by C. M. Bacon
“For your bravery and purity, Perry and Arvin,” he said, “we have crafted these twenty gold rings from Sir Talos’s gauntlets and 974th’s many jewels. You may wear one on each of your fingers. Let them remind you of all you’ve triumphed over.”
I bowed to The King. “Your Majesty, Arvin and I have already talked about it,” I said.
“We cannot accept these generous gifts,” Arvin said. “The clothes and the baths were priceless.”
“Then you have made your choice,” The King said. “We will miss you. Safe journey my friends. Let everyone in my Kingdom feel joy in the speaking of your names.”
Arvin and I left the castle soon after. Arvin stopped to tell Sonia goodbye. She was also leaving to find her brothers – if they were alive. We went through the castle gates and down the road back toward the countryside. We wanted to find the same spot where Sir Humbert had found us. We took a small silk sack to collect drinking water from the river and hold figs we’d picked for our meals.
“Thanks for trusting me,” I said, turning to Arvin. “I think we need to find our own way home.”
“You earned it in the catacombs, Wingman. But don’t let it go to your big, sweaty head,” he said, laughing at the streams of sweat flowing from under my silk hat.
“Are you hungry, Perry?” asked Arvin, pointing to a row of fig bushes along the road.
Seeing several large iridescent white figs, I said, “Look at those beauties.” Arvin and I ran to the bushes, plucking the figs and cramming them in until our stomachs were full.
“Juicy and sweet,” Arvin said, scratching his head. His hair was growing back. It looked like red grass sprouting in the sun.
“There must be a thousand,” I said, filling our blue silk sack with more than twenty gorgeous figs.
Picking up several mushy rotten figs off the ground, I tossed one up and caught it in my hand. It made a soft SMUSH sound as it split open in my palm. Arvin saw what I was planning, and he did the same.
“Snowball-- I mean fig fight?” Arvin asked.
“A royal duel? Figs at high noon?” I said, agreeing a battle I’d be sure to win.
We counted, walking ten paces, turned, and said in unison, “Ready, Steady, Fire!” We spun around throwing the mushy figs like--.
I was hit square between the eyes with something freezing and hard. I looked down at my silk tunic covered in snow as a terrible chill crept up my spine and froze the sweat in little beads to my cheeks.
“Arvin?” I called, trying to see through the blizzard swirling around me.
“Help, Perry,” Arvin shouted above the deafening SWISH of wind as it swirled around us like a terrifying tornado of ice. “Where are you? All I see is snow.”
My skin froze and stung as a million ice shards like needles struck me. I tried to shout over the wind. “I’m here. It’s a blizzard.”
Arvin shouted, “No duh!”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Into the White
“Arvin, where are you? Answer me.” I shouted, my voice fighting the deafening wind. “If you can hear me, walk towards me.”
As the icy wind blew harder, its roar grew louder. The swirling snow howled and groaned like the ghosts of a thousand white wolves. Ice shards ripped through my silk tunic and pants, clawing a layer of my skin away and blowing it like dust into the white.
“I’m coming,” said Arvin after more than ten seconds. “Where are you?”
I slid my feet one a time through the snow, pushing myself forward toward Arvin’s voice. I covered my face with my hands, but it was no use. The pain moved from my lips and cheeks onto my hands as my silk hat, decorated with beautiful white peacock feathers caught the furious wind like little boat sails, ripping it off my head.
“Perry, is that you?” Arvin asked. “It hurts to breathe. It’s even harder to--.”
“I can’t hear you. Where are you?” I said.
“I’m here. You’re pulling on me, aren’t y-” Arvin asked, his words cut off in the white roar.
“Arvin, I can’t see,” I shouted, feeling ice like needles pierce my lips through the white.
“Then who’s pull-”
“Arvin?” I called. “Arvin, where are--” I felt something grab onto my arm, pulling me to the left. “Arvin, are you there?” I asked, but got no reply.
