Chapter 22: The Meeting with the Bears

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Branoc flew back to Catherine and Carlyle.  “I have set up the meeting with the bears, as requested,” he said.  “They were reluctant to meet with you.  They don’t trust humans, as you know.  But at the same time, they have heard that the wolves are now allied with you.  So they respect you for having won the trust of the wolves.”

******************************************************

They went down to meet the bears at the agreed time.

The bears were all sitting down and ready to meet.  There were black bears, and brown bears, and big grizzly bears.  All of them were bears of the mountain.

Catherine and Carlyle came.  They were accompanied by a pack of wolves.  And by 4 ravens--Branoc, Baldrick, Balsamer, and Bettina.

Carlyle saw all the bears, and was nervous.  But Catherine just sat down calmly.  Baldrick and Balsamer perched on Catherine’s shoulders.  The wolves stood behind Catherine.  Carlyle decided to follow Catherine’s example and sit down.

A big black bear spoke.  “It is only because of our respect for Branoc, the elderly raven, that we have agreed to this meeting. But we do not wish to waste our time.  Speak quickly.”

“We have two requests for you,” said Catherine.  “Our first request is that you stop killing the humans who live on this mountain.”

The bears roared angrily.  “And why should we agree to that?” asked the big black bear.

“Because all of the humans on this mountain are now under my protection,” said Catherine.  “This mountain will become a safe place for the humans to live.”

“We hate the humans,” said another bear.  “The humans steal from us.”

“If you promise not to harm the humans,” said Catherine, “I will make sure the humans do not steal from you.”

One of the bears, a fierce grizzly, growled.  “These are the mountains.  The laws of the forest do not apply here.  We are free to eat who we like.  And I love the taste of human flesh.”

“For a long time, the mountains were lawless,” said Carlyle.  “But that time is over.  We are now bringing the laws to the mountains.”

The grizzly stood up suddenly.  It stood towering on two legs briefly, showing its full gigantic body.  Then it crashed back down to four legs right in front of Carlyle and Catherine.  It let out a deafening roar right in their faces.  Baldrick, Balsamer and Bettina all instinctively flew up into the tree branches..  Of the ravens, only Branoc stayed next to Catherine.  Carlyle was scared, but he tried not to show it.  Catherine’s hands began to glow with yellow energy all by themselves.  The wolves behind Catherine began growling and barking.  The wolves crouched down, as if getting ready to pounce.  The grizzly could easily kill any one of the wolves, but it could not defeat the whole pack by itself.

Catherine held up her hand for silence, and the wolves immediately stopped barking, and sat down.  Catherine’s hand was still glowing yellow. 

“We are bringing the laws to the mountains,” Catherine said firmly.  She forced herself to speak calmly, because she knew that to show fear would be to show weakness.  “From now on, anyone who breaks the law will be our enemy.”  Catherine kept silent for a minute to let her words sink in.  The bears looked at each other, unsure of what to do next.  Was she challenging them?

“But,” Catherine continued, “I do not want us to become enemies.  We respect the bears greatly.  And in fact, we want you as our friends.”

“We are not your friends,” one of the bears growled.

“That saddens me greatly,” Catherine responded.  She stood up.  “I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”  She turned and started walking away.  Carlyle stood up and quickly followed her.

“Is that it? Is that the end of the meeting?” one of the grizzly bears called out after her.

Catherine stopped briefly.  “It is,” she said.  “We regret that you do not want to be our friends.  We have informed you that you are not to harm any humans in the future.  If you do harm any humans, you will incur our displeasure.  I don’t believe there is anything more to say at  the moment.  We have other matters to attend to.  We need to fight the ogres next.”

“You cannot fight the ogres,” said another bear.  “They are much too powerful for you humans.”

“We can,” said Catherine.  “And we will win.”  She then turned and left.  The ravens, the wolves, and Carlyle followed her.

Chapter 21: Brian Meets Risoart

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Brian looked up at Risoart.  “Aren’t you going to give me anything to drink?”

Risoart growled.  “Start talking.  And this had better be good.”

“But what about some of that Elvish wine?  I know you’ve got it.  And you know that I’ve been up in the mountains for years, without a decent cup of wine.”

“No wine.”

“But what about something to smoke?  I always like to smoke when I’m telling a good story.”

Risoart sat down at the table opposite Brian.  “Let’s get something straight.  I’m here because you insisted on seeing me.  I didn’t ask to see you.  And I don’t feel obligated to make you feel comfortable while you talk.  Now, if you tell me something useful, possibly I can find my way to give you some drinks or tobacco.  But you had better get talking first.”

“Right, well, where to begin?” Brian asked himself.  “I suppose, looking back on it all now, you’re going to ask me why I didn’t realize it sooner.  I mean, it all seems so obvious in retrospect.  But you have to keep in mind that up in the mountains, it’s a whole different world.  People don’t think up there like they do in the forest.  All you care about is surviving the night, and keeping safe from the wolves and the ogres.  No one up there even talks about what is happening in the forest.”

“Get on with it,” Risoart barked.

“I will.   You see, there was this old couple up in the mountains.  I don’t know how old they were exactly.  On the one hand, their skin was really weathered and taught.  If you looked at their skin, you’d think they were at least ninety years old.  But on the other hand, they weren’t some weak old doddards.  They were both tough and grizzled.  The man especially could still put up a really good fight.  Even the ogres were scared of him.  I once saw him fight several ogres all at once, and he killed three of them before the rest ran away.  Oh, and that’s the other thing.  He said he was just a simple woodsman, but he had a sword that no simple woodsman would ever be able to afford.  And his wife knew all about herbs and medicines.  And they could read.  They even had a book in their house.”

“To the point!”

“I’m coming to it.  Anyway, I don’t know how old they were, but they must have been well over sixty.  Way too old to have kids.  But they had two children, a boy and a girl, who were fifteen.”

Brian paused to see the effect of this on Risoart.  Risoart noticed the pause. “So?” he asked irritably.

“So?  Don’t you get it, they were both of them fifteen, the boy and the girl.  They were twins.  A twin boy and girl and fifteen years old exactly.”

Brian paused again, and Risoart continued to stare at him with an annoyed face.  But then, as the importance of Brian’s words sunk in, Risoart’s face began to change.  “It’s a coincidence,” Risoart said.  “It’s a big world out there, and twins must be born all the time.”

“But who are they being born to?” Brian asked.  “The old couple who are raising them are too old to be their natural parents.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Risoart said.  

“Doesn’t it?”

