Talla's Tale (Part Two)
Talla Bobbs chuckled as did everyone else in the sitting room including a young little elf who was hiding from his parents' eyes. Luckily nobody could hear Ho's giggles. He was trying hard to stifle them. It was the guffawing of Fender Apple that was drawing all of the attention. The gaunt elf with the cold stare had finally broken loose from his emotional casket.
"Ah, I could laugh with you about it now Fender Apple but when this tale was in progress I could have wrung your wiry neck!" Talla Bobbs said with a bellyful of humour.
"Why? Whatever could you mean Mr. Bobbs?" Silvie cried, slapping her leg with amusement.
"I'll tell you what I mean," Talla Bobbs replied, the merriment erased from his face like the sun disappearing behind a rainy cloud. "At that moment when Hickory asked the Baron who had given him the stones, our friend here, Mr. Apple, climbed out of his cobweb somewhere hidden behind the granite columns of the forecourt and said, and I quote, 'I can vouch that Hickory Robinbreast is well acquainted with me and I have been a ward of your country for nigh fifteen years.'
"I was astounded. I recognized Mr. Apple's face at once although it was more lean and sallow than it is now. Fender and I used to be chums years before. Back then he was near as plump as I was. I had always wondered what had happened to him. One day, he was there. The next he was gone."
"I could not tarry about and be a schoolboy all my life," Fender Apple said, his voice gruff from his previous laughter. "I had always meant to venture out and see the world that lay beyond our hometown, Woodhaven. So one day I decided that that day was the day that I should commence my high romances with the world at large. I had traveled far and wide and had seen many a wonder. As luck would have it, I traveled to the New World, Brazil to be exact. I was treated as a talisman aboard a Portuguese frigate that transported coffee and cocoa between Sao Paolo and London. I was the lucky charm for these sailors for there was ne'er a storm nor an idle wind upon the voyages that I was mascot. The Baron got wind of me through some of his lesser lords that sailed to Brazil with me. He was a superstitious fellow, that Baron of Castelo Branco. He found out where I was and who my captain would be. He went about bribing both the Captain and me and through this gentle coercion, I was persuaded to become the talisman of his court. It was a position that I can only describe as interesting." Fender Apple swallowed. His throat must have been parched by all these words. "There never was a man quite like this baron."
"Don't you mean to say that there never was a monster quite like the Baron of Castelo Branco?" Talla Bobbs interupted Fender. "He was a ruthless ..."
"The Baron was a man of strong passions!" Fender Apple raised his voice. His bulging eyes seemed to come out even further from their sockets. "He was cruel only to those that he had reason to be."
"And he had reason to be cruel to Hickory and me? Sometimes, Fender, I wonder if you have truly left his court!" Talla Bobbs shook his head.
Merek looked at the two oldtimers. Apparently they were not the great friends-in-arms that he had supposed them to be. "Go on with your tale, Mr. Bobbs," Merek said. He had decided if he had to pick a side between Talla Bobbs and Fender Apple he would choose the cherubic, chubby elf.
"There's not really that much more in the telling. Once Fender declared that there was fallacy in Hickory Robinbreast's proclamation, well, it was like all the wind was taken from Hick's sail. He had had the Baron on the run but now the tables had turned. His advantage went to naught.
"'Fender Apple, you old scallywag, is that you?' Hickory uttered his surprise. 'What brings you to his Lordship's court?'
"I don't know what the matter with you was back then Fender. You were completely devoid of any elfly warmth to your fellow Woodhavenites."
Fender Apple cleared his throat. "I was a part of the Baron's court. I had to make show as to where my allegiance stood."
"You mean to say that you sided with that beast instead of Hick and me? Why? What hold did he have over you to make you become a turncoat to your own friends?"
"We have been over this ground many a time, Mr. Bobbs. If you have not fathomed my reasons by now then surely you must have an extremely thick skull," Fender said cooly.
"Your reason was that you were afraid of that bully and that was that!" Talla Bobbs charged. "Hickory knew that as soon as you didn't reply to his question as to how you came to be in the Baron's court."
"Hickory Robinbreast was made aware of my true reasons at the same time as you, Talla Bobbs. You know that!"
