XI.
“Wacha guys doin’?” The three older boys turned to find Charlain standing behind them.
“What’s the matter, Charlain? Sarden send you away?” Tom sneered, his upper lip curling to show one of his pointed eye teeth.
“Yeah. Or did he have another explosion that blew you up here?” The three boys laughed. Tim slapped Tom’s back with a hairy hand. Dick slapped his fat thigh.
Charlain seemed unaffected by the comments, “No, I just needed a change of pace. Wy’re you here?”
The three boys stopped laughing and looked at each other. Tom’s upper lip curled again, “Just hiking around; not that it’s any of your business, Charlain.”
“Yeah. Not that it’s any of your business,” Tim chimed in.
“Yeah,” Dick said. His cheeks jiggled when he talked.
“You’re lyin’.” Charlain’s eyes blinked.
“What? What do you know? You’re just a little girl.” Tom was a little angrier than he should have been. His entire upper lip curled this time, revealing his overbite and two pointy eye teeth.
“Yeah. You’re just a girl,” Tim said.
“Yeah,” Dick’s cheeks jiggled.
Charlain remained unaffected. “I know that you, Tom, gave a hickey to Norma. I know that Tim shaves his chest and legs, and I know that Dick stole 13 candy bars from Charlie’s Candy Shoppe. So, you better tell me wacha doin’ here, or I’ll tell everyone in town.”
Tom looked at Tim shocked.
Tim looked a little embarrassed.
“You shave your chest and legs?” Tom’s voice had a giggle in it.
“Well… I… I…” Tim stammered then looked at Dick “How come you didn’t share those candy bars?”
“Yeah. How come you didn’t share?” Tom asked, sounding more like Tim than Tom.
“I… I…” It was Dick’s turn to stammer. “I… I did it because Morton Natas said the Great Guru Maltof needed them. I only got to keep one of them.”
The three boys looked at each other.
Tom was the first to open his mouth, “Fine, Charlain, you’re in.”
Charlain’s large green eyes sparkled. “So wacha guys doin’?”
“I made a bet with Torlon and Falz that they couldn’t find the solutions to the mysteries of life. They both laughed and said that no one knew, so of course, they couldn’t find the solutions. I told them that was a lie and that the only reason they couldn’t find the solutions was because they were afraid to ask the dragon.”
Charlain looked at Tom waiting for him to continue. Her stare bored into him until he couldn’t handle it anymore.
“That was a couple of weeks ago. We got kind of… Well, we thought we would come rescue them.” Tom puffed out his chest to add to the importance of the mission.
“So, where’d they go?”
Tom looked incredulously at Charlain. “They went to see the dragon.”
Charlain stared at him blankly.
“You know, the dragon – the one that lives inside that cave.” He turned and pointed dramatically toward the dark opening in the mountain.
“If you say so.”
Tom’s eyes got big; his brow furrowed. “What do you mean if I say so? Don’t you believe in the dragon?”
“Yeah. Sure. Le’s go.” She started toward the cave.
“Now wait a minute, Charlain. You just can’t go wanderin’ into a mountain without the proper equipment. Tom, Tim and Dick took off their backpacks and opened them up. “Dragonsbane?”
“Check,” Tim said.
“Wooden stakes?”
“Check.”
“Holy Symbol?”
“Check.”
“Silver knife?”
“Uh… All I could find was a steel fork.” Tim was looking a bit sheepish, which was easy for him because of his white, curly hair.
“It’ll have to do. Anything else?”
“I brought the food!” Dick smiled revealing a mouth that had seen too few cleanings.
“Uh-huh, okay, let’s go.” Tom started into the cave with Tim and Dick close behind.
Charlain followed wondering how they had ever made it to the cave in the first place.
About 10 feet into the cave, Tom tripped over something. “Did anyone remember to bring the torches?”
There was silence in the dark.
“Tim, I told you to bring the torches. How are we going to go through the mountain without being able to see?”
“I… I… I told Dick to bring the torches.”
“I brought the food.” Dick sounded like he was already eating.
