The Sword In the Grotto

  It was horrible being in the dark. Really hor- rible. We couldn't see the water anymore, so we didn't know how fast it was coming up toward us, and I kept thinking we were about to get drowned.

  I opened my eyes so wide that they felt cold around the edges, but it made no difference. I could see nothing at all. It was completely, totally dark. Another rush of water poured between the rocks, and I felt the spray in my face as it splashed in. "At least Pusskins could see something, " I said to Wanda. "Aunt Tabby always leaves the light on in the laundry room. " "What are you talking about?" gasped Wanda. "Nothing, " I said. "Move back a bit, Wanda, my feet are in the water. " "I can't, " she said. "There's no room. I'm stuck right against the portcullis already. " "Well, start climbing it then, " I told her. "My feet are soaked. I hate having wet socks. "

  The portcullis was quite easy to climb, even in the dark. I hung the sword onto one of the bars and followed Wanda up until we both were as high as we could get. The metal was cold and sharp, but I didn't care. At least we were out of the water. But for how long? We didn't say much after that. The waves kept on pounding outside on the rocks, then pouring into the grotto. The water was right up to our knees and there was no way we could climb any higher when suddenly Wanda said, "A light! I can see a light in the tunnel. Look, look!" I nearly fell off the portcullis. Wanda was right. At the far end of the mushroom tunnel was a very faint greenish glow. And it was com- ing toward us.

  Chapter Eleven

 

  DEEP WATER

  I just knew it had to be good old Aunt Tabby. It was Aunt Tabby who had been pulling the string, not some horrible mon- ster, and she was coming to rescue us. "Aunt Tabby, Aunt Tabby!" I shouted. "We're here!" "Help, help!" Wanda yelled, just to make sure.

  But there was no reply. Q "It might be Dad, " said Wanda. "Dad, Dad--it's me. I'm here, Dad!" "I'm here too, " I told Wanda. "Don't forget about me. " "Ha!" Wanda gave a funny kind of laugh. I ignored her and just kept on watching the green light flickering at the far end of the tunnel. It was moving slowly, but it was defi- nitely coming down toward us. Wanda said nervously, "It's a weird light for a flashlight. It's not very bright, is it?" I had been thinking that too. "No, " I said, "it's not. . . . " "Dad!" Wanda shouted. "Dad!" We lis- tened for Barry's reply, but there was noth- ing. All we could hear was the slip and slop of the water washing around us.

  "It's not Dad, is it?" Wanda whispered mis- erably. "No, it's not, " I said. "I think it's--" "It's the monster, isn't it--the one that ate the string? And now it's going to come and--" "Shut up, Wanda, " I said. "It's not a mon- ster. It's Edmund. " The greenish light was floating along the tunnel toward us in just the way that Edmund floats. As it got closer, I could see that it had a definite Edmund shape to it, right down to the silly haircut. "It is, " gasped Wanda. "It's Edmund. He's come to rescue us!" "Wanda, " I said, "how exactly do you expect a weedy little ghost like Edmund to rescue us? Or even a big strong ghost? No ghost can lift up the portcullis and let us out, can it?"

  But Wanda wasn't listening. "Edmund, Edmund, help! We're trapped! Help, help!" she yelled. Edmund's hollow, ghostly voice came echoing along the tunnel. "Waaan-da, " he called out. "Aramin-ta. " I shivered. Maybe it was the creepy sound of Edmund's voice in the dark, maybe it was the weird green light, or maybe it was the really cold water, which was splashing up to our waists by now--but I started to shiver and I just couldn't stop. Edmund floated up to the portcullis and stared at us. "There's no need to gape like we're in a zoo or something, " I told him. "We've got to get out of here. W-we're going to drown if we don't. "

  "I know . . . " said Edmund in his hollow voice. "Well, thanks a lot, Edmund, " I snapped at him. "We feel a whole lot better now. " "I know . . . " said Edmund, "because I drowned here. With Sir Horace . . . " "Drowned?" Wanda squeaked. "Drowned, " Edmund repeated gloomily. I must say I didn't think Edmund was exactly being helpful just then. "Edmund, " I said,"will you please go back as fast as you can to the house and tell Aunt Tabby where we are? She'll know what to do. Please. Hurry. " "It is too late to return to the house, " said Edmund. "What are we going to doooo?" Wanda wailed.

