The Plug at the Bottom of the Sea

by Robert Lamb

  ‘And the water boiled,’ Cindy added.

  ‘And the stone cracked,’ finished Craig. ‘That’s how the sails turned round.’

  ‘That’s it—lightning!’ Moses was amazed. ‘Well then, how are you responsible if the lightning is to blame?’

  ‘It’s our fault because we took the bar out of the hole in the wall and leaned it against the sail, just when the lightning struck. It wouldn’t have happened otherwise.’

  ‘Well, I’ll be darned!’ Moses laughed. ‘I’ve been trying to do that for years. Even tried blasting, everything, everything but lightning, and then two …’ he was about to say kids or babies, but he changed it ‘… then two sailors like you come along in a storm and do it first thing. Lightning. That’s a new one on me. Well, I’m proud to know you. I am indeed.’

  ‘Then you’ll tell us the legend?’

  ‘Yes, tonight I’ll tell you the legend.’

  ‘Is it really a long way to the plug?’ asked Craig.

  ‘Well, not so far up here on the ocean floor, but down below,’ and he pointed down, ‘it’s a long way.’

  ‘You mean the water is in the middle of the earth?’ asked Cindy.

  ‘Yep. That’s just where it is, in the caves in the middle of the earth. Or further, on the other side of the earth, which would be far worse.’

  Chapter 5

  A ‘Present for the Queen’

  Cindy saw her shadow leap down the muddy hill as she ran and she stopped to watch it. Something was wrong. She stood absolutely still, but her shadow was growing longer and longer and turning at an angle.

  ‘Look,’ she cried to Craig and Moses, who were already at the bottom of the hill. ‘My shadow—’ she pointed down the hill. They all watched. Its grey-blue outline really was moving.

  Moses looked from her shadow to her. ‘You’re right,’ and he was about to scratch his beard, when he saw something behind Cindy. ‘Look, the sun is moving.’ They all looked and found, not the sun that moved from east to west as it always did, but a bright orange and red ball skimming around the horizon.

  ‘Oh, no,’ shouted Moses. ‘It’s the earth that’s moving. It’s stopped spinning on its axis ’cos of the extra water on the other side of the earth.’

  ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Yes, we must hurry. The earth is out of its orbit and is going either towards the sun or away from it. It might crash into the sun or throw us out of the heat of the sun. Watch the sun carefully to see if it gets closer.

  ‘The earth is going round in squashed circles, but I can’t tell whether they’re getting bigger or smaller each time until we see how the sun acts.’

  ‘You mean the world is going crazy?’ asked Cindy, twirling her finger round in a circle next to her ear.

  ‘That’s right, Cindy, and it will get even more crazy unless we can get down to the plug.’ Moses was really worried and Craig could see this from his eyes, which narrowed and darted around. ‘We must keep track of every movement of the sun from now on. It may get bigger or smaller, or it may do both.’

  ‘How can it do both?’ asked Craig in amazement.

  ‘Dead easy, Craig. That’s what happens when it’s summer and winter. The sun is closer to us at certain times of the year than others and hits us straight on or at a slant like now. Summer, winter, day, night, these are all ’cos of the world’s movements, spinning closer to the sun, or further away. ’Cos we don’t go round the sun in a true circle, but a squashed circle.’

  Moses made a squashed circle with his thumbs and fingers. ‘So if the sun’s in the middle of that hole, sometimes we’re nearer and sometimes we’re further. What we’ve got to watch is how squashed that circle gets, ’cos if it gets too flat we’ll crash into the sun or fly out like that,’ and he threw one of his hands out.

  ‘Then let’s hurry!’ Cindy cried, running down the hill to them. She was frightened and looked back at the sun. They were all walking faster now and the only sound was the slap-suck, slap-suck of their mud feet in the soft mud.

  Windmill rested on each of their shoulders in turn, going from one to the other as they came closer together. He was the only cheerful member of the group; as he hopped about they looked back at the sun every once in a while to see whether it was bigger or smaller.

