Travel to Sockland

Chapter 24

They sat at a table in the largest room in the building. The building itself was very similar to that of the Pencil leader's house. The wall colours varied slightly but the ceiling was the same shimmering colour of the trees.

They sat on the floor around a table. Everyone at the table was silent but most were looking around the room with what appeared to be great interest. Arnie sat at one side, Isabelle on the other. Upon the throne-like chair in front of them sat the leader of the pens and gathered around the room were many other pen soldiers. Some had black caps, some had red and others had blue. A few of the pens were larger - permanent marker sized. These were thicker but only slightly taller than the others. The leader was one of those, and he was a deep midnight black. He gazed at Arnie from his seat. His eyes were light grey and intense. Arnie had Stickler, who remarkably had not been injured or lost in the fray, held next to him.

"Tell me your story." The pen leader said. His voice was not hostile though it carried a definite note of authority and Arnie felt compelled to answer. Isabelle had remained quiet since helping him up but Arnie thought he could feel her interest. Arnie had been led from outside directly to this location. He was a bit worried about what his pencil soldiers were thinking or doing, but he pushed it from his mind. He started to speak, keeping what he said concise and to the point. He spoke formally.

"I am from elsewhere. I ended up in Sockland by some strange occurence while trying to find out where my odd socks vanished to. I was taken by the pencils to their last remaining village and trained by the pencils for war. I was trained to help them defend themselves and regain their villages. When we regained the village of Shadingston, or Quilsburgh as you called it, we were planning to march upon your main village here where we sit. As we were leaving we discovered a spy around the wall." Arnie pointed at Stickler sitting in front of him to indicate who he was talking about.

Before Arnie could continue speaking the Pen leader spoke, he sounded less than pleased. "Yes, we see you have kidnapped this poor paintbrush!"

Arnie bowed his head in slight submission as he felt the surrounding pen soldiers tense in anticipation. He tried to keep his voice gentle and unthreatening.

"This is where my story leads. I ask that you please hear me out before drawing any conclusions." he looked up at the leader who indicated he should go on with the wave of a hand. Arnie thought that was a good sign.

"We caught this paintbrush spying on us from the side of the village. Of course, we found this to be odd behaviour. You see, the paintbrushes have been trading only rarely with the pencils since the war began. It has always been done with the greatest of care and security due to the 'risk' from the pens. What was a lone paintbrush doing right next to a village full of pens?"

Arnie felt the surrounding pens shuffle but he continued to look at the leader and ignored them. He was caught up in the story now.

"He would not answer our questions no matter what we said. And so it was one of my pencil soldiers brought a leaf from the forest. Under the influence of this leaf he told his tale."

And Arnie repeated all that Stickler had told them. He felt the pens in the room tensing more, he heard the occasional gasp of shock or hurt. The pen leader kept his face neutral but Arnie could see his eyes hardening.

When Arnie finished talking he glanced over at Isabelle. She looked shocked but didn't say anything.

Eventually, the pen leader spoke. His words were directed at Stickler and there was a definite edge to his voice. "Is this true?" Stickler remained silent. Again, like back in the village, Arnie admired his resolve. He was either very brave or very stupid.