The Five Keys
CHAPTER 4: Under the Mountain
Arthur looked around at his old friends and said, "Now, let me tell you what we've discovered."
They shifted to make themselves more comfortable on the pillows.
Veronica glanced over to the doorway, her eyes following the retreating form of her son. She had been concerned about Edward for a few weeks, ever since he had apparently been told something about Veronica's past, a past that they had carefully kept from the children. Although they had cautiously questioned him about where he had gotten this information, he swore that he couldn't remember.
She felt a little shiver run up her spine. Ned saw his wife shiver, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her close.
"He'll be fine, he whispered.
"Ahem." Summerlee raised his eyebrows at the couple. Privately, he thought they were overreacting. He knew that the children were in good hands.
"Now," he continued, "let's get started. He smiled and motioned one of the Sw'atee standing beside him to step forward.
"I would like you to meet Ron'di."
The tall, pale man bowed to them. "So happy to meet you," he croaked lowly.
Summerlee beamed at him like a proud father.
"Ron'di is the head of the science team that studies and maps our vast cave systems," the Sw'atee king explained. "He is here to tell you of his recent discovery; the discovery that lead me to conclude that the help of your children is vital if we are to free the plateau of this deadly menace."
Hesitatingly the Sw'atee scientist began his tale. His voice, which was low and breathless with a distinctly British accent, became stronger as he talked.
"My team and I were at our usual business of mapping and collecting data on the caves, passageways and chambers of our vast home. Quite by accident, as we were taking a sample from the wall of a small chamber, we caused a minor cave in. When the dust and rocks had settled, we found that the rock fall had revealed the opening to a narrow passageway. Instead of being pitch dark, we were quite intrigued to note that a glow of some kind illuminated the steep stairs that led downwards. After some discussion, we decided to explore this strange phenomenon."
He looked around at his audience, his pale blue eyes glowed aqua as he relived his exciting adventure.
"The steps went on and on, leading us deeper than we had ever been before. The light around us grew brighter as we descended.
"At last we reached the bottom of the stairs and found ourselves in a small, brightly lit chamber. The reddish-gold light emanated from an opening in the forth wall. We cautiously approached the opening and, stepping through, found ourselves standing on a narrow ledge." He drew a deep breath and continued. "Looking over the edge, we could see that the walls of this new chamber tunneled down at least a hundred feet to a large, boulder-rimmed pit on the floor, far below. Glowing fissures scarred the steep walls and glaringly illuminated the chamber. Steam rose from these cracks to collect on the ceiling. It was extremely hot and we couldn't stand there long. We returned to the small chamber and looked carefully around. In the center of the cave was a carved column of stone about two meters high. Circling up from the bottom of this column were small holes, each one a little higher than the next. We looked into the holes but could see nothing. However, at the base of the column was a larger hole and inside we found a carved stone tablet. As I picked up the crumbling tablet, I felt great excitement. Alas, my excitement turned to puzzlement when I realized that the carvings were in a language that I did not recognize. When we returned to the surface, I turned the tablet over to our linguists."
As Ron'di's part of the story came to an end, Summerlee looked at his friends for their reaction. He was disappointed when all he could see on their faces was a look of polite interest.
"Really, Arthur," Challenger said. "That was quite an interesting story, but what does it have to do with the children?"
"Well, I should think that is obvious," replied the old man. "It was the writing on the tablet that explained it all."
Marguerite glared at her husband. "Patience" he mouthed back.
Veronica's patience, however, was wearing thin.
In a testy voice she said, "Professor, you're wasting our time. We want to know right now what the writing said and how it could possibly relate to our children."
"Right, Professor," Ned agreed, backing up his wife. "What did your linguists say was written on the tablet?"
The old man shrugged. "Why, nothing," he told them. "They couldn't make heads nor tails of the writing."
Marguerite threw up her hands in disgust.
"Arthur Summerlee, it's a wonder that someone hasn't throttled you by now!" she growled. "You have the most exasperating way of explaining things."
"Get to the point, old boy," Roxton said. "If the writing couldn't be deciphered, than how do you know it said something about the children?"
"I didn't say the writing wasn't deciphered, old friend. I just said that the Sw'atee linguists couldn't decipher it," he explained quite maddeningly.
With a howl, Marguerite started to rise from her pillow, her hands out in front of her as if she were determined to carry out her threat. Roxton pulled her back down.
Summerlee smiled at the infuriated woman, a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Now, if Marguerite has quite finished holding us up, I'll get on with what I was explaining to you." He cleared his throat.
"When our linguists found the language too unfamiliar to decipher, we asked around amongst our cave guests for help. One of them-someone I'm sure you'll be very pleased to see-was able to translate the ancient language. I've asked that person to come up here to tell you the rest of the story."
Roxton sighed in exasperation. "Can't you just tell us, Summerlee? We're tired of waiting."
"Now, now, John. I think the information will be much more convincing coming from the horse's mouth, so to speak."
The words were said in a light manner, but the tone of voice and the look in his eyes was that of the Sw'atee King.
They would have to wait.
In the next instant, the king before them became their old friend once again. Summerlee grinned at them engagingly.
"While we're waiting, why don't you tell me what you all have been up to for the past twelve years?" He looked at his old companion. "Come, come, Challenger, old boy, you've never been one to pass up a chance to tell a tale."
