The Plug at the Bottom of the Sea (11 page)

‘No, Captain Tiny,' said Moses, ‘your trunk must balance …'

But Captain Tiny didn't listen, for just then as a test he tugged on the rope he had tied to Moses' sled and pushed on his trunk that he had untied. The trunk on the wrong sled slipped off the narrow ledge and fell. ‘Oh Lord, no, no, oh noooooo,' shrieked the tiny captain, in a kind of squeal. ‘My trunk, my valuable trunk, my trunk full of valuables.' This was all screamed so fast it took everyone by surprise, and it was a moment before they understood. By that time Moses called out:

‘Quiet! Everyone listen for the fall. We can tell how far it is to the bottom by the time it takes to hit the bottom.'

‘You, you, you did it,' screamed Captain Tiny, looking down over the ledge so quickly his moustache went straight up over his eyes. ‘You made me drop my chest. You …' But then he realized that it had been falling for a long time, many seconds, and had not yet made a sound. Captain Tiny stopped screaming and listened. They all listened for a whole minute.

Finally, there was a very soft
ch
sound far below.

‘Blimey, it must be miles down there, miles,' said Captain Tiny, forgetting all about his chest for a moment till he remembered. ‘All my papers. My chest. And it's all your fault for bumping into me, you two. And don't worry, you'll be punished. Yes, punished.'

Cindy was about to cry. Moses called out, ‘Now everybody take it easy. Nothing's happened that can't be repaired.'

‘My trunk can't be repaired,' shouted Captain Tiny, making himself more and more angry, as he kept hitting against the walls.

‘Well, perhaps now we won't all have to carry you or your chest,' said Moses.

‘Now, you listen here. You just listen here …' Captain Tiny was so flustered and furious he was about to explode when Mrs Mermaid cried out, ‘The octopus, the octopus,' and everyone forgot all about the chest and hurried down the rope.

After a few minutes with everyone hurrying, Mrs Mermaid
laughed. ‘Why are you laughing?' called out Captain Tiny. ‘Has he got you?'

‘Oh, he's got me.' She laughed. ‘He's tickling me. Oh, he's got my hair, now my neck. Ha, ha! now my, oh, ho! my arms, oh, he's all wet.' Her laughter was frightening everyone so much that Captain Tiny was almost flying down the rope.

‘Just hold on, Mrs Mermaid, don't you worry,' he shouted.

Mrs Mermaid laughed again, ‘Oh, here he comes. He's climbing over me. He's coming after you, Captain Tiny.' She laughed and Captain Tiny was moving, sliding down faster than he had ever moved in his life. In fact, had he moved any faster he would have to have been a bird.

‘Ha, ha, Captain Tiny, fooled you.' The mermaid laughed. ‘Ha, ha.'

Captain Tiny was going too fast to stop right away and he kept sliding as what she said sank in. You fooled me? he puzzled to himself. ‘Fooled me? You mean there was no octopus climbing over you?'

‘No, Captain Tiny. I just wanted you to stop complaining,' called the mermaid in the dark.

‘Stop complaining?' shouted Captain Tiny. ‘Well, all of you will see how much I stop complaining.'

A minute later there was plenty for Captain Tiny to complain about. He had reached the end of the rope. ‘Oh no,' he said. ‘It can't be,' he said, talking to himself. ‘There's no more rope.'

‘No more rope,' everyone repeated.

‘None.' Captain Tiny shook his head in the dark. His feet were dangling and he pulled himself up, feeling very frightened as he swung around. ‘Captain Moses, you said we'd have enough rope and I hold you responsible.'

‘Captain Tiny, I said we
should
have enough.'

‘Well, we don't.'

‘I even cut an extra length of rope.'

‘You obviously didn't cut enough rope.'

‘This is the end of the line I'm afraid,' Moses said sadly to the mermaid. ‘It may be hundreds of feet further.'

‘What will we do?' asked Craig.

‘We will have to feel around to see if there is a ledge or a way down or a way to climb back up.'

‘Or a way to climb back up?' shouted Captain Tiny.

‘That's right,' said Moses sadly.

‘All that way,' moaned Cindy just as sadly.

