however, due to the joys of technological advancements, Dr Merula was made redundant.

As disturbing as it seems, Mr Merula, found that his inner knowledge on how the body works, each part of the body, weather it would be the ear, the foot or the stomach, meant that he could slaughter a pig, and not have anything left over that he could not sell or create into something valuable, even if it did mean you may get an odd bone nestled in your beef mince, or an eyeball to see you throughout the week.

Mr Merula had repeatedly asked Seraphine to live with him as an adopted child, anything to get her away from the run down old library that she spent her youth in.

But as she admired his willingness to come out of his way and protect her till she could see her adult years, she was used to being alone, and on top of that, to Seraphine, a once surgeon, now butcher, for a father wasn’t at all comforting.

“Seasoned Mint Lamb Chops! Your favourite! You used to love these when you were a tot, your mother used to make the creamiest mash potatoes to go with it, not only that, your father was a great cook too, every other night, he would invite the whole street around his place to share his home made soups, each flavour so exiting! So new! Honestly, his tomato crème was the best, took my liking for sure, I tell ye’! Oh, I’m sorry darlin’, soon as I’m ‘a’ yappin’, I wont stop gabbin’ “ Mr Merula finished off with a hearty laugh, doubling over into a throaty chest cough. Mr Merula never smoked, he had never suffered from asthma, he just had coughing fits now and again.

In one of his coughing fits, Seraphine swore she saw a single black feather fly clean out of his mouth, he caught it just in time before anyone could raise suspicion.