“No.  Maybe their parents died.  Maybe they’re the grandparents. Maybe they are younger than they look.  But one thing I know for sure is that it’s not them.  I have it on good authority that--.”

Brian interrupted.  “From who?”

“What?”

“Have it on good authority from who?”

“What do you mean from who?  The whole court knows what happened.”

“But did you actually see the bodies?”

“Me, personally? No, of course not.  But I’m sure Ambrosia must have--”

“It’s them,” said Brian, leaning forward.  “And I’ll tell you why I’m so certain.  The girl has magical powers.”

“What kind of magical powers?”

“Well, she can’t control it yet  Not really.  She just has the energy.  She doesn’t know any spells or anything, but she can release the energy through her hands.  I saw her burn a man to death just by touching him.  I saw it with my own eyes.”

This news appeared to affect Risoart, but once again he stopped himself.  “Anyone can make up stories,” he said.  “Especially if he has something to gain.  You know that your life is forfeit now that my men have captured you, so you’re just making up fantasies to try to get out of it.”

“Maybe,” said Brian.  “But there’s a simple way you can check what I’m telling you.”

“And that is?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure that old man and old woman weren’t simple woodcutters.  They’re too well educated, and the man’s sword was too expensive.  I reckon they must have been part of the Castle court.  I’m guessing the man was one of the castle guards.  The woman must have been one of the castle healers.  So, it’d be a simple matter to check--go back to the court, and ask them if an old guard, and an old healer disappeared together about fifteen years ago.  You’re the captain of the Queen’s guards.  Surely you must know if…”

Risoart’s face went blank.  Then he slowly sat down.

“You don’t even need to check, do you?” Brian said.  “You can think of a couple like that right now.”

“Yes, I can,” admitted Risoart.  His face had changed.  He was no longer resistant to what Brian was saying.  “But why the mountains,” Risoart said.  “It doesn’t make any sense.  That’s the most dangerous place you could choose for raising two children.”

“It makes perfect sense,” said Brian.  “Think about it.  Where’s the one place that you and your men are afraid to go?  What better place to hide?”  

Risoart nodded slowly.  “Yes, you’re right,” he said.

“So what about a cup of that Elvish wine, now?” Brian asked.

There was an arrogance in Brian’s tone that annoyed Risoart.  “You always did like to push things, didn’t you Brian?”

“Who’s pushing things?  I’ve brought you invaluable information.  I don’t think a cup of wine is asking too much!”

“Yes, well now that I’ve got your valuable information, why don’t we just take you outside and cut your head off!”

Brian chuckled.  “Well, that wouldn’t be very grateful of you, would it?”

“It’d be the simplest way to get rid of you.”

“But you don’t want to get rid of me.  You want me to help guide you up into the mountains.  You remember the last time your people tried to go up into the mountains without any guides.”

“That wasn’t my idea,” Risoart said.

“But you remember, don’t you?  There wasn’t hardly anything left of them by the time the bears got through them.  I should know.  I was one of the mountain woodsmen who brought their bodies back.  Of course, I took care not to be recognized on that particular trip.”

Risoart passed his hand across his face slowly, and then stroked his chin.  “Well, that’s just the point, though.  We don’t want to go back up into those mountains, if we can avoid it.  And if those two kids aren’t causing any trouble up there, I’d say just let them be.  I was perfectly happy before I knew that they were up there, and I’d be perfectly happy forgetting that they were up there.”

“Ambrosia won’t agree.”

Risoart smiled grimly.  “No, Ambrosia wouldn’t agree.  So we’ve got to make sure that no one ever tells her.  This is where the cutting off your head part comes in, you see.”

“Ah, you’ve got it all planned out, don’t you.  And here was me, thinking that you had no foresight.”

Risoart nodded his head slightly, and smiled.

“But just think about this a little bit further,” Brian said.  “Why do you think that old couple would leave their comfortable posts at the castle court to go and raise twin babies up in the mountains?  Do you think it’s because at their late age they suddenly started yearning for two crying babies to suckle?  Do you think it’s because they enjoyed the cold frigid air of the mountains?  No, they are loyalists to the old king.  It’s the only explanation that makes sense.  They are planning on waiting until those two children come of age, and then they are going to bring them back and restore the rightful heirs of Castle Tauna.  And then, you can be assured, Ambrosia will certainly find out about them.  And when that happens, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”  Brian smiled.  Risoart scowled.  

“Now,” said Brian, “let me paint a slightly different picture for you.  You capture the children and the old woman.  You bring them before Ambrosia.  Ambrosia examines them herself, and realizes that they really are the royal twins.  The old woman confesses to everything.  Ambrosia realizes that you saved her throne.  She is forever in your debt.  And then you’ve got it made for the rest of your life.” Brian stopped talking and leaned back in his chair.

Risoart breathed in, and looked at Brian closely.  But Brian could see the change in expression.  He knew he had won the argument.  “I have to admit,” Risoart said, “You do paint a nice picture.”

“How about that cup of wine?”

“Mind you,” said Risoart, standing up.  “I’m not sure I trust you completely.  This may yet be some sort of trick.  But what you’ve told me so far does fit with the facts as I know them.”  Risoart took a sack of wine from the back of the room and poured it into a couple of clay cups.  He set one cup in front of Brian, and then sat down with the other cup.  “You don’t mind if I join you in your drink, do you?”

Brian lifted his cup up in a welcoming gesture. 

“There was indeed an old man who served in the castle guards with me several years ago.  His wife was one of the healers.  They disappeared about the same time that the twins were supposedly killed.  I didn’t see any connection between the two events at the time, but…” Risoart’s voice trailed, and he took a drink from his cup.  “They sound like the people you are describing.  The old man was really grizzled.  Old, but tough.  He could still hold his own in a fight.  The woman I didn’t know well.  I didn’t interact with the healers much.  But I’d recognize them both if I saw them again.” 

Brian took a sip from his glass, and then held up his hand.  “Ah, I forgot to mention.  The old man’s dead, unfortunately.  The mountain thieves killed him last week.”

“What?”

Brian shrugged.  “You know how it is.  It’s dangerous up in the mountains.  The old woman’s still alive though.”

“I see.”

“And I’d be willing to act as your guide to find her.  For a few conditions, of course.  I want a full amnesty.  I want to come back to the forest.”

“Of course you do,” Risoart took another drink of the wine.  “But before I put my life at risk by making that journey up into the mountains, I’m going to make a few enquiries down here in the forest first.  There’s still one more piece of the puzzle.  Those babies were handed off to an executioner.  The executioner reported those babies to be dead.  I want to find out what he has to say for himself before I trust myself to your guidance in the mountains.”

