As they were talking, Red Whale, his new friends, and their ranting prisoner arrived.
Breister rushed ahead of the others. As soon as he had seen Helbara in the distance, a delicious, electrifying bolt of recognition raced through him. In that moment, the image that had so long so haunted his dreams and life—the remembered beauty and delightful brown eyes of his treasured wife—leaped into the vivid present! The steadiness of mind and solid calmness in emergencies, so characteristic of Breister, failed him completely now. The iron ring around Helbara’s neck, the dirty, rusty chains holding her in such a dreadful place—powerless to veil the beautiful spirit and delightful smile—made his eyes swim with tears. He staggered forward the last few steps and embraced his beloved wife, weeping uncontrollably.
“Breister! Breister! Breister!” Hugging Breister close, Helbara happily called his name repeatedly, even as her eyes were fixed on a tall, young Wood Cow standing just behind Breister. The young beast’s frame was strong and tall, like Breister, but her large eyes were not the pale blue of her father, but the deep dark brown of her mother.
“Helga!” gasped Helbara, realizing the tall, mature Wood Cow was the daughter she had hidden away in the river to escape Wrackshee bondage ten years earlier!
“Mama!” Helga exclaimed.
In another moment, mother, father, and daughter were locked in each other’s arms, with joy and happiness that cannot be adequately described.
“What have they done to you?” sobbed Breister. “Get her out of these chains!”
“You all know each other!” Red Whale exclaimed, incredulously.
Breister, unable to reply, simply nodded his head from where it nestled over Helbara’s shoulder. The ironic contrast of his joyful, tearful face resting against the hard, rough iron collar around Helbara’s neck soon ended.
Returning with the key, Katteo handed it to Helga and she released her mother from her long bondage. As the iron ring fell free from Helbara’s neck, Red Whale pushed the still ranting Sabre Tusk forward. “There now,” Red Whale laughed, “don’t let that neck iron go to waste—just clap it around the neck of this here stark, raving mad freebooter!”
Click-Snap! As the iron ring clapped around Sabre Tusk’s neck, Helbara pulled back from her family’s embrace. “My work is not finished here,” she said firmly. “There will be much to tell and much to ask later,” she said. “But we must free the others and depart from here before trouble comes back our way—which it surely will before long!” Lifting her long-used hat from the peg where it hung, she firmly unrolled the brim as a sign that her bondage was ended, pulled the now full-brimmed hat on her head, and said, “Now we free your mates! But even that will not be easy.”
Leading the group to the far side of the station, Helbara pointed to a large wagon parked near the building. “Push that wagon out of the way,” she directed. “It is parked there to hide the entrance to the central square where the slaves are kept—your comrades are there.”
Toshty, Annie, and Helga fell to the task and rolled the wagon back away from the building. With the wagon removed, a large iron double-door was revealed. Helbara took the key that had opened her iron collar and fitted it to the lock on the door, smiling as the lock clicked open. “They use a single skeleton key for all their locks,” she laughed. “Not the best security plan, it seems!”
Helbara’s good cheer faded, however, as she gave further instructions to the group. “Have every weapon you carry at the ready—there’s no telling what will meet us when I open the door. There is an immense—nay, gigantic—nay, stupendous—monitor lizard guarding the entrance to the central square. As a bit of a joke, they call her Little Puss—though she is large enough to eat a couple of us in a single gulp!”
Slowly opening one of the doors a crack, Helbara peered to the inside. “Yech!” she coughed as a revolting odor exhaled from the passage below. “Oh, by the Ancient Ones!” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. “The stink of that monitor’s breath makes me woozy!” The presence of an immense monitor just beyond the iron double-doors was unmistakable to all: vicious hissing and snorting, jaws snapping, chains grinding, claws raking across stone, and leather straining under great pressure told the story.