Trouble in the Land of Dwarves
Chapter 16
Inventors Extraordinaire
The girls had just a moment to catch their
breath before they heard yet another sound
of scraping and grinding from somewhere
nearby. Then, to their great surprise, an odd
looking dwarf appeared from behind the
large boulder. He was wearing black
breeches with suspenders over a dirty white
shirt rolled up to the elbows. Oversized
work gloves caused him to fumble with the
fat pencil behind his ear as he attempted to
read over some information on a clipboard
he carried. Of course, he could see very
little through the grease smeared goggles he
wore. A heavily laden tool belt finished off
his dissheveled uniform.
He
barely glanced up at them as he spoke in a
thick accent. �Good day, young ladies.
How may I help you today? Please be
quick about it, I am in ze middle of a very
important project that simply cannot vait for
long. Vhat do you need
feexed?�
�Nothing.� the
princess stuttered. �That is,
um....�
The inventor lifted his
goggles from his nose, placing them on top
of his head and looked up at his visitors for
the first time with a curious eye. �Vhat is
this you say? You need nothing
feexed?�
�That�s right.� Maid
Madelyn agreed.
�Zen vhy did
you ring our doorbell? Surely there is some
object you have broken that requires
attention or you would not have disturbed
my verk.�
Nataleigh shrugged
her shoulders slightly. �Well, sir, we don�t
exactly have anything that needs to be
fixed, but we do need your
help.�
�Vell, that�s more like it.
Then let�s get down to business.� He
returned to his clipboard with pencil ready.
�First ze matter of paperverk. Ve must keep
ze records in order, don�t you know. Vhat
is your names, please?�
Nataleigh
and Maid Madelyn exchanged looks of
impatience and began to answer the
meticulous fellow, when they heard a voice
calling and another dwarf appeared behind
the first. This one was hardly dressed at all,
wearing only green breeches with the legs
torn off at the knees and sporting a tiny,
blond pony tail at the back of his bald head.
On his feet he wore solid steel boots with 2
inch souls that made him appear taller than
he should and his bare arms rippled with
muscle.
�Hiendel, you must
hurry.� he too spoke in an accent, though
slightly different from the first inventor.
�The fire is redhot and the steel plating is
ready for your...ach!�
He
stopped short as he saw the Princess. �Vhat
has happened to this young damsel? Is she
pumping steroids?�
�Steroids?� asked Maid Madelyn.
�What are steroids?�
�Nevermind this right now!� the first
inventor named Hiendel cut in. �I must
return to my verk! Here, Frangen. You
finish up zis paperverk and bring the big
vun in for diagnosis and treatment. I must
go!�
And with that, he was
gone.
The larger inventor took
the clipboard and pencil that was dumped
upon him and tucked it under his arm. Then
looking upward at the gathering storm
clouds, he turned his attention back to the
guests.
�It is beginning to get
rather nasty out here, you must come in if
you vish to discuss business further.� He
motioned for them to follow him. �Do not
vorry, large damsel! My brothers and I vill
discover the nature of your bloated
condition. Ve have many tests and
examinations for such things.�
Nataleigh looked at Maid Madelyn
with a puzzled look. �Vhat is he...I mean,
WHAT is he talking about?�
Madelyn shrugged and pushed the
Princess along, eager to be out of the
coming weather. �He must think you�ve
got some disease or something that makes
you so tall.�
�Oh.� The Princess
suddenly stopped.
�Wait a minute!
What about Jewel? We can�t just leave her
out here in this storm!�
Frangen
turned back and noticed the pony for the
first time. His bushy blond eyebrows lifted
in surprise. �A vind runner pony!
Vunderbar! She vill not fit down the stairs
under the boulder. Ve vill have to go in the
front door instead. This vay,
hurry!�
The wind was
beginning to blow very hard now and a few
drops of rain had already begun to fall.
Frangen led them down the beach a short
distance and right up to the face of the cliff
where a huge squarish boulder rested. He
reached into a narrow crevice between two
smaller rocks and the two visitors heard a
loud clanking sound as if a lever had been
released and a chain were being pulled.
Then they watched in amazement as one
corner at the bottom of the immense stone
separated from the rest and pulled into the
cliff face. With no support on that side, the
boulder rolled a quarter turn in that
direction revealing a large cave-like
opening in the side of the mountain.
Nataleigh stood in awe of the
awesome machinery that worked the
massive door just inside the opening and
nearly forgot to follow the others inside. It
was so much more wonderful to see it in
person than to see it through the magic
mirror back at the Ivory Palace! She
couldn�t wait to see all the other marvelous
inventions these three had created up close!
This was truly a wonderful adventure.
She suddenly wished her brother
were there with her. �Nathan would love
this stuff!� she whispered to herself. �He
loves building things. It�s too bad that he�s
not seeing all the things I�m seeing. He�ll
never believe me when I tell him of all the
excitement I�ve had.�
Chapter 17
Back to Title Page