Petronella & the Trogot (14 page)

“Where shall that road taketh us to? Shall we be in the right direction to getteth to the bottom of
Trogot Caves
?” asked Percy.

“Yes, it will take you in the right way, but it will not take you back down to
The Valley of Dead
Trees
. You will arrive in the cave next to it,” said
The Great Bear
. “I will come to the crossroads with you. From there onwards, you can't go wrong. Just follow the road, until you get to the next cave.”

“Shall we be near the bottom of
Trogot Caves
when we getteth there?” said Percy.

“Indeed you will. You have done well.”

The three of them set out downwards along the road. Coming up the road in the other direction, there were shadows pushing huge round rocks. Each rock had three shadows pushing it up. The shadows puffed and groaned.

“What be they doing?” Percy asked.

“They are rolling the rocks from the bottom of the cliff right up to the top. Where three giants stand. Once the shadows reach the top, the giants roll the rocks back down to the bottom of the cliff again along a steep ramp. The rocks then land on the very same point as they were before. The shadows run down the long ramp to the bottom and roll the same rock back up again using this road. This will go on forever. You'll see many more of them.”

“What have they done to deserve this?” asked Petronella.

“They were the ones who always spoke of doom. The heavy people who had no joy about them, had nothing good to say to anyone. They lived their lives in gloom. Made everyone's life a misery. For them the future was always black,” said
The Great Bear
.

As they walked down a little further, they noticed steam coming from below. It was everywhere along the road and formed clouds.

“Where be this steam coming from?” asked Percy.

“Oh, the steam comes from the boiling river below us. You'll find the river in the next cave you are going to. As you get nearer, you'll notice that these steam clouds will get bigger and thicker. When you are inside the cave, you will hardly be able to see anything at all. At the end of this road, you'll see a waterfall. The water tumbles off a ledge at the bottom of the cliff. Throw these stones down into the water,” said
The Great Bear,
handing Petronella and Percy three round smooth stones each.

“What shall happen when we doth that?” asked Percy.

“I can't explain now. We've arrived at the crossroads. I have to rush back home as I have been off guard for far too long. I wish you good luck.”

The Great Bear
gave them a quick kiss each and waddled off back from where they'd just come. Petronella and Percy were together again and ready to brave the rest of their travels.

 

 

It was true. The steam-clouds got bigger and thicker. Petronella and Percy walked through them. They held hands, so as not to lose each other. They could also hear the sound of water tumbling down. They had to be getting near the waterfall, though they could not see it. The sound of thundering water got closer and closer. Soon it was so loud they could hardly hear each other speak.

Between one cloud and another, they saw a dark whirlpool into which the water fell.

“This must be the place where we're to throw the stones in, Percy,” Petronella shouted.

“Yes, me thinketh it be so. Doest we throweth them in one by one or all together,” Percy shouted back.

“It doesn't matter. She didn't say. Let's throw them all in at once.”

A big splash told them they had hit their target. A strange form came swimming towards them. They could now see that the water was a deep red colour. Murmurs came from the middle of the river. The shape swam some more and reached the bank where Petronella and Percy were standing. It found a ramp, and waddled all the way up it until it reached our friends. It was now clear what the creature was. A huge red seal.

“Hello, I've been waiting for you. I am the guardian here. You have reached
The River of Boiling Blood
. Here in the river are dangerous shadows swimming about. Please take my advice and go as soon as you can. The shadows here were violent when they were alive on Earth. There are many of Lord Fortesque's soldiers here. But there are others, too.”

“I see,” said Petronella. “Well, let's get out of here now. Which way do we...”

A shadow was climbing out of the river. Had a knee on the bank already. “I shall get you. You stupid brat,” it spat a small fountain of blood towards Percy.

In horror, Percy recognised him. “That be the shadow of the soldier who killeth me. I be sure of it. I shall never forgetteth that cruel voice.”

The Red Seal
kicked
the shadow back in again.

