Chapter 14: Flindee the Finder

Nathan sat up with a shout as he awoke from the nightmare! His eyes were filled with tears and he was sweating in his armor as he fought to catch his breath and calm his rapidly beating heart! At first, he thought he was still dreaming because it was so dark in the jester prison box, but then he remembered where he was and forced himself to calm down. He didn’t know how long he had been sleeping, but he knew now more than ever that he had to escape and find his sister before Snagglefang did. He quickly stood up and began to search the walls of his prison, hoping to find a way out. The door was bolted from outside and he could find absolutely nothing within that would help.

It was then that he heard the voices from the other side of the cave softly talking. Actually it was only one voice carrying on a conversation with itself. Or was it argueing with itself? Nathan stopped and listened more closely. He soon realized it was the jester who was talking to his puppet again.

“Of course I heard him scream! I’m not deaf ya know! Cut me some slack, Jack...”in the box”. Ha! Get it? Jack in the box! That’s funny, huh?”

There was a pause and Nathan could imagine the funny little dwarf leaning in as if listening to his puppet companion.

“Oh, it was to funny. You never give me any credit, Q. Besides, it doesn’t matter if he did scream. The Boss gave me orders that I’m not supposed to touch nothing. And that’s just what I’m not gonna do. Not touch nothing!...What do ya mean?...Don’t touch nothing really means to touch something? What are you talking about, Q? Honestly, sometimes you are a real dummy. Hee, hee! Get it? A real dummy? Of course you are! A dummy! Boy that’s rich! Sometimes I just kill me!... What’s that?... Oh. Sometimes I kill you too... Well that’s not a very nice thing to say, Quattlebom, and I’m still not touchin’ nothin! So there!... Ok, whatever. So I am touching something then. Have it your way. Touching something. Not touching nothing. It’s all the same thing. That’s what you said so if you insist on saying I’m touching something then fine. I’m touching something!... Hey, wait a minute. I’m touching something? What am I touching?... Nothing! And I’m supposed to be touching something? Oh, my goodness! There I go screwing up again! Quick, I gotta touch something! But what?... The prison box? Oh yeah, that kid is in there and he sounded scared. Well, since the boss told me to touch something, I might as well touch that, huh? I wouldn’t want to disobey the boss now, would I? Nope nope, wouldn’t want to do that... Oh, that’s easy for you to say, Q, I can always put you back together if he rips YOU apart. Who’s going to put ME back together if he rips my arms off?... What do you mean I won’t get caught? Of course, I’ll get caught! I ALWAYS get caught! You know good and well, the boss finds out about everything!... NO! I’m not going to listen to you, Q! You always get me into trouble! The boss said to touch something and that’s exactly what I’m going to do! In fact, I’m going to touch the most important thing in this room just to do my job right!... Yes, that’s right, the door lock on the prison box and you can’t stop me!... I’m not listening to you!... I’m not listening to Quattlebom! La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!”

The bolt on the Jester box door slid open and Nathan watched in amazement as the door swung open. There stood the jester, ignoring Nathan as he argued with his puppet. “Aha! See, I did it! The boss will be so proud of me for once! No thanks to you, you rebellious little ball of poorly painted poodle poo! I followed intructions to the tee this time! Didn’t I, Sir?”

The jester turned to Nathan just as he was about to step out of the box and caught the prince by surprise. “Um... yes! Of course you did.” Nathan answered quickly. Then he got an idea. “Uh, I was supposed to go on an errand for the uh....”

“For the boss! I remember. I’m not stupid, ya know.” Quattlebom’s head shook up and down and he corrected himself. “Ok, well maybe I’m a little silly, but that’s it. By the way, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. My name’s Flindee, Official Cave Comedian to his Bossness, the Super Scaly One himself. And this is my assistant, Quattlebom. Here. You dropped this earlier.”

Flindee scooped the Princes helmet up from the floor where it had been thrown by Snagglefang and handed it to him. Then the exciteable dwarf grabbed his hand and began shaking it wildly.

