“Let's be careful so that we don't fall down a hole before we know what's going on.” cried Rose from across Mystique's withers.
“No kidding!”
“If we only had some kind of light.”
“Well, you're the one with the striker.”
“Yea somewhere, like the bottom of one of Mystique's panniers. I'll scatter things all over, hunting. If I find the striker, you find something to burn.”
“I'll go break off branches from that old dead tree the unicorns stepped through, just outside, but they'll be wet! Rose, can you hunt in your packs for something to use for tinder?”
“Lukus! Are these your panniers? I don't recognize any of this stuff. Are mine on Starfire?”
“I definitely have my own saddle bags, but I never... Hey! This isn't my stuff, either. Look Rose!” he shouted, as he held up a brightly glowing, phosphorescent green opal, the size and shape of a hen's egg. “This was in a little leather pouch on top of all this stuff I never saw before. It's the exact color of Soraya's amulet...and her gorgeous eyes. Rose, the Elves packed this stuff for us.”
“Lukus! You have an unmistakable crush on Soraya.”
“Drop dead Rose! Hey Rose, I can see stuff with this thing, up real close anyway.”
The Elves had indeed packed the panniers with an impressive collection of things for travel, including a bag of very hot burning flaxen tow, enough for starting a good many fires in the wet, a pair of the best strikers that either of them had ever seen and a pair of collapsing lanterns with a modest supply of candles. Rose even found a pouch with a glowing opal hen's egg of sparkling violet which matched the eyes of her little Elven handmaiden. Before long, they had bedded down Starfire and Mystique, had a cheery fire going and had found dry clothes.
Rose dug out bread, cheese and dried fruit. “I think we need to explore this cave before we try to sleep,” she said. “I think I'd feel 'way safer. Of course, if the cavern turns out to be too big to explore, I guess we’ll just have to make another fire or something.”
When they had eaten, they took the folding Elven lanterns and set out to explore the cave. Though the heavy rain was as noisy as a pounding seashore by their fire, it grew very quiet before they had gone very far back into the mountain. All they could hear were their own tramping, scuffling and breathing while they walked, and dead silence with occasional dripping sounds and the faint distant roar of the cave entrance behind them when they stopped to listen. At last they reached a large chamber that appeared not to have an outlet, so they turned about to leave, satisfied that there were no lurking beasts to share their shelter with.
Suddenly Rose stopped short to listen. Lukus ran squarely into her, dropping his lantern into a puddle on the floor, where it hissed and went out. “Great! Now my lantern is drowned, Rose. Thanks a lot! What were you…?”
“Hush Lukus! Do you hear that? It sounds like moaning.”
“Yea. Crying, maybe,” he said, hushing at once. “So what do you think? Some kind of creature?”
“It sounds like an upset child to me. Just off to the right, I think.”
“I don't see how, unless rocks can whimper. There's nothing here and no other way out, or we wouldn't have turned about.”
“I don't care,” she said. “You tell me where the noise is coming from.”
“There Rose. There's a hole right up there, that looked like shadows before. That's where the sounds are coming from, sure enough. So what do we do if we find some great hairy troll or something?”
“Well, run out. But let’s not get carried away. We'll never be able to sleep until we find out, so let’s be very quiet and get it over with. Come on.” And with that, she started climbing up to the hole.
“Like the monster under the bed, aye?” he said as he scrambled by her. The hole opened into another large cavern with a faint flickering light coming from around a corner at the far end of it. They clambered in and crept toward the light.
Beyond the corner, a small boy was huddled in a filthy blanket, rocking on his haunches, worn out with sobs and whimpers. They shared a wide-eyed look, and Rose knelt to touch his arm. With a shriek of terror he jerked away from her, wedging himself into a deep crack in the rocks.
“Please don’t be afraid,” she said. “My brother and I won’t hurt you. We've camped in the cave to get out of the storm. I'll bet you're hungry. If you are, we have food.”
The boy peeped from his blanket with his one large eye in the middle of his face.
Rose and Lukus jerked back with gasps of shock.
The boy hid again with a squeal. “Monsters go 'way!” he wailed in the echoes.
Rose and Lukus looked agape.
