Chapter 6 – Madam Geppetta's Puppets

Julian followed Madam Geppetta down some simple wooden stairs to the basement studio. The room they entered was pretty bare bones, a concrete floor and wooden ceiling held up by the wooden beams of the foundation.

"My cozy, little workshop," she said as she turned on the lights—merely bulbs attached to metal discs that she had adorned with colorful beadwork—from a naked wall switch.

"Aah!" Julian, behind her, jolted at the sight of all her life-sized "puppets" propped up on the walls by begs that supported them beneath the arms. To the mind of a recovering Child Catcher, it was like stepping into the midst of an army of children. There were dozens of them, wall to wall. Julian's heart began to race; fortunately, he was wearing three layers of clothing over it.

Madam Geppetta turned around, smiling as if his discomfort were ridiculous. "What's the matter, Julian? Of all people, I should think the sight of children wouldn't unnerve you."

"Yes, well…I typically avoid being vastly outnumbered by them," he replied.

"It's perfectly alright," she chuckled. "They're asleep. They won't wake until I summon them for their performances."

"Uh-huh," Julian uttered, somewhat absently. Curiously, Julian shuffled over to one of them and cautiously lifted the mask. A child's face. The eyes were just barely open, but appeared not to see. Julian leapt back. These are the missing children! But are they alive? They looked like they were moving on their own on stage. Are they under some trance? "They, uh…sleep with their eyes partially open?"

"Fully and peacefully asleep, I assure you. They are precious, aren't they?"

Julian gave her a quizzical look. "Well, I don't know how much you understand about my career, but I didn't become the Child Catcher because I think children are precious. I collected children to get rid of them for the Baroness of Vulgaria, who hated the very idea of them. How could I be a kidnapper who adores…children…?" Julian paused at the sound of his own words, his eyes darting around the room.

"Well, you just leave the adoring to me. At first." Arms crossed coquettishly in front of her, she came to stand very close in front of Julian, which caused him to subconsciously pulled his head back. "They may grow on you over time." She tilted her head up, pretending that brushing the end of his nose with hers was an accident. She giggled. "Oops. Those long noses. They'll just reach out for ya, won't they? I know how it goes. Wouldn't we be cute together?"

Julian took a step back from her. "Madam, I'm flattered, but I think you mistake our contract of business."

"Do call me Lorene."

"I don't feel like that would be entirely professional of me."

"Oh…" Lorene sighed, still acting carefree. "Perhaps I should lower the tone, then. Relax, Julian. This doesn't have to be just business." She got up in his space again, this time touching his arm. "This could be our family, Julian."

Julian pulled his arm away, looking down that long nose at her with his in-the-field coldness. "I don't have any sentiments towards family, Madam Geppetta. I am the Child Catcher. I separate families. What on earth has caused you to read me as any sort of family man?"

Madam Geppetta became more solemn. "Oh? Perhaps you're not as indifferent to companionship as you claim…" As Julian eyed her suspiciously, she snapped her fingers and two men dressed like waiters dragged out a young, brunette woman dressed up and painted like a female clown doll. She slumped in a dead-eyed, languid way as if half dead, like the children on the walls.

Julian dropped his façade with a loud gasp of horror. Before he had even called out Gina's name, his hands came forward briefly in a bowl shape to go to lovingly cup her face. But he stopped himself, held his tongue. Then, he fixed a furious, searing squint on Lorene. "Why would you do this to my Gina and then expect me to have any sort of compassion for you?"

"To give you a powerful incentive," Lorene said casually. "But, take heart. If you find you still miss her, stay. She's a part of the show now. A puppet fetish will be only one more thing we have in common, Julian."

"You and I have nothing in common," he hissed.

"Think about it."

Alone in the basement, Julian knelt at the comatose shell of his beloved, finally cupping her painted face in his hands. "Oh, my darling," he rasped. "What have they done to you? I should have never left you at the table…"

"They, uh, tried to put me under the influence of some really creepy demonic ritual," Gina muttered lucidly.

"Gina?" Julian gasped. "You're alert." His shoulders slumped with his heavy sigh of relief. "Thank God. I thought I'd lost you. Of course, I'd spend the rest of my life trying to get you out of that trance, if that's how long it took."

Gina reached up to place her hands on his. "I've got the Holy Spirit in me, babe. And He does not like roommates. Your hands are really soft."

"They've got scrubbing salt in the bathrooms. How classy."

Gina smiled teasingly. "Oh, you haven't had a callus in years, you white-bread palace puppy."

Julian huffed casually. "I work indoors, thank you very much. And I wear gloves when I'm not."

"You're such a dandy. But I love you. Your touch could not be any more welcome right now." Gina leaned up to kiss him, which he eased for her by pulling her into his embrace. His warm kiss was ideal in the cool of the cellar. Though the tip of his nose was chilled, the broad side of his nose, which caressed her cheek, was like another warm hand.

