Crown Phoenix: Night Watchman Express

by Alison DeLuca

Chapter 5

  The Mountains

  ren’t they lovely?” Riki gloated over the crabs. The bag was filled with the crustaceans, since they had proved to be very easy to catch. Crabs must like Odjo’s sandwiches, Neil thought. A small orange crab waved a claw at Riki, and a bright blue one nipped at Neil’s finger.

  “They are colorful,” he said and closed the bag.

  “And they’ll make good soup,” Riki added.

  They were now walking across a large inlet of white sand. Riki pointed across the sea to where the smaller island could now be seen. “Look; there’s Mixiamani.” Even from this short distance, it still appeared to float above the waves, just as the larger Lampala did when viewed from the mainland. Neil opened his mouth to ask her about this phenomenon, but Riki forestalled him with a hand on his sleeve. She gestured at the grassy area beyond the beach. “And that’s where most of the workers live.”

  A row of well-built houses, smaller than Riki’s but just as beautiful, lay in a curved line along the sands. Neil saw a woman carrying a placid-looking baby walk out of one of the homes. As he watched, she took the baby to a thick carpet in her garden. She sat beside the child and took out what appeared to be a canvas and some brushes. Sure enough, as they got closer, she started to paint a portrait of the baby, who revolved its fists at her in a vague manner. Riki yelled something and waved one arm wildly, and the woman smiled and waved back with her brush.

  “What’s behind those houses?” Neil asked.

  “Atol’s palace.”

  “Who is this Atol?”

  Riki squinted up at him. “Our king, brainless. Except he’s really not a king unless he finds the Glorious Corona before the other king’s family does.”

  “The Glorious Corona? What’s that? And what other king?” They were walking on again, heading towards where the row of cozy houses and well-tended gardens butted up against another huge swell of rock.

  Riki shrugged. “It’s all very confusing. The last king. He was sick for a long time, and the new ruler should have been his daughter.” She stumbled over the last word, obviously unused to saying it in Neil’s language. “After a long time he died. And Atol became our king instead of the princess. I really don’t understand any of it, but I overheard Weko talked and talked about later.”

  They reached the rocky slope, and without hesitation, Riki headed inland. Neil put down the basket and called after her. “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked. “I thought we were going to follow the beach all around the island!”

  Riki darted back to him and pointed to a long outcropping of rocks. “We’d have to climb over that,” she said. “And it just gets bigger inland, see? It becomes the mountains. The Tiriumbutora.”

  “What do you mean?” Neil asked.

  Riki knelt down and began drawing in the sand. “Well, the island is like a circle, except it’s really shaped more like a peanut, and it’s bisected by this curving line here.” She drew a curve that cut through her rudimentary drawing of the island, chopping off one portion of it.

  “Bisected,” Neil said. “Nice word.”

  Riki squinted up at him. “Thanks! Will you consider marrying me now?”

  “No fear,” Neil said without hesitation. “But, I really want to go and see those mountains, the – what did you call them? How can we get there?”

  Riki rocked back on her heels and considered her map. “The Tiriumbutora. We could cut right through the palace grounds to the foothills,” she said. “There’s a well-marked path from there that’s pretty easy to climb.”

  “Hmm.” Neil squatted beside her. “We are not going to be able to climb up there today, at any rate.”

  “But I want to go up Tiriumbutora now!” Riki said, frowning.

  Neil rolled his eyes. “Of course you do. However, I’m not getting stuck on a mountainside in the dark; it will be late afternoon by the time we reach the foot of the mountains. And,” he cut off Riki’s howl of protest, “I hardly think your parents will want me to keep their daughter out all night.”

  In fact, he thought, remembering Weko’s powerful muscles with a shudder, her father might have my ears removed. He shook his head.

  “I will climb the mountain! And there’s nothing you can do or say to stop me!” Riki turned on her heel and flounced away.

  Neil cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, “I have our water and our lunch in my pack, you idiot!”

  Riki stopped. “Oh.”

  Neil sighed. “Look,” he said, “let’s just climb up and scout out the territory a bit. We can return when we have more time and climb the Tiriumbutora. We won’t waste the morning crabbing, for one.”

  Riki pondered this. “All right,” she grouched.

  Neil hid his surprise at his easy victory. “Very well. Which way should we go?”

  “There. We need to follow that path by the grounds of the palace.”

  “We won’t get in trouble for going so close to the king’s lands, will we?” Neil asked.

  “Oh, no,” Riki promised.

