by KD Blakely
“We’ll form a chain. That way if someone loses sight of the road, the others can pull them back.”
We stood there a moment, looking at each other, but no one had a better suggestion. The Rejects were behind us, coming our way. There was nowhere else to go.
Doug grabbed my hand and I reached for Faith. Olivia came next with Brady at the end. I tightened my grip, and worried I was holding too tight, but neither complained.
Doug turned sideways, inching down the edge of the road. It was bordered by strange grass, growing in straggly tufts. Some had long blades, like green steak knives. I found out the hard way the pointed tips were razor-sharp and stung when they stabbed you.
As I watched, one of them reached out and stabbed Doug’s ankle. Deliberately. He yelled, but didn’t stop. Since we had to shuffle along sideways, we had no way to avoid them. After I saw one stab me, I refused to look anymore.
I followed closely after Doug, trying to keep my toes on the edge of the road without taking my eyes off the shifting, swirling fog. No way was it going to touch me again! It was harder than it looked — to keep up with Doug while watching the road, my feet, and the fog at the same time. I ground my teeth together as I felt another long sharp blade dig into my leg.
Doug had already taken half a dozen steps when he had to jump off the road to avoid a thick finger of mist. It was weird — I could see him, but the moment both his feet left the road, he began twisting his head side to side with a nervous expression on his face. His gaze went past me twice before I realized he couldn’t see us.
I called to him, but it was obvious he couldn’t hear me. I could see his lips move, but the sound was so muffled I had no idea what he was saying.
I squeezed his hand and saw his face relax. He took a small step back, but his next step had him heading directly toward the bit of fog retreating back to the road. I tugged his hand urgently and he changed course. I squeezed his hand twice, hoping he’d take it as encouragement.
The fog finished retreating, so I could see when his toes touched the road. His voice sounded hoarse when he said, “Freaky! I couldn’t see the road. I couldn’t see you either.”
Before I could answer, a new surge of the murky vapor made me take a hasty step backwards. Instantly the road, the stinky mist, and all of my friends disappeared. All I could see were woods. That was bad, but it made it look like something had cut my hands off at the wrist. That made me feel a bit sick. I could have cried with relief when I realized I could still feel Doug and Faith holding my hands.
Please don’t let me have a stupid expression on my face. They can see me standing here!
No wonder people got lost off the road. You could be standing right next to it and never know. Unless you accidentally stepped on it.
I felt Faith tugging on my right hand, while Doug pushed on my left. I moved toward Faith, and when my toe touched the edge of the road, I could suddenly see it. I could also see the churning fog only an inch from my nose. I held my breath, ready to step back again, but it retreated.
“Thanks guys!”
Doug didn’t waste time. He started along the edge of the road and I followed quickly. The sooner we got away from here the better!
Doug and I had both reached the edge of the fog. I would have fallen to my knees and kissed the ground, but I still had hold of Faith’s hand. She had almost reached me when Olivia was forced to step off the road. I could tell she was yelling something, but had no idea what. Faith and Brady had to wait until the fog began a slow retreat. Then they hauled Olivia back to the road.
Olivia looked pale and was breathing too fast, but that could have been because she’d been yelling. She didn’t say anything, just started moving as fast as possible, careful to keep her feet touching the road.
Then it was Brady’s turn.
It looked as if he’d make it with no trouble until the last two feet. Then, as if something realized we were getting away, the mist didn’t just drift across the road, it surged straight at him. It moved so fast he didn’t have a chance. It wrapped around his face, then it started to drag him across the road! He struggled convulsively, fighting it. He finally jerked back from it, barely keeping his feet on the road.
He wrenched his hand from Olivia’s, rubbing wildly at his face. “It’s burning!”
He stumbled back another step. I groaned as I realized he’d left the road and didn’t have anyone holding on to him. “He can’t get back.”
Olivia told Faith, “Don’t you let go, no matter what!”
