Olen pushed his way up off the ground and then at the same time, they bump fist. “I told you I had it. They mess with you they mess with me!” Camden said.
“It’s something going on here, buddy. Your suit is all metal now and that Hulk glove you got on, I’m thinking that both have come from here, The Land of Make Believe. The power that you have is what I’m talking about,” Olen said.
“I don’t care what you say. I want to keep it, so if you try to talk me in to taking off my suit, I will not do so, Olen,” Camden said petulantly.
“I wasn’t and I’m not going to ask you to take off the suit. What you’ve done was super incredible. You saved my life. If I asked you to take off the suit then I would have to ask myself to take off my glasses and put them away while we are here in this world.”
“Your glasses are not like my suit. My suit is new and has powers and your glasses are so old and has no power, Olen.”
“Yes, they are old, Camden, you are right, but here in this world I can see things that are far away.”
“What do you mean, Olen?” Camden asked.
As he inquired about Olen’s glasses, another hand flew up, this one was gray and scaly, and its burned colored lips screeched with a yell. Without any effort, careless and carefree, Camden gave the hand his recent strike – his upper cut.
“Now as you were saying, Olen!”
When Olen felt his mouth gape open from the initial shock of seeing Camden’s superhuman exploits, he closed it quickly and spoke. “There is a way out of here, at the end of this place, its called Dark Forest.”
“How do you know that, Olen?”
“I told you coming here has given us both some kind of powers, your power of strength and agility, me super knowledge and sight. And it’s the knowledge that I got coming here that lets me know where we are.”
“What does agility mean, Olen?” Camden asked, curious.
“I will have to explain later, right now I think I know where Whisk-pey is. You and I have to get to her. I think she may be in trouble!”
Whisk-pey got up from the stone bed. On each side of her were brown stone walls imbedded with gold stones.
The window from which Whisk-pey had peered out from time to time in the last three days displayed the light blue water that flowed down from the top of the mountain to the bottom where the big fish with the slanted ears and skinny legs lived. The sight of it all brought a smile on Whisk-pey’s face. She even grinned when she saw the big red and blue fish jump and dive into the water, making a huge and incredible splash while a smaller green fish followed suit.
Then her focused changed. It moved to the air creatures. I guess you would called them birds? Whisk-pey thought as she leaned her head as far as she could through the window bars to see the air creatures with their coiled bodies fly high in the sky. She counted five of them in total. They each had two different colors on their bodies and their heads were those of people.
“That looks absolutely weird.” Now Whisk-pey’s thoughts became words when she examined how graciously these air creatures sailed through the air to their destination: a circular strip of mountain, which was apparently their meeting ground. One of them had pink and white coiled skin with a black furry face. They were strange and a little scary. Whisk-pey wanted to be prepared. She reached for her satchel to retrieve her sling-shot and a rock just in case those scary black eyes would lead one or perhaps all the air creatures to her cell. Then she remembered that she didn’t have her satchel, her rocks and Gilma and Ento weren’t anywhere to be found.
“Oh, that’s right, that crazy looking girl that caught me off guard must have brought me here? Where are Ento and Gilma?” Whisk-pey let her questions fade away without answers. She walked to the door. The bars didn’t go all the way down to the floor. Instead they sank into a long piece of stone that was hinged to each side of the walls.
Under that piece of stone stripping there was a wide opening. Whisk-pey saw that whoever was holding her captive, not only took her bag and her weapons but they also brought her food.
“What do these people think? Some woman knocks me out in some mountain cave only because she caught me off guard and now, to say they are sorry, they want to bring me food?”
Whisk-pey, as she had done for the last three days, pushed her food back out of that opening and then realized that not eating for three days caused her stomach to roar with hunger pain.
