Young Writers Society

A/N

This is a fanfiction to "The Book Man" by BlueAfrica. If you haven't read that then you will probably be pretty confused by this. There are spoilers for "The Book Man", so if you haven't finished that what are you still doing here?

Another disclaimer: The unnamed Hellhound in TBM doesn't get a name, but its name is Dean. Same goes for the unnamed spider, which is named Katreus, just so you all know what I'm talking about in this little story.

Enjoy!

“Liza?” Conrad yelled from somewhere in the hut.

“What is it?” came the answer from their garden out back.

Conrad appeared in the back door, leaning on his crutch.

“Have you seen Dean? He isn't out front in his favorite spot and he's not playing with Katreus and he's not with you.”

“Well, he might just be roaming the woods again. He'll be back by dinner time, probably.”

“But that's the thing! He never goes before we've had our morning ride together! He loves our morning rides!” Conrad looked somewhat distressed that the giant hellhound would leave him before their daily ritual. Since they'd reached the Otherworld and settled into their new lives, Conrad had started riding the hellhound to get around more easily. Under the care of his proficient wife his leg had healed wonderfully, but it was still just a stump and riding the hellhound was definitely a lot easier and faster than walking.

“Don't worry so much! He might just have caught an interesting scent and gotten too excited to wait for you. Now either get over here and help me with planting these herbs or go and put away the books, but don't just stand there looking like a lost puppy. If he isn't back by dinner time, we'll go looking for him, I promise.”

Somewhat disgruntled, Conrad limped into their little cottage and started sorting the books he had brought from Imelda's wagon, still worried about Dean and his sudden disappearance.

By the time they had had a lovely dinner (courtesy to Liza) Conrad wasn't alone in his worries anymore.

“He's never come home after dinner. Maybe you're right, Conrad. We should better go looking for him.”

In an instant Conrad was up and ready, but Liza pushed him back into his chair gently.

“No, you rest your leg, I'll go looking. Somebody should stay here anyway, in case he comes home.”

“But--”

“No buts. It'll be faster if I look alone and we can't take Katreus for a ride since it's already getting dark.”

“I still think it's silly, a spider that's scared of the dark...” Conrad mumbled, but he gave in nevertheless. He knew that Liza was only being logical, but that didn't mean he had to like staying behind.

Liza put on her coat and took some walnut honey cookies with her that Dean so loved and almost never got.

“Take a torch with you and don't stay out too long and be careful. You don't know this world very well yet, and I don't want to have to go looking for you too.” Conrad rambled.

“I love you, too.” Liza said and bent down to kiss her husband. “I'll be careful, I promise.”

And with a last reassuring look to an apprehensive Conrad, she closed the door.

“How I ever get anything done without him hovering is a mystery.” she said to herself and walked down the path towards the camp of the gypsies.

Everyone who had chosen the Otherworld had received a plot of land, but many of the circus folk and gypsies found comfort in living in a camp and had yet to claim their property.

Conrad took Dean for a ride every morning to visit them, to help out with heavy lifting, to watch the circus people's practices, or to just chat with old friends. Ronin and Finn had finally joined forces again in what promised to be the best circus troupe the Sunforest had ever seen.

'Maybe Dean just wanted to watch the show and hadn't realized it was so late', Liza thought to herself as she made her way to the improvised tent of the Catcher's.

“Ladies and Gentleman...” she heard from afar. Liza had run into a crowd and could only surmise what was going on in the front.

“Fairy folk and marsh witches...”

And possibly Hellhounds, Liza thought.

“Nightmares...”

“Gnomes...”

“And everyone who enjoys a good show!”

“Come near and see with your own eyes...”

'Well, I would if I could just get past these people!', Liza thought, trying to push past the audience members still blocking her way. At least she could see Ronin and Finn at the front now. If only she could just ask them if they had seen Dean. They had probably a better idea who was in their audience than her.

“...the best circus performance...”

“...not only in the Sunforest...”

“...but in the whole of the Otherworld...”

“...that you will ever see!”

“Presented to you...”

“...by the wondrous...”

“...wonderful...”

“...wondering”

“'wondering'? Seriously Finn?”

“Be quiet! As I was saying: wondering at the amazing show that's been put on. The wondering Catcher brothers!”

At that moment Liza finally made it to the front row, stumbling right into the arms of the purple Catcher brother.

“Oh, my, careful there, my dear guest, wouldn't want to hurt yourself and miss the show! Oh, Liza! What a pleasant surprise! Do come and sit, we'll make sure you have the best seat in the house! You will not believe what a great show we put together, you will be amazed!”

Righting herself she looked back at the crowd, looking for Dean.

“That's really very kind of you to offer, but I don't have time to stay. Maybe some other time. What I came here to ask is if you had seen Dean. You know, the Hellhound who trailed after Christian? Conrad rides him here every morning, you've probably seen them. He didn't come home for dinner and we're worried.”

Ronin had listened attentively while Finn kept on talking to the crowd.

“I'm quite sorry, I haven't seen him since... hm... must have been yesterday morning. But I'm quite busy with the new performers and the brand new show we put together. Why don't you ask my older brother? He usually sits outside his wagon and watches the turmoil of the camp, he knows about the goings on of the camp better than anybody else. You will find him behind the tent, with the lions and bears, he's taken quite a liking to them.”

