Chapter 14
The little bear smiled at Elanora. He politely waited until her eyes opened then shuffled behind her busy with a metal spoon taken from his waistcoat. He scraped at the walls, dug out lumps from the floor and collected enough plaster to patch up the hole from which they had just emerged. After smoothing over the area he brought out a bottle of brown liquid, the very same she had been drinking since her capture, took a sponge and mopped over the patch. Immediately, the honey colour walls browned like the crust of a crème brulee. The sound rang crisp and clear when the little bear tapped it for good measure with his spoon.
“There, now we can relax a little,” he nodded, ambling off through the cavern further into more tunnels.
Elanora placed her hand on the seal.
The bear stopped and waited. “He will be happy now…that you live,” he said.
She nodded, numbly. The weakness in her body returned. Her legs shook.
“Come,” said the bear.
She followed silently as he led her through a honeycomb of tunnels into a small chamber. It had a homely glow and the bear guided her to a hollowed out bed rest.
“You need to drink and sleep,” he said.
Her mind too blurred to argue, Elanora reclined on the bed, wondering where the blankets were, when her body sunk into the softness of wall, cradled and secure. The bear trotted over with a full glass of blue liquid. The healing water flowed swiftly through her. Along arteries, capillaries and back through veins, nourishing every organ. A sweet drowsiness coaxed her to sleep.
When she finally woke it was with a start. Several rounds of blinking were needed to reign in her memories. In front of her, the little bear stood offering another cup in his two paws. He had neat ears on each side of his furry head and a straight muzzle with a rectangular nose gently sniffing at the end. His arms were overly long compared to his legs and his paws were rounded, without claw or division. A seam ran right up his middle and as she followed it back to his face she noticed his two bright bead eyes set slightly askew but incredibly alert. If it weren’t for his seams, a bit of worn off fur and his rounded paws, you could easily mistake him for a real bear.
A souling! Elanora sat up. She put her arms around the bear who deftly managed not to spill a drop from his cup. “Thank you so much for your help. I’m sorry I didn’t thank you before.”
“Don’t mention it,” he smiled.
“What’s your name?” Elanora asked, charmed by his quaintness.
“Petsy,” he answered, giving her the cup.
“Petsy, that’s an interesting name,” she said, before drinking and hopping off the bed.
The bear tilted his head and stared with concern at her hand. “One moment please,” he said. “Let me look at that.”
Elanora held it out obediently. Petsy pulled a handkerchief from his vest pocket, dipped it in the water and patted the wound. “What a nasty cut. Not to worry, this will do just the trick. No scar, you’ll see.”
“Stop!” Elanora withdrew her hand. She stared at the two channels already healing from the effects of the water. “I don’t want them to go. Jacub…”
The bear appeared puzzled and scratched his chin.
“His paw only grazed me because he was saving me. I never want to forget.” She covered the scar with her other hand and clasped it to her chest.
Petsy nodded, giving her a lopsided nod. He organised a small chair for himself and a large cushion for her and settled down at the table in the middle of the room.
“You saved me too,” she added, joining him. “I’ll never forget that. You’re a souling, aren’t you?”
“A souling. Yes.”
“I’m sorry. It’s a name I made up for toys, I mean creatures like you.”
The little bear chuckled. “Oh no, my dear, you didn’t make it up. It has been our name for a good many years.”
“It has?” Elanora drank in contemplation. “Where is this place?” she finally asked.
“Why, this is the Timefold,” he answered.
“That’s what I thought Jacub said,” she said, sliding a finger up and down the cup. “But where is it?”
Petsy patted her hand. “It is rather complicated.” His face became so twisted as he thought about his answer that Elanora worried he might burst a stitch. She tried another question to put him more at ease.
“Petsy, who named you? Who was your Soulmaker?”
He rubbed a paw over his brow. “Some call me a Tiquity bear because I have been here for so long. In fact, I almost don’t remember my life outside the Timefold. Petsy was the name I was born with. My Maker was a fine young woman, I can remember that. But I’m a little bit fuddled when it comes to all the details. I haven’t thought about them for such a long time,” he tsk tsked himself, shaking his head.
