The Fourfold Key
Chapter Four: Tom

Ruth trudged on through the tunnel, as she had been for about an hour. Gee, Idabelle never mentioned how long this tunnel was, she thought, out of breath and exhausted. I won’t need to do PE for a month after I get back. If I ever do get back. She sighed, wondering how long it would take to get to the other side, and disheartened by the discouraging thoughts. Just as Ruth managed to push the thoughts away, her body hit a wall. Hard.

“Oof!” Ruth cried, nursing a now-bruised palm and dropping her lantern in the process, “Stupid wall, look what you did! Oh great, my light went out. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better,” she said sarcastically. l guess talking to walls is a sign of boredom. I must be going crazy. “Hey, what are you doing in my path? Idabelle didn’t mention a sharp turn. Oh no!” Ruth gasped, fear taking hold of her. “What if I’m going in circles? It makes sense now, it taking so long to get there.”

Just as Ruth really began to panic, she noticed small patches of light on the ground. She looked up, and saw slivers of light on the ceiling right above her.

“Of course!” Ruth smacked her hand against her forehead, forgetting the palm was bruised. She ignored the pain and kept right on talking. “I didn’t turn around, and there isn’t a turn; I’m at the end of the tunnel, stupid! Now all I’ve got to do is figure out how to open this trap door!” Ruth began to feel around the edge of the door, looking for a spring, or a handle, or something. “Come on, there’s got to be a way to get this door open. It feels like there should be a handle or something to—oh!” Ruth exclaimed as the trap door swung open and she was blinded by sunlight. She squinted and looked up at a silhouette in the door frame. The figure held out a worn hand. Ruth took it. He heaved her up out of the tunnel with surprising strength.

“Are you…Tom?” asked Ruth as he set her on the ground. Her eyes were sore but adjusting to the bright light and she could just start to make out her surroundings. “I’m Ruth. Idabelle sent me.”

“Did she now?” the man mused in a low, husky voice. “Well, I suppose you should come in. This way. Hrrmph.” The man, Tom, who Ruth now saw was incredibly short, made an odd sound, like clearing your throat and holding in a sneeze at the same time. She followed him into the house that looked a lot like Idabelle’s, only made with a different, darker shade of wood. It also had two large oak trees flanking either side of the door. Once in the house, Ruth could see Tom much clearer and stood, gawking at the strange sight before her. Tom was no more than four feet tall but looked as though he was in his mid-twenties. He turned to look back at Ruth and noticed her staring. He arched a questioning eyebrow.

“What? Do I have something in my beard?” he quickly brushed through his long frizzy beard with his fingers.

“Uh, no, it’s just…You’re, really…Uh, short, that’s all. You’re like, four feet tall. I wasn’t expecting it—that’s all.” Ruth blushed at her rudeness.

Tom frowned and made that odd clearing-your-throat-and-holding-a-sneeze noise. “Young lady, I will have you know that I am four foot two, which is one inch taller than the average dwarf.”

“Dwarf?!” Ruth gasped, giddy laughter bubbling up inside her. She was talking to a dwarf. “You’re a—a dwarf?” Tom nodded and Ruth continued. “Oh. My. Gosh. This is so COOL! I’m talking to a dwarf! Is that awesome or what?”

“Yes, yes, that’s very nice. Can we please get on to the more important things at hand?” Ruth grinned sheepishly and nodded her head. “What were you doing at Idabelle’s house, and why would she send you to me?”

Ruth explained everything to Tom.

“Wait,” Tom interrupted, a worried expression on his face. “Did you say that your father’s name is Collen McKenzie?”

“Yes,” Ruth said, unfazed by the worried hrrmph that came from the dwarf. “Anyway, as I was saying—”

Ruth was interrupted a second time by Tom. “No! Don’t say anything else. The gnomes could be here any minute now! This way!” He grabbed Ruth before she had time to protest and led her out to the tunnel. Motioning for her to get inside, he said, “We must hide! This is much more urgent than you think!”

Ruth quickly jumped into the hole, frightened by his serious manner, and Tom came tumbling down after.

“Hrrmph, I keep forgetting how far down this is. Even though I made it, I can’t seen to remember.”

“You made this tunnel?” Ruth exclaimed. When Tom nodded in reply she gasped, “Wow! That’s really cool!”

“Dwarfs are expert miners.” he explained in a hushed tone. “Though I’m the only one of my kind to use it for good.”

“What do you mean ‘use it for good’?” Ruth questioned, “What are the other dwarves doing that isn’t good?”

“The dwarves work for the Sorceress. The leaders kept it a secret from us for many years, but about a decade and a half ago the secret came out. Then they told us we were making weapons to go out and destroy the whole of the world and to rule it, just the Sorceress and them. I ran off and went to tell anyone who would listen about the plot. No one believed me. I was only about twelve when that happened so I really can’t blame them. I’ve stopped trying to convince them about it. They all think I’m eccentric. Especially since I’m the only dwarf that has ever stepped out of a cave.”

“Woah, well, I’m glad you didn’t listen to them. And you were so young!”

“Shh, here they come, do you hear them?”

Ruth listened closely and, sure enough, the pattering of little feet could be heard from above.

“Where’d they go?” came a squeaky voice above them, “I know they were here a minute ago, I swear!”

High pitched titters came from above them.

“Never mind,” came a growly, but squeaky voice that Ruth hadn’t realized someone could possess. Then, as weird as this day was turning out to be, Ruth doubted she would ever be surprised about anything ever again. “I want you to search every inch of this property. They were here, and they are most likely hiding. Go! Now!”

Ruth had a sudden thought that made her spine shiver in excitement. She leaned over and whispered urgently into Tom’s ear. “Tom, these things are shorter than you, right? They’re like, two feet?”

“Yes, why do you ask?” he whispered back.

“We’re bigger than them, and if the Sorceress does have Dad, we can just pop out of this thing, scare them off, catch one and get it to tell them where my father is, right?”

“Wrong! The gnomes may be small, but they are stronger than you think.”

“Strong how?” Ruth countered. “Do they have magical super powers?”

“No, they—”

Ruth was done listening. Pushing Tom aside, she lunged for the door. Hand on the latch she began to tug, only to be pulled down by Tom.

“I’m sorry Ruth, but this has gone too far.” He wrestled her to the floor, pinned her arms behind her. “I’m really, very sorry. It’s the only thing I can do. I’ll let you go when they’re gone, but not a moment before then. You’re not going out there. It’s too dangerous.”

Ruth rolled on her side in attempts to get away, and Tom lunged for her arm, accidentally slamming his fist into her head.

Ruth slipped into unconsciousness for the second time that day.