Chapter Text
Their plan was simple. Watch until night fell. Felix was no amateur when it came to light feet and moving without being seen. They would find the goat and follow him home. When all was quiet, they’d creep up to his house and make another attempt at getting information. If nothing else, they would look for the ‘collection’ of newspapers he claimed to have. Felix refrained from the grimace of horror he had at the thought of eating two-hundred-year-old historical papers. He could only pray to the stars that the goat never found a museum or relic. The idea of it being a buffet made his fur stand on end. So much information lost on the whims of a taste for paper and ink!
Felix shook his head. It was time to focus! This place was too dangerous for his mind to wander off. There were very few street lights here. The dark was pitch and the sounds of the forest were loud. It was the perfect cover in Felix’s opinion. Still, he had to be careful. All it would take is someone pulling a curtain at the wrong moment. The first step was to find the goat ‘Ferg.’ The shadows were his friends as he darted across yards and streets on quiet feet. He kept his ears up and eyes sharp as he slunk through the night.
He paused as a dog started to bark. He kept low and tense to the ground. When no one came out to check what had alerted the pet, he continued into a tree. Felix scanned the business on the street from the cover of its leaves. There weren’t many places the goat could have gone here unless he was already at home or visiting someone else. He hoped that wasn’t the case. Felix didn’t want to imagine checking home after home in this place. The diner-bar was the most busy establishment at this hour. A number of locals crowded its tables. Other places, like the post office and fruit stand, had long since closed for the day.
After not finding the goat in the bar--at least not seeing him from the window--Felix slipped out and continued down the street carefully. There was a chill in his fur, and he wasn’t sure whether it was from the night air or his nerves. He heard a door open and ducked in between two buildings.
“Night Jim.”
“See ya, Howser.”
A lumbering bison passed the narrow path. Felix pressed himself tighter against the wall. The pig from the diner that morning was with him. He was talking to Howser. “An’ he was speakin’ in tongues or somethin’ o’ that like cause I couldn' dern ‘derstan’ a word he was sayin.’”
Felix silently snorted to himself. It wasn’t like he was speaking a foreign language.
“You should be grateful someone let the sheriff know what was going on,” the bison grunted.
“You figure carnies have a differen’ kinda brain than us herbs?” the pig asked as they walked out of earshot.
What kind of nonsense--No. Forget it. The cat had better things to do. He didn’t want to think about whatever ideas people had about him. Felix took a deep breath. That had been close. He let the air out slowly. He was looking forward to leaving this place already. But not before he had answers. He checked around the corner before daring to go out on the street again. The cat continued his careful search, window-by-window, building-by-building. He looked into small trade shops, a lodge of some sort, a closed dance hall, and so on. He was starting to doubt himself when he finally struck gold.
“For Upper’s sake, Fergison! How many times have I told you not to go rummaging through my trash! Git, git you drunk trash demon!” a rabbit in an apron smacked the goat with a broom. Felix’s eyes widened.
“These are perfectly good cans! I'm not letting them go to waste!” The goat hunched over to avoid the broom, trying to gather as many cans as he could in his arms. “There's bacon soup!”
Felix pursed his lips. Oh stars. No. No. He refused to find that funny. Absolutely not. Felix’s lip twitched. Maybe a little. But he swore to himself to never tell Bendy!
“Don't you have enough already!” the exasperated housewife chided him.
“Not really . . . no!” the goat replied indignantly. Felix crept to the corner of the adjacent building to watch a safe distance away.
The woman groaned in frustration. She went inside finally, throwing her hands up into the air. Fergison bleated in triumph, scrambling to scoop up the rest of the cans. Despite his best efforts, one or two fell as he clip-clopped off down the street. Well . . . with that racket, it was likely no one would notice Felix at least. Hopefully this meant the goat was no longer drunk too. They could do with a coherent conversation. Felix pulled back and circled around, careful to follow at a distance but not lose Fergison completely. He had to stop once as a couple went past, hands linked and voices soft as they mozied painfully slowly down the road.
Felix worried he’d lost the old man for a moment but managed to catch up to the fellow on account of the noise he was making--just as he took a turn into a quieter neighborhood too. There were no lights here to guide the old man or Felix. The cat was fine with this. The dark allowed him to move more freely and a bit closer. He had just managed to get within hearing distance when his boot kicked a can. Fergison straightened and stopped. Felix tensed and ducked behind a bush.
