Night of the Nuggets: Chapters 7-9
The Amazing Miss Pearl—Helping to Make the World Better for Chickens and People
Hi, Everyone! It’s great to be with you again! We did take to heart your 100% “YES” vote to the question “Should the antagonist be introduced earlier to give Pearl a chance to show off her superhero detective skills?”
We have not completely reorganized our plot structure just yet. This week’s newsletter introduces one of the antagonists that Pearl encounters in this story, following our original plot structure. You will find this first antagonist in Chapter 9: A Horned Wraith Enters the Factory. (A Wraith is similar to a ghost, but this is not a ghost story. A Wraith is intelligent, malicious and able to affect the physical world.)
We will inquire again about this at the end of this week’s newsletter since it may be better to answer the poll question after having been introduced to the antagonist (or at least one of them!) Anyway, Pearl and I did some brainstorming and are particularly excited about the possibilities that you, our readers, inspired concerning the antagonists—whether you responded to the poll or not!
We open with a what happens when Pearl and her wren friend arrive at the first stop that the train makes at the closest factory for TCNFS. It likely goes without saying, but these chapters do not reflect any actual factory or work situation or people who I have ever known. More than anything, the factory will be close to how I imagine the world will change if we continue down the path we are currently on of not protecting our world and caring for the living things we share it with.
The Page who had told me what “TCNS” stood for had been waiting to see if I needed more help, and I called to it and said, “Can you lead me to The Chicken Nugget Syndicate? But before you do, can you tell me what a Syndicate is?”
“That is a good word to know. It is a unified group that shares a goal like a team. The Chicken Nugget Syndicate is a team of companies. Each company has something to do with making chicken nuggets. One company raises the chickens. Another company turns the chickens into nuggets, and still, another company sells the nuggets to people who want to eat them.”
“I have a feeling that it is a dangerous place for a chicken like me.”
“You’re quite right, and even getting there is dangerous, but not just for chickens. It’s dangerous for any birds. You see, there are dangerous street sweeper machines that patrol around the factory buildings owned and used by The Syndicate. Whenever the Street Sweepers come across a bird, it will do all that it can to remove it so that it doesn’t get into the factory and cause problems for the machinery.”
“Then they will be my first obstacle to overcome.”
“Don’t forget that the Street Sweepers also patrol inside the Factory. The doors are designed to be large so they can get inside just for that reason.”
“I was hoping that some songbirds would be able to hide some of my disguises and detective equipment inside the Factory, but it doesn’t look like that will be possible. I don’t want to risk their lives.”
“Songbirds don’t have to use the doors. They can use the skylights in the factory roofs. Actually, they can use the skylights to keep watch over you and come to your aide or simply bring you something that you need.”
“That is much more than I had ever imagined.”
“Well, you are to be the next Principalis Bibliothecarius. We can’t forget that—and neither should you. We want to show you our support because you are one of our own from right here in our Garden Home. We were thrilled to hear the wonderful news when birds from Europe crossed the Atlantic to tell us. We have always liked you, and we enjoyed bringing you the treasures we found on Trash Truck Tuesdays. It will be our pleasure now to bring your detective equipment to you and help you hide it away to be used at just the right time.”
“You songbirds have already been more helpful than I could ever imagine or expect,” said Pearl. “While there is much greater danger in this adventure than I had imagined, there is also much greater help for the safety of all involved in solving this mystery.”
“Could I ask you a question?” said the Page, and then without waiting for an answer added, “Will you be moving the Main Library of songbirds from the city of Paris to here, or will you yourself be moving to Paris?”
Pearl realized she had not considered what she would do. All the conversation she had taken part in with the Principalis Bibliothecarius had seemed to lean toward everyone remaining in Paris. But she knew the city that held the garden she had grown up in would likely be a much better place to start moving back to the original purpose of The Living Library.
Pearl also realized that Emily’s pictures could be used to travel back and forth between Portsmouth, the Seawall City, and Paris, the City of Light. Nevertheless, she wanted to choose whichever location would be best for birds and for people.
But she knew that there were some places in the world that Shadowy Specters inhabited, and she might even find them in the Chicken Nugget Factory. Pearl used her last few minutes with the wren to learn as much as she could about the Shadowy Specters who might try to stop Pearl’s investigation.
