The Chalk Giants by Keith Roberts

sun. encouraged him; he spread the maps out once more, while Truck ambled slowly between rolling, gently-wooded bills. In time a higher hill, rearing dark against the sunset, gave him a reference. His good humour returned; for Pru and Sal jogged submissively, and the tallies were not wholly lost. The sideways or three-fingerward projection to which he had been subjected during their flight counted for little; he marked the map, using his drawing-stick, and turned Truck again on to its proper heading-
    Twice more, the odd confluences were avoided by Pru and Sal; these times Monkey, prepared for their defection, found it easier to redirect their course. Whatever lay at the mysterious junctures must, it seemed, be avoided; for the present, he bowed to the inevitable.
    For five more days the journey proceeded smoothly; then came the greatest shock of all. Far too soon - barely a half of the tally was complete - Monkey found the way impassably barred. Ahead, and to either side, stretched the sea.
    The shock to his overstrained nerves was considerable. For a time, stupidly, he urged Truck forward, as if refusing to acknowledge the impossibility; the water was hissing round the axles, and Pru and Sal were keeningwith dismay, before he came to his senses. He sat a whole half day, glaring and fretting, staring at the map and back to the great blue barrier. Then he turned Truck three-fingerward. Two days passed before the sea once more swung round to bar his path; the proper sea this time, in its designated place. Monkey turned back, every hour adding to his alarm. The green and brown, green and brown of the map went on; yet still the lying, deceitful land shelved to the water, vanished beneath the waves. The tally grew again, senseless now and wild. Monkey howled and sobbed, picking his nose with rage; but the salty goodies brought no comfort. He threshed impotently, till the springs of Truck groaned and creaked and Pru and Sal stooped clucking, voices harsh with concern. But Monkey was unconsolable. His bright new world was shattered.
    He felt himself losing control. His hands and limbs, wobbly at the best, refused to obey him. His nights were haunted; he wetted himself uncontrollably, till Truck exuded a rich sharp stink and half a whole map was spoiled.  Madness, had it intervened, would have been a merciful release; but he was saved, finally, by a curious sight.
    For a day or more the ground had been steadily rising; now, just after dawn, Monkey saw ahead of him the crest of a mighty cliff. The land, no longer gentle, broke away in a great crashing tumble of boulders and clay round which the sea frothed and seethed, flinging streamers of foam high in the air. Monkey huddled back, waving Truck on, anxious to be gone from the place; but at the height of the rise he began to thump and squeal. Pru and Sal stopped indifferently, their hair whipping round their heads, their curved, hard fingers hooked across the handle of Truck. The wind seethed in the grass; clouds sailed the early, intense sky; but Monkey had eyes for nothing but the Road.
    It had been a great road, the widest and finest he had seen. It came lancing out of distance, its twin broad ribbons dark blue and cracked and proud. It soared to the edge of the cliff; and at the edge, on the very lip, it stopped.
    Monkey raised himself, cautiously; then banged the side of Truck, ordering it forward. Pru and Sal moved slowly, unwilling now, straining back from the lip of the cliff; but Monkey’s fear was forgotten. He stared, seeing how the road ended terrifyingly in a sudden, jagged edge. Below, white birds rode the updraught, tiny as scraps of paper. The sea crashed and boiled; and Monkey, screwing his eyes, saw what in his misery had eluded him. Far across the water, dim with distance but unmistakable, the brown and green, brown and green started again, marching out of sight.
    He fell back; and relief was like a balm. Once more, he had understood; and the second Mystery was