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‘Maybe we can go back to Wizdom and wait for them to leave,’ he suggested.
‘I already tried to find the door as soon as I came through. It’s gone and there’s just a wall. You took your time getting here.’
‘But you only came through a few seconds before me,’ Jasper said quietly.
Dekon shook his head. ‘I’ve been here for almost five minutes.’
Jasper knew they had far more pressing issues than why they were missing five minutes.
‘Well, I don’t think it’s wise to be standing out here in the middle of the ravine,’ Jasper suggested.
‘I agree, but I wasn’t leaving without you,’ Dekon said, and began to walk slowly towards the cliff edge.
They reached the bushes after a minute of nerve-wrecking walking and all Jasper wanted to do was lay on the ground with relief.
‘This way,’ Dekon hissed as he dragged Jasper along the very edge of the cliff. He stopped by a large tree and pointed upwards. ‘Get up there.’
Jasper didn’t need telling twice and he scampered up the tree like a squirrel. He had been climbing trees for as long as he could walk and being small meant he was usually the lookout when Arthur was planning a robbery.
Dekon took a little longer to get up there and they sat on opposite branches, deep in the foliage, watching quietly.
‘They have to be around here somewhere,’ a guard said not far from their tree. ‘They won’t have abandoned their horse and wagon.’
‘How can you be sure they’re the ones we’re looking for?’ another guard asked.
‘They were seen taking that child back to Eastlake by several loyal villagers,’ came the reply. ‘There are not likely to be any other bread-shaped wagons in the area.’
Jasper’s heart sank a little. Had Nyla been taken again? Who could be so heartless as to tell the guards of Nyla’s return home?
‘She’s probably with them now,’ the first guard said. ‘They can only have used magic to hide her from us and take her away again.’
‘We’ll take the horse and wagon and move the search north. This road only goes north so they must be heading that way.’
‘Maybe they fell down into the ravine?’
‘Then they’re dead and our problem is solved,’ came the blunt reply.
Jasper felt a small sigh of relief slip from him as the guards moved off. In the distance he could hear guards shouting to each other and the noise of lots of horses, and one wagon, heading off down the road.
‘There goes our ride south,’ Jasper said with a deep sigh as soon as silence fell.
‘And our food,’ Dekon added.
‘I think I prefer that to them catching us in the wagon,’ Jasper pointed out.
‘Map. Directions to Land’s End, please,’ Jasper said.
‘By wagon, on foot or by boat?’ the map queried.
‘Boat?’ Both Dekon and Jasper said at the same time and looked at each other in surprise.
‘Distance to Land’s End by boat is eight hours. Proceed to river entry point approximately six hour’s walk.’
‘Warves don’t like boats,’ Dekon muttered. ‘We don’t swim well.’
‘Map. Distance on foot, please,’ Jasper asked.
‘Distance to Land’s End on foot is seven days.’
Jasper looked at Dekon and waited. The warf looked grumpy then sighed. ‘I guess it’s better than walking.’
‘We’re assuming there are still boats around that go down there,’ Jasper pointed out. ‘The map’s information is a little out of date. Why would boats still be going that way if the land across the sea was destroyed?’
‘There’s only one way to find out,’ Dekon said as he began to climb slowly, and awkwardly, down out of the tree. Jasper joined him with two small jumps from branch to branch and the warf glowered at him as if he was showing off.
A quick look at the map showed the river entry point it wanted them to go to was not where they expected it to be.
‘The map is taking us north,’ Dekon pointed out. ‘It doesn’t seem right to be going north in order to go south. And that’s where the guards went as well.’
Jasper walked to the edge of the ravine and looked down at the rushing water and huge boulders that it was smashing into on its journey. ‘I don’t like our chances of surviving a river trip like that.’
‘Map. Alternate river entry to the South, please,’ Dekon asked.
The map went blank for a few seconds then the same route appeared. ‘No other entry point found.’
Jasper and Dekon looked at each other, then down at the rushing water and finally both looked north upstream.
‘Well, I guess we’re walking then,’ Jasper said.
The dotted line changed instantly from north to south and followed along the edge of the ravine before meeting up with a road.
As they walked, the rushing sound of the water got louder and was almost soothing and Jasper stopped here and there to gather berries or dig at the ground with a stick.
‘What exactly are you doing?’ Dekon asked when Jasper stopped for the tenth time and was scraping around under a bush.
