‘Quick, work with the paddles.’ called Moss, who had already grabbed his and was frantically driving it into the water as though his life depended on it.
With three paddles thrashing the water, the trough slowly headed out to sea, the height of the waves diminished giving way to a gentle swell. Gradually the frantic paddling gave way to a more rhythmic action, and the trough steadily glided ahead, while the land slowly disappeared from view.
When the Greater Sun had reached its zenith, Moss called a halt to the paddling and suggested they rest and eat.
Tired and sore muscles sagged with relief as they sat down in the bottom of the trough and relaxed.
‘What happens if we run out of food and water before we find the other land?’ asked Jay a little hesitatingly, as she didn’t want to put a damper on the otherwise successful beginning of their trip.
‘I’ve thought of that,’ said Moss, ‘when the water supply is half used up, and if there is no rain for us to catch, then we use the Direction Pointer to guide us back to the beach. I know we’ll be back where we started, but at least we’ll be alive and can try again further along.’
They took up the paddles again, and despite their tired muscles, drove the trough forward with the enthusiasm only found among those who didn’t realize how the odds were stacked against them, or didn’t care.
All was going well until Jay gave a little scream. Something had snatched the paddle blade from the end of her stave. Fortunately she managed to hold onto the precious stave itself, but the look of fear on her face only served to reinforce the new problem they were now going to be faced with.
Only a limited number of spare paddles were available, and no material to replace them with, and this clearly worried the otherwise unshakeable Moss.
‘From now on, we will only use two paddles at a time, one on each side of the bot. As we put them into the water, we must look out for anything which might try to take them, and withdraw them at once if we see anything.’
‘What if the creature stays around waiting for us to offer the paddle again?’ asked Kel, always ready with another question.
‘Then we’ll stab it with a bladed stave, the non paddler can have that job.’ Moss replied, hoping against hope that it would not come to that.
By the time that the Greater Sun had sunk to the horizon, lighting the sky up in a brilliant display of red and yellow streaks, the crew were well and truly spent.
It was decided to take as long a rest as they thought they needed, sleeping in the bottom of the trough, while one stood guard, against what they were not sure, but Moss insisted that they take it in turns to watch out for the unexpected.
During his watch, Kel was sick twice over the side of the trough, the random rocking motion when not doing anything active, proving too much for his senses.
It was a sorry crew which greeted the dawn. Tired, disillusioned and far from everything they knew, they set to tidying up their stores, which had been redistributed by the rocking motion of the trough during the night.
They ate their first meal of the day with little enthusiasm, washed down with a small amount of their precious water supply, and after Moss had checked that the Direction Pointer was still indicating the correct direction, took up the paddles and hoped for the best.
The Greater Sun had only climbed one quarter the way up to its highest point, when Kel gave a cry of alarm.
‘Oh no, look over there.’
Several long grey shapes were cleaving the water, keeping pace with the slowly moving trough.
‘There are some on this side too.’ Moss called out, a touch of ill concealed panic in his voice.
‘Now what do we do? We can’t stab that lot with the staves, and they’re so big, at least ten times as long as we are tall.’
‘They are much bigger than you see,’ Jay added, ‘some of them is still under the water.’
‘Stop paddling for a while, perhaps they’ll go away.’ called Moss, as this was the only thing he could think of.
But the huge creatures didn’t.
They all sat in the bottom of the trough, peering over the side as the huge grey creatures came ever closer.
One of the giant grey shapes left the main pack and glided over to the trough, giving it a nudge with its long snout, rocking the trough alarmingly.
Moss reached for his stave, but Jay called out,
‘No, they mean no harm, they friends.’
‘How can you tell that?’ Moss still had the stave held at the ready, in case the huge creature tried to hit the trough again.
‘They say they help us. They like us. They know where we go.’ Jay was almost hysterical in her efforts to stop Moss attacking the long streamlined shape which was now gently gliding alongside the trough.
Tears began to stream down Jay’s face as she saw how things could go so terribly wrong, and pleaded with Moss,
‘They tell me they help us. They want to help. They like us.’ She didn’t know how to tell the others how she knew.
‘I’ve not heard a word from them, so how can you?’ asked Kel, trying not to sound too unkind.
‘With some creatures I can do this, they tell me in pictures, I see them in my head, I tell them in pictures too. They are our friends.’ Jay was beside herself in her efforts to explain the unexplainable. She knew what she meant, but didn’t have the words to express it.
‘All right,’ said a somewhat disbelieving Moss, ‘how can they help us?’
‘I find out.’ replied Jay, leaning over the side of the trough and sliding her hand along the flank of the huge sea creature.
It seemed to respond to her gentle touch, arching it’s smooth back up and down sensually, and then with a flick of it’s tail, turned away to join the others who had moved in a little closer.
Jay looked a little hesitant for a moment, not wishing to be too clever, then plucking up what courage she had left, said ‘We make a loop on two of our vine lengths and tie them onto the front of the bot, they take the loop and pull us to where we want to go.’
