Drowned Wednesday(81)

‘The Carp is wise, long swim the Carp!’ chanted the Denizens as Arthur, Suzy, and Jebenezer started to climb back up through the terraces. As they passed through the crowd, Jebenezer held the jar up above his head, and the Carp’s radiance lit up the faces of his Followers, while Jebenezer singled out the archers who were to accompany them to the water gate.

Ascending the path to the cavern exit was considerably easier with the Carp’s light, though Arthur was slightly shocked to see some parts of the path that he’d blithely walked along were not only narrow but the rock was crumbling on the edges as well. This time he traversed these sections with his back against the rock wall, trying not to think about how easily he could have put a foot wrong and fallen to his death.

It was a relief to get back outside. The sun was still shining, though it was a little lower in the sky. Coming out of the darkness, Arthur thought that the sunlight was tinged a little pink, like a grapefruit skin, and so the island was probably not a piece of his Earth, pinched off to become Feverfew’s worldlet, but was from one of the myriad other worlds in the Secondary Realms.

‘So, do we head straight back the way we came?’ asked Suzy. ‘Cos if we are, I hope you know the way we came. I need streets and buildings, personally. Can’t find my own elbow in these woods.’

‘The quickest path down from here goes round the shores of the Hot Lake,’ said Jebenezer. ‘Then we can strike nor’-nor’-east to the peninsula and follow that to the water gate. Only the pirates’ll probably see us coming, either from the water gate, the fort, or the Shiver. We’ll have to run the length of the peninsula, burst through the guards, and go into the Stomach.’

‘Is it a lack of faith to be thinking that we’re all going to be slain or captured and sunk into the Hot Lake?’ asked one of the four chosen archers.

‘Yes,’ snapped the Carp. Its voice was more restrained now that it was out in the open. ‘Believe in Lord Arthur. Believe in your Carp. We shall prevail.’

‘Provided we get a move on,’ muttered Suzy.

I can’t run the length of the peninsula, thought Arthur as panic began to make his stomach feel tight and his breathing shallower. I just can’t run that far without having an asthma attack …

‘Shall we take the quick path, Lord Arthur?’ asked Jebenezer.

I can’t run that far … I can’t run that far … Arthur’s thoughts were in a loop of fear and doubt. He felt like he was drowning in them, unable to think about anything else. Then all of a sudden, he felt, rather than heard, the Carp speak, inside his head. He couldn’t describe it or see it, but he experienced the Carp’s words as if he heard them and read them at the same time.

Have faith in yourself, Arthur. Take it one step at a time. Let us get to the peninsula. Then we shall take the next step. Perhaps we will not need to run. Perhaps you will run better than you think. One step at a time.

You can read my mind! Arthur thought back.

Not normally, replied Part Three of the Will silently, for Arthur alone. But your fear was so great that it opened the doorways of your mind. They are closing now, and I will not ‘Arthur! The quick path or not?’ asked Suzy.

‘Sorry,’ said Arthur. He shook his head and found it clear of the paralysing fear he’d felt a moment before. ‘Yeah, let’s take the quick path.’

‘Florenza and Padraic, take scout,’ ordered Jebenezer.

The two Denizens he’d named looked at each other nervously, then slowly advanced into the forest, bows ready.





Twenty–seven




THE QUICK WAY down the hill would have been a very slow way if it had been up to Arthur or Suzy to find it, Arthur thought as they were led through seemingly impassable tangles of undergrowth, under arching tree roots, and between rocks. But within forty minutes they were back down to the flat area, skirting the Hot Lake, keeping just within the border of the forest before it died back and was replaced by bare, sulphurous yellow earth.

‘It does stink,’ said Suzy as she tied a torn-off flounce from her dress over her face.

Arthur took a deep breath and was surprised to find that it went all the way to the bottom of his lungs. The air did smell horrible, like rotten eggs, but he could actually breathe it more easily than the cool, wet air of the hills.

Across the Hot Lake, Arthur could see Feverfew’s yardarm. The pirate had simply transferred a mast and its yards from a captured ship, and set it right on the lake’s edge, with a block and tackle to swing prisoners out and dip them. There was a viewing platform nearby.

‘I reckon we’ve done it,’ said Suzy a little later, as they passed the eastern shore of the lake. ‘Plenty of time to spare too.’