(Chapter 6) DRAGNOT 

     As the Talinks celebrated, clapping and dancing, two unseen eyes
peered through a small crack in the wall at the back of the room. The eyes
grew bigger as they watched Tone walk over to Eddie and held out the
harmonica for Eddie to take.  Eddie hesitated at first, then took the
harmonica from Tone.
     The curious eyes looked over to the other strangers sitting on the
floor. Then at Toomie who was sitting next to the boy with the noise maker
and barking at anyone who came close to the boy. The stranger plugged the
hole that he was looking through and quietly backed away from the lodge,
looking both ways to make sure no one saw him.  He then ran toward the
path leading up the side of the mountain.  He reached the ledge at the top
and took one last look back to make sure no one was following.  He passed
through the opening in the mountain and ran down the other side. Reaching
the bottom he stood waiting, trying to catch his breath.
     "You are late!" said a voice as a shadow moved out from behind a
tree.  "What did you see Rimm?"
     "The Talinks have found some strangers from the green light!" said
Rimm.
     "I do not care, they are weak. Why didn't you bring me a Talink?" said
the angry voice.
     "You do not understand Dragnot!" blurted Rimm.  Dragnot moved
closer to Rimm so he could see his angry face.  "One of the strangers has a
noise maker, like the one..."
     Dragnot swirled around and grabbed Rimm by the throat.
     "What do you mean a noise maker?  I have the only noise maker! And
it hangs around Kraph's neck," said Dragnot as he squeezed Rimm's neck a
little tighter. "Are you sure?"
     "Yes Dragnot, it's the same," said Rimm choking on his words.
          Dragnot dropped Rimm to the ground and stared up at the mountain. 
     Damn those Talinks, they know I can't go near the mountain because
the magnetic energy in the rock depletes my power. But if there is another
noise maker... I must find a way to retrieve it; I will not go back, Dragnot
thought to himself.  Dragnot turned to Rimm and said, "Who has this noise
maker?"
     "A child from the green light, like Ron who sent you back."
     "Enough!" Dragnot shouted. "I will not have some child destroy me!
You and two others go back there and  get that noise maker, bring me the
child as well. Go now, be back before the sun is out."
     "But Dragnot, this child has some sort of creature protecting him," said
Rimm.
     "Feed this leaf to this creature it will put it to sleep," said Dragnot as
he pulled a small yellow leaf from his pouch. Rimm took the leaf and
gestured for two Sooms to follow him up the mountain.  
     The Talinks continued to celebrate while the strangers sat and watched
with tired eyes.
     "Poss, take your friends to your den so they can sleep.  We will decide
what to do at next sun," said Linnie as she ushered them through one of the
holes.  They followed Poss through several rooms 'til they reached a room
with a large round hole in the wall.  
     "This my den, you sleep now," Poss said, pointing to the floor. 
     Eddie walked over to the window and looked out. He then lay down on
the floor with the others.
     "Psst, Joey ask Poss to go get more food," whispered Eddie as Poss
fussed over things.
     "Why?" asked Joey as the others looked at Eddie for an answer.
     "Because you're hungry, just do it!" he whispered back.
     "Ok. Hey Poss I'm still hungry, can you get me some more food?"
asked Joey.
     Poss stared at Joey then told them to stay here and he would be right
back. When Poss left, Eddie jumped up and ran to the window.  
     "Quick, we're leaving," said Eddie starting to climb out the window.
"Come on Toomie." Toomie ran to the hole and jumped out.
     "How do we find our way back?" asked Griffin. "Do you know the
way?"
     "I think so, but we can't stay here. What if they decide to never let us
go home?" replied Eddie.
     "The stairs in the toybox are gone. How do we find them?" asked Sue.
     "Let's just go, I'm scared if I stay, I'm scared if I go," said Kennedy
trying to hurry the others before Poss came back.
     They all climbed through the hole and dropped to the ground. They
looked but saw no one around, and ran to nearby bushes.  
     "When I say go, we run as fast as we can to the path," said Eddie
crouched down on his knees.  "Where's Toomie?"
     "I don't know, he ran off up ahead," said Griffin pointing.
     "Toomie! Toomie!" shouted Patsy.
     "Shhh! Patsy they'll hear us, we'll find him," said Eddie.  
     Eddie took a look around then said, "Go!" They bolted from the
bushes, but Eddie came to a sudden stop and the rest collided into each
other trying to stop.
     "Eddie! What are you doing?" Sue said pushing the others away from
her. She stepped out in front to yell at Eddie, when she realized something
was wrong.  
     "Eddie?" she said, then turned to see what Eddie was staring at. She
quickly jumped back behind Eddie with the others.
     "Oh, no, said Kennedy.   
     Eddie stared straight ahead at the three creatures in front of him, his
heart began to race. Their red eyes glared back at him.
     "They're the creatures I saw in my nightmare," said Eddie.
