by L. EE
Before either boy had time to ask, Cadfael instructed, “Alden, get your sword and we’ll attach the sheath here.” He pointed to the left-hand loop.
“Andy, get out your sword hilt.”As he did so, Cadfael continued, “By the way, Andy, that’s quite a weapon you’ve got there. Never seen one that will extend and retract on its own like yours did the other night against that creature. Mind if I take a look?”
Cadfael studied the intricate carvings on Methuselah’s hilt and slowly shook his head. “That’s a beautiful weapon. I’ve never seen craftsmanship like it.” He inspected the bottom of the hilt where the blade would extend but couldn’t deduce how it worked. “Where’d you get it?”
Andy paused. “I’d rather not say,” he finally replied, trying not to offend.
Hannah interrupted the uncomfortable silence as she asked, “What’s the other loop for, Dad?”
Cadfael handed Methuselah back to Andy. “Put this in the pouch. The smaller loops are for these.” He reached behind his back and pulled two daggers from his belt, handing one to each boy. “Made ‘em myself. Figured you needed to be well prepared where you’re going.”
Marta cleared her throat loudly enough to register an objection.
“Sorry, Marta. Boys, I know you haven’t trained with these, but I figured better to be armed and safe. There’s a lot riding on your success.”
More than you know, thought Andy.
Marta forced a smile as Hannah moved over to hug her.
“Thanks a lot!” the boys chimed together, slipping the daggers into their belts.
Another quiet knock came at the door. Alden pushed his way around Cadfael and opened it. Hans stood in the hall. Alden motioned him in. “Sorry, not much room,” he apologized.
Hans squeezed into the gathering and announced, “The King and Mermin’s condition has not changed over the last several weeks. As long as the Stone of Athanasia is not moved farther away, I believe they will remain as they are.” With that, he pulled out a small money bag and handed it to Andy. “It’s not much, but you’ll be needing this if you’re to buy your way across the Sea of Mystery. I’m also lending you this.” He pulled a ring off his finger and handed it to Andy.
“What’s this?”
“This is my ring. As the King’s healer, anyone in the army or cavalry should recognize it. If you get into trouble, show it to them.”
Andy dropped it into his pouch. “Thank you, Hans!”
“Good luck, Andy. Good luck, Alden.”
After the boys had decided to make the voyage to Sometimes Island, Andy had bumped into Hans and told him their plans. He had reacted with a mix of emotions. On the one hand, he was elated that someone was trying to retrieve the stone. On the other, he held grave concerns for the boys’ safety. Reports had been filtering in that local fishermen were nervous about venturing out into the Sea of Mystery for fear of being attacked by Abaddon or his troops. For a community dependent on fishing for its livelihood, the situation had the potential to create devastating consequences.
Seeing Hans’s generosity, Cadfael and Marta both pulled out small money bags as well.
“I wanted to wait and give this to you in a few minutes, but as long as Hans has already offered, here’s a bit more,” interjected Marta, handing Alden hers.
“I had also planned to give you this,” added Cadfael, handing Andy his pouch.
“Thank you,” Andy replied. He wanted to say more to express his gratitude, but words escaped him. Their generosity touched him. Never had he felt so valued by adults. All he could do was nod and repeat, “Thank you.”
Marta stepped over and gave him a big hug. Everyone else followed suit, although in the cramped quarters a few toes were stepped on. A chorus arose: “Ouch! Oh, sorry. That’s my foot. Oh, sorry. Pardon me.” After a couple verses had been sung, Alden suggested, “If we’re gonna leave here undetected, you all should probably clear out.”
Everyone murmured their agreement and Marta gave each boy another hug. Then the cramped quarters emptied out except for the boys and Hannah.
“You need anything else?” she asked.
“No, I think we’re good. Hannah, how’s your stomach feeling? Any vibes about our trip?” Andy half-joked.
“I don’t think you want me to say.”
“Fair enough.”
“Good luck!” Hannah called as she left.
