The lift came to a sudden halt. They tried to push the door, but couldn’t get it to open.
“A moment, please?” a voice came from the other side.
They heard a loud breathing sound. Then they flung the door open and fell out. By now, the two were getting used to strange creatures. But this was something else. This was a monster with three heads and three joined-up bodies. The body in the middle had a snake for a tail. This whole monster itself was a mixture of human and reptile.
“May I introduce myself. I am The Gergon,” it said. The three bodies stood side by side all together on four legs. Two double legs in the middle and two single legs on the outside, on the left and right. All together we are The Gergon. But each part of me has a different name. The Crocodile headed beast on the left is called Snapper... The Alligator on the right is Zipper. And, I am the speaker for the whole monster - The Dinosaur in the middle. My name is Nexus. There’s also a snake, like a tail, on my behind. For protection, you see. The others do not have the gift of speech. As I said, we were separate, but now we are all frozen together,” said Nexus.
“Pleased to meet you,” Petronella said, acting as normally as she could. As she said this, she could see the breath coming out of her own mouth because it was so cold. Her knees trembled and knocked together in terror.
Percy said nothing. He was shivering badly, too. From cold and fright.
“You have reached the bottom,” said The Gergon. “This is The Frozen Lake. Didn’t The Red Seal tell you fur coats are needed to come down here? Being reptiles, we’re cold blooded. But it is different for you hot-blooded humans.”
“No, he didn’t say anything. In truth there wasn’t much time. In the rush to get out, he must have forgotten,” Petronella said.
Percy was cuddling up to Petronella. He needed to keep warm. His teeth were chattering. His lips had turned purple. They now found it hard to move. Were they freezing up?
The snake rose its scaly body in circles, hissing from behind Nexus. It uncoiled and showed its full length. Hatred flashed from its eyes. It tried to curve towards Percy threatening to bite him. Its head puffed up full of poison as it turned to look first at Petronella, then at Percy. Its three-forked tongue decided to flick towards Percy. It was just an inch from him. The blood drained from Percy’s face. The snake was then slapped back down by the joined-up arms of Nexus and Zipper.
They heard a piercing woman’s cry.
“Don’t worry about her,” said Nexus. “She’s always doing that.”
“Who is she?” Petronella asked.
“Oh, she’s Lady Fortesque.” said Nexus.
“What THE Lady Fortesque - the wife of Lord Fortesque, The Strincas’s cruel ruler?”
“Yes, that is right.”
“She is free to go about while her husband is in The Frozen Lake. He is up to his neck in ice. Only his head moves. The rest of him is rock solid frozen. The other shadows in the lake are frozen together in twos. They tried to keep warm. But Lord Fortesque is on his own. He would have been frozen to his wife, but women are not allowed in the lake. Mind you, the shadows that are frozen together gnaw each other’s heads. Some are plunged less deeply into the ice. Lord Fortesque is the deepest, up to his neck, as I said before. The others vary. Some up to their chest, waist, or knees. It depends on how serious their crimes were,” explained Nexus.
The Gergon Snake now rose right up above Nexus’s head, still trying to reach Percy. Threatening Percy with its three-forked tongue. By now Percy couldn’t move much. He felt himself stiffening up. Tried to bring his arm up to protect his face, but the arm moved very slowly. Percy’s heartbeats got faster, until you could actually SEE his heart throbbing. As for the rest of his body, it was numb with fear. The Gergon Snake spat its awful poison in Percy’s face. The smaller a person is, the quicker they will freeze up. So Petronella who could still move, got out The Black Box, pointed it straight in The Gergon Snake’s face. The nasty reptile drooped all at once. Went limp and hung down straight, slightly swinging from side to side. Relief.
She counted the times she’d used The Black Box. It was six times. She could only use it once more, so the next use had to be really worth it.
A woman came running up to them, dressed in fox fur from her feet up to her neck. And a hat made of bear-skin. From her ears shone huge diamonds. Shining jewels.
