312 The Abysmals

 

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  rock 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, Matheo! 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. Thinking he was bluffing, the youth said, “This kid is a wound up time bomb. You had better believe me. Don’t get near him!” And he whispered to Esmeraldo, “Let me 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, but 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 may 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.