Light wind rushed into the dirty attic of the half-ruined house of eighteenth (or whatever) century, having created a small dusty tornado which got directly into Benny's face. The boy sneezed and woke up.
Keira was still sleeping, but the Doctor was missing. Benny's heart fell, but in a second he relaxed: it came out that a note written in already familiar large printed letters was stuck between his left hand's fingers. "WILL COME SOON. IF NO, WILL SEND LYLE. STAY IN THE ATTIC, MISTY-MINDED INHABITANTS WILL KILL YOU BOTH IF THEY CATCH YOU. ALLONS-Y".
"Allons-y..." muttered Benny to himself. "I'm glad that somebody here didn't lose the ability to tell jokes. For how long have we been sleeping?.." he asked himself, trying to clean the window through which almost nothing could be seen. But the cleaning didn't change the image outside - grey mist covered all the space. As well as when they had been outside before. It was impossible to tell what time of the day it was. Even the sun was out of sight.
Whooooooh-het. Whooooooh-het. Whooooooh-het.
Something sparkled inside Benny: "He didn't abandon us, he's coming... we can rely on him". Keira moved and sleepily mumbled:
"Benny, whass-gonn-on?"
He didn't have to answer - the window smashed open, and the well-known figure in coat jumped into the room.
"Doctor!" almost exclaimed Keira, but her listener pressed his finger to his lips - the sign to be silent. Then he wrote some new statements in the notebook he had got out of his pocket and tossed it to siblings. It ran as follows: "I CANNOT USE MY TARDIS OFTEN IN THIS WORLD - ONLY ONCE IN SEVERAL HOURS, AND ONLY TO TRAVEL BETWEEN YOUR AND OUR WORLD. HERE IT WON'T WORK PROPERLY, SO WE'LL HAVE TO GO OURSELVES". After this he took out two plastic bags and gave each one to them - it revealed they contained something similar to snack wraps sized like Benny's fist. "YOU HAVE TO EAT, SO DO IT NOW, WE ARE TO HURRY UP. WE IMAGES LIVE ON ENERGY FROM THOUGHTS".
"Oh... Trouble never comes alone", sighed Benny, thrusting his teeth into the covering dough. The Doctor sadly nodded. "Wait. Before I fell asleep... we flew. You had wings. Or feathers at least..."
"I had the same dream", admitted Keira with a mouthful of wrap's contents. It was something like pieces of fried meat mixed with bread and tomato sauce.
The Doctor shook his head, then pointed at both of them and tugged the edge of his coat, flapping it.
"You mean... it DID happen?" Benny called himself a bonehead in his thoughts.
Again the pencil danced over the paper. "ONE OF YOU MADE THIS TO ME. POWER OF WISHING IS UNSTOPPABLE, BUT IT CAN DAMAGE THE WISHER".
"Yesterday when we got into the mob I had a desperate wish to fly away", suddenly noticed Keira. "For all three of us to fly away".
"Naturally! If humans crested all you fictional heroes..." started Benny.
"...then we can influence you!" finished Keira. "What's the matter, Doctor?"
The Doctor let out a short sigh and wrote: "YOU SHOULD DO IT ONLY IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, KEIRA? YOU COULDN'T EVEN STAND UP BY YOURSELF". A sad smile and one more line: "BUT WHY DID YOU IMAGINE ME WINGED? I THOUGHT YOU WOULD GIVE WINGS TO YOURSELF OR TO BENNY, BUT ME..." The word "me" in the first sentence was underlined with three thick lines.
"You're strong. I'm only seven, and you are..." began Keira, but then bit her bottom lip and blushed a bit. "You... always find a way. Even while being a child's drawing".
The reaction was... choking chuckle, as Benny called it in his thoughts, though this combination of words was like a bad pun. Whatever.
"YOU CAN'T PRETEND TO BE IMAGES BECAUSE ALL OF US FEEL YOUR WARMTH".
"Warmth? But... I felt YOUR warmth while we slept", objected Keira, devouring the remains of her snack wrap.
