Boroc released him. “Stay down.”
David responded with a cough and a splutter and without warning, Boroc pulled him to his feet.
“Boroc. That was one of those big flying things I told you about.”
“I know what it was! Stop yakking,” and with that, Boroc grabbed David and started down the passage.
“Boroc, put me down, I’ve got legs you know.”
“Yes you have, they just don’t work very well.”
Boroc eventually stopped running and lowered David to the ground and they experienced another downdraft of air, as something large flew over them and down the passage.
“Those things mean business; I’ve seen what they can do.”
“Stay close and follow me.”
They continued down the passage and eventually reached a cavern and without stopping they headed into it, which seemed a bit risky in David’s opinion. He wasn’t about to question Boroc’s decision, he clearly knew what he was doing, even if his methods were a little unrefined.
David was having to run to keep up and he wondered if this was really necessary or was Boroc just testing him? He had two options, keep up or get left behind and the rumble of a fast flowing river sharpened his focus.
Boroc hadn’t activated a light crystal, he didn’t need to, as they were being guided by a light that appeared to be oozing from the rocks.
This place was immense; with many mighty columns that had been created by merging stalactites and stalagmites and looked to David like the interior of a gothic cathedral. The cavern echoed to the sound of a river, a constant deep rumble and some distance from where they were standing, a natural stone bridge spanned its churning waters.
Since Boroc had spent a bit of time here in the past, David wondered if anything looked familiar. Boroc did recall coming into this cavern before and knew that an extensive network of tunnels existed here. A lot of these tunnels had been created by the Shamozolts themselves, in a bid to reach the deeper seams of ore.
“Look Boroc, across the river.”
“More Balacobacks.”
“Is that what you call those things?”
“Yes, although I’ve never seen them this far north before.”
In the distance, they observed two Balacobacks break away from the main group and then suddenly swoop as if attacking something. The actions of the Balacobacks focused their attention and they could see a number of Squalvolvans attempting to defend themselves.
Seeing the Squalvolvans in large numbers only confirmed how successful they had been since their escape and the prospect of more decapitation lightened Boroc’s mood.
The action they had been watching disappeared behind a mountain of rock and Boroc was eager to be a part of it. The good news was that the Balacobacks weren’t troubling them, so maybe they preferred the taste of Squalvolvan.
Boroc and David followed the river and reached the natural stone bridge without incident. By now they must have been a good half a mile from the entrance and the cavern continued to open up.
David knew how easy it would be to become lost down here and kept looking back the way they had come, just in case he had to find his own way back out of this place.
He panned back around and noticed movement on a ledge, fifty feet or so above them. At first, he wasn't sure what he was seeing and then the jumble of shapes began to make sense and he could see five, no, six people looking at him. It was difficult to make them out against the dark rock because they blended almost perfectly. David thought they looked like little ninjas with eyes that glistened like jewels and he blinked a few times, suspecting it might be just a trick of the light, but they were still there. He then noticed their mouths were moving, but couldn’t hear what they were saying over the rumble of the river.
David concentrated and the sound of their voices reached his ears, although he was unable to understand a word of it. There was a rhythm to the words and he got quite a shock when he realised they were chanting his name. They had his full attention and it was difficult to pull away, but Boroc had to see this. David shouted at him to stop and look; only his voice was lost in the vastness of the cavern and so would he be if he didn’t get a move on.
He had only taken his eyes off the group of people for a few seconds, but he couldn’t see them now. It was like they had disappeared into thin air.
Once across the stone bridge, David had intended to bring his strange encounter to Boroc’s attention, but when the time came, he thought better of it. He had angered Boroc more than once and he wondered if this race had a reputation for being bad-tempered. Imagine an army of them, so how had the people here survived such an adversary?
With his mind focusing on the wellbeing of these survivors, the air pressure around him changed. With this change came the sound of his name being chanted again and he looked around, but this time there was no one there. The chanting faded into the background and he was left with the feeling that the people here were in danger, more so now than ever before.
David wasn’t sure what he should do with this information. Maybe he didn’t have to do anything, since Boroc was hell-bent on killing the Squalvolvans anyway. That still left the real enemy, the Formless Ones and David couldn’t imagine how they would defeat them, but if the aquatic people were right, then this message he was carrying could hold the answer.
The light down here was a little better than the light from the full moon back on Earth and reminded David of a cloudless night-time walk across the park, where the trees had hidden their faces in the shadows. Instead of trees, they were passing columns of rock, which looked to him like giant frozen sentinels from a time long since past.
With his imagination running wild, he hadn’t seen the smaller columns and his hands went out to save himself from a painful collision.
These rocks were covered in a layer of yellow powder, which on impact, expanded into the air like a cloud and reminded David of sherbet or pollen.
He stood there for a minute wondering what had just happened and thought he could hear Boroc shouting at him, only he couldn’t make out what he was saying.
