The Mysteries Of Corkuparipple Creek: Corkuparipple Creek Worlds Apart

by Susan Pease

  I think I will ask the travel universe to send me back to where Jo had gone. There shouldn’t be a problem, she thought.

  Eiki had to think about how she was going to manage it; how could she get away from the Mac creatures? That was going to be a challenge as they were sticking to her like glue.

  ‘I better disappear out of their sight; don’t want to make a big scene.’

  She made an excuse that she desperately needed to go to the bathroom. All nodded and kept up their awkward attempts to travel. The sight was hilarious to see, as they made all types of straining faces and mechanical movements, all in the name of getting from one place to another.

  Eiki managed to escape their notice; she closed her eyes and asked the universe for universal love, help and cooperation. The familiar colours arrived and swirled around her small furry body. The visions of blue light and purple light comforted her.

  ‘Let’s get out of here I have had enough of Scotland,’ she cried desperately.

  The sun was above the horizon now, the air warming, heating up her fur. Eiki was airborne, rising quickly on the breezes that gently cocooned her body. She soared higher, swivelling her Slurp-it-Downs head and her eyes gazed at the land features below. Her body was whipping in the wind as it corkscrewed away from the earth. Travel she did, and she was elated. She drifted through fluffy clouds and around tall trees, over fences, through fields of fragrant wildflowers and then landed with a thud. Looking around and shaking the rich red coloured dirt from her fur, she squealed with delight as she recognised where she was – home at last! She began to sing the Australian anthem, dancing with joy and relief.

  ‘Hooray, hooray I travelled myself home today. I knew I could do it and I thought it would be fine. The best thing of all, Eiki Slurp-it-Downs, is that I did it in record time!’ She moved but felt something pressing against her. She poked her hand out but invisible pressure bounced back at every movement.

  ‘Oh no! Looks like I’ve managed to get myself stuck in some kind of invisible bubble. I can see out but how can I get out? That’s strange as I was okay when I hit the ground. Gosh, maybe the ground had a curse on it. Maybe I landed on sacred Aboriginal land and it’s protected with an old spell. Why do stupid smelly things happen to me? Can’t understand why because I am a very good, perfect-in-every-way Slurp-it-Downs.’

  Eiki could move; the only trouble was she was cocooned in some strange time shield.

  ‘All I can do is keep on going; I’m sure that when I get to the village Pepi will have an explanation, yes, there will be a good answer to my predicament. Pepi will know how to release me; it must be some kind of travel-time problem.’ Eiki walked for hours, she was shocked to see how dejected the bush looked. The leaves on the gum trees looked dry and weary and there seemed to be very few animals wandering around. In fact, she hadn’t seen a kangaroo anywhere. Memories of the past started to crowd her mind. It had all been an exhilarating, scary experience in Scotland. Too much of a good thing and now it has turned into such a mess. She did feel unhappy that she hadn’t said goodbye to Semus but home was where she needed to be, and Jo was her bestest friend. She couldn’t wait to grab her and give her a Slurp-it-Downs cuddle. Eiki had been so frustrated and fed up with the Mac creatures, all the fun had disappeared out of her adventure. Tears started to fill up her beautiful Slurp-it-Down green eyes and she bit her lip. Not wanting to waste time Eiki continued to walk through the cold, dry bush, battling with the bubble that wrapped around her.

  Back at the search party, the two naughty creatures walked behind the large Bunyip. They knew that they were in trouble and hoped that he would smooth over their awkward situation. Aunt Pepper caught sight of the Bunyip and yelled out.

  ‘Over here Gerald! We’ve been looking everywhere for you, need your help you see.’ Then Aunt Pepper noticed Norris and Thrip.

  ‘What are you doing with the Bunyip? In fact, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at home with your mums?’

  Norris was shaking in his boots, all he could say was, ‘Did you hear about the two creatures that had a new joke?’

  Everybody stared and replied that they hadn’t heard of the two creatures that had a new joke.

  ‘Just as well because we haven’t either.’

