Chapter 85

Leap-and-Snatch

What a night; I mean, what a night!

I woke from what felt like a month-long daze. Ella and I were cuddled together in our blue and yellow mixed poof. In some parts of the poof, where our fur had blended together, it seemed green. She stirred from her sleep.

“Boggo?”

I mumbled my reply.

“Where are we?”

Where were we indeed? “Someone’s private chamber?”

There were bowls for sleeping in, shelves of baskets of dried food, basins of aquifer fresh water, and small piles of incandescent crystals. There was no other fur, no other evidence that the chamber belonged to someone. It was as though the chamber was reserved for guests.

Ella laid her chin on my blue chest. Her eyes were big, and they gleamed. “That wool bane leaf…”

“Oh boy, was that an experience! It was like magic. I could feel every splatter bestie for miles of tunnels.”

“Even Thrush,” said Ella. “I’m glad he’s around.”

“Thrush is the best. He changed my life, you know.”

“Do you think we would have met if Thrush didn’t pounce on you?”

“No, I don’t think so. I would have never even known sunlight.”

We chuckled back and forth as we lay together in the early morning. We talked softly of sweet things while we cuddled and nuzzled. When our bellies began to rumble, food was on the mind. We decided that we shall in fact get started with our day.

And just when we sat up, voices grew louder outside the chamber. A dozen footsteps padded closer. Young splatter besties rounded the chamber entrance.

“‘Scuse us,” said the eldest of the young. “Mr. Boggo? Ms. Ella?”

“That’s us,” said Ella. “Good morning!”

“We heard you have games to play? Can we play a game? Can we show you a game?”

A game! More besties with games! I shot to my feet. My tail spasmed, and my rib pinched me.

The young ones filed in. Everyone made their own poof and wiggled into it. There was a little yellow in mine and a little blue in Ella’s. The last splatter bestie to enter—the smallest and youngest—grunted as they dragged a folded board in. The board was checkered purple and orange, and it was placed in the middle. Polished cabochons were placed on two rows of the checkered pattern on either side. One set of cabochon was carnelian; the other was blue apatite.

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“It’s called Leap-and-snatch,” said the youngest. “Two besties play at a time. Each cab moves one space forward, sideways, or diagonally. You can leap over any adjacent cab and claim it. Whoever claims all the other player’s cabs is the winner.”

Ella was the first to play, and she lost. I went next, and I lost. We rotated like that, losing to all the young splatter besties. And oh boy did they have a riot with winning. I’d never seen anyone laugh so hard or so much! They were clutching their bellies and rolling all around the chamber. Ella and I couldn’t help but get completely caught up in their fun.

In our last game, Ella was confident she was about to win. She had eight cabochons left, and her opponent only had two. She snatched one up, forcing her piece to end up adjacent to her opponent’s last cabochon.

“It’s your turn,” said Ella, “but I guess you know where this is headed.”

All the young besties—all of them!—stifled chuckles.

“Watch this,” said her opponent.

He leapt over her cabochon, which we all knew was going to happen. Then, her opponent leapt over another adjacent cabochon of Ella’s, which we did not see coming. With only 6 cabochons left, Ella and I gaped in horror as her opponent landed on another spot that was adjacent to another one of her cabochons. They snatched that one off the board, then another, then another, then another; and the game was over. Ella lost.

The young besties writhed on the floor with tears in their eyes.

“Okay, okay,” said Ella. “Fair game. So let’s play a new game.”

The cabochons were cleared away and the board was removed. Ella scribbled a wiry circle in the soft earth. She removed figurines from her bag, along with a collection of dice. The young besties watched in awe. The figurines were cloves of garlic with legs. They each fit together to make a whole bulb.

“Who wants to play,” said Ella.

We all raised our hands high. I was so eager, my hand went pretty high too.

And so the game began. 5 young splatter besties gave names to their figurines. We gave the others crystals that would come in handy when needed so that everyone felt included.

Ella set their figurines down in the sketched circle. She looked at me.

“Me?”

“It’s your turn to lead the game.”

All eyes were on me. My hands shook, and my ears went half mast. “All right. Listen up snots! …oh, maybe not snots, sorry…. Ahem, listen up splatters! You’re on a quest. A… hmm… Oh! A star has fallen, and it is stuck underground! You must help escort the star out of the tunnels and to the surface of the world! But be careful, there are lots of distractions lurking in the tunnels.”

“Distractions?” chorused the young splatters.

“There’s delicious warm-warm beer, hot baths, crunchy foods, pots of honey, and lots and lots of warm places for sleeping—all things that stars love.”

And what an adventure we had! The game began in a round picnic basket. Leaving the basket and exploring the crater and grubbing for the star was half of the battle. Then they needed to scour the tunnels for the star and avoid distractions, but they did it in record time.

When the game was over, we meandered down the halls. The young besties cavorted about and slung dozens of questions at us. Where did the yellow besties come from? And the blue? How come they had never heard of blue and yellow besties before, and were there red and green too?

Chief Yuyu intercepted us. The big ‘ol guy smiled warmly at us and presented the hide waterskin of warm-warm beer I had left him.

“Have you any more of this? It’s not just me. We all want more.”

“As a matter of fact, I do have more. My friend Thrush has a whole lot. He’s two percent red bestie now, and even bigger than you!”

“No!” said the amazed chief.

“Yes!” said Ella. “BIg round belly too.”

“Let’s go to a much larger chamber,” I said. “I’ll call him.”

As the chief led us back the way he’d come, Ella said, “We have to warn you about Thrush…”