Chapter 8

Grim and the others followed Dorian out the door and down the street to a little building where reams of cloth hung in the window.

Madam Sloan’s Magnificent Manufactorum.

The space was filled with sinth-driven sewing machines that were operating on their own.

“Come in, come in,” said the proprietor. The woman had green skin and two small horns protruding from the sides of her head. A long mechanical tail whipped around behind her. Grim stopped in his tracks at the sight of her and blinked.

“Newbeez I zee!” zipped Madam Sloan. The woman’s lips moved so fast Grim had to pause to interpret her words. It was like listening to Treena on fast forward.

“Orphanz, yes?”

Dorian nodded.

“All right zen, line up and I’ll meazure you one by one. Orderly fazhion now!” She seized a piece of rope with dark markings on it and measured each of them, zipping about here and zooming about there, all the while muttering under her breath.

“One and a half-ztitch-five-ztitch-four-width-zeven-ztitch.” When she finished with each she would scream out, “Next!” She measured them in almost no time at all. She then ushered them out the door.

“Your new clothing will be delivered to Madam Malkimz,” she said and let the door slam closed. They all stood staring after the woman.

Dorian chuckled, adjusting the cap on his head. “That’s how I looked when she first measured me. Madam Sloan is a Goad ― well, at least part of her is. You’ll go back for more fittings over the next few years. Four months from now is the twenty-fifth anniversary of Madam Malkim’s Academy for the Affluent. There’s going to be a big celebration. And since Madam Sloan is the best seamstress in the City of Harkness she has been requested to make gowns and clothing for many of the attendants. If I’m not mistaken, almost all of the Manors will be invited.”

“Will our parents be invited?” Grim asked.

Rudy kicked him.

Gah!

Dorian cocked his head to the side. “You’re not orphans?”

Grim winced.

 “It’s all right,” he whispered. “Your secret is safe with me. Though most of us are orphans or sinthoids, there are many unwanted children here.”

Grim nodded, blushing. Now they would be known as little hooligans.

Unwanted. Great.

“Come on,” Dorian said.

They stepped into a dark alleyway and through a side door at Madam Malkim’s. They skirted through the corridors to a small room set with some crooked tables. There were a few murmurs and pointing fingers in the direction of the new children. The faces that gawked at them were of varying races including humans, Sylphs, Gargoyles, and a large number of other creatures that appeared to be half-human and half-machine. Grim tried not to stare at them as they entered.

Through a half-door they could see into the school dining hall. It was crammed with a plethora of hungry, eager faces. All of them were human.

Dorian brought them to one of the tables off in the corner of the smaller room. It wobbled as they sat.

“Wait here, I’ll be back in a moment.” He left them to speak with some of the older boys seated at the end of the row. Grim figured, by the rather large size of them, they were all meant to lift heavy things. Some looked pretty freakish with their mechanical parts.

Treena leaned over the table. “What do you think?”

Grim wasn’t sure what to say. He couldn’t say he was in love with the place. He simply shrugged.

“What do you think?” she asked Rudy.

“Interesting,” was all Rudy managed to utter.

She was busy studying the structures that held up the roof, if a little nervously.

For once, the twins sat quiet while Ellen watched some other girls in choking dresses. Sam just petted Toby, whispering in his ear.

Dorian returned to them with a couple of boys in aprons.

“Dinner is served,” he said and plunked down. The table shook and rattled.

Most of the tables were now filled with people, young and old, all waiting to be served. In the Academy’s dining hall, a legion of orphans rushed through the kitchen doors with plates heaped with food. Yet what arrived at their own table looked nothing like what was being served to the students. Instead it was gray slop, two pieces of cardboard-looking bread, and slimy wet liver. Grim covered his mouth and Rudy looked like she was going to hurl.

By the time the last of the plates was served, Grim wasn’t sure he could hold on to what little was in his stomach. And he was almost positive the slop on his plate had just moved of its own accord. Even Aunt Patrice’s liver would have been considered a delicacy in comparison.

The rest of the orphans dug in immediately.