  Moses, seeing how worried they were, began singing a rusty sea shanty. They were sliding down a steep hill holding on to the seaweed bushes to keep from falling. ‘Oh …’ he began, ‘twas a very dark night!’ His voice was loud and echoed out over the mud like a giant horn blast. Cindy and Craig were so startled they almost let go of their branches. ‘Thought I’d cheer us up with a song; afraid I didn’t give you much of a warning,’ said Moses. They all laughed and he began again. ‘Oh …’

  They all sang, loud and echoing, and did become happier.

  It was not just for happiness that Moses began the song, but to keep them awake. They were passing a mud swamp with low bushes; clouds of steam hung over it and salt fumes in many-coloured streams rose from piles of seaweed, which looked as if they were burning. The mists blew over them.

  Moses called out, ‘Cover your noses and keep singing, or you’ll go to sleep.’ Their nasal singing sounded very funny, like honking, till they had passed by the marsh to the rocks beyond.

  Now their faces were all covered by a thin layer of white lace. ‘Salt from those clouds of sea gas. Breathe deeply, to clean out your lungs,’ ordered Moses.

  They continued walking after a few minutes, watching the sun pass under clouds just on top of the hills, winking at them as they watched.

  As they sat on the rope to rest in a clearing of the rocks, they saw a cave with large sea flowers like wineglasses filled with water. Craig jumped off the rope to the rock floor and looked into the cave.

  ‘There, in the shadows,’ he cried, ‘there’s a purple flower, like a giant pond lily, and it’s got something in it! It’s a sea horse!’ Cindy also jumped from the rope and ran to look, but Moses took his time, for he was still looking at the sun, putting his thumb up to measure the sun’s size.

  ‘It is, it is a sea horse, in this leaf, Moses,’ she cried.

  ‘It’s not a leaf, it’s a flower,’ insisted Craig.

  ‘Well, anyway, that’s a sea horse and I’m going to take him with us.’

  ‘Cindy, we can’t take him with us,’ Craig said, staring at the tiny horselike animal with the curling spine.

  ‘We can too. We can take him in one of the water bottles,’ said Cindy.

  ‘But you already have Windmill,’ protested Craig. Windmill was now perched on the edge of the flower bending the side so the water started to flow off the edge, making the sea horse dart around in the water frantically. ‘Quick,’ cried Craig, ‘put out your arm for Windmill to stand on, so he doesn’t tip out any more of the water.’ But the water was all gone by the time they put Windmill back on Cindy’s arm.

  ‘See,’ said Craig, ‘you can’t even take care of one animal. How can you expect to be able to take care of two?’

  ‘I can keep him in a water bottle. He won’t need any watching. After all, we’ve let all the water out of his home. The most we can do is give him a place with us.’

  ‘You let all the water out of his home by dropping Windmill,’ insisted Craig.

  ‘Now, now, let’s finish this bottle of fresh water and put the sea horse in here. He won’t bother any of us, if Cindy wants to carry it. Do you think he’ll fit through the hole?’

  ‘I think so,’ said Cindy, as she lifted him up, holding his cold body in her warm hand. She put a bottle down into a red flower to catch some water. Slurp, slurp, it sounded as it filled.

  ‘Must have water like the water they’re used to, so it doesn’t hurt them,’ said Moses.

  First the head, which Cindy tried to straighten out, went through the opening. Its silver body turned green very slowly through the green glass as he entered. Plop, he fell into the water.

  ‘There,’ said Cindy, ‘see,’ and she looked at
Craig, who was very happy to have the sea horse, though he wouldn’t have admitted it. Their tiny friend moved around in the green light and seemed to smile at the faces looking at him.

  ‘Oh, how I wish he could speak,’ wailed Cindy.

  ‘Few animals can speak and sea horses aren’t one of them, unfortunately,’ said Moses, as they carried the sea horse back to the sled and the other things they had left by the rope.

  ‘He has silver all over him and he does look like a horse, and even turns his neck like a horse,’ said Cindy, turning the bottle to see him in different positions, ‘but his back is too long and spiny and it becomes a tail with no legs. Do you think he wants legs?’

  ‘Oh, I imagine he likes swimming when he has water and he wouldn’t know what to do with legs. We all have some things and not other things, and we can all get about. Wouldn’t you sometimes like to be a fish or a bird?’ asked Moses.

  ‘Yes,’ Craig and Cindy agreed, for they had both wanted to be different things, like horses and eagles, Superman and whales.

