Cale and the Hidden Stones, page 10
He began to walk along one of the many thin, wandering tracks that radiated from the main walking trail. Rosie followed, trying to capture that way of looking that she had used before. There were no barriers or warning signs and the layered rock, like grey and brown chocolate cake, simply ended abruptly in a sheer drop. They went carefully.
They began to see brief, unexpected movements. A shadow scuttling across a granite shelf might have been a lizard, but the shape was all wrong and it seemed to disappear into the rock itself rather than into a crevice. Large eyes peering at them from a low bushy tree could have been a bird, but they blinked and then were gone without any rustling.
As they wandered along the tracks at the peak, bemused by the tantalising hints of a world unseen, they were hailed by a voice.
“Hello,” said the same boy from earlier in the day, smiling down at them with his broad, genial face. “I see you made it to the top. Great view isn’t it?”
He was sitting on a large, blue and grey granite ledge a little above their head height. He had obviously been watching them approach. His large open face was without guile, not hiding his curiosity. He spoke what was on his mind.
“You looking for something?” he asked inquisitively.
Cale was taken aback and was about to make a tart response when Rosie spoke up first.
“Nothing special,” she replied, “just looking at the great view.”
She knew from her own experience that Cale’s defensiveness would just inflame the boy’s curiosity and she glared at Cale as he began to make his own response. He stopped. She smiled up at the boy and then she and Cale moved off. The boy wasn’t offended and said a cheery goodbye as they left him behind.
“Hope he stays out of our way,” fumed Cale as they continued their search. “We don’t need him messing things up.”
Rosie smiled, knowing that this was exactly how Cale had thought of her. She thought the boy seemed harmless, but they couldn’t do their task if he got in the way. They needed to find the fragment.
“I think we are getting close,” Cale said after a while.
He was getting the same excited feeling he’d had on the church tower. The stone fragment must be nearby. The blue granite outcrop ahead had a bright red streak on one layer, a band of different stone blended into the ancient blue granite. They had forgotten this clue but were fumbling their way closer.
They had also forgotten about the mischievous guardian of the stone. But he hadn’t overlooked them. He wasn’t dozing in a brief patch of warm sun, welcome though that would have been after the recent wet days. He was darting all over the plateau of his little domain, and these two had caught his attention. They were looking for something. Was it his treasure? Always suspicious, he followed them. One of them pointed a hand and the other looked. They both muttered and he realised that they had seen one of the little earth creatures that shared his domain. This made him dance a little pirouette in agitation. It had been many, many years since beings with the sight had walked his domain. And they were looking for something and getting very close to his treasure. It was in the place it had been put by the young man, so many years ago. He chuckled at the memory and how he had played such a game with the youngster until he had cried “enough” and fled the hilltop without the treasure.
His anger rose as he decided his treasure was in danger and he hissed out loud. They looked around at the sound but he ducked out of view. Careful, careful he told himself. No way of knowing what powers they had. His anger gave way to a sly cunning. This was his little kingdom, and he knew how best to proceed. He began by raising the mist, always his favourite tool and this day the conditions were perfect. As the mist began to form, he summoned the swarm of small, almost invisible creatures that also shared the plateau. They were his secret weapon. Hidden by the mist, they would swarm amongst the intruders and addle and confuse. They were not malicious in their own right, but he had trained them over an age to do his bidding and they would respond, creeping silently from their hidden lairs and burrows, rising into the air, comfortable in the shelter of the thickening mist.
These brazen thieves would not profit from their intrusion to his home.
Cale and Rosie noticed the wind die suddenly and the temperature drop. Before long a thick mist had risen about the plateau, and they could only see a short distance in any direction. At the same time, their thoughts went fuzzy and their wits became addled. It was like they could hear many little voices in their heads. Rosie said they should go this way and Cale said that way. Their voices sounded odd to each other in the heavy mist. They were oblivious to the raised voices of other hikers in the distance. One voice called their names.
Cale thought it would be a good idea to climb higher and get a view. He ignored Rosie’s biting comments and climbed a steep and impossibly difficult rock face, where the overhang was larger at the top. Rosie gave up on him and thought she would go down from the increasingly damp plateau and plunged ahead heedlessly in a direction she thought was down. The treacherous one chuckled to himself. He was in his element and his treasure was safe. They had come close, but now they would dance to his tune. No holding back today. This would be a triumph to remember.
Suddenly the fresh-faced boy appeared out of the mist. He grabbed Rosie by the arm, just as she was about to step off a sheer ledge into a nasty fall. She struggled for a moment and then her wits returned and she looked down and stepped back.
“What are you doing?” the boy said. “It’s dangerous. Where’s your friend?”
They both looked around and Cale was nowhere to be seen. The mist was getting thicker, but Rosie’s mind had cleared and she refused to be fooled again so easily. Her native stubbornness came to the fore and she ignored the buzzing voices in her mind.
The mischievous creature hopped on one leg and strained his face with frustration. He had seen the round-faced boy earlier and decided he was harmless, wandering without a clue. Now the fool was foiling his plan and ignoring the swarm. It was going wrong, and they were so close to his treasure.
