Planetfurry BBS

[Pimlico]

Arraborough
Book One
The Unimaginable Road

Chapter 9

What Has Gone On Before

In a small place on the outskirts of nowhere, a group of friends and strangers decided to build a commune to serve as a refuge for the desolate and the outcast.

Slither Snake, who established Arraborough as a tribute to his parents (murdered by the criminal Serpent Society), was crushed when his sister Narcine chose to remain in Anilton with their elderly aunt Aldessa, but his cousin Slick vowed to remain at his side.

Believing the founding serpents had mischief in mind, The Criminal Activity Counterforce allowed the commune to be built, assigning Nomin Bird the task of uncovering the true purpose behind it.

Hillany Chicken’s father Anfren Chicken and old boyfriend Cap Grouse were heartbroken when she moved away to become Arraborough’s first denizen, based on advice she received in a dream of Lachryma, a chicken heroine of yesteryear.

The curiosity of the denizens was piqued by the aberrant behavior of Fespin Squirrel, the lone original inhabitant of the area, who had weird yellow eyes.

A mysterious cat with blue fur and eyes named Pimlico Calico became a father figure to the denizens during his brief stay.

A mysterious dog with blue fur and eyes named Dovan Blue Dog took up residence in RockHouse, the origins and nature of which was cause for much speculation.

Wild Boar supposedly disappeared in the forbidden caverns below Arraborough and was seemingly replaced by Spiny Anteater, an echidnae who spoke with Wild’s rustic accent and had intimate knowledge of Wild’s family.

Arlafette Spaniel gave birth to her son, Taj, but her plans to raise the child alone were dashed when her old boyfriend Poomer Schnauzer showed up intent on establishing his rights as Taj’s father.

Dhenzi Armadillo used her rapport with Rainbow (a grenade-shaped crystal ball of multicoloured lights) to plumb the depths of the denizen’s psyches. The stone seemed to have a will of her own when she refused to show herself to Fespin, when she was overjoyed to encounter a twig growing out of RockHouse, and when she became petrified with fear at the sight of Spiny.

Slick was stunned to receive a visit from childhood friend Gard Snake, who related news that Slick’s father Solomon was alive and reunited with the Serpent Society. Kelly Snake was dejected when Slick put the kibosh on their burgeoning relationship.

In Chapter 8 the animals awoke after experiencing a terrifying shared dream that left little memory but a sky the colour of amythest. As the chapter draws to a close, Hillany is finally getting around to cleaning up the mess left behind at the lodge by the morning’s gathering…

“She picks up cups and saucers and puts them on a tray. The sight of the empty couches brings back memories of the night, and she shivers, still unsettled.

“Behind her a very large figure approaches. When its huge shadow falls over her, she stops, frozen in fear. When she gathers enough courage to turn and look, it is to find a gorilla, monstrously huge in the confines of the lodge, extending his hand to her. She screams.”

[Pimlico]

Chapter 9
“Monkey”

Dovan is walking home when he sees a figure standing at the door to RockHouse, his back to him. But he recognizes who it is, and a grin breaks out on his face. “Katu,” he calls, quick steps bringing him to the animal.
Katu, a Golden Marmoset, turns around and pokes a finger at the jut of rock over the doorway. “The twig,” he says. “Nice touch, the twig.” Dovan grins at him. “I think I see the motif,” says Katu. “The tenacity of life under harsh conditions. Am I right?”
The dog wraps his arms around the ape and they come together for a bone-crushing hug. “Hey, don’t act so surprised,” Katu admonishes. “I told you we’d come to visit.”
“We?” asks Dovan.
“Grimbold came, too. Said he was coming along to make sure I didn’t get into any trouble, but you know he wanted to come see you, too.” A sly look comes over his face, and he says out of the side of his mouth, “Don’t worry, Dovan, we’ll still manage to get into trouble.”
Hillany’s scream startles them. “Ah,” Katu says sheepishly, “I suspect Grimbold’s made his presence felt.”
///