  ‘But,’ Moses went on, ‘most of the time you’re happy being a boy and you’re happy being a girl, right?’

  ‘Right.’ Craig agreed, but Cindy was sure there was no point being a girl. ‘Boys are allowed to do everything,’ she said, lifting her pack as the others put on theirs. She looked through the green bottle at Craig, who was looking at her.

  ‘Maybe—’ Moses laughed—‘just maybe you’ll find that you can do a lot of things Craig can’t.’

  ‘Do you really think so? I mean, you’re not just fooling me?’

  ‘No, Cindy.’ Moses laughed, his great belly rolling with his happiness. ‘No.’ He wiped his eyes and they began to walk in their little line.

  ‘Now where’s the sun gone to?’ asked Moses as he saw the sun just on the edge of the sky, not moving, and then turning in the opposite direction from the one it began.

  ‘It’s stopped, and it’s going the other way.’

  ‘What does that mean, Moses?’ asked Cindy.

  ‘I wish I knew, Cindy,’ and he turned his finger round in the air and then turned it the other way in a little circle. ‘We can’t really tell from here,’ he finally said. The sun was now passing in the direction of the rope and silhouetted a great forest of seaweed.

  ‘Is that where we have to go?’ asked Craig, hoping it wasn’t.

  ‘’Fraid so, Craig,’ answered Moses.

  ‘It looks awfully dark,’ Cindy said.

  ‘Yes, it does, but that’s where the rope goes—’ Moses pointed.

  ‘I’d hate to try climbing over those leaves and fishy vines in the dark.’ Cindy squirmed, already imagining how it would feel.

  ‘Well, let’s try going through that low section over there.’ Moses pointed. ‘O.K.?’

  ‘O.K.’

  ‘There’s another one of those fountains,’ said Craig, ‘but it’s much smaller. The rope hangs right over it between two rocks.’

  When they reached it they saw it was not muddy or cloudy, or hot and boiling, but crystal clear. A small stream bubbled up in the centre.

  ‘That’s funny,’ said Cindy, ‘it looks like fresh water.’

  ‘It couldn’t be.’

  ‘It is, taste it,’ and they all tasted it. Craig made a face before he even swallowed, he was so sure it would be salty. But his expression turned to surprise. ‘It is fresh.’ A small stream fell away down a gully in the mud and glistened in the late afternoon sun, gurgling just as any brook on land.

  ‘Fresh water in the sea?’ said Craig. ‘How could …’

  ‘A spring,’ answered Moses, tasting it again. ‘Many springs feed into the oceans. I’ve found fresh water from rivers flowing out for miles into the middle of the sea, and I’ve found fresh water in places where no rivers empty into the sea at all. Gigantic springs or underground rivers bubble in the ocean.’

  ‘We can refill our canteens and sacks and bottles,’ said Cindy.

  ‘Do you think there’ll be any more springs from here to the plug aside from this, Moses?’ asked Craig.

  ‘I’ve heard tell of three near here and one of those is in the hole where the plug is.’

  ‘You mean there’s a spring in the hole?’ asked Cindy.

  ‘But wouldn’t that fill up the hole sometime?’ asked Craig.

  ‘Now hold on, hold on. I ain’t been there myself. I’ve just been told and I’ve told you the same. That there’s a spring in the hole. We’ll see, if you go on tomorrow,’ he said, ending on this suspicious note. They had filled their water bottles and sacks. ‘Now, by the look of that sun coming up again, we’ll have time to get through that forest before dark. So come on.

  ‘It would be impossible to go through that forest in the dark,’ said Moses. ‘So if it gets dark, just climb up to the top of a tree or whatever you call these seaweed monsters and try to get comfortable.’

  ‘You mean we’ll have to stay up there all night?’ asked Cindy.

  ‘Let’s just hope the sun stays out,’ called Moses, who was squatting down to tie the sled tighter and making loops at the front.

  ‘What are those loops for?’ asked Craig.

  ‘To make a pack. Have to carry it over these trees,’ said Moses. They looked at the dark forest. Its leaves hung like heavy balloons full of water: purple, orange, green, and red. The colours were so bright that the children thought they were exploding.

  ‘They look like fireworks, Cindy.’

  ‘No, they look like piles of wrapping paper at Christmas after all the presents have been opened. Oh, I wish I were home.’

