The Secret King

Racing

The first step was for all the pushers and the pullers at the rear of the cart to pull the vehicle slightly uphill and allow all the restraining blocks to be removed from beneath the wheels. Almost immediately upon the blocks' removal, the cart began to slowly move down the ten degree incline. The pushers dug in their heels and slowly moved backward while the pullers at the rear strained against the ropes and moved with them.

Things seemed to go well for the first few hundred yards until the slope of the hill increased dramatically. The cart picked up speed and began accelerating steadily. The pullers and pushers grunted and strained but were unable to decrease the forward momentum.

Immediately Chumley yelled loudly, "Slow!" and Frega and Thoris raised their flags halfway. The twenty brake-beasts on the ten brakes pulled firmly on their levers, driving the hard wooden blocks into the tops of the thick wooden wheels. A whining shriek filled the air as the wood ground against wood. The forward progress slowed to a manageable speed.

Chumley looked left and right of the Asherouboros' tank. To his dismay, the wheels being braked had begun smoking under the relentless friction of the brakes. Thinking quickly, he ran to the wolf manning the bellows which bubbled air into the tank and instructed him hastily. Together they reversed the hoses leading to and from the bellows, so that water was now shooting out of the hose which had originally sucked in the air. He called to one of the pullers and helped him aboard the cart, then instructed him to douse the smoldering wheels with the hose to prevent the wheels catching fire.

The strategy seemed to work. The progress down the hill was a bit faster than desired, but steady and continued at that rate for nearly a mile.

Chumley resumed his position at the head of the cart and his heart dropped. Up ahead, about a hundred yards, the road seemed to disappear. Having walked the road the previous evening he knew exactly what they were approaching. It was the point in the roadway where the incline reached nearly twenty degrees and stayed that way for nearly three miles, straight to the bottom of the pass. This was it, he thought, do or die, failure or success.

"Everyone ready!" he shouted, "We're at the edge! Mind my steering and if you feel the cart startin' to tip, jump off!"

The cart rolled inexorably toward the dip in the hill. It began moving faster and faster. The pushers and pullers did their best to hold the cart back, but it was becoming an increasingly difficult task. When the rolling platform crested the hill, it became nearly impossible. Chumley yelled "Both" and the brake-beasts put their full strength into the brake levers. The cart slowed slightly, but now that it was fully on the steeper slope, it was a self-defeating tactic. Chumley realized that if the brakes remained fully engaged, they would quickly be ground to sawdust and useless for steering.

He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves. Looking right and left at his friends Frega and Thoris, a devil-may care smile spread over his face. He turned around briefly and stared at the snoozing beast in the tank.

"Well Ashy me pal, ah think it's time for a ride."

Chumley turned once more to his friends and yelled out "Slow" Frega and Thoris stared at him for a moment and both broke into wide grins. They lowered their flags halfway and the brake-beasts loosened the pressure on the wheels by half. Almost immediately the cart's speed increased and continued increasing. The pushers and pullers were soon no longer able to keep up and began to drop off, one by one, until none remained to impede the cart's forward momentum.

Soon Frega's army was fading into the distance as the cart shot headlong down the hill. Chumley focused on the road ahead, watching to see that the cart remained centered on the roadway. If the cart were to stray to the elevated sides of the road and tip in any way, it would flip and tumble, annihilating the platform and anyone on board at the time of the crash. Luckily for the crew of the wooden missile, the road was arrow straight, at least as far as Chumley could see.