At the lodge, Hillany screams and shrinks back. Grimbold holds his hands out peacefully and says, “Ooh! No, no, I—,” at which point Inkwell and Peck run out of the former’s room.
“Holy spit!” shouts Inkwell, as both hogs are taken aback at the imposing sight of the gorilla.
They stare at his back, in awe. He turns around to them and starts to say, “Oh, good. Now, look, I—,” when Inkwell gathers his courage and points a finger at him.
“Don’t... Don’t touch her!” the pig shouts.
Affronted, Grimbold frowns and says, “What do I look like, a rooster?”
But Inkwell, ignoring him, spots several books on a nearby table. Picking one up, he rears back to throw it, but at the last moment Peck snatches it from his hand and says apologetically, “Er... no, no. Not the books.”
Disgusted, Inkwell says, “Then, we rush him! Okay? Okay! On the count of three! ... One!... Two!... Three!” With a battle cry, Inkwell launches himself at the big ape, though Peck remains where he is.
Inkwell grips the ape around the waist and grapples with him, grunting energetically. Grimbold looks down at him in disbelief and says, “Just what do you think you’re—,” but is distracted when Hillany starts throwing cushions at him. He turns around to face Hillany, dragging Inkwell around 180 degrees. Peck, seeing two of his oldest friends bravely taking on the big invader, utters a strangled cry and launches himself at the gorilla’s back.
Hylan peeks his head out of his room. When he sees what’s transpiring, he flushes a deep red and quickly retreats back inside.

Grimbold feels the bushpig wrap himself around his waist from the back and, with the pig wrapped around the front of him and as a pillow bounces off his head, says, “Oh, really now, this is too much.”
Inkwell, grappling gamely but with no result, says, “Where’s Wild when you need him? Wait... Spiny! Someone get Sp—,” but here Grimbold grabs both hogs by his forearms and locks their necks under his armpits.
“Now, then,” he says. “And you just put that down right now, young lady,” he then says to Hillany who has picked up the fireplace poker and is brandishing it vaguely.
The double doors burst open and Gard and Kelly sweep in. Grimbold turns around, dragging his two new appendages along, to face the snakes. “So what are you two going to do?” he asks sarcastically. “Jump up my nose?”
Kelly gasps and inches away, while Gard tells her to stay back as he dashes to his room. “This is a hell of a way to treat a visitor,” says the gorilla, chafed.
“You’re... you’re a visitor?” asks Hillany in a small voice behind him.
Grimbold turns and bows lavishly to her, the hogs bobbing along helplessly in his grip, and says, “Grimbold Gorilla, at your service.”
Seeing this and realizing the ape’s friendly intentions, Kelly rushes over to Gard’s room, where she sees him assembling a serpent weapon he’s just pulled out of a briefcase. “What the hell is that doing here?” she demands angrily.
“It’s coming in useful, isn’t it?” he says defensively. “Just give me another minute to put it on and I’ll be ready.”
“Put it away,” she hisses at him. “He’s friendly. As any of us would have known if we’d taken a minute to speak with him. And that thing shouldn’t be here.”

“I’m a soldier, Kelly. I’m no going to go anywhere without the ability to defend myself.”
“There’s no war here, or any danger! That’s what this place is about, what it’s for. So people can come here and get away from the dangers and violence of the outside world. Then you have to come here and bring that with you. Just the sight of it offends me. I think Slick may have been right in warning me away from you.” She turns on her tail and slithers away, leaving Gard alone in his room to sulk.
At Fireside, Hillany warms up to Grimbold, chatting pleasantly, while the two hogs pinned under his arms squirm and whine peevishly to be let go, promising to be good.
///
Walking to the lodge, Dovan and Katu catch up. “Have you been to Bellshmoore?” asks Dovan fearfully.
Katu nods grimly. He places a hand on Dovan’s shoulder. “But there’s something you don’t know. It’s all very...,” here he rolls his eyes, “you know... whirligig... But there’s something you need to know, Dovan. Fanegalden or no Fanegalden,” he adds, winking his eye at the curious dog.
They’ve entered the town proper, and Katu takes in the buildings. “Did you find what you were looking for?” he asks.
“Not exactly,” says Dovan. “But I found something better. Home, friends.”
“You had a home with us, Dovan. Friends, too,” Katu says sadly.
“I know,” says Dovan. “And I’ll come back one day. But for now, I need to stay here. With each place I visit, I seem to learn more about myself.”

“Good. I’m happy for you. Come on, let’s see what trouble Grimbold’s managed to get himself into.”
Moments later, the animals have gathered and Dovan proudly introduces the apes as two of his best and oldest friends: Katu, who was always like a brother, and Grimbold, who was like an uncle. Slither is beside himself with pleasure at the sheer exoticness of his guests. Everyone shows a keen interest in the mysterious apes, particularly Peck, who’d only encountered them in books previously. The guests graciously agree to share lunch with the animals in the dining room.
///
Over lunch, Dovan looks around the table and notices that a few people are missing. “Where’s Arlafette?” he asks. No one seems to know.
“At home, maybe?” Slick says snidely.
“Oh. Yeah,” Dovan says, then pushes back his chair and excuses himself. “I’ll be right back,” he tells the apes and runs out the door.
“Hopeless,” Slick says smugly to his soup. “You’d all be lost without me.”