‘We’ll both be hungry in a while,’ Jasper said, wriggling free of the thorny branches and standing up. He opened his hand and showed a small quantity of ugly looking nuts. ‘It may not look like much, but if you add it to the rest of this it will make a good meal. The berries are well out of season and probably a bit tough.’
Jasper held open his pockets and showed that they were crammed with berries and nuts.
Dekon just grunted and shook his head as he turned back to the south and kept walking. Jasper had no doubt the warf would think more kindly on the meagre offerings when his belly was rumbling.
It was late afternoon when they stopped for a rest in a small clearing near the river. Jasper looked down the ravine and beckoned Dekon over.
‘It looks like we’ve almost reached the end of the gorge,’ Jasper said and pointed to where the ground dropped steeply not far ahead and was almost level with the river.
‘I’m getting thirsty,’ Dekon remarked. ‘Perhaps we should keep going until we can drink from the river.’
Jasper was about to agree when he saw something that made him pull back from the edge and yank Dekon after him.
‘What’s up?’ Dekon said as he picked himself up.
‘There are people down there,’ he said, crouching low and edging back to take another look.
‘Elves or guards?’ Dekon queried.
‘Too far away to tell,’ Jasper replied.
They crept back to the edge and looked down at where the river met the land. There were definitely people down there and they looked to be very busy.
‘What do you think they’re doing?’ Dekon asked. ‘I don’t see a village or anything nearby.’
Jasper scanned the tops of the trees and saw no obvious break where a village might be. Nor did he see smoke rising from anywhere.
‘We can get closer without being seen,’ Jasper suggested. ‘If we can figure out where they come from we can avoid them easier.’
The two travellers retreated into the thick trees and made their way quickly down the sloping ground. Jasper could walk silently but Dekon didn’t appear to have that skill and was constantly stepping on twigs and dead branches.
‘We might as well shout to announce our arrival,’ Jasper whispered, trying not to be too critical of the clumsy warf.
‘Sorry,’ Dekon muttered. ‘I’ll wait here.’
Jasper nodded and slunk deeper into the forest then doubled back towards the river. The forest had changed from trees to thick clumps of bamboo. He crept from clump to clump until he could hear people in the distance.
‘We need some of those bigger ones to repair the skimmers,’ a voice ordered firmly. ‘Aunna wants some younger ones for weaving.’
‘Yes, Makal.’ A chorus of voices replied in a slightly sarcastic tone.
There was some general back chatting and laughing as the first person ordered the rest around but the sound of bamboo being chopped and dragged was constant.
‘Tie it together and stack it by the river.’
Jasper was now close enough to see the small party of ten elves were mostly young adults and a couple of teenagers. He identified Makal easily as he was the one standing around while the others worked.
‘I don’t know about the rest of you but I’d like to be home by dark,’ Makal said, picking up a small bundle of bamboo and carrying it to the river. He threw it in and looked pleased with his effort then sat down to watch the rest. ‘Keveb, light the signal fire so that they know to expect the bamboo.’
A young boy, the youngest member of their party, dropped the smaller bamboo bundle that he was tying and hurried over to where there was some chopped bamboo stacked out in the open by the riverbed. The bamboo caught light quickly and soon a steady stream of smoke rose up into the sky.
‘I hope Aunna has a good dinner cooking,’ Keveb said as he walked back to his bundle. ‘I’ve had enough of dry rations on the walk here.’
‘And the trip back will be much faster,’ a girl added as she headed for the river with a large bundle of bamboo. ‘Should we start the rest going?’
‘Sure, Kia. Just remember to keep five for us to ride down on,’ Makal said and he whistled loudly. ‘Time to go!’
‘Are they going to get on those?’
Jasper turned to see that Dekon had crept up on him unheard.
‘See I can walk quietly if I’m not being hurried by you,’ Dekon said with a grin.
‘It looks like they float quite well,’ Jasper said, and watched a large bundle bounce as it hit the water, then floated off downstream at quite a pace.
The elves were too busy grabbing backpacks and blankets to notice the two strangers watching them from the forest of bamboo. Two of them grabbed a bundle and pushed it in the river, then leapt onto it and held onto the binding as if riding a horse. Each one held a smaller stick of bamboo which Jasper assumed was to help guide their makeshift raft.
‘Woohooo! See you back at Land’s End.’
The rest followed and Makal and the youngest elf were the last to leave. Makal extinguished the fire and checked for anything left behind then helped Keveb onto the final stack. Keveb appeared terrified as Makal pushed it out into the river but as soon as it was free from the riverbank he was shouting and hooting like the rest.