Brian raised his eyebrows.  “You’re not going to travel for weeks just to ask one man a few questions, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”  Risoart looked down at his cup of wine for a bit, and then looked up at Brian.  Brian had the sense that his face was being studied.  “As it happens,” Risoart said slowly, “that executioner is one of my men now.”

“What?” Brian almost dropped his cup.

“I can see from your surprise that you didn’t know this before.”

“No.  How would I know?”

“I guess I wouldn’t expect that you would.  Except it does seem like a strange coincidence, doesn’t it?  I mean, in light of all that you told me.  The old couple is up in the mountains raising those babies, and the soldier who was supposed to execute those babies is part of the forest patrol at the bottom of those mountains.”

“Yes, it does seem strange,” Brian agreed.

“He requested a transfer out here about ten years ago.  He’s been in my patrol ever since. “It could be just a coincidence.  Or it could be more than a coincidence.  And if it’s not a coincidence, then that would make me trust your story a little bit more. Especially since you didn’t even know about that piece of the puzzle.”

Brian slapped his forehead with his hand.

“Do you have something to add?” asked Risoart.

“Yes, yes,” said Brian.  “I’m just realizing it now.  The old man and I, we used to go down the mountain about twice a year.  We’d sell the wood to the forest people, and then we’d get various supplies in exchange.  It was risky, of course, coming down into the forest, but I kept my face covered and we made sure not to stay too long.”

“Yes, I had heard there was some trading going on between the mountain folk and the forest people,” said Risoart.  “I never officially approved of it, but I never tried to stop it either.  We found the wood very useful, after all.”

“And whenever we came down, the old man, he always had the same contact person.  There was always one member of the forest patrol who would meet us at the foot of the mountain, and buy our wood for us.  He never argued or haggled about the price.  He just paid us what we asked.  I think he must have been--.”

“Yes, I wonder,” said Risoart.  “Two old loyalists working together.  One keeps the children safe up at the top of the mountain.  The other keeps him supplied from the bottom of the mountain.  The executioner who never executed the children.  It’s all fitting together now, isn’t it?  Well, let’s have a talk with him, and see what he has to say for himself.”

“He’s going to deny it, of course,” said Brian. 

“Don’t be so naive.  I have ways of making him talk.” 

Chapter 20: The Children are Freed

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Grinthal led them deep into the tunnels, where the children were working at the mines, harvesting the diamonds and gold from beneath the mountains.  The children held pick axes and were swinging at the cave walls.  They were covered with dirt and dust.  Behind them, Goblin’s held whips, and cracked the whips to make the children keep swinging.

“How terrible,” said Catherine.

“It is necessary,” Grinthal growled angrily.  “We goblins are too small to swing the pickaxes.  You humans can dig and swing much faster than we can.”

“But it ends now,” insisted Catherine.

“Yes, yes, this is what you forced me to agree to,” Grinthal said.  He then called out to the goblin guard’s and ordered them to stand down.

“You are all free now,” Catherine said to the awaiting children.  “You may return to the surface with us.”

The children stood dazed, not really sure where to go.

“There’s Jack,” Alfred said excitedly.

“Who?” asked Carlyle.

“Jack! You remember Jack.”

Because Carlyle was not expecting to hear that name, it took him a minute to register what Alfred was saying.  “But Jack’s dead,” Carlyle responded.

“That’s what we thought,” said Alfred.  “But Jack’s been a prisoner in the goblin mines this whole time.  Along with all the other children who were captured from the mountains.” Alfred called out to him.  “Hey Jack.  Over here.   It’s Carlyle.”

Jack was still holding the pickaxe.  He looked cautiously at the goblin guards, afraid to move.  “It’s okay,” said Alfred.  “You can come over.  Griinthal has freed all the children.”  Alfred turned to Catherine.  “Make Grinthal say it again,” he said.

Catherine started humming, and her fingertips glowed.

Grinthal squealed.  “All the children are free!” he yelled.  “Put down your pickaxes.  Get out of my tunnels.”

“Come with us,” said Catherine.  “We will take you back to the surface.”

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On the way back up, Jack explained to Alfred, Catherine and Carlyle and the rest of them about the other children.  “A few of them are from the mountains.  Although probably nobody you recognize except me.  They all got captured when they were very young.  Like Anna.  And then the rest of them are from the forest people.  The goblin tunnels go all the way down to the forest.”

They then came out of the tunnels into the caves.  The rest of the group were there to meet them: Lucas, Marcus, Paul, Stella, Gabriella and Abby.  Everyone was surprised when they saw Jack again, but Alfred explained what had happened with Jack.

The children from the goblin mines hadn’t seen sunlight for so long that they were in a state of awe when they came out into the sun.  Carlyle and Catherine and the others gently helped them come out into the clearing in front of the caves.  Then Catherine addressed them: “I know you have been prisoners for a very long time, and are not used to the outside world,” she said.  “Don’t worry, we will help you.  You are all welcome to stay with us for as long as you need.  I know that in time, many of you will want to find your families again, if you can remember them.  But you are welcome to stay with us until you are ready to strike out on your own.”

“Where are we?” asked Jack.

“These are the robbers’ caves,” said Alfred.

“But where are the robbers?”

“The robbers are still here, but they have to listen to us now,” Alfred said.

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  “What has been happening while I’ve been gone?” he asked.

Alfred tried to explain it to him.  “We’ve been trying to make the mountains safe,” he said.  “Catherine has conquered the wolves, and made them her allies.  Then we conquered the robbers, and made them listen to us.  Now we have banished the goblins.”

“Wow!” said Jack in amazement.  Jack then reflected a little.  “Of course,” he said.  “You still have a long way to go before the mountains become truly safe.”

“I know,” Alfred said.  “There’s still the ogres, and the witches and the bears, and Aefar the Vampire, and Cyrus the Minotaur, Filo the Bugbear, and the giant snake creature.  We’ve got a long way to go before we subdue all of them.  But that is what we plan to do.”

“But why?” asked Jack.

“Because,” said Alfred, “the mountain people deserve to be safe and happy.  That’s what Catherine and Carlyle have taught us, anyhow.  We don’t have to let the monsters and evil creatures terrorize us.   We can fight back and establish a place of safety.”

Chapter 19: Brian Returns to the Forest

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Brian walked down the forest path.  

It felt good to be back in the forest.  Granted, he had just been in the forest a last week with Finn.  But when you lived your life in the mountains, it was always good to be back in the forest.  The lush green plants soothed his eyes.  There were plenty of colorful wildflowers all around the ground.  The green moss covered the rocks and the logs.  The air smelled sweet.

