CHAPTER 5
Fred led Pat downstairs and down the same corridors Hawkins had led them on their first entrance into the castle. He remembered they'd passed the kitchen at one point, and in a few minutes they came to the cooking room. Unfortunately the area was alive with men and women hurrying to prepare the night's feast, though that didn't stop Fred from looking for the stove. He found a group of them lined up on the wall on the opposite side of the room from where they stood. Fred noticed there was a small gap about two feet by two feet between the last stove and the corner. He just knew that had to be the secret entrance. Now the only problem lay in getting through it unnoticed.
Pat and Fred pulled back, and he crossed his arms over his chest in thought. "The secret entrance is in that far corner, but I don't know how we're going to get through them without being seen."
Pat looked around for an answer and her eyes lit on a large rat hole close at hand. She saw two beady eyes staring back at her, and an idea hit her. She crept past Fred and over to the hole, where she knelt down. With a swift swipe of her arm she reached into the hole and grabbed the squirming vermin. The creature squeaked and squealed, but she held tight and made sure not to let it bite her. Pat clasped the rat in her hand and hurried over to Fred, who cringed back from the ugly rodent.
Fred looked between Pat's captive and her twinkling eyes. "You're going to do it, aren't you?"
Pat grinned and nodded her head. She crept around him to the entrance of the kitchen and knelt down close to the ground, where she put her hands down. With a spring of her hands the rat was free and scurried into the chaos. One of the male cooks who had a platter full of food saw the rodent and let out a glass-cracking scream. He flung the platter into the air and his pudgy legs jumped for the nearest table. The other cooks turned at his cries and one of the women noticed the rodent. Her face lit up with a smile and she pointed her knife at the creature. "Catch that rat! I need it for the stew!"
As Fred and Pat looked on, the kitchen became a madhouse of chase-the-rat. Everyone, armed with spatulas, forks and spoons, dove at the poor, frightened creature. The pair ducked back into the hallway when the rat raced out of the kitchen and down the passage from which they'd come with the entire kitchen staff at its heels. The party rounded a corner down the hall and vanished from sight and, in a few moments, sound.
Pat slowly turned her head toward Fred with a surprised expression on her face, who looked likewise at her. "That didn't quite turn out like I thought it would," she admitted.
"Yeah, me either, but it got them out of there," he pointed out.
"Yeah, and remind me not to eat the stew tonight," she added.
The pair slunk over to the corner and knelt down to examine the stones. After a few moments Pat found a small groove in one of the stones, and pointed it out to Fred. He retrieved the metal from his pocket and inserted one end into the groove. The lip of the metal caught beneath the false top of the stone, and with their combined strength they lifted the flat rock up to reveal a wooden frame with a hollow center. In the hole was a flight of narrow steps that led down into a dark abyss.
Pat looked over to Fred, and nodded her head toward the hole. "Think you can use your castor staff to light our way?" Fred pulled out his broken stick and held it down into the hole; nothing happened. Pat rolled her eyes. "Well, let's grab some candles."
The pair swiped as many candles as they could hold and, each with a pair of candle holders, lit one for each of them. They stood at the top of the stairs and glanced at each other. Pat frowned at the boy. "What are you waiting for? This was your plan, so go on," she scolded him.
"Um, ladies first?" he offered. It was at that point they heard the hunting party returning from the chase, and his face paled. "On second thought, I'll go first. I don't want to know what's for dinner."
He jumped down and Pat soon followed. The flight of stairs went down only two yards, and Pat held Fred's flashlight while he slid the stone back into the hole. It wedged into place just as footsteps tromped into the kitchen. Fred dropped down, grabbed his candle from her and held it out to illuminate the way ahead. It was a tunnel about five feet wide and six feet tall, and had smoothed, chiseled walls with a rounded ceiling. The passage stretched out far beyond their light, and somewhere in the distance they heard the soft drip of water. Not a comfortable place by any stretch of the imagination, but it was either that or be found out by the rodent-eaters upstairs, so Fred stepped forward with Pat behind him.
The tunnel followed a straight path for a hundred yards and then surprised the two when the walls and ceiling around them stretched out to reveal an immense cavern. Large, jagged spikes hung down from the cluttered ceiling and all around them rose up stalagmites. Their weak lights reflected off a pool of water to their right and down a set of carved stairs that wound its way to the edge of the water. The pair could just barely make out ledges above them with openings at their backs signifying every spot was accessible via the ground floor.