They added their practice swords to their belts for when they had time, to keep their skills sharp. After picking up his backpack, Andy asked, “You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be. We just need to keep a lookout for the bellicose.”
Andy nodded.
“Oh,” Alden said under his breath.
“What?”
Alden grabbed one of Marta’s hair ribbons lying on top of the dresser and stuffed it in his backpack as they exited the room.
Andy smiled.
Turning a short right into the hallway, they stopped and faced the wall. They found the stone that opened the secret door they used when rescuing the King and castle staff from Abaddon and his minions the previous year, then headed into the tunnel that snaked the width of the castle wall.
“You had a great idea to head out this way, Alden. It’ll keep us out of sight as long as possible.”
Navigating the outside door, they emerged into a dense fog.
“Well, at least the vulture-men won’t see us as easily in this fog,” commented Alden.
“Maybe Imogenia is scheming to defeat us,” replied Andy. He almost expected to hear a lady’s screeching voice as he said it, but all remained quiet. He shrugged.
They headed left and made their way around the base of the castle wall until they could hear the clip-clop of pegasi hooves on the cobblestone terrace leading to the Cavalry Training Center.
“This way,” whispered Alden, indicating they needed to turn right and head toward the edge of the island the castle stood on. “There’s a service bridge that’s not guarded. At least, it wasn’t a couple weeks ago when I helped get that load of wood.” Alden didn’t elaborate. Andy knew exactly what load of wood he referred to.
It took some doing in the thick fog, but they finally located the bridge and quietly crossed. The moment Andy’s feet touched ground on the opposite side, he thought, Here we go. For the King and Mermin!
They planned to skirt around the back side of the city of Oops! and follow the wall that surrounded the northern part of the kingdom. Once they crossed Fisherman’s Bridge in the town of Ooggy, they would make their way down to the waterfront where they hoped to find a ride to Sometimes Island. That was the plan anyway.
Perhaps it was just paranoia at knowing the bellicose was out there, but as they began walking, Andy felt menacing eyes boring into him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Troubles in Oops!
Initially, Andy didn’t mention his paranoia to Alden. Why jinx our trip? If I don’t think about it, it won’t seem as real. But the more he tried not to think about it, the more he found his mind focusing on nothing else. His brain ran worst-case scenarios of being ruthlessly attacked by the bellicose.
They walked through the fog in silence for several minutes. Andy’s eyes stared about intently and his hand rested on top of the pouch that was Methuselah’s new home.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Andy jumped. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t want to freak you out, but I feel like we’re being watched. I felt it as soon as we crossed the bridge.”
Alden’s hand went to his sword hilt and his eyes grew wide. “You don’t think…?”
“I think we’d best keep quiet and stay alert,” Andy whispered.
They kept to the outskirts of Oops! to avoid being seen by the King’s troops or anyone else who might report the presence of strangers. What they didn’t realize was that in so doing, they were skirting the west side, a rough-and-tumble section of the city where even the King’s troops feared to enter.
At one po
int a scrawny, shifty-eyed beggar, seeing their youth and full backpacks, threatened the boys and demanded a handout. It took a short conversation with the point of Alden’s dagger to convince the hoodlum he had chosen the wrong party to bother.
“Get a job and stop looking for someone to give you free stuff!” Andy reprimanded the would-be thief as they left him behind. Inside Andy laughed, That sounds like something my dad would say.
The man shot them an angry look, as if to say they had not seen the last of him.
“Nicely done, sir,” Andy joked. Sir Gawain and Sir Kay had said that to them many times over the last few weeks after they had properly executed a move.
“Why, thank you. You’re not so bad yourself,” Alden jested back.
Their laughter was short-lived, however. For as they approached a rundown building missing its front door, five thugs wielding sticks of varying lengths sauntered into the street ahead of them. Each of the five thumped his weapon in the palm of an open hand.
“Think you’re smart, dontcha?” the group’s burly leader called out.
Andy and Alden stopped.
