Caroline flattened her hand and placed it over her eyes to get a better view with the sun bearing down on herself and Phillip. It hadn’t been this bright for a while, but they had apparently hit a patch where the fog wasn’t as thick overhead, allowing some heat to get through. Despite the warmth of the early morning, Caroline had actually found it reasonably chilly once she got moving. This was a bit surprising when she considered that they had most likely walked what felt to her like six or seven miles. It was most likely mid-afternoon at that point, and she knew her parents would have already sent out a search party for her. She hoped they wouldn’t scold the guards too terribly. She was also becoming more and more nervous with her chances of crossing the deep gorge. The level below had started becoming shallower, though still not safe enough for her to climb into to cross the indented river. However, as she continued walking, it seemed to only be getting lower again. Caroline had been walking for so many hours now, her legs becoming so weary, she decided it was best to just keep walking, hoping it became shallower soon again rather than losing all the time she had spent trekking along the side of the gorge.
She did a double take as she felt a tugging at her hair, almost forgetting that she had placed her brother on her shoulder a while back so her hand didn’t get tired from having to stay perfectly straight outward while holding him. He was wrapping her long, silky ropes of golden hair around himself, snickering, probably for better security. She was perfectly fine with this, as it allowed her to worry a little bit less about the possibility of her brother plummeting straight off her shoulder and most likely to his death. After he’d wrapped himself thoroughly in it, he began to rock around, testing hair’s ability to hold him up when leaning in one particular direction. It didn’t hurt Caroline, but it made her nervous.
“Thank goodness for me I have you to deal with my hair. I don’t know WHAT I would do if it weren’t looking pretty and proper all the time,” said Caroline in fake haughtiness. Her brother laughed and stopped rocking around, knowing full well she didn’t believe a single word of any of that.
“I’m just getting bored, Caroline. What are we waiting for?”
“We are waiting for the gorge to become less deep so that we may cross it in safety.”
“When are we going to be able to get across?”
“Soon, Phillip, soon.”
“How soon?”
She turned her head a little to the side, her face inches away from her brother. Her hot breathe tickled his face as she smirked at him. “You do ask a great many questions, don’t you?”
“I just want to know!” he said, shrugging. She sighed and turned her face back to the land before them, running a hand through the hair on the top of her head as she thought hard about their next move. There were fewer and fewer trees the further in this direction they went. The sparse grass on the ground had long ago disappeared, replaced with a dusty, rocky cliff side. Caroline’s feet were actually beginning to get very uncomfortable from the uneven, rough terrain, and she was pretty sure she had several blisters already. And they weren’t even to the caves yet. That was going to be the other challenge, Caroline realized. She had seen the caves in her dreams, and they looked large enough to fit her. But was that just what she wanted herself to believe? If Luke was lying somewhere in the caves, and the caves themselves happened to be much smaller in diameter than Caroline was hoping for, there wouldn’t be much she could do beyond rush back to the palace and bring a search party back. But by then, there wasn’t much chance of Luke still being alive. There wasn’t much chance of him being alive even when she got to him, she noted sadly, a lump forming in her throat that she quickly swallowed.
Caroline finally came to a stop, rocking back and forth off her heels and the balls of her feet to give herself a momentary rest, then decided if she was going to have adequate strength to go through the caves, find Luke, and come out safely and strong enough to take her brother home, she was going to have to take a rest. Silently apologizing with all her heart to Luke, wherever he was, she came to a stop on the rocky ground.
“Why are we stopping, Caroline?”
“I’m afraid I must take a rest, Phillip, we’ve been walking for hours already, do you see the sun?”
“Do you need me to walk by myself now?” asked Phillip. Caroline giggled.
“I’m not certain that would make it significantly easier to walk for me, Phillip, you weigh so very little. But thank you for the offer.”
“I can keep up, though!”