"Oh, never mind," Mr Bobbs sighed heavily. "Water under a bridge, Mr. Apple, water under a bridge. I have a tale to complete for our good hosts here. I am sure that they do not appreciate our bickering." He looked over to Merek to see if he was getting his support.
Merek nodded his head. "You have me fascinated, Talla. Uncle Hickory never gave us the details about his Portuguese adventure."
"Hick didn't tell you because he wanted to protect you as you will find out," Talla rearranged his portly self into the sofa until he was satisfied that he was comfortable. As soon as a semblance of this state occured, he went on.
"The Baron started to ask Fender all forms of questions about what he knew about Hick and me. They spoke in a Portuguese dialect that was peculiar to the Castelo Branco district. I had trouble grasping what was exactly being said, my Portuguese being that of the scholarly, schoolbook type. It was hard to understand the Baron and Fender but I believe that I got the general gist of what was being said.
"And what was said did not bode well for Hick and me. Fender made the whole elfin nation sound like a tribe of adventurers that sought only to make personal gains. The word 'imp' came up more than once. One sentence that I recall verbatim was spoken by our friend, Mr. Apple, here. He said, 'You can't trust a shrimp. They lie and connive.'
"The Baron took all this sham from Mr. Apple, not once ever questionning the authenticity of what was being said. Not that that would matter to such a brute. All the Baron really wanted to know was where the gems were. He didn't give a hoot that Hick and I left our homeland amid the tears of our families. Soon the Baron grew weary of Mr. Apple's condescending confessions. He told the turncoat to shut up and to get out of the forecourt. There were too many shrimps in here already, he said. You should have seen Fender skidaddle. No rabbit could have moved so fast.
"Once Fender was gone, the Baron turned on us with even more savagery. 'Where are the emeralds?' he bellowed.
"I did not know so I couldn't answer. I had grown as curious as the Baron about the whereabouts of the stones. I had completely forgotten about Hickory's little walkabout back at the campsite. Had I remembered that, I am most sure that I would have spilled the beans to the Baron.
"Hick, for his part, continued to plea his ignorance. He had no idea about what the Baron was talking about. Of course, this playacting on Hick's part was stoking the Baron's contempt for us. He knew as well as I that Hickory was boldface lying. But for all his might, the big dark man could not get Hickory to budge away from his stance.
"Even a belicose howler like the Baron can grow tired of yelling at the top of his lungs. He snapped his fingers and was soon attended upon by his brawny hooligans. He ordered them to take Hick and me, the two shrimps, down into the dungeon. I tell you Merek and Silvie, I could feel my blood freeze. In my mind, dungeons conjure up images of merciless torture chambers. As we were led down into the bowels of the keep I was plagued with all manner of grotesque apparations of devices that could set a body ajar.
"'Hick,' I whispered in our native tongue, trusting that none of the brutes could understand it, 'What did you do with the jewels?'
"Hickory gave me an angry glare. He had not forgotten that I had let the Baron know more than what he had intended.
"The deeper we went, the colder, the darker and the damper it got. Those torture chamber thoughts of mine grew more vivid, malicious and red. I thought I would go mad from them. There was a cool, clammy sweat all over me. 'Hick,' I more than whispered, 'Tell me where the emeralds are. I'm sure the harpy never intended us to be exposed to this inhumane treatment when he gave them to you. He is not going to hold you to his word. Tell them, please!'
"Suddenly my breath was shorn from my chest. One of the brutes had whacked a stick against me. I guess I was not supposed to talk. I was gasping for air and my legs were reluctant to walk. Yet I was pushed along deeper and deeper into the keep to a destination that I was certain would be far more vile and dire than I could imagine.
"I don't know how many stairwells we descended nor how many ghostly dank corridors we crept through. They seemed as endless as my mounting fears. But we finally came upon a mammoth oaken door whose wooden fibres splintered out with gallow pain. The smell of that door was so pungent that it made my insides reel.
