Dormia, p.22
Dormia, page 22
The entire group fell silent.
"What do these Straszydlo look like?" asked Alfonso finally. "How big are they?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Rosalina. "Anyone who has ever turned around to look hasn't lived to speak of it. But I can tell you this, from the size of the footprints that they leave, they appear to be quite large."
"How large are we talkin'?" asked Bilblox.
"Fifteen feet tall," said Rosalina. "If not taller. But they will leave you alone if you follow the rules."
"For us it will really come down to timing, won't it?" asked Hill. "I mean, if we are not allowed in the forest at night then I presume we have to cross the forest within the span of a single day—between dawn and dusk."
"That's correct," said Rosalina.
"Is this possible?" asked Hill.
"Yes," said Rosalina. "I did it many decades ago, when I was a young girl. Back then, at least, the trail was clearly marked. It starts not far from here, near the place where the three boulders rest. From there, it travels quite some distance through rolling terrain. The trail is fairly straight. At one point, there is a stream crossing, but that shouldn't pose too much of a problem unless there's a heavy snowfall the night before. If you leave at the crack of dawn, you should be able to make it easily by sundown—and if not—well then, heaven help you."
"And do you recall what's on the other side of the forest?" asked Hill.
"Yes, of course," replied Rosalina. "On the other side are the High Peaks of the Urals—the most amazing mountains that you've ever seen. In fact, if you want to catch a glimpse of them, you can take the ladder up to the top of our lookout. There is still a bit of daylight left."
"I'd like to do that," said Hill.
"All you have to do is shimmy up the ladder," said Rosalina as she pointed toward the chimney above the fireplace. "Just keep going up."
Hill inspected the chimney more closely and noticed that the stones on an exterior wall of the chimney formed a ladder that led up to a trapdoor in the ceiling.
"I'll just take a look," Hill announced.
"Can I come with you?" asked Alfonso.
"Sure," said Hill. "Let's go."
Hill and Alfonso climbed up the wall of the chimney, opened the trapdoor, and continued up the darkened inner spine of the tower itself. After a few minutes, they reached a tiny perch at the top that was barely big enough for both of them to squeeze into. The view was breathtaking. Together they looked west—out across the dark expanse of Straszydlo Forest—toward the last traces of pink and purple that were quickly sinking into the High Peaks of the Urals. The mountains were spectacular: wild, craggy, jagged, serrated, snowcapped peaks that jutted into the clouds. The view electrified Alfonso. Somewhere, nestled amid these peaks, was Somnos.
"Look," Alfonso said, pointing. "That must be the start of the trail through the forest!"
Hill saw the spot immediately. Just as Rosalina had described it, three large boulders sat in a row by the edge of the woods. From there a small, white, snow-covered trail cut its way through the woods in a relatively straight line and soon disappeared into the thick forest.
"My gosh," said Hill under his breath. "That will be a long journey." He looked at Alfonso. "I'll set out tomorrow at dawn and—assuming that I make it across—I'll camp out on the far side of the forest. Then, the following morning, I'll head back."
"Why would you bother to do that?" asked Alfonso.
"Because," said Hill gravely, "someone has to see if this journey can be done. Otherwise, we could all be walking to our deaths."
"What about time?" said Alfonso. "How many days do we have left on the date wheel?"
"Eleven," replied Hill. "I have it all figured out. It will take me two days to cross the forest and return. Then it will take another five days for all of us to cross individually. That leaves us four days to find Somnos."
Alfonso whistled but said nothing.
"I know," said Hill. "It's going to be very close."
Chapter 29
AVALANCHE
SHORTLY before bedtime, the two sisters sat down to play a game of cards at the kitchen table. They mumbled quietly, sipped their tea, and stroked Sam's purring head. The others sat around the fireplace, also sipping tea. Resuza was there too, slurping down some soup. She had come in from the cold to get some food and warmth before venturing back outside for the night. Her cheeks and eyes glowed with excitement as she described the incredible northern lights putting on a show across the entire sky.
