The Collector of Remarkable Stories (6 page)

Something Changes

Margie spent the next few days wandering round the Emporium finding more and more items that spoke to her. She was mesmerised by the stories that they told, the characters and the voices. Only the more time she spent in the Emporium, the more she began to sense something unpleasant.

It started one afternoon whilst Margie was flicking through an old Girl's Own Annual from 1901. As she sat cross legged in the centre of the room, she became aware of a change in the atmosphere. It felt heavier, as though something large and unseen had entered the room. Her eyes couldn't see it, but her body sensed it. She rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. Then she thought she heard something, barely audible. A heavy breath perhaps or the sound of someone creeping through the shadows.

Margie closed the book and stood up. Unnerved she made her way cautiously through the tunnels and doorways of the Emporium. Was The Thing following her? She wasn't sure. Suddenly the Emporium didn't feel so friendly. The rooms felt colder, darker. In her panic to get away, she didn't take any real notice of where she was going and, just as she realised that she was completely lost, she felt a sensation across the back of her neck like a dog panting … followed by the sound of breath being exhaled.

"Who is that?" she cried, spinning around quickly.

Silence.

A moment later the sensation passed. Exhausted and afraid, Margie sat down and tried to gather herself.

It was several hours before she was woken from a deep sleep by someone or something calling her name. Margie could see no one but quickly sensed to her horror that whoever the voice belonged to was right there in the room with her as she sat lost and frightened in the heart of the Emporium.

Mechanical Spider

Margie remained very still and listened. Was it possible that she had imagined someone calling her name? She slowly raised herself off the floor, her face still creased from her deep sleep. Then she remembered that she was lost.

With no idea how to find her way out of the Emporium Margie felt the anger rise in her body. As the frustration mounted she kicked a small metal ball near her feet. It rolled across the floor at speed and crashed into a pile of old books.

Suddenly Margie was deafened by an ear piercing shriek – like a smoke alarm only much louder. Margie’s hands flew up to her ears but no matter how hard she pressed she just couldn’t drown out the torturous din. The noise, she decided, was coming from the metal sphere which she had just kicked. Assuming she had activated something when she'd kicked it, she stumbled forward, praying that it would be easy to deactivate.

Then just as quickly as the noise had started it stopped.

Margie breathed a sigh of relief. Already kneeling beside the strange little ball, she decided to look at it just in case. No harm in making sure it was switched off, whatever it was. As soon as Margie’s hands touched the ball however, it suddenly exploded to life, unfurling itself and scuttling across the floor at speed until it was backed into a corner and could go no further.

Margie screamed. The toy which had just sprung to life looked very much like a spider. A very large spider. Its body, the size of a clenched fist, was assembled from an array of cogs and fine mechanisms, whilst the legs (all eight of them) from instruments that resembled mathematical compasses. As she scrambled across a mountain of old broken things in a desperate bid to escape the creature, she frantically tried to figure out how she would get out of the room with that creature between her and the door. Oh the horror. And worse still, what if she couldn’t see it when she finally did turn around and look. What then? What if it was hiding in a dark corner ready to run across her feet as she made her way to safety?

Pretty quickly Margie found herself unable to climb any higher. Sitting atop a mountain of broken chairs, all piled high in a jumble of legs, she felt relatively safe. With a full 360 degree view there was no way Spider Beast would get close to her without her seeing it first. Not that she needed to worry right now. It was exactly where it had stopped moments earlier, sitting silently alongside some old books.

For a few short seconds she wondered if she’d been a bit hasty.

"You fool," she thought. "Spider Beast could just as easily have been a clockwork toy. A sudden bang could have released a jammed mechanism."

Still, she wasn’t prepared to take any chances. Not yet. Not until her breathing had returned to normal and her hands had stopped shaking.

Several minutes passed and Margie wondered if she ought to climb down from the chair mountain and investigate whether Spider Beast was in fact a toy. Her body was aching from sitting at odd angles amid the jumble of wooden posts, and every time she rested her head against one part of the chair or other, she was plagued by visions and voices belonging to all manner of previous owners.

However, it would seem Spider Beast lost patience before Margie lost all sensation.

