The House on the Horrid Hill

Chapter 12

After they left The Nobles, Hammy finally took Alfred on a tour of Crudmoor Creek and he discovered that the tunnels that had so enthralled him earlier were only just the beginning of the delights he was going to discover.

All the tunnels were connected by chutes – oh the wondrous chutes – almost like some kind of space-age travel system and he guessed it would probably look like spaghetti junction if you tried to draw a map of it. They rode on so many, taking them so deep into the hill, he thought surely they must be at the centre of the earth by now. Surely there would be nothing much to see this far down except red hot bubbling lava. But oh, how wrong he was and if he thought the chutes were confusing he hadn't seen anything yet.

They came across a large square room, with the brightest whitest walls he'd ever seen. So white he really wondered how they managed to keep them so pristine, even Mrs. Micklemacker would have been impressed. One of them was covered with rows and rows of multi-coloured buttons in various shapes and sizes. Although it was a wall of temptation as far as Alfred was concerned!

"What are these for?" he asked.

"This me spud is what we calls Control Central. These here buttons control the elevator shafts and each one takes ye to a specific location that can't be reached by a chute. For example, the orange triangle here will take ye to the Powder Lab Experimentation room. "

"Wow, can we go there? Sounds like fun," pleaded Alfred.

"Me thinks we should start with The Village. Go on, press the green polygon, I know you's just dying to press one of them," chuckled Hammy.

Inside the elevator, which was made of glass, millions and millions of twinkling gems lit the way as they were transported to their destination.

When they arrived, Alfred was met by a vibe that was completely different from inside the hill. Although to be honest, he wasn't very sure if he was still inside the hill or outside of it? Who knew, but he definitely felt like he had entered another world.

The village was a complete contrast to the futuristic interior. Here, he felt like he'd just stepped into a fairytale. He looked around at the enchanted little village and felt as if he'd travelled back through the ages to medieval times. Everywhere he looked had lush green grass that was met at every edge by the clearest light blue sky as far as he could see. Rows and rows of the prettiest little thatched cottages perched on the horizon.

"Is there where you live Hammy?"

"Aye aye, me does. We all do, this here village goes on for miles an miles," he said matter of factly.

"Wow. It looks like a pretty neat place."

"Yips, ye could say that. It's a very magical place to live," Hammy said proudly.

" I don't doubt it for a minute," agreed Alfred.

On their travels around the village, they came across a small crowd of kids playing by a stream. Alfred figured most of them were around his age and they were all herded around a girl with shiny bright blonde hair, listening to her babble on and on and on. Most probably about something very boring that only very boring people would want to listen to. She was a girl after all!

Alfred crept closer trying to eavesdrop on their conversation but as he got nearer the girl with the shiny blonde hair stopped mid-sentence and moved quickly towards him. She'd spotted him and before he had time to turn and run she was almost upon him.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "How on earth did you get down here?"

"It's ok me dear, it's ok he's with me," said Hammy, making himself visible beside Alfred.

"Alfred, this here's the class of 2020, they's a currently studying the effects of water on particular gems so they conduct classes out here by the stream when the weather permits. This here's the class president...."

Before he could finish the girl jutted her hand forward and said "The names Amelia Augusta Ambrose Anastasia Arnold. My friends call me Mealie. I guess you can too," she rattled off confidently.

"That sure is a long name. Hello Mealie, nice to meet you, I'm Alfred."

He was all of a sudden surrounded by what seemed like the entire class, all calling for his attention with questions. He felt a bit overwhelmed and began backing away from them when Mealie intervened.

"Everyone, calm down. You'll scare the poor boy away with all your questions. One at a time."

"Actually, Mealie, me's really has to get Alfred back upstairs. To the big house. That there's his abode ye see."

"What?" she exclaimed in surprise, "you mean, he's...."

"Yikes! Yips. Yips," screamed Hammy, interrupting her and dragging Alfred off at top speed, "but I'm sure y'all will get a chance to catch up with him another day."

"But, but, but....." she yelled after them.

"Bye Mealie, sure was nice to meet you. I hope we can chat again soon," shouted Alfred. He had a feeling this girl wouldn't be boring after all.

He lay in bed that evening and thought some more about Hammy, Mealie and all her classmates before falling asleep a very happy boy. Finally, real friends at last!