Ellie listened. The wind rustled the leaves in a nearby tree. The tree had grown no bigger than it should have, and for this, Ellie was grateful. The tragabong tree looked just like the tragabong trees at home, and the sight of it comforted her.
Of the birds and insects she’d seen, none were oversize like the giant buildings. Now when she looked at the very wide road, she realized it matched the proportions of the other man-made structures.
The sun slowly sank to the west, and crickets tuned up for a nightly serenade. All good and normal, except for the monstrous house in front of her.
Ellie left her carpetbag in the grass where Tak nibbled a presupper snack and hauled herself up on the first step. Unfortunately three more steps confronted her. By the time she scaled the last one, her breaths came in deep pants. She collapsed on the wooden porch until breathing came normally again.
Who would be in the house? All of the natural landscape seemed normal-sized. Surely the people would be too. However, why would normal-sized people build such enormous houses? She strained her ears to pick up some noise from behind the front door. Nothing.
“Nobody’s home,” she whispered.
The idea that no people lurked within gave her courage. She sat, listened, heard nothing but the sounds of nature, and got up. Rapping on the door with a closed fist, she hoped no one would answer the knock. If someone did, what would she say?
She looked down at her feet and saw a bundle-up bug crawling in front of her toes. “Small, like a bundle-up should be. The people will be normal as well. Or maybe not. Even so, I will not scream, no matter how big they are.”
No one answered. She knocked louder, and still no one came. Stretching and standing on tiptoes, she jiggled the doorknob. Locked.
With a sigh that expressed both relief and frustration, Ellie left the door and stood under a window. If she stood on tiptoes, she could grasp the windowsill. She jumped to look inside. The sun shone in the west windows, illuminating the room. In the brief moment she could look in, she saw big furniture. The next time she jumped, she noticed a huge coat hanging on a hook on the wall. Next she saw a teacup on an end table, but it looked more like a soup bowl. And the last time she jumped, she saw Tak standing in the center of the room.
She jerked around to look where she’d last seen him. Of course, he was not in two places at the same time. Only her carpetbag remained at the bottom of the giant steps.
Ellie scrambled down the stairs with much less care than she had used coming up. Her landing on the grass didn’t contain one iota of dignity. Aunt Tiffenbeth would have been displeased.
She stood and raced around the house. The distance to the corner was just as she had surmised, about a half a village block. The side of the house seemed to stretch forever, but this was not true. Her sore legs protested as she rounded the next corner, and the sight of the back entrance allowed her a brief moment of relief.
Instead of steps, a ramp tilted from the ground to a huge open door. She slowed going up the incline, not because she feared what hid in the house, but because her body protested the long day of walking and the dash to get to the back door.
Tak welcomed her with his usual comment. “Maa.”
He whirled away from her, and she followed at a walk, craning her neck to see all the fascinating features of the room. She walked under the rough-wood kitchen table. A spoon the size of a ladle lay on the floor. Everything looked just like the things at home, only on a larger scale. She passed through the door into a dining room. The eating table here was grand, with carvings on the legs. She guessed they had been polished at one time, but now dust coated everything.
Tak trotted down the hall, and his hoofs clumped on the thin carpet runner. Ellie came to the front room and stood in one place, staring. Cozy chairs and sofas surrounded a much shorter table, with playing cards sprawled across its surface. A basket of knitting sat at a corner, within easy reach of one of the stuffed chairs. Empty shelves stood beside a comfortable chair, and she wondered briefly what they had once contained. A pillow rested on the floor next to the smaller sofa.
Ellie resisted the urge to lie down. Instead, she made the long journey back around the house to fetch her carpetbag. After bringing it inside, she searched for anything from which to make a meal. Dishes and empty canisters cluttered the shelves but offered no sustenance. She found no food or water, so she would go to bed hungry and dirty. But she had four walls and a roof, enormous walls and a massive roof. She took off her filthy dress and slipped a nightgown over her long underwear. She brushed her teeth as best she could, then unbraided and re-braided her hair.
“It might get chilly tonight,” she said.
Tak swung his head to look at her, but didn’t offer a comment.
Rummaging around in her carpetbag produced a voluminous skirt to use as a blanket. The pillow on the floor wasn’t quite as big as her bed at home but was twice as soft. The light faded, and Ellie made one more search for something to eat. Under the counter in the kitchen, she found an enormous cupboard door that she had overlooked. Several jars and boxes tumbled out. In all the disorder, she found nothing edible.
She made her bed on the pillow and climbed in as twilight gave way to night. For some time she lay very still, listening to every noise. But soon her thoughts overcame her awareness of the old house, and she pondered her unusual circumstances.
She tried to shut down a flow of questions, but found it impossible. Where am I? How do Tak and I get back? Does anyone even know I’m lost?
This pesky quizzing cycled through the main queries and occasionally added or subtracted one or two questions. Since she interrogated herself and she had no answers, the exercise became boring.
Tak settled beside her, and his outline in the light of the moon helped her forget the strange happenings of the day.
When she awoke in the morning, his chin rested on the pillow-bed beside her. He opened his eyes and greeted her.
“Maa.”