Fred frowned. "She didn't say anything about a cavern..." he mumbled to himself.
Pat caught his words and whipped her head over to him. "She? She who?"
"The old chambermaid that told me about this place. She just said it was an escape route a long time ago," Fred replied.
Pat threw her arms up in the air. "We're following the old tales of a half crazed chambermaid?"
Fred ruffled at the description. "She wasn't crazed, and she was right enough about how to get down here," he shot back.
"That's great, but did you bother to ask her how to get out?" she countered. The boy opened his mouth, and shut it when he couldn't give a good answer. She put her hands on her hips. "I didn't think so."
He sullenly turned away from Pat. "I thought it was just a straight tunnel we could follow to the cistern."
Pat rolled her eyes and turned on her heels. "If that's-" Fred jumped when Pat grasped his arm and pulled him close to her. He looked over his shoulder at her, and the candlelight illuminated her pale face. Her wide eyes stared straight ahead and he followed her gaze back where they'd come. His own eyes widened when he saw a shadow standing very still at the entrance to the tunnel. "Fred?" Pat whispered.
"Yeah?" he softly breathed back.
"Are you scared now?"
"M-Maybe."
"Then light that god damn staff of yours so we can see."
Fred fumbled for his broken stick and the moment his hands enclosed on the leather it transformed into the staff, complete with the glowing stone at the top. He swung the stick around toward the shadow and his fear was so great that the whole cavern was illuminated. The youngsters blinked when they saw the shadow behind them was a statue of a bulky man with large bat wings and pointed ears. His feet were bare and showed off three toes with a high, pointed heel that stood off the floor a few inches. The hands were made of four clawed fingers, and He wore a long head of dark hair and a loincloth that wrapped around the front and back, and there were scars over the rough skin.
Fred frowned when a memory struck him. This magically-appearing statue looked very similar to the creatures he saw on the tapestries in the castle entrance hall and that in the fountain statue. While he pondered the significance, Pat glanced around and jumped into his arms. He nearly dropped the staff trying to hold her up. "What's wrong? It's only a statue," he reminded her.
She shook her head and nodded behind them. "It's not just one."
Fred slowly turned around and his staff showed him what it had allowed Pat to see. That there were dozens of statues nestled against the walls and spaces between the stalagmite. Many more stood on the balconies and looked down on them with their empty eyes. Each body was different than the last. Some were short and stocky, others tall and lean. Some had more wrinkles than others, but most looked to be about middle age. They wore ragged-looking clothes around their waists and, for the females, over their breasts.
The pair slowly squeezed against each other, and Pat wrapped her arms around Fred's. "I-I think I want to go back to the castle."
"I-I think that's a good idea," Fred agreed.
They backed up toward the tunnel and both of them bumped into the statue at the entrance. A large hand dropped down on their shoulders and the pair screamed. Fred's grip on the staff loosened enough that it reverted back into the broken stick, though he made sure not to drop it. They jumped free of the intruder and turned to face the statue, only it wasn't a statue any longer. The solid rock was now solid muscle, and red, glowing eyes glared at them. The creature took a step toward them and they scrambled back only to hear noises behind them. They swung around and watched as the other statutes broke apart and the thin stone covering shattered to the ground to reveal more of the winged creatures. The things stared back at the pair with yellow, green, red and golden-colored eyes, but none dared move toward them except the one that stood in their path of escape.
Pat clutched onto Fred, who clutched onto his staff with one arm wrapped around the girl. He heard footsteps and whipped his head around to find the large creature closer to them. "S-stay away. I'm warning you."
The creature straightened up and scowled at him. When it spoke its voice was like smooth gravel. "What are you doing here, human?" Fred blinked; the creature could talk. It could also get mad, which is what happened when he didn't immediately answer. "What are you doing here?" it repeated in a louder voice. The words echoed off the cavern walls.
"We, um, we just want to get through to see the fireworks," Fred replied.
The large thing wrinkled its nose, and opened its mouth to speak, but they heard something scrabble across the rocks. A smaller one of the creatures popped up over the top of a stalagmite, and its shining eyes lay atop a wide smile. From its physical aspects it appeared to be a girl not much younger than Pat. "Fireworks? Those pretty lights in the sky?"
