Alosha (24 page)

“Elves have axes. They can cut down their own trees, make their own bridges,” he said.

Steve must have been feeling cocky after seeing the way she had sliced and diced the tree. “If they cross the river, Ali will take care of them,” he said.

Paddy shook his head. “You believe a troll when he says there were only six? There were six right behind us but more will come.”

“Are you saying they were only scouts?” Karl asked.

“Aye. The noise will bring others. We must get away from this place.”

“How do you know there are more elves in the woods?” Ali asked.

The leprechaun was frustrated. “Paddy guesses. But it's a good guess.”

“The moon was almost full last night,” Ali persisted. “Do you think the Yanti opened further, and more elementals were able to come through?”

Paddy nodded. “Possible, Missy.”

“Have you spoken to the elves since you came through the Yanti?” she asked.

“Leprechauns and elves don't often speak.”

“Paddy?” Ali said.

“Aye! Saw a few before I made me way to town. Matters not, all this talk. Let us leave this place, Missy!”

“We should keep going,” Karl agreed.

Ali considered. “I'm still afraid of getting caught on the open slope. If there are more elves, they'll see us up there and track us down.”

“Do we have a choice?” Karl asked.

“Do we?” Ali asked. “You've studied the map more than anyone. Is there another way to the top?”

“Sure. We can circle around to the backside of the mountain. But we'd lose a whole day.”

“But with the fire stones, you could waste a hundred elves,” Cindy said.

Ali shook her head. “No way.”

Paddy nodded vigorously. “Elves also have magic. Cannot count on stones to save us. Lord Vak and his people are smart. Stones might not work when we need them.”

Ali spoke to the leprechaun. “Do you know another way to the top besides hiking up the slope in front of us?”

Paddy hesitated. “No safe way. No, Missy.”

“Sounds like an evasive answer,” Steve muttered.

Before Ali could press the leprechaun further, Farble spoke.

“Cave,” he said.

Ali turned. “What cave?”

Farble gestured up the mountain. “Cave. Dark.”

“You know of a cave that leads to the top of the mountain?” Ali asked.

Farble nodded. “Cave. Sleep.”

“You have slept in the cave during the day when the sun is out?” Ali asked.

Farble nodded. “Dark. Nice.”

Ali stared at the leprechaun. “You know about this cave.” It was not a question.

Paddy shook his head. “No, Missy.”

“Paddy!”

He was a mass of nerves. “Cave is filled with dwarves! Worse than elves! They hate leprechauns! Cut off the head of any they see!”

“Have you been in this cave?” she demanded. “The truth!”

“No, Missy. Only heard of. But dwarves are there, truly.”

“Is this cave like one long tunnel? Or does it have different branches?” Ali asked.

“A vast cave it is, Missy. A place to get lost in. Better to walk outside in the sun, risk the elves.”

Ali was thinking. “But if it is a vast cave, we might be able to avoid the dwarves.”

Paddy took her hand, pleaded. “Missy, listen to Paddy! In the dark, dark creatures have power.”

She caught his meaning. “There are dark fairies in there?”

He nodded miserably. “ 'Tis where they live.”

“The ones we fought last night?”

“Aye. Paddy does not want to see Missy die in there.”

“I'm not going in there,” Cindy said. “I had enough of them last night.”

“It doesn't sound like my kind of place,” Steve agreed.

Ali looked at Karl. “What do you think?”

He shrugged. “It has advantages. If the elves are going to chase us up the slope, it would be a nice way to disappear. But . . .”

“But it sounds dangerous,” Ali said.

“Yes,” Karl agreed.

Ali spoke to the leprechaun. “Would the elves follow us into the cave?”

Paddy seemed resigned to the fact that they had a crazy leader. He spoke in a defeated voice. “Elves do not like caves. Elves smarter than Missy.”

Ali turned to Farble. “Show us this cave. I'll decide what to do when we get there.”

“
You'll
decide?” Cindy said.

“Our vote doesn't count anymore?” Steve asked.

Ali hesitated. “I just want to keep us safe is all.”

“You just want to get to the Yanti,” Cindy corrected her.

Ali did not reply. The Yanti
had
begun to obsess her. Was it a mysterious object or a secret doorway? After talking to Nemi again, she still was not sure. Yet she imagined it was something she could hold in her hands, maybe even wear on her body. She hoped it was made of gold and inlaid with beautiful jewels.

Yet her longing for it surprised her. She was not normally one who got attached to
stuff
. She never wore jewelry at home or at school. There was simply something about the Yanti—just the
sound
of its name—that drew her. Even talking to Nemi had not freed her of the desire for it.

But perhaps Cindy was right and her goal had become more important to her than the lives of her friends. She hoped that was not the case. She stared at her friends. They stared back.

“The Yanti is the reason we set out on this trip,” she said. “Of course I want to get to it. I need it to stop this invasion. But you guys owe me nothing. I'm grateful you've come with me this far. But if you want to turn around and head home, it's fine with me.”

There was a long silence. Finally Steve spoke.

“We turn around, the elves might get us,” he said.

“Or the dark fairies,” Cindy added. “We couldn't get back to the road before sunset.”

“Personally, I still think there's safety in numbers,” Karl said.

Ali agreed. “I think so, too. But I don't want to
force
any of you to follow me.” She added, she could not help herself, “I don't want any of you to feel like you're my
slaves
.”

It was not a showdown; however, it came close. Steve and Cindy exchanged uneasy glances, but did not speak. Ali turned back to Farble.

“Lead us to the cave,” she told the troll.