Hill then outlined his plan for crossing Straszydlo Forest. He would cross the forest first, spend the night on the other side, and would return the next day. If all went well, they would then cross the forest one at a time over the course of the next few days. Although Hill seemed confident, Alfonso had a bad feeling about the forest.
Later that night, after Resuza had left and the others had gone to bed, Alfonso lay awake. He could not sleep. He was certainly comfortable enough. Rosalina and Masha had provided heavy woolen mats and soft cotton blankets for everyone to sleep on. Alfonso had placed his mat by the fire, where it was warm and quite cozy. The night was quiet, except for the low, deep-throated rumble of Sam snoring, which actually sounded very pleasant. Still, Alfonso couldn't fall asleep.
For the first time in a few days, Alfonso thought of his mom and Pappy back in Fort Krasnik. He had always assumed that he'd make his way back to them, but now, in the depths of the night, he could not avoid the fear that he might never see them again. Eventually, his thoughts drifted to Resuza. Alfonso pictured her huddling outside in the snow, keeping watch over the house. He had never known a girl like her—brave, confident, pretty in an unkempt way. As tough as she was, however, Alfonso was worried about her. It occurred to him that he should poke his head out the door and check on her. Wearily, he got up from his mat and walked down the long, drafty corridor to the front door. He unlocked the door, pushed it open, and stuck his head out. A light snow was falling. It was deathly quiet.
"Hey, Resuza," he whispered urgently.
No response.
"Resuza!" he called.
Nothing. He took a step outside, closed the door behind him, and took a deep breath. "Resuza!" he bellowed as loudly as he could.
Still nothing. Alfonso looked around. The northern lights had disappeared, and the darkness, without the moon, was total. He shivered. What should he do? A minute later, his teeth chattering, he returned to his warm place near the fire. He shook Hill awake to tell him of Resuza's apparent absence. Hill seemed totally unconcerned.
"Go back to bed," he mumbled sleepily. "Of all people, that girl can definitely take care of herself."
The next morning, everyone in the house rose before dawn to see Hill off. Even Spack woke up, vigorously rubbed her eyes, smoothed her crazy hair into a thick ponytail, and stumbled along with the others. Rosalina and Masha led the way down to the path's entrance by the three boulders. They all stared at the small, lonely path that headed directly into the forest and waited for the first glimmer of dawn to squeak its way over the horizon. When it finally did, Rosalina pounded her walking stick against the ground impatiently and hissed, "All right, it's daylight. You can enter. Go now and whatever you do, never look back!" Hill nodded, smiled one last time at his nephew, and hustled into the woods.
After Hill's departure they all returned to Rosalina and Masha's home for a breakfast of raisins and porridge. Resuza hadn't yet returned, but no one except Alfonso seemed concerned. They all ate quietly. No one stirred except Sam, who was meowing to himself contentedly as if he were enjoying a secret. Eventually, the silence was broken by Spack's loud grunts. She had stood up and begun to pace back and forth across the room. From the look on her face, she was in great pain.
"What in blazes are ya doin'?" asked Bilblox.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" replied Spack. "I am exercising my leg muscles in order to revive them from their long hibernation. To my dismay, I will have to walk through this Straszydlo Forest, which means that I need to get in shape."
"Will you be able to make it?" asked Alfonso.
"I certainly hope so," replied Spack. "It has been years, perhaps decades, since I walked more than a few blocks on my own, but someone must lead this expedition onward to the gates of Dormia..."
"Oh, please," said Bilblox as he rolled his eyes.
"Yes, it shall be the fight of my life," continued Spack in a dramatic tone of voice. Her eyes flashed with excitement. "But realizing full well that everything rests on my slender but capable shoulders, I will not give up!"
Her mood suddenly changed. "I hope that uncle of yours will be careful," she said to Alfonso. "It must be terrible to walk through that forest, all alone. Of course, like me, he is a brave Dormian..."
