by Tim O'Rourke
Please ride Rafter Horses with care
Kill your speed – not a citizen!
Beneath this, someone had scrawled in excrement:
Population 1
Fandel’s heart began to beat behind his thin ribcage as he thought of Thud’s sole occupant. He stalked down the main street with Anna tucked in his arms. Doors wailed on broken hinges and litter danced along the gutter in the wind. The shop windows stared back at him, like dead eyes as he made his way through town to the shack beneath the granite tree. Moonlight glittered off the broken glass from the gas lamps that had once lit the streets. Thud was silent; the only sound was his shoes clacking against the cobbled stones beneath his feet.
Although Anna weighed no more than a pile of bones, Fandel’s arms started to tire and his twisted spine had begun to ache as he carried her. The temperature was a little above freezing, yet a fine sheen of perspiration glimmered across his brow. Ahead, he could see a rocking chair that had been abandoned outside a derelict barber’s shop. Fandel huffed and puffed the last few steps towards the chair. Lowering Anna onto the pavement, Fandel slid into the chair to rest.
‘I’m in no rush to see the Delf again,’ he muttered to himself. ‘A couple of minutes well-earned rest won’t hurt.’
Fandel thought of the Delf and although his heart missed a beat, he hoped that he could resist her charms, if that’s what they were.
I’ll knock on the door of her shack and just dump the girl! Fandel thought to himself.
‘Yes, that’s what I’ll do. No “hellos” and no “goodbyes”. I’ll instruct the Delf to keep the girl locked away and to give her one of the tablets three times a day until I return,’ he muttered.
Without opening his eyes, he dug his hanky out of his trouser pocket and patted his moist lips. He felt feverish and anxious. He didn’t want to go back to that shack. His legs were telling him to run fast back up the main street and never return to Thud. But he couldn’t do that. Fandel knew that he had to bring the girl to the Delf – Throat had told him to do so.
Tucking his hanky back into his pocket, he gripped the arms of the rocking chair and stood up. He grimaced as he straightened and the joints in his spine gave an audible ‘popping’ sound.
He stooped down to gather up the girl, and then screamed.
‘Where has she gone?’ Fandel said, whirling round and looking up and down the street for Anna, who was no longer lying on the cobbled road.
‘I don’t believe this!’ he cried, searching underneath the rocking chair and then peering into the gutter. ‘Where can she be?’
Fandel rushed up and down the street kicking over empty rubbish bins and looking through the filthy windows of the deserted stores. His heart thundered in his chest, and this time it wasn’t at the thought of the Delf but at the thought of what Throat would do to him if he didn’t find the girl and find her quick.
‘Come back to me!’ he screamed, the tendons in his neck threatening to snap like guitar strings that had been over-tightened.
‘You can’t do this to me!’ he screeched, dropping to the ground and pounding the street with his fists.
Snivelling, Fandel crawled to his feet and ran to the shack beneath the granite tree. He banged on the door so hard that the knuckles on his right hand started to bleed. He smothered his nose and mouth with his left hand as the putrid smell of crud enveloped him.
Gagging, he banged on the door again and roared:
‘Delf, open the door! It’s Fandel Black!’
A shuffling sound came from within the shack. This was followed by the unmistakable sound of farting and belching. Fandel whipped the hanky from his pocket again and secured it around the lower half of his face.
The door swung open and she greeted him with one huge maggot infested smile.
‘My dear Fandel,’ she belched.
Fandel turned his head away at the stench which wasn’t too dissimilar to the smell of rotting eggs and decomposing fish.
‘I always knew you would return one day. Just can’t resist me eh?’ she grinned, and as she did, a sea of maggots crawled over her teeth and slid down her chin.
‘Just shut up you insane old witch!’ Fandel squealed. ‘You’ve got to help me find the girl!’
Chapter 30
Anna opened her eyes just enough so she could see through her eyelashes. Above her sat her uncle, swaying back and forth in an ancient looking rocking chair. He was mumbling to himself and his eyes were closed.
