Читать книгу Inside Out: A Pagan Tale for the Child Within - Heather Brunton - Страница 6

CHAPTER TWO

I must’ve passed out, thought the girl as she reached for the bench to pull herself upright. The sun was a dull glare as she steadied herself and tried to turn the tap. But it was stiffer than she remembered. Finally it gave a screech and sputtered and spewed forth a vile brown mud. The putrid stench of it filled the girl’s nostrils and the ice-cream she’d eaten made a hasty retreat as she gagged over the basin.

When she had emptied her stomach she stood upright trying to regain her balance as a wave of heat washed over her.

‘That’s it! No more!’ she yelled to the emptiness. Not another step will I take for Madcap Morton. I must have been crazy to let him talk me into it. She turned to leave the room, wiping her face with the front of her sweatshirt and stepped outside. But her feet met fresh air and she found herself skidding and sliding down to land a second later on solid rock.

‘What the hell?’

Gathering her wits she sat upright and looked back to where the toilet block stood, wedged at least fifty feet up in the side of a mountain of gravel. Looking around and below, she could see that she was perched on a narrow ledge and that somehow she’d left the park.

What? Where the hell am I? Looks like a... quarry? For that is what it did look like. I must be dreaming. I’ll wake up soon. Must stay calm, just go with it.

On shaky legs Maisey stood to take in her predicament. To her befuddled mind, it seemed she had only two choices, as there was no way to climb back up and no way was she going down. The ledge was only a foot wide and wound around the mountain in either direction.

Taking a few steps to her left, she heard a noise, a voice.

‘Over here.’ It said but no one was in sight. The hair on the back of her neck rose for a second before she decided that, like this whole scene, she’d imagined it. But no sooner did she make that observation than she heard it again, louder now.

‘Take my hand, here!’

Maisey let her eyes drift downward to the gravel wall beside her. A long wizened hand waved at her from out of the hillside. A scream tore from her throat and she turned and bolted in the opposite direction along the ledge. This way it is, she thought, and with terror mounting she ran over the downward twisting trail. A glance behind told her that the hand was not following so she slowed to catch her breath. A nervous giggle escaped her throat as she pondered just how a hand might chase its victim. Her laugh dwindled away as her throat cried out for a drink. Her skin felt filthy, sweat mixed with dirt encrusted her entire body.

Maisey felt like crying with panic as she rounded a bend in the hillside and the trail seemed to end. But as she drew near, she could hear voices and saw that there was an arch which led into the mountainside. She paused before its cold and uninviting entrance. She sighed. No choice, she thought as she entered.

The voices grew louder as she traversed the tunnel by the light of a dim glow ahead. A tight knot had formed in her stomach, a reminder of her now empty belly. She could smell smoke as she neared the entrance to a huge cavern. Now and then a voice would call out though the words were lost in a loud shuffling sound that grew even louder as she approached.

Huddled in the tunnel, Maisey gazed about with disbelieving eyes. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of people were shuffling backwards and forwards aimlessly or so it seemed. As the girl watched, she saw that most were gathering wood from various piles to keep their fires burning. They were oblivious to her presence; their heads hanging despondently, their children huddled around the fires.

The huge expanse of the cavern looked like the inside of a beehive or what she imagined the interior of a beehive looked like. Tier upon tier of levels, spiralling from the top down to the bottom and on every level were small caves set at regular intervals with people living in them.

At that moment a woman looked to where the girl squatted and their eyes met. A wave of empathy flowed through Maisey; the woman’s hopelessness was like a cloak she wore. Maisey felt herself drowning in despair and wanted to run but just then the woman broke the spell by looking away and continuing with her endless tasks. Maisey looked now at her own clothes which were torn, tattered and grimy from her ordeal. They accept me, she thought. They think I’m one of them. She couldn’t blame them for she must have looked a fright.

The people on the upper levels were in a state similar to her own and the farther down the beehive she looked, the worse off the people appeared until at the bottom lay a bubbling, steaming and festering bile-like froth. Way down there, the people were barely distinguishable from wild animals; with long matted hair and wounds that wept.

A scuffling sound heralded the arrival of a thick-set man. In his hand he carried a stock whip and as he approached Maisey from a lower level, she ducked behind the rock’s entrance, uncertain if he had seen her. He sauntered past her then rested his back against the rock face. Maisey tried to still her beating heart for it seemed to thud and pound in her ears. Casually and with practiced hand, the man flicked the whip out and back toward himself, the cracking beat of his habit filling the cavern with an even greater noise.

‘Go to the top!’

The deep bellow came from behind her and Maisey screamed in fright and fell sideways at the sight of the bald, giant of a man that had come up on her from behind. The other guard turned and as if in slow motion she watched as they converged on her, their yelling drowning out the roar of terror in her own ears.

Her movements seemed laboriously slow as she tried to move away from their paths and with a speed that surprised even her, she lunged for the bald man’s leg and sinking her teeth in, bit down into the flesh. She fought the urge to pull back as her teeth seemed to sink into his putty-like flesh and only when his agonised scream tore through the cavern and he reeled away from her, did she release him and run flat out for the caves entrance.

‘I’ll bloody well make you pay for that don’t you worry!’

The bald man was literally hopping mad and the girl didn’t doubt that he would extract payment for his pain if he could.