Caroline raised a hand and patted the top of her brother’s head with a fingertip. “Perhaps for a short time you could, but we must keep a brisk pace if we are to get there in time.” She opened her hand that had just patted him into an open cup. “Can I give you a lift?” she said gently. Phillip unraveled the vines of soft hair surrounding him like a canopy and slipped into the fleshy palm. Holding the very small child level with her shoulder, Caroline lowered herself into a sitting position, laying her hand flat on the ground and allowing her brother to climb out. Now free to relax, Caroline stretched her legs out, wiggling her weary toes in the breeze and sighed contentedly, leaning back on her hands. Phillip, full of energy, dashed toward the edge of the gorge quickly to get a better view.
“Phillip, STOP!” Caroline almost shrieked, leaning forward immediately. Just as Phillip came to rest at the edge of the gorge in a crouching position and peeked his head over the edge, Caroline’s fingers wrapped around him and dragged him roughly away from the edge as quickly as possible.
“Aww, Caroline, I just want to see how far down it is!” said Phillip, half-struggling against his sister’s firm and unmoving fingers as she pulled him back to her side without much effort. Caroline shook her head, tsking at him.
“I’m sorry, Phillip, but as long as you’re with me, I won’t have you getting so close to the edge. Do you know how easy it would be to slip? There would be nothing I could do to help you if you fell. Do you understand that?” she said firmly but with enough gentleness that he didn’t become upset again. He was much easier to deal with when he wasn’t on the verge of tears, she had found, and at his young, delicate age, it was important to use the proper wording and treatment. He nodded.
“Can’t I even take a little peek?”
“No.”
“Not even if it’s really, really, REALLY fast?” he pleaded as Caroline cautiously released the slight pressure on her his body with her fingers, waiting to see if he dashed for the edge again. She admired her little brother’s curiosity, knowing that at his age, she would most likely have been trying the exact same thing. However, becoming a young woman had taught Caroline to be much more aware of situations, her safety, and usually more importantly, the safety of her loved ones. Already finding herself partially beginning to deal with the possible loss of Luke, Caroline doubted she could bear losing her brother as well in such careless fashion.
“I’m afraid not, Phillip; I’m responsible for you, and that’s the way it is. Why don’t we do something else?” she said, slowly lying back on the rocky ground, using her hands as a pillow. It wasn’t especially comfortable, but it was a welcome reprieve for her legs and feet. Phillip looked disbelieving for a moment but didn’t sprint back toward the edge, much to Caroline’s relief.
“Like what?”
“Well…” said Caroline, trying to come up with an activity that didn’t involve her brother risking his life. “I could tell you another story.”
“Nahh…” said Phillip, shaking his head. “You’ve told me a lot of stories, I want to try something else now.” Caroline shrugged.
“I suppose you have a better idea, then?” she said, but saw Phillip’s eyes glowing with a new scheme and quickly added, “It CANNOT involve peeking over the edge of the cliff.”
“Awww…” groaned Phillip, crossing his arms in frustration.
“Well, there’s no need to be too upset with me, Phillip,” answered the princess, mildly amused at her brother’s sentiment but refusing to show it. “Believe me, there is plenty one might do while out in the wilderness to amuse oneself that does NOT involve trying to hang off the edge of a cliff!”
“Really? Like what?” challenged Phillip, not disrespectfully but having difficulty with the concept that there was something more interesting to do than looking into the gorge.
“Oh, I don’t know… let’s see…” said Caroline thoughtfully, tapping her lips with a finger and looking up at the sky. Her eyes followed the shifting clouds that were just visible through the almost bottleneck opening in the fog haze above. “Why don’t you come and have a look at these clouds, Phillip?”
“Clouds?” he said, sounding bored already. Caroline chuckled.
“Do not discount the clouds, they can tell many wonderful tales to those who listen hard enough to them.”
“You can’t fool me; clouds can’t talk. Clouds don’t even do anything!” said Phillip smartly.
Caroline waggled a huge finger at him. “That is very untrue. Come here, I’ll show you what I mean.” Shrugging, Phillip ran towards his sister’s hand, which she had flattened against the dusty ground for him, and was lifted up to the flat plane of her stomach, where he climbed out. “Now look at them closely, Phillip. What do you see up there?”