  ‘Cindy, don’t worry.’

  ‘I’m frightened.’

  ‘Come on. Tie your bundle so that you have both your hands free.’ He helped her and then led the way into the piles of coloured leaves.

  The leaves were wet and Cindy had no sooner climbed over the first bush than she stepped on the bud of an enormous flower. The flower closed around her foot. On the outside it had prickles like a cactus but on the inside, next to her foot, the flower was smooth. But the more she pulled, the harder it gripped her. She screamed.

  ‘Hold on!’ Craig shouted. Cindy kept screaming.

  ‘Just hold tight,’ shouted Moses, running up with the great pack on his back sticking up above his head. He threw off the pack and knelt beside her, looking at the strange flower. ‘Slowly turn your foot round sideways till it’s across the opening. Then if you pull quickly it’ll come; you’ll see.’

  Cindy turned slowly, still shaking but not screaming, staring terrified at the purple petals.

  ‘Old trick I learned about your age,’ whispered Moses.

  Cindy finished turning her foot and looked up at Moses for advice. Just then as her foot had come out a bit, she felt she was free and she pulled hard, but the flower-sponge honeycomb of holes tightened and held her foot.

  ‘Oh no, what do I do now? It won’t let go.’

  ‘Maybe it’s holding on cause it doesn’t have any food or water,’ suggested Craig.

  ‘Well, it can’t have my foot to eat.’

  ‘But Cindy, if we give it some food and water maybe it will let go.’

  ‘Good idea, Craig,’ Moses called out, already opening a water sack and handing Craig some cheese. ‘Tear this and these biscuits into little pieces.’ Soon they were mixing them with the water, in the leather sack. ‘More cheese,’ ordered Moses, seeing the mixture was too thin. So Craig cut up pieces of cheese while Moses crumbled biscuits and Cindy chewed her fingernails.

  When the mixture was stirred they poured it on the red and purple flower. Ever so slowly, its honeycomb sponges darkened in colour as it became moist. Ever so slowly it loosened its grip on Cindy’s foot. She slid her foot out and saw it was covered with little red and purple marks.

  ‘Look! I’m bleeding.’

  But the spots began to disappear as Moses poured water on her foot. ‘It’s just the colour from the sponge, Cindy.’

  ‘Can you walk on your foot?’ Craig asked,
holding her arm.

  Cindy tried. ‘O.K. I s’pose.’

  ‘O.K.’ said Moses, lifting his bundle above his head again and fastening the loops over his shoulders. ‘Let’s keep moving,’ and he shifted his pipe from one side of his mouth to the other, and puffed a few white clouds of smoke like a train ready to leave. ‘All right,’ he called from somewhere inside an enormous cloud of smoke. ‘This forest of weeds will be no picnic, so let’s move as fast as we can. But no one step in any more flowers or on anything suspicious looking.’

  In the fading sunlight all the leaves were glowing red. The mud hissed and slap-sucked as they walked. They could look back down the hill as they began to climb the first tree. The bush was so thick that they could not crawl through the branches underneath. Since they could not crawl under, they had to climb over.

  The thick seaweed branches were black and green, and bent like soft liquorice as they climbed. Just as Craig was reaching for a branch high in the tree, the branch moved and he saw an eye staring at him and another eye wink. Slowly the branch lifted him and Craig saw that it was the arm of an octopus with lots of suction cups on one side and quite smooth on the other. He felt very frightened. But the arm did not come round him, it helped him up to the next branch. When he looked back at Cindy, she could find no other branch and did not notice that this was not a branch at all. Craig thought if he told Cindy she might scream, and the octopus might do something horrible, so it was better just to help her up and tell her later.

  Cindy had taken hold and suddenly felt herself being lifted, just as Craig had. When she had moved up she looked startled, but Craig quickly reached down and grabbed her free hand.

  ‘There, there, all safe,’ he said, as he pulled her up.

  ‘Craig, that branch lifted me up back there,’ Cindy said in amazement.

  ‘Sh,’ he said, and he looked down at Moses, who was coming up. Now Moses was very heavy and with his pack he was even heavier. The octopus would not be able to hold him and Moses would certainly know it was an octopus when he felt it, thought Craig.