by Adam Cece
Tobias jumped. ‘Ummm…okay. Sorry.’ He glanced at Cymphany, whose face was full of concern. ‘I was just trying to lighten the mood,’ he said.
Kipp shook his head. ‘You’re always making stupid jokes. And getting excited about ridiculous stuff. Sporks are ridiculous.’
Tobias gasped. ‘Okay,’ he said, slowly. ‘Everyone is entitled to their opinion, even if that opinion is ridiculous.’
Kipp rolled over onto his invisible knees and stood up. ‘What’s ridiculous is you guys deciding to be friends with me, the weirdest kid in town, in the first place. You should have just got normal friends, or at least friends less weird than me, then you probably wouldn’t be in all this trouble.’
Cymphany took a quick urgent breath. ‘Kipp, you don’t mean that,’ she said. She reached out to grab his hand and encourage him to sit down again, but he jerked his hand away.
‘Yes I do,’ he said. ‘When we’re all together, all we ever seem to do is get into trouble.’
‘And out of trouble?’ Tobias said, with a desperate smile.
Kipp glared at him. ‘Stop being so optimistic all the time, Tobias. It’s incredibly annoying.’
‘What’s wrong with being optimistic?’ Tobias said, jumping to his feet, frustration bubbling up in him. ‘It’s better than going around sooking about your invisibility all the time.’
‘I could be optimistic too,’ Kipp said, ‘but it wouldn’t change the fact that I’m turning invisible, and there’s nothing I can do about it.’
Tobias shook his head. ‘I dunno. I think being invisible would be pretty cool.’
‘Cool?’ Kipp said. ‘It’s not cool. It’s terrifying. But all you seem to care about is your sporks. So why don’t you just go back to your spork cave, seeing as you love it so much. And also, stop pretending you’re not treacherous, Tobias Treachery. You stole that whistle.’
‘I…stole that whistle…because I thought it might help us,’ Tobias stammered.
‘You still stole it,’ Kipp said, triumphantly. ‘You are treacherous, after all.’
‘Kipp, Tobias. Stop!’ Cymphany said, looking back and forth between them.
But Tobias wasn’t listening. He huffed at Kipp. ‘Fine. If I’m so treacherous I’ll just go steal some other stuff then, like a heap of sporks.’
‘Fine,’ Kipp said.
‘Fine,’ Tobias said.
Cymphany’s mouth dropped open. ‘Guys, we’re all tired and hungry and frustrated because we all want to get back to the surface and save Huggabie Falls and right now we can’t find a way to do that. But we need to calm down.’
Tobias turned to face her. ‘You’re always calm, Cymphany. And always so prepared. And organised.’
Cymphany blinked. ‘So? Aren’t they good things?’
‘No,’ Kipp said. ‘They’re annoying.’
Tobias nodded. ‘Totally.’
Cymphany took another mini sharp breath and shook her head. ‘Okay, I’m sorry I’m the one who thinks ahead and keeps saving our lives all the time.’
‘Of the three of us’—Tobias threw his arms out—‘you’re the one who definitely shouldn’t be here. You’re the least weird person I’ve ever met. What are you even doing in Huggabie Falls? You’re basically normal.’
Cymphany reacted like he had just thrown water in her face. ‘That’s a horrible thing to say,’ she stuttered.
Tobias regretted saying it straightaway, and Kipp looked like he was regretting what he’d said to Tobias too, but neither of them wanted to admit it, so they just stayed there staring at each other.
Finally, Kipp said, ‘It doesn’t matter. We’re never getting out of here anyway. If I’m going to turn invisible, I may as well do it down here where no one is around to see it.’ And he headed for a cave exit.
‘Yeah,’ Tobias said. ‘And if I’m going to be so treacherous, like the rest of my family, I may as well do it down here, where there is lots of stuff to steal.’
Cymphany felt like her heart was being split in three. She knew something was happening, something bad, and she knew she needed to do something to stop it happening—right now.
‘Wait,’ she said. ‘There is one more thing we could try.’
‘What?’ Kipp asked, stopping.
Cymphany reached into her satchel and removed a small object.
And it changed everything.
The object Cymphany removed from her satchel was approximately egg sized and shaped, and it had pinched-together, bright purple petals like a closed flower.