“You saw it too, aye Rose? Just one eye, right?”
“Right. But what do we do now, Lukus? What if he starts crying again? What if he's cold and hungry and all alone?”
“Yea. What if his parents think we made him cry?”
“Maybe they're not about,” said Rose.
“Go 'way!” cried the boy, as he pushed even further back into the hole.
“Let me try, Rose. Maybe he needs to speak man to man.”
“Righty-o. I'll be right here while you go find your man.”
“Sixteen is 'way too big for you Rose,” he said, peering from side to side with his lantern. “Hey Back-in-There. We might look scary, but we’re kids, just like you. I've never seen anyone like you either, and I’m willing to let you show me that you aren’t a monster.”
“I no monster,” declared the boy. “I Ownlee.”
“Well, I’m afraid we don't know what an Ownlee is, so maybe you could tell me.”
“Ownlee not a what,” he said. “I Ownlee. Me.”
“Now I understand,” said Lukus, smacking himself on the forehead. “Right glad to meet you, Ownlee. I’m Lukus and this be my sister, Rose.”
Rose smiled.
“Why so many eyes?” said Ownlee. “You look scary.”
“Everyone has two eyes where I come from,” said Lukus. “And I’ll bet everyone you know has just the one. Right?”
“One,” said Ownlee. “What you need two for?”
“I don't know, Ownlee.”
“One best. Two look crazy.”
“Well Ownlee, where are your folks? Are you lost or are you just waiting for them?”
“Runned off,” said Ownlee as his lip began to quiver.
“Why did you run away?” said Rose as she gently took a twig from his hair..
Mater and Pater get new boy. No fair! Ownlee not good enough no more.”
“Now did they really say that, Ownlee?” said Rose.
“No, but Mater spended all day and all night with new boy and Pater spended all day and all night with new boy. Nobody spended any time with Ownlee. No one like Ownlee. Ownlee rund away to this cave. Will you stay here with Ownlee? You not monsters now.”
“I’ll tell you what, Ownlee,” said Rose as she held out her hand, “let’s go back to our fire and you can have a bite to eat. Then we’ll talk about this some more. How would that be?”
Ownlee nodded uncertainly, but eagerly followed them back and wolfed down everything they gave him to eat.
“Ownlee, how long have you been in this cave?” said Rose.
Ownlee frowned and looked out into the night. “Three nights in cave,” he said with a conclusive nod.
“How many nights did it take for you to find this cave, Ownlee?” said Lukus.
“Only one.”
“Do you know which direction you came from?” said Rose.
Ownlee stepped out into the misty night to look out over the countryside. At last he pointed. “That way,” he said.
“Guess what?” said Lukus. “That's the very way we'll be going when we leave in the morning. You wouldn’t want to come along with us and stop at your house, would you? Because if you would, we'd love to take you.”
Ownlee looked first at Lukus and then at Rose and gave one big up and down nod. He lay down on his blanket with a sigh and star
ed at the fire. The next time they looked, he was sound asleep.
***
“Are you awake?” said Rose, reaching from under her blankets to tug Lukus's ear.
“Rose, I'm very awake, thanks to your gentle ministrations. What do you want that can't wait until I’ve had a chance to get up and take a…?”
“Lukus!”
“Pray tell Rose, is there anything I might do to be of service to my dearest Poophole?”
“I just thought that if you were awake you might see what you could do about the fire so it would be nice and toasty in here for poor little Ownlee when he awakens. But, that's quite all right, as it's easy to see that you're utterly incapable.”
“Here I go, fixing the fire-ire-ire,” he said, springing to his feet and stepping aside to be out of her reach. “So obviously I don't mind in the teensy weensy slightest, even if Rosie the Rhinoceros-os is over there under her mountain of foul blankets, woofing at the world. Ah! Ah! Ah! No fair squinting daggers at your sincere and well-meaning brother in the dar- ar-ark!”
***
“Thank you,” she said with all of the polite sincerity of one being helped into a carriage in front of the church, when he had finished with the fire.
“Thank you,” said Lukus, as Rose handed him a morsel to eat.
“You’re welcome,” she said, making short work of her breakfast.
