“Do we then take the chicken or the fox?” Rob asked.
“It has to be the fox,” Rachel said. “If not, there will be more foxes than chickens on the first side of the river.”
She wrote down ‘take the fox and leave it, returning with the last fox still in the boat. Pick up the chicken and you are all across’ then she double checked her scenario before passing it to Rob. He confirmed that it would work and handed it to Len.
Rachel held her breath. Len read it through, twice. “That will work,” he finally said. “You may leave.”
Relief was written all over her face. She stood up and was about to go back into the house when she stopped and looked at Len. “That wouldn’t really work you know.”
“Why not?” Len asked. His tone suggested he didn’t like having his puzzles questioned.
“The foxes would be left alone with the chickens and would eat them.”
“No they wouldn’t. The farmer told them not to.”
Rachel shook her head in disgust.
“You are staying for breakfast, aren’t you?” It sounded more like a demand than a question.
“No, we are not,” she said and walked away. Rob followed her, leaving me and Len alone.
“I want a word before you go,” Len said to me. “My office. Now.”
“Now what?” I asked as I entered the room, closing the door behind me.
“You like her,” he said. It was not a question. “A lot.”
“And?” There was no point in denying it.
“Bury your feelings deep or you will end up getting hurt. You are not destined to be together.”
“Since when do you believe in destiny?” I snapped at him.
“I don’t, but I do know that if you make a move on her you will regret it. Keep her at arms’ length. If you can’t do that, find someone else to guide them.”
“No.”
Len slammed his hands down on his desk. “I don’t often tell you what to do, but this time you will obey me. Do I make myself clear? She is no good for you.”
“This is none of your business,” I spat back. “Not even my father has the right to tell me who I can and can’t become involved with. This is my personal life we are talking about and you can damn well stay out of it.”
Before Len could respond I stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind me. To say I was angry is an understatement.
I walked down the corridor toward Rob and Rachel’s rooms, making sure my bag materialised on my back before they spotted me. “Let’s go.”
Rachel ran to my side. “What was that about?”
“Nothing important.”
We walked out of the house and were almost out of earshot when Len called after us.
“You should listen to me Kris. I have been around a lot longer than you have. If you don’t change your mind you will regret it.”
I ignored him and stomped off with Rachel and Robert following closely on my heels.
“Where to next?” she asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled around us.
“Famine,” I replied, but with no enthusiasm.
“Any idea what challenge he will set?” she continued. “Robert has already had his bravery and intelligence tested, so what’s next?”
I stopped and looked at her, unable to keep the smile from my face. It is amazing how she keeps saying funny things without realising it. If she thought Famine was a ‘he’ then I was really looking forward to seeing the look on her face when they got to my aunt’s cottage. “I have no idea, but I do know one thing; you are in for a huge surprise.”
We continued on in silence for a while, putting as much distance between us and Len as we could before stopping for breakfast. I was as anxious to get away from him as Rachel and Rob obviously were. As we ate, Rachel asked again what Len had done to upset me so much, but I kept changing the subject until she gave up.
“Is there anything we need to know about the terrain we will be traversing before we continue?” Rob asked as we were packing up after our meal. “No forests full of killer trees, no ogres in the mountains or poisonous snakes in the swamps, for example.”
“No. I promise to keep you informed from now on.”
Rob took the lead, walking through pleasant fields and pastures. Birds called to us as they flew overhead and other wildlife could be seen grazing in the distance. The sun shone and, just for a while, I stopped thinking about my problems and enjoyed the day and the company.
We approached a wood and I advised that it was safe to go through it, so Rob entered without any hesitation.
It was only a small wood and we were out the other side in under an hour. I called to Rob to wait a while once we were clear of the trees and he did so without complaining.
“We will shortly reach a stream. We need to wade through it, but don’t worry, it is not very deep. The other side is the beginning of a desert that we will need to cross.”
“Desert?” Rachel asked. “As in a huge area with no water and no life? Don’t they take days to cross and should only be entered at night due to the excessive heat of the sun?”
“Not this one. It will only take a number of hours to cross it and it will not be much hotter than here. It was created by a god, remember. It comes with climate control.”
“Then lead on, o holy guide,” she said, bowing dramatically and pointing forward.
I froze. “Why did you say that?” I somehow managed to keep the panic out of my voice. Did she know something or just suspect?
“I don’t know. You yourself said we are entering a desert created by a god. It just seemed appropriate.”
I relaxed. “Everything here was created by a god.”
“Let’s go,” Rob ordered. Who does this guy think he is? What would he do if I said no? I decided I really could not be bothered to find out.
We started walking once more. “One thing I should warn you about. The desert contains areas of quicksand.”
Rob stopped. “Quicksand? How are we supposed to spot that?”
“Quicksand often occurs near water sources. Not much grows in the desert, so if you see any kind of vegetation, avoid it.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Rob said and resumed walking. We soon arrived at the stream and, as I had predicted, we managed to wade across it easily. Our shoes and the bottom of our trousers were wet through, but they soon dried in the sun.
