“Are you all right?” Thorn asked, apprehensively.
“I’m fine,” I assured her, “apart from a sore head, of course.”
“I’m sorry,” Thorn offered. “I really am.”
“Me too,” Tracey added. “It’s all my fault.”
“No, it was mine,” Thorn insisted.
“I started it,” Tracey confessed.
“No, it was me,” Thorn acknowledged.
“Me!” Tracey irately declared.
“It was me!” Thorn asserted, angrily.
“For heaven sake!” I intervened. “What’s the matter with you two? Do you have to argue about absolutely everything?”
“Apparently so,” Thorn admitted, shamefacedly. “We can’t seem to agree on anything.”
“That’s right,” Tracey assented. “The only thing we seem to agree on is …….. you.”
“I would have thought that was the last thing you could agree on,” I muttered. “Every time I turn up, there’s a catfight.”
“That’s because we both think you’re ……. interesting,” Tracey supplied.
“Interesting?” I questioned. “Exactly what do you mean by ‘interesting’, may I ask?”
“Well,” Thorn began, blushing a little, “you must know by now that I like you and Traculimna, here, seems to think the same although, if I was you, I’d remember that she thinks that of every male she meets.”
“You pig!” Tracey yelled and dived at Thorn, dragging her to the ground. What followed was a frenzied tangle of arms, legs and wings, thoroughly sprinkled with shrieks and curses. I scampered away to a safe distance and watched in amazement as the both of them rolled around on the floor, screaming insults at each other. These two wildcats liked me? I’d be safer living in a hungry lion’s cage. Observing the battle impartially, I would have said that neither of them held the advantage. They appeared to be evenly matched physically as well as in the colourful obscenities they were screaming at each other. Very unladylike, I thought, but still a little arousing, all the same. Gods above, I’d hate to have been their mother, raising this pair. What a nightmare!
Chapter 13
Eventually, Thorn and Tracey, energy depleted, broke apart, stood up and brushed themselves down.
“Are you happy now?” I asked, sarcastically.
“Yes,” Tracey replied, grinning. “Thank you for asking. Are you happy, Arugohumna?”
“I suppose,” Thorn answered with a grimace. “For the meantime, anyway.”
“You two are amazing, you know that, don’t you?” I claimed, shaking my head. “How you can just get up and pretend nothing has happened after all of that leaves me speechless. How do you do it?”
“Force of habit,” Tracey informed me. “We do this on a regular basis. We still can’t agree on anything, but this way we burn off any bad feelings towards each other. Look, I’ll show you.” So saying, she turned to Thorn and embraced her enthusiastically. Thorn returned the hug with reciprocal fervour. They broke apart and Tracey smiled at me. “See?” she announced.
“Incredible,” I praised. “Cuddle diplomacy. I learn something new every day.”
Tracey giggled. “Cuddle diplomacy?” she echoed. “That’s so cute.”
“Be that as it may,” Thorn instructed, “Stephen and I have to go. We’ll see you later, Traculimna.”
“Please be careful,” Tracey requested anxiously. “I don’t want either of you getting hurt.”
I waved to Tracey as I went out the door and she blew me a kiss in reply. Thorn saw it and frowned, but made no comment. We walked in silence for a few minutes and then Thorn asked me, “What are you expecting to find in the Rocky Cavern?”
“I’m not too sure,” I replied truthfully. “I’m just following a vague hint of an idea. It may turn out to be nothing at all. I won’t know until I find it.”
“That’s what I like about working with you,” Thorn told me. “I relish the absolute certainty and decisive step-by-step layout of what we’re doing.”
“Ha, ha, you’re so funny,” I replied. “I mean that in a negative sense, of course.”
“Of course,” Thorn agreed. “I’d expect nothing less from you, even if I don’t know what you’re talking about half the time.”
“Only half the time?” I enquired, raising an eyebrow. “I must be slipping. Most people can’t understand anything I say.”
