“Look, if you fancy getting cut to ribbons by the razor wire, then go ahead. But don’t expect me to follow you. I’m being skinned alive already by this gorse!”
As dawn broke, a glimmer of sunlight bathed the moors in its soft, pale glow and the earth began to shiver. It was an illusion caused by several clumps of gorse and hawthorn creeping steadily down from the hills. Only the sharpest eye could have detected human figures underneath these bushes, dressed in greens and browns and wriggling soundlessly towards the Babel Retreat where Odi and Joe slept fitfully.
At last, the party – some thirty men and women, along with Miles and Alice – reached a hollow where they could hide as they planned their mission.
The big challenge was to find a way in. “Can’t we swim the moat?” someone asked.
“Doubtful” said Larch. “It’s not so much a moat as a river – and the current’s too strong!”
Larch nodded. “Aye, even the strongest swimmer would be swept away.”
“Maybe we could build a boat or something,” suggested Alice.
“Nah, same problem,” said Larch “It’d be smashed to pieces.”
“And even if we could get across, the walls must be several feet thick,” Beech added miserably. The needle-sharp spines from the gorse were pricking him and he was suffering from lack of sleep.
“That’s no problem. We’ll climb over the top,” said Laurel. “After all, we have our ropes.”
Beech sighed. “Look, if you fancy getting cut to ribbons by the razor wire, then go ahead.” he remarked. “But don’t expect me to follow you. I’m being skinned alive already by this gorse!”
“It’s impossible!” Larch groaned. “We’ve walked all night for nothing!”
“Well, I’m stumped!” said Roots.
Faced with defeat, some of the tree folk started moaning. Some about their blisters, some about their aching backs, and some about the lukewarm tea Laurel provided.
This was too much for Gordon. “Oh, for pity’s sake!” he cried. “What a load of wimps! You’re pathetic! That poor wee laddie inside needs our help and look at us! Come on, guys – where’s your spirit? Or have you lost your guts along with your brains?”
Stung, Beech snapped back at him. “No-one’s backing out of this,” he said. “but, for the life of me, I can’t see how we get into the wretched place!”
“Well, moaning won’t help, will it? Yer daft girl’s blouse!” In response, Beech thrust his mud-caked face into the Scotsman’s. Gordon glared back at him and the pair stood forehead to forehead, daring the other to blink. With all the foliage on their backs, they looked like two particularly angry hedgehogs.
“Call ME a girl’s blouse!” growled Beech “that’s good coming from a man in a frock!”
“Ya, yer daft, wee plonker!” Gordon replied. “I’ll have you know this kilt was worn by my ancestors at Bannockburn in 1314!”
“Then it’s high time you washed it, then, in’it!” Yelled Beech, now dangerously close to a Glasgow kiss. Fortunately for him, Laurel intervened.
“This isn’t getting us anywhere!” she exclaimed. “Stop arguing, we need to think!” Still muttering under his breath, Beech stood back from the fierce glare of his colleague. “Now,” said Laurel “has anyone any idea how we’re going to get into Babel?”
There was silence as the company tried to come up with a solution. Every so often, someone would say “I know!” and then lapse into disappointment again on realising their plan was unworkable.
Eventually, it was Alice who spoke. “I remember…..” “Yes?” The tree people turned and looked at her hopefully. “Well,” she said, “it’s just something I learned in history once. It’s probably not anything, really…”
“Anything’s better than nothing!” said Larch. “Go on, lass, spill.”
“Well,” Alice began, hesitantly, conscious of 30 pairs eyes boring into her. “Well, there was another Babel, an ancient city somewhere in the East, I can’t quite remember where, exactly…”
“Go on Alice,” urged Laurel. Alice cleared her throat and continued. “Well, it had a huge river round it, like this place, and the walls were as thick as….as thick as….”
“As Beech’s head!” growled Gordon to be greeted with shushing noises all round and a raised fist by Beech.
“Well, very, very thick,” said Alice. “Anyway, this king came along with his army and decided to attack the city and he set siege to it and then he…..stopped up the river. The river dried up, you see?” This was met by another silence which made Alice feel uncomfortable, especially as Miles was smirking at her in that irritating way he had. “Well, that’s what happened!”