Arlafette answers the cabin door when Dovan arrives. She seems mildly surprised and uneasy, but she smiles and lets him in. Poomer is sitting on the couch, the baby on his lap. “Oh. Dovan,” he says. “What can we do for you?”
Too excited to care about any awkwardness in the air, Dovan tells Arlafette about the visit of his ape friends. “I’d love for you to meet them.”
“Meet some apes? Sure. That sounds exciting. Gosh, who knew you had such exotic friends?”
“Yeah, go figure,” sneers Poomer. They ignore him.
“Bring the puppy, too,” says Dovan. “They’ll get a kick out of him.”
“Well,” she says doubtfully, “he takes a nap right after lunch, so this isn’t the best time for that.” Dovan is crestfallen, so she says, “Don’t worry, I’ll be interesting enough by myself. I promise! Really... Once a girl has a baby, everyone loses interest in the mother herself.”
Arlafette waits, but neither man makes a move to reassure her otherwise. “Well?” she asks impatiently.
“Huh?” they both say in unison. She rolls her eyes disgustedly.
“They having lunch?” asks Arlafette.
“Yeah,” Dovan says. “Probably finishing up now. Wait... I have it. We’ll all go over to RockHouse. How does that sound?”
“Sounds like a plan,” she says. She turns to Poomer and Taj, then turns back to Dovan and says, “Why don’t I meet you all there?” He smiles, nods, then leaves.
“Am I invited?” asks Poomer acerbically.
Arlafette grabs Taj and carries him to his crib. “You get to stay here and watch over Taj while he sleeps,” she tells him.

He follows her into the bedroom and sits on the edge of the bed. “Great,” he says unenthusiastically.
She fixes him with a look, then goes into the other room. “I can always get someone else to watch him, you know. It wouldn’t be any trouble at all to find someone.”
“I said great, didn’t I?” he shouts out the door. “I’ll do it,” he says, then turns to Taj, who is standing up in the crib, smiling grandly and not the least interested in a nap. “We’ll have a great time, won’t we?” Taj gurgles happily at him, and Poomer shouts out the door, “See, he likes me, Fette! ... Fette, he’s smiling at me!... Fette!”
Arlafette leans in the doorway to say, “If anything goes wrong, I’ll be at RockHouse.”
“Oh, we wouldn’t want to interrupt your little hen party. Cripes, Fette, real freakville you’re raising my son at. Snakes, blue dogs, now monkeys. What’s next?”
“Gee, I don’t know. How about annoying ex-boyfriends who don’t know when to keep their mouth shut.”
“Cute. Go on, then. Can’t keep the monkeys waiting. We’ll be fine.” She frowns at him. “We’ll be fine!” he insists. She leaves. Poomer lets out a deep breath.
The puppy is grinning at him, so he grins back. “Women, eh? Maybe by the time you’re grown up, I’ll be able to give you some useful advice on the subject.”

He picks Taj up and sits him on his lap. “Hey, Taj... How about you try to say something for your old man. Hey? How’s that grab you? Your mom comes home, and we show her that you can say your first word. Hey? She comes home and you say Daddy to her. She’d love it. Trust me. Can you do that? Are you ready to talk yet, kiddo? How about it? Can you say Daddy?... Come on. Da-ddy... It’s easy. Da... ddy.”
Taj looks at him attentively, then begins mimicking moving his mouth the way Poomer is. Poomer smiles happily and encourages him. Taj is on the verge of speaking. Poomer holds his breath, his eyes bright with anticipation.
“Fespin!” exclaims Taj, beaming happily.
Poomer’s eyes bulge and he turns an unhealthy shade of purple. He puts the baby back in his crib, stands up, looks down at him for a second, then walks to the door, where he looks back and says, “Let’s pretend that never happened? Okay? Great.” He goes into the living room, and Taj laughs happily.
///
Back in the dining room, everyone is still eating when Fespin enters, loudly continuing some inexplicable monologue. He stops inside the doorway, finally having taken notice of the animals seated around the table eating. “A tree tried to kiss me!” he tells them in a shocked voice. He looks around, but no one pays him any attention. The apes, however, frown puzzled at him, each other, and the others, who continue to take no note of the squirrel as he continues, “It’s true! I swear! I was just... I wasn’t doing anything, and this tree, this tree, it leaned over and tried to kiss me! On the mouth!”
Hillany, her mouth full, smiles as best she can at the apes and makes a dismissive gesture in Fespin’s direction. Katu shrugs and resumes digging into his meal. Grimbold, though, peers suspiciously at the squirrel, when his eyes bulge and he begins choking on his food.