Last week, when Brian had been back in the forest with Finn, they had both taken care to hide their faces, and they had deliberately stayed off of the main paths.  Now, Brian was walking confidently down the main path with his face unveiled.  He didn’t care if anyone found him.  In fact, he wanted to be found.

And it wasn’t long before they found him.  Brian heard them long before they said anything.  He could hear them moving up in the trees, and he could hear them rustling through the bushes.  “Bumblers, all of them,” Brian thought to himself.  “They think they’re being sneaky, but they’re making enough noise to alert even a child.”

Brian kept walking, and didn’t turn his head.  But eventually, one of the men stepped out from the bushes and came into the path just slightly behind Brian.  “Alright, that’s far enough,” the voice called out from behind him.  “Stop walking, Brian.”

“I was wondering when you lads were going to come out from those bushes,” Brian said.  “I’ve been listening to you for the past mile.”

“You stupid clod,” the voice said.  “I thought you had enough sense not to come back to the forest.”

Brian started to turn around.  The tone of the voice changed rapidly.  “Don’t make any sudden moves now.  We’ve got you covered.”

Three more men emerged from behind the trees.  Two of them had bows tight, with the arrows aimed squarely at Brian.  Another had a sword drawn. 

Brian put his hands up, but he didn’t seem nervous.  “Easy, easy, lads,” he said.  “I’ve known you were there the whole time.  I’ve been waiting for you to come out of your hiding places.”

The men laughed.  “If you knew we were here, then why did you come this way?” asked one of them.  “You know that it’s death for you to be caught in this forest.”

“I’ve got some information for Risoart,” said Brian.  “Bring me to him.”

The men laughed again.  “Nice try.  Risoart’s not going to waste his time with you.”

“He will, once he hears what I’ve got to say,” Brian said.  “I’ve got information he will want to hear.  I’ve got some information that Ambrosia will want to hear.”

At the name of Ambrosia, the men stopped their laughing.  They looked at Brian with different eyes.  “What do you know?” one of them asked.

Brian chuckled.  “No luck, lads.  This information is too valuable to me.  It’s going to get me a full pardon, once Risoart hears it.  I’m not going to give it away to you, and then have you try to claim credit for it yourselves.”

“Well, then we’re at an impasse,” one of the men said.  “Because we’re not going to risk disturbing Risoart until we know for sure that your information is good.”

Another man spoke up.  “If we bring you to him, and you just start speaking nonsense, then we’ll take the blame.”

“He’s got a fierce temper, I’ll grant you that,” Brian said.  “If he doesn’t like what I have to say, he’ll probably cuss you out and smack your ears.  But he won’t do any more than that.  You can stand being cussed out again, can’t you?  You lads haven’t grown that weak while I’ve been away.  But on the other hand, if he’s happy with my information, then you’ll get the credit for bringing me to him.  And when Ambrosia hears about this, she’ll give the credit to you too.”

They hesitated.

“Come on,” Brian said.  “I wouldn’t have come all the way down from the mountains if the information wasn’t really good.”

The men looked at each other.  One of them said, “Well, he’s obviously come down to the forest of his own free will.  He could have just stayed up in the mountains.  He must have something.”

Another man gave an angry sigh.  “Alright, alright,” he said.  “Come with us, Brian. We’ll take you to Risoart.”

Chapter 18: Grinthal, King of the Goblins

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Still tied up with the ropes, they were dragged down the tunnels, and into the throne room of King Grinthal.

Alfred was still there finishing up his breakfast when they were brought in.  He jumped up from the table in surprise.  “Oh no!” he said.  “Did they get you guys too!”

“Ah, Alfred,” Shawn said wryly.  He was tied up, but he managed to wriggle around so that he could see Alfred.  “Don’t worry, we’re here to rescue you.”

“Are you okay, Alfred?” Catherine called out.

“I’m fine,” Alfred said.

“Silence!” King Grinthal called out.  “You will not speak unless I speak to you first.”

Grinthal then turned to his goblin soldiers.  “Who are they?” he asked.

“Intruders, your majesty,” said one of the goblin soldiers.  “We found them in the tunnels.”

“What?” Grinthal squeaked.  “Intruders? So they are not escaped slaves?  But they’re humans.  How did humans manage to get into our tunnels?”

“We found the entrance to your tunnels,” said Carlyle.  “We’ve come to get our friend.”

“I’ve already told you,” Grinthal exclaimed.  “You are to keep silent.”

Grinthal turned to the goblin soldiers.  “Well?” he demanded.  “How did they get in?”

The goblin soldiers squeaked excitedly, and all began talking at once.  “Quiet, quiet, one at a time,” Grinthal demanded.  A silence fell over the goblin soldiers, and in the silence, Grinthal thought he could hear something.  “What is that sound?” he demanded.  “Who is singing?  Is anyone humming?”

Carlyle spoke up quickly.  “I can tell you how we got here, your majesty, if you allow me to speak.”

Grinthal hopped up and down in fury.  “I’ve already told you not to speak,” he said.

“But do you give me permission to speak now?” Carlyle asked.

“You are not to speak unless I speak to you?” Grinthal demanded.

“But then, how would I ask permission to speak?” Carlyle asked again.

Grinthal’s face turned red with fury.  It actually turned red.  It was a brighter shade of red than Carlyle had ever seen on any human face, but goblin faces can sometimes be more expressive than humans.  “Bring me my whip!” Grinthal yelled.  “We shall teach these human children some manners.”

Several goblins scattered to find Grinthal’s whip.

“Now,” said Grinthal. “Who is humming?  That sound shall cease as well!”

While Carlyle had been distracting Grinthal, Catherine had been summoning the energy by softly humming.  Her hands were tied up behind her back, but she was slowly burning through the rope that held her hands together.  Once she had burned through the rope, she was able to free her hands.  Moving slowly to attract as little attention as possible, Catherine moved her hands out from behind her back, and then reached to her legs to burn through the ropes that held her legs.

The goblins didn’t notice.  They were too busy squawking about, and fetching whips for King Grinthal.

Finally a suitable whip was found for King Grinthal, and presented to him.  “Now,” Grinthal said menacingly to Carlyle, “I will teach you to be quiet.”

But just at that moment, Catherine was standing up.  She had freed herself from all of the ropes.  She strode over to King Grinthal.

King Grinthal was so surprised to see Catherine out of her ropes that for a couple of seconds he froze up and didn’t know what to do.  But then he lashed out with the only thing he had in hand--his whip.  Grinthal cracked the whip, and the lash shot out towards Catherine.

