“Killimooin Castle has quite a different feel about it,” said Jack, with enjoyment. “The palace was big and modern and everything was up to date. Killimooin is grim and strong and wild, and I like it. There’s no hot water running in the bedrooms. I haven’t seen a bathroom yet — and our beds are more like rough couches with rugs and pillows than beds. I do like it.”
It was great fun settling down in the castle. The children could go anywhere they liked, into the kitchens, the towers, the cellars. Tooku and Yamen welcomed them anywhere and any time.
It was deliciously cool at Killimooin after the tremendous heat of the palace. The children slept well that first night, enjoying the coolness of the air that blew in at the narrow windows. It was good mountain air, clean and scented with pine.
Next morning Ranni spoke to the five children. “You have each a pony to ride, and you may ride when and where you will, if Pilescu or I are with you.”
“Why can’t we go alone?” said Paul, rather sulkily. “We shan’t come to any harm.”
“You might lose your way in the mountains,” said Ranni. “It is an easy thing to do. You must promise never to wander off without one of us.”
Nobody wanted to promise. It wasn’t nearly so much fun to go about with a grown-up, as by themselves. But Ranni was firm.
“You must promise,” he repeated. “No promise, no ponies. That is certain!”
“I suppose we must promise, then,” said Jack. “All right — I promise not to go wandering off without a nursemaid!”
“I promise too,” said Mike. The girls promised as well.
“And you, little lord?” said big Ranni, turning to the still-sulky boy.
“Well — I promise too,” said Paul. “But there isn’t any real danger, I’m sure!”
Paul was wrong. There was danger — but not the kind that anyone guessed.
Blind Beowald, the Goatherd
Two days later a great mist came over Killimooin and not even Ranni and Pilescu dared to ride out on their ponies, although they had said that they would take the children exploring round about.
“No one can see his way in such a mist,” said Ranni, looking out of the window. “The clouds lie heavy over the valley below us. Up here the mist is so thick that we might easily leave the mountain path and go crashing down the mountain-side.”
“It’s so disappointing,” sighed Paul. “What can we do instead?”
Yamen put her head in at the door as she passed. “You can come down to tea with Tooku and me,” she invited. “We will have something nice for you, and you shall ask us all the things you want to know.”
“Oh, good,” said Jack. “We’ll ask all about the Secret Forest. Maybe they know tales about that! That will be exciting.”
Tea-time down in the big kitchen of the castle was great fun. An enormous fire glowed on the big hearth, and over it hung a black pot in which the soup for the evening meal was slowly simmering. A grand tea was spread on the wooden table, and the children enjoyed it. There were no thin sandwiches, no dainty buns and biscuits, no cream cakes — but, instead, there were hunks of new-made bread, baked by Yamen that morning, crisp rusks with golden butter, honey from the wild bees, and a queer, rich cake with a bitter-sweet taste that was delicious.
“Yamen, tell us all you know about the Secret Forest,” begged Nora, as she buttered a rusk. “We have seen it when we flew over in an aeroplane. It was so big and so mysterious.”
“The Secret Forest!” said Yamen. “Ah, no one knows anything of that. It is lost in the mountains, a hidden place unknown to man.”
“Doesn’t anyone live there at all?” asked Jack, remembering the spire of smoke he thought he had seen.
“How could they?” asked Tooku, in his deep, hoarse voice, from the end of the table. “There is no way over Killimooin Mountains.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever found a way?” asked Jack.
Tooku shook his head. “No. There is no way. I have heard it said, however, that there is a steep way to the top, whence one can see this great forest — but there is no way down the other side — no, not even for a goat!”
The children listened in silence. It was disappointing to hear that there really was no way at all. Tooku ought to know, for he had lived among the mountains for years.
“Ranni won’t let us go about alone,” complained Paul. “It makes us feel so babyish, Tooku. Can’t you tell him the mountains are safe?”
“They are not safe,” said Tooku, slowly. “There are robbers. I have seen them from this very castle. Ah, when this place was built last year, the robbers must have hoped for travellers to come to and fro!”
“What robbers?” asked Jack. “Where do they live? Are there many of them?”
“Yes, there are many,” said Tooku, nodding his shaggy head. “Sometimes they rob the poor people of the countryside, coming in the night, and taking their goats and their hens. Sometimes they rob the travellers on the far-off road.”
“Why aren’t they caught and punished?” demanded the little prince indignantly. “I won’t have robbers in my country!”
“No one knows where these robbers live,” said Yamen. “Aie-aie — they are a terrible band of men. It is my belief that they have a stronghold far up the mountains.”
“Perhaps they live in the Secret Forest!” said Jack.
“Oh, you and your Secret Forest!” said Nora. “Don’t keep asking about it, Jack. You’ve been told ever so many times there’s no way for people to get to it.”
“Are there any wild animals about the mountains?” asked Mike.
“There are wolves,” said Yamen. “We hear them howling in the cold wintertime, when they can find no food. Yes, they came even to this castle, for I saw them myself.”
“How frightening!” said Nora, shivering. “Well, I’m jolly glad I promised Ranni I wouldn’t go out without him or Pilescu! I don’t want to be captured by robbers or caught by wolves.”
“You don’t want to believe all their stories,” said Peggy, in a low voice.
Yamen heard her, and although she did not understand what the little girl said, she guessed.
“Ah!” she said, “you think these are but tales, little one? If you want to know more, go to the goatherd, Beowald, and he will tell you many more strange tales of the mountain-side!”
Beowald sounded rather exciting, the children thought. They asked where he could be found.
“Take the path that winds high above the castle,” shid Tooku. “When you come to a crooked pine, struck by lightning, take the goat-track that forks to the left. It is a rocky way, but your ponies will manage it well. Follow this track until you come to a spring gushing out beside a big rock. Shout for Beowald, and he will hear you, for his ears are like that of a mountain hare, and he can hear the growing of the grass in spring, and the flash of a shooting star in November!”
The next day was fine and clear. The children reminded Ranni of his promise and he grinned at them, his eyes shining in the brilliant sunlight.
“Yes, we will go,” he said. “I will get the ponies. We will take our lunch with us and explore.”
“We want to find Beowald the goatherd,” said Paul. “Have you heard of him, Ranni?”
Ranni shook his head. He went to get the ponies, whilst Nora and Peggy ran off to ask Yamen to pack them up some lunch.
Soon they were all ready. Ranni made them take thick Baronian cloaks, lined with fur, for he said that if a mist suddenly came down they would feel very cold indeed.
They set off up the steep mountain-way that wound high above the castle. The ponies were sure-footed on the rocky path, though they sent hundreds of little pebbles clattering down the mountain-side as they went. They were nice little beasts, friendly and eager, and the children were already very fond of them.