Chapter 5

The tide really wasn't going anywhere for several hours, but Inigo wanted the moment to sound dramatic – maybe it was that Spanish blood of his. Fezzik didn't really care; his thoughts were a jumble of Greta, Max and of their next destination. They boarded their boat again and resumed their journey to recruit help for the task ahead. On his first visit years before Westley had furnished Inigo with a crude map; although it had burned in the fire that destroyed his house Inigo had committed it to memory and had no problems finding his way to the small island set near the seaward edge of the archipelago. South from Big Island, left at Island Island, right at Treasureless Island, around Monkey Island and south again between Nublara and Doon until at last AsUWish Island stood in your way. A lone tall peak near the center of the island as it casted its shadow over the many trees around the island. Inigo aimed his boat toward an inlet on one side and came to rest near a flat-topped rock. He jumped lightly atop the rock with a mooring rope and wound it round a very handy outcrop before helping Fezzik up, grunting with the effort.

Atop the rock they could see a cold pile of soot and ashes on the ground below, along with a few recently lit torches. From the marks on the ground many men had walked around the area of the pile. A large group of footsteps led away toward the trees while two smaller groups of footsteps returned to the ashes along the left and right waterfronts. Inigo gave a questioning look to Fezzik, who surveyed the situation as well. "I think we should follow the big group of footprints and see where they lead. It looks like two smaller groups came together, burned Westley's boat, and headed toward the trees to find his house." Inigo agreed and together they set off to follow where the crowd had gone, a straight line toward the nearest trees.

Inigo and Fezzik knew that the direction the steps were taking was not the way to Westley's house. Although the trees around the beach all looked similar, they all became closer together and thicker the further into the grove you walked until passage was virtually impossible. Only one path led through the natural fence of the trees called tanglefoot, and few people knew where and how to find it. Most would give up hope long before discovering the path, concluding that another part of the shoreline must be the way. However, this island was chosen very much because there were no other points on the shoreline that led into the interior of the island. Formidable rocks and groves of tanglefoot circled the island.

The two had followed the footsteps only about a hundred feet when the large group of prints split off into two smaller groups that headed in different directions. Fezzik took the path to the left and Inigo the path to the right. Both trails led close to the trees, then circled back toward the beach in opposite directions. Both men ended up meeting each other again by the pile of ashes on the shore.

"The men burned their own boat?" suggested Fezzik with a shrug.

"It would have been a lot easier if they had" said a voice behind them. Turning they saw Westley reclined on the rock watching them. "As it turned out, I'm afraid they had an unfortunate accident. It seems they were carrying some flammable material very unsafely and it caught fire. Pity, it was quite crowded with them all squeezed together into their one remaining boat as they left rather hastily."

"Well, if it isn't my good friend Westley Trulove" said Inigo as he shook hands with the descending Westley, "Fezzik and I were trying to understand what is going on with the footprints." Fezzik was careful not to squeeze Westley too hard as he hugged him.

"Oh that. My early warning system let me know there was somebody sailing here. As a precaution, I made a set of footprints for them to follow that led around back to the mooring rock, and then walking in my own footsteps I repeated the loop but split off in the other direction, making it look like one person had gone two different ways. I waited from a distance and watched while two boats of men came ashore. They were carrying torches and some small round pots and started to follow my trail. While they were gone I looked over their boat and used an extra torch to set off some of their fire making supplies. Afterward I hid behind the mooring rock and waited for them to loop around; they came more quickly after they saw their boat on fire. After arguing among themselves for a short time they finally gave up and left in the remaining boat. Someone from the group dropped this on the ground near the trees; I guess they didn't get a chance to deliver it." It was a note that read:

Perhaps I didn't kill you enough when I could,
But time will provide the opportunity again.
Let this be a lesson in my version of "To the pain".

-HUMPERDINCK

Westley gestured toward the island. "Why don't we make ourselves comfortable back home and catch up on things, gentlemen." Together they started off for the true path that a few minutes later led them to Westley's front…ladder. For his home was not built on the ground but rather in the branches above. With covered rooms, wooden walkways and even a few windows Westley had one of the finest homes in a tree ever built by man. They climbed up the ladder and ducked into the largest of the rooms; Westley reminded Fezzik to stay in the main room where his weight was better supported.

Inside the room looked much like any normal room except for the tree's large trunk in the center and an outside wall that consisted of several angled sections giving the room almost the shape of an octagon. The room itself was furnished much like it had been the last time they were there with only minor changes. They sat about the floor on cushy pillows, except for Westley who sat down on top of a large sagging ball that partially gave under his weight. Westley explained that Buttercup had sewn a large hollow ball and partially filled it with dried beans. It made a comfortable chair, and if bad times came you could always cook the filling and eat it. He was confident the idea would probably catch on sometime.