  Well, the two dads grabbed their sons, and with a pull and a tug dragged them aside to give them a stern talking to and a warning not to be so cheeky. The Bunyip roared with laughter, as it was his idea to start with a joke. Looks like the two weren’t going to get away with it after all. Jo’s problem was told to the large Bunyip, he sat and listened, interested in the problem.

  ‘Looks like you will have to tread in my footprints, then you will be able to travel back and retrieve Eiki. I must warn you though, it’s not going to be easy.’

  Jo looked at the Bunyip, it was getting too hard for her to follow and she shook her head.

  ‘What are you trying to say, I’m very confused?’

  ‘The only way back is to walk in my footprints and ask for the travel distributors to accept your reason for time travel. Not many people are given permission to change the time and it can be extremely dangerous. How on earth you managed to do it stumps me. Maybe it all happened in an unfortunate accident, the Time Distributors are terribly careful, so this is most unusual.’

  Aunt Pepper had a different slant on the problem; she thought that it had been ordained by a higher power. Maybe it wasn’t an accident but an event that had been organised for some spiritual reason. Everybody stared at Pepi and I guess they thought she was off with the pixies, lost the plot. Whereas Jo had just about had enough.

  ‘Time Distributors! What next! I’m still coming to terms with Gulp-a-Waters and Slurp-it-Downs, gnome-type creatures and snot. Not to mention huge Bunyips and finding myself in the future.’

  ‘Fair call, unfortunately that is the way it is,’ answered the Bunyip.

  In the background everybody could hear the two naughty creatures getting into trouble with their dads. Once that had been sorted, everybody agreed to go fishing, as it would be a good time to reflect on the footprint journey. Jo was losing patience and showing a true Slurp-it-Downs type of nature.

  They want to go fishing; I can’t believe that they are not helping me to go back now. Why do they have to wait and fish, can they not see how important this is? she screamed silently to herself.

  ‘We’ve got to get going if we’re going to eat fish for supper,’ said the Bunyip.

  The Corkuparipple Creek had followed the group throughout their journey; hopefully there would be enough fish in the creek to make up a tasty meal for everyone. Obviously the footprint adventure was going to have to wait, so Jo settled down and went along with whatever they decided to do. She looked to the sky, which was on the verge of changing its hues as the afternoon became late. She felt small and insignificant beneath it, as if she might be the only person in the world experiencing such a dilemma.

  It’s all too much now. I have to wait for the travel distributors to give me permission to travel back. Humph! They could at least let me go back to the time I should be in. I just want everything to return to the way it’s supposed to be. I’m still young and everybody else has grown old, it’s odd and not at all right. My little brother Geoffrey is all grown up and I am still a kid. There is no way I can live like this; I am a misplaced person in the wrong time.

  ‘Well, nothing stays the same I guess, you are right my girl. Life will be very hard for you so it’s important that we send you back.’

  She had been listening to Jo’s thoughts and knew very well that the girl was confused, frightened and exasperated.

  ‘Jo, if you have a problem with the way we do things, it’s your problem, not ours. You have to realise that we will do everything in our power to get you back as soon as possible. We need to think it out so you will be safe. And permission has to be sought with the Time Distributors; it’s a matter of protocol. The earth is changing, strange things are happening on this planet. The fact that this
travel glitch happened has us all worried. It could happen again and we need to find out the reason so we can avoid this happening to anybody else.’

  Jo felt herself relaxing, everything would be okay. She considered for a while what her Aunt Pepper had said. It could be a tricky and dangerous journey, so everything had to be perfect. Nobody wanted her to end up in Timbuktu, as Eiki would say.

  Fish were caught and it was just as well, because the creatures were all experiencing hunger pangs. The Bunyip was a surprise to all; he was helpful, cheery and above all seemed happy to have company.

  ‘Gerald is an unusual Bunyip; he always knows what needs to be done. You can’t rush him, I think tomorrow we will have all the answers we need to travel you back in time safely,’ said Pepper.