The old goat turned, narrowing his eyes he clip-clopped back. His face was close to the ground as he looked carefully down the street. He stopped right in front of Felix’ bush and paused. The cat held his breath. “Was it you I heard my dear? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to leave you behind,” the goat said, picking up the can Felix had kicked. He rubbed it against his face and took a bite. He hummed happily, munching on the metal. It made a horrifying metallic crunching sound. “Yum. Pineapple rings.” Turning, he continued to clip-clop on his way.
Felix sighed. The things he did for leads. If he didn’t know better, he’d suspect this was all some terrible gag. The cat extracted himself from the bush and continued his pursuit. Thank the guiding stars, they reached the goat’s abode without further incident. Felix let out a sigh of relief. It wasn’t in the middle of this town either, another blessing from above. He hoped this meant they could make a quick and easy departure from this town once and for all soon.
Felix looked around. Holly had activated her fade rune before they had entered Paradise Hills again. As a precaution, they'd decided she should keep a distance from him so he wouldn't mess up her magic. He hadn't noticed a peep of her since, so he hoped she had been able to keep up. “Holly?” he whispered in a low voice.
“Here.” Holly poked out from behind a tree, waving at him. Now that he was looking straight at her, he wondered how he'd missed her. The tree didn't even fully block his view of her. Ah the wonders of magic.
“Ready for a second attempt?” Felix asked.
She smiled and nodded silently. “Ready as I’ll be,” she whispered back. They walked up to the door of the house. Felix didn’t admit he felt the same trepidation. Instead, he reached out and knocked on the door.
“Nobody’s here!” the old goat’s voice sounded through the door. There was a rather cringy crunch and a loud clatter from inside.
Then who answered? Mr. Nobody? Felix wanted to say. Greek history aside, Felix took a deep breath. “Mr. Fergison? It’s us. Felix and Holly from earlier today? We were hoping we could talk to you.” Felix called through the door as loud as he dared.
“Veal licks and dolly? What sorta names are those? Did your mother have a fever when you were born?” There was a click-clack from inside coming in their direction. Felix gave Holly a puzzled look. Should he respond to that? No. No, best to ignore that.
“I think it would be easier to talk if you opened the door, sir,” Felix tried. Would they break in if he didn’t answer? Felix really hoped not, but he wasn’t leaving without answers either. “Mr. Fergison?”
The door opened a crack. A suspicious eye looked out at them. “You’re not the landlord . . .” The door slowly creaked all the way open. The goat leaned far out, squinting. His protruding mouth almost brushed Felix’ whiskers as he narrowed his eyes. The cat flinched back.
“Hello Mr. Fergison.” Felix shook his head and recovered from his surprise. “I’m Felix, and this is my friend Holly. We wanted to look at some of your newspaper collections. We’re interested in the history they have.”
“Hmmmmmm.” The goat’s brows went down as he looked Felix up and down. To Felix’s relief, he didn’t seem drunk, but to his concern, that meant he probably saw Felix for the feline that he was. No gopher disguise this time. Would he tell them to leave?
“You’re that hamster from earlier, aren’t you!” The goat leaned back. He raised his knobby fists. “If you’re here to steal my cans, you can forget it. I got hooves of steel, and I’m not afraid to bite!”
Felix’s jaw dropped. Hamster! How in the world did he look like a hamster? Holly burst out laughing and had to quickly smother herself. It was ugly laughter too, the snorting kind. Utter betrayal.
Face flushed with humiliation, Felix did his best to reclaim his composure. “No sir. I won’t touch your cans. I simply want to look at your newspapers. We won’t take them. We just want the information they have. We’ll leave immediately after.” He had lost a bit of his chipper tone. “Please,” he added, sounding a little desperate at this point.
The goat paused. “Eh? What is that you said? You want to see some newspapers? Well, why didn’t you say so in the first place?” he huffed. He turned, hobbling inside. He waved his hoof, “Come on in!”
Felix didn’t know if he wanted to scream or laugh. Neither sounded like sane options that wouldn’t get them noticed, so he did neither. Stars, he’d need a huge milkshake after this. His head was starting to hurt. His tail continued to twitch. Holly reached out to pat him on the arm. She had a sympathetic look on her face, though it still looked like she wanted to laugh. Felix smiled back, reassured, but also tempted to be mischievous later.
