Chapter 17 - The Diamond Road

If Barney had hoped that saving Celia’s life was the key to her heart, he was sadly wrong. When she had finally struggled back on to the path, she had stumbled straight past him, almost knocking him over the edge, and leapt into Sammy’s arms. Sammy had wrapped his big, strong arms around her in what Barney thought was an unnecessarily long hug. Barney, who was used to this sort of thing, just sighed.

When Sammy finally released Celia, they continued up the slippery path, moving slowly and carefully this time. It was a long way to their destination, and Sammy’s heart thudded like a drum in the hands of an overexcited six-year-old the whole way. The path wound along the edge of the ravine, leading to a rock bridge spanning the river. The river surged immediately below the bridge, white water smashing into rock pillars, the spray billowing up like a curtain in the wind. On the other side of the bridge it fell away in a waterfall, so high that the river could barely be seen below.

When it came time to cross, Sammy took Celia’s hand, under the pretence of protecting her. They stepped out onto the bridge together. Barney followed, as always, a few steps behind. Crossing the bridge was surprisingly uneventful. It was what lay on the other side, however, that made Barney cry out in an uncharacteristically exclamatory fashion.

A road of diamonds extended as far as the eye could see, gleaming even in the rain. Barney had never seen such riches. Neither, of course, had Celia, who was a mere farmer’s daughter. Sameus Rufus Pegasus had resided with the Gods, surrounded by far richer jewels than these. Had he been paying close attention, he would have noticed that they were not real diamonds, just well cut glass. But he was not, as he was busy doing deep breathing exercises and surreptitiously checking his trousers for wet patches after the ordeal of the bridge. So Barney cried out in wonder at the wealth, and Celia sighed with relief that they had reached the road that Arnold had whispered secretly in her ear about. Celia hadn’t told anyone about the diamond road, because she did not to distract her companions from their mission for the shoe. She was intent on Sammy ascending to the Kingdom of the Gods – with her as his wife. He had saved her life so many times. He was so strong and heroic. She smiled to herself and started down the road to the city of shoes.

Unfortunately, as Sammy could have told her if he was paying attention, they were not actually heading towards the City of Shoes on the Diamond road. A long time ago, a King – Gerald XXII, or was it Harold XVI? – had realised that a diamond road leading directly to his palace was asking for trouble. This was after his soldiers had repelled the seventh assault on the city in as many years, with significant loss of life. So he had formed a workforce, and all his prisoners and the poor men of the city had been set to work laying another road, this one a road of glass. It led not from the River of the Eastern Reach to the City of Shoes, but to another, far more sinister place.

For that ancient King had built not only a second, less expensive road, but also a second city, far off to the North, so invaders would be confused and led away from his precious palace and his wealth. The city was populated by the workforce – the thieves, murderers, lower class, and the exceptionally bad shoemakers. This city had taken on a life of its own, growing into a web of ganglands in a forest of deceit. It had no government and no name, but a great many daggers, and a well-polished glass road.

These days, the glass road served dual purposes. The confusing of invading forces had become secondary to the luring of wealthy and ignorant travellers into the depths of the city, where they were subsequently robbed, murdered, and never heard from again. Celia, Barney and Sammy traipsed blindly along the glass road.
Barney glared at Sammy’s back. Sammy appeared to have forgotten to release Celia’s hand after leaving the bridge. Barney was not a naturally cheerful person, as you may have realised by now, and even the gleaming stones of the road could not lift his spirits for long. He came to a decision. He would have to tell Celia how he felt. Although, obviously not to her face. She would just laugh at him. People always laughed at young men with twisted limbs and wonky faces. He would write her a letter, he decided, conveniently forgetting that he had left school at the age of 14, and had refused to touch a book for several years before that, and consequently could not write very well. As soon as they reached the city, he decided, he would find a wax tablet or a nice stone, and write a love letter. He began to compose it in his head.

My dearest Celia, (it began)
I love you.

Here Barney ran out of ideas, not being of a literary bent. He supposed it should be longer. Maybe he could write something about her hair. Yes, that was it!

Your hair is nice and bouncy.

What else? Eyes! Love letters always went on about eyes.

Your eyes are nice and blue.

Now what? Her smile! Barney liked her smile. It made him go fuzzy inside.

Your smile is nice and smiley.

No, it wasn’t good enough. No-one took a love letter seriously if it was only five lines long. He wracked his brains. The sun had come out and the roads sparkled dazzlingly, but Barney hardly noticed, so hard was he concentrating on his letter. Inspiration struck him.

You are always nice to me.

This was good. Almost like a poem. Girls liked poems, according to one of the men who had worked at the quarry with him. He hadn’t actually told Barney this, because nobody ever actually spoke to Barney except to yell at him, but Barney had heard him telling his friend during the lunch break one day. Yes, he would make it into a poem, with rhymes, he decided.

Dear Celia,
You are nice and smiley,
You are always nice to me.
Your hair is nice and bouncy,
And you are not a tree.
Your eyes are nice and blue,
Your dress is nice too,
You are helping find a shoe
And I love you!
Love From Barney

Perfect!

But Barney did not have a chance to give profess his love that day.