Charlie & Hamish: Trapped in Gondwana, #2

by JB Rowley

  “Fang,” said Nellie.

  Charli looked at Nellie. “Fang?”

  Nellie explained how Gondvan had introduced her to Fang before she entered Fairytale Realm.

  Hamish laughed. “That creature won’t make it to the top of a volcano.”

  “No,” said Meg, “but Fang has a friend who can take us.”

  Fang flew to a tree some distance away.

  “We must follow Fang,” said Meg.

  They followed Fang from tree to tree until they arrived at a clearing.

  “Ger,” grunted Fang, who did not seem to be going any further.

  “I guess that means we should wait here,” said Nellie.

  “I like it here,” said Charli. “It’s the first time I’ve been able to see the sky properly since I arrived in Gondwana.”

  “Look!” said Nellie, pointing toward the sky.

  “Looks like a huge kite,” said Charli.

  “More like a pterosaur,” said Hamish.

  A giant bird, its front limbs extended as part of its deep blue wings making it look like a hang-glider, coasted through the air toward them. Its wing span was even wider than that of a wedge-tailed eagle. A huge yellow beak extended from its head which was a brilliant indigo with a long red crest. The creature landed smoothly, folded up its wings and stood upright on its hind limbs like an overgrown road runner.

  Fang flapped his wings in greeting. Pari curled his head into his body. “This is Toopoo,” said Meg. “She will take us the top of the volcano.”

  “How?” said Charli.

  “We will ride on her back.”

  As if to acknowledge what Meg had said the creature bent forward and extended its long thick neck.

  “Fantastic!” said Hamish running toward Toopoo. He climbed on to Toopoo’s back. The others did the same.

  Clutching each other for support, they settled behind Toopoo’s neck with Hamish at the front. Pari slid down into Meg’s lap. Hamish gripped the bird’s neck. Toopoo extended her wings and began to take off. They waved goodbye to Fang who flapped his wings in return. Soon they were in the air and flying high above the trees.

  “This is like when we rode on the rainbow, Meg,” said Nellie. “I remember how we could see the forest below.”

  “You rode on a rainbow?” said Charli.

  “Yes, we did,” said Nellie. “It was unbelievable!”

  Toopoo did not seem to need any instructions on where to take them for they had not been long in the air when they saw a volcano, rising above the trees below. Hamish called back to Meg.

  “Is this an active volcano?”

  “No, friend Hamish. This volcano is sleeping.”

  They saw no fire or sparks as they passed over the central core of the volcano.

  “Shame,” said Hamish. “It would be brilliant to see a volcano erupt.”

  “I don’t think I want to be wandering around on an active volcano,” said Nellie.

  As Toopoo glided down toward the surface of the volcano they could see only one side was forested.

  “Look,” said Charli. “There are no trees on this side.”

  “Lava must have flowed there once,” said Hamish.

  “A long time ago,” said Meg. “Now it makes a good landing place for Toopoo.”

  Toopoo landed a short distance from the volcano rim. Once she had stopped she extended her neck along the ground to allow her passengers to get off. Pari returned to Meg’s shoulder.

  “Toopoo will come back for us later,” said Meg as the pterosaur flew away.

  “Now we have to find whatever it is we have to collect,” said Hamish. The thrill of the ride was over. They must return to the task that had been set for them.

  “True gold,” said Nellie. “I wonder what that means.”

  “That could be the sun, I suppose,” said Hamish, “but I don’t see how we could collect the sun and take it back to the centre of Gondwana.”

  “No, something else, a plant perhaps,” said Charli.

  “Or an egg,” suggested Nellie. “Perhaps a bird nests here and we have to take one of its golden eggs.”

  “Where do we search?” said Charli. “Whatever it is could be anywhere on this volcano. If it’s a bird’s egg it will be on the other side of the volcano where the plants and trees are.”

  “Maybe we have to climb into the volcano,” said Hamish. “I suggest we head toward the rim and have a look.”

