Chapter 14 - Riverside Rescue

The first hour or so of the boys journey went swiftly and quietly.  It went swiftly because the current was both gentle and steady.  It went quietly because the boys were deep in thought.

Andres' mind was focused on food.  He was rather miffed that Romanix had sent them off without so much as a snack.  He wondered when they'd ever enjoy a decent meal again--one where everyone sat down and relaxed, without having to gulp down their meal for fear of being caught by some jerk with a crooked jaw that was intent on killing them.  Andres just wanted some peace and quiet and food.

Cable, in the meantime, was trying to decide whether to be anxious or relieved.  He couldn't help but be a little anxious.  After all, he held a ring around his neck that was destined for the next King of Aberdeen.  Slumbutter and Dor-ko would stop at nothing to find him, tear it from his neck, and then kill him.  That was enough to unsettle any young boy, wasn't it?  At the same time, he was relieved to be out of the cave.  The cave was nice in that it was safe, but it was very confining.  He felt that he needed to be on the move.  There is nothing quite like the anxiety that a boy feels when he is forced to be still while there is a mission to be accomplished.

So the boys proceeded in silence as they moonlit trees passed them by.  But after awhile, Andres--who really hated the feeling of being alone--began to be rather unnerved by the extended quiet.  Finally, he spoke up.

"Cable, are you worried?" he asked.  He would have asked, "Are you hungry?" but that would have just made him more hungry.  He figured it was best to avoid the topic of food altogether.

"Yeah, I figure I'm probably kind of worried," Cable replied.

"Hmmm...would you say that you're a little bit worried, or a lot bit worried?" Andres asked.

"Well, I'd say that I'm a little bit worried.  Not a lot bit, but a little bit," said Cable.

Andres pondered this a moment.  Then he asked, "Don't you think that's strange?  I mean, here we are, riding down a river we've never been on before.  We're headed into a castle we've never seen before.  Bad guys are after us, trying to find the ring.  If they catch us, they'll probably kill us.  We have no idea how to actually get to the castle.  If we somehow get to the castle alive, we have no idea what we're going to do.  So it seems like it's pretty much hopeless.  We're just kids, right?  So why aren't we really really really worried?"

Cable appreciated the question.  Cable had been pondering these very thoughts for the last hour or so, and he liked how Andres had put it into words.  Brothers can do this, of course--no one has insight into the inner workings of a boy's mind than his brother.  Cable replied, "You're right, Andres.  We ought to be worried.  We ought to just give up and try and find our way home.  But you know, I'm starting to learn some stuff from this trip."

"Stuff like what?" Andres interrupted.

"Well, stuff like the time when we left Kylus' cave to look for the Hermit.  Do you remember how hungry we were when we saw that wagon on the road?  All we could think of was the food that we saw.  And so we chased after what we saw, instead of just following Kylus' orders.  That's when we got into trouble."

Andres had to jump in.  "Don't say 'we', Cable.  I was the one who ran out into the road.  You didn't do anything wrong."

"No, Andres, we both went out there.  I'm just as much to blame as you are.  But anyway, the point is this--sometimes it's much better to just do the things that you've been asked to do, whether you understand it or not.  Sometimes our eyes can fool us, right?  It's like there are two paths to follow--the path that seems good to our eyes, and the path that seems right to our heart.  As far as I'm concerned, we're on the path that seems right to our heart.  Plus, as far as I can figure, we're on the path that seems right to the High King.  So that's probably why we're not as worried as we ought to be."

Andres had to admit that Cable was right.  Time and again, when the boys had done the seemingly obvious thing to do--the path that seemed good to their eyes--they just got into trouble.  Andres had been in trouble many times before, and usually it didn't bother him too much.  But now it was a matter of life and death.  If ever there was a time to start to be obedient, this was it.

As they continued their drift down the moonlit stream, Andres piped up again.  "Hey Cable, you know what's kind of weird?  It was only about a week ago that we were fighting with bamboo sticks.  It was all just playing around.  Now it's for real.  When we get to that castle, we could be fighting for our lives.  It just seems strange to me that it could all change so quickly."

