"Ah! We've been on this highway forever," Chantilly retorted with cheerful exasperation. "We need no help."
"Ma’am," the bear interjected abruptly. He could see that the owl was warming up for no one knew what kind of pontification or expostulation. "We are pleased to meet you, and sorry to be the cause of this delay in your travels. Now, I'm sure that you have to get on to where you're going, and we do too. If it's all the same to you, we'd like to go ahead and get started as we have a lot left to accomplish yet. I know that prying the judge away from such beauty will be a miracle in and of itself," he said with charming humor, "but I think that with your assistance it can be accomplished."
"Suit yourself, bear," Champagne said. "—Chantilly, Charif." And the three cows began to shuffle their hooves, preparatory to turning around, when Egbert stepped forward.
"If I may," the squirrel said, halting the sisters in their tracks. "Might the three sisters have traveled this way before? Ladies?"
"Most certainly," Champagne confirmed with a touch of annoyance.
"We never go in the jungle," Chantilly added.
"Perhaps, then, you are familiar with the way to our destination. The Hollowed Tree—“
"The Hollowed Tree! Oh yes, of course. We have been there many times."
"My—my—word," Charif said. "The Hollowed—Hollowed—tree. Of course!"
"No mystery there," Chantilly said matter of factly. "We can show you the turn off."
"Haarumph!" Honorashious scowled at the squirrel. Despite the seemingly fortuitous nature of this turn of events, once again the squirrel had spoken out of order. The old owl thrust out his feathered chest and addressed the cows. "Haarumph! Egbert's announcement of our destination is somewhat—haarumph—inaccurate and—haarumph—haarumph—rather misses the point. We look—haarumph—for a lost boy, who we think—haarumph—haarumph— may have descended the Hollowed Tree."
"No matter," Chantilly said. "Come. We can show you the way." And the sisters turned about.
Boston had stood by in silence throughout this conversation. His original fears that the owl would be diverted into a long winded digression had given way now to amazement at this seemingly miraculous stroke of good fortune.
"Ma’am, we'd be most appreciative of it," he said gratefully.
And such members of the band as were riding mounted the armadillos, and they all set out at a much reduced rate of speed behind the three sisters.
42. The Three Sisters
While they had stood speaking to the sisters, several travelers, alone and in groups, had passed them by going in both directions. The wide variety of animal in evidence on the trail was representative of the entire jungle. Water buffalos and raccoons, elephants, dogs, and pigs were encountered in short order. These travelers, some of whom recognized our official party, had made no attempts to accost them, merely nodding their heads in greeting and going on their way. Now that they were moving once again, our group devoted their whole attention to careful observation of this passing menagerie.
The sisters seemed to know them all, nodding and smiling to each as they passed. Good natured friendliness animated their features at these times in sharp contrast with the obdurate stupidity with which they had first greeted our party; and they found kind words to bestow upon them one and all.
Honorashious and Percy and the others all marveled at this seemingly miraculous transformation.
"Haarumph!" the owl grunted. "Truly, these sisters wear much the better—haarumph— haarumph—with the passage of time!"
"So it would seem," Percy said thoughtfully.
In the gaps between these meetings, however, the cows dropped back into that unexpressive mode of travel in which our party had first found them. On they plodded, inexorably, as if to no goal or end at all, their essence in movement only. A small cloud of dust exploded from beneath each hoof as it met the ground. From behind, in an otherwise static tableau, the liquid heave and shift of their white haunches and, further on, the bobbing of heads slung between sunken shoulders, moved the landscape in kaleidoscopic perspective. The bear's vision narrowed. The landscape fell away. Only the white of Chantilly’s spotted hide was left, then that too dissolved, yielded to ragged black splotches which swarmed across his field of view like swirls of black bats.
