by Marc Secchia
“Calling my work ‘doing something’ is an insult to the considerable forethought and craft I invested in–”
“How you grumble!” Dusky and the Chief sounded exactly like a quarrelling old couple, Shioni thought, with their gentle, loving bickering back and forth. She added, “We had discussed the girl’s emoting like a volcano, spouting ash and pumice to the four winds, yes. But you snatched the opportunity in less time than it takes to sneeze. I didn’t know you still had it in you.”
“Ha! Ha!” The gusts of air from his trunk blew Shioni’s hair all over her face. “And who pulls the greatest loads amongst the great pachyderms, might I ask?”
“And his son will be bigger and stronger than him,” Beauty whispered in Shioni’s ear.
“And my son will be bigger and stronger than I!”
Shioni was giggling when she felt something pluck her tunic. She turned to Beauty and slapped her trunk, which had adeptly picked her pocket of a lump of rock salt. “Can’t you tell me what he did? Please? Anyone?”
“Salt!” cried Beauty, with a naughty chuckle.
The other elephants all crowded around. “Hand it over, girl!” “Have you been hiding salt?” “Yum, what a treat!” “Oldest first! I tell you, these youngsters learn their manners from monkeys!”
Shioni shoved her hands into her tunic pockets to keep the thieving trunks out. One trunk was trying to tickle her right armpit, another was tugging at her shoulder. “Not until you tell me what I want to know! Hey! Stop that!”
The Chief Elephant had snared her waist and whipped her up into the air, upside-down. He shook her about, making lumps of salt fly everywhere.
“Shioni!”
“Mama needs me. Put me down!”
“Put me down, please,” the Chief Elephant corrected her with a severe shake of his trunk. “Pleases and thank you’s are the very heart of good manners.”
“So is not intruding in peoples’ private thoughts!”
Dusky shoved the Chief Elephant with her shoulder–a shove which would have sent Shioni flying, but did not move him an inch. “The girl has a point.”
“Hmm.” The Chief Elephant drew Shioni closer to his eye, looking at her as though he could see right into her thoughts and feelings. Then he suddenly flipped her over again and set her on her feet with deft care. “Indeed she does. We must remember to thank you for having the handler treat Beauty’s foot. Now, a full explanation would be needlessly complicated…”
Beauty’s trunk tickled Shioni’s ear. “And very, very long-winded.”
“Shioni, you were shouting when you last visited us. Thoughts, words, feelings, all jumbled up and erupting out of you like a volcano. I merely unlocked what was already inside of you. The key in itself is nothing. An artifice, if you like.”
“What’s an artifice?”
“Shioni! Where is that dratted girl?”
“Don’t they teach these humans the rudiments of language?”
“An artifice is a trick,” said Beauty. “And you talk just fine. Thank you for informing our handler of my pregnancy. We already enjoy better feed as a result. Now, do run along before you get into trouble.”
Scrambling over the fence of the elephant enclosure, Shioni dashed around to the main entrance of the keep, which was not far. Mama Nomuula was waiting for her, hands on hips. “Where you been hiding, girl?”
“Sorry Mama, I was held up–by an elephant.”
Chapter 19: Snaky, Snaky on the Wall
Curtains of cloud drifted across the full moon. The night air smelled of wood smoke from the castle’s banked-up cooking fires, mixed with the savour of coffee trees and spices drying in the courtyard. There was no sign of a break in the warm weather. Shioni poked her head carefully out of the kitchen doorway and glanced up to the parapets. General Getu would not have let the warriors slip into the watchtower and play at dice, she thought. Or maybe they were sleeping?
So far, the scrolls had turned up nothing more of great interest. Shioni was sick of scrolls. Even Annakiya declared she was ‘wilting’ and if there was no news by the end of the third day’s searching that room, Shioni would get her wish–another chance to face the python. Cue yet another bout of night-time craziness…
Shioni turned to beckon Annakiya. Keeping close to the shadows, they slipped along the kitchen wall toward the well. In a moment, Shioni saw the rope lying ready. Someone had fixed it to a strong iron ring set in the wall, probably once used for tethering horses. Good, Mama’s plan had worked. She had bribed one of the message boys with a wad of honeycomb to ask the warriors to lay a rope for the stonemasons–only, the masons knew nothing of the matter!
