Oracles of Delphi Keep (54 page)

“A well?”

The professor cut in. “It is the equivalent here, Perry, of a public drinking fountain. Please continue, sir, with your story.”

“Well, they didn’t know where the nearest well was, so I led them to one and then they asked me if I could direct them to the shore on the west side of the city. They said that they’d been lost wandering the streets, and seemed to be going in circles.”

“But they were all right, overall?” Perry asked anxiously. “They were unhurt?”

“Yes,” said the man. “Except that they both looked very hungry and were obviously thirsty, they were fine. The boy seemed a bit dizzy, though.”

“Dizzy?”

“Yes. He was so thin, you know, and I suspected he was very hungry, so I bought the boy and the man a wedge of cheese and some bread. They seemed very grateful.”

“As are we,” said the professor, and Ian saw him discreetly hand the man several bills for his trouble. “Thank you for caring for our friends.”

The man smiled, and with a small bow, he took the money and his leave of them. “We’ve got to find them,” said Perry, turning to the group.

“They must be headed back to the cave,” said Ian. “I’ll bet they’re hoping we’ll head there if we’re still alive as well.”

“Jaaved,” said the professor, “can you take us to the beach where you first found us?”

“At the Mother’s Cradle?” Jaaved asked.

“Yes,” said the professor.

“Of course,” said Jaaved. “It’s not far.”

Ian quickly gathered up his pack and a few handfuls of lamb to eat on the way. After the professor explained to the innkeeper that they would need one more room upon their return, they set off at a brisk pace.

It was dark and the streets were nearly empty as they made their way through the maze that was Larache. And even though they had come a long way and were physically exhausted, the small bit of nourishment coupled with the news that Thatcher and Carl were alive gave Ian a surge of energy.

Finally, they came to a small cul-de-sac lined with wooden houses and dirt yards and Jaaved pointed to a set of
stairs between two of the houses. “That stairwell will lead us to the beach,” he said. But as he looked behind them into the darkness, a strange expression crossed his face.

“What is it?” Ian asked their guide.

“I’m not sure,” Jaaved answered, staring into the dark. “But I think someone is following us.”

Ian turned and looked back toward the streets. “Who could be following us?” he asked nervously.

Jaaved shook his head. “I don’t know, but I don’t think we should wait to find out. We need to hurry.”

Ian’s nerves urged him down the stairs, but every time he glanced back, he caught his schoolmaster also looking over his shoulder. Ian was now convinced that something was tagging along after them in the darkness.

When they reached the bottom of the staircase, Perry pointed to the Mother’s Cradle, barely discernable in the moonlight ahead. “There!” he yelled. “We’re nearly there—” His voice was drowned out by a horrible howl that Ian knew all too well.

Theo screamed and grabbed Ian’s hand while he looked up and down the beach, waiting for those thundering paws. “To the rocks!” the professor yelled, and with a wave he hurtled forward as if he were a young man again.

For a split second, Ian hesitated, but his schoolmaster gave both him and Theo a rather firm push and said, “Go! Make it to the top of the rocks and you should be safe! The professor and I will catch up!”

Ian, Theo, and Jaaved ran for it, passing the professor. The trio struggled in the sand until they got to the water’s edge, where the beach was firmer, and then they plunged
doggedly ahead. Ian felt Theo losing ground quickly and he slowed only as much as he needed to grab her hand and tug her along. He could hear Perry behind them, encouraging the children on as he helped the professor, who seemed to be lagging farther and farther back.

Ian and Theo reached the large outcropping first and he wasted no time lifting her up onto the first boulder before ordering her to keep climbing. He then turned and waited for Jaaved, who was not far away. Farther down the beach he saw the professor and Perry struggling to reach the outcropping. He heard Perry yell, “Get over the rocks, Ian! Help Theo and Jaaved, but don’t wait for us!”

Ian was just about to follow orders, but as he was coaxing Jaaved the last few strides, two large shadows lurched out of the darkness far down the beach. Ian’s heart sank when he saw the unmistakable shapes of the beasts racing along the water’s edge, closing in on Professor Nutley and Perry like sharks after injured seals.

“Hurry!” Ian shouted. “Professor Nutley!
You’ve got to hurry!”

