by Pepe O'Neill
Soon they found themselves having to climb mountainous dunes only to stumble down them in order to climb another. Chamly kept looking out for a sign of the path or the owl or camels or people, but it was as if he and the donkey were the only ones abroad in this now calm and still desert.
Meanwhile no longer that far behind, the she demon slept restlessly, the dumplings still sitting uncomfortably in her stomach, ‘Excuse me!’ she muttered to no one in particular as she once again broke wind.
Suddenly grains of sand speared Chamlys’ face and a fierce disgusting sulphurous wind blew across the desert. Deep below his feet, he heard the dunes begin to whisper and moan. Blinded, Chamly grabbed the rope still tied around the donkeys’ neck and stumbled down the wind-swept dune, taking cover at the base of its looping overhang. Chamly covered them both with the shawl, and for hours they sat, listening to the storm raging about them.
The wind reached hurricane force, blasting into the crescents of the looped and diagonal faces of the dune world. Then, as if to prove its unlimitless power, it shifted the dunes forward, lifting and whisking the soft grains of sand into thick streamers, and blowing them across the desert.
High above Chamly and the donkey, a ledge had formed on the dune protecting them. Soon it could not support its own weight and came crashing down.
The weight of sand first flattened and then began to suffocate Chamly and his companion. Realising there was no time to waste Chamly gathered all his strength and still holding onto the donkeys’ rope, levered himself upwards. His head soon rose above the sand. Then, thinking of the donkey suffocating below, he quickly shook off the rest of the sand and followed the line of the rope down, shovelling the sand away with his hands. The donkeys’ head appeared, still covered in the purple shawl and a loud “Eeeeeeee-orrrrrrrrrrrr!” erupted from beneath. Chamly wept with relief as the donkey stood up, letting the sand fall from him in sheets. The donkey nuzzled his nose against Chamlys’ neck in gratitude.
The storm died down almost as quickly as it had began and Chamly led the donkey out of the shadow of the dune and climbed back to the top. It was sunrise. He scanned the dunes in the hope of seeing a camel train with its nomad owners, or a tree, whose branches could provide them with shade, but the desert seemed barren of all life and Chamly felt very alone in its vastness. He had no idea which way to go, but knew that he could not stay where he was. They had finished their water and it was important they find more. Guessing which way to go, he led the donkey across the dunes. The sun started to bake the yellow sands in temperatures that could kill a man, and exhaustion and dehydration soon took their toll.
Desperate for a drink, the donkey wheezed and gasped painfully through a blistered and dry mouth. On his legs, blood oozed from cuts and blisters where he had stumbled and sunk into the hot grains of sand. At the top of a very large dune his body refused to move any further and he collapsed.
Chamly licked his dry lips and felt like giving up too. If he didn’t do something pretty quickly to protect them from the sun, they were both going to die. Kneeling down, he used his hands to shovel the top hot layer of sand away until he reached the cool layer beneath. Then, shovelling deeper, he created a bowl big enough for the two of them to crawl into. Having persuaded the donkey to roll into it, he quickly covered them both with the shawl. Coolness enveloped them, and exhausted, they both slept.
A caravan of nomads and camels passing at the base of the giant dune did not notice the purple shawl above.
Chapter 16
JADE THE FLYING HORSE
Chamly woke with a start from a vivid nightmare in which he was being chased by something large but shapeless. However hard he ran it seemed always to be gaining on him. He opened his eyes, relieved to see the shawl above him. Pushing it back from his face, he saw the sky dressed for the evening in its own purples and red. His throat felt dry and sore and he found it hard to breath. Shakily he rose to his feet and pulled the shawl from the sleeping donkey. ‘Wake up, sleepy head; we have to look for water.’
The donkey had obviously not heard him and Chamly gave him a nudge with his foot. ‘Wake up! It’s time to get a move on.’
Still the donkey did not budge and Chamly was forced to realise that something was very wrong. The donkey’s eyes were open and glazed white, while out of the side of his mouth, hung his bloated tongue. Stunned, Chamly realised that the donkey was dead. Falling to his knees weeping, he lay his head on the rough grey hair of the donkey’s neck. As he wept, he did not notice the baby horse slip from under his shirt and join his tears in the donkey’s hair.
