The Cobblers

Hello, dear readers! I am aware it has been forever since I've posted, I apologize but I really don't have an explanation.

Suffice to say I'm posting again finally and will try to post more regularly again :) Anyway, here's a story I wrote recently as I've been working on my spy organization, Arrow!

The Cobblers

In spy lingo, a “cobbler” is somebody who puts together secret identities and creates cover stories for undercover or retrieval agents and their missions. Arrow has a group of five to seven cobblers, their job being to work together or separately to come up with unique identities and stories for the various missions and agents that are thrown their way. The teamwork, quick wits, and friendship of the team is absolutely essential.

Elizabeth “Bats” Everkin strode confidently down the hallway, satchel slung over one shoulder, glasses slipping just slightly down her nose as she walked. She pushed them up with her shoulder out of habit as she scanned each door she passed, looking for her destination. It wasn’t long before she stood in front of a wooden door with a smaller glass pane set inside- the kind of door you’d see on a classroom or a hospital room. In fact, it was a hospital room, or it used to be at any rate. When the old hospital was revamped into Arrow’s covert operations base, door replacements had been low priority.

Bats paused for a moment, hands on her hips as she looked up at the door. The plaque next to the door, which was supposed to be denoting the intended purpose of the room, was covered up by a piece of plain white, printer paper. The title “The Cobblers” was scribbled on it in pen, along with doodles of fruits and slices of dessert cobblers, with varying artistic styles and competence. Some of the doodles were very good, and had a small initial next to them- U. M. Some were barely recognizable, and U. M were the only initials present on the paper.

After another moment of studying the sign and the door, Bats opened the door and walked inside, nudging her glasses back in place once again as she did so.

The quiet hum inside the room fell to a sudden hush as she stepped in and looked around. Four individuals and five desks were scattered at random intervals in the somewhat sizeable room, and everyone in the room looked up to glance over the newest member.

“She’s here!”

The first one to speak- or sing, more like- was a short girl in the back of the room, sitting up straight and waving excitedly.

“Yeah, we see that, ‘Nore,” another member, a dark haired boy, responded, getting up.

“I’ll get the supplies,” someone else volunteered, slipping into a closet in the corner.

“Welcome to the Cobblers, we have, well, cobbler,” the person closest to her smiled, shutting her laptop.

“It’s tradition,” the short girl in the back announced, making her way through the maze of desks, tables, lamps, and filing cabinets. “I’m Eleanor!”

“Hi,” Bats responded, smiling. “I’m glad to be here,” she announced.

“I know! And I’m glad you’re here too,” Eleanor nodded, finally reaching Bats to shake her hand.

The dark haired boy approached the two. “Hey twins, clear the circle, would you?” he instructed, before turning to Bats. “I’m Ulysses Markey, what’s your name?”

“I’m Elizabeth Everkin- I like to be called Batty or Bats, though,” she said, looking up at the serious, but kind face before her.

“Nice to meet you, Batty,” he nodded, shaking her hand.

On the far end of the room, the lady who’d been closest to the door pushed around some filing cabinets to make a large circular space on the floor. A boy who looked exactly like the filing cabinet lady emerged from the closet with his hands full of paper plates, printer paper, pens and markers, and plastic utensils.

“I’m Jube,” he called to the small group at the door, carrying the supplies to the newly created circle.

“Joy!” the filing cabinet girl shouted, waving. “We’re the twins!”

“C’mon, Tiago will be here with the food soon,” Eleanor announced, grabbing Bat’s hand and tugging her to the circle.

Sitting with Joy on one side and Ulysses on the other, Batty was brought into the group of Cobblers amid much laughter and sugar. Upon Tiago’s arrival with several different kinds of cobbler, she learned that Tiago was more or less the leader of the vibrant group. By the time the dessert was finished, she’d also found out that Jube’s full name was Jubilation, Ulysses and Eleanor were deep in both love and denial, and Joy’s emo, hair-covering-one-eye, shy-schoolgirl haircut belied a super outgoing, cheery personality to rival Eleanor’s. Not to mention Ulysses Markey were the U. M initials she’d found on the handwritten sign outside the door.

Finally, the fast-paced, entertaining conversation turned to a more focused topic.

“Every time we get a new Cobbler, we make the sign again,” Tiago told Bats, passing around pens. “The new member draws the words, and the rest of us decorate it. Ulysses goes last because he takes too long to draw,” he added with a laugh.

The rest laughed good-naturedly, even Ulysses, but then the group fell silent as a piece of blank paper was passed to Bats. She looked down at the paper, pen in hand, still for a moment. With the utmost care and her best penmanship, she carefully wrote down “The Cobblers” directly in the center of the paper. As soon as she finished the last curve of the last s, a warm, hearty cheer went up and the paper was passed around, soon filled with colorful drawings of cobbler, peaches, blueberries, apples, bananas, and lemons. Once the sign was completed, Ulysses handed the paper to her, along with a roll of scotch tape.

“Would you like to do the honors?” he smiled, nodding towards the door.

Bats got up and moved toward the door, the rest of the group rising and following behind her. She carefully removed the old sign and taped up the new one in its place, examining their colorful handiwork for a moment.

“Welcome to the Cobblers,” Tiago announced, patting Batty on the back.

“Welcome,” Eleanor repeated cheerfully.

“Welcome, glad you’re here,” from Ulysses.

“Hope you enjoy your stay! Welcome!” Joy added.

“Welcome to the Cobblers,” Jube spoke up lastly, giving her a smile.

Batty grinned, looking around at the group that she’d only just met, but already loved with her whole heart.

“So when do we start?”