  "Be quiet, Wanda. " "Do not fret, Wanda, " said Edmund. "We Q will take the other way out. There is just enough time before the water becomes too deep. " Edmund floated through the portcullis easily, as if it wasn't there, and hovered beside us, lighting up the horrible little grotto with his ghostly glow. Now I was glad that we hadn't had our flashlights for a while, because what we saw was scary--the grotto was almost full of dark, deep water. And every time a wave hit the rocks, more sea swirled in and the water rose a little bit more. I looked up at Wanda's piece of seaweed on the ceiling, and I knew she had been right. The water was just going to keep on rising. Right to the top . . .

  -117- "Follow me. " Edmund's voice interrupted my thoughts, which was a good thing, as I had been about to throw a Wanda-sized panic. He floated away toward the pile of rocks where the sea was coming in. Wanda wailed, "We can't follow you. We'll drown. " I was thinking the same thing. I was also thinking, how come Edmund thinks he can rescue us when he obviously couldn't rescue himself all those years ago? Edmund's voice echoed around the cav- ern. "The water is not yet too deep, Wanda. You must trust me. " "Ooooh!" wailed Wanda. Edmund came back toward us.

  Then he started sinking down through the water until he was up to his neck in seawater. "Don't go, Edmund!" yelled Wanda. "I am not going, Wanda, " he said. "I am showing you how deep the water is. But soon it will be deeper. You must hurry. You must get down from the portcullis and follow me. " "Come on, Wanda, " I said. "We've got to do this. " I started to climb down the portcullis, which was not a nice thing to do, as the water was freezing cold and came to way above my waist. I grabbed hold of the sword and hung on to it to stop myself from falling over. Wanda hadn't moved. She looked down at me and said, "But I'm shorter than you. It will be almost up to my head. " "All the more reason for getting a move on, " I told her briskly.

  "You sound just like Aunt Tabby, " she said. But she began to climb down the portcullis and soon, after a bit of squeaking, she was standing next to me. And then a really big wave came in and knocked her over. Wanda disappeared under the water. "Blermphh!" Wanda came up for air and waved her arms about like a crazy windmill. "Hurry, hurry, " said Edmund anxiously. Wanda was still doing her windmill impression, so I grabbed hold of her with my other hand and towed her along behind Edmund until he stopped at the big pile of rocks that blocked the grotto off from the rest of the cave. Now it was getting really difficult to stand up, as the water was up to my chin, and it was still coming in. Wanda tried to put her feet down and disappeared right under again. I pulled her up and said, "Just keep on swim- ming, Wanda. " "B-but I can't swim without arm floats. " "You just have been, in case you hadn't noticed. " Edmund had floated to the top of the pile of rocks. "Climb up here, " he said. "How?" spluttered Wanda. "Just do it, Wanda, " I told her. "Just grab hold of a rock and climb. " So Wanda did. She heaved herself out of the water and climbed right up. I dragged the sword out of the water and followed her, although I didn't really see the point. We'd looked everywhere for a way out before, and we hadn't see anything. And then our worst nightmare happened. Edmund disappeared. "Ed-mund, " Wanda wailed in the dark. "Through here, Wanda, " came Edmund's hollow voice from the other side of the rocks. And then we saw it. Right at the very top of the rock pile, hidden behind a large flat rock, was the way out. It may have been narrow, and it may have -122- been full of a weird boy ghost called Edmund, but who cared? All we had to do was squeeze through the gap behind the big flat rock and we would be free. Which is what we did. And we were. Free.

  Chapter Twelve

 

  EDMUND

  We may have been free, but we were still stuck. We were now sitting high up on the ledge inside the cave--the same ledge where we had stood that morning and looked down at the sword. But of course the cave w
as still full of water. "You are safe, " said Edmund. "Now you must wait for the tide to go out. " "How long will that take?" we both asked.

  "It will take two hours and fifteen minutes, " said Edmund. "Farewell, I must be gone. " "Gone?" squeaked Wanda. "You can't go and leave us here all alone. " "But Wanda, you are safe. The sea does not reach up here. All you have to do is wait for the water to recede. I have left my post for too long. I must return to my duties in the tunnel. " "What duties in the tunnel?" I asked him, wondering what on earth Edmund had to do that was so important. Polish the dust? Vacuum up the spiders? "I guard the way. I must stop anyone from passing from the house and suffering the same fate that Sir Horace and I did so many years ago. But today, " said Edmund sadly, "I failed in my task. " "No you didn't, " I told him.

