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A little while before Nick and Penny's capture, the search party had reached Rainbow Waterfalls. Father Luvvins exclaimed as he saw the scrap of blue denim on the jewel-berry thorn bush, "They've been here! This cloth is from Nick's breeches!" The Gatekeeper nodded. "See their footprints. They're headed for the border. We must find them before they reach Cold and Dank Cove. Ho! Triple-time, Troops, triple-time!" Silently and swiftly, the rescue team moved forward. They were within earshot when Snivvely grabbed the two little Wondernells. Hearing their terrified screams, Father Luvvins shouted, "Nick! Penny!" He broke into a run, but Sharly and the Gatekeeper stopped him. "Steady, now," warned the Gatekeeper. "But he'll kill them!" Father Luvvins struggled to free himself from their hold. Then Sharly spoke, "Careful! Sir, Snivvely seldom kills. He. . . he tortures. But first he threatens. He prolongs the terror as long as possible, for he feeds on fear. When I . . . when I was. . . when he captured me...well, Sir, we have some time before he physically harms them. Somehow we have to get them out." Father Luvvins was weak with shivering, anxious horror. "How? What can we do? How can we save them from such terrible evil?" The Gatekeeper looked at Sharly. "Well, Son? You've been in there. You know more than we do. How do we rescue the little ones?" "I have a plan," Sharly said. Father Luvvins, the Gatekeeper, and the Patrol Troops huddled around him. Sharly said, "When Snivvely is alone, all his senses are razor keen. But when he seizes his prey, he is glutted with the victim's terror. He is aware of nothing else. If we move cautiously, he will not hear us approaching. When I. . . when I was his prisoner... well, he left me alone for a time. To increase my terror. Part of the torture, you see. All the while, I could hear his evil laughter. We need to get to Nick and Penny during this lonely time. There is a back way into the Cove. When he. . . when I. . . after it was all over, Snivvely threw me out the back door, and he left me to die while he slept off his revels. I clawed and crawled my way back to Rainbow Waterfalls where the Gatekeeper and Grampie Carmels found me. I will go in that back way and bring the little ones out. You wait for me on the bank of Cold and Dank Cove." Everyone nodded. The Gatekeeper said, "Timing is everything, Troops. Mind Sharly's words. No room for error. Muffled triple-time, Troops, muffled triple-time!" The rescue team moved forward once more. |
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