"Get back!" barked the larger one. She whimpered and slid back behind the rock. He glared again at the pair. "This is our domain, and punishment for trespass is death."
While Fred cringed Pat bristled at the threat. She pushed off him and stomped up to the large creature. "How dare you threaten us! What right do you have to be beneath the castle, hiding like some common thief?"
The creature stiffened and his eyes narrowed. "Common thieves? We have a greater, more ancient right to be here than you humans. You are the ones who came here and asked for our help, and when we most trusted you you betrayed that trust."
Pat blinked; that wasn't quite the answer she had expected. Fred stepped up behind her and gave the creature a shaky grin. "Um, so you're the ones on the tapestries in the castle, right? The flying things?"
The creature snorted. Fred wasn't sure if that was a laugh or an angry snort. "Yes, we are the 'flying things' in the castle tapestries. We helped the humans defend their town as they protected us when we slept, but while the human population increased ours dwindled. We took to the inside of this great hill and our alliance crumbled until it was broken by one of the kings."
Pat flushed at the accusation. "A king of Galaron would never do such a treacherous thing!" Knowing the current ruler, Fred had his doubts.
The creature stepped forward and grabbed them by the collars. He hauled them through the onlookers and into a small tunnel close by them. It soon led to a dead end, where he dropped the pair and nodded at the end. The youngsters followed his gaze and found themselves staring at a pile of rubble and old bones. Bits of uniforms, very similar to those worn by the castle guards, were still attached to the bones.
The creature sneered at the bones. "The king sent his guards down during the day and they destroyed everyone they found. We found the guards still at work hacking our brethren, and we killed them. Then we hid ourselves away into greater depths of the hill, and when the king himself ventured down here to find what had happened to his men he found only piles of stone and the bodies of his humans. Believing us fled or dead, he left everything as it is and struck us from the records of the city. This is where we have resided for the past fifty years."
Pat and Fred's eyes widened, and they both turned around. "But if you're down here how can you survive?" she asked him.
"We do not need food, only water, and that is provided by the natural springs that flow through the hill," he replied.
Fred looked around at the damp, dark walls and the heavy air. It wasn't exactly a paradise. "Why didn't you escape and find some other place to live?" Fred wondered.
"Where would that have been? What place would have granted us such security?" the creature challenged them. "All our enemies believed us dead, and by remaining here we lived as secure as those who are dead."
"Doesn't sound like much of a life," Fred muttered. Pat shot him a glare and he shrugged. "What? It's true. Living down here sounds pretty bad." He sniffed the air. "Smells pretty bad, too."
"We've talked enough. You cannot leave here," the creature insisted.
The pair backed up as he approached. Behind the large one were all the rest. They watched on and blocked any hope for escape. "But people will look for us," Pat countered. "We're very important." Fred grabbed her shoulders, but the damage was done.
The creature paused and lifted his non-existent eyebrow. "How can two children be important?" His eyes lit up and he leaned in. The hopeful grin on his face made Fred shudder. "Are you royalty?"
Pat shrugged off Fred's hands and stomped up to the creature. She stuck her face in his. "How dare you treat us like this." She aimed a blow at his face, but he caught her wrist. The girl didn't back down from his glare. "You think we're children, but I am to inherit the guardianship of this city and lead its army. As their leader, they will look for me."
A rumble ran through the creatures, and Fred rolled his eyes. "Now we're dead," he mumbled.
The leader straightened and his eyes narrowed. "You are to be captain of the army and protector of the city?" he asked her.
"Yes," she firmly replied.
The creature slowly raised his free hand palm-up and long, sharp claws slid out from the fingers. Pat's eyes widened and she pulled back out of his reach. She fell into Fred's quivering arms. The creature stepped forward, and his face twisted in anger. "If what you say is true then we shall have further revenge on the guards of the city for our fallen brethren."
Fred fumbled for his broken stick at the same moment the creature jumped at them with a great roar. He lifted the weapon, swung it around Pat's face and held it out in front of her. It transformed in a brilliant flash of light that blinded the beasts and sent them scrambling back. The leader dropped short of them and jumped back.
He held one arm over his eyes and knelt on the ground. "What? You're a castor?" he asked the boy over the terrified cries of his people.
Fred slammed the end of his staff on the ground and the whole cavern shook with a small earthquake. Sparks also burst from the jewel at the tip and softly landed on the dry cloth that covered the bones. They caught fire, and there was enough clothing left to fill the small tunnel with smoke.