A beam of light cut through the darkness and passed over each boy’s face. Dick had brown smudges around his mouth. Tim was running his hands through his hair; the dark arm hair against his white hair gave the impression of a reversed skunk. Tom was on the stone floor holding his right foot; his pants were torn at the knee.
“I guess this makes me the leader.” Charlain smiled though none of the boys could see it. “Oh, and I brought chalk, so we can find our way out. Well. Le’s go.”
Tom got up. Tim just stood there, and Dick put his half-empty backpack on his back.
“So then, I think we’ll go left. Wacha think?” Charlain passed the light over their faces.
The boys looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
“Good. Then I will just put an arrow here pointin’ the way out.”
They wandered through the caverns. Each time they came to an intersection, Charlain picked a direction, asked what the boys thought – to which they replied with a shrug – and after marking the direction of the exit, she would head in the direction that she had picked.
They had been walking for what seemed like hours when they heard a rumbling.
Charlain turned the light on Dick.
He smiled and shrugged. “Uh… Sorry. I ran out of food a while back.” He somehow managed a look that was more Tim than Dick.
“Where’s your backpack?”
“Uh… Must’ve ate that, too.”
Charlain just shook her head. “Well, since we’re outta food, we oughta be getting’ back.”
“Wait! What’s that?” Tom pointed dramatically at a faint bluish glow farther down the cavern passage. It was reflecting off the stone and varied from almost white at times to almost non-existent. It seemed to flash without ever actually going black. It was not the flicker of torchlight. It was something different. “I’m going to find out,” Tom said, taking the lead again.
“Yeah. Let’s find out,” Tim said.
“Yeah,” followed Dick.
Tom took a couple of tentative steps, and then took off at his normal pace and ended up in a heap on the stone floor. A light passed over him as he sat there holding his left foot. A tear in the knee of his pants matched the one on the other knee.
“You’re right, Tim. Le’s go check it out.” Charlain extended her long, thin hand to help him up.
Tom took it begrudgingly and limped down the hall after Charlain.
Tim and Dick followed snickering.
They reached the opening from where the light was coming. It opened into a cavernous room. The rocks had formed in many odd shapes; some looked like chairs, some looked like beds, some looked like a combination of the two, some looked like bowls. All of them were oriented toward a rock formation to the left of the entrance. It looked like a table with a box on top of it. ON top of the box rock were two round rocks from which sprouted two long thin rock formations at strange angles. It was from this strange formation that the light came.
The light was bright, then dull, then somewhere in between. The effect was eye-catching and hypnotic. A faint noise came from the stone formation. The three boys moved slowly closer to it.
They got about three feet away from it when they realized that there were images on the rock and that the sound synchronized with those images. They all sat down when Tom realized he had sat on something.
“Falz!”
“Huh… What? Shhh! Can’t you wait until the messages?” Falz had a crazed look in his eyes, which were red and reflected light from the stone.
“Uh… Messages? What are messages?”
“Just watch. You’ll see.” The four young men sat there staring at the images on the rock.
Charlain furrowed her brow. “C’mon guys, le’s go,” Charlain said after a few minutes. “This is boring.”
“Shhh!” All four said at once.”
“We’ll be back after these messages.” The noise coming from the stone increased to 10 times as loud as before.
“Falz!” Tom began again.
“Hey, Tom, What’s up?”
“Nothing. Where’s Torlon?”
“He got eaten by Rupert.”
“What?”
“He got eaten by Rupert the dragon. You know the one we came here to talk to.”
“Oh, yeah, right. Sorry about that.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. Oh wait, it’s back on.”
“And now back to ‘Beach Constable.’” The four boys leaned forward to hear the sound coming from the box. It had lowered back to normal.
Charlain watched the images on the screen. It seemed to be a show about several tall, tan, scantily clad, busty wenches – all of whom were blond – and their escapades with several tall, tan, scantily clad, muscular men – all of whom were brunette. They swam, beat up several unsavory-looking individuals, and did other things that brought a blush to Charlain’s cheek. She really didn’t understand the fascination with the box. She got bored and frustrated.