"We came to a halt at this door. I was near faint with terrible apprehension. I was expecting one of the brutes to open this gateway to the netherworld with a set of large clanging keys that mimed the sound of snapping bones. But no such keys nor any others were produced. Beside the door was a small, circular portal that any creature larger than a rabbit which included Hick and I could not fit. One of the guards hoisted his lantern to this window and then brought it down. After a pause he did it again and then he did it a third time. I comprehended that this must be some form of signal to somebody or something on the other side. Then from that side of the door I heard a thud, thud, thud. Whoever it was was drawing near. My imagination was producing pictures of devils and demons.
"Then the sound of creaking bolts, grinding latches and splitting blisters came out to us in a fiendish cacophony. It was here that I could no longer maintain my composure and my consciousness. I was certain that some denizen of Hell itself was waiting to accept us from the brutes. The visions that haunted me were so intense that from pure fright I fainted.
"Some time must have elapsed while I was fey to the world. For when my senses came timidly back to restore me to my wakeful self I found myself alone in a room that was beyond my expectations. I had been fearing devils and their coldblooded ilk and I had thought that I would find myself in some fiendish chamber of torture. But what I had found myself in was a small dark room that wreaked of filfthy straw. I grant you that this room was as unsanitary a room as you could find on this good Earth. It probably harbored as much disease as to disable Napoleon's army. But when compared to those grim nightmares that had cowered me into faint, I found the whole room quite palatable to my accruing relief.
"When I said that this room was small I mean if I was of the stature of the men of the world I would be so cramped that my joints would begin to ache. But being an elf I had room enough to change my posture once any muscle within me began to cramp. There was a locked door in front of me. It bore a small cubicle of a window that was set at a height where if I stood on my tippy toes I would just barely be able to peep out. There was a dim, amber light coming from that window. I peered out.
"I was not able to view very much owing to the dearth of illumination and the circumstances of the situation I found myself in. From what little I saw I gathered that I was in some form of jail block. Across the hall I could see similar rooms as the one that I was in. I was being housed in one of many dungeon cells.
"It was then as I looked at these forlorn little rooms that I felt the immensity of a gravid depression bear its full weight upon me. I had no idea what was to become of me. Was I to sit here and waste away until I had spent all of the days granted to me upon my birth? All I knew was that the Baron was a very determined man. He meant to get those emeralds from Hickory and just because we were not in a torture chamber now did not eliminate its existence. A man as cruel as the Baron would not forego building a keep that did not contain at least one of these nasty luxuries. All the weight of fear that had accompanied me down into the bowels of this castle had not been abated just because I found myself in a relatively unpainful setting. Sometimes the expectation is more gruelling than the taste.
"I was about to sit down on the straw and languish in my despair when I heard an elfin voice hail me. I could recognize that voice anywhere. It was Hick's.
"'Talla Bobbs!' Hick cried out. 'Are you awake yet?'
"'Hickory? Where are you?' I wailed as I rushed to peer out the window. And then I could see him or at least I saw his head from his nose up. He was in the room directly across the hall from me.
"'Bats! Can you sleep long!' he laughed.
"I didn't know how long I was out but it must have been long enough to replenish my strength. Don't forget that I had been awake ever since we set out on that ill-fated rowboat from Spain. That had been dawn. I had been awake clear through to the next dawn and in the meantime had been in a prolonged state of peril. What I had been through should have been enough to warrant me a week's sleep.
"'How long have I been out?' I asked Hickory.
"'I don't know. I don't have any means of telling time in this infernal place.' he retorted. 'But you have been out long enough. I wish I could go out. I've been awake all along. This place is making me into a cuckoo bird. How can you stand the rancid stench of that straw let alone all those vulgar bugs. They don't stop biting for even a second!'
"'I don't know,' I replied. 'I was just that tired, I guess.'
"'You were just that scared, you mean,' Hick said sarcastically.
"Now, I'm not afraid to admit to fear. Fear is a very natural thing. It's a way that your body tells you you had better be careful. I think that's the way that it works for all of us. All of us except for Hickory Robinbreast, that is. That elf could never feel fear. If he did, his actions never betrayed it. He was not daunted by the waterfall, the harpy and the Baron. 'Well, I'm not like you,' I replied to him. 'At least, I'm normal.' It never even occured to me that there might be some other reason that Hickory could not sleep.
"'What's to become of us, Hick?' I asked. I wasn't afraid to let fear put a tremble in my voice.
"'We're not going to stay in this hellhole,' was his answer.
