Читать книгу Sharmuziks: Beyond the Great Glad - Tim Brick - Страница 4

Opening his eyes, Nolton realised that he was in a room. He had a very strong headache. It was still pouring outside the window. The Sharmuzik was lying in a small bed, very much like his own. There was a small table nearby and a candle went out on it. At the end of the room, at the door, was a cabinet. Most likely, this was someone’s bedroom.

Suddenly, there were footsteps behind the door. Someone was gently opening the door. A Sharmuzik who was a stranger to Nolton and much older than him came into the room. His hair was grey and he was wearing a red knitted jacket. The Sharmuzik was holding a kerosene lamp in his right hand, the light of which reflected from his glasses. It seemed as if his eyes were shining themselves as they stared intently at Nolton.

“You’re already up? Though, no need for a response, I can see for myself. I may be old, but my vision is 20/20! And my hearing is not bad either, for that matter,” the Sharmuzik said. “What was your name again? Ah, Nolton, of course. As you can see, my memory is no longer the same. Just heard it, but already managed to forget it!” he said grinning. “By the way, let me introduce myself. Professor Wisen, a modest scientist and master of this abode. At your service.”

“It’s a pleasure,” said Nolton.

“Now then… we’ll have time for conversations later. Please join us at the table. The others have been waiting for some time for you.”

In the kitchen, all the members of the expedition were sitting at a small table. Together with the lost Barti. They were all drinking a cup of hot tea with a slice of berry pie and were very happy to see Nolton. As it turned out, he had been lying on the bed unconscious for several hours.

When Barti was running with all his might from the rain, he stumbled upon the hut of Professor Wisen by chance, who gladly agreed to help search for the others. Barti was quite quick to find Lumi, Renchi and Archi who were in turn trying to find him. And while they were arguing and figuring out who found whom, they realized that they had now lost Nolton, who only recently was with them. He was found by Professor Wisen who had unintentionally scared him with his glasses that were reflecting the moonlight. But in the end, all’s well that ends well. Lumi and Renchi carried Nolton to the hut, where he was made a compress and left to rest.

Having heard the story of his friends, Nolton already wanted to question Professor Wisen about who he was and how he had ended up here. And whether he had written that diary that mentioned another city. But Archi beat him to it, as he was not one to ever miss an opportunity to obtain new information for the local weekly. He immediately prepared his pen and notebook, waited, out of politeness, for Professor Wisen to finish his tea, and addressed him with a question.

“Could you tell us your story, Mr Wisen? I am certain that all those present will be very interested to learn a little more about you.”

Having heard these words, the grey-headed Sharmuzik looked around at those present to make sure that they all were really interested in his story. All the Sharmuziks except Barti had put down their pie and tea and were all ears for the fascinating story. Rising from his chair, Professor Wisen picked the teapot, added some water to it from a wooden barrel and hung it over the fireplace.

“We need more tea for a long story,” the Sharmuzik explained his actions, and went back to his seat. Sitting comfortably in his chair, he looked somewhere into the distance, as if looking into the distant past, and began to recount his story. “I remember that day as if it were yesterday. I was sitting at a long table waiting for the others. And so, when everyone had gathered, we began discussing a problem that was worrying the whole city. There was a severe drought, and all the fields were destroyed. And there were not enough food supplies to feed all of Tulun…”

When he heard the word Tulun, Nolton, at that very moment, remembered the notes in the diary and the mark on the map – that was exactly the name of the city. For some time, he was not listening to Professor Wisen’s story at all. New questions were popping up in his head every second without getting any answers to them. When Nolton went back to listening to the story, he realised that he had already missed a lot of information.

…we found that island and collected a lot of fruit. But when we returned home… when we returned something happened…” Professor Wisen tried hard to remember what happened when they were returning, but in vain. “In fact, all I remember is that I was flying in the sky, then some field, a forest… Yes, yes, a forest, this forest. I entered the forest and found this hut. There was a lot of food supplies in here, everything was so clean as if the master of the house was about to return. But I’ve never met him.”

“But why did you stay in this hut, why didn’t you return to your city?” asked Nolton suddenly.