Now that Rosie could think again, she realised that the mist and the confusion were malevolent. Indeed, to be expected. She decided to take a chance and spoke to the boy.
“We’re looking for a special stone,” she said, “and some creature who lives here is trying to stop us.” She blushed as she said this but defied him to mock her.
He looked bemused but said nothing. She cast her eyes about desperately, peering through the damp mist, looking for a clue. They must be close to have triggered such a response. She could see the rock with a red streak clearly despite the mist.
“There it is,” she said, elated, spying a stone fragment very similar to the one they had already retrieved. “The red, we forgot the red.”
It seemed to be lightly wedged into a broad niche in the rock layer. It was in plain sight for those who could see, but hidden from those without the sight. As she looked more closely, she could see that it was partly sunken into the rock. She took a few quick steps towards the stone, reaching out with both hands. She grasped the stone but couldn’t move it. She looked even more closely, expecting to see something holding onto the stone. But nothing was there. The buzzing intensified. Distracted by finding the stone, she had stopped fighting the constant stream of voices in her head and became a little dazed.
The boy watched her move towards the rock face and grab at a stone. He could see it was different to the other rock. She struggled for a moment but couldn’t budge it. Then she suddenly stepped back and began the same confused wandering which had nearly led her over the edge before.
The boy was puzzled. He stood watching her and thinking a slow thought.
The creature was now exerting the full force of his own deceptive power, calling on all his age-old strength and experience, and that of his little allies. He would not be deprived of his treasure and, in his anger, he would clear the high place of all these troublesome creatures. The grey mist thickened.
Cale was high on a dangerous ledge, sitting calmly and waiting for the mist to clear.
Rosie wandered, confused, getting closer to an edge and a dangerous fall.
All over the plateau, confused people began to rush about in the mist in misguided attempts to get somewhere. Many were in danger of serious injury as they went about, heedless of the plateau’s perils. Everyone was in the thrall of the hilltop’s mischievous resident and his allies.
All except one.
The boy strode purposefully towards the stone fragment, vaguely aware of the swarming creatures that commanded him to look elsewhere. The powerful will opposed to him, but he refused to yield to the relentless demands. In the face of adversity his mind was clear, and he didn’t deviate from his purpose. He moved like a person walking into a strong wind, slow and dogged, single minded and determined.
He hummed aloud and said to himself, “Get the stone, get the stone.” He persisted.
The creature redoubled his efforts and the little gnat-like creatures gathered in a dense swarm around the boy, in such numbers as to be visible, leaving the other climbers alone. Silence fell over the plateau as if all else was frozen in place, except for the slowly moving boy, the dense mass of swarming creatures, and the master of the hilltop.
The boy reached out for the stone fragment with both hands, mind clear and fully focussed. It came easily from the rock into his grasp, and he held it up with both hands. The swarm fled before the raised stone fragment’s sudden burst of light. The creature’s howl rang out over the clouded plateau. His treasure was lost, and he was exhausted and defeated. The boy’s mind had been a rock upon which he had broken.
The creature slunk off to lick his wounds and mourn his lost treasure, not knowing he had been the guardian. A fresh breeze rose strongly up the hill face, sweeping away the mist and scattering the remaining unseen midge-like creatures. All over the plateau, people returned to their own minds. Many found themselves in precarious positions and scrambled back from danger. Rosie was one of these.
“Is this what you wanted?” the boy asked Rosie in his loud clear voice, holding the second stone fragment in one large hand.
“You did it,” said Rosie in an awed voice.
“How did I get up here?” asked Cale from high above their heads.
They looked up at his pale face. He was not sure how he had got there and was truly scared about getting down.
“How will I get down?” Cale asked.
“It isn’t hard,” said the boy, taking all the strangeness in his stride, “come down backwards.”
Cale was afraid and froze for a moment. The place they stood seemed a great distance below him. Reluctantly, he turned over onto his stomach and began to descend. Rosie bit back her impatience with his hesitation as they watched him crawl down backwards, on his belly. He quickly lost his grip, slipping and sliding, until finally he tumbled clear of the overhanging ledge and fell the last distance to the ground.
Rosie and the boy held their breath, waiting for the solid thump as Cale hit the ground, but instead the ground seemed to swallow him and then spat him back to the surface. He lay gasping, shaken but not hurt, sprawled on the dirt at their feet. Rosie helped him up and he smiled wryly at his good fortune. He still didn’t understand what had happened, but he was grateful. He was also covered in fine grit. This was all strangely familiar. The breeze was cool on his face and the sun was warm.
Life was good, he decided.
He dusted himself down and looked in amazement at the boy holding the second stone fragment.
“Do you want it then?” asked the boy, now offering the fragment to Cale. Cale took it in his hands and went thoughtful. He realised how easily they had been fooled and how lucky they were that this unremarkable boy had been there.
He gave it back to him.
“You got it when Rosie and I couldn’t,” he said. “Keep it for us. When we get down, we’ll explain everything to you.” The boy grinned as he took back the stone.
