by W. D. Newman
CHAPTER 30
HOME
The next morning everyone woke up early, eager to get started. Louise sliced bread from a loaf baked the previous day for supper and sliced cheese from a block the elves had provided them for their journey. She arranged the bread and cheese on a grill and placed the grill over some hot coals she raked out onto the hearth. Hob, Gob, and Nob watched her prepare the food with keen interest.
“What are you making?” Gob asked.
“It’s called cheese toast,” Louise replied. “You’ll like it.”
As a matter of fact, the dwarves did like it and got into a very heated debate about which was better for breakfast – cheese toast or ham biscuits. After everyone finished eating, they prepared for the remainder of their journey. Hob announced that he and his partners would accompany the others through the tunnel to the ledge. What they really wanted to do, however, as soon as the others were gone, was check on their treasure.
“Are we ready?” asked Amos, as he slung a sack across his shoulder with one hand and stuffed an axe into his belt with the other hand.
“Yes!” the children shouted.
“Well, let’s head home,” he called over his shoulder as he followed the dwarves into the round chamber. Gob lit a torch and the dwarves led them across the chamber and through the door into the tunnel. Everyone hastily marched, without pausing, until they reached the secret door that opened up inside the crevice on the ledge where Ben first met the dwarves. Gob placed the torch in a sconce on the tunnel wall and opened the stone door into the tunnel. Even though the tunnel door was at the back of the small crevice, the daylight that streamed in through the open door seemed exceptionally bright. They eagerly passed through the door and crevice in single file, with Amos bringing up the rear on his hands and knees. Once outside on the ledge, everyone sat down to rest and enjoy the warm sunshine. Since they had got an early start, it was still mid-morning and the day promised to be a good one for traveling.
“Will we make it back to your cabin today?” Louise asked.
“Oh yes,” Amos answered. “We are not returning the way we came. We are going back to the Fairy Glen by the shortest route possible and then following the path from there to the cabin. We should be able to travel at a nice leisurely pace and still get there by late afternoon.”
“How is that possible?” asked Ben. “It took me longer than that to get from the Fairy Glen to this ledge and I was definitely not moving at a leisurely pace.”
“No,” Amos laughed, “I guess you were not. However, when the snakers caught you they were carrying you in the opposite direction. When you escaped, you ran in the opposite direction and when you followed the stream it brought you here, but it did not bring you here in a straight line.”
“Oh,” said Ben. “I didn’t think about that.”
“Is everyone rested? I’m ready to be off,” said Joey.
“Me too,” Jenny added. “I’m ready to just be at home.”
“Then let’s get moving,” said Louise, as Amos gave her a hand and pulled her to her feet. “Because I know just how you’re feeling, sweetheart.”
At that point, Nob cleared his throat.
“I’m afraid this is where we say our farewells, friends. It has been a most exciting adventure and even though we’d love to continue on with you, we really must take our leave now.”
“We understand,” said Louise. “We would welcome your company, but we really did not expect you to accompany us for the entire trip.”
“We would be thrilled to escort you all the way back, but there is still much work to undertake and many repairs to be made yet at our home,” Gob added.
“Repairs?” Hob exclaimed. “I thought we were going out to check on our treasure.”
Gob and Nob immediately began to kick him in the shins and Amos gathered Louise and the kids together and led them down the small stairs that were carved into the stone wall while Hob howled with pain behind them.
“I’m going to miss them,” said Ben quietly.
“We will all miss them, dear,” said Louise. “But we’ll see them again some day I’m sure.”
Soon, they came upon the small stream, with the path beside it. They followed the path for a while and then Amos turned and led them away from the stream and up the side of a very steep hill. Thankfully, they were under the shade of the forest because the day had grown warm. As they climbed higher, the hardwoods began to give way to pines and they soon found themselves in a pine forest with a soft quiet carpet of brown needles beneath their feet.
“These are the pines in my forest,” Amos called over his shoulder.
Not long after entering the pines, the ground began to level out. Eventually, they reached the summit of the hill and there they found a large outcropping of rock overlooking the valley on the other side. A cool refreshing breeze blew up from the valley below and spread about them the sweet fragrance of the small white flowers growing between the stones. They chose this spot, to sit and eat a small bite of food for lunch.
“What is that?” Casey asked, pointing at a clear spot in the valley below.
“That’s the Fairy Glen where this whole mess began.”
“How far away is it?”
“Not far. It should only take us a couple of hours to get down there from here. Is everyone ready?”
When they arrived at the Fairy Glen, they were surprised to find the fountain repaired. The red slab of granite was back in place and the spray from the water splashing against the stone created a beautiful rainbow that encircled the fountain. Below the rainbow and across the glen, the flowers that had been trampled by the snakers were thick and vibrant and blooming profusely. Hundreds of fairies were flitting back and forth and for a while no one spoke, each person caught up in the enchantment of the scene before them. Ben finally broke the silence.
“Who did this?”
“I don’t know,” replied Amos. “But if I had to guess I would say that it was the elves. They love all things of beauty and all creatures of magic. They knew of this place and were distressed to learn that the snakers had destroyed it. I suspect that the Keeper also sent guards to watch over us to make sure we made it home safely.”
Everyone looked around at the hills surrounding them, half expecting to see elves hiding behind trees and keeping their watchful eyes on them. No one saw any elves, but Casey saw something glittering on one end of the granite slab. At first she thought she was seeing one of the fairies out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked at the slab she was able to look directly at the shiny object and it did not disappear. She went forward to get a closer look. It was a necklace. An emerald necklace. Casey remembered that she had loaned her necklace to the elves. Amos and the others walked up behind her.
“It appears that I was right,” said Amos.
Casey took the necklace and placed it around her neck.