“And now these messages…” Again the volume went up.
“So, how did you find this cool… thing, Falz?” Tom had spoken up again.
“Well, I was wandering around these caves and stumbled upon it.”
“How have you…”
“Wait! This is a great message.” On the rock, some pink creature was playing a flute. “I love that message.”
“How have you survived?”
Falz reached over to the bowl-shaped rock beside him and pulled out a handful of yellow, greasy, flat things. “These are really good. Becha can’t eat just one,” Falz smiled.
Tom took one and passed one down to Tim and one to Dick. The thing was crunchy and salty and tasted good. Tom reached into the bowl shaped rock next to him.
“And now back to ‘Beach Constable.’” Crunching became an integral part of the show.
Charlain was appalled at the lack of manners. Dick she could understand, but the other three were shoving the yellow things into their mouths. They chewed with their mouths open, yellow pieces of whatever flying out when they exhaled.
“I’m leavin’. This is borin’.”
“Can’t you at least wait until this ends?” Tom looked at Charlain.
She crossed her arms over her chest.
What sounded like fake laughter came from the rock-box as the tall, dark man told the big-breasted blonde some sort of joke. Words began to roll across the rock with some bad music in the background.
“There! It’s over! I’m goin’!”
“You can’t go yet,” Falz said. “It’s just getting good. ‘Transylvania Sheriff’ is on next. It’s really cool.”
“I don’t care. I’m leavin’.”
“Well… See you later, Charlain. I’m staying here with Falz,” Tom said.
“Yeah. Staying with Falz,” Tim said.
“Yeah,” Dick said, yellow crunchies flying from his mouth.
“Fine, but I’ve the only light.”
“Bye, Charlain.”
“Bye.”
“Yeah.” More yellow crunchies flew from Dick’s over-stuffed mouth.
“Fine.” Charlain stomped off exasperated at “Those men!”
As she walked away, she heard Falz saying that the drink providing wasn’t as strong as ale but was still potable. There was general laughter.
“And now back to…”
“What’s the matter, Charlain? Sarden send you away?” Tom sneered, his upper lip curling to show one of his pointed eye teeth.
“Yeah. Or did he have another explosion that blew you up here?” The three boys laughed. Tim slapped Tom’s back with a hairy hand. Dick slapped his fat thigh.
Charlain seemed unaffected by the comments, “No, I just needed a change of pace. Wy’re you here?”
The three boys stopped laughing and looked at each other. Tom’s upper lip curled again, “Just hiking around; not that it’s any of your business, Charlain.”
“Yeah. Not that it’s any of your business,” Tim chimed in.
“Yeah,” Dick said. His cheeks jiggled when he talked.
“You’re lyin’.” Charlain’s eyes blinked.
“What? What do you know? You’re just a little girl.” Tom was a little angrier than he should have been. His entire upper lip curled this time, revealing his overbite and two pointy eye teeth.
“Yeah. You’re just a girl,” Tim said.
“Yeah,” Dick’s cheeks jiggled.
Charlain remained unaffected. “I know that you, Tom, gave a hickey to Norma. I know that Tim shaves his chest and legs, and I know that Dick stole 13 candy bars from Charlie’s Candy Shoppe. So, you better tell me wacha doin’ here, or I’ll tell everyone in town.”
Tom looked at Tim shocked.
Tim looked a little embarrassed.
“You shave your chest and legs?” Tom’s voice had a giggle in it.
“Well… I… I…” Tim stammered then looked at Dick “How come you didn’t share those candy bars?”
“Yeah. How come you didn’t share?” Tom asked, sounding more like Tim than Tom.
“I… I…” It was Dick’s turn to stammer. “I… I did it because Morton Natas said the Great Guru Maltof needed them. I only got to keep one of them.”
The three boys looked at each other.
Tom was the first to open his mouth, “Fine, Charlain, you’re in.”
Charlain’s large green eyes sparkled. “So wacha guys doin’?”
