Secret Of the Sighing Mountains (The Quest Trilogy) by Iram Dana Page A

of them.
    “Now Diego, that fracture will take a good three months to heal completely, I’m afraid…”
    “Three months!” gasped Diego, “What will I …how am I supposed to train…?”
    Dr. Hope raised a hand again, stalling him.
    “I’m giving you some painkillers, take them only if the pain becomes unbearable. Otherwise, try to brave it out, okay? And take care of that hand or it will take longer to heal. About your training, speak to Master Shengdu. Now run along both of you. I’m sure you have better things to do.” he said, ushering them to the door.
    He saw the look on Diego face then.
    “Well, at least one of you does…” he amended, watching them make their way out of the room.
    Then he got up and started clearing up his workstation, whistling softly to himself.
     
    *****
     
    That night, as Diego finally walked into his room tired and irritated, he found Sierra up on his bed, looking much better and reading a book. Ashitaka was over at the study-table by the corner, busy fixing somebody’s broken watch while Moto-the-pansy, as they called their fourth roommate, was fast asleep, snoring sonorously.
     
    “Oh, man…” groaned Diego, “somebody shut this guy up ‘cause I need some sleep and I need it bad.”
    Realizing the imminent danger to Moto, Sierra quickly grabbed one of the pills Dr. Hope had given, pulled out his slingshot and skillfully shot it into Moto’s open and drooling mouth. Moto gave a hack and a wheeze and then took a great big swallow. Mumbling, he turned to his side and fell promptly asleep again. The snoring had stopped - at least temporarily.
    He looked at Diego, giving him the thumbs up sign. Diego looked at Sierra skeptically. “Wasn’t that your ….?”
    “Yeah …” Sierra nodded happily, “my medicine to stop the loose motion.”
    “It’s gonna stop a lot more than his snoring.” snorted Diego.
    Just then, Moto gave a wheeze thrashing around restlessly. He kicked his legs a bit and then settled onto his back, beginning to snore again, twice as loud as the first time.
    Diego scowled and advanced towards Moto, hand balled into a fist.
    “D,wait!” Sierra stopped him, “are you crazy? You’re gonna sock it to him?”
    “Your method didn’t work, did it?” retorted Diego.
    “Just let me try once more. There are easier ways to handle this.” replied Sierra, climbing down from his bunk. He looked about the room, searching for some way to effectively stop Moto’s snoring. His eye fell on Moto’s foot dangling precariously from one edge of the bed, and he reached over and pulled one of Moto’s smelly green socks off. He winked at Diego, and then stuffed the sock in Moto’s half-open mouth. Moto drew in a few labored breaths through the toxic looking sock, and then there were no more sounds.
    “There!” Sierra turned to Diego with a flourish. “How difficult was that?”
    “Is he even alive?” Ashitaka asked with concern, looking from one twin to the other.
    “I know I asked you to stop his snoring, but I didn’t mean permanently.” said Diego, moving closer to Moto in order to pull the foul smelling sock out of his mouth.
    “No, no D. Let him be. He’ll survive this, trust me. It’ll improve his immunity.” said Sierra, climbing onto his bunk again.
    Diego looked at Moto again. The guy seemed to be breathing as yet, so he let the sock be. He turned towards his bed only to find Ashitaka staring at him, jaw hanging.
    “What?” snapped Diego.
    “Your hand…” trailed off Ashitaka.
    “Yeah? What about it?” Diego glared, silently warning Ashitaka to shut up or choose his next words carefully.
    “It’s broken… why did you go to the doctor? You should have come to me first.”
    “Why?” asked Diego, thrown off for a bit.
    “Because I would fix it for you!” he guffawed, oblivious to the way Diego’s jaws snapped shut and the muscles in them clenched and relaxed as Diego fought to control his temper unsuccessfully. He started towards