‘How far are we from the bottom?' asked the mermaid.

‘How can we tell,' asked Cindy.

‘Very easily. Just drop something.'

‘What is there to drop? You've already made me drop everything.'

‘Captain Tiny, you're so helpless,' said Mrs Mermaid. ‘I'll drop my comb.' And she felt in her hair to take out the silver comb which had been so beautiful in the sunlight that afternoon, but now was invisible in the dark.

‘No,' said Moses. ‘It's my fault that we're not at the bottom and it may be hundreds of feet further. So let me drop something.'

‘What have you got to drop?' she asked.

Moses thought for a moment and then said, ‘My pipe.'

‘Oh no,' said Craig. ‘Let me drop my shoe.'

‘You'll need it to climb back up,' said Moses.

‘We'll never get back up, and besides, that's that octopus.'

‘Quiet,' said Moses, ‘and everyone listen. It may fall in a number of seconds so listen carefully. Here goes.' He let go of the pipe they all knew was his favourite. They all listened in the dark. Immediately there was a smack like something falling on mud.

‘It's the bottom,' cried Cindy.

‘It is,' said Moses, ‘and it was only a couple of feet away.'

Captain Tiny let himself down and just two feet below the end of the rope he could feel his papers all over the place. ‘Oh, my papers,' he moaned, already forgetting that he had been hanging in the air ready to climb back up before. They all
reached the slippery floor with the papers and bits of chest and seaweed spread over it. Moses felt around in his canvas sack until he found a candle, and then patted his pockets to find some matches.

Finally his face appeared in the match light. This was the first time they had seen him since he had lit his pipe on the ledge high above. He lit the candle and found his pipe and lit it too.

‘Well, here we are. Certainly is wet down here.'

There was a stream flowing along the floor from the same water that had fallen from the edge above, but the candle was too small to show where it went to. The stream reminded them all of the octopus, perhaps still coming down the rope.

‘Now,' called out Moses, pulling something out of his coat, ‘my father gave me a map of this underground palace.'

‘Palace? asked Craig. ‘I didn't know it was a palace.'

‘Well, it may not look like one any more and maybe it never looked like the ones we have today, but it was called a palace,' finished Moses, taking out a torn and brown map and holding it under the flickering light of the candle. The map had lines and names that looked as though they were burnt into the old paper.

‘The map sure looks old,' said Cindy and felt a corner, ‘and it feels old like leather, very soft.'

‘That's right. It's leather,' said Moses as he unfolded it. It was quite large and candle wax fell in three drops on it as they were spreading it out on the floor. ‘Now this map has been passed down from father to the eldest son in my family for generations, for centuries, since the very king of this place.' And with his wrinkled finger in the dim light of the candle, Moses pointed to a spot on the map. ‘This is where we are now. The royal Entry Chamber.'

‘It doesn't look very royal to me,' said Captain Tiny. ‘Not one little bit. It looks like a dirty old garbage dumb.'

Neither Craig nor Cindy liked to hear Captain Tiny talk, but they had to admit it didn't look like a palace.

‘Hold on awhile, Captain, and see if you change your mind,' said Moses smiling. ‘Now,' he stroked his beard, which was deep red in the candlelight. ‘If this map is correct, there should be a great door with this emblem on it, over there.' He pointed at a round emblem with spokes like a wheel. Then he walked into the darkness with the candle to see if there was a wall.

They all looked around and the tiny candle very faintly lit up the wood of an enormous old door. It was covered with bits of metal, broken and peeling. ‘It's here,' he called out, and they all came across the stream to see.

‘Yes. Yes, that's it. See the wheel on top,' said Cindy. ‘And look at the spears and things on the walls,' and they all turned to look at the rough rock walls she was pointing at. Strange-looking spears and shields hung from the walls, swords hung in bunches, and piles of sharp-looking things stood next to the wall.

‘Those are here because, as the legend goes, everyone had to take off his weapons when he entered.' Moses went back to the map and everyone followed him.

‘The whole place looks like the inside of a lobster's claw, sort of oval and spiky.' Craig laughed.

‘Like a crab, actually,' agreed Moses. ‘All these chambers were made to look like a crab on purpose.'

