Helga: Out of Hedgelands - Rick Johnson (a court of thorns and roses ebook free TXT) 📗

LuteWoo, straining to hear what was happening below. Fortunately, sound carried well in the cave and they heard much of what was said. The instant WooZan had left, JanWoo-Corriboo was down the rope in a flash. She had barely hit the ground when she whispered urgently, “Come on, we’ve got to get you out of here. The Council of Inquiry only has two outcomes: exile or death. WooZan knows you’re too dangerous to her precious WooPeace to allow you to go free. You’ll be killed!”

“So, the gentle, humble WooZan is not so gentle and humble, eh?” Breister observed. “Some WooPeace!” he said with a hollow laugh.

“Oh, it’s gentle and peaceful, all right,” Janty said, speaking rapidly with excitement. “If the Council of Inquiry decides someone should die, they are simply blindfolded and conducted deep, deep into the uncharted, deepest parts of the cave system and left there. No one hears from those poor souls ever again. That’s exactly what she’s got in mind for you! We’ve got to get you out of here. This was not a good idea!”

“No, Janty, not so fast,” Helga replied in a determined voice. “Let me think. We have until tomorrow at least. I have my flicker-pole for protection. If they try to take us, I’ll bring every bird within 20 miles in on her head. No, we’ll be O.K. We are not going to simply run away. That is probably what she most wants to happen. Either we change our minds and join the WooPeace, or we flee—that’s what she hopes. But she did not count on how determined a Wood Cow can be.”

Helga now directed Janty with a low whisper: “Go back up and lie low. Let WooZan bring us our food. I don’t think she will leave a guard. She wants us to think she’s friendly. And she hopes we will flee and leave her little fiefdom alone. I think she’ll play it straight with us tonight. But she will surely come back tomorrow with the means to—shall we say, make us stay a long time?” The friends looked at one another grimly, and then Janty gave two tugs on the rope. Burwell and Bwellina pulled her back up out of the LuteWoo.

After a few more minutes, Breister and Helga heard the soft sound of a boat paddling across the water. WooZan landed shortly and began unloading a hearty picnic of WooSheep delicacies. She was clearly putting out the best the WooPeace had to offer for the campers in the LuteWoo: Salamander Strips with Hot Sauce, Dried Frog Legs and Whizzle Dip, Moss Chips, and Cold Bat Milk Soup.

“I hope you will be happy and comfortable here tonight, my friends,” WooZan said in a friendly tone. “I have brought you a delightful picnic and some soft pallets for your comfort. I hope you will ponder the bounties and wonders of the WooPeace,” she continued. “You deserve to reflect deeply on why you have come. Perhaps you have come to stay a while? Many who have come have stayed forever. You may change your mind. Hunjah!” She bowed and then paddled off into the darkness.

Helga and Breister waited until all sounds of the boat had died away. Then Helga whispered up towards her friends, “O.K. Let Janty back down.”

In a few moments, Janty was at the bottom of the rope. “Whoa, Janty,” Helga said, impressed. “I’ve never seen anyone climb a rope that fast before! You’re a very good climber!” Helga praised her with a smile. She was getting the seeds of an idea.

Janty looked at Helga expectantly, awaiting instructions, pulsing with energy. Helga smiled. “Sit down for a moment, Janty,” she invited. “You will need every bit of energy you can muster soon. I need a few minutes to think and develop an idea I am having.”

Janty crouched down on her haunches, bouncing softly on the balls of her feet, gazing up through the LuteWoo. “You know why this is called the ‘Mountain That Moves But Stands Still?’ she asked Breister, who was sitting nearby, also looking up through the skylight.

“No,” Breister replied, “but I’d sure like to know. I thought it was because this is an old volcano and the ground used to tremble from that.”

“Yes...and no,” Janty replied. “The ancient stories tell of the times when the ground trembled here. But the references to the ‘Mountain That Moves But Stands Still’ only begin to turn up in the history of our people when the first WooSheep discovered the LuteWoo. They noticed how sitting down here, you see the stars, sun, and moon pass by overhead as if you are moving, but you are not. They were amazed how it felt like movement, but was not. That is where the name came from.”

Breister nodded. “Yes, I know that feeling,” he agreed. “Isn’t it interesting how being buried deep in solid rock can feel like you are moving. It’s a powerful illusion. The WooSheep see this place as a prison.”

“Well,” Helga interrupted. “I think I’ve figured out a way to free them from that prison! Here’s an idea.”

Helga quickly shared her idea, and after a few minutes’ consultation she was able to give a final summary of the plan.

“So,” she said quickly, “Janty is going door-to-door in the Bottoms. She is going to contact every WooSheep household she can and tell them to gather at the ‘Mountain That Moves But Stands Still.’ She’ll explain to them that she has proven that there are no Venom Bats and that the way is open to visit friends and family in the WooPeace. Not everyone will believe her. Many will think she is crazy or they will still be too scared to come.” Helga paused and smiled at her friends. “But, I believe that many will come. There are many creatures who have long thought this whole WooSheep situation was nuts.” She grinned at Janty. “I may have been the first to say it out loud, but I’m sure many WooSheep have thought that for a long time. Many will come. Tell them to be here tomorrow morning at sunrise,” Helga concluded.

