Petronella & the Trogot (11 page)

They still had a lantern and trudged on until they came to an open space. Another cave. This time there were metal bars running from the ground up to the ceiling, all the way round the sides of the cave. They could just about see two figures coming towards them - a woman and a man. Then, all of a sudden, lights came on. It was an amazing sight. It was as clear as daylight. The shock made Petronella drop the lantern, while Percy stood there with eyes and mouth wide open. Petronella fainted.

Percy knelt down beside Petronella. He stroked her face, then looked up at one of the beasts and said: “Quick, be quick, please goeth getteth some water!”

The other beast came back with a small bowl and Percy rubbed Petronella
'
s face with the cool water. She slowly came to.

The man and woman she saw in front of her were not exactly humans. They stood up straight on two legs like humans. But instead of hands, they had claws. Instead of human legs, they had two horses hind legs. Instead of human heads they had heads of wolves. Beasts like this did not exist on Earth.

The She-Wolf
spoke first: “You have arrived in the cellars. Behind those bars you can see beasts you have never seen before. They were all human once. But now they are shadows with heads of animals. And, I needn't tell you, how fierce and dangerous they all are. Dreadful creatures. They can't get out. If they did, they would kill you, for sure. Each beast has its own separate cage, otherwise they would kill each other.”

On hearing this the beasts started roaring and roaring. The din was unbearable. Looking around Petronella and Percy saw heads of lions, leopards, tigers and panthers - all on bodies of shadows.
The He-Wolf
moved over to a switch and flipped it on. Both wolves then swivelled their heads round to the cages and began howling. They howled until the roaring gradually fizzled out.

It was now
The He-Wolf
's turn to speak: “You may have seen that I turned on the gas just now. It always works. It quietens them down after thirty seconds.”

“You mean to say you gas them,” said Petronella.

“Yes, we do. It's only calming gas. Makes them dozy. They get over it soon enough. I don't think you should stay too long in here. The effect will be over in about five minutes,” he said.

“How cometh ye be beasts but not be in cages?” Percy asked.

“The difference between the beasts in cages and us is that we feel deep sadness about the bad things we did in the past. These beasts do not admit their wrongs.”

“What hath they doneth?” Percy said.

“They are all guilty of being beastly. In other words, these creatures were bullies when they lived on earth. They used their strength and power to terrorise those weaker than themselves. Forced others with threats if they didn't do as they were told. And they felt joy when they saw others suffer. Because they behaved like beasts when they were on Earth, they will be beasts for ever down here. Never will they leave their cages. We, too, will be here for ever, but my wife and I are free to roam around this cave because we are sorry. These animals still think they were right to do what they did,”
The He-Wolf
said.

“You had better leave now,” said
The She-Wolf
, “before they start roaring again. I see you both have boots on. Please take these waterproof raincoats and umbrellas as well. You are about to go down to
The Chamber of Eternal Rain.
You will arrive there after you have gone down five flights of stairs.”

With the help of
The He-Wolf
, she opened a large wooden door and let Petronella and Percy out.

 

 

Sure enough at the bottom of the stairs there was a great downpour of rain. Petronella had always liked rain, but not as heavy as this. It bucketed down without easing off for a moment. The sound of it was loud too. They reached a steep brink to an enormous pit. The bottom was lined with mud. On this slimy softness, shadows were lying face down grovelling around and gulping in mud through their mouths. While the rain kept coming down on their backs.

A man dressed in a black shiny waterproof cloak with a hood, came towards them. With him he had a
Three-Headed Hog
on a lead. It was the most disgusting creature. Kept grunting up all the time.

“Pe...tro...ne...lla, it's me,” said the man.

“I would recognise that voice anywhere,” said Petronella.

“Doth nat worry, Pe...tro...ne...lla, I shall show ye the way out,” said
The Hooded Horseman
. “There usually be no guards here. The shadows cannat getteth out, so it be left unguarded most of the time. A guard cannat worketh in this eternal rain. Me thinketh I must needs come down because ye and Percy would hath been terrified here on ye own. You would nat knoweth where to goeth from here.”

