The Heroes

Mount Teshombara

The boys walked single file along the shelf. It sloped upward, more and more steeply, and the color of the rock deepened until it was the rosy pink they had seen from below. It became glassy, too, but fortunately the boys were wearing sneakers and the rock was so dry that they had no trouble getting a purchase. They went higher, until  they reached a place where the rock was split and shattered. An opening appeared. There was a level  space in front of it and they stopped to catch their breath.

They were facing north. To the right of them ran a chain of lower peaks, dropping away into the distance. To the left, the vast bulk of Teshombara cut off the view. Northward, the ground stretched away, green and misty, forest lands and rolling hills and the glint of water, all shadowed in the early morning. Far off, It rose again in a faint, jagged line. They turned away from the view. They were now at the base of the crack Bazan had shown them. It was more like a deep gully, first going inward for a dozen yards and then turning sideways and upward. Where it turned, it grew narrow and as they began to climb into it they found that they were actually walking on one side of the crack with the other side above their heads. There was just enough room for them to walk upright. They climbed for an hour or so and came, at length ,into a kind of cave strewn with a broken fragments of stone. Here the crack rose on a long slope opposite direction. But the stone had splintered , and the floor began again high over their heads. The only way to get to it was up a flat wall more than ten feet high. The mountain was one big crystal, like quartz. We will use the spears to shove into it . They climbed until they reached the top of it.

The land below was dusky when they came to another change in the direction of the clef, a zig after the last zag. They were so high that the air around them was still golden with a sun although it was evening in the valley. It was cold , too, and their breath steamed thinly out of their mouths. Here again, there was a cave where the cleft made an angle. This was wider and deeper than the other but not as high, and the stone had split into slices over which they saw they could climb to continue on their way. They stayed there for the night. They ate their dinner and the time they were done it was almost dark in the cave.

Rich said, “Hey, listen just tell me something. Why did you  say you’d go on this search in the first place?”

Jesse answered “There was something proud and noble about  him and when he said that about our saving our world and this one I felt that if I didn’t speak up, I’d never ne able to look myself in the face again.

Jesse said almost in whisper, “Do you think we’re going to be able to do it ?”

“I don’t know,” Rich said slowly. “It’s just an animal, isn’t it? It maybe be big and vicious , but it’s just a kind of wild dog and I’ve never met a dog that I couldn’t make friends with. Anyway, we’re in it now. We couldn’t back out if we wanted to.

Then they packed their knapsacks and began to climb once more. The last upward stretch was so steep that they had to go almost four hours. The cleft opened at the top and when they had scrambled up the last few yards they found themselves on a narrow ledge which seemed to circle the pointed peak. At this spot, a round hole just barely big enough for them to stand up in was bored into the summit. They began walking. The tunnel was tubular as if some gigantic worm had drilled its way into the solid stone, He stared around the great chamber and then touched Rich’s arm and pointed. In the center, a pedestal rose from the floor, formed out of the stone . It was some six feet high and flat topped. On it rested a large round nest woven of golden twigs , and in the nest they could just make out the round back and crested head of a bird. They had no time for more than a glimpse.

They backed away still farther. To fight a thing like this was hopeless. And then, just as Jesse was on the point of turning to run, he saw something that made his heart give a sudden bump. His shadow and Rich’s fell long and black across the floor, but the creature’s feet there was only bright white glow. He remembered what Mr. Magnus has said: Solid bodies cast dark shadows , don’t they? But illusions cast light shadows.

Jesse walked on. He felt a heady certainty that he was right. For one instant, as he came face to face with the creature and saw the glint of saliva on its pincer-jaws , he almost lost his nerve. Then  he remembered the housewives walking through the fat-and-thin phantom that advertise Dr. Runklefeather’s Universal Tonic. He strode forward. It was like walking into a movie screen  made of mist. Rich was still standing in the same, his  mouth wide open. He looks stunned. Between him and Jesse was the creature, appearing as solid as ever.

“It’s fake,” Jesse called, unable to hold back his nervous laughter. “An apparition. It’s like the one we saw with Mr. Magnus , in the city.

Jesse climbed into the nest which was big enough to hold him easily. There were two golden eggs, and he was careful not to disturb them. The nest was made of golden twigs woven together with green vines and slender reeds. Among them was one long silken thread which was pure white. He pulled the leather bag out of his shirt and took out his stone. He touched it to the thread . There was a flash of light. To be certain , he touched the thread and once more the stone flashed. Delicately, so as not to injure the nest, he pulled the thread free. He coiled it around one hand and dropped it into his pocket. He put away his stone, got on the edge of the pedestal and lowered himself to the floor. 

“Got it,” he said.

It was quicker going down and by sunset they had come back to Bazan’s hut. They told him their  climb had been successful, and he said , gravely, “Well done. I knew there might be more in you than appeared on the surface. Once more they sat at his table and shared his simple meal. While they ate, they told him about their adventure.  At the first light, he set them on the path. They thanked him for all his help and set out.  They went into the forest and after a long walk they sat down with their back against the tree. They ate their dinner. Rich thought  of something and told Jesse

“Well, science has laws—remember when we were talking about that, back in the other forest? That means that things happen in certain ways, and they always work that way. If you boil water you get steam, you don’t get ice. So these bowls produce a bowl full of food . They don’t give you anything to drink, for instance. And they give you exactly what food you ask for. You ask for two foods and you get them both at the same time. That’ s logic .

Jesse nodded.

Dreamily, Jesse thought back over all that had happened since they opened the door into what wasn’t Mr. Surnido’s office.  You couldn’t say that Rich was likable , exactly, but you had to hand it to him. There was something calm about  the way he thought about things, even when he was at sulkiest. Maybe it came with being good at Math and Science. It was funny how you could get along with somebody even when you didn’t like him. You could be sort of separate, Jesse thought , and still be together.

A line drifted into his head: “One and one is always two.” Was it the beginning of a poem ? How could it go after that? Two, brew, few, do, who… “This one’s me. And that one’s you.” No, it needed to be smoother. Then he had it.

One and one is always two,

Each alone—here’s me—there’s you.

That “one and one” reminded him of math. Could you use word like Mathematics in a poem? I’ll bet it’s never been done, he told himself. It was a nice rhythmical word, though. The mathematics of adding up two people. Of something. The way you feel. Your heart? He tried it. “The mathematics of the heart” .It was interesting. He liked the sound of it.

He realized he was cold.  Rich , a short distance off, was gathering twigs. Jesse, shivering, went to help him.

“Burn, burn, you flower fern. Burn and blazy, crazy daisy. Let’s have heat to warm our feet. At that instant, with a puff and crackle, the flowers stalks caught and burst into flame. 

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