Larch’s gaze changed from one of puzzlement to one of admiration. “That’s brilliant!” he cried. “By ‘eck, Alice! I think you’ve cracked it! Right, come on everybody, there’s no time to lose!”
“What do you want us to do?” asked Laurel.
“Find as many stones and rocks as possible,” said Larch. “and then we’re going to track all the streams to their sources, and then we’re going to divert them away from the river!”
The rest of his companions shook their heads with confusion.
“We’re going to stop the streams!” said Larch. “Dam them all, ‘cos there’ll be no stopping us!”
Chapter 7
Suddenly, from the depths, a huge head appeared, scaly and fierce. It leapt upwards through the ring of the cradle and its jaws opened wide, displaying jagged, terrifying teeth.
Joe and Odi woke up to an enormous gong which Sister Wisteria was pounding mercilessly. “Breakfast!” she yelled at the top of her voice. “Come and get it before it goes cold!”
The table in the middle of the dormitory had already been set with spoons, a jug of water, two plastic cups and two bowls of lumpy porridge. Still sleepy, the boys took their places at the table and eyed the meal with suspicion. “Hey, Sister Hysteria,” said Odi.
“Wisteria, Odi!” replied the nun. “My name’s Wisteria, as well you know!”
“Whatever…” came the reply “you don’t expect us to eat this gloop, do you?”
“That’s all you’re getting,” said Wisteria “and you must eat every single scrap. After all, we need to fatten you up for Leviathan!” She giggled and turned to go, but then she paused. Perhaps it was her conscience. “Look,” she said, not unkindly, “This could be a long day. Why not find yourselves something nice to read? There are plenty of books in here.” She waved vaguely in the direction of a rickety shelf on which stood several large volumes, covered in cobwebs.
“Let’s see if there are any with pictures in.” Wisteria selected the first that came to hand and dumped it on the table, creating a cloud of dust. “There!” she exclaimed, triumphantly, “I think you’ll enjoy that. A little light reading before lunch.” Giggling again, she left the boys to it.
“No need to get hysterical about it.” Odi called after her, determined to have the last word. “We don’t want any more hysteria here!” Feeling he’d got the best of the argument, he chuckled with glee. Joe was still bleary eyed from the sleepless night before and couldn‘t see the joke.
“What’s up Dude?” said Odi “Not awake yet?”
“I wish I wasn’t!” came the sad reply. He picked up the book and opened it at random, somewhere near the middle. It was a heavy book with a faded leather cover and the pages were yellow with age. Gingerly, Joe began to turn the pages, afraid they might crumble at his touch. Each page had been penned by hand in beautiful ornate writing and decorated with squirls of gold and crimson.
“Read us a story,” Odi suggested, “it might help me forget how awful this food is.” He was particularly upset that the secret passageway to the larder had now been blocked so there’d be no more midnight feasts and, as a result was feeling rather resentful towards Joe. He was just about to say as much when, fortunately for Joe, he had a brainwave.
“Hey, maybe it’s a magic book!” he exclaimed excitedly. “See if there’s a spell to get us out of here.”
But Joe wasn’t listening. After leafing through the volume, he stopped at no page in particular and squinted at the old-fashioned letters in front of him, trying to make out their meaning. Suddenly, one phrase in particular caught his attention.
“What does it say, Joe?” asked Odi, intrigued at the way Joe’s eyes widened like saucers.
Joe began to mouth the words and, as he did so, he felt that he’d been lifted into another world where, for one brief moment, there was no Babel, no Odi and no sinister figure lurking in the doorway.
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you…'” Joe whispered, and would have gone on reading but, to his horror, the book slammed shut in his face, its dust making him sneeze. He looked up into the sneering face of Sister Prism.
“So!” she said, “I trust you slept well.”
“Not really,” replied Odi “You made too much noise with your Puff Daddy impressions last night…’Get yourself a pan and make a load of jam, cos I want to make you sweet, but you sure got stinky feet….’
