Angelique and the Underground Dwellers

By Claudia A. Kukol

A New Life Awaits!

ArrowHeart Mansion has been vacant for at least a decade. Well, it’s not exactly been unoccupied...With the arrival of a new family that includes Angelique, a lonely, crippled child, the atmosphere changes straight away. Angel, as she is called, finds refuge in the attic rooms of the mansion. An accident occurs and, by this coincidence, the child stumbles upon the existence of others living in the attic. She crosses an invisible boundary and steps into another world where she makes new and everlasting friendships. Because of them, Angel’s life changes forever.

Enthusiastically joining her new-found friends in daring escapades, Angel helps solve crimes via dimly lit avenues located underground. Hidden beings watch Angel and her troop until one day, sliding stone doors are opened, beckoning them to step inside. There, they are deliberately swept into the secret world of the Underground Dwellers.

Along the way, Angel is specially chosen by the council of extraordinary creatures. She’s needed to help the castaway dwellers below ground. The outcome for Angel is a bonding of friendship with a wise and powerful mutant leader and a life-long commitment to the Underground Dwellers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Claudia A. Kukol
• Release date: Feb 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9780997275032

Claudia A. Kukol

Claudia Kukol is a native of northeastern Pennsylvania, living smack dab in the heart of the Black Diamond anthracite coal region. Her passion is reading and she believes in magic—that is, the magical allure of books. Books are her doorways to anywhere, anytime, abounding with knowledge and adventure and laced with splendid characters past, present and fictional. The Author’s ArrowHeart Mansion Series, book series for children, is available at Amazon and Smashwords. You may contact the Author at [e-mail].

Book preview

Introduction

T he ArrowHeart Mansion book series for children presents Angelique and the Underground Dwellers .

ArrowHeart, a Victorian mansion, has been vacant for at least a decade. Well, it’s not exactly unoccupied…With the arrival of a new family that includes Angelique, a lonely, crippled child, the atmosphere changes straight away. Angel, as she is called, finds refuge in the attic rooms of the mansion. A mishap occurs and, by coincidence, the child stumbles upon the existence of others living in the attic. She crosses an invisible boundary and steps into another world where she makes new and everlasting friendships. Because of them, Angel’s life changes forever.

Enthusiastically joining her new-found friends in daring escapades, Angel helps solve crimes via dimly lit avenues located underground. Further, hidden beings watch Angel and her troop until one day, sliding stone doors are opened, beckoning them to step inside. There, they are deliberately swept into the secret world of the Underground Dwellers.

Along the way, Angel is specially chosen by a council of extraordinary creatures. She’s needed to help the castaways below ground. The outcome for Angel is a bonding of friendship with a wise and powerful mutant leader and a life-long commitment to the Underground Dwellers.

Come along. Join Angel.

ANGELIQUE

Part I

Chapter 1

ArrowHeart Mansion

T he years have crept by at ArrowHeart Mansion. The halls are empty and the rooms are hollow, absent of human presence and a family heartbeat. But, in recent weeks, there has been a flurry of activity with all sorts of people coming and going.

Timmy and Lily, two of the three longtime doll residents at ArrowHeart, are anxious. Hour by hour, they watch earnestly from the tiny window in the cubbyhole of the attic mansion. Then, one morning Timmy spies new activity outside. Excited, Timmy shouts, Gizelle, wake up! A family has just arrived. They’re standing on the doorsteps to the mansion. Timmy calls again, Wake up, please, Gizelle.

Gizelle is the third doll. She is dazed and sleepy, but draws herself forward to sit up. As Gizelle has just awakened, she is somewhat irritable and snaps at Timmy, Are you sure this time? Are you sure they’re not another bunch of lookers?

I’m sure, replies Timmy. I’m positive they’ve come to stay. There’s a couple, two twin boys, a mountain of suitcases and…See for yourself, a moving van just rolled into the driveway.

Gently pushing Timmy and Lily aside, Gizelle says, Let me have a look. You’re right. At last, a family has arrived to reside in the mansion. Hmmm, I wonder what’s wrong with the little girl’s legs?

Carefully cradled in the man’s arms, a sleepy little girl is cuddling. She seems frail. There’s something wrong. Silver braces are affixed to both her legs. The braces catch and reflect the morning rays of sunlight. The three dolls are silent and thoughtful.

Hello. My name is Gizelle. Welcome to our curious world at ArrowHeart Mansion. Lily, Timmy, and I are not children. We’re dolls and we share the attic rooms with other peculiar toys. We haven’t always lived here. It’s been well over a half century since we first came to life. That’s right! It’s an amazing story. We didn’t just waltz through the huge entrance doors to this mansion.

Leisurely, Gizelle begins her story. Here’s what happened. An elderly couple—the original owners of this estate— she says, "were wildly unchecked in their whim for realistic toys. They had a huge collection. They purchased all three of us dolls at one time. The other strange playthings were brought here at one time or another, drawn out over the years. The common denominator among us is that we all came from the same place—an old curator’s shop. The owner of the shop, a disagreeable old man indeed, was rough and reckless with us. He tossed us about, as if we were worthless, throwing us wherever.

Some days we cried, wondering how much longer it would be before we might miss an arm or a leg, or worse, end up with a broken head. Our mission was survival. We achieved this by keeping out of his way as much as possible. We often kept to our dusty, dirty hiding places for days and weeks at a time. I still have a slight cough from hiding behind a stack of moldy books.

Gizelle, with a forced tiny cough, clears her throat and resumes her story. One day, the elderly ArrowHeart couple paid an unexpected visit to the shop. It was rare that anyone ever came to make a purchase. However, the couple spied all three of us dolls and fancied us immediately. Thinking them to be rich, the shopkeeper saw only dollar signs—the old geezer knew his mark. But, Gizelle continues, "the couple and the greedy curator squabbled and haggled over the price. Often the couple could be seen hunched over, huddling and whispering during the bizarre dealings. We could not hear what was being said. Eventually, a deal was made and we were whisked off in a whirl to the workroom at the rear of the store.

The shopkeeper unlocked the doors to a huge walk-in closet. Hastily he stepped inside and returned dragging a long, narrow black box to the center of the workroom. We wondered what was next.

Gizelle, continuing, adds, "We didn’t have long to wait. All three of us dolls were placed inside the box. The old man sprinkled sparkly stuff over us, slammed the lid shut, and fastened it securely. We thought the glitzy powder might be stardust. Why not? Terrified, we clung tightly to each other, not knowing if this would be the end.

As I remember, Gizelle says hesitatingly, "it suddenly became very misty inside the box. We heard guttural chanting—incantations—a mumbo jumbo of