"'Are you going to tell the Baron where the gems are?' I asked innocently, hoping that that was his plan.
"'Are you crazy?' he railed. 'I've given my word to the Questionner that I would throw them into the ocean. I am not about to go back on my word.'
"'Then how are we going to get out?' I growled. I was angry that Hickory could be so stubborn as to stick to a foolish promise that had such grave implications for me and him.
"'We are elves, Talla Bobbs. Elves! Do you hear me? We cannot be rendered powerless by witless brutes. We will find a way out of here. You mark my words! And when we are out, Talla, you can be assured that the Baron won't be greedily palming those gems!'
"At that moment, I heard a rustling at the other end of the hallway. There was that thud, thud, thud that I had heard before.
"'That'll be the sentry,' Hick said. 'He's probably got some gruel and water for us.'
"In the dim amber light I could see the sentry's shadow. If he were to be anything like his shadow then he would be a bent, misshaped soul of a long and lean form.
"Slowly he came into view. He would have been the tallest man that I had ever seen had it not been for the crook in his back. His shape was gnarled and twisted. The thud, thud, thud that I had been hearing was produced by his clubfoot bouncing against the stone floor. He was an old man, I believe, yet his semblance made him appear even more aged. He was besetted with rickets, palsy and a toothless mouth. I couldn't help but feel sorry for this old lout. As Hickory had said, he was carrying a pail of slop that must have been the food that we were meant to eat.
"'Stone deaf, this turnkey is!' Hick said. 'I tried to talk to him earlier but all that I could get out of him was a silly grin. Did you know that he has no tongue in his mouth? Shorn off I believe by that Baron fellow. Nonetheless, I would say that he is a likeable wretch. It's through him that I mean to garnish our escape.'
"The turnkey produced a key that opened the portal to my cell. He looked at me long with sad gray eyes. He probably didn't like his station in life. Then he gave me that silly grin that Hickory had told me about. Hickory had failed to tell me that this poor soul had black gums. I tried to smile back at him but could not sustain that expression for he began to ladel the slop that was my dinner onto the straw at my feet. 'Hey!' I cried. 'Don't I merit a bowl?' His smile never left his face. He hadn't heard me. I'd forgotten that he was deaf.
"'No bowls or spoons here!' Hickory laughed. 'I have to eat from the straw too.'
"I remember looking down at the pureed goop. It sat upon the straw like an infant's mess. And the smell of it, Merek! Ah, not even a starving animal would lap it up. I was not feeling so well. I thought I would gag. I was reminded of my own childhood when my Mammy forced me to eat green stompe.
"'You had better eat it Talla because you're not going to get anything else!' Hickory sounded just like my Mammy. But my Mammy had something going for her that Hick didn't. At least green stompe is good for you. I doubted that this slop that was oozing into the straw had any nutritional value at all.
"The turnkey had now opened Hickory's portal and was beginning to ladel out his share of this thinly disguised poison. I was watching from my portal. The air was not as rancid with the staunch of the puree by the window. I didn't expect Hickory to do anything so I was taken aback when I saw him hand that poor dreg something.
"'What is it?' I asked Hick. I need not be wary of speaking aloud for the guard was deaf.
"Hickory shot me a menacing glare. 'It's a gruel made of pimento, tomato and potato,' he answered. 'Why don't you eat your food and do something else with your mouth besides talk?'
"At once I caught the meaning of Hick's glare and his rather rude comment. I had forgotten that just because the guard was deaf didn't mean that there were not other ears that could hear us. Hick was obviously up to something and he did not want others to know about it.
"At this time, I saw the guard go down to the next cell to Hickory's. He ladelled out the goop into that room. That meant that there were others being cooped up here besides the two of us. Although I could not see the guard any longer, I listened carefully. I heard the tinkling of opening windows. There were many people down here in this dungeon. I suddenly recalled the company of soldiers that had placed us under arrest. They must have been sent down here as well. And there was one other that I remembered. This one I would not instinctively trust. The Baron had sent down his spy who had witnessed us with the Questionner. He had seen the harpy give Hickory the emeralds. He might be down here as well. He'd probably be trying to make some good points with the Baron by giving him some interesting tidbits about the conversations that transpired between Hick and I. I swore to myself that I would not breech Hickory's confidence again. I would have to be on my guard all the time so that no foolish slips would come from my tongue.
