The Eleventh Ring (Bartholomew the Adventurer Trilogy Book 1)

by Tom Hoffman

  “I believe we should celebrate her completion with a bottle of fine pinot grigio.”

  “A sound proposition, indeed.”

  After a delicious dinner, Bartholomew and Oliver discussed their plans for Penrith. The first item on their agenda would be to find Morthram, Guild Master of the Penrith Shapers Guild. If Morthram didn’t know where Clara was, they would be back to square one.

  A beautiful starry evening found Bartholomew sitting by the river. As he sat watching it flow past, his mind was filled with a soft and melodic tune from long ago. It was a song his grandfather used to sing to him when he was a bunny. The words had a far different meaning to him now.

  There’s a clock in my room with two silver hands,

  Moving so slowly, it’s hard to understand,

  How the time is flying by.

  There’s a tree on my street, tall and grand,

  Growing so slowly, it’s hard to understand,

  How the time is flying by.

  Two silver hands won’t slow down,

  Time is a river, and love is to be found

  While the time is flying by.

  Bartholomew rose early, his mind whirling with thoughts of their impending journey on the Halsey River. He examined the wagon one final time, checking and rechecking to make sure nothing was amiss. He turned his eyes to the river, then up to the mountains and the clear blue sky above. It seemed like a lifetime since his first visit to the Cavern of Silence. So much had happened. The possibility of finding Clara had changed everything. Cavern was right, he was not the same rabbit he had been before, with his naive ideas about adventuring. He wondered how the years had changed Clara. From what he had read in her diaries, they seemed to be growing in the same direction. He had a feeling when he saw her again it would be as if no time had passed.

  Oliver emerged from the tent an hour later, fully dressed and ready to go.

  “I’ll make breakfast and then we can launch the wagon.”

  As they ate, they discussed tactics for maneuvering the boat upriver.

  “I believe we should stick close to the other side of the river, staying as far away from the rock slide as possible. Once we have passed the slide area, we can find a sandy shore to land the craft, or if things are going well, we can continue on upriver.”

  Bartholomew agreed. “A sound plan if ever I heard one.”

  “Shall we take our leave?”

  They cleaned up the remains of breakfast and doused the fire, then headed over to the wagon and rolled it into the river. Bartholomew held up his paw for Oliver to stop. “One last thing before we leave.” There was a small flash of light and a bottle of champagne appeared in his paw.

  “You can shape champagne? Why have you not told me this?”

  “Ha! A bunny could do it!” Bartholomew raised the bottle and swung it into the side of the wagon, smashing it to pieces. “I christen thee, The Adventurer.”

  Oliver nodded. “I like it. The Adventurer she is. For the record, I have absolute faith in The Adventurer’s seaworthiness and for our successful voyage up the river.”

  “All aboard who’s going aboard!”

  They climbed onto the wagon, which was now bobbing up and down in the water. Oliver took his place in the back of the craft and started both vacuumators. Soon they were roaring loudly, shooting out two powerful jets of air behind the boat. Bartholomew sat in the center of The Adventurer and took command of the rudder, which moved smoothly in both directions. “Cast off, Captain Oliver!”

  Oliver laughed. He turned both vacuumator dials to the right and the roaring sound increased threefold. Bartholomew could scarcely hear Oliver’s voice above the thundering vacuumators. The Adventurer moved into the river, gaining speed with each moment. Bartholomew swung the rudder to the left and they were heading upriver towards the opposite shore. They were on their way.

  The Adventurer performed flawlessly as it made its way across the Halsey. Oliver gave the thumbs up sign to Bartholomew, who quickly returned it.

  Bartholomew pulled the rudder gently to the left, making a slight correction to the ship’s course. Without warning, the world around him became a silent one, the sounds of the vacuumators and the river simply fading away to nothing. He was familiar with the sensation and knew what would come next. Seconds later, the Cavern of Silence spoke.

