Chapter Fifteen: In the Dark

Throp and the princess had to make their way along the walls of the large cavern before finding where they were to go next. At one point it began to narrow again and they realized this was their passageway. It felt strange to go on without the others, but they knew they didn’t have a choice.

Throp found he got used to Cleo’s claws in his shoulder rather quickly. That or he was just numb from the pain. A few times she began to pick at his hair. He’d wave her away and she’d squawk at him until he fed her a bit of fruit from the knapsack.

“I hope neither of us gets hungry later,” the princess said.

“I’d be happy to trade,” Throp said, jerking his away from the preening bird. He would have been happy to trade, but he didn’t think Nib would want to leave his place on the princess’s shoulders. He looked at her and saw she was smiling. He realized she was teasing him.

“I wonder what they’re doing,” she said. It took him a moment to realize she was talking about Tobiah and Agnes. “It’s just that I’m surprised that there’s another way out of that big hole that’s easier than just climbing up.”

“I’m surprised he went down there at all,” Throp said. The princess looked at him with her head cocked, her brow furrowed.

“You think he could have just left Agnes there?” she asked. “Do you think that little of him?” Throp shrugged.

“He is a pirate,” he said.

“Hmm,” was all the princess said.

They reached the first fork within fifteen minutes and the princess pulled out the compass.

“South, he said, right?” Throp said, but then turned around, confused. The princess shook her head.

“South he said!” responded Cleo. The princess frowned at both of them.

“North,” she said.

“Are you sure?”

She held up the compass. The northern passage was directly in front of them. The other option was east. They were coming from the south.

“Oh,” he said feeling sheepish. They both remembered correctly that they were to go west at the next fork. Another half an hour and they found the next fork, where Tobiah had told them to stay put. The passage dead-ended here, with a new passage branching off in either direction. The larger one to the left appeared wide and easy to traverse and the one on the right was smaller and narrower.

“Don’t!” the princess cried as Throp stepped toward the larger passage on the left. “He said to wait for him.”

“I’m just looking,” Throp said. “It doesn’t look dangerous or anything.

“But you wouldn’t know, would you?” she said.

“They’re probably perfectly safe,” Throp said. “He’s just afraid we’ll get to his precious treasure before he does.”

The princess sat down against the cave wall. She gathered a small pile of rocks and leaned her torch against it. She pulled Nib from around her shoulders and set him in her lap. Nib yawned, stretched and began to sniff around. Throp worried for a moment that he might run off, but he seemed content to be near the princess.

“Why are you so distrustful of him?” she asked. “May I?” She nodded to the knapsack and Throp set them both on the ground in front of her. She rifled through one of them, pulling out some dried fruit and sharing it with Nib.

“I’m distrustful because he’s a pirate,” Throp said.

“Pirate!” Cleo repeated.

“That’s right,” Throp said to Cleo, dropping his voice as though he was talking to a baby. “And he’s an idiot. Right? Tobiah is an idiot.”

“Tobiah is an idiot!” the bird squawked back. Throp burst into laughter, unable to help himself. “Good girl!” he said. He fed Cleo some fruit, suddenly feeling a little warmed up to the bird. The princess did not seem amused.

“He’s done everything he said he would so far,” she said.

“So far,” Throp countered. “And you know, I don’t think you’d be so willing to give him the benefit of the doubt if he looked like, say, Captain Dregg.”

“What does that mean?”

“I just don’t think you’d be so trusting of him if he was a short man with a hook hand or was skinny and missing most of his teeth like Starnes.” The princess scoffed.

“That is an outrageous accusation,” she said, coming closer to her regal-sounding voice than she had in a while. “I am perfectly capable of judging someone by their character and not taking into account their handsomeness.”

“So you admit you think he’s handsome,” Throp said.

“Of course he’s handsome!” the princess said, becoming flustered. “But that’s not why I -” She stopped herself and took a deep breath.

“Perhaps you’re the idiot,” she said. She leaned in to Cleo. “Tell him. Tell him he’s the idiot.”

“Rawk! Tobiah’s an idiot!” Cleo said. Throp laughed again, not even bothering to try to hold back. He was feeling better than he had in days. The princess just rolled her eyes. Throp made his own little pile of rocks and sat down against the wall next to the princess. He pulled out a canteen, took a swig and offered it to her. She drank a bit and then yawned. Throp caught it and yawned also.

“Stop,” the princess said, stifling another one.

“You started it,” he said.

“Tobiah said it may take them a while. It wouldn’t hurt to have a little nap, would it?” Throp didn’t want to nap. He wanted to be alert, just in case. He didn’t know what to make of Cleo’s presence, how much he should worry that Tobiah’s former crew and captain were on their tails. He felt like he should be ready for them if they did appear. He was tired, though, and the princess’s eyes were already closing. She was probably right. A little nap wouldn’t hurt.

When he awoke it was pitch black. He waited for his eyes to adjust and when they didn’t, panic began to set in. It was a darkness like he didn’t even know existed. Even at night, inside his house with the blanket pulled over him, he had never experienced this kind of dark. It made him suddenly realize that he had no idea where he was in relation to the land outside. Was he underground? Deep in the mountain? Was there light just on the other side of this passage or just more darkness?

He felt around. The cave wall was still to his back, but he could no longer feel Cleo gripping his shoulder. He put a hand to where she had been, but found nothing. He followed the string tied to his wrist and was startled when it brushed the bird. She flapped her wings and squawked.

He heard a soft moan from next to him.

“Throp?” the princess said, the panic in her voice apparent. “Throp are you there?”

“I’m right here,” he said. He reached out, gripped something warm which he realized was her leg. He let go and held his hand in the air.

“Uh, reach out,” he said. “Take my hand.” Soon he felt her small fingers groping for his and he took her hand.

“What happened, why is it dark?” She still sounded panicked and Throp tried not to let her know he felt exactly the same way.

“I think our torches went out,” he said. “There’s a tinderbox in the sack, let me just-”

“Don’t let go of me!” she cried, gripping his hand tighter.

“I won’t,” he said. “But let me… hang on…” He found the sack with his other hand and dug through it, finally finding the small tinder box that held the flint and striking stone.

“Can you find your torch?” he asked. He heard her fumbling in the dark.

“Yes,” she said. “I’m holding it. It must have fallen over.”

“I’m going to have to let go of your hand to light it,” he said. He heard her take a deep breath. “Okay?”

“Sorry, I was nodding,” she said with a small laugh. He chuckled, then let go of her hand and worked on the flint. He struck the steel once, then knocked his own fingers the second time. The third time it took, making a spark and catching the bit of oiled cloth inside the tinderbox.

“Here, here,” he said, holding the box up. The end of the torch appeared in the small circle of light and then it took and their little end of the passageway lit up. The look of relief on the princess’s face reflected the relief Throp was feeling. It was bad enough to be alone, lost with only a pirate to help them find their way. The dark just made everything worse.

They lit Throp’s torch and then sat in silence, both of them still getting over their initial panic. Nib sat in the princess’s lap and she stroked him down the length of his body. He hoped it was comforting her. He decided then to trust his instinct in the future, or at least give it more credence than his desire to catnap.

Throp had no idea how long they slept, but he estimated it at another half hour before the pirate and Agnes showed up. They heard their voices first, coming from the larger passageway. They both tensed, Throp readying his sword. At first they were just voices, merged together, but then they began to clear, separating into two, and Throp could make out Tobiah’s deep voice contrasting with Agnes’s occasional high-pitched giggle. Soon they could see the light from their torches and then they were together again.