“Tak, I think I feel brave enough to go into the city. Last night I wasn’t sure. But I was tired. Maybe we’ll find someone to tell us where we are and how to get home. That would be nice.”
She glanced around at the room they’d slept in.
“It would also be nice if this helpful person is no taller than I am.”
Dew still clung to the grass and bushes as Ellie and Tak walked deeper into the city. The space between houses became shorter, and the structures loomed larger. A string of homes changed to shops, with only an occasional residence. Still no signs of life. Each building appeared to be deserted. A shiver ran up Ellie’s spine from time to time as she walked. Sometimes the frisson was caused by her awareness of being alone except for Tak. Sometimes, an eerie feeling of being watched caused her to glance around at the empty windows.
Birds and butterflies flew among the gardens and, on the commercial streets, among the flower boxes and planters. The streets at one time had been well cared for, but now an air of neglect marred their beauty. Dry leaves filled the street gutters. The wind occasionally picked up dirt and swirled it around in dust devils. No one had trimmed the bushes or cut off wilted flower heads. Ellie put aside a fearful thought of a perished city with dead people decaying in these many buildings.
The road ended at a paved circle. Streets branched out from this center like six spokes on a wheel. In the middle, water splashed in a fountain. Seven statues of women in flowing gowns poured water from elegant pitchers into the base they stood in.
Tak leaped up on the side of the pool and drank from one of the streams of falling water from a stone lady’s urn. Ellie climbed the carved rim and eagerly quenched her thirst too. Wiping dribbles of water from her chin, she sat with her legs dangling over the outside of the fountain’s containment wall.
Somehow this area of the city impressed her as different. She studied her surroundings, trying to discern just what made her feel more at ease in the wide-open circle. A slight wind picked up an abandoned scarf, and like a marionette r
esponding to the puppet master’s strings, the thin cloth performed an aerial dance. Tiny brown dowdy birds fluttered about like scraps of paper just as they had along the route to the center of town. But the flower boxes looked beaten, as if someone had whipped the puny plants with a stick.
Tak bumped her as he hopped down, and she almost fell.
Her complaint against him died in her throat as she saw the plate of food up ahead of them. She jumped and tried to reach it before him. She lost, but the pile of oversize muffins would satisfy them both. Dark muffins, white muffins with nuts, yellow muffins with fruit, and a blue muffin that didn’t look like anything she had ever seen before.
After eating a half dozen, the odd blue muffin attracted her attention. This one didn’t smell as rich as the others, and it was half the size. Cautiously, she nibbled at the edge. Flavor burst in her mouth, something tart like lemon but balanced with just enough honey. She slowed down to enjoy the chewy texture and the wonderful tang.
Tak went back for another drink. Ellie returned to her carpetbag and opened it, trying to find a clean handkerchief to wrap up the leftover muffins. A child’s loud shout brought her head up with a snap. Into the circle, a huge child, taller than Ellie, barreled from one side, snatched the muffin plate, and tore down another street.
As he passed between the corner buildings, he shouted, “There’s another one. She’s got a dog. Catch her!”
A chorus arose from all around. “Catch her! Catch her! Catch her!”
Tak took off the way they’d come.
Ellie had pulled her things out as she’d searched for the handkerchief. Now she stuffed clothing in as fast as she could, but the mess stubbornly refused to be crammed inside. She tried to close and fasten the latch. A primal scream from somewhere behind Ellie sent her after Tak, leaving her belongings behind.
More childlike voices echoed the first yell. Even the cry of a mountain cat couldn’t compare to the war shrieks of the child savages.
Tak slipped between two buildings, and Ellie hurried to keep him in sight. The thought of being alone in this strange land, in this huge city, with monstrous children scared her. Tak was just a goat, but he was her only ally.
They came upon an alley, and the goat cut to the left. Ellie followed. Tak pushed his body behind a pile of rough pine boxes, and Ellie shoved on his backside to make room for herself. They waited, panting. The wild calls scattered and came from all different directions.
Tak’s tail flicked and slapped Ellie in the face. She ignored the goat and leaned toward the opening of their box cave. Were the shouts congregating in one direction? They were. A few minutes passed, then the fanatical screeches resumed.
“I think they’re coming this way, Tak.”
She scrunched in as far as she could and pulled a pine flap out of one box, shielding the hole to their cave. A splinter impaled her thumb, and she stuck the wound in her mouth.
The horde charged past them. Some still chanted, “Catch her!” but most put their energy into bloodcurdling yells. Their pursuers’ feet pounded on the pavement, and the boxes rattled as they went past. Hearing a whop, whop, whop, thud against the top of the pile from one end to the other, Ellie imagined one child wielding a club.
Finally, the noise diminished. The mob had moved on.
The goat’s stubby tail whipped across her face, and he began backing up. When she wouldn’t budge, he kicked her. Not too hard, but enough to make her move out of his way. Once in the alley, the goat stared steadily in one direction and then the other.
“Maa!” He ran back the way they had come and away from the pack of giant children. To Ellie’s confusion and dismay, the city became a maze of alleys and streets that reminded her of the labyrinth she’d read about. Several times she and Tak caught sight of child gangs some distance down the way. Tak found places to hide when they couldn’t outrun the children.