"THAT'S DIFFERENT. WHAT DO YOU FEEL WHEN STANDING NEAR TURNED-ON COOKER? WE FEEL THE SAME WHEN STANDING NEAR HUMANS. GOT IT? YOU ARE FULL OF LIFE, AND WE ARE LIKE SHADOWS. YOU SENSE ME BECAUSE YOU ARE CHILDREN. NOT MANY ADULTS CAN DO IT".
"What now?"
"CAN YOU CLIMB?"
Benny nodded. He was the true professional of climbing all kinds of heights - he had learned to do this for years of getting away from the gang of Bat Spender, who was the arch enemy of Norata. And, as a result, of his siblings. Not a day had passed without Benny or Keira running away from some of Bat Spender's numerous sidekicks (or actually his bootlickers because almost no one wished to have trouble). Of course - the leader was eighteen years old, as well as Norata, and was almost twice larger than him: Norata was of middle height and skinny, and Bat was like a bodybuilder, as well as his "pallies". No wonder Benny and Keira had no choice except getting away. Keira wasn't as crafty as her brother in "cliffhanging", as they called it, due to her clumsiness, but she could do it quite well.
"WE WILL GO ON THE ROOFS. IT'S NOT FAR FROM HERE. BUT WE NEED TO KEEP TOGETHER. AND DON'T SAY A WORD. I WILL GIVE YOU SIGNALS TO FOLLOW ME".
Keira made a nervous swallow, but frowned her brows and nodded. Good girl, thought Benny.
It seemed the Doctor had a map in his head - the way on the roofs was almost invisible thanks to grey mist. Luckily the streets were so narrow that even Keira, the shortest of all, could step over the gaps between houses of equal height with no problem. Several times Benny nearly fell, having stepped to the side or bounced because of sudden creaking sounds under their feet. Keira got braver - at first she was almost tip-toeing on the straw, wood or concrete under her feet, but then she began walking more surely.
"THEY NEVER LOOK UP BECAUSE MOST OF THEM LOST HOPE. IT'S SAD, BUT NOW IT HELPS US". This was written on the next page from the Doctor's notebook.
Keira moved her head up and down and made a small pantomime - pressed her palms together in a prayer-like gesture, moved them to the sides and looked at the Doctor as if she was asking him something. Wondering about the distance left, understood Benny. The answer was such: the Doctor showed his hands, one with all fingers up, the other with three down.
Benny supposed their destination was the building... no, it rather was like castle. Very eerie-looking castle - for Benny it looked like a black-skinned man among white ones. Or like a fresh tomato in the basket full of rotten apples. The last association fitted better because its walls were of all shades of red. Wine red, scarlet, ruby, crimson, cherry red, chilli pepper red, rusty - Benny couldn't find enough words to give identifications to colours. And besides the castle was of unusual style - the heart motif was dominating in every shape of it.
Absurd. More than absurd. The world of imagination must have been abandoned for a long time to get so mixed up. Wait a moment. Where was this castle from?.. Only Keira's frightened glance prevented Benny from musing aloud.
Finally they stopped on a metal roof which was the closest to one of the castle's towers. None of other surfaces was so close to the destination's walls, so the only way was up. But it came out to be not too difficult - huge blood-red bricks forming the tower were put not really accurately so there were small platforms on which the climbers could step.
The grey mist revealed to be thicker up there so Benny hardly could see the Doctor's thin silhouette leading them, and what to say about Keira - she turned into a lineless spot of green and black colours with some patches of white on the background of red. Fortunately the way was not up but to the side now - the Doctor was approaching to the nearest window. And somebody came out to be waiting for them: it opened a bit and a sigh of relief was heard.
Only when Benny was taken under his shoulders like a kitten and put onto the floor covered with fluffy red carpet with black patterns on the sides he understood how wonderful it was to be on real and reliable floor. In a moment Keira was nearby.
"You could have told that you won't come alone". This was a new voice, even more childish than Benny's or Keira's. And the new person was a kid - a boy of five or six years old who (at the first sight) looked completely fine: light blue eyes, dark hair sticking from under vast red cap with an "M" symbol on it, small turned-up nose. The kid was wearing a red shirt, blue overalls and old working shoes - only after Benny examined him, he realized what was wrong: the child's hands weren't moving, grey like Viktor Krum's feet. Paralyzed. "Ah... Doctor, Lyle didn't come back, maybe he thought you were leading to... - Only here the boy noticed the guests. "I'm sorry for giving you no attention. My name is..."
