Reset Password
Reset Link Sent
| Blogs > dreampoet > My Blog, my way |
|
THE KISS-DIAMOND... Part Four. THE KISS-DIAMOND...Part Four. “What is the password?” demanded Officer-Crab as one of his eyes swivelled around to glare back at the rows of soldier Crabs and Crustations who were formed in lines of attention. The larger Crabs shuffled down till, at the end of the line, stood Prawns and then Shrimps. “Stand still!” shouted Officer-Crab, without turning. The eye swivelled back so that both eyes glared at us as he asked us again “Well? What is the password?” “We don’t know any password.” said Oberon. “No password!” spluttered Officer-Crab. “You can’t come here without a password!” “Please. Can we just speak to the Otter-Folk?” begged Titania. Officer-Crab stared at Titania, his eyes now enlarged on their stalks. “How dare you speak to me without permission!” he exclaimed, drawing his sword from its scabbard. “I’m sorry.” apologized Titania. “Too late!” shouted Officer-Crab. “Order of the guard! Take these spies to the guardroom!" Two of the Crabs drew their swords and stood beside us. “Quick march!” ordered one of the guards in a high voice. “It’s madness!” I shouted, most angry that High Royalty, Oberon and Titania, should be marched away like common criminals. “Halt!” suddenly shouted Officer-Crab, hurrying to catch us up and standing before us. “Why didn’t you say the password when I first asked you?” he demanded, his eyes seeming to sink back as the stalks detracted. “Password?” I said, not understanding. Officer-Crab began to get angry again, his face getting crabby as he glared at me. “Don’t make out you did not know the password was ‘Madness’!” he shouted. “Forgive him, Officer-Crab.” said Titania, sweetly. “He was testing you and your troops, making sure you were on your guard.” “I see.” said Officer-Crab, somewhat mollified. “But don’t do it again, otherwise I might not be so forgiving.” We thanked him for his forgiving nature and he dismissed the two guards, ordering them back into line before asking us to follow him down the line and to inspect the troops as we went. “Present Arms!” Officer-Crab shouted. The soldiers formed two lines, holding their swords up to form an archway so we had to duck ever smaller as we reached the prawns and then the shrimps at the end of the line. “I will protect you till we reach the Castle! Follow me." He gave the order, "Quick march!” The castle was a giant Conch shell, turned up on its end so the twirly-whirly top fired itself up and losing itself into a blaze of colours. The castle was walled around by green Sea-Urchins, which left big gaps as they waved about in the river’s currents. We were led by Officer-Crab, who marched us around the walls till we arrived at the gates. “I will leave you here at the gates of the courtyard. The Tri-Courtesans will take you into the castle… If ever you get there.” said Officer-Crab, saluting us again and raising his sword before turning about smartly and marching off. “I wonder what he meant?” said Titania. “What did he mean… If we ever get there?” Before Oberon or I could answer, out through the gates came three strange half-animal, half fish- beings, all arguing at the top of their voices. “I say I’m right, though I’m not sure!” argued the Bull-Fish, snorting. “You might be right though I might have a different opinion." "So we are both right!” exclaimed the Ram- Fish. “Well one of us has to be right but which one? We really have to make a decision!” joined in the Goat-Fish. We waited patiently as the three argued as to who should make a decision. Then Oberon coughed, before saying... “Excuse me. I wonder if you can explain the problem, perhaps I can make a decision for you.” The three creatures stopped arguing, to turn to look at us. “Are you going to explain or shall I?” queried the Bull-Fish. “I don’t mean to head-butt in but who is going to decide who will explain the problem?” interjected the Ram-Fish. “Well, let’s ask these folk here to decide who will explain the problem.” said the Goat-Fish, pointing at us. At that, the three began to argue all over again. “Those Tri-Courtesans can never make their minds up.” said a sudden high-pitched voice behind us and we turned to see a Hermit-Crab walking towards us and carrying a blue-painted shell on his back. As he spoke, the lid of the shell slipped down over his eyes so that he puffed, pushing the shell up on his back. “Sorry about that.” he said. “I just got this new shell and it’s still a bit too big for me. But I shall grow into it.” he finished. “I wonder if you might take us into the castle so we might speak to the Otter-Folk?” asked Titania, in a most charming voice. The Hermit-Crab giggled before saying... “Well, you certainly won’t get those three to take you into the castle. Just look at them, always arguing. That’s because they all have horns on their heads, you see. So they are always on the Horns of a Dilemma.” “Ah! Now that explains it.” I said as we started to follow the Hermit-Crab through the courtyard and up the flight of marble steps. “Yes.” said the Hermit-Crab, as he reached for a large iron knocker, which hung from strands of seaweed. With a big swing he knocked on the door. “The thing is…” he went on to explain. “If they only had one horn on their heads they would have been Unique-Horns and as we all know, Unique-Horns are very special folk indeed. However those Tri-Courtesans are not so special.” A grill in the gate opened up and we were inspected by a large and unblinking eye. “Password!” came the demand. “It’s Madness!” I replied. The door was opened by an Octopus, a huge rubbery yellow thing which was all covered in purple spots. The Octopus then stood back, allowing us through, while scratching at his neck with all its tentacles. “Through that hallway and turn half-left up the stairs and the next door on the right.” said the Octopus, before any of us could speak. One of his tentacles pointed the way and we began to walk through the hallway. “Just a moment, come back here!” called the Octopus, his huge eye staring at us. “What do you want, what exactly is your business here?” he asked. “We want to talk to the Otter-Folk.” replied Oberon as we came back from where we had started. “Then why didn’t you say that in the first place?” demanded the agitated Octopus. “You will have to take the right-hand side of the staircase, into the adjoining alcove and follow your nose till you see a pearly sort of door. Well that’s it. The Otter-Folk are in there.” he finished. We left the Octopus who was turning purple and waving his tentacles about in a mass of confusion. Following the directions, we found the pearly door, Oberon knocked, lightly at first, then louder when no-one answered, even though we could plainly hear laughter and loud talking. Titania turned the handle and opened the door. 
|
||||
|
| |||
|
Don't mess with Officer-Crab  Great read Ron
| |||
|
'And a smile for you in return, my Aussie friend. It's good to know that you continue to read. I wonder if you copy off the drawing and paint in the colours, do you?...lol.' Thank you, I'm very much enjoying this new adventure with its many lively (and fascinating) characters. No, not yet at stage of copying/painting the pictures, lol. Was very much an Enid Blyton fan as a young child and could never wait to read the next series/adventure - I loved 'The Faraway Tree' especially with its many fascinating characters. Think I exhausted the small school library well before completing primary school - was an avid reader
|
×
×