The Morrow Secrets (18 page)

When Tyaas woke the next morning the full horror of the previous night came flooding back and he hid beneath the covers. Esmerelda busied herself with practical tasks but she too was shaken by the terrible risk they had taken. Ruker’s cousin, Kitty had given them shelter and the Skinks were talking on the balcony of Kitty’s home when Tallitha joined them for breakfast.

‘Neeps and Tyaas have gone to get provisions. It’ll be another day’s hike before we get to Startling Caves. How about staying here for the night and starting out tomorrow?’ asked Ruker.

Tallitha was relieved to stay away from the terrifying forest for another day.
‘I’d like that, if it’s OK with Kitty?’
‘Sure, I love having my cousin to stay. It’s no problem at all.’
Tallitha rested on Kitty’s balcony. In the morning light she could see the edge of Ragging Brows Forest and far ahead the clouds like damp cotton wool clinging to the tops of the grey mountains. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The thought of ever coming across those hell-hounds again filled her with abject terror.
In the evening they ate a hearty meal of meat patties and blueberry pie, but as the hours ticked by and night approached, the apprehension about descending once more into the forest invaded Tallitha’s thoughts. That night she dreamt again of the wild dogs and she cried out fitfully, waking the others.
Eventually morning came and the travellers departed, leaving the safety of the Skink village the way they had entered it. Soon they were through to the edge of the forest and Tallitha breathed a sigh of relief as she scrambled over the last of the brambles. She hastily looked over her shoulder and caught Esmerelda doing the same.
‘I hope the caves will be better than this dreadful forest,’ she said as they exchanged glances.
But Esmerelda’s face betrayed no emotion. She turned away and said nothing.
The Skinks maintained their gruelling pace and by the turn of the afternoon they had crossed Smearseat Knell and were walking alongside Deepdale Beck. As evening drew close, Tallitha became anxious as thoughts of the hell-hounds returned with the ebbing light. The Skinks could smell her fear.
‘Where are we staying tonight?’ she asked Ruker hesitantly.
Ruker and Neeps had already planned the location of their camp site.
‘By the Ruby Waterfall about a mile from here. We’ll be sheltered from the elements. Let’s make haste,’ said Neeps urgently.
‘The wild dogs can’t get us, can they?’ she asked.
Neeps shook his head. ‘We’ll be safe, for now,’ he said guardedly.
As the sun was setting, they reached the edge of Wycham Elva by way of the steep-sided Hellsnip Pass. Way over the next ridge was the mysterious land of Breedoor.
‘This is the border-crossing,’ said Neeps. ‘From here we enter Breedoor and rugged mountain terrain. There’s no turning back once we go underground,’ he said sounding unusually serious for the happy-go-lucky Skink.
As they scrambled across the stony incline at the foot of the OutOf-The-Way-Mountain, huge rock faces and boulders barred their way. Their ascent became steeper and as Tallitha looked upwards she saw the immense scale of the grey mountains towering above her.
‘We’re here,’ said Ruker pointing to a sheltered recess near the entrance to the caves.
Tallitha’s heart sank. The dark underground world was down there, lying in wait for them to enter its domain.

*
The camp site was on a ledge overhanging the entrance to Startling Caves. Ruker, ever resourceful, had been collecting wood and she started

to make a fire and pull together the makings of a meal. Sweet tea was a treat after their day’s march and they quickly ate their boiled eggs and flat hunks of bread. Tallitha was getting used to feeling extremely hungry after a hard day’s trek and then savouring every mouthful of the simple outdoor fare. She was grateful for every bite and thought back to the extravagant meals she had taken for granted at Winderling Spires... and all the waste.