Challenger raised his eyebrows and glanced at his friends. Seeing only frustration in their eyes, he cleared his throat and said, "Right you are, Arthur. I suppose, first of all, that you want to know how the fight on the bridge turned out?"
Summerlee nodded.
Challenger began. "Well, it didn't turn out too well for either side, actually."
*****
Edward, his backpack thumping against his back, ran into the playroom and quickly looked around for his friends. He was breathing hard.
Ry'see looked up at his entrance and smiled, then turned her attention back to the two babies playing on the floor.
Alice, too, saw her brother come in. She had been glancing at the doorway often, anxious for Edward to get back. She let out a sigh of relief and hurried over to him.
"Where are the Roxtons?" he asked her as soon as she came up.
Alice frowned at the intense look in her brother's eyes.
"They're over there, crawling through the tunnels. Why?
"I need to talk to you all. Right now."
"What for?" Alice asked again.
But Edward didn't answer her. He had spotted his friends crawling out of the mouth of a natural tunnel that ran through the walls of the playroom. It was a favorite play area with the Sw'atee children.
"Tori, Will!" he called and hurried to meet them. Alice followed him.
"Hey, Edward, come here," Will called back. "These tunnels are swell. There's a little hole in that one that you can yell down and your voice echoes back at you!!"
"Great, Will. But I need to tell you something very important." Edward looked around. "Where's Summer?"
Will looked around, too, and then bent down and looked into the mouth of the tunnel. "I don't know. She was just behind me."
Just then they all heard Summer's querulous voice floating out of the tunnel. "Stop pushing! I don't want to get out yet!"
"Please," croaked a Sw'atee child in a timid voice.
Victoria shouted into the exit, "Summer come out here now!"
"No! I'm haven't finished talking to the hole," Summer yelled back.
Will pushed his older sister aside.
"Summer! You heard what Mom told us didn't you? She's gonna be very mad if you get into trouble."
"Oh, okay," Summer grumbled as she crawled out of the tunnel followed by a thin, pale Sw'atee boy. He scrambled to his feet and backed away from the frowning little girl. Summer glared after him. "Mean boy," she muttered.
While all this was going on, Edward was fairly dancing with suppressed impatience.
"Hey," he hissed to get their attention. "We've gotta talk." He looked around at the room full of the children and teachers.
Seeing his anxiety, Tori motioned to the tunnel entrance further up on the wall, "We can talk in there. One of the tunnels has lots of small chambers off of it."
The five children walked quickly over to the shallow flight of steps that led up to that particular cave entrance. The male teacher who had talked to them in R'tor's chamber looked up and waved to them. They smiled and waved back then hurried up the steps before anyone could stop them.
Victoria took the lead and Will brought up the rear. The tunnel was fairly small, and Edward's backpack rubbed against the ceiling.
Alice, who was crawling behind Edward, suggested that he should take it off to make it easier for him to maneuver.
"Can't. We need it," Edward answered succinctly.
It was very quiet in the tunnels even though there were probably many children crawling around in them. They could hear a soft buzzing sound like a bee caught in a bottle. Five or six Sw'atee children occupied the first chamber they came to. They were sitting in a circle playing some game with polished stones. The tallest boy smiled and invited them in with a wave of his hand. Tori smiled back but shook her head.
"We're exploring," she told him. The pale, thin children smiled at each other in understanding and went back to their game.
The children crawled past two more occupied chambers before they found an empty one. It was a good-sized room with carved stone benches surrounding the walls and a fire pit in the center of the room. The children stood up and stretched their cramped limbs. They weren't used to so much crawling.
Will and Summer immediately went to look in the fire pit. Will reached out and grabbed his little sister as she leaned out too far over the pit. His rescue earned him a sisterly glare.
"Let me go, Will. I'm won't fall in. I'm not a baby!"
"What are you two doing? Come over here." Edward was having second thoughts about including Summer in his plan. But he knew he couldn't leave her behind.
Now that the time had come, he wasn't sure that they would think his idea as brilliant as he did.
"For God's sake, Edward," Tori said to him. "Sit down here and tell us what all the mystery is about." She bent her knee up and inspected it carefully. "And it had better be good," she threatened crossly. "I skinned my knee crawling in here."
Edward shrugged off his backpack and sat on one of the benches that lined the wall. The others sat close by.
"Well, I have an idea about getting rid of the danger that I think will work, and our parents won't have to help us."
The other children gave him curious looks, Victoria's mixed with skepticism.
"Let's hear it, Edward," urged Will.
"I'm sure it'll be a great plan," Alice smiled.
"What's "ridofthedanger" mean? If you all get some, I want some, too."
Tori put her hand on her little sister's shoulder.
"Hush, Summer. Let Edward talk."
Edward continued. "Well, I was thinking about the danger and what R'tor told us about it and that made me think about how good me and Will are at being knights in shining armor and capturing dragons."
He paused and rolled his eyes sideways to look at Tori. He knew a little flattery would make his idea appeal to her.
"And all of us know how good Tori is with her spear and all. So, I think that we should sneak out of the caves and find the danger and capture it and surprise our parents and R'tor!"
At their uncertain looks, he added.
"You see, R'tor said that it was up to us to get rid of the danger. He said that we are special and all of us are needed to save the plateau. Our parents said that they are going to let us help, but they could change their minds. You know how they are."