Olivia held Faith’s hand in such a tight grip her knuckles showed white. She stepped off the road and grabbed Brady’s arm with her other hand. Faith yanked so hard, Olivia stumbled back on the road, dragging Brady after her. He paused a moment, grabbing something off a bush before his feet touched the road.
“We’re even!” Olivia told him, as we all moved out of reach of the fog.
Brady was gasping and shuddering. I’d never realized just how many freckles he had, but now they really stood out against his sweaty white face. “It attacked me!” He gulped noisily. “Vapor is inanimate. Water particles suspended in air. It doesn’t have a brain!”
He swallowed and looked at the ground. He sounded like he was pleading with us as he continued, “How could it attack me?”
There was a moment of utter silence. None of us knew what to say. Brady’s shoulders hunched in misery as he glanced back at the mist, but he sounded defiant. “I believe in science! This place isn’t rational. How are you supposed to predict the actions of a place when it isn’t rational? Look at this,” he said indignantly, and held out his hand, covered with berries.
“Yeah?” I asked. “So why do a bunch of berries make you mad?”
He cupped his hands together and let us peek inside. The berries were glowing, neon green. “This should not exist,” he insisted loudly.
I tried to speak calmly because he looked like he was going to lose it. “This is a magic place, Brady. It may not work like home, but there are rules. We’ll figure them out.”
Olivia smirked. “You could just get rid of those.”
“No,” he said slowly. “These deserve some analysis. I just wish I knew what was up with that mist.”
“Something’s in that stuff,” Doug told him. “You could hear it moving around. Maybe it controls the fog.”
Faith said uneasily, “Our animals sure didn’t want us in there.”
“Oh! Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Olivia smacked her forehead hard enough, the palm of her hand had to sting.
I could tell my voice sounded alarmed, but couldn’t help it. “What’s stupid?”
“We’re stupid!” Olivia glared like we were supposed to understand. And I didn’t get it. When I only stared at her, she rolled her eyes. “Duh! We could’ve asked our familiars to help us!”
The small owl flew over and landed on her shoulder, hooting quietly. Olivia turned her head to look into its yellow eyes. “You could have helped, right?”
It chirped wildly, all but bouncing with excitement. There was no need for it to speak English, I could understand every sound. And Olivia was right. We’d been stupid. That bird was saying, Of course we could help!
Faith asked hesitantly, “Do you think something in there could’ve hurt us?”
“I don’t know,” I said slowly. I didn’t like thinking about this, and hoped what I was about to say wouldn’t freak her out. “There are things in here that can hurt us. We already know that! Getting lost off the road, falling rocks, poisoned apples. And we know there’s stuff still alive in here — something was howling, right? So…I think, maybe.”
Brady raised the map he’d been looking at while I spoke. “Reject alert! Let’s go.”
“Just great.” Faith hurried down the road away from the fog. We followed close on Faith’s heels. I, for one, was glad to leave the mist behind us.
It didn’t take long before the sounds of unhappy animals — a cow bawling, a pig squealing and a donkey braying — cam
e from behind us. The Rejects were apparently getting the same warning our familiars gave us.
“I wonder if they’ll finally listen to their animals,” I mused.
“Have you noticed how their animals follow them around?” Doug asked, watching Brady split his attention between the road and the map.
“Yeah. I feel sorry for them,” I said. “The animals, I mean. Not the Rejects!”
“Ray keeps chasing them away,” Olivia said and giggled. Not a laugh, not a chuckle, not a snicker. A girly giggle. I rolled my eyes. The Three did not giggle!
Brady held out the map. “Look!” I saw one of the dots was missing.
“One of them is miss—” Brady interrupted me, pointing, unnecessarily, at the map. The missing dot suddenly reappeared next to the others, coming out of the blank spot on the map.
Why can’t we see the Rejects on the map in the blank spot? What does that mean?
The sudden sound of yelling made me jump. It was Ray, and the longer he yelled, the angrier he sounded. Doug was right, Ray knew a lot of cuss words. I glanced at Olivia. She’d clapped her hands over her ears so she wouldn’t hear anything she’d get in trouble for later.
