By the end of the second night, Katie and Alexis could hardly keep moving. Everything hurt, and while the pain helped clear their minds a little, they were so deep into the dance by then, they hardly knew what else to think. Lockhart, Lincoln, and Captain Decker were also up and moving, and without having any sleep in forty-eight hours, Lincoln felt he was hallucinating. Near noon on the next day, after about sixty hours, Lincoln was the first to collapse. Even unconscious, his arms and legs continued to move like a puppet to the music. One thing did happen before that, though.

Kartesh finally got Saturn to a sufficient sobriety, or at least awake state where she could talk sense to him and feel he honestly heard her. Whether he would listen or not was another issue.

“I don’t know how the centaurs and fauns and the others stand it for a whole month, but normal human flesh and blood is not made to go without sleep and without food for that long.”

“But Kartesh. The human element is adding such spice to the dance. I have never heard Pan and his helpers play so well. There is something truly great going on with your friends in the mix.

“But you are killing them!” Kartesh shouted. Saturn heard but did not want to hear. He wanted some more grapes.

~~~*~~~

Around eight o’clock, with the sun well up in the sky, they heard the “Aye-Aye, Yip!” followed by “Blithering Genius!”

The less than enthusiastic men went carefully to the clearing and saw the branches over the trap removed. They got excited to think that something actually worked. They inched up to the hole expecting to see Silenus trapped in the bottom and were surprised to see it empty. Suddenly, the hole got bigger. Truscas fell in. Mingus grabbed on to the lip, but it shook him off and he slid to the bottom. Roland jumped back and began to run around the edge of the clearing while the hole followed him. He got caught when the hole disappeared and reappeared in front of his moving feet.

Boston came to the edge of the clearing and tried not to laugh, though it was a sight to see Truscas from the arms up and the top of Roland’s head. Mingus was not tall enough to stick out.

“Yip-Yip.” Silenus danced across the clearing and stared at her.

“Yippie!” Boston shouted back. A serious expression crossed Silenus’ face before he smiled and shouted back.

“Yappy!”

“Yahooo-ee!” Boston responded appropriately. The next thing she knew, Silenus stood beside her, his arm around her shoulder.

“I like you,” he said.

After a brief moment of shock, Boston responded. “I think I like you, too.”

“I love your red hair,” Silenus continued. “It is a unique color and I love what you have done with it.”

Boston had started growing it out, not that she had a choice. It was not as short as it had been, but she thought for the moment that it had to be rather scraggly. She could only respond politely. “Thank you.”

“We could retire to my boudoir.”

“Sir, I have a young man,” Boston looked down at her feet for a second.

“Oh, I see,” Silenus responded.

Afraid she might lose him Boston leaned over and kissed the man on the cheek. “But I think you are sweet.”

Silenus raised his eyebrows before he smiled again. “I see. Fatherly type. To be honest, I might prefer a young man myself.” Boston did not flinch. “Grape?”

Boston raised a hand. “No thank you. My mother does not approve of me drinking.”

“Silly mother,” Silenus said, as he turned them to walk toward the hole.

“A little help here.” They heard Mingus’ voice.

“But now, I assume all of this is because you want something of me,” Silenus became as serious as the fat drunkard could be.

“Yes,” Boston said, turning to the god. “My friends are trapped in the dance and Kartesh says Saturn is the only one who can set them free. She thought you might have some way of sobering him up, at least temporarily.”  She saw Silenus put his hand to his goat-skinned cloak, as if feeling for something, but he said nothing, so she said nothing.

“Your friends?”

“Humans like me. Kartesh says the dance will kill them. Please.”

Silenus appeared to think for a minute. “That Egyptian woman is said to be very smart. She is…” he snapped his fingers as if trying to remember the word.

“The Kairos,” Roland offered.

“Exactly. Goddess of time. They say she knows the future.”

“We are from the future and trying to get back there.” Boston could hardly keep the desperation out of her voice. Silenus put that serious expression on his face again.

“You and the elves and no doubt the friends you want to save, but the centaur belongs here, I believe.”

“A good person who was kind enough to help us in our time of need,” Boston said.

Silenus looked down at the centaur. He snapped his finger and the three in the hole shot up in the air while the hole closed itself up beneath their feet. “At the risk of sounding like an elf, what’s in it for me?” Silenus asked.

“I need a cup to show you,” Boston said. She had prepared for this possibility. She lifted her hand and a crude wooden cup, more like a bowl appeared. She took the grapes from Silenus’ hand, squeezed them and allowed the juice to flow into the cup. She stirred it with her finger while Silenus watched carefully. Then she got the canteen from her side, added a little water, and stirred it again. When it was as ready as she could make it, she handed it to Silenus. He took it carefully and sniffed it.

“Nice bouquet,” he said before he put it to his lips.

“It’s called wine and it has no seeds or stems.”

“Interesting,” Silenus liked it and stood still while Boston thought through the wine making process, what she knew of it. She knew Silenus followed along in her mind. “Interesting,” Silenus said, when she finished. “You humans are very clever. Sometimes I think the gods don’t give you nearly enough credit.”

“So, you will help us?” Boston tried not to plead.

