Trouble in the Land of Dwarves
Chapter 14
Flindee the Finder
Nathan sat up with a shout as he awoke
from the nightmare! His eyes were filled
with tears and he was sweating in his armor
as he fought to catch his breath and calm his
rapidly beating heart! At first, he thought
he was still dreaming because it was so dark
in the jester prison box, but then he
remembered where he was and forced
himself to calm down.
He didn�t
know how long he had been sleeping, but
he knew now more than ever that he had to
escape and find his sister before
Snagglefang did. He quickly stood up and
began to search the walls of his prison,
hoping to find a way out. The door was
bolted from outside and he could find
absolutely nothing within that would
help.
It was then that he heard
the voices from the other side of the cave
softly talking. Actually it was only one
voice carrying on a conversation with itself.
Or was it argueing with itself? Nathan
stopped and listened more closely. He soon
realized it was the jester who was talking to
his puppet again.
�Of course I
heard him scream! I�m not deaf ya know!
Cut me some slack, Jack...�in the box�. Ha!
Get it? Jack in the box! That�s funny,
huh?�
There was a pause and
Nathan could imagine the funny little dwarf
leaning in as if listening to his puppet
companion.
�Oh, it was to funny.
You never give me any credit, Q. Besides,
it doesn�t matter if he did scream. The Boss
gave me orders that I�m not supposed to
touch nothing. And that�s just what I�m not
gonna do. Not touch nothing!...What do ya
mean?...Don�t touch nothing really means
to touch something? What are you talking
about, Q? Honestly, sometimes you are a
real dummy. Hee, hee! Get it? A real
dummy? Of course you are! A dummy!
Boy that�s rich! Sometimes I just kill me!...
What�s that?... Oh. Sometimes I kill you
too... Well that�s not a very nice thing to
say, Quattlebom, and I�m still not touchin�
nothin! So there!... Ok, whatever. So I am
touching something then. Have it your way.
Touching something. Not touching
nothing. It�s all the same thing. That�s
what you said so if you insist on saying I�m
touching something then fine. I�m touching
something!... Hey, wait a minute. I�m
touching something? What am I
touching?... Nothing! And I�m supposed to
be touching something? Oh, my goodness!
There I go screwing up again! Quick, I
gotta touch something! But what?... The
prison box? Oh yeah, that kid is in there
and he sounded scared. Well, since the boss
told me to touch something, I might as well
touch that, huh? I wouldn�t want to disobey
the boss now, would I? Nope nope,
wouldn�t want to do that... Oh, that�s easy
for you to say, Q, I can always put you back
together if he rips YOU apart. Who�s going
to put ME back together if he rips my arms
off?... What do you mean I won�t get
caught? Of course, I�ll get caught! I
ALWAYS get caught! You know good and
well, the boss finds out about everything!...
NO! I�m not going to listen to you, Q! You
always get me into trouble! The boss said
to touch something and that�s exactly what
I�m going to do! In fact, I�m going to touch
the most important thing in this room just to
do my job right!... Yes, that�s right, the
door lock on the prison box and you can�t
stop me!... I�m not listening to you!... I�m
not listening to Quattlebom! La, la, la, la,
la, la, la, la, la, la!�
The bolt
on the Jester box door slid open and Nathan
watched in amazement as the door swung
open. There stood the jester, ignoring
Nathan as he argued with his puppet. �Aha!
See, I did it! The boss will be so proud of
me for once! No thanks to you, you
rebellious little ball of poorly painted
poodle poo! I followed intructions to the
tee this time! Didn�t I, Sir?�
The
jester turned to Nathan just as he was about
to step out of the box and caught the prince
by surprise.
�Um... yes! Of
course you did.� Nathan answered quickly.
Then he got an idea. �Uh, I was supposed
to go on an errand for the uh....�
�For the boss! I remember. I�m not
stupid, ya know.� Quattlebom�s head shook
up and down and he corrected himself.