‘On purpose?' called Cindy, coming across the stream after looking at the piles of spears.

‘Well, the first King of the West was known as the “Crab” because he was greedy and collected so many things. He was very warlike, but he never had to fight.'

‘Doesn't seem like a very good reason to me,' grumbled Captain Tiny, who had slipped into the stream and had a wet foot.

‘People like to make things their own, so they mark them or put their names on them. That's what he did. After he built this palace he put a thousand men and women down here to care for it and guards to protect the doors.'

‘Could any of them still be alive?' asked Craig.

‘I doubt it, but you never can tell,' said Moses.

‘Alive down here? After thousands of years? Never!' scoffed Captain Tiny. ‘Let's stop talking and get to the gold and jewels,' called Captain Tiny as he went over to the great door and started to bang and push it in the middle.

‘It won't open that way,' called Moses.

‘Well, you tell me a way it will.' The captain laughed, happier now that he was near what he had come all this way to find. He seemed excited and energetic. ‘Perhaps we could prise it open with one of these spears.' And he tried as the others came over to the door again.

The stream flowed in a crack along the floor and under the door. It was wide enough for someone to swim, and Mrs. Mermaid, who had been quiet since her joke with the octopus, crawled across the floor and slipped into the water. She did this before anyone could stop her and, as Moses held the candle, everyone saw her silver and green tail disappear under the old green metal and moss that covered the bottom of the door.

After a second they heard her call, as if from very far, through the thick door. But they couldn't understand what she was saying. ‘It sounds like she's talking into a glass of water or from very deep under water,' said Cindy.

‘She says “Swim under,” ' said Craig, with his ear to the door.

‘Swim under?' asked the captain. ‘I'd stay here till hell freezes over before I'd swim under there.'

‘Well, that may not be long,' said Moses, packing his pipe away. ‘But,' he put down the spear he had been trying to open the door with, ‘I think this is the quickest way.' He helped the penguin into the water. The penguin flapped his wings, happy to be in the water again, ducked his head, and disappeared underneath the door while everyone looked at the rust-coloured bottom of the stream.

‘Look, there are markings on the bottom,' said Craig. ‘Perhaps this was the way messengers came in.'

‘Before we dive we must look carefully at the map, for going into the water may ruin the ink and I want you to remember all of it,' said Moses. ‘We may need to know even the smallest details. This is the way through the Chamber of Peace to the Chamber of War, and then to the Chamber of Knowledge called the Great Chamber, where all the water, or perhaps the ships and the fish, should be.'

‘Strange that we see no fish or parts of boats in here, when they must have come through here,' said Captain Tiny. ‘Yes, that's very strange. It's as if someone put the spears in piles after the flood of water,' said Moses.

He and the others then tied all their clothes and luggage securely before climbing into the water.

Craig splashed his head up out of the water in the dark. Suddenly a light exploded in front of his blurred eyes. As his sight cleared, he saw Moses with his red beard all wet, lighting a candle. Moses burned the candle upside down and let the wax drip on a rock ledge next to the door. Then he turned the candle right side up and squashed it into the melting wax. It stood alone.

Heads were splashing up all around Craig and he felt along the slippery side of the stream to pull himself up. It was the coldest water he had ever been in. Cindy came up splashing, her teeth chattering.

‘Let's get up-p-p,' she said, and they both pulled each other out of the little stream. Mrs Mermaid helped push them up, for the sides were slippery as grease. ‘Why are those sides so slippery?' asked Cindy, spluttering water.

‘My guess is, Cindy, so no one could swim in and take you by surprise. He'd have too much trouble getting out of the water,' said Moses, taking something out of his pocket and resting it on the floor.

The little thing flapped and shook itself and they all recognized a very wet Windmill, the seagull. He took off in wild circles, shaking to get the water off. His feathers stuck out in all directions when he landed, and everyone laughed.

Moses lit another candle and took it back to the door. ‘Yes,
just as Father told me. See this bar?' They all looked and saw a great bar across the inside of the door. He pushed it but it didn't move, and he tapped it with his knuckle. ‘Solid metal. I knew we couldn't move it when I heard the spear scrape against it. But someone must have put it back after the water flowed through.'