‘Get off! ’ a voice growled from nowhere.
Chamly sprang to his feet in fright and spun around. There was no one in sight. ‘Thwappe!’ Chamly looked down to see the donkey’s tongue whip back between his lips. Relief flooded through him, the donkey was alive! But something was not right. The milky liquid may have vanished from his eyes, but instead of the brown ones of the donkey, these eyes were green and they glared up at him from a white horse’s face.
Recognising the face, Chamly yelled, ‘You! Get out of my donkey! I can’t believe this. What have you done with him?’
‘Done with who?’ Jade said in irritation and stood up. A look of confusion crossed his face as he looked down and saw his body wrapped in a tattered donkey’s skin.
Chamly’s mouth dropped open in amazement. The donkey’s skin had stretched and grown to three times its size tearing the skin in several places to accommodate a rib cage that was broad and long. Tattered pink skin and ragged tufts of grey hair surrounded the horse’s face, ears and flowing white mane.
‘What’s happened to me?’ Jade muttered as he turned his head to see his long white bushy tail sprouting from a donkeys’ rump.
Aghast, he looked down at the grey tattered skin around his knees and wailed. ‘One minute I’m stuck in clay and the next I’m stuck inside this thing!’ He tried to rip the shredded skin from his knees, but the skin was now part of his body and it hurt so much that he had to stop.
Chamly shouted angrily at him, ‘It looks ridiculous! Go and find your own body!’
‘How I am supposed to do that if I don’t even know how I got here in the first place? If you think I like being an inferior donkey I can assure you that I do not. Underneath this ridiculous skin, I am a stallion with a superior pedigree. What were you doing before I turned up? I’m pretty sure this has something to do with you. You seem determined to cause me problems. What were you doing with the donkey?’
‘I was crying because he was dead.’
‘Cry again!’
‘ I’m not a tap. I haven’t got any tears left.’
‘You have enough tears all over your face to sink a ship. Rub some of them on me,’ the horse demanded.
‘You’ve changed your tune. Last time we met, the last thing you wanted was physical contact with me!’
‘Just get on with it!’
‘Okay, okay! Keep your hair on!’ Chamly retorted. Smearing the tears from his face with his palms, he rubbed the horses’ cheeks with them.
Jade stood waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. He looked at Chamly accusingly.
‘It’s not my fault.’ Chamly replied to the look.
Jade rolled his eyeballs. ‘I can not be seen looking like this,’ he wailed.
Irritated by Jade’s vanity and irreverence to his dead friend he said, ‘Well you overbearing pansy, you’re going to have to put up with my dear friend wrapped around you! Perhaps the blind dragon can help you once we reach the Cave of the Ancient Dragon because I certainly can’t.’
‘We? Who said anything about my coming with you? I have wasted eight hundred years of my life already and I do not intend to waste any more of it.’ Jade retorted.
‘Come on, you’ve got nothing to lose. You’re right. You can’t be seen dead looking like that. Your only chance of getting back to your usual self is by staying with me. Now I need to get on your back so that we can get to some water. I’m literal
ly dying of thirst. Got any ideas of how I’m going to get up? You’re enormous and there is nothing out here to stand on.’
‘You really aren’t very bright are you?’ Jade snapped kneeling down. ‘Come on you squirt, that should make it easier for you. Use one of my fore legs as a step and hold on to my mane to pull yourself up.’
Almost splitting his trousers in the process, Chamly managed to climb on to the horse’s back.
Jade stood up, ‘There! That wasn’t so difficult, was it?’
Chamly shook his head and glanced upwards. The white owl was flying towards them.
‘It’s Celeste!’ he yelled excitedly and almost fell off.
Now sand is a very good conductor of sound and Chamly’s cries of sorrow had travelled back and forth across the dunes until they had reached the ears of the she demon. She cackled to herself as she sat back on the tip of her tail. Stretching and enlarging skywards, she spied a small black dot on the horizon. Bingo! She’d found her victim. Flopping down, she sped towards her prey.
