by Robert Lamb
‘Well, it may not look like one any more and maybe it never looked like the ones we have today, but it was called a palace,’ finished Moses, taking out a torn and brown map and holding it under the flickering light of the candle. The map had lines and names that looked as though they were burnt into the old paper.
‘The map sure looks old,’ said Cindy and felt a corner, ‘and it feels old like leather, very soft.’
‘That’s right. It’s leather,’ said Moses as he unfolded it. It was quite large and candle wax fell in three drops on it as they were spreading it out on the floor. ‘Now this map has been passed down from father to the eldest son in my family for generations, for centuries, since the very king of this place.’ And with his wrinkled finger in the dim light of the candle, Moses pointed to a spot on the map. ‘This is where we are now. The royal Entry Chamber.’
‘It doesn’t look very royal to me,’ said Captain Tiny. ‘Not one little bit. It looks like a dirty old garbage dumb.’
Neither Craig nor Cindy liked to hear Captain Tiny talk, but they had to admit it didn’t look like a palace.
‘Hold on awhile, Captain, and see if you change your mind,’ said Moses smiling. ‘Now,’ he stroked his beard, which was deep red in the candlelight. ‘If this map is correct, there should be a great door with this emblem on it, over there.’ He pointed at a round emblem with spokes like a wheel. Then he walked into the darkness with the candle to see if there was a wall.
They all looked around and the tiny candle very faintly lit up the wood of an enormous old door. It was covered with bits of metal, broken and peeling. ‘It’s here,’ he called out, and they all came across the stream to see.
‘Yes. Yes, that’s it. See the wheel on top,’ said Cindy. ‘And look at the spears and things on the walls,’ and they all turned to look at the rough rock walls she was pointing at. Strange-looking spears and shields hung from the walls, swords hung in bunches, and piles of sharp-looking things stood next to the wall.
‘Those are here because, as the legend goes, everyone had to take off his weapons when he entered.’ Moses went back to the map and everyone followed him.
‘The whole place looks like the inside of a lobster’s claw, sort of oval and spiky.’ Craig laughed.
‘Like a crab, actually,’ agreed Moses. ‘All these chambers were made to look like a crab on purpose.’
‘On purpose?’ called Cindy, coming across the stream after looking at the piles of spears.
‘Well, the first King of the West was known as the “Crab” because he was greedy and collected so many things. He was very warlike, but he never had to fight.’
‘Doesn’t seem like a very good reason to me,’ grumbled Captain Tiny, who had slipped into the stream and had a wet foot.
‘People like to make things their own, so they mark them or put their names on them. That’s what he did. After he built this palace he put a thousand men and women down here to care for it and guards to protect the doors.’
‘Could any of them still be alive?’ asked Craig.
‘I doubt it, but you never can tell,’ said Moses.
‘Alive down here? After thousands of years? Never!’ scoffed Captain Tiny. ‘Let’s stop talking and get to the gold and jewels,’ called Captain Tiny as he went over to the great door and started to bang and push it in the middle.
‘It won’t open that way,’ called Moses.
‘Well, you tell me a way it will.’ The captain laughed, happier now that he was near what he had come all this way to find. He seemed excited and energetic. ‘Perhaps we could prise it open with one of these spears.’ And he tried as the others came over to the door again.
The stream flowed in a crack along the floor and under the door. It was wide enough for someone to swim, and Mrs. Mermaid, who had been quiet since her joke with the octopus, crawled across the floor and slipped into the water. She did this before anyone could stop her and, as Moses held the candle, everyone saw her silver and green tail disappear under the old green metal and moss that covered the bottom of the door.
After a second they heard her call, as if from very far, through the thick door. But they couldn’t understand what she was saying. ‘It sounds like she’s talking into a glass of water or from very deep under water,’ said Cindy.
‘She says “Swim under,” ’ said Craig, with his ear to the door.
‘Swim under?’ asked the captain. ‘I’d stay here till hell freezes over before I’d swim under there.’