“I…” professor Wisen wanted to say something but he was immediately interrupted by Barti, who had started to snore very loudly, having fallen asleep at the table during the conversation. In his left hand he was holding a bun that he had already bitten into and an empty cup in his right hand.

“You must be very tired from the road. Let us put off all questions for tomorrow,” said the grey-haired Sharmuzik.

Without even arguing, everyone went to bed, tired after the night-time adventures. Lumi and Renchi settled in hiking beds, which unfolded from a small wooden cube into a rather comfortable bed. Archi decided to settle in the armchair by the fireplace. Nolton settled on the couch and Barti, who had already fallen asleep during the conversation, remained at the table.

The next morning, Nolton was awakened by a very delicious smell. Reluctantly opening his eyes, he saw Professor Wisen standing by the fireplace and stirring some kind of liquid in a cauldron. Barti was still sitting at the table with the unfinished bun and the tea cup in his hands. Not even the pestering fly that was constantly whirling over his head had managed to wake him up. But as soon as Professor Wisen asked everyone to the table, Barti immediately opened his eyes and got ready for breakfast – finishing yesterday’s bun eagerly, having sat down at the table and placed a plate in front of himself. The others did not mind a good breakfast either. In less than a minute, everybody was sitting on the chairs.

“We should have a hearty meal before going on with our expedition. I’m certain that it will now be much easier to find… what do you call it… Tulun,” said Archi, getting up from his chair after a sound sleep.

“Easier? Why do you think it will be easier now?” asked Renchi.

“Because now we’re going to have a guide,” said Archi, glancing in the direction of Professor Wisen, who did not immediately catch the drift of what the conversation was about, and continued to stir the liquid. Suddenly he stopped, noticing that all those present were staring at him.

“What? So you want me to be your guide?” Professor Wisen asked, surprised.

“Why not? You know where the city is located, and you can certainly get us out of this forest,” said Archi, but seeing Professor Wisen’s expression, his confidence waned.

“The problem is that I can’t get you out of the forest,” said the grey-haired man dryly and went back to his cauldron.

“Why? The forest is not endless,” said Lumi grinning, who was not expecting such a response at all.

Turning away from what he was doing, Professor Wisen said with a serious expression: “Herein lies the problem… No matter how long you walk along the trail, you are bound to return to this hut. It is impossible to get out of this forest.”

All those present were shocked by what they just heard. The thought that they were forever stuck here flashed through Nolton’s mind.

“Well then… the broth is ready,” said Professor Wisen, taking the wooden stick on which the cauldron was suspended and attempting to carry it to the table by himself. But he gave up on this idea as the cauldron turned out to be much heavier than it appeared at first glance. Realising what was happening, Lumi and Renchi promptly ran up to Professor Wisen. Lifting the cauldron with much effort, they carried it to the table. Barti, who was the least worried about the forest and other matters, was already ready for the meal. But at that moment, when the Sharmuziks placed the cauldron on the tablecloth, the table fell through in the middle and together with the cauldron disappeared underground. There was a huge hole in the floor around which the Sharmuziks were sitting, having been left without breakfast.

“Is there a vault under the hut?” asked Nolton, peering into the hole with the others.

“Now there is,” said Professor Wisen, who was as surprised as the others.

Lumi was the first to go down a rope to the newly formed vault and hung on the walls several camping flashlights. They emitted a blue light and resembled small balls. Now it was easy to look around the entire space. It was quite a spacious and cool room, without anything special. Except for a passage that led into an unknown direction and a staircase that led upwards.

“Well, what’s in there?” asked Archi, who had stayed with the others above.

“It seems there’s nothing… I’ve found a staircase, I’ll go check!” said Lumi whose voice echoed from the walls. Lighting his way, Lumi quickly climbed the stairs and came against something wooden.

“Where are you? Lumi?” shouted out Archi again, losing sight of his friend. And suddenly, from behind, a cabinet collapsed on the floor almost squashing Barti who was standing next to it. Lumi had pushed it as he stood in the gap between the walls. As it turned out, the staircase that led to the vault was located right behind the cabinet.