     They began to growl. Eddie wanted to run, but couldn't; his whole
body went numb.
     "I am Rimm, leader of Sooms!" the bigger of the three creatures
spoke. "Give me the noise maker!" Rimm said as he started to swing a
leather rope with a baseball-size stone attached to the other end. The two
Sooms started to swing their stones as well.
     "They killed Toomie!" Patsy screamed. 
     The rest looked in horror at the site of Toomie laying on the ground
next to the creatures, not moving. "What did you do to Toomie?" shouted
Patsy as she tried to run to him.
     "Stop!" Rimm shouted at Patsy.  Patsy stopped dead in her tracks
when she saw Rimm's pointy teeth gleaming.
     Rimm stepped in front of Eddie, "Give me the noise maker!" he said as
he grabbed Eddie by the throat. The others gasped with fright.  Eddie pulled
the harmonica out of his pocket and gave it to him. Rimm then grabbed
Eddie by the arm and pulled him over to the Sooms. Eddie fell down on his
knees next to Toomie, and reached out to touch the dog, but the Sooms
quickly pulled Eddie to his feet. Eddie looked down at Toomie laying there,
with no signs of life; grief and guilt raged through his mind. While Rimm was
looking at the harmonica, Eddie was suddenly consumed by anger. To
everyone's surprise Eddie leaped at Rimm and tackled him to the ground.
Eddie started punching Rimm with every bit of energy he had left. Then
Patsy jumped into the fight and bit Rimm's ear. Rimm screamed with pain
and at that moment, Eddie felt something hit the side of his head. The pain
was so overwhelming, he rolled off Rimm and held his head, hoping the pain
would stop. Sue pulled Patsy back before she was hit with a stone. Rimm
stood up and was so full of anger he was ready to kill them all, but he
noticed the clouds start to separate, which meant the sun would be out
soon.
     "Let's go," said Rimm to the Sooms. "Don't move, or I kill you!" he
shouted at the gang.
     The Sooms grabbed Eddie by the arms and ran off up the path. The
gang watched in disbelief as Eddie disappeared up the mountain with the
creatures.
     "We have to help Eddie," said Griffin wiping the steam from his
glasses.  "Let's follow them."
     "And do what?" shouted Sue.   
Patsy ran over to Toomie, she knelt next to him and started to cry.
     "Poor Toomie," she cried, then put Mr. Tuddles down next to his head
and laid her head down on his stomach. Joey walked over and sat with
Patsy.
     "I want to go home!" said Kennedy as she started to cry.
          "Griffin, go get Poss," demanded Sue as she pointed back at the lodge.
     Griffin ran back toward the mud lodge.  Running as fast as he could,
his upper body seemed to be travelling faster than his legs and he tripped
over his own feet.  Picking himself off the ground, he started running again. 
He reached the main hole of the lodge and dove in.  He jumped up and down
yelling for help. But the Talinks didn't seem to notice him because they were
still celebrating and jumping up and down themselves. Griffin tried to get to
Tone, but stepped on the tail of the Blen, who then screamed in pain and
turned to bite Griffin. Griffin jumped back, but in doing so tripped over a
stack of fire wood and hit a large barrel of water, causing it to fall over into
the fire. The Talinks stopped what they were doing, to see their fire dwindle
to a sizzling steam.
     Tone walked over and picked Griffin off the ground by the collar of his
shirt. 
     "What are you doing?" shouted Tone with an angry voice.
     Some of the Talinks started to giggle at the site of Griffin all wet and
stuttering out words no one could understand.
     "Ple...I...We...Hel...Tommie...and took Eddie...and...," Griffin stuttered
trying to tell them what happened.
     "Put him down Tone, he is scared," said Linnie.
     "Pleeease...," Griffin said trying to shake the water off his head.
     Poss ran back into the room. "They're gone!" he shouted. "I can't
find..." suddenly seeing Griffin, he ran over to see what was going on.
     "Griffin, what you are doing?" asked Poss.  "You were to stay in my
den."
     "Poss, please come...they killed Toomie, took Eddie...please help!"
Griffin begged. 
     He then grabbed Poss by the hand and ran toward the hole. Tone,
Linnie and others followed Griffin and Poss. They reached Sue and the others
and saw Toomie on the ground with Patsy on top, crying. Joey and Kennedy
were babbling so fast no one understood. Linnie ran to Patsy.
     "What happen?" she asked Patsy as she patted the top of her head.
     "They killed Toomie and took Eddie away!" she cried.
     "Who took Eddie?" Tone demanded.
     "Rimm!" said Sue. "He said his name was Rimm!"
     "Rimm! He must know of the noise maker!" Tone shouted, as he
turned and ran back to the lodge.
     "I want Eddie and Toomie back, and I want to go home," Patsy cried.
     Linnie noticed a piece of yellow leaf next to Toomie's mouth and picked
it up. She sniffed it, then licked it and spit the bitter taste out of her mouth. 
She leaned over and put her head on Toomie's stomach.
     "It's ok, Patsy, he ate sleeping leaf," said Linnie smiling at Patsy.  "He
will wake in a little while."
     Patsy lunged out at Linnie and hugged her.
          