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding as the dots began to hurry back down the road the way they’d come.
Brady glanced at his watch and said regretfully, “That took a hecka long time. You still have a curfew, Olivia?”
“Yeah, dinner’s at 6:00. I can’t be late.”
“I don’t think we can make it to the cave and back home by then.” Brady must have heard my dismayed groan, because he added, “Sorry, Kat!”
“It’s like something’s trying to stop us,” Olivia said.
I felt frustrated tears sting my eyes. “I wish it would stop it. We’ve got to get there next time.” Everyone stared at me, and I clapped my hand over my mouth. I’d wished!
I heard a sound, growing louder, a rumbling that shook the trees around us like an earthquake. The ground shook under our feet, then we all flinched at the sound of glass shattering. But there was no glass, anywhere! Then it fell completely silent.
“Do you think you broke a spell?”
My voice shook slightly. “Guess we’ll see next time.”
Faith shivered. “We should tell Ronny about the fog.”
I agreed, reluctantly. I knew they were right, but I couldn’t believe we had to turn back. Again.
Time really did move strangely in Chimera. The day had gone so fast! It was after 4:00 when we got to Ronny’s. She asked excitedly if we’d had any luck at the cave.
Could she really think we’ll find Ghalynn there?
The others were quiet. Obviously, they wanted me to be the bearer of bad news. “We didn’t make it. I’m sorry! We had to take a detour to avoid Ray and the others. Don’t worry, we stayed on the road. Well, most of the time—“
Ronny made a choked sound, and I hurried to assure her. “We didn’t forget our promise. None of us,” I turned to glare at Doug, “or at least most of us, have no intention of leaving the road again.”
The flush that crept up Doug’s neck made me grin. He spoke quickly, “So what’s up with that gross yellow fog? It blocked the road—”
“What yellow fog?” Ronny demanded. “And what do you mean, it blocked the road?”
“Show her the map, Brady. That blank space.”
Brady pulled the map from his pocket and pointed to the blank spot where the road disappeared for a short distance.
“What is that?” Ronny grabbed the map from Brady, staring at it intently. She pointed to the space where nothing showed on the map except blank paper. “This is not right. Where is the road?”
Beads of sweat broke out on her upper lip and a shiver rippled through her shoulders as she stared at the spot where the road disappeared. I looked back at the map and sucked in a surprised breath. Was that blank space really bigger than it had been a couple hours ago?
Ronny turned to me. “The fog was yellow?”
“Absolutely. Yellow and sticky. And it smelled disgusting!”
“It smelled bad?”
Olivia’s voice was low, almost a whisper. “There were faces.” She shivered and rubbed her hands up and down her arms like she felt cold, though it was warm in Ronny’s house.
Ronny’s voice was faint. “Faces?”
“Freezing cold, too,” I added.
One of Brady’s knees was bouncing nervously. He cleared his throat. “It felt greasy and cold. I couldn’t breathe.”
Ronny jerked, and her chair scraped loudly on the floor. “You found stinking, greasy, cold, sticky, yellow fog? And where it covered the road it erased the map?” When we nodded, she said, “I do not understand this. Not any of it!”
She got to her feet and paced up and down the room. “I wish I could believe you were pulling my feet.”
Out of the side of her mouth, Olivia muttered, “Try leg.”
Finally Ronny stopped, not looking at any of us. I wasn’t sure she even remembered we were there. “How could this happen?” she muttered. “Chimera has always had fog at the center, but it has never covered the road.”
“So, maybe the fog grew. So what?” I asked curiously.
“The fog hides the center of our power. It is dangerous. People who go in do not come back. But it is gray. Not yellow. And there are no faces in it.” She shook her head, a frown creasing her forehead. “It has never smelled like anything but clean damp earth. Why would it change so much?”