The others nodded at this truism.
He paused for breath. Will and Summer were looking at each other with growing excitement. Even Tori was looking thoughtful. Alice had a frown on her face.
"But, Edward," she asked, "won't our parents be mad at us? They told us to stay in the playroom."
Edward forced a confident laugh that he didn't quite feel.
"Hah. They won't be mad at us. The danger will be gone. They'll be so proud of us. We'll be heroes!"
Will and Summer nodded their heads enthusiastically and Alice smiled.
Tori gave a very unladylike snort.
"Your great plan sounds good, Edward. But I can see a few problems. Like- how can we get out of these caves? How can we find the danger? We don't have our spears or any weapons and, besides, the danger is really.well, dangerous and strong and we're just kids."
Edward smirked.
"The answer to all of these problems is in my backpack," he said triumphantly.
He grabbed up his backpack and reached inside. All eyes were riveted on him, wide with curiosity.
With a theatrical flourish, Edward pulled his hand out clutching the five small, wilted plants.
Alice sucked in her breath.
"Edward Malone! Those plants belong to R'tor."
"Oh, he won't miss these little ones, Alice. Besides, we're going to need them if we're going after the danger."
Victoria was unusually silent. The responsibility of being the eldest was once again a burden on her shoulders. Although Edward was only a few months younger than she was, she had always been the leader. She sighed and decided to hear Edward's plan before she gave her opinion. She prayed that it would be a good one. She crossed her fingers behind her back.
Edward bit his lip. He'd have to sell his plan and he knew it wouldn't be easy.
"Okay. Like I said, my plan depends on these t'balee plants, so I want everyone to think hard and try to remember just what R'tor told us about each part of these plants? It's very important that we remember exactly. My whole plan depends on it."
They all looked at Summer expectantly. She didn't disappoint them.
"I know! I know!" she shouted. Without waiting for acknowledgement, she began to recite, "Each plant has five parts, and each part has a diff'rent.poppatee." Summer frowned. "I don't know what a poppatee is though. But it sounds like it might taste good," she finished hopefully.
Alice smiled at her smart little friend. "It's "property", Summer. You have a very good memory. What else did R'tor say?"
The other children waited patiently while Summer searched her memory. While they sometimes found her temper scary and her behavior maddening, they all respected her ability to remember things. Her memory was quite exceptional. Many times she had repeated word for word something someone had said days or even weeks before. Most of the time she used her talent for her own advantage-like reminding her parents just what they'd said when they forgot their promises.
Summer looked up. "I know what he told us, but I don't want to say all of his words, cause he talks an awful lot."
"Just tell us about each part of the plant then, sweetheart," Tori said to her sister. She spoke in a soft, coxing voice that her mother used on Summer.
"Okay, Tori," Summer smiled at her big sister. She recognized the tone of voice too. She found it funny that Tori and her mother were so much alike. It was like having two mothers sometimes.
"I'll start at the bottom and make my way upward," she began just as R'tor had. Then she started telling them in her own way. "You can eat the roots and they make you see very, very far away. If you let them sit in water, the water becomes magic and you can see and hear anyone who looks into another bowl of magic water."
Edward summarized for the others. "Roots make you see far and make magic water. You remember that one, Alice. Go on, Summer."
She huffed a little at being interrupted, but went on pleasantly enough.
"The stalk makes bread that makes you strong."
Edward repeated, "The stalk makes bread that makes you strong."
"I just said that," Summer said indignantly.
"Sorry, Summer," Edward apologized. He didn't want to get her into a temper. "Will, you remember that one."
Will shrugged. "That's easy. I've got some of that bread right here in my pocket."
Edward looked surprised.
Tori explained. "We all were given some bread for a snack before you got here, Edward. I told the kids not to eat it because it looks very orangey and unwholesome." She wrinkled her nose.
"Good," Edward said. "We might need some of it before we're through."
"Ahem," Summer cleared her throat. "Do you want to hear the rest or not?"
"Sure, sure. Go ahead."
"Let's see," she pondered, tapping her chin, "Where was I? Oh, yes. We chew the leaves and they're for speed. I'll remember that one," she said before Edward could assign it to someone.
Edward nodded in acknowledgement.
"The stems are full of juice that makes people and things invis.invisible."
Summer smirked with satisfaction that she had remember the word.
"You remember that, Tori." she said pointing her finger at her sister. "Oh, and don't spill it!"
She was enjoying herself. Then her smile fell upside-down and she frowned.
"I don't remember what R'tor said about the little bean. I wasn't listening to him, I guess."
Alice put her arm around the dejected little girl.
"That's because he was joking with us, Summer. Mom said he was just teasing."
"No, he wasn't, Alice," Edward said vehemently. "He was telling the truth. I know he was. He said if you stick the bean in your ear, you'll be able to move anything you want to just by thinking about it."
Summer raised her eyebrows and grimaced. "You can remember that one, Edward. I got into a lot of trouble the last time I put something in my ear."
She rubbed her right ear in memory.
"Thanks, Summer," Edward said.
He leaned forward and handed a plant to each of the children.
Looking around conspiratorially, he said in a low voice, "Now, here's what we'll do. R'tor said that the danger was spinning a vortex in the middle of the jungle."