They entered the house. It was less of a house like Granny’s and more a shack-like cabin. It was a one room home. On the far side of the room, there was a fireplace. An unmade cot was in the corner and a table in the other. There was a cabinet next to the bed. Its drawers were pulled open and piled with screws of various types. Those were the most recognizable objects in the room. The rest of the room was covered in junk of various types. Mountains and mounds and piles and stacks. A jungle of junk. An organized chaos only the maker of such could understand.
Most of the mess was cans but there were other things too. There was an overflowing pile of old apple cores sitting in a bucket. All kinds of shoes, boots, and sandals--each with at least one bite taken out of it--were piled next to the door. Their partner socks were sprinkled about the room like flaky bits on an unwashed scalp. There was a scorched wooden plate by the fire. Mouse traps littered the place everywhere in various stages of baited, sprung and unsprung. It looked like the mice were getting the better of him though because Felix spotted some fresh droppings underneath the cabinet. The room was dim, the air in it stagnant and a bit acrid. It made Felix want to wrinkle his nose. He had to step carefully and hold his tail up to keep it safe from the traps.
Snowball peaked out from Holly’s pocket, nose twitching. As if sensing her, a mousey nose poked out from inside a can with a mirroring twitch.
The old goat hesitated for a moment, seeming to remember himself. “Uhhhh, maybe I oughtta clean up a little bit,” he said, sounding a little unsure for the first time. He reached over, brushing several cans off the bed. He grabbed the blanket on the cot, bunched it up and shoved it under the bed. “You can sit here,” he offered with a smile, patting the stained cot.
This was not the worst or oddest thing Felix had endured. He just hadn’t expected this from rural America. After a moment of hesitation, Felix moved, offering a helping hand to Holly. Her expression had changed as they’d taken in the room, her humor fading. They both sank into the lumpy edge of the cot. Fergison pulled an old stool out from under a pile of cans, sending them rolling everywhere. He sat down on it. “Thank you.” Felix smiled. “So about those newspapers.” He felt a twinge of concern. What condition could they be in within this mess? Ten or so years old? It’d be a miracle if they could find anything.
Fergison nodded excitedly. “Yes, yes,” he acknowledged.
“We’re looking for articles from about ten years ago. An incident occurred with wolves. Do you have anything on the event?” Felix asked. He tried to calm the spark of anticipation in his chest and failed. He could hear the hope and anxiety in his voice as he asked. Of course, this was hoping that the goat actually read any of the papers he collected.
There was a pause. The goat cocked his head to the side. He got up, not answering, pacing a few steps, stopping before finally reaching down into the mess. Felix was ready to vibrate out of the room. A cat asking about dogs. Of course the goat would find it strange. Was this it? What was he about to see? Fergison pulled out a long horn and stuck the small end into his ear, angling the horn in Felix’ direction. “Can you say that again, Dolly?”
Felix clapped his hands in front of his mouth and had to physically restrain any noise of frustration from leaving him. He took one deep breath. Two. His hands left his mouth. Please whatever powers were out there, no gags. Not right now. He was close to an edge. An outburst. His patience had been spent on this trip.
Holly reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Let me,” she said. He nodded. Holly turned to the goat. She smiled leaning forward until her mouth was right in front of the horn. “We’re looking for articles from about ten years ago, 4346 AW,” she said, projecting. “About the wolves.”
“Ahhhhhh,” the goat said, nodding. “I remember them.”
“You do?” Holly said, perking up. She leaned forward. “Do you have a newspaper about them?” she whisper-shouted into his horn.
Felix’s ears perked. His tail flicked as he tried to calm down and get a hold of himself.
Casually Snowball crawled out of Holly’s pocket and made her way to the floor as they talked. She picked her way through the mess until she reached the can with her associate in it. The mouse scurried out. The two of them started to sniff each other curiously.
The goat nodded fast. “I got every year, every single article,” he boasted. “Black walls, checkered walls, cutesy flowery walls. We have a whole week of articles on how to best construct solid walls. You know, you’d be surprised at the amount of people who can’t appreciate some good interior decorating in this town--”
“No!” Felix burst. That was it. Felix was done. “No! NO! The wolves! We are here for the wolves! Families destroyed! People killed! And you can’t stop talking about blazing cans and eating bloody historical documents!” Felix snapped. “Either show them to us or kick us out for star's sake! We don’t have all the time in the world!” Felix surprised himself. Maybe it was remembering Boris stumbling through the woods or the moose’s hand on the back of his neck. The looks he had gotten. Maybe it was not knowing what Bendy being in that town had meant for their mayor. Maybe it was the stress of risking his and Holly’s safety and how unbothered and comfortable this goat was. Maybe it was the mess. Maybe it was the goat’s near-constant lack of competency. Maybe it was the blatant disregard for history. Or just maybe it was because Ferg reminded him of someone else, and he was just waiting for the gags that weren’t coming. Felix didn’t know but he was fed up with the entire situation.