***
Around midmorning, there was a knock on the front door. Alfonso scurried past Rosalina and opened the door. It was Resuza. She looked exhausted. Resuza announced that she was tired and very hungry, but happy to report that she hadn't seen anyone snooping around the house all night. She explained that she had spent the entire night, and much of the morning, hiding in a snowbank not far from the house. Everyone welcomed this news and greeted Resuza warmly. Alfonso wondered why Resuza hadn't heard him when he called out the night before, but said nothing.
Rosalina fed Resuza three bowls of soup and then insisted that she take a bath. "It is not proper for a young girl to appear so filthy in polite company," said Rosalina in a scolding tone. It was true that Resuza was quite dirty. She was wearing the same rags and overcoat that she had been wearing in Barsh-yin-Binder and they had only gotten dirtier with time.
"Masha and I will prepare some hot water for your bath," said Rosalina. "Then we will give you a clean set of clothes and a cloak."
"Meanwhile," added Masha, "we will examine these wounds of yours, Mr. Bilblox. The bandages are soiled and in need of cleaning. My goodness, you people are as dirty as worms!"
And so, while Resuza was taking her bath, Masha inspected Bilblox's wounds and changed his bandages. The crisscross of the Dragoonya blades on his skin had scabbed over, and turned a dark red. Masha clucked like a worried hen, but eventually nodded and declared that Bilblox was healing nicely.
An hour or so later, when Resuza emerged from her bath, she looked like an entirely different person. She wore black wool pants and a blue wool sweater. Her blond hair, once grimy and matted, was now curly and lustrous. Her skin, which had been caked with dirt and dried sweat, now gleamed a healthy pink. Alfonso wanted to say something, but no words came to his mouth.
"Wow, ya clean up nice!" said Bilblox. "Who woulda thought?"
"You're not kidding," mumbled Alfonso. "You're really, quite, er..."
Fortunately for Alfonso, this awkward moment was interrupted by a great rumbling that sounded like thunder—only deeper—almost like a small earthquake.
"What was that?" asked Bilblox.
"Just an avalanche," replied Masha in an unconcerned manner. "This late in the winter, the snow is heavy and avalanching all the time."
"I'm going to take a look," said Alfonso. "Anyone else want to come?"
"I shall accompany you," replied Resuza with a smile. "Someone experienced needs to make sure you do not fall into trouble."
Alfonso shrugged, but secretly he was pleased. They walked outside into the snow and saw that the sleds and the dogs were fine. In the distance they could see where an avalanche had rolled down the side of a nearby mountain and uncovered a long smear of bare earth and rocks.
"Wow, do you see that?" asked Alfonso.
"Indeed," replied Resuza. "Do you fancy investigating it?"
Alfonso knew that this probably wasn't a good idea. The mountain looked far away and it was already early afternoon. His uncle would never have agreed to let him go. But Hill wasn't here, the bloom was safe inside the house, and Resuza was looking at him expectantly.
"Sure," said Alfonso as casually as he could. "Let's do it."
Alfonso tied the dogs into their harnesses and then connected the harnesses to the sled. They got on the sled; Resuza took the reins, snapped a whip, and yelled, "Yah!" The dogs leapt to their feet and began bounding through the snow. Without the weight of their packs—or large adults like Bilblox— the sled moved very quickly across the snow-covered fields. In an hour they had reached the avalanche spot. The ground was scattered with enormous pieces of snow—some of which were bigger than entire houses—and intermixed with the snow were boulders, chunks of mud, and entire trees. They had clearly rolled down the mountain and taken out everything in their way.
"We used to have avalanches like this every spring in the little mountain town where I grew up," said Resuza. "Once I was walking with my parents—I couldn't have been more than five or six years old—and this massive avalanche came down just behind us. No one was hurt, but the noise..." Her voice tapered off into nothing.
This was the first time that Resuza had mentioned her family. Alfonso looked at her with surprise.
"It's one of the only memories I still have of my parents," confessed Resuza. She had a sad, faraway look in her eyes. "My mum I remember better—she had these big green eyes—but my father..." There was a long silence. "Ah well," she said with a slight sniffle, "what does it matter anyway?"
"What happened to them?" asked Alfonso.
