CHAPTER 153: 153-THE GARDEN OF THE GNOMES

Clementine:

We just stood in the train, looking around in confusion. "The train will take us back if we don’t get out, right?" I asked Ian, who was silently scanning the place.

Troy was running from one window to the other, trying to take in as much as he could. Yorick stood in the corner, scratching the back of his neck. Haiden looked anxious too.

"I don’t think that’s how it works. We have to get off for the train to leave and come back," Haiden said, reminding us that only when all the crusaders left did the train start moving.

"What if we just sit here?" I asked, watching Yorick shake his head.

"Then a monster could come in. What if the door opens at that time? We don’t know how this train works. All we know is it’s just transportation, not our friend. It’s not on our side," Yorick explained. My fists clenched with anxiety.

"It’s okay. We’ll be fine. We’ll get off here. This seems like a new place. We’ll look around, then the train will leave and come back," Troy said, trying to make sense of it. But there was no reason for us to be in the middle of this fairytale-looking town.

"Why didn’t it take us back to our own station?" I muttered, jumping anxiously. At least that area we knew well. We also knew the monsters there, the station, the woods, then the small city with the fleshmingos, then the bigger one, and more. But this place, this was completely new. We could be walking right into a deadly monster’s den.

"What if the train takes a long time before it returns?" I asked again. At this point, we were all just guessing. They were as clueless as me. I wasn’t really looking for answers, I just wanted to throw ideas out and debate them.

"And what if the ringleaders find out we left? There’s a camera there. I think it’s a camera," I said, pointing at the button, now glowing green.

"I guess it’s not a camera. It lit up before the train left. Now it’s green because it reached its destination," Troy explained. I slapped my forehead.

"We could have inspected the train while we were being taken to the north," I muttered. I saw Ian close his eyes and turn away. Maybe he felt guilty. I shut up instantly.

"Okay, there’s no other choice. We have to get off. We don’t have enough food, we don’t have enough supplies. If a monster comes in, let’s say a giant, it can kill us. We have to get off. Besides, we wanted to explore north, didn’t we?" Yorick grunted.

I could hear conflict rising in their voices, like a blame game was about to start. That’s what happens when people panic with no answers.

"Do we even know if we’re in the north at this point?" Haiden countered, and I started nervously rubbing my neck.

"Listen, I think we should get off. We don’t know what this place is until we step out. Let’s just do that, look around, and hope the ringleaders find out we are in the North and figure out a way to send the train back. I mean, they know when the train is arriving," I said. We didn’t really have another option, because right then the doors slammed open, leaving us at the mercy of any monster that could walk in and kill us in this compact space.

So we grabbed our bags and, one after another, stepped off the train. The sky was beautifully pink, the clouds an even brighter shade, unlike anything we had ever seen. Then, to our dismay, the train left. The doors shut before we could even turn back. I saw Ian and the others try to step back inside, testing if it would stay, but it didn’t. Once we were all off, it was gone.

Now we stood awkwardly in this beautiful town, or village, whatever it was. There were maybe five houses, but it all felt like one giant garden. The houses looked like fairy houses, surrounded by roses so fragrant we could smell them from a distance. I took a deep breath and smiled as I exhaled.

"This place is so fresh," I uttered.

"Yeah, unlike the north," Yorick added.

I stared at one of the houses. It was all pink,the soft kind of pink, not the suffocating kind. Bows were patterned on its outer walls, and the gardens blended together like one endless yard. Even the road looked shiny and untouched, as if nobody had ever walked on it. There wasn’t even a proper station, just train tracks that cut straight into the garden.

We started moving from house to house. At first we were cautious, unsure of what we might find, but after an hour we were running around freely.

"This is such a beautiful place," Haiden said, tossing his bag to the ground and falling back into the soft grass with his arms spread wide.

"I mean, I could totally live in the pink house," I said. I didn’t know what it was about this place, but suddenly none of us felt sad. I had never seen Ian smile, but now he was grinning at a blue house.

"This could be my house," he said, pointing.

"Right," I replied. The way he turned to look at me made me blush, even though it was just a glance. Then Yorick pointed at something.

"What is that?" he asked, noticing figures in front of every house, standing in the gardens.

"Aren’t those gnomes? Garden gnomes?" I asked, staring at them. There were two in front of each house, and, weirdly enough, the number of houses matched exactly the number of us crusaders.

"Oh, yeah, they are gnomes," Yorick said, while Haiden scratched the back of his head.

"Aren’t they called goblins?" he asked. As soon as he said that, we all turned to look at him.

"No, they’re gnomes," I corrected.

"Then what are goblins?" he wondered.

"Dude, goblins are those ugly creatures. They’re small like them, but they’re the evil ones, the really ugly ones," Troy explained.

I watched Haiden’s eyes lose their shine. "Oh, shit, I didn’t mean to call you goblin then. I just thought of a cute little gnome," he mumbled, pointing at one of the gnome ladies, pink in the cheeks and wearing a red scarf.