Larry smiled again, "Oh you'll see soon enough."
The pizza arrived moments later and we all dove in to the piping hot dish. I hungrily ate a bite, while cheese dripped off the sides. We were so hungry, that no one spoke for several minutes.
Jordan, while chewing on a bite of pizza and wiping red sauce of her chin, said "Thisa pizza tasta greata!"
She looked shocked and quickly covered her mouth in horror. We stared at her for a moment and she spoke again,
"Whya ama I a talkinga like thisa?" She cried.
Larry started laughing, "Thatsa whata I wasa trying to tella you guysa." he said.
I spoke up. "Whata doa you meana?" I too covered my mouth and started laughing. "Wea are a talking ina Italiano accents a nowa!" I said cracking up.
Mr. Dooley looked at us like we were crazy but opened his mouth to speak. "Whata doa you meana we talka witha accents?" He too slapped his mouth with his hands and burst out laughing.
Larry looked at us and giggled with his mouth full, "Thatsa whata I was gonna tella yousa, the pizza makesa usa talka like a thisa!"
Soon we were all laughing and enjoying the conversation except Jordan.
She had a grouchy look on her face and asked, "Whena doesa thisa accent weara offa?" she angrily wiped cheese from her chin. "I don'ta thinka itsa tooa funnya!"
She gave us all dirty looks, "Make a ita stopa RIGHTA NOWA!" she screamed.
We silently stared at her and then burst out laughing again.
"Justa relaxa and enjoya yera pizza." Mr. Dooley chuckled gently and gave her a wink.
Soon we finished all the pizza and our accents began wearing off. We thanked Tony and went outside.
"That was ridiculous!" Jordan said, "I have never felt so foolish in my life talking in that silly accent."
Larry started laughing again, "Yah, you was lookin pretty foolish and silly too!" He slapped his knee and began leading the way back up the trail.
Chapter 11
We walked for what seemed a very long time. The trail looked endless and besides a small amount of desert flora, the view was nothing more than continuous sandy hills that led into an empty horizon.
"It aint much longer til we git to that bridge." Larry told us while he marched forward with a steady pace.
"Win we get to the bridge, there is a grumpy ole hermit who doesn't much like folks passin over, but I'll handle him, don't ya'll worry none."
Jordan mumbled sarcastically, "We know, we know, you can handle him, because your mom was an opera singer." She rolled her eyes.
Larry turned and looked at her with his hands on his hips, "No smarty pants, it was my SISTER who was an opera singer. Jeesh, get it straight." and he continued to lead the way.
Mr. Dooley gave him a wink.
After hiking over a sandy hill, we noticed the plants were becoming more abundant which meant a river was nearby.
Mr. Dooley said excitedly, "We must be quite close."
The trail twisted up through a few trees and soon we heard the rushing sound of a nearby river. The river sparkled and raced through the dried cracking desert. Jordan was becoming increasingly excited the closer we got.
"We can jump in and clean ourselves up when we go over the bridge." she said as she looked down at her filthy dress.
Mr. Dooley also seemed excited but said in a calm voice, "All in good time children, all in good time."
Just as we neared the bridge, we saw the hermit down below. He was pacing back and forth in front of where the bridge should be, with his hands entwined behind his back. He wore a blue shirt and his white hair was topped off with a red stocking hat. We stopped underneath a giant oak tree to get a better look.
While we peeked through the branches, Larry said, "Now you three listen. I'm gonna sneak up on this guy and tackle him down so we can all git across the bridge."
I looked at him and asked, "Are you sure that is the best plan?"
Larry seemed very certain of himself and told us to wait until he had the man on the ground before approaching the bridge.
Larry brushed himself off and started running down the trail with tremendous speed. His lanky legs looked like a windmill as he ran towards the man. He sprang to the air avoiding boulders that were poking out sporadically from the trails surface. His face was bright red, his cheeks were inflated, and his eyes grew narrow with determination. Just before he reached the hermit he leaped up high in the air like an antelope, trying to hurdle over one last remaining rock. Suddenly, the tip of his worn tennis shoe caught a jagged lip in the stone, and he plummeted forward, face first, right in front of the hermit.
