4 Two Strangers

CHAPTER 4 Two Strangers We were in the machine in a matter of seconds. I shivered all over. I had no idea what would happen. At first, we were in total darkness. I couldn't see anything. I felt my feet clinging to the steps of a ladder. Ned and Conseil followed me. At the bottom of the ladder a door opened. It shut with a bang. We were alone. All was black. I could hardly imagine where we were. It was a good half hour

before we got some light. It appeared with two men. One man was short with strong muscles. He had dark hair and a black mustache. The other man was tall with good looks. The two strangers spoke to each other in a language I had never heard. I spoke up in French and told them I didn't understand. When I got no answer, I decided to tell my story just in case they might understand a few words. I told them our names, speaking slowly about each one of us. The men listened to me. I was sure they didn't understand. I nodded for Ned to try in English. They made no reply to him either. Conseil then tried in German, but we got the same blank stares from the men. In a few minutes they left, leaving us confused and scared. We talked about our situation for a few minutes. Just then the door opened. A man

entered with clothes, coats, and pants made of a material I had never seen. We quickly got out of our wet things. As we dressed, the man set the table in the room and put out three plates. "What do you think they eat here?" asked Ned. "Turtle liver and shark?" To our surprise, we were treated as if we were in a nice restaurant. We ate several kinds of fish, some of which I had never tasted before. There were other foods that I enjoyed, even though I couldn't tell if they were vegetable or animal. Each of us cleaned our plates. We saw some writing on each one: MOBILIS IN MOBILI N. The letter N was probably the initial of the boat's captain. We didn't spend time thinking about that. We were tired and full from our meal. Ned

and Conseil stretched out on the carpet and were soon asleep. I couldn't relax, though. My thoughts were on all that had happened to us in the last several hours. Finally I allowed myself to rest. I fell into a deep, deep sleep in this strange monster we had found.