While the Park was where we lived, the Wilderness was where we lived.
Exploring the vastness of that wild expanse filled many summer days, and many more afternoons all year ‘round. Whether climbing sand-cliffs, hiking through creek-bed canyons, or swimming in one of the little lakes, there was always something to do out there. Then there was the paths. The paths that led to other worlds. The kind of worlds that only kids seem to be able to find. One of those worlds was a place we called Zigadu (although Billy always spelled it Ziggadoo, but I prefer my own spelling.) Out of the many worlds you could reach from the Wilderness, Zigadu was our own private world. We only went there when it was just the two of us. No Lexi, no Jeremy, no nobody else. In Zigadu, magic was more real than science, and showed itself in many ways. For instance, there was the time we found the sword. Billy and I had been going down a path, deep in the valleys of Zigadu. We’d come around a corner, looking out toward a cave that we had every intention of exploring, when Billy spotted something shining in the sun. He stopped, and said, “Look at that, sticking out of that rock!” Sure enough, there was a rock, but a few feet away from us, with the shiny hilt of a sword sticking out of it. “Do you think we could pull it out?” Billy asked. I walked over, leaned down, and picked up the rock; it was about the size of a rugby ball. I walked over to Billy, and he grabbed ahold of the sword’s hilt and gave it a tug. It didn’t budge. “Must not be meant for me,” Billy seemed sad. I passed him the rock, which he held out toward me. I grabbed ahold of the sword’s hilt and pulled with all my weight. It began sliding out of the rock. Longer and longer it got; at final measure the sword was nearly as tall as I was, and seeing it come out of a rock no bigger than a puff-ball mushroom was very otherreal. Once I held that tall sword up, raising it far above my head, a feeling of triumph, and power, began to fill me. Billy must have felt it as well, as we both were cheering, marching forward toward the cave. That’s when we noticed it. Before I’d pulled the sword from the stone, the cave had been empty and dark. Now however, there was a light coming from within the cave, and we could make out the glint of metal from where we were standing. We ran forward to the mouth of the cave, and stood, wide-eyed, gaping at the sight before us. The cave was the entrance to a great fortress, filled with treasure, armor, weapons, and all sorts of magical items. We played for what seemed like hours. Dressed in full sets of armor, and bearing weapons of the Knights, we knew we were the sworn protectors of Zigadu. We must defend it against all its enemies, and defend it we did. Giant lizards, magma-men, medusas, and evil spider-dragons. All the servants of the Dark Lord.
It had started to get dark when we put away all the armor and magical tools. Then, stepping out of the cave, I stuck the sword back into the stone. Like a switch, as soon as the hilt touched the rock, the cave darkened, and was just a cave again. As long as the sword remained in the stone, the entrance to the Knights’ Fortress was magically closed. Billy stuck the stone right inside the lip of the cave, so we’d be able to find it again when we returned. Oh, and return we did. For the whole of that spring, and up to the beginning of summer, we went back many times, and defended the land of Zigadu from the evil creatures of the Dark Lord. We laughed about how much more time we’d have to go into our special world once summer holidays started.
It was at the start of those holidays that things started to get a bit more complicated, for it was at the start of the summer holidays that we met Sam.