We’d promised to help her. I was starting to feel guilty about always bringing her bad news. It made my chest ache. “Don’t worry Ronny, we’ll go back next month.”
Ronny sat down with a sigh. She said, “Go straight for the cave and please be careful.”
She looked so sad when we got ready to go, I couldn’t stand it. The promise spilled out before I could stop it, “Don’t worry. I promise we’ll get to the cave.”
Note to self — Do not blurt out promises you might not be able to keep!
Chapter 29
Are You Afraid of The Dark?
At the end of August, Faith and Olivia met me on the corner. Olivia was laughing, looking very pleased with herself. “Mom’s really proud we’re helping someone new to town finish getting settled in.
“You shouldn’t lie to your mom,” Faith told her. Though she didn’t actually stick her nose in the air, she sounded like she had.
“You know I don’t tell lies,” Olivia said impatiently. “I always tell the truth. I just don’t tell every little thing we’re doing. You don’t tell your parents exactly where you’re going!”
“Yes, but you’re making your mom think you’re with Ronny all day. That’s like a lie.” Faith insisted. I had to go with Faith on this one. Olivia had turned telling part of the truth into a fine art. She never, ever lied. But the bits she did say made people think something different than the truth.
“You’re going to really get into trouble for that someday,” I told her. “And you’d better not ever do it to me.” Olivia pressed her lips together, a mutinous scowl on her face, so I dropped it.
Note to self — Practice ‘I told you so’. Olivia’s going to earn it someday!
Doug and Brady met us on Main Street, and we all kept watch for the Rejects the rest of the way to the cemetery. I was finally able to relax when there was still no sign of them when we reached the tree.
Brady was last through the tree. He almost leapt out, grinning ear to ear. “Wow, I wish I felt like this all the time! I could beat you at basketball today, Doug.”
“Yeah, right, hot-shot.” Doug gave one slow disbelieving shake of his head. I could understand his confusion. That had been really weird. No way could Brady do better than Doug at basketball!
Our familiars came up then. I scooped up Shadow and buried my face in her soft fur. “Hey kitty-cat, I missed you.” I laughed when her loud rumbling purr began. After a moment, Shadow sprang down to the road and began walking ah
ead, her tail held up like a banner.
We started following her, the other animals ranging out around us, and Brady started in again on how great he felt. “Seriously. I feel terrific. Excellent. Fantastic.” Every few feet he started in on it again. Finally Olivia said, “Okay, we get it, you feel great. Can we talk about something else now?”
Brady got that hurt puppy look on his face. Doug told him, “Ignore them. I felt that way a couple months ago.”
Brady immediately perked back up. “We should be paying attention to things like this. Scientifically, there are no coincidences. There is only cause and effect. Anything we experience here may be important.” He pulled out the map and held it out in front of him, asking to see the Rejects, but nothing happened.
A look of impatience crossed Olivia’s face but she didn’t make a smart comment. I wondered what that was about. She said, “Fine, we’ll pay attention to everything. Now, can we go? Or do you want to wait till the Rejects decide to join us?”
That’s when I realized she’d been nicer to Brady lately. I thought back and almost said, “Ah ha,” out loud. I clenched my teeth tightly and managed to keep it in. Thank goodness. But it was obvious now I thought about it. Olivia had been nicer ever since he saved her from the rocks.
I guess even Olivia thinks you should be nice after someone saves you from certain death.
All of us were peeking at the map in Brady’s hands as we made our way down the road and past the cabin. I knew I wasn’t the only one wondering when Ray and the others would make their appearance.
This time, no one complained when Brady asked to double check the sign at the fork in the road. It only took a minute before he said, “Like I said last time, it warns about danger to the left, but doesn’t say what kind.”
“What does it say exactly?” Olivia asked, sounding almost patient. For her.
Brady sighed and quoted, “’Warning. The road to the left leads to the Perilous Forest. All who enter beware. The road to the right leads to certain death. Good luck.’ It doesn’t say anything else.”
