Lightening erupted from a cloudless sky and the boat disintegrated in an explosion that sent blue-haired figures flying into the air. Tom watched them fall back down and revised his opinion of the gatekeepers. They certainly knew how to act once they had made up their minds.
And they got on with the job. When the last of the guardians had splashed down one of them wagged his staff at Father's dinghy and directed it towards the Sixth Circle. Tom expected a similar invitation and got a nasty shock when he was sent in the opposite direction.
Crispin grabbed his arm.
'What's happening, Professor?'
'I think we're being told to bugger off.'
'You mean they don't want us to go with Father?'
'Looks like it, Crispin. They are sending him to the Sixth Circle. That will take him back to the Sixth Realm.'
'What about us?'
'I think they want us to return to shore.'
Crispin glanced around.
'You could be wrong. The outboard motor has just cut out and we are drifting towards that other whirlpool ... the one called the Ninth Circle. It leads to the Ninth Realm.'
'You said the Lord of Light lives there.'
'That's right, Professor.'
Tom grabbed a paddle.
'We're not going to a place like that ...'
'I don't think we have much choice, Professor.'
Tom scarcely heard. He tried to steer away from the whirlpool but his frantic efforts made no difference. The dinghy was caught in its swirling waters. The front passed through the circle of light and he felt the same falling sensation as on previous inter-realm trips. It went on for a while then he seemed to be rising back up. His head broke the surface and he found himself in a very different place from the one he had left. The air was balmy and the scenery looked more French than English. He was in a pool at the mouth of a cave. Crispin had swum to the edge and a beautiful girl was reaching out to him.
END