“We go today, Lukus!” said Ownlee, smiling hugely and bouncing crumbs down his front.
“That’s right Ownlee. So if you're finished eating, how would you like to help me round up the unicorns? By the time we get back, Rose will probably have everything packed up, so all we’ll have to do is tie it on and be off.”
Ownlee gazed at Lukus in worshipful wonder. “Ownlee get to ride unicorn, too? Ownlee never do that before,” he said. “Ownlee once rided Centaur, though. But Centaur not like it much.”
“I’ve heard that about them. Well, let’s go find the unicorns, Ownlee.”
***
The sun was climbing into a clear blue sky, as a soft cool breeze laden with wafts of honeysuckle and locust reminded them that it was spring with a promising day ahead. Rose smiled, letting the sun warm her face as she savored the air. She turned to Lukus and Ownlee, who were patiently waiting astride Starfire, and motioned for them to ride. They did not need a second invitation.
Chapter 32
They took their time meandering down out of the foothills of the Enchanted Mountains into Fairy Valley, which they followed toward Chokewoods. In spite of their relaxed gait, they made good time, swaying in their saddles, giggling to the excited prattle of their one eyed comrade. The low mountains to their left, called the Fairy Range, which formed the eastern rim of the Fairy Valley, were growing flat topped the farther south that they went. Ownlee called these the Cyclops Plateaus, and said that they would reach his home before evening and his excitement grew as they rode. Rose and Lukus were relieved that the little fellow was eager to see his family, since they had no idea what they would otherwise do with him.
Presently, Ownlee pointed to a gap in the table topped mountains. “There! Home that way!” he shouted.
“Since he says it's not far, it surely won't hurt us to take him,” said Rose.
“Yahoo!” hollered Ownlee without warning, as he began bouncing furiously on Starfire's rump.
“...yaHoo!...aHoo!...aHoo!...hoo!...hoo!...hoo...” echoed the rocks all around.
The unicorns broke into a giddy gallop.
“Yahoo!” cried Rose, standing in her stirrups.
“Yahoo!” cried Lukus and Ownlee, hanging on for dear life, as the rock walls hammered them with their own yells and hoof beats. Suddenly the rock walls gave way to gently rolling farm land.
“That fun Lukus,” said Ownlee, as they slowed to a walk. “That Ownlee's house!”
After a furlong or so they turned into a lane going up to the neatly whitewashed farmhouse where he lived. At once two Cyclopses rushed out to meet them.
“Mater! Pater!” cried Ownlee, clambering off the unicorn as if he did so every day. “Ownlee home! Mater, Pater miss Ownlee? New son take Ownlee’s place?”
“Ownlee!” cried his mother. “We have been out of our very minds over you!” She burst into tears and grabbed him up in a joyous whirling hug.
Rose and Lukus watched with guilty fascination. While it was oddly comforting to see his parents overwhelmed with joy instead of determined to punish him, they knew that they had a lot to make up for when they got home.
“And who be these young strangers who return our precious child?” said Ownlee’s father, turning to Rose and Lukus.
Ownlee wriggled out of his mother's arms and rushed to stand proudly by his new friends. “They finded Ownlee in big cold cave,” he said grandly.
“We owe them our gratitude and hospitality,” said Ownlee’s father as he shook their hands. “My name is Milowe and this be my wife Tillie, and we are so very grateful. Won't you join us for supper? And you are most welcome to spend the night.”
Rose and Lukus accepted at once.
“I'm sorry I have only simple fare,” said Tillie, as she dipped out soup.
“Simple indeed,” said Rose. “I can’t remember smelling anything so good.”
“And I've just baked two apple pies,” said Tillie, as she set out four steaming loaves of bread and some freshly churned butter. “Ownlee will show you to the basin.”
After supper they sat before the fire, watching sparks from the new logs dash up the flue. “How is it that you two fine young people happened to find our wayward waif, here?” said Milowe, as his big eye settled thoughtfully on Lukus.
“By sheer accident, sir,” said Lukus. “My sister and I are on a quest. We're hunting for our long lost auntie who vanished into the Chokewood Forest thirteen years ago.”