Larry slowly looked up with a scraped nose and a mouth full of dirt and warned in a low raspy voice, "Don't you make a move old hermit man."
We stood there in shock wondering what would happen next when suddenly the hermit leaned over offering his plump hand and said, "Goodness gracious lad, what is all the hurry?" The hermit very gently helped Larry up.
Larry looked up and yelled to us, "I got him now guys, come on down. Everything is under control!"
We quickly stumbled down the trail and stood before a very kind hermit man.
Larry whispered to us, " I'll be ready if this ferocious hermit tries anything." We were all very embarrassed and offered our hands to introduce ourselves.
Mr. Dooley spoke first, " We are sorry for the trouble kind sir, but we need to cross this bridge in order to find two hagglers who have something that belongs to us."
The hermit shook hands with us and said, "While I would certainly like to help you, I am afraid we have had a problem that has wiped out most of the bridge and I am not sure how to fix it." he pointed over to a pile of various shaped wooden pieces that were scattered on the ground.
Mr. Dooley stood silently thinking and then spoke again, "Sir, if we were to help you fix this bridge, would you be so kind to allow us across?"
The hermit gave us a gentle smile "By all means, please, I could use the help and would be happy to let you cross."
We walked over to the pile of wooden bridge scraps and Jordan whispered to Larry, "Really ferocious hermit, Larry, just terrifying!"
Larry, looking rather sheepish, didn't say a word as he followed us over to the scrap pile.
The wooden pieces were very strange. They were all sorts of shapes including octagons, triangles and squares.
"These are very odd wooden pieces of wood," Mr. Dooley said as he picked up a triangular shape from the ground and turned it over in his hands, "It is almost like they are wooden puzzle pieces.
I looked at the shapes and suddenly they seemed very familiar to me. "Wait a minute," I said, " I recognize these shapes from a math lesson we had in school last year!"
Mr. Dooley fumbled with an octagon shape and said, " We're listening Carol, what do you mean?"
I pieced the octagon together with the triangle and then added a square to the shape I had created. I continued to work and soon, the pieces started to fit together, "They are tessellating!" I said with excitement.
"If you have any glue or cement, we can fit these pieces together in no time," I said remembering what my teacher had said about tessellations. “And since they tessellate, the bridge will have no gaping spaces!"
Larry looked as confused as ever, "What's tesserlate?"
I laughed, "No Larry, it's tessellate, and it means the pieces will create a pattern that will continue to the rest of the bridge with no spaces left over. That way, people can cross without falling in!"
Mr. Dooley and the hermit congratulated me for such brilliant thinking. The hermit left to gather a bucket of oak tree sap, which he assured was better than any glue or cement, and when he returned, we all worked together piecing the bridge back together.
Chapter 12
While we all worked side by side, the hermit told us a little about himself. "My name is Tock, I have been th
e gate keeper of this bridge for nearly 30 years now, and this is the first time it has ever needed mending.”
I looked over and asked "What happened Tock, why did the bridge suddenly crumble?"
Tock scratched his chin and looked far away, "All was fine and this bridge was as solid as rock until one day, a different species was discovered inhabiting the river below."
Mr. Dooley stared at him quizzically, "What would that have to do with the collapse of the bridge, if I may ask, Tock?"
"Well, that really is the crazy part about it, you see, at fist we noticed these strange creatures and thought they were harmless. They are quite small actually, about the size of a goldfish. They have tiny beady eyes,long lashes, and large lips if I do say so. The strangest thing is that whenever one of us walked over the bridge, these strange creatures threw them selves upon it, staring lovingly into the eyes of whoever was crossing it. Then, in little tiny voices, screamed their undying messages of love to whoever was on the bridge."
I stared at Tock. "Let me get this straight, you are telling us there are crazy little underwater creatures who fall in love with whoever crosses this bridge?"
