Of Trails and Snails | Chapter 11: Across the Pond (Patreon)

Jack had always loved camping outside growing up, and getting to share it with Skye, Mia, and Pacifica made it even better. They built a small campfire and shared dinner and dew that Pacifica had stored away for “special occasions.” Skye had eased up and started laughing again once she got some food and ale in her. Mia nursed her dew slowly, snuggling up to Jack all evening while everyone shared their favorite scary story. Snailgirls had some great ghost stories.

The night sky in Molluscia was its own marvel. With no light or air pollution to muddle it, every star came out to greet them. Jack lay between Skye and Mia on a warm blanket, idly searching for familiar constellations and still finding none. But the dizzying sensation that a brand new sky used to bring had finally begun to wear off. These days, Molluscia felt more like home than Earth ever had.

“Jack! It’s time to wake up,” Mia’s gentle voice stirred him from sleep, and Jack blinked up at her lovely face lit by the dawn light.

“I don’t remember falling asleep.” Jack yawned and pushed himself up. “You two are just too comfortable.”

Skye rolled her eyes. “Come on, two-legs, get on the turtle. Everything’s packed.”

Jack stood and looked around at the empty campsite. “That was nice of you. Next time, wake me earlier?”

“Ya need more sleep than we do, Jack,” Pacifica said. She stood at Humphrey’s neck, stroking his cheek with one hand. “We did just fine. Don’t worry yourself over it.”

“Thank you. I’m all ready for another frilled dragon fight, then.” Jack grinned.

“Not funny,” Skye said.

“No, no! No frilled dragons! We’ll be in Pomacea today!” Mia clapped her hands and swayed from side to side. Her antennae bounced on her head with the motion. “We can wait and have breakfast there! I’m so excited!”

“Then let’s get going.” Jack folded the blanket over one arm and hopped on the turtle’s shell. “Humphrey awaits.” He extended his hands toward Skye and Mia.

Mia took one with a giggle and scooted up Humphrey’s shell. Skye clasped his forearm with a sly smile and paused at his shoulder.

“You’ll still make it up to me later,” she whispered.

Goosebumps prickled the back of Jack’s neck, and he returned her smile. “I know.”

There were no more frilled lizards during their travels. Only endless fields of wildflowers with stalks three times Jack’s height and blooms the size of Humphrey’s head. Jack surmised they worked well to keep the turtle and the girls riding it under cover—snailgirls out in the open were welcome snacks for too many creatures passing by.

“Hey, Pacifica, do you know many other two-legs?” Jack had meant to ask after her prepared comment, but the thought had gotten lost somewhere between the excitement of traveling and a frilled lizard.

“Two. I met one in Haliotis when I went four years ago. Graham, I think was his name. I was only there for one week.”

“Ooh, what if he’s still there?” Mia’s eyes glimmered. “Jack could make a new friend!”

“I have plenty of great friends, Mia.” Jack playfully tugged on the hem of her dress.

“Aw, you know what I mean.” Mia blushed.

“Who was the other two-legs?” Skye asked Pacifica.

“Well, she traveled with me for a while, but she decided ta stay in Rissoella. Liked livin’ in da cold better than livin’ on a tortoise, I suppose.” Pacific shrugged, though her expression looked a little sad.

“‘She?’” Jack and Skye asked in tandem.

“Mhm. Stella was her name.”

Jack blinked and licked his lips. As far as he knew from the girls in Lymnaea, he was the first human to walk their city in a long, long time. He hadn’t considered the possibility of there being Earthly females wandering around Molluscia. “How long ago was that?”

“Ah, salts, let me think… Nearly a decade now.” Pacifica chuckled. “Been a long time. Dat girl was always late, but she was impossible ta stay mad at.”

“Just out of curiosity, where is Rissoella?” Jack wondered.

“Now you’re interested in making friends?” Skye snapped.

He shook his head. “We’re not turning the turtle around, Skye.”

“It’s very, very far north of Lymnaea. They have snow!” Mia supplied. “And the girls there have translucent shells!”

“Have you been there, Mia?” Jack asked.

“No. But we had a visitor from there once. Even in the middle of winter, the poor thing had to keep a flurry Spell on to stay cool.” Mia looked at Pacifica and beamed. “Oh! Speaking of Spells! I had a few more questions about your archery. Only if Jack was finished, of course.”

“Sure thing, Mia. Go ahead.”

Mia and Pacifica talked a little while longer about her archery before Mia began recounting her meeting with the frogs. Skye snaked her hand around Jack’s head, threaded her fingers through his hair, and pulled him sideways to lean against her hip. Jack smiled and let her. Clingy Skye was cute.

The wildflowers shrank into tinier blossoms that poked between enormous, stacked boulders that flanked either side of the turtle. The sound of rushing water echoed against the rock wall, and the musty smell of algae filled the air.

Mia squealed and clapped her hands. “We’re here!”

Humphrey maintained his steady pace until the rocks gave way to an expansive body of crystal-clear water.

As they drew closer to the water’s edge, Jack stood up and balanced himself on Humphrey’s shell. Skye grasped him under the bicep and helped steady his footing.