Milowe and Tillie's eyebrows shot up at this.
Lukus plunged on with his tale with abandon.
“It’s almost as if it was seen to by the Fates,” said Rose, warily taking over before he got careless. “We decided to explore the cave to sleep in, and that's when we found Ownlee.”
“Ownlee real scared,” said Ownlee. “Ownlee think two eyes just for animals. Two eyes for monsters who might eat Ownlee. But Lukus and Rose talk nice. They be friends. Maybe they stay here and live with Ownlee?” His hopeful look that fell at the sight of everyone's faces. “Why not?” he said.
Lukus gave him a quick hug. “Rose and I are your friends forever,” he said, “but we must finish what we started. And we have parents of our own who want us to come home.”
“Ownlee not know that,” he said with his big wide eye. “Lukus you right. You go home. But please, please visit Ownlee sometime.”
“You can count on it,” he said.
At this, Tillie bid Ownlee to say good night and put him to bed.
“So, how urgent is this quest of yours to Chokewood?” said Milowe. “Be it right urgent, I know of a quick way.”
“The faster the better, I should think,” said Rose.
“Going back to Fairy Valley and then going straight on south to the Chokewood would be a pleasant ride,” he said. “But this short cut I have in mind would save you a good two days and you'd come out only a league or so east of where you would have been when you get there.”
“Well we are indeed in haste,” said Rose.
“I'd think about it first, for this short cut requires a stout heart. They call it the Valley of Illusions, and most of the frightening things which you find there aren't real.”
“Have you been through there yourself?” said Lukus.
“Yes. But you can see anything, and the illusions always change, so I can only be so much help.”
“Maybe we should go back to Fairy Valley to be safe, Rose.”
“Don't we want to get this over with, Lukus? What are illusions compared to a real hydra? This short cut will have you home two days sooner.”
Lukus was certainly for that. Presently Tillie re
turned, and she and Milowe talked at great length about the hair-raising things they knew about in the Valley of Illusions. At last Tillie found blankets for them and she and Milowe left them to make their pallets for the night on the floor by the fire.
“How many times did they each go through?” said Lukus, as he settled onto his back.
“I think only once apiece.”
“Oh my. Then that's a lot of scary things to tell us about from only one trip for each of them.”
“Well some of them were stories they'd heard, too...”
“Yea? Well if they've lived here all their lives, that's not much going back there, is it?”
“Lukus, I'm in a hurry, aren't you?”
“Yea. I guess so,” he said, stirring the air with his fingers as he studied where the trusses and purlins held up the rafters and thatch. In the next moment, they were sleeping more soundly than either of them had since they left Niarg.
***
After a dreamless sleep, they awoke to a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausages, making it difficult to say goodbye to the wonderful Cyclops family. They set out on a path that meandered south from the far end of Milowe and Tillie's fields. The path wound about for a long way through brush and stands of low gnarled prickly leaved oaks and thorny legume trees, coming out at last on a bluff, where it plunged into a ravine down the face of the mountain into the Valley of Illusions. “There it lies,” said Rose. “Down there.”
Down they went, Mystique and Starfire scuffling and scratching the crumbly, rotting rock as they lurched, kicking loose thorny succulents that clung to the sides of what had become an eroded trough for torrents when it rained. Rose and Lukus leant back over the unicorn's rumps as though they'd slide over their ears at any moment. They skidded to a slow walk at the bottom, across the gritty ankle deep sand of the alluvial fan that spilt into a broad shallow dry creek which ran the length of the Valley of Illusions.
“Well here we are,” said Rose. “We just follow this to the Chokewoods. I sure didn't expect it to be so pretty here.”
And pretty it was. There it lay before them, a very ordinary looking but positively gorgeous primeval landscape, with grassy meadows filled with blazing patches of yellow asters and vermilion coneflowers, with endless stands of tall oaks and beech flanking the lower slopes of the mountains on either side. Just as they got underway, a huge flock of pigeons took to the air with a burst of whistling wings. As it was the day before, the weather was nearly perfect for travel, and they soon fell silent, mesmerized by the scenery, the bird calls and the languid saunter of the unicorns.
Heart of the Staff - Complete Series Page 31