Chapter Nine
Regaining her balance, she peered back at the path she had been on and realised that she could not have gone on much further. The track simply petered out and became sheer cliff face. The gap in the rock which she had nearly fallen into was hardly wide enough to be called a cave, though it seemed to stretch back a little way. She could see a dark hollow just below shoulder height where it seemed as though there might be a way back into daylight through a tunnel, but it was hardly more than a crawlspace. She remembered what Barnaby had said, that the path she had been on led only to the rear entrance to the dragon's lair. The choice was plain: go on or go back the way she'd come. She ventured a little further into the crevice to look at the hole in the end wall.
There was something in there! Something moving, something slithering and sliding and restless.
Whatever it was addressed her in a chatter:
“My goodness me, whatever are you doing here? Weren't you told to stay where you were? What were those silly dogs thinking? How could they expect a mere child to be trusted to stay on her own? Well I never, and here you are, and the weather coming over so grim all of a sudden. Glad you came, you'd have got so wet down there, look, it's going to rain cats and - should I say it - dogs. Come on in as far as you can. You are Jay, aren't you?”
While this seamless speech was being addressed to her, Jay had simply stood in the gap in the rock, her mouth open with surprise. She couldn't see more than a bit of movement on the rocky shelf, and certainly hadn't expected to be harangued. She turned to look out at the weather. Curtains of rain were drifting across the valley, and there was no longer any other view but grey swathes and ribbons. A drop fell on her cheek, so she took off her pack, turned back and inched out of the rain but not too much closer to whatever had been talking to her. She couldn't see much because she was in her own light - what there was of it. It had certainly come over very dark since she had been outside.
“Well, you're every bit as silent as they said you were. So you must be Jay, there's no-one else around here you could possibly be this side of the mountain. Come a little closer, I can't see you. I'm not going to hurt you, you know, I could have done that already if I'd wanted, but they told me you were to be protected, not harmed. Well, if you won't come closer to me, I'll have to come closer to you.”
Jay began to edge out of the cave, thinking that she'd rather be soaked than be any closer to the strange voice; but there was something around her feet, twisting round her knees, warm and solidly encircling her higher and higher so that soon most of her body was held gently but firmly upright. She had no chance of running now!
“I think you must be Snake,” she guessed aloud. She had never been afraid of snakes or slow-worms, and loved the feel of them twining around her hands when she found them. She had seen adders once, when she was quite little, and had treated them with respect but no fear at all.
“Yes, of course I'm Snake, who else would I be, and I'm glad to see you're not struggling. It's so difficult when things struggle, I want to squeeze and sometimes I mustn't because they're not my legitimate prey. You, now, you're just right if a bit on the thin side for my liking. Anyway, you're human, aren't you, so I'm not allowed to even if I wanted to. I don't want to, I've heard so much about you, why you're here and all that. I'm glad to meet you!”
A reptilian face was just about discernible in the gloom, no more than a foot away from her own.
Taking as deep a breath as she was able, Jay answered, “I like snakes, and I'm pleased to meet you too... Oh!” she gasped, as a flash lit the little cave, closely followed by an almost deafening peal of thunder “but I'm not so fond of thunderstorms!”
“Now then, this would have come to teach you a lesson about this world. It's not safe to go against advice here, young one, even if you are feeling sore and hard done by. If I hadn't been here, and you not expected for two days, who knows what might have found you. I don't like to think about it, that's for sure, and nor would you. But of course, you don't know much about anything yet, being just a child.”
“I'm not! The dogs said I was nearly a woman! That's not fair!”
“But you don't want to be a woman yet, do you, and you're not ready to be a woman either, are you, not until long after your stay is over.”
Bang! Another thunderclap stopped the chatter for a moment; but not long enough for Jay to get a word in edgeways.
“No, you're not a woman, so you are still a child, no matter how close you think you are. Be patient, Jay, don't try to live life all at once, not that you can do it but trying is such a waste of effort. Now be still for a while. I want to taste the person you are, I want to taste your soul.”
As if I had a choice, thought Jay, but she stayed still, letting the huge snake run its forked tongue over her face and neck. She could hear nothing but the raindrops slowing, and the faint sound of the great Snake moving its coils slightly as it savoured her.
“Hmm, yes, changes coming. And soon, by the smell of you. You had better be off to your camping place, yes, you must go as soon as the rain stops, for sure, and that is nearly now. Thank you for the taste. Your soul is not as young as your body, I think, and you - well, now, I shouldn't tell you all I have found, that is your task.”
“Bear told me you might have a message for me. Will you tell me before I go, please? And will you please tell me why I've got to stay there so long on my own?”
“Tell you again? I have told you so much, there is nothing left for to me to tell you that you don't have to discover for yourself. Go now and stay in your camping place until it is time to come back here, where I will not be. I shall be hunting!”
The warm coils were loosening as Snake spoke, and Jay was free to move before the snake had finished speaking.
“I don't understand. What did you tell me? What was the message?”
There was no reply, and no sign of the snake either. Jay sighed in exasperation, realised the rain had stopped, and began the slippery trek back to her camp. She had to take great care making her way down the narrow part of the ledge, for the rain had made the going quite treacherous; but the ground began to dry under her feet as the sun came out.
What she saw when she rounded the corner to the camp she'd left so neat and organised shocked her. It looked as though one of the two bolts of lightning had struck. The firewood she had so painstakingly collected was either scattered or singed, and the whole place smelled strange, acrid and steamy. There was a hole in the middle of the circle of stones where she had intended to build the fire, and a sooty black mark on two of the largest stones. How lucky she'd been! If she'd stayed... then she remembered what Snake had said. That just couldn't happen, she thought, a storm coming to teach me a lesson indeed! She shrugged, sighed, and set to work righting the mess as the afternoon got hotter.
