Musings by Moon Light List of Stories by Moon
Daniel Jackson Library
Stories by other authors
Barters N Garters Library Chapter Nine No chance
”You can not keep me here,” Callestah warned her Brother. “Danny and the other one will come, you’ll see.” “My dear sweet, Sister, I’m counting on it.” Eros cooed. “It’s been so long since we were last alone; don’t you remember how you used to adore spending time with me?” “Yes,” her little brow creased. “I love you, Eros, but there’s something about you is wrong. Why have you brought me here?” “Ah, but I love you too, little Sister.” He said in a whisper. “There is never anything wrong in Love, is there? Isn’t that what your Mother taught you?” “Our Mother.” “Of course,” Eros reached out a bronze arm to run his long fingers through her auburn hair. “Our Mother.” He corrected. “Aphrodite is gone now; they sent her away, very very far away.” His fine lips parted to reveal a beautiful white smile. “So you see, you must stay with me, your Brother, now and I will protect you… as she did.” “And Psyche? What has she to say of this?” The little girl asked shying away from the touch of her Brother’s hand and drawing her legs up close under her chin as they sat in this hovel. After he plucked her from the ground and she rose up up up into the air looking down at David who was firmly planted in the path at his feet, Eros brought her here to this strange hut. Callestah did not remember passing it on their way here or, indeed, did not remember ever seeing this little place on any of her many excursions. Yet, here they were by a small stone hearth in which burned a small cheery fire. The round hut had one window which did not have any glass and one wooden door which was locked by having a large piece of wood braced across it resting in two metal brackets. The floor was dirty and made of planks. In this place was naught but this one room and its fire. No table, no food, no chair, no bed. Nothing. Hardly the home of a God even if he was dead. “My Wife is of no consequence here.” Eros intoned. “I am not giving you a choice, Callestah, I am telling you. I am your Lord now, you will do as I say and you will come with me once this is over. You will not argue and you will not sulk.” He warned fluttering his wings out behind him and kicking up the dust in this hovel. “That jealous bitch of yours will never abide this.” The little girl retorted. “For that matter neither will I. They will come and they will rescue me.” “You are a romantic fool, little Sister.” Eros, who had been resting on his haunches, now sat on the floor next to her. “They will come, that much is true. I will kill them and that much is also true. They will die here and they will stay dead never to return in this world or any other.” “Danny and Davy are going to take me to Father. That is where I belong.” The little girl said defiantly nodding her head as her green eyes sparkled with the essence of a soul much beyond that which belied her ten year-olds body. “You’ll see. I am leaving here.” She turned away from him and said nothing else. ** His heart in his throat and his legs rapidly turning to jelly Daniel, wishing reverently for nothing more than a five minutes rest, stumbled along the path as swiftly as he could. Suddenly the dark and gloomy surroundings turned into the noonday sun. Squenching his eyes shut against the unexpected harsh glare he saw something up ahead a dark spot in the middle of the rutted road. “Danny is that you? Danny…..STOP!” That was David. Daniel frozen in place, his legs only too happy to comply with his head’s demand. “Wh—what is it?” “Don’t come no closer. Da road turns ta….I dunno wot dis shit is but I’m stuck, it stinks and it’s a long slow sink. Yew don’t wanna get stuck in this muck.” “Where’s Callestah?” Reaching for his canteen Daniel forced the words past his dry throat. “Ah….yeah…ah…why don’t yew git me outta here and den we’ll…discuss dat.” Not liking the sound of that he dropped the canteen back into place. “Where is she?” “Git me outta here!” David, who was hip deep in the muck, said gruffly. “I have been struggling forever!” “Whatever.” Daniel mumbled cautiously coming up to his brother and measuring the predicament. Where the road had been merely sticky before it was now a thick shitty soup, grabbing a nearby stick he poked at it only to have it suck the piece of wood inside with a fierce grip. It took some doing to get the branch free. “Great.” He huffed. David was well beyond his reach so grabbing his hands and pulling him out was not the answer. Rope, he had a small bit of it. It wasn’t much but, once again Calla in her infinite wisdom, it would due, it would be enough to get the job done. “Catch.” Daniel tossed one end to David. “You got any purchase in there?” “Not much.” “Well then, do your best to help out while I pull, ok?” “Got it.” Davy said happily and winked at his brother. “Ready?” He sniffed the air. “You been bar-be-quing?” “Huh-huh-huh-ha” Daniel let out a chuckle that rolled and rolled for a few moments. “Something like that.” “How’d yew make out wit Hartley?” David asked looping