Catherine was still humming, and her hands were glowing.  She reached out and grabbed the lash and the electric power protected her hands.  A jolt of electricity traveled back along the whip and gave Grinthal a shock.  He yelped and dropped the whip.

Catherine still kept walking towards Grinthal, and Grinthal was now getting scared.  He backed away from her, and hid behind his throne.  “Don’t come near me,” he said.

At this point some of the other goblins ran forward to attack Catherine, but before they could get to her, she darted forward and grabbed Grinthal by the back of the neck.  Lifting Grinthal into the air, Catherine said to him, “tell the other goblins to stand back.”

The other goblins hesitated slightly, but then Grinthal yelled out, “What are you waiting for?  Get her!”

As the goblins rushed forward towards Catherine, she felt herself in danger, and energy flowed through her freely.  Now she didn’t even have to hum to try to summon it.  It just flowed out.  And poor Grinthal, who she was holding, got badly burned.

“Yeow!” he screamed out in pain.  “Stop it!  Stop it! Stop it!”  He then stopped forming recognizable words, and just squealed in pain.

“Tell the other goblins not to attack me,” Catherine demanded.

“Yes, yes!” Grinthal agreed.

“Tell them to untie my friends,” Catherine said.

“Yes, yes, anything,” Grinthal said.  “Anything, just please, stop it.  The pain!”

Because Catherine’s adrenaline was racing, she actually wasn’t able to stop the flow of energy.  The only way she could stop the flow of energy was to remove Grinthal from her touch.  Which she did by simply dropping him.

The other goblins stood momentarily stunned, not daring to move.  “You heard your king,” Carlyle shouted.  “Untie us!”

The goblins looked at Grinthal, who was picking himself up from the floor.  “Don’t just stand there!” Grinthal commanded.  “Kill her!”

Catherine immediately bent down to pick up Grinthal again.  But Grinthal evaded her hand, and ran out of reach.  He ran straight across the room, but he was so focused on running away from Catherine that he didn’t see Alfred.

Alfred had stood up from the breakfast table, and had picked up one of the chairs.  As Grinthal came running by, Alfred swung the wooden chair and hit Grinthal right in the face as Grinthal was trying to run by.  He knocked Grinthal over, and Grinthal lay flat on the floor, dazed.

Meanwhile, the other goblins attacked Catherine.  They came at her, thrusting with their knives and short swords.

Catherine was discovering that when the power was flowing through her body, the inside of her hands where the energy manifested itself seemed to be invulnerable.  If she could catch the point of their small swords on her palms, it did her no harm.  But when their swords nicked her legs, or anywhere else on her body, they drew blood.  Catherine tried to deflect the sword thrust with her hands as best she could, but she also was forced to slowly retreat.  There were too many goblins for her to block all at once.

As Catherine was forced to slowly back up, she found herself taking shelter behind Grinthal’s throne.  It was a heavy golden throne, but the energy seemed to give Catherine extra strength, and she found she could push the throne over.  The throne tumbled over, crushing some of the goblins beneath it and sending the rest fleeing.

In their terror, the goblins fled to the edges of the room.  Although once they realized that the throne was once again inert, and that Catherine now stood without protection, they slowly started to regroup.  

But as this was going on, Alfred rushed over to where Catherine was standing, carrying Grinthal’s body with him.

“Here,” Alfred said.  “Take him.”

Grinthal was still stunned from the blow that Alfred had given him with the chair, and was only now slowly moving his head and refocusing his eyes.  Catherine realized that if she grabbed Grinthal now, she would just send electricity shooting through his body, and she didn’t want to do that.  “I don’t want to touch him now,” said Catherine.  “I would just shock him. When I’m scared, I can’t turn off the energy.”

“Could you calm yourself down then?” Alfred asked.

Catherine looked at him with disgust.

“Sorry,” Alfred said.  “Um… what about just touching his feet a little then?”

Alfred held Grinthal, and Catherine reached out her hand and gingerly poked his foot with the tip of her index finger.  Grinthal’s eyes immediately opened, and he squealed with pain.  “What’s happening?” he said.  Then his eyes focused, and he saw Catherine standing before him.  “No! No! Nooo!” he yelled out.

“Untie my friends,” Catherine said.

“Untie them!” Grinthal shrieked the order to his goblin soldiers.  And then he started sobbing.

The goblins rushed forward to untie Carlyle, Shawn, Lucinda, Molly and Kevin.

Carlyle stood up, rubbing his wrists where the rope had rubbed against his skin.  “And give me back my father’s sword,” Carlyle demanded.

Catherine opened her mouth to repeat Carlyle’s demand, but before she could even say anything, Grinthal burst out, “Give them back their weapons.  Give them back all of their weapons.”

“Thank you,” said Catherine.

“What do you want?” Grinthal wailed.

“We want you to release our friend,” Catherine said, pointing to Alfred.

Grinthal twisted around to look at the boy who was holding him up.  “I order him released,” he said.

“Not just me,” said Alfred.  “Release all the children that you are holding prisoner in these tunnels.”

“All of them?” Grinthal said.  “Why do you want them all released?  You don’t know who they are.”

“We want them all released,” said Catherine.

“You ask too much,” Grinthal said, a note of defiance creeping back into his voice.

Catherine grabbed Grinthal’s leg, and the electricity flowed out through her again.  Grinthal shrieked and shrieked.  Catherine released his leg.  “We want them all released,” Catherine said.

“Fine,” sobbed Grinthal.  “I order them all released.”

“And one final thing,” said Catherine.  “You goblins are to leave these mountains.”

“What?” Grinthal was more surprised than anything else.  “But where will we go?”

“Anywhere you like.  You can go down to the forest.  But you must not stay in the mountains anymore.”

“But what kind of talk is this?” Grinthal was genuinely confused.  “The mountains have no laws.  That is why all the evil creatures make it their homes.  The ogres, the witches, the vampires, the goblins, we all live on the mountains.  Why would you tell us to leave the mountains, and go down to the forest?”

“Because the mountains are no longer a lawless place,” said Carlyle.  “The mountains are now a safe place for the mountain folk to live in peace.”

“And we are banishing all the evil creatures from the mountains,” said Catherine.

“But where will we go?” wailed Grinthal.

“Jack said that you have tunnels going all the way down the mountains and even under the forest lands,” said Alfred.  “You can go down to your tunnels under the forest, but you must never return to the mountains.”

