“I need to learn about TV,” said Percy. “It would seem to be a useful skill.”
Amanda laughed lightly. “You got it. When we get out of this nightmare, I promise that we’ll spend an entire weekend in our jammies, eating junk food and binging on cop shows.”
Percy seemed pleased.
“Are we moving in the right direction?”
“Yes. Milady,” he replied.
“Enough of the Milady stuff. It’s just Amanda. “A” if you want,” she said impatiently.
“Of course, M’il, Mmmm, A,” he caught himself quickly.
They stopped at a creek that flowed through the woods. The horse put her head down to drink but shied away. Percy took a taste of the water from the palm of his hand and spat it out violently.
“That’s awful,” he exclaimed before trying to wipe his tongue off with the end of his cape.
Amanda got down to inspect the water. A rainbow of colors indicating a film of petroleum floated on the surface. “That’s odd,” she said curiously.
“What is?” asked Percy.
“Oil. There’s oil contaminating this water,” she said.
“I’ve eaten lots of different oils, and none of them tasted like this,” he said.
“Those were vegetable oils. This oil is petroleum based,” she said.
“Petroleum?”
“It’s what we use to fuel our cars and power stations,” she told him.
“Does it foul your water like this?”
“It isn’t supposed to. But sometimes there are spills,” she explained.
“It’s disgusting,” he decided.
“I can’t argue with that. Will this creek lead us towards the mountains?” she asked. She looked up stream and through a gap in the trees she could see the distant mountain range beginning to take shape like a row of teeth along the horizon, a single white cap rose above the others. She wondered if they would cross the path of the contamination along their journey.
“It should. It will meander here and there, but if we walk along side of it, it will eventually lead us to the Great Mountain Lake Region that was given to Elkor in the treaty.”
“Elkor? I’ve heard that name before. When you first visited the house, you said that he’d broken the treaty.”
“The Grand Wizard vanquished him in battle, but Elkor is
tied to the land so instead of killing him, it was agreed that the
dragons would stay above the high ridge and confine themselves to the lake region. There’s plenty of game for them to eat and caves to raise their young. Not that there was any chance of those. Elkor and Celestra are the last two dragons, and they hate each other,” he said.
“So, the dragon that carried Sarah off is up there too?” she asked.
“Celestra lived in the southern region by the sea, but she starting interfering with the fishermen along the coast so the Grand Wizard cast a spell on the lake to ensure plenty of fish for her and she accepted dominion over the lake as part of an exchange.”
“What changed?” asked Amanda.
“I’m not sure? One day, not long ago a rider came down and said that Celestra and Elkor had left their domain and were raiding farms for their livestock. Queen Windimere dispatched a century of soldiers to restore the peace but the dragons had other ideas and dispatched them instead. After they came limping back to the castle, the Queen sent for your Uncle.”
A noise caught Amanda’s attention. She wandered up the stream towards the sound that seemed to be coming from under some bushes. Amanda cleared back the branches and cooed, “Awwww,” as she extracted a pair of ducklings that were coated in black goo.
“Percy, look. We have to help them.” She tried to wipe the gunk off with some flat wide leaves.
“I wish I had some soap and a bit of cloth,” she said.
“At your service.”
He unbuttoned his coat and from an inside pocket withdrew a long thin leather case like an oversized wallet. He untied a string and it opened into three sections. In the center section was a magnificent straight razor, complete with soap and a fine brush.
“Will this do?” he asked. He handed over the soap with a cloth from his pocket.
She sniffed at the small bar, solving the mystery of his pleasant floral smell.
Together they cleaned the ducks. Percy cupped them gently in his strong calloused hands as Amanda dabbed off the oil. Satisfied she looked up and caught the boy staring at her as she worked.
“Stop that!” she admonished. As she turned away to return the birds to their nest, she couldn’t help blushing at the attention paid to her by the handsome blue skinned warrior.
They rode on in silence for hours, Amanda holding Percy away as they plodded on. As the creek left the forest he motioned with his head, as it opened onto a large pond, surrounded by tall plants that were beautiful to behold. The water was as smooth as glass with bull rushes and slender green grasses growing all around. Tall shade trees grew close to the shore and spread their branches out over the tranquil pool. Although, instead of appreciating its beauty, Amanda grew thoughtful.
“Shouldn’t there be birds and frogs here?” she suggested.
“You’re right. I wouldn’t have noticed. You’re very in touch with the land just like the Grand Wizard.”
“Mom taught us to look for the frogs first. They’re very sensitive to pollution and the first to be affected.”
Upon closer inspection they found that the water had the same oily feel and the pond was devoid of life.
“Your mother teaches you a lot. You’re lucky. Mine was too busy preparing my oldest brother to be Lord of the manner.”
“More like lecturing me. Watch your trash! Watch the GMO’s! Everyone you meet on-line is a predator. Honestly.”
“At least she paid attention to you.”
“Whatever. You’d probably love her.”
“We should keep moving.” prompted Percy. “I was hoping to be over that hill before dark,” he said as he pointed ahead in the distance.
Without warning, the ground began to quake again. The horse whinnied and broke free from Percy’s grasp and galloped
off. They were practically knocked off their feet by the ebb and flow of the ground. Then as suddenly as it started, it stopped.