Fergison shut his mouth was a snap. He stared at Felix, his ears going down shamefully in the presence of the cat’s rage. He twiddled his hooves together. “Sorry,” he muttered. Felix folded his arms, snorting out a huff of self-righteous indignation, his tail giving one lash across the bed. The goat looked up at them. “I just was excited to have someone to talk to.”
Felix withered internally, regretting his outburst almost instantly with the quiet omission.
The goat slowly lowered himself onto his stool again. “I . . . Uh, I do know about some wolves that was here ten years ago,” he admitted, his hooves in his lap.
Felix’s posture lowered a bit. His arms dropped, and he leaned forward. A witness. Maybe. Felix couldn’t bring himself to feel excited though. Either the goat stayed inside and ignored the suffering of that night--in which case he wouldn’t have much to share beyond what they already knew--or he went out and joined in on what had been going on. And Felix doubted he had joined the wolves if that was the case. Still, Felix held his tongue and listened. This was still the best lead they had.
Somehow, the mouse and Snowball had located a cracker. The two of them shared it as the old goat spoke, their bodies turned toward the group like they were listening into the story as well.
Fergison seemed uncomfortable in the silence. He shifted on his stool uneasily. “A thing like that sticks with you,” He murmured. “It changes you.” He looked up at them. “We weren't always like this,” he said with pleading eyes. “Things really started when mean ‘ol Bill Bear finally lost his temper. He'd never really liked anyone to begin with and Jack Rabbit was as annoying as cuss to even his friends. So, it was no one's surprise when Big ‘ol Bill bit him one day when he caught him stealing cabbages from his garden.” Fergison paused and baa-snorted. “Well, except for Jack. He howled and hollered like Bill had bitten his arm clean off. But the problems really started when the county judge gave ‘ol Bill the heaviest sentence ya can give a carni. They ground down his teeth.”
Felix flinched, his fur standing on end. “They what?” he hissed softly. “That’s utterly barbaric!” Taking someone’s fangs like that. It would change diet, jaw alignment. The pain would be constant, not to mention the social implications.
“They ground down his teeth. All ‘a them. The guy drank through a straw after.” Fergison shook his head.
Felix shivered. He would expect that from a tribe that caught a spy or a war prisoner facing torture. Not a court order.
Holly winced. “Isn't that . . .a bit too extreme?”
“A bit? It was throwing the baby out with the bathwater!” Fergison exclaimed. “It turned out Jack Rabbit's daddy had some distant rich relative, and they made sure that Bill got the heaviest sentence possible. Dug around real good to find the worst punishment. Anyways, the wolves.” Fergison sighed, reaching down idly to pick up a can and start munching on it. The sound of teeth grinding against metal made Felix wince again. Holly looked at the goat with deep concern. “There'd been a pack. The Silvertails. They'd been living here for years. A couple months before Bill lost his temper, a second pack moved into the area. The Morisons.” Fergison pressed his lips together. “Bad mojo, that. It's not a good idea to have two packs in one place. They get territorial. An neither of them liked ol’ Bill's ruling. They didn't like it at all.”
Felix would say so! It was over a decade old, and he certainly didn’t ‘like’ it. They had practically crippled him! “So, what happened?” Felix found himself tapping his knee nervously.
“They did the smartest, most gosh darn stupid thing!” Fergison threw his hooves up. “They banded together and aimed for office. They wanted to repeal the biting law.”
Felix frowned. “They wanted to repeal a law that disfigured them.” He folded his ears back. “Most likely aiming for office because their concerns were being ignored by their local representatives.” Felix glared at the ground so he wasn’t glaring daggers at the goat. “That stupidity, right? Going about it legally.” He looked over at the old man.