F
inally, they left the trees behind. Right away they ran into a foot of snow. Soggy from the heat of the sun, it did not crunch under their feet so much as splat. The stuff was melting fast. The water from the snow soaked the ground beneath, slowing their feet with mud. Another two weeks of sun, Ali thought, and it would be altogether gone from this altitude. Too bad she couldn't wait until then to save the world.

The river ran on their right now, galloping down the snowy slope like rain pouring over the side of a white roof. Far below, in the trees, Ali sensed movement but did not see any elves. But Paddy and Farble assured her there were plenty.

“They gather their forces,” the leprechaun said.

“But you said they won't go in the cave?” Ali asked again.

“Aye. Paddy said that.”

Farble seemed sure that the cave was on their side of the river. But Ali knew it would be a mistake to think of the river as impassable. As Paddy had pointed out, the elves had axes. They could make their own tree bridges. Worse, two thousand feet above them, the river was going to vanish. Ali hated to think what it would be like to hike up the mountain with them on one side of the water, the elves on the other—with the elves just waiting for the river to shrink to a stream. Again, it made her want to take the cave.

Yet the cave terrified Paddy. Leprechauns, she thought with a sigh. Even when they told the truth, they never told the whole truth. What was he hiding? She noticed that he no longer walked beside her, and did not meet her eyes when she looked at him.

Farble carried Steve and Cindy, one at a time, giving each one a breather every twenty minutes. Well, actually, Steve was getting the most mileage out of the troll, but he probably needed it.

Ali had to stop regularly to catch her breath. She missed her sunglasses. The glare of the sun was blinding. No matter how much she drank, she was constantly thirsty. Plus she had a headache. Without bottles, what would they do when they left the river behind?

“It's tough, isn't it?” Karl said, as they both stopped to rest.

She forced a smile. “I can make it.”

Karl nodded, gestured to Paddy and Farble, who continued to walk ahead. “Those two have more endurance than all of us put together.”

“They're lucky. Farble's helped a lot.”

“But what if war
does
break out? Are we sure they will remain on our side?”

A disturbing question. Ali had not thought about it that way.

The cave appeared suddenly, which was a surprise given that the square entrance was big. However, the opening pointed due west, and was tucked behind an outcropping of rock. They might have missed it if Farble had not stopped them.

Still, its size raised questions in Ali's mind. Why was the cave not on the
map? Over the years, hundreds of people had hiked to the top of Pete's Peak. Someone must have seen it before. Or did it mean the cave was new? Standing near the entrance, she brought up her doubts to the others. It was an example of how tired they all were that no one seemed to care.

“Well, it's here now,” Steve said.

“Yeah. And I don't like the look of it,” Cindy said.

“What do you think, Karl?” Ali asked.

He had sat down to rest, unusual for him. His burnt stomach must have been bothering him more than he let on. “The entrance looks kind of square,” he said. “It might have been cut out.”

“When? By whom?” Ali glanced at the leprechaun. “Paddy?”

He was disgusted they had even brought him to the cave. “Dwarves like caves. Dig out many with their steel tools.”

“But was this cave here a few weeks ago?” Ali asked.

“Don't know. Paddy wasn't here then.”

“Do you know, Farble?” Ali asked.

The troll shook his head.

“But you're sure this cave goes to the top of the mountain?” she asked.

Farble nodded. “Close.”

“It goes close to the top?” The troll nodded. Ali continued, “Does it come out on the backside of the mountain?”

Farble nodded. “Nice cave.”

“Is this guy telling you what you want to hear?” Steve said.

“I don't think Farble lies,” Ali said.

“He might be wanting to please you,” Cindy said. “You have to be careful how you question him. For all we know this cave leads to a sewer in town.”

“I sort of doubt that,” Ali muttered. Her friends did have a good point, though. She studied the troll. “Farble, do you know how to get around inside the cave?”

He nodded. “Lost.”

“See,” Steve complained.

“You got lost inside the cave?” Ali asked.

Farble nodded. “Lost.”

That was not what she wanted to hear. It made her decision more difficult. Karl spoke up.

“If this cave opens on the other side of the mountain,” he said, “then there should be a breeze blowing through it from one side to the other. If we do come to a fork in the cave where there are several ways to go, we should be able to tell the right way by the freshness of the air.”

“I'd like to see that,” Steve said.

Karl glanced at him. “It's not as hard as it sounds. Anybody can smell fresh air.”

“Wait a second,” Cindy said. “The main reason to go in the cave is to avoid the elves, right? Well, I don't see any of them chasing us up the mountain. I say we stay outside where at least we know where we're going.”

“Aye,” Paddy said.

“I agree with the cheerleader and the leprechaun,” Steve said.

“I'm not a cheerleader yet,” Cindy said. “Just a wannabe.”

The discussion might have gone on for awhile if they hadn't become aware of two large heads poking out of the cave. As a group they quickly ran away from the entrance. They ended up a hundred yards down the mountain.

All of them except for Farble. Because the two big heads belonged to two trolls. Ali supposed they were the same two who had attacked her at the river. They looked the right size, a head taller than Farble.

Farble, carrying his umbrella and sporting his sunglasses, walked over to his friends and struck up a conversation. Just three trolls standing in the shade on a nice afternoon, checking out a pal's oily skin and cool glasses. But since Farble could take direct sunlight without frying, his friends must have thought something special had happened to him.

Ali did not have it so easy. Her friends were rebelling.

“No way we're going in there now,” Steve said.

“There could be a whole herd of trolls in there,” Cindy said.