Cable didn't answer right away.  He glanced up at the moon, then down at the river, and then over at the riverbank.  He was trying to find the right words--trying to piece this puzzling quest together.  Finally, he spoke up.  "Hey Andres, do you remember the time we went searching for treasure in the middle of the night?  We'd seen that tall oak tree on that hill on the other side of the pond, so we pretended that it was flag that pointed to buried treasure.  But we didn't want anyone else to know.  So we snuck out at midnight and paddled across.  We pretended that the chipmunks and squirrels were really lions and tigers.  So we shot 'em with our slingshots.  We pretended that bamboo sticks were like machetes, and we slashed our way through a pretend jungle.  When we got to the top of the hill, we pretended that the acorns were gold nuggets, and we filled our pockets with them.  Then we slashed our way back to the shore.  When we got there, we were hungry.  So we grabbed a big log, pretended it was a cannon, and thumped a jackrabbit with it.  We started a fire and cooked the poor critter, but as far as we were concerned, we were eating wild antelope.  Then we crossed back to our side of the pond.  When we got out, we drove our bamboo into the ground and pretended like we'd claimed a new land for the king.  Then we laid out under the stars and went to sleep."

Andres nodded as Cable told the tale.  Andres didn't actually remember the part about the jackrabbit, but he didn't want to let the truth get in the way of a good story.  So he let it go.

Then Cable asked, "Andres, do you remember what Dad did when he woke us up beside the pond the next morning?"

Andres replied, "Yeah, I think he scolded us a little bit, maybe spanked us, and then made us go to our room or something.  It wasn't anything too bad."

"Yes, that's right--it wasn't anything too bad," Cable said.  "Well, while you were on your bed taking a nap, I crawled over to the door and listened to Mama talk with Dad.  And Mama said, 'Torey, if those boys keep playing like that, they're gonna get killed some day!'  And Dad said, 'Hannah, remember this.  The boys aren't just pretending, and they aren't just playing.  Hannah, they are practicing.'

"Well," Cable continued, "I think they were right.  The time we spent playing around was getting us ready for this trip.  That's another reason why we're not as worried as maybe we could be.  Do you remember what Mama said just before we fled from our home?"

"You bet I do," replied Andres.  "She said something like, 'This is the job you've been prepared for these past ten years, ever since you first came.'  I was confused at the time.  And I still can't figure it out."

"I don't really understand the 'ever since you first came' part of it, either," said Cable.  "But the first part--the part about being prepared--well, I guess I kind of understand that.  Dad knew we were preparing for something.  That's why he wasn't too hard on us when we when boating in the middle of the night.  We were practicing.  And now we've just gone on to the real thing."

With that observation, the canoe once again descended into silence.  This was the boys' second canoe ride on their quest, and Cable especially had come to appreciate them.  All the other times, they were actually doing something, and they almost had no time to think.  But the canoe rides provided some time for the boys to reflect on all that had just happened.  Cable was glad for the chance to give his body a rest and to let his mind work a little bit.

As the boys continued to paddle downstream into the unknown, the moon intermittently moved behind some high, thin clouds.  During those time, Andres--the more intuitive of the brothers--came to sense something.  It seemed as though the riverbank was lined with people that were watching them and silently cheering them on.  Andres was almost certain that hundreds of people were emerging from the woods to watch the boys and wish them well.  But every time the moon emerged from the clouds, it seemed as though the people disappeared.

Finally, Andres spoke again.  "Hey Cable," he half-whispered.

"What?" Cable replied.

"Do you get the feeling that we're being watched?" Andres asked.

"Well, I'm sure Dor-ko and his gang are looking for us.  I hope they aren't watching us just yet," said Cable.

"No, that's not it.  I'm wondering if you feel like anyone else is watching--some of the good guys."

Cable strained his eyes and looked toward shore.  As he examined the riverbank in the faint moonlight, he too thought he saw dozens of pairs of silent eyes looking at him.  "Yes, now I see it," Cable said.  "Or, at least I think I see it."