‘I guess we’ve just cut a lot of time off our walk,’ Jasper said.
‘You’re not getting me on one of those,’ Dekon spluttered. ‘A boat is bad enough but that’s not even a boat!’
Jasper thought it looked like fun but instead he said. ‘Looks like a good spot to stop for the night at least.’
Dekon grunted his agreement and after a couple of minutes they emerged from hiding and surveyed the makeshift camp.
‘It doesn’t look like they left any food behind,’ Dekon said after scouting the area and coming back with only a small clay cup. He dipped it in the river and took a sip. He nodded to himself, drank the rest, then dipped it again and drained it a second time.
Jasper shared out his collection of food and Dekon took his a short distance away and watched the river as he ate. After ten minutes of silence the warf stood up and glared at Jasper.
‘Okay, okay. If you insist. We’ll go down the river,’ he said grumpily but Jasper could see there was a good amount of fear lurking in his eyes. ‘I suppose if they let a child ride the river it can’t be that hard.’
It only took an hour to cut and tie a bundle of bamboo like those of the mud people. Then they dragged it near the river and sat down to rest.
‘Perhaps it’s not so wise to be going down river just before dark,’ Jasper said as the sun sank low on the horizon. ‘We need to be able to see where to get off before we reach Land’s End.’
Dekon agreed and it was a long, cold night sleeping by the river. Neither of them felt like sleeping in the forest and they took it in turns to stay awake to keep watch for any creatures that might come for a look at them.
Jasper was more than pleased to see the grey light of pre-dawn. The warf’s nervousness was catching and he had been hearing all sorts of noises that probably meant nothing.
‘Sorry, there’s no food left for breakfast,’ Jasper said as he picked up one of the two bamboo poles they had left free of the bundle. ‘Here’s your pole.’
Dekon looked at it with very little enthusiasm and they pushed the bamboo bundle to the edge of the river.
‘I’ve got a longer stride so you get on and I’ll push it in the river,’ Jasper suggested.
Dekon didn’t argue and with one big push their makeshift raft was afloat. Jasper grabbed the lashing and pulled his leg over. It was harder than it looked and he almost tipped right over to the other side.
‘Steady on. I can’t swim,’ Dekon yelled.
Jasper managed to correct his balance as the bamboo began its perilous charge down river. The water rushed over his feet and it was freezing cold. He pulled his knees up in front of him to raise his feet out of the water.
‘I’ll do the right, and you do the left,’ Jasper said as he poked the bamboo stick at a rock to his right and gently changed the course of their raft. ‘I don’t think it’s flowing as fast as it was further up river.’
Dekon didn’t respond and Jasper dared a small turn to check that the warf hadn’t fallen off. Dekon was clinging to the lashings with both hands and his pole was nowhere in sight. He didn’t look to have heard Jasper and his expression said he had blocked out his present situation entirely.
‘I guess I’ll do both left and right,’ Jasper said, hoping the warf would hold on tightly as he didn’t feel like trying to rescue him in this current.
As daylight crept over the land it became easier to navigate the river and Jasper found he was actually enjoying the ride. He glanced back now and then to check the warf and the blank-faced expression didn’t change.
The river slowed a little as it widened and there were less rocks to avoid, then as the river curved around a wide bend Jasper saw people up ahead. They appeared to be fishing with a long net and hadn’t seen Jasper and Dekon yet.
‘Get off!’ Jasper hissed to Dekon as he reached back and grabbed the warf’s shirt and hauled him off the bamboo raft.
They fell noisily into the river but Dekon was so surprised that he didn’t even yell out. Instead, he looked around, wide-eyed and shocked to find himself chin-deep in water. Jasper’s feet found the bottom of the river and he let himself drift a little as he slowly stepped towards the grassy bank. The water was so cold he could feel his feet going numb already and he knew it wouldn’t be long before his hands followed too.
‘Just keep your head up,’ Jasper said, still holding onto the warf in case he was swept downstream.
He pulled Dekon towards the bank while fighting against the strong current. Thankfully the water counteracted the warf’s weight and Jasper had no trouble pulling him along.
‘Hey, there’s more bamboo!’ a shout came from down river as Jasper reached the side and pulled Dekon close enough that he could grasp the bushes.
‘We should get out and stay low in the bushes,’ Jasper suggested quietly.
Dekon didn’t need telling twice and he pulled himself out with ease and lay flat under a bush.