He stopped in thought then asked Victoria, "Tori, do you know what a vortex is? R'tor said it was sucking in everything that got near it. Do you think it's something like the vacuum sweeper Mom uses?"
The older girl frowned. "I think a vortex is something like a hole. So it's probably more like the washtub when you pull out the stopper. You know, the water swirls around and around and all the bubbles are sucked down with the water."
"Yeah, that sounds logical," Edward agreed. "So," he said decisively, "we'll find this spinning hole in the jungle 'cause that's where the danger will be, and we'll scare the danger into the hole and it'll be sucked away."
"Keen!" exclaimed Will. "I'll chase it right into that old hole."
Summer jumped up excitedly. "Me and Alice will poke it with our spears, too. Right, Alice?"
"Right! And we can throw stones at it 'til it bleeds," Alice added uncharacteristically bloodthirsty.
Tori held up her hand for silence.
"I think Edward's plan sounds okay," she said slowly. "but we'll have to be very careful---and very quick. We have to be back before someone misses us."
Edward grinned at her.
"Oh, we'll be back before then, Tori," Edward assured her. He chuckled. "Won't they be surprised when they get all ready to go to fight the danger, and we say, "No need. We got rid of the danger this morning."
All of the children smiled at this picture. There would be no more treating them like little kids after this!
"Okay, this is my plan. We'll drink some of that invisible liquid and sneak out of the playroom. Then we'll follow the passageway until we come to an open entrance. Then we'll chew on a few of the t'balee leaves so we can run fast and we'll eat the roots so that we can see far, far away and it won't take us long at all to find that vortex."
Alice looked puzzled. "What does the danger look like, Edward?"
Edward screwed up his face in thought.
"If it's an animal I can set a trap for it. Grandma Tillie showed me how to make lots of traps. I can catch anything!" Will bragged.
"I hope it doesn't look like a monster," Alice said dramatically opening her eyes really wide.
Summer was bouncing with excitement. "Ewwww! It might be a monster and it prob'ly has teeth this long!" She held her arms as far apart as she could.
"And giant eyes-all yellowy and green!" Alice added getting into it.
She and Summer looked at each other and giggled.
Tori could see that this speculation would soon get out of hand, so she clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Calm down and listen, you two."
She deferred to Edward who was the leader of this expedition since it was his idea.
"Tell us what to do, Captain," she teased.
Edward smirked. He liked that name.
"All right. Everyone pop off the bud from one of your stems. Be careful! Don't spill it!" he cautioned. "Put the bud away in a safe place, cause we may need it later. Now sip the juice."
Everyone did as they were told. They tilted the plant up and sucked the juice out of the stem like it was a straw.
Will made a face as the tart liquid ran down his throat, but he drank it all.
When they had finished, Edward said, "Now put your plant back into your backpack. Carefully, Summer. Don't mash it."
Alice was looking at the others.
"We're not invisible yet, Edward. I can see all of you."
"Yeah, why aren't we invisible yet?" Will complained.
Edward didn't know what to say. Alice was right. They weren't invisible.
Tori came to his rescue.
"We can see each other, silly. It's just other people who can't see us. Now let's go."
"Hey, Tori, I'm the captain. Remember?" Edward reminded her. He checked to see that everyone had put on their backpack then nodded his head.
"Let's go."
The small party crept out of the chamber and crawled their way to the exit. Luckily they met no one in the tunnel. At the exit, Edward took a deep breath and crawled out. He stood up as the others crawled out, too. No one was paying them any attention. He walked over to a group of Sw'atee children and stood beside them. He waved his arms around. No one looked at him. Nodding with satisfaction, he motioned the others to follow him out the door.
They moved slowly down the passageway, nervous about their invisibility until a group of Sw'atee men walked right past them.
The children smiled at each other. It worked! This was fun.
They followed Edward down the passage in the opposite direction from R'tor's chamber. He was confident that they would soon find a way out.
They hadn't been walking long when Edward suddenly motioned for them to stop. He flattened himself against the wall and the others did, too.
Coming up the passage in the opposite direction was a group of five people. Four large, strange looking tribesmen surrounded another figure who was completed enveloped in a dark blue, hooded cape.
Summer covered her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound as the fierce warriors walked past within a meter of her. The children stayed pressed against the rough, stone wall until the group disappeared around a bend in the passage. Just before they were out of sight, the figure in the middle of the group turned around and seemed to be looking directly at the children.
All five of them let out a sigh of relief when the sound of warrior's footsteps faded away.
Edward motioned for them to continue their hunt for an exit and the little group, once again, set out on their quest.
*****
With many winks and sly digs, Marguerite was telling Summerlee about Ned's and Veronica's wedding, when the sound of approaching footsteps made her break off in mid-sentence.
The Sw'atee King held up his hand and smiled as five people stepped through the chamber entrance.
Veronica drew in a deep breath as she recognized four of them from her childhood. The warriors took their places on either side of the doorway. The fifth person, blue cape swirling, strode up to Summerlee and gave him a respectful bow, then turned to the others and threw back the hood of the cape.
The Protector of the Plateau fastened her blue eyes on Veronica and said, "My darling Veronica, come to me and let me hold you once more."
Jumping up, Veronica gasped, "Mother!" and flung herself into her arms.