“Think you outsmarted old Gabe back there, huh?”
The boys remained quiet and slowly unsheathed their swords. When Methuselah’s blade extended, rather than wising up, the leader commented, “Nice sword you got there, kid. If you bring it here like a good little boy, we may even let you go.” The accompanying goons laughed.
Andy’s training kicked in. “If the environment is suitable for a strong defense, hold your ground and force the enemy to approach,” Sir Gawain’s voice played in his head.
In the time it took for the thug to finish his threat, Andy had spotted several attractive possibilities for such a defense. Alden nodded. Clearly he was thinking the same thing. They remained unmoved.
Frustrated by the lack of any verbal response, the leader took several threatening steps forward. His followers mimicked. He tried again to get a rise. “Hearing not working so good, boy?”
The other thugs snickered.
Still no response.
Needing to keep the respect of his followers, the leader continued walking forward and thumping his stick ever louder in his palm.
When the five were nearly on them, Andy finally spoke. “You’re going to break a bone in your hand if you keep that up.”
“The little boy speaks,” the leader attempted a taunt. “Now hand that sword over.”
“I don’t think so,” Andy replied. He and Alden simultaneously assumed a fighting stance.
“Well, aren’t you two cute. Think you’re regular knights ready to fight a battle,” the leader sneered. “Well, think again.”
At this, the five thugs moved in. Andy and Alden turned their backs toward each other and began parrying the blows of their attackers. It didn’t take them long to reduce the stick weapons to nothing more than a pile of wood chips. Infuriated, the five threw the remaining stubs to the ground and circled the boys.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” the leader threatened.
Neither Andy nor Alden responded but simply remained back-to-back, holding their ready positions.
“Okay, fine.” And with that, the leader barreled at them.
Andy shook his head. “Bad choice.”
The brawny thug, who looked to be twenty or so, got as far as Methuselah’s tip. In an instant, the grimy gray tunic he had not washed in several weeks slid to the ground. He found himself bare-chested, and his leggings had a decidedly roomy feeling he was unaccustomed to. His companions froze and then, realizing what Andy had done, started laughing. The attacker stopped and looked at his lack of attire, then quickly moved to cover himself, making his followers laugh all the harder.
“You’ll pay for this,” he snarled, although taking him seriously proved a challenge at the moment.
Pleased with the turn of events, Andy and Alden made a hasty retreat before the goons threatened again. Based upon the chilly reception they had received, they adjusted their course to venture farther outside the city and continued on through the thickening fog.
Half an hour later they located the base of Beaver watchtower, the first such tower of the northern wall surrounding the land of Oomaldee. With the city behind them, Andy once more felt piercing eyes watching their every move.
It’s just my imagination. It’s just my imagination, he tried convincing himself, but it didn’t work this time either. He unsheathed Methuselah. Alden shot him a worried look and opened his mouth to speak, but Andy motioned him to keep quiet, at which Alden unsheathed his sword too.
The thick fog made it impossible to see anything beyond a few feet, but Andy’s ears still worked. They had been walking on a gravelly section of earth that betrayed each step they took. Seeing the beginnings of grass and rough weeds clumped not far to the left, Andy motioned Alden in that direction. They paused and listened. An eerie silence unnerved them. No birds chirped, no insects buzzed, nothing. It seemed nature held its breath, waiting.
“This isn’t good,” Andy whispered.
Alden nodded.
They walked on in silence until lunchtime. Then they stopped and ate a quick meal, glancing around nervously the whole time. Satisfied but feeling the ominous quiet pressing in, they did not linger.
They began walking again, pausing every few minutes to listen for following footsteps. An hour into their afternoon march, the boys froze at the sound of feet scraping gravel and followed by a clanking sound. They turned their backs to each other, drew their weapons, and assumed fighting stances. The sound echoed through the foggy silence again, growing closer. Andy could feel his heart racing. He tried to still his breathing, but to no avail.