“Silence!” bellowed Prism. “If it’s poetry you want, young man, try this little ditty: ‘gonna throw you in the pit where Leviathan will hit, and you’ll be throwing fits when he minces you to bits…'”
“Hey, Sister…..you don’t have the rhythm…..”
“You never learn, do you Odi?” Sister Prism remarked “you never know quite when to shut that irritating mouth of yours. Anyway, my business isn’t with you. I’m more interested in this young man. Good Morning Joe.” When Joe didn’t respond, Prism’s face hardened, and her teeth began to grind. “I said ‘Good Morning, Joe’!”
Joe folded his arms and refused to budge. Prism leaned over the table, almost enveloping Joe in the folds of her robe which, to his surprise, smelled strongly of perfume. For a moment, he thought she was about to hit him, but instead, her face relaxed and, almost smiling, the woman stood back and casually adjusted her headdress.
“Oh well,” she said matter of factly, “in a few hours’ time, you’ll have plenty to say for yourself. What’s more you’ll be bowing, and scraping, and crawling with the rest of them! I promise you, boy, before this day is out, you’ll realise there’s one Divinity around here you don’t ever want to cross……and that’s ME!” With an imperious sweep of her robes, Prism left the room, confident of her forthcoming victory. “Bring them down!” she commanded the two nunjas who’d accompanied her, “I want to get this over with before lunch.”
“Wow!” exclaimed Odi. “She is one mean lady!”
As if Sister Prism had not already done her utmost to frighten Joe into obedience, the scene confronting him and Odi as they entered the Great Hall was truly unnerving. At one end, the dragon dominated the room, its presence more awesome and disturbing than ever. Most of the nunjas were standing silently with their heads bowed and hands hidden by the wide sleeves of their habits. A small group of nunjas, including Wisteria, started humming some kind of dirge while drumming their staffs on the floor to a heart-lurching throb, all in perfect rhythm except for Sister Wisteria who, as usual, was half a beat behind.
In the middle of the room, the floorboards had been removed, exposing a round hole. “Looks like the gasmen have been” whispered Odi, trying to sound braver than he felt. One of the nunjas who’d escorted the boys from the dormitory pushed them closer to the hole and dropped a stone into the gaping abyss to demonstrate how deep it was. The humming stopped as the assembly waited, listening for the stone to hit the bottom. They waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, a faint splash could be heard, and a murmur of approval went around the hall.
“Well Joe?” Sister Prism positioned herself in front of the image. “Are you going to bow to our Divinity?”
He shook his head. Odi turned his neck to stare at him in amazement. “Look, man, maybe you’d like to reconsider the situation. I mean, come ON, it’s just a pole with some carving on it! Maybe we should just do as the lady says?”
But Joe would not be moved. Prism, having lost what little patience she had, snapped her fingers. Almost immediately, a strange metal cradle began to descend from the ceiling. Attached to a long chain, it was round in shape but with no middle, rather like a polo mint made of steel, its rim less than half a metre wide. Everyone watched attentively as it slowly descended towards the mouth of the pit.
“Now then.” said Prism, “this is an unusual means of transport. This cradle is what we use to lower people down into the pit. It’s a sort of lift with one subtle difference, which you may already have noticed, namely the lack of a floor. Some people might think whoever made it was somewhat careless…..however, there is a purpose to it, so perhaps you’ll bear with me while I explain.
‘The rim, or circle, around the edge is where you’ll be standing, Joe. There’s just enough room for your tender little feet and, of course, there’s a bar for you to hold onto….a bit like strap-hanging on a tube. The question is….for how long? Unfortunately, sooner or later, even the strongest arms will tire. Then the person has to let go and…..splash!”
‘Pop onto it, Joe and try is for size. Ahhhh, I see you’re shaking your head again, what a surprise!” She grinned malevolently and turned to the nunjas who were holding Joe firmly. “Put him on!”
“No!” cried Joe and started squirming.
“What? What’s that you say?” said Prism.
“Let me go!” Joe yelled “Please! I don’t want to go in the pit!”
He was now kicking and wriggling with all his might, but the nunjas were far too strong for him.
“Then bow to the divinity!” Sister Prism commanded.