               


     "Now, Mrs. Jones, how long have your son and daughter been
missing?" asked Sheriff Atkins, taking down notes down on his little notepad.
     "About 13 hours, I think," Eddie's mom replied.  "Eddie and Patsy were
playing here in his room with his friends when I went down to the basement
to do the laundry.  When I came back, about half an hour later, they were
gone.
     "Uh, huh," Sheriff Atkins grunted as he continued to scribble down
notes.
     "I phoned the other parents and they haven't seen them, they're
worried too. Their coats are still here and their bikes are out in the front
yard..." said Mrs. Jones.
     "Hey Rudy! Run down to the Caf‚ and get me a couple burgers, I'm
starved!" the sheriff to his partner. " Now, where were we?"
     Mrs. Jones looked at Sheriff Atkins with disgust, what little hair he had
left on his head was greased with some sort of oil to keep it in place, his
shirt had stains on it, probably from the last time he had hamburgers, his
stomach was so large he had to bend over to see his feet and his attention
span was that of a two-year-old.  How did he become sheriff? she thought to
herself, shaking her head.
     "Here is a picture of Eddie and Patsy," Mrs. Jones said nervously as
she passed the picture to the sheriff.  
     The sheriff took a quick look at the picture and grunted again. "Huh,"
he grunted shaking his pen.  "This damn thing never works properly," he
said shaking the pen vigorously.  He put the pen in his pocket, grabbed the
waist band of his pants and pulled them up. "Now, did they take their bikes?"
     "NO! I just told you that!" she shouted, ready to lunge at him out of
pure frustration. 
     "What kind of sheriff are you? My babies are missing and all you are
worried about is your burgers and your damn pen!"
     She move closer to him and he backed up.
     "Now, now Mrs. Jones, don't get excited.  It won't help matters any,"
Sheriff Atkins said, hoping she would back off a little. "I'll just go get another
pen out of my car."
     "If you don't start looking for my children right now, you are going to
have a homicide on your hands!" she said threateningly.
     "Ahhh, I have all my deputies out looking," he said swallowing hard
and moving away from her.  "I'll go investigate Eddie's room." 
     He studied the room, then looked under the bed, in the closet and
opened a couple of dresser draws.  He then pulled the blanket away from
their play area to see some pillows on the floor, a chair and the toybox.  He
walked over to the toybox and opened the lid.
     "Ah!" he screamed.
     "What, what is it?" said a startled Mrs. Jones.
     "Oh, just got a sliver in my thumb," he said and stuck his thumb in his
mouth.  
     Mrs. Jones took in a deep breath and turned away from him.The sheriff
look into the toybox, moved a couple of toys around, shrugged his shoulders
and said, "Nothing there."
     Mrs. Jones put her hands to her face and tried not to cry.  She
suddenly remembered something Patsy said yesterday.
     "I think Patsy said that Eddie and his friends were in Mr. Watermen's
orchard yesterday. Maybe he knows something," she said trying to hold back
her anger.
     "Mr. Watermen, aye," he said looking a little more interested. "I will
have my deputy pick him up and bring him here."