“This is Lady Fortesque, as I was saying,” Nexus said.
She was in despair. With tears running down her face and beating her chest. She flung herself to the ground and started tearing at her hair calling for her husband.
“That Marian, that evil girl. I was a king’s daughter and the wife of a Lord. Now look at me. All the fault of that nasty young wench. She’s the reason why we’re suffering.”
“Who’s Marian?” Petronella said.
“She goes on about her all the time. We don’t take any notice of her anymore. It seems Marian went up into their castle one evening and Lady Fortesque fell and hurt her head. Marian had taken some peasant boy with her dressed up as a woman. His name was Barden. He threatened Marian with a dagger. The Lady got a fright. No more than that really. But afterwards, Lord Fortesque had a lot of Strincas rounded up and beheaded by his soldiers,” said Nexus.
“Yes, I know about the killings. Percy here was one of the victims. But I didn’t know why he had been killed,” said Petronella.
Now turning to Lady Fortesque, Petronella said: “You should be ashamed of yourself. You are such a wicked and selfish woman. You can only think about yourself. You have no feelings for those poor Strincas who were killed. You are cold and cruel. That’s why you’re here.”
Lady Fortesque flung herself at Petronella, seized her and tugged at Petronella’s hair until the good woman fell on the ice. Lady Fortesque ran away. As Petronella lay there, she looked up and saw that Percy’s face was turning purple. Petronella couldn’t get up. She couldn’t move her feet. They were like two blocks of ice. Her arms had stuck to the ice, so neither of them could reach for The Black Box.
“Percy, can you get The Black Box in my pocket?”
“I shall try, Petronella; but I doth nat knoweth if I can doth it.”
As Percy bent down slowly, you could hear a quiet cracking sound. He put one arm out and lowered himself a little more. He was getting closer. Nexus said that because both his hands were frozen to another beast’s, the double hands would never fit into the pocket, so he could not help out. Either Snapper or Zipper could get the box out with their single outside hands. Both said there was no way that they would help. They watched as Percy struggled to reach Petronella’s pocket. A little more and he’d be there. Petronella had managed to lift her arm up a little. At last, Percy freed The Black Box with his fingertips and he dropped it into Petronella’s raised hand.
The Black Box opened and warm air was soon whizzing around both Petronella and Percy. The two thawed out a little. Then they trudged to the lift as fast as they could. “Can you let us out, please, Nexus?” Petronella said.
“Yes, just pull the door and get in the lift. It will leave in no time. Sorry about these two beasts not helping you. But not all The Gergon is bad,” Nexus said.
15 The Warrior Women
Petronella and Percy shot up in the lift, just as fast as when they had gone down. This lift was a little bigger. But Petronella and Percy did not need all that space because they had to hug each other to keep warm. When the lift door opened, they came out into a bright light. It was a hill with fire and sparks spurting out of its top.
“It’s a volcano,” said Petronella. “I’ve seen them in pictures.”
“What be that?” asked Percy.
“Well, that fire coming out of the hill you see there is called lava. Once the lava is out it runs down the sides of the hill. Then when the lava cools down, it stops flowing and turns into what is called molten lava. That is cooled-down lava which then turns into stone and becomes part of the hill. The hill and the lava together are called a volcano.”
“Me thinketh I seeth what ye mean. What be that bridge over the volcano?
“I don’t know. Maybe we should go up and see. That bridge could take us to the other side and out of here. It must be the direction we need to go in. I can’t see a pathway anywhere. Or a guardian. Let’s go.”
As they got nearer to the middle of the bridge, they could see the lava from above. It was blindingly bright. So bright that they had to squint. They couldn’t see where they were putting their feet. Percy was walking in front of Petronella. He put his foot forward... all of a sudden the bridge was no longer there. Just empty space... And Percy put his foot out into the air. He lost his balance, to-ing and fro-ing. But, at last, managed to throw himself back onto the bridge instead of falling into the volcano.
The bridge had broken. There was only half a bridge. The other half did not exist at all. What was the point of that?
