The Secrets of the Boggy Marsh

Chapter 4: The Guide

  Paddy, Seamus and Mr. Elf stepped cautiously down the hill into the mist. When they reached the bottom of the slope they paused to look around.

  “This place is gloomier than I would have thought,” Paddy said, quietly.

  “Aye,” Seamus replied. “It is a grim and ugly place, to be sure,” his voice was almost a whisper.

  Mr. Elf brought them out of their dark thoughts by saying, “So, there’s a question that I’ve wanted to ask you two.”

  “What’s that, then?” Seamus asked.

  “Which end of the rainbow is the pot of gold under?”

  Paddy and Seamus looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces. “What do you mean?” Seamus asked.

  “Well, a rainbow has two ends, each touching the ground. That’s what makes it a rainBOW,” Mr. Elf said, demonstrating what he meant by making the shape of a rainbow with his right arm. “So, which end of the rainbow is the pot of gold under?” he asked again.

  “We don’t know,” Paddy stammered.

  “You mean to tell me, you hadn’t even thought about where to go once you came into this awful place,” the Aelf said, in a low voice. “I assumed, that at the least, you would have a map showing the way.”

  “We’re awfully sorry,” Seamus said, “but the truth is, we don’t have a map. We didn’t know it mattered which end of the rainbow you went to.”

  “Of course it matters,” Mr. Elf stated, in a slightly annoyed voice. “That’s why everybody talks about, ‘The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow’ and not ‘The pots of gold at the ends of the rainbow’. There is only one pot of gold!”

  “Oh …,” Paddy and Seamus said, together.

  Mr. Elf looked back over his shoulder to where they had come into Boggy Marsh, wishing he could have avoided this somehow.

  “Well there’s Leprechauns for you. Love the gold so much they don’t even see the obvious.” He gave Paddy and Seamus a withering look, and his sharply pointed ears twitched with annoyance. “Nothing to be done about it I suppose. We’ll just have to head for one end of the rainbow and hope it’s the right one.”

  Paddy smiled hopefully at the Aelf and said, “That sounds like a good plan.”

  Mr. Elf’s ears twitched more agitatedly, as he shook his head and mumbled quietly, “Oh, what have I done to deserve this?”

  Recognizing that self-pity and negativity were not going to help, the Aelf shook off the impending funk, and added in a louder and more positive voice, “All right then, we’re here now, let’s just get on with it, shall we? As I remember, the closest end of the rainbow is over in that direction,” he said, pointing off to the right and into the mist.

  “We’re off,” Paddy said, taking a large stride forward.

  ⚔

  The three companions made their way carefully through the mist, scrutinizing everything around them, and becoming more aware of the nature and feel of the swamp land.

  Boggy Marsh was a truly ghastly place. Pools of dirty brown water were spread out everywhere, making it difficult to pick a dry path through the swirling mist.

  As they wandered through the swamp, they could see the blackened trunks of sickly trees probing up through the mist. The tops of the trees were lost to view in the thick swirl above them.

  Now and then, they would hear odd noises coming through the mist – plops, splashes, gurgles and the occasional shriek or squeal. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t correctly guess exactly which direction the noises came from.

  “What do you suppose is making those noises?” Seamus asked.

  “It could be any manner of very bad things,” Mr. Elf replied.

  “That doesn’t make me feel much better,” Paddy whispered.

  “Look!” Seamus hissed. “What’s that?”

  Off to their right, a tall wingless bird examined the three companions with undisguised interest. It had a red-feathered body, with a white oval patch on its back. Intelligent blues eyes stared at them, from a white head, that housed a sturdy looking beak. It was a striking sight, in the almost uniform gray of Boggy Marsh.

  Suddenly, the bird’s feathers bristled and a wobbly comb of hair on its back rippled. With a look of mild annoyance, the bird stretched its long, graceful neck, to peck at its bottom. Then, having chewed whatever it was that had been crawling through its feathers, the bird’s head swung back to study the companions.

  Mr. Elf took a small step towards the bird with his hands out in front of him, “Hello there. What are you doing here?” he said, with a friendly smile.

  “You can see me, can’t you,” the bird chirped, in a little voice.

  “Yes, we can all see you,” Seamus replied.

  “That’s strange,” the bird said, “none of the other things around here seem to be able to see me.”