“COWARD!” Petronella shouted after him.

“You had better leave now,” warned
The Red Seal
. “As I said, it is far too dangerous for you here.” While he was saying this, yet another shadow started shouting abuse. He was climbing out of the river onto the bank.

“That be the man who used to cometh to Charis Cottage in the mornings to taketh me to work in Lord Fortesque's fields,” said Percy. “How could I ever forgetteth him? He used to kicketh and beateth me hard.”

The Red Seal
kicked
this shadow back in, as well.

“One question before we leave. Is Lord Fortesque here?” Petronella asked.

“No, he's right down at the bottom. You will meet him soon at your next stop. Please leave now. Go through that door over there,”
The Red Seal
said.

The two rushed to the door. They turned back to have a last look only to see another shadow trying to climb out and chase after them. They darted through the heavy door and slammed it shut behind them.

They found themselves in a small pitch black room. The two of them hardly fitted in it.

 

 

They stood still and waited for something to happen.

“Shall someone cometh to fetcheth us, Petronella?” Percy asked.

“I don't know. We didn't get proper instructions this time because we had to rush away.”

“What shall we doth?”

“We can only wait. We can't go back to
The River of Boiling Blood
, that's for sure.”

“But, we be so tight in here. And it be so dark. I cannat breatheth.”

“That can't be helped, Percy.”

A sound of a machine started up. The whirring was speeding up. The tiny room jolted then plunged downwards. Yes, they realised they were in a lift. As it gathered speed, it felt as if they were plummeting at the speed of light. They held on to each other. Found it hard to keep their balance. It was difficult to work out how long they'd been in the lift. But it seemed like a very long time indeed. By the time they got to the bottom, they were totally whacked.

The lift came to a sudden halt. They tried to push the door, but couldn't get it to open.

“A moment, please?” a voice came from the other side.

They heard a loud breathing sound. Then they flung the door open and fell out. By now, the two were getting used to strange creatures. But this was something else. This was a monster with three heads and three joined-up bodies. The body in the middle had a snake for a tail. This whole monster itself was a mixture of human and reptile.

“May I introduce myself. I am
The Gergon
,” it said. The three bodies stood side by side all together on four legs. Two double legs in the middle and two single legs on the outside, on the left and right. All together we are
The Gergon
. But e
ach part of me has a different name. The Crocodile headed beast on the left is called Snapper... The Alligator on the right is Zipper. And, I am the speaker for the whole monster - The Dinosaur in the middle. My name is Nexus. There's also a snake, like a tail, on my behind. For protection, you see. The others do not have the gift of speech. As I said, we were separate, but now we are all frozen together,” said Nexus.
 

“Pleased to meet you,” Petronella said, acting as normally as she could. As she said this, she could see the breath coming out of her own mouth because it was so cold. Her knees trembled and knocked together in terror.

Percy said nothing. He was shivering badly, too. From cold and fright.

“You have reached the bottom,” said
The Gergon
. “This is
The Frozen Lake
. Didn't
The Red Seal
tell you fur coats are needed to come down here? Being reptiles, we're cold blooded. But it is different for you hot-blooded humans.”

“No, he didn't say anything. In truth there wasn't much time. In the rush to get out, he must have forgotten,” Petronella said.

Percy was cuddling up to Petronella. He needed to keep warm. His teeth were chattering. His lips had turned purple. They now found it hard to move. Were they freezing up?

The snake rose its scaly body in circles, hissing from behind Nexus. It uncoiled and showed its full length. Hatred flashed from its eyes. It tried to curve towards Percy threatening to bite him. Its head puffed up full of poison as it turned to look first at Petronella, then at Percy. Its three-forked tongue decided to flick towards Percy. It was just an inch from him. The blood drained from Percy's face. The snake was then slapped back down by the joined-up arms of Nexus and Zipper.

They heard a piercing woman's cry.

“Don't worry about her,” said Nexus. “She's always doing that.”