“Thank you! And break a leg!” Liza said and made her way around the side of the purple and blue tent where she bumped into Mr. Catcher who was just on his way to the front.

“Oh Mrs. Smithson, what a pleasant surprise! Have you come to watch our show? Where have you left your husband? Doesn't he want to see what the Catcher brothers have put together? It's quite incredible, let me tell you that!”

“I wish that was the reason I'm here, but I'm actually looking for Dean. Have you seen him? He's been missing all day.”

“Dean isn't home? Well, that's odd. Hmm... now that you mention it, I did see him this morning. I thought he was just looking around for a bit while Conrad was chatting. I saw him right by the path to the Portal. He seemed a bit down, now that I think about it.”

“Down? What do you mean?”

“Well, he usually has this joy in his step, but he seemed a bit slow, almost pensive.”

“Pensive, huh?”

“Or maybe just tired, who knows?”

“Thank you anyways, Mr. Catcher, you've been a great help. I'll try to catch your next show!”

“Do try to come, and bring Mr. Smithson along! It would be an honor to have you two!”

Liza snuck around the back of the tent, with a polite nod to the lion tamer and headed for the path that lead to the Portal. She finally had an idea where to find Dean.

The path to the portal was quite dark and Liza was glad she had brought a torch along. In its light she saw paw prints in the muddier parts of the road, the size of which told her she was on the right track. She hurried on.

Getting nearer to the clearing she heard a faint whining. Occasionally it swelled to howling, only to return to an almost inaudible whimper. By the time she finally entered the glade, the moon had risen high enough for her too see clearly what was going on. She extinguished her torch.

Dean was lying in front of the portal tree, looking towards it with wistful eyes. His tail was wagging now and then, but for the most part he just seemed miserable, looking like a child waiting to be picked up.

“Oh Dean, darling, what are you doing here?”

At the mention of his name he lifted his head, somewhat hopeful and turned to look at Liza, but when he saw who it was he slumped back down with a heart wrenching sigh.

“Why are you here? Why aren't you at home? Conrad has been worried all day long!”

In answer Dean only seemed to get even smaller, never turning his gaze from the closed portal. He was wagging his tail at the friendly words, but made no move to stand.

“Come on, let's go home, I saved you some dinner. I'll give you a nice belly rub afterward. Come now, boy, let's go!” Liza had bent down to him to scratch him behind his ears, in one of his favorite spots.

The Hellhound finally lifted his head, but only to first look at Liza and then, intentionally to the Portal and back to Liza.

“What... what's going on, boy? Why are you so down? Are you alright?”

Dean seemed to shake his head, rested it on his paws and heaved a sigh.

“I have something here to cheer you up! Here, do you want one of my walnut honey cookies? No? I hope you're not coming down with something. I'm alright with people, but I don't know how to treat Hellhounds. If only Narodnaya were here, she could tell me what's wrong with you. But she went back to her marshes, can't blame her, no Christian here to look after anymo--” Dean had finally perked up his ears at the mention of Christian's name.

“Christian? Is this about him? Oh honey!” Dean sat up, wagging his tail wildly, looking from Liza to the Portal with great expectation.

“We can't go back. I'm sorry. The portal is closed. That angel said it was for the best. You would attract too much attention over there.” Dean's ears sagged, the wagging slowed.

“I know. I miss him too. It hurts, doesn't it? Right here?” and she put her hand over the giant dogs heart. Dean wailed quietly and put his head on Liza's shoulder who staggered a bit under the weight but tried to comfort Dean non the less, scratching behind his ears.

She took a step back and looked Dean in the eyes.

“But what brought this on? You've seemed so happy with Conrad and the circus and all this new land to discover.”

As an answer Dean nosed at her pockets where she found one of Imelda's herbal guides she'd been reading that afternoon. Liza took it out and paged through it, but she couldn't make out anything special about it.

“This? But this was one of Imelda's, this didn't belong to Chris- Oh, but it's a book, an old book. It smells like him, doesn't it?”

Dean yelped affirmatively.

“Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought it was a good idea to put Imelda's books to use, but it only made you homesick for Christian.” She tried to put both her arms around his neck, but couldn't quite reach all the way around. Dean sighed in contentment.

“I know you miss him and so do I, but you have to remember that we are all were we belong. Christian was never a real hero and as well as he dealt with all this craziness, he's still not cut out to be an adventurer. He has a big enough adventure before him as it is. And he's going to be happy back there and make a good life for himself, just as we are going to make a good life for ourselves here, alright? Pining after him doesn't help anybody. He would want you to be happy, right? And make others as happy as you made him? Of course he would. So come on now and come home with me, I know someone who will be very happy when he sees you again.” Liza took his head in her hands and looked Dean in the eyes. “You owe it to him and to yourself to have the best life any Hellhound has ever had, alright?” Dean nodded quietly and finally found the strength to heave himself to his paws and follow Liza who turned and headed back towards the small road that wove its way towards the camp.

At the edge of the clearing he turned back once more to look at the now inconspicuous tree before he joined the waiting Liza and trotted besides her back to their cottage and his new life.