‘Well, that may not be long,’ said Moses, packing his pipe away. ‘But,’ he put down the spear he had been trying to open the door with, ‘I think this is the quickest way.’ He helped the penguin into the water. The penguin flapped his wings, happy to be in the water again, ducked his head, and disappeared underneath the door while everyone looked at the rust-coloured bottom of the stream.
‘Look, there are markings on the bottom,’ said Craig. ‘Perhaps this was the way messengers came in.’
‘Before we dive we must look carefully at the map, for going into the water may ruin the ink and I want you to remember all of it,’ said Moses. ‘We may need to know even the smallest details. This is the way through the Chamber of Peace to the Chamber of War, and then to the Chamber of Knowledge called the Great Chamber, where all the water, or perhaps the ships and the fish, should be.’
‘Strange that we see no fish or parts of boats in here, when they must have come through here,’ said Captain Tiny. ‘Yes, that’s very strange. It’s as if someone put the spears in piles after the flood of water,’ said Moses.
He and the others then tied all their clothes and luggage securely before climbing into the water.
Chapter 10
The Underground Palace
Craig splashed his head up out of the water in the dark. Suddenly a light exploded in front of his blurred eyes. As his sight cleared, he saw Moses with his red beard all wet, lighting a candle. Moses burned the candle upside down and let the wax drip on a rock ledge next to the door. Then he turned the candle right side up and squashed it into the melting wax. It stood alone.
Heads were splashing up all around Craig and he felt along the slippery side of the stream to pull himself up. It was the coldest water he had ever been in. Cindy came up splashing, her teeth chattering.
‘Let’s get up-p-p,’ she said, and they both pulled each other out of the little stream. Mrs Mermaid helped push them up, for the sides were slippery as grease. ‘Why are those sides so slippery?’ asked Cindy, spluttering water.
‘My guess is, Cindy, so no one could swim in and take you by surprise. He’d have too much trouble getting out of the water,’ said Moses, taking something out of his pocket and resting it on the floor.
The little thing flapped and shook itself and they all recognized a very wet Windmill, the seagull. He took off in wild circles, shaking to get the water off. His feathers stuck out in all directions when he landed, and everyone laughed.
Moses lit another candle and took it back to the door. ‘Yes, just as Father told me. See this bar?’ They all looked and saw a great bar across the inside of the door. He pushed it but it didn’t move, and he tapped it with his knuckle. ‘Solid metal. I knew we couldn’t move it when I heard the spear scrape against it. But someone must have put it back after the water flowed through.’
‘The same person who put the spears in piles?’ asked Cindy.
‘That’s right.’ Moses nodded.
‘Well, if that bar is so heavy, then he must be a giant.’ Cindy shivered.
‘Let’s not worry about a giant, just keep moving before we freeze with these wet clothes on,’ said Moses.
They were all shivering and the map shook as Moses took it out to see if it had been ruined. It was wet although he had put it well inside his clothes. In the candlelight the leather was darker with the water, but the lines were still there.
‘Now we’ll go through this Chamber of Questions to the Chamber of Peace and then through the Chamber of War to the
last one—the Chamber of Knowledge. We’ll have to stick close together and walk along next to the walls. There may be lots of holes and perhaps quicksand.’
Moses bent down and felt around in his pack and finally pulled out a lot of white sticks. ‘Now, Cindy, you’re in charge of these candles and, Craig you take the string.’
‘String?’
‘There are a lot of passages down here and this is the only way you’ll know your way out. And just in case something should happen and we become separated, this will tell you the way back to the hole and the rope.’
Moses lifted his sack to his shoulder leaving the broken seaweed sled on one side.
‘Here we go. You’ll get warm if you keep moving. We may find we can get a fire out of old ships if we can find them down here.’ Moses puzzled to himself for a minute, as he looked at the ceiling. ‘Strange, that water was freezing and I’ll bet that’s not a rock but an icicle,’ and he reached up and broke it off. It began to melt in his hand. ‘Ice.’