‘Great! Two’s company, three’s a crowd,’ Jade said irritably as the owl descended towards them.
Panting, she hovered in front of them. ‘You’re in great danger. Run!’
‘Where have you been?’ Chamly asked irritably.
Celeste ignored his question. ‘I’ve seen her. Look, see that cloud of sand billowing across the dunes? It’s her.’
‘Who’s close?’ Jade asked, annoyed that the owl had ignored him.
She looked at him for the first time, ‘You’re the head in the wall, aren’t you? Fancy meeting you here. I hope you can gallop faster than the donkey because time is running short!’
Finally appreciating his danger, Chamly shouted, ‘Run Jade! The ‘who’ is the she demon who stuck you in the wall!’
Jade screeched, ‘Hold on, boy! Obviously I’m not afraid, but for your sake we should get going.’
‘Just move!’ Celeste yelled.
Leaping forward, Jade galloped after Celeste.
Chapter 17
MONKEY
The she demon reached the spot where she had seen the black dot on the dunes and smelt the ground. All the smells were fresh, but something had subtly changed. Stretching up high on her tail again she perused the landscape. In the distance, she could see her prey.
Throughout the night, however hard Jade tried to put distance between them, the she demon always remained in sight.
As dawn approached, Celeste swooped down and called out to Chamly, ‘The Mother of the Western Skies told me that help would be found at the Ancient Gates. Look, there they are, straight ahead!’
Chamly looked but saw only two small mounds in the dunes. ‘Are you sure those are gates?’
‘Those crumbling towers were once the great gateway between the East and West of China,’ Celeste called down. ‘Hurry! She’s catching up.’
On reaching the towers, Chamly was surprised to see a large fully clothed monkey lolling precariously on some boulders and snoring very loudly. Dangling from one of its fingers was a flagon of wine. Chamly couldn’t help but laugh. Disturbed, the monkey was roused from his alcoholic stupor and fell off the rocks. Lifting an eyebrow at the interruption, the monkey unravelled himself from the ground. Making sure the flagon was safely balanced against a rock, he staggered unsteadily towards them. Belching and farting, he came to a shaky stop in front of them. ‘’Ave you any idea to who you’re laughing at, boy?’ he slurred.
‘Yuck!’ said Jade through the side of his mouth as the odour of stale wine and bad eggs assaulted his nostrils.
Chamly laughed. ‘No, I’ve no idea who you are. All I know is that I’ve never met a monkey that talks and looks as if he’s just come back from a night on the town.’
‘Do you really think I’d be out here, in this heat, without a very good reason. You better buck your ideas up or you can forget about any help,’ the monkey retorted.
‘What! You can’t be the “help”. You’re drunk!’ Chamly nudged Jade with his knees. ‘There’s a she demon right behind us and she wants me dead. We’re out of here.’
Losing patience, Celeste flew down and, as regally as an owl could, stood in front of the monkey. ‘She’s less than five minutes away, you drunken sot. Get off your high horse and clear your befuddled brain and think how to save the boy.’
‘Less than a minute would be my guess,’ drawled Monkey taking a step backwards.
‘No, I’m sure it’s five. What makes you think………’
‘Surprise! ’ said the she demon tapping Celeste on the shoulder.
Chapter 18
THE MONKEY SOLDIERS ATTACK
Celeste took one look at the she demon and flew shrieking into the air. Jade reared up in fright causing Chamly to fall off his back. Without a backward glance, Jade galloped off and hid behind a dune.
Scrambling to his feet, Chamly stood mesmerised as before him, an enormous reptile swayed aggressively back and forth clicking razor sharp claws towards him. She made to grab him, but he managed to dodge behind the rocks that the monkey had been lolling on earlier. There he found the monkey hiding in a gap between two very large boulders.
‘Great “help” you are!’ he yelled as he crawled into the gap.
‘Don’t panic! Even drunk I can destroy an army.’
Chamly looked at him contemptuously. ‘Really? And how do you suppose a little thing like you is going to scare her off?’
The she demon whacked a few rocks out the way knocking the flagon of wine over in the process.
