The Golden Paw

by Jason Lethcoe

  Based on the way the leader of the Collective had recognized the pen’s value, Andy guessed that she probably kept it somewhere close at hand. He vowed that he would get it back from her—if he ever got the chance.

  Beyond the wooden door lay a dimly lit hallway. Andy assumed that it was the same hallway that they’d all been dragged through when he and the others had been put in their cells. After ascending some steep stone stairs, they passed a room that looked like guards’ quarters. And then the passageway they’d been following stopped, abruptly ending in a wall of stone. Andy looked around. There had to be an entrance for the guards to come through. But try as he might, he couldn’t see anything.

  “Where to now?” Abigail asked.

  “I don’t know. There should be a door somewhere. Maybe it’s a secret entrance,” Andy said. “Everybody try looking for something that looks slightly out of place. It might be a stone without mortar around it, or a hidden switch.”

  They scoured the walls. But after several minutes of searching, they still hadn’t found anything. On an impulse, Andy went back to the small room that seemed to be the guards’ quarters. Looking around, he saw a pair of iron bunk beds, a fireplace, a rough-hewn table, a small pile of rations, and a rather dull knife.

  “Not much here,” he murmured. But then he spotted something out of place on the mantel above the blackened hearth. Hope flaring in his chest, he called back to the others, who were still searching the dead-end passage.

  “I think I might have found something!”

  The group filed into the small, dank room. Andy grinned. “Notice anything strange about this room?”

  The others glanced around. Betty wrinkled her nose. “It smells like old socks.”

  “Besides that,” Andy said.

  “Looks like an ordinary setup to me,” Rusty said. “Typical soldiers’ quarters. Not too different from the battalion quarters I had back in the war.” He winced and held his injured arm.

  Andy was reminded again that Rusty needed medical attention and decided it would be better to just reveal what he’d found rather than drag it out. He walked over to the fireplace mantel and pointed at the bookends that were positioned upon it. They held an old book between them, something titled Beecham’s Guide to Butterfly Collecting.

  “Unusual reading for soldier types, don’t you think?” Andy asked.

  The bookends on either side of the book were mismatched. One of them was carved into the shape of a bird taking flight, while the other resembled a pyramid with an all-seeing eye on top of it.

  Without hesitating, Andy pulled the book forward. As he’d expected, it swiveled on a hinge. It wasn’t a real book at all, but a switch.

  The fireplace rotated back to reveal a spiral staircase.

  “Well done!” Abigail said.

  “Keep your weapons at the ready,” Andy said. “We have no idea what we might find up there.”

  This time, Betty and Dotty, who each held a pistol, led the way. Andy followed behind them, and Abigail brought up the rear with Rusty. Andy counted the stairs as they went up. He had just reached 125 when he found himself on a flat landing. Everyone, especially Rusty, was out of breath from the exertion, and the group paused before opening the plain door at the top.

  With a little luck, there won’t be anybody waiting for us behind the door.

  Andy braced himself as Betty and Dotty turned the knob and pushed it open. Thankfully, there wasn’t any exclamation of surprise when it swung open. The room they entered was empty. But it also looked very peculiar.

  Peering over Betty and Dotty’s shoulder, Andy saw a scarred wooden floor with two identical rustic doors made from slats of bamboo on the opposite wall. Aside from the doors and a lone candelabra, the room was empty.

  “Strange,” Betty said.

  “Yes,” Andy said. “I don’t like it.” There was something about the doors that reminded him of stories he’d read where the hero had to make a choice. One door usually led to freedom, and the other to certain death.

  He hoped that wasn’t the case with these doors.

  “Should we try one?” Abigail asked.

  “We’ll have to choose. I have a feeling that we’ll only get one chance. If the rumors about this dungeon are true, then the Collective probably knows which door to use and which one an escaping prisoner might mistakenly walk through,” Andy said.

  Andy walked closer and inspected both doors. Even with his meticulous eye for detail, he couldn’t see a single difference between them.

  “Hogwash,” Rusty said. “I’d wager that neither of them is dangerous. One’s probably a closet.”