"Lemme guess", interrupted him Keira. Benny stared at her - it was more of his style to guess. "I've seen you. But not this kind of you - the grown-up you". The child's cheeks went rosy. "Ta-da-ta, ta-da-tam... Name, name, recall name... Mario! Your name is Mario!"
The kid jumped with joy:
"Yay! It was my wish - to hear my name told me by a human! But you could call me Junior Mario not to mix with my grown-up identity". Then he recalled what he was going to say: "Why did you come a day later than expected?" Silence, but Benny and Keira already knew the Doctor was telling Junior Mario something without anyone hearing it except the receiver. "Oh my goodness, I've forgotten about the origin which causes trouble... Benjamin and Keireen?"
"Benny and Keira", corrected Benny: both siblings didn't like being called by full names. Ben-ja-meeeeen! Long and boring. As well as Kei-reeeeeen - too official.
"Come on, let's go. We've been waiting since yesterday".
Junior Mario led them through the corridor - it was half-dark because candles on the walls were the only source of light and windows were more like paintings made of glass. Mist was the reason. Oh yes. Now Benny got it. The Red Queen's castle from "Alice in Wonderland". Definitely. Hearts, red, luxury... What else could this place be? The tunnel ended with a huge hall. Finally a different colour of the interior - columns supporting the ceiling were white. And only because of this - the hall was almost lightless - Benny and Keira noticed that people were present here. They were all of different age and groove, but two things were the same. Clothes of all of them were... burnt - torn and with black edges, and everyone's eyes were fixed at the siblings. Bitterness. And wild hope - that was read in them. None of the people dared to speak.
Benny suddenly recalled Viktor Krum's words yesterday: "To Mr. Holmes?". Yes, yes, Sherlock Holmes exists as an imaginary character, so he must be here too. Where?.. The search was short: Benny noticed two men in front of the middle column - one tall and with curly tousled hair, the other shorter and sandy blond. Nothing more could be seen in such atmosphere, but nevertheless those were the ones Benny was thinking about.
"Nice kiddo". The taller man at last broke the silence. "You noticed me though you've never seen me in this body before".
"Mr. Sherlock Holmes", unsurely said Keira. Now everyone's eyes, including Benny's, the Doctor's and Junior Mario's, were fixed at her. - Tell us what happened. Tell us. I can't watch your suffering anymore".
"What weird words for a seven-year-old girl". John Watson (yeah, who else would be with Sherlock Holmes everywhere and every time?) went forward and crouched in front of brother and sister. "How do you know about suffering? Humans see suffering every day, but almost none of them do something to prevent it. And those who do are called freaks and bullied".
"We know what being bullied is", in one voice replied Benny and Keira. Then the girl went on: "I can tell you what suffering is".
Here Benny's attention was drawn to John Watson's left hand - it was black and steady, unlike his right hand which was perfectly normal. Flexible and of fine skin colour.
"Suffering is knowing that our older brother works day and night to keep us up and that we are unable to help him because we are nothing but a couple of kids". Keira was speaking with her teeth almost clenched. "It is being a victim of stereotypes. Suffering is disbelief. Hopelessness. And I see you are suffering. All of you. And you called for us. Doctor told us why, but WHAT can we do?"
Silence. Then Sherlock Holmes answered:
"You understand the thing called dreams. Flowering in childhood, rotting in youth, getting dry in adulthood. That is why we got to such condition... People have to wear masks to improve their life and then these masks grow tight to their faces. See what I mean? You two never wore any masks, that's why you, Keira, are able to transform the world at will", here he gazed at the Doctor, "and you, Benny, aren't afraid to show your love towards your little sister". A pause. "But don't even dare to think that all of us are tortured here. There are imaginary characters who live on our being pressed. You see, some sources of our life - books, or movies, or damn it, videogames - are made not to give people feelings, but to make money-money-money. Heroes of such pseudocreations only help humans to forget all spiritual. I don't blame them, they aren't guilty for becoming..."