  "You came and saved us. Thank you, Edmund. " "Thank you, Edmund, " said Wanda. And then, because she is nosy, Wanda asked, "But what were you and Sir Horace doing in that horrible grotto?" "We were escaping our ene- mies, the FitzMaurice family. It was a cowardly attack. There were more than twenty of them and two of us. " "One and a half, more like, " I said. "You're only a boy, Edmund. And quite weedy. " "No he's not, " said Wanda. "I think he's really strong. What happened then, Edmund?" "We fled to the grotto beneath Sir Horace's castle. Many years before, Sir Horace had placed a portcullis trap to keep our enemies from the caves under his castle, and he had fashioned a cunning maze to confuse them. But the trap sprung on us, leaving us at the mercy of our pursuers. " "Oh, Edmund, how awful. "Wanda sounded thrilled. "Indeed it was, Wanda. We fought hard but Sir Horace was injured. Then our enemies piled up the rocks and trapped us in the grotto, leav- ing us at the mercy of the sea. "

  "Oh, Edmund, " breathed Wanda. Edmund bowed. "Farewell Wanda. Araminta. " But as he began to disappear, I remembered something I wanted to ask him. Something that had been bugging me ever since he told us that he had drowned in the cave. "Edmund, " I said. "I must be gone. . . . " "Edmund--I just want to know--you knew the way out, so why didn't you escape when you were trapped?" "Sir Horace was injured. He could not climb to the top of the rocks, " he said. "And a good and faithful page stays by his master. At all times. " "Even if he will drown?" I asked. "He will stay at all times, " Edmund repeated solemnly.

  And then he was gone. Q "Wow . . . " said Wanda after a while. "He's so brave. " I didn't say anything. I tried to imagine what it must have been like all those years ago for Edmund, stuck in that ghastly grotto with Sir Horace and deciding not to escape-- but I couldn't even start.

  It was dark when Wanda and I at long last got out of the cave. The full moon was rising over the sea and the beach was empty. I was glad, as I didn't want anyone to ask stupid questions about how come we were soaking wet and dragging a great big rusty sword behind us. I had a feeling that once we got home, we were going to be asked enough stupid questions to keep us going for quite a while.

  As we walked up the steps from the beach, Wanda suddenly yelled out, "Dad!" and shot off. I slowly dragged the sword up the rest of the steps. I didn't believe that Barry was there. I mean, how would he know where to find us? But he was there! Good old Barry gave a loud whoop and ran toward us. He scooped Wanda up in his arms and swung her around, then he rushed over to me and did the same. "You're here!" he gasped. "I don't believe it. You really are here--just like it said. " "Like what said, Dad?" asked Wanda. "Well, you won't believe this, " said Barry with a big grin, "I didn't believe it either, but I knew it was worth a try. " "What was worth a try, Dad?" asked Wanda.

  "Well, about half an hour ago, Tabitha Q found some writing in the coal dust on top of the boiler. Which was odd, as you know how clean Mom keeps the boiler. Anyway, the writing--which was very peculiar and hard to read--said `W & A Be Upon the Beach. ' Tabitha had a screaming fit, as she thought it was a ransom note, but I calmed her down and said I would go and find you. And here you are. . . . " Barry shook his head as though he did not believe it.

  Wanda and I were both in the van and Barry was about to drive off when I remembered something. "The sword! We're not going without the sword. Not after all the trouble we've had getting it. " So Barry got out and picked up the sword.

  "Where did you find that rusty piece of junk?" he asked as we drove past the mush- room farm and took the road home. "You don't want to know that, " I told him. "Oh, yes I do, " said Barry. "And I can think of a few other people who do, too. "

  Chapter Thirteen

 

  HAPPY BIRTHDAY

  It was fine back home, once the police had gone. Even Aunt Tabby was nice to us, and Uncle Drac was so happy to see us he just couldn't stop smiling. Aunt Tabby brought in some hot chocolate and everybody sat in the broom closet while Wanda and I told them what had happened. When we got to the bit about the water com- ing into the grotto, it went very quiet--then CLANK!

  Sir Horace lurched out from under- neath the pile of coats and everyone yelled in surprise. At the same time the clock in the hall struck midnight. Brenda's cat shot out of the room, and we didn't see it again for a week. I could tell that Sir Horace was about to start on a long lecture about how we should never have gone down the secret tunnel, how dangerous the grotto was, and generally bor- ing stuff like that--which I knew we would be hearing from Aunt Tabby for months any- way--so I shouted out, "Happy early five- hundredth birthday!" and everyone looked at me like I'd gone crazy. "Well, it is almost his birthday, " I told them. "And he's five hundred years old tomorrow. Aren't you, Sir Horace?"