Whisk-pey’s stomach was crying out for food but she was going to follow suit by not eating again today. Whoever ordered her capture and decided to hold her in a cell against her will wasn’t going to dictate her eating. I’m not going to eat your food and drink your drink; you have me here against my will. You won’t make me eat and drink; I will have control over that at least, Whisk-pey thought. She didn’t and she wouldn’t when she walked away from the barred door.
Her stomach was a part of her decision-making as well and her stomach would have the last say in the matter. She turned back to where they passed her food under the bars of the door. She heard footsteps. They were near. She remembered the last time when she pushed her food out of the bottom opening of her jail door; they came and got her food when she thought of getting it back hours later.
She reached her hand to pull her plate back inside her cell. She took it and went to sit in one of the corners in the cell. She gobbled the food down and drank the cup of water that was on her tray. That cured her hunger and quieted her stomach. But she wanted more; she wanted to be out of the cell to see her family and friends.
She got to her feet as the footsteps outside her stone chamber sounded closer until she heard those dreadful footsteps stop in front of her cell.
“Ye are full with thee meat and drink of my land, where that cometh from there is moreth for thee!”
Whisk-pey did not understand the man’s speech but understood her situation clearly. “You have me here,” she retorted, “like a prisoner. Some girl attacked me and that is probably who brought me here. I wanted to see my family and friends. I was told that they too are held hostage and turned into slaves in my land. I need to go so I can help them if they need help. Let me out of here,” Whisk-pey yelled.
The man who stood in front of her jail door was tall, wore a light brown cloak and cowl that covered his head, right arm and hand. He didn’t smile after Whisk-pey’s rant. The eyes of orange fire blazed with a stare. They brought fear to Whisk-pey’s mind. She took a couple of backward steps. She saw muscle carved in his dark black and gray skin.
She thought: I don’t want to die. I just want to see my family and friends. I want to be with them.
“Who art thine people, young woman?”
Whisk-pey still frozen in fear looked on at the man. “My people are called the Canine-people. My intention was not to wish you or your people any harm,” Whisk-pey said her voice timid and demure now.
“Canine-people, I knoweth not a people, not in this land,” the man said. “What are thine name, my daughter?” The man’s lines in his narrow face and head lit up a platinum color. Whisk-pey caught a glimpse of the huge sword that hung at his back.
“My name is Whisk-pey daughter of Amose, leader of Canine-land.”
The woman who fought with Whisk-pey and another young man walked to where the man stood. Then suddenly her cell door opened only for her to be seized by the two young people.
“No, no! Where are you taking me? Please, I don’t want to die. I just want to see my people, that’s all!” Whisk-pey yelled but none of her jailors paid any attention to her shouts until she pulled away. “If you are going to kill me, kill me here. I am not afraid to die. I am not afraid to fight. I don’t want to be mocked and laughed at before your people, so I will fight if I have to.”
Whisk-pey did not take her eyes off the man.
“Fear not, my daughter, for me or my people come not to bringeth thee harm. Thine people have had a long trip and so have thee, they are here in our land,” the young man said.
Chapter 20
Whisk-pey walked from her dungeon amongst the people that called themselves the Mountaineers, Hidar the orange eye leader of the Mountaineers, Bahira the woman Mountaineers who briefly fought with Whisk-pey and overcame her and Leto who assured Whisk-pey that they weren’t going to harm her in anyway.
Whisk-pey had a hard time adjusting. Not to the noonday cool, and the multi-colored shawl that Hidar had placed on her body but being without her two humans from earth, Olen and Camden. She never considered how she looked until that day in the mountains. It was a thought that passed very quickly but it was still a thought no less.
I wonder how Olen would like this shawl. Maybe he wouldn’t like it. The thought vanished when Bahira came in where her other members of the Mountaineers family were cleaning and preparing Whisk-pey to meet her people, when she apologized. Whisk-pey was nervous but when she walked out from one of the mountains and down the staircase to see about thirty of her people eating and drinking, she smiled then cried.
