The Return of the Discombobulated Woman (short story)

The Return of the Discombobulated Woman was a 2015 short story written by Paul Magrs and released in The Myriad Carnival. The story expanded the history of his character Brenda from The Brenda and Effie Mysteries and would introduce several characters who would later appear in the 2017 novel Fellowship of Ink.

The story was included in the main body of Fellowship of Ink.

Plot
The circus arrives in Darkholmes prompting mistress Evelyn Tyler to invite her maid Brenda for a secret jaunt in the middle of the night. Brenda has vague recollections of the circus but due to the nature of her existence she is unable to recall memories beyond her most recent history. At the circus Brenda hears tales of alligator men, mustachioed ladies, jelly-faced freaks, badger boys, Siamese twins who could play the piano, the leopard boy, the vampire fox, and the princess made from gold leaf and biscuits tins. Brenda witnesses a man hosting a quiz with a family of seemingly intelligent mice, and sympathetically approaches him after he is snubbed by the crowd. She inquires with the man, who identifies himself as the circus owner's son Tony Diodati, if she would be able to speak to his father, interested to learn more about her apparent association with the circus, but he tells her that his father would be hosting in the Big Top at that moment.

Brenda and Evelyn visit the Big Top to watch the main show and Brenda recognises the circus owner, Doctor Diodati. The freaks enter the Big Top and perform a lap of the ring in order for the audience to see each of them in turn before leaving. Brenda slips away from the crowd and heads to see the freaks. The freaks are welcoming to her and reveal that she was once part of the circus too, with her memories rushing back all at once, Brenda faints. She awakens in a caravan and two of the freaks, the Gold Leaf Princess and Charles the Fox-Man, introduce her to a half-pike half-monkey creature known as The Nonesuch who reveals Brenda's past to her. The Nonesuch explains that Brenda was part of the circus many years prior while they were in Paris but she escaped, she was recaptured by Diodati who kept a much closer eye on her until she managed to get away again permanently with the help of Joseph Merrick.

to be added

Characters

 * Brenda
 * Evelyn Tyler
 * Tony Diodati
 * Doctor Diodati
 * Gold Leaf Princess
 * Chicken boy
 * Alligator man
 * Siamese twins
 * Dwarfs
 * Charles
 * Guido
 * The Nonesuch
 * Victor Frankenstein
 * Joseph Merrick

Continuity
to be added