Kootmufin sat and stared at Heilley as she bent and twisted
on the hair pick. "You know, as many hair picks as I've broken just using them
normally, I never would've thought it'd be so hard to break one on purpose."
"Me neither," Heilley growled. She gave up trying
to twist with just her paws and bit down on one end with her teeth. Pulling
with both paws on the other end, she worked the pick back and forth to find
a spot of maximum leverage. One long hard pull, straining every muscle in her
arms and neck, was rewarded with a loud snapping sound as the plastic pick finally
broke.
"Whew!" Heilley gasped for breath. "Now to hope
it broke right..." she began trying to pull a metal tine from the broken edge.
She reached her goal with just a few seconds of effort. A flurry of black and
white paws then made the broken pieces of pick disappear back into her hairdo.
"I still wish I knew how you did that so easily,"
Kootmufin marveled.
Heilley gave her a half wink. "Leave it to the
experts, Koot." With that, she reached up and inserted her wire into the doorknob's
keyhole. Exerting pressure by turning the knob with her other paw, she closed
her eyes in concentration and began fiddling with the pins inside.
"Guess we're lucky there's a keyhole on this
side aren't we."
Heilley's eyes opened back up. "Not luck. It
lets whoever has the key lock it from the inside here before they have their
fun and games."
"Oh." Kootmufin was silent for a few moments.
"Where did you learn how to do this anyway?"
"MonoKeras," was the muttered response.
"Him? You mean he's actually good for something?"
"Aw, lay off, Koot, he is my brother. Besides,
I already knew the basics from earlier owners. He just taught me the advanced
stuff. Now hush so I can hear what I'm doing."
Koot hushed. For several minutes, the only sounds
were heavy breathing, along with the faintest of clicks and tinks as Heilley's
pick worked its way through the lock pins. A louder click and a turning of the
doorknob in her paws signaled success. Heilley opened the door a crack.
"Great!" Kootmufin squealed. "Come on, let's
get out of here!"
Heilley barred her way with an arm. "Cool it,
Koot. Let's see if we can hear anyone else coming first."
"Oh." Both Kyrii strained their large and sensitive
ears to catch the faintest hints of someone coming. Heilley finally looked back
at Kootmufin with a questioning look on her face. Kootmufin shook her head no,
and Heilley nodded agreement as she pulled the door open.
Heilley poked her head out first, but a quick
visual scan confirmed what they'd already heard. Nothing was about. The two
Kyrii darted into the hallway and immediately found themselves wondering which
way to go.
"Yeeps!" Kootmufin hissed. "It's him! Sloth!"
She didn't have to say any more. Heilley had
heard the faint rumblings of Sloth's voice from a far corridor as well. Both
girls ran at top speed towards the other end of the long hallway. Heilley cringed,
expecting to hear shouts of alarm at any second, but she didn't. Kootmufin's
long green hair whipped around the corner of the corridor and Heilley slid around
behind it just as quickly.
Heilley and Kootmufin braced themselves against
each other as they caught their breath.
"I think we're safe," Kootmufin finally panted.
"Not for long," was Heilley's unsettling reply.
"We've got to get out of this building, whatever it is."
Kootmufin rolled her eyes. "It's a dungeon,
is what it is."
"Well it may be worse than that for us if we
don't keep moving." Heilley suddenly held up a paw for silence. Both of them
heard Sloth's voice raised in shouting behind them. "I forgot to shut the door,"
Heilley groaned. "Come on!"
Kootmufin didn't need any encouragement. They
resumed their race through the halls, desperately hunting for a way out. A buzzer
began going off in the distance and it grew louder as other emergency stations
took up the warning. "That must be for us!" Kootmufin panted.
"It sure ain't tea-time," was Heilley's retort.
A flash of red in a cross-corridor caught Kootmufin's
eye and she skidded to a stop. "Hey! An exit!"
Heilley didn't waste her breath in replying,
just took off for the inviting sign, with Kootmufin at her heels. The door slammed
open as both Kyrii thudded into it simultaneously. Heilley skidded to a stop
on her front paws and knees, but suffered only minor abrasions.
"Yow! Hey! Sand?"
Kootmufin made sure the door was closed. "Oh
man, who turned on the heat?" she groaned.
Heilley looked around the enclosed courtyard.
"Never mind that, which way out of here now?"
"Hey, what's that?" Kootmufin pointed towards
a hulking shape some distance away.
"Looks like a shuttle craft of some sort. Let's
go!"
It was indeed a shuttle craft, and the ramp
was down, waiting invitingly for anyone wanting to leave. Heilley and Kootmufin
shot up it and into the interior.
Heilley looked around, blinking the sunspots
out of her eyes. "Whoa, this must be Sloth's private rocket. Look at the decor."
Kootmufin was looking. "Yeah. Black and his
own special shade of vomit green. Yeeechhh. Hey, is it just me or does it look
cramped in here? With all that huge bulk outside, you'd think it'd have two
levels, at least."
"I know. I guess it must be mostly engines"
"Maybe there's a secret panel to hidden rooms."
Heilley sighed. "On a shuttle craft? Get real."
"Hey, this is Sloth we're talking about!"
Heilley shuddered. "Yeah, and speaking of him,
we have to use this thing to get out of here. Any ideas on how to fly it?"
Kootmufin looked a bit crestfallen. "Not a clue.
Maybe we can figure it out?"
The two Kyrii hopped into the pilot's seat and
looked over the huge array of buttons, keys, and several video screens with
coloured schematics on them.
"Hopeless," Heilley finally concluded with a
sigh.