  "Yes, unfortunately, " Sir Horace boomed. He didn't sound very pleased about it. I didn't know why, because I always love my birthdays. "Five hundred is very old, " said Wanda, trying to cheer him up. "You must be so excited, Sir Horace. " "Not really, " he replied gloomily. "Five hundred is indeed very old, Miss Wizzard. It seems so much older than four hundred and ninety-nine. " Well, they both sounded pretty old to me, but I didn't say so. Instead I dragged the sword in and said, "Here's your present, Sir Horace. I'm sorry we didn't have time to wrap it up. Happy Birthday!" Sir Horace took the sword. He didn't say anything at all. He just held on to it really tightly.

  "Don't you like it?" Wanda asked, after a few minutes of everyone waiting for Sir Horace to say something. "I have always liked this sword, " he said in a peculiar voice. "What does he mean-- `always'?" Wanda whispered to me. "He just got it. " Sir Horace made a kind of gulping noise and car- ried on, "My dear father gave this sword to me on my twenty-first birthday. And you have returned it to me on my five-hundredth birthday. Thank you. . . . " I was disappointed. It's not a proper birth- day present if you give someone something that already belongs to them. But Sir Horace didn't seem to mind. "This . . . Is the best present I could possibly have, " he said. He sat down on a chair in the corner and carefully propped up the sword beside him. I am sure I heard him sniff, although Wanda says he can't have, because ghosts don't cry-- but I don't see how she is such an expert. On the way upstairs to our Sunday bed- room, we saw something really odd. A long trail of our green string came out from under the secret passage door and went all the way downstairs and into the broom closet. "That's our string, " yawned Wanda.

  "I wonder what it's doing there?" But I was too sleepy to answer.

  The next morning we followed the string down to the broom closet. We wanted to say a proper happy birthday to Sir Horace. "Good morning, Sir Horace, " we said. "Many happy returns of the day. " Sir Horace sounded puzzled. "But it is you who have had the happy returns, " he said. He was still sitting in the corner with the sword propped up beside him, but now there was a big pile of rust by his feet. We hardly recognized the sword from the night before--it was gleaming. The handle was shiny, and the patterns that we had seen under the rust looked beautiful and shone with inlaid gold.

  There was a huge ruby set into the top (which Sir Horace called the pommel) and two smaller ones set into the sides. The blade was a bit jagged, though-- you could tell that S
ir Horace had done a lot of fighting with it--but he had polished it so well that it was now smooth, glittering steel. "'Morning Minty, Wanda, " said Uncle Drac, yawning. "Sleep well?" "Yes, thank you, Uncle Drac, " we said. "Good, " said Uncle Drac, "because I didn't. That ridiculous sword. I told Sir H to go and scrape the rust off somewhere else, but he sat here all night, scrape, scrape, scrape. Set my teeth on edge something rotten. " "Sorry, Uncle Drac, " I said. "Don't worry about it, Minty. " Uncle Drac smiled. "It's worth it just to have you both -140- home safe and sound. Pass me my knitting, will you?" I gave Uncle Drac his long green scarf. It was just as I had thought. Uncle Drac was Q knitting our green string. "Do you know why your yarn feels really scratchy, Uncle Drac?" I asked him. "I blame Big Bat, " Uncle Drac grumbled. "I was knitting so fast yesterday--after you and Wanda disappeared--that I ran out of wool. I told the dumb bat to find me some more green wool and he came back with this old stuff. Don't know where he found it. " "We do, " we said.

  That afternoon, Sir Horace had his birthday party. It was a great party, even though it wasn't a surprise. Wanda had gone down the secret passage all on her own to find Edmund and ask him to the party.

  I was amazed, as I thought she didn't like the secret passage because of all the spiders. But Wanda said that she didn't care what was in there anymore, as long as it wasn't seaweed. We all squeezed into the broom closet and sang "Happy Birthday to You, " then Sir Horace bowed and sang "Happy Birthday" back to us. Barry's frogs did what Barry called their famous frog pyramid, which just looked like a pile of frogs to me. Then Barry tried to make Uncle Drac disappear--but all that happened was Uncle Drac got covered in blue disappearing dust and started to sneeze. Brenda did a weird tap dance while spinning some plates on sticks, but all the plates fell off when Uncle Drac gave a really big sneeze and everyone went "Eurgh!"