The goat avoided his gaze. “Don’ look at me,” he muttered. “People got scared, and Jack Rabbit got mouthy. There were enough wolves to give the wolf candidate a real chance in the running. The rumors going around were that they'd repeal all the laws that restrained carnis. That they’d start eating folks. Toons started arguing, having shoutin’ matches in the grocery store. A couple of kids threw black paint all over the house of the wolf fella that was running for office, Neil Silvertail. Funny enough, it all came to a head when a bunch of the kids got in a scuffle on the playground. And one of the kids got bit.”
Holly stared at the goat. “They wouldn't put a kid on trial, would they? They are still learning.”
Felix’s stomach dropped at the thought. He almost didn’t want to hear the answer.
Fergison looked grim. “Nah, and the town knew it. But at that point, even if they could, it wouldn't be enough. The townspeople were angry. And Jack kept on riling them up when he could.” The goat stopped and offered them each a can. “You sure you don't want to take a snack break? These are fresh picked,” he said nervously.
Felix’s brows rose slowly. “No thank you. I don’t think it’ll agree with my stomach at the moment.” Or any moment really.
“I'm . . . can intolerant,” Holly said after a moment.
The mouse pulled a old bean from one of the cans and offered it to Snowball. The dandehog sniffed it, seized up, and fell over on the ground in a dramatic faint. The mouse seemed to shrug and started eating the bean.
Fergison made a face. “Well that's a real shame. You should talk to your doctor about that.” He took a bite out of one of the cans. “Sorry, I'm a nervous eater, and this is the most sober I've been in days.” He swallowed, the lump of metal making a visible bulge in his esophagus. He finished the first and ate the second before he built up the nerve to continue. “They decided to drive all the carnis out. But not before they found that kid and ground down her teeth as well. Her name was Beatrice.”
Felix closed his eyes and let his face fall into his hand. Beside him, Holly let out a small gasp and went pale. His sister. It had to be Boris’ sister, stars guide them. He could see her clearly in his mind, kneeling next to her fallen mother. Four years old. Fergison, thank the stars, was too blind and deaf to notice their subtle reactions.
“I don't know how, but somehow her dad and her uncle Neil, the wolf who has been running for office, caught wind of what was about to happen. They went through town spreading the word, but they didn't have much time. The mob found them before they even got a chance to leave the city.” Fergison hunched over, his head in his hoof hands. “I . . . I'm not . . . what happened to them . . . They died,” he finally said.
Felix raised his head. The anger was gone out of him. There was no fire in his words when he asked. “Please. We have to know. What happened to them? What happened to the girl? They deserve to be remembered.”
The goat shook his head. “I don't know. They shot anyone who ran. Anyone they caught, they'd tar and feather before stringing them up. They hung like cussed-up ornaments on the trees for months afterwards.” Fergison started to shake. “The smell . . . so horrible. I've never . . . been able to . . . forget it.”
Felix took a deep breath. He figured it’d been gruesome. How bloody despicable.
“They must have said whether they caught the girl at least,” Holly pleaded. “If they were so angry with her.”
Fergison seemed to awaken at that, coming back to them from somewhere deep inside his head. “Yeah. You gotta point about that.” He frowned. “Actually, I remember Jack putting up a hissy fit about how he'd been bitten again after that night. I ain't gonna use his language, but he said the pup should be put down. I take it that she bit him and got away. Otherwise, he wouldn't have wanted her put to sleep.”
Felix’s teeth clenched. “Jack better watch his back,” he whispered.
Holly leaned toward him. “We're never telling Bendy about this, right?” she whispered back.
“Not unless we want to deal with a murder trial,” Felix said, tilting his head toward hers.
“One was enough for me,” Holly said deadpan.
“I missed most of that,” Felix glanced down at the magic bag. The rules went through his head almost automatically. Once again, he found himself tempted, but again, he reminded himself he could do more good with the bag than without. Even if he felt justified in breaking any of the rules. “But I agree. Best not to get tied up with the legal system. Especially the one here.”
Holly shuddered.
“Are the two of you smooching!?!” Fergison said in a highly offended tone.
Felix blanched and jumped. “MERWH-No! No!’”
“Stars!! A goat takes the time to dig real deep and bare his soul in the honest goodness of his own home, share his personal hurts, and what does he get?” He waved his hands at them. “Veal and Dolly kissing!”
Holly’s face went dark even as she started laughing. “N-no,” she wheezed. “That's not wh-wha-ha-ha-hat we were doing,” she snickered, wiping away a tear.
“Please, stars, no!” Felix wished to crawl under a rock.