Sudden rustle broke his speech. One of the windows opened, and there were more creatures present in the hall. The new one would be an ordinary man of unknown age - thirty or sixty years old, impossible to understand - in an old-fashioned black suit, dark-haired, with white exhausted face, if it were not for huge black wings with crooked and untidy feathers spreading behind his back. He was pressing a bundle of rugs to his chest.
"Stinks, - he complained without greeting anyone. "Who of you has been to human world?" Here he noticed Benny and Keira. "Two more? Brilliant. Somebody should take care of him... What do you want?" This roar was addressed to siblings. "What do you want?"
"We called for them", explained the boy in front of the farthest column. He was almost exact copy of Junior Mario with the exception of shirt's and cap's colour - they were lime green, and the letter on his cap was "L" instead of "M". Even his hands were stone-like, just as Junior Mario's. He must be Junior Luigi, if so.
"Hmph! Two big cheeses in a little world? They must be too big shots..." The winged stranger frowned. -"I've seen you before, red curls. And you too, ghostbustress".
Finally Benny got the matter. This manner of speech. This appearance. These wings and this tenderness with which he was holding the bundle... Only one character could be such.
"My favourite book", loudly said Benny. "And you are Skellig".
"Smart, smart boy. And if you are so smart, you are to know how to take care of this". Skellig almost threw his bundle to Benny. "Found him while patrolling the hellish district. And now excuse me - I'm going to continue my watch till those snowies change me".
Benny cautiously unwrapped the top of the warm and heavy bundle while "ficts" (he called the characters so in his mind) gathered around him to see. Inside the rags there was a blond baby boy who has just woken up, but not crying - he was rubbing his eyes with tiny fists and quietly babbling.
"And what are we to do with him?" sarcastically asked one more kid - he seemed to be Junior Mario's parody copy: stocky, pink-nosed, with huge brows and dressed in yellow shirt and lilac overalls. The letter on his cap was blue "W".
The baby lifted his little arms up, trying to reach one of faces over him, then stuffed one hand's fingers into his mouth and blinked at everyone with huge blue eyes.
"First we need to..." Keira didn't finish - the Doctor showed her a sheet of paper torn out of his notebook. There were only two words written: "JOHNNY-JIMMY".
The waiting revealed to be too long. Benny and Keira had been led to "their" (at least now) room of the castle - it was in medieval style, but the siblings quite liked it. They were not computer addicts, so it was perfectly fine for them - there were lots of books here, and both believed that nothing could beat a good book. Johnny-Jimmy was together with them, now peacefully sleeping in a tiny bed of cold-red colour.
"Nobody around here. I've revolvered all corners in here". Benny, sweaty and covered with dust - several times he had to climb heavy curtains which haven't been washed for ages - returned to their room. He was exploring the castle while Keira was watching the baby. "They left us here alone, no way. We can't come out, remember what happened before? And besides..."
Whooooooh-het. Whooooooh-het. Whooooooh-het.
Johnny-Jimmy wriggled in his bed, struggling to open his eyes, and slightly mewled as the sounds of somebody climbing the wall outside followed. But there were definitely four feet scratching the bricks. "With whom is Mr. Who coming?" - thought Benny and wrinkled his nose: the pun wasn't too lucky.
"A short delay, but nothing special". Sherlock Holmes climbed into the place while the Doctor (who else could accompany him if such sounds had been coming?) delayed outside. "We had to come to your world together because... you know, ability to speak is needed". He opened a small hatch in the room's corner and threw a huge bag he was carrying inside. "Things you live on. Partly for him", he pointed at Johnny-Jimmy, "and partly for you. I have no idea how could this child get to our world, but... he's here and you are the only ones who know how to look after kids correctly".
"Emm... Mr. Holmes..." unsurely began Keira, "I don't see anything wrong with you. And you don't seem to be injured. I'm sorry if it bothers you..."
"Superpale" Sherlock Holmes's cheeks flushed a bit, he stepped closer to Keira and bowed so that their foreheads were almost touching.
"Keira, - he hissed, - touch my chest".
The girl obeyed though trembled a bit. And felt goosebumps on her back upon the touch - Sherlock Holmes's chest was freezing cold even through his torn woollen coat.
"Got what I lack now?"
