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Fighting the Yeti

By Madame vonHedwig on Friday, January 22nd, 2010

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In which violence ensues.

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While Adolphus steered them towards the cave, Claire confronted Annabelle in hissing whispers, pointing, horrified, at Mirabelle, who had her hands deep in the fur of the yeti’s neck.

“It’s going to EAT her!”

“It’ll be sorry if it does.” Annabelle would not take her eyes off the Yeti, even to argue. Her mouth was set in a grim line.

“We’ve got to stop her!”

“Don’t make any sudden moves! You’ll get her eaten for sure.”

“What is she doing?”

“If you’ve made a weapon there, get ready to use it,” was Annabelle’s reply.

Adolphus spun the wheel, yanking the little ship into a sharp turn, heading for the yawning blackness ahead.

“Light!” shouted the Count. “Where is there light?”

“I don’t know, it’s not my ship.” Adolphus said. “Look for yourself, why don’t you!”

The kidnapper swatted at him, but he ducked out of reach. He scanned the controls, looking for a light switch. He didn’t like the look of the cave. The mouth of it was huge, more than big enough for the launch, but from their approach he could see no floor to it.

The sun was setting behind the western peaks, leaving the valley floor, where poor Ulrik and the boiler crew were marooned, already in darkness. High above them the fading sunlight shone pale on the wild, snowy cliffs without brightening the cave at all. It yawned black and menacing before them.

“What is this one?” The Count reached out and pushed a lever forward. Adolphus shouted “No!” and threw himself at the lever, but it was too late. The engines surged; the ship leapt forward, and darted into the cave. With a terrible grinding sound the net of gas balloons strained against the top of the cave mouth. With a tremendous POP POP POP, three of the balloons exploded, and the launch dropped.

Adolphus and the Count were thrown to the floor. Claire and Annabelle were thrown to the floor. Bettina was thrown to the floor, but not at all hurt, because she was so close to it already. Gerhardt and Mirabelle were thrown to the floor, which hurt Mirabelle because she was so far from it, and Gerhardt because his sister fell on top of him. Most of all, it hurt the yeti, because the handful of moss she clutched was ripped off his head as she fell.

As Mirabelle fell, she tore away a patch of moss larger than Father’s hand. The creature’s neck glistened with fresh blood. It roared louder than the engines and dropped to a fighting crouch. Its eyes darted around the ship. It grabbed Gerhardt in one paw and Mirabelle in the other. It peered into their faces and dropped them again. It lunged towards Annabelle and Claire, then discarded them as well.

The yeti spun round, spied Montesanto and sprung. In a leap it landed by the fallen kidnapper and picked him up in one mighty paw.

Adolphus pulled himself up, and pushed the lever back. The engines cut off, and the murderous yeti now roared alone. The ship stopped with a crunch, as it found the cave floor.

Montesanto screamed in terror. The beast threw him onto the control console. Sparks flared from the instruments. The ship shuddered, and tilted starboard. The yeti yanked the Count up to its face and shook him. Montesanto’s screaming had stopped, and he hung limp from the creature’s paws.

Though fixed in horror by the violence before him, Adolphus had been raised on an airship, where uncontained fire was a constant danger. Without thinking, he pulled off his parka and beat the console with it.

“Engines!” shouted Claire. “I don’t hear engines!” She scrambled and slid across the tilting deck, trying to reach the controls.

“We’re sliding!” Annabelle said.

The cave floor was steep, and the launch slid further into the cave with a hideous scraping sound. It stopped abruptly, caught on a stalagmite.

Adolphus tumbled into the yeti. It staggered, and flung the Count to the floor. Then it trained its dark eyes on Adolphus, reached down with a shaggy arm, and grabbed the boy around the neck.

Before it could even lift him, the yeti was pelted with machine parts and broken furniture. The twins were throwing as fast and hard as they could.

“Trebuchet!” Claire pointed from the floor, and Gerhardt manned the miniature siege weapon.

The yeti dropped Adolphus and started toward the twins and Bettina, who was scrambling about behind them finding them ammunition.

“Fire! the twins shouted.

“Only one shot.” Gerhardt lined up the shot, studying the device, trying to determine the proper trajectory.

“Fire now!” the twins screamed as the howling creature advanced.

Gerhardt pulled the release pin. The chair arm lever swung around. The ammunition launched into the air. For the longest second of their lives, the children watched it soar. It hit the yeti right between the eyes.

“Huzzah!” the children shouted.

The yeti staggered back, shook its head, and took another step towards them.

“Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!” the children screamed.

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This story began with On Grandmothers. The previous episode is Fighting the Count and the next is Falling.

Tags: Adolphus, Airship, Annabelle, Bettina, children, Claire, gas, Gerhardt, hedwig, Himalayas, lamp, light, Mirabelle, punk, steam, steampunk, stories, story, von Hedwig, weapon, ya, Yeti, young adult