by W. D. Newman
CHAPTER 28
GOING HOME
“You mean to tell me, after all we’ve been through together, that you went to Crag without us? You know how badly we wanted to go!”
“I’m angry too,” said Nob. “It’s our ancestral home, Hob, how could you do that to us?”
Ben quickly came to the poor dwarf’s rescue. “It wasn’t Hob’s fault, guys. The Librarian found the stuff we needed rather quickly, so I made the decision to go ahead and leave for Crag, straight from the Archives.”
“Ben,” said Louise, “I can’t say that I’m very happy about that either. I believe I am going to have to side with Gob and Nob on this one. You should have come back here first as we had planned. If something would have happened to you on Crag, we would have never known about it.”
“Grandma, I didn’t come back because I didn’t want to endanger you and Casey. Both of you would have wanted to come and if you had gone with us, then Amos would have wanted to go too, so that he could look after all of us.”
“You could have come back for us, though,” Gob insisted,
“No, Gob, I couldn’t and here’s why. We needed to move about as quickly and as quietly as possible. The more people that accompanied us, the more likely we were to be noticed by any dragons that may have been in the area and, no offence guys, but you three are not exactly the quietest travelling companions to have along on a stealth mission. It was noisy enough having just Hob along with us. I can’t imagine how noisy it would have been to have all three of you there.”
“Well, you’re going to have to give us a full account,” said Nob. “We want to hear every detail, starting with which dragon cycle was in season; by my calculations, Crag should be in the Awakening.”
“No. No. No,” Gob responded, stomping his foot to emphasize each word. “My calculations are correct and I tell you it is the time of the Slumber!”
“You’re both wrong,” said Merlin, jumping into the fray. “It is the start of the Ashing cycle on Crag. Everything is burnt to a crisp and most of the dragons are already asleep.”
“Did you by any chance get to see one?”
“Oh yes. We spent the night on Crag inside of Old Grand Sire and while we were inside the tree, a dragon ate ashes from the tree for over an hour. And then, right before we left, a red dragon actually attacked us at the Cradle. It was probably the very same dragon that had been eating on Old Grand Sire.”
“How did you escape?” asked Amos.
“Sleep spell,” Merlin answered. “Same one I used on Zoltan. Since the dragon was so close to the slumber anyway, it did not require very powerful magic to put it under; all it needed was a nudge.”
“What about Haven?” asked Nob. “Did you get to see Haven?”
“Ah, yes,” Hob replied with much excitement. “I have stood in the Great Cathedral and walked the halls of Haven and it was magnificent.”
“Oh, I do wish we could see it,” said Nob.
“And you shall,” Merlin declared, rapping his staff upon the ground. “Since Crag is entering the Slumber cycle for the dragons, there will be one thousand years of peace; one thousand years for Crag to heal and re-grow. I promised Spud, if we could find a safe place to put it, that I would re-establish a Merlin tree within Haven. It needs to be a place that dragons cannot reach, a place that is hidden and secret. The dwarves that return to Crag will need to guard the tree as well. They must be ever diligent and alert. They must never leave the tree unguarded, even for a moment.”
“Merlin,” Gob cried, “If you do this for us, we shall erect a statue of you in the Great Cathedral.”
“Yes,” Nob agreed. “I can see it now! It will be bigger than life; a statue of Merlin battling Zoltan, son of Zog. It will be wizard against dragon and it will be so terrifying to look upon that it will strike fear in the hearts of any dragons who chance to see it!”
“I like it!” Merlin cried, standing straight and puffing out his skinny chest. He tried to look fearsome, as any dragon slayer should, but his floppy hat slid down over his eyes. He pushed the hat back onto his head and grabbed his staff. “Well, what are we waiting on? Let’s get started! We’ll have to go to Dwarvenhall first and figure out where to place the tree there. It needs to be in a secure place and it will need to be guarded there as well. I’ve got some ideas for the statue too, I’ll have to get some pen and paper so that I can draw you a sketch. How big can we make this statue?”
“Hold on a cotton-picking minute,” Louise cried. “Before you go traipsing off, do you think you could open a pathway to the dwarves’ cabin on Long Lake? Back on Camelot? We’re anxious to get home too, but I do not wish to ride any horses to get there and it’s much too far to walk.”
“Louise,” said Amos, “we left the wagon and Old Dan at Castle Twilight. You three go on to the cabin and wait for me there. I’ll go through the Merlin tree, back to the castle, and then I’ll meet you at the cabin with the wagon.” The big man turned to the wizard. “Can you open the pathway for them?”
“Long Lake I know of, but the location of the cabin I do not. I could open a pathway to any spot on Long Lake that I am familiar with, but it may not be anywhere near the cabin you wish to reach.”
“Maybe I can do it,” said Ben. “Let me use the staff one last time and I’ll see if I can open the pathway.”
“A staff to a wizard is like a hammer to a carpenter, lad. It is nothing more than a tool that the craftsman uses to practice his art. However, I think that Venus instilled a magic in this staff that allowed you to use it so that his prophecy would play out as foretold. That magic is no longer there, otherwise I’d feel it.”
“So you’re saying that Ben can’t do it?” asked Louise.
Merlin shook his head. “Whatever magic that was in the staff, or the spell catcher more likely, is now gone. The boy will not be able to open a pathway.”
