The Adventures of Horace Tidwiddler by jlee smith (book suggestions txt) 📕

look down at his feet and not see them. A light misty rain began falling in the middle of the night and Horace was awakened by a wet dog trying to crawl into the bedroll with him. Dylan was very uncomfortable and wanted Horace to know about it. The next morning the travelers decided they should try to find shelter until the weather cleared. A small cave was located and all huddled together as the rains continued. Abbasonn said he had never seen a country where it rained like this, He said he had dreamed last night about his nice dry tent on dry sand and wished he were there. Horace said he had dreamed about his Mother’s gingerbread and even her pickle sandwiches. Horace looked at Aunt Matt and asked, “How long have we been gone? I have lost track of the days and I just don’t know any more.” She thought for a moment then said, “Well, we have had eleven new moons so I guess it’s been almost a year.” Horace said, “My gosh, a year, a year is a long time. I wonder if Mom and Dad have changed?” Abbasonn smiled at Horace and said, “We all change, but I bet they will still know their son.” For some reason, that made Horace feel better. He looked at Dylan who was asleep by his side and smiled. He said to no one in particular, “I just know they will like Dylan.”
The day passed and it continued to rain. That afternoon some dry wood was found in the back of the cave and a small fire started. Abbasonn and Durant made coffee for the group of travelers and set out some small cakes they had packed. Horace agreed with Abbasonn, this country received more rain, had more creeks and rivers and was greener than any place he had ever seen. Aunt Matt and Bob sat by the fire and watched the flames as they jumped and fell. To pass the time, Bob began making shadow puppets on the cave wall with his front paws and telling a story to go with the figures. Aunt Matt was helping with the puppets and story. Horace and the rest of the group cheered and applauded as the story unfolded It had dragons, princesses and white knights coming to the rescue. Bentaub and Durant said they had never seen a better performance anywhere. Later that night when all were snug in their bedrolls, and most had gone to sleep, Bentaub and Durant were still discussing the dragons and wondering if they were real and if so, where did they live.
The rains stopped during the night and by morning the sun was shining bright. Horace was awakened that morning by a blood curdling scream. It was Bentaub. He was sitting up pointing to the ceiling of the cave screaming, "Dragons, Dragons." Horace looked up and saw bats, lots and lots of bats. By this time, all in the group were wide awake and looking for dragons. Bentaub was the first out of the care closely followed by Durant. Both were screaming, "Dragons, Dragons." Neither of them had ever slept in a cave before nor had they ever seen a bat. It was most unnerving. Later, Horace told Aunt Matt and Bob that it may be best for them not to tell their stories late at night and for god’s sake, no more stories about dragons. Abbasonn thought it was funny and was laughing and giggling most of the day.
Days passed and finally on the eight day Abbasonn located one of the trees he had marked when they had passed this way before. He told Horace that they were very near the cavern entrance. It was about this time that they heard angry voices yelling obscenities in several languages. They walked over a little rise and could see the large fort walls they had encountered before. There a group of travelers were jumping up and down screaming and hurling rocks at people on top of the fort walls. There people were yelling, “Nanan nanan nana nana” and hurling rocks back. Abbasonn looked at Horace and said, “Yep, this is the place.” The little band of travelers made a wide detour around the fort and continued on until the confrontation was far behind them.
It was only a short time until they encountered an old man herding a large flock of goats. He seemed to be friendly enough and asked if they would join him for afternoon tea, A fire was built and a pot of water put on to boil. They all sat around the fire and he served each one of them a small clear glass of hot tea. Horace liked coffee better but none was offered. He sat sipping his tea and the old man asked questions regarding their travels. When he heard they were looking for a cave with a stairway that descended down into the earth he got very quiet, then he warned them not to enter this cave. It only led to the home of the devil himself. He said it was only a few months back that the devil himself had attempted to grab his grandson and carry him away. It was a very dangerous place an should be avoided at all cost. He said that his grandson was so frightened by this encounter that he would no longer help with the flock when they were grazing near this unholy place. The travelers all looked at each other but nobody said anything. Horace started to say something but Aunt Matt grabbed him by the arm and shook her head slowly back and forth. Horace then asked, “could he have another cup of that wonderful tea?” Abbasonn asked if the old man was familiar with the fort they had just passed. He laughed and said, “They are the nastiest bunch of people you could ever hope to run into.” He said that nobody in this country liked them and they didn’t like anybody so it worked out about even. He laughed and said they were always good for a rock fight if you were looking for one. Everyone laughed and had another cup of tea. Abbasonn thanked the old man and said they would be on their guard when passing near this cave.
It was getting late in the afternoon when they thanked the old man for his hospitality and continued on toward the cave. They arrived at the cave entrance shortly and set about making torches to use on their decent. As they were entering the cave and starting down the steps, Horace noticed that Durant and Bentaub were noticeably nervous and were staying very close to each other as the decent began. Horace also noticed that it was a lot more difficult going down the stairs than it had been coming up. The people who had carved these steps in the rock must have had very small feet. The steps were not very wide and to make matters worse, they were damp with moisture. This only made the decent more treacherous. The torch light created all types of shadows on the walls of the cavern. Horace did not remember the cave being this large and when they spoke to one another, an echo could be heard speaking back to them. Horace felt very uneasy as they descended further into the darkness.
It took a lot longer to go down than it had to climb the stairs. It was several hours later that they finally arrived at the bottom of the stairs. Abbasonn was heard to give a sigh of great relief when they at last could see the outline of Durant’s boat in the water. Everything was just as they had left it. The provisions and water were undisturbed. Abbasonn said that the sighting of the devil had apparently worked to their advantage.
It was decided that it would be best to wait until morning before they set sail and begin the long journey across the sea. Bob had never been on a boat before but he thought it would be just fine. He could not believe they were so concerned with this sea thing. He told Horace that it looked as smooth as glass to him and could not understand what they were so concerned about. Bob said that he was just surprised that the sea was at the bottom of a cavern. Bedrolls were placed on the boats deck and all turned in for the night. Abbasonn said they would have a full day tomorrow. As they were dozing off to sleep Horace could be heard saying, “Bob, just you wait, just you wait.”.


