“Please help us to get the children safely out of the city. If we have to find the wizard first, please lead us to him. And there’s a bottle of memories we should find as well as the key. I guess we need help in a lot of things.”
She stopped speaking again. Her heartbeat no longer raced. She scurried behind the small band of children and Tak with an air of excitement instead of fear. Det said the key looked like the one Orli had shown them in mental images. They might soon be out of the bottle and back with friends and family.
Who would take care of the children they rescued? There were very few urohms in Chiril. She and Bealomondore had decided that a few urohms must’ve been away from the city when the wizard set up his punishment. Urohms were living in Chiril, but in very limited numbers. Surely they would adopt these children. But who would take care of the children still caught in Yawn’s snare? How could they possibly leave without them? And Yawn, such an unhappy child, filled with anger and pride.
“Wulder, please rescue all the children.”
She hesitated once more, the library steps visible at the end of the street.
“Yes, Wulder. All the children. And Old One. And the minor dragons.”
“Maa!”
“And Tak.”
Out in the streets of Rumbard City, Ellie had felt exposed. She’d expected Yawn and his gang to pounce. The sun had shone brightly, the birds sang, the dragons chittered, the air smelled fresh, the flowers bobbed their heads in the gentle breeze. And still she had expected disaster. Now that she was in the underbelly known as the subter, she knew this was where Yawn would attack. The setting held dark corners, unidentifiable noises, and the chill in the air brought goose bumps on her arms.
Each of the children had a lightrock. Bealomondore carried a lantern. Orli’s body glowed as he flew above them. Still there was not enough light to suit Ellie. The plastered walls were dank and mildewed, with long brown stains flowing from top to bottom. Pipes and girders crisscrossed the low ceiling. How would a grown urohm stand up straight in these tunnels?
Bealomondore squeezed her hand. “This is man-made. When we get to the tumanhofer city, you’ll see something more along the lines of caves and caverns. Of course, the tumanhofers widened tunnels and flattened floors and enlarged caves to accommodate the citizenry. Have you ever seen drawings of Tuck?”
“Yes. Gramps has a Torrabendarah’s History of Tumanhofers.”
A clunking noise like metal against metal echoed through the dark tunnel. She jumped, and the children froze.
“What was that?” a voice whispered out of the group of boys and girls.
Bealomondore stretched a bit to look over the crowd around them. “Probably nothing.”
“It sounded more like something than nothing.”
Ellie recognized the child’s voice. “Let’s just keep going, Toady. The quicker we find the door, the quicker we can get out of here.”
Det flew back from scouting a passage ahead of them.
Bealomondore passed the map dragon’s instructions on to the clan. “We’re going to turn right at the next intersection of tunnels.”
“What right?” came back in a variety of forms. Ellie still had not taught them left and right successfully.
“When you get to the crossing, stop,” she told them. “We’ll tell you which way is right.”
Bealomondore spoke quietly to Ellie. “Det says he can hear running water. Perhaps he’s found the cool-water stream.”
“You’ve never been down this way in your explorations?”
“Never this far. I always had in mind that I must get back to help you with the children. I didn’t want to leave you at their mercy for too long.”
Soo-tie giggled. “Mr. Bealomondore, you shouldn’t be so worried. We aren’t murderous.”
Several voices joined hers, finishing the phrase in unison. “Just grouchy.”
Ellie patted Soo-tie’s shoulder. “Most of the time you aren’t even grouchy. Everyone has been trying to get along. I appreciate that.”
Soo-tie laughed louder, and those around giggled as well. “We know how to get treats from you, Miss Ellie. That’s why we’re good.”
“I don’t care why you behave, just so long as you’re practicing your manners and they’re becoming a habit. A good habit.”
“We found the crossing,” said Grim from the front of their pack. “Which way do we go?”
Bealomondore let go of Ellie’s hand. “I’m coming to the front. I’ll lead from this point on. Let me through, please.”
“Where do you think we are?” asked Porky.
“Det says we are east of the library by about three miles.”
“Three miles?” One of the boys wagged his head back and forth in disbelief. “We walked three miles already?”
“That’s right.”
“Right? Where?” Cinder screwed up his face in disgust. “And we haven’t even tried one door yet.”
“The doors we’ve passed so far are doors made by urohms. We’re looking for a door made by tumanhofers.”
“What’s it gonna look like?” asked Tolly, the newest child to join the clan.
Bealomondore looked at the girl as he answered. “We don’t know what it will look like exactly, but we do know that it won’t look like all the doors we’ve seen in Rumbard City.”
“It’ll be shorter,” said Laska. “ ’Cause tumanhofers are shorter even when they’re grown up.”
“Good observation, Laska.” Bealomondore gestured for the children to follow. “Let’s find that door.”
They’d walked quite a ways when Bealomondore held up his hand for them to stop. “Be very quiet and listen.”
All the children stood still. Ellie heard water running, much like the brook near her home.
“We’re close,” she said.
Det returned and landed on Bealomondore’s shoulder.
“Did he find the stream?” asked Soo-tie.
Bealomondore grinned. “Yes. Only a few more yards and a turn to the left.”