The news she received from Gilma was almost an afterthought and a thought of disbelief when she viewed way up from those cracked stone steps that all was lost and that their land had been taken brutally by the Wolf-people. She was escorted by the three Mountaineers down the steps. One from the group of thirty recognized Whisk-pey and shouted to the others.
Whisk-pey gazed upon her people then stopped. Without a word she wanted an answer to a question that she had not asked yet. Hidar’s dark black lips parted showing gritty off white teeth. “Goth, thine people waiteth for thee; I heareth that it has been days since thou and thine people were together.”
Whisk-pey walked the rest of the way down the steps by herself.
The smell of the food down there was intense but the anticipation of what would happen when she get down there amongst her people was much greater than the new tasty food that she had eaten in her cell.
“Whisk-pey, oh my, come here,” one of the Canine woman said.
“The Heavens of Make Believe has brought our daughter back,” another female Canine woman said.
Bodolf, who had adjusted pretty nicely with his new people, sighted Whisk-pey and drew back. Whisk-pey reached inside the new bag filled with Mountaineers’ gem stones that Bahira had given Whisk-pey as a kind of pardon gift.
“It’s good to see you again, Whisk-pey,” the little boy said.
Whisk-pey didn’t know what to think. Bodolf being sitting among her people disturbed her, but she was pleased to see them all – reunited.
Auden’s mother joined Whisk-pey and said, “I know I thought the same thing and I thought many days before this one that his life would be delivered into my hands. He saved Auden, believe it or not!”
The Canine people stopped as they all looked on. Even the Mountaineers stared down at Whisk-pey as she eyed Bodolf.
“You may not know this, Whisk-pey, but our land is no more and the people here are in turmoil,” the white-haired Canine man said, standing on the right side of Whisk-pey. She looked at him. “We have traveled many days and our journey has brought us here to the land that we now know belongs to the Mountaineers. They have graciously given us their food and drink and for that we are very thankful.”
Whisk-pey didn’t crack a smile nor did she display a face that cared two hoots about what the white haired Canine man was saying. She wanted to know why the leader of their archenemy and rulers over her people was eating and drinking and making merry with her people.
“Doeth this act causeth trouble for our people Hidar,” Leto asked.
“No, thee girl is special amongst her people. If there is a problem it will be worketh through her. The visions from the heavens have told me so,” Hidar said from a distance near the stone steps.
Whisk-pey’s hands were now clinched on the legs of her green chinos. She had to force them open and downward to her side.
“And they have been good to me, Hidar in particular, but that doesn’t clear up why someone amongst us who we have no dealing with is here?”
Bodolf should have, but through the conversation he didn’t say a word, only look on with his glowing staring eyes.
“Under any other circumstances, things would have been different, Whisk-pey. His people have taken our land and made our people slaves, and Canine blood stains the residents of Canine-land; we all know that, every single one of us down to the only child here, Auden, who Bodolf saved. What I am saying is this is all we have left, Whisk-pey. Our land is no more. We must have a life with what and who wants to have it with us.
“Things are not how they use to be anymore. Bodolf not only saved the life of Auden from what is now the cursed Dark Forest, but he has made his peace with us and all the Canine-people here, slaves and those who shed blood trying to protect the city. I know your father would have a hard time approving this decision not to kill Bodolf, but with his help you and all of us have a better chance at making peace with our enemies.”
It wasn’t until the noonday sun had drifted behind the clouds and the interaction between the Mountaineers and the Canine people were over, that Whisk-pey let bygones be bygones. She walked over to Bodolf who was looking across the mountain where he saw blue water run down the mountain side way off from where they stood.
“In case I didn’t introduce myself my name is Whisk-pey. I am a Canine-girl!”
Startled, Bodolf unlike what he usually would do, turned in a hurry but didn’t draw his knife that was on his side. Bodolf looked strangely at Whisk-pey. With his height and his burly shape, he was a giant compared to Whisk-pey. “Since it is said that we are going to make amends with the ones who are rulers and killers of my people, and since it looks like we are going to be here for a while, I thought what better time than to start now,” Whisk-pey said.