Shioni quickly dragged the coiled rope over to the well and let it run quickly through her hands, length upon length, until there was none left. The warriors had even knotted it for easy climbing, and secured it to the ring. Heart thumping away, she peered over the edge of the well. It was blacker than night down there. A spider seemed to be dancing on the nape of her neck, only when she rubbed the spot, there was nothing there.
“Go on,” Annakiya breathed in her ear. “You scared?”
Shioni nodded. “A bit.”
That was a lie, and it didn’t convince either of them. Taking a deep breath, she gripped the rope and began the hand-over-hand descent into darkness, trying to ignore the growing pain in her lion-healed shoulder. When would it ever be better?
It took a few tries to find the doorway down in the well, but once inside Shioni tugged sharply on the rope, three times, to signal Annakiya. Soon she could hear a slight scraping and panting of breath as the Princess made her way down into the well. Good grief, she was heavy! Shioni found she had to wedge herself across the narrow tunnel, so that her friend would be guided right down into the tunnel’s mouth. She wound the rope several times about her body and pressed grimly with her shoulders and feet as her friend clambered down to join her.
“Where’s the light?” said Annakiya, scrambling in. “Oh, look at my poor chafed fingers! I should have brought gloves.”
“I was busy hauling you in, you little elephant.”
“Thanks.” Annakiya’s flint sparked. “Darn. Ok, here we go. Give me your lamp.”
Soon, the smoky light of two oil-lamps flickered inside the roughly-bricked tunnel. Annakiya’s eyes looked bright with excitement.
“Second thoughts?” asked Shioni.
“A few,” said Annakiya, a little breathlessly. “But I’ll have you know, I prefer my friends not to be eaten by lions or snakes! Not without the royal permission, anyhow. Keep your dagger handy, right? And I’ll get this sack ready.”
The sack was for throwing over the python’s head, should it appear. Shioni thought that plan was looking sillier and sillier. Holding her dagger at the ready didn’t help her feel any braver either. Imagine if she let the Princess of West Sheba get hurt… oh dear. In comparison, being bullied by the Captain would seem like a walk in a flowery meadow!
She had seen movement in that bottle, hadn’t she? But the rest was all a blur. If only Anbessa could have lent her some of his great strength. ‘I see much of a mouse in your spirit, Shioni,’ she muttered to herself.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, nothing,” said Shioni. “Come on. And whatever you do, keep your eyes peeled for that python.”
Cat-footed, the girls crept up the tunnel. It seemed longer than Shioni remembered, full of thin roots that like spiteful fingers, wanted to tug and tangle her hair. Millipedes and beetles scuttled away at the approaching light, and finger-long cockroaches waved their feelers aggressively and made tiny clicking noises as their claws scraped the bricks.
Annakiya put her hand on Shioni’s shoulder, and when she turned, she saw that her friend was following with her eyes scrunched shut!
Shioni stopped at the entrance of the grotto. She held up her lamp, making the shadows leap backward. Annakiya peered around her, holding her lamp high as well. The pool of light they made seemed pitifully small. It didn’t
reach the far wall of the chamber, and the great roots cast twisted shadows everywhere. Shioni realised that the python could be hiding anywhere. She motioned Annakiya to be silent, and then pointed to her eyes and ears.
Annakiya nodded. She was looking for the bottle, but her gaze kept jumping nervously to the roof. Her lamp-light was shaking.
‘There,’ Shioni mouthed, pointing. She led the way.
The girls stole forward, barefoot, making no sound apart from the soft rustling of their clothing. The darkness retreated before them and above them, but amongst the roots and hard-packed stones of the roof there was no sign of the python. Annakiya kept bumping into her from behind. Shioni had to resist a strong urge to scold her friend, trying to concentrate on the prize instead. No doubt Annakiya was as nervous as she was!
