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Cowbell was glad to have a day to himself. His leathery tail flicked left and right as he nearly skipped through the halls, the fluff swaying with his movement as he jovially made his way to his own chambers. The Ghoul hummed behind his mask and took a right turn at the end of the hall, looking for a more scenic route to take back to his room. The chapel expanded out into a larger more open area the closer you walked to the gardens. Enclosed hallways expanded out into large open corridors with pillars made of granite in elaborate designs, ram heads screaming from the tops with huge curling horns. Cowbell eyed them as he strolled past, his fluffy tail snapping back and forth against his legs and reached for his own stubby horns before grinning beneath his mask and clicking his teeth together in a poor imitation of the demonic looking goat. The Ghoul cackled and continued walking, not aware of the befuddled Sisters watching him as they drew water from the well in pails. Not able to see the Ghoul’s face, his strange wiggling in front of the column looked very strange. They giggled at him and walked away with their water making jokes in hushed Italian.
Cowbell walked around the small cornered off garden and sniffed the air, his tail wrapping around his leg as he looked at a couple of irises that had sprouted in the corner of one of the flower beds. Their vibrant blue flowers contrasted well against the soft pinks of the pansies in front of them. The black eyes stared intensely for a moment until something glittering caught their attention. Like a Magpie, the Ghoul skipped forwards through the flowers and leaned down, his head twisting to analyse the shinning gold object. A slipper sat in the dirt, a little grimy and beaten up, but not appearing to have been in the dirt long. Cowbell carefully pulled it out from next to the plants and dusted the specks off dirt off it before looking around. There was no one near him and the slipper was almost woman like. The shoe was small and covered in a lot of fancy embroidery. Cowbell pressed his hand inside and cringed, hissing a little. It was still grossly warm, and his demonic nose curled at the strange perfumed smell that wafted from the slipper. Cowbell sniffled and sneezed before carefully moving out of the bed and back onto the cobbled path, the slipper held in one hand, strong hands turning it over in wonder.
The Ghoul looked around the gardens, the slipper held gently in one hand as he strode under the shade of a viewing balcony and out towards the main gardens. There was no one around. Cowbell clicked to himself, spinning the slipper over again before turning back towards his intended route, wondering how he would find the owner of the shoe. The Sister Imperator would surely be able to give it back quickly, but the Ghoul shuddered thinking about having to ask the intimidating woman for something. Her piercing, icy gaze was the last thing he needed to have to face. Tucking the little slipper under his arm, the Cowbell Ghoul began to make his way back to the chapel, a slight spring in his step as he thought about the cute Sister of Sin the slender shoe probably belonged to. Perhaps, he thought, he would get a reward for returning the shoe to the sister. His little tail beat left and right in excitement as he rounded the screaming pillar and sped towards the Sisters’ quarters.
The section of the grounds kept for the sisters was condensed into one large multi-floor building and Cowbell peered up at the roof, his black eyes squinting in the bright afternoon light. His spade ended tail tucked itself away as he approached the main door and opened the panelled door. A Sister greeted him with a frown at the reception area and huffed, “Ghoul if you are here to find a quick lay I suggest you leave before I remove you myself.” She glared at him over her glasses.
Cowbell felt his demonic face flush dark beneath the mask, “Ah no, Sister. I am only here to return this shoe I found. I found it in the gardens and I thought I should find who it belonged to?” He squeaked as the elder Sister huffed and rolled her eyes before signalling to the doors around her.
“It looks like you will be here a while, Ghoul. Any one of the Sisters here, I’m sure, will try to shove that thing on their foot.” Her face was a picture of annoyance. Cowbell shuffled from foot to foot before creeping towards the doors and clumsily slipping through a small gap he made.
After aimlessly trying to find someone to ask about the slipper, Cowbell finally managed to pluck up the courage to knock on a door near him. A frazzled looking younger sister opened the door, her hair up in a towel and a robe wrapped tight around her as her legs dripped with water. She frowned but eyed the Ghoul in front of her and raised an eyebrow with a smirk, “Is there something in particular you need, Ghoul?”
