The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer (best short novels of all time .TXT) 📕

“What for?” she replied incredulously.

“For all the trouble you’ve caused, for all the rumours that you’ve started to spread, for the hope that you were planning to plant into the hearts of these poor innocent dwellers.” Then in a fit of rage he screamed like a banshee: “HOW DARE YOU TAKE MY LADY-BIRD!”

“She’s not yours! Lady-Bird isn’t a possession, she belongs to herself!” Cecilia shouted back as she saw him rise up into the canopy a few rows ahead.

“Be quiet! You owe me. I’ll have all your tears, every last drop. Until you are shrivelled up and dried out from crying a river to fill our lake with your lifetime!”

Cecilia thought he was being a bit dramatic, and it occurred to her that maybe if she hit the right nerve, she might get him to at least reveal some of the details about her friends. In all the movies she’d ever seen, villains simply can’t help themselves. It’s part of how they get revenge: by making their victim suffer as they reveal the truth, believing that they will have the last word as they hold their victim in their evil clutches. Anyway, besides her rucksack, she really didn’t have much to lose any more, and if there was any way she could find one last chance to save her friends and get home, it was worth a shot.

“Why are you hiding from me?” she called up into the boughs of the trees, taking small, quiet steps towards his last landing spot. “Come out and face me, or are you afraid?”

As she worked her way into the forest and it became brighter, fireflies filled the air. Jacques d’Or swooped down from his perch and stood in front of her, beaming. He pulled a mirror from his waistcoat and rearranged his feathers, smoothing out some ruffled tufts on his crown.

“Jacques d’Or,” she said. “Pleased to finally meet you.”

“I wish I shared your sentiment but you really are a thorn in my side at the moment,” he said spitefully.

“Nice mirror,” she remarked.

“Isn’t it just?” he said, snapping it shut and twitching with rage.

There was a flapping as he rose up storming into the trees. They rustled and bent under the weight of such a large bird.

“Now all that’s left is to decide what to do with you… It seems you’re more trouble than your tears are worth. So, I could push you into the pits of the doldrums and let a gas explosion blast you to smithereens. Or what about taking you out to the Black of Beyond and leaving you lost in the dark? No, that won’t do; you might somehow find your way back. I know! I’ll just throw you in the Deep at the end of the Black Forest instead. I am pretty sure no one would miss you!”

“The Deep?” Cecilia was puzzled. She remembered Jasper saying something about the Deep when she was inspecting a jar of his.

“The Deep… The black hole of no return?” Jacques d’Or sounded irritated. “No one who enters the Deep comes back because it goes nowhere!”

Cecilia steadied herself. The Deep sounded scary but what if no one ever wanted to come back because whatever was on the other side of it was far better than here… It wouldn’t be impossible, she thought. Cecilia couldn’t really imagine nothingness. An infinite deepness, yes, or a portal to elsewhere seemed more reasonable. She remembered from watching TV that black holes usually took you somewhere, and what she’d learnt from being in the tunnels so far was that every tunnel led on to another one, so the Deep must go somewhere too, and besides, surely Jasper wouldn’t have a jar of it in his cubby if it was seriously harmful?

“Let’s spice things up a bit, shall we?” Jacques d’Or blew on a small gold whistle hanging on a chain from his waistcoat pocket.

“It would be a bit of a bore to just push you into the Deep. Let’s chase you there first!”

A large dog-face approached and stood under the tree that Jacques d’Or was weighing down. The dog-face had the sad drooping guise of a boxer dog but he also looked mean. Very mean.

“Perfect!” said Jacques d’Or. “Cecilia, meet Hunter. Hunter, meet Cecilia. Now that you’ve met we’d better crack on. Hunter, you are to chase Cecilia into the Deep. Got it?”

Hunter turned slowly and looked up into the trees and then back at Cecilia. He seemed tired and weary but agreed with a nod of his head.

Jacques d’Or hopped down to the ground.

“Now, Cecilia, I’m not an unreasonable chap so I’ll give you a head start.”

“But I—” She made to speak but Jacques d’Or interrupted her.

“I’m afraid the time for discussion is over. Twenty seconds on the clock! Hunter, on all fours now,” Jacques d’Or commanded. Hunter let out a deep, low grunt and stood staring at Jacques d’Or. “Disobedience won’t be tolerated now, will it, hmm?” Jacques d’Or toyed with the small gold whistle dangling from the chain on his waistcoat. “Hmm?” he goaded. “On all fours, now, there’s the sport, it’s much more fun this way.”

Hunter settled into a moment of utter humiliation as he got on his furry hands and knees.

“Fabulous. Ready, Cecilia? On your marks… Get set…”

Cecilia had hardly a moment to think and had no idea where to go.

“GO! Run, run for your life!” Jacques d’Or shouted, a cackling laugh clinging onto the end of his words before he began counting.

“One…” Cecilia ran through the darkest patches of the trees, running as fast as she could into the cloak of their shadowy boughs.

“Two…” She stopped and looked up, wondering if she should climb one and try to hide in the branches, but she knew eventually Hunter would sniff her out or Jacques d’Or would swoop in and spot her from above.

“Three… Four… Five…”

She knew she had to keep moving so she kept running, not knowing where she was going or if she would find a place of safety. Then she