The green meadow slowly turned to sand and it was not long before we found ourselves in the desert. This is not my favourite place down here and I try to avoid it as much as possible, but it is one of the quickest ways to get from uncle Len to aunt Fam when travelling by foot.
“Why did Hades create this?” Rachel asked as she stared into the nothingness.
“He likes to get away from everything occasionally and this is where he comes.”
We continued walking until the sun started to set. I pointed out that it would be best to set up camp while we still had light, but Rob insisted on continuing on for a while longer, so continue we did. I was not in the mood for an argument. If Rob wanted to act like an idiot, I wasn’t going to stop him.
It did not take long for darkness to descend and I called to Rob, who had gotten quite far ahead of us, to advise him that it wasn’t safe to continue. He was calling back his agreement when his words were cut off by him screaming and I knew exactly what had happened. Rachel started to run toward him, but I grabbed her.
“Slowly. Rob may have slipped into some quicksand and we don’t want to join him.”
Sure enough, as we got closer we could see Rob was having difficulty moving. “Get me out of here,” he cried out. “It’s dragging me down.” I had to supress the urge to say ‘I told you so’. Maybe next time he will listen to my advice and stop before it gets too dark to see clearly.
“Calm down,” Rachel said. “And stop moving.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Rob yelled. It was the first time I had heard him use such strong language and took it as a
n indication as to how scared he was. “If I stop fighting against it I will be sucked under.”
“No, you won’t,” Rachel said as she knelt down, having first checked the solidity of the ground. “It is your movements which are disturbing the sand below you, making you sink. Stay still and you will float, like you do when you are in water.”
“She’s right you know. Relax and we will soon have you out of there.” I was impressed with how calm she was acting.
Predictably Rob didn’t listen to us. He was panicking and flailing his arms about. I could only assume that he was trying to do the same with his legs. In the darkness visibility was down to a minimum, but I could still see perfectly. He was sinking; he was only visible from the waist up.
“Robert, you do as I say this minute,” Rachel yelled, sounding much older than her years. The words, or the tone, must have had some hidden meaning I didn’t understand because Rob froze, as though in shock.
“Good,” I said. “Now stay still and you will begin to feel yourself floating upward a little.”
“Can you give us some light?” Rachel asked. She was thinking practically instead of panicking. There was a lot more to her character than there first appeared.
“Sure.” I started rummaging around in my bag, pretending to look for something as I made flashlights materialise. I pulled them out, switched them all on, then buried their handles in the sand at an angle so their beams shone directly on Rob.
“Can you make your way toward me?” Rachel asked, but Rob shook his head.
“I can’t move my legs. They’re trapped.” His voice was edged with panic once more, but at least he remained still.
“They are not trapped,” I said. “You are pulling against a vacuum. Keep your movements small and steady and try to keep your legs and arms wide apart.”
“That’s easy for you to say,” Rob said through gritted teeth, but he did as instructed. With tremendous effort he managed to move slightly toward us.
“He’s not going to make it,” Rachel whispered to me. “He will be exhausted before he gets near us. Can we help him at all?”
I looked in the bag once more and drew out a length of rope. Using our hands to make sure the ground was still solid, Rachel and I slowly moved forward until we reached the edge of the quicksand. Once there, I stood up and threw the rope to Rob.
“Grab hold. We won’t be able to pull you free, but we may be able to help a little.”
It seemed to take forever, but eventually Rob managed to get close enough to grab my outstretched arm and heave himself free. All three of us collapsed on the ground, breathing hard.
“Thank you,” Rob said to me when he was able to speak. “You saved my life.”
“Stop being melodramatic. You wouldn’t have died. You would have gotten yourself out eventually without our help.”
“Thank you anyway,” Rob said with sincerity.
“You’re wet and dirty,” Rachel pointed out, somewhat needlessly I thought.
Rob rolled his eyes at her. “I can’t exactly take a bath out here. We are in the middle of nowhere, or hadn’t you noticed?”
“No, you can’t. But you can change into clean clothes.” As I spoke I withdrew from my bag a clean pair of trousers and a t-shirt. “Help me put up the tents, then you can get changed.”
I stood up and held out my hand to Rob, who hesitated for a moment before accepting it.
Before long the tents were up, Rob had changed and I was cooking over the fire.
After eating, Rob excused himself and went to bed. He was exhausted after the day’s exertions and soon snoring could be heard coming from his tent. Rachel, too, looked tired, but she made no move to leave, choosing instead to stay by the fire and chat with me. She should get some sleep, but I couldn’t bring myself to make the suggestion.
We talked about her life at university and I found myself asking about Bill.
“So how did you two meet?”
“Friend of a friend,” she said. “He had a sports scholarship and at first I thought he was a bit of an idiot. You know the sort, muscle but no brains, but as I got to know him I realised I was wrong. He’s a very intelligent guy and quite shy when he’s not out on the field.”
“You miss him a lot.” It was a statement not a question, but Rachel answered it anyway.