"That is correct." answered Tock.
Mr. Dooley still looked confused and asked, "Forgive me for inquiring further, Tock, but what exactly does that have to do with the collapse of the bridge?"
Tock struggled with the wooden pieces and answered, "When each body crosses this bridge, these love sick creatures pile on top making it heavier and heavier. You see, they don't leave. They wait and wait until the return of the object of their desires. Well, when many have crossed over, the weight became too much and so the bridge finally collapsed."
"So exactly how many did it take to cross over before the bridge did collapse?" I asked.
Tock sat quietly and then looked at us with disappointment in his eyes. "I am afraid it was only three. Three passers traveled across this bridge over the course of 2 months and that was enough, when the 3rd body crossed over, the bridge was just too heavy with colonies of these love sick creatures, and it fell apart. The boy who was crossing barely made it out of the river alive."
Larry looked upset, he tossed the wooden pieces down on the ground with a thud and looked at us all with a shrug of his shoulders. "Well this just isn't gonna work then! There is four of us, and I aint going in that river with these crazy, smoochey lipped, rascals even if they is just the size of a goldfish! No, sir, I guess it is time for me to head back to my family. I will see you all later."
With that, Larry began to brush himself off and attempted to start walking back the way we came.
"Just you hold on right there!" Jordan yelled loudly enough to stop every flea in its tracks. "You are not going anywhere Larry, I don't care if your dad is the pope of Rome, you made a deal with us and you will be leading the way until we get our Grum back!"
She grabbed a hold of his collar, squinted her eyes, and spoke calmly with just a touch of craziness in her voice, "Do you understand me Larry?" He just stared at her in terror. She calmly got a little closer and whispered in his ear, "I said, do we understand each other Larry?" Larry gulped, and whispered back, "I recon we do."
Jordan released Larry's collar, smoothed it out with her hands and ruffled Larry's hair, "I thought so Larry", she said with a content smile, "Now then, pick up these wooden pieces, Sport, and let's finish putting together this bridge.”
While we slowly continued to put the bridge together using the pine sap, we all discussed possible ways to cross the bridge without getting hurt.
Mr. Dooley said,"Well we are merely finished putting together all these pieces, and while they are tessellating very nicely, I must admit, I've no idea what to do about our current unfortunate situation of the love sick water creatures."
I thought for a moment, "Is there any way we can cross over without the bridge?" I asked.
"The water is terribly swift, and I just can't imagine you making it to the other side," Tock said "I am afraid it is just not a safe idea, and even if one of you made it across, there are four of you to worry about. I am afraid I can't bare to think of it."
Carol spoke up, "Don't worry Tock, we will come up with an idea, there must be someway to cross over."
We all sat there putting the final tessellating pieces of the bridge together, it looked very beautiful, and now it would just be a matter of sliding the bridge across to the other bank. It was an exciting moment but we were all silent, still trying to figure out a possible way to cross the rough waters.
Suddenly, Larry jumped to his feet, "I got it! We just need to scare the little critters! We can make crazy faces at them!"
Jordan sat staring at Larry while she put the final wooden shape on the bridge. "That is absolutely the most ridiculous idea I think I have ever heard, Larry, and you have had some very ridiculous ones."
"Hold on a minute, Jordan, I believe Larry may be on to something." said Mr. Dooley, "Tock when the others have crossed over, what did they do when the love sick creatures began screaming messages of love to them?"
"Well," Tock thought for a moment, "I suppose they said nothing and just ran to the other side."
"I see" said Mr. Dooley, "Suppose we answer them."
I looked over at Mr. Dooley, "What do you mean? How exactly would that help?"
Mr. Dooley motioned for us to help him slide the bridge over top of the bank as he revealed his idea, " Suppose, as we are crossing, and the little critters are yelling up at us, we tell them we don't love them back!"
We stopped working for a moment and considered this idea.
After a while Tock spoke up, "Well, I cannot guarantee it will work, but there is no harm in trying."