"I forced myself to sit down on the straw and start eating that foul gruel that would have to pass for nourishment. Hick was up to something and from knowing Hick I knew that I would have to have as much strength as possible. The stuff was even more horrid to the palate than it was to the nose. How could such an assortment of earth-grown items grow so foul? It must have been stewed and simmered over a year ago. Unlike wine, food goes bad with the course of time.
"I lapped up the last of the heap that had managed not to drift down into the straw. I'm sure that any mouse or rat hidden in there would be more choosy than me in considering it for a meal. My hands were messy with that sticky goop and my throat was becoming parched. Didn't the Baron provide water with his meals, I wondered.
"Just as this notion came upon me, I heard the thud, thud, thud of the turnkey's limp. I began licking my lips in anticipation for it seemed likely to me that the guard must be doing his water round now. I hoped that he would not apportion the cool relief the way that he had handled the slop. Even my severe thirst could not coerce me into lapping moisture from that disease-riddled straw. I had determined that I would be ready for him if he tried that nasty routine. I stood beneath my portal with my hands cupped so that I could catch the water as it dropped from his ladel.
"But the turnkey did not come to my door. He went to Hickory's. At once, I got onto my toes so that I could espy what was going on. Maybe as Hickory's mouth gushed with water my thirst would be slaked as well. Then I noticed something queer. The turnkey's grissled forehead was sparkling in the amber light with sweat. That was odd because it was far too cold down here for a perspiration to come beading forth. There was a shiftiness in the old fellow's eyes as well. His movement was jerky as if there were some taxing drain within him. He got out a key and with a trembling hand had opened Hickory's door, not his portal, but his door. At once, Hickory stumbled out. Silently, he snatched the key ring from the frantic guard. Hick came to my door and began trying keys for my latch. There was a whole host of the iron keys on the chain and Hick was unable to locate the right one. The guard limped over to him and with a long, gnarled finger pointed to a particular key. Hickory placed it into the lock and I could hear the metal mechanisms inside the lock tumble and trip. My door flung open.
"The first thing that I saw was Hickory placing his finger to his lip. I had to be quiet. We were escaping. We were not being released. I ambled out into the amber hall. It was longer than I had expected. There might have been fifty cells along this one corridor alone.
"The guard's breathing was heavy. He was not one to get involved in intrigue, I imagined. He pointed in the direction from which he had come. Without delay, we shuffled that way. Our cells were almost the first ones in this hallway. As we passed the few that separated us from the end of the hall, I could see leering at us heinous criminals who must have known the burden of guilt and punishment. We came upon a guard station, if that's what you would want to call it. All it was was a cot made of straw no cleaner than that that could be found in the cells. Beside this dour mattress lay a small scroll that had emblazoned on it a crucifix. I imagined this poor, gnarled man lying on that miserable bed reading his Scriptures while all about him was the vermin of Castelo Branco teemed in angry cells. What a dire life the old wretch was forced to live! My heart went out to him.
"At the guard station, the old turnkey came to a stop. He fumbled in the pockets of his pantalons. He came up with a crumpled sheet of paper. With a shaking grip, he unravelled it. Then with a feathered quill which he had produced from the congeal of his mattress he began to scrawl something onto that paper. I remember feeling admiration for this bent figure. He had been blighted with as many travesties that it takes to break a stern man and yet he had the courage to carry on and somewhere along the line he had attained a skill that few men had acquired, he had the ability to write.
"He handed the paper to Hickory. Hick looked at it and shook his head. 'I'm sorry but I can't read that.' It was not that Hickory didn't possess this skill for Hick, as you well know, spent much of his time when he was at home reading the literature of man. He even had penned a few tomes. But the reason Hickory could not read the turnkey's note as I soon found out was because it was written in Portuguese, a language Hickory could not speak, let alone read.
"I took the crumpled paper from Hick and noticed that there were two messages upon it. On the top there was a note written in Elfish. I now knew what Hickory had given the guard at mealtime. It had been this paper with a note for Fender Apple. It had said, 'Fender, for the love of our people and your humble beginnings, get Talla and me out of here at once. You will be repaid handsomely for your aid. Signed Hickory Robinbreast, Fellow of Woodhaven.'