Above him Theo screamed and Ian realized she had stopped climbing and was looking back toward the beasts. Jaaved must have noticed something was wrong too, because he had stopped and was looking over his shoulder. Ian knew that Jaaved could see the beasts, but that didn’t stop the boy from dashing back to Perry’s side to help with the professor. Ian watched Jaaved lift the old man’s legs while Perry grabbed the professor’s middle and the pair attempted to move awkwardly down the beach.

“We’ve got to help them!” Theo shouted, and she began
to edge back down the rock. Ian knew he had to get Theo to safety.

“Get up there!” he yelled at her, leaping next to her and forcing her to a higher boulder.

“But, Ian!” she wailed. “They’ll be torn to pieces!”

Ian looked toward the safety of the flat section of the Mother’s Cradle. He shrugged quickly out of his backpack and launched it as hard as he could, and with satisfaction he saw it land on the boulder just below the cradle. “Move up there!” he ordered, his tone sharp.

But Theo was resistant. “They need us!” she yelled back.

Ian was as angry as he’d ever been with her and he roughly pushed her to the next perch. “I’ll help them if you get yourself to the cradle!” he promised.

Just then there was a thud in the sand to Ian’s left, and he turned to look in alarm, but to his shock and surprise he saw that what had dropped beside him was Carl. “Get her clear!” Carl yelled over his shoulder. “Thatcher’s just on the other side! I’ll hold them off!” Carl raised the Phoenician short sword he must have recovered from the Jichmach, and charged down the beach, mimicking the Jstors’ high-pitched war cry.

Theo and Ian locked eyes for a moment before she said, “I promise I’ll keep going, Ian. Now,
please
, go help them!”

Ian gave a quick nod, then dropped to the ground and picked up several large rocks before racing after Carl, who was dashing as fast as his skinny legs could carry him, still howling the horrible off-key war cry.

As Ian flew down the beach, he saw Jaaved and Perry struggling mightily under the weight of the professor. Carl
had just about reached them, and Ian thought that his friend might stop to help, but to his distress, Carl ran right past, ignoring Perry’s labored yell: “Stop, Carl!”

As Ian came abreast of his schoolmaster and Jaaved, he was torn between helping them and going after Carl, who Ian feared might have gone completely mad. “Go!” panted Perry with a nod over his shoulder toward Carl. “Stop him before he gets himself killed!”

Ian took off again but couldn’t seem to gain ground on Carl, who was growing ever closer to the beasts. Ian could see that one of the beasts was much smaller than the other, and this creature was far out in front of the larger one. Ian was at least thankful that he wouldn’t have to fend off both of the brutes while he attempted to save Carl.

Still, Ian’s friend wasn’t making it easy on him. Carl charged at the first beast, his sword extended and his cry slicing the night. Ian knew that his chum would never defeat the hellhound, and as the distance closed between them, he curled his fist around a rock he’d picked up and drew back his right arm, feeling his muscles stretch as he took careful aim.

He was by far the best pitcher in cricket at the orphanage and most of Dover, for that matter. Very few players had gotten a hit off him, and he put all his skill into setting up the shot he was about to throw. He wound up, looked the closest beast dead in the eye, and fired his rock with such effort that his shoulder gave a jolt of intense pain.

To his immense relief the throw was true and straight and struck the animal right between the eyes. The hellhound gave a great yelp, lost its footing, and tumbled head
over heels, kicking up sand and surf as it barreled into Carl, dragging him into the sea.

Ian cried out in alarm as he dove into the water after his friend.

Carl sputtered and floundered in the surf before going completely underwater, but Ian managed to grab his leg and pull him away from the creature as it shook its big ugly head and tried to get to its feet amid the waves and its own disorientation.

“Come on!” Ian yelled, hauling Carl back to the beach. “The other one is coming!”

Sure enough, the larger beast was thundering down on them, its white fangs snapping and its paws pounding along the shore.

Carl, who was soaked and a bit disoriented himself, gave a nod and the two boys ran for the rocks. Carl had managed to keep his sword, and Ian saw the tip of it rising and falling beside him while Carl pumped his arms wildly, keeping up with Ian’s longer stride, and even gaining ground.