                    


     Patsy sat next to Toomie, staring up at the entrance in the wall of the
mountain, hoping Eddie would come running down the path. Suddenly she
felt Toomie move.   
     "Look! Toomie's alive!" she shouted.
     Toomie shook his head then licked Patsy's face. She hugged him and
helped him to stand up.
     "Back to the lodge," said Linnie as she started to usher them toward
the lodge.
     They sat around what was the fire, hoping Tone would know what to
do. Tone walked in the room and there was silence.
     "Now that Dragnot has the other noise maker, there will be no
stopping him," said Tone in a distressed voice.  "No one is to ever leave
here." The Talinks started to mutter to each other, then they were abruptly
interrupted by a high-pitched voice.
     "Are you crazy?!" shouted Sue as she jumped up.  "We can't stay here,
this is not our home!" Sue started to pace back and forth.  "I have no extra
clothes, my hair is a mess, how will I dry my hair...," Sue started to babble
on and on. "Oh, and you know Eddie is missing!"


     "Sue, don't make him mad," whispered Kennedy.
     Sue looked up at Tone to see his scowling face, and quickly sat back
down.
     "You will stay!" Tone shouted at them.
     Before the gang had time to take in what Tone had said, four of the
Talinks grabbed them by the arms and took them to a room with wood bars
on the window and the door, and a long piece of wood across the outside of
the door to lock them in.
     "What are they going to do with us?" asked Joey. "Will they still feed
us?"
     "Shut up, Joey," said Sue walking over to the corner of the room
where she sat down with her head on her knees. The others then huddled
next to her and watched the door.
                    
                         


