The Yeti and the Comb

Yeti Compassion by iAes

The twins studied the contents of their pockets. They had, together, 2 observation books, 3 pencil stubs, some bits of string in a tangle, a stub of chalk, 2 etched brass decoder rings, 2 compasses, 4 springs, a small hammer, 6 cut nails, 2 handkerchiefs, a cricket cage (without cricket), 7 small spanners in varying sizes, a napkin full of cookies, an apple, 2 whistles, a screwdriver, 6 ounces or so of copper scraps, a small flask of the boiler chief’s special distilled engine cleaner, tweezers, and a tin box full of cheeses.  They pawed through the pile without enthusiasm.

Mirabelle nudged her brother. “Do you have a comb?” He looked at her as though she should be wearing a straight jacket, but pulled a comb out of his pocket and handed it to her. She slowly approached the beast, making a soft soothing shh shh shh noise, such as she believed lion tamers used in the circus.

She stood directly before it, but still the yeti did not move. She raised her hand, and touched the creature’s leg with the comb. Annabelle was some feet behind her, positioned where the yeti’s body would block the Count’s view of her. She picked up the boiler crew’s heaviest spanner, and stood alert, covering her twin.

Mirabelle combed the yeti.

It did not move.

Mirabelle reached the comb as high as she could, standing on her tiptoes, and combed the yeti again.

It did not move.

“Are you insane?” Gerhardt hissed. “Even if it doesn’t rip you apart, you can’t reach its head!”

“You’re right,” she answered. “Let me stand on your shoulders.”

Her brother goggled, turning a bit purple.

“And don’t make any sudden moves, if you don’t want to get ripped apart.”

“We don’t even know what will happen!”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Annabelle whispered. “I can try beaning him with this spanner, but I don’t think it’ll do more than distract him.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better!” Gerhardt asserted.

“Bettina go up!” said the youngest vonHedwig.

“There you go, Faintheart,” Mirabelle said, “The baby’s not as scared as you.”

“Either she doesn’t know any better, or she’s as crazy as you!”

Nevertheless, he helped his sister on to his shoulders. He took a stumbling towards the beast, and they wavered, Mirabelle’s arms windmilling. The creature growled. Gerhardt bent his knees, sinking into a steady stance, and Mirabelle regained her balance. She made the soothing noise again, holding up the comb for the yeti’s inspection. Gerhardt slid a foot forward, advancing with the greatest care.

Mirabelle found herself face to face with the yeti. She hoped the Count was not looking, but could not spare a glance to find out. The yeti did not meet her gaze, although she was inches from him. Or her. It’s face had brown, leathery skin, with long red-brown hair sprouting all around it, but not on it. The eyes that would not meet hers were deep brown, almond shaped, and heavily lidded. Its nose had prominent nostrils, and with its mouth, protruded in a short snout.

She held her breath, and slowly reached out with Gerhardt’s comb. “There, there, Bear-Monkey Man, let me help you with that nasty moss.” She breathed the words out, and touched the yeti’s shoulder with the comb. It didn’t react, so she moved up to its neck. This close, she could distinguish the moss from the fur, even though their coloration was the same. The comb caught at the moss, and Mirabelle pulled gently.

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Claire was so absorbed in her invention, that she did not spare a glance for the risky business unfolding not 5 feet away. She had found a broken chair leg to be an adequate lever, and had pounced on her sisters’ tangle of string. Using a bag of ball bearings as a counter weight and lashing the lever to a fulcrum point made from a cam shaft and the back of the broken chair, she fashioned a small trebuchet. Madly calculating angles and trajectories, she loaded the device with the biggest chunk of metal she could find, and aimed it at the yeti’s head, only to find Mirabelle’s head there instead!

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This story began in On Grandmothers. The previous episode is A Clue and the next is Fighting the Count.