Chapter 8 – Dustfinger's Story


Elinor handed Dustfinger a warm mug of tea, her hands shaking slightly although she tried to hide them, heavens above woman, she thought to herself; first wreaking your room and now this, what's wrong with you. She sat down and wordlessly started sipping her own tea, absentmindedly slopping most of it down her crisp new shirt. Darius cowered in a small seat by the corner, fidgeting nervously with his fingers, waiting for Dustfinger to talk. They sat in silence for a while, whilst he gulped down the drink and wiped his mouth clean with the back of his hand; then finally Dustfinger spoke:

"I'm not really sure how to begin," he said uneasily, "It's all a bit of a blur really." He glanced at Elinor and Darius who were watching him keenly, Sighing he yawned, "Ok," he groaned, "I'll tell it from the beginning..."

"…and then I summoned the white women to me, just like in the story, I summoned them with my fire and convinced them to take me instead, they took a lot of persuading, but eventually they agreed and breathed the soul back into the boy," Dustfinger heard a gasp from the corner but carried on, "As soon as they did that, they towered over me, and from then on everything is a bit hazy. All of a sudden they were leaning over my torso; the last thing I remember is seeing the boy stir and Roxanne standing in front of me crying. Then I think I collapsed." He broke off, and took a fleeting look at Elinor and Darius; they were gawping at him, hanging on to every word. Suddenly he felt the urge to use one of those camera things that he saw so many people use in this world; he was sure that never again would he see Elinor in such an unladylike position, her legs wide apart and her mouth hanging open in wonder. Deciding a mental image would do, he picked up from where he'd left off.
"It felt like days before I woke up again; my eyes didn't work at first and I had blisters in my mouth from all the fire-eating for the white women – even a trained fire-eater gets a sore mouth occasionally, but I hadn't had blisters in years. – After what seemed like hours I finally got the ability to move my eyelids back and I released them." He paused and licking his lips, decided not to tell them about the courage it had taken to open his eyelids, the fear he had felt as he woke up, and the pain of realizing where he was. "I exposed my eyes to the world, and after they adjusted and got into focus, I closed them again. I was back in the place that I hated most in this world, the place that I had hoped never to return to again. I was back at Capricorns head-quarters."

"…and from then on I just came down here as fast as I could; you were the only people I could think of that live in this world, you're the only people I know here, and I hoped Orpheus might be able too…you know…take me back…but he's not here" he said turning round, as if Orpheus was going to appear behind him, "where is he?"

Elinor and Darius who had sat in amazement while Dustfinger told his tale, came round at last, lost for words; Elinor suddenly realized her mouth was hanging wide open; and hastily shut it, embarrassed, and actually blushing, a thing which she could never remember doing before in her life. Eventually Darius came back to his senses and answered Dustfinger's question.
"He…he...he left" Darius squeaked, "read himself into the book about two weeks ago-"
"Yes," Elinor cut in, finally finding her voice, "In front of my eyes he did it too, a right shock he gave me, made me drop the bottle of wine he ordered, heavens above, what a mess that made," she exclaimed, pointing to the crimson stain on the floor, "Stained my carpet that did, I could strangle him, if only he knew how much that cost…" She carried on ranting on while Dustfinger watched with an expression of amusement mingled with bewilderment and in the corner Darius grinned for the first time in weeks. The old Elinor was back.