“I remember even if you don’t,” issued a squeaking voice from a cup sized hole in the cavern. Out popped the head of a tiny felt elephant. He was pale blue, about the size of an adult’s fist, with a miniature set of tusks and an embroidered red saddle blanket on his back. He shook the sleepiness out of his head, setting the embroidery quivering.
“Oh yes, I remember it all. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, Petsy, that you find the simplest things so difficult to recall,” the tiny elephant snorted, trotting over to Elanora’s cushion.
“Who are you then?” she asked, lowering her hands for the elephant to board.
“Oh, that’s Pin Pot, there’s no forgetting that. A lot of squeaking and squawking for such a small creature, you’ll see. Hardly anything important to say either,” Petsy muttered good naturedly.
“Is that right, Petsy?” Pin Pot cried out in mock indignation. “And who told you about the girly getting all caught? And who told Jacub we’d be happy to help? Nothing to say indeed! I’ve been truly insulted.”
“Come, come little friend, sometimes I’m just a grumpy old fellow. All right, you tell the little girl all about it. I wouldn’t argue with a memory like yours,” he smiled, giving the elephant a pat on the head, “although I still say I won that last round of blig jiggery and you owe me...”
Brrrt! The elephant trumpeted his loudest drowning out any talk of IOU.
“In a nutshell,” Pin Pot began, “we were the first of the soulings, him and me,” he pointed with his trunk. “Me first.” The bear rolled his eyes, “Well, I was. And you next. Then on and on and on and on.” His trunk swirled flamboyantly.
“Don’t forget the nutshell or we’ll be here all day,” Petsy sighed.
“Our Soulmaker was the great lady herself. Lovely Maggie,” he continued.
“Ah yes, Maggie,” recalled the bear, nodding affectionately. “Amazing woman, she was. Overcame every obstacle in her way, and to be sure, she had her share.”
“Did you say you were the first soulings?” Elanora asked.
“Yes indeed we were,” said Pin Pot.
“And you’ve been here all this time?”
Petsy nodded, his face startled as if the realization had only just dawned. “We’ve been very busy,” he said.
“Busy indeed! Where would all those soulings be without us? Maybe we would have liked to go strolling off and not bothering about helping the others get through,” Pin Pot said.
Petsy put aside his cup and drew his paws together. “Not all of us should hurry to our destiny.” He looked gravely at Pin Pot who nodded in solidarity.
Elanora’s forehead creased.
“She doesn’t know what we’re talking about! She doesn’t know a single thing!” blurted Pin Pot.
“I’m afraid I don’t,” Elanora admitted.
“I see,” said Petsy, gravely. “Well, we shall have to explain. The Timefold is a passageway to the Great Destination to which those with souls are granted access when their bodies perish.”
“When they die!” confirmed Pin Pot. “They go there when they die.”
“Yes, that’s right, thank you Pin Pot,” said Petsy. “Dark hearted animals resent soulings
being granted access to the Great Destination…”
“Let alone existing in the first place!”
“…and have always fought to keep them out. Sometimes the fighting is less, sometimes more. Pin Pot and I stay to do what little we can for those soulings who wait in the Timefold for safe passage. At first we helped people, like yourself. We showed them the way to the Great Destination and drew them maps. Once our limbs became strong and useful we carried the soulings across ourselves. When the fighting stops us, we look after them in their chambers.” Petsy’s eyes darkened. Pin Pot trotted over and petted his paw with his trunk.
“So, how long exactly have you been in the Timefold?” Elanora asked.
“Time is meaningless. We have aged enough to move and speak,” Petsy replied.
“It’s been a very long time,” Pin Pot added with the telltale mark of tiredness in his voice.
“How do you know Jacub?” Elanora pressed on.
“He is an old friend,” Petsy answered.
“An old friend who would want you as safe as sound. We must get you home,” said Pin Pot, animated once again.
“Yes, safe and sound,” nodded Petsy, rising from his seat. “Just draw your gateway symbol for us and we’ll take you straight there.” He took a sip of water and wiped his mouth.
Elanora rose bent backed in the room preparing to trace the symbol into the soft wall. She swayed. The blood drained from her face. Saliva rushed into her mouth tasting of rust. She could hear the soulings’ voices muffled as if in a cardboard box being carried further and further away. Her vision darkened and senses dulled as if she was now in the box herself, under piling layers of earth.