“Whisk-pey, I know that you are mad and with…”
“You don’t have to explain, the past is the past, but one thing I would like to know since it looks like the one who is my archenemy is now going to be my closest friend, when you had me and Ento captured you called my name, and my father’s name, I believe. The past is the past and so it is hard for me to remember it totally, how do you know my father?”
From her stern voice and her lips that went back to being pressed together in a blistering scowl, Bodolf was well aware that he better come up with an answer to the young Canine-girl’s question even if he didn’t have one.
“This wasn’t the first time that the Wolf-people and Canine-people had dwelled together. Most recent was when your father and I had a secret. At the time you were nothing more than a lass. I helped him!”
Now Whisk-pey felt her hand tremble, she felt the sweat pearling on her forehead. Instinct was trying its best to take over. But if it did, if she allowed it, she would have killed Bodolf on the spot for what she believed was a lie. “Your kind hunt down my people for sport, there is a tyranny going on in my land by one of your own, Bodolf, and I am supposed to believe that you and my father were friends?”
Bodolf gave Whisk-pey a look of sternness when he answered her. “I would like you to believe me, Whisk-pey, but if you don’t, then you don’t. Your father Amose was dying in the waters of Dark Forest. We had planned to bring my people and his people, the few he had, together. You see, over time when he saw that he was becoming popular amongst his people and he was learning the ways of my people, which I showed him, he realized that the most popular thing would be for us to unite our clans together. Ultimately, he wanted to rise as a leader amongst his own! That was the secret, Whisk-pey, my people and your people together as one. It never happened but look around your people and me – we are now together.” Bodolf saw the tears in the corners of Whisk-pey’s eyes that resembled specks of white dust.
For his part he didn’t show signs of sympathy. Why should he? She didn’t give any to him but if she did, he would return the favor.
“My objective wasn’t to say anything to hurt you or make you angry. My hopes were to be setting up a home here together. Because you asked, I wanted to be truthful as pos
sible and because we have been thrown together by circumstances, what better time than now to become acquaintances?”
Whisk-pey turned away to dwell on what Bodolf just revealed to her. The water flowing down from the mountains in the distance, the hospitality of the Mountaineers and even the freshness that came with small furry mountain creatures that buzzed as they flew by, wasn’t enough of a distraction to pull Whisk-pey away from one thought: her sling-shot.
She was sure to pull it and release all her fury and anger upon Bodolf, regardless of the policy that was enforced there in the land of the Mountaineers. She wanted Bodolf out of her sight and she wanted him out of her sight that instant. But what was in Whisk-pey’s sight was more than just the eager vigor to kill Bodolf right where he sat, what was in her sights was what appeared to be something and or someone she thought couldn’t be real.
The Mountaineers’ spotted what was in the sky first and headed toward them.Armed with swords, knives and throwing blades a few of the Mountaineers were ready to bring down what was way up in the sky and heading downward at full speed. Many of the Canine-people and Mountaineers ran to a spot where they could get a better view of what was in the air.
Then a loud gawk, gawk cry from the skies came ringing out across the mountains. As if a jolt of speed shot Whisk-pey in her hind parts she took off running toward her new ally who had his sword in a launching position.
Dang it! These people see everything, Whisk-pey thought then took off toward the steps. Running on all fours she peered up as she ran to make sure that her assumptions were right.
Gilma, is that, that’s Olen, Olen, she thought, and then a smile graced her face. Oh there is Camden and Ento too.
“No, no don’t do it,” she screamed. “Please, hold your sword, Hidar. Those are my friends!”
Hidar’s long, black hand rose in the air, high. “Hold thy fire, people of the mountain!” In an instant those that were hidden and those that were seen heeded Hidar’s call.
The Land of Make Believe Page 21