Okra had not known she could do that.
Dra slid back into the water and paddled back across the moat. Their second challenge had been navigated. Now all they had to do was pa.s.s the third and enter the castle.
The main gate was closed. Mela tried the latch, and the gate opened.
They went in. Could this be all? No third challenge? Okra didn"t trust that.
They walked on through a wide pa.s.sage. The stones of the castle arched up overhead, closing it in. It was dark, but not too dark; they could see light at the end.
They reached that light-and discovered that it was the other side of the castle. They had walked right through it without really getting in.
They walked back through, looking for side pa.s.sages, but there were none. It was just a tunnel through the center of the castle, going nowhere.
"I think we"re in the third challenge after all," Ida remarked.
"We must have to find the entrance," Mela said. "But I certainly don"t see it."
"We"ll just have to look better," Okra said. She put her hands to the wall, feeling the stones. She pulled-and a stone swung out. It was a door! It seemed to open into some sort of closet.
The others crowded close. But when it was all the way open, there was a surprise. "Boo!" something cried, rattling.
"Eeeek! " Ida screamed, and Mela gasped. Okra slammed the door closed.
For there in the closet was a skeleton. It was a small one, but definitely human. Every bone was bare.
Still, they had discovered that the walls of the tunnel were not solid.
Where there was one door there might be another. Okra felt along more stones.
Soon she found another door stone. Cautiously she pulled it open.
"Boo!" It was another little skeleton. Okra shut the door.
So it went. There turned out to be many doors, but behind each was a rattling bony figure. There was a skeleton in every closet.
They sat on the stone floor in the center and consulted.
"Maybe we could go on through a closet, if a skeleton weren"t there," Ida suggested.
"How can we get into the castle proper when there"s no way past those little horrors?" Mela asked. "I certainly wouldn"t want to touch one!"
But then she reconsidered.
"They aren"t all horrible. I remember now. Marrow Bones was a good creature, and so was his friend Grace"l Ossein.
But they were adult skeletons from the gourd."
"From the gourd?" Ida asked.
"You don"t know about the realm of the gourd? It"s where bad dreams are made, for the night mares to carry out to deserving sleepers."
"Yes, I know that. My tutor told me. But I didn"t know that any creatures could come out of it, except the night mares."
"Well, they seldom do. But sometimes funny things happen. Marrow and Grace"l had quite a story. They helped me, actually; that"s how I recovered my firewater opal."
Okra noticed that a closet door was opening a crack by itself. Could the skeleton be listening? Maybe talk about big skeletons interested little skeletons.
Could that be a way through? If they got all the little skeletons listening, so they didn"t want to yell "boo!" all the time? Okra wasn"t quite sure how that would help, but it seemed better than nothing.
"Tell us about Marrow and Grace"l," Okra suggested.
"Yes, I"m curious too," Ida said.
"Well, it really isn"t-" Mela started to demur. But Okra nudged her gently with a toe. Then Mela saw the partly open closet doors, and realized that something was happening. "Very well. It all started, as far as I was concerned, when Marrow brought Prince Dolph to me in a boat. Actually the boat was made up of the bones of Marrow and Grace"l it was weird! I saw that cute prince and decided that he would do for a husband, once he came of age to join the Adult Conspiracy." She paused.
"Do you suppose those little skeletons in their closets are youngsters? Then I mustn"t say any more about that!"
"How many adult skeletons are out of the gourd?" Ida inquired.
"Only those two, I believe. So they made a couple."
Then Mela"s eyes widened. "Why, these little skeletons must be theirs! There"s no other way, because any other little skeletons would still be in the gourd."
"So there can"t be very many," Okra said. "Maybe only one or two, and they move around to block off any doors we open."
Mela nodded. Then she resumed her history. "So I took the little prince down to my cozy den under the sea, and fed him nutritious food.
But the little mischief changed into a gourd and I got caught by its peephole. Then Marrow Bones came down to take him away. But we made a deal: in exchange for the prince, they would fetch me back my lost firewater opal. So Grace"l remained with me as a hostage, and I let the prince go."
Okra saw the doors opening farther as the little skeletons listened.
There were only two of them, it seemed.
That would be about right for a family of four.
"So then the prince and Marrow Bones went to beard Draco Dragon in his den, where he h.o.a.rded my precious opal together with another he had.
They fought, and the prince changed into all sorts of shapes, but it was an even contest. Then they had to make a truce, to attend Chex Centaur"s mating ceremony. But while they were gone, the goblins raided the dragon"s nest, and only Marrow Bones was there to defend it. I must say, he behaved exactly like a hero, fighting off all those goblins alone."
The doors opened all the way, and the two little skeletons came out, fascinated by the history. They weren"t nearly so frightening, now that they were acting like children instead of like spooks.
"He used all sorts of skeleton tricks," Mela continued.
"He had the bats who helped guard the dragon"s nest dump the gems into the water, and the fish who also helped guard the nest bit at any goblin who tried to get those gems. But in the end the goblins pulled his bones apart and put them in bags, and got most of the gems. He hid the two firewater opals in his skull, but the goblins took his skull too."
The little skeletons crept closer, listening. They were almost within reach.