  Nellie and Charli exchanged glances. Neither of them liked the idea of climbing into a volcano. However, they followed Hamish, keeping their eyes open for anything that might be gold and covered in silk. It was Nellie who spotted it first.

  “Look,” she said pointing to a rocky outcrop. A glistening, lace-like spider web spanned a gap between two jutting rocks on either side of a crevice.

  “That is the most beautiful spider’s web I have ever seen,” said Charli.

  “That must be the silk in the rhyme. On top of old Vulcan all covered in silk.” said Hamish. “It means spider’s silk.”

  On a rock behind the web, like a precious museum artefact on display, sat a round nugget of gold the size of a coconut.

  “Yes. And that must be the gold we have to collect,” said Nellie. “Thank goodness we don’t have to climb into the rim of the volcano after all.”

  “But what a shame we’ll need to destroy the beautiful web to get the gold,” said Charli.

  “That is not our only problem,” said Hamish, pointing to the top of the web.

  Watching and waiting on a rock above the web was a large spider with black and yellow bands on its very long legs.

  Charli took a sharp breath. “I have never seen a spider that big before.”

  Hamish moved a little closer. “It’s a golden orb spider: a South American spider.”

  “South America? Well, that makes sense,” said Nellie. “South America used to be part of Gondwana.”

  “It has a golden orb in its web, or behind its web anyway,” said Charli.

  “We have to work out a way to get that gold. If we reach in through the web, the spider will pounce,” said Nellie.

  “We can use something to knock the gold off the rock. It should bounce along the ground and through the net,” said Hamish.

  Meg produced his wooden flute from his leaf sarong and offered it to Hamish. Standing as far away as possible from where the spider was sitting, Hamish poked the flute toward the golden orb. As soon as the instrument touched the web, the huge spider dropped down onto Hamish’s hand. Charli squealed. Hamish dropped the flute, jumped back and shook his hand to dislodge the spider. They all jumped back, searching the ground for the spider.

  Charli ran up and down on the spot and brushed her clothes. “Where is it? Where is it?” she screamed.

  “Friend Charli,” said Meg, bending down to pick up his flute. “Please be calm. The spider is back above the web.”

  “Uh?’

  “Look,” said Meg. “It is back where it was. It sprang back on a thread just like a rubber band.”

  They all looked and saw that Meg was right. The spider was exactly where it had been before.

  “It might be a different one,” said Charli, still searching the ground.

  “No, friend Charli, I saw it spring back. This spider is the same spider.”

  “Well, at least there is a hole in the web now,” said Hamish. “I might be able to blow the gold off the rock.”

  Hamish took a deep breath, positioned himself in front of the tear in the web made by the flute and blew as hard as he could. The golden orb did not move. He tried again. The gold wobbled to one side slightly then settled back on the rock.

  “Maybe we should all blow,” said Charli.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Charli,” said Nellie. “We have to blow without disturbing the web. If we all blow, our breath would tear the web more and that big spider will be down on us in an instant.”

  Hamish tried again but the orb barely moved.

  “If w
e could catch an insect and put it in the web we might be able to distract the spider and snatch the gold,” said Nellie. She looked around at the barren landscape scarred by flows of molten lava from long ago. “On the other hand, I don’t think we’ll find any insects here. We’d have to go over to the other side of the volcano where the trees are.”

  “Wait, friend Nellie. Let Pari try.”

  Nellie smiled at the little striped possum. “Yes, Pari,” she said. “I remember how you helped me get the greenstones away from the stinging plant. Do you think you could get the golden orb without getting bitten by that spider?”

  Pari answered with his familiar double grunt.

  “Pari can get under at the bottom without disturbing the web of the spider,” said Meg.

  Cradling Pari in his hands, Meg lowered the little possum to the ground. Pari wriggled through the narrow gap between the lower edge of the web and the ground.

  “Be careful, Pari,” called Charli as the little possum scampered across to the gold.

  They all watched as Pari sat behind the gold away from the watchful eyes of the spider and nudged it gently with his tiny pink nose. The round gold nugget rolled forward and fell. The spider dropped to the ground as if to stop it rolling away but the gold had already rolled out of its silk prison.