"I was astounded. I would not have believed that Fender Apple, talisman of the Court of Castelo Branco, would have conspired to our release. He had it too cushy here, I thought. But as my eyes keyed on the phrase, 'repaid handsomely', I knew that that was all that it would take to set Mr. Apple on this dangerous course. For that phrase appealed to the Fender Apple we had known in our earlier days. Fender was greedy. He always wanted to accumulate wealth. His mind was probably set on one of the missing emeralds. Our release was due to Fender Apple. I wondered what price he paid.
"Now, underneath Hickory's plea to Mr. Apple was the messy message scrawled in Portuguese by the turnkey. His hand had not been steady. It was thus difficult to discern the figures. This was compunded by the fact that although I could speak Portuguese fluently, I was still somewhat of a novice to its written form.
"'Well, what does it say?' Hickory asked hastily. He did not like the idea of us biding our time down here in the dungeon when it was important that we flee as fast as possible.
"'It's hard to read, Hick,' I complained. 'But I will try.' I began translating the message. 'Mr. Apple will meet you at the foot of the outdoor shrine within an hour. I shall lead you by underground passage to the place where the bilge of the keep is plumbed out onto the cliff. Trust me, I will not lead you astray.' It was signed 'de Sousa'.
"At once, Hickory nodded to the grinning wretch and beckoned him to lead us forth. de Sousa, the turnkey, began to hobble toward the big splintered oaken door that had previously ushered me into faint. It appeared little different from this side as it did from the other. A gloom seemed to emanate from it as if it were saying, 'You may come in but you will never get out.'
"de Sousa worked at the bolts and had soon breeched this door's obstructive wrath. We spilled out recklessly. We did not bother to check if there were any that were watching us. Only those bereft souls who were criminal or who were out of favour with the Baron would ever set foot down here. We needed not worry about being espied.
"We were led through a series of dark, eerie chasms that writhed this way and that through the bowels of the keep. It was very cold and damp down here. You could see your breath issue from your mouth. At last, we came upon some sewage lines. A wretched odor came from that foul water. I could feel the hairs in my nose wringle from that stench. Was this to be our passage to freedom? To be expelled from the keep in the manner that a man evacuates his effluvia? Needless to say, I did not relish this thought.
"Yet without hesitation de Sousa, our guide through the mire, waded into this fetid canal. The water was waist deep on his long, stooped frame. That meant that it would be at Hick's and my neck. Hick followed de Sousa into the sewage, his face was skewered from the unpleasantness of the situation. He turned to me and said, 'C'mon! Fender's not the kind to wait all day!'
"So with grim determination, I volleyed myself into the sewer and felt its icy coldness grip me as if to say, 'You are mine. You will never get out.' As I had forecasted, the water did come up to my neck. It was frigid and thick and made wading a difficult and strenuous chore. I don't know how far we traveled in that sewer. It could not have been more than several hundred yards but to me it seemed that we were wading to the very ends of the Earth. It twisted and veered and went through areas that blackest night could not match for darkness. In these spots, I could not even see de Sousa and Hickory ahead of me although I could hear their presence by the lapping of water against their plowing forms.
"At last, we came to the end of the sewer and I had never been so grateful. I could swear that that chill that was in my bones would never thaw. The end of the sewer line was a hole blasted out of the rock. The water flowed out of this hole in something that was reminiscent of the waterfall we had encountered before. de Sousa stopped at the edge. He pointed out into the fresh night air, which by the way was greatly appreciated by my nose. He was pointing towards an arbor that sat three quarters of the way down the ravine. There was a clearing in that glen from which I could see a whitestone amphitheatre shaped like a conkshell. There were many statues made of that same bleached stone that marked off the circumference of this clearing. I t was down there amid what I thought was a pleasant enough setting that we were to rendezvous with our benefactor, Mr. Fender Apple.
"We thanked de Sousa for his aid. He could not hear a word that we said being stone deaf as he was. But I am sure that he understood us for he patted Hick and I on our heads. I felt sorry for this gnarled lout. Once the Baron discovers our escape, it would be de Sousa that would have to pay and the Baron exacts a very severe payment.