“I made a bet with Torlon and Falz that they couldn’t find the solutions to the mysteries of life. They both laughed and said that no one knew, so of course, they couldn’t find the solutions. I told them that was a lie and that the only reason they couldn’t find the solutions was because they were afraid to ask the dragon.”
Charlain looked at Tom waiting for him to continue. Her stare bored into him until he couldn’t handle it anymore.
“That was a couple of weeks ago. We got kind of… Well, we thought we would come rescue them.” Tom puffed out his chest to add to the importance of the mission.
“So, where’d they go?”
Tom looked incredulously at Charlain. “They went to see the dragon.”
Charlain stared at him blankly.
“You know, the dragon – the one that lives inside that cave.” He turned and pointed dramatically toward the dark opening in the mountain.
“If you say so.”
Tom’s eyes got big; his brow furrowed. “What do you mean if I say so? Don’t you believe in the dragon?”
“Yeah. Sure. Le’s go.” She started toward the cave.
“Now wait a minute, Charlain. You just can’t go wanderin’ into a mountain without the proper equipment. Tom, Tim and Dick took off their backpacks and opened them up. “Dragonsbane?”
“Check,” Tim said.
“Wooden stakes?”
“Check.”
“Holy Symbol?”
“Check.”
“Silver knife?”
“Uh… All I could find was a steel fork.” Tim was looking a bit sheepish, which was easy for him because of his white, curly hair.
“It’ll have to do. Anything else?”
“I brought the food!” Dick smiled revealing a mouth that had seen too few cleanings.
“Uh-huh, okay, let’s go.” Tom started into the cave with Tim and Dick close behind.
Charlain followed wondering how they had ever made it to the cave in the first place.
About 10 feet into the cave, Tom tripped over something. “Did anyone remember to bring the torches?”
There was silence in the dark.
“Tim, I told you to bring the torches. How are we going to go through the mountain without being able to see?”
“I… I… I told Dick to bring the torches.”
“I brought the food.” Dick sounded like he was already eating.
A beam of light cut through the darkness and passed over each boy’s face. Dick had brown smudges around his mouth. Tim was running his hands through his hair; the dark arm hair against his white hair gave the impression of a reversed skunk. Tom was on the stone floor holding his right foot; his pants were torn at the knee.
“I guess this makes me the leader.” Charlain smiled though none of the boys could see it. “Oh, and I brought chalk, so we can find our way out. Well. Le’s go.”
Tom got up. Tim just stood there, and Dick put his half-empty backpack on his back.
“So then, I think we’ll go left. Wacha think?” Charlain passed the light over their faces.
The boys looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
“Good. Then I will just put an arrow here pointin’ the way out.”
They wandered through the caverns. Each time they came to an intersection, Charlain picked a direction, asked what the boys thought – to which they replied with a shrug – and after marking the direction of the exit, she would head in the direction that she had picked.
They had been walking for what seemed like hours when they heard a rumbling.
Charlain turned the light on Dick.
He smiled and shrugged. “Uh… Sorry. I ran out of food a while back.” He somehow managed a look that was more Tim than Dick.
“Where’s your backpack?”
“Uh… Must’ve ate that, too.”
Charlain just shook her head. “Well, since we’re outta food, we oughta be getting’ back.”
“Wait! What’s that?” Tom pointed dramatically at a faint bluish glow farther down the cavern passage. It was reflecting off the stone and varied from almost white at times to almost non-existent. It seemed to flash without ever actually going black. It was not the flicker of torchlight. It was something different. “I’m going to find out,” Tom said, taking the lead again.
“Yeah. Let’s find out,” Tim said.
“Yeah,” followed Dick.
Tom took a couple of tentative steps, and then took off at his normal pace and ended up in a heap on the stone floor. A light passed over him as he sat there holding his left foot. A tear in the knee of his pants matched the one on the other knee.
“You’re right, Tim. Le’s go check it out.” Charlain extended her long, thin hand to help him up.
Tom took it begrudgingly and limped down the hall after Charlain.
Tim and Dick followed snickering.