Cowbell raised the slipper in front of his face, black eyes looking at her feet, “Has anyone lost a slipper on this floor, Sister? I found this in the garden and I wanted to return it.” The golden slipper’s fine embroidery glittered in the light.
The Sister carefully analysed the slipper before shaking her head and shrugging, “The only woman I would think that could possibly have lost that would be Sister Iris. She’s up on the third floor. Room twenty-seven I believe.” The nun smiled at him before closing the door softly after Cowbell said his thanks.
Cowbell took the stairs, taking them two at a time before searching for room twenty-seven. The room was on the end of the hall, the door decorated with an assortment of black and white cut outs from magazines. Cowbell knocked softly on the wood, listening as some soft music was shut off. The door creaked open to reveal the almond coloured eye of a lavishly dressed Sister. Iris glanced up at the Ghoul mask and grumbled, “I am not interested in laying with you Ghoul. I have told you before I have standards and…”
“I’m not here for that, Sister.” Cowbell was embarrassed as he held up the slipper and tapped his leg with his other hand, his tail wiggling in his trousers with anxiety. “I heard that you may have lost a slipper, so I came to see if this one I found in the garden is yours?” Iris glared at his mask with hard eyes before opening the door to let the Ghoul in.
“Let me get my shoe rack out and we’ll see. I don’t remember losing one…” She went off on a tangent and the Ghoul gazed around the room, snickering at the rosaries and crosses, not really paying attention to what she was saying.
Iris snapped the Ghoul back into the present when she presented her shoes rack, the spots all full of carefully placed pairs of shoes. She shrugged her shoulders and took the slipper from Cowbell, her brow furrowed with thought, “It’s a very finely made slipper.” Iris looked Cowbell in the eyes, handing him the gold slipper back with a smile, “It’s probably not one of the Sisters’ I’m afraid. Maybe it got dropped by one the Clergy or something on a visit? You could ask around, but I wouldn’t unless you want to be stuck here getting harassed for hours, Ghoul.” The sister flipped her hair back over her shoulder and closed her rack up before turning back to Cowbell.
“Thank you, Sister, I will ask a few others then give it to the lost and found I think. Someone will claim it eventually.” The ghoul bowed a little and left swiftly, humming as he tried to find some more people to ask about the mysterious gold slipper.
Asking about the slipper lead to a queue of Sisters attempting to prove the slipper was in fact their own by cramming their foot into the fine material. Cowbell was dragged into the process of trying to shove the slipper onto the feet of many women, young and old, and was quickly tired. They were all not missing the slipper and Cowbell ended up with a few bumps and bruises from the event. He had finally escaped with the slipper after running away to the toilet and escaping out of the bathroom window. The Ghoul sprinted for the chapel as he heard the outraged cries of the Sisters at his absence. He would apologise later, he decided, as he slammed the door to the church and sprinted for the stairs towards the rooms on the upper floors. The cowbell Ghoul opened the doors to his quarters and sighed in relief before flopping onto his bed and dropping the slipper. Tomorrow he’d find the real owner.
The morning meant errands began again and Cowbell tucked the slipper inside his uniform as he walked to Papa Emeritus Nihil’s quarters. The old Papa was sat at his small breakfast table when Cowbell entered, and the old man looked up from his fruit loaf and expresso with a smile. Although the old creature’s eyesight was failing him, his ears worked very well, and he waved the Ghoul over with a greeting.
“Papa, is your breakfast good this morning?” Cowbell carefully poured the old man another cup of bitter black coffee before catching sight of a shining thing in his peripheral vision. Putting the pot of coffee down he looked at the rack behind the Grand Papa and grew cold.
“Papa, have you lost your slipper? The gold one.” Cowbell felt his stomach drop as the old man nodded.
“Yes, Cowbell. I don’t know where the other one has gone.” Nihil ate another bite of his toasted fruit loaf and sighed sipping his coffee. Cowbell groaned and pulled the slipper out of his coat.
“I found it in the gardens, Papa.” He placed the shoe back on the rack.
Papa Nil chuckled, “You are a good Ghoul, my dear Cowbell.” And took another sip of coffee. Cowbell’s tail wiggled at the praise but drooped as he thought of the reward he wasn’t going to get off the Sisters of Sin.