‘Is that…’ Tobias said, walking back over, his eyes filled with awe.
‘It can’t be,’ Kipp said. ‘Is it a…’
Cymphany nodded. ‘Yes, it is. I’ve had it for a long time,’ she explained.
‘How long?’ asked Tobias, alarmed.
‘I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to use it,’ Cymphany said.
‘Wait a second,’ Tobias said, as though a very heavy thought had just landed on him. ‘Why didn’t you use it earlier? You could have saved a lot of trouble when the extremely weird thing happened in Huggabie Falls, or the unbelievably scary thing happened in Huggabie Falls.’
‘I didn’t want to waste it,’ Cymphany explained. ‘I wanted to wait until I absolutely had to use it. And that time is now.’ She gulped, obviously thinking of the argument they’d just had. ‘All I have to do is work out what exactly what to use it for.’
‘Surely, it’s obvious, Cymph,’ Kipp said. ‘Use it to get us out of the Under.’
‘I think there are two other things I could use it for,’ Cymphany said. ‘I could stop Al Dark convincing everyone that Near Huggabie Falls is the greatest town on Earth. I mean it could stop the utterly indescribable thing.’
Kipp and Tobias contemplated this. ‘But if we do that—’ Kipp started to say.
‘Yes,’ said Cymphany, with the tone in her voice of someone who has already contemplated their fate. ‘If we do that we might be stuck in the Under forever.’
It’s at this point in the story that I am hoping that Kipp, Cymphany and Tobias don’t use the thing from Cymphany’s satchel to stop Al Dark and the utterly indescribable thing. For starters this would mean they would probably never find out what the utterly indescribable thing is, which would be devastating, because there is quite a bit of mystery around that, and it’s only good to have mystery in a book if that mystery is eventually solved.
But the real reason I hope that Cymphany doesn’t use the thing from her satchel to stop Al Dark and the utterly indescribable thing is that this will leave Kipp, Tobias and Cymphany stuck in the Under for the rest of time. And stories where children sit around in the Under for the rest of their lives, and the most exciting thing that happens is someone discards a new type of spork, or a silkworm has a birthday, are not very exciting.
‘But wait.’ Tobias looked confused. ‘You said there were two other things you could use it for. What was the other one?’
Cymphany took a deep breath. She didn’t look like she wanted to answer the question. ‘I thought,’ she said slowly, ‘I could use it to cure Kipp’s invisibility.’
Kipp looked at Cymphany. And Cymphany looked at Kipp. And Tobias looked at both of them. ‘Woah,’ Tobias said. ‘You could do that.’ He looked at Kipp, and gave a determined nod. ‘I think you should do that.’
Kipp looked away, because he didn’t want Cymphany and Tobias to see that his eyes had suddenly become all wet. ‘You guys,’ he said. ‘Would you do that, for me?’
‘Of course,’ Cymphany said.
‘In a heartbeat,’ Tobias said.
Kipp lowered his eyes, because there was no hiding his eye-wetness anymore. ‘I’m sorry for what I said before, Cymphany, about you being normal. You are a total weirdo.’
Cymphany grinned. ‘Thanks. I’ve been practising.’
‘And Tobias,’ Kipp continued. ‘Your optimism is awesome. And you’re the least treacherous person I’ve ever met. I mean you probably left an IOU note for the si
lkworms.’
Tobias laughed. ‘It’s okay,’ he shrugged. ‘I did steal that whistle. Maybe I have a little bit of treachery in me. But how did you know about the IOU note?’
Kipp, Tobias and Cymphany hugged each other. Then Cymphany stepped back and said, ‘Let’s get on with this. And we’d better check those lolly wrappers again. We’ll need some food if we’re going to survive down here.’
But Kipp shook his head, which seemed to take considerable effort. He knew Cymphany would cure his invisibility, if he wanted her to. But he also knew he couldn’t let her do that. ‘No,’ he said. ‘There are much more important things right now.’
Cymphany gave Kipp a small nod and a smile, tinged with a bit of sadness. If only she had two of the egg-shaped purple things. But she didn’t. ‘Okay then. It’s settled,’ she said.