"When the prince and dragon returned, they discovered the disaster," Mela continued. "So they enlisted the help of the naga folk, and Prince Dolph agreed to marry Princess Nada Naga, when they both grew old enough. Later he changed his mind and married Electra instead, but that"s complicated. The naga intercepted the goblins and rescued the treasure. And Draco Dragon was so grateful to Marrow Bones for all he had done that he gave him both firewater opals, and he brought them back to me. I was so pleased! So I wish him all the best, and his offspring too."
Then Okra caught one little skeleton by an ankle, and Ida caught the other by a wrist bone. They struggled, but they were too small to win free.
"And you must be Marrow and Grace"l"s children," Mela said. "How nice you look! What are your names?"
"I"m Picka Bone," one said. "I"m Marrow"s son."
"I"m Joy"nt," the other said.
"Well, you seem like two fine boys," Mela said.
"I"m not a boy, I"m a girl," Joy"nt said. "I"m Grace"l"s daughter."
"Iops. I couldn"t tell, without-" Mela paused, evidently concerned about the Adult Conspiracy.
"I have an extra rib," Joy"nt explained. She flicked a rib with a bone finger, and it chimed.
"And you are serving your service for an Answer," Mela said. "And you did very well. But I think now we shall be able to get through one of those closets without getting spooked."
"We just wanted to hear about daddy"s great deeds," Picka said.
"And about mommy"s trial," Joy"nt said.
"Well, I hadn"t gotten to that yet." So then Mela told them all about Grace"l"s trial for messing up a bad dream.
They had evidently heard all this before, but never tired of it, in the manner of children.
And while Mela talked, she got up and checked the nearest closet. Sure enough, it now had no spook, and it led into the castle proper. They had found the way past the third challenge.
Inside they found Humfrey"s Mundane wife, Sofia. She was old but brisk.
"You must clean up immediately!" she exclaimed. "You have moat moss all over you! And you"ll have to put on something more than panties. I fear that dressing all three of you is more than I can handle. Socks are more my specialty."
"We"re sorry," Mela said, sounding as shamefaced as Okra felt.
"I will have to exchange with Rose," Sofia decided.
"She"s expert with dresses."
"We don"t mean to be any trouble," Ida said. "We just came for some Answers."
"Not garbed like that" Sofia said firmly. "Suppose someone saw you? Now get in the shower, and I"ll see about exchanging."
Eventually they marched into the shower. This was a chamber with a dense little raincloud floating above. The moment they stepped in, it proceeded to rain on them.
The water was cold, but that couldn"t be helped. They struggled out of their soiled clothing and stood bashfully bare, getting cleaned by the water.
Okra, shivering, had an idea. "Maybe if we make the cloud mad, it will heat up."
"Oh, that does make sense!" Ida exclaimed.
"So who is the best at insulting clouds?" Mela asked, bemused.
"Let me try it," Okra said. "I"m going to pretend it"s Fracto." She took a breath. "Cloud, listen to me. I think you"re the ugliest bit of fog I"ve seen."
The cloud twitched. It was listening.
"I"ve seen big clouds and small clouds," Okra continued. "But you"re the puniest excuse of all."
The cloud developed a pink fringe. It was getting angry!
I"ve seen satisfying clouds and maddening clouds, but you re far from the maddening cloud."
Little flecks of lightning zapped through the cloud. It was really getting furious. Indeed, its water was warming.
"In fact-" Okra began.
"Enough," Mela whispered. "The water"s getting too hot." She was using a carved soapstone on her body. It cleaned off the grime wherever it rubbed. Okra had not seen this type of magic before, but she liked it.
"In fact, I guess you"re okay," Okra said.
The rage of the little storm subsided. The water went from hot to warm.
As it sank back to cool, they got out from under, having finished their shower.
They found cottonwood towels and dried themselves off.
It was a job to get their hair dry and fluffed out, for all three of them had whole hanks of it. Mela"s was golden in the air, but sea green when wet; Ida"s was light brown above, turning green-yellow below Okra"s own was of course ogre dark.
Then Mela put on one of her spare plaid panties, and Okra put on her spare black panty, and Ida dug her spare yellow panty from her purse.
Her remaining clothing was still sodden; she rinsed it out under the cloud.
They stepped back into the larger chamber. There was a new woman. She was dressed like a former queen or princess, with roses on her gown.
"Oh, you must be Rose!" Okra said.
"So I am," the woman agreed. "Sofia exchanged with me. And you three are surely Mela, Okra, and Ida. Let"s see about dressing you. I have a collection of clothing left behind by various parties, and I think some of it should fit you, with a few adjustments."
Rose did indeed know her business. For Okra she produced a pair of ocher dragon leather pants and boots, making her an ocher ogre, as well as stainless steel gauntlets and an umber vest and jacket lined with a golden fleece.
"I have heard so much about you," Okra said shyly.
Rose was surprised. "You have? But I have been back in Xanth only recently."
"I know Magpie, the demon maid. She said-"
"Oh, Magpie! She"s the only demoness I know with a tender heart. She doesn"t have a heart, of course, but she acts as if she does. I didn"t know she was working among the ogres!"
"I think it amuses her. The way it amuses Metria to trick people, only Magpie never tricks anyone."