To Ian’s relief he could see Thatcher helping the professor up the rocks, with Perry and Jaaved pushing from the rear. Behind them Ian could hear the larger beast closing in, and his feet felt the vibration of the terror almost within striking distance. Ian knew they had only seconds left before the beast would pounce on them, and he dug in with everything he had, willing his feet to move faster and faster. And little by little he began to move past Carl, only to reach back and grip his friend’s shirt, half tugging, half jerking him forward as Ian leaned into his stride and gained a few precious steps.

A moment later they both leapt together and landed on
the first boulder before scrambling quickly up to the second and third, panic fueling their efforts.

Ian made it up to the next series of rocks quickly, but Carl was lagging behind, his sword making it difficult for him to climb. “Let it go!” Ian yelled over his shoulder. But stubborn Carl only gripped his sword more tightly and jumped to a boulder farther away from Ian. “Carl!” Ian yelled, pulling himself up one more level. “Let the blasted sword
go
!”

But Carl wouldn’t. Instead, he jumped laterally, taking him even farther away from their group and cornering him on a ledge that even the smaller beast could leap to.

Ian wanted to scream in frustration but continued to scramble up the rocks and soon got to the next boulder, nearing the top of the Mother’s Cradle, where he sensed he’d be safe. The climb was far too slippery for the beasts, and Ian reasoned that the higher the group could get, the safer they’d be.

He clambered up one more rock and stole a glance behind him. The larger beast was struggling to gain purchase on the slippery rocks, and couldn’t get close to him, but the smaller beast, who seemed to have recovered from his head wound, was loping down the sand, making a beeline for poor Carl.

Meanwhile, Carl stood terrified with his back flat against the rock where he’d inadvertently stranded himself. The ledge above him was beyond his reach, and he couldn’t move right or left, as both directions would bring him closer to the beast at the base of the rocks. It might be that the smaller beast would catch him, or the larger one would tire
of chasing the group up the boulders and turn on him. Either way, Ian knew that his friend was doomed.

Desperately, Ian looked above him. The professor had just gained the top rock of the Cradle, and Thatcher was helping his brother and an exhausted Jaaved up onto the ledge. “Ian!” Thatcher shouted down to him. “Come on, lad! It’s not safe there! Keep climbing!”

Ian looked back at Carl and their eyes met. There was no way for Ian to help his mate in time, and Carl knew it. Raising his sword in salute, Carl gave him a nod, and the understanding that he was done for passed between them. The courage he showed in the face of imminent death broke Ian’s heart.
“No!”
Ian yelled fiercely. “Carl, you’ve got to try to climb! Drop your sword!”

But Carl was no longer listening. The smaller beast was just down the beach. With a sickening feeling, Ian could see the evil look of satisfaction on its face as it moved in for the kill.

Under Ian there was a
snap!
and the hot breath of the larger beast brushed against his feet. He looked over his shoulder and saw the beast’s snout just below him. The monster was clinging to the rock, its red eyes glowing. Ian scrambled up another level and turned back to look for Carl. Part of him couldn’t bear the thought of watching his brave friend fall victim to the beast, and he wanted to turn away, but another, stronger part of him knew that Carl didn’t want to die without witness.

Then, to Ian’s astonishment, just as the smaller beast stopped at the base of the rock and prepared to leap up, Theo dropped one of the straps of a backpack just above
Carl’s head. The clever girl was also looping the other strap around a cone-shaped rock jutting out from the ledge she was standing on. With her body she then braced it to keep it in place.

“Carl!” Ian shouted with a hammering heart. “Look up!” Carl did just as the smaller beast crouched. As if in slow motion, Ian watched as his friend and the beast both leapt into the air. In the nick of time, Carl managed to grab the back-pack and curl himself up, away from the snapping jaws of the beast. The hellhound missed his legs by centimeters and knocked its head against the rock where Carl had just been standing. The blow sent the beast back to the sand for another round of shaking its giant head.

Ian watched anxiously as his friend dangled in the air, holding on for dear life, his sword still gripped tightly in his hand as he wound his arms awkwardly through the strap and curled his body as far away from the beast as he could get. Theo, meanwhile, was holding her end of the pack down around the rock as best she could, but it was quickly slipping upward.

Ian knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it much longer, and the larger beast, which was still after him, had only to turn its focus away from Ian and it would realize that it could take Carl out in a heartbeat.