‘I don’t believe this.’ said Moss, the first touch of sarcasm showing in his voice.
‘We don’t have anything to lose,’ Kel exclaimed, ‘if they wanted to hurt us, we would all be filling their stomachs by now, let’s give it a try.’
Two vines were made ready, a large loop being formed on the end of each, and the other end made fast to the front of the trough.
‘Now what?’ asked a still somewhat sceptical Moss.
‘Throw them over the front of the bot, and see what happens.’ replied Jay, her voice having returned to its normal gentle tone.
As the two vines hit the water, two dolphins left the pack and ran their noses into the loops. Gently pulling ahead, they took up the slack, and then the trough surged ahead as the huge tails swung to and fro.
As the trough gathered speed, a bow wave began to form at the front end, threatening to swamp the occupants with its spray. Before they could cry out, a smaller dolphin swerved over in front of the blunt ended trough, positioning itself such that it formed a streamlined shape to cleave the water, and the spray quickly disappeared, the trough surging ahead as its resistance to the water decreased.
One by one, the other dolphins who were not engaged in pulling the trough, came alongside to have their backs scratched by Jay, Kel joining in on the other side a little hesitatingly at first, and then getting quite enthusiastic about it when he realized they were harmless, and enjoyed it.
Moss meanwhile, was holding himself somewhat aloof from the proceedings, pretending to busy himself readjusting the provisions, but keeping an eye on the others, just the same.
He finally succumbed to the inevitable when both of the towing dolphins slipped back from their nooses, while another pair slid up alongside and ran their noses into the loops, and took up the strain. There was no noticeable change of speed as the change over took place, and Moss had to admit, albeit to himself, that there was some sort of benign intelligence involved her
e somewhere.
The trough sped on, and the Greater Sun having passed its high point in the sky, began to fall towards the horizon. The crew, with little else to do except scratch the back of the odd dolphin who came alongside, rested, giving their tired muscles a chance to recover, although Kel insisted his would never be the same again.
Moss, unknowingly took up the offered bait, fell into the trap, and a long but friendly argument ensued, much to the amusement of Jay, who had never seen anything like it.
They had expected their helpers to rest when the Greater Sun sank below the water, but as the Lesser Sun rose, it was evident that a night shift had taken over, and the trough surged on across the sparkling silver sea, leaving behind it a foaming phosphorescent wake to the delight of Jay, who thought it was very pretty, and it was a shame that it couldn’t be seen during the time of the Greater Sun as well.
Four times the Greater Sun rose and sank, the trough never faltering once in its race across the ocean. Moss kept checking with the Direction Pointer to see if they were still on the indicated course, and was amazed to find that the dolphins had a better sense of direction than he had imagined possible.
On the fifth day, they saw a plume of dark smoke on the horizon, and as they drew nearer, flames could be seen lighting up the base of the huge column of smoke and ash.
Lightning darted about in the upper cloud levels, adding a deep crackling noise to the dull roar of the volcano as it spewed forth a constant stream of molten rock into the sea, building yet another island in the midst of an otherwise featureless spread of water.
While Moss and Kel were discussing what they thought it was all about, Jay interrupted their conversation,
‘Our friends say there are many fire lands like that, and some of them are under the water, below us. They say the ground under the water is so hot, it runs like water, and that is what is coming out of the top of that one over there.’
‘If you can talk to them,’ Kel said, indicating one of the dolphins, ‘why can you not talk to me in the same way?’
‘I never try. I try now?’ she asked, raising her eyebrows.
‘Yes, all right. I’ll think of something, and you see if you can see what it is.’ Kel was interested, but doubted if anything would come of it.
‘You think of a man like you, but older, much older. He your friend. You like him a lot. He stands by a black hole in a tree.’ her eyes opened wider than Kel had ever seen them do before, even in fear.
‘The tree is soo big. No tree can be so big, it would fall over.’ the look of astonishment left her face to be replaced by a grin.
‘You make fun of me! No place like that really.’ she added, still grinning.
‘Oh yes there is,’ said Kel seriously, ‘we both come from there, and I now believe you can see me thinking, otherwise you couldn’t have seen the tree home of Mec, our Story Teller.’
Moss had suddenly taken an interest in what was going on, as he could see the possible outcome of such a gift.
‘Can you see what I think?’ asked Moss, screwing his face up in concentration.
‘No, I not see your pictures. It is not easy to see Kel’s pictures, but easy to see our friend’s pictures.’ she said, sweeping her arm out over the sea.
Moss was relieved that his private thoughts couldn’t be eavesdropped on, while Kel didn’t mind one bit. He tried to get Jay’s pictures, but made no headway at all, and both were disappointed at the outcome.
Early the following day a new shape of colossal proportions joined them, and for a while the men were frantic with worry until Jay explained that the black and white killer whale would be acting as a guard on this part of the journey, for the dolphins told of a strange new creature which had been seen locally, and it attacked just about everything it came across.
By now, Moss was accepting everything about the dolphins told to him via Jay, and joined in wholeheartedly in the lookout for the new threat to their survival.
