Underground Angels

Chapter Sixteen | I Eat Pie

Chapter Sixteen

I Eat Pie

 

            Noel wasn’t sure how to proceed. The old lady was seriously creeping her out because a) she knew Noel’s name and b) her eyes were completely black. Her stomach grumbled noisily as smells of fresh pastry wafted through the house.

“Um,” said Noel wisely “What kind of pie is it?”

The old woman smiled “Whatever kind tickles your fancy dear.”

“Are you dangerous?” she asked, feeling maybe if it was a monster than she better just ask rather than find out later. There was a slight prickling at her lower back, just a subtle warning.

Chuckling, she opened the door wider “Well, not particularly. No harm will come to you Noel, do not worry.”

Looking back at the car, Noel had to squint to make sure what she was seeing was real; Gabriel and Stephan were frozen in their positions, as if time had suddenly stopped.

“Did you…uh; are you a witch or something?”

“No, no, not a witch. A Fate dear, nothing more. Your friends are fine, now come inside; my sisters are waiting, and I’m afraid Lachesis isn’t very patient.”

Following the old woman into the house, Noel wondered if she was being stupid. Gabriel would probably tell her she was being stupid, but the pie smelled good and Noel wasn’t particularly fond of tofu jerky.

It took two real good looks to take in the houses interior; every surface was covered in tapestry, from floor to ceiling. Noel followed the Fate to the back of the house, and the colours got steadily more neon the deeper they went. The Fate herself was wearing a bright knitted neon pink jump suit and slippers, and instead of walking at a normal pace speed walked – Noel had to walk twice as fast to keep up.

They seemed to be following the smell of fresh pie, and soon they came into a room Noel assumed was the kitchen; an ancient brick over was in the corner, but that’s were the ancientness ended. Sparkling appliances covered every surface, and colourful wool strung between them, what seemed to be little fat gym instructors in neon green knitted track suits and pointy hats.

“’Outta the way!” screamed one, whizzing down a zip line past Noel’s head and landing face first into a strawberry pie.

“Watch out for the gnomes dear,” warned Pink Jumpsuit “They can go quite fast on those zip lines of theirs.”

“Is this her?” screeched another old woman, this ones suit neon blue. “The gnomes knit for us now by the way – our arthritis is getting a little too much for daily business.”

“About time!” cried another in yellow “As if we haven’t given her enough signs to hurry up.”

Noel froze, watching Yellow Jumpsuit stand up, leaning heavily on a cane; she had a knitted grip in the same shade of her suit “Signs?”