They saw the simple stone pedestal now, set on a circle of paving stones in the heart of the grotto. But this time, Shioni noticed that there were swirling patterns and geometric shapes chiselled into the pedestal, and into the stone floor all around it. She wondered if this place had once been used for magic. Maybe in the castle’s distant past, evil magicians had stood right here… the idea made her knees turn shuddery! A large, transparent bottle stood in the exact centre of the pedestal. It was made of a strange kind of crystal, which was reflecting and throwing the lamplight in all directions, in multiple rainbows and vivid swathes of colour.
Shioni narrowed her eyes. There was a little lump inside, no more. Her heart sank at once. Surely they weren’t risking their lives for that?
Acting on instinct, she stepped around to her right, changing their angle of approach. Her eyes probed the deep shadows between the huge, dangling roots. Here, at the centre of the grotto, the roof vaulted upwards almost as if to touch the very underside of the baobab. Perhaps it was hollow. Perhaps there was a way to climb down inside the huge trunk. Whatever the case, the lamplight did not reach high enough to reveal the chamber’s secrets.
Did she smell wood smoke from the kitchen fires? The bottle was almost close enough to reach out and touch. Did she dare?
The lump moved. Yes, it was definitely stirring, rising slightly, weakly… for all the world like an injured bird… Shioni strained her eyes. It was about the size of a sparrow, but neither feathered nor furred. What kind of creature was it? She had the strangest sense that it was somehow responding to their presence!
Then, a tiny wink of ruby-red light caught her eye. Shioni’s head snapped around. “Anni!” she shrieked, and shoved her friend away from her as hard as she could!
Annakiya tumbled backwards, so shocked she forgot even to scream. Her lamp went flying and smashed against the ground, spilling out its oil. Flames burst like red flowers from the point of impact.
The python had been dangling down a gnarled tree root, as still and quiet as death itself. Brown on brown, its disguise was almost perfect. Shioni’s shove pushed the Princess well clear. But that same force thrust her hard up against the python. She had a horrified second to realise this even as a thick coil tightened around her thighs, pinning her to the root.
Instinctively, she swung the dagger, but the writhing snake knocked her elbow and the blow went awry. Fury and hatred scorched her. Shioni yelled in frustration as her wrist twisted sharply and the blade dropped to the ground. She struggled with all her strength, trying to slip her legs out of the coil, using both hands to try to lever it loose. But the python was one great, rippling length of muscle. That coil tightened on her legs like a monstrous cord; supple, powerful, and inescapable. She might as well have tried to push an elephant aside for all the good she was doing.
Annakiya started forward as though poked by a stick. She held the sack in her hands. “Hurry!” cried Shioni.
But the python lunged at her, fangs agape. Annakiya batted it aside with the sack. Shioni was fighting her own battle against a second coil which was threatening to encircle her. It bumped the lamp, which was still in her hand, spilling oil down her arm. The python’s grip shifted, strengthening again.
“The eyes!” Shioni remembered what Anbessa had said. “Go for the eyes!”
Annakiya lunged for the dagger, but the python’s lashing coils knocked her back. She fell dangerously close to the patch of burning oil. But the Princess bravely found her feet and lifted the sack again. “You are not eating my friend!” she shouted.
The python’s tail had curled somewhere behind the root. That second loop drew tight, despite Shioni fighting it tooth and claw, and began to constrict her waist. The reptilian skin was surprisingly cool and dry, but beneath it the bands of elastic muscle worked powerfully and efficiently. The most frightening thing to Shioni was how the pressure never let up, not even for a heartbeat. Her diaphragm and ribs were being crushed to a pulp and there was nothing she could do to prevent it.
Shioni could see Annakiya trying to manoeuvre the sack into position. She wanted to scream at her to hurry, but there was too little air left in her lungs. The pressure was so intense, her eyes were bulging out of their sockets. Her vision began to draw in at the edges, as though she were being pulled backward into a tunnel.
The Princess pounced! She flipped the sack over the python’s head, snuffing out the baleful red eyes. The whole length of the python convulsed madly! It thrashed like a river-trout speared by a heron’s beak, and Annakiya, who was hanging on grimly with both her arms and legs, was taken for a bruising ride.