Realising that this was her chance of escape, Anna pulled the blanket about her shoulders and stood up. Her uncle Fandel moved, and she froze. She watched as he pulled a snot ridden hanky from his pocket and patted his lips with it.
Deciding to take a rest in the rocker isn’t the only mistake you’ve made recently uncle, Anna thought to herself, pushing her forefinger into her mouth and hooking out the yellow spiked tablet she had been holding in the back of her throat. Her uncle had been away far too long, and in his absence; the effect of those pills had begun to wear off. She wasn’t full of life and energy, but she had become well enough to realise she was in great danger and had to get away from him. Far away.
So, seizing her chance, Anna tiptoed backwards up the cobbled street and away from her uncle as he sat and whispered to himself in the rocker. Tossing the remains of the tablet into the gutter, she held the blanket about her shoulders and fled into the backstreets of Thud.
They reached the outskirts of the prison walls just before sunrise. William sniffed out a disused lunar bear cave and led the others inside. The cave still smelt of the creature, and the bony carcasses of its kill lay scattered around the inside of the cave. Although it didn’t smell great it was warm, but more essential – it was dark.
Relieving themselves of their supplies, they didn’t waste any time in finding themselves a comfortable area of ground to lie on. They had walked all night in the freezing cold, and each of them ached from head to toe.
Zach pulled the collar of his coat about his chin and blew onto his hands. Neanna wrapped herself in her cloak, and using her hands as a pillow, closed her eyes. William sat half propped against the far wall of the cave, and Zach could see his eyes glowing red like two break-lights.
‘You never did tell me how your Granddad ended up in that prison,’ Zach whispered into the dark.
‘On the day that we fled the Splinter, in his haste he placed the key to the box in his trouser pocket. It wasn’t until several days had passed that he discovered it there amongst some old coins and pieces of string.’
‘Did he get accused of stealing it?’ Zach asked, his eyes closed and fingers laced behind his head.
‘No, not as far as we know. On realising his mistake, my Granddad left the Howling Forests for the Splinter at once. But since his last visit to the tower, Throat had taken up residency. We heard that as my Granddad neared the walls of the Splinter, he was intercepted by the Radan that now patrolled its walls and they arrested him.’
‘Arrested him for what?’ Zach asked. ‘You can’t just be arrested. You have to break some kinda law first.’
‘He was accused of undertaking reconnaissance and was found guilty of being a spy.’
‘Did you go to the trial?’ Zach asked.
‘What trial?’ William said. ‘There wasn’t any trial. Now that Throat is in charge justice is swift in Endra. He was found guilty on the spot and taken to the prison of eternal despair, where he will spend the rest of his life.’
‘Not if we have anything to do with it!’ Zach said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Ah, c’mon William-the-wolf-Weaver!’ Zach teased. ‘Don’t give up now. We’ll get your Granddad out of that prison. You just need to show a little bit of back bone.’
In the darkness William grinned at his friends fighting talk. ‘Yeah, your right,’ he barked, ‘what was I thinking of?’
They lay without speaking for a moment, and then Zach said:
‘I know I keep asking the question, but you always seem to
avoid answering it.’
‘What question is that?’ William said, sleep beginning to take him.
‘How comes you saw me in that box?’
William made no reply. Zach waited for it, but all he could hear was the sound of William snoring.
Then Zach felt something beside him. Turning, he realised that Neanna had just blinked across the cave to be next to him.
‘I didn’t know you could do that in your sleep,’ he said, nervous as he felt her resting against him.
‘I wasn’t asleep,’ she whispered, snuggling-up close to him. ‘I’m too cold to sleep.’
At first Zach didn’t do anything. He didn’t know what to do. If he didn’t find Neanna so attractive it wouldn’t have been so bad – but he did and she was and he felt a kind of weird feeling in his stomach and his heart raced. Drawing a deep breath, he snuck his arm around her shoulders, and pulled her close. Zach half expected Neanna to shove him away, but instead, she nestled her head against his chest.