  Pepper’s own fears had to be put aside; she needed to be able to reassure Jo that things were in hand. Her faith in Gerald was strong, so she knew that her niece would probably travel back to the right place without drama. Aunt Pepper still had a niggling feeling that it had all happened for a reason and in time it would be revealed. She tried not to think about the fact that something could go wrong. Pepper had already lost her niece for over twenty years and had only just got her back. The pain would be too much to bear at this old age if she were lost again. Meanwhile, walking through the bush was Eiki getting more frustrated with the invisible bubble.

  ‘What if I want to eat or go to the bathroom? This is ridiculous; I can’t find the damn village. If I don’t find home soon I will just have to travel back to Scotland and wait for Jo. Trust me to get into trouble, it’s not fair,’ complained Eiki.

  Back in Scotland, Semus was looking everywhere for Eiki; he couldn’t understand where she could have gone. Eiki had announced to everybody that she was going to the bathroom but it had been over an hour. She couldn’t be found anywhere in the village.

  Mary was back in her kitchen preparing supper while the creatures were building up a sweat with their travelling practice outside. Mary could hear all the grunting, thumping and heavy breathing. Not at all the quiet, gentle meditative state that Eiki had been trying to teach them! Semus walked into the kitchen, he was worried at what may have happened to Eiki and in the back of his mind, was concerned that the Dark Elves may have been up to no good.

  ‘Ye ken Eiki may huv gone hame’, smiled Mary. ‘Dinna worry, she wull be back, pass me the spurtle an tak the wee heavy to all yer freins outside. Aw the travelling maun hae been ower muckle, they look wee bit waur fur wear. Dae ye want to hear a joke that will cheer ye up Semus? Why did the Mac Slurpa throw butter out the window? It’s easy if ye think about it.’

  Semus sat down at the kitchen table; he was good at working out Scottish jokes.

  ‘Ye dae tell guid jokes but this ane puzzles me, what’s the answer?’

  Mary chuckled as she told Semus the answer.

  ‘Because he wanted to see a butterfly.’

  Semus chuckled and took the barley wine to his friends. The creatures were pooped out and needed something to give them a zing. He hoped Eiki hadn’t given up on them and gone home as his mother has suggested.

  In Australia, Eiki’s temperament was getting worse, she was hungry and very Slurp-it-Downs fed up. Sitting down she decided that travelling was the only way out of this mess. Things were very strange, she had never heard of this sort of thing happening before. What was happening in the universe? She would have to suck in her pride and travel back to Scotland; the Mac creatures were her only hope. Maybe they would know all about the strange bubble that surrounded her. She felt like a prisoner and she was still worried about where her best friend was.

  ‘Goodness knows if I will make it back, but anything would be better than being stuck in a bubble.’

  Eiki shut her eyes and began to chant again; the colours, the spinning and the exhilaration of anticipation. Another new adventure and this time back to Scotland, hopefully in the right place at the right time. The wind howled, vibrating and swishing its way outside the bubble. She began to descend, her ears popping; fear causing her heart to pound. Thump, bounce, landing on the soft mosses right next to the Wildflower Waters, she sighed with relief.

  ‘Success at last, I’m not too bad after all, must be because I’m nearly another year old. All I have to do now is remember the way back to Semus. Here I go again, hope nobody missed me. On no, I’m still in the blasted bubble, if I’m lucky the large Mac Gulpa may be strong enough to tear it apart, I’m so hungry.’

  It wasn’t long before Eiki could hear all the creatures still trying to travel. She sighed; she knew that everything would be the same, the annoying creatures and her dismal attempts to keep her patience. Not to mention the weird bubble, she started to think it was dark magic. It didn’t make sense that it simply materialised when she was travelling, it had never happened before. Scotland had such a past of magic, monsters and evil doings in its history. Eiki only hoped that her predicament would be an easy task for the Mac creatures to undo. Semus spotted Eiki walking into the town and ran to welcome her.

  ‘Ye scared the devil oot o me, whaur hae ye been?’

  Eiki explained what had happened and Semus looked stunned. When he attempted to cuddle his friend, the invisible bubble bounced him right off, in fact, he went flying and landed on his skinny bottom.

  ‘Ye hae a huge problem, what hae ye managed to do to get this bubble around ye?’

  ‘I don’t know, maybe it’s a dark spell, possibly the work of the Dark Elves.’

