by W. D. Newman
CHAPTER 21
AN UNEXPECTED RESCUE
“Hey, look at this!” Casey cried. She was holding her arm up in the air and the charm bracelet that Marcus had given her hung loosely from her wrist. The charm dangling at the bottom of the bracelet was the small arrow that was supposed to point the way to the Twilight. However, the little silver arrow was pointing toward the tunnel that lead to Jupiter and no matter which way Casey moved her arm, the charm would rotate until it was fixed once more upon the tunnel entrance. “What do you think it means?”
“That’s supposed to point to the Twilight, isn’t it?” asked Louise.
“Yes, but it’s pointing that way, toward the city where Marcus is held captive.”
“Do you think, since we are not in Camelot, that it is pointing at the closest thing to the Twilight? I mean, the magic of the forest is bound up in the Keeper. Maybe, since the magical forest is not in this world, but the Keeper is, then the charm is detecting the same magic in Marcus that exists in the Twilight forest back on Camelot?”
“Grandma, as crazy as that sounds, it’s the only thing that makes sense and that means that this charm could help us find Marcus and rescue him.”
At that point, Amos, who had been strangely quiet on the matter, climbed down from the wagon and a small sack fell from beneath his furs. The rope harness that Louise used to ride upon him when he was travelling as a bear spilled out of the sack when it hit the ground. Amos snatched it up, but not before Louise had seen it.
“What are you doing with the harness?” asked Louise. “I’m perfectly comfortable riding in the wagon.”
“The harness is not for you, Louise.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He’s not coming with us,” said Casey. “Are you, Amos?”
“No, child, there has been a change of plans.”
“By whose order?” Louise demanded. “And what exactly are these new plans? I didn’t realize we had even made any plans to change!”
“I’ve thought about this all night,” Amos replied. “And now that I’ve seen what the charm on Casey’s bracelet will do, I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to rescue Marcus.”
“You can’t be serious, you’ll both be killed when you try to escape.”
“I don’t think so. I think if I travel within the city as a bear that Bellator will take no notice of me. My thoughts will be hidden from him too. My only concern was how to locate Marcus once I got to the city, but if Casey will let me borrow her charm I will be able to find him readily. He will know it is me when he sees me, especially if I have one of the charms tied around my paw. We’ll return to the lodge through the tunnels, but I need for you to return there now and wait for us. Also, send word by way of arrow hawks to the other cities and tell your friends to stay out of the tunnels until further notice.”
“Amos,” said Torac, “I don’t think it is wise. We should wait for the others to return and plan this rescue. You are acting rashly.”
“Gabriel said they could be at the Archives for a couple of weeks. And even if they find what they are looking for, then they have to travel to Crag, if it is even possible, to search for this wisest one. Ben is not going to Crag without me and we all need Marcus’s guidance until things fall into place for the final showdown.”
“But the prophecy says…”
“I’m sorry, Torac, but my faith is not in elfin prophecies. My faith is in friendship and Marcus is my friend. I am going after him.” The big man turned to Casey. “May I borrow your charm? I will return it to you when I come back with Marcus.”
Casey looked at her grandma and Louise simply nodded. She unhooked the charm from her bracelet and handed it to Amos. “How do you plan to use it?”
Amos used his knife to cut a long thin ribbon of leather from the inside of his tunic. He threaded the charm onto the newly made string and knotted the two ends together to keep the charm from sliding off. “Once I am a bear, I’ll carry this in my mouth. When I need to check my direction, I can easily hook the string with my claws and hold it up in front on me. It won’t be difficult at all. However, I will need someone to place the harness on me once I transform.”
“Marcus will not need the harness” said Louise. “He’s an elf.”
Amos scratched his head. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you are right. He will not have any problem staying on, no matter how fast I run.”
“What if Bellator follows you into the tunnel and chases you back to the lodge?”
“If Bellator finds the tunnel and pursues us, I will lead him down another tunnel when we reach this hub. I will lead him away from the lodge, but I am counting on getting out of there quickly; once he realizes Marcus has left the city, we’ll be speeding along underground while he is searching above.”
Louise took the sack and rope harness from him. “I’ll keep this safe until you return. Be careful and take care of yourself.”
Amos gave Louise and Casey a brief hug and then stepped away from the wagon. He placed the leather string with the silver arrow between his teeth and transformed.
“Great clouds of blue gnats,” Torac exclaimed. “He’s turned into a bear!”
Casey laughed at Torac’s surprise as Amos tossed his head and lumbered off into the tunnel that was marked with the sword and throne carving over its entrance.
“A bloody bear! I didn’t understand what he meant when he was talking about going about as a bear. I thought maybe, with all of the furs he wears, that he was thinking Bellator would think him to be a bear, but he actually changed into one!”
“Yes,” said Louise, “Amos is a shape shifter. It’s not a bad idea, really. If anyone can get into the castle undetected and rescue Marcus, it would be Amos. And he’s right, you know; we need Marcus on our side. We need his wisdom and guidance.”
“What do we do now?”
“We do what Amos told us to do. We go back to the lodge and send out the arrow hawks. Then we wait.”
Torac shook his head in amazement. A shape-shifter! A real, live shape-shifter! He clucked to the ponies and snapped the reins. Champ and Chief, completely unimpressed with the transformation they had just witnessed, leaned into their harnesses and brought the wagon around. Louise, Casey, and Torac were each lost in their own their own thoughts as the two horses plodded back up the stone passageway to the distribution center below the lodge.
