IT - Pieces in the Dark

Chapter 15 - The Mountain

Chapter 15  -   The Mountain

 

The mountain stood alone several miles away in the midst of a vast sprawling jungle spreading out like a carpet under the blue skies before the two men. The mountain was like some immense grey Aztec pyramid erupting skywards from deep within the earth.

 The surrounding dense green jungle terrain was flat, and stretched off to the sea in the far distance, and on either side to the horizons that shimmered in the heat haze.

It wasn’t something you could take your eyes away from easily, towering majestically in isolation before the two men, thousands of feet high. It was just there, a surreal yet visible challenge, embodied with a desire for them to explore it, and the need to climb and conquer it.

From the small hill where they stood, they could see many winding paths leading through the jungle to the mountain’s base.

 They began walking again, down from this brief vantage point along their chosen route. All the while they walked, they were afforded frequent glimpses of the mountain’s bleak, harsh, grey rocky sides, which helped guide their way through the varied jungle paths, and drew them reassuringly on, through the miles to its grass covered base and lower slopes

There were many animals, birds and insects of all descriptions making their presence known. The sounds of roars, screeches and rustling would fill their ears constantly, keeping them on their toes and always looking around. The humid air was filled with the sound of cicadas, making concentration for the two men difficult, especially in that heat. Yet the mountain was always there before them drawing them on; powerful, strong, dark, and towering into the cloudless deep blue sky above.

They knew it had been built with layer upon layer of knowledge, indomitable all-seeing, all-knowing rock. An awe-inspiring, yet daunting, virtual apparition. So much strength, mass and power, climbing so high into the air its top was shrouded in the clouds. It was so frighteningly high now, almost impossible to climb, utterly awesome.

Finally by late morning, as the heat began to get intense, the two small figures, a Biologist and a Priest, reached the base. Where with great effort, they now began their irresistible climb up the slopes, each with an individual leather-bound book clutched fervently to their chest.

They were both well dressed in suitable clothes bought especially for the occasion; the Priest in fine hand-stitched, trimmed robes, and the Biologist in a dark brown jacket, brown trousers and a light chequered shirt, topped with a brimmed suede hat - which was the nearest his local department store had to the ‘Indiana Jones’ look.

Neither of them were young men, nor were they fit, and the effort was somewhat telling on their faces, and on the ever slower pace that they were now setting for themselves. They had spent too much time behind desks, in staff canteens, and not enough time ‘in the field’, or the gym. It was hard work.

The mountain had grown much higher over recent years, and this was tough going. However they had no choice - it was their role, their job, their life. It’s what they were driven to do.  The jungle had fallen away behind them now and here, at the mountain base, there were only a few trees dotted around areas of steep meadow. The denser vegetation was growing thinner the further they climbed, which eventually gave way to wild grass and then finally just bracken the further they went up.

As they climbed, the heat and humidity was replaced by a cooler gentler breeze, rising upwards with them. This was an encouraging change from the environmental challenges they had fought against getting through the miles of jungle.

It was steeper here, and hard work in the sun, but pleasant enough. The task was quite achievable with the many breaks they gave themselves to let them catch their breath. Besides, the views were stunning, and the further they climbed the more they saw.