"They both died when I was little," she replied wearily. "Early one morning—midsummer perhaps—I woke up to the screams of my little sister, Naomi. I looked up and the ceiling was on fire, with smoke as black as night pouring out the windows. We both started coughing as the smoke filled our lungs. Naomi wanted to go outside, but I wouldn't let her, because I could hear them..."
"Who did you hear?" asked Alfonso.
"The horsemen," replied Resuza.
"Dragoonya?"
"Of course," said Resuza, who was looking strangely at the palms of her hands. "They were riding down the streets, wielding their swords, and setting the town on fire. Eventually, Naomi and I had to go outside and that's when I found Mum and Dad, lying on the ground, not breathing or anything, just lying there ... Naomi starting bawling ... I tried to get her to run ... I begged her ... Begged her and begged her ... But she wouldn't budge ... And so I ... I left her ... left her standing in the middle of the road."
"Where did you go?" asked Alfonso quietly, so quietly that for a moment he wondered whether Resuza had even heard him.
"Hid by the river," said Resuza. "Hid among the reeds and, days later, when I finally came back to town, there was no one left—not a soul. Only ghosts..." Her voice tapered off. "But enough of this," she said quite suddenly. "I hate talking about the past—it's nothing but misery."
"Do you know what happened to Naomi?" asked Alfonso. "I mean did she..."
"Die?" asked Resuza.
Alfonso nodded sheepishly.
"I don't believe so," said Resuza. "The Dragoonya usually take their captives to Dargora. It's their capital, somewhere north of here. No one knows anything about it. Apparently, it's impossible to find because the city is only visible at twilight."
"Still, you might be able to find her."
"Not a chance," said Resuza. "No one enters or exits Dargora freely except the Dragoonya. And besides, everyone knows that the Dragoonya work their slaves to death. Everyone says they use the bones of their slaves to build their homes." Her eyes filled with tears.
Alfonso could think of nothing to say, and stared awkwardly at his feet.
"Hey!" said Resuza suddenly. "Look at that."
Resuza pointed up to a large, perfectly square-shaped opening or cave that had been exposed during the avalanche. Steam was pouring out of the cave. The sight of the steam against the snow reminded Alfonso of a hot spring in wintertime.
"That's so weird," said Resuza. "That cave looks perfectly square."
"Yeah," said Alfonso. "And what's with all that steam? Let's go check it out."
It took them several minutes of climbing to reach the spot. The mouth of the cave was indeed shaped like a perfect square, although it didn't appear to be man-made. The rock had simply broken off in this manner. The truly amazing thing, however, was that the cave turned into a kind of square-shaped tunnel, which was at least thirty feet in height and width. Both Alfonso and Resuza peered into it. The tunnel burrowed down into the mountain at a steep angle. The walls of the tunnel were dark green and soft to the touch, as if covered with moss. The floor was dotted with chunks of rapidly melting ice. The melt from these ice chunks was draining down the tunnel and into the depths of the mountain.
"What on earth do you suppose this is?" asked Resuza.
"I don't know," said Alfonso. "It looks like a giant pipe of some kind—only the walls appear to be covered with algae or moss. Maybe it's a Uralian hot spring! I'm going to check—"
"For heaven's sakes, no!" said Resuza. She clutched his shoulder to hold him back. "It doesn't look safe."
"I'll just take a peek," he said as he shrugged off her hand and stepped deeper into the cave. A moment later, however, his feet slipped on the water and he began sliding down. Alfonso struck frantically at the wall to try to grab hold of something. At last, his feet stopped at a tiny ledge.
"ALFONSO! Are you all right?" yelled Resuza.
"Yes," yelled Alfonso. He looked back up at Resuza. He had slipped about twenty feet. "I'm on a little ledge but I don't know how stable it is," he yelled. "Can you get some rope?"
"There's some in the sled," yelled Resuza. "Hold on, I'll be right back!"
"Hurry!" he yelled to her. Alfonso felt his grip slipping, while small pieces of ice slid down and hit his head. Finally, Resuza reappeared at the mouth of the cave. "The rope!" she yelled. "Climb up—the rope is tied to the sled."