‘Right missy, you’re now well out of order,’ muttered the monkey. ‘Nobody gets away with spilling my wine, especially when I don’t have any more.’ Angrily he pulled one of the hairs from his arm and quickly gave it a chew.
‘Now’s not the time for personal grooming, you fool,’ Chamly shouted as the she demon’s face appeared at the gaps entrance. He screamed as a claw squeezed its way between the boulders.
Then, Chamly witnessed something extraordinary. The monkey had now placed the chewed hair in his palm and was rubbing his hands together. Splaying his hands open, a hundred tiny monkey soldiers sprung out.
‘Attack the demon!’ the monkey commanded.
Sounding like an angry swarm of bees, the soldiers swarmed towards the she demon’s head. The monkey soldiers seemed to be invincible. Every time she clubbed ten away, twenty would be there to replace them.
They whirled around her, firing arrows at her body and stabbing lances through her leathery skin. Howling from the pain of three arrows lodged in the soft skin below one of her eyes, she retreated and slithered away as fast as she could. The monkey soldiers hounded her over the horizon before returning and disappearing into the monkey’s hands.
‘Whew! That was close,’ Chamly said relieved and climbed out from between the boulders. He called to Jade to come out from his hiding place.
As Jade trotted over, the monkey gasped and ran towards him. ‘Jade, I don’t believe it! Is that really you? Are you mixed up in this business as well?’
Jade looked at him blankly.
‘It’s me, Monkey. Don’t you recognise me?’
‘Of course I recognise a monkey,’ replied Jade haughtily. ‘Even if it is drunk!’
The monkey chose to ignore this jibe. ‘What are you doing here? The last time I saw you, you were a dragon. You must have done something pretty terrible to make the gods put you into that mangy outfit.’
Jade snorted angrily, ‘It’s not my fault I’ve ended up inside this… thing! As for you, I’ve never met you before. I’m a horse not a dragon, can’t you tell?’ he added sarcastically.
The monkey looked hurt. ‘You were made a dragon by the gods as a reward for helping Lao Tsu collect the scriptures of the Dao from India with me.’
‘How do you know this is the same horse?’ Chamly asked.
‘Because I’d recognise that face anywhere! Just look at the end of his tail. He should have a scar in the shape of my teeth where I bit him once,’ Mo
nkey replied.
‘Well, have a look, boy!’ Jade demanded through gritted teeth.
Chamly parted the hairs on the end of Jade’s tail. ‘Yep! Definitely a set of tooth marks here.’
At that moment Celeste landed on Jade’s rump in a flurry of feathers. ‘What’s the delay? This is not the time for talking. Let’s get out of here.’
Using the boulders, Chamly and Monkey climbed on to Jade’s back and galloped off in pursuit of Celeste.
They hadn’t gone far when Monkey leaned over Jade’s neck and shouted, ‘Um, excuse me? Why aren’t you flying?’
‘Wrong horse Monkey. I’m petrified of heights,’ Jade yelled back.
‘Well you shouldn’t be. You’re the “Celestial Flying Horse” Jade, which means you can fly.’
‘Do you want a lift or don’t you?’ Jade had had enough of this monkey.
‘Just try it. Gallop faster,’ Monkey insisted.
Jade sighed at the ridiculous notion that he could fly but did as the monkey suggested. He galloped faster. Just as his leg muscles were beginning to seize up with the strain, he suddenly felt weightless. Looking down, he could see the ground racing below him while his hooves were inches above the ground. He got an attack of vertigo and wobbled.
Chamly clung to Jade’s mane petrified he was going to fall off.
Jade steadied himself. ‘It’s okay Chamly, hold on tight! I’m not going to go any higher. I just got a fright, that’s all. If flying gets us away from that horrible thing, I’m prepared to get used to it.’
Chapter 19
THE PIG AND THE DUMPLINGS
A few hours later, Chamly spotted a crescent shaped pool amongst the dunes. ‘Is that a mirage, Monkey?’ he asked.
‘No, your eyes are not deceiving you. It’s a pool that’s been fed for two thousand years by an eternal spring. The water is beautiful. I see you have two empty gourds in your bag. It would be wise to fill them up.’