“Thank you,” Petronella and Percy said together.

“How far be it to the last chamber from here?” Percy asked.

“Ye hath yet to reach the bottom,”
The Hooded Horseman
said.

“What hath these shadows doneth?” Percy asked.

“These be the gluttons. They taketh more than their fair share of everything when they be on Earth. They shall swallow mud for ever. These greedy eaters bitteth off more than they could cheweth. Now they be neither biting nor chewing, just swallowing. Their greed leadeth them to hoardeth food while others be hungry. They would rather hath let food goeth to waste than giveth it away to the needy.”

Petronella and Percy felt sorry for them. But they were anxious to go because they couldn't stand the rain anymore. The middle head of
The Three-Headed Hog
tried to bite Petronella's leg.
The Hooded Horseman
pulled hard at the lead, but the hog tried to bite her with its other head on the right. He pulled at the lead again. Harder this time, until the hog was well clear of both Petronella and Percy.

“I be so sorry about that. He be fierce, though. That's why he be here. We letteth him runneth around loose in this cave. He would never jumpeth in the pit because he be too afraid. The shadows cannat climbeth out of the pit. It be too steep. Even if they could,
The Three-Headed Hog
would gobbleth them up in no time. The hog, on the other hand, liveth in hope that the shadows shall cometh up and he can hath a feast.”

The three heads kept snapping at Percy.

“Can ye telleth us the way out of here, please?” said Percy.

“Yes, follow me. There be a hole in the ground over here. Ye must needs lower yeselves down then jumpeth. It be nat high, but ye shall be out of the rain. I shall cometh down after ye.”

The Hooded Horseman
helped Petronella and Percy down. Then he let the hog loose and quickly jumped down himself, while the hog was heading towards the pit.

At least it didn't rain on them down here. Petronella and Percy took their raincoats off. And
The Hooded Horseman
pulled his deep hood back and took his cape off. Petronella couldn't believe her eyes. It was the first time she'd seen him properly - a skull and a skeleton, with a shadow inside.

“Surprised, are you, Pe...tro...ne...lla?” he said.

“I certainly am. I believed you were all cloak and hood, and nothing else. How did this happen? I thought you were without a body,” she said.

“I were, but nat anymore.”

“So, how be that, then?” Percy asked.

“When ye two goeth down
The Trogot
that evening, I didst nat leave. I waited for ye and Percy to distance yeselves from the house. First I goeth to the snail bunker and getteth my torso, then I goeth into Charis Cottage and reclaimeth my skull.
Maalox
helpeth me, of course. He were the one that diggeth up myn bones.”

“Shall ye getteth ye leg-bones and flesh back?” Percy asked.

“Only if they diggeth all the skeleton up out of the fields, as they didst with yours. Me thinketh it be because I be one of the last to be beheaded. Maybe they cutteth me along the waist, too. The legs were probably nat in the same spot as the rest of me. But we liveth and dieth in hope.”

“We certainly do,” said Petronella, “so let's hope someone finds the rest of you.”

 

 

 

 

The Hooded Horseman to Petronella and Percy, who listen in awe.

 

 

“It be strange how we be made. At the centre of us there be our shadow (some folk calleth it a
‘
soul'), then our skeleton, and the bones be filleth in with flesh and muscles. The bones, flesh and muscles be the same for everyone. But our shadows be all different. They changeth with our behaviour. The Good hath beautiful shadows, while bad folk's shadows wither and be ugly and disgusting.”

 

 

“Time to be going. You two need to getteth down to the deepest point of
Trogot Caves
so that you can then starteth ye uphill journey and reacheth the exit where ye shall find Percy's parents. I be afraid that you must needs goeth down a cliff now.”

“I shall doth anything to seeth my ma and pa again. How shall we goeth down the cliff?” Percy asked.