His hearing was all wrong and everything appeared to be moving real slow. Boroc’s voice had quietened to a whisper and he was growing taller or was it David that was shrinking? David wasn’t sure what was happening. His brain kind of registered that he was falling and when he hit the ground, it was like his body had turned to rubber because he seemed to bounce like a ball.
David heard himself say, ‘come and taste the sherbet,' just before he blacked out.
Chapter Eight
The Diary
The light from their torches danced across the rough track as they made their way back to the church and Lim couldn’t get there quick enough. His head was full of questions, which he hoped were about to be answered. Locating Miar was their top priority, but then what? The only person that knew more than any of them was Clom, the last person to have spoken with Huey.
“So what did he say exactly?” asked Lim.
“I’ve told you all I know. My guess is that once we find Miar, we will need to leave and that probably means going back to Vulsumar, where Huey will be waiting for us.”
“You think Clom’s right?” asked Joeum.
“Going back to Vulsumar would seem logical as we still have unfinished business there,” said Laja. “Huey’s controlling the telepoint but once the Formless Ones realise this, the situation will change very quickly.”
“Could the Formless Ones shut the telepoint down?” asked Joeum.
“I don’t think that will happen. It is more likely they will disrupt our return. We saw the power struggle between the Femesumma and the Formless Ones. Neither side wants to lose the telepoint. Keeping it operational has its advantages for the Femesumma, but we still don’t know why it is so important to the Formless Ones and that’s what we have to find out.”
Lim was listening, but the only thing on his mind was Miar and whatever it was she'd left for them at the cemetery.
>
Clom was convinced they should have taken the pickup, it would have been quicker.
“We have to slip back into obscurity and we won’t achieve that by stealing a vehicle,” said Joeum.
“Would it be stealing if the keys were in it?”
“Clom, you don’t really want me to answer that question, do you?”
Frank couldn’t have done more for them and if their roles were reversed, which of them would have given what he had. They were also relying on Frank to cover their tracks and that alone could have serious repercussions for both him and Hilly.
Passing the empty properties in the dark was kind of spooky, worst of all was the idea that they would be entering a cemetery at night and this was giving Clom the shivers.
Something shifted in the hedgerow, disturbed by their torches and Clom was noticeably unnerved by the experience. His reaction to the slightest movement was making everyone jumpy.
The Moon peeking through the trees created quite an atmosphere, it was so big and still a few days away from being full.
Joeum had seen it all before of course and being back on Earth was bringing back memories of those he once knew as a young man and he wondered where they might be now. His heart felt a little heavy, knowing that some of these people could have left this place and been enlisted into the ranks of those they were battling.
There was little chance of him bumping into anyone familiar, since this island was off the south coast and he had grown up in the north. He could still picture the lakes and mountains and it was during one of his long hikes that he had had his encounter. The encounter changed his life forever and marked the beginning of a journey that he was still on, some thirty years later.
Clom noticed Joeum staring at the Moon. “You’re wondering how they did it?”
For a moment Joeum wasn’t sure what Clom was talking about.
“The Moon. That’s how the Aquatics got here. Remember?” said Clom.
“I know what Huey said about the Moon, but I’m struggling with the idea. What do you think, Laja?”
“As unbelievable as it sounds, it does actually explain a few things.”
“We’ve been up there, so surely we’d know?” said Joeum.
“Those in power are under the influence of the Formless Ones, so anything controversial is kept secret. As difficult as that might be to accept, there are people like Shemo who are in direct contact with the Formless Ones and embrace their ideals and philosophy as one might embrace the teachings of a god.”
“If the Formless Ones had a hand in our creation, then what choice do we have, but to serve them?”
“They may have created you, but that doesn’t make you their property, although your very creation is a violation.”
“Sounds like we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t.”
“Maybe, but your efforts will not go unrewarded.”
Clom’s torch beam caught a couple of glowing dots of light. “Jesus, what’s that?”
“Hold the torch steady,” said Joeum.
“I’m not sure I can.”
“Give it to me a minute,” and Joeum angled the beam back to the same spot.
The glowing dots were still there.
“They’re moving,” said Clom, clearly distressed.
“It’s just a Fox,” said Joeum.
“A Fox?”
“Yes, big bushy tail, harmless,” said Lim. “Come on, we’re nearly there.”
They could see the church spire silhouetted against the moonlit clouds and they turned into the little drive where they’d seen a car parked up on their previous visit.
“Car’s gone,” said Clom.
Lim led them around the side of the church and they were suddenly among the headstones. He knew what he was looking for. It had to be that little wooden cross.
“Clom, where is it?”
“What are we looking for?” asked Joeum.
“A cross, a small wooden cross. It was here, I’m sure of it.”
Laja looked at the spot where Lim was pointing. “The ground here has been disturbed.”
