“He’s allergic to nuts,” I said. Before my eyes, I could see Robert’s face start to swell. I knew from experience that his throat was also tightening. He looked toward me, his face filled with terror and his eyes pleading with me to help him. His hands instinctively clutched at his throat as breathing became harder and harder. He collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.
“What is happening?” Fee screeched, her wings fluttering nervously.
“He’s going into anaphylactic shock,” I said as I ran over to him and picked up his bag from where he had left it on the ground. “He needs epinephrine.”
Kris and Fee both stared at me with blank faces. They had no idea what I was talking about.
“What are you looking for?” Kris asked as I searched through Robert’s bag.
“His EpiPen,” I said as I tipped the contents of the bag onto the ground and spread them apart. “Damn. It’s not here. He must have forgotten to bring it with him.”
Robert’s breathing became even more laboured and he passed out.
I moved closer to him and placed his head into my lap, clutching his body tight and rocking to and fro as tears streamed down my face.
“Kris, help him, please,” I begged.
“Alright,” he said calmly. “I need you to tell me exactly what is happening to his body.”
I swallowed and tried to get myself under control. I knew that Robert would be dead within minutes if Kris was unable to help.
“His blood vessels are widening, his blood pressure is on its way to becoming fatally low and his throat has swollen so much that it is blocking his airway.” Robert had told me all about his allergy and the symptoms when we were much younger and I was very glad that I had listened to him.
“I will see what I can do,” Kris said and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“Please hurry.”
Kris placed his hands on Robert’s chest and closed his eyes. Slowly but surely Robert’s breathing became less laboured and eventually his eyes fluttered open.
Kris collapsed onto the ground and lay beside him, breathing heavily as though exhausted.
“That was hard work,” he panted.
“Will he be alright?” I asked, wiping tears from my face.
“Yes,” Kris said and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Let us both rest for a couple of hours, then we can continue on our journey.”
“Thank you,” I said and hugged Robert tightly. Robert took hold of my hand and squeezed it.
“I will be fine,” he said.
“I’ll look after him,” Fee said. “You can fuss over Kris.”
Something in her tone grated on my nerves. “I think you have done quite enough already, don’t you?” I snapped at her. Unable to keep my emotions under control, I leaned over, laid my head on Robert’s chest and sobbed. He gently caressed my hair comfortingly.
I didn’t see the dark look that Fee threw at me as I held Robert close, but Kris did and told me about it later.
“Should I be concerned?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he replied. “I honestly don’t know.”
Day 20
It took 5 days to travel through the tunnels and I don’t think I have ever been so pleased to see sunlight as I was when we finally emerged. Despite Kris’s reservations I was glad that Fee was with us. I’m not sure how I would have coped with having to spend the entire time in the dark.
Although Fee provided light, it was never enough to read or write by, so the first thing I did upon reaching the surface was update my diary while the boys set about catching something for us to eat. We hadn’t eaten any meat since entering the tunnels and I think we all missed it. Fresh fruit and vegetables are all well and good, but you do start to crave something more after a while. Personally, I don’t know how vegetarians survive, but each to their own.
Robert was still oblivious to Fee’s interest in him and I was beginning to wonder just how dense men really are when it comes to women. She slept cuddled up to him each night, not that he had any idea. Kris explained to me that a fairy’s natural state is the smaller version of themselves and that it takes up a lot of their energy to maintain being human sized. He had never known one stay big for so long. Each night, as soon as she was sure that Robert was asleep, she would reduce in size and snuggle down against him. Neither Kris nor I mentioned it to him, not knowing quite how he would react.
As soon as we reached sunlight, Kris thanked Fee for her help and suggested she return to the caves, but she refused. Unable to find a convincing argument, he gave up and allowed her to stay.
We walked for a few hours with the sun blazing down on us. While Robert, Kris and I thought it was wonderful to be out of the dark tunnels, Fee seemed uncomfortable in the daylight, but she refused to make herself small so she could be carried in one of our backpacks. Instead she pulled a parasol from her bag and used it to shade herself from the sun.
“At least we don’t have to carry her bag for her,” I whispered to Kris. “There is no way she would be able to lift it when she is small enough to fit into my hand.”
Kris grinned at me. “Fairies are creatures of magic,” he said. “Her bag, clothes, everything shrinks when she does, or hadn’t you noticed?”
I hadn’t.
“I think we should take a drink break,” Robert called out. “Fee is complaining about the heat.” It was pleasantly warm, but not what I would call hot. But then again, she usually lived in caves and tunnels, so I suppose I could understand her feeling the heat more than the rest of us.
“A few more minutes and we should reach the edge of the cliff,” Kris said. “We have to climb down it, so that would probably be a good place to stop.”
As promised, we were allowed a drink break as soon as we got to the cliff edge. I was expecting a proper cliff, with sea in front of us all the way to the horizon. Instead, all there was was a large gap in the rock with another cliff the other side.
“This isn’t a cliff,” I said. “This is a ravine or a canyon. It looks like a giant has taken a huge axe to the rock.”