The children cheered.
He and Ellie exchanged an amused look as the inevitable voice asked, “What left?”
Bealomondore shrugged. “I’ll tell you when we get there.”
The need did not arise. As soon as they came to the crossing of two tunnels, the din of rushing water called to the children. They turned the corner to the left and took off running.
“Don’t fall in,” Ellie called.
Bealomondore waited for her and Tak. He took her hand and followed the excited clan. The mass of six-year-old bodies churned with the thrill of running water.
“Why is it,” asked Ellie, “that a stream, a river, even a little brook causes such fascination?”
“Water is very hard to paint, but I confess I am drawn to moving water. Waves on an ocean are the same.”
“I’ve never seen the ocean.”
“Not even in pictures?”
“Well, yes.”
“Pictures can’t do justice to the majesty of the sea. I shall take you to the seashore.”
“When we leave Rumbard City, I’ll go back to my parents’ farm and herd sheep.”
“Never. Ellicinderpart Clarenbessipawl, I want you to be my wife.”
She had expected this, but not in a dark and gloomy man-made tunnel with exuberant giant children just a few yards away. She’d already decided what she’d say. She had to turn down his offer to marry her because her reputation was now tarnished by their stay in Rumbard City without a proper chaperone. But she had hoped the proposal would be a little more romantic. It was probably the only one she would ever receive. She steeled herself to do what she must.
“No, Bealomondore. I won’t marry a man who has to ask me to marry him.”
He stopped, and though she resisted, he turned her to face him and lifted her chin so she had to meet his eyes.
“Ellie, I am going to drop all my defenses so that you can experience exactly what I’m feeling. I will not hide any of my thought
s. Are you ready?”
For a moment, she didn’t think her heart would allow her the experience. Looking into his eyes melted her resolve not to let him be a martyr and marry the country lass he’d been stuck with. The love she saw in his expression filled her with a surge of like emotion. There was more?
She nodded.
The full volume of Bealomondore’s emotions struck her.
She gasped.
Oh yes, there was more.
She felt as if she were drawn into his soul. In an instant, her being melded with his. Her tentative belief in Wulder burst like fireworks into full-blown awe. The sparkling background became a jumble of giddy feelings, elation, and jubilation.
As this myriad of emotions danced in ecstasy, a solid base formed beneath them. She felt like she could skip on the edge of a precipice with no fear because Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore loved her. He loved her.
She willingly went into his arms. He kissed her, and a kaleidoscope of bliss swirled through her. Because of their special bond, she felt her own pleasure and his. Happiness doubled and twined a ribbon of color between them, through them, and all around.
“Hey!” Cinder hollered at their shoulders. “What are you doing? We found the door.”
Reluctantly, she and Bealomondore pulled apart.
“Well?” said Cinder. “Are you coming?”
Bealomondore pulled the keys out of one of his deep pockets. Orli had sorted the dozens of keys brought in by the children. The minor dragon eliminated those that were too small, too plain, or too shiny according to his memory. Bealomondore banked on the fact that dragons have long and accurate memories. Seven old, cumbersome keys remained. Each looked like the others with only slight variances in the etched design along the shank.
The light dragon now sat on Bealomondore’s shoulder, as eager as any of them to see the door open. Only Tak seemed disinterested. He sat off to the side, refusing to be a part of the press of onlookers gathered deep in the subter. Ellie stood at Bealomondore’s side, and the crowd of witnesses pushed forward, each trying to see as he placed one key in, gave it a twist, and tried the door. He handed the used keys, one by one, to Carrie.
He came to the seventh key, and the group as a whole held their breath. This would be the final attempt. The door would finally yield to the hand unlocking the plain mechanism.
When the knob did not budge for the last key, a disappointed sigh escaped from them all.
Bealomondore shrugged. “I guess tomorrow we’ll search for more keys.”
“Couldn’t we kick it in?” asked Grim, bouncing his foot against the stubborn door.
The tumanhofer laid his hand on the solid wood. “Son, a tumanhofer craftsman fashioned this door. Not only does the lock work, but there’s probably a simple device that also prohibits entry.”
Carrie stooped, examining the design across the bottom of the door. “Hey! These look like keys.”
She took one key and placed it in the first indentation. It fit. The children who could see cheered.
Porky jumped, trying to see from his position at the back. “What happened?”
Ellie glanced over her shoulder, then balanced on her toes to look above the children. “Carrie found a place to put the keys.” A murmur of excitement buzzed through the gathering.
Carrie stood and held up a key. “I’ve got one left over.”
Bealomondore held out his hand, and she placed it in his palm.
He lifted his eyebrows and grinned at Ellie. With no more ado, he inserted the key and turned it. Even the burble of rushing water didn’t drown out the click of the mechanism. Bealomondore twisted the doorknob, gave a push, and the door swung open.
With shrieks of excitement, the children stampeded past Ellie and Bealomondore. She lost her balance, and he grabbed her around the waist, pulling her close to avoid being trampled.
After the charge passed, a commanding voice rose above the din. “Be still.”