Regaining her balance, she peered back at the path she had been on and realised that she could not have gone on much further. The track simply petered out and became sheer cliff face. The gap in the rock which she had nearly fallen into was hardly wide enough to be called a cave, though it seemed to stretch back a little way. She could see a dark hollow just below shoulder height where it seemed as though there might be a way back into daylight through a tunnel, but it was hardly more than a crawlspace. She remembered what Barnaby had said, that the path she had been on led only to the rear entrance to the dragon's lair. The choice was plain: go on or go back the way she'd come. She ventured a little further into the crevice to look at the hole in the end wall.
There was something in there! Something moving, something slithering and sliding and restless.
Whatever it was addressed her in a chatter:
“My goodness me, whatever are you doing here? Weren't you told to stay where you were? What were those silly dogs thinking? How could they expect a mere child to be trusted to stay on her own? Well I never, and here you are, and the weather coming over so grim all of a sudden. Glad you came, you'd have got so wet down there, look, it's going to rain cats and - should I say it - dogs. Come on in as far as you can. You are Jay, aren't you?”
While this seamless speech was being addressed to her, Jay had simply stood in the gap in the rock, her mouth open with surprise. She couldn't see more than a bit of movement on the rocky shelf, and certainly hadn't expected to be harangued. She turned to look out at the weather. Curtains of rain were drifting across the valley, and there was no longer any other view but grey swathes and ribbons. A drop fell on her cheek, so she took off her pack, turned back and inched out of the rain but not too much closer to whatever had been talking to her. She couldn't see much because she was in her own light - what there was of it. It had certainly come over very dark since she had been outside.
“Well, you're every bit as silent as they said you were. So you must be Jay, there's no-one else around here you could possibly be this side of the mountain. Come a little closer, I can't see you. I'm not going to hurt you, you know, I could have done that already if I'd wanted, but they told me you were to be protected, not harmed. Well, if you won't come closer to me, I'll have to come closer to you.”
Jay began to edge out of the cave, thinking that she'd rather be soaked than be any closer to the strange voice; but there was something around her feet, twisting round her knees, warm and solidly encircling her higher and higher so that soon most of her body was held gently but firmly upright. She had no chance of running now!
“I think you must be Snake,” she guessed aloud. She had never been afraid of snakes or slow-worms, and loved the feel of them twining around her hands when she found them. She had seen adders once, when she was quite little, and had treated them with respect but no fear at all.
“Yes, of course I'm Snake, who else would I be, and I'm glad to see you're not struggling. It's so difficult when things struggle, I want to squeeze and sometimes I mustn't because they're not my legitimate prey. You, now, you're just right if a bit on the thin side for my liking. Anyway, you're human, aren't you, so I'm not allowed to even if I wanted to. I don't want to, I've heard so much about you, why you're here and all that. I'm glad to meet you!”
A reptilian face was just about discernible in the gloom, no more than a foot away from her own.
Taking as deep a breath as she was able, Jay answered, “I like snakes, and I'm pleased to meet you too... Oh!” she gasped, as a flash lit the little cave, closely followed by an almost deafening peal of thunder “but I'm not so fond of thunderstorms!”
“Now then, this would have come to teach you a lesson about this world. It's not safe to go against advice here, young one, even if you are feeling sore and hard done by. If I hadn't been here, and you not expected for two days, who knows what might have found you. I don't like to think about it, that's for sure, and nor would you. But of course, you don't know much about anything yet, being just a child.”
“I'm not! The dogs said I was nearly a woman! That's not fair!”
“But you don't want to be a woman yet, do you, and you're not ready to be a woman either, are you, not until long after your stay is over.”
Bang! Another thunderclap stopped the chatter for a moment; but not long enough for Jay to get a word in edgeways.
“No, you're not a woman, so you are still a child, no matter how close you think you are. Be patient, Jay, don't try to live life all at once, not that you can do it but trying is such a waste of effort. Now be still for a while. I want to taste the person you are, I want to taste your soul.”
As if I had a choice, thought Jay, but she stayed still, letting the huge snake run its forked tongue over her face and neck. She could hear nothing but the raindrops slowing, and the faint sound of the great Snake moving its coils slightly as it savoured her.
“Hmm, yes, changes coming. And soon, by the smell of you. You had better be off to your camping place, yes, you must go as soon as the rain stops, for sure, and that is nearly now. Thank you for the taste. Your soul is not as young as your body, I think, and you - well, now, I shouldn't tell you all I have found, that is your task.”
“Bear told me you might have a message for me. Will you tell me before I go, please? And will you please tell me why I've got to stay there so long on my own?”
“Tell you again? I have told you so much, there is nothing left for to me to tell you that you don't have to discover for yourself. Go now and stay in your camping place until it is time to come back here, where I will not be. I shall be hunting!”
The warm coils were loosening as Snake spoke, and Jay was free to move before the snake had finished speaking.
“I don't understand. What did you tell me? What was the message?”
There was no reply, and no sign of the snake either. Jay sighed in exasperation, realised the rain had stopped, and began the slippery trek back to her camp. She had to take great care making her way down the narrow part of the ledge, for the rain had made the going quite treacherous; but the ground began to dry under her feet as the sun came out.
What she saw when she rounded the corner to the camp she'd left so neat and organised shocked her. It looked as though one of the two bolts of lightning had struck. The firewood she had so painstakingly collected was either scattered or singed, and the whole place smelled strange, acrid and steamy. There was a hole in the middle of the circle of stones where she had intended to build the fire, and a sooty black mark on two of the largest stones. How lucky she'd been! If she'd stayed... then she remembered what Snake had said. That just couldn't happen, she thought, a storm coming to teach me a lesson indeed! She shrugged, sighed, and set to work righting the mess as the afternoon got hotter.