     "Sheriff Atkins, I brought Mr. Watermen," said the deputy.
     "Well, don't just stand there, bring him in," said Sheriff Atkins.  The
deputy pulled Mr. Watermen into Eddie's room.
     "What is the meaning of all this?" Mr. Watermen shouted at the sheriff. 
"I'll have your badge!"
     "I wish you would take it," whispered Mrs. Jones.
     "Now, Mr. Watermen just settle down, we just want to ask a few
questions," said the sheriff.  "Now what is your occupation?"
     "My occupation? You know I'm retired!" shouted Mr. Watermen as his
face started to turn red.
     Suddenly Mrs. Jones jumped into the conversation. "Mr. Watermen,
my name is Eileen Jones and my son is Eddie, you caught him in your
orchard yesterday."
     "Ohhh, so he's your son..." he said as he stepped close to Mrs. Jones
and studied her face.
     "Hey, Sheriff I just got the word on the radio that Jerid Camp is
attacking the video machines again down at the arcade!" the deputy shouted
down the hall.
     "That darn Jerid, he's nuts, he thinks those video machines are
monsters," said the sheriff as he put his notepad away and started walking
out the door.
     "Where are you going? What about my kids?" said Mrs. Jones with a
worried look.
     "My deputies are still looking, but I have to take care of Jerid first," he
said and took off in his car.
     "I don't believe it, my kids are missing and he casing down some nut
case who has it in for video machines," said Mrs. Jones as she sat on Eddie's
bed and started to cry.  
     Mr. Watermen looked around not to sure what to do. Then sat next to
Mrs. Jones and asked her what happened. She told him the story, how one
minute they were here then the next they were gone.
     "Has anything unusual happened to your son, lately?" asked Mr.
Watermen.
     "What do you mean unusual?" she asked.
     "Well, like strange visions or nightmares?" replied Mr. Watermen.
     "Yes, he has had some bad nightmares!" she said as she stood up in
front of Mr. Watermen.  "But, what does that have to do with anything?"
     "I have something to tell you; you may find it hard to believe, but
please bear with me as I try to explain." Mrs. Jones sat back down as Mr.
Watermen began his story.  "When I was a child, about twelve I think, I was
very lonely. My parents travelled a lot and left me at home with my aunt. 
They would always bring home wonderful gifts from their travels.  One trip
they made to India, I think, they came back with a large wooden box, with
beautiful colours all over it and, along with it, a harmonica. The box quickly
became something to store all the wonderful toys my parents brought back
from their travels and I taught myself to play the harmonica," Mr. Watermen
said as he looked over at Eddie's toybox and swallowed hard.
     "I was missing for a month," he said looking back at Mrs. Jones.
     "Missing? What happened?" she asked.
     "The green light," he said.  
     Mrs. Jones looked at him confused, "What green light?"
     "One day I was playing my harmonica in my room, when my toybox lid
opened and a green light burst out. I looked down into my toybox, the light
was so bright, all my toys were gone and there were stairs disappearing
down into the green light.  I climbed in and followed the stairs down, down
into another world," he said to her with his eyes getting wider.
     "Oh, Mr. Watermen, that's quite the story, but my children are
missing, I don't have time for fairy tales," she said to him.
     "Let me finish. I was missing for a month, my parents were
devastated, I returned one day back through the toybox.  Everyone in the
town had been looking for me and I told them about the toybox and the
world of Zaff, but no one believed me. I tried to show them the green 
light, but my harmonica went missing during the night. I couldn't get back to
Zaff. My father was so mad he took my toybox away and said he had burned
it, but I guess he didn't, as I believe that your son's toybox is my old
toybox," he said pointing to the box.
     "That couldn't be, my husband bought that only three years ago," she
said and walked across the room to the window.
     Mr. Watermen pulled out his pocket knife and scratched a little paint
off the toybox; under the coat of blue paint was another layer of paint,
bright orange and yellows.
     "You don't understand Mrs. Jones, your children could be in trouble,"
he said with a concerned face.
     She turned around and looked at him, her heart began to race.  What
do I do? Where are those kids? She thought to herself.  She then ran over to
the toybox. "Look there's nothing in here but toys, why are you telling me
this story?"  Mrs. Jones sat on the floor and began to cry.
     "Mrs. Jones, please take me home, I have another harmonica and if I
am right it should open the gateway to Zaff." Mr. Watermen begged her.
     "No, just get out, you crazy old man!" she shouted at him, pointing her
finger toward the door. 
     Mr. Watermen shook his head and walked to the door, he turned his
head back toward Mrs. Jones and said, "Your son Eddie, has been to Zaff
before, I saw it in his eyes.  He has seen the green light and the creatures."
He walked out of the room leaving Mrs. Jones on the floor by herself.  Just
as Mr. Watermen left, she heard the doorbell ring. She got up and quickly
ran to the door, hoping it was Eddie and Patsy. Her heart sank as she
opened the door to see Mr. and Mrs. Longley standing there.
     "Hello Mrs. Jones, sorry to bother you, but we were wondering if you
still had the toybox your husband bought from our antique store three years
ago. If you do we have an out-of-town buyer who is very interested in
buying old toyboxes," said Mr. Longley as he stared into Mrs. Jones' face.
Mrs. Jones looked at Mrs. Longley who was standing there fidgeting with her
hands and looking very nervous, then she looked back at Mr. Longley, not
quite remembering what he asked her.  
     "The toybox, Mrs. Jones?" asked Mr. Longley looking at her confused
face.
     "No, I am sorry. Nothing's for sale," said Mrs. Jones as she closed the
door. She leaned up against the closed door and thought to herself how
strange it was that the Longleys talk to her now. They haven't said a word to
her in all the years they lived next door. And the toybox, what's that all
about?              
                    
                         


     "I'm getting hungry," said Joey as he leaned on the door looking out in
hope someone would come with food.
     "Sue, what are we going to do?" asked Patsy as she sat next to Sue.
     "I don't..." Sue started to say.
     Just then Joey ran back to where Griffin was sitting and whispered,
"Someone is coming."
     It was Poss, he unlocked the door and walked in, closing the door
behind him.
     "I've brought food, you eat," he said and threw some food down for
Toomie.
     "Poss, what's going to happen to us?" asked Griffin.
     "Tone is protecting you, you go out there and Dragnot will kill you. Just
like Eddie," said Poss.
     "Don't say that! Eddie's not dead!" shouted Patsy as she hugged Mr.
Tuddles. "I know he's still alive."
     "Tone will let you out in a couple of days," said Poss as he walked out
of the room.
     Joey sat down next to the food and started to eat. Griffin, Patsy and
Kennedy decided to join him. 
     Sue stood up and stared out the window toward the path. We have to
get out of there, but how?  If Eddie was here he would know what to do, I
don't want to be the leader, she said to herself.  