  Eiki had no idea how right she was. The elves had been responsible and were chuckling and feeling very pleased with themselves. The naughty elf had managed to find an old spell book and to his delight found the Capture Bubble spell. The only way she would be able to get out was for the elves to say their magic antidote spell, so they would have to find the blighters and make them release her.

  ‘Ah dinna imagine that the wee elves are clever enough to ken such a spell; it’s ancient, complicated magic. Ah still feel in ma bones that they maun ca responsible,’ said Semus.

  ‘Maybe we have to meet with the leader Mac Gulpa; he will know what we can do,’ suggested Eiki.

  ‘Dinna underestimate the elf fowk, they are very tricky and powerful. Ye never trust underground elves wi red enns.’

  As Eiki walked into the town she was amazed to notice that most of the creatures had “travelled” from one spot to another outside the town’s borders. That proved that they were actually getting the hang of it. It was a huge relief, as Eiki knew that once they mastered the skill there would be no looking back. Now all she needed was for someone to help her. The large Mac Gulpa knew of the bubble spell, it hadn’t been used for hundreds of years, and it actually had been banned from being used, even by the Dark Elves. The only way they could release Eiki would be to have a meeting with the King of the Dark Elves. That was going to take a miracle to arrange. The idea that they had to have a meeting with the King only fuelled the need to have the travelling spell up to scratch. It was decided that with guidance, they would have enough courage to travel into the underground village. The Mac creatures gathered into a large circle and Eiki began to chant. She decided to make up a chant that suited their purpose. She was desperate to get out of the bubble and be free from the dark magic spell. The chant was urgent and precise; her intention was almost war-like.

  ‘Gather together ye Scots of the Glen, we shall travel to our enemy and fight the fight, The King of all elves be cautious at our sight, for the spell of evil should be lifted tonight.’

  The travelling lights swirled around the circle and they were lifted and hurled into the travelling sensation. The creatures were calm and patient, lots of smiles and chuckles, as they knew their sudden appearance into the underground would scare the heck out of the elves. It didn’t take long before they were once again at the entrance of the wooden door.

  ‘You would have thought that my spell would have taken us into the village not outside this blasted door,’ whinged Eiki.

  The trave
lling spell may have taken them underground but unfortunately dark security surrounded the village. The creatures were angry that their attempt had failed. Fortunately, to their complete surprise, the wooden door started to open and everybody held their breath; this unnerved even the bravest of them. Two little elves calmly walked out with a basket in each of their hands, they walked straight past the creatures without even seeing them. Everybody was amazed that they had not been seen and quickly ran through the door before it decided to close. Scratching their heads they marched towards the village. They passed through the main part of the village where the elves were happily going about their business, oblivious to the creatures. Eiki looked at Semus, she was as confused as he was and thought for a minute.

  ‘I think we must be invisible and I can’t work out why.’

  Semus shook his head.

  ‘Ye have amazing powers fur an Australian creature, the fact that ye have made us unseeable to the elves is a miracle.’

  Eiki was just as surprised as everybody else. How would they be able to communicate with the King if he couldn’t see them? She decided to carry on and sort out the problem when they reached the King’s tower. It was good that they could get there without being stopped or attacked by the elves. The tower was dark, creepy and dangerous. The stairs were steep, narrow and slippery. Every now and then they seemed to crumble from under their feet. Eiki’s heart started to race, she felt totally responsible for the welfare of the group. Finally they reached the top of the tower, they could hear the King yelling so they crept in to observe. The King was furious! He was stomping up and down as in front of him, with their hands bound behind their backs, were the two naughty elves.

  ‘Don’t you know what you have done; you have broken nearly every rule we have in our village! You let yourself be caught; you managed to be stupid enough to lead the enemy into our territory, not to mention causing trouble and strife. If you have to steal from them, how about using your brains. And to top off everything, you broke into my spell book and stole an ancient spell that has been banned from use. We elves still do have some kind of decency about us and we at all times are meant to keep to our village rules. I suppose the creatures will now be planning a war and that’s all we need. We have a bad enough reputation and that’s because smarty-pants elves like you get us in trouble!’