“Yes, I do. It’s not easy being apart from him, especially after all I have gone through the last few months, what with my parents dying.”
“So how does your relationship survive?” I was being too inquisitive, but I really wanted to know the answer. After all, if I managed to win her over ours would have to be a really long distance relationship.
“We talk whenever we can and he flies back every holiday,” she replied. “But mainly it is all about trust. He knows I am not off seeing other guys while he is away and I know he will never cheat on me.”
Rachel looked sad as she stared into the fire, lost in thought. ‘Great, now you’ve upset her,’ I silently chided myself. ‘Good choice of conversation.’
She shivered and hugged herself.
“What’s wrong?” I asked in concern. “Are you cold? Do you want a blanket?”
“No,” she said, turning to face me. “It’s just...” But she couldn’t finish the sentence. I was looking directly into her eyes and a strange expression crossed her face.
She suddenly became flustered and managed to stammer, “I’ve got to get some sleep,” before making a hasty retreat to her tent.
I watched her leave, unsure as to what had just happened. “Good job you idiot,” I quietly said to myself. “You are really going to get her to see you as more than just her guide by reminding her about her boyfriend.”
I sighed and went to visit Death once more. There was no sign of Ankou when I arrived, so I gave my uncle a status update and requested that he let aunt Fam know.
“Why don’t you tell her yourself?” Death asked.
“Rob got stuck in the quicksand so I want to be on hand in case he has any reaction. He should be alright, other than the occasional nightmare maybe, but I remember what it was like, so I would like to be around, just to be on the safe side.”
“Fair enough,” Death said. “You’re beginning to take your role very seriously. It’s almost as if you are beginning to like them.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Not really,” I lied. “But I do want to make sure they both get here in one piece.”
With that I returned to the campsite. There was no sign of movement and Rob could still be heard snoring, so I went to my own tent and got a good night’s sleep; my first in ages.
Famine
As usual I was the first one up. Rob was still asleep when Rachel emerged from her tent and seemed a little nervous approaching me. I was tempted to ask about her odd behaviour the previous night, but it was probably due to the fact that she was missing Bill and I really didn’t want to hear her say so, so I said nothing.
When Rob finally joined us he looked terrible. He was pale, as though he was sickening for something, and there were huge bags under his eyes. Rachel was blunt and to the point.
“You look like shit. Are you okay?”
He nodded his head. “I just didn’t sleep much. I was so exhausted I fell straight to sleep, but I kept waking up in a cold sweat.”
“Bad dreams?” I wasn’t being sarcastic, but I noticed Rachel throwing me a questioning glance.
Rob nodded. “I dreamt I was back in the quicksand, only this time you two were not around to help me. Despite my best efforts I was slowly dragged down. Each time I woke up as I felt the wet sand enter my mouth as my head went below the surface. I cannot describe how terrifying it was.”
“There’s no need. I myself was caught in the same situation when I was younger. I still remember the dreams. It was weeks before I got a good night’s sleep.” It had happened when I was going through a phase of refusing to use my power for anything. Looking back I was stupid to needlessly put myself through that experience when
I could have gotten myself out of my predicament so easily.
Despite his weariness, Rob insisted we continue our journey instead of resting for the day. Our pace was much slower than usual, but I was still confident we would cross the desert and reach Famine’s house before it grew dark.
We experienced no more problems with quicksand, though Rob did insist that I take the lead just to be on the safe side, and we reached the edge of the desert around mid-morning.
We traipsed over green pastures and through a cornfield before we finally caught sight of Famine’s wattle and daub cottage in the distance. With its thatched roof it could easily have come from 18th century England. It is a quaint building with a garden out front surrounded by a small white picket fence with a gate.
It is tiny and insignificant compared to grandfather’s manor house and Pestilence’s bachelor pad.
“It looks so small,” Rachel said as we approached.
“Famine lives alone and has never required anything bigger.”
I opened the gate and allowed Rob and Rachel to walk through ahead of me. Every time I visit I spend time in the garden. It is large and well maintained. All of the flower beds are always devoid of weeds and aunt Fam put a lot of thought into making sure the varying colours of the different petals and leaves do not clash. Fam loves working in her garden, even growing her own vegetables in a patch close to the kitchen.
As we walked up the garden path the front door opened and I smiled. All Rob and Rachel would see is a middle aged woman dressed in a knee length flowery dress, a thin woollen cardigan and green wellington boots. It would not even cross their minds that this could possibly be Famine. Aunty Fam jumped back, startled, when she saw us, but smiled as soon as she spotted me.
“Kris,” she said with pleasure. “It is so good to see you. Come and give your favourite aunt a hug.”
Shit. I knew I had forgotten to tell her something. It was too late now. I grimaced as I approached, but by the time I reached her I managed to replace the grimace with a smile. “Hello aunt Fam.” I hugged her affectionately. I had forgotten to warn her that I was travelling incognito and now the proverbial cat was out of the bag. I wondered how long it would take Rachel to put two and two together and dreaded how she would react.
Kris's Story Page 9