  “You will soon have to make a terrible decision. There will be two choices facing you. Whichever one you choose will mark the beginning of an unalterable chain of events.”

  The roaring of the vacuumators returned. Bartholomew didn’t want to think about decisions which would begin a chain of unalterable events. Not now, anyway. He would talk with the Cavern of Silence after they had safely passed the rock slide.

  He returned his focus to The Adventurer. She was moving easily against the current. Once they had crossed to the other side of the river, Bartholomew swung the rudder over and headed directly upriver. The Adventurer pushed its way past the first section of the rock slide and entered into the canyon. When they rounded the curve in the river he could see the rock slide was far larger and longer than they had initially suspected. It had slid farther into the river here, greatly narrowing the passageway. Bartholomew looked back at Oliver, who had a worried look on his face. He hollered out to Bartholomew.

  “Are you familiar with Bernoulli Rabbit’s principle?”

  “What?”

  Oliver shook his head. “The river is getting narrower, which means the speed of the current will increase enormously. I’m not certain we have enough power to overcome it!”

  “I don’t think we have a choice. We don’t have enough room to safely turn the boat around.”

  Oliver nodded and pointed ahead. They would continue on. He turned both dials to the right as far as they would go. The vacuumators were running at full power now. Their thundering roar echoed through the canyon as The Adventurer plowed ahead through the rushing torrents of water.

  The boat forged its way deeper into the canyon. The current was increasing in speed as the river narrowed, but the enormous power of the vacuumators kept the craft moving forward at a steady pace. Oliver gave the thumbs up sign again.

  That was when Bartholomew noticed the rocks ahead.

  Chapter 12

  Bartholomew’s Choice

  The rocks were protruding just above the surface of the water, creating enormous swells of white foam as the river raged and churned around them. He shouted out a warning, but Oliver did not hear him over the deafening vacuumators. The Adventurer hit the rocks with a terrible grinding sound, tipping wildly to one side. Water rushed into the craft through a huge gash in floor. Bartholomew tried to move the rudder but it had been too badly damaged. He saw the desperate look on Oliver’s face. In a matter of moments The Adventurer would succumb to the raging river.

  He heard the Cavern of Silence again. “Clara’s thought.”

  The tin! If they could touch Clara’s thought cloud in the tin, it would instantly transport them to the Most Beautiful Island. He crawled across the crates until he found it. He wrenched the tin out and pulled off the lid. The thought cloud was still there.

  Oliver shut down the vacuumators and hollered to Bartholomew.

  “What should we do?”

  Bartholomew crawled frantically across the crates towards him. “Touch the thought cloud! It will take us to the Most Beautiful Island.”

  “There’s nothing in the tin.”

  “Put your paw in it.”

  Oliver jabbed his paw into the tin. Nothing happened. There was a terrible sound of tearing metal as The Adventurer moved several feet farther across the rocks. Bartholomew realized Clara’s thought would only work for someone who could read thought clouds. Oliver could not use it.

  “It doesn’t work for me. You must save yourself. Touch the thought cloud. I’ll be fine.”

  Time seemed to stop. This was what the Cavern of Silence had warned him about. He could save himself, but he would be leaving Oliver to face the de
adly river alone. He looked at his friend, who was still gesturing for him to touch Clara’s thought cloud. He thought about Clara and the kind of rabbit she was, and the kind of rabbit he wanted to be. She had not created this thought cloud so he could use it to abandon his friend.

  “No, I am staying with you. We will find another way.” With a flash of light a long rope appeared in his paw. There was a three pronged metal hook tied to the end of it. He whirled the heavy hook over his head and sent it flying toward the rocks at the edge of the river. It landed between two boulders. He pulled the rope tight. The hook was trapped securely between the two jagged rocks.

  “Grab the rope and don’t let go!”

  Bartholomew pulled himself up and forward until he was standing up on the side of the shuddering craft. A moment later Oliver stood next to him gripping the rope.