"I don't get away from the island too often" said Westley, "so I like us to be as comfortable as possible. We've added a bit since you were here last. We've got this main room, two bedrooms, a kitchen and a...storage room." His smile lost much of its radiance on this last statement. He didn't have to say that the storage room was supposed to be a nursery but they had been unable to have a child for the last three years since they'd married. Fezzik had filled Inigo in on the details on their trip to make sure the uncomfortable subject wasn't brought up later. To cover Westley's unease Fezzik spoke.

"Are there any problems living up here instead of the ground?"

"Well, you have to make sure you don't walk in your sleep," he said with a grin "and if you leave a window open you'll end up with bird nests in your house. On the other hand I don't have a basement that floods when it rains."

"What is this early warning system you mentioned?"

"There are monkeys living on this island, some of which have gotten used to me and are very friendly. But there's a colony that lives up on the slope of the central peak and when a ship comes nearby they screech a kind of warning; you might call them my Monkeys Offering Unusual Screeching Eyeing Strangers. My M.O.U.S.E.S. are very handy; you should get one Inigo."

Inigo laughed. "Actually I had one recently, but he abandoned me for a life of piracy. Or at least he ran off with my replacement on the Revenge."

"Oh yes, speaking of piracy I have heard a few stories about the Dread Pirate Roberts. First it was that he hardly kills anyone, and lately that he's…well…not very manly. It seems as though you're not doing the image a lot of good. We may have to change the name to 'The Slightly Annoying Pirate Roberts'."

"I just don't have the stomach for killing after I dispatched Rugen. I certainly developed a talent for injuring, and more than a few times I set people adrift so they couldn't come after me; or sometimes I just stranded them on a sandbar with provisions, but I am just not cut out to be a long term pirate. Oh, and for the record my replacement IS a woman."

Westley was speechless for a moment. "She must have made quite an impression on you."

"That she did, and since I wanted out she happened to be the best candidate for the job. Although when I talked to her last she seemed to be second-guessing the job too. It's possible that maybe we were more alike than I thought. But she knows what is going on and we can count on her support for whatever we do."

Just then Buttercup came in through the door via the walkway. "Ah, two of the three men to whom I owe not only my life but the life of my husband. Welcome to our home gentlemen" she said with a curtsy. Both men stood.

"Hello Buttercup. Are you sure you don't have a twin sister I could marry?" Inigo teased.

"Hello Lady" said Fezzik in his traditional greeting. "Max said to tell you hello when we left him yesterday. He still speaks of you fondly. In fact he's pledged his help to us whenever we need it."

"Max is great once you get past the act he puts on. It's a good thing Valerie keeps him in line." Buttercup warmly hugged both before returning to Westley's side. "Westley thought that you wouldn't be too far behind our visitors last night. Did they visit you two also?"

Both men sat again and gave a recounting of their experiences with Humperdinck's handiwork.

"I doubt that Humperdinck was in the group" said Westley. "It's not his style and he wasn't in the group that I watched on the beach. I didn't recognize anybody, but since I don't know that many people in Florin City that isn't saying much. Was there anything else in common?"

"We found these at both the fires" Fezzik replied as he handed the disk with the eye to Westley, who looked at it before getting up and walking over to a storage box where he removed an object and brought it back to Fezzik. "Notice something similar on this?" he said handing it to him.

Sure enough, marked on the object was an eye very much like the one on the disk. The object itself seemed to be a round vase or pot made of a thin ceramic and filled with a dark substance. Inigo recognized the smell quickly. "Gunpowder?" he asked.

"Something very much like it. It doesn't explode, but if you threw it at a building that was on fire it would break and spread the flames much more quickly. Well, now that we know what happened, what are we going to do?"

"Fezzik and I have been working on a few ideas. Storming the castle entrance is out of the question, but we could sneak in through the Pit of Despair." Westley cringed at the mention of the location. "Okay, maybe not that one. But with most of the castle staff changed since Humperdinck took over, very few people there would recognize us, although Fezzik's size does create a problem. How do you feel about kidnapping?"

Westley thought for a moment. "If you recall, I wasn't too thrilled with the last kidnapping you two participated in." Both Inigo and Fezzik paled at the memory; it had been a different time and they had been duped into thinking it was merely a trick being pulled on the prince rather than one of his own design. Nevertheless they weren't proud of their actions. "Let me give it some thought; maybe we could 'borrow' Humperdinck and convince him to leave us alone. That's really all we want."

And so they talked into the evening; and as many do find, the conversation rarely stayed on topic without veering off on some tangent involving their past lives. But eventually they came to a consensus as to a course of action.