Fespin leaves, and the meal ends. A few of the animals remain to talk with Katu, but Grimbold sees one by himself in the kitchen and goes to speak with him. “About that squirrel...,” he says to Tust, who is scraping out a pot.
Dovan returns. “I have a friend meeting us at RockHouse,” he says to Katu, “if you’re ready to go?” The marmoset looks over to the kitchen and says, “Ah... I think Grimmy wanted to talk to the chef. Let’s give him a few minutes.”
Albin and Barelle beg Dovan to let Katu stay a bit longer so they can finish their conversation. “Can’t neglect my adoring public,” Katu says, and Dovan decides to wait for him at his house.
“We’ll be along,” says Katu, waving the dog out the door then settling back comfortably. “So, who’s this Arlafette and what sort of ungodly depravities has she sucked poor Dovan into? He’s very impressionable, you know. Tell me everything.”
They are interrupted by Grimbold, who drags Katu off to relate his suspicions. “The squirrel, did you see his eyes, his colouring pattern? He’s one of them.”
Katu is surprised. He says, his nose twitching, “One of them? Are you sure?”
Grimbold shrugs. “Well, no, I’m not positive. But I spoke to the turtle, and he says, Fespin, the squirrel, is always acting really strangely. And, get this, he’s got something going on below, in these caves that lie underneath this area.”
Katu’s nose quivers in excitement.
“We’re supposed to be meeting Dovan at his house,” says the younger ape.
“We will,” says Grimbold. “This won’t take long. We’ll just take a quick look around. Fifteen, twenty minutes, tops.”

Katu and Grimbold stumble around the cliffs, searching for the entrance to the caverns. They argue among themselves, but finally locate a path and stick to it.
“Going below?” asks a voice nearby. They whirl around until they locate the source. Spiny sits perched on a boulder. “Ah wouldn’t recommend it,” he advises.
“You gonna stop us?” asks Katu belligerently.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” says Spiny. His voice is cheery, but there is also the faintest hint of menace. “Far be it from me t’ stand in the way of two intrepid explorers. Just giving y’ fair warning.”
“Warning about what?” asks Katu, but Grimbold, who had been staring intently at Spiny, shoulders him gently aside to advance a few feet, saying, “Wait just a minute.”
A light slowly dawns in the gorilla’s eyes. He nods to himself. “Yes, it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?” His hand raises to point at the echidna. “I know you. I know what you are.”
Spiny only grins amiably. Katu, peering at Spiny, says, “He’s a... an echidna, right? A spiny anteater?”
“No,” says Grimbold, “no, he’s not. At least, that’s only half the story. Isn’t it, echidna? What’s the other half, eh? What’s the other half?” When Spiny makes no response, Grimbold says to Katu, “We’ll take a look down ‘below,’” then his eyes narrow at Spiny menacingly. “Then I’ll deal with you.” He strides past Spiny’s boulder, and Katu follows.
Spiny grins at them over his shoulder. “Be a pleasure,” he says, his eyes twinkling merrily.
///

At RockHouse, Dovan is waiting eagerly for the apes’ arrival. Arlafette is grinning at him from the couch as he peers impatiently out the window.
“So,” she says. “Ape friends. I knew you had a fascinating past. Did you live in Argothelium?”
“Yes,” he admits. “Yes, I did.”
“Wow. I’m impressed. Not only have I never met an ape, I’ve never even met anyone who’s been to Argothelium. Now, I’ll be able to say I’ve done both! What’s it like over there, in Argothelium?”
“Different.”
“How?”
“Just... different. You know.”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”
“Oh. Well, I suppose the main difference I noticed when I came over to Tunketh was all the species that live here, together. It made me almost dizzy. In Argo, of course, there’s only apes.”
“In Argo. I’m picking up the lingo already. So... Wait, does that mean you’d never been to Tunketh before, that you were born in Argo?... Dovan?”
She’s lost his attention to the window. When she regains it, he answers, “That’s hard to say, Arlafette.”
“Not really. Were you born in Argo? It’s a yes or no answer, isn’t it?”
“Not really,” he says, smiling apologetically.

