Golem in the Gears (17 page)

Rapunzel clapped her hands. "That was very clever of you, Grundy!" she exclaimed.

Good—she had recovered from her stasis. Now if he could just get her safely away from the Tower before the Hag realized—

Snortimer grabbed the oars and began to row. But the boat was moored to the base of the Tower. "Untie it!" Grundy cried, for the knot was too massive for him to handle.

He had been speaking to Snortimer, but it was the damsel who did it. That was interesting—she answered to the voice of authority, wherever it might be.

They nudged out to sea. But now the storm was striking in earnest. Hailstones plopped into the water all around them. "Get under cover!" Grundy yelled, afraid the dam- sel would be struck.

Rapunzel changed to golem-size and ran under the seat. Snortimer shipped the oars and joined her. Grundy went there too, as the hailstones began scoring on the boat. The waves were getting so rough that it would have been

useless to row anyway.

In fact, they were too rough. The boat rocked up and down, proceeding from apex to trough in horrendous fash- ion, and water began slopping inside. "Oh, we'll drown!"

Rapunzel cried.

Grundy knew he had brought it upon them. He had used the storm to stop the Hag, but now it threatened to stop them too. "Maybe I can summon the Monster of the Sea," he said. "He's out here somewhere, and if we drift far enough from the Tower, he can pick us up." He climbed to the top of the seat.

"Oh, be careful!" the damsel cried.

"Got to be done," Grundy said grimly. He worked his

way to the side.

"You're so brave!" Rapunzel said. "Brave? I'm terrified!" he said. And he was. But he

saw no other course.

He braced himself, stood up as tall as he could, and yelled: "Monster of the Sea! Monster of the Sea! Can you hear me?" There was no answer. He called again, and again, but either the noise of the storm was too great, or the Monster was too far away to hear, or both.

A larger wave washed over, knocking him down. One of Snortimer's hairy hands reached out and caught him before he tumbled to the bottom of the boat or, worse, overboard. He was getting to like hairy hands!

"What were you doing?" Rapunzel asked, frightened. "I thought you were going to call the Monster."

"I was calling the Monster!" Grundy snapped as he shook some of the water off his body.

"But you were honking! Were you blowing your nose?" "That's Monster-talk."

"You mean you can talk their language?" she asked, amazed.

"Certainly. I'm the Golem of Communication. I can talk to any living thing."

"Oh, that's impressive!" she said. She was not being sarcastic, for there was not a sarcastic bone in her lovely body; she was really impressed.

Another wave smashed across the boat. "But he didn't answer," Grundy said gruffly. "And if we don't make contact with him soon—"

"Maybe if—" she began, hesitantly. "Yes?" It was better to keep talking, so that the hope- lessness of their situation would not be too apparent. "If you can talk to anything—" Again she hesitated. "I can, but—" "Maybe if you asked a fish—" Grundy knocked his head gently against the side of the boat. Of course! He could send a fish as a messenger to the Monster! "Good idea, Rapunzel!" he exclaimed, giv- ing her a quick squeeze.

He scrambled back up to the seat and the edge, heed- less of the waves, and yelled at the water: "Hey! Any good fish about?"

There was no answer. He realized that the fish, being underwater, couldn't hear him; he had to get into their medium. "Hey, Snort! Tie a line to my foot so I can dangle in the water!"

"No!" Rapunzel exclaimed, putting her fingers to her mouth in that maidenly way she had.

"Got to be done," Grundy said. "I have to talk to the fish in their medium."

Snortimer was good at handling cords and ropes,

because of his several strong hands. In moments he had Grundy secured by the feet. "Pull me out after a moment, so I don't drown," Grundy told him, and jumped over- board.

The water caught him the moment he entered, hauling

him back. He scraped along the outside of the boat before the slack was taken up. Then he called to the fish in fish- tongue: "Hey, you poor fish! My name is Grundy. I need

a messenger!"

Now a fish swam up. It was a big bass. "My name is

Tard; I need a meal," it said, and opened its big mouth

wide.

Grundy scrambled to get away, but could not; the line

held him fast. He kicked at the fish's nose. Then Snor- timer hauled on the cord, and Grundy was drawn up and

out of the water, escaping.

"Did you talk to one?" Rapunzel asked anxiously. "Not exactly," Grundy spluttered. "I was almost eaten

by a big bass, Tard."

"I've heard they'll eat anything," the damsel said dis- approvingly.

"Got to try again," Grundy said, and jumped back into

the water.

"I need a messenger!" he called, alert for the bass.

A chunk offish floated by. In a moment an aggressive, masculine fish arrived. "Did you see the rest of the cod

I was eating?" it inquired.

Grundy decided not to aggravate this one. "The cod

piece went that way," he said, pointing.

"Thanks, pal," the fish said, swimming after it. "I

wouldn't want to lose that meat!"

Then Snortimer hauled him up again. "Not yet," Grundy

reported.

On his third descent he spied a flying fish just getting

ready to take off. "Hey, take a message to the Monster of the Sea," he called to it. "Tell him where we are!"

"Wilico, Roger," the fish replied, and accelerated out of the water.

"I think we've got it," Grundy gasped as Snortimer hauled him up again. "I told a flying fish; they're very fast."

They retreated under the seat to ride out the storm until the Monster came. A fair amount of water was now sloshing around in the bottom of the boat, making things uncomfortable, but they were hopeful that they would soon be rescued.

Then a monstrous green tentacle flung itself over the boat. Rapunzel screamed. "What's that?"

"That's the tentacle of a kraken weed," Grundy said with horror. Then, to the kraken: "What are you doing here?"

"A flying fish told me there was food here," the mon- ster replied in kraken-talk.

Grundy's hope sank out of sight. "The fish told the wrong monster!" he cried.