"Haarumph!" grunted the owl, intruding into one of these silences. Boston started from his trance-like state and looked at the bird. "Haarumph—haarumph—good sisters, I infer from your—haarumph—familiarity with the Hollowed Tree that you are well versed in its characteristics, as well as—haarumph—in the secrets of the jungle?"
"We don't dwell on the tree much," Chantilly said back over her shoulder. "The secrets, yes, of course—as much as anyone."
"Not much to it," Champagne said matter of factly.
"Haarumph!"
"We can show you exactly where to turn off to find it," Champagne lectured, "but you will have to get there yourself from that point. We've no interest in going there."
“But the lost boy—“ Egbert spoke up.
"Haarumph! I will handle this, Egbert!" the owl interrupted the squirrel peremptorily. "None of your analysis just now, if you please. Haarumph—let the sisters speak."
"The lost boy—the lost boy—the lost boy," the third sister, Charif, faltered, "will not be found—not be found—by us."
"Haarumph! Nor would we ask you to find the lost boy," the owl retorted with a frown of irritation. "Most assuredly, that task is ours, and we will finish it! Haarumph!"
"Yet I would inquire, nonetheless," Egbert spoke up impetuously, "why is it that the ramifications of the boy lost are, seemingly, afforded so little importance? Sisters, you seem no more concerned about it than were the Warthogs of Hawg City, even though you—unlike that vulgar and pestiferous species—are obviously well versed in its many and varied aspects. We view his loss with the deepest distress."
"We didn't cause you to lose him," Champagne responded. "We'll go on our way regardless of the outcome of your mission."
"Haarumph! Well, that's a fine attitude to take!"
"I should say so!" Percy cried. "The welfare, then, of the whole jungle is of so little importance to these cows."
"Indeed," Chantilly said, "we will show you the way, but our itinerary is unchangeable. In any event, we would be of little use at the tree. You have our sympathies, to be sure."
"Exactly," Champagne said. "What would we do? Go down it?"
The sisters laughed at the absurdity of this proposition.
"Yet," Egbert persisted, ignoring the stern frown of disapproval aimed in his direction by the owl, "the Hollowed Tree is often missed by those who stand directly before it."
"Some see it, some don't," Champagne agreed.
"We run the risk of missing it then."
"Without a doubt."
"I would not disagree with either of you, Chantilly, or you either, Champagne," Boston said, feeling the need at this juncture for a mediatory influence. "We have got to find the tree ourselves. We are certainly capable of finding it without delaying you any on your way. And as far as those warthogs go, Egbert, I submit to you that they were as concerned as you or I about the boy. They just weren't able to connect everything."
At that moment the group was approaching a sharp turn in the trail. During the foregoing interchange an unusually lengthy period of time had passed during which the trail was free of any oncoming traffic. Now, however, from around the bend a great gander had appeared with startling abruptness, coming towards them at a high rate of speed and wearing upon his billed face an expression of utmost concern. Behind him, fluttering and panting to keep up with this outrageous pace, trailed a smaller yet very substantial goose, and behind her, struggling comically, eight goslings scurried, their legs moving their feet in a blur of yellow webbing. At any moment one or the other of the goslings stumbled and fell beneath the trampling feet of the siblings at their backs and just as quickly picked themselves up again and trampled over another in their turn
.
"Ah!" Chantilly shrieked in delight. "Why—Champagne—Charif—it's the Promonitory Gander!"
"And his—and his—and his charming wife—wife—wife and family!" Charif cried, equally pleased.
The gander nodded in greeting as he brushed past our party. He appeared as if he were on the verge of saying something yet such was the speed and suddenness of their encounter that he was by them before a word could be exchanged.
"Mister Everette! Good day! And how do you do, sir?" Chantilly called after him. "Can't you slow down for just a moment to pass the time?"
"Ain't got time!" the gander huffed back over his shoulder as he continued to hurry down the trail without slowing in the least. His wife threw them the briefest look of harried regret and followed close behind.
"That boy causes no end of trouble," Champagne said, shaking her head.