  But Andy had a strong sense of foreboding. Something just didn’t feel right. Before he could again express the need for caution, Rusty stepped forward and twisted the knob on the left door with his good hand.

  The floor began to shake.

  “Back to the staircase!” Andy yelled.

  But he hadn’t taken a single step before the solid-looking marble beneath their feet cracked like thin ice. Andy felt his foot slip through the floor. The next thing he knew, the ground had crumbled away and they were all screaming in terror as they fell down, down, down into darkness.

  They landed in an unceremonious heap. Fortunately, their fall was broken by several gigantic ferns. Unfortunately, as Andy found out at that moment, not all ferns are soft, and some of them possess particularly nasty thorns.

  Still, with the exception of some bumps, scratches, and bruises, everyone seemed to be okay. Only Rusty hadn’t fared well. He was already weak from his encounter with the Dingonek, and between the fall, the rough landing, and the loss of blood he’d suffered, he appeared to be unconscious.

  “We’ve got to do something!” Abigail said, noting the big man’s gray pallor.

  “If we had our pack, we could help him,” Betty said. “We always carry a first aid kit. But other than trying to make him as comfortable as we can, I’m afraid there’s not much we can do.”

  The sisters looked worried. Dotty folded her silk sash into a makeshift pillow and placed it beneath the bush pilot’s head.

  “Maybe there is something,” Andy said. He gazed around at their new surroundings. They’d landed in an immense cavern filled with plant life. High above was an opening that allowed daylight to shine down, giving the plants the sunlight and rain that they needed to survive.

  And survive they had. In fact, the foliage had flourished. Andy could tell at a glance that these weren’t just jungle plants. There was an entire forest of deciduous trees and flowers.

  “Maybe there are some medicinal plants around here,” Abigail suggested.

  “Good idea,” Andy said. “I learned about some of them in Boy Scouts. I’ll be right back.”

  “Be careful,” Abigail warned. “We have no idea what might be lurking in this place.”

  Andy nodded and determinedly set off toward a nearby grove of thickly clustered palm trees. There were several desert plants in the area, and after searching for a bit, Andy found what he was looking for—a large aloe vera plant.

  Why is it purple, though? Every aloe plant he’d ever seen was green. Andy shrugged and broke off several fronds, pocketing a few and carrying the rest.

  When Andy brought them back to the others and showed them what he’d found, Betty’s and Dotty’s eyes immediately widened.

  “Where did you find purple aloe?” Dotty asked.

  Andy gestured to the area. “Over by those palms. I was looking for regular aloe, but I found this stuff. It’s not poisonous, is it?”

  Betty laughed. “Poisonous? Are you kidding? Purple aloe has miraculous healing powers. It’s incredibly rare! You couldn’t have found anything better!”

  Betty and Dotty took the fronds that Andy had been carrying. Then, unwrapping Rusty’s makeshift bandage, the sisters applied the sap to the open wound. Betty rewrapped the injury using Dotty’s sash, tightening it like a tourniquet above Rusty’s wrist to prevent further blood loss.


  “He’s going to be all right now,” Dotty said. “Purple aloe works very quickly! I’ve seen it used once before, and the patient was up on his feet in minutes.”

  Andy gazed around at the thick vegetation. “Maybe we’re lucky that we found this place. It seems like every imaginable plant is growing here.”

  Abigail was about to respond when a loud roar echoed from somewhere near where they were sitting. They shared nervous glances.

  “We’re not alone,” Betty said.

  “Not at all,” Dotty echoed.

  “That didn’t sound like any creature I’ve ever heard,” Abigail said. “Not a lion, for sure.”

  “You two had better have your pistols ready,” Andy suggested. “Whatever that was, it sounded pretty close.”

  The trees shook with the creature’s unearthly roar as whatever it was stomped in their direction. Andy and the others had no idea what to expect, but they could feel the ground shake beneath their feet with every thunderous footfall. Then a terrible stench like a cross between rotten eggs and a skunk filled the air.

  “Hide!” Andy shouted.

