Vale of the Vole (7 page)

When sleep threatened to overtake him despite his efforts, he went to the vole hole and called down it. "Volney! Volney! Are you ready for your watch?"

There was a subterranean snort as the vole woke. "Ready, Evk." The snout poked into the starlight.

Esk crawled down and around and into the den and curled up hi the warm spot left by the vole. The den was rounded in such a way that the earth tended to support a curled body, and was really quite comfortable. He had hardly completed that realization before he slept.

When he woke, there was a warm body next to him. Volney was back, and Esk realized that the vole had finished his shift and turned it over to the centaur.

He crawled out, and discovered it was dawn. Chex was picking fruits and setting them on the platform. "No dragons!" she said briskly as she saw him.

Esk had a call or two of nature to answer. He nerved himself to do it hi her presence, knowing that the sooner he navigated this social hurdle the better it would be. He started to take down his trousers.

"Don't do it here," she said. "We don't want the smell in our breakfast."

Oh. Well, he had made the gesture, such as it was. With relief he retreated to a more distant site and did his business. He didn't have to actually do it in her presence; he just had to be able to if the need arose.

They ate, and drank some meltwater Chex had saved in a pair of cups. Then Volney emerged, bringing out some tubers he had found somewhere underground, and they traded some of the remaining fruit for these. It was surprising how good the tubers were; the vole evidently had a fine nose for such things.

They resumed their walk along the path. When they reached the lake, Volney was taken aback. "I can't crow that water!" he protested.

Obviously he couldn't. Esk wasn't certain whether voles could swim, but it hardly mattered; the giant monster out there made swimming hazardous. If the vole tried to splash around the edge, the way Chex had, he would be half floating, because his little legs were too short to achieve good purchase beneath the water. The reeds would eat him alive. If he tried to tunnel under, he would simply encounter muck that filled in as fast as he dug. There was no question: water was a formidable barrier.

He looked at Chex. No, it didn't seem feasible for her to carry the vole. Volney was too big, and not constructed for riding. Also, how would he, Esk, get around the lake, if she carried someone else?

"I think we should construct a raft," Chex said. "There is driftwood at the shore, some fairly substantial pieces, and if we use vines to bind it together, and long poles to move it, it should serve."

"A raft?" Volney asked. "What is thiv?"

"It's like a boat, only clumsier," Esk said.

"What iv a boat?"

Chex looked at Esk, then back to Volrtey. "Your folk aren't much for water, are they?"

"We have great revpect for water," the vole protested. "We drink it, we bathe in it, we guide it into our burrowv for the nourivhment of root farmv. The meandering Kivv-Mee River wav the life-vevvel of our Vale." His whiskers drooped. "But now, of courve, the Kill-Mee River poivonv uv."

"But you don't go on it?" she persisted. "You don't swim or sail?"

"Vail?"

"A boat is a craft that floats on the surface of the water, carrying folk across it A raft does this too. A sailboat is propelled by a sheet stretched out against the wind. You do not know of these things?"

"It voundv like movt intriguing magic."

She smiled. "Well, we'll try to demonstrate this magic for you, so you can tell your folk when you return. It should facilitate your use of the river. But tell me, how do you cross the Kiss-Mee?"

"We have bridgev over it and tunnelv under it," Volney explained. "They were much labor to convtruct, but give good vervice. Unfortunately, when the demonv vtraightened it, these crowingv were left vtranded by vacant channelv, and now are uvelew. The volev on the far vide are unable to join thove on the near vide."

"Couldn't you make new bridges or tunnels?" Esk asked.

"Not while the demonv guard the channel. They permit no activity of that nature."

Chex sighed. "You need the Good Magician's counsel, certainly! Well,

let's get to it. We must gather as much wood as we can, as large and dry as we can, and tie it together. We should be able to fashion a raft large enough to support us all."

"You wivh dry wood?" Volney asked. "Will it not get wet when it touchev the water?"

"Dry, so that it isn't waterlogged, and will float better." She found a piece and picked it up. "We can make a pile here beside the path."

"Now at lavt I comprehend," Volney said. He set off in search of wood.

There was more driftwood and fallen wood in the vicinity than had been at first apparent, and before long they had a huge pile. They found strong vines, some of which they used to make a harness so that Chex could haul the largest pieces. Then they used that vine to tie the wood together.

By noon they had a large, ungainly structure that most resembled a pile of refuse. But when they heaved it into the water and shoved it to the deep region, it floated. They climbed aboard, with Esk and Chex wielding long poles, and by dint of pushing at the nether muck caused it to travel out toward the center of the lake.

"An island!" Volney exclaimed. "A floating island!"

"So it seems," Chex agreed.

"Shouldn't that be 'ivland'?" Esk asked.

Both stared at him. "Whatever for?" Chex inquired.

"Uh, no reason," he said, embarrassed. What could he have been thinking of?

The monster of the lake coursed close. "Go fry in the sun!" Chex called to it impolitely. "You can't get near us!"

The monster, irritated, charged the raft. Its bulk loomed huge. But Chex simply poked at one of its eyestalks with her pole, and it retreated. "Bullies have no courage when they face anything as large as they are," she remarked with satisfaction.

"OoOoOo," Volney moaned.

"What's the matter?" Esk asked. "That monster can't touch us."

"I feel ill," the vole said. Indeed, his fur seemed to be developing a greenish tinge.

"You're seasick," Chex said. "Here, I have a pill for that." She produced a green tablet from her knapsack.

Volney swallowed the pill. In a moment his fur turned gray again. "Much better," he said. "I don't like being veavick."