Though they had implored the gander to stop and talk, the three sisters themselves had not paused in the least as he hurried by. Now they fell again into their unexpressive mode of advancement.
Our party followed the sisters more or less in silence for the rest of the afternoon, maintaining a properly dignified, supercilious aloofness to the overtures of any passers by. At such times as the party was accosted, while the three sisters chatted away cheerfully, the owl grunted and looked severely at the stranger while the lion stared stonily straight ahead or spoke as if they were not present. The bear, never one to take on airs, nodded and presented a more friendly mien, though he too deliberately avoided engaging in a conversation which might hinder their progress. Fortunately, the sisters' volubility at these times never slowed their pace. They had perfected the technique of greeting, speaking, and bidding farewell, all without altering in the least their forward movement. As soon as the traveler had passed they fell once again into inanimate silence.
Towards dusk they began to pass a multitude of diverging, intersecting paths. These were narrower and pierced the jungle on either side of the main trail, losing themselves quickly to view. At one of these the sisters halted.
It was the first and only time that they had stopped since their beginning earlier that day. Furthermore, since the encounter with the Promonitory Gander they had not spoken so much as a single word among themselves or to any of our party of followers. Now Chantilly turned to her sister.
"Champagne, this is it, is it not?
"It most definitely is, Sister," Champagne said with satisfaction. "Nothing could be more certain. Here we part, my dear friends."
"Perceival—Perceival—Perceival Theodilious—“ Charif faltered, but for some reason could not complete her sentence and fell silent.
"An honor and a pleasure to assist you, Perceival Theodilious," Chantilly finished for her sister.
"To be sure," Champagne said.
Boston, who had stepped aside to peer down the darkening path, turned around now and faced the group. The sisters had turned to the path as well and were now facing the bear, as were the others: the owl and the lion and the squirrel and the armadillos—Jupe, with Honorashious on his back, and Agamemnon—and the Sergeant Major, snapping to attention.
"Champagne," the bear began," Chantilly, Charif—I would like to thank you each personally as well as on the behalf of my entire party—“Honorashious grunted and twitched his feather tufts, somewhat put out at this presumption of the bear. Ignoring the interruption, Boston continued: "Without your assistance, it is doubtful whether we could have selected the right path—a least right at first anyway. We are most thankful for your assistance, and it has been a distinct pleasure to have such gracious, charming, beautiful ladies for our traveling companions. Truth is—and no one would have ever known it if I weren't to mention it now—but after having just come over the Razorbacks I was one tired, fed up puppy, just like all the others, who anybody could tell were tired just by listening to their complaining and so forth." The armadillos exchanged wry looks and muttered under their breath several remarks distinctly disrespectful to the bear. "I thank you for lighting things up a bit for us and taking off some of the pressure—for a little while at least—in finding the way."
"I was perfectly confident—“ Egbert started to protest in a shrill voice, but the bear, slightly raising his voice, expertly cut him off:
"And that goes for us all."
The lion and the owl and the others—including Egbert—had no choice but to murmur their agreement with these sentiments.
The sisters, to whom these flattering comments were most pleasing, accepted all with grace and went on their plodding way, leaving our party to proceed along the final leg of their journey.
43. Reunion
"Haarumph! The sisters—so silent unaccosted, yet so voluble when prompted! They have greatly simplified our task. The multitude of paths appears nowhere on our chart, and without their help we should have muddled about—haarumph—haarumph—picking first this one, retracing our steps, then the other—for no one knows how long—haarumph!"
These comments were, of course, tendered by the great horned owl. Our party was proceeding now in single file so narrow was the path they trod, and the owl, anticipating that they would soon stop for the night, had not yet flown from Jupe's back. No light penetrated beneath the jungle canopy. It was as dark as a cave.
"Perhaps my confidence is misplaced," said Egbert, a voice in the darkness. He also clung to the ground, but on foot. "Yet I feel that we could have identified the correct choice using landmarks and other indications, which are clearly marked on the chart. No matter—without a doubt the sisters have saved us the anxiety of a choice."