  “Well done, little possum,” said Hamish, quickly picking up the gold.

  Nellie was watching the spider anxiously, hoping it would not try to bite Pari. However, the spider simply drew itself back up on its invisible thread and returned to its position at the top of the web. Pari scampered down and out the way he had gone in. Meg scooped him up and placed him on his shoulder again.

  “Quick,” said Hamish. “Let’s get out of here before that spider jumps one of us.”

  He had hardly finished speaking when they heard a rumbling noise deep within the volcano.

  Charli yelled. “The volcano’s going to erupt!”

  16: Trolls Again

  “Quick,” said Nellie. “We have to get around to the other side where the trees grow.”

  They had almost reached the other side of the volcano when they were stopped by a loud whooshing sound like a hurricane ripping through a valley. Plumes of gases steamed out of the volcano rim.

  “Take cover!” yelled Hamish. “Flatten your bodies up against the rock.”

  Clouds of dust swirled and rose and darkened the sky. Rocks plummeted past as they pressed their bodies up against the side of the mountain. Pari snuggled into Meg’s neck. More rocks hurtled and bounced past. They closed their eyes and covered their mouths as hot dark clouds of ash swamped them.

  When all was finally quiet and the air was clear, Hamish urged them to keep going. “We’re right in the path of the lava here.”

  They hurried along the surface of the volcano as best they could. Just as they reached the other side a loud explosion made them all jump.

  “Quick,” said Nellie. She pointed to a rocky crevice among the trees. “There’s a place we can shelter.” They huddled together in the small space.

  “Look,” said Hamish. “We can see the top from here.”

  Mushrooming out of the volcano’s central core were black clouds tinged with red. The clouds turned white then pink. Violent sprays of orange sparks spewed from the volcano.

  “I thought you said this was a sleeping volcano, Meg,” said Charli.

  “Perhaps it is time for the volcano to wake up,” said Meg.

  More red hot rocks hurtled down the side of the volcano. They shrank back into the crevice, trying to make their bodies as flat as possible.

  “We have to get out of here,” said Nellie. “I hope Toopoo comes soon.”

  “I hope Toopoo can find us here,” said Charli.

  “Even if the pterosaur can find us, it might be too hot for it to land,” said Hamish.

  They looked at each other, realising what that meant. They could be stuck on the volcano. Worse still, they might be smothered by ash or lava.

  “Toopoo will find us, do not fear,” said Meg. They moved further away from the side of the volcano where rocks and ash continued to fall. Finally, they reached the forest. “Toopoo cannot land here where there are too many trees and plants,” continued Meg. “We must find an area where she can land.”

  Eventually they located an area where the vegetation was not too dense.

  “There should be enough space for the pterosaur to land here,” said Hamish.

  No sooner had he finished speaking than they saw Toopoo flying overhead.

  “Toopoo,” called Nellie, waving her arms.

  They all waved and called to Toopoo who responded by gliding to a smooth landing. From the throat of the volcano came another deep rumble. They ran to Toopoo and climbed aboard. Toopoo did not need to be told to take off quickly; they were soon in the air. As they flew away from the volcano a booming roar caused them all to look back. A spectacular sight greeted them. High walls of yellow and red flames cascaded out of the volcano rim followed by enormous sprays of red hot rocks.

  “Wow!” said Hamish. “That is awesome.”

  “A real volcano eruption,” said Charli, her excitement overcoming her fear.

  “I have never seen anything like it,” said Nellie as she watched the rich red molten lava slide down the mountain side like thick red sauce oozing over a plum pudding.

  “I am happy we are watching this awesome sight from up here,” said Meg.

  The noise from the erupting volcano faded as Toopoo flew away. The children watched the dazzling display until it was out of sight. Before long, Toopoo descended to land once again, back where she had picked them up.

  Fang was waiting for them in the tree. He flapped his wings in greeting and called ‘Ger’. As soon as they had climbed down, Toopoo departed again. They all waved as she rose high in the air and became smaller and smaller in the sky.