"Hickory must have thought the same as me for he began to sign to de Sousa that he should come along with us and get away from this forlorn place. de Sousa grinned that silly grin of his. He shook his head 'no'. He patted his chest and pointed to the inside of the castle. He meant to stay here he was saying. Perhaps he had lived as long as he intended. To end his wretch life was no great loss to him. He would go forth into a new world where he would reap bounty. I never did hear of what became of him but every night I remember him in my prayers. I pray for his well being be it in this world or the next for de Sousa was a kind man.
"Our first step from the castle was a long one. The sewage spilled down onto a tier eight feet below us. There, it pooled and then settled into a more leisurely cadence as it seeped its way to the bottom of the ravine where it intermingled with a narrow river that might have been the very ribbon of water that had tried to take our lives. At this pool upon the first tier was a broad, shale shelf that would allow us to rest our feet upon solid ground.
"Hick jumped down first and then I. We landed rather brusquely into this pool which was not as deep as we had thought. Painfully, we crawled out of it and into the trees that surrounded it. Our clothes were soaked and with the night being as cool as it was we decided to shed them. Being cold was better than being cold and wet. So naked, we began to run through the forest in the direction that de Sousa had indicated. As I ran I was hoping that none of this was a trap, that we would only find an obliging Fender Apple at the shrine. My heart and my spirit would have been broken if we were to find the Barons' henchmen waiting for us there.
"At length, we reached our goal. The trees which had been thick came to an abrupt end. We found ourselves in a clearing. Ahead of us stood the amphitheatre as a beacon of calm in this sea of madness. It was quite the serene place with all of its statuary and its lilacs. Unlike the art that the Baron displayed in his forecourt, the statues here depicted a gentler nature. There were busts of mother and child, saints with their eyes focused heavenward, and animals that bore their heads proudly. This was a stark contrast to those lurid tapestries of terrible battle inside the castle. Something told me that the Baron did not come to this shrine very often. This had been erected at a time when the keepers of the castle were of a more gentle, sanguine nature.
"The amphitheatre, its white stone almost glowing in the night air, was layered with ivies whose blooms were unfurled to capture the nocturnal dew. In times past, this may have been the setting for celebration - masses, weddings, feasts and yes, even funerals. Where else could one set a soul off to the next world in such a setting of beauty?
"Hickory did not seem to be taken by the whimsical serenity of this shrine. His eyes were furtive, glancing here and there for the fay Fender Apple. I believe that he was fearing a double-cross for he said to me, 'Are we mad to trust a shady character the likes of Fender Apple?'
"I was about to express my own fears concerning the duplicity of Mr. Apple when from behind the amphitheatre emerged a shadowy figure. It drew nigh and we saw that it was none other than the said Mr. Apple. He looked as anxious as ever I have seen an elf. His movement was jittery as if he had no heart in what he was doing.
"'There you are, Fender,' Hickory said. 'For a moment I thought that you wouldn't show up.'
"'Come, Mr. Robinbreast, Mr. Bobbs, we can't remain here. Soon the Baron will discover that you are on the lam. He will most assuredly be sending all manner of men after us. Let's recover the emeralds and get back to fair Woodhaven as swiftly as possible.'
"He did not wait for a response from either Hick or me. He started to move fleetingly out of the shrine and down into the ravine toward the river. Hick looked at me and shrugged. I did not garnish Hick's meaning. We followed Fender into the woods.
"When we reached the river we traced its course for several miles never saying a word to each other. The sky overhead began to lose its veil of darkness. Dawn was coming upon us. Soon the Baron would receive word that we had escaped. A large search party would be on our trail. I wanted to make as much distance as possible between us and them. Thus far our progress had been good, the river path offered us a speedy trail with few encumberances.
"But then we came upon our first obstacle. The river had grown wide and had swallowed up its banks. Our path had been washed away. In its stead were bogs and fens, in other words marshlands. There was no definable shoreline and if there was it was far from where we found ourselves. We had no choice but to trudge through this bog, our feet sinking into the muddy ooze which was hesitant to let them go free. With the dawn the fish of the river began to stir for their morning feeding. All about us we could see the water swirl as a pike or a bass went chasing after its quarry. Now and then we heard hefty splashes that gave us starts. The carp were in their mating season and were possessed to perform waterbreaking antics. Now and then we could see a snapping turtle resting upon an old log. We came upon a flock of ducks that seethed the water as they took flight from us.