Continued in Chapter 5
CHAPTER 4: Under the Mountain
Arthur looked around at his old friends and said, "Now, let me tell you what we've discovered."
They shifted to make themselves more comfortable on the pillows.
Veronica glanced over to the doorway, her eyes following the retreating form of her son. She had been concerned about Edward for a few weeks, ever since he had apparently been told something about Veronica's past, a past that they had carefully kept from the children. Although they had cautiously questioned him about where he had gotten this information, he swore that he couldn't remember.
She felt a little shiver run up her spine. Ned saw his wife shiver, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her close.
"He'll be fine, he whispered.
"Ahem." Summerlee raised his eyebrows at the couple. Privately, he thought they were overreacting. He knew that the children were in good hands.
"Now," he continued, "let's get started. He smiled and motioned one of the Sw'atee standing beside him to step forward.
"I would like you to meet Ron'di."
The tall, pale man bowed to them. "So happy to meet you," he croaked lowly.
Summerlee beamed at him like a proud father.
"Ron'di is the head of the science team that studies and maps our vast cave systems," the Sw'atee king explained. "He is here to tell you of his recent discovery; the discovery that lead me to conclude that the help of your children is vital if we are to free the plateau of this deadly menace."
Hesitatingly the Sw'atee scientist began his tale. His voice, which was low and breathless with a distinctly British accent, became stronger as he talked.
"My team and I were at our usual business of mapping and collecting data on the caves, passageways and chambers of our vast home. Quite by accident, as we were taking a sample from the wall of a small chamber, we caused a minor cave in. When the dust and rocks had settled, we found that the rock fall had revealed the opening to a narrow passageway. Instead of being pitch dark, we were quite intrigued to note that a glow of some kind illuminated the steep stairs that led downwards. After some discussion, we decided to explore this strange phenomenon."
He looked around at his audience, his pale blue eyes glowed aqua as he relived his exciting adventure.
"The steps went on and on, leading us deeper than we had ever been before. The light around us grew brighter as we descended.
"At last we reached the bottom of the stairs and found ourselves in a small, brightly lit chamber. The reddish-gold light emanated from an opening in the forth wall. We cautiously approached the opening and, stepping through, found ourselves standing on a narrow ledge." He drew a deep breath and continued. "Looking over the edge, we could see that the walls of this new chamber tunneled down at least a hundred feet to a large, boulder-rimmed pit on the floor, far below. Glowing fissures scarred the steep walls and glaringly illuminated the chamber. Steam rose from these cracks to collect on the ceiling. It was extremely hot and we couldn't stand there long. We returned to the small chamber and looked carefully around. In the center of the cave was a carved column of stone about two meters high. Circling up from the bottom of this column were small holes, each one a little higher than the next. We looked into the holes but could see nothing. However, at the base of the column was a larger hole and inside we found a carved stone tablet. As I picked up the crumbling tablet, I felt great excitement. Alas, my excitement turned to puzzlement when I realized that the carvings were in a language that I did not recognize. When we returned to the surface, I turned the tablet over to our linguists."
As Ron'di's part of the story came to an end, Summerlee looked at his friends for their reaction. He was disappointed when all he could see on their faces was a look of polite interest.
"Really, Arthur," Challenger said. "That was quite an interesting story, but what does it have to do with the children?"
"Well, I should think that is obvious," replied the old man. "It was the writing on the tablet that explained it all."
Marguerite glared at her husband. "Patience" he mouthed back.
Veronica's patience, however, was wearing thin.
In a testy voice she said, "Professor, you're wasting our time. We want to know right now what the writing said and how it could possibly relate to our children."
"Right, Professor," Ned agreed, backing up his wife. "What did your linguists say was written on the tablet?"
The old man shrugged. "Why, nothing," he told them. "They couldn't make heads nor tails of the writing."
Marguerite threw up her hands in disgust.
"Arthur Summerlee, it's a wonder that someone hasn't throttled you by now!" she growled. "You have the most exasperating way of explaining things."
"Get to the point, old boy," Roxton said. "If the writing couldn't be deciphered, than how do you know it said something about the children?"
"I didn't say the writing wasn't deciphered, old friend. I just said that the Sw'atee linguists couldn't decipher it," he explained quite maddeningly.
With a howl, Marguerite started to rise from her pillow, her hands out in front of her as if she were determined to carry out her threat. Roxton pulled her back down.
Summerlee smiled at the infuriated woman, a teasing glint in his eyes.
"Now, if Marguerite has quite finished holding us up, I'll get on with what I was explaining to you." He cleared his throat.
"When our linguists found the language too unfamiliar to decipher, we asked around amongst our cave guests for help. One of them-someone I'm sure you'll be very pleased to see-was able to translate the ancient language. I've asked that person to come up here to tell you the rest of the story."
Roxton sighed in exasperation. "Can't you just tell us, Summerlee? We're tired of waiting."
"Now, now, John. I think the information will be much more convincing coming from the horse's mouth, so to speak."
The words were said in a light manner, but the tone of voice and the look in his eyes was that of the Sw'atee King.
They would have to wait.
In the next instant, the king before them became their old friend once again. Summerlee grinned at them engagingly.
"While we're waiting, why don't you tell me what you all have been up to for the past twelve years?" He looked at his old companion. "Come, come, Challenger, old boy, you've never been one to pass up a chance to tell a tale."
