312. The Abysmals
“That boat is mine!” shouted a voice that seemed to be
advancing through the bushes. And the ghost of a boy that looked to be about
eleven years old materialized before Esmeraldo.
“And you think that matters to me?” said Esmeraldo with a
defiant grin aimed at the boy that tripled his size. “I want this boat and I
want it now!”
“Oh, drat, Matheo! You haven’t come anywhere near this boat
in many a year! You suffer from hydrophobia!” intervened Calamus. “This kid is
convinced that he is a ferocious pirate. He is going to challenge you, because
he is out of his mind. And he is very tiny and delicate and if something goes
wrong and he receives a mean blow, we’re going to have problems surely.”
“I’m strong, don’t think I am not!” insisted Esmeraldo,
baring his teeth and raising his fists. “Bring it on!” he defied Matheo.
“Yeah, right!” said Carpos, getting himself in between the
younger boys. “But a demonstration of strength is just what we want to avoid.
Look, kid, it is becoming obvious that it isn’t a good idea to get hold of this
boat. Calamus wants to help you obtain it, but you ought to know that Matheo
has two friends, one of which is quite a brute. And that without counting on
the higly possible intervention of Theophilus, who is the sort to be fed apart
and who might decide to involve himself in this quarrel and kick you out of
here, which he has every right to do because we are on his property. What about
you? Haven’t you got friends or a family? What are you doing here at all? Play
in your own garden, kid. Haven’t you got a fish pond with bright goldfish in it? Or
a little swimming pool?”
“I have two enormous swimming pools, one covered and one
not. And I also have several water holes in my dad’s home back in Apple Island.
But I am a pirate, and will soon be the monarch of the seas.”
“What do you know? This kid is an Apple Islander!”
exclaimed Calamus. “I’m thinking I heard you say your father was called
Demetrius. He wouldn’t have anything to do with my good goddess of cereals,
would he?”
“My daddy is Demeter’s godson.”
“Well, well, well! Well, you needn’t turn pirate to eat
then, do you? That’s for sure.”
“Of course not! I’m turning pirate because I want to be
free and feared! I already told you that! Should I give you a receipt?”
“What we want is for you to go back home before you cause a
problem. So scat, kid!” said Carpos.
“You’re not that
much older than me. I’m sure you both aren’t at home either. You are Greek,
aren’t you? Well, back to your homeland, boys!”
“Look here, baby boy,” intervened Carpos once more, “we are
here because of a tragedy. If it weren’t for that, we surely would be back
home. Calamus’ dad, Meander, promised
the gods he would sacrifice to them the first thing that approached him. He
never thought that would be his own son. But it was, and Meander threw Calamus into
a river there was right there behind him. And Calamus drowned, And Meander felt
awful about this, so he leapt into the river himself. And also drowned. And the
gods decided things had gone too far, so they turned Meander into the spirit of
the river there and Calamus into the spirit of reedbeds. So there were there are
reeds you can find Calamus, no matter where they grow. And where you can find
Calamus you can find me, because I am his friend since early childhood and we
have always been inseparable, and will always be so.”
“Most moving, your little story. But will you draw out the
boat or shall I begin to tug at it myself?” asked Esmeraldo.
“I’m not done speaking! Matheo, who is this kid here who
didn’t want his boat but now wants it back, drowned right here in this lake.
And the demons of the deep don’t have him sequestered down below because two
good fairies snatched him off before he could hit bottom. He is now a ghost
that wanders about the forest. Do listen to me and understand that this lake is
not a safe place for a playground.”
“Either you free the boat like you said you would or I’ll
rip it out of the reedbed!”
“But I’ve said it is mine!” shouted Matheo.
“You hush your mouth and don’t provoke the peepsqueak!
Can’t you see he isn’t normal?” said Calamus. “If that boat belongs to anybody,
it belongs to me! I’ve spent years retaining it within my hair! If I hadn’t, it
would long have become the property of the Abysmals that live at the bottom of
the lake! As soon as I manage to let go of it, that tiny tot will haul it off
to his island and back here we shall have peace and live in it like we almost
always do!”
Carpos saw his friend was determined to let Esmeraldo have
the boat, so he set himself to freeing it from his friend’s hair. It was not
easy to undo the mess of roots and stems and leaves that twined all over it,
and though Carpos' fingers moved as delicately as they could through the reeds,
Calamus gave a shout of protest or two.
“I only wanted to avoid anyone else’s being drowned!”
mumbled Matheo. “That’s why I let that boat rot there!”
“Well, now it will rot in this little dwarf’s home,” said
Calamus.
