by S G Read
They settled down to sleep and soon there were more people in there snoring than just the leprechaun. Those who did not get to sleep quickly faced an uphill task, with all the snoring but tiredness eventually overcame the noise.
In what passed as the morning, the light coming into the cave woke Stevey and he looked about. The red shoed leprechaun was gone so he woke the others.
‘Wake up you lot, the leprechaun has gone.’ He hissed not trying to raise his voice. ‘If he meets his brother he is likely to send him in here.’
‘If he meets his brother, he is more likely to be turned to stone before he gets to say anything.’ Toby corrected from where he still lay.
‘And if by some miracle, they did meet and he didn’t get turned to stone, he might be on his way here by now and with the other lot running about, expecting us to help them out, we will stay stone forever.’ Stevey exclaimed.
‘Unless they come and turn us back.’ Toby added but he was wide-awake now.
‘That wasn’t the plan.’ Stuart declared. ‘Let us go and find this apprentice and his boss whoever it is. We have dealings with them.’
The group of ones woke and started walking, giving the three bear’s house a wide berth. They walked faster than they had when they were coming the other way and they stayed in the edge of the forest. It was safer there than walking right into the white leprechaun. They were out of sight of anything in the sky unless it came from over the mountain in the middle. They had lookouts watching the forest and the skies for threats, just in case. When one presented itself, they dealt with it. The wolf found out the hard way that these were not for eating, they were not a pushover like Little Red Riding Hood. The woodcutter nearly suffered the same fate when they came across him.
‘They must do that every day.’ Jenny declared. ‘I wish I could do something to stop it.’
Everyone turned and looked at little red riding hood’s house but it was still there.
‘I just thought I’d try it.’ She explained. ‘They must be like fish, a two second memory.’
‘No, I think the memory lasts until they go to sleep and then they start it all again.’ Toby replied. ‘It is a bit sad though, the poor old wolf is never going to win.’
‘Don’t you start wanting the wolf to eat little red riding hood, you horrible boy!’ Celia cried. ‘It might happen and she might get eaten by the wolf every day before the woodcutter arrives!’
‘Well if the woodcutter walks into the white shoed leprechaun and gets turned to stone at the wrong time, she is definitely going to make a tasty snack.’ Toby argued.
‘That’s true I suppose.’ Celia agreed. ‘That makes the outcome variable every day.’
They walked past the grimalkin after checking to make sure that the white leprechaun was not anywhere to be seen and smiled at her.
‘Going home then?’ The grimalkin asked.
‘Yes, we are going to put the book back and then block the hole up with bricks.’ Simon answered glibly. ‘Be sure to tell your friends.’
‘I don’t know what you mean.’ The grimalkin exclaimed and went into her cave.
‘Do you think she believed me?’ Simon asked when they were out of earshot.
‘Well I didn’t,’ Sherman answered, ‘but I suppose there is a chance she might have.’
They reached the crossroads. If they turned left it led back to the opening Simon made, right was through the middle of the mountain and straight on led past the plateau they had seen when they emerged from the opening.
‘Now where do we go?’ Ben asked.
‘We go straight on.’ Stuart ordered. ‘We need to go up the other side, while the other group is going round where they are.’
They walked on, with the rocks up on each side of them, there was no escape, if someone came the other way and by now it was getting gloomy and they were tired. Suddenly, on their left they saw an opening they could climb up into, some needed help but they were soon all up out of sight of the trail.
‘Have a look further up Si, but be careful.’ Stuart ordered.
Simon shinned up the rocks further on as thought they were almost flat, disappeared over the top and reappeared a few minutes later.
‘Come one you lot, there is shelter up here where we can sleep.’ He urged.
‘What about food, I’m starving.’ Molly complained. ‘We haven’t eaten anything since that porridge.’
‘I was trying not to think about food!’ Simon chided. ‘I’m sure we’ll find some tomorrow.’
‘We should have taken the things back to the three bears,’ Stuart complained, ‘who knows what sort of effect, us stealing their things might have.’
‘A bit late now though,’ Denis noted, ‘we must remember to do it when we pass them next time.’
‘Yes we must.’ Stuart agreed.
They all climbed up and crawled under the shelter there, knowing that when they woke the gryphon could not get at them. There was a short discussion about sentries but in the end they all slept, the white leprechaun had no reason to come up on the ledge where they were.
The group of twos walked on and saw more dark forest in front of them. It seemed to go right round the rocky mountain in the middle and then down the other side. They kept close to the rocks, ready to hide if it was necessary, as frightening noises emanated from the forest. They could hear other noises coming from the trails that led into the mountain near them but they felt safer close to the rock.
‘This is like dungeons and dragons but with weird creatures thrown in.’ CJ declared.
‘How do you mean with weird creatures thrown in?’ Molly asked. ‘I have seen some of the weird things in that game.’
They walked on without seeing anything in the forest. They still heard the roars, squeals and other alarming noises from there until they reached the end of the mountain they were close to.
‘Now we are heading back down the other side of this mountain,’ CJ declared, 'it's an odd thing though, it goes straight up for miles with openings in it but not many of them go all the way up.’