Grim barely picked at the slop on his plate as Dorian burped throughout the meal. He waited for Aunt Patrice to come stomping in and scold the Gargoyle for such rude behavior, but no such thing happened. Instead the old woman sat quietly at her table with some other instructors, or Tutors, as they were called, delicately nibbling at her meal and ignoring the ruckus among the orphans in the kitchen as if all was perfectly normal. Even when some of the Gargoyles passed gas and a foul stench wafted across the room, everyone just continued eating ― though Grim did catch some of the orphans plugging their noses from time to time. Sam giggled incessantly.

When Dorian finished his third helping, he pushed his plate away and offered up another generous belch.

He advised them to wait until the students had mostly departed before leaving.

“Sometimes extra orphans are required to help clean up,” he said.

When that didn’t seem necessary, they slipped through the corridors back to the dilapidated half of the building where they hovered in the doorway of a haphazardly decorated room. At its center was a lifeless stone hearth. Scattered about were a few fur-covered chairs and sofas, almost all of them falling apart. Two mechanical clocks that didn’t tell the same time barely managed to cling to the wall. Paintings of stuffy old people riddled the space, mostly crooked. Rudy stepped in and adjusted them, but they slid back into their tilted position after she walked away.

A number of children were playing a game with large cards. Some of them were human, the others were not — half machine, half something-else. All of them wore goggles and Grim and the others followed suit. He looked around the room, but none of the Unseen were there.

Grim and the others lingered near the door until one of them motioned for them to enter.

“Do you know how to play Mystic’s Switch?” she squeaked. She was a creature with wings about the size of Grim’s hand and somewhat fairy-like in her appearance. Her mechanical half made it difficult for her to fly, so she nearly crashed into Grim’s shoulder rather than alighting on it.

“No,” Grim replied. He nearly swatted her off like a bug.

“My name is Helia,” she screeched.

“I’m Grim.”

“I know,” squealed Helia. “I hear you’re strange. Have you ever met a Pixie before?”

He was strange?

He shook his head. “No, we’re from very far away.” All of the eyes in the room watched Grim and his siblings.

“From the south,” Rudy added. Then all the heads nodded, as if in understanding.

He nodded to her.

Good call.

The sun dropped from sight and Valeria strode into the room. She had a walking stick and pointed it at the fireplace. She pressed a button and some flames began to lick at the wood that lay there.

Valeria cleared her voice. “Attention everyone! Attention!” She waited until all eyes were upon her. “We have seven newcomers.” She pointed to them and then motioned for them to sit. There were no chairs left so they took up space on the floor.  “Since they are not from around here, I will make introductions. I am a Sylph, as you know. Dorian, whom you met earlier, is a Gargoyle, and Helia, who is floating over your head,” and Valeria motioned to the winged creature to stop fluttering about and sit down, “is a Pixie.”

She then pointed towards a delicate-looking girl who had green, flowing tresses with flowers and twigs poking out of her hair. She tried to hide the sinthoid part of her face with her long hair. She also wore a glove that went past her elbow. “This is Treeadora. She is a Dryad. Among some of the others are Sylphs, Kobolds, Trolls, Dryads, Pixies, Mewts, Sprights, and Elementals. And missing tonight is a Grundel.”

Valeria faced the others. “Also, since I have your attention, four weeks from today is the Summer Solstice Festival. We will all have to put in extra work when it comes.” There were groans from the others, mostly about how the sewers would get clogged. She pressed her hands together in front of her. “If there are no further questions…”

The Sylph then took a slight bow and strode out.

They all seemed to be more at ease with Valeria out of the room and the card game continued.

“Let me tell you the rules,” said Helia who was perched once more upon Grim’s shoulder. “There are four suits. For example, see Uva’s cards. She has one of Fire, Water, Air, and Land.”

Uva, who looked to be part rabbit, twitched her nose. “Helia! You just told them what I have!” Her mechanical ears stood up in irritation and it took all of Grim’s effort not to reach over and pet the girl.

Helia’s one good wing turned red in response. “Sorry,” she squealed. “Anyway, the card in the middle of the circle determines what suit is being played. Everyone must follow. So if it is Fire, everyone must play Fire. For every card you play, you either get points or lose points, depending on the direction. Each card you have is worth different points. Their numbers are written on the cards. Do you understand?”

Grim nodded.