the rope over his head and down over his waist where he cinched it tight. “Ready when you are.” He grabbed it with both hands and tried to find whatever he could below his feet to push on when Danny started to pull, he didn’t find much. “He’s toast.” Daniel reported wrapping his end around his entwined hands. “Good deal. Ya know, if’n yew kill som’thin down here it stays dead it don’t never come back so I guess yew won’t be havin’ to deal with old Andy Hartley no more.” “Never?” “O-blivion.” David assured. “If yew die here that’s it, Game Over.” Daniel braced himself, took a deep breath of the stale air and heaved. “Come on, Davy, push, do something!” He was stuck like a mule in a mud puddle. “I am!” David huffed and struggled to find more. Daniel pulled and heaved and pulled and heaved until finally David started to move toward the edge of the swamp trap. “That’s it keep it up.” He coached turning around and putting the rope over his shoulder so he could more adeptly put his back into his work. Behind him the rope gave and he felt David inching forward. “Keep goin’, Danny, almost there now.” The solid edge of the path was within his grasp. “Yeah, come on, c’mere and help me out.” He reached up and Daniel came to his side to heave him out. Covered in the dark stinking crud David popped out of the hole. “Oh…that’s awful!” Daniel bitched as his stomach gave out a harsh heave of its own. “Does everything in this place stink?” “Jus’ about.” David said cheerily. “Stay long enuff yew git us’ta it.” He grinned. “A’ight, Danny, yew know it, yew gonna make me say it, ain’t cha?” “Eros took her.” “Yup.” “Which way? How long?” “Dat way,” he pointed off to the left. How long ago? Hum, how long had he been sinking in that stink-pit and baking in the sun? “Not too long.” But long enough to sink from ankle to hip. “Shit.” “What?” “Lost a boot. Damn crap jus’ sucked it right off’a me.” David said drearily and took off the other one. “I ain’t reaching in there for it.” His clothes were covered with muck, so was his canteen and the scant contents of his pockets. Perhaps they were no longer safe to eat depending on how far the gunk sunk into them. “Let’s go.” “Any idea where he took her?” Daniel asked wanting another drink but seeing the shit on David’s canteen thought better of it. “There ain’t much else ‘round here ‘n it’s a damn long way back to the Fields.” “All right, that way it is.” Slowly they started walking again. “You know I feel like we’ve been at this for days.” “I know,” David agreed and thought he should finally break down and tell him the truth. “That’s because it’s been almost two days now.” He tried to sound calm and matter-of-fact about it but he knew what was going to race through Daniel’s mind the instant the thought made contact it. “We’ve been down here for two days? Are you shittin’ me?” Daniel said abruptly. “How do you know?” “Ah, cuz I dun lived here for twenty years, dat’s how I know.” David reminded his brother. “Yer watched stopped? Mine too.” He tapped the glass of the timepiece on his wrist and watched as Daniel looked at his own. Sure enough it stopped shortly after they went through the crag. Daniel thought about it. “No, the last time I was here my watch worked and I was here for twenty minutes….” “Yew was here five-six hours. Your watch worked ‘cause you believed it would but it ticked off twenty of these minutes. Down here when they say ‘forever’ they aim to make it stick.” He chimed and then turned serious as there was a very real problem facing them. Maybe it was just a few hours as far as their minds went but where their bodies were concerned it had been much longer than that. “I’m hungry too Danny, but we can’t eat anything down here. You can eat dat candy bar a’ yours if’n yew want.” His numbing brain whirled with a hundred different thoughts but yes, yes, why not? Daniel couldn’t remember what time he had been when he tucked her into bed that unforgettable night she performed a little self-surgery and he followed her here. It could have been twenty minutes or four hours, he really couldn’t say. “I already ate it.” He confessed as the memory of inhaling the sweet treat rolled in his head and rumbled his stomach. “Did you know there were werewolves in that cabin?” “Ah,” Davy chuckled, “is dat wot you bar-be-qued?” A day and a half in the Upper World; as they walked all Daniel could do was wonder how his Wife was fairing. Was Nicholas being a good Son if she needed him to be? Did he leave her in good hands or was Ares stirring the pot and heating things up? While he desperately wanted the answers to those questions he knew he couldn’t dwell on them, they had to find Callestah and get the hell out of here before he could do anything about anything other than that. “She’s a’ight, Danny. C’mon let’s find ‘er and git outta here.” “Best idea I’ve heard all day.” There they stood on the path where Light met Dark and drew a sharp dividing line between the two. They walked in the oppressive sunlight a ways, in the direction David indicated but never lost the line, it seemed to stay with them, to follow them