Another tentacle came over the boat, holding it fast. A third one came, snaking down under the seat, looking for prey. Rapunzel screamed again. Damsels were very good at screaming in emergencies, even those raised in Ivory Towers.

Snortimer grabbed the tentacle in a big hairy hand and squeezed it. "Ouch!" the kraken cried, and threw in three more tentacles. Snortimer grabbed two more of them, but more came in, too many for him to overcome. Slowly they dragged him from under the seat. Rapunzel's scream- ing was continuous.

Then the kraken grunted and let go. Its tentacles twisted and thrashed about. In a moment it was gone.

"What happened?" the damsel asked, uncertain whether it was all right to cease screaming.

Grundy looked out. A huge shape loomed beside the boat. "Our Monster's arrived!" he exclaimed, relieved.

"When I saw the weed going somewhere so fast, I was suspicious," the Monster said. "I thought a damsel might

be in distress."

"You were right!" Grundy exclaimed. Then he trans- lated for Rapunzel.

"Oh, I'm so happy to be rescued!" she exclaimed. She changed to human size, leaned over, and patted the Mon- ster's nearest flipper. The Monster blushed pink with plea- sure.

Now the storm was abating. Light returned—but not

moonlight. "Dawn!" Grundy cried, appalled. "And we

don't have the bed!"

"Just tell me where to go," the Monster said, picking the boat up by a flipper and setting it on his back. "There are a few minutes yet before the sun comes up."

"Back to the golden grotto!" Grundy cried. The Mon- ster moved out, churning up a violent wave. It was the

fastest he had ever moved.

Fracto, in the sky, spied them. The cloud darkened, then reconsidered, catching on to their problem. It started to lighten, to let more of the light of day past. The sky lightened, and Snortimer whimpered and wedged as far

under the seat as he could.

They zoomed up to the rocky golden shore. But here the water was relatively shallow; the Monster could not go all the way, since the tide remained low. Still the light brightened, as the cloud malevolently dissolved its vapors.

Grundy realized that there was no time for finesse. "Throw the boat!" Grundy cried. "We'll hang on!"

The Monster picked the boat up again with a flipper,

then heaved. The boat flew through the air, and splashed violently in the shallow water just beneath the rock- formation where the bed was hidden. It was an awful jolt, but Grundy couldn't afford to worry about that.

"Climb out!" he told Snortimer. "The bed's close!"

But it was already too bright. Snortimer huddled under the bench, petrified, unable to move out.

Rapunzel had gone to golem-size for the throw. "Get as big as you can!" Grundy told her. "Stand in the water!"

She jumped into the water, becoming full human-sized.

"Now reach in and grab Snortimer," Grundy directed. "He's not that big; just haul him out and toss him into that cave!"

She did as directed. The Bed Monster, paralyzed by the brightness around them, offered no resistance. In a moment he landed in the cave.

"You're there!" Grundy cried at him. "Get under the bed!"

But Snortimer was too far gone. He just lay there beside the bed.

"Stuff him under there!" Grundy cried to Rapunzel. "Quickly!"

She obeyed. The Monster was finally back where he belonged. But was it in time?

Rapunzel lifted Grundy up to the cave and set him on the bed. Then she held his hand and joined him there, golem-size again. "Is he all right?" she asked worriedly.

Grundy spread his hands. "I don't know. He had bad exposure. We'll just have to wait and see if he recovers."

"What's the situation?" the Monster of the Sea honked.

"He's under the bed—but hurt," Grundy reported. "We don't know how bad it is."

"Is the damsel all right?"

"She's all right," Grundy reassured him. "You liberated her."

"Then I must be going," the Monster of the Sea honked. "I can not long remain in this shallow water."

"Go, and welcome!" Grundy agreed. "You have done all that could have been asked." He had discovered, some- where in the course of this Quest, that things tended to work better if he erred on the side of more credit for others rather than less. Insults had their place, of course, but so did compliments. It was an interesting discovery, whose ramifications he had yet to explore properly. "Take the boat with you, so the Hag can't use it; we've got her confined to the Ivory Tower."

The Monster drew on the trailing rope on the boat, and brought the craft to him. He set it on his back and pushed out to sea. "Good fortune, hero and damsel!" he honked in parting.

Grundy jumped. "What did he say?" Rapunzel asked, but Grundy was too embarrassed to tell her. Hero? Him? What a joke!

Chapter 10. Coming to Terms

Tired from the rigors of the night, they lay on the bed and slept. There was plenty of room for both of them, as Rapunzel remained golem-sized. She slept at one end, and Grundy at the other.

At noon Grundy woke and got up. He peered under the bed. Snortimer still lay without moving. Yet he was not dead; Bed Monsters dissolved into dust when their ends came. There was still hope.

Grundy went outside the cave to forage for something to eat. He found a patch of sugar sand, and a puddle of reasonably fresh water. Those would have to do.

Rapunzel was up when he returned. He explained about the sand and water, apologetically. To his surprise, she seemed pleased. "I've never eaten directly from the real world," she said. "It will be a new experience."

Some experience! But he took her to the sand and puddle, and she ate and drank and expressed satis- faction.

"Is he going to get better?" she asked.

Grundy spread his hands. "I just don't know how bad it is," he confessed. "I'm hoping that rest is all he needs."

They returned to the cave, but Snortimer was no better. They sat on the bed and worried. "I promised to help him

search for romance," Grundy said dispiritedly. "What have I brought him?"

"Romance?" she asked, combing her hair with a little silver comb she had with her. As she got her shorn hair in better order, it looked nicer; she was still the prettiest creature he had seen.

"He was lonely, under his bed. He wanted to find a female of his kind before he—well, you know that Bed Monsters usually don't survive after the children on their beds grow up and stop believing."