Pearl jumped down from the train and quickly ran to the nearest Street Sweeper Machine. Taking a brave leap, she landed on its rear axle and watched as the Wren flew back towards the Garden they both loved so much. This was probably much faster than riding the rails back home, and there was no time to waste.
Pearl knew that if the Chicken Nugget Factory was harmful to chickens, she would have to do what she could to shut it down. She was glad that since the Wren specialized in knowledge about TCNS, she had also filled her in on the Shadowy Specters she might encounter there.
On her advantageous perching spot on the Street Sweeper Machine’s axle, Pearl looked around to see as much as she could. Without any of her detective equipment, she had no way of knowing she could use in her surroundings if she should need to quickly escape.
Above her were the skylights that the songbirds used to look in on what was happening in the factory. Soon she would see them assembling in pairs with her detective equipment. Pearl spotted the gaps that they would likely be using to enter and exit the building. Several were already positioned on the skylights and would be watching Pearl’s movements throughout the factory. It wasn’t quite as good as having a squadron of crows led by a raven, but Pearl had confidence in them, and that gave her confidence in herself.
Pearl needed to act as if anything and everything could be useful for defense or for escape. It was then that she noticed an older man with a white beard entering the factory and carrying a basket. He stood out from the others who were entering, and Pearl sensed that he was important since he didn’t have the uniform of a factory worker. Even though some of the others entering the factory looked as if they might want a plan to escape the factory, the man with the white beard looked quite comfortable. It was doubtful he would need to use whatever was in the basket to defend himself or escape the factory.
This was supported further by how other workers nodded towards him without saying anything directly to him. His difference stood out even more when he passed by the security desk without showing an identity badge to enter.
Pearl heard the security guard saying, “Good morning, Mr. Kimble, sir.”
Just as she had finished studying the man with the white beard and had learned his name, Pearl saw the unexpected. Even though the factory doors were open, and it could have entered that way, a Horned Wraith passed through the walls of the factory and stood in the corridor’s center.
This was very telling because Pearl knew the Horned Wraith had to be a creature from the Shadowy World of the Kingdom of Darkness. It stared directly at Pearl as if to warn her. She could almost hear the Wraith saying, “I am only one of many who occupy this place, the Syndicate’s main factory.”
Pearl looked up at Mr. Kimble, and he appeared as he did before, and even acted as though he was not seeing anything strange or peculiar. Then Pearl remembered the Wren had said that Wraiths, like ghosts, are invisible to most birds and people.
Pearl looked again at the Wraith and noticed that the Horns were part of a hat that the Wraith wore, and not part of the Wraith’s actual body. Pearl felt increasingly uncomfortable, especially as she heard the whispered voice of the Wraith saying exactly what Pearl had at first only imagined.
From what the Wren had told her about wraiths, Pearl knew that since The wraith had been spawned by the self-seeking wishes and magic incantations of someone, Pearl would need to identify who held those wishes and recited those incantations. That task was necessary to rid the building and its occupants of the ominous specter. The factory might be totally infested with them.
Pearl had no idea of how huge that task would be, even if she could figure out a way of getting the help of the songbirds.
Until Next Time
Here is the poll from last week now that you have had a chance to learn a bit more about the antagonist.
Next week, we will be sharing three more of these Shadowy Specters that Pearl may come across in the story. Each has its own peculiarities that sets it apart as a dangerous predator who seeks to occupy the thoughts of human beings and then gain their own physical presence as the human spends time thinking about the mental images planted by the Shadowy Specter.
If you have any comments—good or bad—please share them on Substack or you can also reach Pearl and me directly at our official My Girl Pearl website where you will find a “Contact” form at the bottom of the page.
We are looking forward to sharing more about Amazing Miss Pearl with you as she seeks to do her detective work for The Night of the Nuggets. Your likes and comments are very valuable and helpful!!!
Our Best Advice for the Days Ahead: Remember If you need something to perk yourself up, go find a friend who will go with you to find adventure (but remember that riding the rails is not always safe for people), and then go get yourself a hat!
Thank you for reading!
John, Gracie, Bessie, Pearl, Blanche, Emily, and Amelia
Love the pictured wraith-and yes, steampunk vibes there- very chilly villainous wraith!
Good work so far. The factory and the wraith both have a 19th century steampunk ambience about them that's intriguing.
And the Nugget Syndicate is certainly more dangerous than the syndicates I'm most familiar with- the ones that distribute comic strips to newspapers (such as King and United).