Something dragged me to the left, its firm grasp squeezing my arm. About five seconds later, it stopped. I heard an echoing sound under the roar of the snow, like someone opening a rusty door to an empty room. I couldn’t see anything. Another strong tug on my arm pulled me out of the blinding white and into the black. I was thrown along with Arvin, landing with a THUD on the dirt floor of a cave. I turned around to see a white arch of swirling snow eclipsed by the black of a door being shut and latched. In the darkness and silence, I clutched the bag full of figs, happy I hadn’t dropped them in the roaring white outside.
“Arvin,” I whispered, “are you ok? You didn’t answer me at first.”
“I swallowed a bug, Perry,” he said, coughing.
“At least you didn’t lose your humor in the blizzard,” I said.
“No, but I lost my hat,” Arvin said, scratching his head.
“Same here,” I said, talking to the darkness. “Thank you, whoever you are.”
Arvin and I sat listening in the dark, hearing footsteps and scraping going back and forth between two sides of the cave. I heard a noise in the darkness and saw a tiny spark light up something’s hairy paws.
SCRATCH-SCRATCH
The spark lit up the hands and an outline of a furry face. It faded as quickly as it had appeared.
SCRATCH-SCRATCH A spark lit a small piece of wood before dying out.
SCRATCH-SCRATCH A spark reflected off the jagged cave walls before vanishing.
SCRATCH-SCRATCH, SCRATCH-SCRATCH, SCRATCH-SCRATCH
Something breathed heavily, grunting in frustration at the lack of fire.
SCRATCH-SCRATCH-WOOSH
A little yellow flame started to grow, its light getting brighter, highlighting the thing that helped us out of the white. Arvin jumped back against the heavy steel door with such force I thought he would break it. I’m not sure if he was more afraid of the sudden fire or the thing that started it.
“What is it?” Arvin asked, looking at a furry meatball with hands and legs.
“Whatever it is, it didn’t try to eat us, and it uses tools.”
The cave walls came into focus, revealing a second furry meatball with hands and legs holding a third in its arms. It sat at the back of the cave near several rocks which sizzled and steamed as water dripped from above. I shivered sitting on the frozen floor, slowly warming as the fire grew.
That small fire is stronger than it looks.
The meatballs reached up to the top of their bodies and pulled at a strip of fur on their heads, unwrapping layer upon layer around and around until the fur strip fell away.
“Thank God,” I said, letting out a loud sigh of relief.
The man folded his scarf and laid it near the fire as the woman at the back right of the cave came forward with the pale baby she embraced in her arms. They looked like a family, dirty and covered with piles of brown and black furry pelts so thick, they could’ve started their own coat store. The trio was almost as white as the snow outside. The dark stone of the cave made their heads seem like white dots printed on black paper. A hint of color came from the yellow firelight reflecting off their white hair and into their pale rose eyes. The albinos hadn’t said a word.
“Perry, why aren’t they talking?” asked Arvin.
“Maybe they’re sad like the island villagers?” I guessed, thinking I’d feel the same way if I were stuck in a cave.
“What if they’re deciding on who to eat first?” Arvin asked.
“I hope you’re joking, Arvin. They’re obviously a family,” I said, hoping Arvin was wrong.
The pale man looked at us for a moment and then stretched out his arm, waving his hand several times.<
br />
“What’s it doing?” Arvin asked.
“He wants us to come sit by the fire,” I said, “and don’t call him ‘it’.”
I walked to the roaring fire. The light of the flames glowed brighter. As the firelight grew, it drove away the shadows further in the cave. I wondered how they could live in such a dark, cold place. Behind the silent man to his left, as a second room came into view. It had been obscured by shadows cast by the fire, but now I could see it. From the height of the narrow rock opening, the room could’ve been bigger than the one in which we were sitting. A faint glow seeped through the jagged opening like the light of a full moon through my bedroom curtains at night. A large wooden chest sat at the far rear of the cave, only visible because its pointed corners reflected the glow of the fire.
