The Winter Letter (22 page)

“How does a big egg help you think?”

Gatnom laughed. “I don’t know. It’s like it creates the perfect air for thinking once you close yourself inside. All night, until I fell asleep, it was like I was hanging my feet over the edge of a giant mountain overlooking the sea, a sea that sung, without any danger of falling.”

“Oh, okay… I guess. So, you doin better?”

“Yes. I am sorry for yesterday.”

“Don’t sweat it man.”

“Sweat? Am I sweating? I’m not hot.”

Will laughed. “No, I mean it’s cool man. I understand.”

“Thank You.” Gatnom stepped closer to Will. “One thing about this machine, it really does help you think. I got an idea last night, then this morning I overheard talk of a convoy heading to the city. There is a secret pass they take, a road cut through an unguarded valley. They once used the trade road, but since a few Amokians found an exit this side of the Eastern Peaks they have been more careful.” 

“Do you think they’ll take us?” Will asked.

“I’m not sure. We can try, but I must admit, I don’t know what we will do once when we reach the city. What chance do we have? Did you see him flying as if it were nothing? I’ve never seen a magi fly. And, if he is that powerful, what about King Mel?” Gatnom dropped his head. “We can not do this alone Will, but we
are
alone. Wisdom would say to turn back, for you to find your way home, for me to return in shame to Master Jared or catch ship to another Island far from Baru, but inside, I know we must go on.” Gatnom looked as if it hurt to say the words. Will didn’t know what to say. Gatnom didn’t know what to say. So, neither said anything for a minute. 

A few minutes later a man, shorter than Will’s shoulders and his wife, shorter than her husband’s shoulders, approached. Will ignored them. He was brooding. He was tired of this roller coaster of hope.

“I don’t care,” Will said, seemingly out of nowhere.

“What?”

“I said, I don’t care. I don’t care if there’s no hope or if I die. There is no one for me to go home to; nobody’s gonna miss me. No one will even care in my world. That King has taken
everyone
from me.”

“But Will—”

“No Gatnom, listen to me. He has taken the boys and now Wohie too. I’m going. I’m going, and I am going to see this guy face to face. Whatever happens, happens.”  

“That’s foolish thinking.”

“I don’t care if it’s foolish! Wohie needs us, Randiby, Jubal, Yoh, Goh, Sloh, and Broh! I’m not going to let them die or worst become slaves. I have—” The short little lady who was a moment before holding on to the arm of the short little man was now reaching up, holding on tight to Will’s collar.

“What did you say?” she asked with a wild look in her eyes.

Will wasn’t sure what was happening. Although this was a short little lady she scared Will like only good mothers can. “I said we must go help our friends.”

“No, no, not
that
. What were their names?”

“Wohie, Randiby, Jubal, Yoh, Goh, Sloh and Broh.”

The little lady turned to her husband, who was now just as close to Will as his wife. He was white as a paper plate. “Could it be? What did they look like?” The little man asked.

Will tried to remember, but it was difficult with their faces so close to his own. He thought for a moment, then he realized Yoh, the oldest, looked just like the short man who was staring at him, and that Sloh had the same eyes and height as the woman. “They... well, they look like you,” answered Will.

“Are you telling us the truth? Where are they?” the woman asked in one breath.

“What are your names?” Gatnom asked, stepping into the conversation.

“I’m Daveed and this is my wife Sharlin.”

Gatnom cocked his head to the left and held his hat to keep it from falling off. “Yes, yes. I see it now,” Gatnom said as he uncocked his head. “We know your sons. They were friends of ours.”

“What do ya mean,
were
?” the lady asked with fearful eyes.

Gatnom sighed. “They were taken by Andrias to the city of Neba. They are the friends we are searching for.”

“Lord Andrias of King Neba?” The father of the boys asked.

“Yes. He now serves King Mel.”

“But that is good, yes?” said Sharlin, “King Mel is a good king, right? We can go get our boys back!”

“No, you can’t. King Mel has taken them. Do you not know what has been happening?”

Daveed looked confused, glancing to his wife in mid sentence. “What do you speak of?”