Before the man could reach her, Maisey was back at the spot where she’d landed. Nervously, she leaned her back against the hillside and gasped for air, casting glances around her for any sign of pursuit and also in memory of the hand that had originally startled her. But all was quiet so she allowed herself the grace of not thinking about her predicament, while she caught her breath.

‘Over here.’

At once Maisey was alert.

‘Over here!’ The voice was more insistent and cautiously the girl looked about. Shale fell in a trickle down the hill before the hand appeared once again, followed quickly now by a head.

‘Over here, quick, take my hand and I’ll pull you through.’

It was the eyes. Ultra blue, they seemed to pierce through her, somehow knowing what she was thinking. In that split second Maisey felt trust for the elf-like being whose face shone with kindness and laughter.

‘Hurry, take my hand,’ he insisted.

The girl did as she was asked and an instant later, landed on her backside, having been pulled through the shale and between a small gap in the rock face. She stood, but banging her head, decided to crouch instead. The hand which had so terrified her was now extended in welcome; its owner a pointy eared dwarf with weathered skin.

‘I’m Rendal and you are?’

‘Maisey.’

‘Pleased to make your acquaintance, Maisey.’

She shook his hand but frowned now at his cheery face which seemed to be laughing at her.

‘What’s so funny, short stuff?’

Rendal ignored the insult. ‘Life’s funny, and you’d be a whole lot better off if you laughed more.’

‘Well I don’t see what there is to laugh at. For one, how did I get here and where exactly is here?’

Rendal turned and signalled for the girl to follow. ‘There’s no time to explain, come with me. Follow closely and be very quiet.’

‘But?’

Rendal silenced her. ‘We must hurry or we’ll be caught in the avalanche.’

‘What avalanche?’ asked Maisey, following him through a twisting tunnel that wove upward.

‘The avalanche of fear and doubt that hangs like a cloud,’ he whispered. ‘If it penetrates our senses for too long, we must stay.’

Maisey crouched low and hurried to keep up with her tiny escort. Breaking out of the tunnel, they scrambled through shrubs to stand atop a thick outcrop of rock. Before them stretched a green valley dotted here and there with trees.

‘Get down.’ Rendal whispered desperately as he pushed the girl behind bracken.

‘We’ve still got this to cross before we’re home.’

‘What is this place? And where is home?’

She was even more confused now, for the terrain looked inviting enough.

‘This expanse is known as The Void and it stretches between this land which is known as Id and my own homeland of Euphoria. There are eyes that watch so you are going to have to wash at the spring before we cross or they’ll spot us for sure.’

Maisey realised that she needed a good wash but she wouldn’t have risked staying here to get it. She tried to get a whiff of herself. Surely the enemy couldn’t smell her? Then again.

‘Come on! Stop mucking about.’ Rendal sounded quite stern and for once she didn’t argue as she followed after him around the perimeter of the valley, using shrubs for cover.

Eventually Rendal veered off into a thickly wooded area and weaving through the trees, they emerged into a clearing. A well stood surrounded by a wide circle of flowering fruit trees, their blossoms sending out a plume of fragrance. Hurrying to wind the bucket up, Rendal instructed Maisey to stand nearby.

‘But why? Why should I do what you say?’ she snapped. Having to follow blindly made her irritable.

‘Well now, you always have a choice.’ His eyes twinkled with humour. ‘But the options don’t seem favourable now, do they?’

There was little comfort to the truth of his words so the girl walked over to where he stood with bucket raised.

‘You must leave your fear and doubt here, otherwise we will be detected as we cross the void,’ he explained.

‘What?’ She was confused. ‘I thought you wanted the dirt off me.’

Rendal laughed. ‘That can wait till we’re home. There’s different dangers here.’ He held his hand up to silence the girl. ‘This spring runs from Euphoria to Id and if you place your hands in the water, you should imagine all of Id’s filth flowing away.’

Reluctantly she did as asked and felt lighter and happier than she could remember. Finished, she stepped back and allowed Rendal to send the bucket downward.

‘The current will return it to where it rightfully belongs.’

That completed, Maisey followed Rendal out of the clearing and back to the edge of the void.

‘We’ll make a run for it. I trust you’ve gotten rid of all the slime you picked up in Id because if you haven’t then Well, I guess we’ll soon find out.’ Maisey took the hand he extended, then they were off.

Out over the valley they ran at breakneck speed. Maisey found she could barely keep up. Suddenly a scream pierced the air. ‘They’re there!’

Rendal ran harder as the girl looked back to see the rocks dissolve and become large armies of grey creatures with spears in hand, forming a wall that was fast approaching. Though the creatures were only a few inches tall, there was no question of their ferocity and with newfound strength, the girl leapt ahead, nearly overtaking Rendal on the uphill leg.

Only at the top did the pair stop to catch their breath and turning, they watched the defeated army meld back into the terrain.

‘That was close,’ gasped Rendal. He patted Maisey’s arm. ‘You drew on determination. You’ve still got it.’ A tear formed in the corner of his eye and he brushed it away. ‘We’ve got a lot more to work with than I first thought.’

Why does he care? thought the girl. Nevertheless she felt a warm glow spread over her at the compliment. ‘What were those creatures?’ she asked.

‘Those are Fear’s Armies of Doubt sent to keep you in Id. You must still have a lot of fear and doubt in you for them to detect us so quickly. Mind you, it only takes a little fear for doubt to gain a foothold. But, you’ve seen Id. Now I shall show you my land.’