Challenger raised his eyebrows and glanced at his friends. Seeing only frustration in their eyes, he cleared his throat and said, "Right you are, Arthur. I suppose, first of all, that you want to know how the fight on the bridge turned out?"
Summerlee nodded.
Challenger began. "Well, it didn't turn out too well for either side, actually."
*****
Edward, his backpack thumping against his back, ran into the playroom and quickly looked around for his friends. He was breathing hard.
Ry'see looked up at his entrance and smiled, then turned her attention back to the two babies playing on the floor.
Alice, too, saw her brother come in. She had been glancing at the doorway often, anxious for Edward to get back. She let out a sigh of relief and hurried over to him.
"Where are the Roxtons?" he asked her as soon as she came up.
Alice frowned at the intense look in her brother's eyes.
"They're over there, crawling through the tunnels. Why?
"I need to talk to you all. Right now."
"What for?" Alice asked again.
But Edward didn't answer her. He had spotted his friends crawling out of the mouth of a natural tunnel that ran through the walls of the playroom. It was a favorite play area with the Sw'atee children.
"Tori, Will!" he called and hurried to meet them. Alice followed him.
"Hey, Edward, come here," Will called back. "These tunnels are swell. There's a little hole in that one that you can yell down and your voice echoes back at you!!"
"Great, Will. But I need to tell you something very important." Edward looked around. "Where's Summer?"
Will looked around, too, and then bent down and looked into the mouth of the tunnel. "I don't know. She was just behind me."
Just then they all heard Summer's querulous voice floating out of the tunnel. "Stop pushing! I don't want to get out yet!"
"Please," croaked a Sw'atee child in a timid voice.
Victoria shouted into the exit, "Summer come out here now!"
"No! I'm haven't finished talking to the hole," Summer yelled back.
Will pushed his older sister aside.
"Summer! You heard what Mom told us didn't you? She's gonna be very mad if you get into trouble."
"Oh, okay," Summer grumbled as she crawled out of the tunnel followed by a thin, pale Sw'atee boy. He scrambled to his feet and backed away from the frowning little girl. Summer glared after him. "Mean boy," she muttered.
While all this was going on, Edward was fairly dancing with suppressed impatience.
"Hey," he hissed to get their attention. "We've gotta talk." He looked around at the room full of the children and teachers.
Seeing his anxiety, Tori motioned to the tunnel entrance further up on the wall, "We can talk in there. One of the tunnels has lots of small chambers off of it."
The five children walked quickly over to the shallow flight of steps that led up to that particular cave entrance. The male teacher who had talked to them in R'tor's chamber looked up and waved to them. They smiled and waved back then hurried up the steps before anyone could stop them.
Victoria took the lead and Will brought up the rear. The tunnel was fairly small, and Edward's backpack rubbed against the ceiling.
Alice, who was crawling behind Edward, suggested that he should take it off to make it easier for him to maneuver.
"Can't. We need it," Edward answered succinctly.
It was very quiet in the tunnels even though there were probably many children crawling around in them. They could hear a soft buzzing sound like a bee caught in a bottle. Five or six Sw'atee children occupied the first chamber they came to. They were sitting in a circle playing some game with polished stones. The tallest boy smiled and invited them in with a wave of his hand. Tori smiled back but shook her head.
"We're exploring," she told him. The pale, thin children smiled at each other in understanding and went back to their game.
The children crawled past two more occupied chambers before they found an empty one. It was a good-sized room with carved stone benches surrounding the walls and a fire pit in the center of the room. The children stood up and stretched their cramped limbs. They weren't used to so much crawling.
Will and Summer immediately went to look in the fire pit. Will reached out and grabbed his little sister as she leaned out too far over the pit. His rescue earned him a sisterly glare.
"Let me go, Will. I'm won't fall in. I'm not a baby!"
"What are you two doing? Come over here." Edward was having second thoughts about including Summer in his plan. But he knew he couldn't leave her behind.
Now that the time had come, he wasn't sure that they would think his idea as brilliant as he did.
"For God's sake, Edward," Tori said to him. "Sit down here and tell us what all the mystery is about." She bent her knee up and inspected it carefully. "And it had better be good," she threatened crossly. "I skinned my knee crawling in here."
Edward shrugged off his backpack and sat on one of the benches that lined the wall. The others sat close by.
"Well, I have an idea about getting rid of the danger that I think will work, and our parents won't have to help us."
The other children gave him curious looks, Victoria's mixed with skepticism.
"Let's hear it, Edward," urged Will.
"I'm sure it'll be a great plan," Alice smiled.
"What's "ridofthedanger" mean? If you all get some, I want some, too."
Tori put her hand on her little sister's shoulder.
"Hush, Summer. Let Edward talk."
Edward continued. "Well, I was thinking about the danger and what R'tor told us about it and that made me think about how good me and Will are at being knights in shining armor and capturing dragons."
He paused and rolled his eyes sideways to look at Tori. He knew a little flattery would make his idea appeal to her.
"And all of us know how good Tori is with her spear and all. So, I think that we should sneak out of the caves and find the danger and capture it and surprise our parents and R'tor!"
At their uncertain looks, he added.
"You see, R'tor said that it was up to us to get rid of the danger. He said that we are special and all of us are needed to save the plateau. Our parents said that they are going to let us help, but they could change their minds. You know how they are."