On the eleventh rising of the Greater Sun, and with their rations dangerously low, Jay announced that they would reach landfall before the Lesser Sun rose.
As there was nothing in sight except more water, they could only take her word for it, but hoped she was right just the same.
‘You know, without your friends, we would have perished by now.’ Moss said, looking at the only remaining water bag, and that was only half full.
‘We should thank them, and that includes me,’ he added.
‘I told them already,’ Jay said sweetly, ‘I thought you want me to.’
Momentarily, Moss wondered if she really could see his thoughts, dismissing the idea, as a more comfortable option.
Low on the horizon, a faint smudge appeared, growing more distinct as they sped on through the day. By early evening, towering snow capped mountains could be seen high above the massive cliffs and hills which formed the edge of the new land they were to visit.
Jay said that it would be wise to wait until the Greater Sun had risen before trying to make landfall, as it was not an easy place to reach.
They had one last meal on board the trough, drank the last drop of water all bar a mouthful each saved for the morning meal, and settled down for the time of the Lesser Sun, guarded by Jay’s flotilla of friends.
They slept well that night, and were well refreshed next morning when a gentle nudge from one of the dolphins signalled that it was time to move in closer to the cliffs.
They were towed in until they had almost reached the actual cliff face, and then the lead dolphins dropped the vines, and another pair came up behind the trough, gently nudging it into a deep cleft in the rock face. As they went deeper into the cliff, the natural light began to fade, to be replaced by a gentle glow from the surface of the cleft, mainly coming from some strange moss like marine growth.
‘How much further in do we have to go, and how will we be able to get up to the cliff top from here.’ asked Moss, beginning to get a little worried.
‘They know this way well, it is not far now.’ Jay replied, obviously still in contact with her friends.
The trough was nudged round a bend, scraping the sides of the natural split in the rock, the noise of metal on stone setting their teeth on edge for a moment, and then they were in free water again.
The Island
Just ahead of the craft was a long ledge of stone, and leading up from it were steps, winding their way up into the darkness above.
As the craft ground up against the stone jetty, the dolphins held it in place while the crew scrambled ashore, Moss passing their possessions across the bobbing side of the trough as the gentle swell of the ocean reached into the underground fissure.
‘I think we should tie it up, just in case we should ever have to leave here.’ Moss suggested, and did so, making the vine fast to a handy projection of rock on the quay side.
‘This isn’t all the work of nature.’ Kel called, his voice echoing around the huge cavern. ‘I think the giants had a hand in it by the size of those steps.’ It wasn’t until they had picked up all their equipment and actually reached the steps, that they realized just how big they were.
‘We shall have to help each other up these, for if we slip and fall, that would be the end of us.’ Kel said, trying to heave himself up the first one.
Jay had said goodbye to her friends, telling them where they hoped to go, and why, but was saddened by their parting as she felt she had an affinity with them which was just as strong as the one she had for Kel, but of a different nature.
The luminous growth on the walls of the cleft gave them just enough light to make their climb in reasonable safety, but they were dismayed by the effort required and the seemingly never ending steps.
Kel called a halt part way up, as he was out of breath, and assumed that the others would be as well.
‘I could do with a good drink.’ panted Moss, as he hauled up the larger of the equipment sacks, and tried to get his breath back.
Jay paused a moment, then handed him
a small water bag, ‘There one mouthful each. It got left behind when we leave the bot.’
Moss couldn’t make out how anything could have been left behind. Taking the bag, he then changed his mind and said,
‘You take the first drink, you have earned it.’
They continued on up the steps, the light being a little fainter now as the conditions on the walls of the cleft must have been less favourable to the luminous growth, and their main fear was that it would die out altogether before they reached the cliff top.
At last the steps came to an end, and so did the light giving moss on the walls. They were just about able to see a tunnel heading back into what they assumed to be the direction of the cliff, but they couldn’t see very far into it.
‘Is there any water left.’ asked Kel, wishing he hadn’t drunk his portion earlier on.
‘A small mouthful.’ answered Jay, passing the bag across to Kel.
‘Where do you keep getting the water from?’ asked an astonished Moss, ‘I thought we had drunk it all long ago.’ She didn’t reply.
Kel went back to the edge of the steps where there was a little more light, and rummaged about in one of his equipment bags. Withdrawing the transparent insect case from its pouch, he tipped the last of water from the bag into it, added a small portion of the two magic powders Mec had given him, and shook it up.
A soft glow appeared in the case, and then a pale violet light began to shine out from it, and they could see quite well as their eyes had by now got used to the darkness of the foreboding tunnel ahead.
‘I don’t know how long it will last, so we had better hurry.’ he said, and with that they picked up the few things they had laid down earlier, and almost ran down the tunnel.
The floor of the passageway began to slope upwards, and they were soon out of breath as the incline grew even steeper, and then the light pot began to fade again.
‘There really is no more water now,’ cried Jay, ‘what we do now?’ The fear in her voice spread to Moss and Kel, who were not usually frightened so easily.
Greenways Page 14
