Liquid Diamond (26 page)

“
What if the Clique have?” asked Natalia.

“
Would the Clique go to all the trouble to find the Kyopelivuori portal if they had their own? I think not,” replied Pepper.

“
Why is this portal made of rock when the one I came through is all diamonds?” asked Natalia.

“
Diamonds are minerals, Natalia, and I suspect that this one is black diamonds, so neither is rock,” replied Pepper.

“
Anyway, I've had enough for one day and I'm off to bed,” said Pepper.

“
Me too,” replied Natalia, not wanting to argue with Pepper about calling her portal a rock rather than a diamond. Pepper’s home grew silent.

#

Leaning back against a tree far from where he had landed after being kicked off the overlook, the Elf sat smacking the arm of the Blemmye on his forehead in frustration.

“
They’re going to die, they’re going to die, they’re going to die,” repeated the Elf time and time again as he remembered the Clique’s warning –
kill them or be killed –
and with those words screaming in his mind, his hunger for fresh flesh grew ever stronger as did his thirst for vengeance. With his mind spinning, the Elf drifted off to sleep.

#

After a good night’s sleep, the sun lighting up Pepper’s overlook and the air filled with the sound of pots and pans rattling in the kitchen, Natalia and Catalyst woke to the smell of bacon, eggs and toast. It reminded Natalia of home as she hurried down the stairs only to see Pepper’s back with her finger pointing to the overlook where she saw Catalyst. He was shoving food into his mouth as though there was no tomorrow. When Pepper joined them she brought the sound of silence with her, as they could feel she had something to say.

“
Well, children, as much fun as it has been having you here, I'm afraid our time together must come to an end,” said Pepper, knowing they needed to be on their way. She hoped that kicking them out would make it easier for them to leave and continue their journey.

“
I agree, we really do need to be moving on –
we've stayed too long,” said Catalyst. Natalia looked at him as though she was sorry they had worn out their welcome.

“
Yes, but you did need the rest and maybe when you’re back this way you won't be such a stranger and you’ll say hello,” said Pepper.

After breakfast and a quick freshening up Natalia packed her blanket into the fitsall and handed it to Catalyst while she said her goodbyes to Pepper, thanking her for all she had done. They left by the same door they had come through.

Knowing that the Elf had fallen on the other side of Pepper’s home, Natalia needed to see him lying there, so with Catalyst in tow, Natalia walked around the tree to the spot where the Elf should have fallen only to find the Blemmye and not the Elf.

“
What? Where the...? The Elf, Catalyst, he's gone,” said Natalia as she turned away from the rotting corpse of the Blemmye.

Spinning around to look behind him and straining hard to listen for any sound, Catalyst was just as shocked as Natalia to see no Elf corpse.

“
Look, Catalyst,” said Natalia, pointing to what was left of the blood trail after the morning’s dew had washed most of it away.

“
That's not as good as him being dead, but it's still good. That means he went off in the opposite way,” said Catalyst.

“
Since he's been bitten by a Blemmye, he'll need the cure and that will give us even more time to get as far from here as we can,” said Natalia smiling a cracked smile.

“
No, it won't. He was bitten by an adult Blemmye. Remember it's only the infant spawn that carry the infection. All he needs now is time to heal from his fall. I know they don't heal as fast as I do but the Elves heal fast enough. It looks as though he’s got meat,” said Catalyst pointing to the empty arm socket of the Blemmye corpse.

“
Come on, Natalia, we need to put as much distance between us and that Elf as we can,” continued Catalyst.

“
Let's just hope after that fall he's too sore to come after us,” said Natalia, practically pushing Catalyst along from behind.

Hurrying along for a few hours and without a word, Natalia just stopped and sat down, too tired to call out to Catalyst. All she could do was watch as he moved further and further away.

As Natalia sat and rested she wondered how anything could have survived that fall. She also wondered whether getting their crystals back was really worth it. After all, if she simply went back through the portal then the King would have to send somebody else to get them and she could be at home safe and sound, and the people of this world could simply worry about their own problems. With the weight of this worry bearing down upon her ten-year-old mind, Natalia could only wipe away the tears that filled her eyes as she started after Catalyst.

“
Feeling better?” asked Catalyst as soon as Natalia was on her feet.

“
I thought you went ahead without me,” said Natalia, surprised to see him sitting there.

“
I did and when I realized you were no longer behind me I turned and came back. When I saw you sitting there I just waited for you,” replied Catalyst.

“
You know, Catalyst, keeping secrets from each other, like Pepper did with us is never a good thing. In this world it's just too dangerous, so let's never keep secrets from each other ever again,” said Natalia in a tone that sounded as though if she didn't get what she wanted she would just turn and leave.

Having kept secrets as well as lying to her several times already and knowing he might have to protect her again, Catalyst agreed in spite of it all.

“
Now for the really bad news, Natalia,” said Catalyst.

“
What now?” asked Natalia hanging her head as she was sure whatever it was, it was only going to make matters worse.

“
Another swamp, I'm afraid,” replied Catalyst pointing off into the distance.

She laughed with relief and wiped away another tear. Natalia looked at Catalyst smiling a smile that might have said thank you.

“
That's not so bad,” said Natalia as she took Catalyst by the hand and started walking.

At the edge of the swamp Natalia took the fitsall from Catalyst and started emptying it.

“
What are you doing?” asked Catalyst.

“
There's no way I'm walking through another swamp without my boots on,” replied Natalia as she looked at Catalyst with a try-and-sto-me look on her face.

Realizing he had no choice, Catalyst waited for Natalia to do as she wished.