“There be a footpath cutteth into the rock. It be the most dangerous part of
Trogot Caves
. It used to be safe, but now it falleth down in some spots. The handrail hath broken off. The path be only about three feet wide and it hath chipped away at the edges. So it shall nat be quite as wide in parts. Maybe it be best to getteth down on ye hands and knees and crawleth along it. You must needs looketh neither up nor down. Concentrateth hard on where you be going and looketh straight ahead.”

By now Petronella was shaking. “How high is it?” she asked.

“For certain, at the beginning, it be very high. But as ye travel downwards ye shall be closer and closer to the ground.”

“Will that be the deepest point in the caves?” said Petronella.

“No, ye shall nat be there yet. Ye still hath a way to goeth. All I can sayeth be that when you reacheth the other side and leave
Trogot Caves
altogether, ye shall both be much happier folk. Sometimes in life ye needeth to goeth through what be horrible to then cometh out of that state and liveth a better life.”

“Why be my ma and pa in here? They be not nasty folk,” said Percy.

“No, they be very good folk. But
The Trogot
manageth to trap ye mother and tangleth her up in its branches. Once she be caught,
The Trogot
thrusteth her into the first
Trogot
tunnel. In despair, your father tryeth to save her and dasheth in after her. Then, as ye can imagine, the gates cometh down, and there be no turning back.”

“That's what nearly happened to me that night in the spare room when I looked out of the window. So
The Trogot
tried to drag me in, I guess,” said Petronella.

“That be correct,” he said. “But you cometh down here anyway, so it be not much different.
The Trogot
shall grabbeth anyone it can and throweth them in here. It doth move, but it cannat goeth very far.
The Monster
be rooted where the entrance be. It can swayeth backwards and forwards and it can twisteth around but its feet be well rooted underground in the black pit. Something else,
The Trogot
can maketh himself invisible, if he wanteth to.”

“So, it wasn't my mind playing tricks after all. I was sure I saw
The Trogot
move.”

“Yes, and he hath been here for centuries. Legend sayeth that the devil planteth him.
The Trogot
shall get bigger and bigger. Unless...”

“Unless, what?” said Petronella.

“I cannot sayeth. It be
The Blind Prophet
's secret. He shareth it with me. But he sayeth that if I telleth anyone it shall nat come true,” he said.

“Cannat
The Trogot
be choppeth down?” said Percy.

“Who would doth that? Who knoweth about him? Those who hath been trapped inside
Trogot Caves
hath nat cometh back to telleth the tale. Anyway, as I sayeth, he can maketh himself invisible - disappeareth in no time.”

“Where have the people caught by
The Trogot
been all this time?” Petronella asked.

“They goeth on the journey ye be on at the moment. When they arriveth at the exit, they cannat getteth out. They hath been trappeth there for centuries. Ye seeth, they be alloweth to goeth through
Trogot Caves
because they be not shadows. They didst nat die.”

“But how can they liveth for centuries?” Percy asked.

“Everything here be eternal. They shall be the same age as the day they entereth
Trogot Caves
.”

“So do people who get trapped in here live for ever?” Petronella said.

“That be correct. When ye reach the way out, ye shall be faced with a choice. Ye either leaveth
Trogot Caves
and liveth ye life to its natural end, or ye can stay in here and liveth for ever.”

“Why haven't Percy's parents and the others left, then?” she said.

“They cannat.”

“Why not?”

“Because they cannat getteth out of the final gate. It be guarded by
The Minotaur
.”

“You said we had a choice.”

“Ye doth, Pe...tro...ne...lla, but nat the others. Remember ye be
The Chosen One
and that giveth ye special powers. The same powers I hadst once.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that I were
The Chosen One
once. I hadst
The Metal Disc
I giveth ye. Ye must needs be alive to be
The Chosen One
. Once I dieth that title dieth with me. I could nat maketh The Strincas be good like ye can, Pe...tro...ne...lla. This power were giveth to
The Metal Disc
by
The Blind Prophet
after
Maalox
scratcheth me up from the field. For centuries there hath been no
Chosen One
in Fort Willow. As I sayeth, it be only when I were unearthed by
Maalox
that I could moveth and passeth that title on to ye.”