“You’re so weird,” Thorn announced, smiling at me. “Everything about you is so different to what I’m used to. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“It can be a bit of both,” I instructed. “I can paint you with the same colours, Thorn, because I find you different as well.”
“Good different or bad different?” she immediately wanted to know.
Ahh, now, this could be classed as emotional quicksand territory and no mistake. Should I opt for the plain truth, or lie my head off? Hurt feelings versus flattery. Which one to choose? Thorn waited expectantly and, despite my initial impulse to darken my soul with a fib, I crossed my fingers for luck and opted for the truth.
“Mostly good different,” I said, carefully.
“Mostly?” I was asked, as I had expected.
“The small amount of bad difference comes from not knowing which way you’ll jump,” I explained.
“What do you mean?” Thorn asked, her forehead wrinkling in puzzlement.
“Well, for instance,” I began, “I’ll say or do something perfectly innocent and you’ll somehow take it the wrong way.”
“I never ……. !” Thorn exclaimed, with a rush of anger, then fell silent. A sheepish grin appeared on her face. “I guess that destroys my defence,” she admitted guiltily.
“The quickest rebuttal in history,” I remarked, smilingly.
“I’m sorry, Stephen,” she apologised. “My emotions always seem to peak prematurely.”
“Don’t fret about it, Thorn,” I consoled, patting her hand. “It’s who you are. I’m sure there’s plenty about me that could do with improvement as well. In the meantime, let’s just concentrate on trying to find who’s been murdering everyone. We’ll worry about personalities later.”
“Good plan,” Thorn agreed, flushing just a little.
Chapter 14
We arrived at the Rocky Cavern and I immediately scurried over to where my imagination had pictured the incongruous item to be hiding. Watched by an intrigued Thorn, I rummaged through the pile of debris and found it, whatever it was. It turned out to be an empty, small grey container, shaped like a test-tube. I held it up and showed Thorn.
“Do you happen to know what this is?” I asked, not very hopefully. She didn’t disappoint me.
“I honestly have no idea,” she replied, taking the object from my hand and examining it curiously. “It’s obviously a container of some description, but what would have been inside?” I stood up and retrieved the object. Sniffing at the open top, I could detect a slight chemical smell still lingering.
“I have an idea, but I don’t like to say until I confirm it,” I announced. “Let’s go and visit Phil and see if he can provide the answer.” We made our way out of the cave with Thorn frowning at me.
“This is one of the bad differences you have,” she informed me. “You’re always doing this.”
“Doing what?” I demanded.
“Giving out little snippets of information,” Thorn answered, “and not telling me what’s going on.”
I stopped walking and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not trying to be deliberately mysterious, sweetie,” I said, sincerely. “I respect you too much for that. It’s just that I’m not sure of my conclusions and I don’t want to present theories as facts until I have more proof. Do you understand?”
Thorn looked at me solemnly. “I understand,” she confirmed. “But it’s still irritating.”
“I’m sorry for the irritation,” I apologised, “but I can’t really do anything about it. All I can hope is that my good differences outweighed
my bad.”
“Oh, I think you’re fairly safe there,” she announced with a confident smile.
Back in the settlement, we immediately made our way to Phil’s laboratory and, although partially deafened by the noise as usual, succeeded in conveying to him that we wanted somewhere quiet to talk. He obliged, and led us to his office where he shut the door against the overwhelming cacophony of sound.
“That’s better,” he announced with relief. “You don’t realise the noise out there until you come into somewhere quiet. Now, what can I do for you two?” He smiled slyly at Thorn. “Have you made Stephen your boyfriend yet?”
“Phillymunna!” Thorn exclaimed, blushing bright red.
“I’ll take that as a ‘no’, then,” he declared, unrepentantly. “Still, my dear, there’s plenty of time.”
“Is there some sort of conspiracy going around here that I don’t know about?” I remarked. “Is there a communal effort to pair me up with Thorn or something?”