“That is more or less what happened,” Kris said. I had been joking. Kris wasn’t.
I dumped my bag on the ground and gratefully took the bottle of water Kris handed to me. He had finally given up asking if I wanted anything different like coke or lemonade. With all the walking we were doing, water was the best thing to drink so I stuck to it. Robert was not so sensible. He convinced Fee to try some of his coke and the look of revulsion on her face when she took a sip was comical to say the least. She drank almost an entire bottle of water in an attempt to get the taste out of her mouth.
When her bottle was empty she handed it back to Kris and walked to the edge of the ravine, leaning forward and looking down.
“The view is magnificent,” Fee called out to me. “Come and take a look.”
I moved closer to the edge and leaned forward. I saw nothing but rock and told her so.
“Look further down,” she said. I did as she suggested and the next thing I knew she had placed her hands on my back and pushed me over the edge. Her cheerful, “The view looks a lot better now,” was drowned out by my screams as I plummeted toward the ground.
“No,” I faintly heard Kris cry out. Then I was in his arms. I have no idea how, but one moment we were both falling to our deaths, the next we were standing beside Robert and Fee. I was holding Kris tight, too terrified to let go.
“It’s alright,” Kris said to me as he tried to pry my arms lose. “You are safe. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
I started to shake uncontrollably as Kris handed me over to Robert, who hugged me protectively. Then Kris rounded on Fee, who jumped back in fright. “You evil little...” He was so angry he couldn’t finish the sentence. “I suggest you make yourself scarce before I do something we will both regret.”
“Like what?” Fee asked insolently.
“Like pull your wings off for a start,” he snarled at her.
“You w
ouldn’t dare.”
“Try me.”
Fee stared at Kris, trying to gauge whether he was serious or not. The colour drained from her face as it slowly dawned on her that he was.
“You will regret this,” she said before she took to the air and flew away.
“What was that all about?” Robert asked in confusion. His arms were still around me as he tried to stop me shaking. “Why did she try to kill Rachel? What has Rachel ever done to her?”
“It’s not her, it’s you,” Kris said. “Your murderous young fairy has become besotted with you and saw Rachel as competition.”
“But that’s ridiculous,” Robert protested. “Fee knew that I was on a quest to rescue my girlfriend. What did she think? That I would give it up and run off with her?”
“I have no idea what she was thinking,” Kris said, “but it was probably something along those lines.”
“Then we are well rid of her.” Robert released me and started to rub my arms, as though trying to regain circulation in them. I have no idea why he did that, but it did stop me shaking. “We are safe now,” he said.
“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Kris muttered. Robert threw him a questioning glance. “She may be out of sight, but she won’t be far away. If she has her heart set on you, then I can almost guarantee she will not give up this easily. “I’d watch your back if I were you.”
“Why me?” Robert asked. “I thought it was Rachel she wanted to dispose of.”
“You did nothing to defend her when I said she had to leave. She will take that personally. I’m sure she will not do anything to harm you, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.”
Kris turned his attention toward me. “We should get moving. Are you ready to continue?”
I ignored his question. “How did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You caught me in mid-air and the next thing I know I am standing on solid ground.”
“It’s a demi-god thing,” he said casually as though it was of no importance.
I was stunned. “Are you trying to tell me you can transport people around?”
“Only down here,” he said.
“Oh, that makes it alright then,” I said sarcastically. “We have been walking for days on end, through some truly horrific terrain. I felt like I was being burnt alive at one point and now I find out that all you had to do was take hold of us and you could have taken us anywhere you wanted.” I don’t know if I was just reacting to almost being killed or if I was genuinely angry with him, but I was shouting by the time I finished my sentence.
He had the audacity to smile at me. “There are rules to this journey and I intend to obey them.”
I called him a number of unpleasant names under my breath, grabbed my bag from where I had dumped it on the ground and started to walk away.
“Regret bringing her yet?” I heard Kris ask Robert.
I didn’t turn around, but I imagined Robert grinning as he replied. “Never.”
Kris took the lead and led us to the edge. “The steps down are narrow and slippery,” he said, “so be careful. After all, Rachel has tried to fly once today. I’d rather not have a repeat performance.”
“Ha ha. Very funny. I’m glad you find the thought of me plummeting to my death so amusing.”
Kris wasn’t lying. The steps had been cut out of the rock and in places were overgrown with vegetation that grew all down the cliff face. There were no rails to hold on to and a number of times I had to grab hold of the edge to stop myself slipping. My hands were soon cut, bleeding and extremely sore.
“I’ll heal you when we get to the bottom,” Kris said when he overheard my complaining.
We were about half way down when I heard Robert muttering behind me.
“What’s wrong?” I called back.
“Something keeps buzzing around my face,” he replied. “If I keep swatting it away I am going to overbalance.”
“Hold on,” I said and called down to Kris. I explained what the problem was and I heard him swear.
“Bloody fairies. More trouble than they are worth.” He took his bag off his back, reached in and withdrew a canister. “Pass this up to him,” he told me as he handed it over.