“Good. Now, to change the suit to something else, someone must pick up a card from the pile and lay it. And if you want to change the direction, the Mystic must be laid. Hence the name ― Mystic’s Switch. The round ends when one person is out of cards or the Absinth card is laid. You add up the points of the cards you’ve played, then the person with the least points gets a letter. After every round, the letters add up. Eventually someone will spell out the word MYSTIC. When that happens, that person is out of the game. The game goes on until there is a winner. Get it?”

“I think so,” he replied.

“Can we play?” Rudy asked.

The others all nodded their heads in unison. Grim, Rudy and Treena all took up places in the circle. Ellen, Sam and the twins sat behind Grim and Rudy and watched as each of them were dealt five cards.

“Grim, since you’re next to Uva, and she dealt, you go first.”

He laid the Gargoyle of Water and Helia whispered in his ear.

“Good start.”

“Seven points,” Uva said.

The cards were played and Rudy changed the suit by picking up from the middle. When Grim’s turn came up again, he laid the Human of Fire and added the eight points to his previous seven. The round continued and as it came back to his turn again, the suit was still Fire and he had none.

“I have to pick up if I don’t have Fire, right?” he asked.

“Yes, unless you have one of the High cards.”

One of the cards had a woman standing in front of a black manor. It was the same for the other cards that had no suit. Grim figured it must be a High Card and laid it.

“Oh,” Treena said.

“What?”

“That’s the Baroness. You get to take all of Rudy’s points.”

Grim grinned. “I like this game.”

Rudy said nothing, but she rolled her eyes.

Grim studied the card briefly and the woman on the surface. At the base of the card was some sort of rune. The other High Cards were the same, each with a different one.

“What do these symbols mean?”

Uva shrugged. “No one knows.”

Grim reached for the cards in front of Rudy ― a Fire and a Water Sylph. He added the twelve points to his own. The game continued and Uva laid a Mystic. Grim winced as the direction of the game now changed. Everyone laying cards would be losing points.

“You know,” muttered Treeadora with the most gossipy tone. She’d been watching quietly in the corner brushing her hair and petting two little birds that were perched on her shoulder. “I’ve heard Madam Malkim’s has a spy.”

The others gasped.

It was now Grim’s turn. He did like the rest and laid the Pixie of Air in a new pile. There were two piles; one for adding points and the second one for losing them.

One of the Trolls who had a sinth leg and arm called over. He was big and meaty and obviously accustomed to lifting heavy things. His voice vibrated in Grim’s chest. “And what possible interest could anyone have with a bunch of freaks that no one wants?”

The Dryad motioned her head down the hall.

“I’m not sure, but I think you-know-who is connected.”

They all looked to where Valeria had disappeared.

Uva twitched her nose again.

“It’s true,” Treeadora said.

The Troll waved her off. “I can’t believe that. No one is interested in any of us.”

“Suit yourself,” Treeadora said with a tilt of her head. She returned to grooming her hair and the conversation then slipped into whose mother was likely a donkey, how best to light one’s flatulence on fire, and other such drivel.

In the next round, Uva summoned her card from the pile with a flick of her mechanical wrist. It zipped into her hand in a flash. When it was Rudy’s turn she closed her eyes and wriggled her fingers. She scrunched her face and everyone just stared at her. Grim knew what she was trying. It wouldn’t work.

Treeadora looked at her. “Do you need to use the crapper?”

Rudy shook her head and blushed. Grim snorted beside her.

“No, I’m all right,” she replied. She scowled at him and then reached over to pick up the card.

She lost two more points with a Faerie of Land. It was Treena’s turn next and the suit was still Land.

She played her last card. “And I’m out.”

Uva gathered up the cards. “What’s everyone’s score?”

Grim fared well with his twenty-four points, but Rudy had bested him. The rounds continued, and before he knew it, Grim was ousted. He remained to cheer the others on. It came down to Treena and Rudy. Finally, after three more rounds, Rudy won. The twins made a huge fuss over it, hooting and hollering.

And at that point Valeria stepped into the room. “It’s time for bed. Off you go.”

A few groans and whines followed, but most looked tired enough not to resist. The two moons now rose above the cityscape, both full and round.  Grim wished the others a goodnight and crawled into his lumpy bed.