Silenus looked up at the centaur once before he looked back at Boston. “Never let it be said a centaur was kinder than the god.” He smiled and pulled a clay jar from his clothing. “A formula I developed in case I ever got drunk. I call it Ipecac. It may do the trick, but I think I had better administer it.” With another snap of his fingers, they found themselves once again standing outside that giant door.

The travelers with Silenus did not have to knock on the giant door. Kartesh appeared in their midst and said Saturn was sleeping some of it off. “But he will be right back at it if we don’t administer a cure.” She curtsied to Silenus.

Silenus said, “Tut, tut woman,” and held out the jar. Kartesh took it, opened it without asking permission, put a touch on her finger and touched it to her tongue.

“Ipecac,” she called it by name though no one had mentioned that name. “This might help.”

Silenus raised his eyebrows. “You are as bright and insightful as I have heard, indeed. And by the way, you have very nice friends.”

“Actually, she’s my boss,” Boston said.

“Our goddess,” Mingus added with his hat in his hand and an elbow in Roland’s ribs.

They looked at the centaur, but he seemed to be having a hard time just keeping up with what was going on.

“I thought we might get him to take it in some of this lovely wine young miss Boston told me about,” Silenus suggested.

Kartesh gave Boston a hard look, but Boston shrugged. “I had to bargain. Was I wrong?”

“No,” Kartesh said. “4000 BC is about right for wine, but I’m not sure it appears in this part of the world for another two thousand years or so.” She looked at Silenus. She saw him rubbing his hands.

“A secret. I like secrets, and I am very good at keeping them.” He grinned as broadly as he could, and it looked much too broad for a human face.

Kartesh said no more. She lifted her hand and a goblet of wine appeared. She poured the ipecac into the wine and stirred it with her finger much as Boston had. Then she said, “wait here,” and vanished. Only a few moments, they heard a roar. “Woman. What have you done? You have poisoned me!”

A moment after that, the giant hovel vanished and left two elves, one centaur and one young woman staring at each other because Silenus had, perhaps wisely, vanished as well.

“Now what do we do?” Boston asked, but no one answered as they waited in that place for over an hour.

“I’m hungry,” Boston finally added, and they trudged back to their camp where they had lunch in silence.

Truscas argued hard for his idea, and in the end, since the centaur would be doing most of the heavy labor, they thought it only fair to give it a try. Roland still had his sword, and though it had not been designed to be used as an ax, it made it possible to cut through small and young trees. Turning them into logs and lashing them together into walls and a roof was not easy.

Truscas dragged the trees to the clearing. They did not want their work seen too near the clearing itself. Mingus found and used the vines to tie everything. It took the rest of the day. When they were at last satisfied that they had pieced together a reasonable bottomless box that would not fall apart the minute it dropped, they propped up one end of the box with the sturdiest sapling they could find. They had a strong vine tied to the base of that sapling and cleverly hid it under leaves as they stretched it back to their camp.

“I used to catch rabbits this way when I was young,” Mingus said.

“Me, too,” Truscas said. His flanks were full of sweat, and when a centaur sweats, it is something to see.

“I think we need better bait than carrots, though.” Roland got thoughtful as he nibbled on the deer they had for supper.

“Yes,” Mingus agreed. “But what kind of bait would be appropriate for a donkey-eared drunkard?”

“Speaking of which, don’t eat too many of those fermented grapes,” Boston pointed at the cluster in Roland’s hand, though she made a point of looking at all the men. “You’ll never catch anything if you get drunk yourselves.”

Roland smiled and set his down. Truscas swore the grass was sweet enough. He did not need any more grapes. “Yes, well.” Mingus frowned and put down the handful he was about to enjoy.

“Yip-Yip!” They had heard that all day, and though it gave them all headaches, they never caught sight of the old man until just then when they heard a loud voice. “Very interesting!” It came from the clearing with the box, and it echoed, like someone would if they were standing beneath the box.

“Quick!” Mingus yanked the rope and Roland pulled with him. They heard a great crashing sound and ran to the clearing. Truscas came only a moment behind them, still frozen in mid-chew at the sound of that voice. When Roland and Mingus arrived in the clearing, they saw the box still standing, supported by the sapling. They ran underneath to see if there might be some defect in the box or the set-up. Of course, when Truscas arrived to join them, one of his big back hooves struck the sapling and the thing came down and trapped the three of them on the inside. Boston did not laugh too hard.

Someone whistled, and Boston looked to the side. Silenus was just dancing off into the bushes, wiggling his butt and his ears in rhythm to some unheard music. The trouble was, when Boston concentrated on the god’s ears, he looked remarkably like Bugs Bunny, but when she took in his belly and remembered the one glimpse of his face that she caught, he looked more like Elmer Fudd.

Boston yawned, said good night to the boys and went back to the camp. She found all her things there, and everyone else’s as well. She assumed Kartesh must have managed that much, somehow. She called out for her but got no answer. Still. She put a big log on the fire, got the fairy weave blanket she called her own, and curled up beside the light while the men spent the next hour cutting a hole big enough in their box to escape.

Boston had fallen asleep by the time the others came back to the camp, hot, tired, cranky, and sweating more than ever.

