Gold by Geraldine Mills

Author:Geraldine Mills
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Little Island Books

CHAPTER 5

Huge walls of stone that millions of years ago had been spewed up by a giant from under the sea pile up on each other all around me as Malfas pulls me after him, the rope digging into my neck. I don’t know how long we’ve been walking. I’m not sure what I am more afraid of, the rope chafing my skin or the heat of the animal’s breath, scary hot on my heels. Malfas slouches and grunt-mumbles like an animal too, his breath laboured, taking no notice of the skittering movement in the undergrowth.

Roots of trees bulge out of the ground. I trip-trup on them and Malfas growls at me as he waits for me to pick myself up. He continues to pull me towards an incline.

Up and down, up and down, over rocks, we move into the darkness, the animal’s breath burning my ankles. Malfas pulls me through a narrow pass with rocks covered in moss, water dripping down through them. Out of every little crevice there are all sorts of plants growing, I can barely take them in.

Some places are covered in the softest green, others are just grey stone. No way can I slow down because if I do he yanks the rope and the life is choked out of me. Veltor now takes the lead and looks back every so often to see if Malfas is following. Some of the path has been washed away by rain, and we have to walk very carefully; some of it has dried up where the sun hits it and little flowers with shining faces look up at me, so bright they almost hurt my eyes.

We trudge through more narrow gaps of stone. Veltor comes to a stop at a hole in the rock. He dips his tongue into it and I hear him slurp, slurp. Malfas follows, cups his hands in, draws them to his mouth. Then he lets me lie on the edge. I make a bowl of my hands and take a big slug of it. It tastes better than all the orgone water I have ever tasted.

I drink and drink and drink.

Shadows play games with the land all around. We start walking again. I don’t know whether I’m dreaming or not, but little by little, the trees seem to be getting taller and taller all the time, until now they are hitting off the roof of the sky, leaving us as nothing more than specks on the ferny floor.

When we come out into a clearing Veltor stops and looks up to the top of the rocks. Something moves.

‘What is it?’

‘Horned animal,’ Malfas says. ‘Veltor likes them. Keep him fed.’ The horned animals look down from the tower of stone, as if teasing us, then scamper away. Veltor doesn’t show any interest. His belly must still be full. Good news for me.

We file through another endless narrow pass of stone. Trees shadow each side. Only wide enough for a body or a horned animal. There is a different smell now, a funny smell that I don’t recognise either.

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