Heather. Edward and Sir Goodheart brought up the rear of the procession. The day had just begun in earnest and they trudged silently along. The group had a bit of a fright when a flock of vultures flew over but they thought they managed to remain unseen. The only reason they had seen the vultures was that they were caught crossing a small open meadow.
The trail wound and turned cunningly up the side of the mountain and was hard going. The way remained grassy with tall rustling trees and impenetrable undergrowth along the path. Even in the height of day little light filtered down. On and on they climbed until they reached almost three fourths of the way up the summit. They had climbed perhaps fifteen miles in a long hard steep ascent. Logosian called a halt and they setup their camp complete with a watch and no fires.
Heather sat next to Edward and talked, “Brother, do you think we still will make the ‘Clearing of Light’? I know that we can if the Bright Star is with us, it is just that I get afraid sometimes.”
“I know, “ replied Edward. “I get that way too, but we have His promises to depend on. I guess it is like I said last night. He did not bring us this far to forsake us.”
They talked some more about the mountains, the trail ahead and the meeting place. Edward stopped the conversation by telling Heather he needed his sleep for his midnight watch. Thus, the night passed uneventfully.
The dawn broke chilly and rather gloomy. Grounfirm looked uneasy and muttered to himself. He always did this when he was troubled or uncertain.
“I dinna like the smell of the weather taday,” he growled.
Still, they had no choice but to go on. There were only four precious days until the rendezvous. The camp broke up and they began the hardest part of the climb up the steep slope, through the ‘Pass of Doubting’. They scrambled until it seemed their lungs would burst and their legs would not work. By mid-morning they reached the pass and began to file through.
“We’ll rest on the other side,” panted Groundfirm.
No sooner had the party walked through the pass when the clouds began to gather more thickly and menacingly. Suddenly, there was an icy gust of wind and snow began to fall on the travelers. The snow started out softly but soon was coming down in a blinding sheet. Conditions were getting so that they could hardly see thirty feet ahead. They were caught in a late spring mountain blizzard!
The group now had a difficult decision to make. Should they try to walk down out of the mountain and out of the storm or should they wait it out? The answer came soon. They tried to make their way down the path but soon became hopelessly confused and finally had to gather to wait out the storm. The storm had only been coming down for about one half an hour but already it lay several inches deep. The worst part was that even if they stayed put they might freeze to death in the snow. The group huddled together and tried to keep warm.
Soon they all became numbed and some became sleepy. This sleepiness represented a bad sign. Sleepiness in cold is a sign of nearing hypothermia and impending death. Just when it appeared things looked the worst Heather’s lyre began to glow and throb. A bright beacon of golden-blue light broke forth from it and pierced the blinding snow to show the way to a large, warm cave only about one hundred yards away. The group cheered for joy.
They dragged and carried those unable to walk and stumbled into the entrance. The cave lit up in the golden-blue light of the lyre with a beautiful glow. The cave was about fourteen feet high and similar in size to a basketball court. The walls were rough and made of a sparkling granite like stone. The back wall ended in a dead end. The entrance itself only stood six feet tall and about twelve feet wide. The wind did not reach the recesses inside and soon the travelers felt much warmer. Unfortunately, there was no wood for a fire so it would still be a very cold night. Soon, all the exhausted travelers fell asleep except Groundfirm, Prince Logosian, and Edward. They chatted in low voices for awhile.
“What do you suppose brought on this storm?” inquired the Prince.
“It’s ma thinkin’ that the Vizier had a hand in this,” stated Groundfirm.
“But, does he have that kind of power?” replied Edward.
“His powers are many and varied,” answered Logosian. “But I’m not certain even he could control the weather. After all, spring storms are common in the weather.”
“Aye, but the evil afoot these days is strong and the Vizier has been given power in the land,” added Groundfirm. “Ah wish ah had a light for ma pipe lads. It’d be right good to smoke and think now.”
“Well, who is going to take the first watch tonight?” asked Edward. “I’ll do the first one if there are no objections. You can relieve me at midnight Grounfirm.”