The scraping and clanking sound came again, louder, closer. Still he couldn’t make out what it was. Alden seems so calm. With all the courage he could muster, Andy finally croaked out an unconvincing, “Stop right there! Identify yourself!”
The scraping sound resonated in the stillness.
“Freeze!” Andy called again.
Nothing except that sound.
Trying desperately to control his fear, Andy yelled, “This is your last chance. If you don’t identify yourself, we will be forced to harm you.”
Scrape, clank. Scrape, clink. Rhythmic. Steady.
Andy knew not to make the first move as it would give their opponent the upper hand if he failed to make contact.
Scrape, clank.
The outline of a short person came into view through the thick fog.
“Identify yourself!” Andy warned one more time.
Scrape, clank. Scrape, clink.
With his heart nearly in his throat, Andy moved Methuselah in a figure-eight pattern, hoping to intimidate the man.
Scrape.
“Andy, it’s a kappa! And its limping!” Alden whispered.
Scrape, clank.
Sure enough, through the mist Andy could just make out the turtle-like features of their adversary. The kappa limped forward slowly. It looked to be in considerable pain as it dragged something heavy on its right foot. As it got closer, Andy saw a shiny metal trap firmly clamped around its ankle. He had seen traps like this one at his grandpa’s ranch. Grandpa used them for trapping vermin that tried to steal his cattle, at least that’s what he’d told Andy a couple summers ago. This trap was bigger and shinier and still had the stake and chain attached. Apparently the kappa had powered it out of the ground but couldn’t figure out how to open it.
Remembering his earlier encounter with the kappas, Andy remained wary. He sniffed the air. Sure enough, the putrid smell of dead fish assaulted their senses.
“We need to help it,” Alden encouraged, keeping his voice low.
“Those creatures tried to drown me,” Andy insisted.
The kappa slowly approached. Like the others Andy had seen when he first arrived, this kappa looked like an aqua-colored turtle and had the characteristic ring of hair around the perimeter of its head. Unlike the earlier creatures, however, this
one’s hair was bright green, virtually the same shade as Alden’s. When it was within five feet, it unexpectedly sat down and put its injured foot toward them. It also showed them its webbed hands that were dripping a silver liquid.
“Come on,” urged Alden, dropping the point of his sword and stepping forward. “It’s bleeding.”
“Bleeding?”
“I think that’s what that silver stuff is,” Alden clarified.
“You get the trap off and I’ll keep watch to make sure it doesn’t try anything.”
Alden approached slowly with Andy a half-step behind. Alden tried pushing down on the mechanism that opened and closed the trap, but he wasn’t strong enough. The trap remained securely fastened to the creature’s leg.
“I need your help, Andy.”
Andy looked around. Against his better judgment, he finally laid Methuselah down and stepped over to help his friend. The kappa’s stench was foul. And here I thought cow farts were bad! Andy took a deep breath, hoping to avoid a potent dose of the odor. The boys pressed the mechanism down with all the force they could muster. It slowly opened far enough for the creature to pull its foot out. Andy backed off and let out his breath, but the stench got stronger.
Hearing scuffling sounds around him, Andy looked up. Through the fog he understood why. They were now surrounded by more than a dozen kappas.
“Great,” Andy groaned to himself.
Alden caught a whiff of the odor, glanced up, saw the problem, and commented, “I don’t think they mean us any harm. They want to make sure that guy’s okay. They want to be friends.”
“Friends?” Andy queried, disbelieving. How can Alden believe that?
“Well, yeah.”
“These brutes are gonna try and drag us into the Crystal River not far from here,” insisted Andy as he moved to pick up Methuselah from the grass. He glared at the kappas, watching for any sudden movements that might signal an attack.
The wounded kappa stood and tested its ankle. It limped, but as it took a few more tentative steps, it put more and more weight on its extremity until it walked almost normally. Satisfied with its restored mobility, it headed toward the circle of waiting comrades. It approached one with shimmering blue skin and green leopard spots. Squeaking and waving its arms, the rescued kappa pointed at the boys.