Chapter 5. Farewell to Caleb
The children had enjoyed the story so much they had not noticed where they were walking. They now found they were at the bottom of the long line of cliffs that had seemed so far away. The wind was much stronger here as it howled across the plain to batter with a roar against the cliff face. There was a narrow path leading up the rocks and much to Sharon’s horror, Caleb led them up it.
‘Can’t we stop and have a rest?’ begged Paul.
‘I’m afraid not,’ replied Caleb. ‘Come along, not much further now. We can stop when we reach the top. I want to get there before dark.’
‘What about food?’ asked Mark. ‘I’m hungry.’
‘Later,’ replied Caleb firmly and padded up the winding path between the rocks. With a groan Mark followed him. Sharon took Paul’s hand.
‘It won’t be far,’ she encouraged him. ‘Please try to walk a little bit further. It has to be better at the top.’ She looked around her with a shudder. There were piles of jagged rocks strewn across the ground in misshapen heaps at the base of the cliffs. Some of them looked like frozen monsters as the wind whistled among them.
‘Wait for me,’ called Paul as the others walked ahead of him. He increased his speed.
‘I don’t want to be last,’ he said firmly.
Mark sighed and dropped to the back. The path followed a narrow ridge that skirted a deep ravine. The light was fading as the sun set somewhere behind the mountains and the children were stumbling with fatigue. As the last of the daylight disappeared they came to a cave that opened off the path into the side of the cliff. Sharon was concerned that there might be something living in there but Caleb did not seem worried so she didn’t say anything. They found the cave empty apart from a pile of straw onto which they collapsed thankfully.
‘I am so hungry,’ complained Paul. ‘What are we going to eat?’ he looked enquiringly at Caleb.
‘There is no food,’ said Caleb. ‘Only the chocolates.’
Mark looked disgusted.
‘They won’t be much of a meal, even if we can persuade Paul to share them.’
‘I don’t care, I have to have something,’ said Sharon. ‘Please Paul, can we each have a chocolate?’ she asked sweetly.
Paul took the bag from his pocket and handed Sharon a chocolate. He offered one each to Mark and Caleb as well. Caleb took two. He couldn’t decide which he liked the best, toffee or peppermint cream. When he finally got his teeth unstuck he decided he preferred the peppermint cream. The chocolates were wonderful. Aylwin must have put some sort of spell on them as the children found that after one chocolate they were not hungry or thirsty anymore.
By this time it was completely dark so they each chose a pile of straw and curled up in their cloaks to sleep.
The children had a most uncomfortable night, as the straw seemed to work its way down their necks and under their cloaks to stick into them. Caleb kept sneezing unexpectedly as they were on the verge of sleep but they all fell asleep in the end.
They woke up to a still day; too still, the children thought. A blanket of clouds obscured the sun, if there was a sun, and everyone felt dull and gloomy. Mark looked around him expecting to have a great view but he was disappointed. He found the cave was set on a small saddle of rock, not the cliff top he was expecting. Behind him all he could see was the path falling away beneath his feet while on both sides the dark cliffs leaned oppressively inwards. In front of him the path continued winding up between the rocky cliffs until it passed out of sight in the distance.
After a chocolate each for breakfast they set off up the path. Caleb kept bounding on ahead and the children called him back, frightened to be left alone on the rocky path.
‘I feel like we must be in the clouds soon’ grumbled Sharon. ‘My legs hurt and we seem to have been climbing forever.’
‘My legs hurt too,’ wailed Paul. ‘I can’t walk any further.’
‘Come on then, I’ll carry you,’ said Mark and lifted Paul onto his back. ‘Only for a little way though,’ he warned. My legs are not feeling much better than yours are.’
The path soon grew so steep that the children could not spare any breath to talk. They heard a muffled thumping sound in the distance.
‘What’s making that noise?’ asked Paul.
‘Don’t know,’ puffed Mark. ‘Probably other exhausted travellers falling to the ground.’
They kept climbing and the thumping grew louder and louder. Finally, when they thought they could not take another step, they turned a corner and found themselves on a flat plateau on top of the cliffs. The thumping sound was very loud now and appeared to be coming from a group of large purple saucers. The saucers stood on pale stalks and Sharon thought looked they remarkably like sunken mushrooms. The saucers rose slowly up into the air with a squeaking sound as the stalks stretched and turned. With a thump the saucers would then fall back down and begin to rise again.
‘What on earth are those?’ Mark asked Caleb.
‘Those are flumpers,’ came the reply.
‘They look alive,’ said Sharon, fascinated by the way they rose and fell.
‘They are, of course,’ said Caleb casually. ‘The thumping you hear is the sound of them breathing. They are not much use for anything as far as I know. They live on water from the rain and tend to grow in groups like this at the tops of mountains.’
‘I want to touch one,’ stated Paul. He ran over to the nearest flumper that had sunk down to the ground. ‘They feel all soft and spongy,’ he called.
‘Be careful,’ shrieked Sharon as with a shout Paul tripped and fell onto the flumper, which immediately rose into the air. The next minute he was calling to them.
‘This is fantastic fun. Why don’t you try it?’
Mark and Sharon each climbed onto a flumper as well and laughed with pleasure as they were carried high into the air before dropping with a bump.
‘It doesn’t hurt at all,’ laughed Sharon. ‘It feels like a big pillow.’
Caleb smiled tolerantly as he sat down watching the children, waiting for them to grow tired of riding the flumpers. Finally he called them over and said,
‘Tell me what you see beneath you.’
There, far below them, lay a valley. It looked like the one they had left the day before but it was not so bare. Trees grew in clumps and a stream like a silver ribbon threaded its way along the valley floor.
‘Look,’ said Paul excitedly. ‘Is that the river we have to cross?’
Caleb sat down and told the children to repeat the directions Aylwin had given them.
‘First we cross the river,’ said Mark, ‘and then we go between two trees.’
He looked down at the valley and saw the trees below on the right.
‘Then we go to a black rock.’ He paused and looked for it. To his surprise there was a large black rock standing closer to the river than the trees and he wondered why they had to go so far out of their way.
‘There was something about a forest,’ added Sharon, ‘but I can’t see it.’
There was a mist covering the ground beyond the black rock and it looked most unpleasant.
‘Now make sure you follow the directions,’ said Caleb. Sharon looked fearful.
‘Aren’t you coming all the way with us?’ she asked.
‘I cannot cross the river,’ said Caleb. ‘If I did I don’t know where I might end up.’
Mark wondered if something awful would happen to them as well when they crossed it, but he did not want to frighten the others so he kept silent.
‘How do we get down the mountain?’ asked Paul. ‘It looks very steep.’
‘Caleb laughed. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘you won’t have to walk far. There is an easy way down.’
He led the way past the flumpers to the edge of the plateau. Stretching down there was a long winding strip of smooth polished rock.
‘It’s a slide,’ gasped Sharon.
‘Cool,’ said Mark. ‘Bags I go first.’
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‘Wait a moment,’ said Caleb. ‘Fold your cloak into a square and sit on it. That way you will have a more comfortable ride.
After thanking Caleb for his help the children folded their cloaks and approached the edge. Mark placed his cloak on the ground and sat on it.
‘Here goes,’ he called cheerfully. Sharon gave him a push and with a joyful shout he slid down out of sight.
‘You’d better sit on my lap,’ Sharon told Paul and held onto him firmly around his waist.
‘Goodbye and thank you,’ she called to Caleb as he nudged her in the back and the next minute she was off.