Empress of the Underworld (9 page)

Wash was interested in the story. “I wonder who it could be.”

“I don't know, but he was there early this morning again, right before dawn. I was more careful this time.” Jake looked thoughtful. “He seems to be looking for something. He goes around looking in the windows. I was hoping he'd come to this one again, but he didn't. He's fast too. I don't think any of us could catch him, unless you had a horse, Reb.”

When Dave and Josh came in, Jake repeated his story.

Josh said glumly, “Probably just one of the villagers.
Maybe some kid out looking for some mischief. Forget it, Jake. We've got more important things to do.”

Josh left almost at once, and as soon as he was gone, Reb said, “I think Josh has missed too much sleep. He looks tired, and he's right snappy.” He listened while the other boys talked, and finally he sat up straight on his bunk. “Hey, I've got an idea!” he exclaimed.

Jake grinned. “Just lie down, and it'll go away, Reb. Probably the first one you've ever had.”

“Just listen, Jake. Just listen. I'll tell you what we're going to do …”

“You know, I think this might work,” Wash said. He and Reb were outside in the semidarkness. Night was about ready to fall. The two of them had been out for about an hour looking for a place to try Reb's scheme.

“Sure, it'll work.” Reb nodded confidently. He was looking at a slender sapling that rose high in the air. It stood alone in a clearing, having been left there for some reason or another when other trees were chopped down for firewood and to make huts.

Reb looked up at the tall, swaying tree. “Now you climb up the tree and go all the way to the top.”

Wash looked up. “I don't know. That's pretty tall. I could fall and break my pretty neck.”

Reb grinned and said, “If you do, I'll go get Dave to do it. Go on, now. You can climb a little old tree.”

Wash looked dubious. However, he began to climb, almost in slow motion.

“Hurry up, Wash,” Reb called impatiently, looking up at the boy. “We haven't got all night. Get with it!”

Wash glared at his friend but began to climb faster. As he ascended the tree, it began to sway back and forth. The swaying made him a little giddy, but he managed to hold on.

“All the way to the top,” Reb called. “Make it bend over.”

“I'm going as fast as I can—but this thing's making me seasick!”

“You mean treesick, don't you?” Reb laughed at his own joke, but Wash wasn't amused. He was almost to the top when suddenly his weight caused the tree to droop over.

“Hang on,” Reb said. “I'll get you!”

The treetop bowed down with the small boy clinging to it. Wash suddenly felt a rope settle around his legs and draw tight. He knew that Reb had lassoed him. Then he felt Reb pulling on the rope, and he yelled, “Be careful! Don't pull me off this thing!”

“I've got you now,” Reb said. He pulled Wash and the treetop down. Wash freed his legs, and Reb snubbed the tree with his rope. “Now help me hold it.”

The two boys gripped the rope that held the tree down. With one hand Reb pounded a stake into the ground. Quickly he wrapped the rope around the stake, saying, “Now, we're going to set the noose right over here.”

He dug a shallow trench and began putting the rest of the rope in it. “Cover it up with dirt,” he said.

When they got to the end of the rope, he made a slip knot and carefully arranged the loop in a circular ditch about two feet in diameter. Then he covered that with dirt, stepped back, and said, “Now, we make the trigger.” He rigged a trigger that was both efficient and clever.

“How do you know how to do this?” Wash asked curiously.

“Why, shoot! I've caught about a million rabbits like this in my time. The rabbit steps in that loop, hits the trigger and—
bang!
—the tree pops up and jerks the noose tight. Usually catches the rabbit right around the neck. But I reckon this one we'll catch around the leg.”

“Is that all there is to it?”

“All except one thing. It come to me that fellow might be looking for food, so we're going to leave a little bait out here.”

“What kind of bait?”

“I'll show you.” The taller boy led the way to the knapsack where he kept his equipment, pulled out a jug, and held it up. “Here's the bait.”

“Whatcha got in there?”

