Chapter Six: A Weary WorldWillis pushed Linda onto the boat, still pointing the tranquiliser gun at her. The misshapen and bedraggled bridesmaids followed. Bee carried Sophie like a balloon while the miniature Sherry Ann sat on Pandora’s shoulder. Once aboard, they untied the boat from the dock and it sailed freely into the dark tunnel.
The light from the previous room grew smaller and smaller until it vanished altogether. It was chillingly silent in the tunnel until a small sing-song voice came from the back of the boat.
“There's no earthly way of knowing which direction we are going...”
“Bee?” Sophie whispered. “Is that you?”
“There's no knowing where we're rowing or which way the river's flowing...”
“I thought it was you,” Bee replied.
“Is it raining, is it snowing, is a hurricane a-blowing?”
“I appreciate your use of slang but this isn’t funny,” Sherry Ann said breathlessly.
“Not a speck of light is showing so the danger must be growing.”
“I want it to stop,” Pandora said, holding Sherry Ann closer.
“Are the fires of hell a-glowing? Is the grisly reaper mowing?”
“Linda, we’ve had enough,” Willis shouted. “Stop it!” The singing voice grew louder, almost screaming.
“Yes, the danger must be growing for the rowers keep on rowing!”
“Guys,” Linda said fearfully from the other end of the boat. “It’s not me.”
“And they're certainly not showing any signs that they are slowing!”
There was an unearthly screech as the boat stopped moving. The lights came up and the pale-faced gang realised they were at another dock. Shaken and uncertain, they disembarked and walked through an unmarked door.
The door opened into a smartly decorated office. At the far end, a large chair faced away from the group. They approached it cautiously, huddled together. Without warning, it swivelled around to face them. Dwarfed by the relatively massive chair sat a tiny duckling. He hopped onto the table and stepped onto a button that started a machine whirring. A voice emanated from the speaker at its side.
“Hello, Willis,” it said as Duck quacked. “It’s good to see you again.”
“It’s good to see you too, Duck,” Willis said with a smile.
“Welcome to DANTE,” Duck said as he spread his tiny wings. “I’m sorry you had to be introduced to the facility like this. Your friends seem to be a little worse for wear. And as for you...” He turned to Agent L. “It’s about time we met.”
“I have nothing to say to you,” Linda spat.
Duck quack-sighed as he looked back to Willis. “You need to finish her.” He motioned to a gun on the table. Unlike the tranquiliser guns they had been using, this was the real deal. Willis looked at it and looked back to Duck. He was surprised to hear such a callous command from his little friend. He picked up the gun and looked over at Linda. Slowly, he raised his arm...
And placed the gun back at Duck’s feet.
“I’m sorry. I won’t do this,” he said. “You can clean up your own mess.” Willis turned to his friends and ushered them towards the door, leaving Linda with Duck.
“So shines a good deed in a weary world,” the speaker crackled. “Congratulations, my friend.”
Willis turned around and saw Linda and Duck smiling back at him.
“What?”
“I needed to test you,” Duck said, jumping up and flapping his wings. “Linda abandoned HERMES after the wedding and came to me on her knees, asking for forgiveness. I offered her the chance to prove she had truly changed by bringing you to me.” Linda nodded bashfully as Duck continued. “I can’t run this whole place by myself. Just look at me! But with your help, DANTE can reach its full potential. I needed to confirm that you were the person I was looking for. You’ve done it, Willis. You’ve passed the test.”
Bee’s mouth opened in shock and she let go of Sophie, who floated up and bumped off the ceiling. Pandora looked back and forth, wondering if now was the right time to shout ‘TWIST’. Sherry Ann smiled wryly, impressed that even she had been fooled. Willis walked up to the desk and reached out his pinky finger. Duck wrapped his wings around it.
“Way to be, Willis,” he said.
“Way to be, Duck,” Willis replied.
Linda and the bridesmaids cheered as the friends were reunited.
“I’m sorry you ended up like this,” Linda said, “but I did try to warn you.”
“My deductions were right all along,” Sherry Ann said. “You were only trying to help us.”
“I would say we’ve learned our lesson,” Bee said. “But probably not.”
“I thought it was pretty fun, to be honest,” Pandora agreed.
“Can someone get me down from here?” Sophie shouted.
“Let’s go to the lab and get you all fixed up,” Duck said.
They walked and waddled together, a weird and wonderful group, but a group of friends nonetheless.
THE END