“
Okay, before we go any further let me get the Cockatrice jerky from the bag,” said Catalyst as he dug through what Natalia had just put away. He made a mess of it all and Natalia glared at him.

He handed Natalia a piece of jerky. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she started chewing and chewing and with all the chewing she was doing, silence filled the air. Finding it refreshing, Catalyst couldn't help but think, “
Ah, no grief!”

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE HERMITS

Standing at the edge of the swamp, Catalyst took the first step, soaking his foot up to the ankle and then the next one. Smiling at his discomfort, Natalia took her first step only to have the rim of her boot sink lower than the water line, filling it full.

Seeing this Catalyst tried to hide his smile but it was too late, Natalia had already seen it. She gave him a small but firm push and losing his footing, Catalyst found himself sitting chest deep in the swamp.

“
Now we can both laugh,” said Natalia as she walked away, leaving Catalyst sitting there.

“
I'm sorry,” said Catalyst, catching up to Natalia. It was one thing for a boy to be laughed at and another thing for a girl. Natalia’s pride would not let her accept his apology.

“
Remember what I told you before about being rude to Russian girls, Catalyst? We won't and don't accept that from any boy,” said Natalia, letting him know she was not impressed with his behaviour.

The argument between them grew, so that neither of them noticed they were being watched by a small girl who looked as though she had lived her whole life in the swamp. She had ragged clothes, messy hair and a dirty face. She followed along as they argued.

The little girl watched Natalia with admiration, wanting more and more to be like her as she saw how Natalia was dressed and just how brave she was and the way she handled Catalyst, and she had a smile just like a woman, thought the little girl.

She ran ahead of them without being noticed. Having lived her whole life in one swamp or another, the little girl was an expert tracker and trapper and knew how to lure any type of creature to where she wanted.

With the right distance between her, Natalia and Catalyst, the little girl gave a crack of a twig and a panicked chirp of a bird.

“
Shh,” whispered Catalyst.

Natalia’s eyes opened wide and her palms started to sweat. She stood there as thoughts of the Elf ran through her mind.

“
Well, what is it?” whispered Natalia.

“
I don't know. I thought I heard something. It's probably nothing, but to be safe, let's walk this way for a while,” replied Catalyst as he changed direction to avoid any more surprises.

“
Okay,” agreed Natalia and followed Catalyst without a word.

Catalyst smiled as he walked side by side with Natalia. She felt a weirdness around her and had to ask:
“
Now what are you smiling at, Catalyst?”

“
Well you were happy enough to argue with me over nothing just a minute ago, and all it took to stop you was your needing me to protect you,” replied Catalyst.

That
was more than Natalia could take!

Grabbing Catalyst by the shirt, Natalia dragged him down into the swamp. With a smack here and a smack there, she pushed him under the water more than once. Natalia fought with Catalyst for more than ten minutes. Being smarter than most people gave him credit for, Catalyst lost.

Natalia stood up and looked at Catalyst as she backed away. Not watching where she was stepping, Natalia’s feet slipped out from under her and she landed on her back.

Sitting up covered in swamp weeds, Natalia and Catalyst could only laugh at themselves. Pulling Natalia to her feet, Catalyst knew she felt better than she had in days.

“
You know, Catalyst, I don' t care what people say about you, you’re okay in my books,” said Natalia getting in one last shot at him.

With a few more sounds here and there floating through the air, Natalia and Catalyst were still being guided by the little girl who had just loved seeing Natalia win over a boy. Unaware of what was really happening, they moved along in the direction that felt safest.

As Catalyst looked ahead of them he thought he could make out the outline of a shack, as it was so cleverly camouflaged.

“
Is it just me or do you that shack over there as well, Natalia?” asked Catalyst pointing at it.

“
Shack? No,” replied Natalia as she scanned the swamp as best she could.

“
Look, there's someone sitting on the porch,” said Catalyst as he strained his red eyes to make out the figure.

“
I don't see anything but bush and trees,” replied Natalia as Catalyst now had them walking towards it.

“
Sure, right there,” said Catalyst standing behind Natalia and pointing over her shoulder to its outline.

“
Wow! Talk about invisible. And look – there really is someone sitting on the porch,” said Natalia.

“
Hello,” she called out and waved before Catalyst could stop her.

“
Natalia, what are you doing?” asked Catalyst, now being pulled towards the shack.

“
Hello,” replied the old man as soon as Natalia and Catalyst were close enough to speak and not yell.

“
You haven't seen a little girl around here anywhere, have you?” asked the old man as he looked around.

“
No, no,” replied Natalia and Catalyst, taking a quick look about.

Stepping out from around the corner of the shack and looking back at the old man with a question on her face stood the little girl.

“
Petal, I take it this was your doing?” asked the old man looking at her with wonder in his eyes then dropping his head into his hands.

“
Why, Petal? Why?” mumbled the old man.

“
I just wanted to meet them,” replied the little girl as she looked at Natalia.

“
I know you want friends Petal, but you know we don't talk to the outsiders and you know why we don't. Now look at all the trouble you've caused,” said the old man, clearly sorry for his daughter’s lack.

“
Petal, what am I supposed to do now? You know we can't let them leave, don't you?” asked the old man with a look of remorse.

Hanging her head, Natalia and Catalyst could hear her sigh at what the old man said.

Looking at Natalia, Catalyst took her by the hand and started backing away from the old man and little girl, only to feel the cold round end of a musket pressing against the back of his head. It stopped Catalyst right in his tracks as the cocking of its hammer rang loud and clear.