At this moment a completely new person climbed into the room - it was a man in all black and a bit biker-styled, with shortly cut hair and frowning: his fingers were covered in fresh wounds.
"Bah, don't mind our Doctor. He can change his groove, but now not at usual - you know, he has eleven variants of it..." Sherlock Holmes stood straight. "You could have warned them!" then he turned to Benny and Keira again. "You saw him in tenth variation, now he's in his ninth groove. Ha-ha. It's his only fun since we lost what we didn't need - changing when he wants... At least he knows the advantages of all his versions. Suppose he decided he'll need physical strength for now - this version is the strongest of all".
Johnny-Jimmy huffed - now he was sitting in his bed, chewing his tiny toes. Keira, as the only female here, hurried to the hatch and began digging there.
"How did you know the boy's name... emm... Doctor?" she asked timidly, having found a children's milk bottle and given it to the baby who thanked her with happy babbling. The Doctor gave her a sign to stay still, and the room all of a sudden filled with flame-like orange light - Benny and Keira had to squint in order not to get blind. When they finally could see the first thing they saw was their first acquaintance of this world, but "renewed" - this time with slick dark hair, quite small green eyes and wearing a tweed suit.
"Gotta get used to all wonders", muttered Benny, blinking to get rid of dancing colourful spots in front of his eyes. "Siblings in Wonderland..."
The Doctor wrote something in his notebook again. This time it was such: "IT'S 11TH ME. GET USED. AND AS ABOUT THE BABY - I EXAMINED THE MATTER WITH HIM BEFORE. YOU SEE, SOME PEOPLE PREFER CAREER, CHILDREN ONLY PREVENT THEM FROM THEIR AIM. AND THIS ONE WAS OF SUCH PATTERN. LITTLE JOHNNY-JIMMY WAS BORN NOT ON TIME, AND HIS PARENTS NOW HAVE EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING BUT THE SON. AND THAT'S FINE FOR THEM".
Exactly like Norata's father, thought Benny. He and Keira had been very little, but remembered some cases firmly.
Once, when Benny had been three or four, he had walked into "Mr. Leminan's" (the kids hadn't dares to call Norata's father differently than this) room - not because of some purpose, just due to pure childish curiosity. But hardly had he moved two steps when a large folder had hit him in the face and thunderous voice had filled his ears:
"I told you not to come here, you slobbery beast! Get away from here and never come back, mixed blood!"
Benny hadn't remembered how he made the way to his older brother - he had simply found himself in Norata's embrace, weeping bitterly.
Another time Norata had had to stay at school till evening, and this had taken place in winter, so it had been early dark outside. Benny and Keira had been locked in a small closet full of boxes till he came back. They had had a fright. Darkness, ticking clock, cold air - plenty of things that can make two children, older of which is five, scared. Finally when Norata had come and unlocked the closet, the siblings had rushed onto him and had sobbed all their tremendous fear out, but then all three had received a yell for "breaking important silence".
"I THINK CRASH BROUGHT JOHNNY-JIMMY HERE - IT'S IN HIS STYLE. BUT IT'S GOOD FOR US NOW. WE MIGHT NEED THE CHILD SOON... DON'T BE AFRAID, IT WON'T HURT HIM". This was the next statement written in the Doctor's notebook, then its owner carelessly tossed it onto the shelf and scooped Johnny-Jimmy up. The child has already finished his "dinner" and now was turning his blond scruffy head from side to side, sincerely surprised with attention given to him.
"Who's Crash?" asked Keira.
"You'll see", replied Sherlock Holmes. "Tonight we're going to show you the consequences of humans' not caring. And decide what we are to do..."
The Doctor let out an unsatisfied humming sound (what more can you do with your lips glued together?) - Johnny-Jimmy began yanking at his bowtie, chattering, but then finished and got quiet. He must have felt something was wrong. No wonder, doubled heart beating literally pressed to him.
"There are millions of ways to get to our problem's core, but almost all of them are traps. A true deadly labyrinth", said Sherlock Holmes. "We will go together. You two, me, the Doctor, Johnny-Jimmy and Tia - you will meet the last one later. And now stay here. We are to visit some local collectors".
The Doctor gave Johnny-Jimmy back to Keira, and there were only "humans" in the room.