Petronella & the Trogot (13 page)

A sudden sound came from deeper in the cave. In the dim light, Petronella saw an animal trotting her way. The creature was exactly as
Maddox The Killer
had said: half horse, half man. This must be
The
Centaur
.

“Hello. I hath been expecting ye,” he said.

‘
Another Strincas,
'
she thought.

“How did you know I was coming here?” she asked.

“I seeth ye goeth past when ye glideth down. The jagged passage ye treadeth along be the only way up. I knoweth ye would cometh past here.”

“I was helped by
Maddox The Killer.
He said I should climb up the earthquake rocks,
” she said.

“Really? Ye must needs hath gotteth him in a rare moment of kindness. He hath doneth the cruellest of crimes.”

“I know. Killed children in front of their mothers. Because he gave me a direction doesn
'
t mean he has become good all of a sudden, does it? Anyway, he was under my spell at the time,” she said.

“That explaineth everything. Me thinketh he would nat hath helpeth ye otherwise,” said
The Centaur.
 

“Well, I
'
m here now. Nice to meet you,” said Petronella.

“
Ye hath arriveth at the entrance to
The Valley of Thieves.
It be right next to
The Valley of Dead Trees
,” he began.
“The valleys doth nat joineth up. There be large rocks between them. Ye doth nat wanteth to goeth down
The Valley of Thieves.
It be the wrong way for ye to goeth. Nat a pretty sight, anyway. The shadows in there hath had everything taketh away from them. They hath no clothes on, no teeth, no eyelids or eyebrows, no hair, and they shall be chased by fierce black hounds forever,” he said.

“I really think we do not want to see such a sight,” said Petronella.

“
The Hounds
be
here to helpeth me keep order in
The Valley of Thieves
. These dogs be faster than the wind. They can sniffeth a thief from a mile. Their chief is
Diablo
, a dog of huge strength. A cross between a pit bull and a rottweiler,” said
The Centaur
, as it kept kicking up its back hooves, lifting clouds of black dust from the ground.

A pack of hounds came running by. Barking fiercely. The cave echoed the barking, making it seven times louder than it normally would be. The biggest hound sank a sharp bite into one of
The Centaur'
s hooves. In answer, the horse kicked the dog in the teeth. It groaned. Its teeth were scattered around like pearls in the dust. “That shall keepeth him quiet,”
The
Centaur
said. The rest of the pack ran off in their different ways.

“How come it attacked you?” Petronella asked.

“To telleth ye the truth, I were a bit of a thief once. Nothing serious. I were Lord Fortesque's butler. I used to stealeth money from him and giveth it back to the poor ill and dying peasants. In myn view, the money hath been taketh from them by Lord Fortesque in the first place. I were caught. His soldiers giveth me a deadly beating. They thinketh I were dead. But I were saveth by some good folk who nurseth me back to health,” said
The Centaur.
 

“What a sad story,” Petronella said.

“After that, I liveth to a ripe old age. I decideth to cometh here and guardeth
The Valley of Thieves
to proveth that I be no common thief,” he said.
 

“I see,” said Petronella. “Thank you for sparing me going into
The Valley of Thieves
. I don't think my stomach could have taken that. Just seeing
The Hounds
was enough. I would really like to go now. Can you tell me the way? I need to get to the other side of the cliff, but the cliff face there is all straight up and smooth. I can't climb up that.”

“I can helpelth ye. Ye need to goeth all the way round to the other side and travelleth inside the cliff through a series of tunnels and climbeth flights of stairs. It is very easy to lose ye way in there, especially as it be pitch black inside.”

“So can you give me directions? Otherwise, how shall I ever get there?”

“I can doth better than that. I can taketh ye there mynself. It doth nat matter if I be away for some time.
The Hounds
hath nat been feedeth yet. They shall chaseth the shadows even more viciously. I shall giveth them some food upon my return.”

“I am very happy to accept your kind offer. I must get to Percy to see what has happened up there. I do hope that
The Harpies
have not reached him and have not... I'm sorry, I can't say it.”

“Those
Harpies
be wicked beasts. I knoweth what ye wanteth to say. Yes, there be that danger. We shall be as quick as can be. Now, please, mounteth on my back, holdeth on tight to myn mane and I shall travelleth as fast as I can to getteth ye there.”

At first, the way was steep.
The Centaur
could hardly force its way up. Then came flatland and a series of tunnels. Gradually the horse's pace got faster until he galloped at such a speed that Petronella nearly fell off when he raced away around the bends. Up more steps and dashing headlong through more tunnels and caves until he came to a sudden halt.

“Here ye be. Ye may getteth off now. If ye goeth through that door over there,” he said, turning his head to his left, “you shall findeth a small house. It belongeth to
The Great Bear
. Ye can trust her. She be as good as gold. One of her rooms hath a balcony that looketh out onto the ledge you telleth me about. I be sure she shall letteth ye go out onto that balcony to getteth a good view of the area.”

“Thank you so much. I will go and knock on her door straight away. I do hope she's in.”

“She should be. Very old she be. So doth nat goeth out much. But she doth her very best to be an excellent guardian of the cliffs. I must needs rusheth off back and feedeth
The
Hounds
. Good luck, Petronella. I hopeth all goeth well for ye.”

“Thank you, I'll never forget your kindness,” said Petronella.

She saw
The Centaur
gallop away into the distance. Back the way they'd just come.

 

 

There was a huge knocker on the door in the shape of a bear's head. Petronella grabbed hold of it, but it came off in her hand. So she banged the whole knocker on the door. No answer. Again she banged on the door. “PLEASE OPEN UP,” she shouted, “PLEASE, PLEASE, HELP ME.”