CHAPTER TWENTY - I THINK WE ARE LOST

When Horace woke the next morning, Durant and Bentaub had untied the boats mooring lines and were making ready to depart. Durant had turned the little craft and was headed for the entrance that lead to open water. Horace would hear the waves washing up on the rocks as they exited the cavern. It was still very early in the morning and the sky was a dull gray color as the little craft cleared the breakwater and headed out to open sea. Abbasonn had gone below and prepared coffee on a small cook fire that he had built in a clay oven. He had just handed Horace a cup when Bob woke up on deck and let out a loud scream. "Where's the cavern? For God's sake, where is the land?" Horace said, "I told you so." Bob had woken Aunt Matt up and she was not happy. She said, "Go down and get me a cup of coffee and shut up. You are giving me a headache." Dylan was standing in the bow of the craft watching the waves roll by. He had gotten his sea legs back and was having no problem at all. Bob stumbled down into the little cabin holding on to the wall. He again said, "What have you done with the land? It's all gone." Abbasonn laughed and said, "Not to worry, we will find it again." Bob had a hard time believing that there was any body of water this large. The only water he had ever seen was in a creek or a river. A sea was completely beyond his imagination.
It was about midmorning when Bob turned to Horace and said, “I don’t feel good, I think I may up chuck my coffee and cake.” Horace yelled up to Durant, “Bob needs some of those leaves of yours or we are going to have a mess down here.” Everyone but Bob thought it was funny. The rest of the morning went without event as the little craft sailed into the waves headed East.
It was late afternoon before the overcast lifted and the sky began to clear. When the first stars came out, Bob was fascinated with how bright they appeared over the water. Later that night Horace, Aunt Matt and Bob sat on the deck listening to the waves break against the side of the boat. Bob told them that he had never seen so many stars before. He said he did not know there were that many. Horace started