“Aye, then it be time for some sleep,” retorted the gnome. The Prince and gnome promptly curled up and fell fast asleep.
Edward kept his lonely vigil wrapped up warmly in his gnome cloak. Many thoughts assailed him as he watched. The snow fell thick and fast almost coming down horizontally in the fierce wind. The wind howled and whirled, the snow seeking a way, it seemed, of entering their sanctuary warmth. Once too, Edward thought he saw some bright eyes staring at him in the darkness but they disappeared as he blinked. Groundfirm relieved him at midnight and Edward fell into a troubled sleep.
The morning came with all its glory and the travelers awoke to one of the most lovely sights they had ever seen. There rested a white blanket of downy snow over everything within sight. The large ominsk trees had a beautiful covering inches deep on all their limbs that looked like frosting on large Christmas cookies. There was no wind and the snow covered ground reflected so brightly it hurt their eyes to look at it. The snow had drifted in front of the door several feet deep but that did not stop the party from coming out to admire the whiteness. Never had any of them seen such beauty. It reminded Heather and Edward of pictures they had seen of the Swiss Alps, only more lovely. It brought back memories of happier times to Logosian of playing the snow with his father. Groundfirm remembered times with his clansmen in the winter whiteness of sledding and feasting.
Lord Battlesby gave a loud sneeze and broke the spell, “My goodness, excuse me, I certainly hope I’m not getting a cold!”
This interruption brought them back to the present. They needed to start off once again. There were only three days left to make the rendezvous. They gathered up their knapsacks and belongings and started off. They had a really rough time for the first few hours. It was particularly exhausting to break trail through the two foot deep snow. The men took turns breaking down the snow for the others to wade through but it was heartbreakingly slow work.
“At this rate, we won’t make five miles today,” murmured Edward.
“Courage laddie,” replied the gnome.
Heather soon became very tired and it took all her strength to just drag herself along. She had long since abandoned her knapsack to one of the knights. The travelers kept up this tiring work for about three hours with short rest periods every hour or so. Gradually, they became aware that the snow was not nearly as deep as it had been. It was beginning to get very warm. In fact, they all had to shed their gnome cloaks because they were getting so warm.
Suddenly, they rounded a bend in the trail and there stood green grass and woods again! A ragged cheer went up from the group as they once again entered into spring weather. The Prince and Edward glanced back and to their amazement, the snow circled the peak like the ice cream on a cone! The snow only covered the very top of the peak and then only a short distance. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief and gave thanks to the Star for showing them the cave!
The company spent the rest of the day soaking up the warmth of the sun and making good progress down the slope toward the River Ripplesway.
“We should make the river by nightfall if the directions Old Abigail gave are correct. She said the river valley lay about a half days journey down the slope from the ‘Pass of Doubting’ between the ‘Old Man’s Nose’ an
d ‘The Fair Maiden’s Hair’, two mountains peaks travelers of old used for navigating,” said Logosian.
As the sun passed to the horizon they heard the gurgling and tinkling of water. The troup passed down the trail and over a short rise. There before them flowed the River Ripplesway in a rushing blue-green torrent.
THE BATTLE RIPPLESWAY
XIV
“The river is swift and high,” noted Groundfirm.
“Yes,” replied the Prince. “Now what shall be our course of action? The snow appears to have swollen the usually docile Ripplesway. Any ideas?”
“Well,” said Duke Swalesfellow. “Methinks we must decide whether we ought to cross this night or await the dawn.”
“Yes. . .good point old man. . .” came the reply from the travelers.
“What do all of you think?” asked the Prince.
Sir Goodheart spoke, “It would seem, your Majesty, that the most likely attack upon us would be from the rear, even with the snow. As such, it seems perhaps prudent to cross the river before the night.”
The group all thought that a very splendid idea, but still had no ideas of how to cross the swollen river.
Edward finally spoke up, “I think I have an idea that might work, but we need someone skilled with a bow and full of bravery.”
The group all looked puzzled as Edward continued,