Green and red lily pads spotted the lake’s surface, many of them adorned with brilliant violet and yellow flowers. Weeping willows shaded the lake on either side while the tips of their drooping leaves dipped beneath the surface. Dozens of plant species hugged the bank, sporting all different manners of shapes and sizes. Some looked like thicker versions of grass, while others had sprawling leaves shaped like the maple leaves Jack recalled from back home. Just much, much larger.

“Damn. That’s a lot bigger than the froggy pond,” Jack murmured.

Skye snorted. “Of course it is. There’s an entire city here.”

Pacifica reeled in Humphrey’s bait, and he gradually slowed to a stop. Jack hopped down from the tortoise’s back and scanned the water while the girls made their descent.

He’d expected to see more evidence of the aforementioned city. Instead, he found two squat buildings that reminded him of the guard gates in mall parking lots, situated about six feet apart from one another. Each one had four walls with just enough room inside to hold one snailgirl, with windowed openings almost like ticket takers. The windows were large enough for both girls to lean against the outside countertop and chat with one another.

Once Mia and Skye had dismounted, Jack moved to stand beside Humphrey’s head and looked up at Pacifica. “Thanks for the ride. How much do we owe you?”

“Three hundred Shells, if ya would,” Pacifica said.

Jack counted out four hundred and tossed them in an empty leather pouch. He’d grabbed a few pouches from Neomi while she was tailoring his vest—it made it far easier to hand over cash, which wound up looking and feeling like a lot of casino chips after all was said and done.

He handed the purse to Pacifica and grinned. “Will you be our ride on the way back?”

“I’d be honored, so long as ya do come back.” Pacifica accepted the purse and jerked her chin at Skye and Mia, who’d moved closer to the edge of the water. “Take care of yer girls, Jack. The trip ta Haliotis is a long one, and da monsters get a lot more crafty.”

“Thanks for the warning. We’ll see you when we get back.” Jack gave her a quick salute, then jogged away to join Skye and Mia. “So, how do we get to the city?”

“We go underwater!” Mia cried, then pointed at the gate to her right. “They’ll help us get there.”

 “Got it.” Jack strode to the gate Mia pointed at and rested his elbow on the counter. “Good afternoon.”

The snailgirl who returned his gaze had clear green eyes, black hair, and a mask that covered the lower half of her face. “Hm? A two-legs?”

“One of the few, it seems.” Jack knit his brow, studying the mask more closely. It wasn’t made of materials he’d ever seen on Earth. There was a dark covering over her nose, mouth, and chin, and then the sides branched out into marble-sized…bubbles? They were translucent and shimmering, catching the light of the fireflies contained above her, but bubbles never would have held beneath the weight of the piece over her mouth.

“‘Few’ is an overstatement. I can count on one hand how many of you I’ve seen.” She laughed. The sound was muffled, and a quiet sucking of air followed—as if the mask were pulling oxygen out of a tank. Jack had heard a very similar noise from the air tanks owned by the centurions who spent their retired days in the casino. “Do you need transport down?”

“Yes. For myself and my two companions.” He gestured behind him to Mia and Skye. “We want to visit Pomacea.”

“A whole Party of land-walkers! There’s a rarity,” the young woman raised her eyebrows, and her eyes crinkled in a smile. It would have been difficult to tell otherwise with her mask. “That’ll be sixty Shells, please.”

Jack had gambled more on his favorite Skill before. So far, they were doing very well with their newly lined pockets, and Haliotis didn’t seem so out of reach. He fished sixty Shells from his side pack and passed them across the counter.

The snailgirl quickly counted them out, nodded, and then pulled on a taut length of twine beside her head. It snapped back into place without a sound, but she moved to put the Shells away all the same. “Enjoy your stay.”

Jack stepped back and looked at the gatekeeper structure again. There were no obvious lines of twine running from the top or bottom, nor from the sides. Whatever she’d pulled on either vanished below the leaves of the lake’s bank or ran deeply beneath the ground.

“Jack! Watch!” Mia called and pointed to the lake’s edge.

The top curve of a transparent sphere breached the water’s frothing surface and rose until it floated on top of the lake like a pool toy.

It’s bubbles all the way down.

A rectangular section of the sphere parted from the globe and slid to the side—a door for the entrants. It would be a tight fit inside for the three of them, but not uncomfortable.

“Is there no one to drive this thing?” Jack asked as he stepped inside. The material seemed sturdy enough, something akin to acrylic or plastic. But seeing the lake water moving beneath him without a solid floor to separate them turned his stomach. Once they reached beyond thirty feet or so, if the bubble popped, Jack was going to be hard-pressed to get all of them back to the surface.

“There’s no need for a driver,” Skye said as she moved in behind him. “Bronze tracks run from here to the land snail part of Pomacea, and the spheres are pushed with a magical current.”

The image of the vacuum tubes that sucked up capsules at a bank came to mind. “Does it happen quickly?”

“Of course not.” Skye frowned. “Our ears would explode.”

Mia giggled behind her hand and situated herself to Jack’s right. “Maybe humans are different!”

“Luckily, we won’t have to test that theory,” Jack said.

The door closed, and the sphere gradually descended beneath the water’s surface.