  “Well,” said Hamish, holding up the gold nugget, “we have the true gold. Now we have to get it back to the centre.”

  “Before sunset,” said Charli.

  “What time do you think it is?” asked Nellie.

  “After midday; about one o’clock. I was taking note of the position of the sun while we were flying,” said Hamish.

  “How long will it take us to get to the centre?” asked Charli.

  “Well, that’s the problem,” said Nellie. “We don’t know. We have no idea what obstacles we have to get past before we get to the big test and then we have to get past the big test. All we can do is try to get there as fast as we can and hope we make it.”

  “We must return the way we came,” said Meg.

  “Which way did we come?” said Charli. “It’s impossible to tell in this jungle.”

  “I will show you the way,” said Meg. “I can read the signs of the forest.” He pointed to a branch of a tree. “One of the leaves on this tree is broken and the plants near it have been flattened. That is the way we came.”

  With Meg in the lead, they hurried through the forest, pushing aside ferns and branches as they went. They were at the edge of the forest and about to enter the area that led to the river when they were confronted by the two Rashboo trolls blocking their path.

  “What now?” said Charli.

  Before anyone could answer, the trolls charged at Hamish who had joined Meg at the front of the group. They snatched the gold from Hamish’s hand. Just as Nellie had seen them play with Meg once before, throwing him back and forth like a football, the trolls now did the same with the gold. They threw it to each other, catching it with both hands and making excited grunts as they did so.

  “Oh, no,” said Nellie. “How are we going to get the gold back?”

  “I’ve got an idea,” said Hamish. “I’ll pretend to be one of them. I’ll copy their sounds and pretend I want to play with them.”

  “And then what?” said Charli.

  “With a bit of luck they’ll accept me into their game. While I keep them busy, you can all start to move past them and hea
d for the river.”

  “Then what will you do?” said Nellie.

  “I’ll wait for the right moment,” said Hamish, “then I will just run with the gold.”

  “They’ll be very angry and chase you,” said Nellie.

  “I know, but they can’t run as fast as me.”

  “It is a good plan, friend Hamish,” said Meg.

  They all agreed. Hamish moved slowly toward the trolls. He raised his hands in a catching motion and grunted in the same way they did. Nellie and Charli tried to hide their giggles as they watched Hamish’s imitation of a Rashboo troll. He edged closer and closer. Occasionally one of the trolls looked toward Hamish but they made no move to attack him. Finally, Hamish joined them and gestured for them to throw the gold to him. The troll holding the gold hesitated. Then he threw the gold. Hamish caught it, uttering several delighted troll-like grunts as he did so. Charli and Nellie could hardly contain their laughter.

  Hamish threw the gold to the other troll. Both trolls grunted in apparent approval. After that, they seemed to accept Hamish into their game. When he saw Nellie and the others starting to creep past, Hamish jumped up and down and grunted to distract the trolls. He threw the gold high to keep their attention on the game.

  When Nellie, Meg and Charli were some distance away, they stopped and waited behind a rocky crevice, listening to the grunts of Hamish and the trolls. They peered around the crevice from time to time to check that Hamish was all right. Finally, they saw Hamish break away with the gold in his hands. As he ran he pushed the gold nugget up under his T-shirt and tucked the shirt into his jeans to stop the gold from falling out. He ran to a row of rocks that were so close together they formed a natural rock wall.

  “Watch,” said Charli. “He’ll go over the wall.”

  “How?” said Nellie. “It’s too high.”

  “Parkour. Remember? Just watch.”

  Hamish ran toward the rock wall, followed by the two trolls who seemed to think it was all part of the game. Hamish jumped onto the wall, climbed up it using only his feet and gripped a piece of jutting rock. He swung himself back to grab a tree branch with both hands. Swinging from the tree branch he pushed back from the rocks with his feet and swayed forward to land on top of the high rock wall. Then he disappeared over the side. It happened so fast, Nellie could hardly believe what she had seen.