The chase lasted all morning. Ellie tried to direct Tak to a path that would take them out of the city altogether, but the stubborn goat turned back toward the center over and over. Again, they heard the clamoring of the pack, and Ellie chose the turn they’d take to escape. The alley looked promising, but she soon saw she had led them into a dead end. A huge door into the building stood open, so she ducked inside with Tak at her heels.
The door slammed shut, and Ellie whirled with a start. Before her stood a gentleman tumanhofer. Definitely a city dweller by his fine, though a bit torn and dirty, clothing.
He clicked his heels together. “Allow me to introduce myself. Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore of Greeston at your service.” He bowed. “You and I are presently the only tumanhofers in Rumbard City.”
Ellie returned a bobbing curtsy, realized it was a very country form of the pleasantry, and switched in the middle to a deeper dip. She lost her balance and steadied herself by grabbing a barrel, which tipped over with a bang.
All three stood still for a moment, listening to see if she’d revealed their whereabouts.
After a moment, Ellie curtsied again. “Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl from, well, not anywhere in particular. Outside of the village, Glenbrooken Village.” She’d done that badly. Embarrassment warmed her cheeks.
“Maa.”
She glanced at her goat. “And this is Tak.”
A noise from the alley caught their attention. The knob on the door turned. Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore grabbed Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl’s hand. “Run!”
He guided them between giant hanging clothes, and Ellie realized they were in a store. She panted as she tried to keep up. “Where do all these ready-made clothes come from?”
“Cottage industry, and it would seem the urohm ladies believe in stiff competition. I’ll show you the fancy labels inside the clothing some other time. Right now, I hear the stomping of enemy forces.”
The children swarmed through the shop. Bealomondore led Ellie and the goat to a counter and ducked under the edge. They followed him into the empty space behind the counter front.
Dust tickled her nose. Ellie rubbed it. “It’s stuffy in here,” she whispered.
“Don’t sneeze,” Bealomondore ordered. He climbed a stack of boxes arranged like a staircase. Darkness covered him from the waist up. “Come on up. We’re going to hide in this locked drawer.”
Tak quickly scaled the makeshift steps. Ellie followed more carefully. At the top she could see the narrow opening along the side of the drawer. The distance from the highest step to the underside of the counter provided a bit of a challenge in wiggling into the safe haven. The tumanhofer gentleman helped Ellie climb into the deep drawer and then lifted Tak in.
Scarcely any light filtered into their hiding place, but she recognized huge coins and paper money. Ellie heard scraping noises below, then Bealomondore’s hands gripped the side of the drawer, and he soon maneuvered himself in beside her and the goat.
“This drawer is locked,” he explained. “The only way to get in or out is the way we just used. And that way can only be used by people our size.”
“What is this place?”
“A money depository, like a safe.” He put a finger to his lips.
“They won’t find us?” Ellie whispered back.
He shook his head. “They’ll give up soon. It’s almost time for noonmeal, and they know better than to be late.”
“What happens if they’re late?”
“The food will be gone, eaten by those who got there first.”
With his face turned toward the light filtering in through the crack running between the lip of the drawer and the underside of the countertop, Ellie could see the tumanhofer’s frown.
“They go hungry?” she asked.
“If they are horribly late, the leftovers, if there are any, dry up and blow away.”
“So there are adults someplace who care for these wild things?”
“There’s only one adult left, and he lives in the library. They call him Old One. He has the doors locked and won’t let them in.”
“But …”
“I know. It boggles the mind.”
“Who are they?”
“As far as I have been able to ascertain, they are the last of the urohms living in Chiril.”
Ellie let out a loud sigh of relief and then froze. A child’s steps neared their hideout. The drawer rattled but didn’t open.
“Whatcha doing, Phee?”
“I heard a noise.”
“How d’ya think they’d get in a locked drawer?”
“I forgot it was locked.”
“It’s locked every time we come in here.”
“I know. I just forgot. I want to see that dog. Tolly says the wee one has a dog. I’ve never seen a dog.”
“Neither have I. Come on, Phee. I’m hungry. Let’s go to the circle.”
“It was fun though. I had fun. We almost got ’em, didn’t we? I hope we snatch ’em next time.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“What are we going to do when we catch her and the dog?”
“Same thing we’ll do when we catch that wee man.”
“Eat ’em?”
“Yeah, eat ’em.”
“Let’s go.” Bealomondore started to climb out of the drawer.
Ellie grabbed his coat sleeve. “Is it safe?”
“Yes, they’ve gone for noonmeal.” He went over the edge and disappeared. She heard a thud and then his voice. “Hand me the goat.”
Ellie hoisted Tak over the side and into Bealomondore’s waiting arms, then climbed out with a little assistance from the tumanhofer.
“I left my belongings in the fountain circle. Can we go get them?”
Bealomondore gave a humorless laugh and shook his head. “We may be able to gather your things as time goes by, but the hordes claim everything they find. And they’re all in the circle now eating.”
Tak stamped his hoofs on the wooden floor.
“He wants to go out,” said Ellie.
Bealomondore led the way. “You mindspeak with the goat?”