In the bottom of one of the many pockets of the bag, forgotten but apparently not for that long, was a slightly battered perfectly pink apple. It had been on many journeys, and was remarkably unscathed considering how easily apples usually succumb to bumping about in a bag full of other odds and ends.
There was a face on it. A happy face made of two small circles and a larger arc. Cut into the skin by someone else’s knife.
It also smelled sweet. And made Tia’s stomach rumble.
Tia bought it closer to her mouth.
And gasped in shock as a gnarled old hand snapped onto her wrist. “That’s not yours, young lady.”
His eyes were older than the rest of him. And full of so very much pain.
Tia didn’t let it go. “You gonna eat it?”
“No.”
“You gonna let it rot?” she made a face.
“It won’t rot,” said the old man. “It’s… a memory. From an old friend.”
Tia’s stomach rumbled some more. “I’m hungry. Got anything edible?”
“Edible is a big word for a little girl.”
“Not really. It only has six letters. If you want a big word, try ‘condescending’.”
A warm smile. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He dipped into his coat pockets and presented a banana like a man pulling a rabbit out of his hat. “I don’t often have my bag of memories out. Here. This one’s edible.”
Tia swapped it for the apple. She watched the old man kiss the stylized face and slip it back into the bag from whence it came.
The banana was delicious. It filled the empty places, but not quite all of them. “That bag’s bigger than it looks. You got lots of stuff, mister.”
“Doctor,” said the old man.
“You don’t look like a doctor.”
Now the smile reached all the way into the eyes. Masked some of the pain. “I’m not that kind of doctor.”
Tia sighed. “Pity. Folks keep getting sick in the tumbledowns.”
“Don’t they have doctors for you?”
“Not the good kind. Doctor for the tumbledowns make people vanish. Underfolk don’t like those doctors.”
“Of course not,” said the old man. “So. Anything… special… about this illness?”
“Folks turn blue and go… strange. Then the doctors come and vanish them.” Tia licked banana off her fingers. “And it’s never the folks as aught to get sick. Like older folks or the littlies. It’s all the fit folks. The young folks. Everyone as should stay healthy.”
“Interesting,” said the old man. “All right. I think I should have a look. But I do have a few rules.”
Tia groaned and rolled her eyes. “Go on.”
“Don’t wander off. When I say run, run. Do not pull any levers, press any buttons or otherwise fiddle with things you don’t understand. And never. Ever. Try to touch anything strange.”
Somehow, the old man made the bag vanish on the way to the tumbledowns. He had a magic wand that he flicked around at random. Whatever it told him, Tia couldn’t figure out. Yet.
It took him ten minutes to find the monsters.
Two hours to defeat them.
After that, Tia didn’t want to quit running with the Doctor.
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