Deathly Peril At The Volcano’s Edge - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – At Danger's Door


Using makeshift paddles from the wreckage of the plane and the immense power of my uncanny upper body strength, I followed the avian trail and rowed us to shore. Being a superlatively quick healer, my semi-mauled leg was already beginning to show signs of improvement. We stowed our makeshift raft and made our way inland.

As we ploughed our way through this foreign terrain, a shout from Big John alerted us to a worrying sight – the crashed remains of The Perfesser's hydra-pnuematic gyroscope. Of the Perfesser himself, there was no sign. I studied the area around the wreckage. Utilising my advanced tracking skills gleaned from my time amongst the legendary walrus hunters of Alaska, I could see that there had been a struggle of some sort and that the Perfesser had been taken against his will. The tracks, however, soon disappeared so we plunged on regardless.

After a trek of indeterminate time, we came at last upon the village of Chief N'Dego. The villagers welcomed us but it was a subdued affair compared to my usual hero's welcome. I explained to Lucy that normally I was festooned with garlands and carried shoulder high through the village to rapturous chanting but obviously they were taking the loss of their maidens to heart. Finally, we entered the morose Chief's hut to find him sat with only four of his favourite concubines (always a bad sign).

"Fear not, chief, we shall find your girls, rescue our fallen chum and solve the mystery of the strange and unearthly noises issuing forth from your local volcano or my name isn't Doc Kirk," reassured I.*

He seemed unmoved by me reassurances so I resolved that there was only one thing for it. Words are not enough for a man of action such as myself, for we all know that actions speak louder. Pausing only to procure some provisions and apply fresh tattered rags to my leg wounds, our little band of intrepid explorers set off for the mouth of danger itself – the volatile volcano at the heart of the island....



*Obviously, I reassured him in the local dialect in which I am fluent