Meanwhile, the loud exclamations woke up Snowball, who blinked blearily awake from her faint. She rolled back onto her feet and shook her head.
“Then what were you two doin, huh?” the goat folded his arms with a huff. “My story too boring for you to pay attention?”
Think fast Felix! “We were, uh-”
“We were just wondering what happened to the rest of the family,” Holly saved him.
“Yes! If the girl got away and her father and uncle didn’t, what of the rest of them? Her mother perhaps? Any siblings?” Felix jumped on Holly’s save with maybe a hint too much enthusiasm for the topic at hand. He sobered himself. “Were there any news or rumors about their whereabouts?”
Fergison shook his head. “Dunno. All I can say is they weren't among the dead that I recall.”
Snowball started to make her way back up Holly’s skirt.
“What about the newspaper?” Holly asked.
The goat baaed. “I clean forgot,” he said, tapping his knee. “I'll get them.” He shifted a little in his seat, clearing his throat.
Felix looked around. “Do you need us to get up?” He asked in confusion.
Fergison leaned forward, starting to cough. After a moment, he started pounding his chest, retching dryly.
“Mr. Fergison?” Holly leaned forward in concern. “Do you need some water? Did some of the can get stuck?” She gave Felix a concerned look. Snowball paused on her lap, meeping with mirroring concern.
The goat was doubled over now, sweat coating his fur as he heaved. Felix reached into his bag for his pouch of water. Stars above, if this goat suddenly coughed up ink-Oh stars! Not ink! Felix felt a chill go down his spine. There was no way!
“Urk-Uurk!” Fergison cupped his hands over his mouth as something spilled out.
The cat winced and dug a little more urgently for the water. “Hold on, Mr. Fergison.” If it was ink illness, there wasn’t really much they could do. Stars, he hoped he was wrong. Felix found his water and pulled it out. He got up and offered the water to the goat. He rested a hand on Fergison’s back. “Here, have some water.”
“HERE IT IS!” Fergison shot straight up, pulling the end of a rolled newspaper out of his mouth . “Oh boy am I outta practice. I clean forgot to open up my esophagus properly!” he chuckled.
Felix froze. His fur rolled on end as a shiver started at his toes and went up to his ears. Holly was with him this time, staring at the newspaper in horror.
Fergison noticed the flask of water. “Oh, thank you Dolly. That's quite thoughtful. Old channel is a bit dry.” He took the flask and drank a long gulp.
Felix’s shoulders slumped. He didn’t know if he was relieved the goat didn’t have ink illness or horrified at what he had just witnessed. Most likely both. His headache got a touch worse.
Fergison waved the newspaper at him. “You gonna look at it or you ain't?”
Holly exchanged a look with Felix before reaching out for the paper with obvious reluctance. She blinked as she took it and rolled it out, brushing her fingers over it and rubbing them together. She looked at Felix. “It's dry.” She offered him the paper.
“How?” Felix took the paper and turned it over in his hands. It was just as Holly said, dry as a bone. It even smelled like ink.
Fergison chuckled with pride. “I got the best talent out there,” he boasted. “Anything I swallow, I can store safely.”
Felix felt a shift on his waist. He would not look down. He would not. If he laughed now and offended the bag-Now was not the time! Stars, he was comparing the magic bag to-to this! Felix pursed his lips. Should he cry or laugh? “That’s . . . amazing,” Felix managed. He felt a jab at his side.
“What does safely mean?” She leaned forward.”Does it age in there? Does being stored save it from decomposition? Earlier you said you were letting the paper age for consumption. How does it age inside you? What's the difference between eating something and storing it? Do you ever eat something and accidentally store it or visa versa? Does it go down your throat when you store it? It can't have because it didn't get your spit on it, right? How do you choose what you are pulling out? Do you have a mind palace where you do that like mine? Is there a limit to how many things you can store? Can you only store things you can fit in your mouth?”
Ah, and there was dear Holly’s curiosity. Felix really should take a page from her book. It wasn’t every day a talent like this came around. Now though, he may need to save the poor old goat. Felix patted Holly’s shoulder about to tell her she needed to slow down or she’d overwhelm the poor goat.