"I’m guessing you’re afraid of spiders!"

Margie jumped so violently that a number of chairs dislodged and tumbled down the mountain.

"I’m sorry to have frightened you. I’m sure Auguste would have made me in the form of something more cuddly if he’d known."

Spider Beast spoke with a calm, solemn and authoritative voice which instantly and almost magically put Margie at ease.

"Who are you?" asked Margie wondering if it was in fact Spider Beast talking, or something else hiding in the room. "How do you know Auguste?"

"I have no name. I am Auguste's assistant. He built me years ago to help him run the Emporium. Since Auguste has disappeared it's now my job to assist you."

Margie’s mind was swimming with questions. How was it possible to be having a conversation with a mechanical spider? Was this some kind of trap? Something to do with the lobster man that had visited her rather ominously several weeks earlier?

"Why did Auguste never talk about you?" she asked warily.

"I was his assistant. His subordinate. It doesn't surprise me that he didn't talk about me."

"What happened to him? Why did he disappear."

"I can only assume he is in hiding. Or he has been captured. There are a lot of people looking for him. Either way, I think he knew as he prepared me in advance. I know everything I need to know in order to help you here in Limbuss."

Margie could feel herself welling up. She didn’t understand anything that this Spider Beast was telling her. Nothing made sense to her.

"Auguste was a genius. He knew things he shouldn’t. He had a gift and he believed that you have a gift too."

"What kind of gift?" asked Margie.

"You already know the answer to that," said Spider Beast. "Now, are you going to stay on top of that ridiculous pile of wood all night? It’s getting late."

Margie was still quite suspicious of Spider Beast. "Promise you won’t move from that spot. Not even a mechanical hair on one of those legs. Nothing until I say so."

Spider Beast remained motionless until Margie reached the base of Chair Mountain. "Move one leg slowly," ordered Margie, her voice cracking.

Spider Beast slowly moved its right back leg, stretching it back as far as it would go as though doing stretches before a race. "Is that good enough for you?" it asked dryly, clearly tired of Margie’s games.

"Okay," said Margie. "I’m fine." It occurred to Margie that she had learnt something about herself that day. She was afraid of spiders. She had no knowledge of this before Spider Beast startled her and for a second she wondered what else she didn’t know about herself.

"Auguste knew a lot about you, so I know a lot about you too," said Spider Beast interrupting Margie’s thoughts. "I also know the Emporium as well as Auguste."

Margie’s eyes widened. "Do you know where Auguste brought me when I first arrived?"

"You won’t find what you’re looking for there," said Spider Beast.

"And what
am
I looking for?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"You’re looking for that bag. You’re hoping to find something in there that will remind you of who you are. I was watching you too. I was also watching The Giant watching you. There are a lot of people watching you. It’s a dangerous thing. Auguste knew this. He knew there was something about you as soon as he found you on the road out there."

Margie stared at Spider Beast for a moment. She wanted to argue with him but felt quite exhausted. "Do you know your way out of here?"

"Of course. That’s if I’m allowed to move?"

Just thinking about Spider Beast scurrying across the floor sent shivers down Margie’s spine. "Try not to look like a spider if you can," she said, "just until I get used to you."

Spider Beast sighed and turned sideways before scurrying towards the rear of the room like a crab.

It didn’t take Margie long to get used to the Spider. In some ways it reminded her of Auguste. There was something familiar about the voice. If she closed her eyes she could almost imagine that she was lying beneath a thousand blankets, her face being stroked by Auguste, the smell of soup wrapping its arms around her and holding her tightly.

"There’s no point being sentimental about Auguste," said the Spider. "You’ve got more important things to worry about."

"Like what?" She knew the answer but she asked the question anyway.

"There’s a lot I know, Auguste made sure of that. But there’s a lot I don’t know."

"What do you mean," asked Margie suddenly quite intrigued by what Spider Beast had to say.

"Auguste was convinced that you brought something with you …"

"A bag," cried Margie. "I saw it on the photo. I was looking for it when I found you."

"No, not a bag," said Spider Beast. "Something bigger. Something special."

"I’m not so sure," said Margie. "Look at me. What's so special about me?

