I looked around carefully, yet I saw nothing at
all to indicate the entrance to a large, covert military establishment,
much to my companions delight. Their whimsical sense of humor surfaced
once again as they laughed with seemingly infinite pleasure, both at my
wondering expression and with a sense of satisfaction at their own
cleverness. After the outburst had been subdued and a certain level of
solemnity had been reached, Wagner approached the nearest tree and
knocked on it with a rhythmic rut-tut-tut.
Expecting their old trick to be replayed, I waited for the tree to open,
but to my surprise, it didn't, instead a strong rope ladder dropped down
from a tree several yards to the east. This we climbed, and I found that
I had been mistaken as to the height of the ancient wooden towers, for
they proved to be even loftier in dimensions than I had imagined.
Accordingly, it took us a good five minutes to reach its top at a quick
and steady pace, and all through the climb I was terrified at the long
drop, from which the ladder offered no protections. Yet I made it to the
top safely, and found that there was a large platform built securely
among its upper branches, with enough room to hold a few dozen persons,
and there was even comfortable seating in the center.
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