  Paddy and Seamus edged forward to get a better look at the strange bird. Because of its long neck, the bird was equally as tall as the Leprechauns and could easily look them straight in the eyes.

  “Who are you and how did you get here?” Mr. Elf asked.

  “I am Mody,” the bird replied. “At least, that is what I think my name is. I’m really not sure at all. My egg hatched not too far from here, and I’ve been looking for my mother ever since. Have you seen her?”

  “So you’re alone?” the Aelf prompted.

  The bird sighed. “Yes, I am alone. There are many, many other things in this awful place, but they are all ugly and they scare me. You are the first that I’ve been able to talk to.”

  “My name is Paddy and this is Seamus,” Paddy stated, pointing to Seamus.

  “You can call me Mr. Elf,” the Aelf said.

  “Why are those things glowing?” the bird asked, peering intently at the swords hanging from Paddy’s and Seamus’s belts.

  Mr. Elf quickly hoisted his bow off his shoulder and had an arrow nocked in the blink of eye. “Beware!” he warned. “Something evil is coming our way. Judging by the weak glow of the swords, whatever it is, isn’t too close yet.”

  Paddy and Seamus pulled their swords from their belts and noticed for the first time that they were indeed glowing, giving off a faint pale yellow light.

  “Oh my,” Mody said, worriedly, taking a tentative step back and away from the sword wielding Leprechauns. “Please don’t hurt me!”

  “We won’t hurt you,” Mr. Elf was quick to reassure. “Mody, let’s see if we can avoid any trouble. Can you lead us somewhere safer than this, and quickly?” he asked.

  The bird studied them for a moment, as if making up her mind whether to trust them, or not. “Yes, I know a place, come this way,” she said, turning and walking down a dry path.

  The companions followed Mody through the mist. The bird was quick and sure in her choice of paths and the companions soon found themselves at the base of a big, ugly, black tree. The swords were glowing more brightly now.

  “Come on, we can hide in here,” Mody said, ducking her long neck and disappearing into a hole near the base of the tree.

  Mr. Elf looked around nervously. “Quickly boys, cover the swords, their glow will give away your hiding place.”

  Paddy and Seamus shrugged in unison and then, as one, slid the swords carefully into the right legs of their trousers, and shuffled very carefully after Mody, into the dark center of the blackened tree.

  Paddy and Seamus immediately took up positions at either side of the entrance and peered out to see what would happen next.

  Mr. Elf flicked his shoulders, shook out his wings and flapped lightly up to a low branch in the tree. He perched there with his bow and an arrow ready, staring worriedly into the mist.

  He didn’t have to wait long. The swirling mist parted and two sickly, slightly bent green forms emerged from the edge of the mist. The creatures wore no clothing and carried no weapons.

  “Goblins!” Mr. Elf hissed, under his breath.

  The two green Goblins looked up from the tracks leading to the black tree. They smiled in antici
pation of an easy feed, thinking they had their prey trapped inside the tree. Their hungry smiles revealed hideous, razor sharp, brown teeth.

  One of the Goblins extended an arm and pointed at the hole in the center of the tree. “See, came this way, they did,” he growled.

  “Ugh!” the second Goblin grunted, flexing the sharp and deadly claws at the end of its stumpy fingers.

  The two Goblins skulked cautiously towards the tree. They knew from the tracks they had been following that their prey were small creatures. Still, Goblins weren’t particularly brave; until they knew what they were tracking they tended to be cautious.

  Goblins, as a rule, are not very bright or intelligent beings, so it never occurred to them to look up into the tree. All their attention was on the hole in the tree the tracks led into, and they had not yet spotted Mr. Elf, perched above them on a high branch.

  Paddy and Seamus watched from the hole in the tree and saw the ugly green creatures tentatively approaching their hiding place. They grasped the hilts of the swords in their trousers tightly, both wondering how quickly they could whip them out if they had to.

  Perched up in the tree, Mr. Elf knew the Goblins would soon find his companions and was trying to decide what to do.

  Quite by accident, one of the Goblins happened to look up, after a leaf fell on his nose and made him jump, and he spotted the Aelf among the branches.

  Knowing he had been spotted forced Mr. Elf into action. The first arrow released from his bow hit the stunned Goblin in the shoulder before it could make a sound.

  The Goblin spun sideways from the force of the arrow hitting him and bumped roughly into the other Goblin.