“Nothing but some goat milk. But if that fellow's hungry and looking for something to eat, he'll try anything. So my thinking is, he'll see this jug and come over and investigate. When he does, he'll step in this noose, touch the trigger, and—
zing
—there he is! Dangling up in the tree like an apple.”

Wash looked around. “I hope it works, but we'd better get out of here. He won't come while we're standing over the bait.”

The two boys checked the trap, then went into the house.

“We're going to have to take turns sitting up,” Reb said. “I want to find out who that fellow is. He'll probably holler when the trap snatches him up, but if it catches him by the neck, we might hang him by mistake.”

“I'll take the first watch,” Wash said quickly. “You guys go to bed, and I'll wake somebody up.”

Josh was staring moodily at the pair and shook his head. “You're just playing games. Nobody's going to be out there—or you might get an innocent person.” He lay down on his bed, saying grumpily, “Leave me out of it.”

Wash stayed up for two hours, growing very sleepy. Then he awakened Reb, who got up and took his place.

Wash went to sleep at once, but it seemed he had barely closed his eyes when Reb woke him by calling out, “Yippee! We got our rabbit!”

All of the boys were awakened by Reb's loud yelp, and they lurched to their feet, bleary-eyed with sleep.

Reb started for the door. “Come on. Let's see what we got.”

Josh stumbled outside, noticing that the night was very bright. The moon was high in the sky, like a huge silver coin. Then he looked across the yard and saw something moving in the top of the tall sapling.

“We got him!” Wash yelled. “We got him!”

“We sure did.” Reb grinned. He shook out a lariat, made a couple of easy turns around his head, then threw the rope upward. He was almost infallible with a rope. Whatever he threw it at, he caught.

In the moonlight Josh saw a figure struggling, caught by one foot and waving his arms around. The rope fell over his upper body, and Reb pulled it tight. “Quiet down, up there!” he said. “We'll take care of you.”

The four boys easily pulled the sapling over again. When their captive was on the ground, Reb released the ropes and let the tree fly back upward.

Josh was holding onto the intruder, a tall, rather thin young man with large eyes. He was so dirty and ragged that it was hard to tell much else about him. “Who are you and what do you want, sneaking around here?” Josh demanded.

The captive stared at Josh, and for a moment Josh thought he'd say nothing. “My name is Beren,” he gasped finally.

“What are you doing sneaking around here, Beren?” Reb asked. “You could've gotten hanged by that rope.”

“You're not from around here, are you?” Dave demanded.

“I've never seen you before,” Jake said. He stepped closer. “Are you a spy of the Dark Lord or something?”

At those words, the young man called Beren, who appeared to be fifteen or sixteen, shook his head. “No, I do not serve the Dark Lord.”

“Well, who are you then? Where are you from?” Josh asked. Then he stopped. “I didn't mean to be so rough on you,” he said. “But we're having some trouble here, and we're a little bit nervous. Here, let me take these ropes off.”

He freed the young man, but Reb kept a tight grip on his arm.

“Hold him,” Jake said. “He's faster than any guy you ever saw. I've seen him run.”

“Turn him loose, Reb. He's not an enemy,” Josh commanded. He waited till Reb obeyed, then said again, “Didn't mean to treat you so rough, Beren.” He looked at the boy. “You look hungry. Come on in, and we'll scare up something to eat.”

The young man did not argue. “I am hungry,” he admitted.

Soon they were in the boys' room.

Beren hungrily ate the cold meat and bread that was set before him and washed it down with goat's milk. At last he looked down at the plate and said, “That's the first time I've eaten in a long time.”

“Are you ready to tell us a little something now?” Josh asked in a kindly fashion. The boy was so ragged and scared-looking that he didn't seem to present any danger. “Are you a runaway?”

Beren laughed at him. “In a way I am.” He held out his hands, and Josh saw the chafe marks on his wrists. “I was chained, but I managed to escape—something that's never happened before.”

“Escape from where?” Jake prodded.

Beren looked at him and answered simply, “From the
Kingdom of the Underworld. I was a slave there—what they call an Underling.”