Silence. Absolute silence. Except for the stream behind them.
Bealomondore looked at Ellie’s startled face and answered her unspoken question.
“We’d better find out.”
They darted through the door and stopped.
Lightrocks studded the walls, making the great hall bright. The children stood in various poses, seemingly trapped by the authoritative words. Frozen in flight, the minor dragons hung like suspended hot air balloons above their heads.
On the opposite side of the large cavern sat an old man on a throne. If Bealomondore had any doubts as to who the gentleman might be, the pointed hat and elaborate robes pronounced a wizard.
Bealomondore bowed. Ellie, taking her cue from him, gave a small curtsy.
“Come, come.” The wizard gestured for them to cross the expanse between them.
As they passed under Det and Airon, Ellie looked up in amazement and mindspoke, “How’d he do that?”
We could ask him to explain, but if he’s like Fenworth, the explanation will be indecipherable.
“Wizard Pater?” Bealomondore asked as he guided Ellie through the field of statuelike children.
The wizard nodded.
Walking beside Bealomondore, Ellie’s expression reflected horror as she studied the frozen faces of the children. At the foot of the wizard’s dais, she rounded on the old man with an outraged tone. “What have you done?”
He laughed, a pleasant sound in the eerie stillness. “Do not worry, Miss Clarenbessipawl. It is not permanent. The cease-action command will last no more than five minutes. So we have less than five minutes to have our adult conversation uninterrupted.”
She lowered her accusing finger. “All right.”
He smiled, and Bealomondore felt Ellie’s acceptance, and perhaps even approval, of Wizard Pater.
Bealomondore stepped up on the small platform and extended his hand. The wizard took it to shake with a firm but gentle grip.
“Wizard Pater,” said Bealomondore, “we would like to leave Rumbard City. And according to Old One, you too would like to be free.”
“Old One? His name is Humbaken Florn. Yes, you have freed me from the city of Tuck, and I am grateful. But without the bottle of memories, none of us can slip through the glass walls of the city.”
Ellie frowned. “Don’t you know where you put it?”
“I do,” said the wizard, “and I don’t.”
Neither Bealomondore nor his bride-to-be spoke.
“Yes,” said Wizard Pater. “I put the bottle on a shelf in what I have taken as my storeroom.”
Bealomondore realized that their silence would prod the old man to explain more than a stream of questions they might ask. Of course, Ellie joined him without verbal prompting.
“And … many years have passed.” He looked at the children. “And I have placed other bottles on the same shelf.”
The wizard sighed with a huge gust of air. The emotion on his face piqued Bealomondore’s artistic interest. If he could capture that expression of regret, the portrait would resonate with every person who had ever done a foolhardy deed.
The wizard continued, “I arranged for the isolation of the urohm population without consulting Wulder. I was rather peeved at their lack of obedience. Therefore, being an o’rant and given to pride just as completely as were the urohms, I sought to teach them a lesson. In other words, I committed my own act of arrogance by judging and sentencing and carrying out the punishment in my own self-righteousness.”
He paused to rub his hands together, as if warming them. He then rested one on each knee. “Wulder was not pleased.” His hands rubbed forward and back several times before he uttered another word. “And Wulder, in His infinite wisdom, gave me the task of maintaining the city until only those children who were under six at the time remained. It would seem Wulder agreed that the urohms required discipline, as I had determined, but discipline given by the master, not the servant. Over the years, the people grew old and died off, quite naturally. You mustn’t think they chafed terribly unde
r my reprimand. They seemed very content.”
He grimaced. “I must confess, that irked me even more. I’d devised retribution for their folly, and I seemed to be the one chastised most heavily.”
He smiled again at his audience. “The children are beginning to stir. I must be succinct.”
Bealomondore and Ellie surveyed the still unmoving crew. An eye twitched on a girl, and a lip curved a little on another. None of the children stirred significantly.
“Where was I?” asked the wizard. “Oh yes. The adult population dwindled until only the librarian walked the streets. At that time, Humbaken Florn was charged with seeing to the children in the city. I continued my service by providing sustenance and such that is needed, still trapped under the city. Humbaken’s response to the call was to barricade himself in the library. He seemed to suffer most. And you would think that finally I would get some satisfaction as he endured penance.”
Wizard Pater shook his head sadly and rubbed one hand across his face and down his beard, giving the chin hair a firm jerk. “No, I felt sorry for him. So I bottled his memories as well.”
A giggle behind them brought Bealomondore and Ellie around to face the children.
Another giggle answered the first, then snickering bounced from one child to the next.
Through his laughter, Cinder remarked as if he had a mouthful of food, “I can hardly move my lips to talk.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
That set off another round of snickering.
“I got my toe to move,” one child reported with glee.
Now claims of movement of different body parts were conveyed with more titters and giggles and chuckling.
Ellie smiled at the wizard. “They don’t seem to have been harmed by your cease-action command.”
Wizard Pater’s eyes twinkled. “They never are. Of course, I haven’t used the command for eons. I used to teach at The Hall in Amara.”
“A university?” asked Bealomondore. “I think Fenworth mentioned The Hall.”