Ruker explained her plan whilst the others congregated around the crackling campfire, sipping the last of the hot tea.
‘Tomorrow we’ll enter Startling Caves. The entrance is fairly even underfoot although on a steep descent. When we arrive in the Weeping Cavern there are a number of routes under the mountains. We know Esmerelda became lost in Weeping Holes, so we’ll avoid that path. Do you agree, Esmerelda?’
Esmerelda raised her head and nodded at Ruker.
‘Only a small section of the cave system has ever been explored by non-cave dwellers and this knowledge, although scant, has been handed down amongst the folk who live around here. The cave system is many miles deep, twisting back on itself, confusing the best potholers and cavers. Legend has it that the deepest part is at Old Yawning Edges which is thousands of fathoms deep. But I warn you, the caves are fraught with danger and are inhabited by those who will not welcome our presence.’
As Ruker continued her description of the caves, the enormity of what they were about to embark on began to take shape in Tallitha’s imagination and her thoughts turned to the creatures that inhabited the underground world. She remembered Esmerelda’s reaction to the Mowl by Shivering Water. She had been absolutely terrified. Tyaas, on the other hand, was excited by the prospect of their descent into the cold dark world.
‘Wow!’ said Tyaas, ‘will we see stalagmites and stalactites?’
‘You will see all the amazing tites,’ said Ruker laughing.
‘The deepest vertical shaft is over a thousand fathoms and the largest cavern is big enough to hold all of Winderling Spires.’
Ruker suddenly stopped and blushed, realising her mistake.
‘You know Winderling Spires?’ Esmerelda inquired looking quizzically at the Skink.
‘We’ve worked there, like many Skinks, when we were young. I realised who you were when I first saw you. I’m sorry, I should have said something.’
‘But why didn’t you?’ asked Tallitha feeling hurt.
Ruker poked the embers of the fire. ‘You might not have wanted to know me, someone who had worked in your gardens. I suppose I felt a bit out of your league.’
Benedict snorted insensitively and Tyaas flashed him a savage look then punched him into silence. Tallitha’s breath caught in the back of her throat and tears came into her eyes. Esmerelda immediately went over and took Ruker’s hand.
‘My friend, it is us who are not worthy of you. You have been kinder to us than we deserve. You’ve sheltered us, fed us and saved our lives more than once. We are honoured to be your equals.’
Ruker lifted her eyes from under her heavy fringe and smiled. ‘I hoped you’d understand,’ she said. ‘I have wanted to tell you but I felt ashamed.’
‘Never feel that,’ cried Tallitha. ‘The people who live at the Spires will never be your equal, they are greedy and selfish,’ she said hotly.
‘She’s right,’ said Tyaas. ‘No one cares about anyone else in that house, except Cissie of course.’
When they began to talk once more, a different stronger relationship prevailed amongst them. In the wilderness, where danger was present at all times, the friends relied on each other for their very existence. Tallitha finally understood that out there in the desolate wild places, the riches of Winderling Spires counted for nothing.
After supper, Ruker and Neeps perked up and began to recount tales of their adventures.
‘There was one time when we came upon those sleeping snakes,’ said Ruker. ‘Do you remember?’
‘They didn’t ’arf give us a fright. When I nearly...,’ said Neeps, continuing with the story, and adding one or two embellishments of his own.
Tyaas was gripped by their tales and his face shone with excitement and anticipation. These were real adventurers, not like his make-believe boyish games. He couldn’t get enough and kept urging them to tell him more stories. Esmerelda was unusually quiet. She sat poking the embers of the fire, lost in thought.
‘What’s up?’ asked Tallitha.
‘It’s being here,’ she whispered and glanced at the mouth of the underground world waiting to gobble them up.
‘You promised to tell us what happened down there, remember, when we were in your séance room.’
‘I know what I said, but now we’re really here,’ she said, her voice faltering.
They all fell silent, distracted by thoughts of what awaited them in the sunken world.
‘Come on Essie,’ said Tyaas, buoyed up with the Skinks’ heroic tales. ‘It can’t be that bad, can it?’
The look on Esmerelda’s face was enough to turn milk sour. ‘Yes Tyaas, it can. Down there,’ she said gravely staring in the direction of the caves, ‘there are things you couldn’t imagine.’ She trailed off, swallowing hard.
Her eyes took on a desperate look and she put her head in her hands.
‘You have to tell us,’ insisted Tallitha.
The Skinks stoked the fire and settled down. They loved a good tale and they knew from the look on Esmerelda’s face that this story would take some telling.
‘I should have told you earlier. But in truth I’ve been avoiding this moment. I desperately wanted to try again to find my cousin Asenathe and I thought if I told you everything, about the real dangers down there, you might change your mind.’ She bit her lip and took hold of Tallitha’s hand.
They huddled round the fire and Esmerelda began.
‘Remember, I told you I’d been absent for many months and that the cave shroves looked after me.’ Esmerelda’s face looked haunted as she began to recount her darkest memories. ‘In the hours after I became separated from Asenathe I was distraught and out of my mind. I’d lost any sense of direction and wandered deep into the heart of the underground chambers. Round and round I went, dazed and quite mad with grief. I later found out that, somehow in my agitated state, I had entered a strange subterranean maze and any hope of making my way out unharmed was negligible. This place was the sunken world of Asphodel, the powerful Queen of the Dark Reaches.’