"Yeah," Andres said, relieved that it wasn't his imagination.  "I think there are all kinds of people out there, and it's like they want to say that they are rooting for us.  But Slumbutter and Dor-ko have been in charge for so long, that they are afraid to say anything.  So they just silently watch and cheer.  Oh well, I don't blame them for being quiet.  I just wish I could see them more clearly."

"It's like everything else on this trip," Cable interjected.  "The best stuff is the stuff that's a little hard to see, but is just as real.  I don't know about you, but knowing that people are cheering us on is enough for me.  Let's keep going."  And the boys paddled with renewed vigor. 

After another hour or so, the boys were encouraged yet again.  For when their stomachs started to grumble, they instinctively reached for their satchels.  Inside, they found some sticks of smoked meat.  It appeared that Brandonio had snuck them some snacks when they weren't looking!  Cable began to feel a little guilty for getting so annoyed at the little man.  The boys sunk their teeth into the meat and were refreshed yet again.

As morning began to dawn, and the silent witnesses by the side of the river began to fade from view, the boys came to a fork in the river.  Cable began to panic.  "Hey, Romanix never said anything about a fork!" he cried.  "What are we supposed to do now?"

Andres began to look around for the owl, who had seemingly given guidance to them every other time they faced a difficult choice.  But he was nowhere to be seen.  And now the current was picking up.  The time of decision was upon them.

Finally, Andres said, "Maybe they both work.  Let's go to the left."  Cable didn't find that too convincing, but he was glad that at least they'd reached a decision.  He steered the canoe to the left.  The current was swift as the river narrowed a bit after the fork.  The boys maneuvered through intermittent whitewater for about 10 minutes.  Then the river broadened.

And then the boys realized that the river had just emptied into a pond.  At first, they hoped that this was near their destination.  But as they looked around in the increasing light, they saw nothing but shoreline and trees.  There was no castle, there were no building, there were no people.

"Great," mumbled Cable.  "Wrong choice.  I knew we should have gone right."

"You're the one that was steering!" said Andres.  "If you thought we should have gone right, why didn't you?"

"Because you sounded so sure that we should go left!" argued Cable.  "You make it sound like your the expert, and then you lead us to some dead-end!"

"Hey, you're the oldest!  You're supposed to know what to do!" yelled Andres.  "Just because you did something dumb, don't blame it on me!"

And with that, the boys stood up and moved toward the middle of the canoe.  They were tired, and their nerves were frayed, and they did what brothers have done for generations--they fought.  But this was a short-lived fight.  For as soon as Andres threw a punch, Cable grabbed his arm, and together they plunged into the water.  The cool water seemed to cool their heads, and eventually they gave up fighting and just started swimming.

But their frolic in the river was abruptly ended by a piercing scream.  "Help!" a high-pitched voice yelled.  "I need help!  Please!  Please!!!"

The boys turned to their right.  About 20 yards away, they saw a young person standing on the shoreline.  It appeared to be a girl.  She had a pouch in her hand, but her attention was directed to the woodline.  As the boys listened, they could hear howling.  "Wolves!" bellowed Andres.  "Let's go!"

With that, the boys swam with all their might toward the shore.  The screams from the girl continued to come; she didn't even seem to notice that the boys were behind her.  Andres and Cable watched as the wolves slowly approached the girl, their mouths open and slobbering.  "Grab your dagger!" yelled Cable.

Andres reached for his satchel and tried to find his dagger.  But in the panic of the moment, his fumbling hand simply couldn't find it.  And the wolves were closing in on the girl.  So when he reached the shoreline, he did the only thing he could think of.  And a very brave thing it was.  He simply ran to the girl and jumped on her.  The attacking wolves sunk their teeth into his arm, but he wouldn't let go.  He just gasped and grasped the girl as close as he could.  As he kept her covered, he heard what seemed like a distant voice in the background, telling him not to give up.  Then, when he couldn't take the pain any more, he passed out.