“Come on guys,” Joey shouted. “We’re almost home!”
The hike back to the cabin was the most exciting part of the entire adventure for Ben. Amos and Louise walked out front, followed by Joey and Casey, with him and Jenny bringing up the rear. Jenny walked close to Ben and a couple of times their hands touched while they were walking. Ben finally got up the nerve and grabbed her hand the next time it touched his. He clasped her hand gently, half expecting her to pull away, but to his delight she intertwined her fingers with his and squeezed. He was holding her hand! Now he did not want to go home. Now he did not want to go back to the cabin. He wanted this walk to last forever and now, to his great disappointment, they were back at the cabin. Jenny squeezed his hand tightly and smiled at him before she pulled her hand away. Amos was holding the door open and waiting for them to enter. He winked a knowing wink at Ben as he passed by and Ben immediately felt the heat starting to rise in his neck.
“I can’t believe we’re back,” said Louise, sitting down at the table. “It seems we’ve been gone for months.”
&n
bsp; “Don’t sit down, Grandma,” said Casey. “Let’s keep going. We can be home in five minutes.”
“Listen, children. I know you are anxious to get home. So am I. But we have hiked all day long and we are all exhausted. Remember, when we go back through the Merlin Tree we will be going back to the same timeframe that we left. Why don’t we stay here tonight and rest. We’ll eat a good breakfast in the morning and return home refreshed and full of energy. We’re going to need some energy too, because as soon as we get back home, all of us have to take a shower, or a bath, to get clean and I will have to wash everyone’s clothes. Look at how filthy you all are.”
The kids looked at each other and realized that Louise was right. Amos must have been thinking the same thing for he brought a bucket of water in and plopped it down on the table.
“You kids can wash up with this. I’ll get supper started and after we eat, I know a place not far from here where a family of talking monkeys live. Would you kids like to go see them?”
“NO!” they all shouted in unison.
The big man through back his head and laughed a long, hearty laugh. Louise thought she was too tired to laugh, but soon she started laughing too, more at Amos’s merriment than his joke. The kids, however, did not see the humor in it at all and scowled as they began to scrub their hands and faces. After eating, they moved the table and benches outside and spread two great furs on the floor before the hearth. Joey and Ben slept on one fur and Jenny and Casey slept on the other one. Louise slept in Amos’s cot and Amos, after loading wood into the fire, went outside to sleep under the stars.
The next morning was overcast and gray. Dark puffy clouds hung low in the sky and blotted out the sun. A chill was in the air and not long after finishing breakfast, a heavy rain began to fall. Outside the cabin window, a thick curtain of water flowed from the roof and over the eaves.
“It looks like you all might be staying a little longer,” said Amos. “This rain has really set in. I expect it will probably rain all day today.”
Louise could tell that the kids were not happy with this news. She wasn’t happy with this news. As much as everyone loved Amos, his cabin was too small for all of them to be cooped up within for any length of time.
“What do you kids want to do?” she asked. “Do you want to wait this out or do you want to go for it?”
“Let’s go for it,” said Ben.
“Yeah,” said Joey. “It was hot and dry when we left home, so we’ll only be in the rain for a few minutes.”
Casey and Jenny nodded. Louise turned to Amos. “I guess this is good-bye then.”
“For now,” the big man smiled.
Louise threw her arms around him. The kids encircled him and wrapped their arms around him too.
“Bye, Amos.”
“We’ll miss you.”
“I hope we’ll get to see you again.”
Amos wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and then stooped down to look at the kids. “I want you all to come visit me, okay?”
They all nodded.
Amos smiled and then pointed toward the door. “Well, get going then. I’m like Hob – I don’t like mushy farewells either.”
Ben and Joey nodded and walked over to the door, where Louise was waiting. Casey and Jenny, however, gave the big man one more hug before joining them.
“The rain is cold, kids, but we can’t run or someone might slip and fall. Besides, I can’t run anyway. But we can walk really fast, can’t we?”
The children smiled and nodded.
“Then let’s go!”
Louise threw the door open and they all stepped out into the downpour. The cold rain immediately took their breath away and they all began to hastily walk through the woods. When they got to the edge of the woods, the rain was coming down even harder and the wind was starting to blow. Visibility was dropping fast, but they could still see the bamboo patch in the meadow at the base of the hill, a green island in a stormy sea of gold. Before they made it to the bamboo, the wind had begun to howl. The rain was now being driven sideways by the storm and the force of it stung their skin. Everyone had to turn their backs to the wind and walk sideways to reach the bamboo. As soon as they arrived at the patch, a great clap of thunder made everyone jump. Louise rushed the kids into the patch and then fell in behind them. Before she got too far into the patch, she turned and looked over her shoulder into the meadow. Through the driving rain she caught a glimpse of a dark object sitting in the meadow, unaffected by the storm raging around it. It looked like a bear. Louise smiled.
Getting through the thick bamboo was difficult on a calm day. During a storm, with the wind whipping the canes around, it was almost impossible. However, they finally made their way to the middle of the patch. Lightning flashed in the darkness and revealed the thick canopy over their heads heaving and surging as the storm raged about them. There, in the center, still and calm, unaffected by the elements through centuries of time, stood the Merlin tree.
When they emerged from the Tree, everything around them was dry and an eerie green light was all about them.
“Where is that light coming from?” Casey asked.
“That’s sunlight,” Ben answered. “Remember, it was sunny when we left.”
“Well, keep going. I want to get out of these wet clothes.”
They started back into the thick part of the canes again. The closer they got to the outside of the patch, the thicker the canes became. Finally, after much twisting and turning, they stumbled out into the bright June sunshine and landed in the backyard of George and Louise’s home. They were back on the farm. They were home.
*****