Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Lyla-Mae had no idea what was happening.  It looked like the fox and the badger had been talking.  Could a fox and a badger really talk to each other?  Why was the fox living with a squirrel?  Who – or what – just sneezed?  She stood there, fists clenched, jaw set, eyebrows furrowed, and legs slightly apart. Bring it on!

As bold as she made herself, she could do nothing but stare at what lay before her.

Something rose out of the chair sleepily.  Ever so slightly shorter than mommy, it was covered top to toe with very short, shiny dark hair, even on its face and long pointy nose.  It did have bald, fat pink hands. Huge hands . . . and no ears! Whatever this thing was, it was FAT!  A dusty mustard coloured waistcoat strained around its bulbous belly, and brass buttons shone in the firelight.  It also wore some large clunky brass goggles over its eyes.

If Lyla-Mae may was any more shocked, her eyebrows would no longer be on her face!  She stared wide-eyed as the thing curled one massive hand into a loose fist, and placed it over its mouth as it stifled a yawn whilst stretching its back at the same time.  Whatever happened, she would not scream – after all, she was the bravest child in all of Daisyfield . . .even if she hadn’t won the race!

The badger seemed at ease, which strangely made Lyla-Mae feel ever-so-slightly calmer.  The creature – it looked like a giant mole stuffed into a waistcoat -looked straight at her, and gave a rather comical rubbing of its goggle lenses and then took a double take, and then shuffled backwards a few steps, knocking a small pile of rubbish and sending it cascading around his feet.  The thing seemed more frightened of her than she did of it.  Strange. 

The creature busied itself with cleaning up the items it had scattered; its fat fingers seemed surprisingly light and delicate when it was picking up all the odds and ends that lay in the small pathway, out of place. 

“Um, hello?” Lyla called out in a small voice which echoed around the room as she took a few ginger steps towards the thing.  The creature flinched at the sound, knocking the mound of junk once more.  A circular copper carriage clock rolled all the way to Lyla-Mae, and stopped abruptly once it hit her boot.  The creature went still.  Lyla-Mae noticed that the badger and squirrel had gone still too, and the fox had begun its low growling noise once more, watching her. 

Slowly, Lyla-Mae bent to pick up the clock in a mittened hand, her fingers clumsily prying it off of the floor.  Taking some cautious steps and smiling politely, she stood just three feet away from the big mole.  She was stood so close to the creature that she could see it blink with surprise, the effect made rather funny with the goggles it wore magnifying its eyes.  It wasn’t scary at all; if anything, it looked like a giant cuddly toy.  With both arms outstretched, she offered the clock to the mole, and both smiled sweetly and nodded at the same time.  After only a second, the mole almost seemed to smile back, and reaching out, he ever so gently slid his finger beneath the clocks handle and lifted it from Lyla-Mae’s hands.

After the mole delicately perched the clock atop its junk mountain, he turned back to face Lyla-Mae, a quizzical expression on his furry face. After a brief pause, it seemed to come to a conclusion.  Reaching inside the waistcoat pocket, it pulled out a little brown bag by its drawstrings.  Working it open with his fingernails, he balanced it on his left hand whilst reaching in with the thumb and forefinger of his right hand, his pinky finger outstretched politely.  When his hand emerged, there was a strange pinky-purple glow coming from his pinched fingers.  With a sudden movement that seemed out of place with its usual slow deliberate way of moving, pinky-purple dust sprinkled down over Lyla-Mae, settling in her hair, and on her hat and shoulders.  She sneezed, kicking up all the sparkling dust.  She breathed in heavily . . . and sneezed again.

Rubbing her nose with the back on her gloved hand, she was about to . . . well, she didn’t know what she was about to do (other than be a bit grumpy) when she heard a low but soothing voice say “um, hello there. I am Volbert, thankyou for helping me tidy up the mess I made.”