Nikki vs Rikky

Chapter 14 - Hope

The three men looked at Nikky with a gleam of hope, while Nikky looked at them in doubt. She noticed that they looked more tired and frail than the previous evening.

Her heart grieved for them but then she remembered that everything happens for a reason, a phrase she had heard so many times but never understood it, until now. Nikky was certain that she was in Fantastica for a reason, maybe to rescue the strange men.

Nikky beamed with confidence and without hesitation stepped on the quicksand, turning the phrase into reality. The charm had worked. She was now walking on the quicksand. For the captives, hope had turned into reality, bringing smiles to their faces. Quickly, Nikky used the smouldering wood to sever the rope from the wrists of the shortest and the nearest prisoner. He freed himself as fast as he could and helped the other men liberate.

The three men were free at last. There was excitement in their faces. Yet, as weary as they were, they knew time was short. The tallest and the weakest of the three men was about to say something when Nikky asked, ‘Should I get some food for you?’ The men looked at each other curiously and nodded in unison. Indeed, they were hungry and thirsty.

Nikky sprinted out of the cave, and as soon as she reached the mouth of the tunnel she said the magic words. ‘I wish there was a cool stream.’ Just a stone’s throw away emerged the prettiest stream Nikky had ever seen. Delighted, she called out for the three men. The sight of water cheered them up and they hauled themselves down to the stream to be treated to the sweetest water that they had ever tasted.

Just as she was about to wish for food, one of the three men stopped her. He was the tallest and the most heavily built of the three and sported a gunslinger moustache.

‘Don’t ask for processed food, I mean cooked food.’ Nikky gave him a puzzled look. He shook his head and continued, ‘The aroma can be discovered. We don’t want the little people to turn up here and spoil our plans.’

‘Apples,’ Nikky exclaimed. ‘I can pluck apples from the tree where I slept last night.’ The three men were delighted with the suggestion. But on second thought, Nikky despised the idea. Why did she even suggest it? It would be a tough task to go back and carry the fruits all the way for them. She scratched her head in confusion and then it struck her.

The three men were taken for a surprise as an apple tree sprang into life from nowhere. Nikky giggled and the three men laughed with her. The apples were as sweet as nectar.

‘We must now go back to the cave,’ the middle-height man said authoritatively.

He was the oldest of the three men, and it was the first time he had spoken. The other two men exchanged quick glances and without wasting another minute rushed back into the cave.
Silence prevailed as the four of them focused on what to do next. Nikky had many questions but chose to remain silent as she didn’t want to trouble the three men who were still reeling from the shock.

The hush was abruptly broken by the middle-height man. His authoritative voice now calm as ever. He spoke warmly and slowly.

‘We thank you from the deepest of our hearts and owe you an explanation,’ he said looking at Nikky who looked at him in anticipation. ‘I will now introduce us,’ he continued. He gestured his hand towards the shortest man who had a boyish look about him.

‘He is Loocidoh.’ Loocidoh bowed politely. The middle-height man then moved his hand to the man sitting next to Loocidoh. He was twirling the ends of his moustache.

‘He is Cogentoh.’ He gave Nikky a smart salute. Then middle-height man concluded with a bow, ‘I am Preecyzoh.’

Nikky nodded on every strange name that Preecyzoh announced. Loocidoh was the first one to speak after the introduction. ‘We know that you don’t belong to this fantasy land, just like us. We are here to rescue our princess, a brave girl like you.’