~~~*~~~

Alexis and Katie danced all through that day and night, except when they ran from one Satyr or another. They were not Nymphs to give their sexual pleasure on a whim, and the Satyrs knew this and did not press themselves. Still, they had fun now and then chasing the women, and the women dutifully laughed and ran and hid.

Alexis found the dance of the fauns too complex for her taste. The dance of the centaurs looked too stately and, she felt, too dangerous lest she be stepped on. The dwarfs, on the other hand, simply wiggled and jumped like young children at a rock concert. My, how they enjoyed themselves.  And Katie danced, often in circles like a prima ballerina. Alexis guessed Katie had studied ballet when she was young, and then she wondered where these stray thoughts kept coming from. She wished she could get rid of them. They were interfering with her enjoyment of the dance.

Katie simply enjoyed, and all the more when the sun set, and the stars came up and the thin sliver of a moon.

To be sure, Lockhart, Captain Decker, and Lincoln did not spend all their time dancing, though they did not sleep or rest and did not eat anything other than grapes. The Nymphs corralled them early on and made them lay down on the grass so they could feed them the grapes and giggle. The more drunk the men got, the more the Nymphs giggled.

Lockhart felt nagged from somewhere in the back of his mind that he ought to be doing something. He did not know what, but it had to be something. Unfortunately, he also did not care to think about it. He looked at Decker and Lincoln occasionally. At first, he remembered something about them. By the end of the day, he had trouble remembering their names. By the following morning, he felt surprised that they actually let humans participate in the dance.

~~~*~~~

Roland got up early in the morning and salvaged as many of the vines he could from the wreckage of their box project. He wove the vines together into a fine net and let his father Mingus and Truscas clear away their ill-conceived trap. By the time the clearing had been once again relatively cleared of the debris, Roland finished with his weaving. He sent the older men out to gather more vine. In particular, he needed four long vines.

“I think we’ve cleared a square mile of vines,” Mingus commented on his return. Boston arrived with the rope from Captain Decker’s pack, and Truscas came in a short while later with the last of the long vines. Then Roland got to work in earnest.

He needed Truscas to bend a bigger tree than he liked, but they had cut all the nearby saplings. He tied the rope to the tree and the long vines to the rope on one end and the net on the four corners. He held the tree down with a last vine that he found and stretched it tight across the center of the net. Then he covered the net with leaves and made everyone keep back, especially the Centaur. One trip on that vine in the center and the net would be pulled straight up, trapping whatever got caught inside.

As a final precaution, Roland cast a small spell to ward off any innocent animals who might be tempted to cross the clearing. Then they headed back to camp to wait. Boston had a fine lunch ready, including some warm bread. That helped them all feel better, and Truscas marveled at the bread.

“Magic?” Truscas wondered about it.

“Yes,” Boston lied like an elf before either elf could lie for her.

Once again, they did not have to wait long before they heard “Aye-Aye, Yip!” Then they heard Silenus in the clearing. He shouted, “Ingenius!” This time, the three men walked carefully to a position where they could watch. They saw Silenus deliberately kick the trip vine. The trap sprung and he got caught. He swung wildly because the tree had been too big, but the whole time he shouted “Weeee!”

The three stepped out from the trees when the net stopped swinging, but then Silenus dripped himself through the spaces in the net like a glass of wine through a strainer and he reformed again on the ground. He shook a finger at the three, grinned, waved at Boston and ran back into the woods faster than they could follow. Mingus only had one thing to say.

“Dig.”

Boston shook her head while they used the lumber they had cut and some stones to dig a hole in the earth. It took all afternoon with Truscas hauling the dirt away in a couple of baskets Roland hastily wove out of the net. When the hole became six feet deep and about six feet long and wide, Mingus covered it over with branches and leaves.

“I’m tired,” he said when he was done. “I need a night’s sleep.” And he did that. In fact, they all did that, and without bothering to eat supper.

************************

MONDAY

If Silenus can be convinced to help and they can get Saturn sober, the travelers might yet be saved. Until Monday, Happy Reading

*