‘Captain Tiny, the sled for your trunk is still all right so you pull Mrs Mermaid,’ ordered Moses, looking down at the little captain, shivering with his long moustaches wiggling up and down. He was too cold to protest. In the stream the penguin splashed and flapped, happy to be back where he belonged.
Craig tripped on something in the dark but he couldn’t make out what it was. He reached down and picked up the large soft leather map of the caves. Moses must have dropped it by mistake. Or maybe Moses didn’t need it since he knew the direction so well, for he’d had this old map since he was a baby. Maybe he left it behind or just threw it away. Craig wondered all these thoughts to himself.
Now Craig had never seen a map like this one made of leather although he had a whole collection of maps back home. He had maps of the seas, of shipping lanes and air routes, and maps of each nation, and a large wall map of the world. But Craig had no map of the middle of the earth. And he was pretty sure it was unique. If Moses didn’t need it or want it, then he’d love to have it for his collection. If Moses needs it I’ll have it ready, Craig thought. After all he dropped it or left it behind. He’s had the map all his life. He must know the way by heart. Craig slipped it into his shirt. It was cold. It’s a good thing I found it for, even if Moses doesn’t need it, I might if I get lost.
He started to move down the long tunnel far behind the others. It was so high he could not see the ceiling, only rows of icicles, high up the walls, shining in the candlelight as they walked. Many tunnels and caves led off the big tunnel.
Craig took a candle from his pocket, lit it, and tipped melting wax into a shell until the candle would stand.
Light wobbled over the green mossy walls, flickering in corners, suddenly shining in pools of water on the floor or in the stream which ran down the side of the tunnel.
Suddenly Craig, still clutching his shell candleholder came around a bend to find himself face to face with a giant skull under a bright metal helmet.
Craig was so frightened he stopped sharp. The melted wax from the candle slid down onto his fingers. At that moment Craig was sure he’d been touched by the fingers of death. These fingers slid round his hand, hot and wet, as the candlelight lit up the holes in the eyes and the skull. ‘Oh no,’ Craig tried to say, but his lips wouldn’t move. His jaw wouldn’t move. Just then a heavy hand rested on his shoulder.
Craig was so terrified he dropped the candle. All went dark, the skull and helmet disappeared. The hand disappeared as well. Craig began to run with his hands out in front of him down the tunnel. In the dark he couldn’t see the walls or pools of water. He splashed through them and brushed against a wall. The moss came off in his hands.
Suddenly he fell. It was cold and he felt water flowing. Then a hand reached out and touched his shoulder. A match scratched and flared in front of him showing the red beard of Moses and those deep eyes looking at him.
‘What happened to you?’ Moses laughed. ‘I saw you looking at that skull and when I tapped you on the shoulder, you jumped as high as a wave and flipped that candle in the air.’
‘Oh, M-M-M-Moses, am I glad to see you.’ Moses helped him out of the stream.
‘Now, Craig, don’t you go running off this time. Just give me one of your matches.’
‘But I ran out of matches,’ said Craig, shivering again.
‘Oh, this is a fine mess,’ said Moses. ‘Well, everyone shout out where you are.’ Everyone answered and slowly came up till they could all touch each other. Craig felt the little beak of the penguin tap his hand. It tickled.
‘Now,’ said Moses, as he always did when he began to say anything to the group. ‘We haven’t got any light. No matches that is. I’ve got lots of candles but we’ll have to feel our way along in the dark till we find some wood from a ship, or something like that. I have some tools we can make fire with, so don’t get worried. But now, more than ever, it’s important to stay together.’ Captain Tiny at any other time would have shouted and complained, but he was still shivering, so the little group held hands and beaks as they felt their way along the walls down the tunnel.
The walls began to feel smoother and the floor became flat stones. The helmets and spears hanging from the walls became more and more familiar to their fingers groping along the walls. The sound of rushing water in the side caves grew louder as the streams all seemed to flow into the stream in their tunnel.
