Bundle of Bodes

Chapter 10

Kinsey came back a few minutes later with a rope in her hands—the same rope she used to tie Anger to the dining room chair.

"You're gonna tie up Bode's Fear with a rope?" Tyler asked.

"Hey, it worked for Anger," Kinsey said. She tied Fear's hands behind his back as the rest of the Bodes held him in place. "Who'da thought Dad's lessons on rope tying would've actually come in handy one of these days?"

"I know, right?" Tyler chuckled.

"Okay, I think we're good. You can let go now, guys," Kinsey said to the group of Bodes. Fear tried lunging out toward Tyler once more, but he was held back by the rope tied around his hands, which Kinsey firmly held onto, acting as a leash. "There! He can't cause much trouble anymore."

"I still don't feel super safe with him practically breathing in my face," Tyler said as he backed away from Fear. "I don't know how reliable your rope knots are."

"You'll be fine," Kinsey said. "But we have an even bigger issue on our hands right now: we still have to find Mischief."

"Yeah... so how are we going to find him?" Tyler asked. "Just check all the places again?"

"There's gotta be a better way," Glee said.

Fear lunged in the direction opposite from Tyler—the direction toward Keyhouse.

"Hold on," Kinsey said. "I remember with my own Fear, she would always attack things or people I was afraid of. It's probably the same with Bode's Fear."

"So Bode is afraid of me?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know. I mean, you can come off as a bit intimidating sometimes."

"What?" Tyler's face scrunched.

"I mean, I'm not intimidated by you, but maybe Bode is? But either way, you shouldn't feel too bad; his Fear attacked me, too, when we were in his head."

"That's... strange. But anyways, what's your point with all this?"

"Well, look—his Fear wants to go in a different direction now. Maybe he'll lead us to Mischief."

"Why would Bode be afraid of his own Mischief?"

"Well... his Mischief is the only one who holds any power in being able to get Bode back to normal. If we can't find Mischief, he'll never be normal again. That sounds like a pretty good reason to be afraid of him."

"Sounds like a weak reason to me."

"Hey, it's a better reason than any he has of being afraid of us."

"I guess that's a good point."

Everyone followed Fear's lead, which seemed to be headed toward Keyhouse. Kinsey opened the front door and let in Fear, still holding onto his rope. On one of the couches in the great room, Kinsey and Tyler saw a Bode lying down, fast asleep. It wasn't Mischief; he wasn't wearing the devil costume. But who was it?

The siblings walked up to the sleeping Bode to get a better look. He was dressed in a nightgown and nightcap. Tyler nudged him. He didn't wake up. He then shook him violently. That seemed to do the trick.

The Bode yawned. "Why did you wake me up? I was having such a good nap."

"Who are you?" Tyler asked.

"I'm Bode's Sleepiness. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to sleep."

"Wait!" Kinsey said. "When did you escape Bode's head?"

"It wasn't too long ago," he said. "I had just started to fall into a deep sleep before you woke me up." Sleepiness nodded off into his slumber.

"Do you know what this means?" Kinsey said to Tyler.

"Mischief must've used the Head Key again to let out even more of Bode's feelings," Tyler said.

"We've got to find him quick before he can do any more damage," Kinsey said.

"For what it's worth, I'll be happy to go back inside Bode's head once you guys get the Head Key back," Glee said.

"Well, at least one of you will be," Tyler said.

"It doesn't matter whether I'm inside or outside Bode's head," Sadness said. "Either way, I'll still be miserable."

"I really can't take much more of this," Kinsey said. "Come on, let's go."

They followed Fear into the drawing room, where they came across a Bode dressed in a safari outfit. "Oh, hello there," he said.

"Great, now who are you?" Kinsey sighed.

"I'm Bode's Adventurousness. Where're you off to?"

"We're trying to find Mischief so we can get the Head Key back and put all of you back into Bode's Head," Kinsey said.

"Oh, yeah! Mischief let me out of Bode's head just recently!"

"Where did he go?" Tyler asked.

"I don't know."

"Ugh, how come all of you are so clueless?" Kinsey groaned.

"No, that's Cluelessness over there," Adventurousness said, pointing to a Bode who was standing in a corner, staring blankly.

"Whatever. Come on, we're wasting our time here, Ty." Kinsey continued to let Fear lead the way.

"Wait!" Adventurousness said. "I want to help you on your expedition to find Mischief! I have a map!" He held up an old, worn-out map of the grounds of Keyhouse.

"Fine, you can come along. But that map isn't going to help any; we already know our way around this place."

"Still, you have to admit, it's a pretty cool map," Adventurousness said as he joined the group.

When they came into the winter study, they saw a bespectacled Bode sitting at the desk, reading a book on animal biology. He lifted his gaze from the book and looked at the others. "Hello," he said. "Can I help you?"

"Depends. Who are you?" Kinsey asked.

"Bode's Studiousness."

"I think you could be the most useful Bode out of all of them," Tyler said.

"I'd love to help," Studiousness said. "With what, exactly?"

"We're trying to find Mischief," Kinsey said. "We think Bode's Fear will lead us to him."

"Ah, yes, Mischief. He offered me an opportunity to roam free outside of Bode's head just recently. I admit, I could not refuse the prospect of being able to indulge in the wondrous knowledge found within the winter study library."

"NEEERRRD!" Rudeness yelled.

Tyler rolled his eyes and ignored him. "So do you know where Mischief is?" he asked Studiousness.

"Sadly, no. I came straight here after leaving Bode's head, and I've been here ever since, so I haven't seen where he might have gone. That Mischief is a wild one, though; he could be anywhere. But I'd say you may be on the right track by having Fear lead you to him—if Bode were to be scared of any one of his feelings right now, it'd be Mischief."

"Thanks," Tyler said.

"By the way, why are you wearing glasses?" Kinsey asked. "Bode doesn't need glasses."

"I know," Studiousness said. "The glasses just make me look smarter."

"At least you're honest," Kinsey shrugged.

Fear scratched at the Ghost Door. Kinsey opened it, and Fear proceeded to lead them outside. The Ghost Key wasn't inserted, so it acted as a regular door.

Fear seemed to be leading them toward the well house.