If nobody opened the door, what would Petronella do? Or even more importantly, where would she go? Wouldn't she be stranded behind this door? Unless someone came past and helped her... Petronella sat down on the doorstep, put her head in her hands and wondered what to do. Why was everything so difficult?

Maybe that was a noise she heard behind the door. Like a scratching sound. Yes, someone was opening the door. And there stood the biggest bear you can imagine. Brown and furry she was. Cute she was not. In fact, she looked dangerous. But
The Centaur
had told Petronella to trust this bear. Not that Petronella had much choice.

“H-e-l-l-o,” said
The Great Bear,
looking down at Petronella still sitting on her doorstep.“I'm a bit hard of hearing. Old age, you know?”

Petronella stood up and noticed how small she was compared to
The Great Bear
who towered above her.
 

“Yes, but you've opened the door. I am so grateful for that. Will you allow me to come into your house, please.”

“Why do you want to come into my house? Who are you?” said
The Great Bear
.

“My name's Petronella, I... Look can I explain later? It's urgent.”

“No, please explain now. I do not let anyone into my house, unless I know the reason why they need to come in. I am not one who likes company. Either of humans or of other bears.”

“OK, I will explain if you really want me to. But it's a long story and it's a matter of life or death. While I'm talking to you a boy might die and be eaten up by
The Harpies
.”

There, she'd said it now. In a moment of despair, she'd let it all out.

“And what's the boy's name? How old is he?”

“His name's Percy. Percy Trollope. He's eleven.”

“You can come in, then,” said
The Great Bear
. “Be my guest.”

“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. I'm sorry to insist but I do need to go out into your balcony right now to see if Percy's still there.”

“He's not there anymore. I know that.”

“What do you mean?” asked Petronella.

“Well, it took you such a long time to get here.
The Harpies
are quick. Like lightning. They only take a few seconds to fly up here. Nasty scavengers that they are. If they smell fresh blood, or a body, they're up in no time. Mind you, scared stiff of me, they are. I mauled one of them once. They are careful not to come anywhere near me. It was you who told them about the boy. You have to take your responsibilities.”

“What are you saying? It's all my fault?”

“No, I know your intentions are good. You are a good person, Petronella. Nobody can doubt that. I saw you from my balcony when you toppled off the ledge. I'm sorry, I couldn't do anything to help you. I wasn't quick enough. I'd been taking an afternoon nap.”

“What?”

“Yes, and once you went over the edge, I saw Percy. On all fours and trembling. I went down to the ledge and brought him here to my home.”

“Is he here, then?”

“Yes, he's sleeping in the back bedroom. I bandaged his knees and gave him warm milk and honey.”

“Oh,
The Centaur
said you were a good creature. He was so right. How can I ever repay you?”

“I don't need to be repaid. It is my job. I am guardian of this cliff. Not that many people come past here, mind. That's just as well because I do sleep a lot.”

“Can I see Percy?” Petronella said.

“Yes, of course, you can. Let's go and wake him up. He's been sleeping for a while. He ought to have some food.”

When he opened his eyes, Percy couldn't believe it was Petronella, there in front of him. He thought that the fall must have killed her. Petronella sat on his bed and told him about what had happened to her since they separated:
The Harpies
, T
he Valley of the Dead Trees
, and
The Centaur
.

The Great Bear
meanwhile had cooked a nice meal for her guests. And, over dinner, they talked about how
The Great Bear
got to be in
Trogot Caves
.

“I was a human being when I arrived here. I was grabbed by
The Trogot
when I was out for a walk in the woods one evening. The monster pushed me into the first tunnel and, as you know, there's no way back out. I didn't even live in Fort Willow,” said
The Great Bear
.

“From the way you speak, I can tell that you are not a Strincas,” said Petronella.

“No, I'm not. That's right. I am from the village next to Fort Willow: Cedar Woods Village. I lived there in the 1960s. I was grabbed by
The Trogot
then
I was shoved down here. On my travels through
Trogot
caves. I managed to crawl a little way down the cliff. I was much lighter. I was a woman then. It was afterwards that I turned into a giant bear. Anyway, I was spotted by the bear who was guardian here at that time. She was a lovely creature, bless her. So I decided to stay here with her. Keep her company. Then
The Trogot
decided that she should go and guard another cliff a long way from this one,” said
The Great Bear.
 

“So, are you telling me that you were human once and now you're a bear?” asked Petronella.

“Yes, that's right. I turned into a bear because I could not have defended myself against all the nasty beasts down here, if I'd been human. At first, I often forgot I was a bear and hid when I saw these wild creatures. Then I noticed that when I bumped into any nasty monsters by chance, they were afraid of ME,” said
The Great Bear
.

“Will you turn back into a human being if you came out with us now?” asked Petronella.

“I don't know if I could get out. Anyway, I want to stay here. I love my little house and do not wish to leave.
The Centaur
doesn't want to go back either,” said
The Great Bear
.

“Well I never,” said Petronella.

“Hath my ma and pa been turneth into animals?” Percy asked.

“That I cannot say. I do not go in that part of
Trogot Caves
.
I believe there are both animals and humans up there near the way out. What shape they have taken, I do not know.”

“It'll be all right, don't worry,” Petronella said to Percy.

“We must needs be going now. I wanteth to get to myn ma and pa. As much as I be grateful to ye for what ye hath doneth, I would liketh to goeth, please.”

“We need to start all over again and crawl down to the bottom of the cliff. I really don't know how we are going to do that. We've got to go down on all fours again and go along that ledge. How will Percy ever mangage with those knees?” said Petronella to
The Great Bear
.

Percy looked worried.

“No, you don't need to go down that way, if you don't want to. How would I ever get down there with my weight? The ledges would break off for sure. There is another way. It's not short, but it is less dangerous. There's a downhill road inside the cliff which winds around to the other side of the rock face,” said
The Great Bear
.