The House on the Horrid Hill

Chapter 8

Later that evening as he lay in bed, Alfred thought to himself that today had probably been the longest day in his life. Well, except for the day that they had travelled to the hill on the train of course, that day had felt like 6 and a half weeks. At least!

They'd sat on that train so long he thought they'd probably travelled right off the face of earth and into space. They hadn't though, and it was a good job too, otherwise he would never have met Hammy he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap

The tapping sound stirred Alfred. He was slightly confused and it took him a few seconds to get his bearings. Only a few seconds mind you, as soon as he remembered where he was going today he was up like a shot. Mrs. Micklemacker always complained about how long it took him to get out of bed, if only she had seen how quick he'd leapt from it this morning, she would probably have passed out in shock.

He scurried underneath quickly and pressed the button to release the hatch. Hammy was his usual trying self as he pulled himself up through the hatch, talking far too fast and repeating himself over and over.

He looked different today somehow, a little sad, Alfred thought. Infact, it made Alfred feel a little guilty. Hammy looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and Alfred knew it was because he had forced him into this tour.

He hadn't known Hammy that long but he had a feeling that he was a pretty decent guy. He guessed Hammy must be wrestling with his conscience about giving away so many of the hills secrets already. He felt so bad he considered calling the whole tour off, but he didn't. He just had to know everything that was down there. He felt a little bit better when he reminded himself that it wasn't really his fault that Hammy had come popping up through the hatch in the first place.

"Can we go then," Alfred asked impatiently.

"Not yet. We needs to talk first," replied Hammy.

"You're not backing out are you?" Alfred cried suspiciously.

"No, of course not. We will go all in good time, but me feels it's important to tell a little bit about us first. You're a mortal and what me's about to show you is some pretty unbelievable stuff so I thinks it's right you should know the story from the start. Does that make sense?"

"I guess so," shrugged Alfred, "will it take long?"

Hammy chuckled at the young boy's impatience, he himself had been like that many, many years ago. Impatient and easily distracted which had cost him a lot. "Well, it may takes a while Spud so I suggest you make yourself comfortable and listen carefully."

And so the story began.....

Arx had lived inside the hill for many generations, but as Alfred had already discovered, this was no ordinary hill and what he had seen was only a fraction of it all.

The tunnels go deep into the hill, right to the heart of it and the stories go back many years. Put simply, this hill is an ever producing jewel mine and those precious stones hold the key to the heart of every child in the nation.

It's an Arx job to mine those jewels and use their powers to produce what are called sleep tonics. The sleep tonics are used to ensure that every child in the land has the sweetest filled dreamy dreams possible. The dreamier the dreams then the more goodness is instilled in each child. They encourage the best in children. Each and every single one of them have talents deep within their souls and the sleep tonics are used to awaken those talents. Whether it be creativity, leadership or just plain goodness, the tonics are produced to bring out the best in all of them. Why, if they didn't have sleep filled with such positivity who knows what kind of darkness could seep into their little minds and bodies.