�Ok, well maybe I�m a little silly, but that�s
it. By the way, I don�t think we�ve been
properly introduced. My name�s Flindee,
Official Cave Comedian to his Bossness,
the Super Scaly One himself. And this is
my assistant, Quattlebom. Here. You
dropped this earlier.�
Flindee
scooped the Princes helmet up from the
floor where it had been thrown by
Snagglefang and handed it to him. Then the
exciteable dwarf grabbed his hand and
began shaking it wildly. �Pleased to meet
you, O� honored guest of the Mighty
Morphin� Powder Lizard!�
�Pleased to meet you, Flindee!�
Nathan said, yanking his hand from the
jester�s grip and looking nervously around
the cave. There was no sign of the dragon,
but Nathan was anxious to get out of there!
�Say, since you�ve let me go and
done your job so well, I was wondering if
you could help me do mine. I mean, I don�t
want to make the boss angry, and he really
did want me to go on this little quest for
him. Do you think you could show me how
to get out of here so I can get started right
away?�
Flindee�s face
brightened. �Can I show you how to get out
of here? Why of course I can! They don�t
call me Flindee the Finder for nothin�!
Right this way.�
The jester spun
around and led Prince Nathan out of the
room whistling loudly as he walked.
Nathan kept glancing behind to see if
Snagglefang was returning and wishing the
silly little dwarf would be quieter. Soon,
they were walking through smelly fog and
Nathan could hardly breathe, but his heart
beat faster as he realized that this was the
same stinky cloud that Gart had carried him
through when he had arrived. He was
almost out!
Then there was a dim
light and a cool breeze on his face as the
curtain of smoke rolled back and they were
standing in the cave entrance on the side of
the mountain. Nathan was so excited to be
free that he jumped up in the air with a
shout!
�Thank you, buddy!� he
beamed. �I would have never escaped
without your help! You are the best! How
can I ever thank you?�
Flindee
blushed and shyly toed the ground with his
hands behind his back. �Aw shucks. It was
nothin�.�
Now it was the
Prince�s turn to shake the jesters hand
wildly.
�No, I mean it!
Thanks!� Nathan hugged the little fellow.
�See ya, Flindee!�
He did not
notice the quiet sniffle or the single tear that
appeared in the jester�s eye as he turned to
leave. Now that he was free, all he wanted
to do was get off this mountain and find his
sister. But first, he needed to find
Chrysolis.
He walked to the
edge of the path and looked out over the
Renegade forest hoping to see her out in the
sky somewhere, but there was no sign of
her. Storm clouds were gathering around
the mountain where he stood and it was
getting harder to see in the
gloom.
A gust of wind hit him and
nearly knocked him over the edge, followed
by a sudden flash of lightning and the boom
of Thunder. Nathan looked up and realized
for the first time that it was about to rain!
He was now facing a whole new danger! If
he didn�t find a shelter from the storm soon,
he would be blown off this narrow
mountain path and fall to his
death!
He quickly backed away
from the edge of the path and nearly tripped
over something large behind him. Startled,
he spun around and came face to face with
the jester again.
�Flindee!� he
shouted with surprise. �Be careful sneaking
up behind people like that or you�ll trip
somebody some day!�
�Sorry.�
Flindee apologized. �I just get excited
sometimes and forget to watch where I�m
going. I mean, this storm is so exhilaratin�
ain�t it?�
He looked around
nervously.
�But I was thinkin�
that now might not be the best time to start
your mission, you know.� With a smile,
Flindee cartwheeled back toward the cave
entrance. �Come on back to base. It�s the
only safe place to be right now with this
storm. The boss will understand if you wait
a while to get started and you and I could
play some games or something until it
blows over!�
The storm was
growing angrier by the second and for a
moment, Nathan seriously considered
taking the jester�s advice, but he knew
Snagglefang would return. And he simply
couldn�t let himself be captured again. No!
The only choice he had was to run down the
mountain path as fast as he could before the
storm hit him. Fear gripped his heart as he
realized how long it could take to reach the
bottom and how much time he had already
wasted. If he were going to make a run for
it, it had to be now!
Staying as
close to the mountain wall as possible he
turned away from the cave, put on his
helmet, and ran as fast as he dared down the
rocky path!
�Hey, wait a
minute!� Flindee cried after him. �Are you
loony? Come back!�
But it was
too late to stop the panicking prince. His
heart was already pounding like a jackrabbit
in his chest as the first rain drops began to
splash off his face shield! Running nearly
full speed now, he rounded the first corner
and ran right into the massive leg of the
giant!
Gart had returned and he
was in a bad mood.
Chapter 15
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