“Pleased to meet you, O’ honored guest of the Mighty Morphin’ Powder Lizard!”

“Pleased to meet you, Flindee!” Nathan said, yanking his hand from the jester’s grip and looking nervously around the cave. There was no sign of the dragon, but Nathan was anxious to get out of there! “Say, since you’ve let me go and done your job so well, I was wondering if you could help me do mine. I mean, I don’t want to make the boss angry, and he really did want me to go on this little quest for him. Do you think you could show me how to get out of here so I can get started right away?”

Flindee’s face brightened. “Can I show you how to get out of here? Why of course I can! They don’t call me Flindee the Finder for nothin’! Right this way.”

The jester spun around and led Prince Nathan out of the room whistling loudly as he walked. Nathan kept glancing behind to see if Snagglefang was returning and wishing the silly little dwarf would be quieter. Soon, they were walking through smelly fog and Nathan could hardly breathe, but his heart beat faster as he realized that this was the same stinky cloud that Gart had carried him through when he had arrived. He was almost out!

Then there was a dim light and a cool breeze on his face as the curtain of smoke rolled back and they were standing in the cave entrance on the side of the mountain. Nathan was so excited to be free that he jumped up in the air with a shout!

“Thank you, buddy!” he beamed. “I would have never escaped without your help! You are the best! How can I ever thank you?”

Flindee blushed and shyly toed the ground with his hands behind his back. “Aw shucks. It was nothin’.”

Now it was the Prince’s turn to shake the jesters hand wildly. “No, I mean it! Thanks!”

Nathan hugged the little fellow. “See ya, Flindee!”

He did not notice the quiet sniffle or the single tear that appeared in the jester’s eye as he turned to leave. Now that he was free, all he wanted to do was get off this mountain and find his sister. But first, he needed to find Chrysolis.

He walked to the edge of the path and looked out over the Renegade forest hoping to see her out in the sky somewhere, but there was no sign of her. Storm clouds were gathering around the mountain where he stood and it was getting harder to see in the gloom.

A gust of wind hit him and nearly knocked him over the edge, followed by a sudden flash of lightning and the boom of Thunder. Nathan looked up and realized for the first time that it was about to rain! He was now facing a whole new danger! If he didn’t find a shelter from the storm soon, he would be blown off this narrow mountain path and fall to his death!

He quickly backed away from the edge of the path and nearly tripped over something large behind him. Startled, he spun around and came face to face with the jester again.

“Flindee!” he shouted with surprise. “Be careful sneaking up behind people like that or you’ll trip somebody some day!”

“Sorry.” Flindee apologized. “I just get excited sometimes and forget to watch where I’m going. I mean, this storm is so exhilaratin’ ain’t it?”

He looked around nervously. “But I was thinkin’ that now might not be the best time to start your mission, you know.”

With a smile, Flindee cartwheeled back toward the cave entrance. “Come on back to base. It’s the only safe place to be right now with this storm. The boss will understand if you wait a while to get started and you and I could play some games or something until it blows over!”

The storm was growing angrier by the second and for a moment, Nathan seriously considered taking the jester’s advice, but he knew Snagglefang would return. And he simply couldn’t let himself be captured again. No! The only choice he had was to run down the mountain path as fast as he could before the storm hit him. Fear gripped his heart as he realized how long it could take to reach the bottom and how much time he had already wasted. If he were going to make a run for it, it had to be now!

Staying as close to the mountain wall as possible he turned away from the cave, put on his helmet, and ran as fast as he dared down the rocky path!

“Hey, wait a minute!” Flindee cried after him. “Are you loony? Come back!”

But it was too late to stop the panicking prince. His heart was already pounding like a jackrabbit in his chest as the first rain drops began to splash off his face shield! Running nearly full speed now, he rounded the first corner and ran right into the massive leg of the giant!

Gart had returned and he was in a bad mood.