     
     "Where are you taking me?" demanded Eddie as the Sooms dragged
him down the mountain and pulled him off into the forest.  "I don't belong in
this world, just let me go and I will go home."  
     Rimm just grunted.
     Just as they walked off into the forest the clouds disappeared to reveal
the sun. They weaved their way through the forest 'til they came out into a
large open area, with small mud huts surrounding a tall rock.  It looked as
though it was hand-made as there were strange symbols carved into the
rock.  Around the rock was a circle of small round stones and circling the
stones was a ring of fire.  The Sooms tied Eddie's hands with a rope and tied
the other end to a wooden pole sticking out of the ground.  Eddie collapsed
from being pushed, pulled, and dragged over the mountain. He was too
exhausted to worry about what was going to happen to him, so he leaned
himself up against the pole and watched the Sooms rush about.
     Rimm started to walk around the tall rock with all the symbols on it;
he was chanting some sort of strange language. Soon the Sooms joined in,
walking and chanting. Suddenly the flames from the fire exploded into the
air, then quickly dwindled down 'til they disappeared.Smoke billowed out of a
crack in the top of the rock, then swirled around like a tornado. As the
smoke grew, a figure appeared.
     Eddie was so tried, he could barely keep his eyes open. But he
snapped wide awake when he heard Rimm call Dragnot's name.  Eddie
looked over at the smoke, to see what looked like a human figure.  His head
was bald, his eyes fiery red, he had four horns sticking out of his head, no
ears, at least Eddie couldn't see any, his body from the waist up was a
reddish-brown colour.  As Eddie looked down at the rest of Dragnot's body
the somewhat human form changed. He had no legs, but instead from the
waist down was like a snake, with a foot-long horn on the end of the tail. 
Eddie watched Dragnot as he floated several feet off the ground swaying his
tail back and forth.  Dragnot suddenly noticed Eddie tied to the pole and
floated toward him.  Eddie moved back behind the pole so he could have
something between Dragnot and himself.  
     "So! You're the one that's going to stop me?" Dragnot shouted at
Eddie.
     Trying to think of something smart to say, Eddie stood up and said,
"Untie me and I'll stop you."  Dragnot swirled around Eddie then stopped in
front of his face and brought his horned tail up under Eddie's chin, causing
Eddie's head to lean back. Eddie felt a small trickle of blood run down his
throat. He swallowed hard, wishing he hadn't said anything at all.
     "Ron was not able to stop me, and neither will you," he said and began
to laugh.  "See, I have all your power."  Dragnot held up Eddie's harmonica
and then showed the Sooms. 
     "It...it doesn't have any power, it's just a harmonica," Eddie said with
his voice trembling.  Dragnot took his tail away from Eddie's throat and
threw his arms up into the air.
          "What! Do you take me for a fool?" Dragnot shouted back as Eddie
closed his eyes.  "The noise maker that put me back in the rock is now
hanging around Kraph's neck and that is where this one is going," he
said.  
     Eddie opened his eyes to see Dragnot grin in an evil way and fly off
into the forest. Relieved that Dragnot was gone, Eddie fell to the ground and
fell asleep from exhaustion. 
     He started to dream. "Eddie," said a voice. 
     He looked up to see a man standing in front of him. "Dad? Is that
you?" asked Eddie. 
     "Yes, Eddie," he said.   
     "I'm afraid, I want to go home," he said.    
     "It's alright, someone is coming to help you, be brave," said Eddie's
dad. 
     "Can't you help me?" he asked. 
     "No, Eddie, I have to go," he said. 
     "Don't go, please don't go!" Eddie shouted.
     Eddie woke with a jolt. Hearing a sound behind him, he looked to see a
man disappear into the bushes. He called out, but there was no answer. He
stared at the bushes for a while, then dosed off again.