“That bloke said he was going to move it,” said Clom.
“Which bloke was that?” asked Joeum.
“He worked in the church and said the cross shouldn’t have been there.”
“Can one of you explain what the significance of this cross is? What makes you so sure it’s what we’re looking for?”
Lim explained that the cross had been crudely assembled with a simple inscription and the man they met, suggested it was someone's pet cat.
“Mr Purrwell. Okay, I get it. And?”
“Miar always said that if she ever came to Earth, she wanted a pet cat.”
“All right then. We have to hope that whatever Miar left for us has been reburied, so let’s spread out and try to find it,” said Joeum.
They split up and using their torches, they worked their way around the cemetery. If it wasn’t here, they would have to wait until morning and maybe speak to the man from the church.
The churchyard was enclosed on three sides by stone walls and the fourth side was the church itself and within this enclosure were a number of trees and Lim wanted to check around these first.
The light from their torches criss-crossed this sacred space, bouncing off the headstones and as Clom and Lim headed over to the first tree, something ran through their torch beam. Joeum was quick to identify it as a rabbit and Clom didn’t think he could take many more of these surprises.
So far, they had searched around three trees and there was no hint of a wooden cross and Lim could feel his anxiety levels rising. Still hopeful, he headed towards a large old oak tree and was trying to cover as much ground as possible with the narrow beam of his torch, which to an observer might have looked a bit erratic. He’d almost reached the oak when in the furthest corner of the cemetery, his beam snagged on something sticking up above the grass and there it was, the little wooden cross.
Lim almost went sprawling when he tripped over a tree root, not seeing it in the dark and his stumble focused everyone’s attention.
Realising he had probably found what they had been looking for, they headed over.
Lim dropped to his knees in front of the little cross; as if he had suddenly felt the urge to pray and reading the inscription confirmed to him that it was the right one. The earth beneath the cross was soft, which meant it had been dug over recently and Lim went to work, digging the ground with his bare hands and in no time he had unearthed a small metal box. Perhaps a little too small to hold the body of a cat, which was reassuring, since no one wanted to be responsible for digging up someone’s beloved pet.
A little padlock held the lid closed and Lim fumbled with the tiny key Frank had given him and with Joeum holding the torch steady, the clasp of the padlock jumped open.
They were all keen to know what Miar had left for them.
“It’s a book,” said Lim.
A diary to be precise and folded inside, on the first page, was a short letter and Lim's hands were shaking as he read it.
Dear Lim,
You can’t imagine how much I miss you. I’ve spent my days consumed with fear and sadness at the thought of never seeing you again. I wonder where this road will take me and I can only hope it will eventually lead me back to you. If you’re reading this then you have no doubt found my diary. Within it I have documented my time here and its contents will, I hope, provide you with all you need to find me. Frank and Hilly have been incredible and without their help, I would never have made it and I’m sure they have shown you the same hospitality. Not everyone here is like them, so be careful who you trust. Keep safe and know that I’ll never give up hope.
All my love, Miar.
Lim could barely read the letter through his tears and then turning to the diary, he got a bit of a shock.
“Miar has been here for weeks. How can this be?”
“I’m not surprised,” said Laja. “It’s how time works.”
With the discovery of Miar’s diary they had all they needed to find her, but to remain in the cemetery for much longer could draw unnecessary attention, so Laja suggested they head off and find somewhere less conspicuous to read it.
Before Lim folded Miar’s letter away, he noticed there was more on the back of it. A map.
“Look, we’re here in the cemetery,” said Lim.
“I could have told you that, without the map,” said Clom. “Wait a minute, we’ve got company.”
They could see a vehicle’s headlights coming along the track towards them, the din of its engine getting gradually louder. The driver may have already seen their torches, but they switched them off anyway and retreated to the back of the cemetery. They gathered behind an oak tree and hoped the vehicle would carry on past, but instead it pulled up abruptly, skidding a little as it did so.
From their position and the fact that it was dark, they couldn’t really see a great deal, so they listened hard, fearful that it could be more of those people sent by the Formless Ones. The engine of the vehicle was still running and they saw someone walk in front of the headlights and a familiar voice called out.
It was Frank, what was he doing here? Laja confirmed that he was alone, so they stepped out of their hiding place and approached the vehicle, which happened to be the pickup that Clom had been tempted to borrow.
“Did you find it?” asked Frank.
“We did,” said Lim. “Miar left us a diary.”
“Good, good.”
Frank was offering to take them into town, a fifteen-minute drive, just to give them a head start. He guessed that whatever was in Miar’s dairy, would no doubt have something to do with the town and the beach, since she had spent much of her time there. He still felt guilty for letting her go off on her own and wanted to make sure he had done everything he could to help find her.
Frank had slipped out of the house and wanted to get back as soon as possible. Hilly was tucked up in bed and had no idea he had gone out.
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