“I have many friends among the mountain animals,” Catherine said to Grinthal.  “And the wolves are my friends.  The ravens are my friends.  And they will report to me if the goblins are ever seen on these mountains again.  And then, we will come back into these tunnels and find you.”

Grinthal looked back and forth from Carlyle to Catherine.  “Who are you?” he asked.  “The mountain folk have no kings or queens.  They have no rulers.”

“They do now,” Carlyle answered.

Chapter 17: The Battle in the Tunnels

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Alfred looked at Jack.  “Why would we go to the goblins?  Shouldn’t we try to escape instead?

“Oh there’s no escape,” Jack said.  “Believe me, I’ve tried.  The goblins keep all the tunnels guarded.  We couldn’t get to one of the exits before they all swarmed all over us and dragged us back down to the caves.”

“I see,” said Alfred.

“We should get going now,” said Jack.  “We need to hurry back to the others.  The goblin king will be angry if we are late.”

“And what happens if he is angry?” asked Alfred.

“Lots of stomping and yelling,” answered Jack.  “Sometimes he throws things.  And then, they get out the whips.”

Jack brought Alfred down to meet Grinthal, the king of the goblins.  When they got to Grinthal’s throne room, Jack actually bowed.  Although Alfred stayed standing.  “Your majesty,” Jack said.  “I have brought my friend to you, as I have been ordered.”

“Excellent,” said King Grinthal.  “Now, get down to the mines at once.  You’re late.”

“Your majesty, he hasn’t eaten anything yet,” Jack said.

“That is his fault,” Grinthal replied.  “The rest of the children have had time to eat.”

“But he was only just now captured by your soldiers,” Alfred said.  “He couldn’t possibly have had time to eat anything.”

“Oh, very well,” Grinthal said.  “He may stay and eat.  You must go and start digging.”

Before he left, Jack grabbed Alfred quickly by the elbow.  “King Grinthal has a temper,” Jack said quickly.  “You mustn’t say anything that will contradict him.  Just eat your gruel as quickly as you can, and then come down and join us.”

King Grinthal indicated a wooden table where Alfred was directed to sit.  The table was empty now, but it had not yet been cleared, and there were lots of bowls still on the table.  Alfred sat down.  A scurrying goblin came and placed a fresh bowl of gruel on his table.

Alfred looked down at the gruel.  He didn’t feel particularly hungry at the moment.  He was too overwhelmed with trying to figure out what was happening.  Alfred looked up at the Grinthal.  “So, where am I exactly?” he asked.

Grinthal flew into a rage and started hopping up and down.  “Didn’t that boy Jack explain things to you?  He was supposed to tell you everything, so that I wouldn’t be bothered with your stupid questions.”

“Well, yes, he did tell me some things,” Alfred began.  “But I was wondering--”

Grinthal threw his golden scepter at Alfred’s head before he could finish.  Alfred ducked, and the scepter clattered against the wall.  “Then be quiet!” Grinthal roared.  “Speak only when you are spoken to.  Do not disturb the great king.”

Grinthal looked just like any other goblin, which is to say he was short.   Goblins are about 3 feet high.  They have short legs, and long spindly arms, and their whole bodies are covered with short brown hair.  And they have short tempers.  It’s very easy to upset them, and to get them hopping up and down in anger, just like Grinthal was doing now.

“Eat your gruel!” Grinthal commanded.  “You have a long day of digging in the mines, and you must build up your strength.”

“But why must I dig--” Alfred began, but he was cut off when Grinthal threw the orb at him.

*************************************************************************

Catherine, Carlyle, Shawn, Kevin, Molly and Lucinda stood at the entrance to the goblin tunnels. 

“So what do we do now?” asked Molly.  “Do we go in?”

“We do,” said Catherine.   “We go in and see if we can find Alfred.”

“But there are goblins inside,” said Shawn.

“No one is forced to come inside,” Catherine said.  “You may come if you wish.  Otherwise, you may stay behind.”

They all looked at each other.  “I’ll come,” Shawn said in a decisive tone.  

“I’ll come,” Molly said.

“I’ll come,” said Lucinda and Kevin together.

We should probably have someone stay back to communicate with the other members of the group,” Carlyle said.  “Just in case anything goes wrong, we want them to know where we are.”

“I can help,” said Bettina the raven.  “I’ll fly down and let them know where you are.”

“That would be a great help to us,” said Catherine.  

Then, Carlyle, Catherine, Shawn, Lucinda, Molly and Kevin all entered into the cave.  

They were all armed.  Lately, they had started taking their weapons everywhere.  Shawn was carrying his father’s sword, Lucinda had her spear with her, Molly had her giant wooden staff, Kevin had his huge club, and of course, Carlyle carried Finn’s old sword.  

It was dark, at first.  (The moonstones which Alfred had seen were only located in the parts of the tunnels where the goblins allowed their child slaves to go.)  But Catherine produced the light for them by humming.  Her hands glowed with the electricity.

As they walked down the tunnel, it wasn’t long before they encountered their first goblin.  At first, it was just one lone goblin, and he was very surprised to see them.  In fact, when he first saw them, he immediately let out a high pitched little scream, and then ran away.

The goblin was evidently more scared of them than they were of him.  But still, there was something about that little scream which shocked and unnerved them.  They were all silent for a bit after the goblin had cried out.  Shawn let out a nervous little chuckle, and tried to break the tension with a laugh.  “I didn’t know that’s what they sounded like,” he said.

“If they all run away like that, then we shouldn’t have much to worry about,” said Molly.

“Unless he’s going to sound the alarm, and come back with his friends,” said Lucinda.

“I was just thinking the same thing,” said Carlyle.  “Keep your weapons ready just in case.”

Catherine didn’t say anything.  She just kept humming.

They walked through the tunnel a little bit more.  The path sloped steadily downward, and they walked with Catherine’s light leading the way.

But then, there was some light in the tunnel up ahead.  This was the moonstones that Jack and Alfred had seen earlier.  It was the start of a larger open tunnel.

They walked into the larger more open tunnel, and there was a large group of about fifty goblins assembled.  They all carried little knives, and some of them had pitchforks.  And they looked ready for battle.

They didn’t get much of a chance to say anything to each other before the goblins rushed in and attacked.  

Lucinda thrust her spear forward at some of them to try to keep them at bay. 

Molly swung her giant wooden staff back and forth, knocking goblins back with each swing.

Kevin opted to swing his club like a hammer.  He brought his club up high in the air, and then swung it down to the ground as hard as he could, knocking goblins on the head.

Shawn and Carlyle used their swords as weapons, and battled with the goblins that way.