"Maybe not," Kootmufin said hopefully. "Why
not just try pressing buttons and seeing what happens?"
Heilley stared at her. "Are you nuts?"
"No, I'm scared! What about you?"
Heilley's own black and white mane rippled with
her shudders. "Right. Let's try it."
Slow and semi-careful pushing began to degenerate
into frantic jabs as both Kyrii tried to get some sort of reaction from the
craft. A rumbling noise finally began, and they both paused, staring at the
now blinking displays. "I wonder where it's going?" Kootmufin finally said.
"NOWHERE!" a voice roared immediately behind
them.
"Yikes!" Heilley said.
"Eeepp!" was Kootmufin's response.
The light suddenly vanished as a huge plastic
mesh bag slammed down over both of the girls. Before they realised what was
happening, they'd been knocked off their feet and found themselves struggling
in midair while Sloth firmly knotted the top of his squirming bundle.
"Well now," he chuckled evilly. "Looks like
you got here ahead of me. How nice of you to save me the trouble of carrying
you out here." He dropped the bag into a couch and strapped it in securely.
"Now sit tight. I do hope you'll enjoy the ride, we have given you the most
snug of accommodations."
He chortled at the angry growls coming from
his captives. Quickly and expertly, he righted the craft's systems, and soon
they took off for his next destination.
***
Meggiemufin and I sat outside the Lost Desert food stall, staring out over
the ocean without saying too much. I took another listless bite from the ptolymelon
that we'd split between us.
"I wonder if it's late enough to satisfy them
now," Meggiemufin sighed.
I looked up towards the setting sun. "Close
enough, I guess. By the time we get up there, it should be sunset."
We tossed our melon rinds into the appropriate
jug and got up. I threw a knapsack over my shoulder and we began to slowly walk
north through the tents. For a while neither of us said anything. We were both
absorbed in our own thoughts and worries.
"Say, Scriptfox?"
"Yes?"
"Does it feel odd to take the advice of your
pet?"
That one stopped me. "You mean MonoKeras?"
"Yeah. Aren't owners supposed to tell pets what
to do and not the other way around?"
"Hah! Yes, and I do, too. But this isn't exactly
a case of when you're supposed to go to bed. I guess.... it's his area of expertise,
you know?"
"His what?"
"Umm... I mean this is what he's good at. He
makes his living helping his clients out of tough spots, including kidnaping.
It's not like this is the first time he's seen someone kidnaped. He knows what
he's talking about."
"I hope so!"
Her fervent exclamation ended my lecturing mood.
"Yeah, me too."
We crossed the bridge in the heart of the marketplace,
and I stared down at its now orangish waters as they reflected the evening sun.
"Maybe he'll come up with something for us."
"Huh? Who?"
"MonoKeras. He's looking into this. Didn't you
know?"
"No, I didn't! I thought he'd just advised us
then let us go to... well, hope for the best."
"That's right, he told me after you'd left.
He said he's got some leads now, so he's going to see if he can track down the
kidnappers while we do this."
"Well if he wants to do us any good, he'd better
be fast."
We passed the Solitaire tent and I grimaced
as I saw the pets in it with playing cards in hand. I could have done without
the reminder of our missing pets. We circled around the tent and found ourselves
staring at the shrine in the near distance.
"Hold up a minute."
"Huh?" Meggiemufin looked at me as I grabbed
her shoulder.
"Just looking at the sun. Do you think that's
sunset?"
The clouds were gathering as the sun sank towards
the horizon. "Umm... yes?"
I sighed. "I wish I could be so sure. Why don't
we play it safe and give it a few more minutes? Then it'll be halfway down the
horizon and no reasonable person would say we were early."
Meggie's lips twisted with disgust. "You mean
we're dealing with reasonable people?"
Without MonoKeras around to assure her we were,
I was more inclined to give into her pessimism. "We'd better be, or I'm losing
a fortune for nothing." I tapped my knapsack meaningfully.
She didn't bother to reply. We both stared at
the sun until we felt it was low enough, then struck out across the last stretch
of sand to the shrine. I felt the familiar tingle as we neared it and the magical
fields it possessed, but ignored that in favour of hunting for the jug (or whatever
it was) that held our next clue in this mystery.
It didn't take long to find. "Wow, I wonder
why it's so big?"
I grunted. "Who knows? As long as there isn't
a booby trap in it..." I carefully lifted the lid off and waited a few seconds.
Nothing. Peering down inside I looked for the note. "Hey, where's their note?"
"There it is!"
I looked back up and realised Meggiemufin was
right. Our instructions had been taped to the bottom of the lid. "Weird."
I opened it up and we read:
"To Whom It Most Certainly Concerns:
Depending upon how well you perform this next
step, the appropriate pet or pets will be available to you at 3425 Wharfside
Alley in North Central Neopia. Put the money in the container, close the lid,
and leave without saying anything to anyone."
"Simple enough," I muttered.
"Yeah. So that's why it was so big."
"No doubt." I pulled the knapsack off, and spent
a frantic minute or so shoving it through the mouth of the jug. It finally popped
in and I put the lid back on. "Okay, let's go!"
Meggiemufin had the note with the precious address
clutched in her hands. "Right!"
We began to jog back towards the ferryboat.
"Took us about three hours to get down here," I panted, "and it'll take the
same time back. That's how they made sure we wouldn't double cross them!"
"I don't care!" Meggiemufin retorted. "Koot's
three hours away from me! Let's hurry!"
Her last words were unnecessary. We were hurrying
as fast as we could go, back towards Central Neopia and our beloved pets.
To be continued... | 