“The
Underworld!”
Josh exclaimed. “That's where we need to go.”

Beren straightened up, and his eyes grew brighter. “Are you part of the Sleepers? I know that there are seven of you, although one will not be here.”

“How do you know that?” Josh demanded.

“Because the young woman is a prisoner of the Empress of the Underworld.”

At once the boys all started throwing questions at Beren, who simply became confused.

Finally Josh held up a hand. “Quiet, everybody! He can't hear all of us at once.” When they calmed down, he said, “Tell us about the girl. Her name is Abbey, and she is one of us. There's another young woman here in another room.”

Beren began to speak rapidly. He told about his escape from the deep mines, where most of the slaves were kept.

“We have heard of the Seven Sleepers. Somehow the rumor came that you were here. We heard also that Lothar had come to lead you into a trap—to capture you. So I came as quick as I could, but the young woman would not believe me, and Lothar drove me away. Then he took her away on fast horses. I could do no more but wait for you,” he said finally.

Josh had listened carefully to the story. “Tell us about the Underworld,” he said. “More about Lothar and the empress.”

“She is not the true empress. She has put a spell on the inhabitants. She and Lothar rule, but the true Royal Family is kept in a special prison.” He drew himself up then, and there was something regal about his look. “I am the true prince. They wanted to kill me, but Lothar thought
I would be of some use as a hostage. So they put me to work in the deep mines. I almost died there.”

He went on to describe the awful conditions of the mines and how the empress with her spells had clouded the minds of the Council and other leaders. “She's an evil sorceress,” he said bitterly. “And her powers are great.”

“Will you take us to the Kingdom of the Underworld?” Josh asked.

Beren smiled. “That is why I came—seeking your help.” He looked around at the five young men. “We'll need an army. But even an army will have trouble overcoming the Underworld. There are traps, and they have powerful forces. We must find some other way than mere battle.”

They talked until almost dawn.

At last Josh said, “We've left before on missions like this—when we didn't know the end of our journey or whether we'd ever come back.”

Beren said, “I believe I am the only one who has ever escaped from the evil empress's Underworld. Others just die there. Once the door closes, you're in darkness forever. “

“Goél will not fail us,” Josh said. “I know he would have us go. We'll get our weapons and provisions, and we'll leave at once.”

As the sun arose that morning, six of the Seven Sleepers, led by Beren—who had been clothed in better dress—left the village. They made their way along a jungle trail.

Josh knew that every one of them was thinking the same thing.
Will we be able to save Abbey? And how can we defeat the Empress of the Underworld?

9

Worms!

A
re you sure this is the place, Beren?” Josh asked.

The small band had traveled hard since leaving the village, and all were weary. Now Josh looked about at the underbrush and the sheer face of the wall that stood before them. “I was looking for something a little more impressive than this.”

Beren nodded firmly. “Right down that way about a half mile you'll find a gate. But we can't go in that way.”

“Why not?” Dave asked.

“Because it's the front door of the kingdom, and it will be well guarded. Besides,” Beren added, “it has a spell on it, and only the servants of the empress know how to break the spell and cause the door to open.”

“I expect that fellow Lothar knew it all right,” Josh said. He looked both ways, then down at the ground. “It's hard to believe that there's all you say underneath where we're standing. It looks just like any other kind of ground to me.”

“The Kingdom of the Underworld is not obvious.” Beren leaned against the wall of stone and took a deep breath. “We have been content in the past to live our own lives. Our contact with the surface dwellers has been limited.”

Wash had been walking up and down while Beren gave them this information. Now he said, “Well, how do you get into the Underworld then, Beren?”

“I will show you.” He moved along the base of the
rock and, coming to a pile of shale and small boulders, nodded. “It's right here.”

As the Sleepers gathered around, Mat complained, “Looks like a pile of rocks to me. I don't think there's anything there.”

“I do,” Tam said cheerfully. “You want me to move some of that stone for you, Beren?”

“Yes. We keep this entrance carefully covered. Only two or three people in the Royal Family know about it.”