Catherine never stopped humming.  Her hands were always glowing with power, and whenever a goblin tried to touch her, she reached down and grabbed hold of him, and sent a surge of electricity surging through him, sending the goblin yelping away.

In this way, the group was actually able to hold their own against the goblin attack.  Jack had said that the goblins typically overwhelm their opponents with their numbers.  But whereas fifty goblins might overwhelm one man fairly easily, six can stand a fighting chance against the diminutive warriors.

Slowly, the goblins started to give way.  Slowly, the six of them advanced.

Once they realized the goblins were in a slow retreat, they began to press their advantage forward.  Catherine couldn’t speak, since she had to keep humming, but Carlyle began yelling, “Where is Alfred?  Where is our friend?  What have you done with him?”

The goblins only gave excited squeaking sounds, and high pitched chittering in response.  They jumped up and down, and generally made a lot of noise, but they made no sense.  Clearly they were excited beyond the capability for coherent speech.

“Keep advancing,” Shawn called out.  “Keep fighting.  We’re beating the back slowly.”

But just as Shawn had said that, there was a commotion behind them.  They turned around, and saw a second group of goblins coming from the other direction.  Now they were trapped between two groups--fifty goblins in front of them, fifty goblins behind them.

“Don’t panic,” said Carlyle.  “We can still beat them.  Shawn and I and Molly will fight the goblins behind us.  Catherine, Kevin and Lucinda, you fight the goblins ahead of us.  If we stay organized, we can still fend them off.”

“For how long?” asked Kevin.

Carlyle didn’t answer.

“This was a mistake,” Kevin said nervously.  “We shouldn’t have come into the goblin caves.  There’s nothing but goblins down here.  Even if we can fight our way out from these groups of goblins, there will be just more and more groups of goblins further down the cave.”

“Shut up, Kevin,” Shawn said angrily.  “That kind of talking doesn’t do any of us any good.  Just keep hitting them.”

Catherine, who had still not spoken because she was busy humming, started lashing out at the goblins more furiously.  Her hands began swiping left and right, touching as many goblins as she could and sending charges of electricity into them.

And then, they saw more goblins rushing down to join the fray.  They could see them run down from the far end of the tunnels to help their comrades.

Eventually, they began to get tired.  Molly’s arms ached as she swung the huge staff back and forth.  Kevin’s shoulder was tired from swinging the club.  Lucinda could barely hold on to her spear anymore.  

Eventually, some of the goblins were able to grab onto Lucinda’s spear, and pull it away.  And several of them clung onto Molly’s staff, until she gave up swinging it.  And they also grabbed Kevin’s club.

Carlyle tried very hard to hang onto his father’s sword, but the goblins eventually overwhelmed him, and climbed up all over him, biting his arms and hands with their sharp little teeth.  Eventually he dropped the sword.

“Don’t kill them,” came a sharp little voice from the back.  “King Grinthal wants them alive.”

“But they banged my head with their clubs,” one of the goblins complained.

“You idiot!  They are not yet full grown.  We can use them.  We need more slaves in our mines.  Do not kill them.”

Eventually they all were subdued, and goblins with heavy ropes soon came and climbed over them and tied them up.

Catherine was the last one to be subdued.  Although she had electric power surging through her hands, the goblins overwhelmed her with their numbers. Her power surged through her hands, and the goblins attacked her feet.  She swiped down at them with her hands, and scattered them, but more came in their place.  As quickly as she fought back, they came on.  Soon her legs were tied up with rope, and she was knocked over.  Then the goblins swarmed over her, and tied up the rest of her.

And then they were , all of them, bound

Chapter 16: Alfred is Missing

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Catherine, she slept soundly all through the night, and she only woke at dawn once the wolves began to stir.  As the wolves stretched and yawned and barked at the rising sun, Catherine also woke up with them.  

“Good morning,” said Branoc.  “You have slept well.”

Catherine rubbed her eyes.  “I did,” she admitted.  

“And it was just as well,” said Branoc.  “For there was no reason for you to be awake.  The night has passed completely without incident.”

“No one attempted to enter the cave?” Catherine asked.

“No one.  None of the robbers tried to attack you.  And none of the other monsters from the mountains approached either.”

“Yes, it sounds like the robbers have been paying them off,” said Catherine.  “That probably explains why they don’t get bothered.  Okay, let me wake Alfred up then, and we’ll see about making some breakfast.”

But when Catherine went to the back of the cave, Alfred was nowhere to be seen.

“Did Alfred already go out?” Catherine asked the ravens.

“Nobody has gone in or out of the caves,” Baldrick replied.  

“Then where did Alfred go?” Catherine asked.

“He should still be back there,” Bettina replied.  “He never left the cave.”

Catherine thought for a moment, while the wolves and ravens watched her.  Then, she said, “Fetch me the king of the robbers.”

Baldrick, Balsamer and Branoc flew off, and a couple of the wolves ran after them.  Bettina was going to join them, but Catherine stopped her.  “Bettina, wait,” Catherine said.  “I have another job for you.  Fly around the mountain quickly. See if you can spot any signs of Alfred anywhere.”  Bettina nodded and flew off.

Catherine went out of the cave into the morning sun.  Then she saw Carlyle coming up the mountain . Shawn, Kevin, Molly and Lucinda were with him. 

Catherine strode down to meet them.  As she approached, Carlyle opened his mouth to voice a greeting, but before he could say anything, Catherine blurted out, “Alfred’s missing.”

Carlyle still had his mouth open.  He paused and stood there awkwardly for a moment, and then he said, “What happened?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Catherine answered.  “We went to sleep in the caves.  Then, when I woke up, he was gone.”

“Did the robbers come in and get him?”

“They couldn’t have.  The ravens were keeping watch at the cave entrance all night.  No robbers came in.”

“Then what happened?” asked Shawn.

“I don’t know,” Catherine said.  “But there’s something that the robbers aren’t telling us.  And I’m going to find out what it is.  We need to talk to the robber king.”

Verus, the robber king, was aroused from his sleep by cawing ravens and growling wolves, and he came out to meet Catherine and Carlyle.  He walked out calmly, grinning wickedly.  “Hello my children,” he said.  “And what can I do for you today?”

“What happened to Alfred?” Catherine asked.

The robber king just grinned more.  “And who is Alfred?” he asked.

“The boy who was sleeping in the cave with me,” said Catherine.  “He disappeared in the middle of the night.”

“And what makes you think I had anything to do with it?” asked the robber king.

“I don’t think you’re directly responsible,” said Catherine.  “But you know something about these caves which we don’t.”