“I hope your friends don’t mince matters the way you do, or this soiree will spiral. You realize that I mean to wring out all the details of your sordid past from them, don’t you?” she says pleasantly. He smiles indulgently at her over his shoulder, and she says, “Oh, you don’t think I can do it? Just watch me, buster.”
“I think you’ll really hit it off with Katu,” he says. “You’re both cut from the same cloth.”
“He sounds fascinating. And the other one, Grimbold? What’s he like? What type of ape?”
“He’s a gorilla.”
“A gorilla?! Cripes... I bet he’s been turning a lot of heads over here. A gorilla... Never thought I’d see the day when I— Wait... Dovan, will he be able to fit in here? RockHouse isn’t that big. Can he even fit through the door?”
Dovan scratches his head. “Ah... Good point,” he says, going over to the front door. “He might be able to squeeze through. If not... We can try the back door.” He goes over to the sliding, double glass doors on the opposite side of the room. “I think I can get both doors here to come off, if need be.”
He jiggles the doors thoughtfully, then glances over at her. “Maybe we should move the couch back against the wall, too. It’s taking up a lot of space sitting in the middle of the room.”
As he and Arlafette push back the couch, she says, “I still can’t quite believe it. Me, meeting apes. I never thought something like this would happen. Everyone always speculates about them, you know. About what they’re doing on the other side of the world. Maybe today I’ll get a chance to uncover a secret or two.”

“Well, I don’t know about any secrets, but I guarantee today will be a day you’ll never forget.”
///
Below, Katu and Grimbold stumble out of a cavern. They are both very frightened and shaken to the core. Grimbold has a burly arm wrapped around Katu, who is weeping and trembling and barely able to stand. Grimbold, in rising panic, half-drags Katu from path to path trying to find an exit to the surface.
They stumble across Fespin who stares at them with implacable choler. Grimbold implores him, his arm cradling a distressed Katu, "Squirrel... Fespin... Fespin, please help us. Take us out of here.” Fespin makes no response, only tilting his head while fixing his glare on them both.
“We’re sorry,” Grimbold insists. “We didn’t mean— we didn’t know— Gods, those pour souls...” Fespin begins walking toward them. Grimbold starts to apologize again, but stammers at the bilious look in the squirrel’s eyes. Fespin advances.
///
Returning to the dining room, Dovan glances around but doesn’t see his ape friends. Tust and Hillany are on clean-up detail, so they are the only ones around. Dovan approaches them as they wipe down the tables.
“Ah... My ape friends... Do you know...?” he asks.
Tust throws his dishtowel over a shoulder, wipes his hands on it, and answers, “Oh, they left quite some time ago.”
“I know. I was expecting them at RockHouse.”

Tust looks blankly at him for a moment, then says, “They might have gone below.”
“They went below? Why?”
“I think... Well, the gorilla showed quite an interest in Fespin. Wanted to know what we knew about him, his origins. I told him what we knew, which wasn’t much, mind. I mentioned that he lived below. Or so we think. Actually, we don’t know whether he lives in the caves or in the forest. But it’s likely one of those places since those are his favourite haunting grounds.”
Hillany stops in mid-wipe to fix him with a look. “If you’ll excuse the expression,” he says sheepishly. “For all we know, he has a limousine waiting on the outskirts every night waiting to take him to a five-star hotel...”
Dovan is staring out the window worriedly. Tust takes the towel from his shoulder and wrings it uneasily with his hands. “I’m sorry, Dovan. You know, I did mention, in passing, that no one was supposed to go into the caves. Maybe I should have... I suppose I should have... I didn’t think they would just... I mean, they’re just visitors here. Why would they do something like that without telling you?”
“I don’t know, Tust. But... If there’s any kind of danger... I have to go,” he says, taking a step toward the door.
Tust grabs his arm to stop him and say, “Dovan, if there is any danger, then you can’t go.”
“I have to,” Dovan says simply. “I owe the apes my life. I have to go.”

Tust releases his arm, and the dog hurries out of the dining room. Tust looks back at Hillany, guilt and worry in his face, which she purposely disregards as she continues swabbing the table and says, “Don’t worry about it. Nothing will happen to them. Fespin goes below all the time, and nothing ever happens to him.” Tust doesn’t reply, just turns to stare out the window.
Dovan scrabbles down the cliff side, but stops at the entrance to the caverns. He peers into the dark depths, then slowly makes his way in. The weird silica in the quartz dotting the walls casts an eerie light within the cave. Arriving at the antechamber, he looks around as his eyes adjust to the limited lighting. There is a figure lying at the mouth of a tunnel. Dovan gasps when he sees it, then runs over.
It is the dead body of Katu, blood trickling out of his ears and in his eyes a look of pure horror. Helpless, Dovan falls to his knees beside him, whimpering. His whimpering grows louder until it breaks into a distinctly animalistic howl. His howling eventually subsides and he begins to cry normally, unaware of the strange sounds he has just made.