“That was a lucky escape,” said Petronella. “You could have been sizzling in there by now.”
They stood there a while and looked down into that gaping mouth spitting out fire. The boy stood trembling and at the same time in awe of it all. Flames everywhere. Then they noticed that stuck around the rim of the pit were some moaning shadows. Petronella was also shivering with fear now. They called down to the shadows: “HELLO! HELLO!” No, the shadows couldn’t hear them.
“We must needs try the other side of the bridge,” said Percy.
“OK, but don’t lean against the railing. It doesn’t look safe,” Petronella said.
Looking down from this side, they saw a woman with a shining whip. She was lashing the shadows, one by one, going round clockwise. The shadows groaned.
“HELLO! HELLO!” they tried calling again.
The woman looked up, saw them and stopped whipping the shadow she was on.
She seemed to hover down the volcano. “COME BACK DOWN HERE,” she shouted to them. Another woman they hadn’t seen in the volcano came out from a distance and hovered over, too.
Still squinting, Petronella and Percy went back down the bridge until they met up with the women.
“I wasn’t expecting you so early. I thought you’d spend more time at The Frozen Lake. Did you meet The Gergon,” one of the women asked.
“Oh, we sure did. And I was attacked by Lady Fortesque,” said Petronella.
“That woman is awful. Nexus certainly has his hands full. What with her AND Zipper AND Snapper. Still Nexus could leave if he wanted to, but he loves keeping order down there. He was in the army, you know. In the top ranks. A General, I think.”
“How interesting,” said Petronella.
“I was in an army. Or should I say that I was in command of the forces, I actually HAD my own army. An army of women. We occupied Aeolia and Ionia.”
‘Wherever they are,’ thought Petronella.
“Yes, and they were perfect places. All men were not allowed in these cities and had to go and live on the outskirts. Those of us who had children would keep them if they were girls, and the boys were taken to their fathers to look after. I was The Queen Warrior. My name is Bellatrix. And this is my sister, Princess Zelda, also a warrior. All the women in my family are or have been warriors.”
“Pleased to meet you, Queen Bellatrix and Princess Zelda. I’m Petronella and this is Percy.”
‘They certainly look like women warriors,’ thought Petronella. They were dressed in suits of armour which must have been made specially for them. The top part was like a man’s suit of armour. But stuck to the back were thin see-through wings. The bottom parts were steel skirts - very beautiful - pleated. On the edge of each pleat, large nails stuck out. The sharp end pointing outwards. That should stop anyone going near them for sure. Their helmets were also in shiny steel. Queen Bellatrix had a crown round hers, while Princess Zelda had a tiara. Encrusted into the crown and tiara, at the front, were huge diamonds. They sparkled when they caught the light of the burning lava. Their boots were made of steel, too. But at the side of each boot there were wings. That explains why they hover, rather than walking. Gliding over the ground without touching it. These blue-eyed Queen Bellatrix and Princess Zelda were truly a beautiful sight.
Queen Bellatrix was holding a whip. It had a jewelled handle, leather diamond-studded thongs and a large diamond on the tip of each strip. Princess Zelda was gripping a jewelled javelin with a shining sharp gold point.
Queen Bellatrix broke the silence: “As you are visitors, I suppose I should tell you all about The Beating Volcano. We have nicknamed it The Spit Fire because it spits out ashes and flames all the time. We chose to be guardians of The Beating Volcano because we are THE top defenders of women. The shadows in here are those of men who were violent to women. Mostly wife beaters.”
“Well, that is a terrible crime,” said Petronella. She looked at Percy and he nodded his agreement.
“It sure is,” said Queen Bellatrix. “But they are paying for it now. What happens to them is this: when they arrive here, they are placed against the rim of The Beating Volcano in a circle. Then they are well and truly whipped. After that, they are thrown in The Beating Volcano and come out as lava. When they have cooled down, they turn into molten lava first and then stone. If they try to escape, Princess Zelda hurls her javelin and pierces them. Even from a distance, she never misses. Sometimes they run up the bridge only to fall in again when they get to the top. We glide over them all day. You see, these wings on our backs and on the sides of our boots are necessary. Otherwise we would sink into the soft lava. Our bodies are weighed down with this fireproof armour. There is no way we could walk in this,” said Queen Bellatrix.