  “What about Rusty?” Abigail asked.

  “Help me drag him,” Andy said. “Betty, Dotty, you guys take cover in that big bush over there. We’ll hide behind that tree. Maybe we can take it by surprise.”

  Rusty was heavy, and trying to move him felt to Andy like pulling a sack filled with boulders. But with much heaving and grunting, he and Abigail managed to get the bush pilot and themselves hidden behind a big-trunked eucalyptus tree just as the creature burst into the clearing they’d recently occupied.

  The moment Andy laid eyes on it, his stomach churned. It was one of the most horrible creatures that he’d ever seen—even worse than most of the mythical monsters he’d read about.

  It didn’t seem possible. The monster had thick, matted fur and strode upon two legs like a gorilla. But the resemblance ended there. Like a Cyclops, it had a single eye—one that was inky black, with no white at all—and upon its belly was a wide, gaping slash filled with broken teeth.

  Its mouth is on its stomach! Andy realized. It just looked wrong!

  “It’s an Isnashi!” whispered Abigail.

  “A what-she?” said Andy.

  “Isnashi! My father told me about them. I…I didn’t think they were real. He said he barely escaped one when he was on an expedition in Brazil, but I thought he was making it up.”

  “Evidently not,” Andy said.

  The beast swayed in place for a moment, sniffing the air as if deciding which way it should turn. The stench of the thing at close proximity was overwhelming, and Andy had a hard time not gagging.

  Andy saw Betty and Dotty peer over the top of the large bush they were hiding behind, taking aim with their pistols.

  Don’t miss, Andy begged silently. Please…don’t miss.

  The sisters fired, but the Isnashi was quicker. At the last possible moment, the beast leapt into the air, avoiding the bullets and landing directly behind the twins!

  Betty and Dotty weren’t easily frightened, and if the sudden proximity of the horrible monster bothered them, they didn’t show it. With lightning reflexes, the twins responded. The two let fly a quick series of karate punches, followed by powerful leaping roundhouse kicks.

  The women were masters of the martial arts, and they sang as they fought, harmonizing a battle song of their own composition. Andy had heard it once before, when they’d battled the Collective in Hawaii. The music Betty and Dotty made together was beautiful, with an eerie quality about it. It reminded Andy vaguely of the drone of a bagpipe coupled with its high, lilting melody.

  It inspired fear in any enemy that heard it.

  The assault from the conjoined twins would have knocked any normal opponent back at least thirty feet, and the fierce song they sang would have made the foe think twice about continuing the fight. But the Isnashi was anything but normal.

  The sisters stood facing a foe that had barely moved under their best assault, and a flicker of doubt passed between them. When Andy saw that look, he knew that if he didn’t do something quick, Betty and Dotty, the fiercest fighters he knew, probably wouldn’t survive.

  Andy glanced around desperately, hoping to see a club or a sharp stick lying nearby. But deep inside, he knew that such weapons would be pointless. And then he remembered. He still had the amulet that had summoned the Dingonek!

  Andy reached into his jacket pocket and pulled it out. He scanned the surface of the amulet, looking for anything at all that would tell him how to summon the creature. There was a skull on one side and a smooth surface on the other, but nothing was written there.

  The Isnashi loomed over Betty and Dotty, its horrible mouth gaping, ready to bite. Andy rubbed hard on the amulet with his thumb, polishing its surface and trying to see if perhaps the thin layer of grime had obscured some faintly written text.

  There was nothing written on the amulet, but as with the fabled genie in Aladdin’s lamp, it was the rubbing that did the trick. Andy gasped as the amulet suddenly grew white-hot. He tossed it on the ground and watched as the amulet began to spin. There was a shimmer and then, uncurling like a great crocodile, the Dingonek reappeared. Andy didn’t have to tell it what to do. The creature obeyed the intention of whoever was in control of the amulet.

  The Dingonek roared, and the Isnashi, for the first time in its miserable existence, faced an opponent that was a true challenge. It seemed to know right away that it was threatened, and it let loose another of its terrible howls. The monsters rushed together and fought, a clash of two creatures straight out of myth and legend.