“No!” said Joe “I won’t!”
“Bow!” she insisted.
“Won’t!” relied Joey. Sister Prism began to pace up and down in frustration. “You are the most stubborn child I have ever, ever, ever…..!” she sighed at her own impatience. “I need a moment to contain myself.”
She started to breathe deeply, exhaling with an ‘Ohmmm’ each time. As the rest of the nunjas fell silent, there was another sound, awesome and terrifying, turning Joe’s knees to mush. It was a primitive, animal sound, a deep and menacing, growling sound rising up from the bowels of hell.
If it scared the boys, however, with Prism it had the opposite effect. She smiled calmly, as though enjoying a wonderful memory. “Of course, it isn’t as though you’d drown,” she continued evenly, “Leviathan would see to that.” She turned to Sister Wisteria. “Fetch some meat. Perhaps a nice juicy piece of steak.”
“Actually, I just happen to have a little something up my sleeve!” said Wisteria and produced a huge chunk of beef with an exultant ‘Yes!’ Her superior nodded approvingly. “You know what to do.”
“Oh, thank you, Sister!” Wisteria blushed with pride at this unexpected privilege. Leaning over the pit, she cooed sweetly “Come on, Darling, snackie whackies for diddums!” and dropped the meat.
Again, there was a long silence. Suddenly, everyone heard splashing followed by a loud gnashing noise from the bottom of the pit.
Joe and Odi looked at each other with alarm.
“Oh, he does love his little treats!” sighed Sister Wisteria. “Yes, diddums DOES love his little morsels then!”
“He’ll love this one, even more!” cried Prism and pointed at Joe whose face had turned the colour of chalk. “Now will you bow?!” she demanded.
To say Joe was petrified would be an understatement. In fact, no word in the dictionary could fully describe his feelings at that moment. The nunjas’ vice-like grip was impossible to break. He was surrounded by enemies. Even Odi was urging him to bow, his usually bright face as drawn and anxious as his own. Where could he turn? Who would help him? All he could think of to do was to close his eyes as tight as tight could be. “Help me, Mr. Big?” he whispered.
“Well!” Sister Prism had made up her mind. No one, least of all this skinny brat, was going to defy her. If he refused to obey, Joe would be Leviathan’s lunch.
“Well! Which is it to be?! Will you bow to the divinity or go down into the pit?” said Prism.
But Joe didn’t hear her. Instead, he remembered the words he’d read earlier, which now resounded in his head:
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you.”
An extraordinary calm came over him. Somehow, he felt that no matter what happened, he was going to be all right.
“Are you going to bow down? Well? Well?!” Prism was confident the answer would be ‘Yes‘. Who said she didn’t have a way with children?
Joe looked up at her with his huge brown eyes.
“No!” he said. “I will never bow down.” And Prism knew she’d lost.
Still, she wasn’t one to dwell on things. It was time to be practical. “Very well, put him in the pit. He’ll make a very tasty snack, I’m sure!”
Immediately, the nunjas began to force Joe onto the metal rim. Prism now fixed her attention on Odi. “And you!”
“Me?” said Odi. “Hey, I’m just a bystander in all this. I’ve not caused you any grief, Sister Prism. I thought you and me were cool here!”
“Well you thought wrong!” replied Prism. Smarting from her defeat, she was now in a mood to cause as much suffering as possible. “Although, I must admit, I have enjoyed our little banters…..”
“There, you see….” Odi sighed with relief.
“But you’ll still have to bow to the divinity. Go on Odi, show Joe how it’s done. Let it be the last thing he’ll ever see.”
Two more nunjas frog-marched Odi up to the pole with the dragon on top of it. He protested at this rough treatment, only to be dumped on the floor. “Ouch!” he cried, then, rubbing his bottom, rose to his feet and looked up at the ‘divinity’.
“Hurry up, Odi, you’re keeping us waiting!” said Prism, now anxious to be rid of Joe.