"Get out!" Pat yelled at everyone. She shoved Fred ahead of her, and when they passed the creature she gave him a push toward the cavern.
The three stumbled out of the tunnel coughing and wheezing, and glanced over their shoulders. Firelight lit up the walls, but the dampness of the cavern and lack of fuel kept the fire from spreading any further. Pat recovered from the smoke inhalation and stomped up to Fred. "Are you trying to get us all killed!" she shrieked at him.
He shrank from her furious face. "How was I supposed to know it'd do that?"
"Because it's your staff!" she yelled back.
"Papa?" At the small voice they turned to see the young girl creature kneeling beside the leader. "Papa, are you okay?"
He coughed and nodded, then brushed her aside and glared at the pair. "Why did you do that?" he asked them.
Pat sighed and pointed at Fred. "Because he doesn't know how to control-"
"No, that's not what I mean," he interrupted. His eyes were soft, and his face held confusion. "Why did you push me out? You could have left me behind to fend for myself."
Pat dropped her arms to her side, frowned and shrugged. "Because we don't want to hurt anyone."
"Then you are very different from the people who inhabit this city, and those who rule it," the creature commented. He groaned and rose to his feet, and the small one at his side leaned her weight against him. He smiled, the first time they'd seen him do that, and waved her off. Then he returned his attention to the pair of youngsters, particularly Fred. "The girl is here to command the soldiers, but what brings you to this city and to the castle? What business have you with the king? Are you a new castor meant to protect the city?"
Fred nodded at Pat. "No, just to protect her."
"And he shouldn't be having to do it over a feud that should have died out with the humans who betrayed you," Pat boldly added.
The creature scowled. Fred wished she wouldn't antagonize their captors so well. "We will never forgive the royal family, the descendants of King Stephen Galaron the Fourth. He and his guards betrayed our trust."
Fred jerked back at the name. It was the same from the fountain. Pat folded her arms across her chest. "Well, they're going to be my guards soon so things are going to change. If you want to show yourselves I'll make sure you're not killed, but if you want to stay down here and slowly die out then that's that's your choice."
The creature furrowed his brow. "How do you know of my dwindling people?"
Pat sighed and held up her fingers. "First, you mentioned your people were dwindling before you were trapped down here. Second, I know what you are. You're gargoyles, creatures that rest during the day encased in stone and arise at evening. Third, I've read that gargoyle eggs need the light of the moon and sun to hatch." She held up her hands at the cavern around them. "I don't see any holes to the surface, and I don't think you would have risked puncturing any for fear of being found out."
Fred blinked at all that information, and the gargoyle sighed and nodded his head. "Yes, it is true, we are a dying race here in these caverns and tunnels. Our last children were born just before our hiding, and no more will come unless we risk leaving revealing ourselves to the outside world."
Pat folded her arms across her chest and frowned. "That's not very wise to let yourselves be destroyed like that. There's no honor in such a death."
The gargoyle leader snorted. "I never thought I would believe a knight of Galaron to have enough honor to besmirch my own, but you have some truth in your words."
"Of course it's the truth. Why would I lie?" she countered.
The gargoyle rubbed his chin in one hand. "Why would you lie indeed," he quietly mused.
Fred stepped between them and held up his hands. "Um, if you two are done talking can we please leave?" He turned to the gargoyle leader. "Pretty please?"
The leader folded his arms across his chest and gave a nod. Fred's shoulders slumped over and he sighed; they were saved. "But on one condition," the gargoyle spoke up. Fred's heart stopped; they were doomed. "I wish to have your word that you will tell no one of our secret. You must swear on that which you hold most dear."
Fred frowned, but Pat stepped forward and knelt before the gargoyle. "I swear on my duty as leader of the Galaron army that I will tell no one of your existence," she promised. When Fred didn't join her, she glanced up and glared at him. "Are you waiting for an invitation?"
"Oh, um." Fred stumbled onto the ground and scrunched his face up with thought. He looked at the staff in his hand and held that up before the gargoyle. "I'll, um, I'll swear on this. It's the only thing in the world that's really mine."
The gargoyle nodded, and so accepted their promises. "I, Sampson, will lead you to the exit, and from there you will be able to go out into the city and see your fireworks."