The Girls of Ohmer Chapter 7 Karma

The Girls of Ohmer Chapter 7 Karma

Hilario ran into the cave, being being careful to avoid several traps that had been halfhazardly hidden on the cave floor. " What kind of idiot places traps in such a manner?"

Hilario called into the darkness.
"Hello? Is somone there?"

Nina smiled in the darkness, her magic may be subdued but her karma was in full effect. " Help me please! I accidently sprung a trap!"

" OK, hold on miss! I must make a torch, then I will find you and release you from the trap!" Hilario walked out of the cave and began gathering dried grass. He cut a section of stout rope from one of the traps inside and bound the dried grass tightly together. He then took a bit of salted fat from his pack, and sliced into thin strips. These he inserted in the top of his hasty torch, finally binding that portion very tightly.

With that done, he gathered dry grass to build a fire. He reached into his bag and pulled out his plunger, a two piece device that produced great pressure in a very small space, by putting a bit of lint inside it he could produce an ember in an instant simply by pushing the plunger into the handle. Hilario removed the ember from the plunger and placed it into a nest of dry grass, he whispered to the ember, thanking it for bringing light and warmth. The bundle of grass smoked, then erupted into flame, Hilario pushed the flaming bundle into the top of the torch which began to burn brightly as the fat melted and the surrounding grass wicked it like a lamp.

Hilario called the into darkness again. " OK miss, I have a light, now where are you?"

"I'm here!" Nina shouted.

The echoes bounced around too much for Hilario to get a fix on her direction. He knew from past experience ( 6 years hauling guano for the community gardens) that a quiet sustained sound would be better than shouts.

" Thats no good miss! I can locate you better if you make a lower sound for a longer time. Perhaps you could sing a song?"

Nina couldn't believe this! A song? Really? Well, she would try, but in her condition she didn't feel much like singing, and all that would come to mind was one of Vays favorites.  Nina cleared her throat and began." I know an old lady who swallowed a fly, I don't know why she swallowed the fly. I guess she'll die!..."

Hilario grimaced and mumbled to himself. "I hope this lady looks better than she sings, otherwise she might scare me out of the cave when I see her."

Hilario pinpointed the sound coming from a narrow passageway to his left. He easily avoided more clumsily set traps and crawled into the tunnel. There were several ropes leading down the tunnel. Evidently, all of the traps were set to drag their prey through here. "Hold on lady, I'm coming to help you!"

Nina continued " she swallowed the bird to catch the spider, that wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her..." Then she saw a glimmer of light far below. " yes yes up here! "She shouted. The head of a bright torch came out of a small opening in the rock below,  followed by the face of a curious little man.

Hilario looked up. "Oh, hello lady! What are you doing up there? Don't tell me you were stupid enough to fall into that trap on accident!"

Despite her discomfort, Nina blushed at the remark. Yes she was indeed that stupid, she admonished herself to be more careful in the future. "I um, I was distracted." She replied.

"I'll say!" Replied the man as he climbed out of the tunnel and stood up, peering up at nina. " you must have been plenty distracted to miss a trap made of wood in a stone cave. Now stay still, I'll have you down in no time."

Hilario observed the construction of the traps. Several ropes led from the tunnel to pulleys mounted in the ceiling about 4 feet apart. By climbing one of the ropes nearest to the lady in the trap, he would be able to free her using his knife.

"OK lady, here I come!" He ascended the rope like a monkey on fire! Even in her pain, Nina was amazed.

Hilario fashioned a harness from some rope and secured it around Nina. " Hello lady! " he said jovially " are you ready to get down from here?"  Before she could reply, Hilario cut the rope holding her ankle she started to plumit to the floor screaming. Before she made contact with the hard stone, the rope holding her harness tightened, and she swung sideways in a long smooth arc. Soon the swinging lessend and she was gently set down.

Hilario slid down a rope and landed beside her. " Boy lady! You are a screamer!" He rubbed his ears which were ringing from the echoing shrieks from Ninas freefall.

+++++++++++

The next morning was sunny and warm. Bear Dog Vampire was the first of her sisters to wake up. She quietly slid out of bed to explore the house on her own. The myriad of interesting items in the managerie had peaked her curiosity. She quietly opened the door and tiptoed to the stairs. Popsicle was following close behind, not wanting to be left in the bedroom when mischief was happening.

The two of them slunk silently down the stairs,  being very careful to be as quiet as possible. As they reached the first floor,  Bear Dog Vampire marvelled at the assortment of gizmos and gadgets. She wondered what they were all for. Looking at them, she could only guess.

She looked over her shoulder before reaching forward to pick up a small contraption that looked like a copper ball with 4 protruding legs made of wood. As soon as she touched it the thing sprang open and ejected a sticky fibrous goo all over her. As the goo dried, it tightened her arms against her body and essentially immobilized her. Bear Dog Vampire heard the basement door open but there was nothing she could do to escape detection. She had been caught red handed and she had to face any punishment that followed. But it wasn't Tom, it was Wentworth.  Today he was wearing a tiny vest, with a little gold star on the front.

She smiled at the funny little squirrel. " howdy sherriff. Care to help a cowgirl out? She said playing along with his dress up game. The squirrel ignored the girl. He stalked towards the sparkly caticorn, then pounced on its back.

Popsicle jumped straight up in the air. Before he landed, he was already running. When his feet hit the floor he ran in place for just a moment. His claws finally found traction in the shiny wood floor and he took off like a rocket. Wentworth was screeching and chattering, holding onto Popsicle with all his might. Popsicle ran all over the place, jumping and ducking over and around the piles of shiny oddities.