'It is definitely man made, even though it was probably designed by the wizard with a wave of his wand,' Toby answered, 'and I never thought I would ever be saying something like that, without talking about a film.'
They turned left and started back along the other side of the mountain with the dark forest still on their right but now it looked more dark and foreboding than the first forest they had walked past. They kept close to the mountain side and headed back down what they considered to be the other side of this world. They were tired now, wanting to eat and rest but there was no food in sight and, they had yet to see some water to drink in this wizardom. In front, they saw a leprechaun and he had white shoes on. He came out of one of the paths into the mountain and they frantically squeezed into a crevice to hide in case he came their way but the leprechaun was not interested in them and did not come their way. He was heading into the dark and foreboding forest and he looked to be on a mission. There was a trail leading in but he did not follow the trail, he walked into the trees.
‘Let us follow him.’ John suggested.
‘What in there?’ Denis asked.
‘Anything that is hungry in there will try to eat him and when it goes to try, he will just turn it to stone, so how can it be dangerous,’ John answered, ‘and I bet that forest is where the wizard and his apprentice are hiding. A palace or something, that is what wizards live in.’
'So while he is trying to sort out the wizard and the wizard’s apprentice there is a chance that we could snatch the book and leg it.’ Ben exclaimed.
‘I was thinking something along those lines.’ John answered.
‘We do need the other book.’ Toby added.
‘Do we need to vote on it?’ Stuart asked.
The answer was no. They started following the leprechaun through the forest employing the same skills they had honed in the Columbian Jungle. As the girls had never been in a jungle, this was new to them but then t
here was no shortage of help available, to show them how to move quietly and that helped the group move forward unseen and unheard. With the leprechaun leading them to the wizard's palace, or so they hoped, after all they all thought the white shoed leprechaun was barking mad. The leprechaun seemed intent on what he was doing and moved furtively through the trees. He was obviously trying to sneak up on someone. Suddenly he was jerked upright and turned to stone in front of their eyes. A man in a bright cloak covered in stars walked out, wand in hand.
‘You have tried that one before little leprechaun and it was not successful the first time if you remember.’ The man answered.
It was obvious to the team that this was the wizard or his apprentice.
‘Thus it was not going to be successful this time.’ The man in the cloak continued.
The man was younger than the team thought he would be and shorter as well. He was about five foot eight tall and slender in figure.
‘That’s the wizard.’ Simon whispered and quickly had a hand clamped over his mouth for his trouble.
The wizard looked round toward them and studied the trees. The children held their breath in case he saw them or heard them. He stood there listening for a repeat of the noise, one he thought he had heard, then used his wand to raise the stone leprechaun into the air and carry him away.
‘It looks like I have another gnome for my garden.’ He declared with satisfaction as he walked away with his weightless burden floating in front of him.
They watched him move away with the stone leprechaun. Their hope of the leprechaun keeping the wizard and his apprentice busy long enough to get into his palace and steal the second book was not going to happen. When the man in the cloak was far enough away, Simon received some complaining looks, although no one spoke. They hurried back the other way, still keeping very quiet. They moved quickly but quietly through the forest the back marker keeping an eye out for anyone following them.
‘That might have been his apprentice,’ Toby suggested when they were on the edge of the forest; ‘he looked quite young.’
'That makes it awkward, if the apprentice can take him out, what chance have we got of him making a reasonable diversion?' CJ asked.
'Not a lot,' Ben answered, 'he seemed to know the leprechaun's plans before the leprechaun did.'
Stuart led the way cautiously out of the forest, making sure that they did not come face to face with the next white shoed leprechaun coming in to do battle with the wizard. When they were out of the forest, they turned right on to the track they had been following before they saw the leprechaun and crossed over to be near the mountain again. They walked on looking into the niches in the rocks to their left as they walked but a noise in front of them made them hurry forward. They could hear flowing water and with the white shoed leprechaun just turned to stone, they hurried to it, a little less cautiously than earlier. They found a stream and stopped beside it, using some bushes as cover.
‘Is it safe to drink?’ Celia asked.
‘Things are pretty weird in here.’ Molly added as an argument to be wary, although she was very thirsty and the sound of the flowing water did not help.
‘Safe or not, it has to be better than Stevey’s potato wine.’ Ben declared and drank.
They all watched as he drank his fill and wiped his mouth afterwards. When nothing happened to him they all drank, they were all thirsty.
‘That was a bit like me going into that Columbian stream to go round the druggies,’ Toby declared, ‘with the rest watching to see if I was eaten by piranhas, I might add!’
‘It was, rather.’ Sherman agreed.
‘They didn’t warn you about the piranhas?’ Celia asked.
‘We thought he was just being brave.’ Sherman answered. ‘If we thought Toby had forgotten something as important as the piranha then we would have warned him!’
Suddenly Ben started to hold his throat and gurgle. The rest took a step back in horror. Ben stopped gurgling and looked up.
‘Just kidding.’ He declared.
It served to stop that conversation in its tracks.
‘Look a tree.’ Simon exclaimed and pointed to the tree he meant.
