Patchwork People

“What’s going on, Pinpin?”

Yarnfell sat opposite her, his tall frame struggling to get comfortable in her tiny chair. He’d invited himself in when Pinpin had arrived home, and made his place near the fireplace, keeping his hat and cloak on. Pinpin herself was looking at the floor, barely able to look at him, let alone speak.

Noticing a lack of an answer, Yarnfell sighed and leaned forward.

“A contestant came up to me today. Small lad, burlap sack for a head and a needle for a nose. Said you’d stolen his entry to the competition.” he paused to see if she would answer. When she didn’t, he kept going. “I have trouble believing it myself. That’s why I’m here: To ask your side of the story.”

Pinpin looked up, quivering. The scarecrow’s quiet tone was almost worse than shouting, and she heard the slight inflection in his voice, as if he already knew the answer.

“T-there was a scuffle.” she stammered. “I tried to break it up, but-”

Pinpin gulped. It felt wrong to shift all the blame on Tatterbat, even if it was his fault. Whatever happened, they were a team, and she couldn’t just rat him out. That just wouldn’t be fair on him.

“We tipped over Needly’s box when he wasn’t looking. Both of us did. We ran, and thought we could away with it.”

“Who’s we?”

It took awhile for her to answer. “M-me and Tatterbat. Both of us”

She felt awful. Even if she hadn’t outed Tatterbat completely, the act of lying to Yarnfell felt just as bad.

Yarnfell creaked as he stood up. He paced around the room, having to bend over slightly to avoid hitting the ceiling. Facing away from her, he stopped by the fireplace with his hands behind his back.

“You know, you were the only two contestants I hand-picked.” he admitted. “I wanted to have people in this competition with passion and potential. When you two walked past me that night, with cheery eyes and a strong grasp on your nets, I thought I saw that element within you two.”

He turned to face Pinpin. “The passion. The enjoyment. You seemed like good-hearted, honest hunters. I wanted to see if that would make a great bug catcher, one who could fight with the best. The other contestants were more experienced, but you seemed the most engaged. I guess I was mistaken.”

The statement pierced Pinpin like a needle. There were no words she could use. Not even an apology could help her out now. Yarnfell stopped, as if the next thing he was going to say was too difficult to simply blurt out.

“I’m afraid,” he finally spoke. “I’m afraid I will have to dis-”

“Mr. Yarnfell. It was me.”

Pinpin and Yarnfell both turned toward the direction of the voice. Tatterbat stood in the doorway, head poking feebly through the gap. Slowly, he opened the door all the way and walked into the room, head hung low and hands on his trouser-straps.

“I did it all. Pinpin wasn’t with me at the time, and she knew nothing of it. Please don’t punish her, mister. I’ll leave the competition myself.”

Pinpin looked on with astonishment. Not at the admission, but with the sheer look of guilt on Tatterbat’s face. He looked awful. For a guy who was often just so carefree, his expression was almost foreign. The patchwork boy continued to walk into the room, until he was standing underneath Yarnfell.

“Is this true, lad?” Yarnfell asked, craning down to look at him. His tone lacked the anger and disappointment from before, now focusing on concern.

“Yes, sir.” he looked at Pinpin and smiled weakly. “Pinpin’s a good bug catcher. She wouldn’t have done such a thing.”

Yarnfell bent down to be eye level with Tatterbat. “But then why would you?”

“I was angry. Needly stol- he beat me to getting the same bug. I claimed it as mine. Pinpin broke us up before we could fight, but I felt cheated. I figured if I could set the bug free, then maybe I could try and catch it myself, fair and square.”

Yarnfell stared at the boy. His face was illuminated only by the flickering flames from the fireplace. After a brief period of silent judging, Yarnfell stood up and turned away, facing back toward the flames.

“So you didn’t steal.”

“No, sir.”

“But you still broke the rules.”

Pinpin spoke up. “Please, Mr. Yarnfell. He’s a good person, really. He just made a mistake. We’ll apologise to Needly.”

“Saying sorry won’t bring his entry back.” Yarnfell replied swiftly.

“I know, but.” Pinpin paused, trying to think of a solution. “What if we give Needly a share of the money if we win?”

Yarnfell gave a sly smile. “What makes you so sure you’ll win?”

“Because… because…” Pinpin stumbled on her thoughts. He was testing her.

“There’s many other contestants. Why are you so certain?”

Whatever her response was now, it had to be a bold one. It had to be a mature answer, and one that was, by all means, realistic. There was no room for error. She blurted the first thing that came to mind.

“Because we’ll catch Ragworm!”

Pinpin covered her mouth with her hands, but it was too late. Now she’d done it. That was such a stupid answer. Tatterbat looked at her in confused surprise.

Yarnfell, on the other hand, smiled even further. A chortle left his mouth. He tried to hold it in, but soon he was bellowing with laughter, leaning back as he cracked up.

“Ha ha ha! Oh that was good, kid.” he said, trying to keep himself under control. “You know what, that’s an admirable thought. I respect it.”

Despite the embarrassment, Pinpin doubled down. She’d said it now. The thought was all that was there, and was the only solution she could think of.

“We’ll do it. Me and Tatterbat. I know we can.” She pouted and crossed her arms, puffing up her cheeks as she looked up at the scarecrow sternly.

Yarnfell held a huge grin. “The Ragworm has so rarely been seen, I can count the number of encounters on my hand. Only two people have ever caught one, lass. It’s said to be a behemoth, many times larger than you, and more dangerous than an angry Soc-soc. What makes you so certain?”

