Eleazar Goodenough
and the Mystery of the Scrying Inkwell

by Jerry Grimes

Chapter 5 - Down to the Dungeon

The two boys went out into the hall, following Eleazar's pendulum swings until they were stopped by the north wall of the castle.

"What now?" asked Jolly.

"Don't know," said Eleazar, "but I believe the pendulum. Look. It's stopped swinging north and south and has started to circle. Check the wall for secret passages."

"There's something here," said Jolly, tapping one of the stones that made up the north wall. "This stone has a mark on it."

"Try pushing on the stone," said Eleazar.

As Jolly pushed on the stone, it suddenly slid into the wall. The floor nearest the wall tilted downwards and both boys were catapulted into a chute that ran beneath the floor. Screaming and yelling, they slid down the chute, feet first. Over their heads, the floor tilted back up into its original position, cutting off all the light and leaving them in total darkness.

"Illuminata!" shouted Eleazar, having managed to grab his wand. The tip of the wand glowed brightly so that he could see they were in no danger, but sliding at a very fast pace down a slide that rivaled any he had ever seen at amusement parks. Jolly was still yelling, so Eleazar told him to quiet down and enjoy the ride.

"Enjoy the ride?" shouted Jolly. "Suppose we end up inside the belly of a dragon?"

"Whoever built this slide was not using it to feed dragons," said Eleazar. "It's more like a fire escape than a feeding trough. If you quiet down, whatever is waiting for us at the other end won't hear us coming."

That made sense to Jolly, so the two boys continued to slide downwards in silence.

"We're slowing down," noticed Eleazar. "That means the slide is about to end, so get ready for whatever comes next."

The slope of the slide was not as steep now, and towards the very end it actually leveled off so they could merely step off the end of the slide without injury. "Where are we?" asked Jolly.

"We're still inside the castle," said Eleazar. "This must be the basement."

"The dungeon, you mean," said Jolly. "Just because we didn't end up in the belly of a dragon doesn't mean there aren't any down here."

"You would smell them if there were," said Eleazar. "Trust me, I know. What do you suppose is behind that door?" He held up his glowing wand and revealed a massive wooden door blocking their way.

"I'd rather not find out," said Jolly.

"Do you plan to climb back up that slippery slide?" asked Eleazar. "We have to find our way out of here and the only way I can see is through that door. It doesn't seem to be locked so it can't be holding back something dangerous. Just to be safe, I'll open it with my wand."

Eleazar waved his wand at the door and said, "Na-hot-nah." The door moved slightly, then swung open with a loud creak.

"What language was that?" asked Jolly.

"Navaho, I think," said Eleazar. "It seemed to understand me."

"I wish I could teach my wand to work in other languages," said Jolly. "Where did you learn to speak Navaho?"

"I can't remember," said Eleazar. "Ready to go through the door?"

"Let's look first," suggested Jolly.

"Good idea," said Eleazar. He held his glowing wand up high and moved close to the door to illuminate the space beyond. As the wand glowed more and more brightly, they saw that they were looking into a cavern. Standing before them was an army of grotesque statues, three hundred or more, each statue only three feet tall. Every statue was dressed or decorated differently from its neighbor and there seemed to be no two exactly alike.

"Kachinas!" exclaimed Eleazar.

"Gesundheit!" said Jolly.

"These are Kachina dolls of the Hopi," explained Eleazar.

Sky Spirit Kachina

"Each doll represents a guardian of the Hopi spirit world, but what they are all doing down here in our castle basement is a real puzzle," said Eleazar.

"I think one of them just moved," said Jolly in a whisper.

"Don't be silly, they're just dolls," said Eleazar. Then, he,too, saw the movement. "Are you trying to scare us?" he called out.

"Is it working?" came the answer from one of the "dolls."

"No. I'm not afraid. Are you afraid, Jolly?"

"Who me? Of course not," said Jolly, trying not to shake.

"We're not afraid of you," said Eleazar. "Come on out here and speak with us, Sky Spirit."

The kachina known as 'Sky Spirit' took off its mask and stepped down from its pedestal. "Are you here to harm us?" asked the little man. His real face was painted with black and red stripes, but they could see that he was not a monster, just a tiny three foot tall man.

"No," answered Eleazar. "I'm looking for my lost inkwell. It's a small glass ink bottle about this big." He used his hands to indicate the bottle's size.

"I haven't seen anything like that, but I've only been on guard duty for the past ten years," said Sky Spirit.

"You have been down here in this dark dungeon for the past ten years?" asked Jolly in amazement.

"No," said Sky Spirit. "I live in the sky, but when someone enters the room, I step into this doll body to see what's going on. If it is danger, I call to the other kachina and we form an army to defend the castle. If someone brought an ink bottle in here and left it, I would know about it."

"Use the pendulum," said Jolly.

Eleazar held out the pendulum and it slowly began to go around and around in a circle.

"So you have the sight," said Sky Spirit.

"I seem to be blind," said Eleazar. "The pendulum shows the ink bottle is down here, yet I don't see it and you say no one has been in this room in the past ten years."

"Perhaps you're looking in the wrong direction," suggested Sky Spirit. He pointed towards the ceiling.

"Of course!" said Eleazar. "It's above us, not below us. It could be up on the roof!"

"Great!" said Jolly. "How do we get up there from down here?"

"I can help you there," said Sky Spirit, stepping back up on the pedestal and placing the mask over his head. "Hold my hands and I'll lift you up to the roof."

Eleazar and Jolly each took hold of one of Sky Spirit's hands and suddenly they found themselves floating high above the roof of the castle. Sky Spirit now had the appearance of a young Native American man, but he was as transparent as glass, although quite solid to the touch. He lowered them down onto a flat section of the castle roof and then waved good-bye before vanishing from sight.

To Chapter Six

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