‘There are a lot of trees.’ Ben answered.
He assumed that Simon was trying some kind of trick, done in an effort to pay him back for the stunt he had just pulled.
‘But this one has fruit on it!’ Simon answered.
They all looked where Simon was pointing but no one broke from the cover. Molly went to walk over to it but Sherman held her back.
‘We look first and go second, if’n it’s safe.’ He whispered.
‘So do we send someone out for the fruit?’ Stuart asked.
‘That’s a no.’ Toby answered. ‘I am not sure but that looks like a duck tree, I saw a picture of one in that old book at Gordon Hall.’
‘What do you mean, a duck tree! I am not stupid,’ Simon declared, ‘ducks do not grow on trees, they come from eggs!’ Despite his answer he stayed where he was, he was part of a team.
‘So what happens to the fruit on a duck tree?’ Ben asked.
‘According to the book I read they drop off into the water, turn into ducks and swim away.’ Toby explained.
‘This I have to see.’ Ben declared.
‘It won’t hurt to watch for a while, will it?’ Stuart asked.
No one answered him but then no one went to move on, they were all watching the fruit on the tree. They seemed to swell quickly and one by one fell into the water. As the fruit hit the water, they actually turned into ducks and swam away.
‘This place is sick.’ Simon complained.
‘We could light a fire and cook a duck.’ Ben suggested.
Sherman decided not to kill one with the axe and that made it less of a good idea, no one wanted to wring its neck, even though they knew how to make a spit to roast it on.
‘I vote we follow the water and look for proper fruit trees.’ Simon proposed.
‘I second the motion,’ Toby declared, ‘as it sounds like a good idea.’
‘Are there any amendments?’ Stuart asked.
There were no amendments.
‘All who are in favour?’
They all raised their hands with the exception of Stuart.
‘We do that then.’ Stuart declared and they started to follow the stream.
‘Have you noticed which way the floor slopes?’ CJ asked.
‘The way we are going.’ JC answered.
‘And do you see which way the water is flowing?’ CJ asked again.
JC looked at the stream more closely before he answered.
‘It's going back the other way,’ he declared, ‘how come it is going up hill?’
‘This place really sucks.’ Colin complained.
In front of them, they saw a clearing. They paused to look then hurried across it to the cover on the other side, there they saw a fruit tree in front of them, laden with fruit. The fruit looked low enough down for them to reach. Next to it was another fruit tree and then another. They stopped in cover and all felt the saliva dribbling out of their mouths.
‘These aren’t duck trees are they?’ Simon asked hopefully.
He had to wipe his mouth before he spoke.
‘It looks like some kind of pear.’ Toby answered.
‘And the other one looks like apples.’ Colin said happily. ‘Do we eat now?’
‘First we see if the coast is clear.’ Stuart ordered and Ben peered through the bushes.
‘Leprechaun alert.’ He hissed.
They all hid wherever they could find a place, some better than others, although, as time passed, the girls were getting better at concealing themselves. The red shoed leprechaun walked to the water’s edge and drank, then he ripped a duck fruit off the tree before it dropped off and held it under the water. When he brought it up it was a duck and he promptly broke its neck and started to eat it raw, looking around, furtively as he did so. No one breathed any more than they needed to, while the lep
rechaun ate the duck, and no one spoke. The leprechaun washed the meal down with water from the stream and then walked on toward the wizard’s palace.
‘It was only the red shoed one.’ Molly argued when he had gone. ‘Why did we stay silent?’
‘Just in case he does tell the other one.’ Toby answered.
‘That was close.’ Sherman declared, emerging from a hole in the ground.
‘Was that there when we stopped?’ Toby asked, meaning the hole.
‘I don’t think it was.’ Celia answered.
‘Acephali alert, one is coming, complete with guiding head.’ Ben hissed.
They hid again but stayed in a position to be able to watch the Acephali. The Acephali carried a large basket and walked to the first tree, guided by the head. He picked all the pears, moved on and picked all the apples then moved on and picked all the other fruit. The boys, while they were stuck there watching, decided the last fruit were apricots. When there was no more fruit, the head directed the Acephali back the way it had come and Simon watched the Acephali carry all the fruit away from him.
‘Let’s grab it.’ He cried bravely.
‘Have you seen the size of it?’ Ben asked, pulling his head back out of the bush he was looking through.
‘So?’ Simon asked.
‘It must be hunger talking.’ Sherman declared.
‘Why don’t we eat that fruit?’ Molly asked and pointed at the fruit now hanging where none had been, moments before.
‘Wow, does everything grow that quick in this place?’ Simon cried but still did not move toward the fruit.
'That tree Si turned to stone did, it knocked its predecessor out of the way on its way up.' JC declared.
'That was obviously the last of its kind and had to stay alive,' Toby explained, 'that is just fruit.'
‘Well,’ Molly asked, 'do we eat now, I am hungry enough to eat that eight legged horse you were talking about.'
‘We need a volunteer to keep watch while the others collect fruit,’ Stuart ordered' ‘but no eating until we are hidden and we can all eat together.’