Elise Runs and Dorothy Falls

Chapter 38

The waterfall, foaming green and dark from a fountainhead on the garden wall, had no secret passage that Dorothy saw. Necessarily she stayed to the shadows, near the trees, because at any moment a spirit, or more likely a couple, could materialize from the darkness. The waterfall emptied into a pond encircled with round aqua stones and beautiful blue lilies, the edge of which she approached. She knelt and tested the water with her hand. She used her hand because although she wore toe stockings, of course, they protected her like rubberized steel. If Crab's guts couldn't wet her, certainly couldn't a tranquil pond! The water felt warm and full of fine particles. Algae, she presumed.

"Behind the waterfall? The hell is that?" She made this rude inquiry as she surveyed the fountainhead—a glabrous monster face, something like a fish perhaps, with a very large mouth. She examined the pond to find a way to reach it. Stepping stones, rounded and green.

As she made her way across them toward the fountainhead, it became apparent they were not 'stepping stones'. They just happened to be stone, and were in fact partially submerged shrines, each inscribed with alien writing that glowed warmly orange when she stepped on it. The tops were slick with the same algae that tinted the pond, but utilizing her freed toes in sum with excellent coordination, she traversed nine such shrines and arrived at the waterfall. She could feel its foggy spray.

She looked over her shoulder. This was a terrible spot to stand. Anyone in this corner of the garden could see her plainly, and she noticed several windows above her. Looking back at the chiseled monster, she did the only thing she could think to do.

Leaping from the shrine, she caught hold of the fish's lower jaw. Her fingers slipped and slid until they gripped the lip tight, and then, using her arm strength, hoisted herself through the water into the mouth itself. She had to hold her breath as she fought the current and pushed her way up and inside.

When she got through its mouth, the channel widened and her head broke above the water again. Lurching into a more erect position, she activated the lighter Enamel gave her. A faint glow, but enough to see by. Water rushing around her ankles, she stood on the back of the creature's stone tongue, in a small stone chamber. She couldn't stand all the way, but ahead she saw, besides the waterway forward, a hole in the stone ceiling. With a slosh and a stretch, she made her way there and grabbed a hold of the lowest rung of a very, very long ladder.

"Christ..."

The journey upward tested even Dorothy's resolve. The air was stagnant, she couldn't see because she put up the lighter, and, like the stones and everything else, the rungs were covered in slippery protolife. She gasped and said, "Bout fuckin' time!" when, after an age it seemed, she bumped into a hatch. Enthusiastically she opened it.

Or she tried, anyway, because when she threw her hands against it with all that excitement, it didn't budge.

"Gots to be joshing..."

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the lighter again, ignited it, then began to examine the nature of this trapdoor, which was metal and square. Peering closely at its center, she found what she hoped for: a keyhole.

Now the second problem. She couldn't hold the lighter and fiddle with the lock simultaneously, which meant she would have to pick the lock in the dark. Fortunately for the cunning, streetwise witch, she had picked dozens of pharmacy doors and windows in her days and nights with the Oods, so when she pulled the special hairpin from under her sock cap she had a decent idea what to do. After a few minutes with only once almost falling, she popped it with a click. This time she pushed up with twice the aggression.

"DAMN!"

She climbed out and threw the cover shut again. BACLANG. Sipping like a thirsty sailor at the night sky, she cast a few groans and worked her shoulders. Cranked her neck and twirled her ankles.