As the coils slackened a touch, Shioni found she could wriggle free. She took a huge, sweet breath of fresh air. Saved! Well, not if they didn’t make a fast exit…
The python was enraged. It was hissing and spitting, lunging this way and that, trying to throw off its attacker. Annakiya was flung clear. But the huge snake continued to thrash its way around the grotto in a terrible frenzy.
“Quick, the bottle!” called Annakiya, as Shioni hesitated.
She snatched up the bottle. Where was that dagger? Was the Princess doing a little victory dance over there? She couldn’t believe her eyes!
“Did you see what I did?”
Shioni ducked into the tunnel. “I was a bit busy, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
She slipped the bottle under her tunic and tucked the fabric into the cord belt of her leggings. There–both hands free for climbing. Her stomach was still rearranging itself back to normal. What damage had been done? At least she could breathe, now. And the python’s terrible hatred seemed to fade with every step they took down the tunnel.
The snake was still scraping and hissing, and crashing into things so hard that dust puffed out of the tunnel’s ceiling at each impact. It wouldn’t follow them, surely? It would no doubt escape the sack soon. And then she would not want to be waiting around to find out just how much they had maddened it!
Annakiya was trying to skip, which wasn’t very wise considering how low and tight the tunnel was. She kept whispering, “I bagged that python!” and “Saved you, didn’t I?” and “Did you see me ride on its back, Shioni, did you?” until Shioni said crossly:
“Be quiet, will you, or the warriors will hear us!”
But the renewed hissing of the python in the tunnel behind them convinced both girls to hurry!
Up the knotted rope it was, “Aren’t you glad you took me, Shioni?” and “What are friends for, I ask you?” But by the time they reached the Princess’ chamber, shut the door behind them, and looked at each other in the low lamplight, the shakes had set in and Annakiya had to sit down.
“My knees aren’t working,” she said in surprise.
“Here,” said Shioni, kindly, “have some bread and honey, Anni. You’re in shock.”
A tear tracked down her cheek. Annakiya smeared it absently with the back of her hand. “How do you do it, Shioni? I like it when you call me ‘Anni’.” She bit into the bread. “Just look at my hands! That awful snake was right next to your shoulder and we didn’t even see it. Was I brave enough?”
“Not bad for a scroll-worm.”
“Not bad for a scrol
l-worm?” A slow smile spread over the Princess’s face.
“Magnificent!” said Shioni, feelingly.
“You were turning blue, Shioni. I had to do something! God!” She shuddered as though she had a malarial fever. “I never want to do anything like that ever again. Hurry up with that bottle.”
Both girls leaned closer as Shioni held the bottle up to the light. It was remarkably heavy. The wide neck was stoppered with a foul-looking gob of wax, pierced by two reed straws, perhaps for letting air in. It looked very much the kind of bottle one might find on a witch’s shelf, Shioni imagined. But its contents were the most remarkable thing of all.
Annakiya was the first to find her voice. “Why, I do believe it’s a little person in there! Get it out, Shioni–but be careful!”
Shioni tipped the bottle up and give it a tiny shake. Now they could see more clearly inside, and they gasped in unison. “Wings!” said Shioni. “What is it… what kind of creature…?”
“Here, give me that writing stylus. I’ll get it out.”
It took but a moment to gouge out the wax. Shioni wrinkled her nose as a puff of air from the bottle hit her nostrils. It smelled stale, yet still hinted at the scents of wild meadow flowers and sweet nectar. Very gingerly, she tilted the bottle until the creature slid out and flopped flaccidly onto her palm.
“Mind your clumsy fingers,” said Annakiya.
“I am being careful!”
But the friends were much more interested in their find than in having a row.
At first Shioni thought she was seeing a miniature person, curled up in her hand, with a shock of grass-green hair and slender dark limbs, perfect in every detail right down to miniscule eyelashes curling over slumbering eyes. The creature’s breathing seemed irregular, as though it might stop without warning. But then other details began to intrude. Her gaze took in the crumpled gossamer wings; the unhealthy, greyish pallor underlying a skin which was covered in intricate whorls and spiralling patterns of green-and-gold; the over-large size of the eyes compared to the tiny, angular face; a tightly coiled purple tongue protruding slightly out of her mouth; and… stars in heaven, were those antennae sprouting out of the forehead?