I huddled close to the fire a few inches beyond my knees, but Arvin was afraid to come near it. Arvin must fear the fire more than the snow. Small stones sat around the fire, getting hotter as they soaked in the heat. The smell of burning cedar filled the cave, reminding me of long weekends in log cabins with Mom and Dad. I wondered if this was their permanent home, a temporary shelter from the blizzard, or something else entirely. I’d have to ask to find out.
“I’m Perry,” I said, pointing my open hand towards myself then to Arvin. “This is Arvin. Thank you for helping us out of the storm. Can you tell us where we are?”
The silent family didn’t say anything. They crooked their heads to the side, looking baffled by everything I said. The quiet man and the woman looked at each other and then back to Arvin and me. The silent man touched his mouth with his fist then opened his hand to show us his palm like my cousin Judy does when she wants me to shut up and go away.
“Perry, don’t they speak English?” Arvin asked.
“Not everyone speaks English, Arvin,” I said, defending Mom’s teaching job.
“What is he doing with his hands?”
“I’m not sure.”
The silent man and then the woman continued to point and wave their hands over their faces, over their chests, from ear to mouth to fire and back, with one or two or five fingers, and with both hands. I didn’t understand any of it, but I got the gist.
“It looks like sign language or something,” I said.
“If he’s deaf, how did he find us out there?” asked Arvin.
“He’s not deaf. He must’ve heard us screaming when he was getting more firewood,” I said. “They can’t talk, or perhaps they won’t.”
I pointed both my hands at the fire and put on the biggest smile I could muster between two cold blue lips and chattering teeth. They seemed to understand, nodding and mimicking my uneasy smile in return. The silent man stood up and went towards the door, picking up a few small branches and returning to throw them on the dwindling fire.
Arvin’s eyes lit up as he warmed. The albino walked to the back of the cave and pulled out several more pelts and a small metal flask out of the cedar box. He tossed four pelts to me. I passed two to Arvin, and we wrapped ourselves in warm, hairy bliss. The silent man returned to the door. Grabbing a handful of snow, he packed it into the dented flask. He sat the flask to warm by the fire.
I said, “Arvin, I think he’s going to melt the snow into water.”
“Hand me the silk bag,” Arvin said, putting his hand on the twisted silk rope keeping our bag of figs closed. “We should offer something in return.”
“Good idea.” I handed the bag to Arvin and reapplied my big crooked smile.
Arvin reached into the silk bag, taking out four large white figs. He handed one to each of us and took the last for himself. He sealed the bag and returned to sitting far from the fire. The couple looked at the figs and smelled them a few times. “Um-hmm” I cleared my throat to get their attention. I tore my fig in half, turned it inside out and used my teeth to scrape out all the delicious pink flesh. I showed them my goofy smile again.
They tore through their figs faster than Arvin and me when we stuffed our faces on the long march to the castle. The woman pointed to the bag and then to her baby. Arvin and I agreed to give them three more - one for each of them and one to fill the baby’s small belly. They smiled ear-to-ear as they ate the second fig and fed the baby as it drooled. He took the flask away from the fire, and we all passed it around to share in the cool, fresh water inside. After he had finished sipping his water, the silent man stood up and disappeared into the second room.
He returned, carrying a small handful of something resembling sweet potatoes. They were small and purple, slightly bigger in the middle and tapered at both ends. He stuck each on the end of a stick and placed them over the fire. After a few minutes, he pulled them off the sticks and handed one to me to split with Arvin. He shared the other one among his own family. It wasn’t a lot, but it was good to feel kindness again.
Our silver and blue diamond pendants reflected the firelight under our chins. The silent woman stroked her neck and gestured for her husband to look at ours. I pulled the pendant over my neck and gave mine to the woman. Her pink eyes said, “Thank you.” I asked Arvin for his pendant then gave it to the pale man. They seemed pleased before returning to quiet concern.
The look on their faces explained more to me than the hand movements they made towards the door and the flames. The fire was dying they hadn’t found enough dry wood to keep it burning.
“Arvin,” I said, “I think this blizzard has been blowing for a while.”
Arvin went back to the door. As we watched, Arvin made some strange movements pointing to the door, to the fire, to the potatoes, and back to the door. Arvin looked like he was doing a bizarre mating routine. The family crooked their heads to the side. I crooked mine along with them.