no matter which way they turned the left side was Light and the right was Dark. Feeling hopelessly lost and confused and just about to toss his hands in the frustration, looking down into the gloomy mist something glittered on the path. A small jewel encrusted sandal. Callestah. They flew this way—back into the Darkness-- and she dropped this because she believed they would go looking for her. Staying close together and breathing out of their mouths to avoid the stench emanating from David. That was no good it made their throats dry and water was a limited commodity. He solved that problem by passing out the gum he was carrying. A few hundred yards down they found the other sandal at a point where the path branched off. “Other than the dress I don’t think she’s got nothin’ else to drop.” David chimed. “Guess we’re on our own from here.” That wasn’t altogether true. The clues to the path got smaller but they were still there. The little girl wore a ring on each finger and here and there they found them in the dirt. Seven rings and no one knew how many Upper World hours later a round thatched hut came into view. From the top of the hut bloomed a plume of gray smoke indicating the fire burning within. “What now?” Daniel asked as they crouched in thick safety of decaying bushed. “Wot are ya askin’ me fer? You’re the military man.” Yeah…right. “What have you got? Anything?” Both of them checked their pockets. Between them they came up with One Zippo lighter One canteen ¼ full of water which was safe “We got bup-kiss,” David grumbled. “Jack-Diddly-Squat.” Daniel’s hand kept stroking the length of rope as he gazed at all the items before him. “Texas, huh?” He turned to look at David. “I don’t suppose you rope?” “’Cause I lived in Texas dat makes me a cowboy?” “Just asking.” David rolled his eyes. “Yeah, Danny, lighten up. I can rope but not wit that.” He pointed at the mucky length of heavy duty nylon rope. “It ain’t stiff enuff.” “Yeah, too bad, it’s what you got.” He handed it over to David then gave him the knife as well. “On the off chance I manage to lasso dat bad-boy, wot do yew want me ta do with him?” “We gotta lure him out here.” “Hello, are you lis’en ta me?” “Make a diversion.” Daniel said to himself. “He’s gonna come out that door, get some place where you can harness him.” “Ah-huh,” David mumbled, “Earth to Danny Jackson, come in Cap’n Jackson.” His hand waved in front of Daniel’s face. “Yo!” “Just do it, ok? “ “Answer me, wot are you gonna do?” “If they die here they stay dead, that’s what you said, right?” “Uh-ha.” “Bastard torments my Wife, he killed my Son. Look at me, Davy, you and me, we’re gonna finish this once and for all. We’re gonna see to it that he never fucks with my family again. You got that?” Daniel slid the lighter out of its case, flicked open the fluid and soaked the cotton batting inside. He replaced the flint with a new one; no sense in taking any chances. No sir, he was betting those golden wings of Eros’ burned just as well as the mangy fur on the wolf back there. “Uh-ah.” David agreed and shook the muck from the rope in his hand. Danny might be nuts but he was determined, if they could keep that going maybe they would get somewhere with this idiotic idea. The stinking gunk mostly gone from the length of rope David tied it into a lasso and then started twirling it to get the feel of the strong but limp material. “I dunno if this is gonna werk, but I’ll give it my best shot.” Looking down at the little line of assorted ‘weapons’ Calla had armed them with he took in the gum and then took two pieces from the silver pack and popped them into his dry mouth. “Ready when’eva you are, I’m goin’ over there.” He nodded toward the left side of the hut which had a better cover of brush. “You get him out and I’ll hogtie him, sound good?” David opened the largest blade on the Swiss Army knife and stuck it, point down, into his belt. Gum. Good idea, his throat was dry too. “Yep.” Biting down a refreshing burst of spearmint filled his mouth chasing away the paste at the back of his throat. “Nothing like bustin’ down the front door.” “Nope, not quite.” David agreed with a knowing smile, patted Daniel on the shoulder and then, keeping his head low, made his way around to the hut and emerged again by the front door. He saw the window but didn’t dare steal a glance inside for fear of being caught. This close to the wood and thatch he heard the voices talking inside. End Of Chapter Nine Of This story and all stories in the Barters N Garters Library are copyrighted to Lisa Beth Darling these stories
may not be transferred outside of this URL in any fashion.
Back Into Hell
by
Moon Mistress
a/k/a
Lisa Beth Darling
No chance
No chance
If you mess with me you got no chance
No chance in hell you got no chance
No Chance In Hell—Vince McMahon’s Theme Song
Dope
One Swiss Army knife
One half empty bottle of lighter fluid
One package of flints
One-half a package of gum
Two candy bars which may---or may not—be safe to eat
A length smelly rope
One canteen 2/3 full of water which may not be
Back Into Hell
Continue to
Chapter Ten