The others nodded at this truism.
He paused for breath. Will and Summer were looking at each other with growing excitement. Even Tori was looking thoughtful. Alice had a frown on her face.
"But, Edward," she asked, "won't our parents be mad at us? They told us to stay in the playroom."
Edward forced a confident laugh that he didn't quite feel.
"Hah. They won't be mad at us. The danger will be gone. They'll be so proud of us. We'll be heroes!"
Will and Summer nodded their heads enthusiastically and Alice smiled.
Tori gave a very unladylike snort.
"Your great plan sounds good, Edward. But I can see a few problems. Like- how can we get out of these caves? How can we find the danger? We don't have our spears or any weapons and, besides, the danger is really.well, dangerous and strong and we're just kids."
Edward smirked.
"The answer to all of these problems is in my backpack," he said triumphantly.
He grabbed up his backpack and reached inside. All eyes were riveted on him, wide with curiosity.
With a theatrical flourish, Edward pulled his hand out clutching the five small, wilted plants.
Alice sucked in her breath.
"Edward Malone! Those plants belong to R'tor."
"Oh, he won't miss these little ones, Alice. Besides, we're going to need them if we're going after the danger."
Victoria was unusually silent. The responsibility of being the eldest was once again a burden on her shoulders. Although Edward was only a few months younger than she was, she had always been the leader. She sighed and decided to hear Edward's plan before she gave her opinion. She prayed that it would be a good one. She crossed her fingers behind her back.
Edward bit his lip. He'd have to sell his plan and he knew it wouldn't be easy.
"Okay. Like I said, my plan depends on these t'balee plants, so I want everyone to think hard and try to remember just what R'tor told us about each part of these plants? It's very important that we remember exactly. My whole plan depends on it."
They all looked at Summer expectantly. She didn't disappoint them.
"I know! I know!" she shouted. Without waiting for acknowledgement, she began to recite, "Each plant has five parts, and each part has a diff'rent.poppatee." Summer frowned. "I don't know what a poppatee is though. But it sounds like it might taste good," she finished hopefully.
Alice smiled at her smart little friend. "It's "property", Summer. You have a very good memory. What else did R'tor say?"
The other children waited patiently while Summer searched her memory. While they sometimes found her temper scary and her behavior maddening, they all respected her ability to remember things. Her memory was quite exceptional. Many times she had repeated word for word something someone had said days or even weeks before. Most of the time she used her talent for her own advantage-like reminding her parents just what they'd said when they forgot their promises.
Summer looked up. "I know what he told us, but I don't want to say all of his words, cause he talks an awful lot."
"Just tell us about each part of the plant then, sweetheart," Tori said to her sister. She spoke in a soft, coxing voice that her mother used on Summer.
"Okay, Tori," Summer smiled at her big sister. She recognized the tone of voice too. She found it funny that Tori and her mother were so much alike. It was like having two mothers sometimes.
"I'll start at the bottom and make my way upward," she began just as R'tor had. Then she started telling them in her own way. "You can eat the roots and they make you see very, very far away. If you let them sit in water, the water becomes magic and you can see and hear anyone who looks into another bowl of magic water."
Edward summarized for the others. "Roots make you see far and make magic water. You remember that one, Alice. Go on, Summer."
She huffed a little at being interrupted, but went on pleasantly enough.
"The stalk makes bread that makes you strong."
Edward repeated, "The stalk makes bread that makes you strong."
"I just said that," Summer said indignantly.
"Sorry, Summer," Edward apologized. He didn't want to get her into a temper. "Will, you remember that one."
Will shrugged. "That's easy. I've got some of that bread right here in my pocket."
Edward looked surprised.
Tori explained. "We all were given some bread for a snack before you got here, Edward. I told the kids not to eat it because it looks very orangey and unwholesome." She wrinkled her nose.
"Good," Edward said. "We might need some of it before we're through."
"Ahem," Summer cleared her throat. "Do you want to hear the rest or not?"
"Sure, sure. Go ahead."
"Let's see," she pondered, tapping her chin, "Where was I? Oh, yes. We chew the leaves and they're for speed. I'll remember that one," she said before Edward could assign it to someone.
Edward nodded in acknowledgement.
"The stems are full of juice that makes people and things invis.invisible."
Summer smirked with satisfaction that she had remember the word.
"You remember that, Tori." she said pointing her finger at her sister. "Oh, and don't spill it!"
She was enjoying herself. Then her smile fell upside-down and she frowned.
"I don't remember what R'tor said about the little bean. I wasn't listening to him, I guess."
Alice put her arm around the dejected little girl.
"That's because he was joking with us, Summer. Mom said he was just teasing."
"No, he wasn't, Alice," Edward said vehemently. "He was telling the truth. I know he was. He said if you stick the bean in your ear, you'll be able to move anything you want to just by thinking about it."
Summer raised her eyebrows and grimaced. "You can remember that one, Edward. I got into a lot of trouble the last time I put something in my ear."
She rubbed her right ear in memory.
"Thanks, Summer," Edward said.
He leaned forward and handed a plant to each of the children.
Looking around conspiratorially, he said in a low voice, "Now, here's what we'll do. R'tor said that the danger was spinning a vortex in the middle of the jungle."