There was silence for a moment as Phillip studied the clouds questioningly, not really daring to believe there were actual stories inside them. “I don’t see any stories, and I don’t hear the clouds talking because clouds can’t talk, Caroline.”
“You’re not listening closely enough, then. Try again, I know you’ll see.”
Both siblings turned their chins back towards the sky, looking for a story. “Caroline?”
“Yes?”
“There’s a flag up there?”
“A… flag?” she asked, at first missing what he was saying.
“A big, white one, in the cloud…” he said a little dreamily, his eyes locked to it. Caroline beamed as her brother finally grasped the point, then nodded, following suit.
“There’s a warrior up there too, Phillip. He has a sword, see?” she said, stretching her long arm far into the sky, pointing at it. Phillip squinted, then nodded happily.
“Yes, I see it!”
“What’s he doing, do you suppose, with a flag?”
“He’s claiming the land for his people!” stated Phillip proudly.
“I suppose that may be true, yes. What else do you see?” said Caroline, the cloud-laden blue skies filling her field of vision.
“I see a panther.”
“Oooh, now that IS an interesting twist to our story. Where is it?” she said, looking around for what her brother had seen.
“Right there.”
“Right where? By the flag?”
“No, by your hand,” stated Phillip, and suddenly Caroline’s heart caught in her chest as she moved her head to the side to see a panther the size of year-old kitten crouching right next to her arm. Just as she began to shift into a leaning forward position, the creature leapt into the air, landing skillfully on Caroline’s stomach, within striking distance of Phillip. Before either her little brother or the bloodthirsty beast could react, Caroline had a hand wrapped around each one, pushing her brother right into her palm using her thumb and cradling him. With the other hand, she gripped the cat across its back, scrunching up the scruff of its fur into her fingers, its claws creating a few small tears in her taut robe as she peeled it off her body and held it at arms length.
The panther screeched and roared, flailing its legs and tail around, a few of its tiny claws actually catching on Caroline’s skin. They managed to cause a couple of cuts that made her flinch, but it wasn’t able to do any sort of serious or permanent damage as she continued holding it in midair, well away from reach of her brother, who was sitting quite calmly in her other hand. As it continued clawing angrily, Caroline brought it closer to her face, pursing her lips.
“Shhhh…” she whispered at it, not putting enough pressure on its furry body to be painful. “Shhh.”
“Caroline, what are you doing?” asked Phillip, confused. Caroline waited a few more seconds as the cat continued screaming before lowering her voice to an even more base volume.
“Shhhhhhh…” she cooed in a low murmur, her hand rocking side to side, her massive fingers stroking at the beast’s coat. After a few seconds of this continuous treatment, the panther ceased struggling and screaming out. She nodded in satisfaction as it stared blankly at her, realizing it wasn’t going to do anything by flailing like a maniac in her palm. “Good, little one. Now, if you please, leave us in peace,” said Caroline simply, placing the cat back on the ground. It looked at her for a moment, flicked its tail, and bounded away. Caroline brought her brother back into view of her face as she stood up again to her full height.
“How did you…” said Phillip with a slight gasp, but his sister just smiled.
“I think we’ve rested long enough. We must continue on and find a shallower point in the gorge.”
“Can I go back on your shoulder?”
“Of course…” she said gently, raising her hand back up to her shoulder and smiling to herself as her brother wrapped himself back around her yellow hair as if he was getting tucked in to his bed back home. As they walked, Caroline felt like the depth of the drop was indeed becoming less sharp once again, but this time it was happening more rapidly. Hoping desperately to herself, Caroline felt that if the pattern continued, she would soon be able to cross the gorge and find a way to the caves at last.
“Phillip?”
“Yes?” came the soft reply, directly into her large ear.
“Perhaps next time, you might give me a bit more advance warning when you see a beast prowling around next to me?”