“Who is she?” Petronella asked.

“Oh, she's Lady Fortesque.” said Nexus.

“What THE Lady Fortesque - the wife of Lord Fortesque, The Strincas's cruel ruler?”

“Yes, that is right.”

“She is free to go about while her husband is in
The Frozen Lake
. He is up to his neck in ice. Only his head moves. The rest of him is rock solid frozen. The other shadows in the lake are frozen together in twos. They tried to keep warm. But Lord Fortesque is on his own. He would have been frozen to his wife, but women are not allowed in the lake. Mind you, the shadows that are frozen together gnaw each other's heads. Some are plunged less deeply into the ice. Lord Fortesque is the deepest, up to his neck, as I said before. The others vary. Some up to their chest, waist, or knees. It depends on how serious their crimes were,” explained Nexus.

The Gergon Snake
now rose right up above Nexus's head, still trying to reach Percy. Threatening Percy with its three-forked tongue. By now Percy couldn't move much. He felt himself stiffening up. Tried to bring his arm up to protect his face, but the arm moved very slowly. Percy's heartbeats got faster, until you could actually SEE his heart throbbing. As for the rest of his body, it was numb with fear.
The Gergon Snake
spat its awful poison in Percy's face. The smaller a person is, the quicker they will freeze up. So Petronella who could still move, got out
The Black Box,
pointed it straight in
The Gergon Snake'
s face. The nasty reptile drooped all at once. Went limp and hung down straight, slightly swinging from side to side. Relief.

She counted the times she'd used
The Black Box.
It was six times. She could only use it once more, so the next use had to be really worth it.
 

A woman came running up to them, dressed in fox fur from her feet up to her neck. And a hat made of bear-skin. From her ears shone huge diamonds. Shining jewels.

“This is Lady Fortesque, as I was saying,” Nexus said.

She was in despair. With tears running down her face and beating her chest. She flung herself to the ground and started tearing at her hair calling for her husband.

“That Marian, that evil girl. I was a king's daughter and the wife of a Lord. Now look at me. All the fault of that nasty young wench. She's the reason why we're suffering.”

“Who's Marian?” Petronella said.

“She goes on about her all the time. We don't take any notice of her anymore. It seems Marian went up into their castle one evening and Lady Fortesque fell and hurt her head. Marian had taken some peasant boy with her dressed up as a woman. His name was Barden. He threatened Marian with a dagger. The Lady got a fright. No more than that really. But afterwards, Lord Fortesque had a lot of Strincas rounded up and beheaded by his soldiers,” said Nexus.

“Yes, I know about the killings. Percy here was one of the victims. But I didn't know why he had been killed,” said Petronella.

Now turning to Lady Fortesque, Petronella said: “You should be ashamed of yourself. You are such a wicked and selfish woman. You can only think about yourself. You have no feelings for those poor Strincas who were killed. You are cold and cruel. That's why you're here.”

Lady Fortesque flung herself at Petronella, seized her and tugged at Petronella's hair until the good woman fell on the ice. Lady Fortesque ran away. As Petronella lay there, she looked up and saw that Percy's face was turning purple. Petronella couldn't get up. She couldn't move her feet. They were like two blocks of ice. Her arms had stuck to the ice, so neither of them could reach for
The Black Box.
 

“Percy, can you get
The Black Box
in my pocket?”

“I shall try, Petronella; but I doth nat knoweth if I can doth it.”

As Percy bent down slowly, you could hear a quiet cracking sound. He put one arm out and lowered himself a little more. He was getting closer. Nexus said that because both his hands were frozen to another beast's, the double hands would never fit into the pocket, so he could not help out. Either Snapper or Zipper could get the box out with their single outside hands. Both said there was no way that they would help. They watched as Percy struggled to reach Petronella's pocket. A little more and he'd be there. Petronella had managed to lift her arm up a little. At last, Percy freed
The Black Box
with his fingertips and he dropped it into Petronella's raised hand.