  “We must jump into the river as The Adventurer slides off the rocks or we shall go down with her.” Oliver nodded.

  There was a final terrible rending of metal as the ship began lurching off the rocks into the raging river.

  “Jump!”

  Still gripping the rope they both leaped into the water, desperately pulling themselves toward the rocks on the shore. Less than a minute later they lay panting on the edge of the rushing river. They were alive, but The Adventurer was gone, along with Clara’s thought and all their supplies. They inched their way up the steep jagged rocks. When they were safely above the river, Bartholomew pointed farther into the canyon.

  “We can follow the canyon wall until we reach the road.”

  They clung to the rocks, moving like crabs from one to the other until finally arriving at the end of the colossal rock slide. Clambering down the jagged mountain of debris they were soon standing on the road below. The river was wide here, its slow and steady current giving no hint of the terrible rapids they had barely survived.

  “Bartholomew, without your help I would not have...” Oliver didn’t finish the sentence.

  “Not a word. You would have done the same for me. That’s what friends do. Now, let’s find our way out of this dreadful canyon.”

  They walked along the road, hugging the canyon wall. Neither of them wanted to get too close to the river.

  “What in the world is this?”

  Bartholomew had found a doorway cut into the side of the canyon. The door was constructed of heavy iron bars, resembling something from the Age of Darkness. It was locked shut with a massive padlock.

  “I suppose it’s a tunnel of some sort left over from the construction of the road.”

  Bartholomew peered through the bars. It was not a tunnel, but a shaft, going straight down into the earth. It was round and smooth, about fifteen feet across. This was not a natural formation. Someone had built it, but there were no clues who that might have been. With a flash of light a bright sphere appeared in front of him, floated between the bars and then downward, lighting up the interior of the shaft. After several hundred feet he could see where the tunnel turned, and the glowing sphere disappeared from sight. He had learned nothing about the shaft except it was long and deep.

  “It looks as though we’ve stumbled onto still yet another mystery.”

  They continued on towards the end of the canyon. When they finally emerged into the open fields, they were close to exhaustion. Their wet clothes had soon dried in the warm sun, which did much to improve their mood. As they were hobbling along, Oliver spied a wooden structure in the distance, partially hidden by trees. When they drew closer they could see it was a two story building constructed entirely of logs. It seemed tidy and well kept. The was large colorful sign on the front which read:

  THE FERILLIUM INN

  A Welcome Haven for Weary Travelers

  “Perfect. This is exactly what we need. It will give us time to rest, and in a day or two I can shape more supplies.”

  “Not be a purveyor of gloom, but we have no money. Everything we had went down with The Adventurer.”

  A look of panic appeared on Bartholomew’s face. “My dark glasses!” He reached into his pocket and found them still there. “We have the dark glasses, but no coins. I believe I can remedy that situation.” He opened his paw and five gold coins appeared in a flash of light.

  “Ah. I keep forgetting your unusual ability. Onward to the inn then.”

  Chapter 13

  Theodore Rabbit

  They pulled open the front door of the inn and entered. It was warm and cozy, and the air was filled with the delightful aroma of baking bread.

  The rabbit behind the counter greeted them cordially.

  “A good day to you, sirs. If you are looking for a room you have come to the right place. The rock slide has greatly diminished our normal traffic, and consequently we have numerous rooms available.”

  “That is welcome news, my friend. We are quite weary from our travels. Our supplies were lost to the river, but we are at least able to pay for food and lodging.”

  “Excellent. I shall place you in a large room with a lovely view of the Halsey.”

  “Perfect, although I fear we have already seen more than we care to of that river.”

  The dinner served that evening was excellent, and Oliver commented several times how tasty it was. Afterwards they took a short walk around the inn, then retired for the night. They slept late the next morning, resting up from their exhausting experience on the river. Breakfast was waiting for them when they arrived downstairs.