Cymphany spent a long time thinking, and then she placed the small egg-shaped, bright purple object on the ground. Her hand was shaking slightly. She had never used one before. She hoped she was doing it right. Everyone had heard the story of Cornelius Cleptune, who had used one to become the strongest male on the planet and had promptly been transformed into a giant male dung beetle. Yes, dung beetles, on a strength to size ratio, are the strongest animals on Earth. Did you know that? Cornelius certainly didn’t, or he might have been a bit more careful.
‘Careful,’ Tobias said, as Cymphany bent down and pinched the top of the purple, egg-shaped object.
Cymphany paused and glared at him. ‘How exactly am I supposed to be careful?’
Tobias looked at Kipp and then back at Cymphany and shrugged. ‘I don’t know. It’s just something people say, isn’t it?’
Cymphany smiled and shook her head. Then she spun the small purple egg-shaped object. It made a ticking sound, like a clock, and then it opened up.
Cymphany leaned over and took a deep breath.
Tobias and Kipp leaned in too. Cymphany closed her eyes, and mumbled under her breath. Tobias and Kipp watched her, and waited.
After a few moments, Cymphany opened her eyes. She didn’t say anything. She just stood there.
‘Well?’ Tobias said, when he couldn’t wait any longer.
Cymphany pinched one side of her face. ‘Errr…I don’t think it worked.’
Tobias threw his hands in the air. ‘Urghh,’ he said. I knew it. We’re stuck in the Under forever. And worse yet—’
But right then Tobias stopped talking, because he and Kipp had noticed that Cymphany was frozen still, with one finger held up, as if someone had taken a photo of her right as she was about to press the button for a lift. The only way you could tell she wasn’t actually frozen was because she blinked her eyes four times really quickly.
‘What is it, Cymph?’ Kipp asked.
Slowly, Cymphany put her finger down, and a stunned but happy look spread across her face. ‘It worked,’ she said. ‘I know exactly how we can get out of here.’
You may have guessed by now that the thing in Cymphany’s satchel was a wish, from Ms Suddlehoney’s Wish Shop in Huggabie Falls. Later on, when Kipp, Tobias and Cymphany talked about the Under and the wish, they would debate whether Cymphany’s wish had actually come true, or whether Cymphany had coincidentally just realised, at that very moment, that there was a way to escape the Under. That’s the funny thing with wishes—you never know if things happened because of them or not.
‘Follow me,’ Cymphany shouted over her shoulder to Kipp and Tobias as she took off with huge bounds across the silkworm webs. ‘Quick before the silkworms—’
‘Stop,’ the queen silkworm shouted, as she and the other two silkworms crawled into the far side of the cave. ‘You can’t escape. And you’re in big trouble, because I’m starting to suspect you lied about the solid-gold clothes peg.’
‘It’s okay,’ Tobias said to Kipp and Cymphany. ‘We’ve got plenty of time before she crawls over here.’
But suddenly they heard a loud whirring electrical noise. They all looked around and saw the silkworms had been crawling towards a golf cart, and now they were in that golf cart and travelling at great speed across the web.
Cymphany glared at Tobias. ‘Didn’t you learn, when we faced the unbelievably scary thing, that we shouldn’t say stuff that tempts fate?’
‘Sorry,’ Tobias said.
The electric whirring sound was getting louder as the golf cart got closer. ‘We’ve got them now,’ the queen screeched.
‘Quick, run for it,’ Cymphany said.
‘But’—Kipp was confused—‘I thought you said the wish worked. I thought we were going to escape’
‘We are,’ Cymphany said. ‘But right now, we have to run.’
They followed Cymphany, ducking and weaving through the labyrinth of caves, running as fast as they could, across the bouncy, sticky web, pursued by the silkworms in the golf cart.
Eventually, Cymphany led Tobias and Kipp to the web beneath Mrs Turgan’s house, where they had originally fallen.
‘They’re coming,’ Tobias said, looking back. But he didn’t really need to tell Kipp and Cymphany, as they could all hear the electric whirring.
‘Find them,’ boomed the queen, above the sound of the cart engine. ‘Search the single-socks cave.’
Cymphany spun around, held out her clenched fist to Kipp and Tobias, and opened it triumphantly. Inside was the whistle.
‘The dog whistle?’ Tobias said in disbelief. ‘How can that help us?’
Cymphany smiled, took a deep breath and blew into the whistle. And exactly as had happened when Tobias blew it earlier, there was absolutely no sound.