“Because - because we’re the Bug Masters!” she yelled, attempting to strike a strong pose. She felt herself trembling with embarrassment, but it had to be worth something. In the corner of her eye, she saw Tatterat join her in the pose.

Yarnfell bent down to her level and leaned forward.

“I’m meant to disqualify you, you know. I made it clear that there are no second chances.” he said, smirking. “But you have an ambition. I look at you right now, with that posing and bold defiance, and I see a fire in your eyes. Maybe it’s just the reflection from the actual fire in the room, but perhaps it’s something more. This goes against the entire competition, but my own morals stand higher. That sort of passion should not be dampened.“

“Tell you what, kid. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll keep you in the competition, if you go forth on this Ragworm idea. If you can get this done in three days - and no more - I’ll tell no-one of this encounter, and Needly will get his prize money. I’ll even throw in some extra for the road.”

“Deal!” Pinpin shouted.

“I didn’t finish.” Yarnfell held out a finger. “Remember, you’re still on your last chance. I like you kid, so I’m doing you a huge favour, but I’m putting my reputation on the line here. If you can’t manage this, I will have to disqualify you. And not from this year, either. I mean every year. If word gets out that Ol’ Yarnfell has a soft spot for this sort of thing, others will take advantage. That’s how much this business means to me, you get that? Plus, you’ll have to pay this Needly kid back yourself. I can’t reward empty hands.”

Pinpin paused. She hadn’t even considered a downside to this. Banned from all competitions was one thing, but having to pay back Needly? He would never let her off. She’d be working for him for life. It was a huge risk.

But she had to try. At least, to get the dumb idea out of her head.

“Deal.” she smiled confidently. Yarnfell grinned, and held out a hand. Pinpin took it and shook, binding the agreement.

“It’s settled then.” Yarnfell stood up. “Same goes for you, Tatterbat. Pinpin’s managed to save you for now.”

Tatterbat stood there, not sure what was going on. He looked at Pinpin, who gave a nervous wave back.

“Mr Yarnfell, sir.” he began to ask. “Why three days? Isn’t the competition seven?”

“True,” Yarnfell leaned back. “But this makes sure you actually try. Seven days is an awful long time to reach the Ragworm Woods. You need to be on your top game.”

“Ragworm Woods?” Pinpin asked.

“Of course!” Yarnfell smiled. “That’s where the worm is. Didn’t you know?”

“Gosh, I guess not.”

“I suppose it’s a place not many people know about. Not very well signed either. I’ll warn you now, the way over can be very dangerous if you aren’t careful. But you’re prepared for that, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“That’s what I like to hear. You’ll have to get through Rugtorn Cliffs first. After that, you’re on your own.”

Yarnfell headed toward the door to leave. Before he left, however, he paused and rummaged through his cloak.

“One last thing, kids.” he took out a box and tossed it over to Pinpin. “If you’re going out to Ragworm Woods, mind taking some pictures for me? I don’t get to go there much anymore myself. Might be worth seeing how its changed since I was a young’un.”

Pinpin nodded. “Yes sir, Mr. Yarnfell.”

“Excellent. Alright then, farewell kiddos.” he tipped his hat, and stepped outside. “And good luck. You’ll need it.”

With that, he departed, melting into the shadows of the night outside. Pinpin and Tatterbat stood there for a while, letting the atmosphere cool off after that event.

“Thanks.” Tatterbat said.

“Huh?” Pinpin replied, “What for?”

“For sticking up for me. I owe you for that.”

“Well, I feel like it’s gotten us in a worse situation.”

Tatterbat shrugged. “Maybe. But hey! Who knows, we might get lucky and find the Ragworm anyway.”

Pinpin grinned. “Totally. We just have to navigate through the infamous Rugtorn Cliffs, find a woodland barely anyone has been too, and then catch a bug that no-one has seen in years.”

“Simple, really.”

Pinpin walked toward the window, looking outside. Once again, there was no sight of Yarnfell, who had disappeared from view. However, she saw something else, scurrying through the darkness like a ghost.

“Hey, is that Needly?” she said, trying to look closer.

Tatterbat came up and pressed his face against the window. “It is! What’s he doing here so late?”

They watched as Needly ran down the street. Near the end of the road he paused, and turned toward the two of them. They met each other’s gaze, which caused him to jump and turn back, at which point he quickly scurried out of view.

“Weird.” Pinpin noted.

“You can say that again.” Tatterpat replied. “What a strange person.”

When it was clear that Needly was not going to show his face again, the two left the window. Shortly after, Tatterbat headed home, stating he needed to sleep and rest up for the journey tomorrow. Pinpin agreed, and so they departed for the night. As she started packing for the long road, she thought about Needly’s appearance. He didn’t live anywhere near them, so why was he there? She shrugged. The guy must’ve been hoping they were being kicked out, and ran when it was clear they had another shot.

Whatever, it wasn’t her business. She grabbed handful of blankets, and folded them neatly within the bag. After that, she grabbed a handful of her favourite snacks (but not too many) and placed them on top. Just before closing it, Pinpin took the camera box that Yarnfell had given her and placed it gently on the top, so that she was sure not to forget it. With that done, Pinpin stood and exhaled deeply.

Tomorrow would begin their true test. To go on an adventure of that size, and come back successful? The sheer thought filled her with fear. But there was no going back now. Their troubles had only just begun.