  The innkeeper’s name was Theodore Rabbit, and he had lived most of his life along the Halsey River. “We really have no idea what caused the terrible rock slide. Some rabbits say they heard a low rumbling noise right before it occurred. The only thing I can guess is there was a small earthquake, although it would be quite unusual for this area. Speaking of which, I don’t recognize you as being from around this area. Do you live far from here?”

  “Yes, quite far indeed. I live in a small village called Lepus Hollow. We are heading towards Penrith on business. My friend Oliver is a scientist employed by the Excelsior Electro-Vacuumator Corporation.”

  “I am currently the head of research and material acquisitions.”

  “How wonderful to have such a distinguished rabbit at our humble inn. I suppose all your family members are breathlessly following your exploits?”

  “That is unfortunately not the case. We are trying to find my sister. Last we heard she was in Penrith, so that is our destination.”

  “Ah, I see. I certainly wish you the very best of luck in finding her.”

  Bartholomew suddenly felt very cold. He paid close attention to his feelings now, but could find no good reason for this one. After a few moments the feeling vanished. Perhaps it had just been his overactive imagination.

  “Oliver, why don’t we take a walk outside. I should like to see some of this area while we’re here.”

  “Excellent idea. A brisk walk after breakfast is quite good for one’s constitution.”

  They both stood up and excused themselves.

  “Let’s walk over through those trees. We need a secluded area where I can shape new supplies for our trip to Penrith. It would take too long to create a new duplonium wagon, so for now I’ll just shape a simple wooden cart we can pull behind us. We’ll also need food and new clothing.”

  “Yes, and several bottles of champagne.”

  “Thank you for reminding me. I would hate to forget something as crucial as champagne.”

  “At last we have found some common ground.”

  Bartholomew gave a loud snort. He turned his focus to the work at hand and soon had fabricated a basic wooden cart. Next came the shaping of the supplies they would need for the trip. Several hours later everything was carefully packed in the wagon, including two bottles of a very fine champagne. Oliver found branches and leaves lying about the area which he collected to cover the wagon.

  “I believe I have something which will be slightly more effective than branches.”

  There was a flash of light in
his paw and a green ball floated down to the ground. It quickly grew in size, its color fading rapidly. As it floated towards the wooden wagon, it continued to grow until it was nearly twelve feet across. The sphere had become completely transparent and was enveloping the wagon. The sections of the wagon which were inside the sphere disappeared. Soon the whole wagon had vanished.

  Oliver was astonished. “How did you make the wagon disappear?”

  “The basic idea is when light hits the sphere, instead of bouncing off, it travels around to the opposite side of the sphere, then continues on in the same direction it was going when it first hit the sphere. When you look at the sphere you see everything that’s behind it, but not what is inside it.”

  “How marvelous. I do believe there is a glimmer of hope that one day you might become a fine scientist.”

  “And perhaps I shall teach you to read thought clouds.”

  Oliver laughed. “I’m afraid I make a far better scientist than a thought reader.”

  With the wagon safely hidden, they headed back to the inn. Upon their return they discovered there were three new guests. Two rather rough looking rabbits were seated at one table, and a third rabbit was sitting by himself. His clothes were well tailored, but strangely out of fashion.

  Oliver was his usual gregarious self and greeted the new guests.

  “Good afternoon, my friends, I do hope you are having a wonderful day. I’m quite certain you will enjoy your stay here at the inn. I can tell you from personal experience the food is delicious.”

  The two rough looking rabbits looked up at Oliver. One of them gave a small grunt in reply to Oliver’s greeting. The well dressed rabbit gave a painfully insincere smile.

  Oliver turned to the innkeeper. “Good sir, I have a question which will not seem to leave me alone. Your inn is called the Ferillium Inn, and as a scientist I am quite familiar with a rare element which bears the same name. Is there a connection between your inn and the element known as ferillium?”