“I’m Peter,” he said with a large, open smile. They both smiled back.
Cale’s father appeared suddenly, obviously relieved to find them safe and sound. He’d had a few very frightening minutes in the fog and worse afterwards when he had feared the worst.
“This is Peter our new friend,” Cale said to his father.
Cale suddenly felt something slip into place. Three stone fragments and three seekers. Everything would be alright. Now they just needed the third stone.
***
A long way away the earth creature sat patiently on the warm, rocky surface, waiting for the great wind.
Change was coming and he was eager to fly.
He looked towards the west, towards the great sea, and felt the pressure building. Soon, very soon.
Chapter 12: The stone giant
The descent was more difficult than Cale had expected. After their unexpected triumph at the peak, they had set out in high spirits to return to their campsite. Walking down the steep rocky path was more tiring than the climb to the top. He hadn’t expected that. His leg muscles complained from stepping continuously down. They were not accustomed to such prolonged effort and soon Cale lagged behind. Cale’s father descended more quickly and was soon out of sight of the three friends.
Peter carried the stone fragment effortlessly in his backpack and didn’t find the descent difficult. His large frame had a deceptive, effortless strength. Rosie did most of the talking, explaining what they knew and why they had come to the peak. Peter took the information in his stride. Cale struggled to keep up. He begged them to stop as he sat on a flat rock a little off the path.
“We know that two fragments were sent south, and now we’ve found them,” he said, happy for them to sit for a while. “But that must have happened a long time ago. All we know about the third is who had it. We need more clues. What happened to him? Where did he go? Where is the third stone now?”
He pulled his notebook out from his backpack and read back to them the notes he’d made. It seemed such a long time ago, but it had only been a month or so. They resumed their descent, speaking little now as they pondered how to go about the next step.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said the ranger to Cale’s father. “Out of the blue, as I stood here watching, the cloud seemed to rise up the sides of the old hill and smother the top. Just like that,” he said again, “out of thin air.” He said this with some discomfort, having pronounced the climb safe despite cautionary words from his predecessor about the sudden changes in weather at the top. “Still, it all blew over quickly and no damage done,” he said with a note of relief.
He smiled wryly, realising how close to disaster they had all come. He’d learnt a lesson.
***
The following morning, they packed up their camp and headed home.
Cale and Rosie found themselves stopping for lunch at the Porongurup Range. This was a popular detour for campers returning from the more distant and taller Stirling Range. Peter and his father had also stopped. Rosie made sure that Cale’s parents met Peter’s father and they shared a table during their picnic lunch. They would go in different directions from here on their way home. It was the last day of the long weekend, and work and school would resume the following day.
“So, we agree,” said Cale. “Peter will keep the stone.”
“Sure,” Peter replied. He hefted his backpack, showing that he had it in his safe possession.
“And you can come and visit,” said Rosie. “You are not so far from where I live in Perth. I can introduce you to Uncle Andrew, and you can see his yard. And I can show you the other stone.”
“Two down,” said Peter. “One to go.”
“Exactly,” said Rosie.
“It will be weeks before I can get back to the city,” said Cale with frustration.
“Nothing to be done about that,” said Rosie with a smile. “We wouldn’t do anything without you, and we don’t even know where to start.”
After lunch, the three children explored the forest around the campsite, while the adults had coffee made on a little gas burner and enjoyed their last moments of freedom. The picnic area was nestled between two peaks in the heart of the range, part of an older and smaller group of hills than the range where they had climbed, but still significant. This part of the country, like most of the south, was very ancient. It had not experienced the grinding of glaciers or the upheaval of volcanoes as most of the Earth had.
The bush at the lower level was characterised by stands of massive gum trees. Some were vast in girth and the three children could all hide behind one. The soil suited these forest giants, and they were well established. Occasionally the heart of a large tree was hollowed out by lightning striking the tree top and travelling to the ground, causing the tree to burn. These trees continued to survive, and the hollowed niche left behind was often large enough for all three children and more beside. As the ground rose, the trees were eventually replaced by larger granite outcrops and straggly, fragrant scrub with a few sparse trees, lesser in size.
They were taking one of the circular paths, clearly marked and popular with walkers. It rose a little into the surrounding hills but didn’t climb to either peak. The path was broad and formed from hard-packed dull red earth, occasionally with loose gravel. After some time, they rested near a granite boulder that protruded from the earth like a buried marble. As they sat with their backs to the rough granite surface, in a patch of filtered sunlight, they grew drowsy.
Two figures were walking down the path, though the path was much narrower and the trees were smaller.
“The time will come to wake the giant. Not soon, but it will come,” said the older man to a much younger one.
This was the young man who’d carried the second stone fragment to its hiding place. He was much changed, looking hale and healthy, walking with vigour through the dappled sunlight.
“Why did you show me?” he asked the older man.
“You have played a part in a great drama and your life cannot be lived in ignorance,” said the older man. “What you carried still lingers on you and opened the way to us. The giant is one of the great mysteries and it is right you should know. How this is important, I do not know, but I felt it was right.”