“No,” Phil hastily explained. “Nothing like that. It’s just a matter of curiosity on my part. I just want Thorn to be happy, that’s all.”
“I’d be happier if everybody minded their own business,” Thorn snapped, her tone testy. “Anyway, Phillymunna, where did you even get that silly notion from in the first place?”
“My dear Thorn,” Phil elucidated, “I’m not prying into your private life. Give me some credit, please. Your feelings for Stephen are so obvious that even a blind cat could see them. However, I apologise for addressing the subject, because it’s also obvious that Stephen hasn’t yet reciprocated your feelings. I didn’t mean to hurt you and, once again, I apologise.”
It became a case of embarrassment all round, and we were glad when Thorn nodded acceptance and we moved on to other matters. I held out the empty container to Phil and asked, “What do you make of this? I’d like your opinion as to what it might have contained.”
Phil took the container, sniffed at it as I had, then took a small wooden spatula from his pocket, poked it into the container, swivelled it around a little, then withdrew it. He sniffed at the spatula and tentatively licked it. He made a sour face and pursed his lips.
“It’s some sort of a drug, isn’t it?” I hazarded a guess.
“Yes,” he said, slowly, “it is. It’s derived from a poisonous plant that grows on the surface. Medically speaking, we use it to speed up heartbeat and tighten loose muscles.”
“What would it be doing in the Rocky Cavern?” Thorn enquired, mystified.
“I’m not sure,” Phil answered, “I have no idea how it got there. All supplies are generally restricted to the medical facility.”
“What would be the result if a healthy person took an excessive amount of this?” I asked, retrieving the container. Phil screwed his face up in thought.
“It’s hard to say,” he deliberated. “I can’t imagine any rational person doing it, but at a guess, I’d say that they’d experience a heightened sense of energy, ideas and emotions. There’d be a price to pay afterwards, of course, because there’d have to be a period of recovery. The body certainly couldn’t tolerate such abuse for too long without some sort of major catastrophe happening. Why? What do you think is going on?”
“At a guess,” I commented, “I’d say that some of the younger Ones are dabbling in the drug scene.”
“The drug scene?” Thorn questioned. “What’s that?”
“It’s where groups of people decide to spice up their life by deliberately ingesting chemical compounds,” I explained. “In our case, it’s this refined poison. “
“Are you saying that some of the young Ones are doing this?” Thorn exclaimed, horrified. “No, I don’t believe it! Why would they do such a thing? It’s unheard of!”
“Not so much in my world,” I informed her, sadly. “Unfortunately, it’s quite common where I come from.”
“But this is here!” Thorn cried out in anguish. “The One don’t do those sorts of things!”
Phil captured Thorn’s hands and said gently, “I can’t believe it either, my dear, but apparently it’s happening. I’m shocked as you are but, if we’re right, then we have to stop it as best we can. The young can be extravagantly foolish and reckless with their lives at times.”
“Where do you get this compound from?” I asked. “Do you manufacture it here?”
“Goodness me, no,” Phil stated. “We trade for it. From the sommubants.”
“The dwarfs?” I exclaimed, surprised. “They make this stuff?”
“Oh yes,” Phil confirmed. “They know all about mixing chemicals and such like. It’s all part of mining, you see.”
Chapter 15
“Are you saying that the sommubants are supplying this ……… this poison to our youth?” Thorn demanded, outraged.
“Not necessarily,” I stated. “Okay, they may make it, but that doesn’t mean they’re drug dealers to the masses. After all, it is a legitimate medical item. There could be someone else along the line who siphons some off for sale.”
“How do we find out who’s doing what?” Thorn questioned.
“I think the next step to take is to link up with Nix,” I proclaimed. “I want to search that meeting cave of his because I have a nasty suspicion that we’ll find some more of these containers in there as well.”
Thorn and I bid farewell to Phil and flew to Nix’s house. Actually, we didn’t make it all the way there because we saw him on the outskirts of town and fluttered down to meet him.
“It’s about time you two showed up,” he grinned. “I thought I was going to have to solve this whole thing by myself.”