When he broke for air, he said, "And I love you. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, meine liebling. I should never have left you with that vagabond woman."

"Don't blame Agatha. We were ambushed from behind with some kind of scent on a rag they used to cover our faces. We were out almost instantly. There's nothing you or the other guys could have done. But now, I'm in a strategic position to help you, shmoopsiepoo. Now, the kiddiewinkies are in a cage – how about that; you and Lorene are two peas in a pod—"

"Please don't say that."

"Oh, I don't know," Gina teased again. "It's inside a small circus tent…"

"She's a hack."

"For real, right? Nothing compares to your 'party wagon,' Jules." Nostalgically, Gina began to hum the Vulgarian national anthem in a bouncy way. "Anyway…you go down that corridor from whence she dragged me and there's a big, round room that opens up on the left. That's where she tried to do the rituals on me and the kids are about to be next. Man, oh, man, did I have a time of it. Whew! It was exhausting, like I was being crushed by the air pressure or something. My whole body was tingling and shaking. There was a legit spiritual war going on for the residency, there. I faked going unconscious, but I was about to conk out away. She's called on some rotten stuff in there to keep these kids comatose. Can't wait for her to be the one behind bars. I don't know if she'll get ambitious and start tonight or if the distraction of a tall, dark, devilishly handsome, quirky stranger with a long nose will keep her at bay for a while…"

Julian smirked and rolled his eyes. "I only have a nose for you." He gave the side of her hair an upward stroke with his nose and inhaled slowly and deeply.

"Well, shmoopsiepoo, it won't hurt my feelings if you make Riana think it's for her. I perceive you've got a good momentum going and you should run with it so that we can run for it, if you know what I mean."

"I get it. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"I have total confidence in our relationship, Julian. And I'm also a pragmatist. Do whatever you need to do to save our lives."

Julian creased his brow with doleful affection. "I adore you. You're such a strong woman. How could I ever love anyone else?"

"Mmm. Them's marrying words right there."

"Well, I'll be sure to have more of them in much more suitable time and place." He cocked his head to the side and smirked. "My doll."

One last kiss before 'the show.'

Julian followed Gina's directions. The room was far more elegant than the rest of the basement. Ornate rugs covered the otherwise concrete floor. Lanterns fastened to the wood paneling of the walls cast a dim, orange light. Despite the strong smell of incense, there was a strange difference in the air in this room, but Julian couldn't quite put his finger on it. There was a thickness to it, perhaps, like something pressing in, as Gina had said. Whatever it was, Julian's sense of foreboding was rising as if some wild animal was stalking him in a dark room. The tent Gina described was there, red and white stripped, indeed like a circus tent. Across from it was a table of dark wood that looked like a church's communion table. In fact, it was. Once. The carved inscription "This Do In Remembrance of Me" was scratched out with some kind of sharp instrument. On top of this table was a hodgepodge of books, candles, and…bottles of something. Julian's hands began to shake and he wrung them close to his chest. This is why I deal in candy and ice cream. Dear Jesus, do save us…my deal with the devil is only temporary. Very, VERY temporary.

"Julian!" he heard Jemima call.

Julian whipped around, both with urgency and being startled by the sudden sound. "Chh-sh-sh-sh!" he shushed as he took to knee at the bars of the cage inside the tent, where Jemima, Jeremy, Jane, and Michael rushed to meet him.

"Have you come to rescue us?" Jemima asked.

"Yes, yes," Julian whispered. "But you must be quiet."

"Oh, Julian, do hurry," she whimpered. "I'm so frightened. There are dead children on the walls."

"There, there, Jemima," Julian reached through the bars to give her dampened cheek a stroke. All of them looked like they had been doing some weeping. In his chest, Julian was gripped by a sympathy of which he never thought himself capable. Of course, Gina, Jemima, and Jeremy all had had ample time to break down his walls. Notwithstanding, he could definitely relate to their fear of this place. "Everything's going to be alright. And these children aren't dead, they're under Madam Geppetta's horrid, horrid spell. I'm not going to let that happen to you all. Although, it does make me question why it hasn't…"

"We saw what happened to Gina," Jane said, her voice shaky with an attempted control of tears. "They were chanting things over her and it was like they were praying, but sometimes we couldn't understand what they were saying. Then, Gina looked like she fell asleep. That scary lady said we would get to do the same in the morning."

"Aha. So, that's it. She rushed on Gina to get to me. Well, take heart – Gina is well. The ritual didn't work on her. Because Jesus is in her heart. You make sure you do the same. I'm sure He's already with you. He's nice guy, so Gina tells me."

"Where is Daddy?" Jemima asked.

"He's upstairs somewhere. We're going to devise a plan to get you out of here. But I shouldn't linger here. You kiddiewinkies keep your hopes up."

They nodded.