“I have something else to do here before I take the boat
away,” said Esmeraldo. “I’m thinking that a pirate needs more than his fists to
fight properly. I need pistols! And a mighty sword.”
“Yeah, right! Now he wants weapons. Didn’t I say this kid
would cause problems, Matheo?” asked Calamus. And he turned to Esmeraldo and
added, “I’m sure you can make for yourself a fine wooden sword back home in
your garden.”
“A wooden sword can break more easily than a simple stake if I try to plunge it into the heart of an
enemy. I want a sword of solid steel or so.”
“Well, there’s none of that here,” said Carpos. “Calamus
and I are people of peace. All we do is swim and frolick enjoying nature at its
best. And the Theos are feisty, but they don’t pick fights.”
“You are so wrong. I have heard that all lakes hide fine
weapons, some of which are even magical. I’m sure the bottom of this pond holds
something interesting.”
“So go drown trying to find that!” shouted Matheo.
“I’m not mortal! I’m a seahorse fairy!”
“A little seahorse fairy. Don’t be mad at me for reminding
you of that, I do know that you are tiny but ferocious,” said Carpos.
Esmeraldo made no answer with words. He entered the lake
without saying a single one.
“But…Go after him, Carpos!” exclaimed Calamus. “The spirits
of this place are easily offended by any kind of nonsense. They will grind him
to powder!”
In fact, the waters of Lake Jittery, also known as Peevish
Pond, were already stirring ominously. And that though there wasn’t the least
trace of a breeze on that extra warm summer’s day.
Carpos went off after Esmeraldo, just as his friend had
asked him to do.
“So small and yet so difficult to protect! I’m finding it
hard not to lose sight of you!”
And the waters were getting darker and darker…
When Carpos finally
reached the little sea horse Esmeraldo had turned into, it was because he had
stopped before two creatures from the very deep. They were quite phosphorescent
and their appearance was most discouraging. Their extremities resembled those
of an octopus but ended in long, strong fingers that looked as if they could
grasp and choke anything easily. Their round heads had two black holes for eyes
and their round mouths had teeth that surely were the envy of the fiercest of
sharks.
“Don’t touch him!” shouted
Carpos, and his voice spread weirdly about the heavy waters in which he
floated. “He is very dangerous!”
“This twit is dangerous?”
asked one of the creatures. He would have laughed, but laughing was not one of
his abilities.
Esmeraldo had turned
himself back into a fairy child and was about to open his mouth and deliver his
speech about how he was a bloody pirate and demanded instant and full respect but Carpos didn’t let him
speak.
“This kid is a wound up
time bomb. You had better believe me. Don’t get near him!” And he whispered to
Esmeraldo, “Let de do the talking. I know these guys.”
“What the devil are you
doing here, Greek boy? You and your friend never descend. You are surface creatures!”
“I come chasing after this
child. And to warn you that if you contradict him, something awful is sure to
happen. All he wants is to know if you keep any weapon below that is worthy of
becoming legendary.”
“What?” said the Abysmals.
And then a third creature
joined the other two. This was a female with a mist around her head that looked
like greenish hair and with teeth like pearls sharpened atrociously. This lady
wore a crown on her head.
“This is of interest to
me,” she said. “I will have a word with them. I know the father of the
teenager. He is one of the Greek winds. Not precisely my favorite wind, but an
okay fellow.”
And the queen said to Carpos,
never removing an eye from Esmeraldo, “I have what you are looking for. But
what will you offer me in exchange?”
“I can only offer fruit,”
said Carpos. “But it is most delicious. Of the best quality.”
“You have no idea what we
eat, do you, pretty boy? The fruits of the earth are of no use to us. All they
can do here is rot, Perhaps a ravenous fish will take a bite or two. No more.”
“But I can bring you fruit from the garden of
the Hesperides.”
“You mean oranges. Us eat oranges?
You think we can suffer from scurvy? Do you know what our favorite food is? It
is the air we tear from the lungs of those we drown. Bring me the ghost of the
lad Matheo, who was stolen from us, and then we can start to talk.”
And then Esmeraldo,
without saying a word, drew from his pocket a tiny model of an aircraft
carrier. And he made it grow back to its authentic size, knocking the abysmals
to a side with the movement the waters made to accomodate this ship.
Carpos lost his speech. He
had been humoring Esmeraldo, pretending to believe the tot was a fiend. And he
thougt he himself had been bluffing when he advised the Abysmals to beware of
the fairy babe. And now this!
“Show me what you have for
me, lady, for I have just showm you what I have for you!” Esmeraldo very
cockily spat at the queen of the abyss.