  “Hey, wotcha doin’, stupid!” exclaimed the startled Goblin.

  “Ouch!” said the Goblin, with the arrow in his shoulder. He was lying on his back clutching at the shaft sticking though his shoulder. “Nasty Aelf shot me!” he spat.

  The second Goblin spun around and looked up into the tree, to see Mr. Elf with another arrow already set to his bow.

  “Nice Aelf not shoot me?” the Goblin asked hopefully, while cringing and putting his hands above his head.

  “Help your friend to get up,” Mr. Elf said, quietly.

  “Yes, yes, do what nice Aelf says, I will,” the Goblin said, helping his friend to his feet.

  “Now turn around and go back to wherever it was you came from,” the Aelf said. “And don’t think of following us, or sneaking up on us again. The next time I use this bow, I won’t be aiming for your shoulders,” he finished, menacingly.

  “Nasty Aelf!” repeated the Goblin, with the arrow in his shoulder.

  “Come, come,” the second Goblin said, helping his friend to walk back into the mist. “Not worth the trouble. Aelf not taste that good anyway.”

  Mr. Elf waited a couple of minutes and then fluttered lightly to the ground, landing next to the hole the others were hiding in. “I think it’s safe for you to come out now,” he said.

  Paddy, Seamus and Mody came out of the hole, peering worriedly after the departing Goblins, who were fading into the gloom.

  “It’s all right now, the Goblins have gone,” Mr. Elf said, reassuringly.

  “Goblins!” Seamus exclaimed, nervously. “Is that what they were?” he asked, as he and Paddy carefully removed the swords from their trousers.

  “Yes, two hungry Green Goblins. Luckily, Green Goblins aren’t very clever, nor are they very brave,” Mr. Elf replied.

  “Are you sure they’ve gone?” Seamus asked.

  “Look at your swords. The glow is fading, so we should be safe for a little while. Still,” the Aelf added thoughtfully, “we should get moving. They may have some friends nearby, and they might decide Aelf doesn’t taste too bad after all.”

  “Why did you shoot the Goblin?” Paddy asked.

  Mr. Elf chuckled. “Stupid Green Goblins need a strong message that’s easy to understand. I simply encouraged them to find something a bit less dangerous for their dinner.”

  Mody coughed quietly to interrupt the conversation and asked, “So, what are you going to do now?”

  “Now we keep going to the end of the rainbow,” Seamus said.

  “Oh, which end of the rainbow are you going to?” Mody asked.

  “We were hoping to find the end that has the pot of gold,” Mr. Elf said, raising an eyebrow at Paddy and Seamus.

  “That would be the end with the guardian then,” Mody said.

  “Guardian? What guardian would that be?” Paddy asked.

  “Well,” Mody said, “I’ve seen both ends of the rainbow in my travels through this place. At one end, there is nothing. At the other end is a gigantic beast. It was sleeping when I saw it and I really didn’t want it to wake up.”

  “That makes sense,” Mr. Elf said. “If nothing was guarding the gold, someone would’ve taken it already.”

  “Can you take us there, Mody?” Seamus asked. “Can you take us to the end of the rainbow, where the guardian is?”

  “I don’t want to go back there,” Mody said, shaking her head. “I want to keep looking for my mother and I already know she isn’t there.”

  “I’ll tell you what, you show us how to get to the end of the rainbow, and when we get the gold, we’ll help you look for your mother,” Seamus said, hopefully.

  “We know what it’s like to want to find a mother,” Paddy added, solemnly. “Seamus and I promise that we will help you find your mother, if you help us.”

  Mody nodded her head excitedly. “Yes, all right then. I get so lonely wandering around here on my own. It will be nice to have someone to talk to, who will help me.”

  “Right you are then,” Mr. Elf said. “Something’s finally working out for the better on this trip. Now then, you three just wait here for a moment, while I get my bearings.”

  Mr. Elf flapped his wings and flew up through the mist into the tree tops. He was back almost immediately. “The rainbow is still there, over in that direction,” he said, pointing off into the mist.

  “I could have told you that,” Mody said, already moving in the direction the Aelf had indicated.

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Mr. Elf replied, with a half-smile. “All right, Paddy and Seamus, you follow Mody and I’ll follow you. Keep checking your swords; they’ll warn us of any danger when they start to glow.”