Their steps suddenly sounded very loud and hollow as if they were in a great cave. As they felt their way around a corner in the walls, their footsteps became very loud and the sound of rushing water frightened Cindy as she held on to Mrs Mermaid’s tail and the penguin’s flipper.
As they came round the corner they entered a gigantic lighted cavern shaped like an oyster shell. ‘This is it,’ said Moses. ‘The Chamber of Peace. Pearly white for oysters.’
‘That blue light in the water—what is it?’ asked Captain Tiny, his moustache quivering. Sure enough there was light from the water that filled the chamber floor. It was reflecting from the white ceiling. There were no helmets on the walls, no spears. In fact there was nothing on the walls at all. But the wide water had piles of dark things in it up to the ceiling in places.
‘The light seems to come from the water all right, but what are those black piles in the water? They don’t look like …’ He stopped. What did they look like?
‘They’re statues,’ said Cindy, seeing the head of a figure on the pile.
‘Statues they are,’ said Captain Tiny, as they walked out into the great cave on the little walk above the water. The water on either side was glowing blue and many white things darted through it.
‘Those must be electric eels,’ cried Moses. ‘That’s what lights up the cave.’ Everything was cold and blue, with many statues all round of old men in long robes and babies in their mothers’ arms.
‘Do these eels give you a shock?’ asked Cindy, as she watched the penguin jump away from the water he had been looking in. Moses touched a candle to the water and it lit. ‘Well, they use their spark to kill other fish so maybe they are dangerous for us too. Better not fall in the water.’ They wandered through the great cavern between the statues with their candle shining off faces and arms of metal. Finally, they came to a large group of figures pushing a flag up in the air.
Here, suddenly, they were facing an old man whose face in the blue light from the water looked like the wrinkled map of leather. His eyes were as dark as the burnt holes in the map and he had a white beard to the floor. His mouth opened slowly between his beard and his moustache and a very old cracked voice, like a rusty door hinge, creaked out.
‘More of you? Oh, how many more of you are there?’
‘More of who?’ asked Captain Tiny. ‘There are no more of us.’
‘You are more of the men from the West caught by the flood.’ And without waiting for a reply he took out a little book from his robes and turned the pages after wetting his thumb and finger with his lips. ‘Now,’ he said, just as Moses always di
d, ‘I must have your names for the record.’
‘What record?’ asked Craig, looking into the little black book.
‘Why, for the list of all those brought here by the flood. Now, after I get your names you can run along to the giant chamber where there are fires and maybe some food left, though I doubt it. I thought we had everyone, tut, tut.’ The old man tapped his feather pen on the black book and when no one said anything, he waved the feather at Moses to give his name. ‘Now, son, don’t be shy.’
‘But we did not come down with the flood,’ said Moses.
‘Oh, come, come, come,’ creaked the old man’s voice, and he tapped the point of his feather again. ‘Of course you did.’
‘But we just came down the hole.’ Moses laughed. ‘We walked across the bottom of the sea to the hole and we came down just this afternoon.’
‘Just this afternoon?’ his tiny face opened in a questioning look. ‘Nonsense. Since the flood?’ They all nodded. ‘Well, I’ll be the King of the East. You mean you have come from the land to save your people?’
‘Well, not exactly from the land, but from the sea, and from an island,’ added Moses.
‘You mean no one on land knows about the flood?’ asked the old man, stroking his long white beard with his feather.
‘Well, I imagine they do, but we are the only people who know about the plug and the hole,’ said Captain Tiny, trying to get attention. ‘I happen to be the …’ But the old man interrupted him.
‘I happen to be speaking to your father,’ said the old man curtly, looking up at Moses.
‘My father?’ exploded Captain Tiny. ‘Why, you old goat. You old seaweed. He’s not my father, even if he is a bit bigger than me!’
But the old man interrupted him again. ‘Why did you come down?’ he asked as he counted them. ‘There are only four of you. How could only four of you hope to help?’
‘There are eight of us,’ said Cindy.
‘Eight?’ asked the old man, nodding his head at each one of them as he counted again.