“Men who hit women are cowards,” said Petronella.
“Yes, they be that. I should never wanteth anyone to hitteth myn ma,” said Percy.
“I must say I take pride in my job,” said Queen Bellatrix, “and so does my sister here.” Princess Zelda nodded. “Princess Zelda cannot speak. She is dumb. Her husband tore at her throat and ruined her vocal cords.”
“How awful! Poor dear, I’m so sorry,” said Petronella. “But we had better be off and leave you to your work, then. Could you tell us the way, please?
“There are two ways you can go. If you go through that door over there, you will get to the cave on the same level as this one.”
“I see,” said Petronella.
“Another sister of mine is guardian in there. We are three sisters in all. She deals with wife beaters, too. She tames them as far as she can. Then she brings them here. Princess Zelda sometimes does some javelin throwing in there, too. Well, it’s only next door so she can go whenever she’s needed.”
Princess Zelda nodded and smiled.
“Circe is a Princess Warrior, too. Princess Circe is a right witch. She turns men into pigs. They arrive in groups and she has the most tasty banquet laid out for them. She mixes a special potion with her very own fair hands. And she puts it in their food. Potent liquid is poured into her homemade wine. She boils it for three days in her cauldron, bubbling and foaming. Has to keep stirring it with her stick. Then pours it into golden goblets for them. I am told the wine is tasty. This mixture makes them fall asleep. When they wake up they have heads of pigs, with bristles and all, and they grunt like pigs. But their brains are still that of a man, so they know what is happening. They wallow in the mud and she hits them with big sticks when they get out of hand.”
“How can she deal with all those men? Don’t they attack her?”
“No, they would not dare. You see, she has very long hair. Down to her waist. Each strand is a horrid skinny snake with slimy scales. Men are terrified to go near her,” said Queen Bellatrix.
“I can understand that,” said Petronella, trying to imagine what Princess Circe looked like.
“She makes sausage meat out of them and sometimes feeds this to the next load of shadows. Her pork pies are the best anyone has ever tasted.”
Petronella and Percy thought they would never want to try those pies. No matter how tasty
they were!
“So all you would see if you went there would be hundreds of pigs grunting around. But I am sure you will want to get on with your journey and go up to the next level,” said Queen Bellatrix.
“Yes, I think we’ll take your good advice, thanks,” said Petronella. “It would be better to skip Princess Circe’s Cave. What do you think Percy?”
“Me thinketh I must needs getteth to myn ma and pa,” said Percy.
“It’s all upwards now. If you go through there,” she said pointing to a well-polished oak door, “then you can take the walled stairs. These stairs are made of red-brick, like the walls either side of them. Just go up the stairs and you’ll be well and truly on the way.”
After having said their goodbyes, Petronella and Percy went through the polished oak door and started climbing up the stairs.
16 Etheldreda
The stairs were steep and it looked a mighty long way up. As Queen Bellatrix had said, the stairs had red-brick walls built up on either side. Every now and then, there were recesses carved into the walls. In each of these spaces stood a statue of a woman.
Percy was striding up the stairs fast. Probably because he knew he would be seeing his parents soon. Petronella lagged behind a little. Her feet felt wet. How could that be? She turned around and saw that water was rising up behind them. It was rising faster than she was climbing the steps. Soon her boots and skirt were soaking wet which weighed her down and made her go even slower. The water was now up to her waist and she couldn’t see the steps anymore. Percy saw that Petronella had stopped, she was floating in the water.
“Run up fast, Percy. Don’t you worry about me. Just try and get to the top and out of danger. You must save yourself and get to your parents.”
Petronella & the Trogot Page 11