They reached the opening from where the light was coming. It opened into a cavernous room. The rocks had formed in many odd shapes; some looked like chairs, some looked like beds, some looked like a combination of the two, some looked like bowls. All of them were oriented toward a rock formation to the left of the entrance. It looked like a table with a box on top of it. ON top of the box rock were two round rocks from which sprouted two long thin rock formations at strange angles. It was from this strange formation that the light came.
The light was bright, then dull, then somewhere in between. The effect was eye-catching and hypnotic. A faint noise came from the stone formation. The three boys moved slowly closer to it.
They got about three feet away from it when they realized that there were images on the rock and that the sound synchronized with those images. They all sat down when Tom realized he had sat on something.
“Falz!”
“Huh… What? Shhh! Can’t you wait until the messages?” Falz had a crazed look in his eyes, which were red and reflected light from the stone.
“Uh… Messages? What are messages?”
“Just watch. You’ll see.” The four young men sat there staring at the images on the rock.
Charlain furrowed her brow. “C’mon guys, le’s go,” Charlain said after a few minutes. “This is boring.”
“Shhh!” All four said at once.”
“We’ll be back after these messages.” The noise coming from the stone increased to 10 times as loud as before.
“Falz!” Tom began again.
“Hey, Tom, What’s up?”
“Nothing. Where’s Torlon?”
“He got eaten by Rupert.”
“What?”
“He got eaten by Rupert the dragon. You know the one we came here to talk to.”
“Oh, yeah, right. Sorry about that.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. Oh wait, it’s back on.”
“And now back to ‘Beach Constable.’” The four boys leaned forward to hear the sound coming from the box. It had lowered back to normal.
Charlain watched the images on the screen. It seemed to be a show about several tall, tan, scantily clad, busty wenches – all of whom were blond – and their escapades with several tall, tan, scantily clad, muscular men – all of whom were brunette. They swam, beat up several unsavory-looking individuals, and did other things that brought a blush to Charlain’s cheek. She really didn’t understand the fascination with the box. She got bored and frustrated.
“And now these messages…” Again the volume went up.
“So, how did you find this cool… thing, Falz?” Tom had spoken up again.
“Well, I was wandering around these caves and stumbled upon it.”
“How have you…”
“Wait! This is a great message.” On the rock, some pink creature was playing a flute. “I love that message.”
“How have you survived?”
Falz reached over to the bowl-shaped rock beside him and pulled out a handful of yellow, greasy, flat things. “These are really good. Becha can’t eat just one,” Falz smiled.
Tom took one and passed one down to Tim and one to Dick. The thing was crunchy and salty and tasted good. Tom reached into the bowl shaped rock next to him.
“And now back to ‘Beach Constable.’” Crunching became an integral part of the show.
Charlain was appalled at the lack of manners. Dick she could understand, but the other three were shoving the yellow things into their mouths. They chewed with their mouths open, yellow pieces of whatever flying out when they exhaled.
“I’m leavin’. This is borin’.”
“Can’t you at least wait until this ends?” Tom looked at Charlain.
She crossed her arms over her chest.
What sounded like fake laughter came from the rock-box as the tall, dark man told the big-breasted blonde some sort of joke. Words began to roll across the rock with some bad music in the background.
“There! It’s over! I’m goin’!”
“You can’t go yet,” Falz said. “It’s just getting good. ‘Transylvania Sheriff’ is on next. It’s really cool.”
“I don’t care. I’m leavin’.”
“Well… See you later, Charlain. I’m staying here with Falz,” Tom said.
“Yeah. Staying with Falz,” Tim said.
“Yeah,” Dick said, yellow crunchies flying from his mouth.
“Fine, but I’ve the only light.”
“Bye, Charlain.”
“Bye.”
“Yeah.” More yellow crunchies flew from Dick’s over-stuffed mouth.
“Fine.” Charlain stomped off exasperated at “Those men!”
As she walked away, she heard Falz saying that the drink providing wasn’t as strong as ale but was still potable. There was general laughter.
“And now back to…”