He stopped in thought then asked Victoria, "Tori, do you know what a vortex is? R'tor said it was sucking in everything that got near it. Do you think it's something like the vacuum sweeper Mom uses?"
The older girl frowned. "I think a vortex is something like a hole. So it's probably more like the washtub when you pull out the stopper. You know, the water swirls around and around and all the bubbles are sucked down with the water."
"Yeah, that sounds logical," Edward agreed. "So," he said decisively, "we'll find this spinning hole in the jungle 'cause that's where the danger will be, and we'll scare the danger into the hole and it'll be sucked away."
"Keen!" exclaimed Will. "I'll chase it right into that old hole."
Summer jumped up excitedly. "Me and Alice will poke it with our spears, too. Right, Alice?"
"Right! And we can throw stones at it 'til it bleeds," Alice added uncharacteristically bloodthirsty.
Tori held up her hand for silence.
"I think Edward's plan sounds okay," she said slowly. "but we'll have to be very careful---and very quick. We have to be back before someone misses us."
Edward grinned at her.
"Oh, we'll be back before then, Tori," Edward assured her. He chuckled. "Won't they be surprised when they get all ready to go to fight the danger, and we say, "No need. We got rid of the danger this morning."
All of the children smiled at this picture. There would be no more treating them like little kids after this!
"Okay, this is my plan. We'll drink some of that invisible liquid and sneak out of the playroom. Then we'll follow the passageway until we come to an open entrance. Then we'll chew on a few of the t'balee leaves so we can run fast and we'll eat the roots so that we can see far, far away and it won't take us long at all to find that vortex."
Alice looked puzzled. "What does the danger look like, Edward?"
Edward screwed up his face in thought.
"If it's an animal I can set a trap for it. Grandma Tillie showed me how to make lots of traps. I can catch anything!" Will bragged.
"I hope it doesn't look like a monster," Alice said dramatically opening her eyes really wide.
Summer was bouncing with excitement. "Ewwww! It might be a monster and it prob'ly has teeth this long!" She held her arms as far apart as she could.
"And giant eyes-all yellowy and green!" Alice added getting into it.
She and Summer looked at each other and giggled.
Tori could see that this speculation would soon get out of hand, so she clapped her hands to get everyone's attention.
"Calm down and listen, you two."
She deferred to Edward who was the leader of this expedition since it was his idea.
"Tell us what to do, Captain," she teased.
Edward smirked. He liked that name.
"All right. Everyone pop off the bud from one of your stems. Be careful! Don't spill it!" he cautioned. "Put the bud away in a safe place, cause we may need it later. Now sip the juice."
Everyone did as they were told. They tilted the plant up and sucked the juice out of the stem like it was a straw.
Will made a face as the tart liquid ran down his throat, but he drank it all.
When they had finished, Edward said, "Now put your plant back into your backpack. Carefully, Summer. Don't mash it."
Alice was looking at the others.
"We're not invisible yet, Edward. I can see all of you."
"Yeah, why aren't we invisible yet?" Will complained.
Edward didn't know what to say. Alice was right. They weren't invisible.
Tori came to his rescue.
"We can see each other, silly. It's just other people who can't see us. Now let's go."
"Hey, Tori, I'm the captain. Remember?" Edward reminded her. He checked to see that everyone had put on their backpack then nodded his head.
"Let's go."
The small party crept out of the chamber and crawled their way to the exit. Luckily they met no one in the tunnel. At the exit, Edward took a deep breath and crawled out. He stood up as the others crawled out, too. No one was paying them any attention. He walked over to a group of Sw'atee children and stood beside them. He waved his arms around. No one looked at him. Nodding with satisfaction, he motioned the others to follow him out the door.
They moved slowly down the passageway, nervous about their invisibility until a group of Sw'atee men walked right past them.
The children smiled at each other. It worked! This was fun.
They followed Edward down the passage in the opposite direction from R'tor's chamber. He was confident that they would soon find a way out.
They hadn't been walking long when Edward suddenly motioned for them to stop. He flattened himself against the wall and the others did, too.
Coming up the passage in the opposite direction was a group of five people. Four large, strange looking tribesmen surrounded another figure who was completed enveloped in a dark blue, hooded cape.
Summer covered her mouth so she wouldn't make a sound as the fierce warriors walked past within a meter of her. The children stayed pressed against the rough, stone wall until the group disappeared around a bend in the passage. Just before they were out of sight, the figure in the middle of the group turned around and seemed to be looking directly at the children.
All five of them let out a sigh of relief when the sound of warrior's footsteps faded away.
Edward motioned for them to continue their hunt for an exit and the little group, once again, set out on their quest.
*****
With many winks and sly digs, Marguerite was telling Summerlee about Ned's and Veronica's wedding, when the sound of approaching footsteps made her break off in mid-sentence.
The Sw'atee King held up his hand and smiled as five people stepped through the chamber entrance.
Veronica drew in a deep breath as she recognized four of them from her childhood. The warriors took their places on either side of the doorway. The fifth person, blue cape swirling, strode up to Summerlee and gave him a respectful bow, then turned to the others and threw back the hood of the cape.
The Protector of the Plateau fastened her blue eyes on Veronica and said, "My darling Veronica, come to me and let me hold you once more."
Jumping up, Veronica gasped, "Mother!" and flung herself into her arms.
Continued in Chapter 5