JanWoo-Corriboo drew a deep breath. “And while I am inviting the WooSheep at the Bottoms to come, Burwell and Bwellina will be gathering every scrap of wood and driftwood they can find and piling it near the opening to the LuteWoo,” she continued. “When I get back, I will help move the wood and other supplies up and down the rope as quickly as possible.” She looked at Helga and Breister with a look of fond appreciation and hope.

“And we will do what Wood Cows do best!” Breister said, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Helga. “We will make the world’s sturdiest ladder! We’ll make a way for every creature that wants to come meet WooZan to do so!” Breister chuckled. “WooZan will see just how many creatures want to visit friends and relatives in the WooPeace.”

Helga smiled, and thought silently to herself, “We hope.”

Throughout the day, Janty scurried around the Bottoms inviting the WooSheep to visit the WooPeace, while Burwell and Bwellina carried load after load of tree branches and driftwood to the entrance to the LuteWoo.

As darkness descended, Janty returned. She was tired but encouraged. “I think many of the WooSheep will come,” she said excitedly. “Some were doubtful and a few even shut their doors in my face before I finished telling them what was happening. But I could see joy and hope in the faces of many. At least we’d better have that ladder ready!”

The quivering, natural energy that Helga had noticed in JanWoo-Corriboo from the first time she had seen her was put to good effect throughout the night. Despite running all over the Bottoms delivering invitations, Janty was called upon to make countless trips up and down the ladder delivering materials to Breister and Helga. She worked tirelessly, as did the rest of her determined friends. As they worked through the night, almost without consciousness, a simple song began to rise, first as a tune hummed by Janty, then turning to words sung over and over through the night:

A family is

a circle of friends.

Unbroken,

let the circle be.

Using every talent and skill of the Wood Cow traditions, Breister and Helga listened for the qualities of the wood being brought to them. They were greatly encouraged. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard such a chorus of willing woods,” Helga commented joyfully. “It’s as if the entire pile of wood that Burwell and Bwellina has gathered is saying, “Choose me! Use me! I want to be a part of this ladder!”

“Yes,” Breister replied, as he tied stout knots to lash the ladder securely together. “Some of the wood we have is not very pretty and would be discarded by most carpenters. But if the wood is willing, it is the strongest of all, no matter what it looks like.” Wishing to avoid damage to the LuteWoo, and leave no debris behind, Breister and Helga used only rough wood and lashings in their construction. All manner of sizes and shapes were tied together in an amazingly strong, yet very unusual, structure.

The remarkable Wood Cow skills were revealed in a most improbable ladder that grew in length and strength throughout the night. Working in almost complete darkness, Helga stopped repeatedly to play some notes on the pronghorn flute to help her and Breister ‘see’ their surroundings well enough to carry on their work. She wished that she had been a better student when Miss Note was trying to teach her to play so many years ago. “If only I had paid better attention,” Helga thought ruefully. “But, at least I memorized the ‘sounding notes’—so I can use the flute tonight to help us see!” She silently promised herself that, if she ever got the chance to take flute lessons again, she would be more attentive. “If Edna Note could see me now, what would she think!” Helga chuckled.

“I begin to see the ways of the Wood Cows,” JanWoo-Corriboo reflected as she went up and down the rope. “Listening with respect is everything. They listen to the wood. They listen to the rocks. And then these humble materials arise to help them! It’s amazing! Who would have believed it! The actual carpentry work they do all depends on listening well. If they did not have these ways, this project could not be done. Most creatures would look at what they were doing here tonight and say it was impossible. Yet, they are doing it!” And as she climbed and reflected, the song grew louder and louder in her heart.

A family is

a circle of friends.

Unbroken,

let the circle be.

 

WooPeace Airlift

The afternoon light was filtering into the LuteWoo when WooZan’s boat paddled out of the darkness. As her boat came to the stone bank, she looked with dismay on an amazing sight. Hundreds of WooSheep filled the rocky ledges of the LuteWoo, and a steady stream of Otters, Sheep, Geese, Foxes, and other creatures were still descending the long ladder Breister and Helga had constructed.

So filled with creatures was the LuteWoo, that WooZan found nowhere to land her boat. Paddling her boat as close to the bank as possible, she called for ‘the rebel Wood Cows’ to come to her.

Helga and Breister stepped through the crowd and addressed WooZan. “You see the creatures that care about creatures in the WooPeace,” Helga said. “These are not illusions. They are not images of some perfect picture in your mind. These are real creatures that love and care for real creatures in the WooPeace. That is all they want.”

WooZan was livid with anger. She replied with cold fury. “I had hoped you would depart in the night. But you have chosen to remain.