As Amanda was about to speak, she heard an electronic bell from the inside of her bag. She took out the tablet to check on it, and there was a message on the screen. “New network found. Connect Yes – No?” she pressed “Yes.”
“You are now connected to Public Wi-Fi. Please create a user id and password to continue.” Quickly she created an account and opened the browser.
“Are you talking to the Google?” asked Percy.
“Sort of,” she said without looking up.
There was a message on her screen from Devon, the boy from her school. He was “Checking in,” to see how things were in the boondocks.
“Things are fine. I hope you’re getting a lot of use out of the pool.”
“Ya, some.” he replied.
He added a winky emoji.
“How’s Claire?” she replied. “I hope she’s not wearing that yellow bikini. It makes her look fat.”
“We were supposed to go out today but she cancelled.”
“That’s too bad. I hope she didn’t catch a cold. So many germs around you never know what you’ll catch.”
“You seem weird today. Everything ok?”
“I’m fine. Just a lot on my plate. It’s hard getting used to a new place where everything is so strange.”
“Don’t worry you’ll adapt. You’re very resilient.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “Look I’ve got to take care of something. Can I message you later?”
“Sure. But keep the August long weekend open. I’m having a party. I think I can get you a ride if you’re interested in coming down.”
Amanda sighed.
“I’ll keep it open but not sure if I can get away. TTYL”
“TTYL” He added a littl
e devil.
She replied with a little angel.
She scrolled through other messages leaving her mothers 'til last.
Reluctantly, she opened the conversation, there in bold letters was her mother’s stream of consciousness for the past twenty-four hours.
“07-07-2019 1:02PM - All settled in here. Miss you guys already. I know you’ll have a great summer. You always had fun at the farm. Xo Mom.”
“07-07-2019 5:07PM - I guess you guys are busy, I called the house. Ask you uncle to get voicemail, would you? Text me back when you get this. Love Mom.”
“07-07-2019 9:19PM - Are you getting my messages? Mom.”
“07-07-2019 11:17PM - You’re not still mad at me? I have to work. You’ll understand why I couldn’t bring you when you’re older. Have a good sleep. Love Mom.”
“08-07-2019 7:12AM - Oh, Amanda, the silent treatment isn’t funny. Don’t pretend you aren’t getting these. I know you got a new tablet from your uncle. ”
“08-07-2019 11:05AM - Fine. Be that way. Text me when you can. I’ll give you some space to cool off.”
“08-07-2019 2:09PM - Ok. Yes, your father is here. Is that what you want me to say? Text me and we’ll talk about it. Mom”
Amanda replied. “08-07-2019 5:07PM - Say hi to Dad for me. Out horseback riding with a boy named Percy. He's in the army. Spotty coverage here, will try you when I can. Love Amanda.”
She checked the local news.
“Increased Fracking Blamed for Recurring Earthquakes Near Sweetwater,” read the headline.
That’s where her mother was going, she realized. When she clicked on the story link, the tablet warned. “No Network found.”
“Uggghh.” she grunted in exasperation.
“What?”
“The Google just dropped my connection,” she said as she put the tablet away. “We should get the horse and keep moving.”
Tracking
The Grand Highway was unusually quiet for time of year as they galloped towards the forest that Everett suspected was the one that the Eye had shown them. Had he not been so preoccupied he would have noticed that he hadn’t passed a single soul in almost five leagues. As they rode, he replayed in his mind over and over what the Eye had shown in an attempt to memorize what he’d seen so as not to forget a single detail.
“Are you sure?” asked Trevor as he slowed to catch his breath at a crossroad wanting to make certain he didn’t take the wrong path.
“No,” he replied, looking left as he pointed towards a distant forest that barely peeked over the horizon. “But the moss on the trees indicated that they were moving towards the lake area and Faele Forest is the only large wood in that direction. If Elkor has violated the treaty and taken Sarah, then I’m playing a hunch that’s where they’re headed.”
“That’s a big hunch,” said the wolf.
“It is. I hope I’m right.” said the wizard as they sauntered onwards towards the horizon.
“Do you think he’ll harm her?”
“Only if he’s gotten very desperate,” said Everett with more confidence than he was feeling. His gut churned as what felt like ball of worry rolled around in his empty stomach.
They arrived at Rheme while the sun was just starting to set. Its warm glow bathed his back and Everett draped his heavy coat through the strap in his pack. The wolf stopped for water at a trough by the road, and Everett wandered the round occasionally stopping to look up at the monument and shake his head. It was a terrible likeness and he didn’t deserve it.
The battle had been all but won by the time he’d arrived.
The late rally by the trolls would not have made a difference and he could not convince anyone that he had happened to be in the right place to counter them by pure luck. To him, his role in the affair was minor at best. Yet, the local villagers could not be dissuaded and felt they owed him aggrandizement in the form of this great, ugly bronze edifice.
After considering each of the various commercial buildings he made a selection. “The innkeeper would know if they passed through,” he called out to Trevor.
He wandered across the street and up the steps, tapping the Red Pig for luck with his hand as he passed.