“As if,” Thorn sniggered.
“Hey,” Nix riposted, “I may not have looks, but I have brains. Of course, in your case, Arugohumna, it’d be the reverse. Without the looks, of course.” He ducked as Thorn swung a pretend punch at him.
“Will you listen to him?” she snorted. “Talk about being jealous! He’s obviously envious of my looks and brains, but I’m not upset. I pity him, really. It must be an awful burden to realise that even a lizard has more charisma than he has.”
Nix laughed at Thorn’s insults. “You’ve been hanging around Stephen too long, Arugohumna,” he informed her. “His sarcastic tongue is rubbing off on you.” Then he smirked and leered at her. “Sorry,” he apologised insincerely, “I didn’t mean that literally. I’m sure Stephen isn’t in the habit of licking you …….. or is he?”
This time, Thorn’s punch wasn’t a pretend one. Luckily, Nix had anticipated it and safely ducked. “I’m sorry,” he said contritely. “That was out of line. I apologise unreservedly.”
“I should think so,” Thorn huffed, incensed. “Nix, I don’t appreciate your little innuendos. Please keep them to yourself.”
“I will,” Nix promised, suitably chastised, “but it won’t be easy. I mean, you’re so noticeably enamored with Stephen that it’s hard for me not to comment on it.”
“I’m not enamored!” Thorn hotly denied.
“Oh please!” Nix contradicted sarcastically, rolling his eyes elaborately. “Even a rock could see it and, as you know, they don’t see all that much.”
“I am not,” Thorn protested again, although considerably more weakly this time.
“Let’s leave it at that, shall we?” I commanded. Then I turned to Nix. “We want to go back to that meeting cave of yours,” I said.
“May I ask why?” he enquired, curiously. “Did we miss something that first time?”
“Perhaps,” I hedged. “I’m looking for something I found in Thorn’s Crystal Cavern.”
“Very well,” Nix agreed, companionably. “Let’s go then.”
“And no more innuendos!” Thorn threatened.
“Your wish is my command, Your Majesty,” Nix murmured, bowing low. “I hasten to obey and throw my unworthy self at your feet.”
Despite herself, Thorn laughed at Nix’s antics.
Chapter 16
Nix led us to the cave we�
��d previously visited and I commenced a frantic search among the debris for a mate to the empty container I’d found in the Crystal Cavern. And I found it, at the very back of the cave, hidden under a small mountain of drink containers. I held it up in triumph.
“Here it is!” I announced, with considerable satisfaction.
“What is it?” Nix wanted to know.
“It’s the same thing we found in Thorn’s settlement,” I explained. “Nix, I’m afraid your young people are indulging in recreational drug use.” Nix was worldlier that Thorn had been, and he accepted my statement without shock.
“I never thought I’d see the day,” he said, miserably, examining the empty container I handed to him. “I thought our young ones had more sense than that.”
“The lure of the forbidden can be very persuasive when you’re young,” I sympathised. “What we have to do now is to find out who supplies this stuff to them.”
“I know where we store it, after we trade for it,” Nix replied, thoughtfully. “What we’ll have to discover is what happens to it after that. Somebody must be stealing some of the shipment.”
“That’s logical,” I agreed. “Do you know who the distributor is?”
“No, but I know where it’s shipped from, if that’s what you mean,” Nix replied.
“Let’s go and have a look,” I said. “If we poke around a little, we might find something.”
“You’re going to become a burglar again, aren’t you?” Thorn commented, disapprovingly.
“There’s no other way, I’m afraid,” I told her. “Thorn, sweetie, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
“No, I’ll come along,” she answered. “After all,” she said, smiling slightly, “we are a team.”
“A scruffy and ragtag team perhaps,” I added with a grin, “but you’re right. We’re a team, such as it is.”
A short time later, we found ourselves outside a large building on the town outskirts.
Dangerous Desires (2) (The Underground Kingdom) Page 5