I did as instructed and the next time Fee flew near him, Robert sprayed her. She screamed, clutched her eyes and flew away. The sound was so human Robert dropped the can in surprise.
“What the hell was that?” he asked. “That creature sounded human.”
“That was Fee,” I said.
“You’re kidding me. Fairies can go that small? I thought it was some kind of giant insect.” Fee had always made sure Robert was asleep before reverting to her smaller form so he had no idea what a proper sized fairy looked like.
“What did I just hand to Robert?” I asked Kris, who turned around and grinned at me.
“Pepper spray.”
“Ouch,” I said. “That was nasty.”
“So was trying to kill Rob,” Kris said. “That is what she was trying to do after all; make him overbalance or lose his footing so he fell down the steps, hopefully taking us with him.”
The momentary sympathy I felt for the young fairy disappeared. “At least we are rid of her.”
Kris shook his head. “She’ll be back.”
It took a long time to reach the bottom of the steps and by the time my feet touched the sandy ground my legs were ready to give way.
“I vote we camp here for the night,” I said as I collapsed onto the ground.
“I thought you were fit,” Robert said as he sat down beside me.
“You use different muscles walking down steps.”
Kris smiled at our exchange. “We can rest for a few hours, then we have to climb up the other side.”
“Please tell me you are joking.” He wasn’t. “I really hate you right now,” I told him, meaning every word.
“Wasn’t there an alternative?” Robert asked.
Kris nodded. “There is a bridge we could have taken,” he informed us. “But it would have taken a few days to reach it, then another few to get back here. I didn’t think you would even have contemplated that option.”
He was right, but neither of us gave him the pleasure of telling him.
We ate a cold meal and all too soon it was time to be on the move again. I groaned as Robert pulled me to my feet. My thigh and calf muscles had started to seize up while I sat and I had to move around a bit to loosen them up.
Kris walked across the sand, over to the rock face on the other side and began his ascent. I looked up at how far we had to climb and groaned again.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked him as we climbed. “You can just imagine yourself at the top and be there. Why go to all this effort? Robert and I have to, but you don’t. You can just wait for us at the top.”
Kris paused and turned around to look at me. “That would hardly be fair on you.” The look on his face told me he was serious.
By the time we got to the top I was hurting all over. The pain had slowly worked its way up my legs, skipped over most of my back, then attacked my neck and shoulders. Even Robert was complaining when he finally took his last step and placed his feet beside each other on flat ground.
“Please can we stop here for the night,” I begged. It was only mid-afternoon, but there was no way I was going to take another step.
“Sure,” Kris said. “Though we may want to move away from the edge just a little. I don’t think any of us want to get up in the night and walk too far in the wrong direction, only to discover we can’t fly.”
“Some of us can’t anyway,” I heard Robert mutter.
Kris eventually managed to persuade me to get back onto my feet and we walked away from the ravine for another fifteen or twenty minutes before he decided we were in a suitable place to put up the tents.
“I’m going to take a nap,” I said as soon as my tent was ready and neither of the boys objected. I didn’t even bother to get undressed and was asleep as soon as my he
ad hit my pillow.
A few hours later I forced myself to get up and found Robert and Kris sewing together nets of some kind.
“Going fishing?” I asked.
“You could say that,” Kris replied. “But not for our next meal.”
My face must have shown my confusion. “Kris thinks Fee will try to attack you or me tonight while we sleep,” Robert said. “We are making a couple of fairy catchers; one for each tent.”
“What makes you so sure she won’t go after you?” I asked Kris with genuine concern. Robert and I were relatively protected, but Kris would be vulnerable all night.
“I’m the son of a demi-god remember,” he said with a self-satisfied smile on his face. “She wouldn’t dare.” I guess having Hades for a grandfather has some advantages after all.
“So how does it work?” I asked, unsure what good a net would be.
“This is just the first part,” Kris said, holding up the net he was sewing. There was a pile of small nets beside him, so I guessed that he and Robert were using them to make two big ones. “The nets are designed to prevent Fee getting access to the tents in her larger form. To get through she will have to revert to her true size.”
“OK,” I said. I was following him so far. “Then what?”
Kris held up a jar. I was confused. He was going to make jam?
“One thing you may not know about fairies is that they are extremely vain. They love looking at themselves in mirrors. It is impossible for them to resist. I have put a mirror at the bottom of this jar and will place it lying down near the entrance to Rob’s tent. I have another one for yours. When Fee spots it she will enter the jar. I will rig the lid to close as soon as she is in and we will have her.”
I wasn’t sure if the idea was genius or plain stupid. “Will that really work?” I asked.
“Trust me,” Kris said, winking.
We all went to bed early, the climb down then up the steps having exhausted us. I am now finishing off my diary entry and preparing to go to sleep. I’m not sure if I want to be disturbed in the night by Kris catching the little fairy or not. On the one hand we will know that she can no longer be a danger to us, but on the other I could really do with a good night’s sleep. Only time will tell what will happen.
Diary of a journey through Hell Page 16
