Hornstoggle Way Down

Hornstoggle Way Down
By
Cathryn Martin

"I did not!"
"You did, too!" "Did not!" "Did too!"
"Hey, hey, children! What's the problem here?"
"He knocked that blue vase off the table, Gran. He broke it into a million pieces!" Sandy said, wide eyed. She stood with her hands behind her back.
Siggy, her younger brother, leaned against the front door, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I didn't do it, Gran. She did. Sandy's always trying to blame me for everything." He stuck his tongue out at his sister and sauntered to Granny Holden' side.
Granny Holden' eyes scrunched up, deep wrinkled forming around her weathered face as she shook her head and clucked her tongue at the two children. She stared at one, then the other expectantly. Sandy and Siggy couldn't meet her eyes for
more than a minute before finding something else to examine in the living room.
Granny sighed and plopped down in the emerald green armchair. "I do believe it's time to tell you two about the Hornstoggle way down."
Relieved to be off the hook for the blue carnival glass vase, Sandy and Siggy sat on either arm of the chair.
"What's the Hornstoggle way down, Gran?" Siggy asked, making a face at Sandy.
"The Hornstoggle used ,to live way down under. So far, in fact, that it never saw the light of day. That old beast was as pale as a moon's paring in an overcast sky. It lived way down, because that's where it belonged - way down deep - away from the good life on the up top, where the sun shines and the birds sing their happy songs."
Sandy's arm crept across the back of the chair, flicking Siggy on the arm. Siggy tried to pinch her as she pulled her hand back.
"Ow, Siggy hit me!" Sandy squealed.
"Did not!" Siggy said defiantly.
"Hush, children," Granny Holden said, "You all need to listen with all your ears to this here story. It be the truth and something every child should know." Sandy and Siggy settled down after sticking their tongues out at one another and gave Granny their undivided attention.
"As I said, the Hornstoggle way down didn't deserve life on the up top. It was a beast of terrible size and horrible to look upon. It survived in the dark, where things can't see proper, and what it fed upon was the lies and deceitfulness of those on the up top."
Sandy and Siggy lowered their heads and squeezed their hands between their knees.
Granny Holden patted Sandy's knee, then Siggy's arm.
"See, I seen the Hornstoggle with my own eyes once, when I was a young'un like yourselves."
Siggy shot Sandy an exaggerated look, his eyes rolling from one side to the other. Sandy grinned back, giving him a curt nod.
"You saying you saw a Hornstoggle monxgdf when you was little Gran?" Siggy asked.
Granny Holden turned to her grandson, her face serious, and nodded gravely. "I seen him, Siggy, just the same as I see you don't believe."
Sandy grinned at her brother. "Don't pay any attention to him, Gran. Go on with your story."
"Ain't no story child!" Granny snorted, "It's the truth of what happened a long time ago."
"Okay, Gran," Sandy sighed, "Go on."
Granny Holden settled herself deeper into the worn velveteen chair and continued.
"At first, the Hornstoggle stayed way down. Deep where it belonged, but then those livin' on the up top began to lie and cheat and steal more and more. With each load of deceit that beast ate, it came closer and closer to the up top. It got stronger the closer it was to its source of food, so to speak. Then it was just up under."
"Up under?" Sandy asked.
"That's right, honey. Just up under the surface of things, like rocks and trees. Like the root cellar and the porch floorboards. So's it could be close to its next
meal. Cause the Hornstoggle knew the lies and the cheatin' was best when it was fresh and new. You understand?"
Siggy shifted uncomfortably on the arm of the chair and picked at the lace doily along its back. "Yeah, Gran, I understand."
"Good," Granny Holden said, "Cause that was the root of the problem, so to speak."
"Now, the Hornstoggle must of been up under the old porch that day I told a whopper to my Ma and Pa, cause that horrible beast came to the surface when I went on my merry way. I'd told Ma that the bull must've gotten out cause the latch slipped of its own, but it didn't. That latch got undone, like it always did, cause I thought it was funny watching my Ma and Pa trying to round up that stupid critter, and get him back where he belonged. Anyway, after I'd spent some time playing with mama cat's new kittens in the haymow, I came back to the house to have a bite to eat and that's when I seen it."
"Was it waiting for you, Gran? On the porch?" Sandy asked, a note of concern in her voice.
"Sure nuf it was, child. Ma and Pa were still out in the pasture trying to round up two thousand pounds of beef on the hoof, sos I was on my own, if you take my meaning. That Hornstoggle was crouched down under the eaves, huddling its big old beastly body in wait for me."
"What did it look like, Granny?" Siggy asked.
"Oh, child! That Hornstoggle was covered with black, splotchy scales that made like a hissing sound when it moved. It had eyes the size of dinner plates (the better to see way down and just under) and those eyes glowed pale yellow at me, like a moonbeam playing on window glass. Its blue- black tongue lolled out of its mouth like a panting dog on a hot afternoon and its long, boney hands twitched, setting its dirty claws to clicking. I don't mind telling you I was as scared as mouse at a cat convention!"
"What did you do, Granny?" Sigg yasked, leaning against her shoulder.
"Well, I thought maybe I could turn tail and head for the hills, but before I got my legs moving in the right direction, that beast with breath like rotten eggs took hold of my shoulder and turns me back around. I felt those claws scratching at my skin, right there." Granny Holden rubbed her right shoulder and shuddered.
Sandy and Siggy looked at each other wide-eyed.
Granny sighed and continued, "The Hornstoggle, it pulled me right up against it, those scales hissing and cackling away at me. I don't mind telling you now, my bladder nearly burst trying to hold in what didn't want to stay in. Then that beast whispered in my ear, its hot breath steaming against my cheek. It said, real low, in a strangled sort of voice: 'You keep at it, little missy, and I'll be big as this house in no time.' Then it laughed, a scary sound, like wind howling through tree skeletons in winter, and dropped me on the ground."
"Wha...what happened next?" Sandy whispered as Siggy shot a frightened look out the front window.
"Well child, that huge, ugly beast kinda like held his breath for a minute and the air just went right outta him. Whoosh! Like lettin' go of a balloon just blown up. He sailed high up in the air then floated down between a crack in the porch. Last thing I heard was a sound like an owl hootin' in the wind. You understand, mind you, it wasn't no owl. It was that Hornstoggle laughing in his own evil way."
"Did you ever see him again, Gran?" Siggy asked.
"No child. My Pa, well, he was first to find me after my visit with the Hornstoggle. He saw the fear in my eyes and asked me what was wrong. I told him about the creature that came for me and he's the one told me it's name and what it came for. After I'd told the truth of the bull and his gate, I don't mind telling you, I felt a whole lot better - even if I did get a whuppin for fibbin to my folks. A sore behind beats feeling the hot breath and sharp claws of the Hornstoggle any day."
Sandy hung her head and draped her arm around Granny Holden' shoulders. "I knocked the vase off the shelf, Gran. I didn't mean to, though."
"I know you didn't do it on purpose, honey," Granny Holden said. She smiled at her granddaughter and patted her on the knee. "If'n you had meant to do it on purpose, I bet the Hornstoggle would've come right up through the floor for you."
Granny laughed at the serious faces of the two children. "I know he's waiting, somewhere way down, but I know what he likes and I won't give him the satisfaction of visiting my house ever again. Isn't that right, Sandy."
"Yeah, Gran."
"That's as it should be," Gran nodded, "gotta keep that beast way down."


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