Part Three
Recap: Discovering an old tunnel under a loose floorboard under the bed,
Tweak and Rio decide to investigate.  Going a ways down the tunnel they
come to a fork in the road.  Deciding to turn back to gather supplies,
they emerge covered in dirt.  Cleaning up, they pack their supplies and
head out again.  They notice that the tunnel has been cleaned and that
torches were placed on the wall in their absence.  Traveling down the
tunnel they have to squeeze past a huge pile of pebbles but when they do
they find themselves in a pitch-dark place where an unseen opponent faces
them.  Shivering with fear they wonder if they could ever survive this.
The thing demands they identify themselves or die, we reenter with their
response.
 
"It's juuust us.  Ferrets from thhee room beyond the tunnel!" Rio
squeaked out a frightened reply.  "We come in peace!"
 
"Be gone with you Ferrets or I shall be forced to throw you to the
Rab..rab..bbb"  The deep voice suddenly cracked and garbled and hissed.
 
"Shelob's web!  I just had this dang thing fixed!" said a small voice as
torches lit up.  Blinking in the suddenly bright room, Tweak and Rio
stared at their would be opponent.  It took them a moment to realize that
it was a fuzzy black spider only about the size of a large strawberry
(which in my opinion is still a very big spider!) It took them that
moment, because the spider was apparently wearing a magnifying glass in
front of it's eyes, microphones on it's feet, and held something that
looked like a cross between a megaphone and a hairdryer.  A large
amplifier stood near by.
 
"Shelob's holy web!  Son of a black widow!  Venoms sting!" the spider
said as it smashed the hybird megaphone up against a rock, sprockets and
springs flying every which way.
 
"Who are you?" yelled Tweak, dodging a spring.
 
"Yea, and why did you put on that scary act?" added Riordan, ducking a
washer flying at the speed of light.
 
"What?" said the arachnid, ceasing his smashing.
 
"Who are you?" said the ferrets in unison.
 
Eight eyes, magnified 50x their normal size, blinked simultaneously, and
then one by one.  "I am Nid, keeper of this tunnel!"
 
"Well, it is nice to meet you Nid, maybe you could tell us where this
tunnel goes?"
 
"Of course I can, but I shall not!  You are trespassing!" he said,
throwing the hairdryer thing up against the amplifier, which proceeded to
hiss and spit and then with a pop start to smoke.  This of course sent
him into a rage.
 
"How in all of the great web in the sky do they expect me to gaurd this
tunnel with second rate equipment!" he yelled, pulling the magnifying
glass off his head.  "I can't sound big and scary if my Voice Changer
3000 is about as useful as a month old moth carcass!  And this stupid
Ampifier!  it smokes every two minutes!  And these AGRAVATING foot
microphones!  I trip over them tine and again!" he said, kicking off
the microphones.
 
Twak and Rio resumed their dodging of flying mechanical parts.
 
"That's it!  I QUIT!" Nid yelled at the top of his lungs (which wasn't
very loud at all) heaving deep breaths and looking quite out of sorts.
 
"Excuse me Mr Nid, but if you're quitting, do you think you could be our
guide?  We'd appreciate it ever so much!" Rio questioned timidly.
 
"What?  Be your guide?  Hmmm.  I guess I could" he replied cherrily.
"I've got nothing better to do.  Sitting here waiting for some poor
unsuspecting critter to wander in here is no fun at all.  You're the only
visitors I've had for the past 11 years!"
 
"Well thank you, Mr. Nid," Tweak sighed appreciatively, happy that the
ordeal was over.  "Where does this tunnel lead anyway?"
 
"It leads to hina, My Lady!" he said with an eight-legged bow.  "Of
course the left fork leads to the pit of rabid rats, so we shouldn't take
that way."
 
The ferret's eyes widened.  they were both very glad that Nid had agreed
to be their guide.
 
"Lead The Way Nid!" Rio said with a slight tremor in his voice.
 
With that, the ferrets put on their packs and they were off.  Nid happily
whistling and the ferrets wondering what excitements and perils lay
before them in their journey.
 
Will Tweak and Rio find their way through the tunnel with their new
guide?  Will they survive the journey?  What lays on the other side?
 
    Join us tomorrow, for the next part of
Riordan & Tweak In: Under the Bed (Digging to China)
[Posted in FML issue 4615]