The common room was just filling up with folk stopping in at the end of their day for a sociable beverage or a meal. As he entered, he interrupted the local musicians who were just warming up, tuning their instruments, and arranging the stage. A stray note caught his ear and he smiled at the embarrassed instrumentalist as she struggled to get things just right.
Gradually people became aware of his presence, conversations stopped, voices became whispers, until there was nothing but silence as people stared at his Eminence, the Grand Wizard of Tarsinia.
A serving girl ran into the kitchen presumably to fetch her master.
“Innkeeper, something to drink,” he said to the thick man who rushed into the common room from a doorway behind the bar.
Wringing his hands submissively, the innkeeper bowed his head. “Yes, Milord, something to eat as well?” He cleared his best table, pushing the patrons out of their seats to make room for Everett.
“Package something for me to take on the road. A meal and a breakfast if you would be so kind. A hind of raw lamb if you have it. I’m in a bit of a hurry. I’m seeking a boy from the guard traveling with a colorless girl wearing unusual clothing,” said Everett firmly.
The innkeeper hesitated. “I can’t recall anyone matching that description passing through here,” he said.
Everett thought back to the image from the Eye. Amanda was wearing local clothing, and Percy was riding a farm nag that couldn’t have come from the royal stables.
“You’re certain that you didn’t see them. Someone must have sold them clothing for the girl, a white blouse, and skirt, and a pale horse?” pressed the wizard raising himself up to his full height.
The wizard’s description was too close to the truth to be a guess, so the innkeeper began to sweat. “I’m certain Milord,” lied the innkeeper, again.
It was at that moment that Trevor barged his way into the inn pushing a woman and a man aside as he entered. He took great gulps of the air and sniffed around like a hound on a scent. “They were here,” he reported urgently.
Everett turned on the innkeeper. “You will tell me the truth or so help me I’ll raze this building and have you hung by your thumbs in the center of the round!” shouted Everett.
He allowed some of his magic to radiate off his person and he began to glow as he unleashed his fury at the man all at once. An unseen force drew the man up off his feet and suspended him inches off the ground.
“Forgive me, Milord,” whimpered the innkeeper.
With a sweep of his hand, an invisible blow carried the innkeeper across the room crashing into the tables and scattering patrons about like pins.
The innkeeper’s wife, afraid for her unscrupulous husband’s life rushed in from the kitchen screaming. “They were here! They were here! We sent them off with a horse and provisions. They headed towards the lake area, and we haven’t seen them since.”
The terrified innkeeper fell to his knees. “Forgive me, Milord. I forgot my place. They were here yesterday and set off at
a furious pace. They seemed likable enough, and I worried that
someone might be pursuing them. I thought only to give a young couple who appeared to be eloping enough of a head start to find a minister and marry.”
“If I find that one hair on my niece’s hair has been harmed…” his voice trailed off.
“Your niece?” exclaimed the innkeeper's wife and she fainted straight away.
Trevor and Everett sped off down the road after the pair. It was Trevor’s sharp eyes, practiced from hunting prey, that saw where they broke off the road and headed for the woods.
“Why do you think that that left the road?” asked Trevor.
“I can think of only one thing. Robbers,” said the wizard. “The boy must have been suspicious of the innkeeper an
d left the road to make sure they weren’t followed. See all the hoof prints?” He pointed to the road. “It appears that the lad might be sharper than I thought.”
The wolf and the wizard galloped through the woods on the trail of the boy, the girl, and the horse.
They reached the castle just after mid-day.
“You liked Rheme?” asked Trevor. “I mean before he sided with Rufus.”
“I’d have never expected it. He was one of the few who I thought looked past the color of my skin. I’d heard that he and my father were close.”
Trevor found the highwayman’s sword, hand still attached and Everett swore. The wolf sniffed around until he found a trail, they were inspecting some hoof prints in the soft mud when the ground began to shake violently.
The soil beneath them rippled and a tree crashed down close enough to make them jump. When the quake suddenly stopped Everett heard his cell phone beep. He flipped open the handset and saw that he had a connection to the network. He saw a message icon on the display and clicked on it.
It was from El. “07-07-2019 6:06PM Hi Everett, ‘Just letting you know that I arrived safe and sound. Not sure if I
should be happy or mad about the camping gear. I guess I should just thank you for the thought. Message me when you get this. Love ya, E.”
He sent a quick reply. “08-07-2019 7:00PM Out in the woods with the Trevor and the girls. Call you when I can. Sending our love. – Ev.”
He pressed send, and after a long wait, the phone reported that the network was lost. He hoped that his message had been sent.
“What do you make of that?” asked Trevor.
“It’s very convenient that the worlds connected right after the quake. I think that they’re related.”
“How is that possible?”
“I don’t know, but I wish I had Amanda’s email address.”
“Enlighten me.”
“The tablet wasn’t there at the house. On the off chance that she has it, and has connected somehow to our world, I’d let her know we’re on our way.”
“Leave a message with your sister?”
“Not a bad idea. If we connect again, I’ll do that.”
“This way,” said the wolf. “We should hurry,”
Amanda Applewood and the Return of the False King: An Everworld Book Page 12