Cymphany lowered the whistle, looking very pleased with herself. ‘Now we wait,’ she said.
‘Search the pen-lids cave,’ the silkworm queen bellowed from afar.
Kipp and Tobias waited, but they weren’t sure what they were waiting for, which is probably why Kipp said, ‘What are we waiting for, Cymphany? The silkworms are coming.’
But Cymphany didn’t look concerned. She shook her head. ‘It’s not a dog whistle.’
‘But it was full of dog hair,’ Tobias replied.
Cymphany shook her head again. ‘You said the hair was spiky and hard, but dog hair isn’t usually spiky or hard.’
Tobias looked at Kipp, as if to ask, do you know what Cymphany is talking about?
‘So,’ Kipp said. ‘If not dog hair, then what is it?’
They could still hear the golf cart whirring and the queen shouting in the distance. But there was also another sound. A swishing, whooshing sound coming from above.
Cymphany knew what it was, but Tobias and Kipp peered up, perplexed. They saw what was whooshing down towards them just as Cymphany said, ‘Bristles.’
It was Mrs Turgan’s broom.
‘It’s not a dog whistle,’ Cymphany said. ‘It’s a broom whistle.’
Cymphany turned the whistle over and showed them. It had the initials T.T. engraved in it. ‘Tertunia Turgan,’ Cymphany announced. ‘Mrs Turgan must have accidentally thrown it away.’
The broom landed with a thud and scanned about, which was quite an impressive thing to do, as brooms don’t have eyes. It wasn’t so much looking as swivelling left, then right. Then it swivelled back to where Kipp, Tobias and Cymphany stood. It recoiled and growled and hunched down ready to take off again.
‘Wait,’ Cymphany said, holding a hand out.
The broom paused, twisted towards her slightly, but remained in take-off mode.
‘I know you’re angry with us,’ Cymphany said. ‘Because we once stole you from your master, Mrs Turgan.’
The broom cleared its throat. Another impressive feat, as brooms don’t have throats.
‘Oh, yes,’ Cymphany nodded. ‘And we crashed you through the wall of a barn. Truly sorry about that.’
The broom huffed, which again was incredible, as brooms don’t have…actually, let’s just agree that brooms shouldn’t be able to do a lot of things that this broom can do.
‘So the last thing y
ou want to do is help us,’ Cymphany continued, ‘by flying us out of the Under.’
The broom gave a curt nod and prepared to depart again.
Tobias and Kipp glanced at each other as if to say, I’m not sure what Cymphany’s plan is, but I don’t think it’s working, and those silkworms will be here any minute.
‘But,’ Cymphany said before the broom could take off. ‘What if taking us to the surface wasn’t something that would help us, but something that would make Mrs Turgan very happy?’
This must have appealed to the broom, because it didn’t take off. It stayed very still, and then it stood vertical and made a huh sound.
The whine of the electric motor filled the air, and the silkworms’ golf cart skidded into view.
‘We’ve got them now,’ the queen roared.
The silkworms in the back hollered, ‘Whoop, whoop!’
‘I mean,’ Cymphany quickly continued, keeping her attention on the flighty broom. ‘By jumping down the hole, we escaped from Mrs Turgan, before she could do anything horrible to us. And Mrs Turgan loves nothing more than doing truly horrible things to children, so I bet she was pretty upset we got away. I bet she would love the chance to finish us off, and she’d be pretty pleased with the broom that brought us back to her.’
The broom made a hmmmm noise.
‘Actually,’ Tobias said, ‘we didn’t jump down the hole, Cymphany, we fell down. Owww!’ He glared at Kipp. ‘Kipp, why did you just elbow me? That hurt. Oh.’ He paused, looking at the broom. ‘Sorry, yes. So we did. We definitely jumped down the hole. So you should definitely take us back.’
The silkworms were halfway across the web now, and the ones in the back of the golf cart were wearing cowboy hats and twirling lassos above their heads.
The broom ignored this. Maybe it was imagining Mrs Turgan giving it a big hug, and being super pleased and cleaning out its broom cupboard of cockroaches and giving it a warm bucket of soapy water to soak its bristles in, and maybe even letting it watch a game show on TV. ‘We’ve got them,’ the silkworm queen screeched. The golf cart was only metres away.