Chapter 7
"Foulfellow and Gideon"
Smiling evilly, Reverend Kane proceeded to make his way down the steps of Pleasure Island while the ape-like minions bowed down in worship of Reverend Kane, much to the Coachman's annoyance.
"It seems to me like your minions show me more respect than you do," Reverend Kane remarked as he slowly approached the Coachman. "Even the spirits of those you kill for their uselessness show me more respect. And a little bird spirit told me that you let two souls get away from here?"
"The two were hard to catch, Reverend Kane," said the Coachman, chuckling nervously. "You know how children are."
"I know how their minds work, that's for sure!" he retorted, suddenly grabbing the Coachman by the scruff of his red coat. "They had an instinct, an instinct telling them that they couldn't either become a jackass or have their spirits harvested for me! Well ensure it doesn't happen again or else!"
The reverend then released his grip on the coachman, pushing him back onto the ground while the sounds of the transformed donkeys echoed.
"Yes, Reverend. I will assure it never happens again."
"See that you don't," Reverend Kane warned before turning his attention away from the Coachman and to the ape minions. "And that goes for all of you, too!"
Watching Reverend Kane disappear, the Coachman decided to send the Reverend's message throughout the island and over to the mainland.
…
Out on the streets of Rome, a large red fox and a medium sized cat were trying to convince a group of Italian schoolchildren to abandon their current way of life.
"And so you see, kids," the Fox said. "Pleasure Island is a place where you will have so much fun, you will never want to leave. If you are interested, come get your tickets."
And he began to produce black Ace playing cards to hand to any participants as tickets.
"And if you have any friends, help yourself to some more tickets. Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Come now, the coach departs at midnight!"
At that moment, the sounds of a cell phone were ringing and the cat reached into the fox's pocket and pulled out the phone. He went to answer it, but he couldn't respond.
"Foulfellow, is that you?" the sounds of the Coachman were heard on the other line. "Answer me! I have news to share with you!"
The cat turned to his friend and tugged at the fox's long blue coat.
"Not now, Giddy, the demand is high right now!" the Fox whispered as he kept handing out Ace cards. "Who is it?"
When he saw the Coachman's name on the screen of his cell phone, the Fox snatched it from the cat's paws.
"Take over for a second!" he urged and went behind one of the alleys to take the call. Once he was alone, the fox placed the phone to his ear. "Hello, boss."
"Foulfellow, I've got some news that I need to share with you and Gideon, you bloke!" the Coachman answered into the phone. "The Reverend has made a visit!"
Hearing his name, Foulfellow turned to the crowds of children surrounding Gideon.
"What did he want?"
"He was disappointed to hear that two of the prospects had escaped from our clutches," answered the Coachman. "We cannot allow ourselves to disappoint him unless we end up having our souls reaped by him!"
A nervous look befell Foulfellow's face as he once again looked back to Gideon, still working with the crowd.
"Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that we are getting a bigger crowd than we thought we were going to have," Foufellow said, trying to reassure the Coachman.
"Double it!" the Coachman snapped, this time having a hint of fear in his voice. I must please him after this blunder! Do you understand?"
Without saying another word, the Coachman hung up on the Fox and the quota was ordered to have been doubled.
…
Back in the interrogation room, Daphne and the female escapee from Pleasure Island were about to exchange words with one another. The girl was nervous and shaking slightly and Daphne could tell that she didn't want to be on Pleasure Island in the first place. Then again, who wouldn't want to be?
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Daphne whispered to the girl, her cut up face looking up to Daphne. "I'm not going to hurt you."
The girl anxiously looked around and saw that she was alone with Daphne.
"My name is Daphne and I'm one of the good guys," she continued, trying to be as gentle as possible. "We're here to help you."
"Help?" the girl asked. "Why didn't you help me when I was on that island? I was supposed to receive him and they kidnapped me."
Daphne then began to inspect the remains of the white dress the girl was wearing. It was clear to Daphne that she was to take part in a really important ceremony.
"Where's mama and papa?" she asked worriedly.
"We're going to bring them here," Daphne answered. "But, I need you to answer my questions, okay?"
Tearing up, the girl wiped away her tears and all Daphne could think of this poor child was the ordeal she had to go through.
"What's your name?"
"Sabina. My name is Sabina."
The empathy that Daphne was beginning to have for this poor girl was adamant.
"Were you planning to celebrate your first communion?"
"I was but then he came and forced me onto a coach with other boys and girls."
A sickening feeling came into Daphne's stomach when she suddenly began to get a feeling that this girl was put through a nightmare that none of us could relate to you, the audience.
"Like, who is she?" Shaggy asked sadly. "Almost makes you want to hug her."
"Reah," added Scooby sadly.
But I had a feeling that this child was not among those who were being turned into donkeys. Suddenly, I began to think of that scene in "King Kong" where Fay Wray is offered as a sacrifice to the great ape. Could this child have been forced into Fay's position in a similar manner? I couldn't figure it out, but we would get our answer soon enough.
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