“After the war King Neba gave up his throne to King Mel—” 

“Yes, yes we know this,” Sharlin said, waving her hand, a sign to get to the point.

“Since then,” Gatnom continued, “hundreds of families have been slaughtered throughout the forest east of the Sudden Peaks. The raiders wore the emblem of King Mel. They killed the parents and took the children to the city. Yoh, Goh, Sloh, and Broh all thought you were dead.”

“But we thought they were dead,” said Daveed. “They just disappeared one day while they were out playing. We searched for three years. Finally, we came here to try to live in peace. I still search sometimes, but have found no sign of them.”

“You still search for them after all this time?” asked Will.

“Yes. Any good father would, if there was any hint of hope left.”

Gatnom stood more straight than before. “Well if things continue the way they are there will be no peace or hope to live in. Things are getting closer to war. Not only has Andrias taken your sons, but he has taken all of our friends. We are on a quest to rescue them. We are trying to get to the city.”

“Are you sure the King took them? Why would he take our boys?” Sharlin asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve wondered why myself, but all I can think of i he wants to kill any chance of an uprising in the future.”

“Well we must petition the King for their return. We are not a part of this war,” said Sharlin.

“No one dares approach the city. It is not safe. You must understand. We must get to the city to try and find our friends, but there’s no way to get in. The spy knows our faces.”

Daveed and Sharlin looked confused. “We go to the city all the time. We trade there, with no problems.”

“Really?” Gatnom said glancing over at Will. “That could be perfect. If we can somehow go with you, perhaps we won’t be recognized. It is risky though. The last time we got too close to Lord Andrias he almost killed Will.”

“How? What happened?” Daveed asked, looking at Will. Apparently this was his story to tell.

“He caught me and tried to take me to the city. He said the King had sent him for me. I tried to fight, but he is so strong. He knocked all of us out. Then, just before we arrived here, he took Wohie. She fell from the side of the mountain wall, and he caught her in mid-air and flew off.”

The couple stared at Will as if the story was not finished. “Why did he not take you to the city when you were knocked out?”

Jabber, who had been riding on Will’s shoulder quietly perked up. “My bugs and I rescued him. We swarmed the cave until the spy ran away.”

“We need help into the city,” Gatnom interjected, getting back to the point. “The Western peaks are too high, and if we take the road we will be captured.”

Sharlin looked at Daveed and the two talked with her eyes. “I don’t know if the elders will agree,” Daveed said out loud. Sharlin said some louder silent words with a harder look.  “Stay here, we will return,” Daveed said, then the two trotted off.

An hour later Daveed and Sharlin returned. Will couldn’t help but smile at the perfect synchronized rhythm their four short legs kept. They seemed hurried and excited. “We have something to tell you,” said Daveed as they stopped. “It’s something I—” Sharlin elbowed him. “—that
we
overheard.”

“Simply overheard and are simply passing along,” said Sharlin.

“We heard there is a carriage heading to the city,” said Daveed.

“And not on the Trade Road,” said Sharlin.

“If someone, for whatever reason, needed to get to the city they could ride in the wagon,” said Daveed. “Because the wagon driver, who I know personally, probably won’t check inside of the carriage.”

“And, if someone disguised themselves they could drive right in the front gate to the open market of the City,” said Sharlin

“Then they could slip into the heart of the city, if they were careful,” said Daveed.

“The wagon is scheduled to leave in just a few minutes,” said Sharlin.

When they were done Sharlin stepped up to Will and looked him directly in the eyes. “I don’t know what’s going on in the Kingdom, but you be careful and please,
pleas
e bring my boys back.”

With that, the two turned and trotted off together.

Gatnom and Will grabbed their things and stuffed them into Will’s bag. A few minutes later Sharlin returned with a few baked cakes, a bag full of water, and an un-hulled pod of peas for Jabber (which made him grin from ear to ear). She gave them two brown cloaks with hoods so big they hung over Will and Gatnom’s faces. Once she had led them into the back of the wagon, Sharlin smiled, winked, and disappeared. A few minutes later the driver took his seat. He was wearing the same kind of cloak and was very careful not to look in the back. There was a rumble, and the wagon, which was propelled by a small engine, began put-putting its way out of the valley. Will, Gatnom, and Jabber sat cross-legged and enjoyed their meal. The cake tasted like bread growing sweet coconut inside of itself, and the water wasn’t water at all, but Minum Manis. Jabber devoured the peas from left to right, like corn on the cob. Within a minute after he had finished he was snoring little butterbug snores with his belly bulging out. He looked like he had swallowed a marble. Will took one of the cakes and put it on the bench besides the driver. When they looked back a few minutes later the cake was gone.