They continued poling, and made steady, slow progress across the lake. They paused midway for a lunch break; Chex had thoughtfully

harvested some fruit and put it aboard. Then they completed the voyage, bumping up against the far shore. They splashed to land and hauled the raft as high as they could, so that it would not drift away. They knew that they might need it again.

They resumed travel along the path, heading for the mountain. But the building of the raft and the voyage across the lake had taken much time and strength, and they decided to spend another night on the road before tackling the mountain. They were now becoming seasoned travelers, and no storm approached, so they had no significant problems this time.

Chapter 4. Mystery

1 hey arrived at the mountain. It loomed as massively as before, with its deep dark tunnel through.

Chex shuddered. "I dislike confessing this, but I am slightly claustrophobic. I don't think I can walk that passage even if it is guaranteed safe. I'm afraid the mountain will collapse on me."

Volney sniffed at the rising bank. "But there iv no mountain," he protested.

"You can't see the mountain?" Esk asked, surprised.

"I vee it, but it ivn't there."

"You're not making sense."

"I will vhow you." The vole moved forward, into the bank—literally. His body disappeared into it.

"What?" Esk and Chex said together.

Volney's snout poked out of the slope. "It iv illuvion," he explained.

"Illusion!" Chex exclaimed. She reached out with one hand, and the hand passed into the apparent substance of the mountain. "Why so it isl"

"We never touched it!" Esk said, chagrined. "We just assumed it was real!"

"That explains why it wasn't on my dam's map!"

"What type of map?" Volney asked, confused. "An evil one?"

"Never mind. I just knew there wasn't supposed to be a mountain here —and there wasn't! What a relief!"

"Does this mean we can walk right through it?" Esk asked.

"Evidently so," Chex said, walking into it. For a moment her equine forepart was hidden, while her human upper portion remained in view, and, disconnected, her equine rump. Then the rest of her disappeared, and the shaggy slope of the mountain was unbroken.

Esk reached out to touch the visible surface. His hand encountered nothing; it vanished in the rock.

This was one persistent illusion! They knew it for what it was, yet it remained as clearly as before.

"But it's dark in here," Chex's voice came.

"Darknevv divturbv you?" Volney asked. "I have no problem with it."

"Suppose there's a wall or something?" she demanded. "I'm not worried about a mountain of illusion falling on me, but I don't want to bang my face."

"I can lead you," Volney said. "Volev never go bump in the night."

They set up a column, with Volney leading and Esk at the rear. They marched along the approximate route of the path, but it didn't matter since there was no mountain. At times Esk saw the light that shone down the tunnel and highlighted the contour of the rock, with Chex's body passing in and out of it; the effect remained eerie. But as they penetrated more deeply, the light diminished, until all was dark.

"Vtop!" Volney exclaimed abruptly. "There iv a chavm!"

"A chasm!" Chex echoed. "Can we go around?"

"I will ekvplore." They waited while the vole moved along, first to one side, then the other. "No, it crowev the full region."

"You're sure it's not an illusion?" Esk asked, half facetiously.

"Quite vure. I cannot tell how deep or wide it iv, but it iv definitely prevent."

"Perhaps I can fathom it," Chex said. "I can explore it with my staff." There was the sound of the staff tapping. "It is too deep; I can't find the bottom." Then, "But I can find the far side! It is not too far; I could hurdle it."

"I cannot jump," Volney said. "But I could tunnel under it, if there iv rock below."

"Maybe that's best," Chex agreed.

There was the sound of rapid digging. Then there was the noise of splashing. "Oopv! I cannot tunnel through water!"

"Well, we got you across the lake," she said. "We should be able to get you across the chasm. After all, it's not exactly of the scope of the Gap Chasm."

"Can't tell," Esk said. "The Gap Chasm has extensions that jag a long way north and south. This could be one of those."

"You are not much help," she said.

"Maybe we could help him cross," Esk said. "We have our staffs; if we made a temporary bridge—"

"No, they aren't long enough. I touched the far side only at full extension."

"Well, if we tied them together—"

"They would bend in the middle, and then the ends would slide off."

"But if we stood on either side and held on to them—"

She considered. "Perhaps. But we would have to be very sure of our hold."

"You truvted me to lead you," Volney said. "I will truvt you to hold me."

They used the length of vine Chex had thoughtfully saved to bind the ends of the two staffs together as securely as was feasible. Then she made a leap in the dark and landed on the far side of the chasm. Then Esk poked the lengthened pole across, and she caught hold of it.

Now Volney donned his gripping talons—it seemed he had several sets for different applications—and took hold of the staff. He was not, as he had said before, a climber, but he could cling to a small root, and this was similar in diameter. He moved carefully out over the chasm, while Esk clung tightly to the end.

The pole sagged, for the vole's weight was formidable. Then an end slid toward the brink as the staffs formed a V in the center. Esk now regretted his notion; he was afraid that something would break, and Volney would be dumped into the dark depth. Fortunately he felt his ogre strength coming into play; he would not let Volney fall.

Then the pull changed. Esk's staff angled further toward the horizontal. The vole's weight was now on Chex's staff.

"I tire!" Volney's voice came. "I cannot climb!"

"Esk, let go your end!" Chex called.

"But—"

"I'm going to haul him up! Let go!"

Hoping he was doing the right thing, Esk let go. His staff immediately slid over the brink and clattered down.

But now there was the sound of motion. Chex was using her centaur strength to pull her pole up, the vole along with it. There was a rasping and a clatter. How was it going?

Then Volney's voice came. "I am here!" It was from Esk's level; the vole had reached the far side!