Our party stopped at the first partial clearing of jungle that they came to, their only objective to locate themselves sufficiently far from the main trail to escape the notice of any passers by. Here they each made their bed and lay down, saving the owl, who still chafed at the unnatural disturbance imposed upon his nocturnal physiology by the others' preference for a daylight routine. He would stay up for at least some of the night, patrol the woods, scrape up a meal, returning in the early morning hours to get some sleep.
On the next day, presumably their final one, they set out with the trepidation of great expectations. They assumed their usual positions: the owl, flying at some times, at others on the ground; Egbert in the trees; the rest on the ground, led by the bear with the Sergeant Major bringing up the rear. The group anxiously anticipated the culmination of their journey in the form of a face to face encounter with the tree. Their way was well traveled and easy, the path frequently widening sufficiently to permit two to go abreast. Such was the state of nervousness induced by this prospect that the level of idle conversation became non-existent; all were intent upon the task at hand. They made good time and before the morning was gone, they were approaching the vicinity of their goal.
For some time now Honorashious had been at altitude surveying the canopy from above. Egbert traveled from tree to tree at the highest level possible, ascending to the very tops of those which showed the most promise. The animals on the ground scrutinized every trunk carefully.
The Sergeant Major glared up at the squirrel as he scampered along the branches above them.
"Keep a sharp eye peeled, dang it!" he barked.
"According to the Shaman Wolverine," Boston said as he moved along the path examining each tree with the utmost care, "the Hollowed Tree is beside the path. It should be right here in front of us when we find it, not out in the jungle somewhere. Lion and I will take this side, Jupe; you and Agamemnon take the other."
In this manner they proceeded through the afternoon. After some hours of the most strenuous concentration the animals had begun to show a growing weariness and frustration in the form of a general irritability and shortness of temper.
"We've come too far," Egbert said irascibly, after having descended from the branches. "We've missed it."
"Oh, we have, have we?" Agamemnon said contentiously.
"We ain't come too far, ye danged akern head!" the Sergeant Major s
aid.
The bear stopped and rose erect upon his hind legs. He held his nose up in the air and examined the trees carefully, thinking. After a moment he dropped back down on all fours with a discouraged sigh.
"Egbert's probably right," he said. "That creek we crossed a ways back looked like the one the wolverine woke up beside. Maybe we'd best go back that way and look closer on either side of the creek."
"How should we recognize it?" Percy said, wrinkling his brow. "We examined every tree with microscopic precision. There were no signs of hollowness."
None of the others answered. As they stood there, each deliberating with himself over the next step, the owl descended and landed with a plop on a conveniently situated overhanging branch.
"Haarumph! Resting?" he said disagreeably. The owl was irritated himself that he had had no luck in spotting the tree from altitude. Of all of the animals he should have been the most likely to find the tree. "Haarumph---haarumph! We'll get nowhere like this! Haarumph!"
Meanwhile, the bear had sat down in the middle of the path and begun licking his great paw. The shard of thorn he had picked up in the Razorbacks was still lodged deep within, working its way to the surface, and for the last hour our or so he had been beset with steadily increasing pain. He licked the paw for a moment, then looked up and sighed with regret.
"It looks like we've missed it, Judge," he said in depressed tones.
The owl narrowed his eyes and was about to utter a most sarcastic, sharp rejoinder to this statement. Then, in spite of his own mental disequilibrium, he noted the palpable air of defeat and frustration which had descended upon the group. He stopped and considered for a moment. It wouldn't do to berate them just now.
"Haarumph---well now," he admonished mildly. "It should come as no surprise---haarumph---that it is difficult to find the tree---haarumph---haarumph. After all, we were warned---haarumph!"
"We must retrace our steps," Egbert said simply.
The Hollowed Tree Page 27