  They left the beach and made their way towards their goal, the large palace. It was surrounded by a thick, dark fence. Through the gaps in the massive gates, the palace itself looked like a larger, more ornate version of Riki’s house. There was the long veranda and the second story balcony on top of the porch. That was topped by a third floor, and the roof was scrolled and inlaid with what looked like mother of pearl. Fantastic creatures guarded each corner of the roof – a dragon, a sea serpent and a merman blowing into a golden shell.

  Riki’s house lacked the guards, though. The entire building, Neil saw as they crept closer, was filled with people in uniform, clutching large swords, scimitars and even bayonets.

  The sea now lay behind them. Tiriumbutora, the large mountain, was on their left. The palace was situated at the bottom of the mountain’s foothills, and between it and hills was a large, sparkling lagoon. The view of the mountains over the lake, for anyone lucky enough to live in the palace, would have been breathtaking.

  The path slanted uphill as it curved towards the mountain. Riki began to climb up the slope, ascending as neatly as a goat. Neil puffed after her and after a minute they gained the top of the first incline. They were high enough to see the sands behind them. Neil was also able to see more of the lagoon, which was bordered by white sand.

  “Riki! What’s that?” He jerked his thumb at the tallest of the Tiriumbutora.

  “What’s what?” Riki spoke in her normal voice, and Neil shushed her, thinking of the guards.

  “Look! What’s that great dark hole, at the top of the mountain? It looks like a huge cave, or a passage.”

  “Never noticed it before.” Riki shrugged. “We’re not allowed to go up there.”

  As they watched, a man emerged from the tunnel, looking as tiny as an ant from where they were. He trudged across the lower floor between the hills where Riki and Neil were perched and the mountains, and headed towards the lagoon, or the palace. They couldn’t tell which.

  Riki nudged Neil. “What do you think he’s doing?” she breathed into his ear.

  “Hard to tell,” Neil said, squinting into the fierce sun. “Looks like he’s carrying something.”

  “Do you think we could get up there and see where that tunnel leads?”

  “I don’t see why not!” Neil spoke with enthusiasm, and Riki looked at him, astonished.

  “You don’t?” she asked. “No lectures, no ‘Riki, you know we really mustn’t’, no running off to tell Weko?”

  “Am I really that boring?”

  “Well, no, but it’s what my brothers would do.”

  Neil reflected on the two identical versions of Weko – their beards, their solemnity and the way they always nodded their heads and agreed with Weko and with each other. “I can just picture them saying that,” he said finally.

  Riki knocked his arm violently with her fist. “Look! That man we saw in the tunnel, or whatever it is! I think he is about to head towards
the palace!” She got up and prepared to jump down the other side of the slope. hey stopped, frozen. There was a shout from behind them.

  “Ipa!” someone yelled. “Jumanja! Katiye! Ewokya pantuma lemla? Ipa!”

  Riki gripped Neil again, and they turned around. A man ran up the hill behind them, and he looked extremely angry. He also looked very large, Neil thought, watching the way he easily negotiated the huge rocks in his way.

  “Aye uchewe kolokolo!” Riki shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth. “I’m telling him we’re sorry,” she added in a low tone to Neil.

  The man reached them and thrust one end of his staff into the ground. Neil could now see that a large, gleaming knife was set in one end of it. The guard’s hair was oiled and braided closely to his head, and he wore a long white tunic with a deep purple border. The garment had no sleeves, and the muscles of his arms looked as big as barrels.

  Gesturing with one arm at the valley below them and at Neil and Riki, he broke into a long tirade. Riki, not to be outdone, instantly responded with spirit.

  The resulting din was horrific. As unobtrusively as possible, Neil edged away from that large knife and tried to look as mild and as law-abiding as possible.

  The guard was furious, but he finally seemed to be appeased by Riki’s answers. He gestured with his stick towards the lagoon below them and turned away towards the palace, motioning for them to follow.

  “What’s going on?” Neil hissed in Riki’s ear as they moved away from the mountains down the slope towards the lagoon.

  “He says that the Tiriumbutora are a forbidden area now,” Riki whispered back. “Luckily we didn’t start to climb up, or he would have had us arrested and thrown in prison.”

  “What!” Neil said. The guard shot him a stern look and Neil stopped talking.

  The guard set a fast pace, and Neil had to scramble to keep up with him. Finally, they reached the bottom of the slope, and the guard, ignoring the ornate palace just visible through the thick trees, pointed to a path that led around the lagoon. He barked out something else that sounded like an order.