“Arvin, what are you doing?” I asked, starting to laugh at his best disco impression.
“I’m trying to ask him if they need help getting more firewood to cook those purple things,” said Arvin.
The pale man stood up, gesturing for us to follow him into the second cave. We entered a large circular room which reached high above. The roof of the cave opened like the end of a funnel to the white outside. Dim light, like pale moonlight, shone through the swirling snow above onto the large circular dirt floor below. The blueish glow made it seem I had stepped out of the cave and onto the moon. Little potato plants grew in several spots. Their leaves were yellow, and the few purple potatoes were small or frozen. I suspected the thin layer of frost covering the dirt made it difficult to grow enough food for three people. This room may have been a little brighter, but it was as lifeless as the white outside.
“That answers that,” I said.
“Answers what?” Arvin asked. “Did you have a question?”
“This isn’t a hideout from the blizzard. This is where they grow those potatoes. I think those purple potatoes were all the food they had left.”
“They’re not very good gardeners,” Arvin said.
“This blizzard must’ve been blowing for a while. Enough sunlight isn’t getting in here, and it’s too cold to grow food.”
“Poor family. What are we supposed to do to help them?”
“What makes you think we can do anything?”
Arvin shook his head making Mom’s disappointed “tsk-tsk-tsk” sound. “Perry, you haven’t been paying attention. We used the balloon to save everyone on the island. We used my hair and the red rock to restart the volcano. Each time, we used a gewgaw to save hundreds to millions of people.”
“That’s silly,” I said. “What about Biel? Were we humiliated, tortured, and almost burnt alive so we could return a purple finger to a dead King?”
“Why not? He ended the crazy king’s suicide tradition.”
“What about the mudflat? There wasn’t anyone there to save.”
“Well, there was a snake.” Arvin was starting to tick me off.
“Are you suggesting I could’ve drowned to help that red-bellied brown snake follow us around a while longer?”
“Follow? What
are you talking about? Why do you think we’re here?”
“You said it was black magic. Or have you forgotten what you told Nico?”
“Well, now I think there’s more to it than meandering about the universe.”
“So now you’re the magician?” Anger welled up inside me. “So tell me, Arvin the Magnificent, which one is the gewgaw this time - my tunic or your dirty underwear?”
“Don’t be a jerk,” said Arvin. “You should pay more attention.”
“Me? How am I the jerk? What haven’t I noticed?”
“Like Emilia Wren,” Arvin said. “Someone told her we were friends. She stopped me at the pool to ask about you. She liked you and wanted to know if you liked her, too. But you’re too blind to see anything beyond those stupid Dragon Sorcerer games.”
I let all the anger and frustration out on his little bald head.
“You think you’re so smart and observant. You didn’t notice King 974th shared your face, and you ignored me when I tried to tell you. You never noticed a creepy red-bellied brown snake has been following us. It’s been everywhere we’ve gone: the beach, the village, the camp, the forest, the mudflat, the dungeon, and the catacombs. I bet you never noticed that you condescending little jerk. Ever since we met, you’ve had a chip on your shoulder. It wasn’t the teasing about your hair or your height. I didn’t believe the rumors until the mudflat. Well, guess what? Dads die. Yours did. Mine did. Sophia, Sonia, Siria’s father, too. Lots of fathers. See that guy?” I pointed to our hosts. “He’ll die, too. That baby? No father. That woman? No husband. And you think we’re doing all this to save everyone’s fathers. What about ours? Mine died of lung cancer. You killed yours.” I regretted the words as they flew out of my big mouth in a rage that had been building since Dad died and Arvin moved away.
We must’ve looked like we were going to kill each other, and maybe we could have. I was angry enough to leave Arvin to freeze in the cave. The silent man jumped between us, pushing us apart with a palm on each of our chests, knocking me into the garden wall and Arvin onto the frosted floor. Arvin looked as though he were about to cry. I knew I had crossed a line I could not uncross. What have I done?