‘I know the answer to your question Zach,’ she said.
‘How comes?’ Zach asked.
‘When William and I spent those long nights racing across the desert in search of your doorway, I asked him why it was so important that we found you.’
‘What did he say?’
‘He said that when he looked into that box he saw Throat striding out of the wastelands, and with him he brought a shadow of death and destruction. Then he said he saw you.’
‘And what did I bring with me?’ Zach asked.
‘He said you brought hope,’ Neanna whispered, snuggling up closer to him and drifting into sleep. Zach lay awake with Neanna resting in his arms. With everything that he had been told, seen and done – he found it impossible to sleep. But it was more than that which kept him awake – it was Neanna. At sixteen he’d messed about with a few girls but nothing serious. But Neanna was different – he felt something for her. He wasn’t sure what – but he found it hard not to look at her when she was close by, to brush past her made his skin almost seem to tingle and to be holding her now, was almost suffocating. Closing his eyes, and praying that she was asleep, he kissed her gently on the side of her face. Stroking her hair, Zach slowing drifted into sleep.
After Fandel had explained the importance of the missing girl, the rotting Delf grabbed hold of an oversized bag. Covering his nose and mouth with his hanky, he watched as she shuffled about her squalid shack and gathered wall charts, star charts and astrological charts into the bag that had been fashioned from the stomach of a Bloat.
The Delf plucked potions, murky coloured concoctions and bubbling brews from the cluttered shelves that lined her dwelling and rammed these into the bag which was now bursting at the seams.
As she worked, the Delf began to chuckle.
‘What’s so funny?’ Fandel asked her.
‘This!’
‘What?’ Fandel snapped, his patience wearing thin like a sheet of melting ice.
‘That you came back to me.’
‘Not out of choice. I was told to bring the girl to you!’
‘But you didn’t bring her did you?’ the Delf said, turning to look at him with her yellow eyes. ‘You lost her, but instead of searching for her you came to me.’
Fandel gagged at the sight of the maggots that dribbled from her nostrils.
‘You need me,’ she grinned. ‘You need me and don’t forget it my dear Fandel.’
The Delf gathered the last of her items, and brushing past Fandel, she went to the door of her shack. Grabbing a large leash and collar from a hook, she stepped outside. Fandel followed her to find that the sun was just rising above the derelict streets of Thud.
The Delf hobbled beneath the twisted branches of the granite tree as she dragged her bag by her feet. She huffed and puffed, and the sounds of her continuous farting and belching made Fandel feel nauseous.
‘Where are you going?’ Fandel asked, watching her disappear behind the trunk of the tree.
‘Questions, questions!’ she tutted. ‘Be patient will you!’
Curious as to what she was up to, Fandel followed her, and found her huge backside sticking up out of a hole that disappeared between the knotted roots of the tree. Fandel watched as she struggled with something that lurked deep within the hole.
‘Come to mummy,’ she said, coaxing something from beneath the ground. ‘C’mon Max,’ she cooed.
‘Who’s Max?’ Fandel asked.
Crawling back out of the hole, she looked at Fandel and said, ‘he’s my pet dog. He doesn’t like being disturbed halfway through his hibernation. It makes him irritable and grumpy.’
‘Perhaps we should leave him then?’ Fandel said. ‘We don’t have time to waste while you look for your pet poodle.’
‘I know what will bring him to the surface,’ the Delf said, as she screwed up her face and sneezed a gooey lump of snotty-maggots into her hands. She then knelt before the hole with her hands cupped and whispered.
‘Max. Look what mummy has for you!’ Glancing back over her shoulder, she grinned at Fandel and said, ‘he can’t resist these!’
The earth beneath Fandel’s feet began to shudder and a deep howling sound came from the hole. He watched as a giant snout shot from the darkness. It opened and a great big slobbering tongue began to lap up the maggots from the Delf’s hands.
Fandel’s stomach somersaulted at the sight.
‘You are disgusting,’ he told the Delf.
Looking over her shoulder at him, the Delf said, ‘you love it.’ Grinning she winked at Fandel.