  “He says to stay away from the mountains,” Riki said, “and to go home fast.”

  The man watched them as they followed the path into the trees, his hands on his hips. Riki stopped after a few minutes and looked back.

  “There, he’s gone, I think. Come on, we can catch another glimpse of the palace around this next bend, I think. Yes, there it is. See?”

  Neil peered between some of the hanging vines, thick with flowers and fruit, at the long wooden wall.

  From where they stood, he could barely see a large flight of steps that curved down from what looked like another long veranda. Dark shapes moved on the white steps, but whether they were guards, soldiers or the king himself with his family, Neil couldn’t tell.

  “Can you see anything?” Riki strained her neck and screwed up her eyes.

  “Not really.” Neil stepped back onto the little path. It was sandy, and it wound towards the beach where he had landed the day before, if his bearings were correct. “Come on; I want to move on before that guard finds us again.”

  “Ha! Him!” Riki guffawed and planted her feet firmly in the sand.

  Sweat ran down Neil’s face into the loose collar of his tunic. He shoved his glasses on his nose with one hand and said, “Riki, I do not want to get caught out here. We’re probably breaking about fifty of your country’s laws.”

  She smiled. “Afraaaaaid?” She drew out the word in a nasty manner.

  Neil looked at her with dislike and hoisted the basket of food back onto his shoulder. “Suit yourself!” he said with finality. “I will move on, and I will sit down and have a snack and a drink when I get off this bloody path.” Without waiting for her response, he marched off.

  The path twisted, and he was cut off from the sound of the water lapping on the lagoon shore. Silence descended. He expected to hear her footsteps a minute later, but besides the cries and hoots from the birds in the trees overhead, the only sound was that of his shoes on the path.

  Damn and blast, he swore to himself. If she got lost now, or ran back to that guard, or got arrested, he would be held responsible. Her family would probably throw him in jail. His entire journey would have been of no use at all. Mana would probably never be found or rescued, and Miriam and Simon might have their heads chopped off. His glasses slid down his nose again, and he gave them an angry shove.

  He had almost made up his mind to forget his pride and go back and find her, when there was a loud whoop and Riki jumped down from a bush in front of him. “Waaah! Bet you didn’t expect to see me here! I frightened the pants off you! Didn’t I? Huh?”

  “Fine, fine, you scared me senseless.” Wearily, Neil set down the bag of food and sank onto the ground. Relief left him exhausted, and at that moment he didn’t care who saw him.

  “I want a snack too.” Riki pushed him to one side and digging in the remains from lunch. “Ooh, look, mango paste! And lobster salad! Here, I’ll serve.”

  She handed him a cup of lemon drink and gave him a quick grin as she did so. Neil couldn’t help it; he grinned back.

  He was surprised to find that he was ravenous. Once they had finished every scrap of food that was left, Neil packed up the basket, since Riki pointed out that she had dished out the meal. He crammed in the last cup and getting to his feet. “I was wondering about something. Why doesn’t the proper princess, the daughter of the former king, come and claim the throne of Lampala?”

  Riki paused. “Don’t know. I think it had something to do with Mr. Pearson and the Company.”

  “You mean Miriam’s father put another man on the throne?” Neil was shocked. From the little he had heard about the man, it seemed totally out of character.

  “No. Of course not. Atol took the throne after Mr. Pearson died. Bwah! You’re as bad as –”

  “As bad as you? Tired of questions? I know exactly how you feel.” Neil grinned at her.

  She grinned back. One thing that you could say about Riki, Neil reflected; she had an easy temperament and forgot her anger quickly.

  “I suppose you are as bad as me!” She snorted with laughter. “Now I know why Chichilia tells me to stop bothering her all the time.”

  Neil grew serious. “Listen, Riki, I have to know something. It’s important.”

  “What? Why?” She bounded down the path beside him, swinging her arms. They looked like two dark pieces of rope.

  Neil adjusted the pack on his back. “It has to do with Miriam, Mr. Pearson’s daughter, and Simon, the son of the man who runs the company now. And one other person.”

  “Miriam! Who is this Miriam? Mr. Pearson’s daughter, you mean?” Riki demanded. “Do you like her better than me? Do you?”

  “Oh, forget it,” Neil groaned. “I must be out of my mind to try and tell you anything serious. And by the by, do you know where you’re headed?” He watched her start off confidently through the trees.

  “Not at all,” Riki said and cackled with wild laughter.