“Let him try,” said Hob. “He can do anything!”
Merlin shrugged his shoulders and handed the staff to Ben. Ben took the staff and walked away from everyone so that there would be room for the black hole to open. He thought about the cabin on Camelot and the beautiful lake in the valley below it. He held the staff up and cried with a loud voice, “Shamalamadingdong.”
The black hole popped open instantly.
“I KNEW IT!” Hob yelled. “I told you, Ben can do anything!”
Merlin scratched absently at his dirty gray whiskers, while he studied Ben with a puzzled expression. “I believe that there is more to you, Ben Alderman, than meets the eye. Come, I will accompany you through the pathway to make certain you all get out safely, before I close it. I also want to see the location of this cabin.”
Louise, Ben, Casey, said their goodbyes to everyone and then followed Merlin into the black hole. Although the wizard could not hear him, Hob yelled into the hole after him, “Hurry back, Merlin! There will be many at Dwarvenhall that will make the pilgrimage home to Crag.”
They stepped out of the pathway into the front yard of the dwarves’ cabin. Merlin bade them all a hasty farewell and then hopped back into the black hole. In a moment, the hole winked shut and they found themselves standing quietly in the stillness of the warm spring afternoon. A soft breeze blew through the pine trees near the cabin and, somewhere in the distance, a mocking bird was singing loudly. Louise finally spoke and broke the quietness.
“Let’s go inside and get comfortable. Hopefully Amos will be here before nightfall.”
It was just getting dark when Amos finally pulled in. Louise and the kids heard the old wagon creaking and groaning as Old Dan plodded up to the front porch and they all hurried out to greet them. Ben and Casey helped Amos unhitch Old Dan and, while Amos rubbed the horse down and gave him a good brushing, the two kids put away the tack. After a tasty supper, they turned in for the night and slept soundly all night and most of the morning too. In was lunch time when they finally awoke.
“I just realized w
hy it’s so quiet,” said Ben, with a big yawn.
“Yeah?” said Louise. “Why so?”
“Hob, Gob, and Nob are not with us. It’s very quiet with them gone, almost too quiet.”
“I know what you mean,” said Casey. “It’s almost lonely with them not here.”
“Enjoy it while you can,” said Amos. “I, for one, am thankful I do not have to listen to that dreadful song again. What was the name of it?”
“Yankee Doodle went to town,” Ben began to sing. Casey joined in with him.
“A riding on a pony.”
Louise came in on the next verse and all three of them sang at the top of their lungs.
“Stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni!”
Amos could not help, but laugh. He threw back his head and laughed a long hearty laugh. It was infectious too, because the others started laughing and they all laughed until tears streamed down their cheeks and their sides began to ache.
It was late afternoon before they started the journey back to Amos’ home. The ride back to his cabin went by quickly, for they decided to ride through the night with only a couple of quick stops to rest and eat a bite. When they pulled the wagon into the clearing between the cabin and barn, the stars were shining brightly overhead and a bright silver moon was peeking over the horizon in the meadow below.
“Whoa,” Amos called to the horse as he pulled back on the reins. He helped Louise down and unhitched the wagon. “You three go into the house and get a fire laid for supper, while I take care Old Dan.”
After he had put away the tack, Amos rubbed Old Dan down and fed him some oats. Once the big horse was taken care of, he rolled the wagon into the barn and then joined the others inside the cozy little cabin. Not only had Louise laid a fire, she had a kettle full of potatoes and salted beef stewing over the flames. It was a simple meal, but nonetheless, delicious. After the dishes were cleaned and put away, Louise called Amos outside to speak to him alone.
“Amos, there is something I must tell you.”
“You’re not coming back, are you?”
Louise faltered for a moment. “How did you know that? Are you a mind reader as well as a shape shifter?”
“I do not have to read your mind, Louise, it is written all over your face. You almost lost your grandchild today and it has badly shaken you.”
“But, Amos…”
“You don’t have to explain, I understand.”
“No, I do have to explain, please.”
The big man smiled and waited patiently for her to form her thoughts.
Finally, Louise reached into her pocket and pulled out a tiny box. She held the box tightly for a moment and then handed it to Amos.
“What is this?”
“It was my gift from Marcus this past Christmas. It is a berry from the healing bush in Faerie.”
“I remember. It is a great gift and you should keep it.”
“No. I want you to have it. I would have used it on Casey today had I not lost my wits and fainted. I can’t take care of them, Amos. I can’t protect them like I should. If the Creator had not healed Casey after Bellator struck her, she would be lost to me forever. That is why I am not coming back to Camelot. I have to make certain the kids can’t come back either, so I’m going to destroy the Merlin tree when we go back.”
“I understand your feelings, Louise, truly I do, but why give away such a great and powerful gift? That berry could save your life one day, or your husband’s life! Please keep it.”
“Amos, besides my husband George, you are the greatest friend I have ever had and I want you to have this berry. It would be a great comfort to me knowing that you had this with you. Besides, I don’t need it, because in our world we have medicines and remedies for every malady you can imagine. Heck, we’ve even got this newfangled thing called Obama Care.”
“It sounds like great magic,” Amos remarked with awe.
Louise smiled and wiped a tear from her eye before it could escape down her cheek. “I’m really going to miss you.”
The big man was unable to speak, so he wrapped his arms around her and quietly wept.
*****