  Had it been something in the movies, Andy would have been riveted to the spot. But seeing it for real was truly terrible to behold. Both creatures were fighting for their lives!

  The Dingonek’s barbed tail struck over and over again, and the Isnashi, brandishing a set of huge scimitar-like claws, slashed back. There was blood everywhere.

  “Come on,” hissed Abigail. “While they’re distracted, we need to find a way out of here!”

  Andy shook his head, clearing his mind. “You’re right.” He glanced down at Rusty. “But what about him? We can’t just leave him here.”

  Abigail reached down and lightly tapped Rusty’s cheek. “Rusty, wake up! We’re in danger! Wake up!”

  Rusty’s eyes flickered and he let out a small moan.

  “He’s awake!” Andy said.

  The big man slowly sat up, his good hand clutching his injured arm.

  “What’s happening?” he asked.

  “No time to explain,” Abigail said. “We’ve got to get out of here. Can you walk?”

  Rusty nodded and stumbled to his feet. Andy noticed that the color had returned to his cheeks, and he looked close to his old self.

  That purple aloe works wonders!

  Rusty glanced over at the vicious fight going on between the Isnashi and the Dingonek. His eyes widened.

  “Where’s my pistol?” he growled.

  “It won’t work,” Andy said quickly. He motioned for Betty and Dotty to follow. The twins rushed over from behind the bush where they’d been watching the battle of the two titans.

  “How do we get out of here?” Abigail asked.

  “I have an idea,” Andy said. He glanced in the direction the first howl of the Isnashi had come from.

  “Follow me!”

  Andy and the others found what they were looking for easily enough, as the stench of the creature was as obvious as a series of arrows painted on the ground. It got stronger as they reached the Isnashi’s dwelling and was nearly overpowering once they were inside of the cave.

  From the skeletal remains that littered the floor of the Isnashi’s cave, it seemed few people—if any—had ever made it out of the monster’s lair alive. Hidden behind the bones, deep inside the fetid dwelling, was an ancient door.

  Eyes watering and breathing through their noses to keep out the smell, Andy and the others waded through the bones and
made their way to the door.

  For all its brute strength, the Isnashi evidently wasn’t very intelligent. The door had a primitive latch that, when thrown, opened easily enough.

  The group wasted no time in going through the door and slamming it shut behind them. They gazed around at their new surroundings in awe. They were outside…back in the jungle they’d so recently been hiking through.

  The air was damp but fresh, and all of them happily took in great lungfuls of the humid air.

  Andy glanced back at the exit through which they’d come. The door to the Isnashi’s cave had been carved into the side of a mountain. They’d found an escape in a very unlikely spot. It was one that Andy hoped was outside the knowledge of the Collective.

  “This mountain looks familiar,” said Rusty.

  “I think we’re near the entrance to the Death Maze,” Abigail said. “The mountain looks the same. Maybe they didn’t take us far when they drugged us.”

  “We’ve got to get to my grandfather,” Andy said. “The last thing he told me was that he was going back to see Jack McGraw.”

  “Then he’s probably at the Jungle Navigation Company docks. We’ll need a boat,” said Abigail.

  Andy looked around. There was nothing but jungle in every direction. Then his eyes fell upon a very unusual tree. It was much taller and broader than the rest, and there seemed to be something built in its branches.

  “Wait, what’s that?” Andy asked. He pointed to the tree.

  “What?” Abigail said. “That tree?”

  “It doesn’t look like an ordinary tree,” Andy said. “Look, up there in its branches.”

  Rusty’s eyes widened with surprise. “Crickets and cats! It looks like some kind of treehouse!”

  “That’s a Yesniddendron semperflorens grandis,” Betty said.

  “This must be one of the largest ever-blooming trees of its kind,” Dotty added.

  “Very rare,” Betty concluded.

  “Maybe there’s someone up there who can help us,” Andy suggested. “Come on.”

  It was agreed that Rusty, Betty, and Dotty would stand guard at the base of the trunk while Andy and Abigail investigated the mysterious treehouse.