From the back window the path slowly turned spotted and textured with dead leaves, and soon the trees were naked with all their clothes piled up at their feet. From the popping in his ears Will could tell  they were climbing much higher into the mountains. The road was cut through the bottom of two rock walls so tall they made Will feel dizzy. The sharp zeniths of the Western Range stood gloating down upon the little wagon, as if saying “We are your masters here.” The peaks looked like the tips of stone spears, stuck butt end into the ground, with their sharpened white tips pointing to the heavens. The farther they got into the mountains the taller the spears, until they pierced the clouds, disappearing deep into their victims. It was a glorious scene. Later, after night had imposed himself onto everything, the creaking of the wagon sung everyone aboard (other than the driver) to sleep. Jabber woke from his nap, then flew out and slept on top of the wagon.

The next morning Will woke to brown. The spears had bowed into golden hills. As the ground crawled by Will drifted back into the pages of his dad’s library. To him, the hills looked as if giants imprisoned underground had beat and beat their prison ceiling attempting to escape. They beat in this place for a while, until they found there was no break, then they would move on to the next spot, until they were exhausted and slept. He imagined them waking up every once in a while and beating some more, and this he imagined is why there are earthquakes. 

“What are these mountains called?” Will asked Gatnom quietly.

“These? These aren’t mountains at all. These are the foothills of the Sudden Peaks.”

“Man they look like mountains to me.”

“Not in Baru. They say Mount Highness is taller than our lowest moon, and if you could climb it you could see the galaxy where the King of All trains his princes.
That’s
a mountain; these are just hills.”

As the hours passed the hills shrank until all of their wrinkles ironed out. Here, the wagon stopped, and the driver hopped off. Gatnom peeked out the front and saw the man stretching. 

“Might as well come out,” said the driver. “We’re far from the valley now. This is the old battlefield.”

“Wait a second,” said Gatnom. “I know that voice. Mr. Daveed?”

Mr. Daveed let down his brown leather hood. “Told you I knew the driver personally.”

“Ha. I guess so,” said Will.

Gatnom and Will eased out and stretched their legs. They were at the beginning of a vast plain of waist high green grass. There were no trees, no hills, or animals; only grass and only green and only flat. In the distance the green ocean collided with a massive silver wall, which even from where they stood looked ten stories tall. Peeking over its top were three castle towers. Will took the goggles out of his bag and looked at the city walls. They were solid, without visible seams, and every few hundred yards or so there were small, half tea cup balconies, with guards eyeing the plains closely.

“Years ago, this is where the Witch’s battle took place,” Daveed said. “I was here ya know. I had immigrated to Baru because I had heard how wonderful it was. Soon as I landed, near the old city of Andrias, they threw a bag of weapons on my back and made me march from the caves to here. They whipped me across the Eastern peaks faster than my legs can now move. Those caves weren’t called
Amok
then, they were called
Serene
, and the eastern peaks were more predictable then. Anyway, thousands of those monsters marched upon this city.” Daveed pointed to the left, towards the west side of the city. “From over there we saw King Neba and his closest Knights ride in. The city had done its best to prepare, but had no time and without their leader they were helpless. The horde crashed onto it like a wave. Bewitched men, animals, and beast sacrificed one another to get inside. It wasn’t hard, as the walls were not there then. Back then It was known as the free city, with open arms to those longing for a new life. King Mel built the walls three years after the war.” Daveed was staring at a past long gone. As he kept talking tears welled up in his eyes. “I heard when the horde crawled into the homes they found no one. Everyone had retreated deep into the caves beneath the palace. So, the entire hoard rushed the castle. This field was covered with them. Even from here I could hear their screams, screeches like you can’t imagine.”