The Chameleon Shop

‘Come in, come in. Welcome, welcome. Sit yerselves down.’ The old hermit ushered them in warmly. He was roughly the shape of a barrel and not much taller, but had a kind laugh beneath that grey bristly beard.

Kaylee whispered to Jett, ‘But I’m not supposed to go into stranger’s houses?’

‘It’s alright. You’re with me,’ he whispered back.

She paused ever so briefly and then added, ‘But you’re a stranger too. ’

Jett sat on his rear end and spoke plainly. ‘My dear, this is going to be a very long night if we keep on like this, isn’t it?’

Therefore, not having much of an alternative at present, in she went.

Inside the cabin was lovely, in an old rustic sort of way. A fieldstone fireplace took up almost one whole wall. In it was a big black cauldron, where rich brown gravy bubbled away with the most delightful savoury smells emanating from it. Gleaming copper pots hung from the ceiling and wrought iron candle sconces were in several corners, their stout cream-coloured candles shedding a soft glow across the room and the pleasant smell of warmed beeswax.

Kaylee sat down on a plain wooden bench, which sat behind a wooden slab table. It had beautiful wood grain patterns running through it.

With a friendly grin, Dougie shuffled over and plonked a pewter mug of some hot beverage in front of her, ‘Get that into ya ...it’ll put hairs on ya chest! Ha ha.’

He chuckled cheerily as he then shuffled over and put a big wooden bucket of milk down for Jett. ‘You’re lucky today, Jett. I just finished milking the goats.’

As the hermit fluffed about over the cauldron in his hearth, Kaylee peeked inside her shirt imagining hairs popping up on her chest and came to the conclusion eventually that perhaps the old man had just been having her on. The beverage smelled delicious; honey and spiced caramel smells wafted up from it. She took a cautious sip.

Yes indeed, pure ambrosia!

The warm sweet drink did much to calm her nerves from the unsettling feeling of having the rug of her normal world ripped out from under her and finding herself plonked into another completely unbelievable reality.

She left her denial at being in this incredibly strange world ─ with two moons, flying horses, floating islands and fairies ─ simmering somewhere off towards the back of her mind for now, because although she did not know precisely where she was, her stomach didn’t care. All it knew was that it needed food.

As she sipped and enjoyed the warmth of the fire, a rattling noise from across the room caught her attention. She looked over at a tall wooden cabinet by the far wall. It rattled and shook again; something from its interior squealed like a child.

‘Oh shut up, you!’ Dougie turned from the fire with a dripping spoon and growled at it.

‘That’s not a child in there is it?’ Kaylee asked, concerned.

‘Not a human child, no.’ Dougie said a little evasively.

The cabinet rattled and squealed again and it was getting too hard for Kaylee to sit and ignore it. She got up and wandered over to the cabinet while Dougie continued stirring his supper. Kaylee cautiously opened the latch of the cupboard door.

Immediately a little blur of hairy black arms and legs ─ which she later recognised as a spider monkey ─ jumped out and attached himself to her head. He proceeded to dig through her hair, probably for vermin to snack on she thought.

‘Has he got fleas?’ She asked Jett who sat watching amused, as he lay on the rug by the fire.

‘Possibly, but he’s not terribly good at sharing them. Best get your own,’ Jett replied a little sarcastically.

Dougie turned around and she thought he might get angry, but he just shook his head as though to say to her, you really shouldn’t have done that. ‘Do you want him?’ He said and went back to his stew.

‘Excuse me?’ Kaylee answered as the monkey continued to preen her hair.

‘You can have the little blighter, if ya want. Might be a help on ya travels. He’s a damn pickpocket, but some of its useful. Just watch out for the ripe bananas though. Like pickin’ up slugs they are ... ugh!’ Dougie told her.

Kaylee looked dubious at this offer but didn’t offer a reply just yet. The monkey hopped across the dinner table, moving nearer the old gent. He then licked his tiny finger and poked it in Dougie’s ear, emitting a startled, ‘Huh’ from the old man and causing him to spill gravy down his tunic.

‘See now, why he was in that cupboard!’ Dougie said irritably as he tried to rub the stain off but instead wound up smearing it into a bigger mess. His old grey eyebrows danced like insect antennae and his forehead wrinkled with annoyance. ‘His name is Willy and if you don’t take him I’m giving him to the scary Viking fella’s in the village. They can do what they like with the damnable creature!’

Willy, the monkey, retreated to the middle of the table, took his own finger and poked it up his...

‘Oh, EW! Hey, oh dude, that’s really NOT cool,’ Kaylee said.

He proceeded to put the same finger in his mouth and Kaylee continued in disgust, ‘Ew, that’s just gross, man! You go wash your hands.’ She pointed towards where she guessed the washroom must be. The spider monkey jumped up and down on the dinner table screeching and tossing food around the place, while smiling and thinking he was clever.

Kaylee wiped mashed potatoes from her cheek and calmly said, ‘Yeah, cool story, Bro, but you go wash those little hands or you’re stayin’ here with him!’ She warned the spider monkey, pointing in Dougie’s direction.

The monkey immediately sat down, lowered his head sadly and reluctantly sloped off to the washroom. Jett hissed at him as he passed the big cat.

‘What was that for?’ Kaylee asked, puzzled.

‘He usually pulls my whiskers when he gets near enough,’ Jett replied defensively.

‘Supper will be ready any minute now,’ Dougie stated.

Kaylee sat down again with her drink and began to think of home.

She knew her mother would be worried. ‘Jett? How am I going to get back home?’ she asked.

Jett stood stretching his long, sleek black body on the hearth in front of the low-burning fire and gave a jaw-cracking yawn that showed his huge fangs and some of his pink gum. ‘We can stay here the night. I’ll take you to the Fire Realm in the morning and show you around. There is a Gypsy woman there who has a crystal ball. She might have some answers for you.’