I end up hitting a bump in the snow and skewing to the right where I hit into The Pillar. Both of us hang onto each other, balling up like a huge snowball that is rolling deeper into the pit of the hill.
The way down reminds me of my journey with The Pillar. We’re both unusual persons with secrets only few people know about — me with what’s still locked in my memory, and The Pillar with whatever grand plan he has in store for me and himself.
But in any case, and even when he proves to be a mad person by the minute, I am stuck with him, just like we’re stuck now. Not because I can’t do it any other way, but because behind all of the masquerade of being a one in a million nutty professor, I am sure he always has my back.
Speaking of backs, I almost crushed mine when we stopped right now.
“Better than a Disney roller coaster,” The Pillar comments standing up.
The monks at the top of the hill stand in a circle from above, scared to follow us down. As much as we’ve escaped them, I don’t see how we’re going to get out of here.
“We’re trapped down here.” I say.
“Pretty much,” he looks around. “Too bad gravity doesn’t allow people to fall up. Why do we all have to fall down and never up? I never understood.”
“Why would anyone want to fall up?” I smack the snow off my clothes.
“Are you kidding me? Fall up to the stars, to the skies, I’d love to fall up in another life.”
“Whatever.” I put my hands on my waist. “So, since we might never get out of here, at least tell me what your theory is.”
“What theory?”
“You said you thought you understood what was going on with the Chessmaster when we were up there.”
“Ah, that. Look, it’s seems like we’re not just on a journey to find Carroll’s Knight.”
“Then what?”
“We’re collecting chess pieces, one by one, and the last will probably be Carroll’s Knight.”
“Sounds plausible. Are you suggesting we’re collecting Carroll’s whole set, the one he had Fabiola make from his bones?”
“I assume so. And since Fabiola can’t tell us what it was for, we’ll have to struggle with finding out why.”
“Are you sure Fabiola doesn’t know the Chessmaster.”
“No, I am not, but how can I be sure?”
“Are you sure you don’t know who the Chessmaster is?”
“Other than the rumor that they say his name is Vozchik Stolb; no, nothing.”
“It’s a Russian name, right?”
“Yes, but I’m not sure what it means.”
“So you think we’re really going to look for all the chess pieces?”
“Not all or it will take us forever.” The Pillar tries to make out what the monks’ shouts mean. “I believe we’re collecting the major pieces. Queen, King, Rook, Bishop, Pawn and Knight. One of each.”
There is a thud somewhere nearby, and the monks’ voices pitch higher.
“What are they saying?” I ask The Pillar.
“Giant,” The Pillar says. “The giant is coming.”
And that’s when a door in the snowy mountain’s side slides open and a huge man appears.
Chapter 38
The giant man has thick hairy skin like an ape. He is about seven or eight feet tall. His eyebrows are as thick as the bushy hair on his chest. He only wears shorts and the diameter of his leg is the breadth of me and The Pillar combined. His hand is huge.
“Sorry we woke you up,” The Pillar said.
“You know him?” I clamp my back against the wall.
“No, and I don’t want to.”
It’s clear to me that the giant has his eyes on The Pillar. Each thud in the snow shakes the place all around us. Snowflakes sprinkle off the earth and into the air.
“So the monks had a plan B.” I say.
“Plan death, I’d say.” The Pillar apparently has no means to fight with the speechless giant. “I’d start climbing up if I were you, Alice.”
“And leave you here?”
“Climb up or die. One of us has to distract him. Go.”
It’s not like there is an easy way to climb up, but I get The Pillar’s concern. I don’t even have a chance to use my None Fu with the giant.
Then something out of this world happens.
“Hit me.” The Pillar says to giant.
“Are you crazy?” I say.
“Hit me, you big ugly cannon ball!”
The giant accepts the invitation and lashes the back of his arm into The Pillar, who flies midair and then thuds against the snow wall to the left.
“Stop it, Pillar. Don’t encourage him. I’m sure you can trick him with your smooth tongue.”
The Pillar doesn’t listen to me. “Is that all you’ve got?” He sneers at the big man.
Another lash, to the right this time. The way The Pillar slides down from the wall after this is almost like a cartoon.
Blood spatters on the snow and The Pillar pulls himself up, stretches his neck and says, “Try a better one.
I can’t believe my eyes as the giant punches The Pillar for the third time. This time he almost buries him an inch deeper into the snow.
The Pillar spits out the blood and grins. “Not so hard, you stupid,” he tells the giant. “You don’t want to kill me. You want to have fun with me.”
The silent giant grimaces, not sure why he shouldn’t want to kill The Pillar.
“Because let’s face it. You’re a giant schmuck living alone in this hole in the ground. You’re lonely and have no one to talk to. Your IQ is probably – 45 like the cold weather we’re in, so why kill me right away when you can have a good time doing it slower?”
The giant grins, liking the idea and begins a series of small hits at The Pillar.
I try to talk him out of it, but he insists I climb up. And right there, when I don’t know how to do it, a rope dangles down for me, and I cling to it.
“Typical of Hollywood movies,” I mumble. “To have deus ex machina save you in the last minute.
The Pillar is still being hit, for the seventh time I believe, and someone is pulling the rope up. I hope it’s not the monks, because why would they want to help me?
I feel guiltier as I am being lifted up, leaving The Pillar behind. Am I really going to let him die?
Then a terrible thought suddenly hits me. “Pillar!” I scream while being lifted up. “Who is it who is going to kill you in the future?”
The Pillar cranes his neck for a brief moment. Amidst all the punching he is suffering, his eyes speak the truth to me. I get it now. I understand why he visited the hospice, instead of facing his killer. “Don’t tell me it’s me who’s going to kill you.”
The Pillar smiles, and slightly nods, as if he doesn’t want to tell me but has to. “And now I know how.”
Above me, the monks’ voices are absent, and the thin beam of sunlight seems like a dagger of light killing me. I decide to let go of the rope and jump down and help The Pillar. “If you think I’d kill you by leaving you to die by the hands of the giant, you’re mistaken,” I spit snow from my mouth. “The future can be changed. I am never going to kill you.”
But right there when I’m about to jump back, a firm hand pulls me up. I resist, craning my head up. “Let go of me.” I crow.
But then I realize I can’t fight this grip, because it’s the kind of hand that’s too strong for me. It’s the Dude’s.
Chapter 39
“Leave me alone!” I shout at the Dude in the Red’s outfit, but his grip is like a chain of steel. “I have to save The Pillar.”
In his silence, as usual, the Dude passes me another note, and I am already fed up with those: It’s his time. Leave him be.
“No, I won’t,” I say, still trying to find my way back down, but a swirl of winding snow has already covered the hole below and I can’t see anything.
Another note: It’s the price you will have to pay for saving Jack.