Scourge: A Grim Doyle Adventure

Chapter 4

Head cupped in hands, and a squirming Barnsworth poking his twin next to him, Grimwald Doyle gazed around the camp. It was as if Poppa’s workshop had just become an entire world. Everything hissed, hooted, whirred, glowed, or whistled — some did all of the above. And anything that didn’t look like it was naturally living seemed to move on its own.

Similar to his dads, everyone here dressed as if they were part of some other time, one where they wore vests, breeches, choking collars, ties, top hats, frilly shirts, or ghastly dresses like Aunt Patrice.

Ugh. Please no frilly blue suits.

Dad, Poppa, and Aunt Patrice stood off to the side talking with Treena’s father, who apparently was Count Something-Or-Other. In addition to the pelt around his shoulders, he also wore a long jacket and a thick belt with all sorts of pouches and holsters attached to it. His hat, like everyone else’s, was adorned with goggles.

Grim was suddenly shoved off the log by Barny.

“Ben, you cad!” Barny shouted. He picked up the closest stick. “En garde!”

Ben wasted no time finding a stick of his own. Then the two chased and whacked each other around the camp. Sam, strangely, took Ellen by the hand and followed a couple of cats. That left…

Rudy.

Grim clambered back onto the log with some modicum of grace and glanced at Rudy. He grappled for words, feeling rather awkward.

He sniffed the air. “It smells different here, but it’s okay.”

She looked at him like he was insane. “What are you talking about? It smells like oil, sweaty horse, and dog breath.”

Grim wanted to point out that Toby was sitting behind her, panting, but their dads rejoined them.

“We’re ready to tell you what’s going on now, but this could take a while,” Dad said.

His parents summoned the others and took them through the forest. Flanking them were five armed men and women, one of which had the appearance of a man, but not quite. There was something different about his looks, like his features were deformed. His ears were rounded, his nose blended with his face, and he had no eyebrows. A huge triple-barreled, trombone-like shotgun was slung over his shoulder, which really looked more like a bazooka than anything else, and a humungous top hat was perched upon his flat forehead. His eyes were red, and one was covered by an extending telescope.

He winked at Grim as he caught him staring. Grim turned away in embarrassment.

He followed his parents through the trees and along a stream of black water that bubbled while it sped past them. For some time they kept a slow pace, careful to step over fallen logs full of decay and hissing beetles, some mechanized ones among them.

Creepy,....yet kind of cool.

Their parents led them to a clearing where they settled upon the ground and Dad hemmed and hawed for a time, as if not sure where to commence.

“I’m going to tell you everything now, but wait until I’m finished before you ask any questions.” He held one admonishing finger up that Grim knew meant to remain quiet.

They all nodded.

“This world, Verne, is a sister world to Earth,” he said. “All of us are from this world. Two days after Ben and Barny came to live with us we were forced to flee. And on that same night, we took in Rudy and Sam.”

Rudy’s eyebrows were furrowed. Grim wondered how much she remembered.

He remembered some, more than he wanted. Mostly it was the fires. And the screaming. And Rudy and Sam being shoved into some kind of carriage in which they fled. Fled from what though, Grim couldn’t remember. But there had been fear. And his parents’ tears because Dad and Poppa wanted to save more children, but they couldn’t. Grim had held his siblings close to him as they had fled that night; fled from some unknown horror that he had felt in his bones. It still gave him nightmares.