“Indeed, I do,” Verus answered.  “I suspect I know many things about these caves which you do not.  For there are things that you never bothered to ask about.”

“We’re asking now,” said Carlyle.

“And we won’t ask you again,” said Catherine.  “Tell us, what happened to Alfred?” 

Catherine starting humming, and her hands glowed with the electric power.  But Verus merely chuckled. “I don’t know for sure,” he said, “but I suspect the goblins took him.  That cave in which you slept is connected to the goblin tunnels.  They have a secret door.”

“Show us where the door is,” said Carlyle.

“I would,” Verus said, “But I actually don’t know where it is myself.  All I know is that there is a door in that cave somewhere.  That’s why we usually don’t sleep in it ourselves.  We leave some of our treasures there, and the goblins take what they want, and in return, they leave us alone.”

“Why did the goblins take Alfred?” Catherine asked.

“I really can’t say,” Verus answered.  “One hears stories sometimes of the goblins abducting children.  Your friend Alfred isn’t quite a child, but he’s not a full grown man yet either.  Perhaps he was young enough to be of interest to the goblins.”

“But what did they want him for?” Catherine persisted.

“No one knows,” Versus said.  “Goblins abduct children.  This is all we know.  If you want to find out what happens to the children after the goblins abduct them, you’d have to ask the goblins.”

“Why didn’t you warn us?” Carlyle demanded.

Verus shrugged.  “We submitted to you yesterday.  I have not raised my hand in violence against you since then.  Isn’t that enough?   We never agreed that I was obliged to help you in any way.  The goblins are not under my control.  I did not command them to take your friend, nor would it have been in my power to forbid them.”

Carlyle moved to take his sword out of his sheath, but Catherine held out her hand to stop him.  “Leave it be, Carlyle,” she said.  “He’s spoken fair enough.”  She turned back to Verus.  “Very well, Robber King,” Catherine said.  “You have not acted as an enemy.  But neither have you acted toward us as a friend.  We will remember this.  If you wish to become our friend, you must do better.”

Verus did not say anything in response, but the smile was slightly fading from his mouth.  Something in Catherine’s tone made him suddenly feel anxious.

“You may go now,” Catherine said to Verus.  Verus bowed his head slightly and left.  The smile had now faded from his face.

“Do you think Alfred is okay?” Carlyle asked Catherine.

Catherine was looking slightly pale.  “I don’t know,” she said.  “We’ve never heard of anyone coming back from the goblins.  Still, we have to try.”

“If we can find the secret door…” Carlyle began.

“...maybe we can go down into the goblin tunnels, and find Alfred,” Catherine finished

“But that’s crazy,” Shawn exclaimed.  “You can’t go down into the goblin caves like that.  The goblins will kill you.”

“We can’t leave Alfred,” Catherine said.

“Alfred risked his life to fight with us,” said Carlyle.  “Even when his father tried to stop him.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a new thought struck Carlyle.  “Oh no, his father!  How are we going to tell Alfred’s father about this?  He already wants to kill me.”

“There’s no point in telling him anything now,” Catherine said.  “It would only worry him unnecessarily.  Let’s see if we can get into the goblin caves first.”

“But we don’t know how long that could take us,” said Carlyle.  “And Alfred’s father could come up here at any time demanding to know where Alfred is.”

Bettina the raven flew down from the tree branch, where she had been perched listening to their conversation, and landed on Catherine’s shoulder.  “I was just flying around the mountain, and I can tell you that Alfred’s father won’t be coming here anytime soon,” she said.  “Right now, he’s actually journeying down the mountain.”

This surprised Catherine and Carlyle.  “What is he going down the mountain for?” Carlyle asked.

“I don’t know,” Bettina said.  “I only know what I see..”

“Who is he traveling with?” asked Catherine.

“He is by himself,” Bettina said.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Carlyle.  “He knows how dangerous it is to travel down the mountain by himself.  Why would he do it?”

“Do you want me to fly down and ask him?” offered Bettina.

“No,” Catherine said quickly.  “Don’t bother him right now.  We need to try to rescue Alfred before he finds out his son is missing.”

“The first thing we need to do is try to find the secret entrance the goblins use,” said Carlyle.  “Let’s see if we can get some torches to light up the cave.”

“There’s no need,” said Catherine.  “I can provide the light.”

  Catherine started humming, and her hands glowed again with the bright yellow energy.

Carlyle watched this with concern.  It had been a few days now since Catherine had first demonstrated this power.  But Carlyle still did not understand what was going on, and he had not had the opportunity of asking about it before now.  “How are you doing that?” Carlyle asked.  Catherine didn’t answer,  so Carlyle asked again, “How are you doing that?”

Catherine stopped humming.  The yellow electricity faded.  She turned and looked at Carlyle with an annoyed expression.  “I can’t keep it going if I have to answer your stupid questions.  It only works if I keep humming.”

“But how are you doing that?” Carlyle asked for the third time.

“I don’t know,” said Catherine.  “Something is wrong with me.  I don’t know what it is.  That’s all I know.  Now come on, let’s find that entrance.”

With Catherine leading the way, they all went back to the cave.  Catherine illuminated the cave with her humming and her electric lights, while they searched along the cave floor and the cave walls.  The ravens helped as well, flying around the cave and checking everywhere.

It was Molly who found it.  “Over here guys,” she said excitedly.  There was a small crack in the cave wall.  It looked like it might be an entrance to something.  

Kevin and Shawn tried to get their fingers in the cracks and pry it open.  They couldn’t open it.

“There must be lots of tools here among the thieves’ treasures,” Carlyle suggested.  “Go through all the boxes until we find something we can use.”

They found some hammers, chisels and an awl.  They came back to the cave, and tried to pry the door open with the tools.  It still didn’t work.

“Let me try,” said Catherine.

“It’s no good,” said Kevin.  “We all tried.  We can’t get it open.”

Catherine ignored Kevin.  She put her hands on the cave, and concentrated as hard as she could.  She kept the humming going while she did this, and the energy was flowing through her.  But she tried to concentrate it this time.  She felt like she was getting better at directing it.  As the energy flowed out of her, the stone door began to glow red.

“Catherine, how are you doing that?” asked Kevin.

“Don’t talk to her,” said Carlyle.  “It distracts her.  She needs to keep humming.”

The stone wall kept burning bright red, and then it turned white.  “Stand back,” Shawn advised the others.  “Don’t touch it.”

And then, the stone wall began to crack.  And then, it shattered into many small pieces of rock.  And there, before them, was the entrance to the goblin’s tunnels.