"You have Listening Hands," said Spider Beast. "That's a pretty good start."

"Yes," said Margie, "that's only because I got a bump on my head."

"That's not true," said Spider Beast defiantly, "and you know it."

Margie shrugged, "I still don’t understand why Auguste built you. You say you're a companion? What kind of companion?"

Spider Beast moved closer to Margie. "He wanted me to watch you and to guide you. Protect you."

Margie laughed. "You're the size of my hand. How can you protect me?"

"For a start I can tell you who you are."

Margie was suddenly very interested indeed. "You know who I am?"

"You are The Collector; one of the untouchables. You disappeared a long time ago. Out of the blue. Poof! Gone. And we've been waiting for your return ever since."

Margie rolled her eyes. "I really think you've made a mistake. I can promise you I'm not a collector of any sort."

"You really have no idea do you?"

"I'm not this collector person," said Margie, angrily. "I'm not."

"You do realise that you're not in the land of the living, don't you?! "You're dead, Margie. Deceased, kaput, finished."

Margie couldn't bring herself to believe that she was
completely
dead. She preferred to think of it as more of a nightmare from which she would wake. She held her hands in front of her face and studied them intently. They looked pink. Healthy. Robust.

"Auguste always suspected you would return in a different skin," said Spider Beast disdainfully. "Why this one though ... "

"Who is this collector
anyway
?" asked Margie.

"The Collector comes to people at the point of death to collect their life story. It's an extremely important and powerful role."

"Why does she collect their story?"

"Each and every story has its part to play in the fabric of time and space; they fuel the creation and growth of our universe; our existence. Without the stories there would be nothing."

"What happens to them after she's collected their stories?"

Spider Beast didn't get a chance to answer. A great dark shadow drew across them and in a split second a huge axe came crashing down a fraction of an inch from Spider Beast. Startled, Spider Beast let out an ear piercing scream which rendered both Margie and their attacker powerless. In that time Spider Beast scuttled across the floor, disappearing beneath the mountain on which Margie had previously taken refuge. Quiet descended.

Margie pulled her hands away from her ears and there, standing before her, was The Giant.

"What are you doing you fool!" she shouted.

The Giant raised his axe one more time. "Where is it?" he yelled.

"Giant! Stop it, he's a friend!"

"It don't have no business bein' here in the Emporium!" said The Giant eyeing one corner of the room suspiciously.

"Auguste
made
him for us!"

Upon hearing Auguste's name, The Giant spun around and looked at Margie. "He made a friend for us?"

"It's safe for you to come out now," cried Margie.

Spider Beast hurried out of his hiding place and scuttled towards Margie. Almost instantly The Giant's axe came flying towards him and slammed into a baby blue Sylvania Dualette TV nearby.

Spider Beast was seething. "How
dare
you!" he raged. "Do you know how
rare
that was?!" Once again Spider Beast emitted a shrill scream, which caused both The Giant and Margie to press their hands firmly to their ears and grimace in pain.

"Stop it!" screamed Margie, almost inaudible over the din. Spider Beast stopped.

Margie picked up the axe and threw it into Chair Mountain where it was instantly lost. "That's enough. Both of you!"

"That were a decent axe!" yelled The Giant.

"Well it's gone now," snapped Margie. "If you can't behave like a gentleman then I shall not treat you like one."

Margie brushed a non-existent crease from her skirt. Spider Beast, this is Giant. Giant this is Spider Beast."

Giant and Spider Beast, both sulking, ignored the introduction. Locked in an awkward battle of wills, the three of them sat still and silent until both Spider Beast and The Giant fell asleep.

Tired and depressed from Spider Beast's earlier bombshell and infuriated by the behaviour of both Spider Beast and The Giant, Margie did what all self respecting head-strong girls would do. She locked the unsuspecting Spider Beast in a small cage and padlocked the cage to The Giant's belt.

"You can't do this!" cried Spider Beast upon wakening.

"You have no choice in the matter!" said Margie. "It's probably for the best anyway. You really wouldn't want to get trodden on by The Giant."

And that was how it was and how it stayed until Margie decided otherwise.