“Yeah.” Fergison replied. “Yeah. It ages but it don't get exposed to the elements. I don't know how it ages. What do I look like? A scientist? Well, when I wanna store somethin’ I don't chew, and I sorta aim upwards like I'm shoving it up my nose. I have definitely eaten stuff I was tryin’ ta store and stored stuff I was trying to eat. Pretty sure there's an apple core in there somewhere I'll find some day.” Each question Holly asked, Fergison replied with equal swiftness intensity, like they were playing a game of tennis with words. Back and forth it went. “It don't go down my throat, I would choke! I just think real hard about what I want and cross my eyeballs like I'm about to pass gas. Mind what-ace? Are you fancy rich folk? I can fit about two hundred things, though I been working on raisin’ that number. Yeah, it has to fit in my mouth to go down, don't it?”
Oh stars. Oh stars. Oh stars. This was both amazing and horrible. Every question Holly snapped out Fergison snapped up with seeming glee. The two of them leaned forward to listen to the other. Holly opened her mouth in preparation to send out another volley of questions.
“Ah! That is truly astonishing, Mr. Fergison,” Felix said quickly. “You have quite the gift. I never would have imagined you’d kept these papers in such grand condition.” Even if he was planning to eat them. And sort of already had . . . Felix still felt conflicted over that. “Thank you for sharing all this information with us. We'll take a look at the paper, and once we are done, we'll be on our way. We don't want to keep you from a good night's rest.”
“Oh, you are right. I’d forgotten about the paper for a moment.” Holly hummed, she glanced down at it.
Fergison, for his part, deflated a little at Felix’ words. Felix felt a bit bad for the old man. It was clear he wasn’t happy and wasn’t much liked. He wished he could help move Fergison somewhere more open. Surprisingly, Sillyvision came to mind. But he didn’t have the resources to help relocate the old goat, and he didn’t have time. Plus, he had no idea if the old man even wanted to leave. Felix shook his head mentally to dispel the thoughts.
When he glanced down at the paper and started to read, a slow frown formed in his face.
Predators stalk the streets and buy up all the meat.
Wolf threatens to eat Momma Charlotte’s three little piglet girls.
Jack and Jill go missing on the hill behind Morrison’s farm along with their mother's milking cow.
Town freed from the threat haunting community! Wolves removed by county ruling.
One headline after another made the blood drain from his face slowly. These papers . . . painted a very different story. This wasn’t right.
“I’ve said it before. Those newspapers are only good for eating,” Fergison huffed, folding his arms. Somehow, despite everything, Felix could now agree with him. These slanderous articles were not sharing news and facts. They were justifying and concealing murder. It was heart-wrenching how twisted the facts were. These were dark designs to twist the people to fear and anger. Stars. He felt almost nauseous.
Felix looked over at Holly. Her expression was hard, ominous. He saw the sparkle of decision in her eyes. She had a plan. He didn’t know what it was, but her expression made it clear her mind was made up. He had a feeling he would be inclined to agree with it. The cat turned back to the goat. “Thank you, Mr. Fergison. We really appreciate it.” He held the paper out for the old man to take back.
The old goat took it, rolled it up, and slid it into his mouth and throat in one smooth gulp. Felix cleared his throat, feeling uncomfortable just watching. No, he was certainly not imagining how that must feel. Not at all. Felix folded his hands together and stood. “I think we have learned everything we need. Ms. May?” Felix offered her his hand to help her up.
The look she gave him was strange. There was a hint of mischief there mixed with a clear apology. She took his hand, rising, and squeezed it. Turning to Fergison, she said, “I was thinking, I feel that we owe you some sort of repayment for your kindness. You have such a lovely collection of items here. But your system of organization seems a little mixed. Would you like help sorting and organizing it all?” she asked pleasantly.
Felix felt his mouth drop open in surprise. What? Why would they do that? He looked around the maelstrom of junk in silent horror. What was she possibly thinking! They’d be here for days! “Uh.”
Fergison, for his part, looked surprised too. He actually baaed before he answered. “You . . .” His face turned dark with embarrassment. “I wouldn’t want to make you endure it,” he muttered. Good! He was well aware himself! “I know no one wants to be at my place for very long.”
Holly leaned forward and took his hooves. “Then how much more difficult it must be for you to live here. Or try to deal with it by yourself, you poor dear. Let us help you this once. Please? Right Felix?” Holly turned and gave him a bright smile.
Felix pursed his lips, his ears folding back. When she put it that way he felt like a right bugger for wanting to scamper off. Bloody hell. “It would be easier with a few volunteers to help. I’m sure we could make quick work of it.” Stars, Felix hoped the magic bag was in a cooperative mood tonight.