All of the noise alerted Tom, who ran into the room just in time to trip over cat and rider, sending him headlong into a shelf of wooden boxes of assorted sizes. The whole mess tumbled to the floor on top of Tom.

Wentworth looked over at the ruckus Tom was making, and was unceremoniously knocked off of Popsicle by a chair rung. Popsicle ran up the stairs passing Erika and Vay without stopping.

Both master and squirrel sat dazed on the floor. The only difference was that one wore a cowboy get up, and the other looked to be dressed as a clown.

Erika and Vay came rushing down the stairs to see what all the noise was about. " Tom! What are you wearing?"

"Pretty snazzy huh?" Tom replied as he picked himself up and dusted off. His purple coveralls from before had been replaced by baggy white ones with large multicolored polka dots. The sleeve and pant cuffs were decorated with blue and red fringe. That suit combined with his braided beard and wild unkempt hair, made him look like a deranged clown.

Just then Bear Dog Vampire cleared her throat." Ahem. Excuse me! A little help here please!"

"Oh golly! It looks like you found my four legged snot trap! Pretty clever aye?" Tom smiled with pride and began inspecting how well the fibers had adhered to each other. " Splendid! The anamorphic properties of the cellular stabilizers caused evaporative contraction just like I had planned!!!" Tom was hopping up and down clapping his hands and laughing. The laughing and clapping made him look more deranged than ever.

"OK OK, now how do we get it off?" Bear Dog Vampire was getting more  frustrated by the second.

" Never fear little bear dog girl! I have a tonic that will remove that snot in a jiffy!" With that he did an about face and skipped down to the basement for a bottle of Toms Teriffic Tonic.

"Oh no! Not again!" Bear Dog Vampire was not looking forward to another stenchfest compliments of Toms Tonic!

++++++++++

Mornings in the box canyon are usually cool and foggy. Today was no acception. Nina shivered despite the fire of bundled grass "logs" that burned nearby. Her rescuer had introduced himself as Hilario from Wahaka. Nina knew of his people, and their close connection to the land. She had fallen asleep soon after he had given her a concoction made from the inner bark of a tree. She didn't know what it was but it blessedly took her pain away and she fell into a deep restful sleep.

Nina sat up with a groan, the pain relief had been temporary, this morning she felt like she had been hit by an avalanche. Every muscle ached, every bone, every sinew. She wished she had some more of that concoction Hilario made the night before. Maybe he did have more. Nina called out into the fog. " Hilario! Where are you?"

She tried to stand but her left ankle would hold no weight. Hilario had splinted it the night before, but standing was too painful.

"Here I am lady!" I brought some sweet root and fresh water for morning meal."

"I told you to call me Nina. But thank you for the food and water"

Hilario smiled saying " OK lady! Here, roast these on a stick, that will warm you up." He didn't know how to tell her that Nina sounded too much like Meena. ( a very derogatory term among Wahakans)

As the sun broke the plane of the valley edge above, the fog burned off quickly and they could see Blue grazing just fifty yards  away. "Wow!"  Said Hilario "Look at that big fella. If it wouldn't be such a waste of meat, I would take him down right now! But its bad juju to waste an animal."

Nina cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. " And how, may I ask would you accomplish such a feat as bringing down that beast? With your knife?"

" No way lady! That would be stupid. I'd use this." He handed her a flute about 2 feet long and made of wood.

Nina chuckled. " what are you going to do play him a lullaby? "

Hilario was a tad insulted by her condescension. He grabbed the flute, flipped it around, drew a lethal looking dart from his belt and placed it in the end of the flute without finger holes. He pointed to a dragonfly hovering over some wildflowers and after an explosive breath, the dragonfly was skewered, and vaporized by the impact at 20 yards. Hilario retorted " with a poison dart, I can play a deadly lullaby!"

Nina blinked. This little man was blunt. He didn't skirt around the subject or pull any punches. She liked him. " Well my new friend, don't go singing any deadly lullabys to our ride and we'll be ok."

"Whatchoo mean lady? You ride that thing?"

To demonstrate she gave a whistle for Blue, who turned and walked towards her. When he arrived she gave a series of clucks followed by a gently spoken " down" and the great beast laid down beside her gently nuzzling her cheek.

Hilario stared in disbelief. " I'll get my bag and we can go then."

Nina said " I have a saddle just over there behind that rock." As she pointed in the distance.

Hilario retrieved the saddle and followed Ninas instructions on how to place it on Blue and cinch the straps. ( Wahakans did not ride animals, they walked everywhere) Finally Hilario helped Nina up into the saddle, being careful not to injure her ankle any further.

" Alright Hilario, come on up." Nina reached down to assist him.

Hilario jumped streight up and scrambled behind her, standing on the back of the saddle and holding Ninas shoulders.

"Are you going to be able to stay on like that?" She asked " Blue is really fast."

"Lady, this way I can jump off!" He responded.

" Here we go. HA!" Nina gave the signal and Blue accelerated  to top speed in an instant, almost.throwing Hilario off.

When he gained his balance, Hilario started to grin. This was faster than he ever imagined, like falling forward instead of down. He hooped and hollered. " WHOOOOOO! HEY LADY, WE'RE FLYING! THIS IS LIKE FLYING!! WHOOOOOOOOO" Hilario stood behind Nina the whole way back to the village, grinning like a crocodile.