"Just as the sun was peaking over the horizon, the gnats came out en masse. They were hungry and bound and determined to be vigilant pests. Their bites can be most aggravating when you are tired and wishing that you can be any other place rather than where you find yourself.
"'How much further?' Hickory cried out to Fender who was still leading our little company.
"'I don't know.' Fender replied frankly. 'You're the one who knows where the gems are, not me.'
"'We're not going to retrieve the stones,' Hickory said firmly. 'We're going home.'
"I was stupefied. I, like Mr. Apple, had assumed that Hickory meant to recover the stones given to him by the Questionner.
"'What do you mean that we are not going after the stones?' Fender cried. His face was inside out with surprise and disappointment.
"'The stones are safe where they are. I will carry out my promise to the harpy but not now. We don't know this country. We are being hounded by grim, murderous men. It would be foolish to go for them now. We must wait until a time comes when we don't have to move about as fugitives. Then, we can bring to fruition the wish of the Questionner.'
"When I heard Hickory utter these words I was thunderstruck. This cautious strain went directly counter to the adventurous Hickory Robinbreast that I knew. As I said earlier, Hick never let on that he ever experienced any fear. He would swim in a pool of crocodiles and sharks just for the sake of the unnerving experience. What had made him change his priorities? I was at a loss to try to figure it out. Hickory had made a promise to the harpy and Hickory was always one to stay true to his word. Why was he forsaking this promise? It just didn't make sense to me back then and it still doesn't now. Obviously Hickory knew something that he didn't let on to me, his closest and dearest friend.
"Fender was furious, I had never seen such a temper come out of an elf. He demanded to know why we were changing our plan. We were supposed to go after those gems.
"Hickory replied that he had never changed his plan. He always had it in his mind that if we were to escape that dark dungeon that we would go directly home, back to Woodhaven. He had enough of Portugal and the world of men. He needed the company of wood elves. From that moment until the day he died, I never glimpsed the old Hickory that I knew again. Something had changed within him. He was no longer the squirrel. He was the woodchuck. It was and remains a mystery to me.
"We made steady progress even though Fender was beside himself with anger. Hickory had told him that if he so desired he could return to the court of Castelo Branco and resume his role as the Baron's talisman, his lucky charm. But Fender didn't. He had been part of the conspiracy of our escape. The Baron would most assuredly punish him to the cost of death. No, there was no going back for Fender Apple. His fashionable days of high life had come to an end. His lot was now to trudge along with Hick and I through dank waterways.
"On the eve of the second night of our escape, we had crossed the border between Portugal and Spain. We had reached safety. The Baron could not touch us any more unless he wished to cause ill-feeling with his Spanish neighbours. I found it strange but yet comforting that we did not encounter the posse that was sent out after us. It was good fortune but yet I was puzzled. For we had taken the route that was most obvious for escape. The Baron must have thought of this route. But yet there was no posse and sometimes I wonder if there ever was one sent out after us at all.
"The rest of our journey back to Woodhaven was uneventful except that it was such a joyous experience to cross the olive groves and see that fair town again. We elves are lucky to have such a place as Woodhaven."
Talla Bobbs sighed and looked at Silvie and Merek with a slight smile on his face. "That is the tale of our Portuguese adventure. I'm sorry that it does not have a nice clearcut ending. Perhaps we strove to reach too high and were misted away by the clouds."
Merek stood up and stretched. He had been sitting too long. He looked out the window and saw the rain was beginning to ease. Perhaps by evening the clouds will have blown away. A nice starry night would be pleasant, he thought.
"Well," Silvie said. She too had risen to her feet. "That story is much different from the one that Uncle Hickory had told us. Wouldn't you agree Ho?"
Ho jumped from his hiding place, startled that his presence was known. "How did you know that I was here?" he cried.
"A mother knows these things." Silvie said with a laugh and a twinkle in her eye.
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