We slid the final part of the bridge to the opposite bank and sat back relaxing for a moment.
"I will give it a try" Larry said, "You all know I am the bravest, smartest, fella in these parts, I will be the one to cross over first."
"Fine then," I said "You shall be the first to try Larry."
Tock stood up wiping his small pudgy hands on his pants, "Not until you have all enjoyed a nice meal of mushroom stew and had a good night's rest in my home."
We were all extremely hungry and tired, I asked Tock, "Tock, where is it you live?"
Tock pointed back into the woods, "Only about a half mile into the wilderness there, I live in the bottom of a beautiful large oak tree. I have 2 extra rooms with spare beds, the girls may share one and there will be one for you Mr. Dooley, and Larry, I have a cot for you my boy."
We all stood up, "Why that sounds just wonderful." Mr. Dooley said, and with that we all walked over to Tock's home in the tree.
Chapter 13
After a delicious dinner and a good night's rest, we awoke the next morning to the scent of huckleberry pancakes and sausage cooking over a roasting fire. I looked around Tock's home. It was very tidy with pictures of his family strung on the wall. The wooded walls were sturdy even though pieces of moss crept through the cracks. In front of the fire a round wooden table was set with lovely clay dishware and a pitcher of freshly squeezed raspberry juice. I sank into a green velvet chair placed at the table and served up a large pile of cakes and sausage.
"This looks so delicious, Tock, thank-you so much for your hospitality."
Mr. Dooley, Larry and Jordan soon joined us. As we ate our breakfast, we began discussing the plans of how to cross over the bridge.
Tock spoke up, " I certainly hope this plan of talking to the water creatures will work. We worked so hard at repairing the bridge."
Mr. Dooley looked up from his plate and muffled with his mouth full, "It certainly iv worf a try, I cannot fink of a better plan."
We all finished a scrumptious breakfast and helped clear the dishes and were back on the trail to the bridge in no time.
When we arrived, we decided to go ahead and let Larry cross first because he seemed confident he could
carry out the plan.
"Don't worry at all" Larry said assuredly, "I will make sure those goofy creatures figure out for once and for all, we don't love em, in fact I will be so cranky, they will never want to jump on this bridge again!"
Jordan sighed and looked at Larry, "Larry, I have seen you attempt your plans before, and it does not often turn out the way you say it will."
I looked over at the bridge, the water was rapidly flowing underneath it and splashed upon the wooden surface with hissing spit. "Well, if we are going to try this, we need to get started. We don't know how far it is to the Haggler's market, or how much sunlight we will need to reach it."
We all stared at the bridge and Mr. Dooley spoke up, "Alright, Larry, you will go first, and if all succeeds, I will follow and then the girls."
Larry turned and thanked Tock for everything. He then wiped his chin with his sleeve and began to walk slowly across the bridge. At first, nothing unusual happened. The bridge creaked a bit, but Larry continued to the walk to center of it.
"Maybe those creatures see me, and realize how strong I am, and don't want to mess with me." Larry yelled this to us as he smirked and showed us his arm muscles.
No sooner had he spoken, when suddenly, there were small splashes all around and on top of the bridge. I couldn't believe it, never before had I witnessed such a sight. Tiny jelly creatures, that looked like giant gumdrops with little suction cups were landing on the bridge. More fascinating were their tiny precious faces. They had large beautiful eyes, with long weepy eyelashes, and sweet puckered smiles that stretched across their wee cheeks.
One of the yelled in a darling little voice, "Oh sir, please, stay here with us, we love you so, we need a strong leader like you!"
The other creatures began shouting out too, "We love you so much, stay here with us and keep us safe please!" They were batting their eyelashes at Larry.
Larry looked back at us, gave us a wink and shouted "Watch this Mr. Dooley, I will take care of these rascals and we will be on our way in no time!"
With that, Larry looked down at the creatures and began to stutter, "Now you listen here, you, you, little sweet...adorable... creatures!"