“If I do, will you let Joe off?!“ asked Odi. “You wouldn’t really drop him down the pit, now, would you?“
“Oh,” replied Prism “Well, let’s see. Shall we put it to the vote sisters? Who’d like the blasphemer to stay with us?” No one spoke. “Who thinks Joe should meet Leviathan?” At this, all the nunjas cheered and raised their hands, Wisteria perhaps, to give her some credit, a little less enthusiastically than her peers.
“It’s unanimous then.” said Prism, satisfied. “Into the pit with him!”
By now, Wisteria felt really uneasy. “But, Sister Prism, weren’t we supposed to keep the children safe?” she asked.
Prism ignored her. “So, Odi!” she yelled “I still haven’t seen you bow! Are you going to worship the divinity or not!?”
“Well, you see Prism, it’s like this. My back has this bone in it and…..” Odi would have been glad to explain himself given half a chance, but Sister Prism had had enough.
“Put him in!” she rasped “I’m up to HERE with it all!” At this, Prism left the hall, muttering to herself. All she wanted was to sit down with a nice cup of tea and watch her favourite soap. Secretly, she felt sure Joe and Odi would change their tune once they faced the thing in the pit. When it came to bluffing, Prism was a mistress of the art.
As she left, the boys began their descent. Down, down they went as the nunjas winched them bit by bit towards the blackness below. The steel cradle wobbled precariously from side to side tipping the boys every which way as they struggled to stay on, their feet slipping with every dip and their hands clinging to the metal bar with all their might.
“Whoa, it’s dark down here!” moaned Odi.
“Shut your eyes,” Joe suggested. “That’s what I do when I’m scared.”
“Me? Scared?” But the tremor in Odi’s voice betrayed him. “Yep, I’m scared”.
“At least we’re away from that horrible Sister Prism.” Joe said with feeling.
By now, the cradle had stopped. All they could hear was the dripping of water and all they could see were the ripples of a pool a few metres beneath them.
Odi gasped. “Look!” he cried. The water was bubbling like a kettle beginning to boil. “Something big is blowing down there!”
“Leviathan!” mouthed Joe, but no sound came out.
A brief silence, then, suddenly, from the depths, a huge head appeared, scaly and fierce. It leapt upwards through the ring of the cradle and its jaws opened wide, displaying jagged, terrifying teeth. The boys braced themselves, too afraid even to scream, while the beast writhed and twisted so as to get a grip on one of them.
“It’s a crocodile!” yelled Odi. “Must be fifty metres long!”
Cheated of its prey, the beast fell back into the murky waters to prepare for its next attack. As it did, it rocked the cradle which veered from side to side, almost dislodging the boys. They were still lurching when the crocodile arose again, this time snapping even more violently.
“Hang on tightly!” cried Joe. “It can’t get us as long as we just hang on!”
Again, and again, the awful beast kept shooting up through the hole in the cradle to bite them. Again, and again, the cradle tipped sideways. The boys clung on for their lives, desperately trying to steady the narrow metal rim which was all that protected them from a hideous fate. And all the time, their arms were tiring. Surely it was only a matter of minutes before their strength gave out. Already, Leviathan had briefly got a tooth-hold on Joe’s trousers, leaving a huge gash in the material as it fell back into the water.
“It bit me! It bit me!” Joe screamed, hysterically.
Now the beast withdrew to prepare for its final attack. With instinctive cunning, it knew the prey was weakening, and a tasty meal was but another leap away. The boys knew it too and could only watch helplessly as the water began to bubble again and the head of the beast burst upwards. Once again, the jaws opened and…..
The crocodile disappeared! It had almost taken Odi in its teeth when, suddenly, it sank back into the water.
“Where’s it gone?” said Joe when he’d recovered his breath.
“It’s playing with us,” replied Odi. “It’s going to lie low, then catch us off guard.”
They waited, their eyes fixed on the water, holding their breath for what seemed like hours, until……
“Whoa! WHOA!” croaked Odi, “It’s coming back! It’s coming back!” This time, it was one time too many for the boys whose courage had completely deserted them. Unashamedly, they began to scream with mortal terror as a head sprang upwards from the water. Death was merely seconds away!
“Hello!” The boys could only stare in amazement. Instead of the scaly head they’d expected, this head was covered with wild and woolly dreadlocks. “You boys alright?”