The tongue licked her fingers clean as she got up and moved away from the roots of the tree. Earth and mud began to crumble away from the edges of the hole as the snout forced its way out of the ground to reveal a huge head. This was followed by two massive three toed paws, and then the rest of the Delf’s pet scrambled from beneath the roots of the granite tree.
It was about the size of a full grown lion. Its head was similar to that of a grizzly bear and was framed with a black shaggy-looking mane. The beast’s snout was long and pointed, and its mouth was rammed with rows of vicious looking teeth. The Delf went to it and lost her hands in its wild mane. In a show of affection, she nuzzled her face against the animal and it licked the side of her head with its long, grey, drooling tongue.
‘Mummy’s sorry to have woken her baby,’ the Delf cooed. ‘But we have work to do.’ Pointing in the direction of Fandel, she continued. ‘That silly man over there has gone and lost a naughty girl and now we’ve got to find her.’
Max turned to look at Fandel as if he had understood every word that she had said. He glared at Fandel, rolling back his fleshy lips and snarling.
‘There, there,’ the Delf hushed. ‘Take no notice of the nasty man.’
Clutching her bag under one arm, she hoisted herself onto the creature’s back and tied the collar and leash she had brought from her shack around its neck.
‘C’mon,’ she urged Fandel.
‘What? You expect me to ride that thing with you?’ Fandel asked.
‘Do you want to find this girl or not?’
‘Yes, but…’
‘It’s up to you Fandel Black,’ she spat. ‘You can either stand there quaking in your boots or go and tell Throat that you’ve lost the girl.’
Fandel cringed at the thought of returning to Throat and having to explain what had happened. So he tip-toed towards the animal. When he was within touching distance of its dark brown fur, Max snapped his head round to look at Fandel. A rumbling sound came from deep within his throat as he howled and gnashed his teeth.
‘It’s going to bite me!’ Fandel said.
‘No he’s not!’ The Delf smirked. ‘He’s just being friendly.’
‘If that’s him being friendly, I’d hate to see him when he takes a dislike to someone.’
‘With any luck you will!’ The Delf dribbled.
Fandel climbed onto Max and sat just behind the Delf. Her stench was so overpowering that Fande
l could taste it.
‘Take hold of me,’ she cackled.
‘No, you’re alright,’ Fandel grimaced. ‘I think I can manage.’
‘It’s up to you!’ she laughed, digging her sandals into Max’s flanks, encouring the animal to race away from beneath the granite tree.
Lurching backwards and fearing that he would be thrown clear, Fandel leant forward and threw his arms around the Delf’s waist.
Chapter 31
Anna staggered out of the town of Thud. The sun hung in the sky and its heat was blistering. Although she was burning up, she held the blanket she had been wrapped in above her head to shade herself. Anna’s mouth burnt with thirst and was sore from the spiky tablets.
Peering from beneath the blanket, she tried to get her bearings and figure out where she was. As she had lain in her uncle’s arms pretending to be unconscious, she had been aware that he had taken her through some kind of doorway, but why and to where she didn’t know. This didn’t look like Cornwall in the middle of December. For starters, she hadn’t been aware that the west coast of England had a desert running through the middle of it and more curious, she had never known such heat during the winter. All of her senses were telling her that she was no longer in England.
But where am I now? Anna wondered. Her uncle hadn’t flown her to another part of the world and he hadn’t driven her anywhere as their journey had lasted mere moments. Although Anna’s head was a hive of buzzing thoughts, her thirst was her priority and she knew that she had to get water soon or she would be in trouble.
Anna hobbled forward, not because she was in pain, but because the baked earth beneath her was burning hot and scorched the soles of her feet. For what seemed like hours, she limped further across the desert, her lips cracked and broken and her tongue feeling like a sheet of glass-paper in her mouth.
Max carried the Delf and Fandel through the empty streets of Thud, its long snout darting from road to pavement as it sought out Anna’s scent.
‘Where did you last see her?’ The Delf asked.