‘Asphodel!’ shouted Ruker in astonishment, ‘we’ve heard of her evil ways.’
The Skinks exchanged glances as Esmerelda continued.
‘The deep maze, a labyrinth of complex tunnel systems, protects Asphodel’s upper kingdom from unwanted entry from below. The caves are patrolled by the Groats, Asphodel’s hideous creatures of the lower world. I learned later that Asphodel lives above ground, although the exact location is unknown. About the second day of my wandering I was captured by a Groat patrol and taken to one of their holding stations to await my fate. Days went by and I learned from the other prisoners about the dark world beneath the Out-Of-The-Way-Mountains. The underground kingdom is ruled by two powerful tribes that constantly vie for power. Sometimes they work together when it suits their purposes, and at other times they fight, capturing and occupying parts of the others’ territories. The Groats I have already mentioned, the other tribe is the Murk Mowl.
Tallitha jumped at the mention of their name. ‘You mean those dreadful creatures we saw by Shivering Water?’
Esmerelda nodded. ‘Now you can understand why the sight of them terrified me.’
‘Hang on, I’m confused,’ said Tyaas. ‘I thought you said that Lord Frintal made the rules down there,’ he said pointing below him.
‘Yes he does. Well, they all do. They have an unholy alliance that keeps the tripartite in place; Lord Frintal and the Morrow Swarm, Asphodel and the Groats and the Murk Mowl.’
‘What’s a tripartite?’ asked Tyaas.
‘It’s a power-sharing arrangement, sometimes good, but on this occasion extremely wicked, where three different groups share the power and the spoils within their orbit. If one group does a bad thing they turn a blind eye, knowing they are all as evil as each other. They play games, lying and cheating all the time,’ said Esmerelda.
‘After a few weeks languishing in this hellish prison, I was taken to Asphodel so she could decide what to do with me. The caves were a grim sight, filled with the lost souls who did the Queen’s bidding. Asphodel never materialised and one of her Groat Captains saw me instead. I asked about Asenathe and the Captain laughed in my face. He told me that Asenathe was gone forever and I would never see her again. I was to be sold to the Murk Mowl and he invited one of their Chieftains to inspect me and offer a price. He was a horrific creature, much worse than the Groats, with stinking breath and translucent skin as though the colour had leaked out. I knew the fate that awaited me would be worse than death.’
Esmerelda hands began to shake.
‘Poor Essie, why didn’t you tell someone?’ asked Tallitha.
Esmerelda shook her head and handed round the liquorice cordial. Everyone took the reviving drink apart from Benedict who was staring below him. He was transfixed by the cave entrance.
‘Later I was taken to a dark underbelly of a prison. Unbeknown to me the politics of the underworld was working in my favour as the Groats fell out with the Murk Mowl over unpaid border tithes and Asphodel forgot about me in the many battles and skirmishes that followed. The prison was an unruly place. Order broke down and one day when the guards were distracted, I escaped.’
‘You escaped! Wow, that’s amazing,’ exclaimed Tyaas excitedly.
‘This isn’t some make-believe tale. I did it because I had no choice; it wasn’t some act of heroism. Don’t be fooled, Tyaas, about what it’s really like down there. Make no mistake, it’s truly horrific,’ she put her hand on the boy’s arm. ‘It was escape into the unknown or certain death at the hands of the Mowl.’
Tyaas coughed nervously and Tallitha returned Esmerelda’s steady gaze. Her terrified eyes shone in the firelight and Esmerelda continued.
‘Some time later the Cave-Shroves found me wandering. I was out of my mind. I lived with them for many months and when I regained my strength they helped me back to Wycham Elva. They became my true friends. I learned Ennish and shroveling during this time.’ Esmerelda fell silent.
‘That’s some tale,’ said Ruker. ‘I’ve heard about the strange tribes from the underworld, but in Breedoor you never can tell myth from reality.’
‘Ain’t that a fact,’ said Neeps. ‘There are many stories of adventurers getting lost down there,’ he added, nodding towards the caves.
‘That’s why I’m scared now we’re here,’ she whispered. ‘Having to go back into that unrelenting darkness fills me with terror,’ said Esmerelda, turning her weary face towards the black mouth of the cave.
‘Well, there’s no turning back now,’ said Ruker, ‘let’s get some sleep. We’ve a hard journey ahead of us. Things will look better in the morning.’
The travellers tucked themselves down for the night, each one absorbed by their own particular fear that Esmerelda’s story had awakened. Again Tallitha could not sleep. She was distracted by a series of whooshing sounds as the nightly bat flight filled the air. The dark blue sky was covered with hundreds of bats, their winged silhouettes blotting out the moonlight. Benedict crawled from under his blanket and huddled next to Tallitha to watch the nocturnal spectacle.
‘Do you think they’re vampire bats?’ asked Tallitha nervously.
‘Maybe they’re the Hairy-Legged Vampire Bats, waaaahhh,’ teased Benedict, making a ghostly wail.
‘Stop it, you’re not funny. Go away!’ she shouted giving her cousin a thump.
‘They might get tangled in your hair,’ teased Benedict.
Tallitha tucked her head under the blanket and gave Benedict a final kick. She wasn’t worried about the bats, but the thought that somewhere, deep in the caves, lurked the creatures of Esmerelda’s tale, the Groats, the Murk Mowl and the Cave-Shroves. The thought of descending into the dark place filled her with foreboding and the sweet sanctuary of sleep evaded her as she tossed and turned and tried to block out the distant howling of the wild dogs on their nightly rampage in Ragging Brows Forest.